Sometimes we want to cut deals with God, but this God makes no deals.   5th Sunday in Lent (Year B) – March 22, 2015 – Jeremiah 31:31-34 St. Jacob’s-Spaders Lutheran Church, Harrisonburg, Virginia “Let’s (Not) Make a Deal” – Pastor Evan Davis [end of the Escort story – listen […]

John 3:16 has been used as a weapon for too long, so we need to read John 3:17 too.  Eternal life isn’t a future reward for people who have the right answer today.  Eternal life is Jesus, given for you, today.  Get your “JOHN 3:17” posters ready as you listen […]

Jesus says his Father’s house is not a marketplace.  But then he radically redefines where God lives – not in a house, but in a Body.  God’s Body is not a marketplace.     3rd Sunday in Lent (Year B) – March 8, 2015 – John 2:13-22 St. Jacob’s-Spaders Lutheran […]

God tells Abraham and Sarah a crazy story – that they will have a child while their peers are settling into retirement.  Jesus tells his disciples that his goal is not to achieve total power in Jerusalem, but to suffer execution at the hands of tyrants.  Crazy.  Jesus invites his […]

Everybody likes Shiny Jesus.  Everybody can find God up on the mountaintop.  But what about down in the valleys of life?  What about down here in the Shenandoah Valley?  What about on the cross? Worship was canceled on Transfiguration, February 15, due to bad weather.  But watch here for Pastor […]

We have a tendency to take ourselves, and our lives, a little too seriously.  But, you know, we’re just not that important.  Nevertheless, we are that beloved.       5th Sunday after Epiphany (Year B) – February 8, 2015 – Isaiah 40:21-31, Mark 1:29-39 St. Jacob’s-Spaders Lutheran Church, Harrisonburg, […]

Jesus does not wait to confront what holds you captive…he moves to set you free.  Today.  Listen to this week’s sermon:   Fourth Sunday after Epiphany (Year B) – February 1, 2015 – Mark 1:21-28 St. Jacob’s-Spaders Lutheran Church, Harrisonburg, Virginia “Set Free” – Pastor Evan Davis [Much of this […]

What’s the church, you say?  Who’s a member?  We can get hung up on that.  But Jesus intends no confusion, and no anxiety about this.  Pastor Evan attempts some answers in this sermon.  Warning: you do have to listen to him sing in the recording….just saying…   3rd Sunday after […]

As we celebrate Dr. King last week and today, let’s remember that, like Samuel, he too experienced God’s call in the night.  It has much to teach us about our own call from God.   2nd Sunday after Epiphany (Year B) – January 18, 2015 – 1 Samuel 3:1-20 St. […]

Faith is nothing more than trusting God when God says to you at your Baptism, “you are my daughter/son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.”  Believe it.   Baptism of Our Lord (Year B) – January 11, 2015 – Mark 1:4-11 St. Jacob’s-Spaders Lutheran Church, Harrisonburg, Virginia “Believe […]