This has been a strange week – to me, it felt downright surreal. Since the order of the county of San Francisco and the other counties in the Bay Area to shelter in place went into effect at midnight last Tuesday, life has changed. Hardly anyone is outside anymore, streets and freeways are empty, […]
Worship Services and Classes CANCELLED until Further Notice
Due to an order of the City and County of San Francisco that stipulates that people shelter in place until at least April 7th, all events and worship services at St. Matthew’s will be cancelled until further notice. God bless you, and stay healthy!
Resounding Water: Sermon John 4: 1-42; 3rd Sunday in Lent – March 15th, 2020 by Seminarian Susanna Hassel
Resounding Water –––– Sermon John 4: 1-42 Move 1: Between the Lines Lonely – apart – anonymous. Today we meet a woman we don’t know, of whom we don’t even know a name. Overall, we don’t know much about her. The information that this story gives us is incomplete. At midday, when the […]
New Chances: Sermon John 3:1-17; 2nd Lent – March 8th, 2020
Sometimes, when I just look at my life, I can’t believe how lucky I’ve been. That I was born at the time I was born, and not during the dark medieval ages, for example. That I was born in Germany, and not a country where there is poverty or constant conflict – or […]
‘Superhuman?’ Sermon Matthew 6:25-34; Family Service 1st Sunday in Lent – March 1st, 2020
Musical Meditation Piece before the sermon: ‘Thus spoke Zarathustra’, movement 1, by Richard Strauss (The gospel for this Sunday veers off lectionary because of a family service on this day.) Our Bible opens with a big bang: the story of how God created the world. We hear, “In the beginning, when God created the heavens […]
125th anniversary celebration POSTPONED
Dear All, In the light of COVID-19, the disease caused by the Corona Virus, the 125th anniversary celebration planned for 3/22 will be postponed. Please stay tuned for the new date! God bless you, and stay healthy!
Daylight Saving Time STARTS this Sunday, 3/8
This coming Sunday, we will LOSE an hour. Don’t be too late for worship! 😉
‘How good, Lord, to be here’: Sermon Matthew 17:1-9 – Transfiguration of our Lord; February 23rd, 2020
Sometimes I’ve just had enough. Sometimes, I need to get away from it all, turn off the TV with all its disconcerting or even frightening news, turn off my computer, turn off my phone, retreat, close the door and put up a ‘do not disturb’ sign, hike a trail in a remote area, take […]
Rules for life: Sermon Matthew 5:21-37 – 6th Sunday after the Epiphany; February 16th, 2020
This past week, I was involved in a car accident. As I was driving home on Highway 24 from San Francisco, traffic was stopped in the lane where I was traveling, so of course I stopped as well. So I was just standing there, waiting for traffic to move again, when all of a sudden […]
‘Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine!’ Sermon Matthew 5:13-20 – 5th Epiphany; February 9th, 2020
As many of you know, my husband Fred and I don’t live here in the City – to be honest, we wouldn’t be able to afford it – but in Walnut Creek, about 30 miles east from here. We love our neighborhood – it is not too fancy and has an interesting mix of […]
‘I’ve had enough’: Sermon Luke 2:22-32- Presentation of our Lord, February 2nd, 2020
Sylvia and Andrew just sang and played the beautiful Bach Aria from a larger cantata, ‘Ich habe genug’, which sometimes is translated with ‘I ask for no more’, but quite literally means, ‘I’ve had enough.’ We don’t find these words, ‘I’ve had enough’, in today’s gospel lesson; but Bach puts them into the mouth […]
Celebration of St. Matthew’s 125th Anniversary: March 22nd, 2 p.m.
Please join us as we celebrate St. Matthew’s 125th anniversary on March 22nd! 2 p.m.: Festival Service 3:30 p.m.: Reception
‘How good, Lord, to be here’ – Sermon Matthew 17:1-9; Transfiguration of our Lord – February 23rd, 2020
Sometimes I’ve just had enough. Sometimes, I need to get away from it all, turn off the TV with all its disconcerting or even frightening news, turn off my computer, turn off my phone, retreat, close the door and put up a ‘do not disturb’ sign, hike a trail in a remote area, take […]
A Rockin’ Organ Concert – Sunday, Feb. 23rd at 1 p.m.
Virtuoso organist, Friedemann Stihler, is on a brief tour of the Bay Area and will be gracing us and giving our organ a workout with what he does best—a great concert including tremendous classical organ works as well as “rockin’” ones. Will he play his “Mozart in New Orleans”? Or “The Nutcracker Meets Santana”? Come, […]
Sermon Matthew 4:12-23; 3rd Sunday after Epiphany – January 26th, 2020: ‘Hope is our mandate’
It was in August 2018. A 15 year old student from Stockholm in Sweden decided to speak up against climate change. She had studied the issue for a few years and wrote a prize winning essay on the matter in May 2018. The student, Greta Thunberg, started a school strike. From August 20th through […]
Sermon John 1:29-42; 2nd Sunday after the Epiphany – January 19th, 2020: ‘What are you looking for?’
What are you looking for? Everybody’s looking for something, as the Eurythmics state in their song ‘Sweet Dreams’. No matter what age and stage of our lives, there is always a longing, a desire for something. We look for love, for acceptance, for success, financial stability, for adventure, for peace, for meaning for our lives. […]
Sermon Matthew 3:13-17; Baptism of our Lord – January 12th, 2020
As my husband Fred and I were travelling through various National Parks in the American Southwest this past spring, we also visited Bryce Canyon. The landscape is truly breathtaking. However, Fred is also very interested in Native American culture, and likes to hunt for petroglyphs – drawings or etchings on open rock surfaces the […]
Crab Feed
Come for food, fun and fellowship! Saturday, January 25th 4:30 pm – 7:30 pm St. Matthew’s Lutheran Church, 3281 16th Street, San Francisco Cost: $55 per person (ALL you can eat and drink) $15 for children 6-12 Please reserve your tickets by January 15th by calling 415-863-6371 or emailing [email protected]
Sermon Matthew 2:1-12; 2nd Sunday after Christmas / Epiphany – January 5th, 2020
We are at the beginning of a new decade, and recently there have been quite a few reflections on what has changed since 2010. Well, for one, technology has developed rapidly over the last years. Today we take many things for granted that were still new 10 years ago, and not accessible for […]
‘Let Heaven and Nature Sing’; 1st Sunday after Christmas – December 29th, 2019
This year, one of the most popular Christmas carols celebrates its 300th anniversary: ‘Joy to the World’, written in 1719 by Isaac Watts, an English theologian and minister. Isaac Watts belonged to the ‘Nonconformist Congregational Church’, not the Anglican Church. Now the interesting thing is that the nonconformists didn’t celebrate Christmas. They were purists and […]