Preaching? Are you down with that?

Theologians of the cross, come hither and listen!

Pretension Busters: Challenges

Who'd of thought they'd be so long and so hard?

Come...

see why

over at St. Martie's Place!

There is a Time

2010-08-12 Irene Henderson
When Jesus declares in the Beatitudes: "Blessed are..." he is not making a future promised contingent upon the realization of some condition. No, he is establishing a present condition, in this time, right now. Indeed, there is a time for every matter under the sun and the Lord of all time has made each time beautiful in its time. Our dear Irene knew this. Thanks be to God for the life of this woman!
Ecclesiastes 3:1-8, 11a
Matthew 5:1-10

Pretension Busters: Burnout

Attitudes are contagious, dangerous...

...even lethal.

Come, visit St. Martie's Place.

Pretension Busters: Blogging

Blogging and Preaching...

...they're connected.

Visit St. Martie's Place and see how

Pretension Busters: Blame

Knowing who to blame...

Come, see for yourself:

St. Martie's Place

Pretension Busters: Bitterness

Bitterness...

--better than dreams

See for yourself, visit St. Martie's Place

Pretension Busters: Beauty

Even moral beauty is only skin deep

visit: St. Martie's Place

Pretension Busters: Bailouts

Was Jesus a "bailout" of humanity...

St. Marties' Place

Pretension Busters: Arrogance

The arrogance of niceness...

...St. Martie's Place

Pretension Busters: Apathy

When God doesn't answer...

St. Marties' Place

Pretension Busters: Ambition

For two kinds of "ambitious" stories, check out:

St. Marties' Place:

Pretension Busters: Agony

Just when you thought it couldn't get any worse...

http://stmartiesplace.blogspot.com/2010/06/pretension-busters-agony.html

Pretension Busters: Adversity

check it out here:

St. Martie's Place

Pretension Busters:

Achievement

www.despair.com

Arrogance cannot be avoided or true hope be present

unless the judgment of condemnation is feared in every work

--Martin Luther

(Heidelberg Disputation, Thesis 11)

Solomon ordered a temple to be built to honor the Lord, as well as a royal palace for himself. Solomon had 70,000 common laborers and 80,000 stonecutters in the hills, in addition to 3,600 supervisors.

2 Chronicles 2:1-2

Hank Lanknecht from Trinity Seminary once said in a sermon based on the apocryphal Daniel and the priests of Baal that "we give to God the things we most want to enjoy ourselves." Solomon satisfied his vision and his determination to "enjoy" honoring the Lord with the Temple by using the same tactics the Egyptians had used many generations before: conscription of those different--"put the aliens to work!" Furthermore, these "aliens" were the very ones Joshua had been ordered by the Lord to eradicate. Their existence was an ongoing reminder of the peoples' failure of obedience. Perhaps there is something sadly ironic that the very ones whom the Lord had ordered exterminated should be the ones building the temple to honor their would be exterminator. But my sense of irony is most aroused when I consider the warning the Lord gave to Solomon concerning his building of the Temple: the Lord's presence was contingent upon Solomon's obedience and lack of idolatry. (1 Kings 6:11-13) How Solomon could hear that warning and still go ahead and complete the Temple with labor whose very presence represented disobedience has to be one of the most ironic stories in scripture.

Christians have often become a source of "expendable labor"--or at least, expendable income--to those determined to 'give to God the things they most want to enjoy themselves.' The "Babel Syndrome" runs deep in all of us, I guess. Though the confusion of language may have been the end of the Babel culture, the Syndrome will only be eradicated when the Old Adam, the Old Eve, and this old, old creation pass away. Until then, we'll continue to be "expendable labor and income" to those with shiny visions and great determination to honor themselves in the guise of giving to the Lord.

For freedom Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not be subject again to the yoke of slavery.

(Galatians 5:1)

The Space between "From" and "To"

Arthur A. "Art" Link was committed to the ground from which he came on June 6th, 2010 in the Alexander Cemetery. The landscape was lush from the rain; the sun warmed us gently; and friends and family supported one another. The Word of God from Genesis 3 was declared: "You are dust and to dust you shall return." Into that little space between "from" and "to" God sows the the seed of his Word--Jesus Christ.

