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2025-01-2319 min2024-11-1418 min2024-11-1413 min2024-11-1412 min2024-11-1400 min2024-11-1416 min2024-11-1416 min2024-11-1414 min2024-11-1414 min2024-11-1317 min2024-11-1314 min2024-11-1314 min2024-11-1313 min2024-11-1320 min2024-11-1324 min2024-07-1813 min2024-07-1810 min2024-07-1814 min2024-06-2011 min2024-06-2018 min2024-06-2015 min2024-06-2011 min2024-06-2011 min2024-05-0713 min2024-05-0720 min2024-05-0715 min2024-05-0719 min2024-05-0711 min2024-04-0312 min2024-04-0315 min2024-03-1414 min2024-03-1415 min2024-02-2915 min2024-02-2913 min2024-02-2914 min2024-02-2923 min2024-02-2915 minSimply GraceSermon 2024.01.21Rev. Wesley Menke The Bible really can be quite a puzzle sometimes to figure out. This morning we read from 1 Corinthians some unusual advice from St. Paul. He says that: “7:29 the appointed time has grown short; from now on, let even those who have wives be as though they had none” What does that mean exactly? Act as though you don’t have a wife? One of the reasons for the reformation was that Christians are human beings like anyone else, most won’t be monastics. Some fall in love, get married, have families…and…everything else. Hahaha. I think what it […]
2024-01-2515 min2024-01-1112 minSimply GraceSermon 12.31.2023In many ways the story of the Bible is the same story that we see unfolding in the news today. There is nothing new under the sun. It is the story of some people attempting to live in peace between competing tyrannical interests. How long until peace reigns when there is a cessation of weapons? We were talking about this at Bible Study this past Thursday, and it seemed to us that the likelihood of there being peace in the middle east is about the same as a virgin becoming pregnant and having a baby. We need a miracle. We […]
2024-01-1115 min2023-12-2811 min2023-12-2811 min2023-12-0615 min2023-11-3020 minSimply GraceSermon 2023.11.19The prophet Zepheniah warns us that neither silver nor their gold will be able to save us on the day of the Lord’s wrath. That if God was angry enough, he would make an end to all the inhabitants of the earth. Zephaniah 1:18 This is a sober warning indeed, which makes us think of our personal and communal vulnerability and mortality. This past Wednesday Jerry and I attended a webinar put on by the Shalom Hartman Institute to teach us an insider perspective of how Jewish people are feeling after the October 7 attack. Rabbi Tamar Elud Applebaum a […]
2023-11-3017 minSimply GraceSermon 2023.11.12 Let Justice Roll Down Like WaterRev. Wesley Menke 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18. For this we declare to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive who are left until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who have died. For the Lord himself with a cry of command with the archangels call and the sound of the trumpet, will descend from heaven , and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive who are left, will be caught up in the clouds together with them to meet the Lord in the air; and so […]
2023-11-1618 minSimply GraceSermon 2023.11.05 All Saints SundaySome people say that very soon Jesus is coming back to judge the Earth. Some people say that before he comes there will be a period of trials and tribulations on the Earth. Some people also say that those who have faith in Jesus will be spared from such trials, and will be taken away in a…rapture. LIES!!! Or as my sister likes to say, “Freshly baked LIES!” In the Bible and in ancient Roman culture there was a custom of sending a delegation out form a given city or town to receive a visiting dignitary or government official. That [
2023-11-0917 minSimply Grace“Reformation Sermon 2023”Sermon 2023.10.29 Happy Reformation Sunday! I took this opportunity to re-read Justo Gonzalez’ chapters on Martin Luther and the Reformation which helped give background to this sermon. A little over 500 years ago before he wrote the 95 theses Martin Luther was an unknown Augustinian monk. Even though he tried his hardest to be a good monk, he found that he feared and even had feelings of hatred toward God. Why? Because he feared that God would throw him into hell for not being good enough. Becoming a monk was supposed to relieve Luther of his fear of hell, but […]
2023-11-0118 minSimply Grace“Rest”Sermon 2023.10.22 Paul writes in 1 Thesselonians, “We always give thanks to God for all of you and mention you in our prayers, constantly.” When I look out and see your beautiful faces gathered together for worship I am so thankful for the tremendous sacrifice you make for your fellow human beings, creation, and God. And yet when I look out upon you I am also concerned because I know just how taxing it is to do the right thing and struggle for justice day in and day out. We are up against odds that are not in our favor. […]
2023-11-0110 minSimply GraceNo to WarSermon 2023.10.15 This parable, like the one last week, has been falsely interpreted to be God’s judgment against Judaism, Jerusalem, and the temple. There is sadly an anti-semitic tradition of misinterpreting scripture that needs to be named and dismissed. This is how it goes. The king that throws the wedding banquet is said to represent God, and the wedding banquet is said to be Holy Communion, the union of Jesus Christ to the church. The people who do not come to the feast who were originally invited, some say to be the Jewish people, who do not accept Jesus as […]
2023-11-0115 minSimply Grace“Survival Through Fellowship”2023.10.08 Sermon We are like vineyards, we will survive through collaboration and fellowship.
