Sermons on Isaiah (Page 4)

February 14, 2021

February 14, 2021 “A New Thing” Women’s Sunday Isaiah 43:18-19 2 Timothy 1:3-7 Mark 14:3-9   May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O God, our strength and our redeemer.  AMEN Back in 2010, my parents, who had lived in the same home for 46 years, moved out of their home and into assisted living. My mother had been dealing with Parkinson’s for a number of years and my parents…

February 7, 2021

February 7, 2021 “On the Road” Isaiah 40:21-31 Mark 1:29-39 Today, Jesus and his followers are taking to the road. I rather like that we follow, Jesus along the road. Here is a Holy Man who was not one to only sit on a mountain top retreat but He traveled. His feet became dusty and he experienced the territory and the people. I think it’s good to have a God who has experienced the life which we live. Jesus is…

December 13, 2020

The Messenger of the Messenger Isaiah 61:1-4, 8-11 1 Thessalonians 5:16-24 John 1:19-28 And so John came, baptizing in the desert region and preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. That is what the Gospel of Mark says in verse 4 of chapter 1. A question I get all the time is: Did the Jews baptize like we do? To answer that question let me tell you a story about Muslims. Every year we take the Confirmation…

December 6, 2020

“What Was, and What Will Be” Isaiah 40:1-5   2 Peter 3:8-15a   Mark 1:1-8 May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O God, our strength and our redeemer. Amen. So, about a week ago, I sat in on a Zoom meeting with Rev. Tussing, Amy LaDu, Gregg Dudash, and our current confirmation class. One of the things the confirmands had been asked to do was to submit a photo…

October 18, 2020

October 18, 2020 “Going with God” Isaiah 57:1-7   1 Thessalonians 1:1-10   Matthew 22:15-22 May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O God, our strength and our redeemer. Amen. Several years ago I was having a conversation with a friend and the topic somehow turned to a very “hot button” issue. My friend and I respectfully expressed our opposing views on this hot-button topic – and then my friend…

October 4, 2020

October 4, 2020 “The Truth of the Matter” Isaiah 5:1-7   Philippians 3:10-14   Matthew 21:33-46 May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O God, our strength and our redeemer. Amen. OK, I am going to start with a confession. I found this week’s scripture passages to be extremely challenging and difficult – they talk of murder and death and destruction – hardly “feel good” passages. However, not every passage…

August 16, 2020

August 16, 2020 “Do the Right Thing” Isaiah 56:1, 6-8 Romans 11:1-2a, 29-32 Matthew 15:10-20    In our Old Testament passage for today, God instructs the people, through the prophet Isaiah, to “maintain justice” and “do what is right.” When I read those words my mind immediately went to a movie my children and I recently watched. Over the course of these past months of sheltering in place I have been very grateful to have my children with me. And…

July 19, 2020

July 19, 2020 “The Wheat and the Weeds” Isaiah 44:6-8 Matthew 13:24-30 In todays passage from Matthew 13:10 we have the disciples coming to Jesus and asking him :”Why do you speak to (the people) in parables?” Basically what Jesus says in answer to that is: you must listen AND understand; look AND perceive and then understand with your heart. So then, today’s reading in Matthew offers us a parable and also the reading for today is about the reason…

July 12, 2020

July 12, 2020 “What Do We Sow?” Isaiah 55:10-13 Romans 8:1-11 Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23   I am guessing that most of us grew up knowing this childhood rhyme: Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me. I looked up this expression, and there are varying accounts as to where it originated, as well as its intended purpose and meaning. But I think even as a child I understood it had a much deeper meaning than…