Sermon Audio

All sermons are now available to listen online!  Click on the links below.  In some browsers, the sermon will automatically start playing.  In other browsers, you will be prompted to Open or Save the file - click "Open", then after downloading, the sermon should automatically start playing in your default media player.  If you are having trouble accessing the sermons, contact us.

*All sermons by Rev. Oehler unless otherwise noted.

3.7.10 - Repenting of Repentance (Lent III), Rev. Dr. Scott Morschauser

2.28.10 - On the Third Day (Lent II)

2.21.10 - Lived There as an Alien (Lent I)

2.14.10 - Down from the Mountain

1.31.10 - Love Among the Ruins, Milt Fredericks

Sermon Archives

Pastor’s Corner

Rev. Phil Oehler

     The season of Lent in the Christian Church liturgical year begins on Ash Wednesday, which is February 17th this year. The observance of Ash Wednesday became widespread throughout Christendom during the 7th century to provide an opportunity for the worshiping community to prepare for Lent -- the period of spiritual reflection preparing for the joyful resurrection observance of Easter.  The Worship Sourcebook gives us this excellent explanation to the Lenten season of Christian worship:

The death and resurrection of Jesus Christ are at the heart of the Christian gospel, and Good Friday and Easter are two of the most significant celebrations of the Christian year. Lent is a season of preparation and repentance during which we anticipate Good Friday and Easter. Just as we carefully prepare for big events in our personal lives, such as a wedding or commencement, Lent invites us to make our hearts ready for remembering Jesus' passion and celebrating Jesus' resurrection.

The practice of a forty-day preparation period began in the Christian church during the third and fourth centuries. The number forty carries biblical significance based on the forty years Israel spent in the wilderness and Jesus' forty-day fast in the wilderness. The forty days of Lent begin on Ash Wednesday and continue through holy week, not counting Sundays (which are reserved for celebratory worship). In practice, many congregations choose to focus Sunday worship on the themes of repentance and renewal.

As a period of preparation, Lent has historically included the instruction of persons for baptism and profession of faith on Easter Sunday; the calling back of those who have become estranged from the church; and efforts by all Christians to deepen their piety, devotion, and readiness to mark the death and resurrection of their Savior. As such, the primary focus of the season is to explore and deepen a "baptismal spirituality" that centers on our union with Christ rather than to function only as an extended meditation on Christ's suffering and death.

Finally, it is traditional, at the beginning of this season, for ashes to be placed on the foreheads of the faithful as the worship leader recites the following words from Genesis: "Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return." In medieval times, it is recorded that a popular sign in public places read, "Remember you are dying." It was a reminder of the reality of death, but also, a reminder to live fully that day. Ash Wednesday serves as an opportunity to examine the kind of life we are leading. What is the quality of our lives? What is the quality of our actions, our thoughts, our relationships? It is my prayer that you might take these 40 days to evaluate your relationship with others and especially Jesus the Christ!