St. Peter's Beards Lutheran Church

06/02/2026

Sermon for May 31, 2026
Holy Trinity Sunday
Genesis 1:1- 2:4a, Psalm 8, 2 Corinthians 13:11-13, 5:6-11, Matthew 28:16-20

In two out of the four gospels, Jesus meets up with his remaining disciples in Galilee following his resurrection. It is in the gospels of Mark and Luke that Jesus ascends into heaven without returning to Galilee first. Our gospel reading this morning from Matthew has Jesus meeting up with his disciples on a mountain in Galilee.
In Matthew’s account of the resurrection, Mary Magdalene and another Mary go to the tomb on the first day of the week, and as they go, an earthquake strikes, and an angle of the Lord descends from heaven, rolls back the stone, and then sits on it. The mighty Roman guards begin shaking and become like dead men, while the women stand there and listen to the words of the angel. Maybe they’re too scared to run, as well.
The angel tells the women that Jesus has been raised, shows them the place where he had lain, then tells them to go quickly and tell the disciples that he is going ahead of them to Galilee and will see them there. As they turn to leave, they encounter Jesus himself, who, like the angel tells them to go and tell the disciples that has been raised, and that they are to go to Galilee, and he will see them there. It seems only fitting that they should meet up with the risen Jesus in Galilee. After all, Galilee is where their journey with Jesus started, and it is where that journey will come to its end.
So, as Jesus has instructed them, the disciples go to Galilee, to a particular mountain, which is unidentified, that Jesus has instructed them to go to. It is there that they meet up with the risen Jesus, and it is there that they worship him. Now we shouldn’t be too surprised at this, after all, it isn’t every day that one encounters someone who has been raised from the dead, especially someone who is believed to be the long-awaited Messiah of God.
It is what comes next that is surprising, or perhaps it shouldn’t be. Our Celebrate insert reads as follows: “When they saw him, they worshipped him, but they doubted.” My NRSV Bible reads, “When they saw him, they worshipped him, but some doubted.” Which one seems more likely to you, “they worshipped him, but they doubted,” or “they worshipped him, but some doubted?”
It really could be either one, but I tend to lean on the latter, and here’s why. I know it’s a different gospel, but isn’t there someone missing when Jesus first appears to the disciples? That’s right, Thoms is not there when Jesus appears, and he does not believe that Jesus has actually been raised. It isn’t until the following week when Jesus appears a second time and Thomas sees him that he actually comes to believe.
But isn’t it possible that Thomas, and perhaps some others, still have their doubts? After all, the disciples are not perfect people, as they show time and time again, so such a thing wouldn’t be completely out of character for them. And we’re not that different; even though we are people of faith, don’t we sometimes have some doubts?
Regardless of their doubts, which Jesus already knows about, Jesus has some very important and specific instructions for them, which he also knows they will follow. “All authority on heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
Jesus wants the disciples to know that, doubting or not, he is in charge and expects them to obey these instructions, and he expects them to teach others to obey the things that Jesus has taught them. These instructions don’t just apply to the Jewish nation, but to all nations, for Jesus is not just the King of the Jews, he is the Lord of all nations and all people.
It’s pretty obvious that the disciples actually did what Jesus commanded them to do, otherwise we wouldn’t be here this morning worshipping the triune God: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Jesus commanded the disciples to go and make disciples of all nations, and that command remains for us today: Go, and make disciples. Amen.

05/25/2026

Everyone is welcome to attend the Free event!! Please join us so we can be educated and protect ourselves, neighbors, and the community together.

