A couple of weeks ago, I got together with D H, N H’s son, and his wife B to prepare for N’s burial and to talk about her life. Now I already knew that N had a big heart and that it was her nature to take people under her wings. But then D […]
Sermon Luke 3:15-17, 21-22; 1st Sunday after Epiphany – January 13th, 2019
Some years ago, I stumbled across a great short film that actually won a few awards. This short film is called ‘Validation’. I strongly recommend you watch it, I think it’s very uplifting – and makes you think! You can find it on You Tube. But a little bit about this short film. We […]
Sermon Matthew 2:1-12; Epiphany – January 6th, 2019
There is one word I just learned about a couple of days ago, and I decided that this will be my motto for 2019: coddiwomple. And I kid you not, this word actually exists. Has anyone here ever coddiwompled? I have. And I have a hunch, you have too. But what does ‘coddiwomple’ mean? ‘Coddiwomple’ […]
Sermon Luke 2: 8-20; Christmas Day – December 25th, 2018
The first congregation I served as a pastor was a small Lutheran church down in San Jose. Right around the corner from my congregation was one of those mega churches, a church that probably drew hundreds of worshipers on any given Sunday. Everything about this church was BIG. I remember driving by this big […]
Homily Luke 2:1-20; Christmas Eve – December 24th, 2018
It was exactly 200 years ago that one song was played and sung for the very first time that since has become a Christmas classic: Silent Night, Holy Night. There are some legends around the origins of this song, but what we know for sure is that Joseph Mohr, a young priest, at some […]
Sermon Luke 1: 39-55; 4th Advent – December 23rd, 2018
Mary’s Voice (Sings Marty Haugen’s ‘Magnificat’) This is my song. This is my voice. I am Mary. The mother of Jesus, the mother of God. A mother figure to many who were – and are – overwhelmed by a threefold all-male God. From early on, I was venerated by the church, put on a pedestal. […]
Advent Devotion 2018: Peace, Joy, and Love – Week 3: Love
‘What is love, anyway?’ Howard Jones, ‘What is love?’ ‘Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only […]
Sermon Luke 3, 7-18; 3rd Advent – December 16th, 2018
Did today’s lessons leave you a little confused? Did it maybe sound a little schizophrenic to you? First, we heard from the Old Testament book of the prophet Zephaniah, ‘Sing aloud, Daughter Zion; shout, o Israel! Rejoice and exult with all your heart, o daughter Jerusalem! God is in your midst!’ Rejoice! In today’s […]
Advent Devotion 2018: Peace, Joy and Love – Week 2: Joy
“To get the full value of joy you must have someone to divide it with.” Mark Twain “And Mary said, ‘My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God, my Savior, for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant. Surely, from now on all generations will call me […]
Sermon Luke 3:1-6; 2nd Sunday in Advent – December 9th, 2018
The first few lines of today’s gospel may sound boring to us. ‘In the fifteenth year of Emperor Tiberius, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea and Herod was ruler of Galilee, and his brother Philip ruler of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias ruler of Abilene, during the high priesthood of […]
Advent Devotion 2018: Peace, Joy and Love – Week 1: Peace
Peace, in the sense of the absence of war, is of little value to someone who is dying of hunger or cold. It will not remove the pain of torture inflicted on a prisoner of conscience. It does not comfort those who have lost their loved ones in floods caused by senseless deforestation in […]
Sermon Mk 5: 21-24; 35-43; Eternity Sunday – November 25th, 2018
It always happens at this time of year: I feel a disconnect between where I am, emotionally and spiritually, and where the world around me is. Our church calendar is very clear about it: it’s not Christmas yet. No, as we are approaching the ‘most wonderful time of the year’ (as the popular song […]
Sermon Mark 13: 1-8; 26th Sunday after Pentecost – November 18th, 2018
‘Not one stone shall be left upon another – all will be thrown down.’ Today is a somber day on the German calendar. It’s ‘Volkstrauertag’, the day of national mourning in Germany, a day that can be compared to the U.S. American Memorial Day. This day of remembrance was instituted after the horrors of […]
Sermon Revelation 21: 1-6; All Saints Sunday – November 4th, 2018
And I saw a new heaven and a new earth. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “See, the home of God is among mortals. He will dwell with them; they will be his peoples, and God himself will be with them; God will wipe every tear from their eyes. Death […]
A Monologue by ‘Katharine Luther’ loosely based on Romans 3: 19-28 with Preface
Preface to today’s message: Today is Reformation Sunday. This is a day we usually celebrate in the Lutheran Church as we remember how Martin Luther brought something new to the table and emphasized God’s amazing grace for all creation. Today, a little later in this service, the message is going to be rather playful and […]
Sermon Mark 10:35-45; 22nd Pentecost – October 21, 2018
We are living in quite amazing times. Technology has gotten us to the point where we don’t have to leave the comfort of our home in order to connect with others, or to explore the world. Social networking often happens over the computer screen; the best seats in the house when watching sports these […]
Sermon Mark 10:17-31; 21st Pentecost – October 14, 2018
“Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” Countless people all over the world and of many different religions have wrestled with this question. The premise is that there must be a heaven, an afterlife, eternal life, something that we can look forward to as we live our lives here on earth […]
‘Wunderbar together’ – Pr. Kerstin Weidmann’s invocation at the United German-American Associations of the San Francisco Bay Area Banquet October 7th, 2018
Last Wednesday, October 3rd, didn’t only mark the 28th anniversary of the German Reunification; that day also marked the beginning of the ‘German-American Year’ a special year of commemoration of U.S.- German relationships. The motto for this year is, ‘Wunderbar Together’. I personally think it’s a great motto; many non-German speakers know what ‘wunderbar’ […]
Sermon Matthew 6: 25-35; Erntedank/Thanksgiving for the Harvest – October 7th, 2018
Whenever I hear today’s gospel lesson (Jesus saying, ‘Don’t worry what you shall eat and drink and what you shall wear’), I am reminded of a certain tune that then I can’t get out of my head again: ‘Don’t worry, be happy’ by Bobby McFerrin. Anyone here who’s never ever heard that song? […]
Sermon Mark 9:38-50; 19th Pentecost – September 30, 2018
You may wonder what the attached picture is about. It’s a little hard to see, but it’s a picture of a clay tablet with an ancient writing called cuneiform (which means ‘wedge-shaped’), that was used in ancient Babylon. This particular tablet was written about 1,750 BCE during the Bronze Age – that’s roughly 3,750 […]