Sermons From Good Shepherd Lutheran Church In Raleigh, Nc

Gospel - John 4:5-42 Abuser, abused; young, old; woman, man – all of us are called into belonging by God. And all of us are called to “a new way to live.”

Gospel - John 3:1-17 Nicodemus goes to Jesus to get answers for his questions and is puzzled by the answers but is changed by his encounter with Jesus.

Gospel - Matthew 4:1-11 “The angels came and waited on Jesus because he did need help. Even Jesus needed messengers from God – which is the definition of “angel” – by the way. He needed messengers from God to get him through the wilderness. He needed holy help as he went through this period of discernment and preparation for the calling that awaited him. He needed help, and God provided.”

Gospel - Matthew 17:1-9 From the beginning of time, God has chosen to appear in the most amazing places, people, and situations. To faithful and unfaithful people God continues to offer again and again a new beginning. Open your eyes and your hearts to receive it.

Gospel - Matthew 5:21-37 “This is the center of the labyrinth that we circle in this life: As we learn our lessons again and again, Jesus guides us to a deeper understanding and experience of love. This is who we are called to be and what we are called to do. And so, as we live and work and serve and vote and study and play and parent and lead and all the things that all of us do, let us follow the spirit of the law. Let us love.”

Gospel - Matthew 5:13-20 When Jesus tells us we are the salt and light, he is telling us that following him in loving others and giving our hearts to both God and neighbor is the key thing. Our efforts to look good count for nothing, but our genuine service and faithfulness count for everything. It is not what you say, but what you do that pleases God.

Gospel - Matthew 5:1-12 These folks are blessed, even though it sure doesn’t sound like it. They are poor in spirit, mourning, meek, persecuted. And so, they know their need of God. They reach out to God. They notice God. They see the holy around them, even when their lives are full of things that seem so very unholy.

Gospel - Matthew 4:12-23 When Jesus called Simon and Andrew and their brothers, he was calling people just like you and me to go fishing for people. We don’t use bait like we would catching fish to eat. We use love, kindness, and compassion to show what Jesus gave to those he met. We don’t need to be overwhelmed because Jesus gives us the strength to follow him and walks with us along the way. We have the good news of God’s forgiveness to share to everyone we meet. Let’s go fishing.

Gospel - John 1:29-42 Look! Here is the person that will save your life and free you from all that binds you! Here is the one who will serve you with steadiness and self-sacrificing love! Here is the one who will conquer all that is evil in this world through the mighty power of nonviolence! Here is the sacrifice to end all sacrifices – the blood that will bring forgiveness and connection to God!

Gospel - Matthew 3:13-17 Just like Jesus was baptized by John in the River Jordan, so we are baptized in the waters and raised to new life. We have a new name that never leaves us – Beloved Child of God.

Gospel - Matthew 2:1-12 We may not always notice. We may not always feel it. But always, always, God is there, showing up in our world, and shepherding us to new and more radiant life.

Gospel - Matthew 1:18-25 Beloved, with Christmas almost upon us, I wish you the deep peace that comes in the midst of chaos. I wish you messengers from God in the midst of your fear. I wish you powerful people in your life that decide to lift you up rather than tearing you down. I wish for you to name your own power and use it for good. May we all, like Joseph, find the courage to live with love, even when it seems like a terrible idea.

Gospel - Matthew 11:2-11 God meets us in the wilderness where we learn to trust in the promises to Judah of transformation in desolation.

Gospel - Matthew 3:1-12 Jesus came as the savior that didn’t meet long-held prophetic expectations. Instead he turned society upside down by lifting up the lowly, caring for the forgotten, and ruling with love. We are called to live the same way that Jesus did while we wait for the fullness of the Kingdom of God to arrive. This stump of Jesse that bore a branch turned into the tree of life.

Gospel - Matthew 24:36-44 Holy God, when we feel pressured to do more, to be everything to everyone, to fulfill all the expectations, and to make everyone else happy, help us to stop – and breathe – and listen for your holy call. Help us, sometimes, to do less. Amen.

Gospel - Luke 23:33-43 While Jesus doesn’t fit our image of a king, his kingdom is greater than any we have ever seen. His love is more powerful than any power the world has ever witnessed. Through his dying, we are given eternal life.

Gospel - Luke 21:5-19 We don’t escape, as Christians, from the hard stuff of life. We embrace it, trusting God to care of each detail of our lives as we go.

Gospel - Luke 20:27-38 So today, in our polarized society that is basically one big hot button, let’s remember Jesus’ words. We belong to God and no one else. Culture’s expectations of us will all fall away in the end. And we will be ourselves, wrapped in God’s love forever, in life eternal.

Gospel - Luke 6:20-31 Saints are people loved by God and redeemed by Jesus. As saints we are invited to share that love in the everyday things that make up our lives, so that others will feel the blessedness of God’s love in their own lives.

Gospel - John 8:31-36 There are the folks who have to break away from family or church or culture in order to follow God’s call to “go home.” Beloved, God calls us home: to go where our hearts lead us, to listen for God’s words to us (the ones that are written on our hearts and no one else’s), and to go home with everything we have. And the more we do it, the more it becomes a part of us – part of our hearts, our minds, our speech, our imagination. The more we can’t do anything different. The more we are always at home. THIS is Reformation. This is how change happens. When God’s Spirit is written on our hearts and calls us home, and we follow.