Sermon Archive
April 29, 2012John 10:1-18 “The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside quiet waters. He restores my soul.” How beautiful is the picture that these few words paint! For some this is their favorite psalm. After all, this is the only psalm many people [...]
April 22, 2012Acts 3:11-21 How many friends do you have? How would you even answer that question? We could count our “Facebook Friends,” which would give me 204…..even though Facebook allows us to have up to 5000 on our “friends list!” Do you count your Christmas card list (if you even have one!)? Church directory? School yearbook? [...]
April 15, 20121 John 1:1 – 2:2 What were you doing at 2:20 AM this morning? Most of us were sleeping, but for about 1500 passengers on the Balmoral, they were wide awake, paused at the exact spot in the North Atlantic where the sinking of the Titanic took 1,517 lives. It happened 100 years ago today, [...]
April 8, 2012Easter Sunday Christ is Risen! He is Risen indeed! Of ALL the Sundays in the Church Year, there’s no debating that Easter brings us the greatest JOY of all. Look around….the purple drapes of Lent, the somber stripping of the altar on Maundy Thursday, the darkness of Good Friday, all of that has been replaced [...]
Easter Sunrise Service I can’t imagine what it must have been like on that first Easter morning. Before they had seen Jesus alive, before they saw the empty tomb – when Jesus was still dead. The stillness and fear they felt as they hid away from the world. How sad those ladies must have been, [...]
April 6, 2012Good Friday 2012 It was a dark day in every sense of the word. The mob had all but stopped its open mockery – they had spent all of their snide remarks, their hatred and scorn all night long and all morning. Now all that was left were a few hoarse-voiced taunts and a handful [...]
April 5, 2012Maundy Thursday 2012 Of all the services of the church year, it’s Maundy Thursday that brings sharp focus to the “last supper” of Jesus before His execution. That phrase “last supper” might invoke some very powerful images in some of us. In “last meals” today, some states allow those who are about to be executed [...]
March 28, 2012Romans 10: 8-13 Picture in your mind the place where Jesus was crucified, will you? In Aramaic it was called Golgotha, or “the Skull,” as it was known in Latin. That’s where the name Calvary comes from, the Latin word calvaria, although no one in Jesus’ day would have called it that. But if you [...]
March 25, 2012Rev 3: 14-22 Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. (As the sermon opens pastor places a large rocking chair into the chancel.) Let me introduce you to two people this morning, David and Susan. At one time or another both of them attended my former church. David [...]
March 21, 2012Romans 5:8 After I spent a few hours at my desk studying the tasks and texts for the week, including my early notes for this message, I was driving up to the Lynn Haven Fish House on Monday morning for our Leisure Lutherans Lunch and there it was, a green sign with the ARCED CROSS. [...]
March 18, 2012John3:14-21 Picture it, if you dare: You are on your way home from work, and you notice a bit of a craving for some rocky road ice cream. So, you pull into your grocery store parking lot, you power-walk to the freezer section, and there it is… on the shelf, calling your name… So you [...]
March 14, 2012Romans 5: 8 (God demonstrated His love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.) Remember when “vanity license plates” first came out? Our SED President, Rich Hinz, used to put out a newsletter posting ones he saw. Now they’re all over the place, even here in our parking lot [...]
March 11, 2012John 2: 13-22 Grace, mercy and peace from God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ, Amen. Before we start our text and topic, here is a “public service announcement” that will serve as an important reminder for us in church: Watch it here. Friends, I promise that nobody goes to hell when their cell [...]
March 7, 2012Romans 3:23a If you’ve done genealogical research, you may have found that your family has a crest or a seal or a plaid somewhere in its history. I’ve never found one for my family, but Pam has. On her paternal side Pam is Scottish, from the Pentland Hills south of Edinburgh. Her ancestors shared what [...]
