Will Preach For Food Podcast

Go Where I Send Thee Anybody else remember the old Sunday School song that goes like this: “Children, go where I send thee! How…shall I send thee? Well… I’m gonna send thee Eight by eight: ·        Eight for the eight that stood at the gate ·        Seven for the seven that never got to heaven ·        Six for the six that never got fixed ·        Five for the gospel preachers ·        Four for th...

Today’s message is in response to some big stuff folks are going through right now. A war in Ukraine. A young woman recovering from a major cancer surgery. A colleague grieving a step-son’s suicide. The funeral of a long time friend and member of this congregation. From the 8th chapter of the gospel of Luke, we are going to read about a storm. Storms are real things, of course, but they also serve...

Luke 7:36-50 36 When one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to have dinner with him, he went to the Pharisee’s house and reclined at the table. 37 A woman in that town who lived a sinful life learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee’s house, so she came there with an alabaster jar of perfume. 38 As she stood behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she wiped...

Today’s reading, Luke 9:28-36, is for Transfiguration Sunday, February 27, 2022. The title of this podcast is “Divine Intervention.” God chose and sent Jesus to usher in the kingdom of God through his own death and resurrection. Which means that Jesus knew all about politics, wars, and violence. To navigate a way forward, Jesus relies on prayer, solitude, scriptures, old mentors, and new friends....

Jesus is for losers. And that is good news. The Good News, in fact. Today’s sermon is mostly a sermon that Jesus himself preached about 2000 years ago. The entire sermon is about 750 words, recorded in Luke 6:20-49. We are going to read the first section of it, along with a few verses Luke uses to set the stage. “Jesus is for Losers” is the title of this podcast, Volume 3, Episode 5. I hope today’...

I don’t know much at all about wine. I think red wine goes with beef and white goes with chicken. I know that Two buck Chuck now costs more like four. David on Schitt’s Creek says that he likes the wine, and not the label. If I’m not careful, it is way too easy for me to drink way too much red wine. And all wine, along with other forms of alcohol, are potent—both joy-making and addictive. I also k...

Today we’re going to talk about love: God’s love for us, and Jesus’ radical, counter-cultural call for Christians to love our enemies. And we are going to wonder what this means for us today. I pray that today’s message will help Faith Lutheran Church embrace and live into its newest vision and mission statement. I pray that today’s message will inspire you to embrace and live into your identity a...

I’ve been doing this Will Preach for Food podcast for almost two years now, and, as the name suggests, I like to preach. I love to read God’s word, try to understand what it says, what it means, and what it means for us today. Preaching is usually a conversation—a public dialog between the preacher, the congregation, the scriptures, and the Holy Spirit. Christians have been gathering weekly to wor...

This Sunday the church calendar recalls the Baptism of Jesus, by John, in the Jordan River. In the waters of baptism, Jesus is filled with the Spirit and affirmed by the Father. Baptism links Jesus to his heritage, his genealogy, his roots. His baptism marks the beginning of his earthly public ministry, framed by grief, disappointment, and temptation.  Today’s story sets the stage for the rest of...

Hello, Merry Christmas, and welcome to the Will Preach for Food podcast. I’m Doug, a pastor here at Faith Lutheran Church, based out of Shelton, Washington. Faith is a beloved, affirming congregation of the ELCA, growing closer to and more like Jesus, making Christ known, for the sake of the world. You can learn more about Faith at our website, www.faithshelton.org . Thanks for listening today. To...

Here we are in the final stretch leading into Christmas. The halls are decked, the trees are trimmed, the presents are being handled with care by all the Fed Ex, Amazon, and UPS delivery folks. Local shops are greeting folks with hot apple cider and a smile (behind their masks, of course). Final menus and travel plans are in the works. Brenda and I wish you all a very Merry Christmas. May this sea...

Introduction Hello, and welcome to the Will Preach for Food podcast. I’m Doug, a pastor here at Faith Lutheran Church, based out of Shelton, Washington, a beloved, affirming congregation of the ELCA, growing closer to and more like Jesus, for the sake of the world. You can learn more about Faith at our website, www.faithshelton.org . Thanks for making this podcast part of your day. Every once in a...

