Category: Holy Week
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The Table and Remembrance – A Sermon for Maundy Thursday
Think about a time when you gathered around the table in remembrance. Where was the table? Who was there? Who wasn’t there? What was the conversation about? What was your remembrance as you gathered around that table? Read more
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Will to Power or Will to Life? – A Palm Sunday Sermon on Matthew 21:1-11
Have you ever thought of Jesus’ Palm Sunday procession as a protest march? What if that’s what it really is? What if it is a resistance movement? What if it is highlighting the struggle that takes place in every human heart – the will to power or the will to life? I’ve come to believe… Read more
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Hell Yeah! – A Holy Saturday Sermon on Matthew 27:57-66 and Job 14:1-14
Job 14:1-14 Matthew 27:57-66 “If mortals die, will they live again?” (Job 14:14) That’s Job’s question. It’s a Holy Saturday kind of question. It’s a question all of us ask on the Holy Saturdays of our lives. Jesus was crucified, killed, yesterday. His body was placed in a tomb. A great stone was placed over Read more
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The Tearful Entry into Holy Week – A Palm Sunday Sermon on Luke 19:28-46
The Palm/Entry Narrative – Luke 18:28-40 (41-46) The Passion Narrative – Luke 22:14-23:56 As we do every year we began this day by taking our place in the triumphal entry, singing our hosannas, and carrying our palms. The triumphal entry, palms, and hosannas have in many ways come to characterize this day and the beginning Read more
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Here is the Man – A Good Friday Sermon on John 18:1-19:42
“Here is the man.” (From the Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ according to St. John 18:1-19:42) Pilate has spoken a truth beyond the words we hear and beyond the man we see. Who is this man? Who do you see? To whom is Pilate referring? Yes, it is Jesus of Nazareth. He’s wearing a Read more
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Flowering of the Cross
One of the great Easter traditions is the flowering of the cross. People bring and place colorful fresh flowers on a drab wooden cross. What’s behind this? Is it just a pretty decoration? Well, it does look beautiful but there are also some beautiful traditions and meanings associated with the flowering of the cross. The Read more
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The Morning After – A Sermon for Holy Saturday
Jesus’ body has been taken down from the cross, received into the hands of his mother and friends. They have wrapped his body in their love and laid him in the tomb. The door of the tomb has been replaced by a great stone. (Matthew 27:57-66) This is not only a story about Jesus. It is Read more
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Lamentations for Holy and Great Saturday
In a grave they laid Thee, O my life and my Christ; and the armies of the Angels were sore amazed, as they sang the praise of Thy submissive love. How, O Life, canst Thou die? Or abide in a grave? For Thou dost destroy the kingdom of death, O Lord, and Thou raisest up Read more
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Hell Awaits – A Sermon for Good Friday, John 18:1-19:42
Last night we began taking our share with Jesus. We ate the last supper. We washed feet. We stripped the altar. We come here today much the same as we left here last night. The table of our last supper has been cleared and is empty. The water that washed our feet has dried and Read more
Interrupting the Silence 