This is the sermon I preached on Sunday, January 26, 2025 at St. Timothy Lutheran Church. The gospel was Luke 4:14-21.  Jesus is in his hometown. They’ve heard about his teaching and were anxious to hear him on that day as they gathered in the synagogue. The people were thrilled with the message, until Jesus uttered these words, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”  What was Jesus claiming to be? These are the things looked for when the Messiah came. Was he saying he was the Messiah? The reading from Isaiah was fine, but to claim that it was fulfilled in their ..read more

 This is the sermon I preached on Sunday, January 19 at St. Timothy Lutheran Church. The text was John 2:1-11. A wedding is a wonderful celebration in the Middle East, as it is here. Even in small villages, everyone rejoices, sings, and dances. I remember being in a village for just such an event. It was truly exhilarating—the sounds, the aromas, the music, the rhythm as the men danced the debka, a traditional folk dance of the region.  But this was a Muslim couple, family, village, and there would not be any alcohol. It would be considered sinful, a huge problem if it was served ..read more

 This is the message I preached at St. Timothy Lutheran Church on 1/12/25. The text was Luke 3:15-17, 21-22.   Today we celebrate the baptism of Our Lord Jesus. In Luke's gospel, greater emphasis is placed on the events that took place surrounding Jesus' baptism. The purpose of this passage is to introduce and begin to answer the question of Jesus' identity and mission as well as to highlight the work of the Holy Spirit in anointing people for ministry.  Here, we have a revelatory drama of Jesus' post baptismal experience. It consists of three parts: the heavens are opened, the ..read more

 This is the sermon I preached on 1/5/15 at St. Timothy Lutheran Church. The text is John 1:10-18.  Now, much of the excitement of Christmas is over. For some people, it was over as they picked up the wrapping paper from opened gifts and threw it out. For others, vacations are finished and grandkids are back to school. Today is the second Sunday after Christmas. The bell ringers for the Salvation Army are gone, and the special efforts to help the poor may not be mentioned as much as they were throughout Christmas.  So, now everything is over for another year or is it? Is Christ ..read more

 This is the sermon I preached on Dec. 22, 2024 at St. Timothy Lutheran Church. The text is Luke 1:39-45. Think about how you would respond if a relative showed up at your door unannounced? Besides that, she was going to be staying with you for a while. Not only would she be staying with you, but she is young, maybe 14 years old, unmarried and she is pregnant! Would you welcome her in with open arms or would you grit your teeth, while you welcome her, thinking to yourself, "Don't go away mad. Just go away." Imagine how Elizabeth felt when Mary stood at her door. There Mary was--alone, yo ..read more

 This is the sermon I preached at St. Timothy Lutheran Church on Dec. 8. The text is Luke 3:1-6.   Do you ever wonder who is who as you hear a list of strange names like the one in today’s gospel? What a cast of characters! All the important people are represented, the largest group being the political leaders, followed by religious leaders.  Last of all is John the Baptist. He was the son of a priest named Zechariah. Reading about John, we discover that he too was miraculously conceived and God made great promises about his life through prophets in the temple.  Luke did n ..read more

This is the sermon I preached at St. Timothy Lutheran Church on Sunday, 11/24. The text is John 18:33-37 When confronted with a question, Jesus seems incapable of providing a definitive response. Here in today’s gospel, we have three sets of questions and answers. I want you to listen to them and then tell me if Jesus answered Pilate’s questions. First question: “Are you the King of the Jews?” Jesus responded, “Do you ask this on your own, or did others tell you about me?”  Next: “What have you done?” Jesus answered this one, “My kingdom is not from this world. If my kingdom were from t ..read more

 This is the sermon I preached at St. Timothy Lutheran Church on Sunday, Nov. 17. The text was Mark 13:1-8. Do you remember the story of the Country Mouse and the City Mouse? The city mouse went to visit the country mouse in the country and found out that it was better suited to city life. In the case of today’s gospel, we have Jesus’ disciples, the country boys, visiting the crowded city of Jerusalem.  They were overwhelmed by seeing the temple complex. The thoughts of people were that nothing could harm it. But the problem was that the Babylonians had destroyed it in the past. Th ..read more

 This is the sermon I preached on 6/9/24 at St. Timothy Lutheran Church. The gospel text was Mark 3:20-35. Have you ever felt like an outsider? You are with a group of people who may be friends, classmates or co-workers, or even family. You just don’t feel like you fit in. Furthermore, you’re different; on the outside. I have often felt like that. My nuclear family was more dysfunctional than my friends’. Both my parents were alcoholics. My home life was different from that of my peers. There were only a couple of close friendships that developed during my early years. I was longing for ..read more

 This is the sermon I preached at St. Timothy Lutheran Church on Sunday, 11/10. The text was Mark 12:38-44, At United Lutheran Seminary, each year there is the Luther Bowl, the annual flag football tournament that the Gettysburg seminary hosts each year. One year, after the game, was Eucharist and dinner. I had volunteered to make chili. One of the necessary ingredients for chili is onions. I picked up a nice, fresh looking onion and cut it open. It was all black and moldy on the inside. I could not tell that from the beautiful exterior, but only from going to the heart of the onion. Tha ..read more