St. John’s Lutheran ChurchAlbany, New York22 June 2025 + Second Sunday after PentecostProper 7 / Lectionary 12c1 Kings 19:1-15aThe Rev. Josh Evans It’s important for us not just to hear the sacred stories of scripture,but to find our place in these stories, alongside our biblical ancestors,human beings who lived and struggled and prayed,just as we …
St. John’s Lutheran ChurchAlbany, New York1 June 2025 + Easter 7cRevelation 22:12-14, 16-17, 20-21The Rev. Josh Evans There’s a danger in hearing only what we want to hear,seeing only what we want to see,believing only what we want to believe. We live in a world that makes it increasingly more possible,even appealing,to live in our …
St. John’s Lutheran ChurchAlbany, New York30 March 2025 + Lent 4cLuke 15:1-3, 11b-32The Rev. Josh Evans “Now all the tax collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to [Jesus]. And the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and saying, ‘This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them.’ So he told them this parable…” Actually, …
St. John’s Lutheran Church23 July 2023 + Lectionary 16a (8 Pentecost)Matthew 13.24-30, 36-43Rev. Josh Evans As you already know from last week, I am not, by any stretch of the imagination, a “country person.” I don’t know the first thing about farming, I can’t keep a houseplant alive, and – I can’t overstate this enough …
St. Philip Lutheran Church30 October 2022 + Lect. 31c (Reformation)Luke 19.1-10Rev. Josh Evans You never quite know what to expect when you get called into the principal’s office or asked by your teacher to stay behind after class, but it’s not usually good news. When I was in seminary, I got “invited” to my preaching …
St. Philip Lutheran Church3 April 2022 + Lent 5cJohn 12.1-8Rev. Josh Evans All throughout this season of Lent, our cups have been filled to the brim. At the start of our journey, we walked with Jesus in the desert, tempted to our very limits, and in that desert-place, we remembered and claimed the belovedness that …
St. Philip Lutheran Church27 March 2022 + Lent 4cLuke 15.1-3, 11b-32Rev. Josh Evans You’ve probably heard me speak about my appreciation of the enneagram – as a personality assessment tool helpful for self-realization and growth. You’ve also likely heard me speak at length about my love of the animated musical movie Encanto – which I …
St. Philip Lutheran Church2 March 2022 + Ash WednesdayJoel 2:1-2, 12-17; Psalm 51:1-17; Matt. 6:1-6, 16-21Rev. Josh Evans I had become the very thing I usually crossed the street to avoid. I had become … a street preacher. Well, kind of. It was my first Lent with a new church plant in Chicago, and on …
St. Philip Lutheran Church24 December 2021 + Nativity of Our LordLuke 2.1-20; Titus 2.11Rev. Josh Evans I wonder how she felt when she of all people was chosen to be the first to receive the “good news of great joy.” Lutheran pastor Nadia Bolz-Weber gives us some insight: “We have no idea what Mary was …
Continue reading When the Soul Felt Its Worth + A Sermon for Christmas Eve 2021
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 …
Pastor Josh Evans 