Sermons on Luke (Page 5)

Well Pleased

This Sunday we begin a new series called The Body of Christ: Learning & Re-Learning How to Be a Christian. This is also the time in the Christian year that we conclude Christmastide and Epiphany and begin Ordinary Time (sometimes called “season after Epiphany”). But this time is anything but ordinary! And so we seek comfort from the true source of comfort and goodness, the One who claims us and names us and loves us. Scripture: Luke 3:15-17, 21-22 (NRSV)

Lost at Home

The Scripture for this Sunday is the story from Luke 2:41-52. Mary, Joseph, Jesus, and those who observed the Passover Festival at Jerusalem just finished their big holiday celebration, and they were on their way home.  They were returning to the normalcy of home and the everydayness of life.  But unexpectedly they found themselves in a predicament.  They couldn’t find their son anywhere, and they were terrified! Perhaps you can empathize with Mary and Joseph because you have had a…

Family Candlelight Service

Our 5:00 pm Christmas Eve Service focuses on children and families and will tell the story of Christmas through scripture and song. Children may be invited to join an informal visual tableau (no rehearsal required!) with fun costumes and easy movements. We will conclude with Christmas carols and candles.

The Blessing of Home

As we move toward the fourth and final Sunday of Advent, we continue our series that focuses on coming home for Christmas. The Luke text this week is filled with wonder as cousins greet one another and experience the wonder of connection and the mystery of new life. It’s wonder-full! And it’s a blessing. Scripture: Micah 5:2-5a (NRSV), Luke 1:39-45 (CEB)

The Joy of Home

This is the Third Sunday of Advent, understood in part through our Advent Candle liturgy as a reminder of joy! In light of our series on home, it is my hope that returning home is exciting and joy-filled! For many of us—hopefully most of us—this is indeed the most wonderful time of the year! There is laughter, reunion, and joy; there are happy memories and celebrations of deep love. May this celebration of the third Sunday of Advent help us…

The Fear of Home

We want Christmas to be happy, a time of celebration of joy! And for the most part, it is! And for those whose return home is fraught with anxiety, it is an opportunity: for reconciliation, for healing, for peace. Christmas is a chance for the paths to be made straight, the valleys to be filled, the mountains and hills made low, so that all flesh shall see the salvation of God. Scripture: Malachi 3:1-4, Luke 3:1-6 (NRSV)

Time to Go Home

As Jesus’ message in the parables and his teachings often tends to challenge our conventional understandings of faith and practices, it also invites us to re-evaluate, re-imagine, and re-interpret our usual understanding of things.  With this in mind, the text for this Sunday is both challenging and inviting.  It’s challenging our normal perception of Advent and inviting us to see it through new lenses. Scripture: Luke 21:25-36 (CEB)

The Rich Man & Lazarus

This Sunday we conclude our sermon series on the parables of Jesus. The parable of the rich man and Lazarus may be another familiar one, and in this case the original audience may have guessed the same about each character as we do today. Even so, Professor Levine reminds us not to think of this parable as one about the afterlife but is a message that we can still make changes in this life. Scripture: Luke 16:19-31

The Widow & the Judge

This Sunday we near the end of our sermon series on the parables of Jesus, this one addressed to those who “need to pray continuously and not to be discouraged.” I’m not sure about you, but the idea of praying continuously wears me out. Honestly, I feel like I have been! So in a way, I feel like this parable is for me. Maybe it’s for you too… Scripture: Luke 18:1-8

The Pharisee & the Tax Collector

This Sunday we continue our sermon series on the parables of Jesus with the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector. What a moving parable this is! What an opportunity for us to feel good about ourselves and to comfort ourselves… well at least if we identify more with the tax collector (think IRS) rather than the Pharisee (think of the uber-religious person). Jesus directs this parable to those who hold themselves above others in their religiosity. Scripture: Luke…

Hospitality: The Good Samaritan

This Sunday we continue our sermon series on the parables of Jesus. Once again, we enter into a familiar story! The Good Samaritan is surely one we’ve heard ourselves, we’ve heard a number of pop culture references, and perhaps we’ve even seen children or grandchildren or nieces/nephews perform skits. We know this story! Perhaps we even see ourselves in this story. Scripture: Luke 10:24-37 (CEB)