Simply the Sermon for July 6, 2025: Fourth Sunday after Pentecost

Our texts for Sunday, July 6 are Isaiah 66:10-14; Galatians 6:1-16; and Luke 10:1-11, 16-20. 

How might our gospel reading about disciples being sent out to share the good news be not so much about us being the givers of good news but instead our being the receiver of the good news from sources that we might ordinarily discount? Who is sharing the gospel with us that we might not recognize? Who are we discounting who may leave our presence only to wipe our dust from their feet? Might God be opening you to a new revelation?

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Simply the Sermon for June 29, 2025: Third Sunday after Pentecost

Our readings today are 1 Kings 19:15-16, 19-21; Galatians 5:1, 13-25, and Luke 9:51-62. We have no good apart from God. That makes Jesus’ call to follow him an invitation to freedom. This is freedom to revel in the Spirit’s fruit: love, joy, peace, and patience. This is freedom to not be imprisoned by anything or anyone that would keep us from the fullness of the life God has given us. This is the path of life.

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Simply the Sermon for June 22, 2025: Second Sunday after Pentecost

Our texts for this Sunday, June 22, 2025 are Isaiah 65:1-9; Galatians 3:23-29; and Luke 8:26-39. In our gospel reading we follow the journey of Jesus and his friends as they travel into other lands and meet folks who are in extreme need. But when we poke into the story a bit deeper we find nuance that we had never expected. Listen closely to the story and find a God who is willing and able to stand against chaos and the power of sin so that God's entire creation can flourish.

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Simply the Sermon for June 15, 2025: Holy Trinity Sunday

This is a special day, a day when we try to wrap our heads around how one God can be three persons. The good news is that we will never get it exactly right because God is so much bigger than our little brains can comprehend. If we had all knowledge and all wisdom and could explain in detail what God was, then what would we need a God for? I for one am grateful that God knows more, is more, and loves more than I can even comprehend. 

Our readings for this Sunday, June 15 are Proverbs 8:1-4, 22-31; Romans 5:1-5; and John 16:12-15.

 “O Lord our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!” Paul writes that through Jesus we have peace with God, whose love pours into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, giving us lasting hope. We celebrate the gracious One-in-Three, eternal Three-in-One, as we worship in community; as we share water and word, bread and wine; and as we bring God’s love and hope to our neighbors.

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Simply the Sermon for June 8, 2025: Pentecost Sunday

On Pentecost we celebrate the coming of the Holy Spirit, our second advocate,  to people of varied languages, communities, and customs, people outside of the previous scope of the gospel story. This particular reading comes to us from Acts 2:1-21. We also heard Genesis 11:1-9 and our gospel reading was John 14:8-27.  This advocate, whom Jesus had promised, now comes to us in wind and fire, water, wine, and bread, the Holy Spirit abiding in and among us. We give thanks that God speaks to each of us, no matter our origins, language, or life path. Filled with the Spirit of truth, we go out from worship to proclaim the saving power of Christ’s love and the freedom of God’s grace with all the world.

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Simply the Sermon for June 1, 2025: Seventh Sunday of Easter

Our readings for Sunday, June 1 are: Acts 16:16-34; Revelation 22:12-14, 16-17, 20-21; John 17:20-26. Today is not a normal day. Five of us are just returned from our Synod Assembly where we gathered with hundreds of Lutherans from across the Southwestern California Synod to sing, pray, discern, vote, listen, and worship. It was a thrilling time! Please ask Julie H., Grace S., Autumn B., Cherie D., or myself about our experience. I'll also try to type up something for the Friday Collective.

That being said, our Bishop, Brenda Bos, provided a sermon for use this Sunday, since most of us preacher types were preparing for and then at the Assembly during our normal sermon prep hours. What a gift! So what you will hear preached on this Simply the Sermon is me, preaching the sermon written and prepared by Bishop Bos.

It is possible to hear in Jesus’ high priestly prayer, a prayer he offered shortly before his death, the petitions of the ascended Christ for his own throughout history—to our day—and beyond. Bishop Bos uses Jesus' words here to remind us of who Jesus is and how we are called to follow his lead in giving and receiving love.

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