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“Come to Me, and I Will Give You Rest” (Matthew 11:25-30; Romans 7:14-25a) “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” Here in this verse from today’s Gospel, Matthew 11:28, Jesus issues a gracious invitation and makes a wonderful promise. “Come to me” is the invitation, and “I will give you rest” is the promise. And to whom does he address this invitation and promise? To “all who labor and are heavy laden.” What is it, then, to labor and be heavy laden, to be weary and burdened? What does Jesus mean...

Workshop Opportunities On Tuesday and Wednesday afternoons, one of the activity choices you will have to make is to delve into a variety of topics offered in our workshop sessions. Download the workshop descriptions here. Each day there will be 2 opportunities: 2:15-3:30 p.m. and 3:45-5:00 p.m. As you read through these offerings, please note that some workshops are offered more than once. Tuesday, Aug. 8 2:15-3:30 p.m. 500th Anniversary of the Reformation Advocacy as Public Witness Another Century of Faithful Proclamation: Toward a Lutheran Lay Preaching Movement. Being a grounded leader in the midst of the storm. Biblical Storytelling...

“A Sword, a Cross, and a Life” (Matthew 10:34-42) Today Jesus tells us that he came to bring us three things: “A Sword, a Cross, and a Life.” Are you sure you want these things? Let’s find out. Our text is the Holy Gospel for today, from Matthew chapter 10. Jesus has been instructing his disciples in this chapter, preparing them for what they’re getting themselves in for. And it’s not going to be a bed of roses. Because some of these roses are going to have thorns. Are you ready for this? Yes, are you ready for this? Because...

Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven has suggested that all Church of Sweden priests be compelled to perform gay marriages, despite the Lutheran church’s position that clergy members should have the right to refuse. Same-sex weddings have been legal in Sweden since 2009, although priests can decline to carry out these ceremonies under the country’s marriage code. This could now change, however, given Lofven’s recent comments about the role of priests in Swedish society. The prime minister indicated in an interview with a church magazine that if a priest cannot bless a gay marriage, they should consider another vocation. “We Social...

“Confessing the Faith with the Augsburg Confessors” (Psalm 119:46) Today Lutheran churches around the world are celebrating the 487th anniversary of the Presentation of the Augsburg Confession. On June 25, 1530, in the city of Augsburg, Germany, a group of Lutheran princes presented a confession of their faith, composed by the theologian Philip Melanchthon, Luther’s right-hand man--they presented their confession to Emperor Charles V. That document, called the Augsburg Confession, summarizes what our Lutheran churches believe, teach, and confess, on the basis of Holy Scripture. Today then we want to consider what it means for us to be “Confessing the...

“A Kingdom of Priests” (Exodus 19:2-8) “You shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” What did this mean for Old Testament Israel? What does it mean for the church today? What does it mean for you in your life? That’s what we’re going to explore now as we consider the Lord’s calling for us to be “A Kingdom of Priests.” Our text is the word that the Lord spoke to Israel at Mount Sinai, shortly after he had brought...

“Created, Redeemed, and Sanctified by the Triune God” (Apostles’ Creed)Bob, Karen, Michele, friends and family of our dear sister Dottie: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. A Christian funeral service is both a time of sadness and a time of hope. It is a time of sadness, because we will miss our dear loved one. And so we grieve. However, as St. Paul tells the Thessalonians, we grieve, but not as those who have no hope. We do have hope, the only hope that works. For the Christian, our hope is firmly...

SAN RAFAEL (CBS SF) — A man wearing a jacket that resembled one worn by federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents caused a stir at a San Rafael church during a Spanish-speaking service, police said. The June 4 incident got the attention of the Canal Community Alliance and Congressman Jared Huffman’s office. Police contacted ICE and the FBI and learned the man was not employed by either law enforcement organization. But the man is a San Francisco city employee and was placed on leave after he showed up wearing the jacket during the Spanish-language service at the Lutheran Church of...

In 2009 the ELCA Churchwide Assembly rejected as normative the traditional, Biblical definition of marriage by allowing for the endorsement and ordination of persons in “publicly accountable, lifelong, monogamous, same gender relationships.” Now this spirit of revision has crafted a new movement that hopes to reject any definition of marriage as normative for sexual relationships. Known as “Naked and Unashamed,” this movement was started by seminarians at the Lutheran School of Theology in Chicago, and since then it has reached out to other pastors, leaders, and seminary students in the ELCA who share its beliefs and values. Its revisionist agenda...

“The Athanasian Creed: Incomprehensible?”Today is Trinity Sunday--or, more properly called, the Feast of the Holy Trinity--and as such, this is the one day in the year when we confess the Athanasian Creed. Actually, we believe, teach, and confess the Athanasian Creed 365 days a year; it’s just this is the one day in the year when we speak it aloud in church during the service. You see, the church confesses three ecumenical creeds: the Apostles’ Creed, the Nicene Creed, and the Athanasian Creed. They are called “ecumenical” creeds, because they are held all across Christendom. The Apostles’ Creed is the...

