Pr. Cheryl Walenta Gorvie Sermon - blog

Today is Reign of Christ Sunday, also known as Christ the King Sunday.  Calling this Sunday “Reign of Christ” makes a little more sense in our context because in this country, with the form of government we have (or aspire to have) we don’t talk about kings that much (unless we’re saying we want no kings as our official rulers).    One weakness in having a king as the head of a government is that sometimes kings think they don’t have to answer to anybody.  That’s a problem wh

Can you tell that the end is near?  The end of the government shutdown—good, that’s a start.  The end of the calendar year in about 7 more weeks.    I wish we could say we’ve seen the end of people living irresponsibly, as we heard about in the second letter to the Thessalonians, along with the command “anyone unwilling to work should not eat.”  So here’s your public service announcement for today: Biblical warnings about idleness—unwilling to work—were about the RICH, not th

There’s a beautiful quote by Martin Luther:  “This life therefore is not righteousness but growth in righteousness, not health but healing, not being but becoming, not rest but exercise.  We are not yet what we shall be, but we are growing toward it, the process is not yet finished, but it is going on, this is not the end, but it is the road.  All does not yet gleam in glory, but all is being purified.”    This quote is not, by the way, found in the 95 Theses.  I thought this

Sometimes I just want Jesus to be nice, you know?  Jesus gives us difficult assignments, like he told these disciples in the verses just...

Jesus said, You cannot serve God and wealth, and then he told this parable about a rich man and Lazarus.  It is meant to be extreme—an...

Having a balance scale up here is a good visual for these Scripture readings today—what does it mean to have a world in balance?  Of...

Image from "Boundless" summer 2025 newsletter. It is easy these days to find the bad news.  In a world affected by climate change, war,...

When Jesus says “None of you can become my disciple if you do not give up all your possessions,” I used to think that meant I needed to...

Everyone be seated, and grown-ups, you are invited to turn on your listening ears because you get to go first today.  Usually we have the...

Is God paying attention to all the wrongs going on in the world?  Does God even notice when humans are suffering or in pain?  How can...

I don’t spend a lot of time thinking about hell.  I tend to take for granted that hell is not a foremost concern of people in the...

Kitchen scene, with Jesus in the house of Martha and Mary in the background, Courtesy of Rijksmuseum, Europeana. How long do you think I...

It would be nice to ignore parables.  If you’re the kind of person who dismisses stories because that’s for little kids or for people who...

I’m so glad we’re all here today for this Gospel story about Jesus casting out demons.  How many of you read the lectionary texts ahead...

I have to begin today by begging your forgiveness, because I am so sorry, but I missed it.  This is so embarrassing—it’s only been...

We just read the same story two times, the story of Jesus ascending into heaven.  It’s at the end of Luke’s Gospel, and again at the...

This past week has been a busy time of assessing tornado damage and orchestrating clean-up around our city.  The electricity is being...

I give you a new commandment, Jesus says: love one another.  We’ve heard this before, right?  It isn’t even new.  “Love your neighbor as...

I just happened to be at my desk on Thursday when my friend sent me a message to alert me to the white smoke in the Vatican, signaling...

There’s always something new to notice when you open Scripture and seek God’s Word.  Sometimes the Holy Spirit will point this out to you...