Sermons from Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Raleigh, NC

Gospel - Matthew 21:23-32

Pr. Tim encourages us to wrestle with whether we are willful in our belief, or willing to give some up to follow Jesus.

Gospel - Matthew 20:1-16

Jesus challenges our propensity to consider status and value over people in this tough Gospel parable. How does this play out in your parable of a life?

Forgiveness ain’t easy. And it’s an invitation that comes to us in strange fire. And mixed up in that strange fire is God’s very specific love for us. For you. A love that includes forgiveness – for you. This gift that is so difficult for us to give, God gives to us so very freely. So very often. Now and forever.

Gospel - Revelation 21:1-6

What are the thresholds in your life? The God encounters? And how can the church community help you put the puzzle pieces together?

Gospel - Matthew 16:21-28

The truth is that life will kill us all. And first, it will knock us down a few times. But when we rise, by God’s grace, we too show the world the incomprehensible power of God to save.

In this way, we will follow Jesus…not by trying to be good disciples or attempting to pick up little crosses as we go through life. We will follow Jesus…not by working our way into good discipleship or earning gold stars toward a spot in heaven. We will follow Jesus by getting in line and surrendering to reality – by acknowledging the fullness of life with its fear and difficulty and trouble and pain and suffering - and riding the wave, trusting that the way out is through, trusting that grace has got us and is not letting go.

Gospel - Matthew 16:13-20

Though Peter has the right answer in this Gospel lesson, his deepest spiritual insights (and ours) come from experiencing the grace of God upon him when he gets it wrong.

Gospel Reading - Luke 1:46-55

Friends, we come here to remember who we are in God, just like Mary went to Elizabeth, and just like Mary, we are called to SING - out loud in the world - whatever the cost. Because when we are rooted in the God who sees everything about us and embraces us anyway…what other people think about us or do to us is really irrelevant.

And then, we are called to become the sanctuary we have found so that others, too, might sing God’s song…

So that all the world might meet each other in that deep, soul place where we see ourselves in the other, where we see God in all people and all of creation, where there is no longer need for powerful and lowly, rich and hungry, us and them.

Gospel Reading - Matthew 14:22-33

Pastor Tim wonders if we're willing to be 'that person' Jesus calls to speak out against racism, walking on the water of baptism.

Gospel Reading - Matthew 14:13-21

God doesn’t pick representatives and ambassadors because they are the smartest, fastest, or strongest. God chooses those whose character reflects truth about the kingdom of heaven and then equips them with the gifts, or with able, complementary companions, to be the hands and feet, mouth and heart of God in the world.

Gospel Reading - Matthew 13:31-33, Matthew 13:44-52

Jesus’ parables were always a challenge for his hearers. Those stories often turned their expectations about God’s work upside down. We, in our time, have the advantage of knowing this. That ought to make us more discerning and help us realize that we are always surrounded by and living in parables of what God is up to. Stay awake!