
Safe to Shore

John 3:14-21
After World War II, my dad participated in a work/travel program that provided an opportunity for students and young adults to go to places in Europe and help rebuild communities damaged or destroyed during the war. The program required the participants to work six weeks then travel around Europe the following six weeks. Read more…

Share the Good News

John 3:1-13
At a church similar to ours, there was a new associate pastor, fresh out of seminary, and was scheduled to preach his first sermon. He got up to the pulpit, stumbled through the Gospel, and with a terrified look in his eyes, said to the congregation, “Do you know the message I am going to share with you today?” Stunned, the congregation looked at each other, and shook their heads, “No.” He said, “Well, neither do I!” And he sat down. The senior pastor, a little perturbed, got up to the pulpit, and preached a sermon off the cuff. Read more…

Chosen and Blessed

Ephesians 1:3-6
Spiritual Blessings in Christ
God does the choosing.
If you are concerned about God’s choices, let me offer some words of assurance. Read more…

The Breath of Worship

Psalm 84
The Joy of Worship in the Temple
To the leader: according to The Gittith. Of the Korahites. A Psalm.
1 How lovely is your dwelling place,
O Lord of hosts!
2 My soul longs, indeed it faints
for the courts of the Lord;
my heart and my flesh sing for joy
to the living God.
3 Even the sparrow finds a home,
and the swallow a nest for herself,
where she may lay her young,
at your altars, O Lord of hosts,
my King and my God.
4 Happy are those who live in your house,
ever singing your praise. Selah
5 Happy are those whose strength is in you,
in whose heart are the highways to Zion.
6 As they go through the valley of Baca
they make it a place of springs;
the early rain also covers it with pools.
7 They go from strength to strength;
the God of gods will be seen in Zion.
8 O Lord God of hosts, hear my prayer;
give ear, O God of Jacob! Selah
9 Behold our shield, O God;
look on the face of your anointed.
10 For a day in your courts is better
than a thousand elsewhere.
I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God
than live in the tents of wickedness.
11 For the Lord God is a sun and shield;
he bestows favor and honor.
No good thing does the Lord withhold
from those who walk uprightly.
12 O Lord of hosts,
Tomorrow, March 11, will mark the one year anniversary of the last time we gathered for food, fellowship and worship with no restrictions, masks and distancing. Read more…

What’s Your Bumper Sticker?

Hebrews 9:23-28
Christ’s Sacrifice Takes Away Sin
It was our final year at seminary. A capstone class for our senior year integrated both theology and pastoral care together – a two-hour class each day. The class met for one hour, then headed to daily chapel worship, followed by a second hour of classes.
At worship one day, we were blessed to have John Ylvisaker as our musician in residence. Read more…

What a Wonderful Way to Spell JOY!

1 Corinthians 3
“The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise,
I decided to include all of chapter 3 of 1 Corinthians in the lesson for today. Read more…

Den of Robbers!

John 2:13-22
Radio personality of old, Paul Harvey, told of a robber wearing a motorcycle helmet, carrying a gun, and striding into a branch bank in Oceanside, California. He selected a teller who appeared in her fifties, soft, kindly, an easy mark. He handed her a note demanding money or her life. The woman reached for the cash drawer. Then she looked again at the note and her eyes flashed, her lips clenched. Read more…

Greatest

John 3:1-17
Today’s devotion is my sermon from one year ago (Sunday, March, 2020) – the last Sunday we were together before we shut down due to COVID. Read more…

My Words

Psalm 19
God’s Glory in Creation and the Law
To the leader. A Psalm of David.
1
The heavens are telling the glory of God;
and the firmament proclaims his handiwork.
2
Day to day pours forth speech,
and night to night declares knowledge.
3
There is no speech, nor are there words;
their voice is not heard;
4
yet their voice goes out through all the earth,
and their words to the end of the world.
In the heavens he has set a tent for the sun,
5
which comes out like a bridegroom from his wedding canopy,
and like a strong man runs its course with joy.
6
Its rising is from the end of the heavens,
and its circuit to the end of them;
and nothing is hid from its heat.
7
The law of the Lord is perfect,
reviving the soul;
the decrees of the Lord are sure,
making wise the simple;
8
the precepts of the Lord are right,
rejoicing the heart;
the commandment of the Lord is clear,
enlightening the eyes;
9
the fear of the Lord is pure,
enduring forever;
the ordinances of the Lord are true
and righteous altogether.
10
More to be desired are they than gold,
even much fine gold;
sweeter also than honey,
and drippings of the honeycomb.
11
Moreover by them is your servant warned;
in keeping them there is great reward.
12
But who can detect their errors?
Clear me from hidden faults.
13
Keep back your servant also from the insolent;
do not let them have dominion over me.
Then I shall be blameless,
and innocent of great transgression.
14
Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
be acceptable to you,
Verse 14 is one that several pastors use as a prayer at the beginning of each sermon. Read more…

God’s Temple

1 Peter 2:4-10
4 As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to him— 5 you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house[a] to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 6 For in Scripture it says:
“See, I lay a stone in Zion,
a chosen and precious cornerstone,
and the one who trusts in him
will never be put to shame.”[b]
7 Now to you who believe, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe,
“The stone the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone,”[c]
8 and,
“A stone that causes people to stumble
and a rock that makes them fall.”[d]
They stumble because they disobey the message—which is also what they were destined for.
9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
Footnotes
- a. 1 Peter 2:5 Or into a temple of the Spirit
- b. 1 Peter 2:6 Isaiah 28:16
- c. 1 Peter 2:7 Psalm 118:22
- d. 1 Peter 2:8 Isaiah 8:14
Today’s reading is from the New International Version. I decided to use this translation for the footnotes that are listed at the bottom of today’s lesson. Read more…