Many toxic plant have look-alikes that are harmless or even tasty (Wild Carrot vs. Poison Hemlock).…

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Sometimes it is very challenging to distinguish the wheat from the weeds.

One helpful way, a Lutheran way, to look at this  

is to remember Luther’s claim,  

that we are at the same time saint and sinner. ( ...

Our sermon text today is from our Gospel of Matthew reading,  

and it’s sometime entitled “The Great Invitation”.

I’ll read it to you again in the Eugene Peterson translation.

Jesus says: “Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life....

There’s the saying that  

“behind every successful man there stands a woman”,

So it’s fitting that for Samuel,  

one of the most important prophets and judges,  

who shepherded the transition of ancient Israel to the monarchy,

That his origin story starts with his mom.

Little is known about the lives of...

In our reading from Leviticus this morning, the key to holy living is that we

must care for those living at the margins. This is not just an option, but a command from God,  

which applies to all people.

The command to seek food justice for the poor is as important as prohibitions on incest and human sacrifice,  

Seeking food security...

Our Gospel text from the very end of the Gospel of Luke,

tells of the last appearance of the risen Christ to his disciples.

It's the last time he'll really be seen by them

in a more or less material-physical sense

before he disappears and says goodbye to them.

He then “ascended into heaven,”

as we testify in the Creeds.

There are two...

The Second Sunday of Easter is often called Low Sunday.  

Some refer to it  

as like a “postpartum depression Sunday”  

after the high mountaintop experiences of Holy Week.  

We’re back to normal or below-average attendance,  

the music is more subdued,  

and the flowers are either past their...

Today’s service features two highlights:  

the reading of the Passion by the Evangelist John,  

and excerpts from the Requiem by Gabriel Fauré.

Now this Requiem is not just Muzak to break up the monotony of the reading;but it is a beautiful masterpiece,

The Requiem is not just background music to the reading of the...

You’ve all experienced it.  

You’re watching a movie or a TV show  

and then suddenly there’s tension in the scene.  

The music is ominous and threatening,  

signalling something terrible is going to happen.

Like the two repeated notes from Jaws —doo-doo, doo-doo

Bu the characters on the screen are...

Our overarching theme this Lent is  

“Unfinished: discovering God’s call in the not yet”,  

and today’s story of the Resurrection of Lazarus is a great way to illustrate how we live in an Unfinished space:  

we know the Resurrection has happened for Lazarus and for Jesus,  

and we know it is in the...

How would you respond if God would actually call you 

and you could hear God’s voice as clear as you hear 

my voice this morning?

Maybe you might pinch yourself and think: 

boy, what a crazy dream I’m having…better try to wake myself up,

Or maybe you might think, what did I eat or drink last night to cause this?