St. Luke's Church

Sermon 12-15-24

Lord, help us to be actively waiting for Your return. Turn this season of anticipation into a time of praise, a time for service, an opportunity to prepare this world for Your truth and love. Amen.

            Are you excited about Christmas? The children can hardly wait, but do the adults here feel the same way? Maybe not so much. Children are thinking about the gifts they might receive; adults are still thinking about buying and wrapping them. There are a ton of things to do: decorating, baking and shopping, along with concerts and events to attend. Adults may look forward to Christmas, but sometimes they are even happier when Christmas is over. Yet many, maybe most, adults have to admit that they get excited too. Families are gathering, loved ones are returning home; we are enjoying the lights and decorations—it is a time of joy.

            The season of Advent, the four weeks right before Christmas, is a season of repentance and self-examination. It is a time to remember that we are sinners who need a Savior-- the Savior who was born in Bethlehem for us, the Lord who came to lay down his life for us. But Advent is also a time of anticipation—that feeling experienced by children and adults alike. That sudden burst of joy, in the midst of contrition, is represented by the pink candle in the Advent wreath. Today is the Sunday of joy, the Sunday of anticipation, the “I can hardly wait!” moment.  “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice.”  from Philippians 4:4 as we anticipate the birth of Christ to come.

            The shepherds in the fields near Bethlehem were not waiting for Christmas. They had no idea of what was about to happen. We don’t know if these shepherds were devout Jews who were waiting eagerly, for God’s promised Messiah to come. Maybe they were waiting,--just too busy with everyday concerns to even think about the Messiah announced by the prophets centuries before.

            But maybe those shepherds longed for the day when God’s Anointed One, would come to save them. The prophet’s spoke of a child, a son, when most of the Jewish people hoped for a powerful king, a mighty conqueror who would destroy the occupying forces of Rome and restore Israel to power. They longed for a great king, like David; they were waiting for the Son of David. The shepherds never expected a baby, an infant –to be the Messiah. But very likely they did not expect any sort of Messiah to come on their watch! Isn’t that our thinking too?  Jesus won’t return on our watch, or will he?

            More than likely those shepherds that night when Jesus was born outside of Bethlehem were probably waiting for daylight, waiting for the darkness to come to an end.

            What are you waiting for? Beyond Christmas, into the New Year, what are you waiting for? Are you waiting for some financial worries or problems to be resolved? Or some other struggle to come to end?  Maybe you’re waiting for a potentially strife-filled family gathering to be over. While others having no family at all, and only anticipate a deep sense of loneliness magnified at Christmas. Outwardly people may appear joyful, but inwardly have regret over things wrongly thought, done or said; or those things left undone. Guilt and shame are never far away.  

             That’s why Advent is a time to bring those sins, regrets, painful memories to the manger, turning them over to the Lord God who was born to carry our sin and guilt to the cross. That’s the message of great joy that those sleepy shepherds were about to hear.

            Even though the angel would bring them good news, the first reaction of the shepherds was not of joy but of absolute terror. Who can blame them? The dark fields around them suddenly became as bright as day! and in the center of that unearthly light was an angel, a messenger from God himself. The first words from the angelic messenger were: “Fear not!” The angel continued with news that would shatter even greater darkness, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David, a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.”                                                                                                                                

This good news of great joy was not just for the shepherds. It was not just good news for Israel; it was good news for “all of the people.” including us. Christ the Lord was born. The long-promised Messiah had come. The Lord God Himself had come to His people.  The angel gave them directions to find the Messiah, “This will be a sign for you; you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” Then an angelic chorus of praise sent the shepherds on their way joyfully to Bethlehem.

            This is the good news of great joy. Christ has come! He has come to lift away the darkness of fear, sin, guilt and regret. He took that darkness from us, carrying our sin and shame in His body to the cross. In exchange He gives us forgiveness and the very joy of life in His presence. When Christmas this year is past, we may still be waiting, waiting for the Savior who has promised to come again. His first Advent, His first coming was in Bethlehem; His second Advent--His second coming, will be on the Last Day in Jerusalem.

