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

Easter SundayMatthew 28:1-10"Do not be afraid," the angels say to the Marys, and it's one of the more hilariously ridiculous lines in the Bible. Even so, that line, repeated by Jesus in this reading and in other places throughout Scripture, is a vital part of the gospel message. Do we hear it any differently than the Marys did?

Vigil of Easter 2014Romans 6:3-11The Vigil is the richest, most Spirit-filled worship experience of our year, and this was no exception. I began our Vigil sermon with some of my favorite stories about Micah, my one-year-old, and the hilariously churchy habits he's already picked up from his parents. (Presumably he'll someday have hilariously healthy habits picked up from the therapist he requires after his upbringing, and maybe those stories will make my sermons as well) These stories led to talk of baptism and faith and belief and how we truly know that God's story in Jesus Christ is our story.

Second Sunday after Lent, Lectionary Year AJohn 3:1-17Continuing our Lenten theme on hunger with the most famous verse in the Bible, vegetarianism, and junk food: what was Nicodemus really hungry for?

First Sunday of Lent, Lectionary Year AMatthew 4:1-11Jesus' temptation occurs only after he has fasted for 40 days and is famished. For over 1 billion people living today, hunger is not a spiritual practice but a daily reality. This Lent we will explore hunger, both physical and figurative, as we await Jesus passion and resurrection. What do we hunger for, and how can we satisfy our hunger? What does our neighbor hunger for, and how can we satisfy our neighbor's hunger?

Ash WednesdayMatthew 6:1-6, 16-21Jesus' warning “Beware of practicing your piety before others in order to be seen by them" seems to have guided the famed 20th century poet W.H. Auden, whose good deeds tended to go publicly unrecognized throughout his life. In our own congregation, Forty Deeds in Forty Days is an effort to live out Jesus' teaching this Lent.

Transfiguration of Our Lord, Lectionary Year AMatthew 17:1-9"Get up, and do not be afraid." Jesus' words to Peter, James, and John on the mountain speak to us today as well, as the take-home message of what the gospel means in our lives.

Seventh Sunday after Epiphany, Lectionary Year AMatthew 5:38-48After not including a rite of Confession and Forgiveness in our worship during the season of Epiphany, today we used the sermon to institute a different form of confession, and allowed the Eucharist to be our forgiveness. Not sure how effective it was, but a third grader and I did have fun destroying people's sins in a paper shredder afterward.

Fifth Sunday after Epiphany, Lectionary Year AIsaiah 58:1-12As Lutheran Church of the Savior prepared to hold our Annual Meeting after worship today, this sermon reflects on what faithfulness looks like. For those listening to Isaiah in today's lesson, their traditional practices of fasting had ceased to be a faithful life in response to God's law. What can we learn from the hard lesson Isaiah had for them?

Presentation of Our LordLuke 2:22-40Simeon's prophetic praise about the baby Jesus in the Temple has become one of the most enduring songs in our Christian gatherings. My wife and I sing it to our baby every night as part of our bedtime ritual. Why do we do that? What is it about this song, quoted below, that expresses the deep truth of the Gospel? “Master, now you are dismissing your servant in peace, according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel.”

3rd Sunday after Epiphany, Lectionary Year AMatthew 4.12-23On a Sunday when inclement weather and a brand-new, not-quite-working-at-full-capacity boiler led us to worship in the fellowship hall, so many people pitched in to make worship happen that it gave us a glimpse of the Kingdom of God.

2nd Sunday after Epiphany, Lectionary Year AJohn 1:29-42In this season after Epiphany our lectionary stories reveal who Jesus is. Today we hear John the Baptist proclaim that Jesus is the Lamb of God. For those of us who've hung around church long enough, this title is familiar - we sing it almost every Sunday! - and we can fool ourselves into assuming we know what it says about Jesus. As usual, however, God has some surprises in store for us, even in this common name for Jesus.

Baptism of Our Lord, Lectionary Year AMatthew 3:13-17Every year we celebrate Jesus' baptism by John at the Jordan River because we need to hear anew that God's words for Jesus are for us also: we are beloved children of God. To make this point, I used one of my one-year-old son's favorite books, Water, Come Down! by Walter Wangerin Jr as the basis for the entire sermon, and afterwards everyone came to the font to remember God's promise to them baptism. Though the book plus the ritual took longer than I had planned, feedback has been overwhelmingly positive and the book is rocketing to the top of the congregation's best-seller list (or it would if such a list existed).

2nd Sunday after Christmas, Lectionary Year AJohn 1:1-18On this Sunday of Twelfth Night, I had the privilege of sharing my sermon with Rev. Sarah Friesen-Carper, the North/West Lower Michigan Synod of the ELCA's Assistant to the Bishop for Congregational and Leadership Excellence, and also my amazing wife. We talked about Epiphany traditions. Some of these traditions may seem at first to be quaint or silly, but if you understand them, they can show forth the good news about God's love in Jesus Christ. Did you know the song The Twelve Days of Christmas was secretly an illegal Catholic catechetical text? Also, check out my impassioned plea for more worship outdoors around a fire at night.

Nativity of Our Lord - Christmas Eve ALuke 2:1-20Every year we gather on Christmas Eve to celebrate the birth of Jesus, so you'd think we'd have it all figured out by now, but I have a few questions: What, specifically, is the "good news of great joy for all the people?" Why does the answer to that question matter so much to me, personally? Why have we been doing yoga on Wednesdays for the past few weeks and calling it worship? What does "faith in God" even mean? You know, it's Christmas eve, so I figured I should just keep it light and simple, a goal at which I seem to have pretty obviously failed. Oh well. It turns out the birth of Jesus brings me back to the very foundations of my faith, and I like this sermon a lot.

Fourth Sunday of Advent, Lectionary Year AMatthew 1:18-25Matthew's version of the birth of Jesus is light on details. Jesus was a normal-enough baby, born to a normal-enough family, and somehow God uses these utterly common people - Mary and Joseph - to save the world.

Third Sunday of Advent, Lectionary Year AMatthew 11:2-11John the Baptist asks Jesus an impatient question: "Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?" But does John know what he is waiting for? Do we?

Second Sunday of Advent, Lectionary Year AIsaiah 11:1-10"A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots." The story of the life of Christian faith is the story of death paradoxically leading to new life. From a pizza pan to a revered world leader to Jesus himself, death leads to new life.

First Sunday of Advent, Lectionary Year ARomans 13:8-14The new church year starts off with a bang, as we wait for Jesus to return by acting as if he's already here. I talk a lot about the reign of Christ, but it occurs to me that people might just as reasonably think I'm saying "rain of Christ." R-E-I-G-N, reign. Got that? OK, good.

Thanksgiving Eve Worship, Lectionary Year CJohn 6:24-35Eucharist is the fancy church word that means "thanksgiving," so when we celebrate the sacrament at our Thanksgiving Eve worship, the sermon practically writes itself!

Reign of Christ Sunday, Lectionary Year CLuke 23:33-43Doctor Who, Thor, and Jesus. What does it look like when Jesus is king? Hint: he's not saving the world by being clever or wielding a hammer.