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 …
Sermon text: Mark 1: 21-28 There’s no way around this, so I’ll just be blunt: often times I don’t know what to do with demons in scripture. There is something about evil personified, evil that falls out of people and speaks with a voice, that leads me down the path of horror entertainment like The …
Sermon text: Jonah 3: 1-5, 10 This week was an important one, and I’m not talking about the inauguration (more on that in a moment), I’m talking about the two game series between the Pittsburgh Penguins and my Washington Capitals. Go ahead…I’m prepared for your boos and jeers. Also, for all you Penguins fans, congratulations …
Sermon text: 1 Corinthians 6: 12-20 It was a beautiful January morning as I made my long and arduous daily commute between the parsonage and the church. Hollidaysburg was bustling around me as people were commuting to their jobs as well. With my eyes I could see the sun gleaming off of the courthouse clock …
Sermon text: Genesis 1: 1-5 and Mark 1: 4-11 In late May of 2019 we hosted an event at church called Paint and Sweets. One of our members, Tabitha Shimer, donated her time and supplies as she taught 22 people how to paint—specifically how to paint a vase of lilacs. It was a wonderful night, …
Sermon text: John 1: 1-18 Christmas is more than a season, it is a way of life. Now, for many people, I am certain that Christmas is a way of life, at least for the month of December. Can you imagine if Christmas extended beyond January 6—beyond the church’s twelve days, or if it was …
Sermon Text: Luke 2: 22-40 Here we are, on the 27th of December, and much of the world has already moved on from Christmas. I already saw a commercial with a person throwing their tree into a wood chipper, declaring the end of Christmas and 2020. But for the Church, we’re only getting started. Long …