2023-11-0114 min2023-11-0120 minSimply GraceJonah, Mosul, & VineyardsSermon 2023.09.24 Wesley Menke Jonah was angry at God. Jonah was angry enough to die. Why? He was angry for two reasons. The first was that he wanted the city of Nineveh to be completely destroyed, but God did not destroy the city, because the people repented. Jonah hated the city and the people in it so much because he considered them to be his enemy. It was the capital of the Assyrian empire, and like all empires they expanded by killing and pillaging. They did this in Palestine and Israel. For a time Nineveh was the largest city in […]
2023-09-2714 minSimply GraceRational Mind, 4,900 times to fore-giveSermon 2023.09.17 One of my children was talking about baptism at school with his friend. He told his friend that God forgives all your sins when you are baptized. His friend asked him, “What if you kill 1,000 people?” So my son said, “Well…God will forgive you, but he also will give you a consequence.” Consider Genesis 50 and the death of Jacob. For better or worse Jacob was a patriarch who maintained a status quo. He was in some ways good, and in other ways not so good. He was kind of at the heart of a dysfunctional family. […]
2023-09-1916 minSimply GraceSupreme Importance of FellowshipSermon 2023.09.10 Rev. Wesley Menke Sometimes it is hard to go to sleep at night, and sometimes it is also hard to wake up in the morning. I remember not so long ago waking up on a particular day that I had a lot to do and I had some difficult things to do. I groaned and felt weighed down. I prayed to God to help me. I prayed for the strength to get up and I prayed that some of this burden would be lifted. After I asked all these things of God in prayer I paused for a […]
2023-09-1214 minSimply GraceNon-Violent IncarnationSermon 2023.09.03 Wesley Menke One of the really big challenges we have to deal with as Christians is the way our religion has valorized and spiritualized suffering. Jesus says that he must go to Jerusalem and undergo great suffering. Jesus goes on to say that anyone who wants to be his disciple must deny themself, take up their cross and follow him. Does Jesus valorize and spiritualize suffering? It has been the contribution of black liberation theologians like Delores Williams and James Cone to make the point that these texts have been misused to oppress and exploit black people. Once […]
2023-09-1216 min2023-09-1211 min2023-09-1221 minSimply GraceTheology of the CrossSermon 2023.07.23 I was listening to the radio this week and I heard a program about life after death. The person speaking had a near death experience and was telling how joyous and wonderful it was. Then I thought about the record breaking heat all over the planet, and the conflicts threatening life itself. If we are so sure that life after death is so much better, why bother living at all? St. Paul writes in Romans, “I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory about to be revealed to us. For […]
2023-09-1211 min2023-09-1216 min2023-09-1216 min2023-09-1212 min2023-09-1226 min2023-09-1217 minSimply GracePentecost and HomelessnessSermon 2023.05.28 Rev. Wesley Menke This past Tuesday I had the opportunity to participate in a ride along with Sheriff deputy Chris Carrico, who is a member of this church. […]
2023-06-0119 minSimply GraceAscension and Earth Jesus' Forever HomeSermon 2023.05.21 Rev. Wesley Menke Happy Sunday! We are more than halfway through May and it is beginning to feel more like summer. But this heat is nothing compared to […]
2023-06-0113 minSimply GraceSpiritual Orphans Spiritual FamilySermon 2023.05.14 So it’s Mother’s Day! Thank you to all the Mothers and Mother figures. Mothering is not easy. It’s a tremendous and difficult job. It is a job, perhaps […]
2023-05-1616 minSimply GraceLiving StoneSermon 2023.05.07 One of the things we do as followers of Jesus is talk to people about their health and illnesses. We do this because we seek to love our […]
2023-05-1015 minSimply GraceJesus the Good GateJesus is the good gate, the way of peace for leaders and shepherds to follow.