There’s an old legend about an old rabbi approaching the city gate. The watchman calls out to him: Who are you, and what are you doing here?” The rabbi immediately asks the watchman how much he is paid to do his job, then offers him double to ask him those very questions every morning: Who are you, and what are you doing here? Today’s reading from the gospel of Mark reminds the church what its pur...

A preaching theme all this month is “Generous Living.” Christian stewardship, generosity, what the Bible says—and doesn’t say—about things like money and charity, tithing, and what following Jesus looks like regarding finances. Two readings from the Bible today. Four takeaways. First, a passage from 2 Corinthians 8, then a gospel reading from the end of Mark chapter 12. Let us pray: We give Thee b...

Jesus went to school. Do you ever think about that? What kind of student he might have been? What he would have learned? Today’s message looks at a Bible verse that Jesus would have memorized when he was a boy, something called the Shema. This Bible verse helps Jesus keep the main thing the main thing, even when things get really hard. The main thing, we’ll see, is love. By the end of this podcast...

“Your faith has saved you.” This is one of the most powerful—and misunderstood—statements in the Bible. First of all, the word for salvation and health are the same. Does Jesus proclaim him “healed” or “saved?” Is there a difference? What is salvation, anyway? Saved from what? Saved for what? What, exactly, is “faith,” and what does it have to do with salvation and healing? And was there something...

This week we celebrate the baptism of James R., so my topic today is the gift and invitation of baptism. My sermon/podcast title is “Hi, My Name is Jesus, and I’ll be your Server today.” Turn to Mark 10:32-45, and we’ll start with a Baptism prayer written by Martin Luther.  Holy God, mighty Lord, gracious Father: We give you thanks, for in the beginning your Spirit moved over the waters and you cr...

Today I’m going to talk about the Holy Spirit. And I’m going to talk about 20 minutes. The title of this sermon is “the gifts of the Spirit.” You’re going to need a Bible, as usual. You also will want to find some crayons or markers and some nice paper, as this podcast/sermon includes a drawing and coloring assignment. Let’s start with a paragraph from a primer on Christian faith called the Small...

Today I’m going to talk about Jesus. And I’m going to talk about 20 minutes. The title of this sermon is “the cost of freedom,” and the readings today are from 1 Peter 1:18-23 and Mark 9:30-37. Please open your Bible to 1 Peter, and we’ll start there after we pray. This prayer is based on Martin Luther’s explanation of the 2nd article of the Apostles’ Creed in the Small Catechism: O Jesus Christ,...

Genesis 1:1-2:3 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. 3 And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. 4 God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light “day,” and the darkness he cal...

This weekend Faith is not just going to church—we are BEING the church, engaging in a number of service projects throughout the day as we participate in something called “God’s Work, Our Hands” Sunday. “God’s work, our hands” happens to be a tag line of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, of which this congregation is a member. We, the church, are called to participate in God’s mission, to...

With school starting this week and conversations at Faith about Children and Youth Ministry staffing, it seems that God might be inviting us all to consider how God speaks to us at all ages and stages of life, and how we as a church family can encourage faith in children. I want to share a story about a boy named Sam, a story about a man named Jesus, and teach you all a spiritual exercise called t...

Uffda! What a rough week of news. Political refugees stuck in Afghanistan and stranded at our southern border. Wildfires in the west. Floods in the south. Killer bees and toxic algae and melting glaciers. COVID numbers roaring back with a fourth wave of new cases as Americans argue about whether vaccination is a civic duty or an attack on individual rights. Finger-pointing, cancel culture, yelling...

If you know me, you know that I’m a Bible junkie. I LOVE the Bible. I drink the stuff for breakfast. I’m nearing the end of another summer of reading the Bible in 90 Days. And let’s be honest: parts of the Bible smell funny. Sometimes the Bible says things that are out in left field, more than seven days past the expiration date printed on the carton. Take slavery, for instance. Please: take it aw...

1 Kings 19:1-8 19 Now Ahab told Jezebel everything Elijah had done and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword. 2 So Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah to say, “May the gods deal with me, be it ever so severely, if by this time tomorrow I do not make your life like that of one of them.” 3 Elijah was afraid and ran for his life. When he came to Beersheba in Judah, he left his servant ther...