CategoryTraditional Sermons

Read a new sermon each week from one of our Traditional Services.

Rotate, 180 Degrees

Pentecost 22 To be an agent of God’s grace, one must possess at least three things: mercy, faithfulness and righteousness. Jesus surpasses all priestly requirements as the true King of Peace. Unlike other priests, he never committed violence, and never spoke deceitfully. Before he sacrificed himself on the altar, he wanted his disciples to consider…

St Peters Evangelical Lutheran Church
Campers, Camels, and Calculations

This past summer my husband, daughter and I embarked on an adventure we had never before tried as a family. Camping! Actually the grand adventure was the journey to the campsite in Custer, South Dakota…a round trip of 4,000 miles in a car…together…for many days. But we were set. We had purchased our 1993 Coleman’s…

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Covenant or Legalism?

Traditional Sermon Pentecost 20 This is the look.  (RAISE SCARED FACE MASK)  Yes, this is the look every preacher gets on her or his face when they realize they have to preach on today’s Gospel Lesson from Mark. We get that look for a couple of reasons.  First off, we recognize that the complexity of…

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The Power of Jesus and Chocolate

Traditional Sermon Pentecost 19 My big brother swears I got him into trouble. If I did, there was only one time, that I remember feeling bad about it, lol. I guess I’m still that way. If something is not right, I generally tell someone. I tell Customer Service about car lights on in the parking…

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The Importance of Words

Words are important.  I’ll say it again … words … are …important.  In some ways, our culture tries to convince us otherwise.  We obsess over YouTube videos … we covet our Snapchat photos and Instagram posts … and we can’t wait to see what our celebrities are doing through Buzzfeed and TMZ pictures and postings. …

Does God Keep Score?

The summer of 2003 I was living on my own, a thousand miles away from family and friends, and I was in need of a car. At the time I had a car, well a mini-van, well it was a minivan by name, but by function it sounded much more like a coffee pot brewing…

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Lord, to Whom Can We Go?

Their names were Carl & Alma Rasmussen.  They were Sages back in the 1980’s before we called our octogenarians by the title Sages. The Rasmussen’s were both well into their nineties, when I came to St. Peter’s as your assistant pastor in 1986.  Carl was the retired systematic theology professor of the former Gettysburg Seminary…

An Unbreakable Promise

The summer before 6th grade I made a blood pact with my best friend. Okay okay… it wasn’t a pact made in blood. It was actually ketchup. Because blood…gross. But the sentiment was true enough. We were best friends. We had the necklace that said best friend, two sides of a heart. I wore one…

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Who’s Baking the Bread?

So how do you answer the question?  Today’s Preaching Question from the study page … “Are You the Bread Winner?”  Nah … don’t bother answering … I already know the answer.  Because in one way or another, we all want to be the bread winners.  The ones who provide … the ones who create security…

Eating and Living Side-by-Side

John 6: 1-21 Let us pray. Dear LORD: May your holy word and my thoughts work together to provide the spiritual food and energy we need. Help us to recognize your presence and engage ourselves. Amen. ²“A crowd followed him because they saw the signs that he was doing for the sick.” (RSV) They were…