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- Written by: Pastor Tobias
- Category: Sermons
I want to invite us this morning to think about becoming every day evangelists. Humble, but maybe also just a little but daring.
Let’s begin with a scenario. It may sound familiar and maybe you can even imagine yourself in it.
For any of you who have had the experience of flying on a plane, you may know the moment when, after getting settled in one’s seat, buckled in and things arranged, people sitting next to each other will introduce themselves to one another. Name, where you’re from, and what you do. Your occupation. Now, I know that as a person of faith I should probably always want to talk about faith with those I encounter in the world around me, including on a plane, but I must confess to a mix of curiosity and dread for these encounters. Curiosity, because it’s fun to learn about other people’s lives and see where possible connecting points between our stories might exist – and it can help me forget that this conversation is taking place on a multi-ton hunk of metal hurtling through the sky. Dread, because I’m on a multi-ton hunk of metal hurtling through the sky and therefore can’t leave the conversation that is about to happen even if I want to, and in my experience, when people on a plane hear that I am a pastor I generally get one of two responses:
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- Written by: Pastor Tobias
- Category: Sermons
Paul has bold words for us in this passage from Romans today, where he writes, “I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory about to be revealed to us,” and furthermore that “…the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the children of God.” (Romans 8:18-19)
Paul himself was no stranger to suffering. Remember that in his calling – away from being a chief persecutor of Christians to becoming one of the most important apostles – Paul is struck blind by God, hears Jesus asking him why Paul persecutes him, and is sent to beseech Jesus’ disciple Ananias of Damascus to heal him. And he is healed and becomes chief among Jesus’ apostles, but along his journey Paul will be imprisoned. In fact, four of Paul’s letters - Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians and Philemon – are all written from prison.
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- Written by: Pastor Tobias
- Category: Sermons
Many a kindergarten or nursery school or Sunday School has had children planting seeds in little pots - to be patiently watered and set in a sunny window until the seeds, springing to life, burst from the soil with their little green shoots. I well remember as a child, going each morning to check on the seeds in my nursery school classroom (which we had planted in little yogurt cups with holes poked in the bottoms), and my excitement when I saw the first of the seeds coming up in those little containers. I also remember my disappointment because the seeds in other children’s cups came up while my seeds still had not shown their faces. And my joy as those little seedling sprouts finally reared their heads out of the soil!
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- Written by: Pastor Tobias
- Category: Sermons
In today’s gospel we hear one of the more frequently quoted passages of scripture:
“Come to me, all you who are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:25)
This passage, points out Chad Martin - a self-described carpenter, dabbling farmer, and executive director of Chestnut Housing in Lancaster, PA – this passage follows a chapter in which Jesus spends much of his time teaching about how God becomes known to us “outside theological training and strict religiosity” and just before a scene in which Jesus comes in “conflict with religious leaders over rules for the sabbath.” (Christian Century, pg. 25, July 2023)
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- Written by: Pastor Tobias
- Category: Sermons
God in Christ is breaking in upon this world in beautiful and profound and wonderful ways. It may not always be easy to see it or remember it, but it is true. Breaking in upon this world in the daily small and large actions people like you and I will make with God’s help – we are called by Christ as disciples, just as surely as those first disciples to whom Jesus is speaking in today’s gospel. Breaking in upon this world in powerful stories of people making a difference who may never know they are participating in the redeeming and liberating work of God. I recently heard two such stories, both connected to measures passed by Congress across the dividing lines that too often get in the way of bi-partisan cooperation within our legislative governing body.
The first of these measures was a bill to expand funding for research into, and speedier access to experimental drugs for people with ALS (often referred to as Lou Gehrig’s disease). The second was a bill that restored access for people in prison to Pell grants for the purpose of pursuing higher education (higher education being well-documented as one of the things that can significantly reduce the chance of someone who has gone to prison ending up back in prison again).