            Until then we wait filled with hope because our Savior has come, having the reassurance of peace, with joy transcending all of life’s circumstances.  We wait with joy because we are a people of faith and Jesus our Lord has promised to be with us, not just for Christmas, but until His return. We wait for the night to end and the eternal day of endless joy in His presence. And we pray: Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!

            Loving Lord, we delight in Your word, and we give You thanks for Your coming into the world. Abide in our hearts that we might know love and joy that we may share You with someone else. Our lives are only complete through You, Jesus. In whose name, we pray. Amen.

Sermon - December 8, 2024

Everlasting God, You have always been and will always be. You remain amazingly present, available, and steadfast while so much in our lives is adrift, fleeting, and senseless. We trust in Your abiding presence in every moment of our lives; and give thanks for who You are. We pray in Jesus’ name.  Amen.

 Are you ever curious about your family background? Maybe you have wondered, where your great-great-grandparents lived. What did they do for a living? How many children did they have?                                    

If you’ve spent time going through old family photographs maybe you have checked out ancestry.com or considered DNA testing to search for the distant roots of your family tree.

Jesus, whose birth we will soon celebrate, very likely grew up learning all about His human family tree. His earthly, father Joseph, was “of the house and lineage of David.” Jesus was the promised Son of David, the long-awaited Messiah of Israel, who would rule His people as Shepherd and King.

People who knew Jesus knew of his family tree, but not everyone accepted him as the promised Savior. The people of his own hometown of Nazareth were at first proud of their hometown hero, asking, “Isn’t this Joseph’s son?” But they rejected Jesus’ identity as the promised Messiah and Son of God. Some people questioned his claim to have come down from heaven.”                                  

Many people then, as now, readily accepted Jesus’ human ancestry, but not his claim that God was his Father.

We know and believe that Jesus was exactly who He claimed to be—the Son of God. We know, too, that Jesus was of royal human lineage. There were many kings in His family tree.  Yet, with the exception of Jesus Himself, the Lord’s family tree was like ours—composed of sinners and sometimes some less than sterling characters: Judah and Tamar, who were guilty of incest; Rahab, was a prostitute who married an Israelite and became the great-grandmother of King David.   

David himself, a great king, but also guilty of adultery and murder. Yet to save sinners, Jesus, the Son of God, was born into a family line of sinners. In Hebrews 2:14, Scripture tells us, “Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil.” Jesus was born among sinners, as we are, but he was born without sin. The sinless Son of God became one of us to redeem us.

Now, even if you were not born into a royal family line, you may be rightly proud of your ancestry. Perhaps you have people in your family background who were important leaders in their communities or you may have relatives who served their country in the armed forces. But there might be a few branches on the family tree that do not inspire pride—maybe an eccentric aunt or uncle or a cousin who got involved in some shady business deals.     

We all share a proud lineage, as human beings designed by our Creator and made in his own image. Yet we have a humbling lineage too, because we are descendants of our first parents, Adam and Eve. We all have inherited from them the DNA of sin and that is our condition before God. We are sinners and we sin daily in our thoughts, words and actions, as we rebel—like our first  parents did—against the will of our God and Creator. We know what God wants of us, but still we turn from him to follow our own sinful desires.

We turn from listening to God’s Word and listen instead to the temptations of the world. We have earned for ourselves the penalty for sin first decreed in Eden—death and separation from God for all eternity.

Yet God our Creator does not leave us in that condition. He sent his Son to be born among us, Jesus, the descendant of David, the son of Mary. The sinless Son of God was born among us—born among sinners—to take our sins onto himself, suffering and dying on the cross, suffering the penalty of death that we earned for ourselves. He rose from the dead on the third day, and now in him we are a new creation, clothed in his holiness, his righteousness. In Christ, our standing before God has been transformed from sinner to saint.

We are members now of the household of God, sons and daughters of the King, brothers and sisters to the very Son of God. As Scripture tells us, “But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons and daughters—God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, ‘Abba! Father!’” (Gal 4:4-6).      

Advent is a season of waiting, but our whole life is an Advent season, as we wait for that final Advent when we, by God’s grace through faith in Jesus, will dwell in the household of God. We have a family, and we have a home—for all eternity. Amen.

O Lord our God, please be close to each one of us today. Our lives may be messy, and our faith may stumble, but You never fail to call us Your own. This grace, bountiful yet not deserved, is why we praise and worship You each and every day. In Jesus’ name Amen.

