Jesus from the Sermon on the Mount… “You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘Do not murder (Exodus 20:13), and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother or sister will be subject to judgment. Again, if you…
164 years before the birth of Jesus, the temple in Jerusalem was purified and rededicated after Israel expelled the Seleucid army through the leadership of Judah Macabee. The miracle of Hannukah occurred during the rededication of the temple. When the temple was being purified in 164BC, the priests discovered only one day’s worth of holy…
“ ‘The days are coming,’ declares the Lord, ‘when I will fulfill the gracious promise I made to the house of Israel and to the house of Judah. “ ‘In those days and at that time I will make a righteous Branch sprout from David’s line; he will do what is just and right in…
Jesus said, “So if anyone tells you, ‘There he (the Christ) is, out in the desert,’ do not go out; or, ‘Here he is, in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it. For as lightning that comes from the east is visible even in the west, so will be the coming of the Son of…
Acts 8:32-35 The eunuch was reading this passage of Scripture (from Isaiah 53): “He was led like a sheep to the slaughter, and as a lamb before the shearer is silent, so he did not open his mouth. In his humiliation he was deprived of justice. Who can speak of his descendants? For his life…
One of the most compassionate moments in Jesus’ life happened while he was dying on the cross. The criminal crucified next to Jesus pleaded for God’s mercy when he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” Luke 23:42 At the moment this man begs for grace, he had already admitted to fact…
There are some good reasons I love serving at Community Lutheran Church in Las Vegas, Nevada… See, others are puffed up; their desires are not upright— but the righteous will live by God’s faith— Habakkuk 2:4 We live by faith. Not by hate or anger or cruelty towards others. 2. We are regular people with…
Last week we started a new sermon series on Prayers of the Bible. We are using the petitions of sections of the Lord’s Prayer guide us to look at different prayers that reflect the same themes from the Old Testament. For example, in the opening line of the Lord’s Prayer, (“Our Father who art in…
Yes, a lot of hard things have happened to our immediate family in the past two months. No, I will not list them here. Trust me when I tell you, I do not want to relive or experience the trauma of the “summer of 2025” ever again. Here is what I do know, all things…
Most of you know I am a voting member of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America’s (our church body) churchwide assembly. We gathered in Phoenix, AZ for this important work. The “national church” does its business every three years in an assembly format. In between those three years, the ELCA church council acts on behalf…
