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“Inculcating the Reformation through Catechesis” (Romans 3:19-28; John 8:31-36) First, let me tell you my title for this message. It’s “Inculcating the Reformation through Catechesis.” Now the next thing I want to tell you is this: Don’t let that title scare you off! Don’t worry, I’ll explain each of those terms: “Inculcating the Reformation through Catechesis.” So here we go. The first one I’ll explain is “the Reformation.” What is the Reformation? This term refers to the much-needed reforming of the church--straightening it out where it had gone wrong--the reforming movement undertaken by Martin Luther and his associates in the...

by Ron Kersten Many FoxNews viewers were not pleased when the (formerly) "fair and balanced" network hired liberal hack reporter John Roberts from CBS News. And today they were vindicated when Roberts erupted -- ON AIR -- against critics who rightfully slammed him for joining the media's ridiculous attacks against Trump over the non-existent "white supremacy" of the Proud Boys. Here's Roberts parroting the media's new attack line against Trump, endlessly demanding denunciations, despite repeated reminders of exactly that from his Press Secretary: Roberts was immediately SLAMMED by FoxNews viewers and conservative pundits for his tantrum, and he couldn't...

U.S. Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., one of the nation’s most preeminent civil rights figures, died Friday night, according to reports. He was 80. The congressman had been battling pancreatic cancer. SNIP A 23-year-old firebrand, Lewis toned down his intended remarks at the insistence of others, dropping a reference to a “scorched earth” march through the South and scaling back criticisms of President John Kennedy. It was a potent speech nonetheless, in which he vowed: “By the forces of our demands, our determination and our numbers, we shall splinter the segregated South into a thousand pieces and put them together in...

Some of you have pointed out that when I joined the liberals to save Obamacare eight years ago by declaring that the penalty for not complying with the individual mandate was a tax, I not only disagreed with the people who wrote the law but switched sides at the last minute. It wounded me when some of you described this as "chickening out." I prefer to think of it as "alternative courage." As I said at the time, "It is not our job to protect the people from the consequences of their political choices," even constitutionally dodgy ones. You vote...

Multiple media sources have said the Roberts had trouble adopting their children. They had made multiple attempts to adopt without success. Married in their 40’s natural birth at that time was virtually impossible. "Lisa Tucker McElroy’s John G. Roberts Jr.: Chief Justice reveals that their adoption experience was “long and difficult.” In the summer of 2000, a birth mother chose the Roberts to adopt her baby. … Another adoption agency had called them. They called back, and the agency offered another baby. Jack and Josie were born just four months apart. The exact circumstances of Roberts’ adoption remain a private...

“Out of His Heart Will Flow Rivers of Living Water” (John 7:37-39) Please take a look at the front of your bulletin for today. There you will see a photograph of water flowing out in a river. And written over the picture are these words from John 7:38, “Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” Those are the words of Jesus from today’s Holy Gospel. There Jesus says exactly that: “Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” But the question is: Who is it that Jesus is talking about? Out of whose heart will...

“I Will Not Leave You as Orphans” (John 14:1-6, 18-19) It was a day in May of 1996. And on that day my mother, Marjorie Henrickson, died. My father had died some years earlier, and now my mother died. I realized on that day that now I was truly an orphan. The next morning was a Sunday, and the Holy Gospel for that day, which I had prepared to preach on, was the passage from John 14 in which Jesus says, “I will not leave you as orphans.” Suddenly that text became extra meaningful for me. Fast forward to a...

In a few days, many of our great states will begin to re-open local businesses again in an attempt to restart the economic engine of our wonderful nation. I felt a few words from a great patriot would help all of us prepare for the task ahead. Click on link for John Wayne's inspirational message:

“What You Don’t See Is What You Get” (John 20:19-31) The doors were locked. They were in lockdown mode. They had quarantined themselves. They were self-isolating. Why? Because they were afraid. Who is it that I’m talking about? Americans in 2020? No, I’m talking about Jesus’ disciples, around the year 30. Those disciples had locked themselves in. They were in self-quarantine. They were isolating and keeping their social distance. And the reason was, they were afraid. They were afraid of the Jewish authorities, who had just had their master killed a couple of days earlier. Now, since they were known...

“Washed and Clean, We Have Life Together with Christ” (John 13:1-17, 31b-35) Right now, everybody is concerned about washing their hands, washing their face, and keeping clean. Yesterday I went to the grocery store, and at the entrance they had some Purell wipes. So I wiped my hands and the grocery cart handle, and afterwards, when I had loaded the groceries in my car, I wiped my hands again. Then when I got home, I made sure to wash my hands and my face and so on. Earlier today I saw this comment on the internet: “I just Clorox-wiped a...