Sermon 12/1/24

LORD Jesus Christ, as we await Your coming, we are filled with hope, knowing Your light will shine in the darkness. We embrace Your love as we wait anticipating Your peace, to fill our world. LORD we wait, with joy to celebrate Your birth, that we might be filled with Your life. We pray in Your holy name.  Amen

Taking attendance, counting, recording names…one way or another, congregations take church attendance and for various reasons. People attending any given worship service may be asked to sign a pew register to indicate their attendance; smaller congregations simply count the number of people present. Some churches do so to encourage attendance. Other churches seek ways to increase that number. But the people of God are involved in counting one another and have been doing so, way before the birth of Christ.

 The head count in the garden of Eden was easy-- only two people -- at least at first. The number of people on earth continued to grow until the time of Noah, when only eight people who remained faithful to the God—Noah, his wife, his three sons and their wives. God spared Noah and his family when the flood engulfed the earth. Then after the flood, the world’s population increased again as people spread across the earth. It was when God chose Abraham, one man to set in motion His plan of salvation.  Again the chosen ones were few in number—just Abraham, his wife and, eventually, their son Isaac. But God promised Abraham as many descendants as the stars of the sky or sands of the sea and Abraham believe the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness’” (Gen 15:5-6).

When God’s chosen people moved to Egypt to escape famine in Canaan at the time of Joseph, there were just seventy people to make up the family of Israel. Four centuries later, there were more than 600,000 Israelites who fled from slavery in Egypt to the Promised Land. And the Lord said to the Israelites, “Your fathers went down to Egypt seventy persons, and now the Lord Your God has made You as numerous as the stars of heaven” (Deut. 10:22). Once settled in the Promised Land, the kings of Israel always knew the number of available fighting men they had--and thus the counting continued.

Centuries later, the events surrounding the birth of Jesus began, appropriately enough, with a census. The story of Jesus’ birth in Luke’s gospel begins with the words, “In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria. and all went to be registered, each to his own town.” The Roman emperor wanted an accurate count of his subjects—for tax purposes. Joseph was of the family line of Israel’s great king David, so he and his betrothed wife Mary went to Bethlehem, the birthplace of David and Joseph’s ancestral hometown--went to be counted—one, two and when Mary’s son was born, three.

When Jesus began his public ministry, He chose twelve disciples. Scripture records his miracles and the numbers involved—the healing of ten lepers, only one of whom returned to give thanks. Two blind men called out for mercy and Jesus healed them. He took five loaves of bread and two fish and fed more than five thousand+ people. With seven loaves and a few fish he fed more than four thousand people. But then came the day for which Jesus was born, the day when Jesus himself was counted again, as the prophet had said, “He was numbered with the transgressors” (Is. 53:12)—three crosses, three victims, one, two, thr

The Lord Jesus was born in Bethlehem for us. He was numbered among the transgressors for us, because we so often count all the wrong things for all the wrong reasons.

We count what we think is our money--really a gift from God, until we begin to trust those funds more than we trust God. We count Facebook friends and Twitter followers —now officially known as X, as we seek popularity and attention for ourselves. 

We count cars and possessions, again gifts of God, until we place our ultimate trust in those possessions. For all the misplaced trust, the idol worship of possessions and popularity, for our self-centered worry about “Number One,” for all of these countless sins, Jesus allowed himself to be counted among criminals and nailed to a cross. Jesus carried our sins in his own body to the cross, suffering the penalty of death for those sins, the penalty that should have been ours.

It is for Jesus’ sake that God forgives our countless sins—each and every one of them—just one sacrifice for the sins of the world, for our sins.

After Jesus’ death on the cross, a new count began again. Day One, two, three.  On the third day after his death, Jesus rose from the dead, conquering sin, death and the devil. Three enemies defeated for us so that we would be numbered with the saints in glory.                                                                                                      

God chose you to be his own child. God’s registration, his census, took place long before the decree of Caesar Augustus. Scripture tells us that God chose us in Christ “before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him” (Eph. 1:4). Our names were “written before the foundation of the world in the Lamb’s book of life (Rev. 13:8). Because Jesus our Savior was born among us to save us, because he allowed himself to be numbered with the transgressors for our sake, one day we will stand before his throne among “a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages … crying out with a loud voice, ‘Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!’” (Rev. 7:9-10).

