Sermon and Worship Service videos from Abiding Love Lutheran Church, Austin TX
Sunday, December 27, 2015
First Sunday of Christmas
God of light, fill our hearts this day with the power of your Spirit as we welcome the gift of your Christ into the midst of life. Fill us with the peace, hope, love and joy that he brings. Fill us with songs to praise the One who comes to make all things new.
We gather as the family of faith to welcome the Christ child! In his birth is the fulfillment of the prophets, the fulfillment of God’s covenant and the full flowering of God’s promise … that in him all creation will be born anew. We sing Glory to God in the highest, and give thanks to God for the light no darkness can overcome.
Today, we hear Mary’s Song – the Magnificat. It is a song of great joy and yet also of conflict. She sings of justice and the conflict that will come because of the child in her womb . “He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts. He has brought down the powerful from their thrones and lifted up the lowly;”. Each year in Advent we revisit this song to make it our own. We do more than just remember the narrative, we re-live it as we bring the ancient story into our own very lives.
Baptism of Repentance Dec. 6,2015 2nd Sunday of Advent
The season of Advent has come. It is a time of preparation, to make ourselves ready to receive the One who is coming into the world. We hear freshly the voice of the prophet, coming out of the chaos of the wilderness, and calling forth a new creation: for the rugged places to be made smooth, for crooked ways to be made straight. John the Baptist comes in the Spirit and power of the prophets of old, proclaiming good news – a Gospel of salvation for all people, for all creation – and calling us to prepare through a “baptism of repentance.” This was a new language of faith for the people of John’s time and brings a fresh meaning to faith in ours. As we prepare ourselves for the greatest of gifts, we embrace this calling to repentance, to make ready for the One God wants to bear into the world through us.
The season of Advent has come. It is a time of preparation, to make ourselves ready to receive the One who is coming into the world. We hear freshly the voice of the prophet, coming out of the chaos of the wilderness, and calling forth a new creation: for the rugged places to be made smooth, for crooked ways to be made straight. John the Baptist comes in the Spirit and power of the prophets of old, proclaiming good news – a Gospel of salvation for all people, for all creation – and calling us to prepare through a “baptism of repentance.” This was a new language of faith for the people of John’s time and brings a fresh meaning to faith in ours. As we prepare ourselves for the greatest of gifts, we embrace this calling to repentance, to make ready for the One God wants to bear into the world through us.
Pilate’s question hangs in the air over the plight of Jesus in the grip of Rome. It hangs in the air over the church today as we seek to understand Christ as “King” in contemporary culture. For Jesus, claims to kingly authority are sedition against the empire, punishable by death. For us, the notion of “monarchy” is far removed from our cultural and worldly perspectives. What does it mean for us to proclaim Christ “king” in a world that so clearly defies that reign? What is the truth of it all, as Pilate asks, when it seems clear that his notion of kingship and what Jesus is talking about are two very different things. On the cusp of the new church year, we will explore popular notions of kings and the way Jesus embodies the reign of God: a king who washes feet; the one who would be ruler of all, coming to us as the servant of all … a very different kind of king.
Jesus "Little Apocalypse" is often heard as a message of doom and destruction, but as followers we can hear words of hope. This is about our need for a savior.
The “D” word … discipline. Too often it smacks of “chores,” things we know we should do, but really would rather not. Our faith invites us to think on disciplines of spirit in a little different way. Spiritual practices and disciplines are actually ways of cultivating the gifts God has already placed within us. In his book, Giving to God, Mark Allan Powell quotes another author on the fruits of giving as a spiritual discipline:
"Generosity is central to the very heart and nature of God. God’s call for us to be generous, to share readily and even sacrificially of the gifts we’ve received, brings us closer to that loving heart and nature. We are most like God when we give."
- Donald Hinze
Blessings to all who come forward to serve and lead in worship at Abiding Love! - Pastor Brad Highum
“Listen, God is Calling!” Scripture is filled with stories of God calling ordinary people in extraordinary situations, calling them to live out God’s purpose in their lives and circumstances. Today, Stephen reminds us of God’s call to Moses … his “burning bush” experience. Jesus declares himself an apostle – a “sent one” of God – and then bestows that same calling and blessing upon us: “As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” We see God’s good and loving purpose fulfilled in his call to Abram. Abram hears God’s call, responds in faith and obedience, and it is credited to him as righteousness. “Righteousness” – right relationship with God and God’s creation – may best be understood as hearing and answering God’s call to live God’s way for the sake of the world God is creating. We’ll explore ways to open our eyes to the “burning bushes” everywhere in the world around us and to take an active part in fulfilling God’s dream of a world redeemed, restored.
