Will he talk or won’t he? It’s a question St. Louis sports fans have been talking about for weeks now. The “he” in question is the new hitting coach for the baseball…
By Joel D. Biermann Thoughts from the text So, it begins again: another church year, another Advent, another Christmas shopping season, another winter … another time of waiting. Waiting through the dark days…
By Joel D Biermann Considerations in relation to the text 1. There is no doubt about the theme for this Sunday’s text. Every Scripture reading for the last two weeks has been…
The New York Times did a nice retrospective yesterday on Czechoslovakia’s Velvet Revolution on its 20th anniversary. I was 15 years old when the Berlin Wall fell along with all the other…
By Timothy P. Dost Introduction In this text Jesus encourages his disciples—and us—to look not to present things, no matter how externally impressive, but rather to find our hope in Christ, who has…
By Rick Marrs Several years ago, the parish I was serving invited the District’s Mission/Stewardship Executive to preach for our “New Consecration Sunday.” He surprised the congregation with this opening: “Sometimes Christians ask…
By Jeff Gibbs I would suggest that the preacher not try to “cover” the entirety of the Beatitudes; there’s too much here! For a relatively lengthy exposition, see Gibbs, Matthew 1:1-11:1 (CPH, 2006),…
This morning, American Public Media’s “Speaking of Faith” replayed an interview with the late, great Jaroslav Pelikan on creeds and how they function within religious belief. Excellent stuff.
By William W. Schumacher The assignment of this text for the festival of the Reformation suggests the question: Was the Lutheran Reformation about freedom? Luther’s famous early work, “The Freedom of a Christian,”…