At Trinity Lutheran Church in Lindstrom, Minnesota, we talked about how true freedom is the freedom to trust other people.

Based on feedback from the congregation this morning, I decided to share this one. The Revised Common Lectionary is a gift that keeps on giving, especially when the news derails a perfectly good sermon.

Second Sunday of Easter Lectionary Year B April 7th, 2024 Trinity Lutheran Church, Lindstrom MN Acts 4:32-35

Easter Sunday Lectionary Year B March 31st, 2024 Trinity Lutheran Church, Lindstrom, Minnesota

Maundy Thursday Lectionary Year B Thursday March 28th, 2024 Trinity Lutheran Church, Lindstrom, Minnesota

Palm Sunday Lectionary Year B Sunday, March 24th, 2024 Trinity Lutheran Church, Lindstrom, Minnesota It's been too long since I shared sermons on here, so I thought I'd share my Holy Week sermons from this year, Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, and Easter Sunday. It was a good week.

Fifth Sunday of Lent, Revised Common Lectionary Year A John 11:1-45 I haven't been posting audio recordings of my sermons at Trinity because I'm busy and they're already on YouTube somewhere. I wanted to make an exception for this week since I got to talk about a song I really like, Tomorrow, Wendy by Concrete Blonde. I think people want to hear it…

Second Sunday of Advent Revised Common Lectionary Year A Matthew 3:1-12 On my first Sunday in my new gig as Interim Senior Pastor at Trinity Lutheran Church in Lindstrom, MN, I got to compare myself favorably to John the Baptist and connect our interim time to the season of Advent.

Reformation Sunday, Revised Common Lectionary Psalm 46 On this Reformation Sunday, Hope Lutheran Church held our final worship together. Joined by loved ones and friends old and new, we shared the good news together. Here is the sermon that was part of our celebration.

Lectionary 30 / 20th Sunday after Pentecost, Revised Common Lectionary C Luke 18:9-14 The prayers of the Pharisee and the tax collector can tell us a lot about ourselves and how we relate to God and one another.

Lectionary 29 / 19th Sunday after Pentecost, Revised Common Lectionary Year C Luke 18:1-18 Jesus' reassurance to his followers to not lose heart can be as helpful to us today as it was when he first told them this parable about the persistent woman.

Lectionary 28 / 18th Sunday after Pentecost, Revised Common Lectionary Year C Luke 17:11-19 In this sermon immediately prior to the special congregational meeting in which Hope Lutheran Church voted to close and dissolve our congregation and give away our remaining funds, the story of Jesus healing ten men with skin disease helps us remember how th…

Lectionary 25 / 15th Sunday after Pentecost, Revised Common Lectionary Year C Luke 16:1-13 Jesus' enigmatic parable about a manager, a rich man, and some debtors provides an unexpectedly helpful lens for making sense of the ongoing changes to our congregation.

Lectionary 24 / 14th Sunday after Pentecost, Revised Common Lectionary Year C Luke 15:1-10 Jesus' stories of the lost sheep and the lost coin remind us of the basics.

13th Sunday after Pentecost / Lectionary 23, Revised Common Lectionary Year C Luke 14:25-33 When Jesus scares us with stark exhortations, we remember that the church moves forward by death and resurrection

Luke 14:1, 7-14 This week's lectionary readings spoke directly to our national conversation about debt. It's not easy to follow Jesus in an unfair world striving for fairness.

Lectionary 20 / 10th Sunday after Pentecost, Revised Common Lectionary Year C Luke 12:49-56 Jesus was not nice.

Lectionary 18, 8th Sunday after Pentecost, Revised Common Lectionary Year C Luke 12:12-21 Why does Jesus talk about money so much? Why do we talk about money so much?

Lectionary 16 / 6th Sunday after Pentecost, Revised Common Lectionary Year C Colossians 1:15-28 Jesus is Christ of the whole world

Lectionary 15 / 5th Sunday after Pentecost, Revised Common Lectionary Year C Luke 10:25-37 What must I do to inherit eternal life? How did this question lead to Jesus' parable of the Good Samaritan?

Lectionary 14 / 4th Sunday after Pentecost, Revised Common Lectionary Year C Luke 10:1-11, 16-20 A sermon for this day

Hope Lutheran Church Sermon Audio 6/26/2022 Third Sunday after Pentecost, Revised Common Lectionary Year C Galatians 5:1, 13-25 Sometimes the news of the day frames the way we need to share the gospel. Freedom and bodily autonomy and loving our neighbor. It's a lot.

Second Sunday after Pentecost, Lectionary Year C Luke 8:26-39 On this Juneteenth Hope joined with our new host congregation Gustavus Adolphus Lutheran Church to commemorate this day and to look at our Gospel story of demonic forces and freedom. What can we learn from the man possessed by demons? What can we learn from the rest of the Gerasenes whos…

Pentecost, Lectionary Year C Romans 8:14-17 We are all adopted as children of God and heirs to all that God has given Jesus. So take heart, even though nothing is easy for so many.

Seventh Sunday of Easter, Lectionary Year C Psalm 97 In the midst of evil and pain and so much cause for lament, we boldly proclaim our trust in God, whose power rests on justice and righteousness.