March 4, 2012Mark 8:27-38 There are quite a few re-imaginings of fairy tales these days. It seems to be a popular trend, and people are enjoying it, so I would like to propose one of my own. It’s basically the traditional Cinderella story, with the wicked stepmother and the slipper and the ball. But here’s the twist: [...]
February 26, 2012Put yourself in the place of this brother in Christ. His name is Youcef Nadarkhani. He’s 34, married with two sons, lives in Iran, and has been sentenced to death for being a Christian and refusing to turn back to Islam. This man turned to Christ at the age of 19, and eventually became the [...]
February 22, 2012Joel 2:12-19 Welcome to Lent. Lent is a special time in the life of the church, and not something easily understood by the world around us. Sure, they may understand that this is a somber and sober time. But why? Why would we inflict such a downer on ourselves? Aren’t Christians supposed to be full [...]
February 19, 20122 Kings 2: 1-12 I love Google Earth! I love the ability to “hover” over places….ok, especially places with railroads….and be able to look down. I don’t think there’s a one of us who wouldn’t love to fly like the birds do, so it’s understandable why the story of Elijah blasting off in God’s fiery [...]
February 12, 20122 Kings 5:1-14 Grace, mercy and peace from God our Father and our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Our text is set back in the days after David, after Solomon was King and the nation of Israel had been divided. The story involved two fascinating men. The first was God’s prophet, Elisha. He was the [...]
February 5, 20121 Cor. 9:16-27 It is Super Bowl Sunday… I hear that’s a pretty big deal. Apparently it’s the biggest single sporting event of the year. Today is a day for winners. How much training has lead up to today? For many of the men who take the field, this will be the greatest day of [...]
January 29, 2012There is a difference between “Can” and “Should.” I mention that because the distinction is becoming blurrier by the day. Allow me a brief example… earlier this month, it was made known that a group of scientists have made the bird flu more contagious. On purpose. Sure, it is research – I get that. But [...]
January 22, 2012SANCTITY OF LIFE SUNDAY Deuteronomy 30: 11-20 Grace, mercy and peace from God our Father and our Lord and Savior, Jesus! “Choose life!” How could such a positive, straight from Scripture statement stir up such emotion and such controversy, even among Christians?? It’s because it’s associated with the topic of abortion. There may be people [...]
January 15, 2012John 1: 43-51 Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen! How many of you are involved in fantasy football? You got some really great players in your draft and every week you hope they do well in real play so their statistics will apply well to your team. [...]
January 8, 2012Epiphany Sunday Genesis 1:1-5 Grace, mercy and peace from God our Father and our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, on this, the day we celebrate the Festival of the Epiphany, the 12th Day of Christmas and the Celebration of Lights! Our Gospel Lesson this morning is the very familiar Epiphany Story of the Wise Men. [...]
January 1, 2012New Year’s Day is always a great day for me. It’s a day where it is easy to be an optimist. New Year’s Eve is about looking backwards over how the last year went, but New Year’s Day is about looking forward. It’s about hope. It’s about clean slates and fresh starts. It’s about doing [...]
December 25, 2011If PNC Financial services is right, this has been the most expensive Christmas since they started figuring out the costs many years ago. Last year the price of French Hens spiked up by 30%, this year they were a deal! The price of calling birds actually went down by 13%: the four of them….do you [...]
December 24, 2011Christmas Eve, 10:00 service The air was cool and dry as the sun dipped descended behind the horizon. It was anything but a silent night, as the city was filled to beyond capacity with people. Most homes and hotels had more bodies than beds, and under almost every roof was someone complaining about how hot [...]
Christmas Eve, 7:30 Service Merry Christmas to all of you gathered here on this wonderful evening, to celebrate the birth of our Savior, Jesus! It’s Christmas Eve and we’re sitting in this beautifully decorated sanctuary, singing most of our treasured Christmas carols and once again hearing the words of THE Christmas story. Be honest with [...]
