This morning we reach the end of the book of Genesis. Genesis 50, beginning in verse 1. Next week I will be gone but then we will come back and listen well to the letter of Paul to the Philippians, listening for Joy in Christ. Yet today, we reach the end of Genesis. Last week,... Continue Reading →
Sermon: The Disciple Who Walked Away
What happens when a disciple walks away? We used to be so active in the church, so excited to serve the Lord, but now we have faded. We used to want to walk closer and closer to Jesus, going where he leads, but something happened, and now…What happens when a disciple walks away from the... Continue Reading →
Sermon: Forgive Us Our Debts
In our journey through the Lord’s Prayer, we have learned last week to ask God for our most basic needs, including bread, food. We also saw how our hunger for bread points us to our deeper hunger for God. This week, we are taught to pray for forgiveness and to pray that we can forgive... Continue Reading →
Sermon: The World’s Worst Dinner Party
According to Robert Karris, “In Luke’s Gospel Jesus is either going to a meal, at a meal, or coming from a meal.” It seems that Jesus, like the people of Stout, doesn’t do anything without food. He enjoyed eating and drinking with people so much that he was called ‘a glutton and a drunkard, a... Continue Reading →
Sermon: Forgiven and Forgiving
I invite you to open your Bibles with me to Matthew chapter 6, verses 12-14. Matthew 6:12-14. Matthew is the first book in the New Testament - Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. If you don’t have a bible with you this morning, feel free to grab one from the pew in front of you and... Continue Reading →
Sermon: Father, Forgive Them
I invite you to open your Bibles with me to the gospel of Luke. Luke 23:34. If you don’t have a bible with you this morning, please feel free to grab one from the pew in front of you and leave it open as we read and study God’s word together. Luke is in the... Continue Reading →
First Glance: Luke 23:34
Jesus said, “Father, forgive them for they do not know what they are doing.” And they divided up his clothes by casting lots. (Luke 23:34) Jesus does not ask that his enemies get what they deserve (“Father, smite them, for they knew exactly what they were doing!”). Instead, he prays for their forgiveness. He prays... Continue Reading →
First Glance: Matthew 18:21-35
“…In anger his master handed him over to the jailors to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed.’ ‘This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you if you do not forgive your brother or sister from your heart.’” (Matthew 18:34-35) If I’m honest, I find these verses a little... Continue Reading →
First Glance: Luke 15
“Meanwhile, the older son was in the field…” (Luke 15:25a) The Parable of the Prodigal Son is probably misnamed. Don’t get me wrong, the younger son was certainly lost. Twice the father describes him as ‘dead, but alive again. He was lost and is found.’ The parable begins with the younger son wishing death upon... Continue Reading →
Forgive and Forget
Then Peter came and said to him, “Lord, if another member of the church sins against me, how often should I forgive? As many as seven times?” Jesus said to him, “Not seven times, but, I tell you, seventy-seven times.” (Mt. 18:21-22) Forgive and Forget Forgiveness can be difficult in the best of circumstances. Even... Continue Reading →
Etz Pri 