Sermons from St. Petri (ELCA)

July 9, 2017 - Psalm 150 - Find Your Praise

July 2, 2017 - Psalm 30 - A Song of Thanks

June 25, 2017 - A Psalm of Trust

"Sometimes the psalms call us to pray against our own hearts." So wrote Dietrich Bonhoeffer in his book "Psalms: the Prayerbook of the Bible". Here is a psalm we may not currently pray for ourselves, but can certainly pray on behalf of others. If you like this podcast, please subscribe, and give us a rating! For more information about our ministry in Story City, please visit our website http://stpetrilutheran.weebly.com or look us up on Facebook or Twitter. For more information about ELCA ministries in your area, please visit http://www.elca.org

What is it that ties us to the faith? Our heritage? Our good works? Or something else? Sometimes, when church looks like part of your ethnic family, it's a good thing to be reminded that this isn't about where you came from - faith is about who welcomed you and where you're going. If you like this podcast, please subscribe, and give us a rating! For more information about our ministry in Story City, please visit our website http://stpetrilutheran.weebly.com or look us up on Facebook or Twitter. For more information about ELCA ministries in your area, please visit http://www.elca.org

It's easy to pick out the bad guys and the good guys most of the time, right? What Paul teaches is this: in the eyes of God, it's not so easy - and there's no longer a white or black hat to make it easier. If you like this podcast, please subscribe, and give us a rating! For more information about our ministry in Story City, please visit our website http://stpetrilutheran.weebly.com or look us up on Facebook or Twitter. For more information about ELCA ministries in your area, please visit http://www.elca.org

Every summer movie has it: the moment of truth where the success or failure of the heroes hangs on one act, one decision. It makes for great theater, but high anxiety in real life. What if, instead of the one moment of truth, you discovered that your hero had already 'pushed the button' for you? What would you do then? If you like this podcast, please subscribe, and give us a rating! For more information about our ministry in Story City, please visit our website http://stpetrilutheran.weebly.com or look us up on Facebook or Twitter. For more information about ELCA ministries in your area, please visit http://www.elca.org

Everyone wants to know: what's the minimum I need to do to receive the benefit I desire? Be it work, friendships, family, health and fitness - there's always a baseline and most of the time we just want to get to it. But is that the way God wants faith to function? If you like this podcast, please subscribe, and give us a rating! For more information about our ministry in Story City, please visit our website http://stpetrilutheran.weebly.com or look us up on Facebook or Twitter. For more information about ELCA ministries in your area, please visit http://www.elca.org

"Here is water: what is to prevent me from being baptized?" The old story of faith would have immediately started giving reasons why the baptism wasn't possible. But the book of Acts tells us that Philip just went and baptized his new friend. What does that say to churches still struggling to find the balance between rules and faith? If you like this podcast, please subscribe, and give us a rating! For more information about our ministry in Story City, please visit our website http://stpetrilutheran.weebly.com or look us up on Facebook or Twitter. For more information about ELCA ministries in your area, please visit http://www.elca.org

How do we live out our faith in the world we know today? How do we balance the wisdom of the ages, the traditions which honor the gospel, and the new things the Holy Spirit brings to us through the testimony of witnesses? Are there ways we can respond to new testimonies which do not reenact the violence of our history? There are voices giving witness in our church today – can we listen without violence, and hear their testimony as a gift from the Holy Spirit? If you liked this podcast, please subscribe, and give us a rating. Share it with others, also! For more information about our ministry in the Story City area, please visit http://stpetrilutheran.weebly.com For more information about ELCA ministries in your area, please visit http://www.elca.org

Deacon Kristin Johnson is in the pulpit this week to talk about the road to Emmaus and St. Petri's road to Cross+Generational Ministry. If you enjoyed this podcast, please subscribe and give us a rating! For more information about our ministry at St. Petri, please visit http://stpetrilutheran.weebly.com For more information about ELCA ministries in your area, please visit http://www.elca.org

The gospel of Luke uses the word "leros" to describe what the disciples thought of the stories of Jesus' resurrection. Some Bibles translate it as "idle tale." Other options would be "hogwash" or "nonsense" or, as Dr. Mark Throntveit of Luther Seminary puts it, "male bovine fecal matter." However you define it, the first to hear of the resurrection didn't believe it for a second. So how did things change? If you liked this podcast, please subscribe, and give us a rating on iTunes! For more information about our ministry in Story City, please visit our website: http://stpetrilutheran.weebly.com For more information about ELCA ministries in your area, please visit http://www.elca.org

On Maundy Thursday, we honor and remember Jesus' giving himself in his Supper, and his sacrifice for the sake of his friends. We remember the new commandment ("Maundy" is a derivative of the Latin word mandatum, meaning "commandment") Jesus gave his disciples, to love as he had loved them.

There's a way of thinking about faith that says you should never mix religion and politics. However, close attention to the story of Jesus' entry into Jerusalem at the end of his life tells us that this was an incredibly political act. There are politics all over Palm Sunday. If you like this podcast, please subscribe and give us a rating on iTunes, Stitcher, or wherever you access this podcast. Thanks! For more information about our ministry in the Story City community, please visit http://stpetrilutheran.weebly.com For more information about Evangelical Lutheran Church in America ministries in your area, please visit http://www.elca.org

The name Lazarus is a derivative of Eliezar, meaning "God helps." But it isn't only Lazarus God helps. If you like this podcast, please subscribe and give us a rating on iTunes, Stitcher, or wherever you access this podcast. Thanks! For more information about our ministry in the Story City community, please visit http://stpetrilutheran.weebly.com For more information about Evangelical Lutheran Church in America ministries in your area, please visit http://www.elca.org