Law on the Left, Law on the Right, Caught in the Middle Again

When the Law is established without Christ, we have tyranny. When the Law is thought to be ended without Christ, we have anarchy--which is really just tyranny by the most easily offended. Caught in the middle, we go to our graves and await the resurrection. Preached on the Fifth Sunday in Lent, series C, March 21, 2010 at Wilmington Lutheran Church, Arnegard, ND

The texts were:

Isaiah 43:16–21

Psalm 126

Philippians 3:4b–14

John 12:1–8

The Contender

The funeral sermon preached for Charles Aasen who contended for the joys of married, family, and civic identity but could not contend for victory over the devil, the world and our sinful selves. Against that triumvirate of evil Christ is the ONLY contender and he has already won the victory! March 18, 2010 in Trinity Lutheran Church of Alexander, North Dakota

The text of this sermon can be found here:

http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=376997949705

A Tale of Two Siblings

A profligate father, two greedy sons, an unmentioned community, one preacher, and a sacramental fatted calf comprise this parable's cast. The world with all its prodigal younger sons; the world with all its begrudging elder sons; the world with all its skeptical and necessarily protective communities will be reconciled to the Father by the sacrifice of Christ. Delivered at St. Paul's Lutheran Church, El Paso, TX on Sunday, March 14th, 2010 by the Reverend Timothy J. Swenson.

The text for this sermon can be found here:

http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=355589409705

Salvation Insurance? No, Thank You!

The Third Sunday of Lent C March 7, 2010 Wilmington & Trinity Lutheran Churches Arnegard & Alexander, North Dakota The fig tree (and those Pharisees and Sadducees) die particularly from being unfruitful, unproductive. Makes you want to get out your yield calculator, doesnt it? Figure out your fruit per hour, see how that measures up? Has your life yielded enough fruit to make it on your own, or will you have to file for salvation insurance? Sadly enough, thats the way a goodly number of those who call themselves Christian treat our Lord Jesus Christ: salvation insurance. Isaiah 55:1-9 Psalm 63:1-8 1 Corinthians 10:1-13 Luke 13:1-13

The Sermon Text can be found here:

http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=347404189705

A Cosmic Game of Chicken
The Second Sunday of Lent February 28, 2010 Wilmington & Trinity Lutheran Churches Arnegard & Alexander, North Dakota When the Word of God descended from heaven in the person of Jesus the Christ, the worlds children were already well practiced in the ascension of their own glory. Jesus—coming down—was on a collision course with the world going up. And there on the curb sat the devil egging on the both of them as if it were some cosmic game of chicken and the devil would take the one who flinched first. Genesis 15:1-12, 17-18 Psalm 27 Philippians 3:17-4:1 Luke 13:31-35

Sermon text found here:

http://www.facebook.com/notes/timothy-j-swenson/a-cosmic-game-of-chicken/331995374705

First the Bad News, then the Good News

The funeral sermon for Bruce White delivered by the Rev. Timothy J. Swenson at Trinity Lutheran Church in Alexander, North Dakota on February 17th, 2010. The texts were 2 Timothy 4:6-7; Psalm 23; John 16:33-34 The bad news: everybody, all mortal things, die; this happens at baptism when we are buried with Christ into a death like his; into the resulting silence God speaks the Good News: "Christ is your life!"

The text for the sermon can be found here:

http://www.facebook.com/note.php?saved&&suggest&note_id=314614309705

"Listen!" said one; "Look!" said the other

The sermon delivered February 14, 2010 at Wilmington Lutheran Church in Arnegard, North Dakota, on the occasion of the Transfiguration of Our Lord, Cycle C, by Timothy J. Swenson. The proclamation declares the difference between "listen" and "look" as the difference between theologians of the cross and theologies of glory, exposing sinners as "faithless and perverse." The texts are: Exodus 34:29-35 Psalm 99 2 Corinthians 3:12-4:2 Luke 9:28-36 [37-43]

The text of the sermon can be found here:

http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=306414824705

"Caught and Called Out"

The sermon preached by Timothy J. Swenson on February 7, 2010 at Wilmington Lutheran Church in Arnegard, North Dakota, on the occasion of the 5th Sunday after Epiphany, Cycle C. The sermon preaches the miraculous catch of fish as a "catching out" of sinners so that they are called out of sin by the gift of faith.

