Dove of Peace Lutheran Church Sermons

It’s the paradox that we spoke of on September 11, exemplified in the prayer attributed to St. Francis: It is in giving that we receive. It is in pardoning that we are pardoned, and it is in dying that we are born to Eternal Life. That mind– the mind of Good Friday, the mind of Christ Jesus– should be our mind, Paul says today.

It’s the paradox that we spoke of on September 11, exemplified in the prayer attributed to St. Francis: It is in giving that we receive. It is in pardoning that we are pardoned, and it is in dying that we are born to Eternal Life. That mind– the mind of Good Friday, the mind of Christ Jesus– should be our mind, Paul says today.

The Church’s first pastoral task is to bear witness to God’s constancy. Above the fray, beyond the clanging gong of mankind’s foolishness, always lies the truth which judges us, the mercy which nurtures us, the God of Abraham and Isaac, of Jacob and Joseph."

The average congregation, however, is still a non-commercialized, voluntary, free association, public place that still requires us to interact with people whom we do not know and may never like. People who are marginalized and institutionalized and otherwise hidden.

Sorry for the poor audio quality. Paul’s letters split. The first two thirds or so are about God’s work. And then the word “therefore.” And the rest of the letter is about how we ought to act in response to what God has done.

Paul says that what you do for your neighbor is worship. If you’re a teacher, then teaching is your worship. If you’re a farmer, then farming is your worship. Are you an exhorter? Paul says that some of us are exhorters! That’s a person who gives encouragement, a kind of coach. That’s real worship, says Paul.."

But now in Isaiah, God is saying that he is going to welcome the eunuchs. The eunuchs and all the other people who have been outcasts

The faith Jesus is talking about does not mean agreeing with the book of Revelation, or making sense of the Trinity, or accepting the Lutheran doctrines spelled out in the Book of Concord. It’s a highly personal faith– trust.

Sermon by guest preacher John Hoelter

In the best of times, life is difficult. In the worst of times, life seems like a cruel joke. We are sitting ducks for all the evils around us, and all the evils inside us. What then are we say to these things? Nevertheless. A calm “nevertheless.” A defiant “nevertheless.”