Sermon text: Genesis 9: 8-17 Months ago, a curious phrase kept popping up in conversations—the phrase was “cancel culture.”  Usually, the remark was something along the lines of “I’m so sick of cancel culture.”  Often, this remark accompanied a complaint about some activity that was being postponed or lost entirely due to the pandemic.  Sporting…

Sermon text: Psalm 51 Consumer culture has had massive success with the Church’s two major holidays—Christmas has Santa Claus and Easter has the Easter Bunny—but they haven’t quite figured out a way to sell Ash Wednesday.  No, the church gets to keep this one all to ourselves.  You won’t find Ash Wednesday storewide sales or…

Sermon text: Mark 9: 2-9 Every three years the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America pulls off a minor miracle; they host the National Youth Gathering.  I’ve attended three of these events and I truly believe the Youth Gatherings are one of the best ministries of our national church body.  These events provide extremely memorable experiences…

Sermon text: Mark 1: 29-39 In modern day Capernaum there is an odd-looking church, St. Peter’s Church, a Catholic Church, and it is elevated off of the ground, above the excavated remains of the ancient city.  The architecture reminded me of a spaceship floating in the air, a UFO, and in the center, instead of…