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Sunday of the Passion, Palm Sunday—April 9, 2017
Preacher: Pastor Jeff Lilley
Lessons: Isaiah 50:4–9a | Psalm 31:9–16 | Philippians 2:5–11 | Matthew 26:14—27:66
Dramatic Passion Gospel, no sermon.
Lent V—April 2, 2017
Preacher: Pastor Jeff Lilley
Lessons: Ezekiel 37:1–14 | Psalm 130 | Romans 8:6–11 | John 11:1–45
Summary: In today’s Gospel, Jesus calls Lazarus out of the tomb and tells the people to unbind him. They all see life poured into Lazarus. We all encounter people who have lost all hope and are afraid of the future. They are like the dry bones of the Ezekiel lesson. God calls us to unbind people from their fears and call the dry bones to life. God gives us life and grace, and we are called to share those gifts with the world.
Lent IV—March 26, 2017
Preacher: Pastor Jeff Lilley
Lessons: 1 Samuel 16:1–13 | Psalm 23 | Ephesians 5:8–14 | John 9:1–41
Summary: Today’s Gospel is the story of the man born blind. After Jesus gives him sight, the authorities seem to deny the new reality that he can see and are fixated on how Jesus could do such a thing. We too can get fixated on the past instead of looking forward to the new things that God is up to. God calls us to come into the light, look to the future, and move forward. Though we were blind, now we see through the light of Jesus
Lent III—March 19, 2017
Preacher: Pastor Jeff Lilley
Lessons: Exodus 17:1–7 | Psalm 95 | Romans 5:1–11 | John 4:5–42
Summary: The familiar story of the woman at the well is often treated as if it were about forgiveness of sins, but there is no mention of sin in the Gospel. Jesus sees a woman and a Samaritan and chooses to establish a connection. This shows the way of God’s coming kingdom. The woman gets living water, she tells her neighbors, they invite him to stay, and Jesus abides with them. Jesus comes to us and calls us to be rivers of living water, gushing forth to bring light and life to our world.
Lent II—March 12, 2017
Preacher: Pastor Jeff Lilley
Lessons: Genesis 12:1–4a | Psalm 121 | Romans 4:1–5, 13–17 | John 3:1–17
Summary: Many of us keep our life as Christians separate from the rest of our life. It can be like Nicodemus who came to Jesus in secret. Jesus tells Nicodemus that he must be born from above and that God sent Christ to redeem the world. John tells us that Christ did not come to condemn the world but to save the world. God’s love includes all the world and all of us.
Lent I—March 5, 2017
Preacher: Pastor Jeff Lilley
Lessons: Genesis 2:15–17; 3:1–7 | Psalm 32 | Romans 5:12–19 | Matthew 4:1–11
Summary: As Lent begins, we hear the story of Jesus’s temptation in the wilderness. He hasn’t eaten for 40 days and is offered bread by the devil, but Jesus resists through reliance on God’s word. We all make mistakes in our lives, but as the Psalm says, when we acknowledge our sins, God forgives us. Like Jesus, we can be tempted to behave in ways that are not true to our own nature and to follow other people’s expectations. Like Jesus, we can be tempted by riches and privileges to abandon our true nature and give ourselves up to the world. When we we acknowledge our sins, God forgives us. God has created us to be who we are. When we return to God, we have enough.
Ash Wednesday—March 1, 2017
Preacher: Pastor Jeff Lilley
Lessons: Isaiah 58:1–12 | Psalm 51:1–17 | 2 Corinthians 5:20b—6:10 | Matthew 6:1–6, 16–21
Summary: In the alternate first reading from Isaiah we are using this year, the people ask why God has ignored their fast, and God has Isaiah tell them the real fast God desires is to loose the bods of injustice and share with the hungry and poor. We are called to fast for the healing of the world, and we miss the mark when Lent is all about ourselves. All of our accomplishments are nothing in the light of God’s mercy and grace. The ashes on our foreheads are not a mark of our suffering but a reminder that God’s kingdom has come.