This is the final sermon preached at my internship congregation, as I draw my year (how quickly it's gone by!) to a close. I am so grateful for the privilege of being invited into so many lives over the past year, in sadness and in joy and everything in between. The people of Augustana will …
Augustana Lutheran Church 18 June 2017 + Lectionary 11A Matthew 9.35–10.8-23 [Video/audio unavailable due to ornery technology. Also, a generally delayed posting due to an overworked vicar at the end of his tenure.] Our gospel text this morning comes on the heels of Jesus’s famous Sermon on the Mount, and as any good preacher will …
Continue reading A Sermon for Ordinary Time (again!) in Which I Quote Lady Gaga
Photo by Josh Evans, Stained Glass (South Window) at Augustana Lutheran Church, Omaha, Nebraska, © 2017. Augustana Lutheran Church 4 June 2017 + Day of Pentecost Acts 2.1-21; 1 Corinthians 12:3b-13 There’s a certain pleasure in watching a cooking show on TV — my personal favorite is The Barefoot Contessa — and then searching out …
Continue reading A Pentecost Sermon about Diversity in Unity
Augustana Lutheran Church 7 May 2017 + Fourth Sunday of Easter 1 Peter 2.19-25 Alleluia! Christ is risen! The Fourth Sunday of Easter brings us to Good Shepherd Sunday. It’s tempting, isn’t it, to dwell in the midst of the idyllic early Christian community described in our reading from Acts, or to linger beside the …
Continue reading A Sermon about Resistance in the Face of Suffering
+ Preached at our joint ecumenical Easter sunrise vigil with Holy Family Parish (Roman Catholic) in the park + Augustana Lutheran Church 16 April 2017 + Resurrection of Our Lord John 20.1-18 Kate Braestrup is a chaplain for the Maine Warden Service. In addition to enforcing the state’s fish and wildlife laws, the game wardens …
Augustana Lutheran Church 13 April 2017 + Maundy Thursday John 13.1-17, 31b-35 Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. Jesus went out with his disciples to a place where there was a garden… Now Judas, who betrayed him, also knew the place… So he brought a detachment of …
Continue reading He Loved Them to the End: A Homily for Maundy Thursday
Preacher's Note: I encourage you to watch the video below in its entirety, especially if "Sunday of the Passion" (instead of simply "Palm Sunday") is new to you. In the Lutheran tradition, as well as that of our many ecumenical partners, while we begin this day with a festive palm procession proclaiming "Hosanna! Blessed is …
Preacher's Editorial Note: I have the privilege of serving a Reconciling in Christ (RIC) congregation, meaning they have made the decision to be intentionally welcoming and affirming of the diversity of God's people, particularly those in the LGBTQ+ community. When I was looking for an internship site, it was important both to me and to the …
Augustana Lutheran Church 1 March 2017 + Ash Wednesday Matthew 6.1-6, 16-21 Ash Wednesday is a curious thing, isn’t it? First, we hear a gospel text that begins with a warning against practicing our piety before others, urging us instead to give alms, pray, and fast in secret. And then we proceed to dab our …
Continue reading A Sermon for Ash Wednesday about Being Human
Augustana Lutheran Church 26 February 2017 + Transfiguration of Our Lord Matthew 17.1-19 Vicar Josh Evans I have a confession to make: I hate the Transfiguration. Or maybe more to the point, I hate it because it seems so hard to grasp and to make any possible meaning out of it. But I love what …
Continue reading A Sermon for a Faith Grounded in Mystical Experience
Pastor Josh Evans 