Title: ELCA's 'Grace Matters' Host to Preach on 'Day 1' Radio Program ELCA NEWS SERVICE
September 6, 2006
ELCA's 'Grace Matters' Host to Preach on 'Day 1' Radio Program 06-136-JB
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Rev. Peter W. Marty, host of "Grace Matters," the radio ministry of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), is the featured speaker Sept. 10 and 17 on "Day 1," the nationally broadcast award-winning radio program. The program also includes a brief interview with the speaker.
Marty, senior pastor at St. Paul Lutheran Church, an ELCA congregation in Davenport, Iowa, will preach on texts from the Gospel of Mark.
On Sept. 10 Marty will preach a sermon, "It's Time We Open Up!" based on the story in Mark 7:31-37 of Jesus curing a deaf man. Marty focuses his sermon on "spiritual faith."
"How is our Lord going to get all of us to open up our lives a bit more freely?" Marty asks. "It's going to take a huge spiritual miracle in each one of us if we're going to shed the different spiritual captivities in which we live. But, we have to begin to find better ways to live as if God matters."
"We need to release the ligament that is holding back our tongues from speaking more joyously of God. The world is going to ignore the church and the people inside if we cannot find anything important to say about this faith we cherish," he said.
On Sept. 17 Marty will preach a sermon, "Christ and Everything Else Thrown In," based on Mark 8:27-38, St. Peter's declaration that Jesus is the Messiah.
"The whole question of who is willing to follow Jesus Christ is pretty much the defining question of Christianity," Marty says. "The question becomes: 'What does it actually mean to follow Jesus, especially in modern times? Or in middle or upper middle class North America?'"
"If you're going to take the words of Jesus seriously, those ones about 'losing your life for his sake' and 'denying yourself' ... well, what's your life going to look like?" Marty continued. "Christianity is not about solving problems or making life easier. If anything, following Jesus is going to complicate your life and unmistakably so."
Marty graduated from Colorado College, Colorado Springs, and Yale Divinity School, New Haven, Conn., with honors. He was the 1979 recipient of an honors fellowship in history for study at Oxford University. Prior to studies at Yale, Marty lived in Cameroon, West Africa, for one and a half years, serving as the director of building for a mission outpost of the Lutheran church.
He served as pastor of congregations in Kansas City, Mo., and River Forest, Ill., before he arrived in Davenport in 1996. He began his broadcast ministry as host of "Grace Matters" in February 2005.
Marty has served on a number of hospital, college, foundation and community boards. Presently he is on the board of trustees for Augustana College, Rock Island, Ill., and "The Christian Century" magazine.
Formerly known as "The Protestant Hour," "Day 1" has been broadcast every week for 61 years, winning numerous awards in the process, including the George Foster Peabody Award and the 2003 Crystal Award for Excellence in inspirational radio. It is produced by the Alliance for Christian Media in association with the ELCA, Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, Episcopal Church, United Methodist Church, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and United Church of Christ. A television version is also broadcast Sunday mornings on the Hallmark Channel's "Naomi's New Morning" series.
"Day 1" airs on 169 radio stations each week in the United States, Canada, the Caribbean and Nigeria. It is also available by streaming audio and podcast.
The executive producer and host for "Day 1" is Peter Wallace.
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Information about "Day 1" is at http://www.day1.net and information about "Grace Matters" is at http://www.gracematters.org/ on the Web.
For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or news@elca.org http://www.elca.org/news ELCA News Blog: http://www.elca.org/news/blog