You and I will be there because we are redeemed by God’s grace only through faith in Jesus Christ, not because you have earned a place. You will stand among that countless multitude before the throne because Jesus, the Child of Bethlehem, earned a place for you there. You can count on it. Amen.

Sermon November 24, 2024

Dear Heavenly Father, we are ever thankful for Your Son, Jesus the Christ. May we always serve Him with great pleasure. Through the power of Your Holy Spirit, open our hearts and minds to Your Word, that we might come to gain a deeper appreciation for all that our Lord has done for us. This we ask in Jesus holy name. Amen.

Christ the King Sunday, we focus on Jesus’ return, which is always a hot topic. Bookstores have   large sections of books devoted to the end times. Some of You may remember when some people expected the end of the world to occur in the year 2000; others expected the end of civilization as we knew it.

Countless people around the world stocked up on food, bottled water, fuel, generators, guns and ammo, only to experienced disappointment when life went on as usual. That’s not to negate the fact that portions of God’s Word does deal with the end times and there are benefits to preparing for that day when Jesus comes in all His glory. The advice that we have in today’s Gospel is that we are to stay awake.

Our gospel lesson for this morning warns of many things that must happen before Jesus returns. and some of them are frightening, because we live in a very uncertain world. We’re bombarded with messages that tell us God’s Word is outdated. The Bible isn’t what it appears to be, and not applicable to the society in which we are now living. The mantra we hear is do whatever makes you feel good; Jesus is just someone who taught tolerance and that we should love other people. End of story.                                   Even the idea of putting ourselves before God isn’t new. In fact, it’s THE original sin. The evil one uses the same lie over, and over again, just presented in a different package. Our sinful natures want us to believe, that we can work out our own salvation.

But if we were able to save ourselves, Jesus wouldn’t have had to come in the first place. There are   false prophets who want you to see Jesus as a stern judge which was an image that terrified Martin Luther early in his life. He knew he could never live up to those expectations that God has for us under the law, and that terrified him. When we focus on Christ as merely a judge, we see an angry God who will cast us away if we don’t get our act together.

The law always demands something from us; it shows us how we fall short of what God expects from us. That’s why it’s so important for us to cling to God’s Word, where we hear who Jesus really is. We see Jesus, the Son of God, who lived the perfect life and kept every single one of God’s commandments for us.

He willingly went to the cross in our place to suffer, to die, and to rise again to break the power that sin, death, and the power of the devil. It’s because of this, that we can confess our sins and hear the sweet words that our sins have been forgiven.

And in times when things seem to get out of control, we can cling to the promises God has given to us in His Word. We know that the things of this world will pass away, but God’s Word never will.

That’s why I hope and pray that you will continue to come to God’s House week after week, to be   fed by His word and His sacraments. I also hope you invite others to be a part of our life together as a family of faith. We’re not here to appease the sinful and misguided world. We’re not here to come up with new marketing gimmicks or reinvent the Gospel. We’re here to stay awake, to get ready; we’re here to seek the plan that God has for our lives; we’re here to prepare for Christ’s second coming.   

We do that by hearing God’s Word, that our understanding of it might grow, that we might share it with others. As a congregation, we are to serve as a beacon of light reaching out to those who need to hear who Jesus really is. That’s what the purpose of the church has always been and what this congregation must be about.

Did you catch the opening verses of our Epistle reading for this morning? “But you, beloved, building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life and have mercy on those who doubt.” The ever-changing world in which we live is frightening. As believers we know that the things of this world will pass away. God has revealed to us signs of Jesus second coming so that we can be prepared for the time when Jesus returns.

As Christians that means we must fix our eyes on Jesus and His promises because His word to us will never pass away. He’s not just a moral guide, or stern judge, he’s our Lord and Savior.

As we gather around God’s unchanging Word we prepare ourselves for Jesus Christ’s 2^nd coming. Many things in this world will come and go. People in our lives come and go. Pastors of congregations come and go--although some do stay longer than others, they all eventually leave one way or another. Even congregations close.           

