sermons, theological musings, and other ramblings of a queer lutheran pastor in brew city
Unity Lutheran Church + Christ the King Campus5 July 2020 + Lectionary 14AMatthew 11.16-19, 25-30Rev. Josh Evans, preaching There are no parades, no fireworks, no marching bands this year. It doesn’t feel quite like the Fourth of July, does it? It doesn’t feel quite like a day to celebrate independence in the midst of a …
Unity Lutheran Church + Christ the King Campus28 June 2020 + Lectionary 13AMatthew 10.40-42Rev. Josh Evans, preaching There’s always a catch. Or at least that’s the message I had come to expect growing up in the church as someone who happens to be gay. I didn’t come out until my senior year of college, but …
Continue reading A Sermon about What It Means to Be Welcoming
Preacher's Note: This sermon was written and pre-recorded as the protests surrounding the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis were still developing. As such, this sermon fails to address the realities of racism and white supremacy that once again occupy the national stage. For a pastoral message addressing this, please see this statement from Friday, …
Unity Lutheran Church + Christ the King Campus22 March 2020 + Lent 4AJohn 9.1-41; Psalm 23Rev. Josh Evans, preaching This week at Unity, we live-streamed our Saturday liturgy at the Cross of Life Campus and our Sunday liturgy at the Christ the King Campus. The CTK recording (or at least the majority of it, [no] …
Unity Lutheran Church + Cross of Life Campus15 March 2020 + Lent 3AJohn 4.5-42; Exodus 17.1-7Rev. Josh Evans, preaching This week at Unity, we live-streamed our Saturday liturgy at the Cross of Life Campus and our Sunday liturgy at the Christ the King Campus. The COL recording is linked here, and the gospel reading and …
Continue reading A Sermon for a Time of Wilderness, Isolation, and Crisis
Unity Lutheran Church4 March 2020 + Midweek Lent 1Esther 7.1-6, 9-10; 9.20-22Rev. Josh Evans, preaching The story of Esther is a fascinating and complicated one. It’s not a story we get to hear very often, appearing only once in the entire three-year cycle of readings -- and even then only a few verses cobbled together, …
Unity Lutheran Church + Cross of Life Campus9 February 2020 + Epiphany 5 / Lectionary 5AMatthew 5.13-20Rev. Josh Evans, preaching “Listen, my children, and you shall hearOf the midnight ride of ___ [Paul Revere].” So begins Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s famous poem depicting the night that ignited the American Revolution. With Boston under British occupation, threatening …
Continue reading What Paul Revere, Motel 6, and Harriet Tubman Have in Common
Unity Lutheran Church + Christ the King Campus26 January 2020 + Epiphany 3 / Lectionary 3AMatthew 4.12-25; 1 Corinthians 1.10-18Rev. Josh Evans, preaching Imagine walking into an interview for a job you never applied for. There’s no job description or even a title. The interviewer asks no questions but just gives you the job. It …
Unity Lutheran Church + Christ the King Campus19 January 2020 + Epiphany 2 / Lectionary 2AJohn 1.29-42Rev. Josh Evans, preaching You HAVE to see this! Think about a favorite vacation - perhaps overlooking the stunning vistas of the Grand Canyon, or standing in the shadow of the towering monuments of Washington DC. For me, most …
Unity Lutheran Church + Cross of Life Campus29 December 2019 + Christmas 1John 1.1-14 (Nativity III)Rev. Josh Evans, preaching When I was in college, I worked for about a year as a student campus security officer. In hindsight, even a student job in public safety wasn’t the wisest choice for me, as someone who is …