The work of God, from the beginning, has been an ongoing act of creation that continues to unfold in us and in the world around us. God reveals a grand vision for a whole cosmos – a world redeemed, restored – characterized by God’s dream of unity: “the uniting of all things in Christ, things of heaven and things of earth.” (Ephesians 1:10) Today, we hear the prophetic realization of this dream in the apocalyptic vision of Revelation. And we hear the calling of God for humankind to be restored, as well; to be transformed and renewed as a part of God’s renewal of all creation. We are called as the people of God to our vital, central role in this cosmic redemption, from the One who proclaims: “Behold, I am making all things new!”
We stand at a threshold in the unfolding story of Scripture and the ongoing revelation of God. The Season of Pentecost has come. Jesus has ascended. The Holy Spirit has descended. As Jesus’ living ministry ends, the people of God are ordained, as the Body of Christ, to live out the Gospel, in their own lives and as a community of faith. The Gospel of Jesus opens the way for the Gospel of the church. As the Son returns to unity with the Father, the Spirit fills creation. This indwelling Spirit is the way in which we will be present with us now. We are invited to understand all of these things in the image, the metaphor of Holy Trinity: God revealed as Father // Son // Spirit.
But there is even greater power for the people of God in embracing the active forces of these “persons” of Trinity: participating in the ongoing-ness of creation, in embodying the goodness of God and co-operating with God in the transformation of the world!
Pastors are in McAllen, Texas at the Southwest Texas Synod Assembly.
2015 SWTX Synod Assembly May 3, 2015
John 15:1-8
Grace to you and peace from God – the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.
As we move further into the season of Spring, more and more people are
planting flowers and gardens. Accompanied by the abundant wildflowers on the
roadsides and in the fields, it seems as if our Lord is truly enjoying gardening this
year. But as flowers go into landscaped beds and vegetables get set in gardens, it is
amazing to also see the many vineyards that are appearing in the Texas Hill Country
over the last few years. There are more than two dozen wineries and tasting rooms
located in Fredericksburg and Gillespie County, not to mention dozens more located
within an hour-or-two drive from there. Wine production in Texas dates back to the
original settlers who used the native mustang grape to produce wine, and many
wineries since have been producing a variety of quality wines from improved grapes
that have won both state and national honors.
However, we know that growing grapes and making wine goes far back into
antiquity. In Scriptural times, growing grapes was a very important industry that was
vital to Israel’s economy and everyday life. Everyone knew about growing grapes,
and so Jesus uses this as a picture to describe their relationship to him, as Messiah,
and to God, the Heavenly Father. That’s the context of our Gospel Lesson today, and
may we have ears to hear what Jesus is telling us.
Let us pray. Almighty and Ever-loving God, your Son, Jesus, is the vine to
which we are connected, from whom we receive our strength and produce good fruit.
We thank you, Lord, for the privilege of being branches whose fruit blesses all in
your Kingdom. This we pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.
In this short Gospel Lesson of eight verses there is a particular word that
appears eight times. That word from Greek is often translated as “abide.” Literally,
the word means “not leaving the realm or sphere in which we find ourselves.” Today
we’re going to look at this word and how this vineyard reflects the work of the
Church.
The picture Jesus paints in the Gospel is a simple one. Jesus speaks of himself
as the main vine of the vineyard, and we are the branches that grow on that vine.
God, the Father, is the gardener. I want to tweak that image just a little this morning,
because I want to talk about how church leaders – both clergy and laity - are like
God’s gardeners, and how congregations are like vineyards.
The first thing we notice in the text is that there are different kinds of branches
in the vineyard, just like there are different kinds of members in a congregation.
First, there is the “non-producing branch.” In the first part of verse 2 Jesus
says, “The vine-grower removes every branch in me that bears no fruit.”
When a gardener is going through the vineyard and sees certain branches that
aren’t bearing fruit, he removes them. Jesus is painting a picture of people here.
There are those who at one time were connected to Christ and the Church, but then
something happens. They stop producing the fruits of faith in their lives.
I’m sure we can all think of such examples, sad stories of people who were
once connected, once active and alive in congregations, but who drifted away. When
that happens, those are sad days. If anything, it makes leaders in the congregation
work harder and pray harder, because we would love to see every branch, every
person, stay connected and flourish. Happily, many do, but even that is not easy.
For example, just because you are connected and one of Jesus’ disciples, it
doesn’t mean you will have an easy life. That gets reflected in the second kind of
branch in the Gospel, the “pruned branch.” In the second part of verse 2 Jesus says,
“Every branch that bears fruit, the vine-grower prunes to make it bear more fruit.”
Remember all those grapevines growing in the Texas Hill Country? Every fall
those who tend the vineyards have to prune the branches on the grapevine. It is a
slow and tedious task. You cut off the dead branches since they can be a place where
bugs and diseases grow. That makes sense. But then, you also cut a lot of living
branches off the vine.
