Do Not Hide Your Face From Me - Psalm 69:16-29

God does not turn away from us when we have been wrongly accused or dishonored. God does hide from us when the world has shamed or insulted us. Instead, God turns his face towards us, sees us, and remains with us in the loneliness that comes from being ostracized. Meditation on Psalm 69:16-29. By Pastor Lars Hammar of Lord of Grace Lutheran Church.

16 Answer me, O LORD, for your steadfast love is good; according to your abundant mercy, turn to me.

17 Do not hide your face from your servant, for I am in distress-- make haste to answer me.

18 Draw near to me, redeem me, set me free because of my enemies.

19 You know the insults I receive, and my shame and dishonor; my foes are all known to you.

20 Insults have broken my heart, so that I am in despair. I looked for pity, but there was none; and for comforters, but I found none.

21 They gave me poison for food, and for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.

22 Let their table be a trap for them, a snare for their allies.

23 Let their eyes be darkened so that they cannot see, and make their loins tremble continually.

24 Pour out your indignation upon them, and let your burning anger overtake them.

25 May their camp be a desolation; let no one live in their tents.

26 For they persecute those whom you have struck down, and those whom you have wounded, they attack still more.

27 Add guilt to their guilt; may they have no acquittal from you.

28 Let them be blotted out of the book of the living; let them not be enrolled among the righteous.

29 But I am lowly and in pain; let your salvation, O God, protect me.

Psalm 69:16-29

Rescue Me From the Mire - Psalm 69:13-15

When life has overtaken me, and I don't feel like there's any way to get out, we can pray to God for the rescue. In a mire, all your efforts come to nothing as your feet get stuck, and only someone else can get you out. Meditation on Psalm 69:13-15 by Pastor Lars Hammar of Lord of Grace Lutheran Church in Marana, Arizona.

13 But as for me, my prayer is to you, O LORD. At an acceptable time, O God, in the abundance of your steadfast love, answer me. With your faithful help

14 rescue me from sinking in the mire; let me be delivered from my enemies and from the deep waters.

15 Do not let the flood sweep over me, or the deep swallow me up, or the Pit close its mouth over me.

Psalm 69:13-15

Find Your Person of Peace - sermon July 3, 2022

We agonize in relationships whether we should stay or go, whether it's better to work with what you have, or seek something new. Jesus provides a different way of thinking, one where we start at the beginning seeking out a person who puts us at peace, not thrills, and staying there. Based on Luke 10. By Pastor Lars Hammar

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God's Outstretched Arms - sermon June 19, 2022

God is waiting for us to return, to offer all that we need, even if we are not looking. Study of Isaiah 65:1-9, by Pastor Lars Hammar.

1I was ready to be sought out by those who did not ask,
to be found by those who did not seek me.
I said, "Here I am, here I am,"
to a nation that did not call on my name.
2I held out my hands all day long
to a rebellious people,
who walk in a way that is not good,
following their own devices;
3a people who provoke me
to my face continually,
sacrificing in gardens
and offering incense on bricks;
4who sit inside tombs,
and spend the night in secret places;
who eat swine's flesh,
with broth of abominable things in their vessels;
5who say, "Keep to yourself,
do not come near me, for I am too holy for you."
These are a smoke in my nostrils,
a fire that burns all day long.
6See, it is written before me:
I will not keep silent, but I will repay;
I will indeed repay into their laps
7their iniquities and their ancestors' iniquities together,
says the LORD;
because they offered incense on the mountains
and reviled me on the hills,
I will measure into their laps
full payment for their actions.
8Thus says the LORD:
As the wine is found in the cluster,
and they say, "Do not destroy it,
for there is a blessing in it,"
so I will do for my servants' sake,
and not destroy them all.
9I will bring forth descendants from Jacob,
and from Judah inheritors of my mountains;
my chosen shall inherit it,
and my servants shall settle there.

Money and Desire - sermon April 24, 2022

It's not the love of money that is the root of evil, but the things we desire to get with the money that gets us into trouble. It's what we think we lack, that we think money will fill. - Pastor Lars Hammar from the sermon April 24

Follow along with this Easter sermon series on "Navigating Modern Life", where we look at some of the challenges we deal with being people of faith today. Both practical, and Biblical, the series explores things of our lives today.

9 People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. 10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. 11 But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness. 1 Timothy 6:9-11

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A Godly Mind - Palm Sunday Sermon - April 10, 2022

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The mob cheers Jesus on as he rides into Jerusalem. But are they cheering him for who he is, or who they want him to be? There was a temptation for Jesus, to turn the mob into a political movement and take earthly power. Yet, he was of a different mind, one that resists the temptations of power and seeks the way of humility. By Pastor Lars Hammar.

Bible Readings: Luke 19:28-4028After he had said this, [Jesus] went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem. 29When he had come near Bethphage and Bethany, at the place called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of the disciples, 30saying, “Go into the village ahead of you, and as you enter it you will find tied there a colt that has never been ridden. Untie it and bring it here. 31If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ just say this, ‘The Lord needs it.’ ” 32So those who were sent departed and found it as he had told them. 33As they were untying the colt, its owners asked them, “Why are you untying the colt?” 34They said, “The Lord needs it.” 35Then they brought it to Jesus; and after throwing their cloaks on the colt, they set Jesus on it. 36As he rode along, people kept spreading their cloaks on the road. 37As he was now approaching the path down from the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to praise God joyfully with a loud voice for all the deeds of power that they had seen, 38saying, “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven, and glory in the highest heaven!”39Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, order your disciples to stop.” 40He answered, “I tell you, if these were silent, the stones would shout out.”

