ARCHIVED SERMONS
& RESOURCES
God's Creatures
Sunday, September 29, 2019
Join us for worship this weekend at St. Lucas as we celebrate God's other creatures: the birds of the air, the fish of the sea, the cattle and the creeping things too! Every worship service will offer God our praise for the goodness of his creatures, as we engage with the text Genesis 1:20-30.
Building New Foundations
Sunday, September 22, 2019
During last weekend’s sermon, I spoke about centripetal force, this being a force that is center-seeking. Mission, the sharing of our gifts, has a centripetal aspect to it. The Spirit is a center-seeking force, drawing the church and her gifts inward for the serving, equipping, and building up of the Body itself.
This weekend we will consider centrifugal force, that is a force that goes outward. Mission, the sharing of our gifts, has a centrifugal aspect as well. The Spirit moves through us and calls us to share our gifts with the wider community and world, as well, calling the church to the true worship of God: participating in God’s transformative, redemptive, and restorative work. Let’s gather together and consider what Isaiah 58: 6-12 has to say to us about this subject at this particular moment in our congregational journey.
CLICK HERE for a transcript of this week's sermon.
Building Up the Body
Sunday, September 15, 2019
For the next couple of weeks, we are continuing to explore the theme of gifts; the idea that God has given us all gifts, but why? This week we will explore Ephesians 4: 1-16, in which the author suggests that the gifts we possess are God’s way of moving through us to build up the Body of Christ itself. I hope you’ll join us this weekend as we think about what this text has to say to us about how God might have us use and share our gifts as one community of faith.
CLICK HERE for a transcript of this week's sermon.
Interrupted Announcements for Celebration Sunday
Sunday, September 08, 2019
We had a special delivery on Celebration Sunday! (We get interrupted after about 4 and a half minutes!)
From God, For God
Sunday, September 08, 2019
Celebration Sunday Sermon by Rev. Kelly Archer
Better Together
Sunday, September 01, 2019
We are the body of Christ. Each part is an integral part of the whole body. We all have our role or functions as part of the whole operating unit. We are less effective as a unit if a part is not functioning or not functioning well. Each part is an important operating piece of the whole! This is true for the church, the country, the world. We are all in this together.
Centered in the Bible
Sunday, August 25, 2019
God is still speaking every day through the Bible. Old words bring an ever new message for church and its people today. The Bible is the centerpiece of Christianity. God and Jesus are the center persons of Christianity. People hear God, and experience God, in sometimes different ways. That is OK! Thank goodness God did not stop speaking after the books of the Bible were written!
In the Prayer Book of Jesus
Sunday, August 18, 2019
We know our Jesus was a religious man, well-versed in the law and traditions of the Hebrew Bible. For at the age of 12, Jesus sat among the teachers in the Temple and amazed them with his knowledge and insights. Later, during his own ministry, Jesus used the scriptures when facing off with the Pharisees and the Sadducees, frequently quoting from the Books of Exodus and Isaiah. When Jesus was wrestling with the Devil himself, he relied upon the scripture from Deuteronomy to assist him. However, there is one book from the Old Testament that Jesus drew upon the most, and that is the Book of the Psalms. Jesus quotes the Psalms eleven times throughout the Gospels, including as he hung in agony to die on the cross and cried out, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me" (Psalm 22). Join us in worship this weekend as we explore the Book of the Psalms and ponder what makes this Book unique in our Bible and relevant today.
2019 Youth Mission Trip Service
Sunday, August 04, 2019
Our mission trips at St. Lucas UCC are always special, but this year, we were blown away. Please join us this weekend to hear from our youth, their experiences, and what they learned. We traveled to the Spirit Lake Reservation in North Dakota to work with missionaries, Mike and Libby Flowers. They host 400 to 500 Volunteers in Mission each summer. The tribe defines the jobs and provides the materials, and the volunteers supply the labor. Throughout our work week, each evening before dinner, Pastor Mike would ask "Where did you see God today?" This weekend, we will share with all of you our answers to that question.
Go Tell It On The Mountain
Sunday, July 28, 2019
Is it just me, or do we sometimes get so busy during the month of December that Christmas itself becomes a blur? I’m smack dab in the middle of my parenting years, so in our house December means Christmas break, holiday recitals, winter programs at school, and oh so many invitations. It’s a joyous time to be sure, but, sometimes, I’m afraid the miracle of Christ’s birth can get buried beneath the piles of wrapping paper, to-do lists, and dirty (albeit fancy) dishes. And as followers of Christ, we can’t let that happen. After all, the nativity story is our story to tell, not Amazon.com’s story. That’s why this year St. Lucas, we are all getting an early present in worship as we celebrate Christmas in July. We will read the beloved story that begins with a census and ends in adoration of our new born King. We’ll also sing some favorite carols sure to bring joy to our hearts and indeed to the world!
Sharing Vital Communion
Sunday, July 21, 2019
Our Conference Ministry theme for 2019 is, “Sharing Vital Communion!” Our Conference Minister, the Rev. Dr. Ginny Brown Daniel, will be reflecting on how all of our churches are Sharing Vital Communion in our ministries together. We will use Galatians 3:23-29 as our biblical foundation, where Paul clearly states that our purpose is to be "in Christ.” This does not mean we need to believe, look, or think the same way. Instead it means that we unite together in a deeply spiritual way (communion) in order to live into who God has created us to be. How is God calling St. Lucas to be Sharing Vital Communion?
All Hands on Deck
Sunday, July 14, 2019
On the Day of Pentecost, the Spirit of God began doing something new in the world. The church came into being. In Acts 2: 42-47, we get a better glimpse of exactly what this new community looked like, and what God was doing in and through them. They were a vital community of devotion to God and one another. They shared fellowship, prayer, meals, worship, and even all of their resources with one another, making sure everyone’s needs were met. They were a community with goodwill toward all people, and they had glad and generous hearts. This weekend we will look back at this earliest form of congregation and ponder what they can teach us now as God desires to work in and through us in our own time.
To pledge to our All Hands on Deck Giving campaign, CLICK HERE!
CLICK HERE for a transcript of this week's sermon.
CLICK HERE for this week's Discussion Guide.
It Takes a Leap of Faith
Sunday, July 07, 2019
This weekend at St. Lucas UCC is busy, to say the least. It is a communion weekend, so we will gather around the table, receive the gifts of God, remembering our one-ness and belonging in God. Joyously, we will celebrate a baptism. Lastly, our young people will be commissioned by the congregation as they prepare to embark on a mission trip.
As happens with the Spirit, our Biblical stories this weekend happen to relate to every one of these events in interesting ways.The stories relate to coming and going, calling and sending, God’s provision to and through us, hope, healing, dining, and, in all these ways, how the Kingdom of God draws near. We look forward to you joining us for this exciting weekend as we celebrate, remember, and ponder together how God continues to move in our midst.
CLICK HERE for a transcript of the sermon.
CLICK HERE for this week's Discussion Guide.
Christ our Cornerstone
Sunday, June 30, 2019
It has been said that a divided church is an oxymoron, right up there with the likes of jumbo shrimp. That’s because the church, after all, is an expression of unity. We come together, united in our mission to be God’s church in the world and to live our lives together in accordance with Christ’s teachings. Together we tend to our joys and concerns, together we sing and study, and together we say these words aloud “on earth as it is in heaven”. In this weekend’s scripture passage we will hear from the Apostle Paul about this unity in Christ, our cornerstone. Ephesians 2:14-20.
VBS Celebration Sunday
Sunday, June 23, 2019
Vacation Bible School has almost come to an end and we are ready to celebrate! Over 200 kids and adults have spent this week sharing joy, excitement and friendship as we explored the continent of Africa learning that Life Can Be Wild but God is Good! Join us as we share our Bible adventures, songs and stories. I guarantee you will have a ROARING good time.
The Influence of a Father
Sunday, June 16, 2019
I am a firm believer that our faith ought to influence and form all aspects of our lives. Naturally, that means that our faith should inform how parents relate to their children, how children relate to their parents, and how we all relate to each other. This being Father’s Day weekend, it seems a good time to reflect on that. So, using Psalm 103: 1-19, during which God is compared to a compassionate father that sets an example for us, we are going consider what God’s relationship with us might teach us about fatherhood or parenthood, and we will be hearing from a couple of fathers themselves about the effect of their faith on their fatherhood. We wish all of you dads out there a blessed Father’s Day.
Finding a Common Language
Sunday, June 09, 2019
Happy birthday, Church! This weekend we are celebrating Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit came upon the disciples. In that moment, a group of wounded, uncertain people were revitalized and reformed into a movement that carries on to this day as the Body of Christ in the world. In remembrance and celebration of the gift of the Spirit, we will gather and beckon the Spirit to renew us again with the Spirit of love, courage, and imagination as we seek to walk in the ways of Christ.
