Lutheran Church Of The Savior Sermon Podcast With Rev. Andrew Tengwall

Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost, Lectionary Year CMark 7:24-37This Sunday we were blessed to hear the Word proclaimed by none other than the Rev. Sarah Friesen-Carper, Assistant to the Bishop for Congregational and Leadership Excellence of the North/West Lower Michigan Synod of the ELCA. She preached a powerful message about the Syrophoenician woman as part of "Confession, Repentance and Commitment to End Racism Sunday."

Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost, Lectionary Year BActs 11:19-26The Holy Spirit does not work on our schedule. We can dwell on the past or worry about the future, or we can look and see what God is doing right now. Yes, I recognize the irony of posting this sermon audio a week late.

Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost, Lectionary Year BActs 11:1-18The story of Peter and Cornelius may be the apex of our series on Acts, when God changes the rules to allow even Gentiles - like me - to receive baptism and the Holy Spirit. What can this transformational moment in the earliest church teach us about how God is acting today?

The crisis that scattered the first church from Jerusalem into Judea and Samaria became an opportunity for the Holy Spirit to spread the gospel. Recent news that the Lutheran tradition is the whitest church tradition in the US is a very different kind of crisis. Will we be open to how the Holy Spirit can use our weakness as means to share the gospel?

Prophetic grief is the public lament that challenges the injustices that have led to violence against God's people. The death of Stephen in our Acts sermon series is an excellent lens through which we can explore prophetic grief as the work of following Jesus today.

The Holy Spirit will mess with you. Thus I learned anew when a series of technological circumstances led me to preach this sermon from memory. Of course that was also the intended point of the sermon, on how the apostles' establishment of the diaconate in Acts 6 did not go as planned.

Three challenging readings today - the death of John the Baptist, the deaths of Ananias and Sapphira, and Amos arguing with Amaziah - all have a surprising thing in common. Each features a character with the same motivation: popularity. When is popularity not Good News?

The grace of God is even greater than I had imagined. Generosity is our expression of the grace we have received from God.

In which, after a week of vacation and country-shaking news, I heeded the Holy Spirit's call to listen for God's Word of law and gospel in the voices of others. Thanks to Rozella White, ELCA Director of Young Adult Ministries; Rev. Meghan Johnston Aelabouni; and President Obama. Each brought us a necessary Word this morning.

Second Sunday of Acts Sermon SeriesActs 2:42-47At my recent continuing education event, I learned about generosity, one of the core values of Lutheran Church of the Savior. What is generosity, and how does it flourish among us?

Our sermon series on Acts begins today, with Jesus' final words to his friends before he ascended to heaven and left them to wait for the Holy Spirit.

Romans 8:12-17The Holy Trinity is complicated, and it reminds us that the Bible gives us many wonderful images of God. Why? Because God wants to relate to us.

Day of Pentecost, Lectionary Year BActs 2:1-21Do not let years of hearing this story domesticate it. The Holy Spirit transformed the lives of Jesus' apostles that day, and seeks to transform us today. Here at Lutheran Church of the Savior, we are beginning a two-year period of preparation for the Holy Spirit to transform us as individuals and as a congregation. We will celebrate our 50 years of ministry in 2017 not as an anniversary, but as a Pentecost. Prepare to be made new by the Holy Spirit.

Fifth Sunday after Easter, Lectionary Year B1 John 4:7-12After celebrating the death and resurrection of Jesus over Holy Week and Easter, and after recent events in Baltimore sparked by the death of Freddie Gray, we remember this important fact. We don't get to talk about Jesus without talking about state-sponsored violence.

Fourth Sunday of Easter, Lectionary Year B1st John 3:16-24Love one another. The First Letter of John (not to be confused with the Gospel of John, similar though they are) is a great resource for understanding this phrase, so central to what it means for us to follow Jesus.

Second Sunday of Easter, Lectionary Year BActs 4:32-37How did the first apostles live together, and how can they inspire us to live more fully for God in the light of the death and resurrection of Jesus?

Easter Sunday, Lectionary Year BMark 16:1-8Mark's maybe-abbreviated story of Jesus' resurrection may be my favorite version of the story, showing how God's love for us in Jesus transcends the power of sin and death, yes, and also the power of fear. As usual, "Do not be afraid" is the beginning of the Good News.

Maundy ThursdayJohn 13:1-17, 31b-35"Love one another" is Jesus' most powerful, challenging command to his disciples. He gives this new commandment during his final meal with them. How can we follow such a simple, complicated commandment? In this meal Jesus shows us how to love one another.

Sunday of the Passion / Palm Sunday, Lectionary Year BPhilippians 2:5-11This year, instead of again being annoyed that Palm Sunday and Sunday of the Passion are forced to share a single stage, I decided to embrace the paradox, and remembered the helpful guideline that Jesus is both.

Fifth Sunday of Lent, Lectionary Year BJohn 12:20-33"[U]nless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit." Jesus brings the wisdom to those who wish to see him. With cameos from Obi-Wan Kenobi and S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent Phil Coulson.