Sermons Out of Rural Ministry
Dynamic, contextual sermons from Pastor Josh Ehrler, who serves a small town ELCA Lutheran congregation in Northern Illinois. Sermons are rooted in scripture and reflect the local community, as well as the movements of the wider world. He and his congregation are affirming of LGBTQ+ personhood and live out their baptismal promise to seek (racial, economic, identity, environmental) justice and peace.
Sermons Out of Rural Ministry
The Spirit on the Other Side - Pentecost 2019
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Pastor Josh Ehrler
If there is an "us," there is always a "them." How do we see our neighbors who seem to be standing across the street? Saint Paul is wrestling with this idea of duality-that there can only be two sides and one must always rise to the top-in his letter to the Romans. Two groups have placed themselves at the center of the conversation and are trying to push the other out. Because a spirit of fear says, there is not enough God to go around. God cannot possibly love everyone equally. How does our spirit of fear drive us from each other and those who live/worship/spend/exist in their skin/are born across a border different for our known reality?