This morning we find ourselves on the “other side of Christmas” and in a brand new chronological year. Liturgically, we are still in the same year, but chronologically, the year is 2018. Tis’ the year of Mark, the second year of our three year cycle – termed “series B.” Mark tells his story of Jesus […]
Sermons by PJ Mortenson
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Luke 2. 22- 40 – This is so me!
God can use anyone he chooses to accomplish his will. Some of them are very surprising…others maybe not so surprising…. Consider Mary – a young teenage girl. Consider Joseph – an older well established man in the trades… Or what about the case in today’s gospel of old Simeon and probably even older Anna – […]
Luke 2. 22-40
I want to draw your attention to “three sets of adults” at the beginning of the Jesus story. The first couple we are introduced to is the elderly couple, “senior citizens, actually”: Zachariah and Elizabeth. Then, there is “the main couple” who follows them – and takes the center stage, but only for a brief […]
St. John, Apostle and Evangelist
Generally listed as “the youngest of all the apostles”…John was the son of Zebedee and Salome. Zebedee (his father) you might remember, got left sitting in a boat, while his two boys, took off and followed after that “Jesus-character.” John is often times painted in Christian art as being young and smooth faced, non-shaving and […]
10am Service
There is nothing quite like it, nothing really to compare it – with or to… Christmas morning, that is. It is peaceful, it is respectful, it is courteous, it is a morning like no other. There is a calm. There is something serene about it and picturesque, as well. It is laid back and more […]
11pm Service
If you listen carefully you can almost hear the trumpets’ blaring as a herald announces an imperial order coming from Caesar Augustus when Quirinius was governor of Syria… All attention is momentarily diverted. There was silence, stone, cold dead silence. You could hear a pin drop. What would this announcement be? Eager ears and not […]
5pm Service
The first chapter of Luke’s big story – “makes it clear”…that “this story” is all about the “power of the family.” Never underestimate “the power of the family.” It is huge! It is immense. We can lay down our differences. We can actually hold back our comments. We can avoid talking politics or religion or […]
I would like you to think about the word “grace” for a moment. Grace is defined as being: “the free and unmerited favor of God,” as manifested in “the salvation of sinners” and the “bestowal of blessings.” Big words, I know… Words that do need our consideration… What it means to say is – that […]
The Pharisees had it “in” for any people that did not follow the “status quo.” They did not “like people” who danced to their own beat. John the Baptizer certainly fit into that category, as did Jesus himself. When John appeared in his wilderness setting and started to draw crowds to himself – the Pharisees […]
John 1. 6-8, 19-28 Advent III
“That a man named John was baptizing” in the wilderness – meant nothing at all. It was even somewhat surprising that people were even talking about it —. It was just the story of “another religious kook”…running around “out in the wilderness-somewhere.” That he was “baptizing men” in the Jordan River raising “no red flags.” […]