If you were to ask the local county agent how much to prune, he would say, Up to
80%.” So, the vines get trimmed way back, and by the time the gardener is done,
there doesn’t seem to be much left of the grapevine. All this cutting seems so drastic,
so extreme, so unnecessary, but the reason it is done is so that the branches reach
their full potential. Even though the remaining vine looks almost bare, months later it
produces an abundance of brand new branches and a very large crop, but only
because of all the pruning.
This is what happens to us so often in life, and one of a church leader’s most
important callings is to help bring understanding and faith in those times. We’ve all
experienced them, those times when we feel pruned, as if our life gets cut and things
removed that seem so drastic, so extreme, so unnecessary. It is at those times that we
ask that deepest of questions, “Lord, why is this happening to me?”
It is also at those times that we need someone to remind us of Romans 8:28,
“We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are
called according to God’s purpose.” The Lord God wants us to reach our full
potential as God’s people. The Lord wants us to produce as many fruits of faith as
possible. So, while the pain of pruning happens in our lives, Scripture and Christian
brothers and sisters remind us to trust that God is in control and can bring good, even
from the worst of times.
What we pray will happen is that all God’s people become that third kind of
branch, a “fruitful branch.” Jesus says in verse 8, “My Father is glorified by this, that
you bear much fruit and become my disciples.” The fruitful Christian is one whose
life is filled with examples of love and care for others. The fruitful Christian seeks to
live out the two great commandments, “You shall love the Lord your God with all
your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind;
and your neighbor as yourself.” (Luke 10:27)
“Bearing fruit” means following God – doing what God calls us to do - even
when the rest of the world is doing something different. It includes the way we treat
other people – those at home, at work, and one’s friends. In particular, it means
welcoming the stranger, those new to our country and new to our neighborhood. It
means asking, “How can I serve them? How can I show the love of God to this
person?”
All of us would like to be fruitful branches, but how does this happen? How
can we become even more fruitful in our lives? The answer is in the fourth kind of
branch, the “connected branch.” Jesus says in verse 4, “Abide in me as I abide in
you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither
can you unless you abide in me.” It’s another way of saying, “Stay connected.”
The story is told of a native from a remote mountain village who had the
opportunity to visit a large, modern city for the first time. He could not bring much
home with him and he had little money, but he was amazed at the electric lights
which he saw everywhere. So, he bought a sack full of wires, bulbs, sockets, and
switches. Arriving home he hung the lights in front of his home and on his and his
neighbor’s trees. Everyone watched him with curiosity and asked him what he was
doing, but he just smiled and said, "Just wait until dark--you’ll see." When night
came, he flipped the switches, but nothing happened. No one had told him about
electricity. He did not know the light bulbs were useless unless connected to the
source of their power. So, how do we maintain a connection with that power, with Christ?
Thankfully, it doesn’t rely on us. Jesus keeps that connection with us through the
Holy Spirit. Whether we are feeling lost or pruned or actively producing fruit, the
Holy Spirit is near, encouraging and prodding us. Sometimes, it happens through the
words of Scripture. Sometimes, it happens in prayer. Sometimes, it happens through
a fellow Christian’s words and deeds.
And when the Spirit is near, our lives produce the good fruit of faith. We can
see it whenever we study God’s Word, whenever we gather as God’s people in
worship, whenever we share the Sacraments, whenever we care for the sick and the
poor and the imprisoned, whenever we love our neighbor as ourselves, and whenever
we welcome the stranger. These are reflective of Christ abiding in us and our abiding
in Christ, and that abiding is with us no matter how far we go.
For example, it is interesting to note that in Hampton Court, London, there is a
grapevine that is reported to be the oldest living vine, over 230 years old. This
grapevine has one root which is 12 feet in diameter, and some of the branches are
over 120 feet long. Despite its age, the vine still produces 500 to 700 bunches
(weighing from 485 - 705 pounds) of grapes each year. Although some of the
branches are 120 feet from the main root, they still bear the sweet and delicious fruit
because each branch is connected directly to the stem and draws nourishment from it.
That’s the perfect example of what Jesus is saying in the Gospel. When Jesus
abides in us, and we in him, good fruit is produced. That good fruit finds its
expression in the kind of love that Jesus has for us. It is a love that led to the cross, a
love that never leaves us. It is a love that always surrounds us, always encourages us,
and always strengthens us. It is a love which gets lived out between God’s people in
a congregation, gets modeled by church members, and gets passed on from
generation to generation.
May the Lord abide with us as we serve, for as Jesus says in the Gospel today,
“By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be my
disciple.” (vs.8)
Amen.
