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St. Joseph, Steadfast in Faith

St. Joseph is an important saint in my life. I first knew him, as most do, as simply the adopted father of Jesus. Hardly mentioned, hardly thought about. He helps Mary and then Mary and Jesus in their travels and then quietly disappears from the gospel story. Later, in ministry in the jail and on the streets, I came to know him as St. Joseph Terror of Demons. Finally, in the last few years through my work at Christ our Anchor I’ve come to know him as St. Joseph the Worker.

Mark 6:30-52 and the Unanswered Question; Who is this?

On October 8, I was invited to preach at McKendree Village where I did my field education last year. It was a blessing to be back with so many friends and to see the healing God had brought to many of the people I had visited in the rehabilitation center.

Since I’m taking A.J. Levine’s course on Mark this semester, I decided to preach on the miracles of the feeding of the 5000 and Jesus walking on water in Mark 6:30-52. My focus was on how God has revealed himself to us and how we often miss the Mark. Though we miss the mark, however, there is still hope. As Jesus was patient with the disciples, he will be patient with us. If we, like the crowd, go to the places Jesus will be — among the poor, the sick, the prisoner, the widow, etc. — he will meet us there. If we open our hearts to him, Jesus will be our shepherd.

Setting & Meaning of Luke 4:21-30

This chapter starts with a newly baptized Jesus being lead by the Holy Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil for forty days. After being tempted by the devil and successfully overcoming him, Jesus returns to his ministry in Galilee teaching and healing as he goes. After an undisclosed amount of time, Jesus finds himself in his home village of Nazareth where he takes his customary place in the synagogue on the sabbath to read from Hebrew scripture. Jesus recites passages from Isaiah 61 and 58 pointing towards the purpose of his incarnation. Verses 21 to 30 all takes place within the synagogue and document the congregation’s reaction to Jesus’ proclamation of fulfilling the prophecy of Isaiah and his interpretation of what their reactions will be to the reality of who he is contrasted to the reputation and expectations that have preceded him.

Sanctification, The Outcome of Our Faith

Good morning holy, healthy, and happy people of God! If you are visiting today, I welcome you and apologize at the same time. Please do not judge McKendree by today’s sermon. I am but the humble seminary student here. Pastor Stephen will be back preaching as normal next week and I strongly encourage you to come back then.

Today marks the third time I’ve preached from this pulpit. People told me this would get easier over time, and I must say the writing part does get easier with each attempt. Surprisingly once one learns to let go of one’s high thoughts about one’s intellect and humbly falls before God praying only that his thought be expressed, the writing goes much easier. Hmmm, humbleness before the Lord bringing great joy, I seem to remember a book being written about that… Yes, some of us are slow learners. Those of us called to ministry, I’ve found, are often times the slowest of all.