April 16, 2018 - Sunday was the Third Sunday of Easter. The Gospel for Sunday was Luke 24: 36b-48. The story was about the two disciples on the road to Emmaus who have an encounter with the resurrected Lord. This wonderful story is only found in the Luke gospel and the sharing of a meal was what triggered the experience. These two frightened disciples have fled Jerusalem and met up with a stranger. To their surprise the stranger knew nothing of the last few days, so they fill him on the events surrounding Jesus.

April 2, 2018 - Sunday was Easter Sunday. Some people don’t like the term Easter because it comes from the goddess Eostre who is a fertility goddess and the goddess of light and the dawn. So some people speak of Sunday as Resurrection Sunday. It was also April Fool’s Day which fit in well with my sermon. I was raised in a very conservative sect of the Lutheran Church and traditionally, Lutheran ministers tell a joke on Easter Sunday. Martin Luther thought the joke was on the devil because God resurrected Jesus and death had been defeated. Love wins! Christians should laugh and sing

March 19, 2018 - Sunday was the Fifth Sunday in Lent, with the promise of spring in the air.  Next week is Palm Sunday—yes, already!  This weekend I went by and visited with Roy and Judy at Sunshine Flowers.  Roy always orders palm fronds for our Palm Sunday worship service.  I also ordered some Easter lilies since we will be having Easter Sunday services at the church this year.  Fannie and family had 30 glorious years of sunrise services, but they decided 30 was a good number to end on.

March 5, 2018 - Sunday was the Third Sunday of Lent. Unlike last Sunday, we all woke up to a pretty but cool day. It looks like the rain will return, though, later today. The gospel lesson for this Sunday in Lent comes from the John gospel. Even though this is the year of Mark in the Common Lectionary, several of the gospel lessons come from John. John was written in the last decade of the first century or the first decade of the second century. It is the most poetic and philosophical of the gospels. All four of the gospels were anonymous, not given the names we know them by until

February 19, 2018 - Sunday was the first Sunday of Lent. In the Gospel Lesson today from Mark, we see Jesus whisked away to the wilderness right after his baptism. For the next forty days Jesus fasts, prays, and is tempted. The temptations in Mark are not spelled out, leaving it to the hearer’s or reader’s imagination as to what they actually were. The number 40 is important in Jewish numerology and often signifies completeness. Traditionally, people try to give up a bad habit or something they think is important during the 40-day Lenten season. I have tried to give up something th