December 18, 2011This morning Gospel begins with two couples each expecting their first child. One family is, to be blunt, too old for all this. The other family is a bit overwhelmed by the circumstances of the pregnancy. But whether they are overwhelmed or over-aged doesn’t even slow down the process, and as today’s Gospel reminds us, [...]
December 11, 2011Advent is a very special time for the church. It’s a time of preparation for one of the biggest days of the whole year: the day we celebrate God coming down to Earth in the form of a newborn baby. So how do we prepare for Jesus birthday? Well, we decorate the house (And some [...]
December 4, 20112 Peter 3: 8-15 On the outskirts of a small town there was a big pecan tree inside the cemetery wall. One day, two boys filled up a bucketful of nuts and sat down by the tree, out of sight, and began dividing the nuts. “One for you, one for me. One for you, one [...]
November 23, 2011I think it’s time that the Christian church adopts Thanksgiving as an official church holiday. Oh sure, a lot of people think that Thanksgiving Day is uniquely American – remembering the pilgrims and Plymouth Rock and all that stuff. And yes, I suppose that may be where the tradition started, but I think Thanksgiving Day [...]
November 20, 2011Matt 25:31-46 On the “last Sunday of the Church Year” our focus is most always on the end of time, the last day and the final judgment, where, in the words of today’s Gospel lesson, Jesus will come to “separate the sheep from the goats.” Today, after hearing what Jesus had to say, I think [...]
November 13, 2011Eph. 5:22-33 One of the great joys of being a Pastor is to be there with people on the real important days… The birth of a child, a baptism, a confirmation, a funeral… But by far the day that garners the most attention and planning and excitement is the wedding day. Weddings are an exceptional [...]
November 7, 2011All Saints Sunday 2011 Luke 18: 9-14 First, dear Saints of God, allow me to read these verses from Luke 18: “To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable: “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other [...]
October 30, 2011Dr. Martin Luther visits Hope Lutheran as they celebrate the Reformation.
October 23, 2011Pastor Mark Nieting 1 Thess. 2:1-13 Having AFRIZO here on Wednesday was an incredible blessing, and having two of the men, Emmanuel and Michael, in our home was wonderful, even though it wasn’t near long enough. It was very obvious that these fellow Christians have a passion for their Lord Jesus……their faith is certainly contagious! [...]
October 16, 2011Pastor Michael Cofer Matthew 22:15-22 They say there are two certains in life: death and taxes. Both seem to be faced with an almost equal dread. I don’t know of anyone — except maybe Warren Buffett — who was excited by the prospect of paying taxes. Let’s face it, part of the success of the [...]
October 9, 2011Rev. Mark Nieting Matthew 22:1-14 Take one trip through your basic cable guide and you’re guaranteed to stumble over a number of (so-called) reality shows all themed around WEDDINGS. Just to name a few, there’s “Say yes to the Dress, Cake Boss, Platinum Weddings, My Big Redneck Wedding, Engaged and Underaged (on MTV, of course) [...]
October 2, 2011Rev. Mark Nieting (on LWML Sunday) Luke 12: 8-12 About 150 years ago General Robert E. Lee and his Army of Northern Virginia moved into the great state of Pennsylvania, towards the little Lutheran town of Gettysburg. As the Confederate army moved north, one German Lutheran lady, Hannah, was her name, felt called to DO [...]
September 25, 2011Pastor Mark Nieting Matthew 21: 28-32 We are now well into a new school year; we’re now into a new year of Christian education here at Hope; and we’re recognizing a number of our staff, especially our school staff, for many years of ministry this morning, so it’s easy to see that for Hope [...]
September 18, 2011Rev. Michael Cofer Matthew 20 What an incredible day this is! It is one of those exceptional and rare days when our whole congregation comes together as one to worship and pray and celebrate what a great God we have. And not even the threat of rain can take away our joy because barbecue awaits [...]