Yet, God’s Word is eternal. His promises never change; they’re something we can hold on to in times of uncertainty. That’s what we have to offer to this community and the world. It is my hope and my prayer that together, we will keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, and His Word and not on things that will pass away. Grant this O Lord unto us all, Amen.

Sermon 11-17-24

O God of all ages, thank You for who You are. You call the church to keep watch in the world and to discern the signs of the times. By Your Holy Spirit grant us the wisdom and the courage to proclaim Your prophetic word, and complete the work that You have set before us; through Your Son, our LORD Jesus Christ, Amen

Many people like to talk about “The good ol’ days,” and we may all long for the days when we felt safe to leave our doors unlocked, rather than locked, bolted and secured with an alarm system. Those days when school arguments were ended with “double dog dares,” instead of knives and automatic pistols are fondly remembered. There seemed to be a greater sense of peace and security.

This all came to an end on 9/11. When the towers fell and the Pentagon attacked, we felt threatened, violated and exposed. Suddenly the threat of terrorism was everywhere. The aftermath of the Columbine shooting left us with never feeling safe in school or walking alone. A cub scout was arrested for bringing his camping utensil to school. Teenagers have been arrested for food fights. Amber alerts remind us that our children are targets which has resulted in more time being spent indoors with video games—some with graphic violence, rather than running, jumping and playing outside.

We live in a broken and sin filled world. The challenge we face as Christians is to live as people of faith in such a world. Today’s gospel text gives us a glimpse of life in a broken world.

The setting of this gospel text takes place near the temple. Some of the disciples are impressed with the new temple that Herod the Great started to build. It was larger than any previous temple and certainly one of the most impressive structures in Jerusalem. The temple was more than simply a beautiful building; it was a sign of God’s presence with Israel. The temple was Israel’s connection point with God. It was a symbol of their identity as God’s people.

Jesus—almost frivolously--tells them that the temple will be destroyed and a time will come when not one stone is set on another. Jesus’ words could be compared to making the statement that the Capitol and Whitehouse will be destroyed. The world as the disciples knew it was going to come to an end—just as it did with 9/11, Columbine, the economic recession and covid.

Like us, the disciples scrambled to figure out how to live in such uncertain and trying times.

The disciples first ask Jesus to tell them the signs that will precede the end times. They believe that if they know the future they will be able to deal with it. There are those today who believe even though the present might be uncertain, knowing the future would help them live with the uncertainty.

So many people seek to know the future. Tim Lehaye with his Left Behind Series and Hal Lindsey with his book, The Late Great Planet Earth, have demonstrated that a person can grow rich spouting their ideas about what the future will be like.

People eagerly look to the stars, crystal balls, tarot cards, tea leaves, and palm reading to get a jump on the future. All of this to no avail. Knowing the future doesn’t help them.

Jesus answered the disciples with strange words. He tells them that there will be wars and rumors of wars, earthquakes and famines. These calamities were common in the days when Jesus spoke to his disciples. He was not giving them the inside track on knowing the future. He was telling them that they didn’t need to know the future—they just needed to know the One who held the future in his hands.

The future will be filled with trials and tribulations just like the present is. As Christians we will continue to live in a broken sin filled world.

Talking about, speculating about the future or prophesying the future is not living out our lives in faith. Trusting in a God who holds the future in his hands is how we live by faith.

Faith does not believe that God will make our lives comfortable and affluent. Faith knows that whatever situations we face God will be with us through those situations.

Faith is not worrying about the future. Faith is being concerned about the needs of others today.

Faith is not just longing for a heaven when we die. Faith is being concerned for others, witnessing to them, and inviting them to experience God’s presence, just as we have.

When asked what he would do if he knew that the world was going to end the next day, Martin Luther replied that he would go out and plant an apple tree. At first this might seem like a strange reply. The idea that Luther was trying to express is that he would live his life of faith exactly the same way whether the end was twenty years away or tomorrow.

The disciples learned to live their faith one day at a time. Let us follow their example and the example of countless Christians who have gone before us—trusting, loving, serving—never knowing if this is our last day or not, but being assured that no matter what God is with us.

