St. Philip Lutheran Church5 December 2021 + Advent 2cLuke 1.68-79 (Luke 1.5-23)Rev. Josh Evans Almost two years ago, when my best friend was ordained as a pastor, by the time that day finally rolled around, it had been such a long journey … with roadblocks and hurdles and difficulties almost every step of the way. …
St. Philip Lutheran Church28 November 2021 + Advent 1cLuke 21.25-36Rev. Josh Evans The nativity scene is out, the Christmas tree is up, the first candle on the Advent wreath is lit… it’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas… Thursday night, after having Thanksgiving dinner with a friend and her family, I drove home with …
Continue reading A Sermon for When It Feels Like the World Is Ending
St. Philip Lutheran Church14 November 2021 + Lect 33b (Pent 25)Mark 13.1-8Rev. Josh Evans Beginning the night of November 9, 1938, violent anti-Jewish protests broke out across Germany and its surrounding territories. Kristallnacht, as it would later come to be known, “the night of broken glass.” Over the next 48 hours, violent mobs, spurred on …
St. Philip Lutheran Church7 November 2021 + All SaintsJohn 11.32-44Rev. Josh Evans I’m not sure what it says about me that two of my favorite days on the church calendar have to do with death. First, there’s Ash Wednesday, where we are honest about our human condition, our sin, our brokenness, our frailty … marking …
St. Philip Lutheran Church31 October 2021 + Lect 31b (Pent 23 / Reformation)Jer 31.31-34; John 8.31-36; Mark 12.28-34Rev. Josh Evans Before I get to my sermon, I want to offer a second gospel reading. I know… five readings on a Sunday morning, including the psalm, is a bit much, but I think it’s a helpful …
St. Philip Lutheran Church24 October 2021 + Lectionary 30b (Pent. 22)Jeremiah 31.7-9Rev. Josh Evans I don’t think anyone enjoys moving. Sure, you might be excited to start your new job, or move to a new city, or finally have a place of your own, your “dream house” with the backyard or breakfast nook you fell …
St. Philip Lutheran Church17 October 2021 + Lectionary 29b (Pent. 21)Mark 10.35-45Rev. Josh Evans Have they even been paying attention? Jesus has been trying to teach them all along, with example upon example. When they argue among themselves about who is the greatest, Jesus says: “Whoever wants to be first must be last of all …
St. Philip Lutheran Church10 October 2021 + Lectionary 28b (Pent. 20)Mark 10.17-31Rev. Josh Evans I wonder where he was running from. I wonder what brought him to Jesus. I wonder what would compel a man like him, with such wealth and prestige, to suddenly bring himself to kneel at the feet of a stranger. By …
St. Philip Lutheran Church3 Oct. 2021 + Lect. 27b (St. Francis)Genesis 2.18-24Rev. Josh Evans We almost know the story by heart:In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. Over the course of the six days of creation, God speaks something into existence, and so it appears:Let there be light. And there was light. …
St. Philip Lutheran Church26 September 2021 + Lectionary 26b (Pent. 18)Numbers 11.4-6, 10-16, 24-29; James 5.13-20Rev. Josh Evans “I’m not really that kind of Christian,” admits Episcopal priest Winnie Varghese. “I like a chanted service, incense, and a script.” But asking someone to pray for her and giving her concerns over to someone else to …
Pastor Josh Evans 