U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrested Betty Rendón Madrid, a pastor at an Evangelical Lutheran church in southern Wisconsin, along with her husband, Carlos Giraldo. The family fled Colombia in 2004 after Betty received threats from guerrilla fighters while principal at a school. The family, in 2006, filed an application for asylum, citing those…
A Place of Grace
Sermons (Page 35)
“When you are gone, what do you want your children and loved ones to know?” This question, posed by Pastor Beth on the 5th Sunday of Easter, reflects our Gospel reading for the day (John 13:31-35). Knowing his death was near, Jesus commanded his disciples to love one another as he had loved them. His…
Bobby McFerrin dedicated singing the 23rd Psalm to his mom. The first time Pastor Beth heard it sung, it moved her to tears because there is something profoundly beautiful in the feminine image of God. We need to open our hearts to experience the fullness of what God is. God is more than any human…
Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. ‘You’ve heard the gospel story today, John 21:1-25, and I want to share my reflection on it’, said Pastor Eric. He read his poem on what he saw in today’s reading on the theme of ‘Follow me’ and then a poem, ‘Speech to the Young’, by Gwendolyn…
Today is the ‘Doubting Thomas’ gospel, John 20:19-31, in which Jesus asks Thomas, ‘Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe’. Pastor Beth was the motivational speaker at a recent Altrusa students’ scholarship awards ceremony and she said hearing the students’ stories…
“This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.” Alleluia! Luke 24:1-12 tells of the women going to Jesus’s tomb with embalming spices only to find that the tomb was empty because He had Risen! Pastor Eric, for the first time, read his sermon to us. It…
On this day we take time to hear the Passion of our Lord as recorded in the Gospel of John. As we hear the story of Jesus’ trial and crucifixion, candles are extinguished as the sanctuary becomes increasingly dark. So then, why do we call it “Good” Friday? When Jesus proclaims, “It is finished!”, we…
April 18th was Maundy Thursday. This night receives its name from Jesus’ mandate, or command, that we love one another. On this day, we gather to remember the final night Jesus shared with his disciples. Together, they broke bread. While they were eating, Jesus washed his disciples feet as a gesture of deep love and…
Today’s Gospel Reading from John 12 tells of Mary’s gift of comfort to Jesus. As she anointed Jesus’ feet with fragrant and costly oil, Judas exclaimed his objection to this wasteful, extravagant act. Jesus, however, recognized that Mary’s gift was an expression of her love for him, and in anticipation of his burial. Pastor Beth…
The Gospel for today, the Fourth Sunday in Lent, is from Luke 15, which contains the parable of the “prodigal son”, who’s father’s extravagantly welcomed him home after he extravagantly squandered his share of his father’s property. When the older son saw the extravagant celebration for his errant brother, he became angry and questioned his…