Grace to you and peace from God, our Creator and our resurrected Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen. Today, we observe and celebrate All Saints Sunday as we remember and honor all those who have died in the last year and beyond. This can be a painful and uncomfortable time as we wrestle with the sting of death in our own lives... The post All Saints Sunday appeared first on Wicker Park Lutheran Church.

You may have noticed that today we had all four readings, including the Psalm, for the first time in a year and a half or so. Due to screen fatigue and COVID concerns, we’ve been only reading the gospel and one other reading. Naturally, this allowed us to explore a text or two with more depth. Today, we can look at the breadth of the readings and a theme that connects them... The post Reformation Sunday appeared first on Wicker Park Lutheran Church.

One thing Jesus is most known for in his ministry is healing. In Mark’s gospel, Jesus healed demon possessed individuals, a girl who was dead, and a hemorrhaging woman. Today, we met a man who was blind. Before we get too far into the reading, there is an important word of caution. With all the talk about Jesus healing the deaf, the blind, and the lame, it’s easy for us to assume that Jesus prefers people who do not live with a disability. Religious people have used such assumptions to terrorize those with disabilities and heaped blame, shame, and disdain on their families... The post Twenty-second Sunday after Pentecost appeared first on Wicker Park Lutheran Church.

Grace to you and peace from God, our Creator, and our Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen. I wonder if I were to ask you today, “Who are you,” how you would respond to me. Well, first, you’d probably give me a name, right? After that though, if I wanted to know more about you, who you are, what would you tell me?... The post Twenty First Sunday after Pentecost appeared first on Wicker Park Lutheran Church.

Grace to you and peace from God, our Creator and our Savior, Jesus Christ, Amen. I want to begin this morning with a little bit of poetry. This poem is a favorite of mine. Admittedly I am not an expert on poetry and I’m not sure how I stumbled across this poem by British poet Wendy Cope, but this poem will help frame the way we approach our Gospel text today... The post Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost appeared first on Wicker Park Lutheran Church.

In today’s gospel, Jesus said, “do not worry about tomorrow.” For some of us, that’s easier said than done. After all, there is so much to worry about: Climate change. COVID. Where our career path or family life might take us. We wonder if we’ll ever meet the partner we yearn for. If we’ll have enough money for retirement. If the treatment will work. Or, what the test results might say... The post The Feast of Saint Francis appeared first on Wicker Park Lutheran Church.

Grace to you and peace from God our Creator and our Savior, Jesus Christ, Amen. I want to jump right into the Gospel this morning and I know we may have only had one cup of coffee or maybe in the back of your mind you’ve got the Bears game tossing around but this lesson is pretty jarring though, right? Millstones and eye plucking is not something we normally think about and for good reason. It’s hard to imagine Jesus is literally advocating for these kinds of harms. The post Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost appeared first on Wicker Park Lutheran Church.

Grace to you and peace from God, our creator and our risen Savior, Jesus Christ, amen. Good morning! It is a pleasure to be with you, in whatever form or medium you are partaking. My name is Jason Fugate and I want to begin with a brief word of gratitude for all of the Wicker Park Lutheran community. I am in my final year of seminary as I continue to train and study in the hope and anticipation of becoming an ordained minister in the ELCA... The post Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost appeared first on Wicker Park Lutheran Church.

Adults, children, dogs. It was the assumed hierarchy in today’s gospel reading. Adults, children, dogs. At best, it was Jesus’s metaphor to get the unnamed Syrophoenician woman to go away. Adults, children, dogs. At its worst, it was a racial slur as “dogs” was a commonplace derogatory term applied to a Gentile outsider... The post Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost appeared first on Wicker Park Lutheran Church.