Mar 2008
Confidence!
03/30/08
Easter 2
Act 2, 1 Peter 1:3-9, John 20:19-31
Dear friends in Christ,
In my nearly 53 years of life, I don’t know that I can remember a time when there’s been so little confidence in what is going on in the world and in the future yet to come. I’ve been around long enough to know there have been some peaks and valleys, but this seems to be a particularly deep and desolate valley. Some recent polls seem to affirm this. For example, the Consumer Confidence Index is based on a representative sample of 5,000 U.S. households. This Index, which had declined sharply in February, fell further in March. The Index now stands at 64.5 (1985=100), down from 76.4 in February. Read More...
Act 2, 1 Peter 1:3-9, John 20:19-31
Dear friends in Christ,
In my nearly 53 years of life, I don’t know that I can remember a time when there’s been so little confidence in what is going on in the world and in the future yet to come. I’ve been around long enough to know there have been some peaks and valleys, but this seems to be a particularly deep and desolate valley. Some recent polls seem to affirm this. For example, the Consumer Confidence Index is based on a representative sample of 5,000 U.S. households. This Index, which had declined sharply in February, fell further in March. The Index now stands at 64.5 (1985=100), down from 76.4 in February. Read More...
Lessons from an Historic Easter
03/23/08
Easter Sunday
Dear friends in Christ,
Welcome to worship! This morning you are part of modern day history. You probably didn’t wake up today thinking you were coming to an historic Easter service, but that’s exactly what is taking place. Now here’s what’s historical about this Easter. This is the earliest date for Easter Sunday any of us will ever celebrate. That’s probably not surprising, since it looks more like Christmas than Easter! I looked at one chart that calculated the date for every Easter through the year 2124, 116 years. Not once is Easter again as early as March 23rd. In fact, since 1875, there was only one other time Easter was this early and on this same date. The year was 1913. I wasn’t around, nor were any of you. So, turn to you neighbor, shake their hand and say, “Congratulations! You’re part of history!” We can all say, we celebrated Easter on its earliest possible date. Read More...
Dear friends in Christ,
Welcome to worship! This morning you are part of modern day history. You probably didn’t wake up today thinking you were coming to an historic Easter service, but that’s exactly what is taking place. Now here’s what’s historical about this Easter. This is the earliest date for Easter Sunday any of us will ever celebrate. That’s probably not surprising, since it looks more like Christmas than Easter! I looked at one chart that calculated the date for every Easter through the year 2124, 116 years. Not once is Easter again as early as March 23rd. In fact, since 1875, there was only one other time Easter was this early and on this same date. The year was 1913. I wasn’t around, nor were any of you. So, turn to you neighbor, shake their hand and say, “Congratulations! You’re part of history!” We can all say, we celebrated Easter on its earliest possible date. Read More...
Jesus’ Passion in Matthew
03/16/08
Passion Sunday
Today’s message for us comes directly from the passage of scripture we are about to read together. There will be no additional comment from me, no attempt at further interpretation. The text stands on its own, the passion of our Lord According to Matthew. Read More...
Today’s message for us comes directly from the passage of scripture we are about to read together. There will be no additional comment from me, no attempt at further interpretation. The text stands on its own, the passion of our Lord According to Matthew. Read More...
Lazarus
03/09/08
Lent 5
John 11:17-45
Today’s message will feature a faith testimony by Tony Wicklander, a member of St. Paul Lutheran, who, on many occasions has been “left for dead,” only to recover and continue forward in life. In many ways he is a “modern day Lazarus,” whose story provides hope in the midst of the dark times of death we all face. I will provide a short introduction to Tony’s testimony about the raising of Lazarus miracle. If possible, I will try and post a written copy of Tony’s testimony on the website. Read More...
John 11:17-45
Today’s message will feature a faith testimony by Tony Wicklander, a member of St. Paul Lutheran, who, on many occasions has been “left for dead,” only to recover and continue forward in life. In many ways he is a “modern day Lazarus,” whose story provides hope in the midst of the dark times of death we all face. I will provide a short introduction to Tony’s testimony about the raising of Lazarus miracle. If possible, I will try and post a written copy of Tony’s testimony on the website. Read More...