Peace Be With You (a sermon on John 20:19-31)

Christ is risen! Alleluia! God’s grace and peace be with all of you. The disciples of Jesus had had a long week. It had been rough, okay? Everything had gone terribly wrong. Jesus had been betrayed by one of their own, been arrested by the religious officials, been tried by the high priest and handed …

Write Your Own Ending (a sermon for Easter)

Christ is risen, alleluia! (Christ is risen indeed, alleluia!) The Bible includes four gospels, four versions of the story of Jesus’ life, each one a little different from the others. All four agree on the major points: Jesus is the Son of God. He travels around, teaching and preaching and healing the sick. He goes …

The Gate for the Sheep

God’s grace and peace be with all of you. Today is the fourth Sunday of Easter, and the fourth Sunday of Easter is always known as “Good Shepherd Sunday.” On this day, we always hear a gospel reading from John chapter 10. When you hear our gospel reading this morning, with its talk of sheep …

On the Road to Emmaus (a sermon for the third Sunday of Easter)

God’s grace and peace be with all of you. In our church calendar, today is the third Sunday of the season of Easter. It’s been two weeks since Easter Sunday. But in our gospel reading today, we’ve gone backwards in time a bit—this reading takes place on the day of the resurrection, the first Easter. …

Doubt and the Gift of Faith

God’s grace and peace be with all of you. The scene opens on our gospel reading for today in a locked room. The disciples have hidden themselves away, isolated and afraid. And isn’t it interesting that they’re hiding behind locked doors?    The disciples have already heard from Mary Magdalene that Jesus’ body is missing from …

Earth-Shaking News (a sermon for Easter)

Christ is risen! Alleluia! [He is risen indeed! Alleluia!] God’s grace and peace be with all of you. As you may know, in our Bible there are four gospels, four different books telling the story of Jesus Christ’s life, death, and resurrection. I think it’s kind of wonderful that the early Christian movement decided that …