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Summer 2019 Heat Respite

At Grace, we are called by God to be in the city for good! For those interested in volunteering this summer, we invite you to attend the orientation held in the North Room of Hope Hall on June 9th from 11:30a.m. - 1:30 p.m. Lunch will be served. Please RSVP at ​outreach@graceinthecity.com or call Clottee Hammons at 602-817-8996 if you plan to attend. View PDF flyer.

Summer 2019 Heat Respite
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Sermon: 5/19/19

At the center of our religion, love. What heals us, love. What heals our communities, love. Also, the stated motive of most religious people, regardless of actual outcomes, love. I agree with the Beatles: “All you need is love.”

Sermon: 5/19/19
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Grace Vine: January 2019

Click here to read our Grace Vine newsletter, available in PDF.

Grace Vine: January 2019
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Sermon: 12/16/18

As we expectantly wait for Christmas, one persona dominates the church world, another persona our culture at large. These two prominent figures both speak of how we should act, what we should do—and the consequences if we do not. The persona of our culture at large? Who can we find everywhere at malls and on cards and sung about in songs during the month of December? Santa Claus.

How about the persona of the church world? Who is it who dominates our Advent stories? Right. John the Baptist.

Sermon: 12/16/18

Sermon: 3/31/19

Sermon: 3/31/19

In today’s gospel, Jesus tells a story, a parable about two sons. One wildly extravagant and grateful. The other steady, reliable, and bitter. The father loves both sons, gives generously to both, shows extravagant grace to both. The father runs to greet his younger son and rejoices and throws a party after that son has wasted wealth and endured hunger and received no care from strangers. The father shares all he has with his older son, goes to find his bitter, envious son, and invites him to the party.

Sermon: 3/24/19

Sermon: 3/24/19

In today’s gospel, someone in the crowd following Jesus tells him about how Pilate murdered Galileans and mixed their blood with blood used for non-Jewish sacrifice. Jesus asks: Do you think that because these Galileans suffered in this way they were worse sinners than all other Galileans? Jesus then recalls how the tower of Siloam fell and killed eighteen people beneath it. He asks: do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others living in Jerusalem? No. The answer to both of these questions, no. Were these murdered people worse sinners than others? No. Were they killed because of their actions, because of their morals, because of their choices? No.

Phew! Thanks be to God! End of sermon.

Sermon: 3/10/19

Sermon: 3/10/19

I wrestled with the Bible this week. Each year on the first Sunday in Lent, we read the story of Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness, and I have always had more questions than answers. Does God allow the devil to tempt us? Is this story calling us to resist temptation? Why would the Holy Spirit lead Jesus into the wilderness? Is the devil affirming Jesus’ identity as Son of God, or is he questioning that identity? What exactly is the devil? This week, I added some questions because of a new, seemingly obvious insight: this story is about Jesus.

Sermon: 3/3/19

Sermon: 3/3/19

Probably for the last year, I’ve slowly been reading a book by public theologian Rob Bell entitled What We Talk About When We Talk About God. Among many other helpful insights, he illustrates in the book how we as people of faith came to create religion, in particular the Christian religion on the heels of the Jewish religion. Please understand, he describes the creation of religion, not God. He describes the slow progression of designating some places, some objects, some people as sacred, set apart from the mundane and ordinary.

Vigil for Parkland on February 14th

An invitation from March for Our Lives, Arizona:

March For Our Lives Arizona invites you to join us on February 14th, 2019 to commemorate the one-year anniversary since the Parkland shooting. A year ago on this date, 17 students and teachers were mindlessly killed in their high school classrooms. On the 14th we will mourn those lost and honor those still here. The vigil will be held from 6:30 - 8:00 pm at Madison Meadows Middle School, 225 W Ocotillo Rd, Phoenix, AZ 85013. We thank you for your support and attendance on the 14th.

Arizona Faith Network

Sermon: 2/1/19

Sermon: 2/1/19

On the bookcase in my office is taped a piece of six year old scratch paper with a quote from Renee the second year she served as treasurer of Grace. “We can never adequately plan for how good God is to us,” she said. That January, our revenue exceeded our expenses for the first time in such a long time that no one could remember the last time we had balanced the books at Grace. I recall the moment I skimmed the year-end financials just sent to us by our then-bookkeeper Louise. As one of the fiscally responsible agents of Grace Lutheran Church, I honestly open financial statements with a certain amount of dread. But my expectations were dashed when, at the bottom of the page, the number appeared not in a parenthesis meaning in the red, in the negative, but right there by itself indicating we were in the black. I got up from my desk and rushed to asked Stephanie sitting at her desk in the outer office: Is this right? I think we balanced the budget! This is actually a miracle!

Sermon: 1/3/19

Sermon: 1/3/19

Contrary to popular understanding, prophets of the Old Testament tell the truth, not the future, the truth.  And they tell the truth not just according to them but the truth according to God. Being a prophet is a hard job because, generally, people are not fond of the truth according to God.  And for that reason, prophets of the Old Testament try to get out of the prophet gig.

Sermon: January 27, 2019

Sermon: January 27, 2019

Today, at the very start of his public ministry, Jesus declares his mission, declares his mission statement, if you will.  And a very fitting mission statement it is from the 61st chapter of Isaiah: to bring good news to the poor, to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor, that is, the year of Jubilee.

Sermon: January 20, 2019

Sermon: January 20, 2019

We’ve probably all been there—anxious about how something for which we are responsible will turn out, anxious about being accepted, anxious about meeting the expectations of the people we love or the world at large. Whether we’re trying to succeed at our job, raise a child, be independent and make our own way in the world, take a test, be a good person, or even just throw a party, most of us know the feeling of apprehension, know the questioning: Will this be good enough? Am I good enough?

Sermon: 12/16/18

Sermon: 12/16/18

As we expectantly wait for Christmas, one persona dominates the church world, another persona our culture at large. These two prominent figures both speak of how we should act, what we should do—and the consequences if we do not. The persona of our culture at large? Who can we find everywhere at malls and on cards and sung about in songs during the month of December? Santa Claus.

How about the persona of the church world? Who is it who dominates our Advent stories? Right. John the Baptist.

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