You may have heard that there was a controversy about the choice of Time Magazine’s ‘Person / Persons of the Year’ 2020. Time Magazine chose to put then President elect Joe Biden and Vice-President elect Kamala Harris on the cover and declare them ‘Persons of the Year’. Which is not an unusual choice: Donald […]
‘Courage to be the Light’: Sermon Mark 1:14-20; 3rd Sunday after Epiphany – January 24th, 2021
‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near. Repent, and believe in the good news!’ These are the very first words that Jesus is reported saying in the gospel according to Mark. We hear about Jesus in the verses leading up to today’s gospel story – and it has to […]
Blind Spots: Sermon 1 Samuel 3: 1-10; John 1:35-42 – 2nd Sunday after Epiphany; January 17th, 2021
The Bible is full of interesting and multi-layered characters. The vast majority of them are not perfect – they are all human, after all, so why would they be? And wouldn’t perfection be boring? At least when it comes to storytelling? I am grabbed by one of the characters of our lesson from the Old […]
Out of the Water, Into the World: Sermon Mark 1: 4-11; 1st Sunday after the Epiphany / Baptism of Our Lord – January 10th, 2021
The Jordan River is not one of the mighty rivers of this world. Compared to other rivers, it is tiny: it’s merely 156 miles long and 60 feet across at its widest. It’s fairly shallow: its deepest point is about 17 feet. It’s never been navigable. It is formed by tributaries in the mountains […]
Detour Ahead: Sermon Matthew 2: 1-12; 2nd Christmas / Epiphany – January 3rd, 2021
I want you to think back exactly one year, to the beginning of January 2020. What were your expectations for that year? What were your plans for that brand new year? I remember that, in January 2020, my husband Fred and I were seriously planning a trip to Spain, which was supposed to happen […]
Glory to God in the Deepest! Sermon Luke 2:1-20; Christmas Eve – December 24th, 2020
For the past 23 years, friends in Germany have been sending me a special gift every Advent: an Advent calendar called ‘Der andere Advent’, ‘The Other Advent’, with reflections and images for every day of the Advent and Christmas season. In this year’s calendar, there was one reflection that stood out to me: A […]
To Be Continued… Sermon Mark 1: 1-8; 2nd Advent / St. Nicholas Day – December 6th, 2020
The gospel according to Mark stands out among the gospel accounts we have in our Bible. It is the one gospel story that cuts right to the chase. No mention of Mary and Joseph or any other of Jesus’ relatives, no birth story, no stories from Jesus’ childhood – no, after a one sentence […]
‘Are We There Yet?’ Sermon Mark 13:24-37; 1st Advent – November 29th, 2020
I love the Advent season. It’s my favorite church season of the year. Always has been. When I was a child, Advent was this time of joyful and festive anticipation, a time of excited waiting. It was the countdown to Christmas! There would be decorations and lights everywhere as the days were getting […]
‘Risky Business’: Sermon Matthew 25:14-30; 24th Pentecost – November 15, 2020
Today, I want to tell you a story about hope, faith, and love. Years ago, in my previous congregation, a young woman came in during office hours. I could tell she was agitated, even desperate. And so we sat down, and she started talking. ‘My car broke down, and I need […]
“Apocalypse Now”: Sermon Matthew 25:1-13; 23rd Sunday after Pentecost – November 8, 2020
‘Is not the day of the Lord darkness, not light, and gloom with no brightness in it?’ We heard these words just a few moments ago. They come from the book of Amos, one of the prophets in the Old Testament, and those are not necessarily words I would choose as words of comfort, […]
‘Not Forgetting the Whale’: Sermon Luke 12: 15-21; Erntedank / Thanksgiving for the Harvest – October 4th, 2020
I just finished reading a book, and it was one of the best books I’ve read in a while. This book isn’t just entertaining and a page turner, no, it made me think, it surprised me, it even made me cry a little – but mostly, it gave me hope. This book it called […]
‘Is the Lord With Us or Not?’ Sermon Matthew 4: 12-25; 17th Sunday after Pentecost – September 27th, 2020 (By Michael Dickson, Ministry in Context Student, PLTS)
Good morning friends! Grace and peace to you all in the name of God our creator, Jesus Christ our trusted redeemer, and the Holy Spirit that fills us, sustains us, and inspires us to act. I’m excited and grateful to St. Matthew’s, and I feel truly blessed to have the opportunity to preach […]
‘Not fair!’ Sermon Matthew 20:1-16; 16th Sunday after Pentecost – September 20th, 2020
I want to share a personal story with you that happened when I was in the second grade. I always loved to read, I started reading even before I entered elementary school, and I was the best reader in the classroom – together with Stefan Lohwasser, he loved to read as much as I […]
“Crossing the Divide’: Sermon Matthew 18:21-35 – 15th Pentecost; September 13th, 2020
I don’t know about you, but for me, one day blurs into another as we continue to deal with the pandemic. And I often have to remind myself: what day is it now? But this past week, one date stood out, and I’m sure not only for me: 9/11. 9/11. This date has become […]
‘Let’s Talk’: Sermon Matthew 18:15-20 -14th Sunday after Pentecost; September 6th, 2020
As you may know, I recently got back from a three week stay in Germany. And though the primary reason for my trip was to visit with my ailing mom, and I still worked while in Germany, and Germany is dealing with a surge of Corona cases (though I have to say that Germany’s […]
‘O Lord, Please Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood’: Sermon Matthew 16:21-28; 13th Sunday after Pentecost – August 30th, 2020
‘I’m just a soul whose intentions are good – o Lord, please don’t let me be misunderstood.’ You may know this song – it was made famous by the group ‘The Animals’ in 1965, although soul singer Nina Simone first recorded it in 1964. This song, this line came to my mind when I […]
‘Got Faith?’ Sermon Matthew 15:21-28; 11th Pentecost – August 16th, 2020
Have faith! Has anyone ever said this to you, just have faith, it will turn out alright? I usually hear these words when I call Philomena, Dorothy, or Lore. Pastor, we just need to have faith. And I am grateful to hear these words, for even a pastor needs reassurance once in a […]
‘Battered by the Waves’: Sermon Matthew 14: 22-33; 10th Sunday after Pentecost – August 9th, 2020
Here in California, we know something about waves. We have this amazing coastline, our entire Western border is the mighty Pacific. I love the ocean. I love the sound of waves crashing. I love that there is always movement in the ocean, even on calm days. Wave after wave after wave breaks on the […]
“Good Trouble”: Sermon Matthew 13: 31-33, 44-52; 8th Sunday after Pentecost – July 26th, 2020
‘God’s gonna trouble the water.’ This line in the African American spiritual ‘Wade in the Water’ refers to a passage in the gospel according to John, where we hear the story about Jesus healing a sick man at the pool of Bethzatha. Here we have a verse that is often omitted from contemporary Bible […]
‘Rip It Out?’ Sermon Mt 13:24-30, 36-43; 7th Sunday after Pentecost – July 19th, 2020
If this was a year like any other, my husband Fred would be following the baseball season right now – morning, noon, and night – and especially his favorite team, the SF Giants. But then, of course, this isn’t a year like any other, and big time sports in this country have been basically […]