That We May Be One
Solid Food - Ascension Sermon Podcast
Pastors Tim and Chamie Delkeskamp talk about finding peace in this anxious world: "The source of peace has been waiting for us all along..." And the power of Christian community. In our reading this weekend, Jesus prays for unity among his followers. Resurrection life weaves us together in love and witness.
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Lifted & Sent
Solid Food - Ascension Sermon Podcast
Grace and peace to you my sisters and brothers in Christ, If you happen to be reading this on Thursday, Happy Ascension Day! Ascension Day is always celebrated 40 days after Easter, so it is always on a Thursday. But then, we as a church have the choice to recognize it on the ensuing weekend. And since over 75 years ago those who founded our church decided to name our community after this event, I think we should. Indeed, we should spend a bit of time exploring what the ascension means for us and why it is important in our faith, and why we might be thinking about it in the wrong way. If you...
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Rooted in Love
Solid Food - Ascension Sermon Podcast
Grace and peace to you my sisters and brothers in Christ, Imagine it is a last day… perhaps the last day of the school year, or the last day in the town where you have resided for 20 years, or the last day before you die. What might you want your last words to be? As Jesus’ crucifixion was nearing, he said, “My children, I will be with you only a little longer… as I have loved you, so you must love one another.” Jesus’ last words were about love. This weekend, we are going to talk about last words. At the 9:00 AM worship service, we are also going to hear some “last words” that...
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Held in Loving Hands
Solid Food - Ascension Sermon Podcast
Grace and peace to you my sisters and brothers in Christ, This weekend we are celebrating one of the most complex and difficult human vocations there is. That is being a mom. The virtues of motherhood are many. For example: faithfulness, love — even when it is hard — patience (thanks mom!), etc. And the task is to raise a human being to the point where they learn the same virtues. Accomplishing this would be hard enough but the problem is that we live in a world that can be directly opposed to these virtues. So Jesus teaches a way through. One that has to do with listening to his...
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Do You Love Me? Feed My Sheep
Solid Food - Ascension Sermon Podcast
Dear friends in Christ, This weekend is the third Sunday in the Easter season and I have the joy of sharing the sermon time with you as I preach on the Gospel reading of John 21:1-19. It’s a fascinating post-Easter story of Jesus and Peter. Jesus, our risen Good Shepherd, asks Peter and us, “Do you love me?” and he tells us “feed my sheep.” How best do we show Jesus our love and how do we feed his sheep? The second part of the sermon will be related to that obscure verse 18 which seems like every time we hear it, we hear it for the first time. What did Jesus mean by it? We’ll take...
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Peace Be With You
Solid Food - Ascension Sermon Podcast
Grace and peace to you my sisters and brothers in Christ, This weekend it’s all about old “Doubting Thomas.” But it isn’t really. Let me just dispel that myth right now. It wasn’t just Thomas that needed to touch Jesus’s wounds for reassurance, it was all the disciples. Thomas just missed Jesus’ first appearance. So, maybe instead of calling him “Doubting Thomas” maybe we should call him “FOMO (fear of missing out) Thomas.” Either way, what we should not miss in the story is that this is an “equipping” story. At this point in the gospel, the resurrection has happened...
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Easter Dayenu
Solid Food - Ascension Sermon Podcast
He is Risen! He is risen indeed! You have probably heard the story before but this year, Pastor Chamie and I want to make sure that you know the whole story. The history. We want to make sure that you know that the grace God gives you through your faith is more than enough of what you need for your life. It’s all been prepared. The details have been attended to. I am so excited to see you in worship this weekend! Pastor Tim
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Jesus in the Details
Solid Food - Ascension Sermon Podcast
There is an old phrase: The devil is in the details. It means that something may seem simple at first, but the details are often complicated and prone to causing problems. It suggests that overlooked or seemingly minor details can lead to issues or complications. But could we, followers of Christ, have our own phrase? Could we say, “Jesus is in the details?” I think we should. This week is the weekend of Palm Sunday. It is the story of Jesus coming into Jerusalem on the back of a donkey. The people got excited, so they waved palm branches, put their coats down on the road for Jesus’...
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Walking in Transformation
Solid Food - Ascension Sermon Podcast
Did you know that the sense of smell is considered the best trigger for memory? According to scientists: “Unlike other senses, smell signals travel directly to the olfactory bulb, which is situated close to the amygdala (emotion processing) and hippocampus (memory storage), allowing for a quick and powerful memory trigger.” And smell has a lot to do with our Bible story this week. It is a little scene that takes place in the house of Lazarus, Martha and Mary. It was Mary who made it happen. In an act of worship, Mary broke a very costly bottle of anointing oil and poured it on Jesus’...
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Walking in Reconciliation
Solid Food - Ascension Sermon Podcast
Luke is my favorite gospel, for many reasons. One of those reasons is that Luke is the only gospel writer who tells the triad of the “lost stories” – the lost coin, the lost sheep, and the lost son. Whether these stories are old or new to you, I invite you to come to worship as we dig into Luke 15 and ponder both the simplicity and the profoundness of Jesus’ telling these parables. And I will say that no matter what your week has been like – hard or easy or in between – I believe there is something about coming to worship that can help us feel more “found,” or in other...
info_outlineGrace and peace to you my sisters and brothers in Christ,
This weekend we are celebrating one of the most complex and difficult human vocations there is. That is being a mom. The virtues of motherhood are many. For example: faithfulness, love — even when it is hard — patience (thanks mom!), etc. And the task is to raise a human being to the point where they learn the same virtues.
Accomplishing this would be hard enough but the problem is that we live in a world that can be directly opposed to these virtues. So Jesus teaches a way through. One that has to do with listening to his voice. And the analogy he gives? It’s like a shepherd calling out to his sheep and about his sheep learning his voice.
So, there you go: Being a mom is like being a shepherd. Let’s talk more about this in worship this weekend! See you there,
Blessings,
