Lutheran Church of the Holy SpiritAlbany, New York2 March 2025 + Transfiguration of Our LordLuke 9:28-43aRev. Josh Evans Now about eight days after these sayings… What sayings? “Who do you say that I am?” Jesus asked Peter, just eight days ago. “The Messiah of God,” Peter responds, only to be met with Jesus’ stern warning …
St. John’s Lutheran ChurchAlbany, New York5 January 2025 + Epiphany of Our LordMatthew 2:1-12 [13-23]Rev. Josh Evans Nestled in between Christmas Eve and New Year’s Dayis a trio of often overlooked holy days on the church’s calendar: December 26 commemorates the church’s first martyr, St. Stephen the Deacon, whose monologue in the book of Acts …
St. John’s Lutheran Church26 November 2023 + Christ the KingLast Sunday before AdventMatthew 25:31-46Rev. Josh Evans INTRODUCTION: Keeping Time We keep time in different ways. Most of us keep time according to the calendar year, January through December. Anyone connected to academia keeps time according to the school year, roughly Labor Day through Memorial Day. …
Continue reading (Church) Year in Review: A Sermon-Hymn Sing for Christ the King
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 …
Unity Lutheran Church + Cross of Life Campus9 February 2020 + Epiphany 5 / Lectionary 5AMatthew 5.13-20Rev. Josh Evans, preaching “Listen, my children, and you shall hearOf the midnight ride of ___ [Paul Revere].” So begins Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s famous poem depicting the night that ignited the American Revolution. With Boston under British occupation, threatening …
Continue reading What Paul Revere, Motel 6, and Harriet Tubman Have in Common
Note: An edited version of this reflection appears in the January 2020 issue of the UNITY Lutheran Church newsletter. As I write this article, I’m sitting in my apartment, in near-total darkness, except for the glow of the lights on my Christmas tree and two other strands of lights I have hanging around my front …
Unity Lutheran Church + Christ the King Campus10 February 2019 + Fifth Sunday after Epiphany (Lectionary 5C)Luke 5.1-11; Isaiah 6.1-8Rev. Josh Evans, preaching When I was growing up, my grandparents had a large pond in their backyard, and my grandpa was fond of catch-and-release fishing — a hobby he tried to get me into. I …
Continue reading Into the Deep: A Sermon for the Fifth Sunday after Epiphany
Ahh, last but not least in this week's installment of Josh Catches Up on Posting Sermons: This is the first sermon preached for the Christ the King campus and my second sermon overall preached at Unity. Sadly, CTK doesn't (currently) have the technological capability to record audio or video of sermons, so this is one …
Continue reading A Sermon about How Good News Spreads to the Most Unlikely Characters
As mentioned in my previous post, this year my internship congregation did a special liturgy for Christ the King Sunday, in which we traced the liturgical year, season by season, in a pattern of reading-reflection-hymn. What follows is my short reflection on the gospel pericope for Christ the King, Luke 23.33-43. I am also including …
Pastor Josh Evans 