CLICK HERE to read a transcript of this week's sermon.
CLICK HERE for this week's Discussion Guide.
The Winds of Change are Blowing
Saturday, June 08, 2019
Pastor Sonya Vonn blessed us with a sermon during our Pentecost celebration on Saturday, June 8th. Read her bio below:
Pastor Sonya Vonn graduated Eden Theological Seminary in 2015 with a Master of Divinity degree and is currently a Minister on Staff at Christ the King UCC in Florissant, Missouri. In addition, Sonya is employed by Eden Theological Seminary as Director of Development and Financial Aid Coordinator. Sonya was key to the design and development of the Master of Community Leadership program of the Walker Leadership Institute at Eden. She also utilizes her skills to work alongside other pastors, churches and not-for-profit organizations to restore, renew and rebuild their strategic plan, mission and vision for spiritual transformation and community development. Sonya is currently enrolled in the Doctor of Ministry Program at Eden and has served the wider UCC in several prominent positions.
All You Need is Love
Sunday, June 02, 2019
God works in mysterious ways. As a Rock ‘n’ Roll musician myself, I believe Rock ‘n’ Roll has always been, in my humble opinion, a movement of the Spirit of God celebrating life, sharing its fullness through sound, and building people and communities up in love. For instance, who would’ve thought that four teenagers from England would spark something as incredible as the Beatles, carrying a message of love, unity, and liberation. This weekend we will celebrate their ongoing legacy and what they might teach us through singing some songs and putting them in conversation with 1 Corinthians 13, aka the Love Passage.
CLICK HERE for a transcript of this week's sermon!
The Cost of Love
Sunday, May 26, 2019
As we continue to reflect on the theme of friendship, we turn our attention to a gospel story from John in which Jesus says, “No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” This weekend, we will look at this from a couple of different angles, but, this being Memorial Day weekend, some veterans will be sharing about what such a statement has meant to them.
CLICK HERE for a transcript of this week's sermon!
Feed My Sheep
Sunday, May 19, 2019
Our Sermon Series, I Get By With a Little Help From My Friends, continues this week as we explore the bond between Jesus and the disciple he called first, Peter. One day Peter was fishing and Jesus asked him follow him and become a fisher of men instead. Back then he was Simon, but Jesus changed his name to Peter, from the Greek Petra, meaning rock. Peter was a rock for Jesus, and Jesus was a teacher for Peter. There are so many Peter stories in our Bible: walking on water, catching the fish with the coin inside, cutting off the ear of the solider, and of course, the time Peter denied Jesus three times. This weekend's story comes from John 21:1-17 and finds Peter once again fishing on the water and once again in the presence of his teacher and friend, Jesus.
Mother's Day Testimonials
Sunday, May 12, 2019
Our sermon series on Friendship continued at St. Lucas this weekend. First, we read a scripture passage that celebrates the devotion Ruth has for Naomi, who is not just her dear friend, but her mother-in-law too. Then we had a time for testimony, a time to listen to our church friends. Testimony has a way of bringing us all together, reminding us of what a joy and a privilege it is to bear witness to another’s journey, and inspiring us to look inside for the Good News that has been written on our hearts too. It was powerful! Please enjoy these stories. You never know, you might be the one who needs to hear exactly what they have to say! Amen? Amen.
With a Little Help from our Friends
Sunday, May 05, 2019
On the day the tomb was found to be empty, two disciples were walking on the road to Emmaus from Jerusalem. They were doing what friends do in times of uncertainty: talking and trying to work through what all had happened. They know their teacher and friend had died, but now, just maybe, he was alive. Strange times indeed. What will get them through these times is one another, for Christ in his wisdom and love, appears in the midst of friendships. The disciples, just as we do, get by with a little help from their friends. We will think about this during worship this weekend, but it is also the first of an 8-week series by that name (With a Little Help From My Friends) during which we will think about friendship and discipleship.
CLICK HERE for a transcript of this week's sermon.
CLICK HERE for this week's Discussion Guide.
St. Lucas in the Neighborhood
Sunday, April 28, 2019
We’ve spent the season of Lent asking the question Won’t You Be My Neighbor? We’ve also been thinking through what it means to be a good neighbor to others. This weekend we will wrap all of this up by reflecting upon Matthew 25 in our Saturday and 9am Sunday services, pondering upon what this text says to us in the context of Easter. We will not have an 11am service, but, following our 9 am service, we will put action to our thinking and prayers by going out to serve our neighbors in a variety of ways. Further details and a sign up link are below (it’s not too late!), but I do hope you will join us in worship whether or not you will be participating in the work. It’s good to get together and think about how we, as the Risen Body of Christ moving in the world, participate in God’s transformative work in the world.
CLICK HERE for this week's Discussion Guide.
Easter 2019
Sunday, April 21, 2019
Memories….I know for me Easter is packed with memories. I remember as a child driving in the pre-dawn dark to go to a sunrise service at a one room, old, country church, as was the custom of the church I grew up in. I remember listening to a song called “He Lives In You” on the way, the song being from the Lion King 2 soundtrack. I remember sitting behind a small, old woman who danced with joy while singing ‘Up from the Grave.’ I remember joining everyone else in placing flowers on a cross as a sign of the resurrection. As Easter comes each year, I remember these important lessons just from that one time: joy at the empty tomb, life’s victory over death, and that Christ indeed lives in me, and all of us. This is what Easter is all about, going back to the time the empty tomb was discovered by that group of women: remembering. As we go about our lives it is easy to forget what our faith and experiences have taught us, what Jesus has taught us, and to be filled with the joy, amazement, and full life God intends for us and the world. Easter is a time to listen to the voice of the heavenly beings saying, ‘Remember what he taught you,’ so we may once again be amazed at the life-giving work and possibilities of our God that defy our expectations.
Good Friday Reflection and Readings
Friday, April 19, 2019
Maundy Thursday 2019
Thursday, April 18, 2019
Maundy Thursday 2019
Rev. Eric Moeller
Palm Sunday
Sunday, April 14, 2019
In the Boat with Jesus
Sunday, April 07, 2019
Tyler is an Associate Conference Minister of the Missouri Mid-South Conference, with his focus being on working with churches looking for pastors and pastors looking for churches. He will be bringing a message related to the story of Jesus in the boat with his disciples in the midst of a storm.
Wednesday Worship - April 3
Wednesday, April 03, 2019
Forgiving as We've Been Forgiven
Sunday, March 31, 2019
Last week we examined a story from the Gospel of John that described Mary pouring expensive perfume on Jesus’ feet. The story revealed that loving our neighbors fully requires both giving and receiving, honoring the gifts and dignity of all. This week we turn our attention to the Gospel of Luke, chapter 7, for a similar story, but with a different purpose. In this story, some of the characters are different, some of the actions are the same, and the point is quite different: forgiveness. This week we will continue to think about what being a good, loving neighbor really looks like by looking closely at what this story would teach us about judgment and forgiveness.
CLICK HERE for a transcript of this week's sermon.
CLICK HERE for this week's Discussion Guide.
Wednesday Worship - March 27
Wednesday, March 27, 2019
Two-Way Street
Sunday, March 24, 2019
This Lent we are exploring the theme ‘Won’t You Be My Neighbor.’ In church we often speak of loving our neighbors, and indeed the love of neighbor is central to discipleship of Jesus Christ. But what does it really mean? What does it look like to be a good, loving neighbor? In the weeks ahead, on Sunday mornings, we will be thinking about this together. This week our text comes from the Gospel of John, and finds a woman pouring out expensive perfume on the feet of Jesus. It’s a remarkable act of humility, generosity, and love, which Jesus, who typically gives much, gratefully receives. Being a good neighbor, I suppose, requires both giving and receiving at times, and this ancient story has something to teach us about both.
CLICK HERE for a transcript of this week's sermon.
CLICK HERE for this week's Discussion Guide.
Coming Into One's Own
Sunday, March 17, 2019
When do you feel most radiant? What is it that you have seen in your lifetime that is just so beautiful, it glows? Have you known what it is like to be awe struck? These are some of the questions we'll think about this weekend as we read about a time in Jesus' life when he was transfigured by radiance as the disciples looked on in awe and wonder. In Luke 9:28-36 we read about this dramatic mountain top experience, complete with visions of the prophets and the sound of God's voice. Indeed it was such a glorious time that Peter never wanted it to end! Join us for worship to hear this story and to find awe for a God who is ever our fixture, our constant, and our rock is also a God than transfigures, transforms, and is forever making all things new.
