Category: Sunday
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Third Sunday in Lent
Readings: Exodus 20:1–17 | 1 Corinthians 1:18–31 | John 2:13–22 Text: 1 Corinthians 1:18-31 St. Paul writes to the Corinthian Christians, who were a gathering of people from largely Greek backgrounds, yet they were called together to belong to God through Jesus Christ. But in being called to belong to Him, they often found themselves…
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Second Sunday in Lent
Readings: Genesis 17:1–7, 15–16 | Romans 5:1-11 | Mark 8:27-38 Text: Mark 8:27-33 During this season of Lent, the faithful follow Jesus year after year to the cross. It’s a devotional practice which spans centuries and connects us with that great cloud of witnesses who “lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely,…
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First Sunday in Lent
Bethlehem Lutheran Church, Lebanon, OR Readings: Genesis 22:1-18 | James 1:12-18 | Mark 1:9-15 Text: Genesis 22:1-18 One of the sad realities of life is that people only get woken up to a problem when it affects them personally. In war, they’re willing to send other sons into war, but hate to send their own. …
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The Transfiguration of Our Lord
Readings: 2 Kings 2:1-12 | 2 Corinthians 3:23-18; 4:1-6 | Mark 2:2-9 Text: Mark 9:2-9 Have you ever stared at the sun? I hope not, because it would burn your corneas and you’d be blind. Have you ever handled molten rock? If you did, it would burn your skin irreparably. Have you ever eaten highly…
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Fourth Sunday after Epiphany
Bethlehem Lutheran Church, Lebanon, OR Readings: Deuteronomy 18:15–20 | 1 Corinthians 8:1–13 | Mark 1:21–28 Text: Mark 1:21-28 That Sabbath in Capernaum was a remarkable day. Jesus and his disciples came to the synagogue service, and Jesus began to teach. In an age when anybody with a webcam and some provocative things to say calls…
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St. Timothy, Pastor and Confessor
Bethlehem Lutheran Church, Lebanon, OR Readings: Acts 16:1–5 | 1 Timothy 6:11–16 | Matthew 24:42–47 Text: 1 Timothy 6:11-16 Today, we commemorate Timothy, a young man of a mixed Jewish-Greek marriage, whose believing grandmother Lois, and mother Eunice, nurtured in him a messianic faith that was kindled when St. Paul came to Lystra (2 Tim.…
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The Confession of St. Peter (observed)
Bethlehem Lutheran Church, Lebanon, OR Readings: Acts 4:8-13 | 2 Peter 1:1-15 | Mark 8:27-35 Text: Mark 8:27-35 Human opinions abound. In politics, in reaction to the pandemic, in parenting, in education. In each of these arenas, we each have strong convictions. Sometimes our views are so firmly held that we have difficulty even interacting…
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Baptism of Our Lord
Bethlehem Lutheran Church, Lebanon, OR Readings: Genesis 1:1-5| Romans 6:1-11 | Mark 1:4-11 Text: Mark 1:4-11 Now, you may think this is ten days late, but today we’re going to talk about beginnings. In the Beginning – Genesis 1:1-5 The Old Testament reading is the very beginning of the Bible. In fact, that’s the first Word written in…
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Second Sunday after Christmas
Bethlehem Lutheran Church, Lebanon, OR Readings: 1 Kings 3:4–15 | Ephesians 1:3–14 | Luke 2:40–52 Text: Psalm 119:97-104 When we see the boy Jesus in the Temple at 12 years of age, it’s clear he had an acuity for Scripture. After all, He was “sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions.…
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First Sunday in Advent (Series B)
Text: Isaiah 64:1-8 “Enough is enough!” When things get so bad, you’ve tried again and again, yet you can’t see any way through, you might throw up your hands and say, “Enough is enough!” Maybe you’ve been feeling that way lately? It could be the many maddening topics in the news—election fallout, coronavirus scare and…