Sermon.02.25.18 St. Paul’s – Brookings Fr. Larry Ort Genesis 17.1-7, 15-16; Psalm 22.22-30; Romans 4.13-25; Mark 8.31-38 We Can Be So Right, But Oh So Wrong “Get behind me, Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things” (Mark 8.33b; NRSV). Strong words addressed to Peter; perhaps some of the strongest words Jesus ever spoke, yet, as paradoxical as it may seem, I believe they were spoken in love! What led Jesus to address Peter so sharply? Accor

Sermon.02.18.18 St. Pau’s – Brookings Fr. Larry Ort Genesis 9.8-17; 1 Peter 3.18-22; Mark 1.9-15; Psalm 25.1-9 The Gospel of Mark begins with the words, ‘The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God” (1.1; NRSV). We have heard these words numerous times; imagine hearing them for the first time apart from any knowledge of Jesus Christ. Who is this Jesus Messiah? What do you mean by “the Son of God”? And what is this ‘good news’? Mark would surely have had our

Sermon.02.11.18 St. Paul’s – Brookings Fr. Larry Ort Genesis11.1-9, Psalm 33, Acts 17.26-31; John 10.11-16 The August 25th, 2017 issue of Time has an article by Rev. Brian D. McLaren, a leader of the emergent church movement and author of The Great Spiritual Migration: How the World’s Largest Religion Is Seeking a Better Way to Be Christian. McLaren was in Charlottesville as part of the clergy protest countering the Unite the Right Rally. McLaren reports: “I got to look into

Sermon.02.04.18 St. Paul’s – Brookings Fr. Larry Ort Isaiah 40.21-31; Psalm 147.1-12, 21c; I Corinthians 9.16-23; Mark 1.29-39 As I have noted in the Messenger, the Collect for the Day collects certain sentiments that are collected from the Epistle and the Gospel. With that in mind, let’s examine the start of the collect: “Set us free, O God, from the bondage of our sins, and give us the liberty of that abundant life which you have made known to us in your Son our Savior Jesu