Unity Lutheran Church2 August 2020 + Lectionary 18AMatthew 14.13-21; Isaiah 55.1-5Rev. Josh Evans, preaching It’s amazing what you can find on the internet. Or, more accurately, it’s amazing what you can find when you’re mindlessly scrolling through Facebook videos late at night - in the semi-paralyzed state between “I should go to bed now” and …
Unity Lutheran Church19 July 2020 + Lectionary 16AMatthew 13.24-30, 36-43Rev. Josh Evans, preaching Another Sunday, another gospel text about gardening … which means it’s time for everyone’s new favorite game … “Flower or Weed?”! [slides of weeds that look like flowers …and flowers that look like weeds] It just goes to show you: Things are …
Unity Lutheran Church + Christ the King Campus5 July 2020 + Lectionary 14AMatthew 11.16-19, 25-30Rev. Josh Evans, preaching There are no parades, no fireworks, no marching bands this year. It doesn’t feel quite like the Fourth of July, does it? It doesn’t feel quite like a day to celebrate independence in the midst of a …
Unity Lutheran Church + Christ the King Campus28 June 2020 + Lectionary 13AMatthew 10.40-42Rev. Josh Evans, preaching There’s always a catch. Or at least that’s the message I had come to expect growing up in the church as someone who happens to be gay. I didn’t come out until my senior year of college, but …
Continue reading A Sermon about What It Means to Be Welcoming
Preacher's Note: This sermon was written and pre-recorded as the protests surrounding the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis were still developing. As such, this sermon fails to address the realities of racism and white supremacy that once again occupy the national stage. For a pastoral message addressing this, please see this statement from Friday, …
Pastoral Message on Minneapolis - May 29, 2020Rev. Josh Evans Over the past few days and weeks, we have been confronted yet again by the ugly reality of racism in this country. The deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery are only the latest in a long litany of black and brown lives …
Continue reading Pastoral Message on Minneapolis – May 29, 2020
Unity Lutheran Church + Cross of Life Campus26 April 2020 + Easter 3ALuke 24.13-35Rev. Josh Evans, preaching https://vimeo.com/411859638 Video of the entire liturgy. The gospel reading and sermon begin at 15:17. https://soundcloud.com/cross-of-life/04-26-2020-we-had-hoped Audio of gospel reading and sermon only. Can you feel the disappointment, the despair, the grief? As they walk along, thinking out loud, …
Unity Lutheran Church11 April 2020 + Great Vigil of EasterJohn 20.1-18Rev. Josh Evans, preaching https://vimeo.com/406644897 Video of the entire liturgy. The homily begins at 36:00. Before I started seminary, I knew I needed to join an ELCA congregation if I wanted to pursue ordination in the ELCA. I had grown up in another Lutheran church …
Unity Lutheran Church + Facebook Live Stream4 April 2020 + Palm / Passion SundayMatthew 21.1-11, 26.14-27.66Rev. Josh Evans, preaching Look for the helpers. That was the advice Fred Rogers - aka “Mr. Rogers” - recalled from his mother when he was growing up. Whenever catastrophe or disaster would strike, she would always try to divert …
Originally written for the April 2020 issue of the UNITY Lutheran Church newsletter Recently I had the opportunity to gather virtually with some members of my home congregation in Chicago for a Lenten mini-retreat. We centered our time on the theme of journeys - always a good retreat topic. The language of journey and journeying is fitting …
Pastor Josh Evans 