February 2, 2020
Texts: Mark 5:21-43 Subject: Jairus’ Daughter and a Woman Healed 4 Epiphany; Feb. 2, 2020, Reformation Lutheran Church, Las Vegas, NV
February 2, 2020
Texts: Mark 5:21-43 Subject: Jairus’ Daughter and a Woman Healed 4 Epiphany; Feb. 2, 2020, Reformation Lutheran Church, Las Vegas, NV
January 26, 2020
Texts: Mark 5:1-20 Subject: Jesus and the Man Possessed Theme: What the Lord Has Done 3 Epiphany; Jan. 26, 2020, Reformation Lutheran Church, Las Vegas, NV Pastor Jason Adams
January 19, 2020
We know the story of the cross and the part after too – Jesus doesn’t stay in the tomb. Spoiler alert – it’s still the season of Epiphany but we are Easter people – Jesus is alive and the Word is among us! We have been fed, watered, and given the gift of growth through the Holy Spirit, called and sent, planted to grow and produce that good juicy fruit that feeds the world. We don’t know it all. It’s why we can hear these stories over and over again, and they have meaning for us in that we wrestle with the Word, we gather together to hear what it can say to us here and now. We wonder about the future, about what God is doing in our world, and when all else fails, trust that God’s grace is enough, hold onto faith, and keep our eyes on Jesus.
January 12, 2020
I want to imagine he took that mat – it was s symbol of his old life – and everywhere he went he showed it to people. Like a kid showing off their new Christmas gift! Maybe he gave talks to the youth group in the synagogue, and told how Jesus changed his life, how he once was unable to move, and with a little help from his friends, he found a new life. And everyone who heard it would have been amazed.
January 7, 2020
Texts: Mark 1:21-45 Subject: Birth of Jesus Second Sunday of Christmas; Jan. 5, 2020, Reformation Lutheran Church, Las Vegas, NV Pastor Matt Metevelis
December 24, 2019
All those who have not been favored, who have not known God, who have been cast out, are welcomed into God’s grace, through the divine announcement of the birth of the Savior. Into their ordinary and painfully difficult existence, God announces new life, salvation, forgiveness – and hope is reborn.
December 22, 2019
Sometimes that’s what it takes – to give up on our own efforts, to shut up and listen to what God is doing right in front of us, in us, and through us. To give up on our own desires and egos, to see gifts and blessings all around in this church, in these families, in this community. Sometimes when we give up, is when God shows up.
December 8, 2019
Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, the divine voice tells the prophet – cry out with a new message of deliverance. This is an imperative to speak to the heart of the people who have suffered so much. They needed to hear a word of encouragement and comfort, to move them forward into a new reality. They needed prophetic imagination, to see the new thing God was doing in them and with them.
December 1, 2019
The people couldn’t see it – how could they have believed it? If they looked around, they could only see injustice, the conquerors had destroyed the temple, the people had gone after ‘worthless things and became worthless themselves’ (Jer. 2:5). The land had been defiled – polluted – the language of the land’s unrighteousness is throughout the book of Jeremiah. The land itself had become a ruin. How could it be restored? If the promise relied on the people to make it come true, it would never get done. The faithful in Israel just needed the right leader – they were waiting for a new king to set right what another king had done wrong. Josiah was a relatively good king, but he died. And the Babylonians came anyway. Things just seemed to get worse.