Tuesday, April 29, 2014

Sermon, Second Sunday of Easter

St Stephen Lutheran Church
The Rev. Maurice C. Frontz III
Easter 2
April 27, 2014

What think ye of Christ?
This is the question evangelist Dwight L. Moody put to his hearers
in New York City on February 27, 1876.
The sermon became world-famous,
and I certainly don’t make a claim to be able to equal the Rev. Dwight L. Moody.
But with boldness I would call this sermon,
‘What think ye of Christ?’
especially because we have the testimony of the apostles and St Thomas with us today.
In the footsteps of Dwight L. Moody, then,
we ask, ‘What think ye of Christ?’

What think ye of Christ?

Sunday, April 20, 2014

Sermon Easter Sunday 2014

Alleluia! Christ is risen!

Grace and peace to you from God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ.

There are a couple of phrases that have entered our collective lexicon
that are somewhat helpful to us, but not always.
These are ‘life goes on,’ and ‘the new normal.’
Whenever there is a sudden trauma in our lives,
especially when there is a death,
well-meaning folks say, ‘Life goes on.’
I counsel people about what to expect in the first year after a death
and I may use the phrase ‘the new normal.’
Perhaps we even use these phrases to comfort ourselves.
‘Life goes on,’ we say, as if trying to convince ourselves.
And indeed life does go on.
After a period of shock and grief, we eventually become adjusted to tragedy.
We even see this as we as a nation
adjust ourselves to acts of indiscriminate violence
at schools, universities, public events, and military bases.
After a brief focus on these terrible events,
some hand-wringing and angry calls for reform,
these events quickly fade from the public consciousness
as the next news cycle brings more events
upon which to focus our attention.
We as communities are okay with the deaths of so many young people
from drug abuse, even as we legalize drugs in order to obtain revenue
and supposedly drive down crime.
We get used to ‘the new normal,’ and we say, ‘life goes on.’

Monday, April 14, 2014

Meditation for Palm Sunday/Sunday of the Passion

If you could have a superpower, what superpower would you have?
This is a common question put to children to get their brains going.
Some would fly.
Some would see into other people’s minds so they could get all the right answers on tests.
Some would end hunger and poverty or have the power to defeat evil.
The question pushes us beyond the boundaries of our mundane lives
into the realm of possibility, promise, and power.
We are encouraged to dream big.

Thursday, April 10, 2014

Farewell and Godspeed!

We say ‘farewell’ this weekend to Tsena Dinssa, who will be moving to St. Paul, Minnesota, as he continues to await call as a pastor. He will be living with family and there is a large Oromo Ethiopian presence in the Twin Cities area. Tsena has been a big part of our faith family since his beginning to worship among us last year. He has been our regular worship assistant at the Saturday evening service, has preached from our pulpit, and has been a friend to us all. We wish him well as he goes forth from us, and we look forward to the day when we will be able to call him ‘Pastor Dinssa.’

God bless you, Tsena, and THANK YOU!

Sunday, April 6, 2014

Sermon Lent 5A

Lent 5A – April 6, 2014
Ezekiel 37:1-14; Psalm 130; Romans 8:6-11; John 11:1-45
St Stephen Lutheran Church
The Rev. Maurice C. Frontz, STS

In the name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

At this moment, imprisoned in the Allegheny County Jail,
is someone just like me.