Sermon.03.24.17 St. Paul’s Episcopal – Brookings Fr. Larry Ort Exodus 3.1-15; Psalm 63.1-8; 1 Corinthians 10.1-1; Luke 13.1-9 The Psalm of David appointed for today depicts a beautiful relationship with God. It begins with a statement of longing after God: “O God, you are my God: eagerly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you, my flesh faints for you, as in a barren and dry land where there is no water” (Psalm 63.1). David proclaims God’s “loving-kindness is better than life its

Sermon.03.17.19 St. Paul’s Episcopal – Brookings Fr. Larry Ort Genesis 15.1-2, 17-18; Psalm 27; Philippians 3.17 – 4.1; Luke 13.31-35 Lent is a time of preparation, of waiting and trusting in the Lord. The lessons appointed for today have a lot to say about waiting and trusting in the Lord. As I was thinking about this sermon, I must confess, I was fighting depression. The weather this year has sorely tried our patience – you know it’s a bad when native South Dakotans complai

Sermon.03.10.19 St. Paul’s Episcopal – Brookings Fr. Larry Ort Deuteronomy 26.1-11; Psalm 91.1-2, 9-16; Romans 10.8b-13; Luke 4.1-13 Today’s lectionary readings provide us with an interesting set of scriptures. It takes a few readings to see how these scriptures are related. For a very quick overview, the gospel tells us of Jesus temptation’s in the wilderness, Deuteronomy depicts a celebratory ritual involving the first fruits of the Promised land after 40 years of testing i

Sermon.03.03.19 St. Paul’s Episcopal – Brookings Fr. Larry Ort Exodus 34.29-35; Psalm 99; 2 Corinthians 3.12 – 4.2; Luke 9.28-36, 37-43a Today is the last Sunday in Epiphany; Shrove Tuesday and the beginning of Lent lie before us. In today’s collect we prayed, “O God, who before the passion of your only ­begotten Son revealed his glory upon the holy mountain: Grant to us that we, beholding by faith the light of his countenance, may be strengthened to bear our cross, and be ch