Mount Pleasant Lutheran Church
Episodes
Gospel: Matthew 22:15-22
Description: When Jesus got pinned down by a tricky, lose-lose question in a hostile crowd, he could have taken the bait and no one would have blamed him. Instead, he turned it back on his opponents with a word for us, too: Give back to God what is God’s. What does that look like, exactly, if we were to put it into practice?
Reading: Philippians 4:1-9
Description: Christians are called to be unified. Even in times of division or separation, we are called to rejoice in what have in common- Jesus Christ.
Reading: Philippians 3:4b-14 (CEV)
Description: It’s all TOO MUCH! Our brains and spirits aren’t made to function on high alert all the time. When the heaviness of the world makes us feel like it’s all up to you, remember that it’s really up to God. Take a moment to breathe in God’s grace for you.
A Prayer by Thomas Merton, from “Thoughts in Solitude”
My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going.
I do not see the road ahead of me.
...
Text: Philippians 2:1-13
Description: It is completely normal to hit a wall during sustained crises like the pandemics we face now. Paul reminds us to stay united in Christ and put other’s before ourselves.
Gospel: Matthew 20:1-16 (NLT)
Parable of the Vineyard Workers20 “For the Kingdom of Heaven is like the landowner who went out early one morning to hire workers for his vineyard. 2 He agreed to pay the normal daily wagea]">[a] and sent them out to work.
3 “At nine o’clock in the morning he was passing through the marketplace and saw some people standing around doing nothing. 4 So he hired them, telling them he would pay them...
Gospel: Matthew 18:21-35
Description: Get out a pencil! Today’s Gospel reading includes some tricky math calculations and the problem of forgiving those who sin against us. How can we learn to do math the way Jesus does it? What might it feel like to stop keeping score?
GOSPEL: Matthew 18:15-20
[Jesus said to the disciples:] 15“If another member of the church sins against you, go and point out the fault when the two of you are alone. If the member listens to you, you have regained that one. 16 But if you are not listened to, take one or two others along with you, so that every word may be confirmed by the evidence of two or three witnesses. 17 If the member refuses to listen to them, tell it to th...
Text: Romans 12:9-21
Description: We’re all tired, sad, angry, and feel threatened…but for various reasons. And we’re all stuck in a culture that pushes us to react instead of listen. How are we going to get through the next cycle of events together?
Links: The word cloud images displayed during this sermon were taken from this survey: https://www.axios.com/axios-surveymonkey-poll-dnc-bounce-fa6029f2-a0d2-4013-8331-bf2256a1b915.h...
Gospel: Matthew 16:13-20
Description: Jesus gives Peter the keys the kingdom because of his faith. Though the church (not a building, the people) has been through a lot over the course of history, it has always survived and will always survive because the church is built on the strength of Christ’s love.
Gospel: Matthew 15:10-28
Description: When Jesus encounters a bothersome Canaanite woman while traveling, he responds in a way that seems out of character for him. How we make peace with that tells us something about how we make sense of Jesus as both a human being and the Son of God.
Gospel: Matthew 14:22-33
Description: Peter makes a questionable move when he sees Jesus walking across the water. But Jesus is already there, ready to grab his arm and rescue him. Wherever Jesus is, there is calm amidst a storm.
Pastor Beth Ann swimming as a child:
Gospel: Matthew 14:13-21
Description: Jesus feeds the crowd. Even in the midst of his own grief, he doesn’t send them away hungry. With all the hunger and collective trauma we are going through, Pastor Krista suggests we all deserve to brought a casserole.
Gospel: Matthew 13:31-33, 44-52
Description: God’s rescue mission (aka the kingdom of heaven) is found in the little things that grow into big things where all are cared for and included in God’s family. When God reveals it to us, we respond by going all in.
Gospel: Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43
What’s more powerful than a frontal attack? Getting your enemy to destroy itself from within. Listen to Jesus’ parable of the Wheat and the Weeds, and why we should let God worry about the final harvest (instead of us).
Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23
Time for a soil test! Which kind are you today…the beaten down path, the shallow-depth kind, the crowded, weedy sort, or the ready-to-grow kind?
To see a 48-row planter in action, check out this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hfxGd4p9hcY
Sermon Text: Matthew 11:16-19, 25-30
As Christians, we are yoked to Christ in our baptisms. Just like two animals can be yoked together to pull a heavy load, we don’t have to carry the heavy load of life alone, when we lean into Christ’s strength.
Pastor Krista’s Ordination October 31, 2010. She’s wearing the red stole her mom made for her that is mentioned in the sermon. From left to right- Pastor Jason Chesnut (friend from semin...