September 11, 2011Pastor Mark Nieting Every generation, it seems, has unforgettable moments. There was “The Redcoats are Coming,” followed by “Remember the Maine”, then “Remember Pearl Harbor,” and most recently the events of the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and Flight 93, which we collectively remember as:“9-11”. Events like these produce vivid and deep memories. The images [...]
August 14, 2011Pastor Michael Cofer Matthew 15:21-28 Can you believe the way Jesus talked to that poor woman in our Gospel reading? I mean, in my time, I’ve said some insensitive things… but Jesus called that lady a dog. A DOG. And not even in the, “you are loyal and affectionate” kind of way. Not in the [...]
August 7, 2011Pastor Mark Nieting Matthew 14:22ff The story of Peter’s walking on water – or his attempt to walk on water – is known to just about everybody. It’s inspired a number of jokes involving golfers, priests or rabbis walking on water, or at least knowing where the stones are! It’s a wonderful story that I [...]
July 31, 2011Pastor Mark Nieting Matthew 14: 13-21 (Feeding the Five Thousand) Grace, mercy and peace from God our Father and our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ…..on this, the 7th Sunday after Pentecost and the Sunday on which our senior high youth group is headed off for a week of “servant ministry.” The big news this week, [...]
July 24, 2011Pastor Mark Nieting Matthew 13: 47-52 Bill Gates met God, and God said, “Well, Bill, I’m really confused on this one. I’m not sure whether to send you to Heaven or to Hell. After all, you enormously helped society by putting a computer in almost every home in the world, and yet you created that [...]
July 17, 2011Pastor Michael Cofer Matthew 13 [Audio clip: view full post to listen] You know what’s great about the old silent movies? You can tell at a glance the good guys from the bad guys. The good guys have a square jaw, and a barrel chest. They ride a white horse, and hold their chins high. [...]
July 10, 2011Rev. Michael Cofer Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23 I’m not much of a farmer. The closest I’ve gotten so far is a few potted mint plants and an aloe. Now, I should tell you that I have this thing I do. First, I get a plant that’s perfectly fine and healthy. Next, I follow the instructions on [...]
July 3, 2011Pastor Mark Nieting Matt 11: 25-30 [Audio clip: view full post to listen] For most of the world, July 4 is a normal calendar day, but for Americans it is very special. We call it “Independence Day,” celebrating our country’s freedom from England. We celebrate with a variety of symbols. Fireworks remind us of the [...]
John 10:1-18 “The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside quiet waters. He restores my soul.” How beautiful is the picture that these few words paint! For some this is their favorite psalm. After all, this is the only psalm many people [...]
Acts 3:11-21 How many friends do you have? How would you even answer that question? We could count our “Facebook Friends,” which would give me 204…..even though Facebook allows us to have up to 5000 on our “friends list!” Do you count your Christmas card list (if you even have one!)? Church directory? School yearbook? [...]
1 John 1:1 – 2:2 What were you doing at 2:20 AM this morning? Most of us were sleeping, but for about 1500 passengers on the Balmoral, they were wide awake, paused at the exact spot in the North Atlantic where the sinking of the Titanic took 1,517 lives. It happened 100 years ago today, [...]
Easter Sunday Christ is Risen! He is Risen indeed! Of ALL the Sundays in the Church Year, there’s no debating that Easter brings us the greatest JOY of all. Look around….the purple drapes of Lent, the somber stripping of the altar on Maundy Thursday, the darkness of Good Friday, all of that has been replaced [...]
Easter Sunrise Service I can’t imagine what it must have been like on that first Easter morning. Before they had seen Jesus alive, before they saw the empty tomb – when Jesus was still dead. The stillness and fear they felt as they hid away from the world. How sad those ladies must have been, [...]
Good Friday 2012 It was a dark day in every sense of the word. The mob had all but stopped its open mockery – they had spent all of their snide remarks, their hatred and scorn all night long and all morning. Now all that was left were a few hoarse-voiced taunts and a handful [...]
