life Archives - St. Peter's Lutheran Church

Hope in the Face of Death

I know we often lose, and that the death or destruction of another is infinitely more real and unbearable than one’s own. I think I know how many times one has to start again, and how often one feels that one cannot start again. And yet, on pain of death, one can never remain where…

Crown of Thorns

And they clothed him in a purple cloak; and after twistingsome thorns into a crown, they put it on him. Mark 15:17 (NRSV) It is just a few metal rods … an unadorned base … and what looks to me like a piston ring housing for a small motor, that has been cut into pieces. …

Death is Not the Final Word

Some of you know I am a bit of a poetry junkie. I subscribe to a couple of poetry blogs … The Writer’s Almanac … Panhala … Poem of the Week. They are all different. The Writer’s Almanac is my favorite, as it has the widest breadth of poems from classic to modern, from rhythmic…

Licorice, Death, and Life

New Day Sermon Lent 5 There’s a rhythm to our reality where death leads to life. Jesus reminds us that to really know life, something needs to die. How is Jesus inviting you to die?

What is forgiveness?

New Day Sermon Pentecost 15 As Christians, we speak about it all the time, and we know we should do it, but what really is forgiveness?

Seeing the Glory of God

New Day Sermon LENT 5 Can we see the glory of God through the person of Lazarus, fresh from the tomb with scraps of his burial cloths clinging to his arms? Can we see the miracle worker beyond the miracle itself?

Advent 1

New Day Sermon For a child has been born for us, a son given to us; authority rests upon his shoulders; and he is named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Isaiah 9:6 The Message translates the title “Prince of Peace” as “Prince of Wholeness.” What does it mean that our Savior who…

Are you active or passive?

Traditional Sermon, Pentecost 3 This past Monday you may recall that the church office was closed for Memorial Day, and I took the opportunity to travel to a baseball game with my family. The day was spent watching America’s pastime, navigating a toddler through a stadium and seeing David Ortiz hit a home run. It…