Christ Lutheran Church Harrisburg

The world can feel overwhelming.  So much of what goes on is designed to make us give up.  But hope raises us up and sets people free.  The sermon is based on Exodus 12:1-13; 13:1-8.  

In Genesis 15:1-16 we hear about God making a promise to Abram.  Abram struggles with that promise.  There are decades in which he doesn't hear from God.  That's just like life.  So often we can't see how things will turn out, but God is faithful and walks with us and keeps God's promises.   

The second creation account and the accompanying story of the Fall are well known by many.  And the story sets up the rest of Scripture to tell of blessings and curses in so many ways.  It is an attempt to explain to people how we get to where we are.  Look around - see the blessings and the curses of today in your life, your community, and the world.  The sermon is based on Genesis 2:4b-7, 15-17;...

People have been lamenting and crying to God with the question "How long, oh Lord?" It is the cry of people oppressed.  It is the cry of people who have suffered.  It is the cry of humanity exhausted by cruelty.  Daniel 12 doesn't give us an answer so much as reminds us that nothing can stop God, not even death.  The sermon is based on Daniel 12.  

Over the weekend, we witnessed two different kingdoms on display in Harrisburg.  The kingdom based on fear, anger, division, and hatred was at one end of the city.  The kingdom of God based on seeing the image of God in others, service, care, and love was at the other end.  Daniel 7 shares visions of terrible beasts that represent cruel kingdoms that all fall and shares about God's kingdom which l...

Oppressive systems hold everyone in bondage.  They use violence.  They are cruel.  Because at their core, they are weak and collapse from their rotten foundation.  But God's Kingdom has a different foundation that shares life to many.  We see it the story of Daniel and the Lion's Den and in the Civil Rights marches of 1965 in Alabama.  The sermon is based on Daniel 6:6-27.

Fear, threats of violence, actual violence - these are the tools of empires and shallow men.  Our reading from Daniel 3:1-30 shows us that God doesn't abandon the faithful, is with them in the worst of situations, and that ultimately, the ways of violence do not work.  

God takes the long view with creation.  The long view is the loving view.  The long view isn't stopped by set backs or obstacles.  The long view presents a vision of what is to be.  God invites us into the long view.  The sermon is based on Daniel 2:24-49.

What do you see?  What do you witness?  What are you showing?  God shows up in a variety of ways and shows us what love is.  The sermon is based on 1 John 5:9-13.

Love is bigger than we think.  The sermon is based on 1 John 5:1-6.  The author talks about love, but also addresses where that love comes from that allows us to conquer the world.  We don't conquer the way the world does.  Instead we love, which transforms the world.  

The world is throwing around a whole lot cruelty, violence, division, and hatred.  If ever there was a time for love, it would be now.  While we want to respond to what the world is offering in a similar way, Jesus calls us to respond differently.  Now is the time for us to live into this calling of love.  The sermon is based on 1 John 4:7-21.

There are so many terrible things in the world.  It can overwhelm us.  And we ask, "What can we do?"  1 John 3:16-24 offers some advice.  

Who are the real Christians?  What are the marks of a "real" Christian?  Humanity is obsessed with dividing people.  God brings us together.  That's good news.  The sermon is based on 1 John 3:1-7.

How do I pray?  Teach me God!  Jesus gives us the Lord's Prayer as an example.  But what is prayer?  And how do we do it.  The sermon is based on Matthew 6:9-13.

God invites us!  We are invited to praise God, to remember what God has done and what God will do, and how God never forgets us, even in the midst of hardship.  Come and celebrate!  The sermon is based on Psalm 66.

Come on Jesus, just tell us what the Kingdom of Heaven is.  That's not how it works.  Maybe that's because we wouldn't know if we walked into it.  Instead we get glimpses of it.  How do you encounter the Kingdom of Heaven?  The sermon is based on Matthew 13:44-50.

How do we read the Bible?  There are helpful and unhelpful ways.  It helps to start with knowing some things about the Bible.  Just after 21:30 into the podcast I offer a direct example of reading Scripture in light of shootings around the church.  The sermon is based on 2 Timothy 3:10-17.  

The Holy Spirit gives us gifts and draws us together.  We are given unique gifts to build up the body of Christ, to serve, to love, to live - in community.  It's a miracle.  The sermon is based on Acts 2:1-4 and 1 Corinthians 12:1-13.  

What is Love?  We can talk about it.  We can think about it.  We can experience it.  We can share in it.  What is the greatest?  The sermon is based on 1 Corinthians 13.  

Peter and John heal a man lame from birth.  And when healed, he becomes a part of the community.  But it is far more than just physical healing that happens.  Christ is still active in healing in a multitude of ways today. We experience this healing at Christ Lutheran Church and we witness it to the ends of the earth.  The sermon is based on Acts 3:1-10.

Humanity has great imagination for destruction, but limited in what God is capable of doing to improve creation and life.  We are called to witness to God's acts, which are much better.  The sermon is based on Acts 1:1-14.

Early Easter morning, the women come to the tomb.  They bring their expectations.  They enter the tomb where their expectations die, because Jesus is risen and unleashed on the world.  He can't be contained.  What's he going to change?  The sermon is based on Mark 16:1-8.  

There's a couple of parades in town.  One seeks to maintain order and control through the threat of violence.   The other seeks to free people, but not in a way they expect.  Which parade are you going to?  The sermon is based on Mark 11:1-11.

There have been many predictions about Jesus coming back. All have been focused on death and destruction.  All have been wrong.  Instead of predicting when Jesus is coming back and how destructive that will be, Jesus calls us to active faith that will restore and bring hope.  The sermon is based on Mark 13:1-8, 24-37.

The sermon is based on Mark 12:28-44.  Jesus confronts a big scam that was going on.  Appearances looked one way, but behind the curtain, Jesus shows what's really going on.  And he offers a better way.  Where do we see this same thing in our lives and society today?