Rogness On Tap

The Purification of Mary and the Presentation of our Lord Luke 2:22-40 +++Note, this sermon was preached for the Divine Service prior to the 2021 March for Life. Due to restrictions, participants of this Divine Service were not able to march in Washington, DC.+++ Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. What was Simeon waiting for? He was waiting for the consolation of Israel; the comfort and peace that was promised to come not only to the prophets of old, but to all of Israel.   However, waiting for peace to arrive today is often more a discipline of patience seen as a futile exercise of the mind and the heart. We want peace in our world, yet, we are divided by political parties and opposing ideologies. We want peace within our communities, yet, streets have been overtaken by mobs who wish to strong arm their will by force. We want peace among our families, yet, we argue among one another - displaying little empathy. We want peace in the womb, yet 62

January 17, 2021 John 2:1-111 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. Where is your faith? We must ask this question of ourselves routinely, even daily. We ask this question for good reason, because where the object of one’s faith is, there also will the heart reside.   If you thought the turn of the calendar would usher in a better year or that the year 2021 could not be worse than the previous year - your televisions, the news you read and consume, the twitter scrolls after dark reveal a very different story. Mobs storming the nation’s Capitol, National Guard patrolling the streets and calling the Capitol home, winds of impeachment swirling before inauguration, and questions of a peaceful transition of power ringing in the minds of citizens. (Isn’t it great living in the D.C. area?) While you’d like to believe these events affect only the people you do not know, you quickly realize the happenings of this world affect all of your families, the