St. John’s Lutheran Church20 August 2023 + Lectionary 20a (12 Pentecost)Matthew 15.21-28Rev. Josh Evans “Divorced. Beheaded. Died.Divorced. Beheaded. Survived.”1 Such are the respective fates of the six wives of King Henry VIII, as each of them recounts in turn, during a fictionalized pop concert that forms the basis for SIX: The Musical (now playing on …
St. John’s Lutheran Church6 August 2023 + Lectionary 18a (10 Pentecost)Matthew 14.13-21; Isaiah 55.1-5Rev. Josh Evans I’d like to think I know a thing or two about good food. Within the first few months of moving across the country, I’ve already found my new go-to places for tacos, pizza, and bagels – three of the …
St. John’s Lutheran Church30 July 2023 + Lectionary 17a (9 Pentecost)Matthew 13.31-33, 44-52Rev. Josh Evans “Have you understood all this?” What a stupid question. With all due respect to Jesus, you can’t exactly unload five rapid-fire parables like that and expect your hearers to understand immediately, without question. For the last couple of weeks, we’ve …
St. John’s Lutheran Church23 July 2023 + Lectionary 16a (8 Pentecost)Matthew 13.24-30, 36-43Rev. Josh Evans As you already know from last week, I am not, by any stretch of the imagination, a “country person.” I don’t know the first thing about farming, I can’t keep a houseplant alive, and – I can’t overstate this enough …
St. John’s Lutheran Church16 July 2023 + Lectionary 15a (7 Pentecost)Matthew 13.1-9, 18-23Rev. Josh Evans I am, by all accounts and evidence, a city person. I have never lived, nor do I have any desire to live, on a farm. Really, I don’t even like camping. Don’t get me wrong: That’s no diss to country …
St. John’s Lutheran Church9 July 2023 + Lectionary 14a (6 Pentecost)Matthew 11.16-19, 25-30Rev. Josh Evans Buried somewhere in a box in my storage unit (along with all my other office artwork that someday I’ll be able to hang up again) is a framed quote attributed to Martin Luther King Jr. that was given to me …
St. John’s Lutheran Church2 July 2023 + Lectionary 13a (5 Pentecost)Matthew 10.40-42Rev. Josh Evans “Welcome.” It’s a word we throw around a lot. As a part of social etiquette: “Thank you … you’re welcome!” On the airplane’s final descent: “Welcome to Albany International Airport!” Even in churches, as I began this and every service: “Welcome …
St. John’s Lutheran Church25 June 2023 + Lectionary 12a (4 Pentecost)Matthew 10.24-39Rev. Josh Evans Jesus doesn’t exactly hide the cost of following him. He puts it all out there. There’s no fine print here as he sends out his disciples “like sheep into the midst of wolves.” Picking up right where we left off last …
St. John’s Lutheran Church18 June 2023 + Lectionary 11a (3 Pentecost)Matthew 9.35–10.23Rev. Josh Evans Another Sunday, another call story. Actually, make that stories (plural). In the span of a few verses, one disciple becomes twelve – and probably more than that. They’re just the ones (the men) who get named. Their task: Proclaim the good …
St. John’s Lutheran Church11 June 2023 + Lectionary 10a (2 Pentecost)Matthew 9.9-13, 18-26Rev. Josh Evans (Video unavailable this week.) There’s admittedly a lot going on in this Sunday’s gospel reading: a call story, a resuscitation story, and a healing story. Where do we even start? It can feel a little suffocating – perhaps as claustrophobic …
Pastor Josh Evans 