Sermons on Image of God
Some Things Never Change – Mark 10: 2-16
Some Things Never Change – Mark 10: 2-16 We are living in times of great changes. But God put us here now for a reason. When major change leads to major confusion, we are here to proclaim God’s everlasting word and truth. God gave us the great commandment to love God and neighbor as ourselves. This was true for our ancestors, it is true for ourselves, and it will be true for our grandchildren as well. Rev. Olaf Baumann, sermon,…
Images of God -John 15:9-17
Images of God -John 15:9-17 Don Corson, a recent graduate of our Synod’s program for lay ministry PSALM, will reflect on the names and images we have of God and how they shape our sense of not only who God is but who we are too. Please check out our video ministry 1517 Grace Guerrilla https://www.youtube.com/c/1517GraceGuerrilla
God’s Promises
God’s Promises – Matthew 11:2-11 This Sunday, we will talk about one of the persistent messages of biblical storytelling: God made promises and now we have to wait for them to become true! But in a mysterious way, they are true already – Something has already happened. We can feel it is here already, but it will be complete in the future. God reaches out to us from the future, but in the time in between, what we feel to…
Holy Violence?
Holy Violence? – Mark 1:1-11 Season of Creation, River Sunday Some Christians today, when they imagine the second coming, it sounds like Jesus is going to do what he failed to do the first time around. Instead of being meek and humble and obedient, and full of love, the Jesus of the second coming is thought to be harsh, hard and violent. – A messiah with an iron fist, that was also the concept of many of John the Baptist’s…
God’s Disconcerting Love for All – John 11:32-44
God’s Disconcerting Love for All – John 11:32-44 The concept of a loving God gives rise to more questions than answers. Even the strongest faith is accompanied by doubt, because bad stuff happens to good people. Nevertheless, since 2000 years Christians do their best to trust God’s love. We embrace our finitude and the pitfalls of life in the hope of resurrection and new life. Where Jesus went, we will follow. We will end our journey on this planet and…
Imagining the Future of the Church – Part 1 of 4
Imagining the Future of the Church – Part 1 of 4 We participate in the synodical church renewal program Imagine. In this sermon series I give you my take on where the church is heading. It seems that the church is increasingly irrelevant in a more and more secular society. However, I think the news about the impending demise of God and God’s church are highly exaggerated. At all times and all over the world people seek the connection with…
Power is Made Perfect in Weakness
Power is Made Perfect in Weakness In our journeys of faith, we will encounter both; moments when God reveals himself to us in amazing displays of power and beauty; and moments when we experience God’s mercy in the face of poverty and sickness and death. Sometimes, God can come all the closer to us, just because our life takes a turn to the worse, and we are suddenly stripped of all layers of protection we usually surround ourselves with. Our…