A Sermon by Rev. Barb Lemmel and Rev. Mitch Hay

Gospel Lesson                                                         Luke 16:1-13

Then Jesus said to the disciples, “There was a rich man who had a manager, and charges were brought to him that this man was squandering his property. So he summoned him and said to him, ‘What is this that I hear about you? Give me an accounting of your management because you cannot be my manager any longer.’

Then the manager said to himself, ‘What will I do, now that my master is taking the position away from me? I am not strong enough to dig, and I am ashamed to beg. I have decided what to do so that, when I am dismissed as manager, people may welcome me into their homes.’

So, summoning his master’s debtors one by one, he asked the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ He answered, ‘A hundred jugs of olive oil.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill, sit down quickly, and make it fifty.’ Then he asked another, ‘And how much do you owe?’ He replied, ‘A hundred containers of wheat.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill and make it eighty.’

And his master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly, for the children of this age are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than are the children of light. And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of dishonest wealth so that when it is gone they may welcome you into the eternal homes.

“Whoever is faithful in a very little is faithful also in much, and whoever is dishonest in a very little is dishonest also in much. If, then, you have not been faithful with the dishonest wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches? And if you have not been faithful with what belongs to another, who will give you what is your own? No slave can serve two masters, for a slave will either hate the one and love the other or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.”

A Sermon by Rev. Barbara Lemmel and Rev. Mitchell Hay

Hebrew Scripture                                                       Jeremiah 18:1-6

The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: “Come, go down to the potter’s house, and there I will let you hear my words.” So I went down to the potter’s house, and there he was working at his wheel. The vessel he was making of clay was spoiled in the potter’s hand, and he reworked it into another vessel, as seemed good to him.

Then the word of the Lord came to me: Can I not do with you, O house of Israel, just as this potter has done? says the Lord. Just like the clay in the potter’s hand, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel.

Epistle Lesson                                                           Hebrews 13:1-3, 15-16

Keep on loving each other as brothers and sisters. Don’t forget to show hospitality to strangers, for some who have done this have entertained angels without realizing it! Remember those in prison, as if you were there yourself. Remember also those being mistreated, as if you felt their pain in your own bodies . . .

Therefore, let us offer through Jesus a continual sacrifice of praise to God, proclaiming our allegiance to his name. And don’t forget to do good and to share with those in need. These are the sacrifices that please God.

A Sermon by Rev. Mitch Hay

GOSPEL LESSON                                             Luke 13:10-17

One Sabbath, Jesus was teaching in one of the synagogues.  There was a woman there who for eighteen years had a sickness caused by a spirit.  She was bent double, quite incapable of standing up straight.

When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said, “Woman, you are free of your infirmity.”  He laid his hands on her, and immediately she stood up straight and began thanking God.

The head of the synagogue, indignant that Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, said to the congregation, “There are six days for working.  Come on those days to be healed, not on the Sabbath.”

Jesus said in reply, “You hypocrites!

Which of you doesn’t let your ox or your donkey out of the stall on the Sabbath to water it?  This daughter of Sarah and Abraham has been in the bondage of Satan for eighteen years.  Shouldn’t she have been released from her shackles on the Sabbath?”

At these words, Jesus’ opponents were humiliated; meanwhile, everyone else rejoiced at the marvels Jesus was accomplishing.

A Sermon by Rev. Barb Lemmel and Rev. Mitch Hay

Epistle                                                                        Colossians 1:15-20

Christ is the image of the unseen God,

and the firstborn of all creation;

for in Christ were created

all things in heaven and on earth:

everything visible and invisible,

Thrones, Dominions, Sovereignties, Powers—

all things were created through Christ and for Christ.

Before anything was created, Christ existed,

and all things hold together in Christ.

The church is the body;

Christ is its head.

Christ is the Beginning,

the firstborn from the dead,

and so Christ is first in every way.

God wanted all perfection to be found in Christ,

and all things to be reconciled to God through Christ—

everything in heaven and everything on earth—

when Christ made peace

by dying on the cross.

Gospel Lesson                                                            Luke 10:38-42

Now as they went on their way, he entered a certain village, where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. She had a sister named Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to what he was saying.

But Martha was distracted by her many tasks; so she came to him and asked, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself? Tell her then to help me.”

