2015 NGLS Worship Presentation

At the 2015 Assembly of the Northern Great Lakes Synod of the ELCA, I gave a presentation on worship.

Tear Down These Walls!

"The Holy Spirit's a bit rude, actually. At least if the Holy Spirit had waited until Peter was finished, it would be clear that it was Peter's words and Peter's actions that brought salvation to these Gentiles. But it's not because of Peter's preaching. The Holy Spirit comes anyway, interrupting Peter and demonstrating God's willingness—no, God's demand, that these walls come down."

Cut It Out

"This is not an altogether cheery or happy metaphor, Jesus. Because whether or not we are good, fruit producing branches or bad, dead branches, being a part of the vine of Jesus involves cutting back, stripping away, and losing something we were holding onto."

Shepherd Me, O God

"We put our trust and our faith in a God that is able to be our shepherd from death to life, because we put our trust and faith in a God who's already walked that road. The Easter season is the bold proclamation that Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again. It is the firm belief, the bedrock of our faith, that death, no matter how tragic or how disastrous, does not have the final say, does not hold any power, does not dictate terms to us any longer."

Sermon – April 19, 2015 – Easter 3B

Doubt is an essential part of faith. It is the natural reaction when we are confronted with something we desperately wish to be true, but which flies in the face of our expectations and defies the ways in which we think things should work. It is a faithful response to the unbelievable in our midst that, by all other measures, cannot possibly be true. It is the process through which we come to accept and believe.