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Palm Sunday—March 25, 2018
Preacher: Pastor Jeff Lilley
Lessons: Mark 11:1–11 | Isaiah 50:4–9a | Psalm 31:9–16 | Philippians 2:5–11 | Mark 14:1—15:47
Sermon for the procession not recorded; drafting passion reading, so no sermon given.
Lent V—March 18, 2018
Preacher: Pastor Jeff Lilley
Lessons: Jeremiah 31:31–34 | Psalm 51:1–12 | Hebrews 5:5–10 | John 12:20–33
Summary: In today’s Gospel, some Greeks ask to see Jesus, and he responds with the parable of the grain of wheat being buried in the ground and bringing much fruit and then says it is time for him to be glorified. We associate glory with fame, success, or prestige. For Jesus, the glory comes not through the resurrection but through the new covenant shown in the cross. In Jeremiah, God promises to write the law in our hearts so that we know God’s love and are led from darkness into light. The young people from M. S. Douglas High School are not after fame; they are leading us forward. God is doing a new thing and making a new covenant that will immerse us so deeply in love and each other that we truly know God’s love.
Lent IV—March 11, 2018
Preacher: Pastor Jeff Lilley
Lessons: Numbers 21:4–9 | Psalm 107:1–3, 17–22 | Ephesians 2:1–10 | John 3:14–21
Summary: Both the first lesson and the Gospel today are full of references to dark and light, punishment and salvation. The story from Numbers seems almost magical, but the essence of both is a remind of who we belong to. Both remind us that we are healed when we look to God. We love to look for treasure in the darkness, where we get lost, and in convenience, which lulls us into apathy. But the treasure is with God, who calls us home. God calls us out of darkness into light so that we can be light for the world.
Lent III—March 4, 2018
Preacher: Pastor Jeff Lilley
Lessons: Exodus 20:1–17 | Psalm 19 | 1 Corinthians 1:18–25 | John 2:13–22
Summary: In today’s Gospel from John, Jesus drives the sheep and cattle out of the temple. This version is different from Matthew and Mark where Jesus drives out the moneychangers. John wants us to see Jesus as the new sacrifice that makes animal sacrifices unnecessary. Humanity is used to seeking out God and making the right sacrifice. Now, in Jesus, God comes to us, replacing sacrifice with the gift of grace. But if God is everywhere seeking us out, why come to church? Because this Good News is so hard for us to remember and because here we feel and hear the proclamation of God’s presence so we can carry that truth forward in our lives.
Lent II—February 25, 2018
Preacher: Pastor Jeff Lilley
Lessons: Genesis 17:1–7, 15–16 | Psalm 22:23–31 | Romans 4:13–25 | Mark 8:31–38
Summary: In today’s Gospel Jesus tells h1s followers that he will be betrayed and killed and that he will rise again. Jesus’ message that we must pick up our cross and follow him is a marketer’s nightmare because taking up our cross is more than just empathy for others. We hold onto life and don’t want to follow Jesus to death. But true life (not just existence) comes from letting go of the stuff that ties us to our daily existence. Abraham and Sarah find true joy in giving up on the notion that they are too old and accepting God’s promise. Jesus calls us to let go of all the things that keep us from fully identifying with our neighbors and to find real life.
Lent I—February 18, 2018
Preacher: Pastor Jeff Lilley
Lessons: Genesis 9:8–17 | Psalm 25:1–10 1 | Peter 3:18–22 | Mark 1:9–15
Summary: Today’s Gospel from Mark rushes from the Spirit descending on Jesus at his baptism, to the temptation in the wilderness where Jesus is attended by angels and wild beasts, to Jesus’ proclamation of the Good News that God’s kingdom has come and call to repentance. With the recent school shooting, we stand in the wilderness surrounded by death, but as Jesus proclaims, God’s time (kairos) has come. Prayers are powerful, but we cannot stop there The young students in Florida tell us that this is a kairos time, and as a matter of faith, we join them in demanding that society change what can be changed.
Ash Wednesday—February 14, 2018
Preacher: Pastor Jeff Lilley
Lessons: Joel 2:1–2, 12–17 | Psalm 51:1–17 | 2 Corinthians 5:20b–6:10 | Matthew 6:1–6, 16–21
Summary: Ash Wednesday is a strange evening as we are marked with a cross of ashes and reminded that we are dust. In the Gospel, Jesus explains us that God knows what we are doing and what is in our hearts. Joel tells us that in our suffering, we cry to God, and God will answer. The crosses on our foreheads remind us that, for all out shortcomings, God loves us and has already redeemed us through Christ on the cross.