But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; there is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her.”

A sermon by Rev. Barb Lemmel and Rev. Mitch Hay

Hebrew Scripture Lesson                         Amos 7:7-8

This is what God showed me: the Lord was standing beside a wall built with a plumb line, with a plumb line in hand. And the Lord said to me, “Amos, what do you see?” And I said, “A plumb line.” Then the Lord said,

“See, I am setting a plumb line in the midst of my people . . .

Gospel Lesson                                        Luke 10:25-37

An expert on the law stood up to put Jesus to the test and said, “Teacher, what must I do to inherit everlasting life?”

Jesus answered, “What is written in the law? How do you read it?”

The expert on the Law replied: “You must love the Most High God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.”

Jesus said, “You have answered correctly. Do this and you’ll live.”

But the expert on the law, seeking self-justification, pressed Jesus further: “And just who is my neighbor?”

Jesus replied, “There was a traveler going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, who fell prey to robbers. The traveler was beaten, stripped naked, and left half-dead. A priest happened to be going down the same road; the priest saw the traveler lying beside the road, but passed by on the other side. Likewise there was a Levite who came the same way; this one, too, saw the afflicted traveler and passed by on the other side.

But a Samaritan, who was taking the same road, also came upon the traveler and, filled with compassion, approached the traveler and dressed the wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then the Samaritan put the wounded person on a donkey, went straight to an inn and there took care of the injured one. The next day the Samaritan took out two silver pieces and gave them to the innkeeper with the request, ‘Look after this person, and if there is any further expense, I’ll repay you on the way back.’

Which one of these three, in your opinion, was the neighbor to the traveler who fell in with the robbers?”

The answer came, “The one who showed compassion.”

Jesus replied, “Then go and do the same.”

Gospel Lesson                                             Luke 9:51-62

As the time approached when he was to be taken from this world, Jesus firmly resolved to proceed toward Jerusalem, and sent messengers on ahead.  These entered a Samaritan town to make preparations, but the Samaritans would not welcome Jesus because his destination was Jerusalem.  When the disciples James and John saw this, they said, “Would you not have us call down fire from heaven to destroy them?” Jesus turned toward them only to reprimand them.  Then they set off for another town.

As they were making their way along, someone said to Jesus, “I will be your follower wherever you go.”  Jesus replied, “The foxes have lairs, the birds of the sky have nests, but the Chosen One has nowhere to rest.”  To another Jesus said, “Come after me.”  This one replied, ”Let me bury my father first.”  Jesus said in return, ”Let the dead bury their dead; come away and proclaim the reign of God.”  Yet another approached Jesus in this way, “I will be your follower, but first let me take leave of my people at home.”  Jesus answered, “Whoever puts a hand to the plow but keeps looking back is unfit for the reign of God.”

A sermon by Rev. Barb Lemmel and Rev. Mitch Hay

Hebrew Scripture Lesson                                             Proverbs 8:1-4, 22-31

Does not wisdom call,

and does not understanding raise her voice?

On the heights, beside the way,

at the crossroads she takes her stand;

beside the gates in front of the town,

at the entrance of the portals she cries out:

“To you, O people, I call,

and my cry is to all that live.

The Lord created me at the beginning of God’s work,

the first of God’s acts of long ago.

Ages ago I was set up,

at the first, before the beginning of the earth.

When there were no depths I was brought forth,

when there were no springs abounding with water.

Before the mountains had been shaped,

before the hills, I was brought forth—

when he had not yet made earth and fields,

or the world’s first bits of soil.

When God established the heavens, I was there,

when God drew a circle on the face of the deep,

when God made firm the skies above,

when God established the fountains of the deep,

when God assigned to the sea its limit,

so that the waters might not transgress his command,

when God marked out the foundations of the earth,

then I was beside the Lord, like a master worker;

and I was daily God’s delight,

rejoicing before the Lord always,

rejoicing in God’s inhabited world

and delighting in the human race.

Epistle                                                                            Romans 5:1-5

Therefore, since we are vindicated by faithfulness, we have peace before God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand; and we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God.

And not only that, but we also boast in our afflictions, knowing that affliction produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.

