Sermons by Rev. Sherman D. Stenson, Associate Pastor (Page 7)

Sermons by Rev. Sherman D. Stenson, Associate Pastor (Page 7)

A Different Kind of Rich

And Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How difficult it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!” And the disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said to them again, “Children, how difficult it is to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the…

A Tongue Loosened for What?

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen. “If your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off. Cast it from you. For it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell.” As John Madden is fond of saying, “Hey, wait a minute!” Our Scripture…

Defiled and Detoxified

Grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen. Labor Day weekend. A time when we observe and celebrate the efforts of workers and the nobility of work, even as most of us take a short respite from it. Labor Day is certainly not a special day on the church year’s calendar. Even so, apart from the infinite, eternal…

Christ Has Added All These Things to You

Lillie Mae, Carolyn, all of Walter’s family and friends, brothers and sisters in Christ: Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen. By no small coincidence, our Gospel lesson this day, from Matthew, chapter 6, concludes with Walter’s confirmation verse: “Seek first the kingdom of God and His…

Follow Jesus, Our Shepherd-King

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen. Sheep are not the brightest of creatures, which is probably why we in the church are often called by that name. As I’ve mentioned a couple times before in sermons, years ago a fine pastor taught me that sheep are “dirty, smelly, stubborn, and stupid.” Sounds a lot…

What is This Wisdom?

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen. How do you like being embarrassed? Not many people do, I suspect. It can hurt deeply to get criticized in front of a group. The old advice, “Give praise in public and criticism in private” is really just a secular conversion of the 8th Commandment and the biblical…

The Stronger Man Prevails

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen. Most of us have had what is often called a “bad hair day.” Not necessarily in the literal sense of how our heads are adorned, but just those sort of days where very little seems to go your way. I know I have an awful lot of days like that. Occasionally we probably…