St. John’s Lutheran ChurchAlbany, New York6 April 2025 + Lent 5cJohn 12:1-8The Rev. Josh Evans Pop quiz! The woman who anoints Jesus is…A) Mary MagdaleneB) Mary of Bethany, the sister of Lazarus and MarthaC) Mary, the mother of JamesD) an unknown womanE) all of the above There’s technically no wrong answerbecause the answer is indeed…E) …
St. John’s Lutheran ChurchAlbany, New York19 January 2025 + Lectionary 2cJohn 2:1-11; 1 Corinthians 12:1-11Rev. Josh Evans Here’s something you might not know about me:I play Dungeons & Dragons. And by “play” I mean:“stumble my way through every campaign session like I know what I’m doing.” While I’m far from a Dungeons & Dragons expert, …
St. John’s Lutheran ChurchAlbany, New York3 November 2024 + All SaintsJohn 11:32-44Rev. Josh Evans It’s a well-known story,often summarized with the title “The Raising of Lazarus”without a second thought. Start reading the actual story,and you’ll quickly realize: This isn’t so much about the raising of Lazarus –which only takes up two short verses at the …
St. John’s Lutheran ChurchAlbany, New York25 August 2024 + Lectionary 21bJohn 6:56-69, [70-71]Rev. Josh Evans Let’s talk about Judas. This is, after all, the first time Judas is mentioned in John’s gospel:not by name, not with any biographical background,not by what he has done up to this point –oh, you know, Judas, the one who’s …
St. John’s Lutheran ChurchAlbany, New York21 July 2024 + Mary Magdalene, ApostleJohn 20:1-2, 11-18Rev. Josh Evans If Jesus is “the reason for the [Christmas] season,”then Mary Magdalene is the reason for the Easter season. Mary Magdalene,witness to the resurrection,apostle to the apostles –without whom no good news would have been proclaimed. “Woman, weeping in the …
St. John’s Lutheran ChurchAlbany, New York26 May 2024 + The Holy TrinityJohn 3:1-17Rev. Josh Evans What’s love got to do with it? “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.” It’s been cited more often than …
St. John’s Lutheran ChurchAlbany, New York12 May 2024 + Seventh Sunday of EasterJohn 17:6-19Rev. Josh Evans After attending the final funeral together, Carolyn Goodman, Fannie Lee Chaney, and Anne Schwerner stand alone in a New York City apartment. Inspired by a photograph captured of the three women in August of 1964, playwright Ajene D. Washington …
St. John’s Lutheran ChurchAlbany, New York28 April 2024 + Fifth Sunday of EasterActs 8:26-40; John 15:1-8Rev. Josh Evans He doesn’t even get a name, and yet he gives us one of the most profound stories of belonging in all of Scripture. “As they were going along the road, they came to some water; and the …
St. John’s Lutheran ChurchAlbany, New York21 April 2024 + Fourth Sunday of EasterJohn 10:11-18Rev. Josh Evans Here are two words I never thought I’d hear together: “Swift scholar.” As in: a scholar – not of 18th century Anglo-Irish priest and satire author Jonathan Swift – but of 21st century singer-songwriter Taylor Swift … … who, …
St. John’s Lutheran ChurchAlbany, New York7 April 2024 + Second Sunday of EasterJohn 20:19-31Rev. Josh Evans If the villains of Holy Week are Judas and Peter, then the villain of Eastertide is Thomas. Doubting. Thomas. Who earns his infamous title not even for anything particularly egregious that he does … but solely for being absent …
Pastor Josh Evans 