Stan Mast was the Minister of Preaching at the LaGrave Avenue Christian Reformed Church in downtown Grand Rapids, MI for 22 years. He graduated from Calvin Theological Seminary in 1971 and served four churches in the West and Midwest regions of the United States. He also served a 3 year stint as Coordinator of Field Education at Calvin Seminary. He has earned a BA degree from Calvin College and a Bachelor of Divinity and a Master of Theology from Calvin and a Doctor of Ministry from Denver Seminary. He is happily married to Sharon, and they have two sons and four grandchildren. Stan is a voracious reader and works out regularly. He also calls himself a car nut and an “avid, but average” golfer.
Stan wrote weekly sermon commentaries for the CEP website from 2012 to 2019.
2 Corinthians 5:6-10, (11-13), 14-17
Commentary
Proper 6B
“Life is difficult. This is a great truth, perhaps the greatest truth.” Those opening lines of M. Scott Peck’s bestselling, The Road Less Travelled, were a sensation back in the 1970’s. Now, as the GEICO insurance commercial says, “Everybody knows that.” What people don’t know is how to deal with the difficulty. That’s what Paul…
2 Corinthians 4:13-5:1
Commentary
Proper 5B
This is the second Sunday of what the church has traditionally called Ordinary Time. The label is misleading. It doesn’t mean that the next 6 months of the liturgical are just ordinary days, devoid of anything special, dull time, boring time, time to be endured. This is called ordinary time because the church gives each…
Romans 8:12-17
Commentary
Trinity Sunday B
Comments and Observations Not many of our congregants will get excited about Trinity Sunday, because most of them think of the Trinity as an impenetrable mystery. The Trinity is a set of ideas that have befuddled theologians for centuries and, thus, leave ordinary Christians cold. With tongue firmly in cheek, one theologian put it this…
Romans 8:22-27
Commentary
Pentecost B
Comments and Observations How should we celebrate Pentecost? What should our mood be, given the very different emphases of the four lectionary readings for Pentecost, 2015? As I pondered that, I recalled some wry comments made by Orthodox theologian Frederica Mathewes Green on the very different ways we celebrate Christmas and Easter. “It’s that time…
1 John 5:9-13
Commentary
Easter 7B
Comments and Observations Many scholars have noticed that I John reads more like a sermon than a letter, since it lacks so many of the elements of other New Testament letters: the greeting that usually identifies both author and readers, the introduction that so often previews the issues to be covered in the letter, and…
1 John 5:1-6
Commentary
Easter 6B
Comments and Observations This is a hard text to preach in our day, not only because of the complexity of John’s argument, but also because his argument runs counter to the prevailing cultural currents of our age. That’s precisely why we should preach on it. Here’s what I mean. The postmodern philosophy that dominates the…
1 John 4:7-21
Commentary
Easter 5B
Comments and Observations When I read this passage, I hear the Beatles’ famous song, “All You Need Is Love.” But I don’t hear John agreeing with John, Paul, George, and Ringo–not completely. Though he insists on the absolute importance of love, John has more important things to say about love than “all you need is…
1 John 3:16-24
Commentary
Easter 4B
Comments and Observations Rarely is taking a test a joyful experience, but the author of I John has woven four tests into his letter/sermon designed to bring his readers joy. “We write this to make our (yours and mine?) joy complete.” (I John 1:4) The way to complete joy, he says, is to be sure…
1 John 3:1-7
Commentary
Easter 3B
Comments and Observations As I meditated on these words, two pictures from my last church came to mind. I saw 50 fresh faced, neatly dressed girls, ranging in age from 8 to 13, sitting behind me in the choir loft as I preached from this text. This was on a Sunday that honored those girls. …
1 John 1:1-2:2
Commentary
Easter 2B
Comments and Observations All of the readings from the epistles for the season after Easter are from I John. That’s an interesting choice, since the theme of I John is certainty, assurance of salvation. “I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know…
About Stan Mast