Author: LAMPomrenke

Based on Acts 2:1-21 for Pentecost The pouring out of the Holy Spirit sounds like chaos to me. Tongues of fire, wind blowing things everywhere, people speaking in languages that are new to them—that is a lot. When a story includes people of different mother tongues all in one place, we know that it means… Continue reading “I’m trying…” to speak your language

This sermon was delivered a bit differently than it is written. If you'd like to watch/hear that version, find the Facebook page of Community Christ Lutheran Church, Whitehouse, Ohio and look for the May 7, 2023 worship service. Confession: followers of Jesus do a lot of damage by pretending we are certain. Since Jesus says… Continue reading The Way is a Person

Hope, in the past tense, is heartbreaking. You can almost see the slump of their shoulders, and feel the raspy catch in their throats when these folks admit to a stranger: “We had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel.”  This is Easter too, that same triumphant, holy day… A-a-a-lleluia. But it doesn’t… Continue reading Vulnerable, about our collective heartbreak

Preached at Community of Christ Lutheran, Whitehouse, Ohio on March 12, 2023 When was the last time an encounter with another person really resonated with you?  Something from inside you echoed in their words or actions, the way they interacted with you?  You discovered yourself in their responses, despite your differences, and felt that you… Continue reading Resonance

Preached at Community of Christ Lutheran, Whitehouse, Ohio on March 5, 2023 Sometimes taking Jesus literally is ridiculous. And other times it’s the Holy Spirit at work.  People of God, let’s offer some grace to Nicodemus this morning, and to ourselves. Here we are in Lent, and it’s turning out to be just what that… Continue reading Nicodemus

Today’s Gospel reading Luke 16:1-13 sparked my imagination. Our pastor began her sermon by describing how the Gospel writers of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John all have different personalities. I am clearly, firmly #TeamLuke. The picture of God in the Magnificat, raising up the lowly and casting the mighty down from their thrones, is my… Continue reading On Debt and Exploitation

Sermon on Luke 14:25-33 for Sept 4, 2022 at Olivet Lutheran Church. You can watch the livestream from that day here. Well. I bet that speech thinned out the “large crowds”! The Gospel of Luke is “crowded” with crowds - large numbers of people following Jesus when he just wants to be alone, and flocking… Continue reading You Cannot

Sermon on Luke 13:10-17 from August 21, 2022 at Olivet Lutheran Church. You can watch the livestream from that day here. She doesn’t speak up for herself. Maybe she did at one point, but it was too exhausting and demoralizing to be told or shown how little she mattered to the other “faithful,” so she… Continue reading On the Margins

After a long hiatus, I had a couple of publications drop this week. All of my online publications going back to 2018 are available in the Press and Publications tab. Enjoy! For the Elm Ensemble: More Than We Have Imagined: When God Is Like a Mother For the Women of the ELCA's Bold Cafe: Practices… Continue reading First Time in Awhile: New Additions to the Publications Tab