Author: LAMPomrenke

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

Gospel: Luke 1:39-55 Women. Black Americans. Asian or Latinx immigrants to this country, or their children. Indigenous, Native American people who, yes, still live here. LGBTQ+ individuals. Any of these folks, were they preaching before you today, would make you deeply uncomfortable. So I’d better do my part for the only one of those marginalized… Continue reading A Sermon on Mary and Elizabeth

Since August, The Faith+Leader, of which I am the editor, has focused on a monthly theme. In December 2021, the theme is "Relationships and Ministry" and our posts will include content about a church leader's closest family relationships all the way to relationally reaching out to inactive members. I recruit a Bible study post to… Continue reading A Bible Study about Relational Metaphors for God

My highest “score” on spiritual gift inventories is always the gift of “faith.” That’s seems a little silly; don’t we all have that gift? In my case, the spiritual gift of faith shows up in my decision-making: I trust God and act on that trust with strong confidence. Why am I the way I am?… Continue reading What a “Father” God Looks Like to Me