St. Philip Lutheran Church16 May 2021 + Seventh Sunday of EasterJohn 17.6-19Rev. Josh Evans, preaching “Pastor, will you say a few words?” “I’ve never known exactly what is meant by this request,” admits one minister-turned-seminary president. “Do they want me to say a few words of inspiration, prophecy, consolation, biblical theology - or just a …
St. Philip Lutheran Church9 May 2021 + Sixth Sunday of EasterJohn 15.9-17Rev. Josh Evans, preaching Everything is about to change… It was the second-last week of classes. Or more precisely, the last second-last week of classes, and the last semester of our senior year, only a matter of weeks before graduation. We were sitting in …
St. Philip Lutheran Church4 April 2021 + Resurrection of Our LordJohn 20.1-18Rev. Josh Evans, preaching It was the strangest funeral I’ve ever led. I wasn’t allowed to pass out the bulletins I had brought. Everyone wore face masks. Even the family that had carpooled together was told to stand six feet apart from each other …
St. Philip Lutheran Church2 April 2021 + Good FridayJohn 18.1--19.42Rev. Josh Evans, preaching It was a groundbreaking image, the first of its kind. An actual image - not just a simulation - of a black hole. The first image of the black hole at the center of the M87 galaxy, captured in April 2019, came …
Continue reading Black Holes, the Cosmos, and the Passion According to John
St. Philip Lutheran Church14 March 2021 + Lent 4BJohn 3.14-21Rev. Josh Evans, preaching “Why did Jesus have to die?” It was my first week as a chaplain intern. With just one year of seminary under my belt, the hospital handed me a badge and a key card and sent me on my way. Clinical Pastoral …
St. Philip Lutheran Church7 March 2021 + Lent 3BExodus 20.1-17; 1 Cor 1.18-25; John 2.13-22Rev. Josh Evans, preaching She wasn’t sure what she expected to happen, but it wasn’t that. She could never have imagined what happened next… You might even say it was unprecedented. That seems to be the word of the last year, …
St. Philip Lutheran Church17 January 2021 + Epiphany 2B1 Samuel 3.1-20; John 1.35-51Rev. Josh Evans, preaching The truth can hurt. We know the feeling. Hearing words we don’t want to hear but very much need to hear for our best interest in the long run: Stay at home, save lives. Online church until further notice. …
St. Philip Lutheran Church13 December 2020 + Advent 3BJohn 1.6-8, 19-28Rev. Josh Evans, preaching I admit it: I’m one of those people who puts up their Christmas decorations as soon as the last trick-or-treater leaves my front door. Christmas lights especially may be one of the things I love most about this time of year. …
St. Philip Lutheran Church25 October 2020 + Reformation SundayJeremiah 31.31-34; Psalm 46; John 8.31-36Rev. Josh Evans, preaching Reformation Sunday strikes me a bit differently this year. Every year, we get the same texts for this day, and every year, I’m drawn to this beautiful passage from Jeremiah - a new covenant, a God who lovingly …
Continue reading A Sermon for Reformation Sunday in Times of Uncertainty
Unity Lutheran Church11 April 2020 + Great Vigil of EasterJohn 20.1-18Rev. Josh Evans, preaching https://vimeo.com/406644897 Video of the entire liturgy. The homily begins at 36:00. Before I started seminary, I knew I needed to join an ELCA congregation if I wanted to pursue ordination in the ELCA. I had grown up in another Lutheran church …
Pastor Josh Evans 