Tagunity

A Prayer from Babel

From the start I will admit that this devotion has been shaped by this past Sunday’s Crosspoints adult education class, which tackled the topic of “Exile” using the lens of a short video from The Bible Project. (A plug for this delightful site where two guys, some deep faith, and lots of adept keyboard strikes…

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Easter 7

New Day Sermon Easter 7 We yearn to find unity in our world and in our communities, but as often as not we come up short. As Jesus concluded his high priestly prayer in St. John’s Gospel, he reminded the disciples (and us) that unity is something God gifts to us, since the first days…

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One Love

Traditional Sermon Easter 7 “One love, one heart. Let’s get together and feel all right” Bob Marley friends. Bob Marley. Didn’t think I would ever be singing a reggae tune in worship, but God works in mysterious ways! Bob Marley’s song about unity was written in the midst of great turmoil in his homeland of…

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Easter 7 Preview

“… that they may become completely one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.” -John 17:23 In Sunday’s Gospel lesson from John 17:20-26, Jesus prays for all disciples who follow him. Including us. His prayer is for unity. The unity of…

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Let the Triune God Resolve Divisions

New Day Sermon Pentecost 3 Divisions can cause all kinds of problems. In Mark 3, Jesus says unity is threatened by divisions. A House divided is destined to fall. One can look at fear being a major underlying reason for divisions to surface. One way to resolve divisions is to turn to the Triune God…

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Third Sunday of Pentecost Worship Preview

And looking at those who sat around him, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.” (Mark 3:34) A house divided against itself cannot stand. Jesus makes this observation in light of charges that he is possessed. He is possessed, not…

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A Friendly Invitation

In the fall of 1980, second year seminarians who were returning for classes at what was then the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg, were typically pretty excited.  Because our completion of the first year preaching course, Exegesis to Proclamation, meant that we could now supply preach on Sunday mornings.  In 1980, this part of the…

Easter 7 Preview

I have made your name known to those whom you gave me from the world. They were yours, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. Now they know that everything you have given me is from you; for the words that you gave to me I have given to them,…

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What’s in a Name?

I ask that people make no reference to my name; let them call themselves Christians, not Lutherans. What is Luther? After all, the teaching is not mine. Neither was I crucified for anyone. (Martin Luther, 1522 treatise) The Ethiopian eunuch … I mean really … how often do you get to say those words in…