St. John’s Lutheran ChurchAlbany, New York4 October 2026 + The Nineteenth Sunday after PentecostProper 22 / Lectionary 27aMatthew 21:33-46The Rev. Josh Evans You know the story: When God began to createthe heavens and the earth,the earth was complete chaos… And slowly, step-by-step, day-by-day,God spoke into the chaos:“Let there be light,” and there was light…to illumine …
St. John’s Lutheran ChurchAlbany, New York31 May 2026 + The First Sunday after Pentecost: Trinity SundayGenesis 1:1—2:4aThe Rev. Josh Evans When Glendale Community College’s commencement ceremonies“hit a snag” earlier this month,with some graduates’ names being read incorrectlyand others not at all,college president Tiffany Hernandez explained,“We’re using a new AI system as our reader.” Speakers at …
St. John’s Lutheran ChurchAlbany, New York22 February 2026 + The First Sunday in LentGenesis 2:15-17; 3:1-7; Matthew 4:1-11The Rev. Josh Evans Since its inception in 1947,the so-called Doomsday Clock,an initiative of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists,has served as a clever, if not ominous, visual,warning the public about how close we areto destroying our planetwith …
St. John’s Lutheran ChurchAlbany, New York19 October 2025 + Nineteenth Sunday after PentecostProper 24 / Lectionary 29cGenesis 32:22-31; Luke 18:1-8The Rev. Josh Evans It’s perhaps one of the most relatable memesthat I’ve ever come across –a simple felt letterboard with the message: ADULTHOODIS SAYING“BUT AFTER THISWEEK THINGS WILLSLOW DOWN A BIT”OVER & OVERUNTIL YOU DIE. …
St. John’s Lutheran ChurchAlbany, New York27 July 2025 + Seventh Sunday after PentecostProper 12 / Lectionary 17cGenesis 18:20-32; Luke 11:1-13The Rev. Josh Evans I don’t know how Genesis 18 came to be paired with this gospel readingfrom which we get the Lord’s Prayer –except that it has to do with prayer(?) because Abraham “prays”?And is …
St. John’s Lutheran ChurchAlbany, New York23 February 2025 + Lectionary 7cGenesis 45:3-11, 15; Luke 6:27-38Rev. Josh Evans “Probably no admonition of Jesus has been more difficult to follow than the command to ‘love your enemies.’ Some [people] have sincerely felt that its actual practice is not possible. It is easy, they say, to love those …
St. John’s Lutheran ChurchAlbany, New York6 October 2024 + Lectionary 27bGenesis 2:18-24; Mark 10:2-16Rev. Josh Evans We almost know the story by heart:When God began to create 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. Let …
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. Philip Lutheran Church16 October 2022 + Lect. 29c (Pentecost 19)Genesis 32.22-31Rev. Josh Evans When I sat down at the table in our gathering space on Tuesday morning, just as the two-day retreat was about to begin, I was … something. Exhausted. Wound up. Worn out. It was one of those times when you can …
St. Philip Lutheran Church13 March 2022 + Lent 2cLuke 13.31-35; Genesis 15.1-12, 17-18Rev. Josh Evans The images are staggering and heartbreaking. Amid the blaring of air raid sirens and the persistent sound of gunfire and missile strikes, the Russian invasion of Ukraine has found residents of Kyiv and neighboring cities taking cover… … in bomb …
