We know the parable as the importune or badgering neighbor. Is it about the neighbor? Or is it about his neighbor whom he wakes up at midnight for a loaf of bread? How does this relate anything to the Lord's Prayer? Middle Eastern context gives us clues as to what Jesus was getting at, and it has nothing to do about persistence or badgering.…

This 19th Sunday in Pentecost is dedicated to St. Michael and All Angels. September 29 is the Archangel Michael's time to shine along with all the angels who protect Christians daily in their walk through life. What is YOUR angle on angels? Listen up.

In the 1960s, I believe it was comedian Flip Wilson who coined the phrase, "Here comes the judge!" He used it often in his routines. Today, in Jesus' parable, a widow seeks justice against her adversaries from a judge but barely finds it. The Lord promises that justice will come quick when he returns to the earth. Will God's children be spared? Wil…

Decades ago, George Carlin had a comedy sketch about "stuff". The accumulation of "stuff", the storage of "stuff", etc. why do we have so much "stuff" AND what are we going to do with it? Jesus parable answers that question.

Are you a baby? Do you cry all the time? Why?

We all know the story of the Good Samaritan. But who is the Good Samaritan? Do you want to be like him, rather than the priest and the Levite who pass by the injured man on the road? Well, you can't, and you never will. Here's why...

We all know the parable of the Prodigal Son, but what is the final outcome of the older brother. The parable leaves us hanging without a conclusion. The question is WHY? Jesus knew what He was doing when he did this. This parable is the last of three parables Jesus tells in succession, and the punch line is the key in the Prodigal Son. Listen why.…

This begins a series on parables found only in the Gospel of Luke. Today, the Pharisee, Jesus and the sinful woman are at a banquet feast. Things don't go as planned for the Pharisee when a prostitute enters the room. What will Jesus' reaction be to this banquet gone awry?

Are you "into God?" Christians say we were baptized in the name of the Triune God. Do we merely carry His name upon us as believers? This Trinity Sunday, we explore the riches of the what if means to believe in God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit by taking a look at St. Patrick and Shakespeare.

If you get Christ right, you get the right Christ. It's simple. When you hear God's own testimony concerning His som you avoid the pitfalls of falling into traps of false prophets telling to do this or that in order to be a Christian. Do you get Christ?

A celebration of life for Doris Evans, 93 years old called to Jesus side.

Rev. Greg Klotz accepts the invitation from Resurrection Lutheran Church in Brentwood, California, to today's sermon on a familiar post-Easter text: Doubting Thomas.

Rev. Andrew Mundinger of Holy Cross Lutheran in Concord, California, preaches on one of the "I Am" texts in the the Gospel of John. "I am the Good Shepherd" is the theme of this Sunday's worship.

The original ending to MARk's Gospel probably ended at verse 8. Mark 16:9-20f may have been added by Mark at a future date. Earliest manuscripts indicate the shorter reading...why would Mark end his Gospel with the fear and bewilderment of the women who came to the tomb? AND...nobody saw Jesus. We explore how this shorter ending fits into Mark's ov…

Pastor Mundinger preaches on the story of Thomas who doubting wants to see Jesus in the flesh before believing in His resurrection. But, did Thomas doubt? Or, was Thomas requesting to confirm and affirm what He knew to be true by faith; namely, what He has to look forward to in the end.

Today is the last Sunday Grace Lutheran Church will be worshipping in this building. In 1931, when Grac eLutheran Church began, nobody thought they would go to sleep, and wake up to the last Sunday they would be in their church building. On Good Friday, Jesus went to "sleep" and "woke up" on Easter Sunday replacing death with life, sin ridden bodie…

Palm Sunday and Jesus rides into Jerusalem. “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!” (John 12:13). Wow, the crowds were ecstatic! But today is also called the “Sunday of the Passion,” because by the end of the week the crowds are shouting, “Crucify him!” (Mark 15:14). Have you ever wondered why the crowd …

Back in 1925, Eddie Cantor took the nation by storm with his roaring-twenties hit: “If you knew Susie, like I know Susie, oh, oh, oh what a gal!” Everyone wanted to know Susie, and who wouldn’t. She was lively, fun, a party girl. She was the center of attention when she walked into the room. This was the 1920s – a decade of extravagance, free and w…

