tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-61790612012-01-16T10:35:10.880-06:00Sermons preached by Pastor Ben SquiresPastor Benjamin Squireshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17246669907086314259noreply@blogger.comBlogger2141100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6179061.post-83457757703336168182012-01-15T12:00:00.000-06:002012-01-16T10:35:10.894-06:00

1 Corinthians: 1 Faith, 1 Love, 1 Focus (2nd Sunday after Epiphany – B)Sunday, January 15, 2012• Have volunteer come forward.• “No eye has seen” – put blindfold on person• “No ear has heard” – put headphones on person• “No mind has conceived” – put hardhat on person• We just don’t know what God has prepared for us.• Ask for a second volunteer• Put a sign on person that says “Spirit”• Tell person

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1 Corinthians: 1 Faith, 1 Love, 1 Focus (Baptism of Our Lord – B)Sunday, January 8, 2011• Fools.• Freaks.• Insane.• Dim-witted.• Hopelessly misguided• Uninformed.• Naïve.• Out of touch with reality.• Not firing on all cylinders.• That’s how the world sees us.• Fools.• That’s what the world thinks about people who take Jesus seriously.• Fools.• They think we’re wasting our time.• They find it

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2nd Sunday in Advent (Year B - Lutheran Service Book readings)Sunday, December 4, 2011Whistle: pure sweet Canada Canada Canada (2X)A voice of one calling in the wilderness.Whistle: pure sweet Canada Canada CanadaA beautiful, rich bird song which fills the woods. You look up into the canopy of trees, searching for the bird singing so sweetly, and you’re amazed at the beauty of the forest, amazed

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1st Sunday in Advent (Year B, Lutheran Service Book readings)Sunday, November 27, 2011• Start putting black pieces of cloth into a box marked with David Sweeney’s “Lament Number 223,” saying one word per piece of cloth.• Sadness, grief, despair, fights, war, shame, hurtful words, hurtful actions, sickness, death, loss, pain.• Tape up box and put it under a chair in the corner.• Ask congregation:

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This Thanksgiving Eve sermon took the form of a poem compiled and edited from various sources. You can view the sermon in its entirety by clicking here.

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Excel in the Grace of Giving (Week 3)Sunday, November 20, 2011• I’ve been making a lot of phone calls lately, trying to check in on people who we have listed as members but maybe who haven’t been in worship for a while, a long while. • Now when I’m not talking to voicemail, every once in a while I actually get to talk to a real, live person, and I explain why I’m calling.• I’m Pastor Squires,

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Excel in the Grace of Giving (Week 2)Sunday, November 13, 2011• Children’s Message: Bring up children and explain we’re going to get the adults moving, too, to help everyone think about who God has made them to be• Ask adults to get up and move to one of the spots on the edge of the seating area—Worship/Music, Administration/Leadership, Education/Discipleship, Fellowship, Community Service,

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Excel in the Grace of Giving (Week 1)Sunday, November 6, 2011• Set up half of the pipe, send coins down• This is God sending down His blessings to us and to others• Except that’s not quite the whole picture• Ask for a volunteer• You be God. (give them the jar of coins)• Set up top half of the pipe with Y-joint in middle• Meanwhile, you give me some blessings and encourage me to share those

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Reformation Day (Year A) Sunday, October 30, 2011• (Repeat after me)• Above the chaos• God is with us• God brings peace• The theme for this year’s Gurnee Days was Medieval Knights—that was back in those warm days of August• So our Gurnee Days chair Matt Messmer assembled a team of people who brainstormed and came up with the theme for our float: “A Mighty Fortress is Our God”• It worked

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19th Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 25) (Year A)Sunday, October 23, 2011• People outside of the Church are watching us• They’re watching to see if we take the words of Jesus seriously• They’re watching to see if we really love our neighbors as ourselves—words from the Old Testament book of Leviticus but words that Jesus repeated as He summarized the Law• The people outside of the Church realize

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18th Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 24) (Year A)LWML (Lutheran Women’s Missionary League) SundaySunday, October 16, 2011• Climbing up on the shelves in the warehouse, counting how many Bible studies are still left in open boxes• Small way I was helping the families of the world ascribe glory to the Lord• Dollar bills in a mite box• Small way that you are able to help the families of the world

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17th Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 23) (Year A)Sunday, October 9, 2011• What is a bear pack?• Explain• (Use rope and backpack, have some pretend to be a tree)• Why do you put up a bear pack?• Keep your food safe• Have you seen the bears?• No, but you know they’re out there• (Person sits down)• Psalm 23, that very, very familiar psalm, talks about the Lord as our shepherd• What does a shepherd do

