Sermons from April 2012

By The Rev. Sherry Deets 4 Easter – April 29, 2012 John 10: 11-18 Our gospel text begins, “I am the good shepherd…” What we need to know is that, in Jesus’ day, the term, “good shepherd,” would have been heard as an oxymoron – a contradiction of terms. In Jesus’ day, shepherds were anything but good. They lived as nomads, grazing their sheep on other people’s land. They were notorious for lying, cheating and stealing. They were Jews, all…

By The Rev. Sherry Deets 3 Easter – April 22, 2012 Luke 24:36b-48 Last week, we heard about Thomas, his doubts, his questions about the risen Jesus. That was John’s account. This week we hear this story from a slightly different angle, from the writer of Luke. In his story, Jesus also suddenly appears among the disciples, but according to Luke, all of the disciples were fearful and unbelieving. The disciples huddle together behind locked doors, afraid that the authorities…

By The Rev. Sherry Deets 2 Easter – April 15, 2012 John 20:19-31 The movie, Simon Birch, tells about a boy, Simon, whose growth has been stunted–but he believes that God has a purpose for his life. Simon has a friend, Joe, who is a doubter–we would probably call Joe a realist. After all, what boy could believe that his buddy–who happened to be a midget–could be destined for great things? In the movie, we see Simon and Joe walking…

By The Rev. Sherry Deets Easter Day – April 8, 2012 Mark 16:1-8 Happy Easter! Ok, so Mark’s gospel ending this morning is not really a great ending. If you notice in your bulletin, there is a longer ending to Mark added. Most all scholars believe Mark ends at 16:8a, where the Easter reading traditionally breaks off. Most of our bibles have additional endings, most likely added later, perhaps centuries later, because none of the earliest manuscripts contain them. But…