Lent is a somber time, although we do know this season ends in joy, don’t we?. Yes, Christ is risen; your Savior is alive but in LENT you take the time to focus on repentance and your need for what you know is coming on Easter. Lent is part of your journey toward eternity with Christ. Paul says, “God’s patient kindness [towards all those living] is…

In preparing for today’s sermon, I came across a Bible passage that describes me very well. At least it describes me most of the time. Psalm 14:1 says, “The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God.’” Yup, sometimes that thought has crossed my mind. It’s not that I’m a thoroughgoing atheist. Church people get upset by atheism and there’s been a new…

When you travel, there are some things you need to leave at home. You need to travel lighter. You may leave your rock collection, for example. But, you might want to take your blood pressure medicine. Those are physical things. What about leaving behind attitudes or emotions. For instance, you’re going to a family reunion for 2 weeks and uncle Ned …

I remember walking through the woods near our house several times in the Fall, trying to find a cocoon. We studied about it in science. I wanted to find one, put it in a jar, and watch it turn from caterpillar to butterfly. I never found one, and I never saw it happen.In the early Christian church, the symbol for the resurrection was, you guessed i…

I hate interruptions. Don’t you? Interruptions distract from your final goal and purpose. Sometimes I get so absorbed in what I’m doing, I just can’t be distracted until I’m finished. For instance, the interruption of having to go to the garage to find the tool you need, and then when you’re there forget why you’re there. Man, that’s the worst inte…

When you were a child, did you ever play King of the Hill? Do you remember the game? We used to play it on the monkey bars at recess or climbing to the top of a mound of freshly plowed snow in the bank parking lot – that’s how we played most of the time. The rules were, first one who pushed and shoved their way up to top was King of the Hill. But t…

Jesus spoke to a crowd of people on the shore of the Sea of Galilee. For everyone to see and hear Him preaching he asked Peter to let him board his boat and push out a bit from the shore. With people standing on the shore, and fishermen in the boat, Jesus preaches and teaches about the kingdom of God – to repent and believe for the Kingdom of God w…

Can anything good come out of Pittsburg? Can anything good come out of Antioch? Or let’s be more specific: Can anything good come out of Grace Lutheran this year? Those may be the kinds of questions in the minds of the people with whom we meet and talk. And the attitude behind the questions would be a rather dubious one. Believe it or not, some peo…

Who is your favorite superhero, or hero? Do you have one? Can Jesus be considered a superhero? What might the difference be? As we remember His Baptism on this day, we understand the reason why God decided to gift us our Baptisms. Our Baptism is meaningless unless Christ goes into the water with us. Find out why.…

Timing is everything. To be funny, the punch line of any joke needs to be said at the right time. If not, the whole joke is ruined, the pointdoesn’t get across. When delicate discussions need to take place, you choose the right moment to begin the conversation. Just like you carefully consider when and how to deliver a punch line to a joke, or when…

It's Christmas Eve! Tonight's sermon features Caravaggio's Nativity painting you can find here: https://mwerickson.files.wordpress.com/2018/10/caravaggio-nativity1600.jpg

Arching over the life of every Christian is the great sacred story of the mighty acts of God. This sacred story is highlighted by the displays of power and strength which mark God’s victories over God’s enemies. And in scripture, with God’s victories, God’s people sang in response. The victory songs of the Bible are not rich with personal bravado o…

For the next three Wednesdays there will be an ADVENTDEVOTIONAL of storytelling. Please take time and reflect as we await Christ's birth. Music used in this devotional: “Lo, How A Rose E’er Blooming,” Vocal Majority, from thealbum The Spirit of Christmas “Breath of Heaven (Mary’s Song),” Amy Grant, from the album Homefor Christmas “Sleep Precious B…

Much like being lost in a dead-end trail deep in a forest, David prays for deliverance and rescue from his oppressors by asking God to be is rock and fortress to guide and lead him. He confesses that this is exactly what God is for him, a rock and fortress. He has complete trust that God will lead and guide him out of this situation. David’s specif…

