RoboPreacher

the city of hope A lesson from the Acts of the Apostles : It’s good to be back! And especially to this weather ! As nice as the vacation was; by the final few days, I was telling all these stories about YOU ! Yeah, you …. At some point I realized it, and worse than that, what it meant!   “ Darn it!” I thought to myself, “I miss them! They’ve wormed their way into my heart!” I couldn’t help but wonder how I’ll ever keep y’all under control , now that I’m fond of you!!! …But, I hope the treachery is mutual . In fact, I remember when I first came, and how Cooper — good Lutheran than he is— was suspicious … “Who’s that,” he asked. And when he was told I was the new pastor, he replied, “He’s not my pastor.”   After a few months though, his tune had changed to greeting me with a “Pahstohr Rye-un!” as I rushed into the sanctuary on Sunday morning. Because the deal it, this is what God LOVES to do ; take strangers and turn them into kind...

'til i wanted to change The Holy Gospel according to St. John the 21st chapter ! The third time Jesus asks Peter if he loved him, it cut Peter to the heart… But not because Jesus asked three times if Peter loves him. Now, to understand why , you need to go back to when that day began .   When he and the other disciples all struggled together to haul the nets in.   As the ship swayed back and forth, and the men instinctively rocked their bodies forth and back to counterbalance the momentum that would overturn their ship… For Peter, it was one of those moments that’s almost surreal . He thinks how easily the boat could capsize. Just a little too far one way or the other, and everything would go overboard . Peter can’t help but think about how this because his old life, precariously balanced as it had been, was now overturned… We know what that’s like, don’t we? How it takes so much to keep our lives from flipping. How all it ta...

the bars from heaven's high portals fell The Holy Gospel according to St. John! He is risen! (He is risen, indeed!) Well, it’s an early Easter this year. Isn’t it? And the chilly weather out there is the perfect testament to that! Nonetheless, here you are! You’ve made it to this Easter morn! …And, I have to say, you’ve pulled it off nicely .   Dressed to the nines, and with winning smiles to match. But I’ve got to tell you, I just barely made it here this year. Last Easter, was later in the year. The weather was nicer . And I felt more prepared .   In fact, last Easter, the sermon just fell into place. I thought of a perfect illustration, “Little Miss Sunshine.” And afterward a fews folks shared how much they love that movie. But this Easter, well this Easter just wasn’t doing. The sermon wasn’t coming along at all.   On top of that, the slowly springing Spring, was getting me down. I was stressed out with ever...