Text: Ezekiel 36:22-28  In the name of Jesus. Amen.  As we know from the Old Testament, the Israelites often behaved badly.  Even though they were set apart to be God’s own possession, they would get tied up in worshipping pagan gods.  Needless to say, the Lord God would then use neighboring nations to discipline Israel.  In the case of our Old Testament reading, it was the nation of Babylon that disciplined Israel.   Now, during the severe discipline, the Lord God would often speak wonderful Gospel promises to the people of Israel. (And so, do not let anyo ..read more

Recent days have been abuzz with debate about the Chiefs' Kicker, Harrison Butker. Did he put his foot in his mouth? Did he overstep in speaking outside his football vocation on cultural topics? Should a football player just stick to football stuff?  To be logically consistent, let’s include the former quarterback from the San Francisco 49ers: Collin Kaepernick.  As it has been established, both Kaepernick and Butker asserted themselves in ways that greatly offended the opposite ends of America's cultural and political landscape.  However, there is a point worth noting: Kaepern ..read more

What is Christianity primarily about?  Is it about primarily being the hands and feet of Jesus or listening to Jesus?  Is a successful church busy with all sorts of programs, ministries, and outreach endeavors, whereas a mediocre or failing church sits in the pew?  In episode #4 of "3 Padres and a Shepherd," we will be taking a closer look into Jesus' interaction with two women: Mary and Martha.  We will be asking the question, "Is It O.k. To Be A Pew Sitter?"  Even though the story of Mary and Martha is a very simple story, it has vast application in the realm of th ..read more

Text: Isaiah 12:1-6 In the name of Jesus: Amen. Why don’t churches sing anymore?  Yes, why is it that people in churches across America don’t sing anymore?  Well, there are a lot of reasons why this is the case.  For example, some say:  Nobody sings anymore because they do not know the songs; there are just too many new songs in churches today.  Others say,  The introduction of carpet into sanctuaries ruined the acoustics.  Whereas other people will say things like: Many of the new contemporary songs are too high, and men, well… they will not sing high-pitc ..read more

Text: Isaiah 40:25-31 In the name of Jesus. Amen. There are two prominent positions in America when we talk about the topic of God.  On the one side, there are those who are atheists and agnostics. The atheists generally assert that there is no evidence or convincing argument for the existence of any supernatural beings, and therefore, they do not subscribe to any religious beliefs about God.  The problem with atheism, though, is that for it to be true, they would have to look under every stone, explore every dimension, and look in every galaxy to rule out the existence of God.&nbs ..read more

In 2019, the United Methodist Church voted to strengthen its ban on gay clergy and marriage. Five years later, the General Conference of the United Methodist Church officially affirmed gay clergy and marriage. Now, it would be very easy to assume that the denomination had a theological epiphany over the last 5 years – theological minds, perhaps, got with the times. However, this is not the case. So, what happened? Why the drastic theological/social shift? Imagine a rubber band anchored to two fingers pulling in opposite directions. After the rubber band is stretched, both sides are at a stan ..read more

Text: Ezekiel 34:11-16 In the name of Jesus. Amen. Shepherds exist for the sheep; however, sheep do not exist for the shepherd. Indeed, the arrow always points from the shepherd down to the sheep, not from the sheep upward to the shepherd. Listen to this very clearly: when sheep exist for the shepherd, and the arrow points from the sheep up to the shepherd, things go wrong. Let's say it this way: when sheep exist for the shepherd’s sake, it is a telltale sign of spiritual abuse. When we consider the verses right before our Old Testament reading from the book of Ezekiel, we hear all about evi ..read more

Text: Mark 16:1-8 In the name of Jesus. Amen.   Several years ago, I attended a funeral service for a loved one. The church was full of family and friends from the community. As the service started, the pastor ushered the family into the sanctuary while everyone sang the hymn “Amazing Grace.” The casket was wheeled into the sanctuary and placed at the bottom of the steps in front of the baptismal font. After the last verse of the opening hymn, the pastor announced the invocation and then greeted the sanctuary.  The pastor proceeded to tell us that – let’s just call her Susie ..read more

Text: John 19:1-42 In the name of Jesus. Amen. It isn’t very popular to say, but nonetheless, it is true: we have an angry God.  Yes, you heard that correctly: we have an angry God.  Some may push back against this and say,  “No, God is love; in God, there is no hate or anger.  We certainly do not have an angry God!”  This begs the question, then, did God giggle with glee when Adam and Eve first sinned?  When God looks down upon His creation and sees pride, envy, wrath, greed, gluttony, lust, and sloth, does He say,  “Those rascally humans are at it again ..read more

Text: 1 Corinthians 11:23-32 In the name of Jesus. Amen. What is it that we eat and drink this evening?  What is it that Christ instituted long ago in that upper room with His disciples?   Many people will answer this by saying that communion is nothing more than a symbol.  They will say that the bread and wine are visible signs of Christ’s body and blood crucified on the cross. And so, according to this way of thinking, communion is definitely important, but it is not really the real thing.  In other words, as a symbol, communion points to what is genuinely importan ..read more