"From" -- Sermon from June 22, 2024

Bethlehem Lutheran Church Podcast

“Where are you from?” Pastor Chad was asked this many times while accompanying the Sr High Service Learning Trip to the Boston area recently; it seems his Midwestern accent was a giveaway he wasn’t from “The Home of Dunkin’.” Pastor Chad encourages us to look deeper into the question “Where are you from?” beyond where you live or where you were born to what makes you who you are as a person. Our focus text this week, tries to answer this question for Jesus through a genealogy. This long list of hard to pronounce names is meant to show how God’s story of salvation has unfolded across the generations including some unlikely characters: women, foreigners, and those with a scandalous backstory. Where are we from? We are from a faith tradition that expresses the love, mercy, grace, and compassion of a God who is with those outside the circles of power & influence.