Pastor Mark's Short Papers

Can God Appoint Women to be Preachers or Elders?

by Mark Koonz on August 23, 2019
Can God appoint women to pastoral ministry or is it contrary to God's will at all times? These questions are part of a larger and controversial discussion in our time. This is only a brief examination, a bare outline, which touches on Galatians 3:26-29 (male and female are real gender distinctions but not ultimate in the church); 1st...
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Sermon on Giving to Caesar and Giving to God

by Mark Koonz on October 19, 2014
Emmanuel Lutheran Church, Walla Walla. Biblical Text: Matthew 22:15-22 Not too many years ago the Wall Street Journal hired financial and business experts to do an analysis of government...
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Sermon on the Man Kicked Out of the Party

by Mark Koonz on October 12, 2014
Emmanuel Lutheran Church, based on the biblical text of Matthew 22:1-14. When we hear a juicy story we like to hear all the relevant details. They add spice and help us keep track...
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Disciples in the Grip of Fear

by Mark Koonz on April 23, 2014
A mother whose son fell through the ice and drowned does not soon write a song. She does not smile sweetly at a surviving child when her soul is racked with grief. She may reach for her other...
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My Will be Done

by Mark Koonz with reference to Robert Passantino on April 2, 2014
My life is richer for having known Bob Passantino.* He understood people as well as arguments. When a woman became a Christian her husband mocked her and said she was stupid because “God cannot...
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The Cross and the Cosmic Conflict

by Mark Koonz offers summary of James S. Stewart with quote on March 31, 2014
There is a little book preachers should read every 5 to 10 years in order to ask, “Does my preaching content include the great doctrines of the biblical faith?” The man who wrote it was himself a...
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Dead or Alive - Telling the Difference

by Mark Koonz on October 31, 2011
“Alive at point A & Dead at point B—In Reverse” by Mark Koonz A few weeks after the death and resurrection of Jesus, Peter told a crowd in Jerusalem: “This Jesus God raised up,...
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Missionary Lessons

by Mark Koonz on October 31, 2011
Christian missionaries are people we think of as going far from home to teach other people about Jesus. Christians who stay 
at home think of them as people with a message for the “others,” but I...
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Anger is No Friend

by Mark Koonz on October 31, 2011
ANGER IS NO FRIEND – KISS IT GOODBYE Every person has spiritual battles. For many their primary battle is with intense anger. Anger enters our lives through many doors. How long...
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Should Small Children Be Baptized?

by Mark Koonz on August 10, 2011
Should Children be Baptized? Seven Reasons to Practice Infant Baptism listed by Michael Green. These reasons are taken largely from Michael Green’s book “Baptism: Its Purpose, Practice, and...
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