Christ Lutheran Church Harrisburg

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?  

Conflict is a part of life.  Jesus doesn't make it all go away.  He meets us in the conflict and offers an alternative, and reassures us that we are not alone.  The sermon is based on Mark 12:1-17.

Scripture is told through the perspective of the outcast, the poor, the conquered.  God's glory is often at odds with human ideas of glory.  This is why it is Good News to the poor.  Today's sermon is based on Mark 10:32-52.

In Mark 10:17-31, a man comes running up to Jesus and asks what he must do to inherit eternal life.  Can we buy God's love?  Can we earn our way to God?  No.  And that's Good News.  It's not about what we can or can't do.  It's about what Jesus has already done and continues to do.  We are loved in spite of our faults.  

Jesus asked the question - who do you say I am?  Lots of people have an answer for that.  There's white Jesus, woke Jesus, Republican Jesus, Democrat Jesus, capitalist Jesus, socialist Jesus, and more.  All of these answers are like Peter in that they don't like Jesus' answer to who he is and what he must do, and what it means to follow.  And while we are often like Peter, Jesus is faithful, loves...

Mark 6:1-29 tells us three stories that are filled with rejection, fear, and violence.  These are the ways of empire and the world.  We should expect that Jesus' way will be rejected, not received with open arms.  And in spite of the rejection, fear, and violence, there is hope.  It's what moves us forward.  

Mark's Gospel tells a story within a story.  One story interrupts the other one.  And isn't that how life works too?  Yet Jesus shows up, heals, and carries on regardless.  The sermon is based on Mark 5:21-43.

Jesus is confronted by a demon possessed man who is weighed down by a Legion of demons.  What are the demons that possess and bind society and humanity?  Jesus sets the man free and he goes and proclaims Good News to others.  How does Jesus set society free from its demons?  The sermon is based on Mark 5:1-20.

The Gospel of Mark slows things down for Chapter 4 as we explore several parables.  In these parables we hear about seeds being sown - that the Kingdom of God looks a bit unexpected.  The sermon is based off of Mark 4:1-34

The Gospels tell us of the beginning of the Good News.  And that includes transformation for our lives, our relationships, and our world.  It's just the beginning.  The sermon is based on Mark 1:1-20.  

The world wants a Caesar, a king, a strong man.  God gives us a Savior instead.  The Christmas Eve sermon is based on Luke 2:1-20.