Pastor Eric's Podcast

Mark 14:17-25
This 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 15:1-8
In 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 10:11-18
When 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 16:1-8
This 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 19:38-42
On 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-35
In 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 12:20-33
There 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.

Exodus 20:1-17
This week Grace and Emmanuel discussed the Ten Commandments during the sermon time. This is a summary of that discussion

Mark 8:31-38
Today we hear the story of Jesus predicting his own death and Peter's reaction. This sermon makes comparisons between this interaction and the we we assess our own ministry and lives together in Christ on the day of a congregational meeting

Mark 1:9-15
Marks Gospel doesn't give us much detail about Jesus' temptation in the desert, but it does let us know it took 40 days. This sermopn looks at the significance of that detail in comparison to the rest of Marks telling of Jesus' Life.