A list of the books I’ve written and various articles and chapters that have been published.
Thy Kingdom Come July 30, 2017 Romans 8:26-39 George Martin Lutheran Church of the Cross, Nisswa MN I’m going to be asking us to consider what it means when we say in the Lord’s Prayer the phrase “Thy kingdom come.” What are we asking for? The gospel for the day had five little parables —all of which Jesus said embodied the Kingdom of Heaven. So it is in that prayer the Lord taught his disciples is the petition…
Irresponsible Farming Matthew 13:1-9 Sermon for July 16, 2017 George Martin The Lutheran Church of the Cross, Nisswa MN If you walk out the north door of our church, on the other side of parking lot, there is a solar panel, and behind it there is a fenced-in community garden. The framed in plots of soil are lush with all kinds of vegetables and a few flowers. Had you walked out there in May you would have seen some of…
Ministry Failure Matthew 11:16-19 Sermon for July 9, 2017 Lutheran Church of the Cross, Nisswa George Martin For those of you who are guests or new to the Lutheran Church of the Cross, a year ago, just as July began, those of us who were members here, had a letter from Pastor Andy Smith that his last Sunday would be on August 14th. He had decided to seek a call to serve a church in the Twin Cities where his…
Happy Birthday! Church! Pentecost Sunday— June 4, 2017 Lutheran Church of the Cross, Nisswa MN George Martin Last Friday morning Caroline and I headed off for breakfast with Linda and Paul Schelin. We have a birthday club and that day actually was Linda’s birthday. We were meeting at the the Longfellow Grill on West River Parkway in Minneapolis which is next to the Mississippi river. I turned on the GPS and followed it, until, until, until I thought it was…
Watch—Wait—Witness Sermon for 7 Easter—May 25, 2017 Lutheran Church of the Cross, Nisswa MN George H. Martin Three words: Watch, Wait, and Witness. All coming from our lesson from the first chapter of the Book of Acts. Watch: Why do you disciples keep starring into the heavens? That’s the question two angels ask the disciples who just saw Jesus ascend and disappear into the sky above them. What’s behind that question? I think it’s a fairly simple answer. We need…
God in the Dock April 14, 2017 Good Friday George Martin Lutheran Church of the Cross, Nisswa MN (Please note: This is the 3rd in a Sermon Series that began with Good Friday, and then Holy Saturday. All were indebted to the work of Alan E. Lewis (Between Cross and Resurrection) and Hans vonBalthasar (Mysterium Pascale). The main theme is that whenever the story mentions “Jesus” we should immediately conclude that this “the story of God”!) We speak of…
God in the Grave: Easter Saturday Sermon April 15, 2017 Lutheran Church of the Cross, Nisswa MN George Martin (Please note: This is the 3rd in a Sermon Series that began with Good Friday, and then Holy Saturday. All were indebted to the work of Alan E. Lewis (Between Cross and Resurrection) and Hans vonBalthasar (Mysterium Pascale). The main theme is that whenever the story mentions “Jesus” we should immediately conclude that this “the story of God”!) I attended…
God in Time Easter Sermon April 16, 2017 George Martin Lutheran Church of the Cross, Nisswa MN (Please note: This is the 3rd in a Sermon Series that began with Good Friday, and then Holy Saturday. All were indebted to the work of Alan E. Lewis (Between Cross and Resurrection) and Hans vonBalthsar (Mysterium Pascale). The main theme is that whenever the story mentions “Jesus” we should immediately conclude that this “the story of God”!) It’s highly likely that the…
The Insider Problem Sermon for Lent 3A March 26, 2017 George Martin Lutheran Church of the Cross, Nisswa MN I confess that I am and have often been an insider. Now what does that mean? Well, when I went to grade school in Toledo, Ohio in the late 1940s and through the 1950s all of my classmates were looked just like me. The only person of color who I ever saw on a regular basis was my mother’s cleaning lady….
God’s Persistence Sermon for Lent 3, March 19, 2017 Based on John 4:1-41 George Martin Lutheran Church of the Cross We pastors can sometimes be very hard to understand. God knows all too well the times I’ve failed in the pulpit. I‘ve always loved the story of the Scottish pastor of whom it was said that he was invisible on six days of the week, and incomprehensible on the 7th. Today’s sermon is light on theology. It’s story. In particular…