2023-05-0316 minSimply GraceEmaus - Easter 3In the story of the road to Emmaus we find two disciples walking along a road the same day of the resurrection. The resurrected Jesus begins to walk with them. […]
2023-04-2717 minSimply GraceEaster 2023 We Are JesusHappy Easter! Today we celebrate the eternal life of Jesus. About 2,000 years ago Jesus died on a cross on a Friday. Then on Sunday some of the disciples encountered […]
2023-04-2721 minSimply GraceGood Friday - TruthSermon Good Friday 2023.04.07 Wesley Menke John 18 & 19 Pilates asks Jesus, “What is truth?” Either Pilate doesn’t believe in the truth and is asking the question rhetorically; or […]
2023-04-2721 minSimply GraceMaundy Thursday Love Neighbor Like JesusSermon 2023.04.06 Maundy Thursday Jesus says that if one is clean, then they do not need to completely wash, but only the feet. Everyone was clean, apparently, except for one: […]
2023-04-2712 minSimply GracePassion Sunday - Undeserved SufferingPassion Sunday 2 April 2023 Wesley Menke On the cross Jesus said, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” What kind of a father would kill his own […]
2023-04-2716 minSimply GraceLazarus, Mary Magdalene?Sermon 2023.03.26 “How’s the church”? I get asked this question everywhere all the time all at once. “How’s the church?” And what do I say? I say that we are […]
2023-04-2722 minSimply GracePi Day Sermon Newton and Not SeeingWesley Menke March 19, 2023 Happy Pi Day! This past week was March 14. So let’s talk a little bit about science and math. In the time of Isaac Newton […]
2023-03-2115 min2023-03-0914 min2023-03-0931 minSimply GraceJohn 3:16 explainedJohn 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only son, so that whoever believes in him won’t perish but have eternal life.” Too bad this […]
2023-03-0816 min2023-03-0438 minSimply GraceIt's A Wonderful WorldSermon 2023.02.26 I’d like to say something about who Jesus was, by talking about things he did not do, and then thinking about the things he said. Jesus did not […]
2023-03-0112 min2023-02-2112 minSimply GraceOn DeuteronomySermon 2023.02.12 Deuteronomy 30:15-20 The reading from Deuteronomy 30 sounds very nice on the surface, but we should really pause and think about it. Because it appears to promise that […]
2023-02-1416 minSimply GraceSalt of the EarthThere’s this passage in our gospel today that is interesting. Jesus says, “You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled under foot by men.”
Some people would take this to mean that if a person doesn’t have faith in Jesus Christ, then they aren’t a full human, and can be treated as disposable. This was why the English, Portuguese, and Spanish Empires used the church and missionaries to sanitiz...
2023-02-0816 minSimply GraceSermon from Stephen Hale Jan 29, 2023Thank you for your sermon Stephen Hale and your service with Inalianable.
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2023-02-0218 min2023-02-0211 minSimply GraceThe Lamb of GodSermon 15 January 2023
Isaiah says that it is not enough to be individually saved, we must care for all the world. So we had better practice spending time together.
Psalm 40 says that any “god” that calls you to act against your conscience is a fake.
When we talk about God saving us from the miry clay, we are talking about leaving behind a way of life that is morally complicated and exhausting. When we talk about God lifting us up and putting us on a solid rock, and putting a song in our mouth, we a...
2023-02-0215 min
We're Getting a DogWesley Wants a Rhodesian RidgebackHello listeners,
In this week's episode, Wesley is covering the Rhodesian Ridgeback, one of the most popular breeds in the world for their loving loyalty and ardent guarding capabilities. This breed was recorded as recently as the 17th Century, but their history takes them centuries into the past, possibly millennia! We hope you enjoy this week's episode, and as always we thank you very much for listening. Have a good weekend!
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2022-09-0930 min
How We Do Digital MinistryPastor Wesley Menke - "Church Is A Social Network" | How We Do Digital Ministry Episode 05In the fifth episode of How We Do Digital Ministry, Pastor Wesley Menke from Grace Lutheran in Upland, California, talks through a few ways he and his team have made digital ministry easier for themselves and dreams up a better structure for the church and social media.
“I don’t know that the church is called to be a central structure for the Internet, but we can at least be a place that provides structure and a way of interacting online that is compassionate and caring and available to all.”
Listen to the full episode to hea...
2021-04-2626 min
#LiveMaasHot Topic: Advising LGBTQA Student-AthletesLoved the opportuinity to be able to sit on a panel with Craig McGill, Donna Menke, and Joe Davis. On the final day of the NACADA National Convention, we were able to share thoughts and insights into this Hot Topic! This is a must listen and a Must Share!
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