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

16th Sunday after Pentecost, Lectionary Year APhilippians 2:1-13Today's beautiful lesson from Philippians reminds us that God is at work in us, and God is at work through us.

16th Sunday after Pentecost, Lectionary Year AMatthew 20:1-16Jesus' parable of the generous landowner is a wonderfully unexpected look at God's grace for us. The laborers are right to point out that the landowner's generosity exceeds the bounds of fairness, which is why this is such a great story for us as we embark on our annual stewardship drive. Stewardship is the process of figuring out how to respond to God's generosity, figuring out what to do with all God has given us. I love stewardship because this process draws us deeper into our faith and shows us how to live out our new lives in Christ.

Holy Cross SundayFirst Corinthians 1:18-24The cross is the central symbol of Christianity. Even before Jesus, the cross was a powerful symbol, and its meaning has changed over time. What does the cross mean to us today as we try to follow Jesus together?

Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost, Lectionary Year AMatthew 18:15-20As we kicked off our program year with Sunday School, "God's Work. Our Hands." Sunday and more, today's Gospel lesson challenged us to be honest about the challenges and conflict that come with being an active community with diverse goals. How does Jesus instruct us to manage conflict? How have we managed conflict in our congregation, and how can we do it better? For starters, I am proud to introduce my favorite communication and conflict mangagement model, the Role Renegotiation Model (believe me, it's so much better than the name), and its practical partner, the Pinches and Praises box. Because Jesus is with us, we can be bold to trust one another with our honest concerns.

12th Sunday after Pentecost, Lectionary Year ARomans 12:9-21Today's lesson from Romans offers my favorite instruction in the Bible: love one another. This simple, profound, difficult instruction is only one of about 29 ways Paul instructs Christians to act toward others, each as obviously good and near-impossible as the next. How can we do the things God wants us to do?

11th Sunday after Pentecost, Lectionary Year AMatthew 16:13-20"Who do you say that I am?" Who so we say Jesus is? Who do others say we are? Given the recent (and ongoing) unrest in Ferguson, MO, who do we say Michael Brown is? Jesus asks hard questions, and invites us to do the same.

Tenth Sunday after Pentecost, Lectionary Year AIsaiah 56:1, 6-8andMatthew 15:10-28The history of Lutheran churches in this country is primarily a history of northern European ethnic groups maintaining their cultural identity amidst the American "melting pot" (more of a jambalaya, as the American parts remain distinct in the mix, but that's a story for another day). Seemingly in spite of, but more likely because of, this insider-focused history, as the Lutheran churches have grown up we have become more engaged in our society, more welcoming of outsiders, to the degree that Lutherans are doing vital work with unaccompanied migrant children on the southern border of the US. In today's lessons from Isaiah and Matthew's Gospel, we are reminded why we engage in this difficult, compassionate endeavor. We do this work because we know that God's promise is for everyone.

Ninth Sunday after Pentecost, Lectionary Year AMatthew 14:22-33Today we talked about faith in its most basic form: faith is trust in God. Peter trusted God until his Wile E. Coyote moment out on the water. Then what?

Seventh Sunday after Pentecost, Lectionary Year AMatthew 13:31-33, 44-52On this Sunday we heard some of Jesus' parables about the kingdom of heaven (aka kingdom of God / reign of Christ / kin-dom of God / empire of heaven / etc), so in this interactive sermon we tried to think of what the kingdom is like.

Sixth Sunday after Pentecost, Lectionary Year AMatthew 13:24-30, 36-43andWisdom of Solomon, 12: 13, 16-19What's the difference between the gospel and the Gospels? Comparing today's Gospel lesson from Matthew with our first reading from Wisdom of Solomon (not even in the Lutheran version of the Bible!) can help. Confusing? Probably. Worthwhile? I hope so.

5th Sunday after Pentecost, Lectionary Year AMatthew 13:1-9, 18-23Jesus tells the parable of the sower, with four kinds of ground into which the seed of God's Word might fall. If we are that ground, then I clearly see myself in one kind more than the others. Hint: it's not the good soil. Luckily for me, that's not the end of the story.

4th Sunday after Pentecost, Lectionary Year AMatthew 11:16-19, 25-30Jesus' words today bring to mind the old saying, "You're damned if you do, and you're damned if you don't." Can I say that in a sermon? Based on the reactions I heard to this sermon, apparently I can, so long as that's not the content of my actual message. Law and gospel is the word today.

2nd Sunday after Pentecost, Lectionary Year AMatthew 10:24-39We begin the "ordinary" time after Pentecost by diving into the deep end of some of Jesus' most challenging words: “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword." He also tells his disciples they are unworthy unless they love Jesus more than their own parents and children, and tells them they will probably be killed. The gospel, the good news of God's love for us in Jesus, is not for the faint of heart.

The doctrine of the Holy Trinity can make for a boring and obtuse sermon, as I have likely demonstrated in the past. Instead, today we focused on how the Trinity reminds us that we, created in God's image, are made for relationship. Thankfulness is a vital part of any relationship, particularly our relationship with God. So, at the recommendation of our esteemed Rev. Sarah Friesen-Carper, on this day we introduced a new way of publicly thanking God and one another at LCS: the Blessings Basket.

PentecostActs 2:1-21Sometimes I forget how great Pentecost is. Then the Holy Spirit shows up, and I remember. Pentecost was a new beginning for Jesus' followers, not the vacation they deserved but an opportunity to share the story of God's love for the world in Jesus.

Sixth Sunday of Easter, Lectionary Year AJohn 14:15-21On his last night with his disciples, Jesus tells them about the Holy Spirit to help them be ready for what comes next.

Fifth Sunday after Easter, Lectionary Year AJohn 14:1-14In this beginning to the famous final speech of Jesus in John's Gospel, I've often focused on the many dwelling places Jesus offers in his father's house. As Christians, we have often focused on the exclusivity of Jesus as the only way to the father. Today we looked at some other emphases of Jesus' words. "Do not let your hearts be troubled" is a good start. Later, what does Jesus mean about doing works greater than his?

Fourth Sunday of Easter, Lectionary Year AJohn 10:1-10Jesus is the gate, connecting us to God and leading us to abundant life.

Third Sunday after Easter, Lectionary Year ALuke 24:13-35Jesus' appearance to the two disciples on the road to Emmaus is pretty much my favorite thing ever. This story is as influential in how I live my call to pastoral ministry as anything in the Bible, for starters. How do we experience the presence of Christ among us when we gather in his name? Who does Jesus come to, and when? These and other great questions in this sermon.

Second Sunday of Easter, Lectionary Year AJohn 20:19-31Today Lutheran Church of the Savior celebrated our annual Earth Sunday by hearing a message from our dear friend and neighbor Sr. Ginny Jones, CSJ. This year Sr. Ginny challenged us to live out our commitment to faithful stewardship of God's creation, beyond words or Earth Sundays to action on behalf of the world God loves.