Welcome to St. Mark’s Lutheran Church in Charlotte, North Carolina. St. Mark’s is an historic congregation of the ELCA that unconditionally welcomes all people of all ethnicities, genders, identities and backgrounds. Please join us for worship on Sundays at 8:30 or 10:30 am with inspiring music and talented musicians as we gather to grow together […]
September 14, 2025, Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost
The grumbling of the religious leaders in today’s gospel is actually our holy hope: This Jesus welcomes sinners and eats with them. That our God seeks and saves the lost is not only a holy hope, it is a living reality in Jesus. As the writer of 1 Timothy reminds us, “The saying is sure […]
View the Sermon (PDF)September 7, 2025, Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost
Today’s readings call us to follow the path that leads to life and to serve God all of our days. Like Philemon, we are to welcome those whom we have oppressed or mistreated as sisters and brothers. The basis for our lives as disciples is stated by Jesus: “Whoever does not carry the cross and […]
View the Sermon (PDF)August 31, 2025, Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost
Invited and inviting—that is the nature of the church. By God’s grace in holy baptism we have a place at Christ’s banquet table. When, by the power of that same Spirit, humility and mutual love continue among us, the church can be more inviting still.
View the Sermon (PDF)August 24, 2025, Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost
Remember the sabbath day. Call the sabbath a delight. This is the Lord’s day, and the Lord will do for us what the Lord does: feed us, forgive us, help and heal us. Rejoice at all the wonderful things God is doing.
View the Sermon (PDF)August 17, 2025, Tenth Sunday after Pentecost
Jesus is the great divide in human history who invites our undivided attention and devotion. Surrounded by a great “cloud of witnesses” who by faith were made strong in weakness, we also run with perseverance the race that is set before us, always looking to Jesus, “the pioneer and perfecter of faith.” His word is […]
View the Sermon (PDF)August 10, 2025, Ninth Sunday after Pentecost
Paul writes, “faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” Faith always watches, trusts and stands ready for signs of the kingdom in us and in this world. Abraham believed the Lord, and the Lord reckoned it to him as righteousness, and so Abraham and Sarah died seeing God’s […]
View the Sermon (PDF)August 3, 2025, Eighth Sunday after Pentecost
Today’s reading from Ecclesiastes reminds us of the vanity and emptiness of the world’s riches, and Jesus urges us to take care and be on guard against greed and living for wealth. Paul encourages us to set our minds on things that are above, for we have died to sin and been raised with Christ. […]
View the Sermon (PDF)July 27, 2025, Seventh Sunday after Pentecost
Today’s readings remind us to be persistent in prayer. Abraham modeled persistence in prayer, asking God to be merciful to Sodom, and Jesus taught his disciples to pray, modeling a life of persistent conversation with God. To follow Christ is to ask, search, and knock in prayer. God hears and answers prayer, strengthening and changing […]
View the Sermon (PDF)July 20, 2525, Sixth Sunday after Pentecost
Jesus reminds us that we are “worried and distracted by many things.” Amid life’s busyness, Mary’s example reminds us to spend time with Jesus in prayer, because as Paul writes, “in him all things hold together.” Jesus is the “mystery hidden throughout the ages” who has been revealed so that we might see anew Jesus […]
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