Claimed, gathered and sent

This is the sermon I preached on Sunday, May 6 at  St. Timothy Lutheran Church . The text was John 15:9-17 . Ask any child who has moved to a new place and they will probably tell you that their biggest worry was if they’d make new friends. As parents, we worry if our teenager, young adult or older adult has friends that will be kind and generous, if our son or daughter will find mutually beneficial relationships when they move far from us.  When my son Christian and his wife, Marisa moved from Syracuse to Kansas City, Kansas, we were concerned about them. They had wonderful neighbors and great friendships in Syracuse. Would they make friends in Kansas? Well...they have and we are thankful for that.  We are not immune either from our own relationship trials. Busy lives, competing priorities, transitions, and death can mean the end of a sustaining relationship. Bullying, fear-tactics, and misuse of others are common problems, so friendship is precious. We treasure new frien

Worship was just amazing in Bemus Point and Mayville. Every once in a while I get inspired to try something. Well...Sunday it worked! I did a couple of things that were different. The emphasis of the readings and my sermon was on Jesus loving us. It was such an important point to make, that during the passing of the peace, I had the worshippers exchange God's peace, but had them add "Jesus loves you!" People were smiling and seemed to be genuinely touched by this reminder. God is good. This is the gospel text from Sunday, May 10, John 15:9-17.  Immediately after I declared, "The gospel of the Lord and the people responded, "Thanks be to God," this is what they heard. You should have seen the response. Heads were bobbing side to side as everyone sang out, "All you need is love..." Below is the sermon I preached at St. Timothy's and St. Mark's. I don't know if we have any Beatles fans in the congregation, but I couldn't