Former Senior Pastor at St. John’s Lutheran Church of Highland
Using the African American spiritual “Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child” the preacher delves into the world of “shepherd-less sheep!” Mark 6: 30-56
Sermons by Pastor William Diehm (Page 3)
When Jesus is on the go, he gets resistance in his home town. How does the church proclaim the Gospel when it meets resistance? The preacher recounts a story when a fishing mission gets “sinkholed!” Mark 6:1-13
The lectionary texts all point to the theme. The Sabbath was made for humankind. Included in this homily is the preacher’s reference to the Holy Spirit’s life giving breath that allow us to “Breathe deep!” Deuteronomy 5:12-15
Referencing all three texts, the preacher invites the listener to live into the tension of the day “Why are Christians et al. more prone to division than consensus building?” Acts 8:26-40, I John 4: 7-21, John 15:1-8
How are we witnesses? We offer the same peace Jesus offers us! Reference is made to the Christian witness the preacher’s father-in-law lived, in this week of his death and resurrection with Jesus. Luke 24:36-48
Drawing on the women’s reaction to the empty tomb, inviting the hearer to remember one’s own confirmation, and the questions that arise as Easter people to this specific story of the resurrection and our life’s struggles, this Easter sermon brings “Christ is Risen” home to St. John’s.
Using the image of the Snake on the pole in Numbers, and Jesus lifted up in John 3, with help from commentator Brian Stoffregen, Charlie Brown and Lucy, we discover we truly need a savior because the problem with us is us!
God will soften the hardened hearts of those who struggle with taking up a cross and following Jesus. For those who have ears to hear, Listen! Lent can be lifesaving!
The prayer of the day asks God to “Transfigure” us. With that in mind we climb the mountain top of our campus site and look out in all four directions
The sermon title of bad grammar but great theology! In this homily, the preacher exhorts the hearer to be prepared to experience Jesus as much as being taught by him