Maundy Thursday 2012 Of all the services of the church year, it’s Maundy Thursday that brings sharp focus to the “last supper” of Jesus before His execution. That phrase “last supper” might invoke some very powerful images in some of us. In “last meals” today, some states allow those who are about to be executed [...]
Romans 10: 8-13 Picture in your mind the place where Jesus was crucified, will you? In Aramaic it was called Golgotha, or “the Skull,” as it was known in Latin. That’s where the name Calvary comes from, the Latin word calvaria, although no one in Jesus’ day would have called it that. But if you [...]
Rev 3: 14-22 Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. (As the sermon opens pastor places a large rocking chair into the chancel.) Let me introduce you to two people this morning, David and Susan. At one time or another both of them attended my former church. David [...]
Romans 5:8 After I spent a few hours at my desk studying the tasks and texts for the week, including my early notes for this message, I was driving up to the Lynn Haven Fish House on Monday morning for our Leisure Lutherans Lunch and there it was, a green sign with the ARCED CROSS. [...]
John3:14-21 Picture it, if you dare: You are on your way home from work, and you notice a bit of a craving for some rocky road ice cream. So, you pull into your grocery store parking lot, you power-walk to the freezer section, and there it is… on the shelf, calling your name… So you [...]
Romans 5: 8 (God demonstrated His love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.) Remember when “vanity license plates” first came out? Our SED President, Rich Hinz, used to put out a newsletter posting ones he saw. Now they’re all over the place, even here in our parking lot [...]
John 2: 13-22 Grace, mercy and peace from God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ, Amen. Before we start our text and topic, here is a “public service announcement” that will serve as an important reminder for us in church: Watch it here. Friends, I promise that nobody goes to hell when their cell [...]
Romans 3:23a If you’ve done genealogical research, you may have found that your family has a crest or a seal or a plaid somewhere in its history. I’ve never found one for my family, but Pam has. On her paternal side Pam is Scottish, from the Pentland Hills south of Edinburgh. Her ancestors shared what [...]
Mark 8:27-38 There are quite a few re-imaginings of fairy tales these days. It seems to be a popular trend, and people are enjoying it, so I would like to propose one of my own. It’s basically the traditional Cinderella story, with the wicked stepmother and the slipper and the ball. But here’s the twist: [...]
Put yourself in the place of this brother in Christ. His name is Youcef Nadarkhani. He’s 34, married with two sons, lives in Iran, and has been sentenced to death for being a Christian and refusing to turn back to Islam. This man turned to Christ at the age of 19, and eventually became the [...]
Joel 2:12-19 Welcome to Lent. Lent is a special time in the life of the church, and not something easily understood by the world around us. Sure, they may understand that this is a somber and sober time. But why? Why would we inflict such a downer on ourselves? Aren’t Christians supposed to be full [...]
2 Kings 2: 1-12 I love Google Earth! I love the ability to “hover” over places….ok, especially places with railroads….and be able to look down. I don’t think there’s a one of us who wouldn’t love to fly like the birds do, so it’s understandable why the story of Elijah blasting off in God’s fiery [...]
2 Kings 5:1-14 Grace, mercy and peace from God our Father and our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Our text is set back in the days after David, after Solomon was King and the nation of Israel had been divided. The story involved two fascinating men. The first was God’s prophet, Elisha. He was the [...]
1 Cor. 9:16-27 It is Super Bowl Sunday… I hear that’s a pretty big deal. Apparently it’s the biggest single sporting event of the year. Today is a day for winners. How much training has lead up to today? For many of the men who take the field, this will be the greatest day of [...]
There is a difference between “Can” and “Should.” I mention that because the distinction is becoming blurrier by the day. Allow me a brief example… earlier this month, it was made known that a group of scientists have made the bird flu more contagious. On purpose. Sure, it is research – I get that. But [...]
