St. John’s Lutheran ChurchAlbany, New York16 August 2026 + The Twelfth Sunday after PentecostProper 15 / Lectionary 20a (Mary, Mother of Our Lord)Matthew 15:[10-20], 21-28The Rev. Josh Evans Remember those ubiquitous bracelets: WWJD?What Would Jesus Do? Well, in this particular instance,Jesus done messed up. At worst, Jesus is a sexist, xenophobic jerkwho calls this foreigner …
St. John’s Lutheran ChurchAlbany, New York9 August 2026 + The Eleventh Sunday after PentecostProper 14 / Lectionary 19aMatthew 14:22-33The Rev. Josh Evans It would be easy to turn this storyinto a mere object lessonwith Peter at the center:Peter who sinks,Peter who doubts,Peter of “little faith,”too little faith,not enough faith. In summary:Don’t be like Peter.Have more …
St. John’s Lutheran ChurchAlbany, New York17 November 2024 + Advent 2 (Lectionary 33b)Mark 13:1-8Rev. Josh Evans “There is one sin which I have come to fear above all others.Certainty.Certainty is the great enemy of unity.Certainty is the deadly enemy of tolerance.Even Christ was not certain at the end.[‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken …
St. John’s Lutheran ChurchAlbany, New York8 September 2024 + Lectionary 23bMark 7:24-37; James 2:1-10, 14-17; Psalm 146Rev. Josh Evans It sounds like Jesus didn’t read James:“If you show partiality, you commit sin…” But of course that’s an anachronism.Jesus would have had no occasion to read James,a book written many years after his lifetime. But surely …
St. John’s Lutheran Church25 February 2024 + Lent 2bMark 8:31-38; Gen. 17:1-7, 15-16Rev. Josh Evans Life is messy … so why would we expect the life of faith to be any different? Abraham, later exalted by Paul as the pinnacle of faith, was far from perfect. From the beginning of his call, when he was …
St. John’s Lutheran Church16 April 2023 + Easter 2aJohn 20.19-31Rev. Josh Evans Unbelievable. A word which, by definition, implies something too improbable to be believed, something extraordinary, outside the bounds of what we expect to be true. It can be exclaimed in complete and utter amazement after witnessing something truly spectacular … Unbelievable! Or in …
St. Philip Lutheran Church12 September 2021 + Lectionary 24b (Pent. 16)James 3.1-12Rev. Josh Evans My recent road trip brought me safely from Chicago, through Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania. Next stop: New York. As I made my way through New Jersey - about to cross the George Washington Bridge into Manhattan - traffic that had been steadily …
St. Philip Lutheran Church20 June 2021 + Lectionary 12B (Pent. 4)Emanuel Nine, Martyrs (June 17)Mark 4.35-41Rev. Josh Evans, preaching The summer before I started seminary, I took a vacation to Charleston, South Carolina. With churches and places of worship in just about every direction you could look and a skyline dotted by steeples, Charleston’s reputation …
St. Philip Lutheran Church28 February 2021 + Lent 2BMark 8.31-38; Genesis 17.1-7, 15-16; Romans 4.13-25Rev. Josh Evans, preaching https://www.youtube.com/embed/-bx8gwMjlQs You can imagine my surprise when I came home one day to the sound of rushing water. Did a pipe burst? Had there been a break-in? Was the toilet overflowing? No. The cats had discovered how …
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 …
Pastor Josh Evans 