CLICK HERE for a transcript of this week's sermon.
CLICK HERE for this week's Discussion Guide.
Blessed Wilderness
Sunday, March 10, 2019
This weekend is the first weekend of Lent, and the first story we will be exploring is Jesus’ 40 days in the wilderness following His baptism as written in Luke 4: 1-13. It seems to me this is a timely story for us as a congregation to hear. In Luke’s account, Jesus is in the wilderness wrestling with His identity; what it means for Him and His future that He is the Son of God. Being who He is means that he could use his power in a variety of ways, and the wilderness is where He discerns that, in order to remain obedient to God, the path He must take may not be the easiest, but it will be the faithful way to go. As we enter our own time in a kind of wilderness, this story may have something to say to us as we discern our own identity and faithful path forward, both as a congregation and as people of faith. I hope to see you this weekend.
CLICK HERE for a transcript of this week's sermon.
CLICK HERE for this week's Discussion Guide.
Ash Wednesday Service
Wednesday, March 06, 2019
Guests at God's Table
Sunday, February 24, 2019
What happens when you read life through scarcity rather than from God’s abundance? Put simply, you see your existence as lacking, rather than full. You end up seeing life as an empty scramble for more. Because your soul’s pantry is sparse, you tend to hoard what you have in stingy self-protection - for tomorrow it may be empty. You learn to look upon all of life as the struggle to hold in reserve our meager lives and don’t recognize we are surrounded by God’s blessings. But know this: God is throwing a banquet and we’re all invited (all of us) and no longer can we consider anyone unfit for God’s picnic.
Several years ago I saw my first UCC ad that declared with great confidence: “No matter who you are or where you are on life’s journey, you are welcome here,” and when I heard it, I felt I was home. I was smitten and thought to myself, “Now that is a gospel worth proclaiming!” We are all guests at God’s table, a place of extravagant welcome where God no longer sees us as clean or unclean, but only sees us as people who are hungry and thirsty.
CLICK HERE for a transcript of this week's sermon.
CLICK HERE for this week's Discussion Guide.
The Level Ground of the Gospel
Sunday, February 17, 2019
In Luke’s gospel, Jesus moves the Sermon on the Mount to a level place, so he can be with the people with whom he identifies at baptism. Who’s on the level place to hear him? Three groups come to mind in ever-widening circles: the 12 apostles, his other followers, & the crowds of people. By mentioning Tyre and Sidon he implies Gentiles as well as Jews. Certainly the audience includes the sick and the distressed, who are Jesus’ special concern in Luke. This is a message intended for all the people, the disciples and all those who would be disciples; there is nothing exclusive or secretive about his message.
John Killinger claims that the Beatitudes in Luke are not rules for better living or keys to success. “They are instead insights and commandments deriv(ed) from the very nature of God’s rule, suggestions and directives whose rightness springs from their and our connectedness to the divine reign initiated by Christ himself. As such, they are not mere prescriptions for happier living; they are descriptions of what it means to be a part of the nascent rule of God.”
One commentator observed that when we hear Luke’s Sermon on the Plain, with all its directness and cutting simplicity, all of us scurry back to Matthew’s gospel because it’s already been softened for us. All the dirty work of watering down the gospel has been done for us and we can effectively ignore it. Luke’s gospel is harder to confront because we have fewer ways to dodge its obvious meaning. This is the kind of sermon we need to hear together where there’s safety in numbers.
CLICK HERE for a transcript of this week's sermon.
CLICK HERE for this week's Discussion Guide.
Into the Deep
Sunday, February 10, 2019
Due to the weather cancellations this weekend, we do not have a recording of our worship service. However, we still have a transcript and study guide below!
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There’s an old saying, “Life is what happens while you’re making other plans.” We make our plans, our goals, and our dreams. They give us a sense of direction. They help define who we are. But things happen ... a flood, a fire, a shadow on an X-ray, a reduction in the work force, bad grades, a broken relationship ... and suddenly we realize that whatever control we thought we had has been nothing but an illusion.
Sometimes the interruption comes from within ... a growing sense of dissatisfaction even though everything seems okay on the surface. We feel angry and cheated because our lives are not turning out like we supposed or dreamed they would turn out. Maybe we discover that the dreams of young adulthood are not coming true. Joseph Campbell once observed: “Sometimes people climb the ladder of success only to discover that the ladder is leaning on the wrong wall.” John Claypool added this poignant reality from an interview with a disillusioned TV newscaster who noted: “I am near the top of the mountain that I saw as a young man, but lo and behold, this is not snow up here, it is mostly salt.”
We may discover that when our early dreams of life get bogged down or interrupted, there’s always a loss experienced as disorientation or the death of a previous dream. It can be frightening and in the end we can become rigid and unyielding.
But in the middle of it all, there’s always the chance for rebirth and a deeper experience with God. God is always with us through the reorienting times in our lives and may even be the catalyst behind our reorientation. Someone once wrote: “Sometimes the Lord stills the storm, and sometimes the Lord is the storm itself.” Knowing the difference is a matter of faith and perspective. It is a way of believing that helps to put some sense into our lives. Maybe framing our lives and dreams in this way can be helpful in getting beneath the skin of our gospel story today.
CLICK HERE for a transcript of this week's sermon.
CLICK HERE for this week's Discussion Guide.
Hometown Prophets
Sunday, February 03, 2019
Our scripture reading this weekend picks up where we left off last week. The lectionary is not always that neat and tidy, so for all you type-A congregants, this one's for you! In last week's gospel passage we met Jesus preaching and teaching in the synagogue, even in his own hometown. He has sort of a 'mic drop' moment where he reads from the Torah and pronounces himself a fulfillment of ancient prophecy. Now this week, we will examine the crowd's reaction to hearing this from Jesus. And well, let's just say it wasn't "Amen!" They didn't receive Jesus with the same homage that the Magi did, in fact they wanted to throw him off a cliff! (See photo, taken earlier this month on the St. Lucas trip to the Holy Lands. Scholars believe this to be the very cliff described in the Gospel of Luke.) Join us for worship as we think about what happens when we speak our truth in the face of rejection.
CLICK HERE for a transcript of this week's sermon.
CLICK HERE for this week's Discussion Guide.
Belonging with Purpose
Sunday, January 27, 2019
When I preached two weeks ago on a very snowy Sunday, I spoke about our baptisms as, in part, giving us a new identity and initiating us into a new community and way of being, just as this was true of Jesus’ own baptism. This weekend, the texts represent the next steps in the journey of faith. In First Corinthians, chapter 12, we hear from Paul that indeed all of us who are initiated into this community have a place and a purpose in the Body of Christ. In Luke, chapter 4, we hear from Jesus, filled with the Spirit immediately following his baptism and time in the wilderness, proclaim his mission, the purpose of his ministry. This text then acts as a directive to the Body of Christ active in the world. It remains our own mission; what this body that is the church was assembled for to begin with. Join us this weekend as we ponder together how God has equipped us to participate in God’s work, and what that work might entail.
CLICK HERE for a transcript of this week's sermon.
CLICK HERE for this week's Discussion Guide.
Dirty Water
Sunday, January 20, 2019
This weekend, we are all invited to a wedding. An ancient wedding, at Cana in the land of Galilee. How exciting! Jesus will be there, and Mary too, along with some disciples. It’s going to be a great feast, and rumor has it...open bar! I hope you will join us as we celebrate together and read the story of Jesus’ first miracle, turning water into wine, as found in the second chapter of John’s gospel. Digging deeper into a beloved passage such as this, gives us the opportunity to bring fresh eyes and ears and hearts to the text and find ways in which God is still speaking to us today, even outside of Cana.
CLICK HERE for a transcript of this week's sermon.
CLICK HERE for this week's Discussion Guide.
Baptism is a Beginning
Sunday, January 13, 2019
Baptism is a beginning. This weekend, we will hear Luke’s account of the baptism of Jesus that marked a new beginning for him, and a new beginning for the world. It seems appropriate, then, that we would reflect and remember our own baptisms. What did our baptisms begin for us? What do our baptisms mean to us now? If baptism was the beginning, what sustains us now on the journey of faith? We will consider these questions and others in worship together.
CLICK HERE for the transcript of this week's sermon.
CLICK HERE for this week's Discussion Guide.
Star Watch
Sunday, January 06, 2019
The Bethlehem of the Bible was really just a small village a few miles south of Jerusalem. It may have been a sleepy little town back then, but things have changed with the urban sprawl that now embraces it. In our time, it’s grown into a bustling Jerusalem suburb. The problematic issue now is that it’s a part of the Arab West Bank and crossing back and forth from the Arab section to Jewish Jerusalem where there are jobs for those lucky enough to have them is rightly tense because of the vigilant presence of the Israeli army.
