Sermons by Rev. Sherman D. Stenson, Associate Pastor (Page 18)
He Speaks the Truth
Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen. Those of you old enough to remember the Apollo program to land on the moon probably also remember the tragedy of the Apollo I crew: Roger Chaffee, Ed White, and Gus Grissom. They were killed during a routine test on the launch pad at the Kennedy Space Center, when a…
Humble and Willing
Some are great at it. Others are reluctant, even scared. Some bask in the adoration, and enjoy and even feed off the energy they feel from the people. Others just get uncomfortable, and worry about the dangers that might lurk behind all those eyes that are looking them over. “What am I talking about?” you may be wondering. I’m talking about how certain public figures…
Everyone is Looking
Do you ever get the feeling that God is a “hidden” God? That He isn’t really there in a way you can see and touch and hear Him, especially when you need Him the most? A lot of people seem to think that way sometimes. You’ve probably all heard the old story about the footprints in the sand, right? It’s quite popular on greeting cards and wall plaques. A man who had gone to…
How Does That Strike You?
Grace, mercy, and peace to from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen. Today, dear friends, we observe one of the most significant events in the history of the Christian Church, the Conversion of St. Paul, namesake of our congregation. It is recorded in chapter 9 of the book of Acts. Born and raised a Jew under the name of Saul, he was trained…
Baptized to Death, Baptized to Life
For anybody who is a fan of baseball, or humorous things, or even just of an average-guy-done-good, you’ve simply gotta love Yogi Berra. No, I’m not speaking of the cartoon character with the sidekick named Boo-Boo, who tried to abscond with picnic baskets under the ever-watchful eye of the park ranger. I’m talking about the New York Yankees’ All-Star catcher in the 1940s…
Ready and Waiting
Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, who is our hope and our strength—today, for all time, and forever. So… we’ve gone through several weeks at the end of the church year in which our lessons often spoke of the end times. Then we passed through the Advent season in a new church year which also spoke of…
Purified by the Firstborn
Grace, mercy, and peace to you on this First Sunday after Christmas, from God our Father, and from our incarnate Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen. Dear brothers and sisters in Christ: It’s only been a few days from our celebration of the nativity of Jesus. In our Gospel reading for this morning, however, we are fast-forwarding some six weeks from that miraculous birth.…
Coming Attraction
Grace, mercy, and peace to you on this holiest of nights from our heavenly Father, from the incarnate Son, Jesus Christ, and from the Holy Spirit whose Word brought that Son into the flesh for our salvation. Amen. So, here we are. Christmas Eve. One of those services you can count on being considerably better attended than a typical Sunday morning. And that’s both good…
Empathy for the Carpenter
In the name of the Father, and of the +Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Put yourself in Joseph’s place. All you have wanted is to love Mary and to be loved by her. You have dreamed of the day when you would go with your friends to take her into your home for the wedding feast and then into your arms as your one and only beloved. You have imagined the joyous week…
A Witness to the Light
Grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen. Many of you know that I’m somewhat of a baseball fan. Well, it seems that the folks who put together the lectionary for this cycle of the Church Year have thrown us a curve ball, or maybe at least a change-up. You may have noticed that the first couple of Sundays in Advent…