Holy Trinity Ankeny

Holy Trinity Ankeny

By Pastor Timothy OlsonReligion & SpiritualityChristianity
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Holy Trinity Ankeny episodes

  • Do You Matter?
    Today is the Feast of St. Matthew, an apostle and evangelist. The first gospel found in the New Testament is named after him, but mainly we remember Matthew as the tax collector called by Jesus. Tax collectors  were considered cheats and would use every opportunity for theft and extortion. To the Jewish people, his people, Matthew was considered an outsider, an outcast. He was not welcome in the synagogue, and he was considered “dead” to his family.  Matthew must have wondered, “Do I Matter to Anyon
    20 min
  • Foolishness
    The Cross of Christ is so familiar a symbol it is hard to think of it as controversial or strange. Yet, Paul tells the Corinthians that it is “foolishness.” It rebukes the wisdom of the world. It judges human pretensions. To find the grace, mercy and radical, life changing love of God in the cross does require a reality check. What “wisdom” of your world is undone by a God who hangs on a cross?
    19 min
  • Counting the Cost
    Life is full of decisions, from determining what to make for dinner, to determining whether a job change is in order, or whether to relocate. Decisions require weighing the cost of our choices. But how do you determine how to weigh the cost and count the cost? What variables need to be considered? Listen to hear what Jesus has to say about our priorities, our choices and counting the cost.
    19 min
  • Mutual Love

    On the cross, Jesus gave birth to a community born to emulate His love to the world. We often sing the glories of love, but living it out is what changes things. Love provides shape to the relationships we have, the values we trust and even the morals and ethics that define what is right. Too often, however, love doesn’t even get a start among us. What does it mean to “let mutual love continue” among the people of God?

    24 min
  • A Place at the Table
    When God is worshipped and served, Love rules. What gets in the way of Love’s rule is that we too often love rules. It is in the name of rule-keeping that we often fail to make a place at the table for those who don’t measure up, fit in, or mirror our own existence. What would the Church and the world be like if God’s people were dedicated to loving God and neighbor instead of rules? Would there be a place at the table for you?
    19 min
  • Following Jesus: At What Cost?
    What does it cost us to come to church each week? Perhaps it costs a Sunday to sleep in, perhaps it means sacrificing the Sunday morning TV shows which now need to be DVR’ed or streamed. Perhaps it means missing a baseball game or a football game. But does it cost any more than that? Listen and hear what following Jesus looks like.
    21 min
  • Faith, Hope, and Things Unseen
    Sometimes we think faith is believing the unbelievable. Sometimes we think that faith is about what happens to me (and my adversaries) after death. In the book of Hebrews, it is none of this. “Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen..” (Hebrews 11:1) We’re not good at hope – it seems like wishful thinking. We’re not good at trusting unseen things – that makes them un-real. How then do we live by faith?
    19 min
  • I, Me, Mine
    Self-absorption, greed, and the fear that we are missing out manifests as sickness of soul and society. Those who have, constantly seek more because enough never comes. Those who don’t have, nurture resentment and anger until hate erupts in violence. Bigger barns, storage facilities and ever more garages full of things do not make you rich. Jesus calls us to be rich toward God and reject the world of I, me, and mine.
    21 min
  • What Kind of Listener is God?
    The Gospel reading for today finds the disciples asking Jesus to teach them to pray. This passage helps us to understand who this God is that we come to in prayer and the assurance that God listens. But sometimes we don’t receive what we pray for and we wonder if God even cares. How do we make sense of a loving God who seems to be ignoring our petitions?
    20 min
  • Breathe In. Breathe Out.

    Martha, Martha, you are worried and upset about many things. You are worried and upset about many things. Does that sound familiar? It sounds familiar to me. It's almost as if Jesus is saying that to me instead of Martha. Modern life is full of things that keep us preoccupied and living life in the present. Worry and distractions are all around us. Jesus calls us into a different way of life.

    17 min

About Holy Trinity Ankeny

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Holy Trinity Lutheran Church