Today it’s a bustling village with a large 4th century church in the town square built over the small cave many believe was the sheepherder’s cave where Jesus was born. In order to enter, you pass through a small entrance behind and below the side of the chancel. Visitors from every nation and tribe must stoop to enter below the surface of the ground down into the cave where Jesus was born. Stooping and entering in silence is a spiritual discipline whenever we go on pilgrimage with God.
So where does that leave us modern-day seekers? Maybe we’re to follow the example of those Magi and to take hold of the Star that’s leading us. Maybe we need to move into the future by moving out of the comfortable and the known and together to move into new ways of service and mission. Maybe our calling is something that will become plainer once we take the first step. I think the first step demands we have a hopeful sense of the will of God. Great journeys are driven by purpose and direction.
CLICK HERE for a transcript of this week's sermon.
CLICK HERE for this week's Discussion Guide.
Treasure and Ponder
Sunday, December 30, 2018
It's tempting to just set up shop in that manger. To gaze adoringly a little while longer at the precious sleeping child. To cuddle up with those woolly sheep and take in an encore or two from the angel choir. That is the whole point, after all, to keep Christmas in your heart all year long, right? And yet we must remember that even though our nativity story is wondrous,it wasn't simply Jesus' birth that mattered, but how he lived his life. The gift of God's son didn't end when those shepherds went home, in was only just beginning...
Join us in worship this weekend as we share a story about a time when that baby was twelve years old, and once again, Mary and Joseph find themselves on another journey. We'll read Luke 2:41-51 and discover how our faith can grow, right along side that growing Christ child.
CLICK HERE for a transcript of this week's sermon.
CLICK HERE for this week's Discussion Guide.
Christmas Day Service
Tuesday, December 25, 2018
Christmas Eve Candlelight Service
Monday, December 24, 2018
Christmas Eve 3 PM Service
Monday, December 24, 2018
Right Side Up
Sunday, December 23, 2018
As tempting as it may be to skip it and just jump into Christmas, our season of actively waiting continues through another weekend. This final weekend’s theme: Love. In worship, we will ponder questions about how exactly God’s love is at work in the coming birth of Christ, and will do so by hearing from Jesus’ mother. The story this week is a conversation in Luke 1 between two pregnant women: Mary and Elizabeth. Both of these women are going through an ordinary human experience under extraordinary, holy circumstances, and, waiting in the company of one another, they are able to give and receive love, affirmation, faith, and begin to process what the coming Christ will mean for the world God loves. Join us this weekend as we continue to wait together, and examine what it meant for these women, and means for us, that love came down at Christmas.
CLICK HERE for a transcript of the sermon.
CLICK HERE for this week's Discussion Guide.
A Fragmented World Redeemed by Song
Sunday, December 16, 2018
What would we do without our Christmas songbook? It’s a collection of songs most of us have known all our lives, songs we’ve sung in school and in church, caroling the neighbors, and on 24-7 radio stations dedicated for Christmas-only. Admittedly most Christmas hymns are about the birth of Jesus, but others are about Mary or the shepherds, or even the wise men who visited Jesus as a baby. There are Christian hymns but how could you dismiss the songs about Santy Clause and the reindeer and knowing who’s naughty and who’s nice? Or even the classic Bing Crosby song about dreaming of a white Christmas. In my homeland down South, there wasn’t much chance for snow on Christmas, but my dad, born on Christmas Day, spoke of how it snowed the day he was born. I’ve never looked it up, but neither did I fully believe it as it sounded so impossible. How could we celebrate Advent, a season of preparation without the Christmas songbook? I don’t want to try. Let’s sing!
CLICK HERE for a transcript of this week's sermon.
CLICK HERE for this week's Discussion Guide.
The Clowns of God
Sunday, December 09, 2018
Most of us in this season are ambling along peacefully toward the manger scene when on the second Sunday of Advent, John the Baptizer jumps out and scares the bejeebers out of us. When it comes to John the Baptizer, no doubt we think of the Judean wilderness and the fiery personality of someone so wild and untamed, living in a place so stark one is hard pressed to call it sustainable. Anytime you visit the wilderness area along the River Jordan, one can’t help but imagine John the Baptist’s preaching to the throngs of people who trekked down to the river to hear him proclaim preparation. He was an outlier warning people to get themselves ready for the appearance of the unnamed One, “the One who was coming.” Peace is not about maintaining the status quo. Peace is about striving to be empowered and transformed by the presence of God in our midst. To speak in favor of peace always is to find a dissenting voice, a voice that articulates what could be – what should be – for followers of Jesus.
CLICK HERE for a transcript of this week's sermon.
CLICK HERE for this week's Discussion Guide.
The Two Faces of Expectation
Sunday, December 02, 2018
On the first Sunday of Advent there are two faces of expectation, each providing a different view of the expectation that God will do something in the world. The first face looks to the past, seeing backward in time to that time in the revelation of God when a savior was hoped for. It is an orientation to the past in the sense that it is a recapitulation of the longing of a long ago time when women and men of faith anticipated the coming of God’s Messiah. But Advent also looks to the future in an attitude of expectancy over what God has yet to do in history. Consequently, we have a Sunday in the season of Advent dedicated to thinking in future tense about the coming of Christ in judgment and power and glory. David Buttrick tells the story of the poor black woman deep in the bayous of Louisiana who had raised over a dozen children over the years – most of them adopted and foster children. When a newspaper reporter asked her why she had done this considering her own meager resources, she replied, “I saw a new world coming …”
CLICK HERE for a transcript of this week's sermon.
CLICK HERE for this week's Discussion Guide.
The Truth To Which We Are Dedicated
Sunday, November 25, 2018
In the Gospel of John, chapter 18, Pilate, the Roman governor of Judea, asks a captive Jesus if he is ‘King of the Jews.’ Pilate’s primary concern is to examine whether Jesus was a threat to the power of Rome, who had one ruler and one ruler only. Was this Jesus going to lead a rebellion to remove Rome from Judea and claim his throne? As the conversation between Pilate and Jesus unfolds, we learn a great deal about Jesus, his Kingdom, and how it is different than the kingdoms of the world. We also learn what it means to live in the world as one under his kingship. Just as Rome wanted to maintain power, the allegiance, and the obedience of those under its dominance, there are forces in our current world that seek to maintain power, our allegiance, and our obedience, yet this weekend we will proclaim Christ our King and examine what that means for our lives here and now.
CLICK HERE for a transcript of this week's sermon.
CLICK HERE for this week's Discussion Guide.
Thanksgiving 2018
Wednesday, November 21, 2018
“Don’t worry about a thing, cause every little thing is gonna be alright,” so sings Bob Marley. This is an echo of Jesus’ words in the gospels. We seem to worry so much about whether or not we will have enough, and we ‘gather into barns’ our excess out of that worry. But God’s great works of provision surround us. By God’s hand, creation overflows with abundance! Come Wednesday evening, setting your worries aside, and let us give thanks to God for God’s provision, and let us ponder what we should do with God’s gracious provision as people of God.
Birth Pangs of a New Day
Sunday, November 18, 2018
Jesus and those who followed him were Galileans, not the sophisticated urban crowd who had grown blasé about the glory of the Temple. For them, the Temple’s grandeur took their breath away. Standing in the center of the Temple Mount, it was over a hundred feet tall. The walls of the Temple were covered with great sheets of gold that nearly blinded the approaching visitors. From a distance, the Temple Mount was a brilliant spectacle. Josephus wrote of a winter scene in which the gold on the temple “reflected so fierce a blaze of fire that those who tried to look at it were forced to turn away ... it seemed in the distance like a mountain covered in snow, for any part not covered in gold was dazzling white.” They marveled at the Temple for good reason. It stood majestically on the peak of Mount Zion, towering over the old city of King David. And there they all stood, gaping at the blinding wonder of it all and thinking about how magnificent it all was, when Jesus blurted out the stunning words, “Not one stone will be left here upon another; all will be thrown down” (Mark 13:2, NRSV). All talk about the Temple was metaphorical about how God lives among us in the sacred space of our place of worship. What if God vacated this space? It would be as though the place had blown up and turned to rubble. This sacred space will be in the center of our thoughts this weekend.
CLICK HERE for a transcript of this week's sermon.
CLICK HERE for this week's Discussion Guide.
A Kingdom of Small Things
Sunday, November 11, 2018
There are invisible people all around us. We don’t notice them because we don’t see them. They walk freely in our midst, but we don’t give them a thought. The woman in our story this weekend, in Mark, was one of the “invisible” people we never notice. She was a cipher who wandered about in life and no one paid her any mind. They didn’t see what she did, or where she went, or what she wore, because she was not noticed. But that’s not altogether true, because Jesus noticed her. And he pointed her out to his disciples. And because of that both Mark and Luke have pulled her out from the fringes of anonymity so that some two thousand years later we’re noticing her yet. Everyone in God’s kingdom matters. What they do for God, no matter how small, matters.
