Words of Welcome

  Isaiah 55:10-13; Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23 Every spring I sow grass seed to fix the barren spots in the lawn. Sometimes the seed does its job and grass appears where it’s supposed to appear; but not always. Some of that seed falls on ground that doesn’t want to produce any new grass, no matter what I do to the soil. Then there’s the grass that makes a home in unintended spots, like in the middle of my flower garden. I don’t know if it’s the seeds or the soil, but either one seems to have a mind of its own. In our Gospel reading this morning from Matthew 13, we encounter Jesus sitting in a boat anchored on the Sea of Galilee because a large crowd gathered to hear him teach. This chapter offers us several well-known parables, some of which Pastor Dan is going to explore, along with Matthew’s explanation of why Jesus used parables in his teaching about the kingdom of God. While we often think Jesus used parables to illustrate his sermons because the people could better understand ...

  Psalm 91:1-2, 9-16 Last Sunday we accompanied Jesus up the mountain so he could pray. This Sunday we join Jesus as he goes into the wilderness to fast and pray. During his time in the wilderness, Jesus faces three temptations. Each time he says no to the tempter.  Jesus’ forty-day sojourn in the wilderness serves as the foundation for our Lenten journey. During this season we have the opportunity to look inward and reflect on our relationship with God and one another. I’m drawing my Lenten sermons from the Psalms, which provide us with prayers and songs that speak to our deepest concerns and greatest joys. So whether it’s a song of praise or lament, the Psalms invite us to sing to God from the heart. With this in mind Walter Brueggemann speaks of why we sing as the people of God:   We sing because life is God-given, God-sustained, and God-claimed. Our singing is our glad assent to that God-givenness and refusal to have our lives be less than, more than, or ot...

Trinity Church, Speyer, Germany Organ pipes Psalm 100 When I was growing up in the Episcopal Church, I regularly encountered  Psalm 100 in our worship services. And we knew the Psalm by its Latin title: Jubilate Deo. While the wording was different at points from the NRSV, the message was the same: “make a joyful noise to the Lord.” Although there are times when we need to be still in the presence of the Lord ( Ps. 46:10 ), there are also times when we need to turn up the volume and let loose before the Lord. It might come in the form of song or it might come in the form of dance. Just remember that David danced before the Lord when he brought the Ark of the Covenant into Jerusalem ( 2 Sam. 6:12-15 ). It’s worth noting that this invitation to make a joyful noise before the Lord goes out to the entire world. But here is the question of the hour: Why should we make a joyful noise before the Lord? After all, we’re living in a difficult moment in history. We hav...

Revelation 5:11-14 The Book of Revelation is in many ways a book of worship! In fact, I think it is a call to engage our holy imaginations in the worship of God.  If you’ve read any of the  Chronicles of Narnia  books,  you know that the imagination can have a powerful effect on the way we see spiritual realities. In the best known of these books,  The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe,  Lucy, who is the youngest of four siblings, discovers a pathway into the magical land of Narnia. When Lucy returns from her visit to Narnia, she shares her discovery with her older brother and sister. They dismiss her report as a mere tall tale. When she shows them the wardrobe, all they find is a wardrobe filled with old coats. There is no pathway, no portal, just the wooden back wall of the wardrobe. 

Ephesians 5:15-20 I. The Call to Sing Praises to the Lord Do you know what is great about church? It doesn’t matter whether you’re tone deaf or a professional singer, you get to sing and make melody in your heart to the Lord! In Ephesians we hear this admonition: Be filled with the Spirit and “make melody to the Lord in your hearts, giving thanks to God the Father at all times and for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” The Psalmist also invites us to praise the Lord. Listen to the invitation found in the 150th Psalm, as it appears in The Message: Hallelujah! Praise God in his holy house of worship, Praise him under the open skies; Praise him for his acts of power, praise him for his magnificent greatness; Praise with a blast on the trumpet, Praise by strumming soft strings; Praise him with castanets and dance, Praise him with banjo and flute; Praise him with cymbals and a big bass drum, Praise him with fiddles and mandolin. Let every living, breathi...

Romans 8:22-27 Charles Spurgeon wrote that "any fool can sing in the day. When the cup is full, a person draws inspiration from it." But what happens when night falls and the cup is empty? Spurgeon wrote that when he experienced the "bliss of spiritual liberty," he could climb near the throne of God and "sing as sweet as seraphs." But confine me, fetter my spirit, clip my wings, make me exceedingly sad, so that I become like the old eagle -- ah! then it is hard to sing. In fact, it’s unnatural to sing during times of trouble, except perhaps to sing the blues. But, as Spurgeon wrote: "songs in the night come only from God; they are not in human power."1 I. THE PROMISE OF PENTECOST Today is Pentecost Sunday, the day on which we celebrate the promise, presence, and power of the Holy Spirit. It’s this Spirit who empowers us to sing even during the darkest of nights. It was on the Day of Pentecost that the Holy Spirit fell on an uncert...