Philippians 2:5-11 5Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, 6who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, 7but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form, 8he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death— even death on a cross.

Anointing - sermon for April 3, 2022

What would you do if you only had a few days left with a person who had saved your brother's life? Would you throw a party? Do something to show your gratitude? And if you did, would you worry about the cost? A look at the story of Mary anointing Jesus' feet with perfume, and the importance of living generously and graciously. By Pastor Lars Hammar.

John 12:1-8

1Six days before the Passover Jesus came to Bethany, the home of Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. 2There they gave a dinner for him. Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those at the table with him. 3Mary took a pound of costly perfume made of pure nard, anointed Jesus’ feet, and wiped them with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. 4But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (the one who was about to betray him), said, 5“Why was this perfume not sold for three hundred denarii and the money given to the poor?” 6(He said this not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief; he kept the common purse and used to steal what was put into it.) 7Jesus said, “Leave her alone. She bought it so that she might keep it for the day of my burial. 8You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me.”

Tragedy and Power - sermon March 20, 2022

When Jesus is asked if the people who got their blood mixed in with some pagan sacrifices made by Pontius Pilate, Jesus understands that the real question is if they can feel smugly confident that their avoidance of the tragedy is proof of their moral superiority. Instead, Jesus flips it back on them and shows that they would be better to examine themselves. By Pastor Lars Hammar. March 20, 2022.

Luke 13:1-9

1At that very time there were some present who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices.2[Jesus] asked them, “Do you think that because these Galileans suffered in this way they were worse sinners than all other Galileans?3No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all perish as they did. 4Or those eighteen who were killed when the tower of Siloam fell on them—do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others living in Jerusalem? 5No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all perish just as they did.”
  6Then he told this parable: “A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard; and he came looking for fruit on it and found none. 7So he said to the gardener, ‘See here! For three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree, and still I find none. Cut it down! Why should it be wasting the soil?’ 8He replied, ‘Sir, let it alone for one more year, until I dig around it and put manure on it. 9If it bears fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down.’ ”

Invitation as Radical Act - sermon March 13, 2022

When we receive an invitation from someone, we're being welcomed into their lives, into their homes. To accept that is to say that they are worth the time and the presence. In a world where our personal lives are bounded by social boundaries, invitations and receptions can be an act of affirming others and repudiating artificial boundaries between us. By Pastor Lars Hammar. Based on Luke 14:15-24

Luke 14:15-24

 15 One of the dinner guests, on hearing this, said to him, "Blessed is anyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God!" 16 Then Jesus said to him, "Someone gave a great dinner and invited many. 17 At the time for the dinner he sent his slave to say to those who had been invited, 'Come; for everything is ready now.' 18 But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said to him, 'I have bought a piece of land, and I must go out and see it; please accept my regrets.' 19 Another said, 'I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to try them out; please accept my regrets.' 20 Another said, 'I have just been married, and therefore I cannot come.' 21 So the slave returned and reported this to his master. Then the owner of the house became angry and said to his slave, 'Go out at once into the streets and lanes of the town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame.' 22 And the slave said, 'Sir, what you ordered has been done, and there is still room.' 23 Then the master said to the slave, 'Go out into the roads and lanes, and compel people to come in, so that my house may be filled. 24 For I tell you, none of those who were invited will taste my dinner.'"

"I Need More Members" - Things Jesus Didn't Say

Learning to love Jesus without checking your brain at the door. Week 7 is going to continue our discussion of being an active, critical thinker in tandem with having a deep relationship with one's faith. This week will start a little sub-series of "Being an Un-Fundamentalist Christian" with "Things Jesus Didn't Say", looking at some popular beliefs about Jesus that are not actually in the Bible. This week it's about the belief that Jesus was interested in increasing the number of disciples and followers. While he did believe in sharing the Gospel (literally - the "good news"), and making disciples "of all nations", he was often very demanding of those who wanted to follow him, and quick to turn away people who were not on board with his agenda. This is not to say that all the disciples he did have always agreed, just that they were willing to go along with Jesus' program, while many others excluded themselves because they could not accept what Jesus said.

Where this becomes such a big issue is in with the obsession today with getting increased numbers in churches, amid a decades-long decline. One strategy is to double down on the old beliefs and promote them harder, while another is to water down and loosen rules and boundaries to make it easier. Is either really the way Jesus did it? Or is his way some of both, and some of neither?

Livestreamed February 24, 2022 by Pastor Lars Hammar of Lord of Grace Lutheran Church in Marana, Arizona.

"God Wants You To Get Rich" - Things Jesus Didn't Say

Learning to love Jesus without checking your brain at the door. Week 6 is going to continue our discussion of being an active, critical thinker in tandem with having a deep relationship with one's faith. This week will start a little sub-series of "Being an Un-Fundamentalist Christian" with "Things Jesus Didn't Say", looking at some popular beliefs about Jesus that are not actually in the Bible. This week it's about the teaching, popular among so many "prosperity Gospel" preachers that God wants people to be rich. In fact, Jesus is so consistently critical of wealth itself, not just its use, that you have to both turn his words into pure "spiritualized metaphor" and put new ones in his mouth. How did we get from a wandering, poor, working class country boy, prophet to a tool for individual material gain?

LIvestreamed February 17, 2022 by Pastor Lars Hammar of Lord of Grace Lutheran Church in Marana, Arizona.

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