Isaiah 6:1-8 (9-13)
Psalm 138
1 Corinthians 15:1-11
Luke 5:1-11

The text of the sermon can be found here:

http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=304233409705

Beloved Betrayers

The sermon delivered by the Reverend Timothy J. Swenson on January 31, 2010--the 4th Sunday after Epiphany, Cycle C, in Wilmington Lutheran Church, Arnegard, ND. The sermon uses a social science understanding the the "honor/shame" society in Jesus' day to expose the betrayal of Jesus' followers. The texts are:

Jeremiah 1:4-10

Psalm 71:4-10

1 Corinthians 13:1-13

Luke 4:21-30

The text of the sermon can be found here:

http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=304222809705

Presence and Promise and Tears in the Eye

This is the sermon that would have been delivered January 24th at Wilmington Lutheran Church in Arnegard--except we had a snow day, no worship. Consequently, this preaching was done during a chapel service at the Good Shepherd Home in Watford City, ND. The texts are the lectionary for RCL 3rd Sunday after Epiphany Nehemiah 8:1-3, 5-6, 8-10 Psalm 19 1 Corinthians 12:12-31a Luke 4:14-21 Timothy J Swenson, preaching

The text for the sermon can be found here:

http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=281396799705

Held in the Center, Not Pushing the Limits

The sermon preached January 17, 2010 in Wilmington Lutheran Church of Arnegard, North Dakota on the occasion of the Second Sunday after Epiphany and the congregation's annual meeting, by the Reverend Timothy J. Swenson. The lectionary readings were: Isaiah 62:1-5 Psalm 36:5-10 1 Corinthians 12:1-11 John 2:1-11

The sermon's text can be found here:

http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=257412799705

The Truth about Yourself and God
A sermon preached on the occasion of Arnold Anderson's funeral at Wilmington Lutheran Church in Arnegard, North Dakota by the Reverend Timothy J. Swenson. Confrontation with God through the rebuking rod of God's Law and through the gathering staff of God's Gospel is like "wrestling with angels" and reveals the truth about us as sinners and about God as one who redeems sinners.

Genesis 32:24-31 Psalm 23 Hebrews 11:20-21 John 4:1-29

The text for this sermon can be found here:

http://www.facebook.com/tjswenson1?v=app_2347471856

The Champion Takes the Field

2010 010 A sermon delivered at Wilmington Lutheran Church of Arnegard, North Dakota on Sunday, January 10th, 2010--the Baptism of Our Lord. The texts were Isaiah 43:1-7; Psalm 29; Acts 8: ; & Luke 3:

The text for the sermon can be found here

http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=244709054705

From God's Heart to Yours

2010-01-03 02 Christmas Sermon part 1 A sermon preached on the Second Sunday after Christmas at Wilmington Lutheran Church. The Gospel reading was John 1:1-18 and the second lesson was Ephesians 1:3-14. These beautiful texts declare who Jesus is (Christology) and what he does (soteriology). Our Lord is not merely something "applied" to us, his heart (his life) replaces ours.

The Sermon text can be found here:

http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=233218064705

We're Not In Kansas Anymore!

2009-12-27 Christmas One Sermon preached at Wilmington Lutheran Church, Arnegard, North Dakota by the Reverend Timothy J. Swenson. Based on Luke 2:41-52 the preaching declares that God's Word is the active agent God wields upon us, working his grace upon sinners, giving us a 200% identity and transporting us into the coming kingdom of Christ's reign.

The sermon text can be found here:

http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=222608539705

This God's For You!

2009-12-24 Christmas Eve Sermon delivered at Wilmington Lutheran Church, Arnegard, North Dakota by the Reverend Timothy J. Swenson. The gospel text Luke 2:1-21. Jesus does not just deliver "good news" about God; he IS the CONTENT of the good news about God.

The sermon text can be found here:

http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=216821784705