Reformation Sunday October 29, 2017 St. Jacob’s and Trinity Lutheran Rev. Kirk Shipley, Interim Pastor   I. In the musical 1776 one scene has John Adams bemoaning that he will be forgotten while others with more flamboyance and physical presence will be remembered. He says, “One day they will […]

Nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost October 15, 2017 Rev. Kirk Shipley, Interim Pastor Psalm 23   I. One of the more beautiful passages, as well as one of the more popular passages in the Bible is Psalm 23. A liberal political activist theologian of the nineteenth century, Henry Ward Beecher, known […]

Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost October 8, 2017 Philippians 3:4-14 St. Jacob’s (Spaders), Trinity Rev. Kirk Shipley, Interim Pastor   I. A person can safely say we live in a society that is very concerned with enjoyment, comfort, and convenience. Sometimes our casualness is subject for humor when people share photos […]

Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost Matthew 21:23-32: Ezekiel 18:1-4, 25-32; Philippians 2:1-13 St. Jacob’s (Spaders), Trinity October 1, 2017 Rev. Kirk Shipley, Interim Pastor     I. One of my favorite musical movies is My Fair Lady, the story about a poor Cockney Eliza Doolittle who on a bet between too […]

Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost Jonah 3:6-4:11; Matthew 20:1-16 St. Jacob’s (Spaders), Trinity September 24, 2017 Rev. Kirk Shipley, Interim Pastor     I. The last two areas I lived were Northern California and Northeast Ohio. There are very few people in the United States and Canada who would confuse the […]

Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost Genesis (50:15-21); Matthew 18:21-35 St. Jacob’s (Spaders), Trinity September 17, 2017 Rev. Kirk Shipley, Interim Pastor   I. Near the end of last Sunday’s sermon I shared a quote from Lewis Smedes, author of Forgive and Forget: Healing the Hurts We Don’t Deserve. “God heals our […]

Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost Romans (12:1-21) 13:8-14 St. Jacob’s (Spaders), Trinity; September 10, 2017 Rev. Kirk Shipley, Interim Pastor   I. The past two weeks we have been on a journey with Jesus and his disciples that asks who Jesus is and what are the implications of that answer. We […]

Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost Matthew 16:21-28 St. Jacob’s (Spaders), Trinity; September 3, 2017 Rev. Kirk Shipley, Interim Pastor   I. I find it a bit serendipitous that today’s Gospel reading falls on this particular weekend. In our country we hold up two events. One is Labor Day when we hold […]

Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost Matthew 16:13-20; Romans 12:1-8 St. Jacob’s (Spaders), Trinity; August 27, 2017 Rev. Kirk Shipley, Interim Pastor   I. There are truths that appear in Christian writing, preaching, and teaching that are derived from Scripture. One partly derived from today’s epistle to the Romans is “No person […]

Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost Matthew 15:21-28; Isaiah 56:1-8 St. Jacob’s (Spaders), Trinity; August 20, 2017 Rev. Kirk Shipley, Interim Pastor     I. There are a number of sayings that have much to say for them. A very popular one that is so is “Good Fences Make Good Neighbors”. I […]