RoboPreacher

i wrote it when i was not inflamed one bit Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43: Prayer: Lord, may the words of my lips and the meditations of all our hearts add luster to the shine of our beauty in your eyes. Amen. Intro: Good morning, it is a pleasure to be here with you this today. My name is Ryan Cosgrove and I am a seminary student studying to be an ordained pastor like Erik and Laurie. Part of that training is a year-long internship, and that is what brings me here today. I am the lucky Iowan studying at the Lutheran seminary in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania who got to go to the other side of the United States and intern in beautiful Seattle, and actually live in the apartment you all have. My internship location is split between St. John United and the former Lutheran Public Policy Office. After a recent merger between the Lutheran Public Policy Office and the Washington Association of Churches, we are now the Faith Action Network. It is my work with the Faith Acti...

Luke 21:5-19: When some were speaking about the temple, how it was adorned with beautiful stones and gifts dedicated to God, Jesus said, “As for these things that you see, the days will come when not one stone will be left upon another, all will be thrown down.” They asked him, “Teacher, when will this be, and what will be the sign that this is about to take place?” and Jesus said, “Beware that you are not led astray; for many will come and say, ‘I am he!’ and, ‘The time is near!’ Do not go after them. When you hear of wars and insurrections, do not be terrified; for these things must take place first, but the end will not follow immediately.” Then Jesus said to them, “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; there will be great earthquakes, and in various places famines and plagues; and there will be dreadful portents and great signs from heaven. But before all this occurs, they will arrest you and persecute you; they will hand you over to synagogues and p...

Luke 21:5-19 The end and justice: On November 14 I will be doing a preach and teach event at Holy Cross Lutheran Church in Bellevue, WA. for the Lutheran Public Policy Office. Typically an LPPO Sunday is lead by a representative of the LPPO. The representative preaches, gives a presentation during the adult education hour. This particular visit will be a little different. This is because Holy Cross is already a member of the LPPO’s congregational, state-wide network. In other words, this congregation is an “advocating congregation.” Apocalypticism: That is the context for preaching these apocalyptic words of Jesus. Certainly most mainline denominations will struggle with these words. Apocalypticism is box-office, biblical stuff. As popular as this literature is, it is just a prone to be abused as misunderstood. -With that in mind, I am interested in thinking about apocalypticism in light of social justice/advocacy. This should be an interesting process of investigation...