Rev. Michael Holmen's Sermons

 Audio recordingSermon manuscript:“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Our Gospel reading last week, our Gospel reading this week, and the reading that you will hear next week, is all from the same section. It is from when Jesus sent out his 12 apostles. He told them what they were supposed to do. They should tell people that the kingdom of heaven had drawn near. The kingdom of heaven has at its core the word kingdom. With kingdoms there is reigning and ruling. So with the kingdom of heaven drawing near that is another way of saying that the reigning and ruling of God is near. That could be good news or bad news depending on what you think of the reigning and ruling of God. If you want God to come and rule over everything, then that message is good news. If you don’t want God and his ways to be uppermost, then this would be like hearing that a very powerful enemy was coming to get you. This message that the apostles were given to preach was not unprecedented. It is very similar to the mes