Pastor Eric's Podcast

John 17:6-19Mother's day is not a Christian holiday, but this sermon does use it combined with a gospel reading of Jesus praying as an excuse to share a story about praying for a mother.

Mark 14:17-25This week's podcast is less of a sermon than a discussion of Lutheran theology of the meal. This was part of a celebration of the mass with sending of communion to the gatherings of Grace and Emmanuel Luitheran churches this Sunday.

John 15:1-8In today's passage Jesus says that those who do not abide in him cannot bear fruit. This sermon looks at the difference between reading that in a prescriptive and descriptive sense. There is perhaps more hope in hearing it as a description and promise.

John 10:11-18When Jesus says the good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep, it doesn't make sense without the context of the events that come later. This sermon looks at what that context could mean for the current state of the institutional church.

The Apostle John writes that no one who sins has ever known Jesus. It is on the surface an impossible claim to reconcile with the lived experience of people in the Church. This sermon takes a closer look at what might be going on here.

Mark 16:1-8This sermon looks at the story of Easter morning first from the perspective of an age old crisis of faith, "how do I live up to God's expectations?" Then it looks at it from a more recent question, "what good do our rituals do in a world that is so badly borken?"

John 19:38-42On Good Friday Christians are called to take silent account of the suffering of our world. It is the somber task to look with honesty at death. This sermon draws a comparison between that task and the task of those awaiting liberation during the Passover.

John 13:1-17,31b-35In the Maundy Thursday story Jesus washes his disciples feet, while in the liturgy we celebrate the eucharistic feast. In both cases, the mutual giving and taking of the kingdom is acted out. It is an oportunity to practice recieving.

John 12:20-33There is some inconsistency in the Jesus' word in today's reading. In many ways that is precisely the point of the story he is preparing to enter. This sermon looks as what it means to aproach death as a full human who is also fully divine.

John 3:14-21 (Numbers 21:4-9)Jesus compares his own crucifixion to Moses lifting up the serpent in the wilderness. This sermon examines that comparison and what it means to look upon the consequence of our sins.