SANCTITY OF LIFE SUNDAY Deuteronomy 30: 11-20 Grace, mercy and peace from God our Father and our Lord and Savior, Jesus! “Choose life!” How could such a positive, straight from Scripture statement stir up such emotion and such controversy, even among Christians?? It’s because it’s associated with the topic of abortion. There may be people [...]
John 1: 43-51 Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen! How many of you are involved in fantasy football? You got some really great players in your draft and every week you hope they do well in real play so their statistics will apply well to your team. [...]
Epiphany Sunday Genesis 1:1-5 Grace, mercy and peace from God our Father and our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, on this, the day we celebrate the Festival of the Epiphany, the 12th Day of Christmas and the Celebration of Lights! Our Gospel Lesson this morning is the very familiar Epiphany Story of the Wise Men. [...]
New Year’s Day is always a great day for me. It’s a day where it is easy to be an optimist. New Year’s Eve is about looking backwards over how the last year went, but New Year’s Day is about looking forward. It’s about hope. It’s about clean slates and fresh starts. It’s about doing [...]
If PNC Financial services is right, this has been the most expensive Christmas since they started figuring out the costs many years ago. Last year the price of French Hens spiked up by 30%, this year they were a deal! The price of calling birds actually went down by 13%: the four of them….do you [...]
Christmas Eve, 10:00 service The air was cool and dry as the sun dipped descended behind the horizon. It was anything but a silent night, as the city was filled to beyond capacity with people. Most homes and hotels had more bodies than beds, and under almost every roof was someone complaining about how hot [...]
Christmas Eve, 7:30 Service Merry Christmas to all of you gathered here on this wonderful evening, to celebrate the birth of our Savior, Jesus! It’s Christmas Eve and we’re sitting in this beautifully decorated sanctuary, singing most of our treasured Christmas carols and once again hearing the words of THE Christmas story. Be honest with [...]
This morning Gospel begins with two couples each expecting their first child. One family is, to be blunt, too old for all this. The other family is a bit overwhelmed by the circumstances of the pregnancy. But whether they are overwhelmed or over-aged doesn’t even slow down the process, and as today’s Gospel reminds us, [...]
Advent is a very special time for the church. It’s a time of preparation for one of the biggest days of the whole year: the day we celebrate God coming down to Earth in the form of a newborn baby. So how do we prepare for Jesus birthday? Well, we decorate the house (And some [...]
2 Peter 3: 8-15 On the outskirts of a small town there was a big pecan tree inside the cemetery wall. One day, two boys filled up a bucketful of nuts and sat down by the tree, out of sight, and began dividing the nuts. “One for you, one for me. One for you, one [...]
I think it’s time that the Christian church adopts Thanksgiving as an official church holiday. Oh sure, a lot of people think that Thanksgiving Day is uniquely American – remembering the pilgrims and Plymouth Rock and all that stuff. And yes, I suppose that may be where the tradition started, but I think Thanksgiving Day [...]
Matt 25:31-46 On the “last Sunday of the Church Year” our focus is most always on the end of time, the last day and the final judgment, where, in the words of today’s Gospel lesson, Jesus will come to “separate the sheep from the goats.” Today, after hearing what Jesus had to say, I think [...]
Eph. 5:22-33 One of the great joys of being a Pastor is to be there with people on the real important days… The birth of a child, a baptism, a confirmation, a funeral… But by far the day that garners the most attention and planning and excitement is the wedding day. Weddings are an exceptional [...]
All Saints Sunday 2011 Luke 18: 9-14 First, dear Saints of God, allow me to read these verses from Luke 18: “To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable: “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other [...]
Dr. Martin Luther visits Hope Lutheran as they celebrate the Reformation.
Pastor Mark Nieting 1 Thess. 2:1-13 Having AFRIZO here on Wednesday was an incredible blessing, and having two of the men, Emmanuel and Michael, in our home was wonderful, even though it wasn’t near long enough. It was very obvious that these fellow Christians have a passion for their Lord Jesus……their faith is certainly contagious! [...]
