Sermons

The Gospel Vaccine

I wonder why Nicodemus came to see Jesus? The closing verses of today’s Gospel lesson are so well-known that if someone in a crowd has “3:16” written on his or her baseball cap, many...

A Day of Re-creation

Many of us are familiar with Psalm 51 because we spent years singing verses 10-12 as an offertory. “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not...

Hinge Moments

We just read about a “hinge moment,” or so say commentator Erica Gibson-Even. She writes that the Transfiguration points to the hinge of our life of faith. One of the definitions of a...

“You Have Heard that it was Said, but I Say to You...”

Well…I could just say “Amen” and sit down, letting Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount seep into our hearts, minds and souls. I’m guessing if we all sat quietly for the 15-20 minutes I usually...

Mix It Up with the World

Sermon 2-9-2020 Fifth Sunday after Epiphany Texts: Matthew 5:13-20; Isaiah 58:1-12 Pastor Jean M. Hansen  

Turning Points

Today is Groundhog Day, and this morning Punxsutawney Phil did not see his shadow, which is bad news for Pastor Jean, who loves winter, and, I suspect, good news for many of the rest...

We Scatter the Shadows

Some of you may be confused…not just in general … but by today’s Gospel reading, especially if you were here last Sunday when we read in John’s Gospel how Andrew was called by Jesus to...

Letting God Be God, for Us

I will let you in on a preacher’s secret. When you’ve gone through the three-year cycle of assigned readings a few times, especially when it has been 10 or 11 times, as has been the...