Holy Trinity Ankeny

On the Day of Pentecost, it is easy to focus on the fire, you know, the fire that rests on the apostles who then go out and declare the gospel in many languages. That would be something, wouldn’t it? To see the fire resting on us. Don’t be distracted by the fire. The thing to notice is the fingerprints of God that start to be left behind as this Spirit leaves signs, marks, evidence all over the place to show us the resurrection in action. The shape of those finger prints are love, reconciliation, unity. Just look – and be prepared!

Listen to the full worship service broadcast for the parking lot worship gathering on May 16, 2021.

Many people think that eternal life is something that is far away and happens after death. Neither notion is really all that eternal, is it? It makes faith into a desire for escape from the world and all its suffering and pain. Yet, Jesus did not teach his disciples anything like this. So, what exactly is eternal life all about? It is about this world. It is about right now, not later. Come and see.

Jesus asks this question of Peter three times after the resurrection. Each time Peter says, “Yes.” Certainly, we would do the same, right? But how do we love God? What does that look like? In John’s gospel and the First Letter of John, the answer is simple to understand, but challenging to do.

While we may all agree that, in principle, we are all part of family, community, church, we’re mostly rugged individuals making our own way in the world. We praise individual rights, individual choices, self-help, self-improvement, and self-actualization. Then comes Jesus saying, “I am the Vine, you are the branches” which threatens our individualism and replaces independence with mutual dependence. Is that good news?

The image of Jesus as the Good Shepherd is near and dear to the hearts of many. The pastoral scene of grazing sheep on green hillsides gives us a sense of peace. And with the good shepherd nearby and on watch, what could be better? Scripture, however, has more to say about sheep and shepherds. If we are the sheep of God’s pasture, what does it mean that Jesus is the Shepherd? Is this image more than a comforting ideal? That is the question for us today.

Listen to the full worship service broadcast for the parking lot worship gathering on April 18, 2021.

At times we are all in the dark about God’s message of salvation. Let your mind be open to the truth of the Good News!

Easter was a week ago and Jesus is safely risen into heaven and reset in his historical context. Like Thomas, we probably doubt there is much more to it than that. After all, is there anything real about resurrection today? Right now? According to the writer of I John, Jesus is as concrete right now as ever, and resurrection is nothing less than living in a way that allows Christ’s presence to lighten the darkness of the world.

For the second Easter in a row, we are shrouded in the grip of a pandemic and a world of violence and death. What does the resurrection have to do with us? The women at the tomb share our shrouded joy. It is the prophet Isaiah who point us beyond to the culmination of the work Jesus began on that “eight day” of the new creation.