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16th Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 22) (A)Sunday, October 2, 2011• Roll out cart with CD player on it.• Isaiah 5:1-7 is a love song.• It’s God’s love song for His people.• The owner did everything for that vineyard• He put the vineyard on a hill to get good sunlight• He dug and broke up the ground• He cleared the stones• He planted the best vines• He set up the wine press, prepared for harvest•

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Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 21) (Year A - Lutheran Service Book readings)Sunday, September 25, 2011• So I just did a Children’s Message on the word “Repent.”• It’s not usually one of those warm fuzzy words made perfect for a warm fuzzy children’s message.• But did you catch how “repent” is an invitation to come back to God? • It’s not an invitation to come back to God so that God can

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14th Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 20) (Year A - Lutheran Service Book readings) Sunday, September 18, 2011 These are the notes from this sermon. No manuscript available.• I want you to remember two numbers: 86 and 11.• And for those of you who feel the need to add those numbers, they add up to 97 but that doesn’t really have anything to do with this.• Let’s take 11 first. Where’s that show

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12th Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 18) (Year A - Lutheran Service Book readings)Sunday, September 4, 2011Read Psalm 32:1-7 and the divisions of the psalm (see picture). Then say, “Here’s a story for Psalm 32. See if you can line it up with the parts of the psalm. The story is a picture of what happens when we come and confess our sins to God.”For what I was about to do, I had hidden my bike

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11th Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 17) (Year A - Lutheran Service Book readings) Saturday, August 27, and Sunday, August 28, 2011 • Jeremiah was called to be prophet—to speak God’s Word to the people • He was called to tear down—preach the Law, the judgment concerning the people’s sin • But he was also called to build up—preach the Gospel, the merciful words from God • God said to Jeremiah—“

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10th Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 16) (Year A - Lutheran Service Book readings) Saturday, August 20, and Sunday, August 21, 2011 The following are my notes from this weekend’s sermon. I didn’t write out a full manuscript for this sermon. So the other day we were up at Betty Russell Playground just over here in the neighborhood. The boys had their bikes, and Jude, our five-year old, decided

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7th Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 13) (Year A - Lutheran Service Book readings)Saturday, July 30, and Sunday, July 31, 2011Come, come those who are hot and tired, those who need relief from the heat and humidity, come and cool off, come and cool off at no cost to you, come to the free pool, come to the free beach, come to the cooling centers opened by the county. Come, come get much needed

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Sixth Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 12) (Year A - Lutheran Service Book readings)Saturday, July 23, and Sunday, July 24, 2011Pinch yourself. Pinch yourself, because I want you to realize you’re here. I want you to realize that you’re really here. Pinch yourself, because I want you to realize you’re really here, and here is where the message of God is coming to you today, here is where the

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Fifth Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 11) (Year A - Lutheran Service Book readings)Saturday, July 16, and Sunday, July 17, 2011A major portion of the opening of this sermon is inspired by and taken from Gabe Lyons’ The Next Christians: The Good News About the End of Christian America (New York: Doubleday, 2010).Do you know who you are? Do you know who you are? Today’s worship has reminded you in

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Fourth Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 10) (Year A - Lutheran Service Book readings)Saturday, July 9, and Sunday, July 10, 2011Paper and vinyl. It’s that combination of smells in the air that brings hope. You walk into a library, and there’s a smell that hits you right away, and if you’re like me, they bring back a flood of memories. It’s the smell of paper in all of those books. It’s the

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3rd Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 9) (Year A - Lutheran Service Book readings)Saturday, July 2, and Sunday, July 3, 2011Romans 7 is a rather confusing little passage. Perhaps you got a little lost when you were listening to those words, “For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing.”

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Holy Trinity (Year A - Lutheran Service Book Readings)Saturday, June 18, and Sunday, June 19, 2011This sermon is inspired by D. Brent Laytham's article, "The Narrative Shape of Scriptural Authority: Plotting Pentecost," where he says, "Peter's speech reads Israel's Scriptures as 'a story in search of a conclusion,' and reads Jesus' story as that story's searched-for conclusion."The car screeched

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Pentecost (Year A - Lutheran Service Book readings)Saturday, June 11, and Sunday, June 12, 2011Wear a reflective vest. This is a picture of what a prophet does. A prophet directs people to the truth of God’s Word.I’m a prophet—not in the sense that I can foretell the future, but in the sense of the Old Testament prophets who were forthtellers, they spoke for God, called people to God, linked

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7th Sunday of Easter (Year A - Lutheran Service Book readings)Saturday, June 4, and Sunday, June 5, 2011Jesus was praying for us. He’s still praying for us, pleading to the Father on our behalf. But today as we consider the passage from John 17, the thing to know is that Jesus was praying for us. What an incredibly uplifting idea to think that our Savior was praying for us 2000 years ago, to

