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Advent 3 · Zephaniah 3:14-20 · December 13, 2009
By Gerhard Bode Throughout the Church Year the church rejoices in the gracious coming of Christ to itself in the Word of God and in the sacraments. Yet during the season of Advent…
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"A Serious Man": the Coen brothers’ retelling of Job
I recently saw A Serious Man, the Coen brothers new film, at the Tivoli. In between an opening prologue of a Yiddish folk tale and a truly stunning ending is the story…
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Advent 2 · Malachi 3:1-7b · December 6, 2009
By Wallace Becker This is the Old Testament reading for Advent 2. “He comes.” Prepare for his coming. The reading from Malachi says that God will send his messenger to prepare the way…
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Public confession as "atonement": Mark McGwire, Andre Agassi, and now Tiger Woods
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…
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Advent 1 · Jeremiah 33:14-16 · November 29, 2009
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…
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Proper 29 · Mark 13:24-37 · November 22, 2009
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…
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The Velvet Revolution, Vaclav Havel, and Stanley Hauerwas…20 years later
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…
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Proper 28 · Mark 13:1-10 · November 15, 2009
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…
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Proper 27 · Mark 12:38-44 · November 8, 2009
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…
