Pastor Ron Hodel (1955-2022) knew two things intimately: the sea and the Word of God. As a sailor, he understood that the water that can drown you is the same water that carries you home. As a pastor and chaplain for 1517, he preached the same paradox from the pulpit: the Law that kills, and the Gospel that makes alive, both carried in the same Word.
This collection gathers the sermons of Pastor Ron, beloved shepherd of his local parish, whose voice reached listeners through 1517's
You Are Forgiven radio broadcast, where every sermon in this collection can still be heard as an audio podcast. For those who knew him, these pages will feel like sitting in the pew again -- hearing a man who loved his congregation enough to preach them the whole Word of God, and who trusted the Gospel enough to let it do the heavy lifting.
In each of these sermons, Pastor Ron takes you on a journey from death to life. Each sermon is its own landfall -- a waypoint in the Church year, a particular Sunday, a particular text, a particular word for a particular people-- and yet the destination remains the same: the cross, the empty tomb, and the certain promise of forgiveness for sinners.
For those who sat under his ministry and still hear his voice in these pages, this book was made for you. And for those meeting Pastor Ron for the first time -- welcome aboard.