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Ascension (Year A - Lutheran Service Book readings)Thursday, June 2, 2011There’s a rock band called Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. Kind of an odd name for a band, but there are plenty of odd names out there. Rumor has it that Clap Your Hand Say Yeah got their name from some graffiti that they saw—graffiti scrawled out on the side of a building that said, “Clap your hands

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6th Sunday of Easter (Year A - Lutheran Service Book readings)Sunday, May 29, 2011These are the notes/outline for my sermon. A major portion of this sermon was shaped by the answers that people gave--either by raising their hand to speak or by sending me a text during the sermon.• 1 Peter says: “But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who

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Fourth Sunday of Easter (Year A - Lutheran Service Book readings)Sunday, May 22, 2011Last week I talked about how we can adhere strongly to these things by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the Gorilla Glue that holds us to these things, helps us to be devoted to the teaching, fellowship, the Lord’s Supper, and prayer. But today I want you to see these things as also the space we inhabit, the

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4th Sunday of Easter (Confirmation) (Year A - Lutheran Service Book readings)Sunday, May 15, 2011(Holding up a set of boards) Gorilla Glue. That’s what’s holding these boards together. Gorilla Glue is great. As their logo says, “Incredibly strong. 100% Tough.”And I thought of Gorilla Glue this week, because of today’s reading from Acts chapter 2, the passage that describes the beginning of

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3rd Sunday of Easter (Year A - Lutheran Service Book readings)Sunday, May 8, 2011Therefore, prepare your minds for action. Therefore, be self-controlled. Therefore, set your hope fully on the grace that’s been revealed in Christ Jesus. Therefore, live your lives as strangers here. Therefore, love one another deeply.When we hear today’s passage from 1 Peter, it’s like we’re starting in the

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Second Sunday of Easter (Year A - Lutheran Service Book readings)Sunday, May 1, 2011This sermon was in part inspired by H. Paul Santmire’s article titled “A Reformation Theology of Nature Transfigured: Joseph Sittler’s Invitation to See as Well as to Hear” where Santmire says: “Having shut our eyes in order to hear the Word in a time of crisis, . . .we can then cautiously open them again to

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Easter (Year A - Lutheran Service Book readings)Sunday, April 24, 2011From what I remember seeing this one Milwaukee band play a few years ago, I think he might have sung backup vocals, but not so much. Mainly the reason the guy was on stage was to play the tambourine. And he really played that tambourine. Played it all sorts of ways, played it like his life depended on it, played with abandon

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Easter Sunrise (Year A - Lutheran Service Book readings)Sunday, April 24, 2011We were in Nevada, on our way to a backpacking trip, and my dad, my cousin, and I were driving along on the highway, through the desert-like landscape, flat, dusty, hot, with some arid hills off to the sides. Then up ahead we saw something off to the side of the road, off in the ditch really. There was a boat, a

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Good Friday (Year A - Lutheran Service Book Readings)Friday, April 22, 2011Tonight’s sermon is based on the Old Testament reading from Isaiah. You may want to have your bulletin open to the reading as we meditate on these words from the prophet, words that point to Jesus, words that point to today’s events, the events of Good Friday.13 See, my servant will act wisely; he will be raised and

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Maundy Thursday (Year A - Lutheran Service Book readings)Thursday, April 21, 2011Tonight’s sermon is based on the Psalm reading from tonight. You may want to have your bulletin open to that page as we contemplate Psalm 116 and meditate on how it points to tonight’s events, the events of Maundy Thursday.When they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.They left the Upper Room

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Palm Sunday (Year A - Lutheran Service Book readings)Sunday, April 17, 2011A few years ago I was at Noah’s Ark Waterpark in Wisconsin Dells with a youth group. They dared me, and so I had to try it. I had to try the Point of No Return, a waterslide that’s 10 stories high and has a nearly vertical drop. You walk up the stairs, with open views of the entire waterpark, the wind blowing, the sun

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Fifth Sunday in Lent (Year A - Lutheran Service Book readings)Sunday, April 10, 2011These are the rough draft notes of my sermon.Reaching for the Invisible God by Philip Yancey is a book that I’ve recommended to many people who are struggling with their faith, struggling to believe. Yancey, a long-time Christian and noted author, realized that his faith didn’t make much sense to his

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Fourth Sunday in Lent (Year A - Lutheran Service Book readings)Sunday, April 3, 2011Last week I told the story of the woman at the well, how Jesus offered her living water, water of eternal life, the water of forgiveness and life that comes through Him. Today’s Gospel reading from John gives us another story, another story of someone coming to believe in Jesus. I want to tell you that story