CLICK HERE for a transcript of this week's sermon.
CLICK HERE for this week's Discussion Guide.
A Simple Gospel
Sunday, November 04, 2018
Our scripture this weekend is something of a final exam for Jesus. It comes as the last of a series of questions posed to him when he arrived in Jerusalem. When the theology professors tested Jesus, it was not a friendly “sharing of the minds.” It was a test of the will, more like a game that matched wits with Jesus.
But give Jesus credit for what he did with the question. Rather than clouding the issue with unnecessary complexity, he simplified it. Jesus found the bottom line in their complicated question. The move from complexity to simplicity was a sign of Jesus’ brilliance in a moment pregnant with political implications. The Jewish scholars knew that the Hebrew law contained 613 laws in the Torah. Keeping the law was understood to be the goal of all God fearing Jews but no one really felt it was possible. The power to keep all the laws was understood to be akin to moral perfection … a good goal but not really attainable.
So maybe this religious seeker was seeking relief for his weary religious soul. All the minutiae of the law were simply overwhelming and maybe his question was this: “If you could hang all the law on one nail, what nail would that be?” One nail wouldn’t do for such a lofty concern, so Jesus used two nails: the love of God and the love of neighbor.
CLICK HERE for a transcript of this week's sermon.
CLICK HERE for this week's Discussion Guide.
What it is to be Human
Sunday, October 28, 2018
This week we come to the conclusion of the Book of Job. Over the last few weeks we have witnessed Job’s loss and suffering, sat with him on the ash heap, heard bad advice from his friends, heard God speak to him from a whirlwind and carry him on a grand tour through creation. But what was this all about? What is the point of this story? This final chapter of Job contains the keys to the story. As we unlock the doors we glimpse something of the truth of the nature of God, creation, and what it means to be a creature in a complex and dynamic world.
CLICK HERE for a transcript of this week's sermon.
CLICK HERE for this week's Discussion Guide.
CLICK HERE for a song written by Pastor Eric that is a Latin American perspective of the book of Job.
Really, God?
Sunday, October 21, 2018
Often in our Bible stories we learn about God by observing God’s action. Such as, God delivers God’s people out of bondage and slavery in the Book of Exodus. Or, as God so loved the world that God sent God's only begotten son, in John 3:16. Then there are instances in the Bible where we learn about God because of what someone says about God, like the Prophets who wrote of a mighty and righteous God, a lover of justice. Or, like the Psalmist who wrote that God's love endures forever. This weekend’s passage, Job 38:1-7, 34-41, is known as The Divine Speech. In this passage, instead of learning about God through the reports of others, we have the opportunity to learn about God through God’s own words.
CLICK HERE for a transcript of this week's sermon.
CLICK HERE for this week's Discussion Guide.
With Friends Like These
Sunday, October 14, 2018
Job’s friends sat in the dirt with him for 7 days and 7 nights and said not a word. We should have friends who would do that for us in our time of need. But when they broke the silence and spoke, no one could predict the trouble they would create. Kenny Rogers sang about knowing when to hold ‘em, and when to fold ‘em. Keeping our thoughts to ourselves is a gift not many can do. I have wise friends and I listen to them. They are great sources of wisdom and they’ve earned the respect I show them. But they’re not fail-safe. Occasionally one of them says something nearly useless and I have to figure out when those moments arrive and to not allow their bad advice guide my life. Job is someone who guarded his thoughts. He knew when to keep his lips sealed, that is, until he didn’t.
CLICK HERE for a transcript of this week's sermon.
CLICK HERE for this week's Disussion Guide.
The Test
Sunday, October 07, 2018
We are fond of saying that for every crime there is a punishment. In Job’s case we have the punishment, but where is the crime?
In the drama of Job’s life, the disasters of his downfall are told with startling speed. In no time at all, he is stripped of his fortune and all his possessions. The lives of all of his children are snuffed out by a raging desert wind as it flattens his house on top of them. All his sheep and goats, the visible signs of his vast wealth, are destroyed. His friends desert him and even his mate in marriage and the mother of his children turns on him in disgust. In essence, he loses everything that helped give his life its definition. One after another, the messengers appear ... one beginning to speak before the last one has even finished his report ... all bearing the tragic news of another form of loss.
Biblical commentators point out that the story of Job is the one enduring story from the Old Testament that never seems to go out of date. It is the contemporary story of any one of us, they say.
CLICK HERE for a transcript of this week's sermon.
CLICK HERE for this week's Discussion Guide. (The discussion guide is on the back of the playbill brochure!)
Saying our Prayers
Sunday, September 30, 2018
We make prayer a part of weekly worship experience but have you ever thought about what we do as a healing service? Perhaps you’ve thought of prayer as a spiritual exercise that drew you closer to God in a vague, mystical way. But does the simple act of praying bring about healing? I guess that’s the issue of this whole scripture that has all of us wondering. We hear the Bible and want to believe deep in our hearts that it’s as simple as it appears and yet, we end up getting our wheels stuck in the mud of reality because we all know that even our most heart-felt prayers are not all answered as we wish.
It doesn’t take long in the faith for us to know that we don’t have a direct line to God where all we have to do is to utter the words and they are done. We can’t simply speak and then, “Presto!” it is accomplished. Too many of us have struggled with the fact that we have prayed for those who are deathly sick, we prayed with all of our hearts and wishes, and who then go on to die despite our earnest prayers. Maybe the formula for healing and prayer goes something like this: When I am sick, I can pray for healing. Prayer can heal. But sometimes I am not healed.
Let’s explore the issue of prayer together this weekend.
CLICK HERE for a transcript of this week's sermon.
CLICK HERE for this week's Discussion Guide.
The Elephants in the Room
Sunday, September 23, 2018
We are well into our month-long sermon series on The Book of James: A Book for Life, at St. Lucas United Church of Christ. As we’ve seen, this book, or rather epistle, is full of instructions and practical advice, evocative of the wisdom literature found in the Hebrew Bible. Judging by the tone and content of the letter, we gather that the recipients of these instructions must not have been getting along with one another all that well. It seems they had forgotten that they belonged to each other, and to God. They weren’t listening to each other or being very kind, and instead they were arrogant, boastful, and self-serving. In this weekend’s passage we will see how James warns that those baser ways are actually motivated by earthly wisdom, which, as it turns out, isn’t very wise at all. James offers an alternative wisdom, one from Above, characterized by good fruits! Join us this weekend as we ponder this ancient lesson on wisdom and see how it might shed light on disunity in our own place and times.
CLICK HERE for a transcript of this week's sermon.
CLICK HERE for this week's Discussion Guide.
Wrangling Over Words
Sunday, September 16, 2018
Words, words, words, the world is filled with words! But words make things happen. They are utterly powerful. The ancient Hebrews regarded every little guttural sound in concrete terms. To speak a word was to create a unit of energy with powers all its own and then loose it in the world. Once this energy was uttered, the Hebrews felt it became a separate entity much like a bullet or an arrow that went on its way to do what it would in the world.
Isaiah 55:11, “So shall my word be that goes forth from my mouth; it shall not return to me void, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and prosper in the things for which I sent it.” In Genesis 1 & 2, words are the means of God’s creative activity. Things happen as a result of God’s speaking. Out of God’s mouth words were said and out of nothing all things came into existence. Whether they were human or divine, once spoken they came to possess tremendous power and moved out into the world to make a difference.
CLICK HERE for a transcript of this week's sermon.
CLICK HERE for this week's Discussion Guide.
Living Faith
Sunday, September 09, 2018
Welcome back from all of your summer festivities, St. Lucas! This weekend is Celebration Sunday, when we kick off our upcoming program year, and celebrate being together as a community. Our combined, blended worship, bringing us all together at 10 AM Sunday morning, will focus on the theme of ‘Living Faith.’ We will explore two texts; one from the Gospel of Mark and one from the book of James. We will be tracing a line of sorts. Jesus’ life serves as the example we disciples seek to follow. First we will look at Mark’s telling of a story from Jesus’ life, then we will see how the early church sought to follow in James, which will speak something to us regarding where Christ seeks to lead we 21st Century disciples who are seeking to live out our faith in the here and now. I hope you’ll join us to explore living faith with us.
CLICK HERE for a transcript of this week's sermon.
CLICK HERE for this week's Discussion Guide.
