Category: Hope
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Dry Bones
This Sunday, the Old Testament reading is Ezekiel’s vision of the Valley of Dry Bones (Ezekiel 37:1-14). In Bible study this morning as we talked about that text, the question came up, “What kinds of situations do people face which might cause them to despair that they feel like dried, dead bones? How might God’s…
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Closing of the Sanctuary
“With thanks to God for the work accomplished in this place, I declare this sanctuary to be vacated for the purposes of Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit….” Yesterday I attended the final service in the sanctuary where I went to church…
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Sacred Passages
Luke 3:15-17, 21-22 You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased (Luke 3:22) Jesus was baptized at about 30 years of age. At this age, according to Mosaic law, he could be baptized into priesthood. Scripture doesn’t give us a lot of glimpses into Jesus’ life before this moment and it’s not…
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All Saints (a sermon)
(Written on the eve of All Saints, 2013) Last night some of the youth from Our Savior’s and Trinity and St. Olaf’s met here for a cemetery walk. We had done this before a couple years ago – it’s an opportunity to come together and learn more about the cemeteries here in this area and…
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Scars
I have a scar on my index finger from a car accident back in 1996. One minute, I was cruising down a road near Parkers Prairie and the next my car was skating across glare ice until I landed upside down in the ditch. In the sub-zero November temperatures I assessed my situation. My glasses…
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Benediction
They sang the closing hymn and gathered in the fellowship hall. One last potluck together. One last time they sang grace gathered around those embroidered table-cloths made by their mothers and grandmothers. One last time they were together under the roof built by their fathers and grandfathers. After one-hundred twenty-five years of ministry, the doors…
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This Day
This is the day. It’s the last time the scent of coffee will drift from the kitchen. Never again will you see the baby rub sleep out of his eyes as he sits up in the crib to call for you. Your spouse – with tousled hair – gives you one final good-morning kiss.…
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Dreaming…
I try very hard to not get excited about things too quickly. I like to have a good balance between hoping for the future and living in the present. But lately I’m having a difficult time not thinking about opportunities and possibilities. You know how it is when the perfect thing comes along at just…