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Third Sunday in Lent (Year A - Lutheran Service Book readings)Sunday, March 27, 2011This is the story of a woman, a different woman. This is the story of today’s Gospel reading from John. Not a story as in a fable or fiction, but a description of an event that really took place. I’ve expanded this story with details to help us understand that woman, to help us see ourselves in her story. She

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Second Sunday in Lent (Year A - Lutheran Service Book readings)Sunday, March 20, 2011(Reading from a devotional book): Charles H. Spurgeon, one of the greatest and most popular preachers in the nineteenth-century England, asked Christians some hard-hitting questions: “What have you been doing with your life? Is Christ living in your home and yet you have not spoken to Him for months? Do not let

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First Sunday in Lent (Year A - Lutheran Service Book readings) Sunday, March 13, 2011This text is the rough notes and list of biblical passages that I intended to use in tracing the promise of salvation through the Old Testament. I ended up not using all of them in my sermon, but I have preserved them here for study. I didn't write a full manuscript for this sermon.Today’s reading from Genesis,

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Transfiguration (Year A - Lutheran Service Book readings)Sunday, March 6, 2011And you will do well to pay attention to the word of truth, as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.In September 2009, my dad and I biked from his house in Minneapolis to where we then lived in Milwaukee. It was a five-day adventure that mainly saw us using

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8th Sunday after the Epiphany (Year A - Lutheran Service Book readings)Sunday, February 27, 2011In the past, when I’ve heard today’s Gospel reading, I’ve usually heard it this way: (shouted with upraised hands) DO NOT WORRY. Oh, the reader, the preacher, they didn’t actually need to yell it, but that’s how I heard it in my mind. (shouted with upraised hands) DO NOT WORRY. And since very rarely

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6th Sunday after the Epiphany (Year A - Lutheran Service Book Readings)Sunday, February 13, 2011(Front of sanctuary, stretch out a circle of Caution tape). The Pharisees and the scribes, the very religious teachers in the days of Jesus, they drew lines around sin. They marked out what broke God’s commandments. They taught their interpretations of “do not murder” and “do not commit adultery.”

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Fifth Sunday after the Epiphany (Year A - Lutheran Service Book readings)Sunday, February 6, 2011(Motioning with hands) Up and up and up and then—nothing. I was with my parents and my sister on a family trip, and we were driving from Tampa to Sanibel Island, driving across the Sunshine Skyway Bridge that goes across the bay, and as we got to the high point of the bridge, we looked over at the

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Fourth Sunday after the Epiphany (Year A - Lutheran Service Book readings)Sunday, January 30, 2011(Standing in center aisle halfway back) I’m surrounded by fools! I’m surrounded by fools! That’s right, I’m calling you fools, all of you. All of you are fools. Fools. Fools. Fools.And if that makes you fools, then I’m a fool, too. I’m the foolish pastor leading a group of fools. Fools.

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Third Sunday after the Epiphany (Year A - Lutheran Service Book readings)Sunday, January 23, 2011This is a rough draft of what I eventually preached.Let me introduce you to the Moonball. The Moonball is a glow-in-the-dark ball shaped like the moon. I found it on the roof of my first congregation. Don’t ask why I was up on the roof? I was doing youth ministry. Anyway, I’ve used the Moonball

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Second Sunday after the Epiphany (Year A - Lutheran Service Book readings)Sunday, January 16, 2011It’s too small a thing for you to be my servant to bring back Israel.I will also make you a light for the Gentiles.With that, the word of the Lord came to Isaiah, and the Lord was saying that the Servant, the Messiah not just coming for Israel—the people in the know. The Messiah would also be sent

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Baptism of Our Lord (Year A - Lutheran Service Book readings)Sunday, January 9, 2011They’re probably one of the quirkiest duo’s in music, but Lost & Found is a Christian band of George and Michael playing what they call Speedwood—folky music on acoustic guitar and keyboards. They’ve got strange voices, they tell strange stories, but in the end, it’s all about Jesus. And they’re a huge hit in

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Epiphany (Year A Reading from Second Sunday after Christmas - Lutheran Service Book Readings)Sunday, January 2, 2010OK, today we celebrate the Epiphany, when the Wise Men came to visit Jesus. The actual date in the church calendar for the Epiphany is January 6. How many days after Christmas is that? (Solicit answer: 12)What were those days between Christmas and Epiphany known as in the old

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New Year’s Eve (Readings for Service of Prayer)Friday, December 31, 2010Nehemiah was a Jew serving in the royal court of the king of Persia. Nehemiah was one of the many Jews living in Persia because of the exile that had begun over 40 years earlier. Now the previous Persian king had let some of the Jews go back to Israel, go back to live there, and they went back and started rebuilding the

