St. Philip Lutheran Church6 February 2022 + Lect. 5c (Epiphany 5)Luke 5.1-11Rev. Josh Evans It was a risky venture. Sure, they had always done things together in the past. They collaborated on summer projects and even sat in on each other’s regular weekly gatherings. But something as big and ambitious as this … a merger? …
St. Philip Lutheran Church16 January 2022 + Lect. 2c (Epiphany 2)John 2.1-11; 1 Cor. 12.1-11Rev. Josh Evans If you tuned in for my sermon on the Third Sunday of Advent, you already know I’m quickly becoming a self-identified Dungeons and Dragons nerd. Not only have I gotten myself involved in two different campaigns, but I’ve …
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 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 …
St. Philip Lutheran Church25 July 2021 + Lectionary 17B (Pent. 9)John 6.1-21Rev. Josh Evans, preaching One of my earliest memories of my call at St. Philip - now nearly a year ago (hard as that is to believe!) - was our Lunch Bunch gathering last August. I hardly knew any of you, after only a …
St. Philip Lutheran Church|27 June 2021 + Lectionary 13B (Pent. 5)Mark 5.21-43Rev. Josh Evans, preaching It was a quiet morning at the Cleveland Clinic, and I was near the end of an overnight on-call shift as I made my way to visit the family of a patient who had just died. It was at that …
Pastor Josh Evans 