FIRST READING Ezekiel 17:22-24 Tree imagery is used in a messianic prophecy to tell how the Lord will choose someone from Judah’s royal family (the cedar tree) to reign over all creation. This tree will be planted on Mount Zion, the location of the holy temple. 22Thus says the Lord God: I myself will take a sprig from the lofty top…
3900 Winnetka Avenue N., New Hope, MN 55427
3900 Winnetka Avenue N., New Hope, MN 55427
Sermons by Rev. Ashley Updegraff
FIRST READING Genesis 3:8-15 Immediately after Adam and Eve eat the forbidden fruit, they hide from God. Neither takes responsibility for their sin, instead blaming each other, the snake, and even God. The curse on the snake was understood as a messianic prophecy by the early church, who associated Eve’s “offspring” with Christ. 8 They heard the sound of the Lord God…
FIRST READING Acts 1:15-17, 21-26 In the days between Jesus’ ascension and Pentecost, Peter oversees the process whereby one of the members of the community of believers is chosen to be the twelfth apostle, in order to fill the vacancy created by Judas’ treachery and death. 15In those days Peter stood up among the believers (together the crowd numbered about one…
FIRST READING Acts 8:26-40 Led by the Spirit, Philip encounters an Ethiopian official who is returning to his African home after having been to Jerusalem to worship. Philip uses their encounter to proclaim the gospel to him. Upon coming to faith in Jesus, he is baptized by Philip. 26Then an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Get up and go…
FIRST READING Acts 3:12-19 After healing a man unable to walk, Peter preaches to the people, describing how God’s promises to Israel have been fulfilled in Jesus. Through the proclamation of Christ’s death and resurrection, God is offering them forgiveness and restoration in Jesus’ name. 12When Peter saw it, he addressed the people, “You Israelites, why do you wonder…
FIRST READING Isaiah 50:4-9a The image of the servant of God is one of the notable motifs in the book of Isaiah. Today’s reading describes the mission of the servant, whom early Christians associated with Jesus. Like Jesus, the servant does not strike back at his detractors but trusts in God’s steadfast love. 4The Lord God has given me the tongue…
FIRST READING Numbers 21:4-9 Though God provides food and water for the Israelites in the wilderness, they whine and grumble. They forget about the salvation they experienced in the exodus. God punishes them for their sin, but when they repent God also provides a means of healing: a bronze serpent lifted up on a pole. 4From Mount Hor they set…
FIRST READING Genesis 17:1-7, 15-16 1When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to Abram, and said to him, “I am God Almighty, walk before me, and be blameless. 2 And I will make my covenant between me and you, and will make you exceedingly numerous.” 3 Then Abram fell on his face; and God said to him, 4 “As for me, this is my covenant with you: You…
FIRST READING Isaiah 40:21-31 The Judeans in exile have a good reason to be hopeful: the one who will bring them to freedom is the God who created the world, the God who subdues the rulers of the earth and gives strength to those who are weary. 21 Have you not known? Have you not heard? Has it not been told you…
FIRST READING Jonah 3:1-5, 10 The book of Jonah is a comedy starring a reluctant prophet who is given a one-sentence message: Nineveh will be destroyed in forty days. Much to Jonah’s dismay, the people of Nineveh repent. The point of the story is to get the reader to wrestle with the question “On whom should God have mercy?”…