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St. Stephen, Deacon and MartyrSunday, December 26, 2010These are the notes and outline for the sermon I preached.Tune of “Good King Wenceslas” is played• What does Good King Wenceslas have to do with today? (Solicit answers)• It takes place on the Feast of Stephen—December 26It’s a song about the legend of Duke Wenceslas of Bohemia who lived from 907-935. Let’s look at the words and see what

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Christmas Day (Year A - Lutheran Service Book readings)Saturday, December 25, 2010Please turn your bulletins back to Psalm 2. We’re going to look at Psalm 2 this morning. It’s the appointed psalm for Christmas Day; it’s used by the New Testament writers to point to Jesus; and it continues the psalm theme we’ve had here at Bethel during Advent.Psalm 2 is a coronation psalm—a hymn written to

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Christmas Eve(Year A - Lutheran Service Book readings)Friday, December 24, 2010Get connected this Christmas.Stretch out the UNLIT lights down the center aisle.Something’s missing, isn’t it? Something’s missing, because these lights aren’t looking too festive. And frankly, sometimes you might feel like there’s something missing from your Christmas celebrations. And I don’t mean that you forgot

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Fourth Sunday in Advent(Year A - Lutheran Service Book readings)Sunday, December 19, 2010The field is ours. The battlefield is ours. The victory is ours. The Earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it;for he founded it upon the seas and established it upon the waters.The Earth is His, the Lord has won the battle for the Earth,The Lord has defeated the

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Third Sunday in Advent (Year A - Lutheran Service Book readings)Sunday, December 12, 2010Do you ever feel like a grilled cheese sandwich? I don’t mean a really good grilled cheese sandwich, with gourmet cheese and grilled to perfection. I mean, do you ever feel like this kind of grilled cheese sandwich? (Pull out sandwich from box). Do you ever feel like this kind of grilled cheese

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Second Sunday in Advent (Year A - Lutheran Service Book readings)Sunday, December 5, 2010Jesus shall reign where’er the sunDoes it successive journeys run;His kingdom stretch from shore to shoreTill moon shall wax and wane no more.Published in 1719, Isaac Watts wrote that hymn as a metrical paraphrase of Psalm 72, a way of putting a Hebrew psalm into an English hymn. This, in itself, wasn’t that

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First Sunday in Advent (Year A - Lutheran Service Book readings)Sunday, November 28, 2010This Advent we’re going to be focusing on the psalms appointed for each Sunday, looking to see how the psalms, the hymn book of the Old Testament, how these psalms prepare us for the celebration of the birth of Jesus.Of course, Advent is more than just about waiting to celebrate Christmas. Advent is also a

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This sermon was inspired, in part, by a quote from Marvin E. Tate’s Word Biblical Commentary XX (Psalms 51-100) where Tate says: “The Psalm opens with a crash of words: The psalmist calls upon his hearers to ‘shout’ and ‘sing aloud.’”Thanksgiving Eve Wednesday, November 24, 2010Come, let us sing for joy to the LORD;let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation.Let us come before him with

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Last Sunday of the Church Year (Year C - Lutheran Service Book readings)Sunday, November 21, 2010I was sitting on a bench outside the bank in Evanston. This was my senior year at Northwestern, I was saving up money to buy Susan’s engagement ring, and I had just found out that I had overdrafted my bank account for the second time in a month. It was time that I started taking math seriously. It

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25th Sunday after Pentecost(Year C - Lutheran Service Book readings)Sunday, November 14, 2010Picture courtesy of www.wildnatureimages.comThis is a rough draft of what I eventually preached. The beginning got people answering the questions, seeing that fattening up a calf in a stall meant it was destined for slaughter.Why did they put a calf in a stall?So why would a calf leap and rejoice to be

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All Saints’ Sunday (Year C - Lutheran Service Book readings)November 7, 20101 John 3 is a vision of the now and a vision of the future. I want you to look at this vision with me this morning. Take out the yellow insert in your bulletin. There you have 1 John 3 printed again. Hear the passage again and hear how it’s a vision of the now and the future. See what great love the Father has

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Reformation (Year C - Lutheran Service Book readings)Sunday, October 31, 2010This is an outline and rough draft of the sermon.• Today is the result of the angel’s messageo The angel had the eternal gospel to proclaimo Gospeling the eternal Gospel• Today,Reformation Day, is the result of the angel’s msgo Chosen b/c some thought Luther was the angelo I don’t think. . .o Angel, though, working

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Consecrated Stewards – Part ThreeSunday, October 17, 2010The following is a combination of my sermon outline and some rough draft portions.• And Jesus, “The kingdom of heaven will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his property to them.”• And when the master returned, the servants said, “Here is the money you entrusted to me.”• Entrusted.• The first two