“From Tabernacles to Pentecost” (John 7:37-39) Today is the Feast of Pentecost, a major festival in the Christian church year. Today we celebrate the giving of the Holy Spirit, whom our ascended Lord Jesus Christ poured out on his church, as we read about in the second chapter of Acts. That was the beginning of the worldwide spread of the gospel, and you and I are here today as Christians because of what began on that first Pentecost. Actually, though, that was not the first Pentecost. For the Christian Feast of Pentecost has its roots in the Jewish Feast of...

“Our Anxieties and God’s Care” (1 Peter 4:12-19; 5:6-11; John 17:1-11) What are your anxieties? What are you worried about? Anxiety is really another way to say worry. They pretty much mean the same thing. To be anxious, to be worried, means that something is weighing on your mind that you’re thinking about, almost obsessing about. You’re worried about what might happen in the future. It’s the negative prospect of what might happen that keep hanging around in your head. That’s anxiety, that’s worry. So what are your anxieties? We all have them. From time to time, some negative possibility...

“Ascension Day, the Forgotten Festival” (Luke 24:44-53; Acts 1:1-11) Welcome to the Forgotten Festival! Today is Ascension Day, or, as it’s more properly called, the Feast of the Ascension of Our Lord. But there is reason to call it, as I say, the “Forgotten” Festival. Because even though Ascension Day is classed in the church year as a major festival, which means it’s a day for all churches to hold the Divine Service of Word and Sacrament, the sad fact is that in recent decades many congregations and many Christians have forgotten all about celebrating this important festival. It used...

“A Living, Loving Family” (John 14:15-21) Christ establishes his church to be “A Living, Loving Family.” And you are a part of it. A living, loving family. Now how do you hear that? Do you hear it as heavy demand, something we cannot possibly do? Or do you hear it as gift, something that Christ has graciously made us part of? Does Christ’s call for us to be a living, loving family--do you hear this as burden or gift? As pressure or joy? And besides how we hear it, there is also the question of how we do it. How...

“Hope for the Future and a Present Priesthood” (John 14:1-14; 1 Peter 2:2-10)You gotta have hope. Hope is faith facing the future. You and I, we need something to look forward to. Otherwise, we lose heart, we get depressed, and our hopelessness paralyzes us. So we need hope, hope for the future, in order to function well in the present. And really, we need hope for the big future, the eternal future. Because the reality is, at some point, we’re going to depart this life. At some point, something is going to do us in, and death is going to...

“The Good Shepherd Gives Gifts to His Sheep” (John 10:1-18, 22-30) “The forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting.” So we just said we believe when we confessed the Apostles’ Creed. This is the faith all Christians believe. This is the faith Dorothy believed. It’s the faith into which she was baptized. “The forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting.” These are gifts given us by the Good Shepherd, our Lord Jesus Christ. They are gifts given to Dorothy. They are gifts given to you. The good news today is...

“The Good Shepherd for Straying and Suffering Sheep” (1 Peter 2:19-25) I’m guessing by now you’ve picked up on the theme of the day. You’ve heard it throughout the service so far. For example, in the Introit, the words of Jesus: “I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, and I lay down my life for the sheep.” In the Psalm: “The Lord is my shepherd.” In the Holy Gospel, where Jesus calls himself “the shepherd of the sheep.” In the Hymn of the Day, “The King of Love My Shepherd Is.” Yes, no...

“Opening the Scriptures, Breaking the Bread” (Luke 24:13-35) One of my favorite paintings is one we happen to have hanging in the hallway here at St. Matthew’s. I’ve brought it forward this morning, because it goes with the Gospel reading for today. The painting is called, in German, “Gang nach Emmaus,” “The Road to Emmaus,” by a 19th-century Swiss artist, Robert Zünd. I love this painting, because it really activates my imagination. You’re looking from a distance at Jesus walking with two disciples on the road to Emmaus, while Jesus is opening the Scriptures to them. You wish you could...

“Easter Joy Continues!” (John 20:19-31; Acts 5:29-42; 1 Peter 1:3-9) Alleluia! Christ is risen! (He is risen indeed! Alleluia!) Yes, he is risen indeed! And guess what? He is still risen! Christ didn’t stop being risen once Easter Day was over. And so the Easter season continues--and with it, our Easter joy. It’s the Second Sunday “of” Easter! Thus our theme for this morning: “Easter Joy Continues!” The Easter joy was certainly evident last Sunday. Easter Day at St. Matthew’s was a day of great joy. As soon as the resurrection was announced at the start of the service, we...

“Raised with Our Risen Lord” (Colossians 3:1-4) Alleluia! Christ is risen! (He is risen indeed! Alleluia!) Yes, indeed Christ is risen! And because he is, guess what? You are risen too! That’s our message this morning on this beautiful Easter Day: “Raised with Our Risen Lord.” Our text is the Epistle, from Colossians, where it says that we have been “raised with Christ.” But of course that is predicated on Christ himself having been raised. If Christ has not been raised, then everything else falls apart. But in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead, and so everything holds...