05/17/2026

Sermon for May 17, 2026
The Seventh Sunday of Easter
Acts 1:6-14, Psalm 68:1-10, 32-35, 1 Peter 4:12-14, 5:6-11, John 17:1-11

It doesn’t seem possible, but here we are in mid-May of 2026, and next Sunday is Pentecost Sunday. It seems like we’ve just finished Lent and celebrated Easter, but today is the last Sunday of this year’s Easter season. Since Easter, a group of us has been looking at what took place following Jesus’ resurrection, as each gospel writer tells the story a bit differently. For those of you who have been part of the study, this sermon is going to be a bit of a review for you, but there’s not going to be a test.
Matthew’s Jesus meets up with the disciples on a mountain in Galilee, where Jesus gives the disciples their final marching orders, then ascends into heaven. We’re not sure exactly how long this is after the resurrection, because Matthew doesn’t tell us.
In Mark’s gospel, the original ending of Mark ends with the women leaving the tomb without telling anyone. In the longer ending, Jesus appears to Mary Magdalene, then to two disciples as they were walking into the country, then to the eleven, before ascending into heaven.
Luke’s gospel, which is the first part of the combination of Luke and Acts, has Jesus making several appearances. The first is to two disciples on the road to Emmaus, then to the other disciples, including the two who have returned from Emmaus. Interestingly, Jesus asks for food and eats a piece of broiled fish as he’s talking to them, seemingly to prove that he’s not a ghost. After all this, he ascends into heaven, all this seemingly having taken place on the day of his resurrection.
Now, the gospel of John is a bit different that the other three gospels, which are known as the Synoptic Gospels due to their similarities. In John’s gospel Jesus appears first to Mary Magdalene, then later to the other disciples. It is in John’s gospel that Thoms is not with the disciples when Jesus first appears, and so he refuses to believe their story. It is a week later when Jesus appears again, and this time Thomas is present and believes that Jesus has indeed been raised. Unlike the other gospels, John adds another chapter to the story, having Jesus meet up with the disciples in Galilee, where they are fishing. He shares breakfast with them, then has conversations with both Peter and then John, who refers to himself as the disciple whom Jesus loved, and who wrote the gospel. Interestingly, John’s gospel never does mention Jesus ascending into heaven.
As you can see, each gospel writer tells the story a bit differently, but there is yet another account, this one again from Luke, and it is found at the beginning of Acts. As I said earlier, the author of Luke, who has traditionally been identified as Luke the Evangelist, a physician who was a traveling companion of the Apostle Paul, is believed to have also written The Acts of the Apostles, so scholars refer to the two books as Luke-Acts.
Today’s first reading gives us another version of Jesus’ ascension into heaven, this one from Acts. Jesus’ disciples have come together with him at the mount called Olivet. Although Acts indicates that Jesus ascended into heaven from the Mount called Olivet, or the Mount of Olives, Matthew, Mark, and Luke all seem to indicate that Jesus ascended into heaven from Galilee. On my Holy Land trip, we visited the place on the Mount of Olives that some believe is the place where Jesus ascended into heaven, and there is a footprint in the rock that is supposedly Jesus’ footprint. Whenever we visited one of these traditional sites, they would say to us, “This is where we believe this took place,” or “We believe that it could have taken place here.” In this case there is a footprint in the rock, and if that is indeed the footprint of Jesus, he was either small of stature or had small feet. I have the picture I took, so I’ll let you make up your own mind about that.
Anyway, after Jesus ascended into heaven, the disciples returned to Jerusalem to the room where they were staying, and constantly devoted themselves to prayer. Those listed included the eleven remaining disciples, together with certain women, including Mary the mother of Jesus, as well as his brothers. These folks are the foundation of the early church, and it is these folks who will be clothed with power from on high, enabling them to do the work that Jesus has called them to do.
Although each of the accounts of Jesus, resurrection and ascension into heaven differs somewhat, the important thing for us to remember is that Jesus died on that cross for our sins and for the sins of the whole world. After Jesus was buried, he was raised from the dead and ascended into heaven where he now sits at the right hand of God. Though our faith that these things are true, we are promised the forgiveness of our sins and new life, eternal life in Jesus. Although we sometimes tend to get hung up on little details, the important thing is that this is all true, and because it is true, we can trust in Jesus and the promises he has made to us and to all people. Thanks be to God. Amen.

05/10/2026

05/10/2026

Celebrating Mother's Day with the ladies and gentlemen at church today with a special Tea. If you have pics please add them in the comments section.