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Time after Pentecost • Lectionary 17—July 26, 2015
Preacher: Pastor Jeff Lilley
Lessons: 2 Kings 4:42–44 | Psalm 145:10–18 | Ephesians 3:14–21 | John 6:1–21
Summary: In today’s Gospel, Jesus feeds the crowd with five loaves and two fishes. The whole story revolves around the compassion Christ had for people who were strangers. There are lots of hungry people around us, and we hear a lot about compassion fatigue. How will we as Christians live out the compassion Jesus shows in this story.
Time after Pentecost • Lectionary 16—July 19, 2015
Preacher: Pastor Jeff Lilley
Lessons: Jeremiah 23:1–6 | Psalm 23 | Ephesians 2:11–22 | Mark 6:30–34, 53–56
Summary: In last week’s Gospel, Jesus sends out the disciples to preach and minister, and this week they come back and Jesus takes them to a deserted place, but people crowd around for healing. Jesus understands the importance of rest and recovery, but Jesus also understands his calling to holy work. These days Americans work more hours than most other countries, and it is hard to balance work and rest. May we each balance our lives with holy work and holy rest.
Time after Pentecost • Lectionary 15—July 12, 2015
Preacher: Pastor Jeff Lilley
Lessons: Amos 7:7–15 | Psalm 85:8–13 | Ephesians 1:3–14 | Mark 6:14–29
Summary: In today’s first lesson, Amos shows the people of Israel the plumb line of God’s judgment, but they chose to follow their own standards and ended up in exile. Too often these days, we want to use ourselves as the standard. But to work, a plumb line must be external to the thing being constructed. The greatest plumb line of all is the gift of God in love.
Time after Pentecost • Lectionary 14—July 5, 2015
Preacher: Pastor Jeff Lilley
Lessons: Ezekiel 2:1–5 | Psalm 123 | 2 Corinthians 12:2–10 | Mark 6:1–13
Summary: In today’s Gospel, Jesus is in his hometown, but he can’t do much there, so he sends the disciples out to teach and heal in other towns. They are untrained and take nothing with them. These days we turn the ministry over to the professionals and sit comfortably and complacently in our home congregations, and very little happens. Like the disciples, we are not fully prepared and don’t have everything we need, but Jesus calls us to go, preach God’s word, and share God’s love.
Time after Pentecost • Lectionary 13—June 28, 2015
Preacher: Pastor Jeff Lilley
Lessons: Lamentations 3:22–33 | Psalm 30 | 2 Corinthians 8:7–15 | Mark 5:21–43
Summary: Today we engage with a strange Gospel story and with the strange happenings of recent weeks. The ELCA’s connections with the recent shootings in Charleston have led some to wonder what kind of church we are. We are a church centered on grace. Like the the two people in today’s Gospel that Jesus heals of their deepest hurts, we are embraced by grace. And we are called to live that grace every moment of our lives so that we can be agents of God’s justice and healing.
Time after Pentecost • Lectionary 12—June 21, 2015
Preacher: Pastor Jeff Lilley
Lessons: Job 38:1–11 | Psalm 107:1–3, 23–32 | 2 Corinthians 6:1–13 | Mark 4:35–41
Summary: We love this story about Jesus calming the sea, but we may miss the fact that Jesus and the disciples are one their way to the other side of the sea. They are going from ministry at home to the other side of the sea to minister to the Gentiles. It’s much easier for us to stay where we are, but we are called to go to the other side. How will we make that crossing?
Time after Pentecost • Lectionary 11—June 14, 2015
Preacher: Pastor Jeff Lilley
Lessons: Ezekiel 17:22–24 | Psalm 92:1–4, 12–15 | 2 Corinthians 5:6–17 | Mark 4:26–34
Summary: The descriptions of the kingdom of God in today’s Gospel do not fit well with popular images of heaven. They include chaotic sewing of seeds and invasive weeds. This invasive weed gets into our lives and draws outside ourselves. What kingdom seeds are growing in you?
Time after Pentecost • Lectionary 10—June 7, 2015
Preacher: Pastor Jeff Lilley
Lessons: Genesis 3:8–15 | Psalm 130 | 2 Corinthians 4:13—5:1 | Mark 3:20–35
Summary: Today’s lessons lead us to ask just who is our family. The definition of family has changed over the centuries and even more in recent years. Jesus tells us that the focus for family is on God’s love and doing the will of God. Paul comes to understand that Gentiles are also part of the family. We are called to open our minds to God’s expanding view of the body of Christ.
Trinity Sunday—May 31, 2015
Preacher: Pastor Jeff Lilley
Lessons: Isaiah 6:1–8 | Psalm 29 | Romans 8:12–17 | John 3:1–17
Summary: This Trinity Sunday I want to focus on the Holy Spirit. We Lutherans can be uncomfortable with the work of Spirit, symbolized by a rushing wind that refuses to be boxed in. We like the quiet and gentle wind of the Spirit, but that same Spirit blows us where we may not be ready to go and pulls us into new relationships. We cannot know what it will look like or how it will end, but we know that the Spirit is at work and is with us.