+ A sermon for the First Sunday of Advent (Year C) at Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Bellevue, WA on November 28, 2021 + Text: Luke 21:25-36 Audio: Ok, I have a question for you all. And if I promise not to judge you, will you promise to answer honestly? Ok. Who’s already decorated for Christmas? Ok. How …
Tag: Sermons
A New Year, A New Kingdom
+ A sermon for Christ the King Sunday (Year B) at Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Bellevue, WA on November 21, 2021 + Text: Revelation 1:4b-8, John 18:33-37 Audio: “Grace to you and peace from the One who is and who was and who is to come…and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, …
Jesus Wept
+ A sermon for All Saints Sunday (Year B) at Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Bellevue, WA on November 7, 2021 + Text: Isaiah 25:6-9, Revelation 21:1-6a, John 11:32-44 Audio: “Jesus began to weep,” our gospel lesson tells us. Or as many English translations phrase it, “Jesus wept.” It’s the shortest verse in most English-language Bibles. A favorite …
Back to Basics
+ A sermon for Reformation Day/Lectionary 31B at Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Bellevue, WA on October 31, 2021 + Text: Mark 12:28-34 Audio: “Lutherans, the church of your childhood is dead.” That’s the first line of a Facebook post[1] written by a Lutheran pastor which was circulating among clergy this week. “We will never again feel those …
Seeing Bartimaeus
+ A sermon for the Twenty-Second Sunday after Pentecost (Lectionary 30B) at Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Bellevue, WA on October 24, 2021 + Text: Mark 10:46-52 Audio: They were almost there. Almost to the end of the journey. I can’t imagine the things that must have been buzzing in the heads of those disciples as they left …
A Turning Point
+ A sermon for the Twenty-First Sunday after Pentecost (Lectionary 29B) at Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Bellevue, WA on October 17, 2021 + Text: Mark 10:32-45 Audio: There are times in our lives that completely change our perspectives. Some event that becomes a turning point which fundamentally alters our outlook and we will never see things the …
Embracing Eternal Life
+ A sermon for the Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost (Lectionary 28B) at Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Bellevue, WA on October 10, 2021 + Text: Mark 10:17-31 Audio: “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” We hear this earnest question from a man who finds Jesus on the road to Jerusalem. A devout man who …
Truly Great
+ A sermon for the Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost (Lectionary 25B) at Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Bellevue, WA on September 19, 2021 + Text: Mark 9:30-37 Audio: The disciples have had an interesting few days. Last Sunday, we heard Peter become the first person to proclaim that Jesus was the Messiah. But Jesus quickly shushed him and …
The Other Side of the Cross
+ A sermon for Holy Cross Sunday at Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Bellevue, WA on September 12, 2021 + Text: Revelation 22:1-5; 1 Corinthians 1:18-24; Mark 8:27-38 Audio: Holy Cross Lutheran Church (c. 1960s) “In 1960, the Evangelical Lutheran Church Board of Missions decided to start a mission church on the east side of Lake Washington. This …
Expanding the Mission
+ A sermon for the Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost (Lectionary 23B) at Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Bellevue, WA on September 5, 2021 + Text: James 2:1-17; Mark 7:24-37 Audio: If you were here last week, you heard Jesus spar with the Pharisees and religious authorities in our gospel reading—calling them hypocrites for distorting human customs and true …
Pastor Paul Eldred 