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Consecrated Stewards – Part TwoSunday, October 10, 2010Last week I got you out of your comfort zone, talking to each other during the sermon, and it won’t be something I’m going to do every week, but at least for these weeks of Consecrated Stewards, I want you thinking and talking together. Let me start you off with something easy: What does today’s date have to do with stewardship?Get answer

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Consecrated Stewards – Part OneSunday, October 3, 2010Give salt to person at back of churchI have consecrated, ___________, for a special task. Consecrated means “set apart for a high service.” Consecrated is a word we’re going to use a lot in these next few weeks, and I thought it’d be good to start with consecrating someone, setting someone aside for special service, so today I consecrate ___

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18th Sunday after Pentecost (Year C - Lutheran Service Book readings)Sunday, September 26, 2010I didn't finish writing out the manuscript for this sermon, so what I present below is the outline plus a rough draft.I. Check Engine Light • Check Engine Light• Tempted to ignore the Check Engine Light of 1 Timothy• Why do you think I was tempted to skip this text?II. Image: Car Into the Shop• Check

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17th Sunday after Pentecost (Year C - Lutheran Service Book readings) Sunday, September 19, 2010(Outside of the rear doors of the sanctuary).Have you ever realized the incredible thing that happens when you come in these doors? By all accounts, we should be left out here, standing outside the sanctuary. If God is our King, and we are His subjects, then the sanctuary is His throne room. If we

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16th Sunday after Pentecost (Year C - Lutheran Service Book readings)Sunday, September 12, 2010(Five volunteers are asked to come and hold up poster boards with these words on them):Welcome to our Sunday School.(After a moment, switch the “Sunday” sign with a sign that says “Sinner”).Welcome to our Sinner School.After all, that’s what we have, isn’t it? We have sinners teaching sinners. Sinful

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15th Sunday After Pentecost (Year C - Lutheran Service Book readings)Sunday, September 5, 2010 I love to ride my bike, and only timing conspired to keep me from joining one of the Bethel Bike Hikes this summer. I’m looking forward to next summer when I can make a point of joining them for exercise and fellowship.I love to ride my bike, but nothing like the guy on the front cover—riding a

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Hebrews 12:18-24“Wide, Bright, Awake, and Hopeful”13th Sunday After Pentecost (Year C - Lutheran Service Book readings)Saturday, August 21, and Sunday, August 22, 2010The mother was talking, but my eyes were fixed on the teenage girl’s eyes.The mother was telling me that she wanted her daughter in the church because she wanted her daughter to know what it means to honor her parents. The mother

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Psalm 142“That Needing Time”Saturday, August 14, and Sunday, August 15, 2010At the exact time you met as a congregation to vote to call me as your pastor, I was driving down Interstate 55, approaching St. Louis, as I headed to campus for classes at the Seminary. I was praying for you, but to be honest, I was also trying not to be anxious about what y’all might decide. I sensed that God could be

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8th Sunday after Pentecost (Year B - Lutheran Service Book readings)Sunday, July 6, and Monday, July 7, 2008I put up cards with each letter printed on them. I began by explaining that Psalm 145 is an acrostic psalm, although we are only looking at a portion of the verses—and since Hebrew only has 22 letters, an English equivalent must drop a few letters. Here K is dropped.Before the text of the

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Second Sunday of Easter(Year A - Lutheran Service Book readings)Sunday, March 30, 2008This weekend’s other services feature the cantata, a service of music and Scripture. It is sung by our Family Singers with additional voices, and in this contemporary version, also features drama clips shown on the screens. This year’s cantata called The Sacrifice: Greater Love Has No One Than This... retraces

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Easter (Year A - Lutheran Service Book readings)Listen to the audio of this sermon (Real Player)Unlike most of my sermons, I did not write out a manuscript for this Easter sermon. Because of its intense approach and multimedia format, I just went with talking points to help me construct what I wanted to say. Because of that, I can't print out the sermon here, but you can watch a video of it.

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Maundy Thursday(Year A - Lutheran Service Book readings)Thursday, March 20, 2008(sung to the tune of “Give Thanks with a Grateful Heart”) Eucharist with a grateful heart, Eucharist to the Holy One. . .Eucharist. The Lord’s Supper, Holy Communion, is also known as the Eucharist. And while it might not look like it, that song we just sang is about the Eucharist.(sung)Eucharist with a grateful

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Wednesday, March 12, 2008This commentary by James Boice refers to Psalm 67 as an unpopular psalm. He says that because very few other commentators or scholars spend very much time on Psalm 67—if at all—in comparison to popular psalms like Psalm 23—“The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.”But I guess it surprises me that Psalm 67 would be unpopular, because when I read it, I immediately see

