The Lutheran Zephyr: Sermons

It Gets Better

Reformation Day
Jeremiah 31:31-34; John 8:31-36
October 31, 2010


Grace to you and peace, from the one who is, who was, and who is to come.  Amen.

The Israelites just had suffered a whopping at the hands of the Babylonians,
    the Temple was looted, desecrated, and destroyed,
    a weak, figurehead monarch was set up in Israel,
    and much of the population was forcibly relocated east across the Tigris River
    into captivity in the foreign land of Babylon.
God’s chosen people, removed from their promised land, were in exile.
For a people whose identity rested largely on their special chosen status,
    a status confirmed by God’s gift of a promised land,
    this current state of affairs was a complete and utter disaster,
    for that land was now far to the west, occupied by foreigners,
        and largely a place of memories.
The covenant, that promise between God and his people, seemed broken.

Looking Forward (Reformation Sunday)

Reformation Sunday
Jeremiah 31:31-34
October 25, 2009

Grace to you and peace, from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.  Amen.

Today in Havertown, PA, my hometown just outside of Philadelphia,
    members of Temple Lutheran Church are wearing red
    to mark the festival that we too celebrate here today: Reformation Sunday.
However, unlike the stately red tie or red dress that you might expect,
    at Temple Lutheran Church many of their members today are wearing Phillies red,
    celebrating the new era for the Christian Church that the Reformation inaugurated, yes,
    but also marking a new era in Philadelphia baseball.