Calm In the Midst of Life's Storms

(The following sermon was preached at First Lutheran Church, Kearney, NE on June 20/21, 2009)

Scripture Lesson: Mark 4:35-41

Well, I don’t think I need to describe to anyone here the fear that goes along with being caught in the middle of a storm. For me, the Hallam tornado back in 2004 was a little too close for comfort. Here in Kearney, strong storms did a number right over in Dryden Park and destroyed a lot of people’s roofs. This past week, we once again were reminded of the power and fury of severe storms and tornados throughout the state of Nebraska – many of us getting to see the fool-hardy people drive essentially straight into that tornado in Aurora.

Our "Alien" World

(The following sermon was preached at First Lutheran Church, May 23 & 24, 2009.)

Scripture Lesson: John 17:6-18

When I was on my internship I was in charge of running the confirmation program. In our confirmation program, we actually required that our students over the course of the year do a little more than show up for an hour on Wednesday evenings. We asked that they help out with a worship service a few times a year, that they hand in a couple of biblical reflections, and that they perform some sort of service to the community two times a year in order to get confirmed. Our thinking was that the faith lives of our youth is an important element to their life in general. One evening, I had a parent who came up to me and informed me that they were pulling their child out of the confirmation program. When I asked why, the response was hardly surprising.

The Star Pupil - Almost

(The following sermon was delivered as an "interview" sermon during Lent at First Lutheran Church in Kearney, NE in March of 2009)

Scripture: Mark 8:27-38

I remember as a kid being so excited whenever my teacher would ask a question that I knew the answer to. I’d raise my hand and practically bounce out of my seat going “Oh! Oh! I know! I know!” I sometimes was probably as annoying as little Hermione Granger, the little know-it-all from Harry Potter that always answers the teacher’s questions correctly. However, there was this one time, when the teacher asked us what kinds of things we found on airplanes. Now, I’d grown up flying in a small, single engine aircraft. So I felt quite confident that I had a leg up on everyone else in this particular category. I raised my hand confidently and when the teacher called upon me, I answered quite proudly: “Instruments. You can find instruments on airplanes.” The teacher nodded and smiled, affirming I was indeed correct.