Entries by Pastor Monte

Hope for the Hopeless

Proper 19C-22 Immanuel Lutheran, Chicago When they were little, I sang to my kids at bedtime. Always the same three hymns, “Silent Night,” “Spirit of Gentleness,” and “Amazing Grace.” I wondered, did the words and images seem odd to them? Dad, what’s a round, yon virgin? Or a Spirit of restlessness? What dangers, toils, and […]

Living Stones

Proper 18C-22 Immanuel Lutheran, Chicago Clarence Jordan was the author of the “Cotton Patch” translation of the New Testament, and founder of the inter-racial Koinonia farm in Americus, Georgia.  As he tells it, one day, he was getting the red-carpet tour of another pastor’s church.  The pastor pointed out the rich, imported pews and luxurious […]

Dreaming Dreams

Sermon, Fifth Sunday of Easter Immanuel Lutheran Chicago May 15, 2022 Easter 5C-22 Dreaming Dreams Peter saw a vision in a trance (Acts 11:5).  John “saw a new heaven and a new earth” (Revelation 21:1).  Jesus gave the disciples a new commandment, that they should ‘love one another as he had loved them’ (John 13:34).  […]