Gospel Lesson                                                                John 16:12-15

I have much more to tell you, but you can’t bear to hear it now. When the Spirit of truth comes, she will guide you into all truth. She won’t speak on her own initiative; rather, she’ll speak only what she hears, and she’ll announce to you things that are to come. In doing this, the Spirit will give glory to me, for she will take what is mine and reveal it to you. Everything that Abba God has belongs to me. That is why I said that the Spirit will take what is mine and reveal it to you.

A Sermon by Rev. Barb Lemmel and Rev. Mitch Hay

Hebrew Scripture                                                                 Genesis 11:1-9

Now the whole earth had one language and the same words. And as they migrated from the east, they came upon a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there. And they said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks and fire them thoroughly.” And they had brick for stone and bitumen for mortar. Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves; otherwise we shall be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.”

The Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which mortals had built. And the Lord said, “Look, they are one people, and they have all one language, and this is only the beginning of what they will do; nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them. Come, let us go down and confuse their language there, so that they will not understand one another’s speech.”

So the Lord scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth, and they left off building the city. Therefore it was called Babel, because there the Lord confused the language of all the earth, and from there the Lord scattered them abroad over the face of all the earth.

New Testament Lesson                                                          Acts 2:1-11.

When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.

Now there were devout Jews from every people under heaven living in Jerusalem. And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each. Amazed and astonished, they asked, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language? Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs—in our own languages we hear them speaking about God’s deeds of power.”

A sermon by Rev. Barb Lemmel and Rev. Mitch Hay

Gospel Lesson  John 14:25-27

“I have said these things to you while I am still with you. But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom Abba will send in my name, will teach you everything and remind you of all that I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid."

New Testament Lesson   Acts 16:9-15

During the night Paul had a vision: there stood a man of Macedonia pleading with him and saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” When he had seen the vision, we immediately tried to cross over to Macedonia, being convinced that God had called us to proclaim the good news to them. We set sail from Troas and took a straight course to Samothrace, the following day to Neapolis, and from there to Philippi, which is a leading city of the district of Macedonia and a Roman colony. We remained in this city for some days.

On the sabbath day we went outside the gate by the river, where we supposed there was a place of prayer; and we sat down and spoke to the women who had gathered there. A certain woman named Lydia, a worshiper of God, was listening to us; she was from the city of Thyatira and a dealer in purple cloth. The Lord opened her heart to listen eagerly to what was said by Paul. When she and her household were baptized, she urged us, saying, “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come and stay at my home.” And she prevailed upon us.

Gospel Lesson John 5:1-9

After this there was a Jewish festival, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. Now in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate there is a pool, called in Hebrew Beth-zatha, which has five porticoes. In these lay many invalids—blind, lame, and paralyzed. One man was there who had been ill for thirty-eight years.

When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had been there a long time, he said to him, “Do you want to be made well?” The sick man answered him, “Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; and while I am making my way, someone else steps down ahead of me.”

Jesus said to him, “Stand up, take your mat and walk.” At once the man was made well, and he took up his mat and began to walk.

Sermon by Rev. Barb Lemmel and Rev. Mitch Hay

Epistle Lesson                                                          Revelation 21:1-6

Then I saw new heavens and a new earth. The former heavens and the former earth had passed away, and the sea existed no longer. I also saw a new Jerusalem, the holy city, coming down out of heaven from God, beautiful as a bride and groom on their wedding day.

And I heard a loud voice calling from the throne, “Look! God’s Tabernacle is among humankind! God will live with them; they will be God’s people, and God will be fully present among them. The Most High will wipe away every tear from their eyes. And death, mourning, crying and pain will be no more, for the old order has fallen.

The One who sat on the throne said, "Look! I'm making everything new!" and added, "Write this, for what I am saying is trustworthy and true."

And that One continued, "It is finished. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To those who are thirsty I will give drink freely from the spring of the water of life."

Gospel Lesson                                                      John 13:31-33a; 34-35

Jesus said: “Now is the Chosen One glorified and God is glorified as well. If God has been glorified, God will in turn glorify the Chosen One and will do so very soon. My little children, I will not be with you much longer.

I give you a new commandment: Love one another. And you are to love each other the way I have loved you. This is how all will know that you are my disciples: that you truly love one another.”