Isolation at the Well
Pastor Jennifer Preaching
by revchrien
4y ago
God’s grace and peace be with all of you. We continue this morning our time in the Gospel of John. Last week, we got to listen in on Jesus’ conversation with Nicodemus, who wondered how a person could be born again. This morning, we witness Jesus at a well, a Samaritan well, a well belonging to a people rejected and outcast by the Jews. But this morning, Jesus stops at this well, the Samaritan well, the outsider well. And at the well, he finds a woman, there at midday—alone, because everyone else draws water in the early morning. Jesus asks a drink of her—a Samaritan, a woman, an outsider am ..read more
Visit website
On the Slaughtering of Innocents: A Sermon for Epiphany
Pastor Jennifer Preaching
by revchrien
4y ago
God’s grace and peace be with all of you. The Christian festival known as Epiphany takes place twelve days after Christmas. (That’s actually where the “12 days of Christmas” in the song come from.) Technically, today is the 12th day of Christmas and tomorrow is Epiphany, but we decided to mark Epiphany a day early this year. If I asked you what Christmas is celebrating, I think we could all come up with the answer. Christmas is the festival of Jesus’ birth. But what about Epiphany? This one is a little more obscure. We sometimes use the word “epiphany” when we talk about a sudden realization ..read more
Visit website
God’s Imagination (a sermon for Advent IV)
Pastor Jennifer Preaching
by revchrien
4y ago
God’s grace and peace be with all of you. This morning, I want you to do me a favor and pull out that pew Bible that’s in front of you, and I want you to find the beginning of the gospel of Matthew. Now, our appointed reading for today is almost the very beginning of Matthew. What I read a moment ago is Matthew chapter 1, starting in verse 18. But I want you to take a look at what comes before that, what comes before “Now the birth of Jesus the Messiah took place in this way.” What comes before Jesus’ birth? The gospel of Matthew devotes its first half-chapter to the genealogy of Jesus. Matt ..read more
Visit website
On Being a Neighbor When Your House is Burning Down (a sermon on Luke 10:25-37)
Pastor Jennifer Preaching
by revchrien
4y ago
God’s grace and peace be with all of you. I want to thank you all for participating in our stewardship emphasis over the past few weeks. You’ve heard from Pastor Nikki and me about our theme, the Power of Sacred Story. You’ve listened to members of our congregation sharing their stories on Sunday mornings, and read their stories in our devotional book. You’ve reflected on what it means to love our neighbor. Today is our celebration Sunday, the conclusion of our stewardship program for the fall. Once again, we return to our theme text, the story of the Good Samaritan. When a lawyer asks Jesus ..read more
Visit website
Gratitude (a sermon on Luke 17:11-19)
Pastor Jennifer Preaching
by revchrien
4y ago
God’s grace and peace be with all of you. Our gospel reading today finds Jesus in a border place, an in-between place— the region between Samaria and Galilee. There, he is approached by people who live across a different kind of border: ten lepers, whose illness made them ritually unclean and outcasts from society. Without getting too close, without crossing the boundary that separates them from Jesus, they beg him for help. Jesus tells the ten to go show themselves to the priests. As they go to do as Jesus instructed, they are cleansed, healed of their ailment. Of the ten, only one turns ba ..read more
Visit website
Lazarus at the Gate
Pastor Jennifer Preaching
by revchrien
4y ago
God’s grace and peace be with all of you. Jesus told many parables in his ministry. We have heard them again and again, until they become familiar: the parable of the lost sheep, the parable of the good Samaritan, the parable of the prodigal son, the parable of the mustard seed. Out of all the parables in all the gospels, there is only one character who gets a name. Lazarus, the poor man in our reading today. Now, a quick clarification: there is another Lazarus, in the gospel of John. That Lazarus was the brother of Mary and Martha, and after he died, Jesus brought him back to life. Today, w ..read more
Visit website
On Division, Unity, and ELCA CWA
Pastor Jennifer Preaching
by revchrien
5y ago
God’s grace and peace be with all of you. Most of you know by now that last week, I was in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, at the ELCA Churchwide Assembly. Some of you have heard or seen on facebook parts of my experience. Some of you might not really know what “Churchwide Assembly” is or what it has to do with us here at Shepherd of the Valley. Our congregation is part of a denomination, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, or ELCA. The ELCA is a church that exists in three “expressions”: the congregational level, the synodical level, and the churchwide level. Most of us experience the church ..read more
Visit website
A Sermon for Trinity Sunday
Pastor Jennifer Preaching
by revchrien
5y ago
God’s grace and peace be with all of you. “I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.” I’ll be saying those words later this morning when we welcome Matthew into the family of God. Across denominations, across continents, across history, Christians have baptized in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. It goes back to the earliest Christians. The Gospel of Matthew ends with what’s known as the “Great Commission,” when Jesus tells his disciples to “make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Ho ..read more
Visit website
Peace Be With You (a sermon on John 20:19-31)
Pastor Jennifer Preaching
by revchrien
5y ago
Christ is risen! Alleluia! God’s grace and peace be with all of you. The disciples of Jesus had had a long week. It had been rough, okay? Everything had gone terribly wrong. Jesus had been betrayed by one of their own, been arrested by the religious officials, been tried by the high priest and handed over to the Romans, been beaten and crucified. Judas had betrayed him, Peter had denied him. Joseph of Arimathea had taken Jesus’ body from the cross and laid it in a tomb. Then they had rested on the sabbath, and on the first day of the week—after the sabbath had ended—Mary Magdalene had come r ..read more
Visit website
A Sermon for Palm Sunday
Pastor Jennifer Preaching
by revchrien
5y ago
(Delayed post of my Palm Sunday sermon. On Palm Sunday we read three gospel texts: Luke 19:29-40 at the start of the service, Luke 20:1-19 in the middle, and Luke 21:37-22:6 at the end.) God’s grace and peace be with all of you. Today, perhaps more than any other day in the church calendar, is a day of extremes. There are some church holidays that are purely joyful—like next Sunday, Easter, will be. There are some church holidays that are somber, like Ash Wednesday or Good Friday. And then there’s today: Palm Sunday. Or, as it’s sometimes called, Passion Sunday. Even the two names for this ..read more
Visit website

Follow Pastor Jennifer Preaching on FeedSpot

Continue with Google
Continue with Apple
OR