Grace to you and peace from God, our Creator, and our Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen. I wonder if I were to ask you today, “Who are you,” how you would respond to me. Well, first, you’d probably give me a name, right? After that though, if I wanted to know more about you, who you are, what would you tell me?... The post Twenty First Sunday after Pentecost appeared first on Wicker Park Lutheran Church.

Wicker Park Lutheran Church Sermons

Twenty First Sunday after Pentecost

Grace to you and peace from God, our Creator and our Savior, Jesus Christ, Amen. I want to begin this morning with a little bit of poetry. This poem is a favorite of mine. Admittedly I am not an expert on poetry and I’m not sure how I stumbled across this poem by British poet Wendy Cope, but this poem will help frame the way we approach our Gospel text today... The post Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost appeared first on Wicker Park Lutheran Church.

Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost

In today’s gospel, Jesus said, “do not worry about tomorrow.” For some of us, that’s easier said than done. After all, there is so much to worry about: Climate change. COVID. Where our career path or family life might take us. We wonder if we’ll ever meet the partner we yearn for. If we’ll have enough money for retirement. If the treatment will work. Or, what the test results might say... The post The Feast of Saint Francis appeared first on Wicker Park Lutheran Church.

The Feast of Saint Francis

Grace to you and peace from God our Creator and our Savior, Jesus Christ, Amen. I want to jump right into the Gospel this morning and I know we may have only had one cup of coffee or maybe in the back of your mind you’ve got the Bears game tossing around but this lesson is pretty jarring though, right? Millstones and eye plucking is not something we normally think about and for good reason. It’s hard to imagine Jesus is literally advocating for these kinds of harms. The post Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost appeared first on Wicker Park Lutheran Church.

Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost

Grace to you and peace from God, our creator and our risen Savior, Jesus Christ, amen. Good morning! It is a pleasure to be with you, in whatever form or medium you are partaking. My name is Jason Fugate and I want to begin with a brief word of gratitude for all of the Wicker Park Lutheran community. I am in my final year of seminary as I continue to train and study in the hope and anticipation of becoming an ordained minister in the ELCA... The post Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost appeared first on Wicker Park Lutheran Church.

Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost

Adults, children, dogs. It was the assumed hierarchy in today’s gospel reading. Adults, children, dogs. At best, it was Jesus’s metaphor to get the unnamed Syrophoenician woman to go away. Adults, children, dogs. At its worst, it was a racial slur as “dogs” was a commonplace derogatory term applied to a Gentile outsider... The post Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost appeared first on Wicker Park Lutheran Church.

Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost

Listen to our guest preacher, Chrisida Anandan, as she reads the gospel and proclaims its message. The post Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost appeared first on Wicker Park Lutheran Church.

Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost

God’s plan. At the cross, John’s gospel said that she needed to be cared for by the disciple whom Jesus loved. Yet, today’s gospel paints a different picture of Mary... The post Feast of Mary Mother of our Lord appeared first on Wicker Park Lutheran Church.

Feast of Mary Mother of our Lord

Did you catch what Jesus said? “The bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.” With a statement like that, it’s no wonder that early Christians were called cannibals. After reading that verse, I thought there had to be another translation. There had to be a way to make it seem less shocking. So, I dug a bit deeper into the Greek. And it turns out that … there’s not. The Greek word the dictionary explains that it’s the “soft substance which covers the bones and it permeated with blood.” So, yep, flesh. The bread Jesus gives is his flesh. But, what does that actually mean?... The post Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost appeared first on Wicker Park Lutheran Church.

Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost

I imagine the crowd at Galilee that we read about today like those of us who wanted to bake in those early days of the pandemic. But when I had this urge , I couldn’t find the main ingredient- flour- anywhere... The post Tenth Sunday after Pentecost appeared first on Wicker Park Lutheran Church.

Tenth Sunday after Pentecost

I think it’s safe to say that the name “Mary” was a top ten baby name during Jesus’s childhood. After all, the name Mary occurs 54 times in the Christian Scriptures, it’s found in 49 verses, and it’s likely that these instances denote 7-12 unique people. Because of this, scholars often need to figure out which particular Mary the author is talking about... The post The Feast of Mary Magdalene appeared first on Wicker Park Lutheran Church.

The Feast of Mary Magdalene

Today’s passage doesn’t appear in many commentaries. It’s not a well-known passage like the beheading of John the Baptist from last week or the feeding of the 5000 which actually happens in the middle of this passage. Rather, this is a transition passage to describe a transition in the ministry of the disciples and Jesus’ ministry... The post Eighth Sunday after Pentecost appeared first on Wicker Park Lutheran Church.

Eighth Sunday after Pentecost

I could not help but wince when I found out I’d be preaching on this passage this week. It’s hard to read, much less preach on. First, it doesn’t sit right with me that John the Baptist was imprisoned simply for pointing out a hard truth. It doesn’t sit right with me that Herod would rather kill an innocent person than be embarrassed in front of his guests. It doesn’t sit right with me that somehow his child gets caught in the middle of the grudge that he and his wife have with John the Baptist. It DOES NOT sit right with me that Herod- father, leader, host- ABUSES his power in so many ways... The post Seventh Sunday after Pentecost appeared first on Wicker Park Lutheran Church.

Seventh Sunday after Pentecost

"Today’s portion of Mark picks up where we ended last week. Up to this point in Mark’s gospel, Jesus was baptized and tempted; he called the disciples, preached, and healed (sometimes on the Sabbath); he told a few parables to speak about God’s truth; and last week, he healed an unnamed woman and brought a child back from death. This week, we had two parts in our reading– first, Jesus’ rejection and second, the sending of the disciples..." The post Sixth Sunday after Pentecost appeared first on Wicker Park Lutheran Church.

Sixth Sunday after Pentecost

In today’s gospel we get a “twofer” - two stories in one. At first, it seems like today’s passage is about Jairus’ sick daughter but then suddenly, the story takes a turn as an unnamed woman tugs on Jesus’ garment. The story of this woman is sandwiched in between the beginning and the ending of the recounting of Jesus’ healing of Jairus’ daughter... The post Fifth Sunday after Pentecost appeared first on Wicker Park Lutheran Church.

Fifth Sunday after Pentecost

These are sermons preached at Wicker Park Lutheran Church in Chicago, IL. WPLC is a diverse, ELCA Christian community in Chicago focused on expansive theology. Sunday service at 10 a.m. www.wickerparklutheran.org

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Wicker Park Lutheran Church Sermons

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