Help us, O LORD our God, to rely only on You and to trust in Your promises. Let us be faithful to our confession of hope, which is only in the LORD Jesus Christ. Other hopes disappoint us, but Christ never will. In Him we place our faith for this life and eternally. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

Sermon 11-17-24

Gracious Heavenly Father, You have blessed us with the gift of life and all that is needed to sustain us from day to day, please help us to have grateful hearts. You have revealed the depth of Your love for us, through Your son Jesus, yet we are reluctant to share Your love with others. Through our baptism, You have claimed us as children of God and heirs of eternal life, yet we often fail to express our gratitude for Your gift of grace. Through the power of Your Holy Spirit, move us to deeper faith, and empower us to live our lives in thanksgiving. We ask this in Jesus’s name. Amen.

There were a lot of people in Jerusalem because it was almost Passover. People were coming from all over. Some who’d been in Jerusalem before and others for the first time, but everyone went to the Temple, got in line to give their offerings.

There were thirteen “trumpets.” Each of these offering boxes had a trumpet like metal tube, flared out at the end, like a brass instrument; when money was put into them, they made a clanging sound as the coins made their way down the tubes and into the boxes and it was noisy. Lots of people. Lots of offerings. Many large deposits which made lots of noise and the giver smiled from ear to ear. People thought they must be doing something right for God to have blessed them with so much and the noise would draw attention, meaning others knew about it, too and Jesus watched.

Mark doesn’t tell us exactly how long Jesus stayed. He does say that Jesus saw many put in large sums. Is that what Jesus was waiting to see?

Then at last, she came in. At the very end. Not really wanting to be seen. Her offering made hardly a sound at all--and it didn’t take her long. The offerings of the rich took a while, to dump all those coins in. Her two small copper coins quickly disappeared down the chute into the large pile of coins at the bottom.

Except Jesus noticed her. He didn’t speak to her but He spoke to His disciples. He wanted them to see her—not just the rich and strong and able; but also the poor and weak and small.

Maybe Jesus wanted them to help her. Remember the feeding of the 5,000 when He told His disciples to give them something to eat. They said they couldn’t. There were too many. Would they help this one single poor widow, who just put in everything she had, all she had to live on ??

The scribes were quick to notice widows like this to devour them and their homes. Not openly, of course. For then they would have been criticized and would have had to give up their best seats in the synagogues, and the greetings and admiration they got in the marketplaces. But when the opportunity presented itself . . . they’d swindle the widows out of their houses. They were good at looking religious and praying, even while they were plundering widows. Maybe this widow was one. Maybe that’s why two small copper coins was all she had.

So Jesus pointed her out to the disciples. She was someone who needed mercy.

We're not told what happened. But given the disciples’ track record, we can probably safely assume they didn’t help her. Maybe this text isn’t so much about giving as it is about mercy.

These last few weeks at the end of the Church Year - turn our attention to the last days before Christ’s return. They are a reminder that this world and life - is not all there is. They serve to remind us that our attention and focus must be in the right place. So we’ll notice—people like the poor widow.

People were in Jerusalem for Passover, but they didn’t know this was to be Jesus’ final Passover - His passing over from death to life. These were His last days. The clock was ticking. In a matter of hours– He’d be on the cross and He knew it.

So why did Jesus take the time to sit in the Temple where He noticed this poor widow? For surely there were lots of other important things He could or should be doing—or so we think.

But Jesus always notices what the world doesn’t see. Children, widows, cripples, the poor and He didn’t just notice them, He spent time with them, ate with them, spoke with them, forgave them. Even if you’re a somebody the world notices now, it won’t be long until you’re forgotten too. Like a widow with only two small copper coins . . .

But Jesus noticed her and He notices you. Even when He was about to die on the cross, He noticed the thief next to Him, and His mother beneath Him and He made sure someone would take care of them. There was nothing more important for Jesus to do, than show mercy. For He gave all He had, His very life, for her and you.

Then Jesus teaches the disciples to beware of the scribes. Not just because of what they were doing, but because of what they had become. Self-centered and concerned only with themselves, they had very little room for mercy. It’s easy to criticize them. It’s also easy to become like them.

But the bridegroom soon will call us to the wedding feast and the trumpets on that day will not be ones for receiving offerings but announcing our Savior’s return. On that day those married to the world will pass away. But those waiting for the bridegroom - for them, the feast that will have no end.

