Sermons

One month from the date of Maundy Thursday, we are invited into the John 13 story of Jesus and his command to love, this time with Easter eyes. Our Easter world still has the shadow of a lurking Judas as we know all too well. The mission is renewed… including love of enemies.

Today Jesus reminds us that we are his sheep and he is our shepherd and that nothing can take us out of his hand. And while this is a comfort for some, the questions of why tragedies happen in this world even as we are in God’s hand can leave us puzzled. What does it [...]

John 21 is an important chapter in the history of the early church. Jesus’ shore breakfast and empowering command to Peter is the model for the early church’s mission and for us Christians in 2013.

So many people today, while living, are not full of life. The burdens of the day can weigh so many down. I’m sure that each of us could come up with something in our lives that can cause us at times to feel not as full of life as we would like to be. So [...]

On this St. Patrick’s Day, after the conclave of Cardinals has elected Pope Francis, in the context of Mary the sister of Lazarus anointing of Jesus’s feet, the hearer is invited to consider his or her own mission to serve and the discovery that Jesus is present in those we serve.

For this sermon, Pastor Smail uses a story entitled “The Lonely Lady of Blairstown Park.” It was originally written by Dr. Richard Jenson, a past professor at the Lutheran School of Theology in Chicago and was adapted by Pastor Ed Markquart and now has been adapted by Pastor Smail for this sermon. Today Jesus teaches [...]

Using the image of Jesus’ parable of the fruitless fig tree, this sermon explores our need to repent, or in the case of the created story for the sermon “There’s always a chance to live another day.” Not the usual way of understanding repentance. Let it alone and see what the gardener can do!

During this season of Lent, we are once again reminded of our need for God. And this happens not only as we realize our own shortcomings, recognizing in ourselves when we have given criticism when what was needed was a hug, as well as admitting those times when we can’t do it on our own [...]

This sermon utilizes all the lectionary for Lent 1, inviting the hearer into a confessing faith: where the words of the mouth interact with the heart, there is faith!