Sermons @ FLC

Alone Time - Fifth Sunday after Pentecost (B)

Sun, 5 Feb 2012 21:26:38 -0500

Isaiah 40:21–31
Mark 1:29–39

In Isaiah it is the one God who sits above the earth and numbers the stars—it is that God who strengthens the powerless. So in Jesus' healing work we see the hand of the creator God, lifting up the sick woman to health and service. Like Simon's mother-in-law, we are lifted up to health and service. Following Jesus, we strengthen the powerless; like Jesus, we seek to renew our own strength in quiet times of prayer.

Tortured Thoughts - Fourth Sunday after Epiphany (B)

Sun, 29 Jan 2012 13:42:47 -0500

Deuteronomy 18:15–20
Mark 1:21–28

In Deuteronomy God promises to raise up a prophet like Moses, who will speak for God; in Psalm 111 God shows the people the power of God's works. For the church these are ways of pointing to the unique authority people sensed in Jesus' actions and words. We encounter that authority in God's word, around which we gather, the word that trumps any lesser spirit that would claim power over us, freeing us to follow Jesus.

In the Nave-y - Third Sunday after Epiphany (B)

Sun, 22 Jan 2012 10:51:09 -0500

Jonah 3:1–5, 10
Mark 1:14–20

Stories of the call to discipleship continue as the Time after Epiphany plays out the implications of our baptismal calling to show Christ to the world. Jesus begins proclaiming the good news and calling people to repentance right after John the Baptist is arrested for preaching in a similar way. Knowing that John was later executed, we see at the very outset the cost of discipleship. Still, the two sets of fisherman brothers leave everything they have known and worked for all their lives to follow Jesus and fish for people.

Wake-Up Calls - Second Sunday after Epiphany (B)

Sun, 15 Jan 2012 22:57:03 -0500

1 Samuel 3:1–10
Psalm 139:1–6, 13–18
John 1:43–51

All the baptized have a calling in God's world. God calls not just the clergy but also the youngest child, like Samuel. The story of the calling of Nathanael plays with the idea of place. Nathanael initially dismisses Jesus because he comes from Nazareth. But where we come from isn't important; it's where—or rather whom—we come to. Jesus refers to the story of the vision of Jacob, who called the place of his vision "the house of God, and ... the gate of heaven" (Gen. 28:17). Jesus says he himself is the place where Nathanael will meet God.

Today the church also honors Martin Luther King Jr., renewer of society and martyr, died 1968. An American prophet of justice among races and nations, King was an eloquent preacher, a leader of the nonviolent resistance to race-segregated society, and recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964. Born on this date, he was assassinated on April 4, 1968.

Born from Chaos - Baptism of Our Lord (B)

Sun, 8 Jan 2012 15:30:58 -0500

Genesis 1:1–5
Mark 1:4–11

The first Sunday after the Epiphany is observed in many churches as the Baptism of Our Lord. Our re-creation in baptism is an image of the Genesis creation, where the Spirit/wind moved over the waters. Both Mark's gospel and the story in Acts make clear that it is the Spirit's movement that distinguishes Jesus’ baptism from John's. The Spirit has come upon us as upon Jesus and the Ephesians, calling us God’s beloved children and setting us on Jesus’ mission to re-create the world in the image of God’s vision of justice and peace.