The Fourth Sunday after Pentecost - June 21, 2026 (Slides)
The M3 (Monday Morning Mail)
The Fifth Sunday after Pentecost - June 28, 2026
Focus
The main point of yesterday’s sermon is to keep our focus on Jesus. Jesus tells us to take up our cross and follow him, dying to our selfish needs and emulating what he does: giving ourselves to the people in our lives. Such singular focus will, undoubtedly, raise objections from those closest to us who demand our attention. Jesus has zeroed in on us to save us. We zero in on him to follow him, loving God the Father by the power of the Holy Spirit and loving our neighbors as ourselves.
The first images recognize the challenge of “tuning into” Jesus. Too often our attention “scatters” like the light of the sun passing through the earth’s atmosphere. The words of Mr. Miyagi from Karate Kid come to mind, “Focus, Daniel San!” Similarly, President Bush’s famous words of “Thousand points of light coming together,” help capture the idea of focusing.
We are called to focus on Jesus in our vocations: home, church, community, and work. Distractions abound and most of us do a bad job. Forgive us, Lord! The ancient, relevant words of Satan still fall sweetly on our ears, “Did God really say?” So, we doubt the Scriptures and the confession they lead us to say about Jesus! Jesus ever so quickly falls out of focus in our home, church, community, and work lives.
Yet, Jesus still focuses on us! He shows us precisely how we are to live out this focus on him with his words to his Mother Mary and his apostle, John. "When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son!” 27 Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home” (John 19:26–27). Completely focused on his mission, Jesus still cares for his mother and dear friend. Let us focus similarly!