Sermons
Sermon – Altar Call ~ Pastor Jean Duran
February 28, 2021 Each summer after my fifth and sixth year in school, I attended a week long bible camp, church camp, with a friend of mine, at Camp Cedar Crest, which is located in the mountains of Southern California. I have to tell you that I loved those two weeks...
Sermon – Angels In The Wilderness – Pastor Paisley Le Roy
February 21, 2021 I remember it like it was yesterday. I had finished my first year of seminary and I was working at Bridgeport Hospital as intern chaplain. A requirement of the program to be a pastor. I was the pastor on duty for that night. Part of my...
Sermon – Holy Encounters ~ Deacon Heather Feltman
February 14, 2021 It is unusual for Mark to make specific references to time in his gospel, so we might wonder why Mark mentions that the events of this story happen six days after the first verse. Well, you can walk from Caesarea Philippi to Mt. Tabor, the...
Sermon- God’s Work In Our Own Homes – Pastor Sarah Rohde
February 7, 2021 Over the past several months, I wonder if you have been part of a conversation that went kind of like this. "Hey, what are your plans for the weekend?" "Ugg, I think I will be spending it at home." Or "Hey did you hear that we are going to get a ton...
Sermon – Those Who Dream… Are Astounded – Pastor Paisley Le Roy
January 31, 2021 “They were all amazed.” This verse circled in my mind as I walked with this text this week. “They were amazed at his teaching.” Now, this word finds its root in the greek, θαμβέω (Thambeó), to astonish. Which, yes, is a suitable translation but I...
Dreamers: Jonah – Pastor Sarah Rohde
January 24, 2021 Many of us, I am sure, grew up hearing the story of Jonah. We know it to be a theatrical story and and one that points us towards God's persistence and human resistance. Those are absolutely two themes that come out of this story, but as I was...
Sermon – Those Who Dream… Listen then Speak – Pastor Paisley Le Roy
January 17, 2021 Here we are, the day before we celebrate the prophetic voice of Martin Luther King Jr. and his dream of freedom and equity for all people, after having just experienced another example of the racism and white supremacy running rampant in our country...
Epiphany Then And Now – Pastor Sarah Rohde
January 10, 2021 Today we celebrate Epiphany; it’s the day in the church year when we hear the story of the Magi visiting Jesus, and it’s the beginning of a liturgical season that’s intended to help us ponder the light, the revelations, the epiphanies that we...
Sermon – Those That Dream Cannot Keep Silent- Guest Sermon John Volkening
January 3, 2020 Today's scripture reading of the presentation of Jesus at the Temple in Jerusalem, is set in a troubled land, a country occupied by Roman armies and ruled by King Herod, who was a tyrant that had been appointed by the Roman Empire. This story of the...
Christmas 2020 – Pastor Sarah Rohde
December 24, 2020 Services from Christmas 2020. Merry Christmas, everyone! You can watch the Family Christmas Eve Service here. You can watch the Candlelight Christmas Eve Service here. You can read the sermon text here.
Sermon – Dreamers: Mary, “The Lord Is With You” – Pastor Paisley Le Roy
December 20, 2020 Our church reads the gospels one piece at a time, one week at a time, following the lectionary. But… the lectionary doesn’t go in order, and it doesn’t cover everything. It can actually be really hard to understand the totality of Luke when we read...
Sermon – Dreamers: Finding Joy – Pastor Sarah Rohde
December 13, 2020 Each week during this season of Advent, and even through the Christmas and Epiphany seasons, we’re exploring the kinds of actions that are tied to the dreams of God and God’s people. The premise of this whole theme is that there are specific things...
Sermon – Dreamers: God Is With Us, Even in the Wilderness- Pastor Paisley Le Roy
December 6, 2020 Ah, the Book of Isaiah - an Advent classic. And rightly so… as it tells many stories of times Israel felt they were in the wilderness. It tells of their falling out of God’s favor and falling balling back in again. It’s a story of the evolution of...
Sermon – Unraveled: Why Does It Happen? – Pastor Sarah Rohde
November 22, 2020 Today we bring to a close the theme that’s guided us the past 11 weeks – “Unraveled: Seeking God When Our Plans Fall Apart.” Over these 11 weeks, we’ve been introduced to Bible stories, and we have walked with all kinds of Biblical characters in...
Sermon – When The Unimaginable Happens – Guest Pastor Kathy Nolte
November 15, 2020 Worshiping together with Pastor Kathy Nolte and the people of Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Oak Park. So what is the deal with Thomas. Why do we call him the doubter? One time in scripture he has this moment when he doesn't believe what, quite...
Sermon – Unraveled: The Story Of Nicodemus ~ Deacon Heather Feltman
November 8, 2020 John is a gifted storyteller and the story he places right before the story we hear today is the story about Nicodemus. Do you remember that story? Nicodemus struggles with wanting to see Jesus, so he seeks Jesus out during the middle of the night, so...
Sermon – Unraveled: Rizpah Mourns – Pastor Sarah Rohde
November 1, 2020 First off, you get the reward in Bible trivia today if you can remember ever hearing about the woman named Rizpah. To be perfectly honest, before my studies this past week, I would not have remembered her name, nor her story. I’m sure it was mentioned...
Sermon – Unraveled: Finding God’s True Vocation For Us – Pastor Paisley Le Roy
October 25, 2020 When I saw that this would be the text for today, the day of my first sermon with you, I chuckled to myself because I know a bit about unravelling of vocation. As I've mentioned throughout my call process, I originally was on the pre‑med track. I...
Sermon – Unraveled: Discovering a New Path – Pastor Sarah Rohde
October 18, 2020 Today I have moments when I wonder how much we as people of faith today, want to be changed by our faith in Jesus. I worry that we self select what we want to believe or what we want to hear in order to reinforce the way that we want to live. We can...
Sermon – Unraveled: The Story Of Job ~ Deacon Heather Feltman
October 11, 2020 The Book of Job is a curious thing. It starts with two chapters of exposition - God makes a bet that Job will stay faithful if God takes everything away, and so, God takes everything away. Job's estate disappears; Job's children die; Job's body fails;...