For the next two Wednesdays there will be an ADVENT DEVOTIONAL of storytelling. Please take time and reflect as we await Christ's birth. Music used in this devotional: “Joseph Dearest, Joseph Mine [feat. Ted Williams],” TheWilliam’s Duo, from the album A Pennsylvania German Christmas “Joseph Dearest, Joseph Mine,” the Festival Consort, fromthe albu…

This second Sunday in Advent we focus on being renewed through Christ in us. Images abound throughout Scripture as metaphors for descriptions of the human condition. Strength is easily depicted as a lion, or an eagle soaring through the air. But how might you picture weariness or hopelessness? What object, animal, part of nature, might describe wea…

For the next three Wednesdays there will be an ADVENT DEVOTIONAL of storytelling. Please take time and reflect as we await Christ's birth. Music used in this devotional: “It’s Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas,” Bing Crosby,from the album Christmas “Here Comes Santa Claus,” Gene Autry, from the album TheChristmas Album “O Little Town of Bethle…

Our series opener this Advent season fosucing each week on Be Born in Us Today. what does Christ bring us? today we focus on His blessings. From among the many, he calls Abraham to carry the seed of his promise to save the world. He calls you, out of the darkness, to enter His marvelous light.

The concept of eternity is difficult to grasp. We could describe eternity as “timeless” but we use “timeless” differently than “eternity”. For example, a diamond ring is timeless beauty. The ruins of Egypt are timeless. But Pastor Greg’s sermons are an eternity; they are not timeless. Jesus had 33 years of time to teach about the impending day of j…

I love a phrase from Charles Dickens' Christmas Carol. Scrooge says to Marley’s ghost, “There’s more gravy than of the grave about you.” Scrooge doesn’t believe what he sees standing before him, namely Marley’s ghost. He thinks the apparition is caused by some bad foo he ate. This thanksgiving, I’m sure more than one of us will be like Scrooge, not…

Pause for a moment and think about a most beloved gift you’ve received. For me, it was a camera. I always played around with my dad’s camera, my mom’s camera, my dad’s Bell and Howell 8mm movie camera – not video. Finally, when I was thirteen, my parents gave me a Honeywell Pentax Spotmatic 500 Single-Lens Reflex with a screw-thread lens mount deve…

Even for the most devout Christian, today’s parable and the next three makes us feel insecure, fear, or perhaps doubt. They make us take account of our faith and our actions, our sincerity, our devotedness to follow Jesus. Both Jesus’ and Matthew’s intent, however, is to prepare themselves for Judgment Day with vibrant faith which fuels their daily…

Our parable is the last of a series about mercy and judgment. Jesus tells this parable sometime between Palm Sunday and Good Friday. This parable not only summarizes Jesus’ earthly ministry but also anticipates His upcoming resurrection from the dead. It focuses on the wedding feast of His second coming and a king who sends out invitations to the t…

Don’t shoot the messenger. What a great saying. Say it and you evade all responsibility related to the message. “Don’t blame me, I’m just the messenger.” However, killing the messenger would be the most effective way of killing the message. This is what lies behind Jesus’ parable today: the Parable of the Tenant farmers, as it is commonly known.…

As a child, I was asked to do chores around the house. I was asked, and then didn’t do them. But, as a child I enjoyed watching my dad plant the garden, pick fruit from the tree, and mow the lawn with the cylinder blade push lawn mower we had. I studied how he mowed and collected the grass on the hottest of summer days. Although I neglected to do c…

Do you remember an AT&T commercial, where a female AT&T vendor is handing out lollypops to a boy and a girl? She wants to show that AT&T is giving away the best deals to ALL customers; those who have been faithful customers as well as the new ones who sign up. She illustrates how other companies mistreat their customers by giving the girl a small l…

It’d be nice if things still came with ‘strings attached’ so that we might know if it’s as perfect as it sounds or if there aren’t some hidden flaws. It’d be nice to know if that ‘great deal’ that sounds too good to be true, really is, or if it has ‘strings attached.’ Like if at the bottom of contracts or clauses, a proof-reading lawyer might attac…

When parables judge and condemn, it appears they don’t square with what WE WANT the kingdom of God to be like. Take Peter, for instance. One time, Peter thought He knew what the Kingdom of Heaven was. But when Jesus said, “the Son of Man must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on…