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  • Laborers for the Harvest

    Introduction One of the opportunities I have as the interim pastor at Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Beatrice, Neb., is to prepare a short column for a feature called “The Pastor’s Pen,” appearing in the Beatrice Daily Sun on Thursday, October 7, 2010. Scripture “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers…

  • Living by Faith

    This is the sermon I prepared for Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Beatrice, Neb., for the Nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost, Oct. 3, 2010. + + + Readings Habakkuk 1:1–4; 2:1–4 Psalm 37:1–9 2 Timothy 1:1–14 Luke 17:5–10 + + + Prayer Almighty Father, by your Holy Spirit you bless us with…

  • Question Box: “He descended into hell.”

    Introduction Holy Cross Lutheran Church offers individuals the chance to ask questions about the Church, faith, theology, and the Bible by putting their queries into a Question Box. A question and answer appears in each month’s newsletter. This is the October 2010 installment. Question When we confess our faith using…

  • In the Meantime: Walk in His Ways

    Introduction This article is the October 2010 installment of my monthly message in the parish newsletter for Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Beatrice, Neb. Message Walk in His Ways If you take your dog for a walk along the same route each morning, you can grow blind, after a while, to…

  • A Good Four-Letter Word

    Introduction This is a funeral homily I preached at Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Beatrice, Neb., on Monday, Sept. 27, 2010, for the husband of the woman whose funeral I conducted a little over a year ago. Her funeral homily was entitled Second Birth. Readings Ezekiel 37:1–14 Psalm 23 2 Corinthians…

  • Ruin and Righteousness

    This is the sermon I prepared for Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Beatrice, Neb., for the Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost, Sept. 26, 2010. + + + Readings Amos 6:1a, 4–7 Psalm 146 (antiphon v. 7) 1 Timothy 6:6–19 Luke 16:19–31 + + + Prayer Gracious Father, by your Holy Spirit open…

  • One Mediator, One People

    This is the sermon I prepared for Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Beatrice, Neb., for the Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost, Sept. 19, 2010. + + + Readings Amos 8:4–7 Psalm 113 (antiphon v. 7) 1 Timothy 2:1–7 Luke 16:1–13 + + + Prayer Gracious Father, we thank you for sending your…

  • Christ Crucified—Both Foolishness and Wisdom

    This is the sermon I prepared for Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Beatrice, Neb., for Holy Cross Day Vespers, September 14, 2010. + + + Readings Isaiah 45:21–25 1 Corinthians 1:18–25 John 12:20–33 + + + Prayer Gracious Father, bless us with your Spirit, so that we may keep our gaze…

  • A Merciful Change of Mind

    This is the sermon I prepared for Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Beatrice, Neb., for the Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost, September 12, 2010. + + + Readings Exodus 32:7–14 Psalm 51:1–10 (antiphon v. 1) [Psalm 51:3–12, NAB] 1 Timothy 1:12–17 Luke 15:1–10 + + + Prayer Father in heaven, with the…

  • Making an Honest Confession

    Introduction The Congregation Council at Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Beatrice, Neb., where I am serving as interim pastor, opens its monthly meetings with devotions. These are the thoughts for the September 2010 meeting. The Psalm is the one appointed for the sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost. The council read it antiphonally…