Converting our Careers
Sunday, September 02, 2018
The book of James bounced around on the fringes of acceptability for several centuries before it was finally admitted into the canon of Scripture. Why? Because there’s little in it that resembles what had come to be expected of the “Holy Bible.” There’s almost no mention of Christ. There are no theological pronouncements of any depth and there’s only the practical wisdom about the simplicity of living the faith. The problem with James is its simplicity. James doesn’t mince words. Instead, the words of James are simple and challenging and leave little room for confusion. Put simply, James is a Bible for bottom-line believers.
So how does James have anything to do with Labor Day? The book of James is deeply interested in what happens in our lives whenever we try to separate our Christian faith from the routine of daily life. The message of James is written for those who live and work in the workplace. James is a streamlined, pocket-version of the Christian life that’s meant to be carried with you outside the walls of this church to a world that needs to feel the heartbeat of God through the lived experience of a committed believer in Jesus.
CLICK HERE for a transcript of this week's sermon.
CLICK HERE for this week's Discussion Guide.
Is It More or Is It Less?
Sunday, August 26, 2018
John’s gospel seems to be saying: “Christ offers you the gracious gift of life. What will you do now?” What choice will you make in response to that? It’s a probing and direct question of the type that makes us uncomfortable. When Christ presents a succulent serving of grace and nourishment, its rich aromas tingle in our nostrils. What do we do in response to that?
Do we turn up our noses and turn away or are we drawn closer? Do we put a clothespin over our noses and resolutely refuse to have any? Or do we breathe it all in and enjoy the tantalizing savor that comes when we allow the food to move us to hunger and desire?
It’s either cookbooks or diet books in our response to God. Is it more or is it less?
CLICK HERE for a transcript of this week's sermon.
CLICK HERE for this week's Discussion Guide.
The Feast of "I Am"
Sunday, August 19, 2018
Those crazy first century Christians were confounding to the rest of the world. Both Jews and Gentiles (i.e., non-Jews) were mystified by the early church’s holy habits from baptism to communion and the laying on of hands; all intriguing rituals but cause for wonder.
At the heart of the mystery was Jesus’ expectation that followers would eat his flesh and drink his blood. That’s the problem with metaphors. They’re tricky ways of dealing with divine mysteries that are deeper than our literal thinking. You may not like the idea that the Bible uses metaphors in place of literalism, but when Jesus speaks about eating his flesh and drinking his blood, I’m not sure what other choice you have. Let’s see if we can figure out how to internalize Jesus in our everyday lives in a way that would give meaning to his challenge.
CLICK HERE for a transcript of this week's sermon.
CLICK HERE for this week's Discussion Guide.
Believing
Sunday, August 12, 2018
In the Gospel of John, the verb "believe" appears almost 100 times. That’s more than in all of Matthew, Mark, and Luke combined. How come, I wonder? What was it about believing that was so significant to the Apostle John and what is it about believing that is still so significant to our discipleship today? In this weekend’s passage, Jesus finds himself among some locals that are struggling to believe in what he has to say. Jesus tells them, “I am the Bread of Life, come down from Heaven," but they aren’t convinced. "Isn’t that Joseph and Mary’s son," they ask. We know him! How can he say that he came down from heaven?
Believing is not just central to this story, or even this Gospel, but is central to our faith as well. Christians are known as believers, for example, and our Apostles' Creed begins, “I believe...” But what does it really mean to believe that Jesus is the Bread of Heaven? Jesus says it means that we will live forever, and never be hungry or thirsty. Do you believe him? Whether you deeply do, or whether you have some doubts, know that you are welcome to join us for worship this weekend as we dig deeper into this sacred text.
CLICK HERE for a transcript of this week's sermon.
2018 Youth Mission Trip
Sunday, August 05, 2018
St. Lucas Youth Missions Planning Team Selected Frakes/Henderson Settlement back in September of 2017 to be our partner agency in Mission this summer of 2018. We selected this agency and area of the country as it provided a unique and distinct Mission experience for our youth of the St. Lucas Community. This Summer our youth and participants immerses themselves into a completely different kind of "Mission!"
Rather than serving in a major metropolitan area like last year, we were in the "hollers and hills" of Appalachia performing physical labor projects and learning the unique issues that brought the families and communities in the area to the situations of poverty and lack of access to education/resources they still find themselves in today. We provided basic home repairs for community members, constructed fences for the community farm, flooring repairs, roofing repairs and much more!
Our hope was to bring joy, love and kindness to our work in Henderson and as well, bring back a better understanding of the stories of faith and hope in a beautiful part of our country (people and countryside!) God Bless our 65 Youth and Adults heading to Henderson Settlement in Frakes, Kentucky! Thank you for keeping us in your prayers for safe travel, joyful community connections, and a better sense of call from God to serve as hands and feet in Kentucky!
More Than Enough
Sunday, July 29, 2018
We will be considering two different texts this weekend: the feeding of the 5 thousand from John and an Old Testament parallel from 2 Kings. In both stories, the people present see the food they have as being insufficient, but the prophet and Jesus see something else. Where we might see impossibility and scarcity, they both saw possibility and abundance, and in both cases the hungry are fed.
So are we seeing scarcity where truly possibility and abundance exist by God’s hand? Additionally, the Gospel connects to the King’s text and the Exodus story as a way of showing the continuity of God’s activity over time, often represented by a prophet in the midst of humanity. So where are the prophets now, and where do we see God’s continued activity in the midst of humanity to bring abundance?
This weekend we will ponder this question, and, who knows, maybe you’ll hear a story or two from my recent travels.
CLICK HERE for a transcript of this week's sermon.
CLICK HERE for this week's Discussion Guide.
Come Away and Rest for a While
Sunday, July 22, 2018
I was a campus minister for four years right out of seminary for two community colleges south of Houston. Our main student gatherings were typically a lunch meeting held in a reserved classroom where our students would come for a light lunch or even a hot meal plus fellowship and inspiration.
Sharing a meal is a terrific way to create and nurture Christian identify as a form of table fellowship that feeds the body and the soul. With two campuses to feed every week, I depended on the goodness of a partnership with the generous local congregations who brought food to serve. One day, I figured I had helped organize nearly 300 luncheons to feed students and to build the Christian fellowship on campus. Of course “I” didn’t do much, other than calling my generous friends in the area churches to partner with our ministry, perhaps in the same way Jesus did not “feed the 5000” but told his disciples, “you feed them.”
Those following Jesus were hungry. They followed him not for the meal he might serve but for the life he served up to hungry souls. We are God’s servants and the needs of those around us are obvious and our mission of serving God in the world is our calling.
CLICK HERE for a transcript of this week's sermon.
CLICK HERE for this week's Discussion Guide.
Strong and Tender
Sunday, July 15, 2018
Our Scripture for the weekend is more like a summer horror movie. This is a flashback memory of a birthday party in which Herod invited a group of his friends for a dinner party. The backstory is given to us first as we’re told that Herod actually liked John even though John condemned Herod marrying his brother’s wife. A public condemnation of that put John in prison and the result was John was beheaded.
We’ve seen the violence of beheadings in the Middle East in modern times and it’s a grisly form of death. Herod didn’t want to do this but he painted himself into a corner with pride and didn't want to reverse himself. His servants went down to the prison cell, cut off his head, and brought it back to the party on a platter, like so many other courses in the dinner. I suppose the partiers slinked out after that and the party fizzled.
The disciples came to pick up what was left of John to bury him. All this is told as a backdrop to what Jesus was doing at the time as he traveled around the countryside preaching and healing. What a sad shadow to fall upon him…
CLICK HERE for a transcript of this week's sermon.
CLICK HERE for this week's Discussion Guide.
Hometown Boy
Sunday, July 08, 2018
Jesus was a grown man when he launched his ministry of teaching. Most scholars believe he was about 30 when he left Nazareth to go about the region teaching. That’s probably a good age to begin preaching. Preaching is a lot like the making of good wine, as time in the bottle fermenting and the reflection about life is the process that gives wine, and preaching, its body.
Jesus had an internalized dream about his life and ministry. He had a sense of who he was and a sense of what his life was about. In short, he had a calling. Mark tells the story of Jesus reading scripture in his hometown synagogue. When Jesus read the scriptures that day in the Synagogue, he was declaring in the words he read that he knew who he was and he knew what his mission in the world was to be. When they questioned him, he couldn’t believe the hardness of their hearts. This story cites that Jesus’ power was stifled by their disbelief. Even God’s great power can be shut down by unbelief.
CLICK HERE for a transcript of this week's sermon.
CLICK HERE for this week's Discussion Guide.
What's the Point?