Pastor Michael Cofer Matthew 22:15-22 They say there are two certains in life: death and taxes. Both seem to be faced with an almost equal dread. I don’t know of anyone — except maybe Warren Buffett — who was excited by the prospect of paying taxes. Let’s face it, part of the success of the [...]
Rev. Mark Nieting Matthew 22:1-14 Take one trip through your basic cable guide and you’re guaranteed to stumble over a number of (so-called) reality shows all themed around WEDDINGS. Just to name a few, there’s “Say yes to the Dress, Cake Boss, Platinum Weddings, My Big Redneck Wedding, Engaged and Underaged (on MTV, of course) [...]
Rev. Mark Nieting (on LWML Sunday) Luke 12: 8-12 About 150 years ago General Robert E. Lee and his Army of Northern Virginia moved into the great state of Pennsylvania, towards the little Lutheran town of Gettysburg. As the Confederate army moved north, one German Lutheran lady, Hannah, was her name, felt called to DO [...]
Pastor Mark Nieting Matthew 21: 28-32 We are now well into a new school year; we’re now into a new year of Christian education here at Hope; and we’re recognizing a number of our staff, especially our school staff, for many years of ministry this morning, so it’s easy to see that for Hope [...]
Rev. Michael Cofer Matthew 20 What an incredible day this is! It is one of those exceptional and rare days when our whole congregation comes together as one to worship and pray and celebrate what a great God we have. And not even the threat of rain can take away our joy because barbecue awaits [...]
Pastor Mark Nieting Every generation, it seems, has unforgettable moments. There was “The Redcoats are Coming,” followed by “Remember the Maine”, then “Remember Pearl Harbor,” and most recently the events of the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and Flight 93, which we collectively remember as:“9-11”. Events like these produce vivid and deep memories. The images [...]
Pastor Michael Cofer Matthew 15:21-28 Can you believe the way Jesus talked to that poor woman in our Gospel reading? I mean, in my time, I’ve said some insensitive things… but Jesus called that lady a dog. A DOG. And not even in the, “you are loyal and affectionate” kind of way. Not in the [...]
Pastor Mark Nieting Matthew 14:22ff The story of Peter’s walking on water – or his attempt to walk on water – is known to just about everybody. It’s inspired a number of jokes involving golfers, priests or rabbis walking on water, or at least knowing where the stones are! It’s a wonderful story that I [...]
Pastor Mark Nieting Matthew 14: 13-21 (Feeding the Five Thousand) Grace, mercy and peace from God our Father and our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ…..on this, the 7th Sunday after Pentecost and the Sunday on which our senior high youth group is headed off for a week of “servant ministry.” The big news this week, [...]
Pastor Mark Nieting Matthew 13: 47-52 Bill Gates met God, and God said, “Well, Bill, I’m really confused on this one. I’m not sure whether to send you to Heaven or to Hell. After all, you enormously helped society by putting a computer in almost every home in the world, and yet you created that [...]
Pastor Michael Cofer Matthew 13 [Audio clip: view full post to listen] You know what’s great about the old silent movies? You can tell at a glance the good guys from the bad guys. The good guys have a square jaw, and a barrel chest. They ride a white horse, and hold their chins high. [...]
Rev. Michael Cofer Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23 I’m not much of a farmer. The closest I’ve gotten so far is a few potted mint plants and an aloe. Now, I should tell you that I have this thing I do. First, I get a plant that’s perfectly fine and healthy. Next, I follow the instructions on [...]
Pastor Mark Nieting Matt 11: 25-30 [Audio clip: view full post to listen] For most of the world, July 4 is a normal calendar day, but for Americans it is very special. We call it “Independence Day,” celebrating our country’s freedom from England. We celebrate with a variety of symbols. Fireworks remind us of the [...]
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