The Sermon on the Mount In chapters five, six, and seven of Matthew’s gospel, we find a collection of the teachings of Jesus. In these teachings, Jesus is challenging the people of that day to rethink their understanding of the Hebrew Scriptures. He is speaking to a first-century Jewish audience. Join us this fall…
Mark 10:17-31 We are never done with the stories of the Gospels. We don’t outgrow them. They’re not something to be mastered, completed: “Oh, I’ve heard that one.” “Oh, that one’s about this or that”. When we reduce the stories of the Gospels to themes and morals, we strip the Gospel of its power. The…
Readings – Galatians 6: 14- 8; Psalm 121; Matthew 11: 25-30 Today as part of our blessing of pets, traditional for the celebration of St. Francis, we will sing Hymn #405, “All things bright and beautiful”. The hymn was first published in 1848. The author, Cecil Frances Alexander, was inspired by the very beginning of…
Readings – Esther 7: 1-6, 9-10, 9: 20-22; Psalm 124; James 5: 13-20, Mark 9: 38-50 The Lutheran Church outdoor sign on Ridge Road in Northumberland reads “God’s Work; Our Hands”. I find these words to be a good reminder – “God’s Work; Our Hands”. We are invited to join in God’s work. We can…
Readings – Proverbs 31: 10-31; Psalm 1; James 3: 13-4:3, 7-8a, Mark 9: 30-37 The beginning of our proper collect for today is – “Grant us, Lord, not to be anxious about earthly things”. My Grandmother Donecker used to tell us, “This, too will pass”. Yes, “we are placed among things that are passing away”,…
“Who Do You Say That I Am?” Jesus went on with his disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi; and on the way he asked them, “Who do people say that I am?” And they answered him, “John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets.” He asked them, “But who…
Readings – Proverbs 22: 1-2, 8-9, 22-23; Psalm 125; James 2: 1-17; Mark 7: 24-37 On September 18 – 20, 1863 in Chickamauga, Georgia the Union and Confederate armies fought the second largest battle of the Civil War, second only to Gettysburg. There were over 34,000 casualties. A few years following the war the veterans…
The Prophet Jeremiah The prophet Jeremiah lived in one of the most chaotic and tragic periods in the history of Israel and the Middle East. During his lifetime the Assyrian Empire collapsed and the region came under the control of the Babylonians. This was also a period of great religious conflict and strife in…
Readings – Song of Solomon, 2: 8-13; Psalm 45: 1-2, 7-10; James 1: 17-27; Mark 7: 1-8, 14-15, 21-23 Our proper collect for today includes – “increase in us true religion”. How would you describe “true religion”? In the seventeenth century, in England, the Anglican bishops decreed that on the East wall of every Anglican…
Daylight & Dark Normally, my presentations are about hymns. However, as I prepared for this one I noticed a trend toward separating day and night in our hymns and prayers and lessons. So, we see in our hymnal that there is a section for MORNING starting with hymn No. 1, “Father we praise…