Sunday, July 01, 2018
Mark 5: 21-43 is a story of two healings for people of two entirely different locations, social situations, and circumstances. A woman who has been suffering “hemorrhages” for 12 years finds herself healed by simply touching Jesus’ cloak and a 12-year-old girl, the daughter of a leader of the synagogue, is resurrected from the dead.
We are people of faith and we know quite well from our own experiences that healing doesn’t always come when we pray for it. Many of us, if not all, have suffered losses of loved ones to illness. Many of us have said prayers for resurrection or rejuvenation that were not answered. Our faith has not always made us or a loved one well. I do not believe that has anything to do with the depth of our faith, or lack thereof. Perhaps it’s about the amount of authority we grant Jesus in our own lives. Perhaps it’s something else. Let’s see what we can find.
CLICK HERE for a transcript of this week's sermon.
CLICK HERE for this week's Discussion Guide.
Sitting at the Ready
Sunday, June 24, 2018
This is the final celebration for Shipwrecked, the 2018 Vacation Bible School at St. Lucas. The children and staff were rescued by Jesus from being Shipwrecked together. Whenever you feel lonely, worried, or powerless, Jesus comes to the rescue.
As we mature in our faith sometimes the “awe-someness” of God becomes common. Catch the kids enthusiasm!
Seeds of the Invasive Kingdom
Sunday, June 17, 2018
This week we continue our journey through the Gospel of Mark and find him teaching about the Kingdom of God in parables. The parables he uses speak of seeds being planted, branches growing large and lush providing shelter to God’s creatures, and harvests of grain providing food. So what do these parables reveal about God’s Kingdom? How do these parables illumine our paths as we seek to walk in the way of Jesus?
This weekend we will seek to answer these questions, but we will also have a special guest with us. Michelle Studer, a social worker at the Lindbergh School District with whom we’ve been working closely on a few projects, will be with us. We will be doing a unique dialogical sermon and having a conversation that will help us to connect these texts with God’s call on our lives.
CLICK HERE for a transcript of this week's sermon.
CLICK HERE for this week's Discussion Guide.
Something to Chew On
Sunday, June 10, 2018
This summer, as we "Walk this Way" through the Gospel of Mark, we'll pick up on some of the literary characteristics of its author. Mark's gospel is action packed, and as a story teller, Mark likes to assemble the actions together in a particular way. Theologians have described this as the "Markan Sandwich." In other words, Mark assembles his narrative layering action upon action, in triplicate, as one would assemble a sandwich.
In this week's passage, the actions are quite dramatic. In the first layer, we have Jesus' own family, shaking their heads at him. They just don't know what to do with Jesus! (And they say he's out of his mind.) In the next layer of the story, the religious leaders come onto the scene with their own accusations of Jesus – that he must be possessed! Demonic even! Then in the third layer, Jesus shares a parable with the crowd challenging them to consider what happens when we turn our backs on the work of the Holy Spirit.
This sandwich Mark serves us isn't necessarily an easy bite to swallow – after all, we'll read about Satan and Beelzebul and the notion of an "unforgivable sin". But we'll chew on this one together and consider its ancient meaning in light of our hunger today.
CLICK HERE for a transcript of this week's sermon.
CLICK HERE for this week's Discussion Guide.
Jesus the Provocateur
Sunday, June 03, 2018
Living the itinerant life was not easy. Following Jesus was a case of living a nearly vagrant life as they were always on the go, always moving from place to place. Living the Jesus life meant one never knew where the next meal might come from, and when you slept, you slept wherever you could, sometimes indoors and other times out in the open. Following Jesus meant you packed light!
Crossing a field on the Sabbath (it was the Sabbath? Easy to lose track of the days when you live a homeless life), Jesus reached down and pulled on the grain stalk to pluck the grain to eat. Eating out with Jesus could be like this. Of course the pious were offended at the blatant disregard for the Sabbath laws. What to do? Hunger makes beggars out of anyone. Following Jesus might make you a rule breaker too.
CLICK HERE for a transcript of this past weekend's sermon.
CLICK HERE for this week's Discussion Guide.
Seeing the World through Windows and Mirrors
Sunday, May 27, 2018
Transformational futurist Alvin Toffler claimed things in the realm of the spirit could not be more vital. In a time of unprecedented change, there’s a surge of spirituality in our world. But this new hunger for the spiritual doesn’t necessarily translate into Sunday morning church attendance. More often than not, it doesn’t. That’s the first paradox for today. Things of the Spirit are more important than ever and traditional churches don’t reflect that with stagnant growth and lower attendance.
What does it take to live a transformed life in the Spirit? I believe we’re all trying to equalize a necessary balance of our inner and outer worlds. One must follow their curiosity and seek the realm of the Spirit. The irony is that it doesn’t happen simply because you walk into the church house and plop yourself down in a pew. Singing the worship songs and listening to a sermon won’t make it happen as much as we hope it would. The gateway to the Spirit is in you and not dependent upon anything happening around you, as religious as our services might be. We go to church for inspiration and focus; we go for friendship and fellowship; we go to work together on Kingdom projects of mission. The work of the Spirit occurs whenever we approach God hoping God will come near.
This weekend, we’ll use Nicodemus’ night visit to Jesus as a model of transformation. Who knows? Perhaps he’ll help us find the path to God.
CLICK HERE for a transcript of this weekend's sermon.
CLICK HERE for this week's Discussion Guide.
Re-Creation
Sunday, May 20, 2018
This weekend we will be celebrating Pentecost, which is observed as the Church’s birthday; a remembrance of the day God’s Spirit was gifted to the first apostles after the ascension of Jesus Christ and the Church began to form.
This year, our Pentecost celebration is full of signs of the continuing work of the Spirit among us here at St. Lucas. We will explore two scriptures, Ezekiel’s valley of dry bones and the Pentecost story from Acts 2, which both reveal how God through the Spirit draws together what once was separate and animates movement in the newly formed body for God’s purposes. We will embody such movement as we accept new members who have been drawn by the Spirit into this body of St. Lucas, and as the confirmands join us in communion for the first time, embodying that they too are a part of the Body of Christ at St. Lucas. At our 11 AM worship service, Brad Bauer will share his ongoing journey of healing and restoration from a severe spinal injury that happened just over a year ago. His story, too, reveals something of the Spirit’s movement in our midst.
CLICK HERE for a manuscript of this week's sermon.
CLICK HERE for this week's Discussion Guide.
Apply Within
Sunday, May 13, 2018
Our scripture this weekend comes out of the first chapter of the Book of Acts. At this point in our Holy Story, Jesus has already ascended into heaven leaving but mere mortals to carry on his divine legacy. Indeed, there was much work to be done in those early, early days, so early into the Jesus Movement in fact, that even the day of Pentecost has not yet come to pass. It's in the aftermath of Jesus' crucifixion, that the disciples find themselves with a sort of personnel matter on their hands. Judas, who betrayed Jesus, is dead, leaving just 11 apostles and 1 job opening among the 12. The writer of Acts, Luke the Evangelist, provides many details about that vacancy, the qualifications required, and the two candidates seeking the job. Join us as we ponder this ancient HR matter and recall times in our own lives when we were given consideration for something of great importance.
CLICK HERE for a transcript of this week's sermon.
CLICK HERE for this week's Discussion Guide.
The Yoke of Friendship
Sunday, May 06, 2018
This weekend’s theme? Friendship with God. The proverbial “old preacher” ended his startling sermon on this text with advice: “If you find yourself being drawn into the inner circle of the friends of God, blessed are you. But pray for the strength to bear the burden of it.”
Hear Jesus’ words in John 15 as they were offered to his disciples as he neared the end. Hear the words as the plaintive aching of the heart as Jesus knew what lay ahead for himself and for them. Hear them as the intimate words of one who had gave them the gift of his friendship as they acted and lived as servants of God.
CLICK HERE for a transcript of this week's sermon.
CLICK HERE for this week's Discussion Guide.
Belonging, Behaving, Believing
Sunday, April 29, 2018
Two Thousand years ago, a man took a 1500 mile trip from somewhere in Ethiopia to Jerusalem in his chariot. This was a very long road trip, but his was a fine chariot, a very fine indeed! In this Sunday's sermon, we will explore why his journey is important to us here and now.
**We have no recording of this weekend's sermon. Please click on the sermon manuscript below to review!**
CLICK HERE for a manuscript of this weekend's sermon.
CLICK HERE for this week's Discussion Guide.
The Simple Gospel
Saturday, April 21, 2018
In John’s Easter faith, he helps us understand that all of us need to hear and re-hear the simple things about faith. We all need a refresher course that calls to mind things that earlier in our faith dazzled us with insight and meaning. In this letter of John, he takes the two large ideas of 'Love' and 'Faith' and plays them off each other as if they are two moons circling in independent orbits. John’s interest is in making sure that we make the connections between the two. He wants us to understand that they demonstrate their relationship to each in the practical ways in which we live.