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Wednesday, March 5, 2008I spend so much time talking about popular culture and how the Gospel connects with today’s world that perhaps it looks like I don’t have a sense of history or tradition or how the past connects with us.But the truth is, I love when I hear the ancients singing with us, the ancestors of our faith speaking words with us. The Prayers of the Church are just one such moment

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Zechariah 1:14-17Holy Emmanuel Lutheran Church, Bloomington, MNOrnery. If we are honest with ourselves, we’ll admit that one of the words that comes to mind when we think of my Great Aunt Sally is ornery. She was ornery, stubborn, had her own way of doing things.Of course, that’s not to say that Sally was unloving. She loved her family and friends. One time Susan and I had our boys with us at

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Wednesday, February 20, 2008I’m afraid that in order to describe the emotion, power, and celebration behind the Hymn of Praise and its place in a worship service, I’m afraid I can’t simply tell you about a particularly stirring moment when I was singing the Hymn of Praise in a past worship service. I’m afraid I can only tell you that the Hymn of Praise should be somewhat like an emotional,

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Wednesday, February 13, 2008From the Liturgy: Confession and AbsolutionPsalm 130:1-4a,5-8 - trans. Gordon Jackson, The Lincoln Psalter, alteredPastor: His thoughts are deep, but we are deep in a different kind of way—deep in the trap of our sins. So we cry out to God saying: Out of the pit we call you, Lord;People: please, Lord, hear usPastor: Though our voices are faint let them reach your

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I finished writing this sermon this morning just as it became clear that the season's biggest Winter Storm was going to mean we had to cancel services. The sermon is here in its entire, unpreached form.Click here to see the entire order of service.Ash WednesdayLenten Midweek: “Psalms for Worship, Psalms for Lent”Wednesday, February 6, 2008Our Lenten Midweek series, “Psalms for Worship, Psalms

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Listen to the audio of this sermon (Real Player)Transfiguration(Year A - Lutheran Service Book readings)Sunday, February 3, and Monday, February 4, 2008 (sing) Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the LordWait. “Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord.” On this side of the second coming of Jesus, I’m not sure that we can sing those words. We haven’t seen the glory of

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Sunday, January 27, and Monday, January 28, 2008Listen to the audio of this sermon (Real Player)After dwelling on the principles involved in the Corinthian contentions about men Paul now reminds the Corinthians of the contents of his preaching and of the way in which he preached when he first worked among them….He, indeed, brought them this blessed testimony but he made no attempt to modify it so

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Sunday, January 20, and Monday, January 21, 2008Listen to the audio of this sermon (Real Player)In the Manitowoc County Jail, when I’d visit with a prisoner—whether a member of the church or someone referred to me by a family member or friend—the jailers would usually have me use an interview room near the entrance doors The prisoners liked that room, because they could look out through the

Pastor Benjamin Squireshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17246669907086314259noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6179061.post-30210610089563047342008-01-13T12:30:00.000-06:002008-01-16T21:39:53.418-06:00

(Year A - Lutheran Service Book readings)Sunday, January 13, and Monday, January 14, 2008Listen to the audio of this sermon (Real Player)I want to show you a TV commercial about evangelism. (Click here) Philawarepragueicago. I love this series of commercials (directed by Wes Anderson (Rushmore, The Royal Tenenbaums, Life Aquatic). The whole idea that AT&T is a network that works in the place

Pastor Benjamin Squireshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17246669907086314259noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6179061.post-82155064866560431072008-01-06T12:00:00.000-06:002008-01-08T10:41:20.900-06:00

Epiphany(Year A - Lutheran Service Book readings)Sunday, January 6, and Monday, January 7, 2008Listen to the audio of this sermon (Real Player)On this Epiphany, I thought we’d take a look at how singer-songwriter James Taylor tells the story of the Wise Men in his song “Home By Another Way” from the album, Never Die Young, which was released back in 1988. It wasn’t a Christmas album, but “Home

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New Year’s EveMonday, December 31, 2007In college, when I was trying to get in some habit of having personal devotion time, I’d find a quiet place on campus, get my Bible out of my backpack, say a little prayer, and then. . .wonder what I was supposed to do now. I wasn’t sure what to read in my Bible, so I started playing a game. I’d close my eyes, flip open the Bible, and whatever page I

Pastor Benjamin Squireshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17246669907086314259noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6179061.post-6641169960493198572007-12-24T23:59:00.000-06:002007-12-25T17:06:07.614-06:00

Christmas Eve (11 PM Candelight/Youth-led service)Monday, December 24, 2007The youth have a special message to share with you tonight, and really I mainly want them to tell you about why we celebrate Christmas. But I have to tell you, it’s really mainly about RC, Royal Crown Cola (pull out 2-liter).I don’t mean that the youth aren’t ready to lead the service because they’re busy getting some