Sixth Sunday of Easter, Lectionary Year C Acts 16:9-15 Paul and Lydia and the beginnings of the Macedonian church at Philippi provide us with a fantastic set of models for our own churches and ministries today.

Fifth Sunday of Easter, Lectionary Year C Acts 11:1-18 In today's lesson from Acts, Peter asks the excellent question, "Who was I, that I could hinder God?" Let this question be good news for you as we seek to follow Jesus in these complex times.

Third Sunday of Easter, Revised Common Lectionary Year C John 21:1-19 Pastor Andrew is back again to reflect on Jesus' final visit to his disciples in John's Gospel.

Second Sunday of Easter, Revised Common Lectionary Year C John 20:19-31 Pastoral Intern Per Halaas returns on the Sunday after Easter to tell us about Jesus' visit to Thomas and the rest of his disciples.

Easter Sunday, Revised Common Lectionary Year C Luke 24:1-12 Pastor Andrew returns to preach our first Sunday in our new space, the chapel at Gustavus Adolphus Lutheran Church on Arcade and Larpenteur. Resurrection looks different this year.

Maundy Thursday, Revised Common Lectionary John 13:1-17, 31b-35 For our final worship gathering in our historic building, Pastoral Intern Per Halaas preached on John's pivotal story of Jesus' last night with his friends.

Palm Sunday, Revised Common Lectionary Year C On the 100th anniversary of our first worship service at Hope Lutheran Church (April 9th, 1921), our Saint Paul Area Synod Bishop Patricia Lull brought this word to a packed house gathered to celebrate the anniversary on our last Sunday in our historic space at 1340 Hazel Street N.…

Fifth Sunday of Lent, Revised Common Lectionary Year C John 12:1-8 This story of Mary washing Jesus' feet is the last thing before Jesus enters Jerusalem on Palm Sunday in John's Gospel. What can we learn from her in this last week before our big Palm Sunday at Hope Church?

Fourth Sunday of Lent, Revised Common Lectionary Year C 2 Corinthians 5.16-21 God is making all things new, even the brothers from the story we call the Prodigal Son.

Third Sunday of Lent, Revised Common Lectionary Year C Isaiah 55:1-9 The great feast of God's grace is an ideal scriptural reference for this Sunday celebrating the end of Hope and Good Samaritan churches sharing our space and our lives these past seven years.

Second Sunday of Lent, Revised Common Lectionary Year C Genesis 15:1-12, 17-18 God's promise of descendants to Abraham is also a promise to Hope Church today.

First Sunday of Lent, Revised Common Lectionary Year C Luke 4:1-13 In this opportune time, what are we to do?

Ash Wednesday, Revised Common Lectionary Year C Joel 2:1-2, 12-17 As we return to God amid so much turmoil this Lent, what are the spiritual practices we will engage in to ground ourselves?

Seventh Sunday after Epiphany, Revised Common Lectionary Year C Luke 6:27-38

Sixth Sunday after Epiphany, Revised Common Lectionary Year C Jeremiah 17:5-10 Trees. If I preach about trees, does that mean I've been too immersed in re-reading Lord of the Rings? Trees remain a powerful symbol of life and renewal.

Fifth Sunday after Epiphany, Revised Common Lectionary Year C Luke 5:1-11 Jesus' disciples left everything and followed him. They trusted in Jesus rather than in what they had known or relied on before.

Fourth Sunday after Epiphany, Revised Common Lectionary Year C 1 Corinthians 13:1-13 Paul's famous lesson about love is a model for the life of the church together.

Third Sunday after Epiphany, Revised Common Lectionary Year C A sermon focused on "today" based on Jesus' proclamation that "Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing" takes a different direction when the day is dramatically changed by tragic news.

Second Sunday after Epiphany, Revised Common Lectionary Year C John 2:1-11 In the rituals we share as Christians, God uses ordinary things to do the extraordinary.

Baptism of Our Lord, Revised Common Lectionary Year C Isaiah 43:1-7 We have a wide variety of ways to think about baptism. In the end baptism is what we need it to be.

Third Sunday of Advent, Revised Common Lectionary Year C Luke 3:7-18 We don't talk about money in church nearly as much as people talk about it in the Bible, so today let's do that, like John the Baptist does in our Gospel lesson.

Second Sunday of Advent, Revised Common Lectionary Year C Luke 1:68-79 Zechariah's song at the birth of his son John casts a vision for how we can join in the journey of God's work in our world.

First Sunday of Advent, Revised Common Lectionary Year C Luke 21:25-36 1 Thessalonians 3:9-13 How do we wait for the Day of the Lord? We raise up our heads and tell the truth, in love and gratefulness.

Reign of Christ Sunday, RCL Lectionary Year B John 18:33-37 Revelation 1:4b-8 Daniel 7:9-10, 13-14 The eternal cosmic Christ, angels and thrones and fire and the battle between good and evil is all part of the story the church tells this time of year. We can also remember that all these grand narratives come down to the actual lives of actual peopl…

Twenty-fifth Sunday after Pentecost / Lectionary 33, Revised Common Lectionary Year B With our final Mark reading of the lectionary year, we find the disciples still failing to follow Jesus faithfully, and Jesus still making promises that God will reward our faith even as the sky seems to be falling around us.…