From Fiona Whelan Prine... Our beloved John died yesterday evening at Vanderbilt Medical Center in Nashville TN. We have no words to describe the grief our family is experiencing at this time. John was the love of my life and adored by our sons Jody, Jack and Tommy, daughter in law Fanny, and by our grandchildren. John contracted Covid-19 and in spite of the incredible skill and care of his medical team at Vanderbilt he could not overcome the damage this virus inflicted on his body. I sat with John - who was deeply sedated- in the hours before he...

“Fear Not, Daughter of Zion; Behold, Your King Is Coming!” (John 12:12-19) I don’t know about you, but these last couple of weeks I’ve been watching the daily briefings from the White House Coronavirus Task Force. I find these briefings fascinating. Not only do they provide information on the virus itself and how to slow the spread--I’ve become familiar with terms like “mitigation,” “models,” “flattening the curve,”; “granular” is the latest one--not only do I find that part fascinating, but it’s also interesting to see how the government responds to calls for help from around the country. “New York, you...

“Words of Spirit and Life” (Ezekiel 37:1-14; Romans 8:1-11; John 11:1-53) Have you been starting to feel like you’re Lazarus? I mean, you’ve been cooped up in your quarantine “tomb,” not just for four days, but now going on fourteen days. You’ve been stuck inside so long, maybe skipping showers, maybe skipping laundry--“Lord, by this time there will be an odor!” You’re stuck inside, and you’re waiting for someone to speak the word, “Lazarus, come out!” But for now, it looks like you’re going to have to wait a little longer. The President’s hope that we will be able to...

“Happy Rebirthday!” (John 3:1-17) Yesterday, March 7, was my birthday. Or was it? Oh yeah, sure, March 7 was the day I was born--so many years ago now. But that’s not my only birthday. I’ve got another one, too, and it’s even more important. And that’s September 10. You see, that’s the day I was baptized--again, so many years ago, but that’s my re-birthday. For on that day I was born again, born from above, born of water and the Spirit. And all of you who have been baptized in the name of the triune God--the day of your baptism,...

I explore the final surah of the Koran, The Men, and break down the fundamental differences between Islam and true worship of the Living God.

As a moderate, the late Arizona Senator John McCain was and is a political hero of mine. While I did not always agree with everything John McCain stood for, I respect the fact that he stood up for what he believed in, I respect his service to our country, I respect that he didn’t view compromise as a weakness, and I respect his campaign message of “Country First.” Many people nowadays when they hear America First, think of it as a nationalistic dog whistle thanks to President Trump. This however, was not what John McCain meant when he used the...

“Three Evangelism Pointers: Point, Invite, and Find” (John 1:29-42a) The Epiphany season traditionally is a time for emphasizing the church’s work of evangelism and missions. Why is that? Well, think of what happened at the Epiphany itself: Wise men from the east were led by a star to find the Christ child. This was the spread of the gospel to the Gentiles. Or think of the word, “Epiphany.” It means “manifestation,” “appearing,” a “shining forth.” In the Gospel readings for the Epiphany season, we see Jesus shining forth into a sin-darkened world. And now Christ uses his church to do...

“The Word Became Flesh and Dwelt among Us” (John 1:1-18) In the Holy Gospel for today, the apostle John tells us the unfathomable mystery and the joyous wonder of the baby born on Christmas Day. John writes: “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” No greater words were ever written. John 1:14 is one of the most profound verses in the whole Bible, in one of the most profound passages, the prologue of John’s gospel. We could spend...

Sen. Elizabeth Warren used her Twitter account to slyly refer to a purported “sex scandal” involving her and a strapping 25-year-old former Marine who claims Warren hired him multiple times as an escort. Warren’s tweet pointedly referred to the mascot of the University of Houston, her alma mater — “go Cougars!” Two notorious right-wing provocateurs, Jack Burkman and Jacob Wohl, held a press conference with Kelvin Whelly, the self-identified ex-Marine, promoted with a sign saying “Elizabeth Warren Cougar?” GP: Democratic Presidential Candidates Attend Gun Violence Forum In Las Vegas Democratic presidential candidate, U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) speaks during the...

“The Peace of Pentecost” (John 14:23-31) Jesus tells his disciples: “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.” How can you say that, Jesus? How can you tell your disciples to be at peace? You’ve just told them that you’re going away! And now they’re supposed to be OK with that? They’re just supposed to take it easy? Come on, Jesus, get real! And how about us? Yeah, we here today. How are we supposed to...