Pastor Benjamin Squireshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17246669907086314259noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6179061.post-69610807521521260202007-12-23T12:23:00.000-06:002007-12-23T13:05:48.186-06:00

4th Sunday in Advent (Year A - Lutheran Service Book readings)Sunday, December 23, 2007Listen to the audio of this sermon (Real Player)(Bring out a lectern on pedestal from the old Holy Emmanuel Ev. Lutheran Church, Minneapolis, MN)It’s not every preacher that shows up at his new church with his own pulpit. This pulpit is a little short now, but this top piece is actually from the pulpit of my

Pastor Benjamin Squireshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17246669907086314259noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6179061.post-76630599171421246292007-12-16T12:00:00.000-06:002007-12-22T09:16:24.054-06:00

3rd Sunday in Advent (Year A - Lutheran Service Book Readings)Sunday, December 16, and Monday, December 17, 2007Listen to the audio of this sermon (Real Player)Last week during my installation, I was the guy sitting in the middle of the aisle wondering if I’m really ready to be your pastor, I was anxious and overwhelmed. Pastor Dan preached a sermon that was very encouraging for me, reassuring

Pastor Benjamin Squireshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17246669907086314259noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6179061.post-80885928617263465962007-11-18T12:47:00.000-06:002007-11-21T12:54:41.373-06:00

Farewell SermonThursday, November 15, and Sunday, November 18, 2007Maps.Seven years ago when the Seminary told me you had called me to be your pastor, I needed a map to find Manitowoc. When we did find our way to Manitowoc, then I needed a map to find Two Rivers, Valders, Mishicot, Newton, Francis Creek, and Shoto. Then I really needed a map to realize that Cleveland isn’t in Ohio and Denmark

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24th Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 27) (Lutheran Service Book readings - Year C)Thursday, November 8, and Sunday, November 11, 2007I want to share with you some pictures from an art installation by Paul Hobbs. The exhibit is called “Holy Ground: Take Off Your Shoes” (Sections below in italics are quotes from the accompanying book from Church Mission Society). If we had the actual exhibit, it

Pastor Benjamin Squireshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17246669907086314259noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6179061.post-71511648450050309082007-11-04T16:07:00.000-06:002007-11-05T16:09:04.986-06:00

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,I have accepted the call to be Associate Pastor of Immanuel Lutheran Church in Brookfield, Wisconsin. While I am confident that God is leading me to this new ministry and look forward to continuing to serve Him as a pastor, I am truly sad to be leaving the people and ministry we have here together.Seven years ago when Susan and I arrived in Manitowoc, you

Pastor Benjamin Squireshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17246669907086314259noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6179061.post-58207596078641978402007-10-07T13:55:00.000-05:002007-10-10T14:27:40.215-05:00

19th Sunday After Pentecost (Proper 22) (Year C - Lutheran Service Book readings)Thursday, October 4, and Sunday, October 7, 2007Guard the good deposit. That’s what Paul says to Timothy in the New Testament reading we have today. Guard the good deposit. If you’ll take a look at that passage from the 2nd letter to Timothy, you can see what the good deposit is.I didn’t give you the whole chart I

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16th Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 19) (Year C - Lutheran Service Book Readings)Thursday, September 13, 2007Bring out a garbage can on wheels which has numerous brooms in it.The parable that Jesus tells about the woman searching her house for her lost coin, it says that she swept the house looking for the coin. I brought out these brooms tonight, because that image of the woman sweeping, it

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Opening of the Education YearThursday, September 6, and Sunday, September 9, 2007 When you entered church today, you were covered in whale slime. You were covered in seaweed, fish goo, algae, saltwater, squid pieces, and zooplankton. You stunk with the sin of not living up to expectations. You are not the disciples you are meant to be. It seems strange to start the Education Year with

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Vacation Bible School(Northwestern Publishing House materials)Thursday, August 16, and Sunday, August 2007 A year ago I was sitting in the parking lot enjoying our first ever Outdoor Movie Night that followed our Thursday evening service during Vacation Bible School, and now here we are ready to enjoy our 2nd annual Outdoor Movie Night. Yet, a year ago is when I started imagining this year’s

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11th Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 14) (Year C - Lutheran Service Book Readings)Thursday, August 9, and Sunday, August 12, 2007We’re a chosen people. (sung)Repeat this after me.We’re a chosen people. (congregation repeats)We’re a royal priesthood. (congregation repeats)We’re a holy nation. (congregation repeats)That’s a little melody line that was used at the National Youth Gathering in

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