CLICK HERE for a transcript of this week's sermon.
CLICK HERE for this week's Discussion Guide.
Hope on the Road
Sunday, April 15, 2018
This week we continue our journey through the season of Easter and the celebration of Jesus’ resurrection by digging into the story of the resurrection appearance to two disciples on the road to Emmaus. This story is rich with emotion, drama, and mystery and it inspires at least a couple of questions. Have we experienced the accompaniment of Christ on our own journeys? Where have we seen and experienced the risen Christ in our midst, maybe even in surprising ways? I hope to see you this weekend as we ponder these and other questions, and continue to look for Christ, who is still alive and loose in the world.
CLICK HERE for a transcript of this week's sermon.
CLICK HERE for this week's Discussion Guide.
The Spirit Connection
Sunday, April 08, 2018
The Easter story begins and ends in a tomb. It begins with the story of Jesus’ betrayal and cruel death. They laid his lifeless body in a borrowed tomb and rolled a huge stone over its entrance to seal it. There he lay for three days in the damp darkness of the tomb until resurrection dawned on Easter morning. But that’s not the only tomb opened on that first day. Besides the tomb where Jesus’ body was placed, there was also the tomb where the disciples hid themselves. The disciples locked themselves in a room because they were frightened and the resurrection power had not given them the courage to tell the story of the Jesus to the world. That’s where Jesus found them the evening of that first day alive from the dead. Imagine that, Jesus had to break out of one tomb and into another to get his message out into the world!
CLICK HERE for a transcript of this week's sermon!
CLICK HERE for this week's Discussion Guide!
The First Importance
Sunday, April 01, 2018
A few weeks before Jesus’ own death, his good friend Lazarus died. Arriving too late to heal him, Jesus faced his own grief (“Jesus wept”), then he called him forth from the tomb. Lazarus had the first-hand experience of dying and then of being the first sample of the resurrection. What would it have been like to go through the door of death, only to have been brought back from death? We know the mystery of death has been answered in the resurrection. Jesus is “the first fruits” of life beyond the power of death.
CLICK HERE for a transcript of this week's sermon.
CLICK HERE for this week's Discussion Guide.
No Turning Back
Sunday, March 25, 2018
This weekend we will be celebrating the Liturgy of the Palms, remembering when Jesus and those who followed him processed into Jerusalem. To think about this event and its potential meaning(s) for us, we will explore both Psalm 118: 1-2, 19-29 and Mark 11: 1-11. Mark’s account of the Triumphal Entry draws upon Psalm 118, and in so doing communicates something to us about who Jesus is, what he is doing in this moment, what it meant for those who were following him, and what it means for us now. For example, we often echo the cry of Hosanna on Palm Sunday as they do in the Gospel text, but it is the language of the psalm as well. Hosanna literally means, ’Save us, we beseech you.’ So why is this being said during the entry into Jerusalem? What were they hoping to be saved from?
For a transcript of this weekend's sermon, CLICK HERE.
For this week's Discussion Guide, CLICK HERE.
#MeToo
Sunday, March 18, 2018
This is the age of #MeToo, a time when the debt for sexual harassment is called to account. Psalm 51 is the poetry of pain and the poet begs for God’s forgiveness and restitution because the psalmist has been caught in the web of his lies and there’s no place to hide. Not from his friends because they all know. Not from his countrymen because the king has been the center of rumors for weeks. Not from his wife because she knows even though no one has the heart to talk to her about it. Most assuredly not from God who knows all our secrets no matter how hard we try to hide them. The poetry is in the pain, something that oozes from the very pores of the psalm.
It’s in that moment of recognition that David launched himself on the truth of God’s forgiveness, exhausted from all his efforts in keeping his sins as secrets. What he discovered was God’s steadfast love and abundant mercy.
CLICK HERE for this week's Discussion Guide.
Marking Sacred Time
Sunday, March 11, 2018
We live and we love. We struggle mightily and on occasion we face terrible circumstances that leave indelible marks on our souls. But we do all this in relation to the great love of God and thus we make and mark such experiences as sacred. We come to believe all time is sacred time and all experiences are sacred experiences because God is with us helping us redeem it all as a part of “a life lived with God.”
CLICK HERE for this week's Discussion Guide.
Humility in the Face of God's Glory
Sunday, March 04, 2018
Jesus’ ministry of teaching and living the kingdom of God was built on a foundation of personal humility allowing the power of God to challenge all the ways in which we cling to our need to be in the center of all things. Humility is not only a posture of being, but also a way of seeing.
CLICK HERE for this week's Discussion Guide.
Always Close
Sunday, February 25, 2018
What is it you do that helps ground you in the faith while at the same time riding through the storms of pain or anxiety? How do you stay connected to the moorings of your faith while the storms rage fiercely around you? In moments like that, we become like little children who speak loudly into the darkness because we’re afraid. Maybe that kind of faith is the most sincere faith we can know.
Building the Kingdom From the Ground Up
Sunday, February 18, 2018
The season of Lent is pointed at anticipation and waiting. It’s a spiritual time of watching and waiting that’s needed if we’re to exhale all the world’s junk in our lives and to set the direction our lives need to take.
Giving Up for God
Wednesday, February 14, 2018
What are you giving up for lent? Here is a list of some of the things we are thinking about.
• I choose to give up guilt, fear and envy
• I choose to give up the need to please everyone
• I choose to give up the fear of failing and feelings of unworthiness
• I choose to give up doubt and self-pity and excuses
Hanging On
Sunday, February 11, 2018
Throughout our lives we’ve known people that we couldn’t get enough of. In similar fashion, we may have had experiences of the Divine as well; moments in which we simply wanted to remain. In each instance, we just want to keep hanging on. Alas, time marches on and so must we, but all of these people and experiences stay with us and serve a purpose as we move into an unknown future.
Jesus Heals the Many
Sunday, February 04, 2018
Jesus heals many and then goes on to the next town to heal many more. He just keeps on trucking. Let's take a cue from Christ our exemplar as we learn together about how to transform so many troubles into so many blessings.
The Power to Do
Sunday, January 28, 2018
“A day in the life of Jesus in Capernaum” is told in such an undecorated way that begins with the telling of Jesus’ moving about, headed in this direction or that, preaching and teaching here or there, doing all the things we might expect of him in his daily activities as the populist peasant-teacher he was becoming. When out of the blue, an interruption occurs and Jesus’ schedule is disrupted.
The Way of Love
Sunday, January 21, 2018
Jesus challenged our limited definitions of love by offering himself as friend and companion to persons most of us would have trouble accepting. And it’s to this world he called us to “follow” in order that we might fish for men and women knowing we are called by God to do so. The command to love is what “fishing for people” is all about, isn’t it?
Beginning Anew
Sunday, January 14, 2018
God’s change is shocking to those enjoying special privileges and filled with hope for those suffering. Change is like that. When you are the one initiating it, it’s great. When you are the one who’s life is turned upside down, not so much. A great deal of what we see still depends on what we’re looking for. Let ‘s look for God’s hope and future together.
Your Light Has Come
Sunday, January 07, 2018
“What child is this?” the classic Christmas hymn asks. As we move from the season of Christmas into Epiphany, we begin to seek answers to that question. Epiphany is about revelation. Like the classic image of a lightbulb coming on in the mind, this great light has come into the world, disrupting the darkness, but what is revealed in its gleaming? Who is this Jesus and what will he show us?
More Than He Wanted to Know
Sunday, December 31, 2017
New Year's Eve Service at St. Lucas UCC
Making a Home Where There Is No Home
Monday, December 25, 2017
Christmas Service at St. Lucas UCC
Into the Common
Sunday, December 24, 2017
All God needed was an uncommonly common young girl who was willing to say yes to God. She put herself in God’s mighty hands and a child was born and God entered the world just like every other baby before or since.
God With Us
Sunday, December 24, 2017
All God needed was an uncommonly common young girl who was willing to say yes to God. She put herself in God’s mighty hands and a child was born and God entered the world just like every other baby before or since.
Born of Mary
Sunday, December 17, 2017
Mary, upon having the news of her pregnancy confirmed with Elizabeth, sings with sheer joy. It is not just a joy for what the God of great surprises is doing in her life, but also for what her pregnancy says about God, and what this coming child will mean for the world.
Grieving Mass Shootings
Thursday, December 14, 2017
Amid mass shootings occurring in schools, theaters, and even sanctuaries of faith, resignation to fear and hopelessness may be tempting. How do we, as a people following the path of Christ, move beyond these feelings?
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