So that day in the Temple: who were the poor and who were the rich?

The end of the church year gives us the chance to remember that we should hang onto the things of this world less and hang onto our bridegroom a little more. To focus less on ourselves and notice those in need of mercy. We should forget about the approval of the world and remember the good news that Jesus is never too busy and you are never too small for Him. Even if all you have are 2 small copper coins.

But you have much more than that! We have been baptized and redeemed not with gold or silver of the world, but with the blood of the Son of God. All of our sins are forgiven. There is nothing –not even death, that separates us from the love of God in Christ Jesus, the bridegroom. For while the widow offers her two copper coins, all she had, into the Temple’s offering trumpet, Jesus offers His Body and Blood, all He has, into you; with the promise of His forgiveness, and that He is coming back.

So that day in the Temple, the rich put in all she had. The poor gave out of their abundance.

We praise You, O Lord, for all the great things You have done in our lives. Through Your grace, and through Your son, Jesus Christ, we have become Your children. Help us to be children who are pleasing to You and bring glory to Your name every day in every way. Amen.

Sermon - November 3, 2024

Righteous and loving God, we ask for strength to serve You with heart, soul, mind and strength. Help us to follow Your guidance to live Godly lives, and to look forward to standing before You, having lived a life that is pleasing to You. In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.

People ask questions every day. Most of them are probably not all that important-- like, “What have you been up to?” or, “Did you watch the game yesterday?” “Isn’t this weather something?”

These questions are not really all that critical or important. There are other much more significant questions that we ask at times, like “Will you marry me?” or, “Did you get the job?” or, “How did the biopsy come out?” Those aren’t everyday questions. Those are significant, life-changing questions.

In the Gospel text for today, we hear two very significant questions. One that a scribe asked Jesus, and another that Jesus asked the crowd at the Temple.

Jesus had just been in a discussion with the Sadducees—some of the Jewish rabies who did not believe in a resurrection from the dead, and a scribe overheard Jesus answering the Sadducees and was impressed by what he heard.

This scribe wasn’t trying to trick Jesus. He actually wanted to know what Jesus had to say. He asked, “Which commandment is the most important of all?”

Jesus responded with a two-part answer.

Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord Your God with all Your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.

Jesus quoted the Old Testament, specifically Deuteronomy 6:4-5. The answer did not begin with what we should or should not do. The answer began with God. “The Lord our God, the Lord is one.” He is the only One, true, holy and living God whom we love with every part of our being. The answer is not a matter of deeds, but of the heart and having a heart for God.

But Jesus was not finished answering the scribe’s question. He added: The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.

Here again, Jesus is quoting the Old Testament book of Leviticus 19:18. In these two answers, Jesus has summed up the entirety of God’s Law.

Love God.
Love people.

If you and I could love the Lord our God with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength, we would trust in God above all things.

We’d never misuse His name.

We’d always remember the Sabbath day, by keeping it holy--- but unfortunately, we all know how feeble our love for God can be. We all tend to put ourselves first and God comes in a very distant second.

If we could truly love our neighbor as ourselves, we would always honor our father and mother.

We’d never get angry, let alone kill someone. We’d never commit adultery, even in our thoughts. We’d never take what belongs to our neighbor or say anything to hurt our neighbor’s reputation.

Here again, we fall short. It’s not just the outward acts. It’s the internal--the heart stuff. The real problem is the internal thoughts we harbor against our neighbor.

True life in Christ is summarized in these two profound statements:

Loving God with all we have.
Love people as yourself.

The good news is the One speaking with the scribe is truly God. He was, is, and always will be the One, true, holy and living God of creation walking among us. He was the One who came to fulfill the Law of God perfectly and completely. He alone loved God with all His heart, soul, mind and strength. He alone loved His neighbor as Himself. In fact, He laid down His life for His neighbors. He came to do what we can’t.

He knows us by name, as individuals. We are always on His mind. But Jesus has a significant question of His own: “How can the scribes say that the Christ is the son of David?”

The scribes were the experts in the Old Testament Scriptures. They spent all day everyday copying them. That was their job. The scribes were correct in teaching that the Christ, the Messiah, would come from the line of King David. Jesus quoted Psalm 110:1, a psalm that David wrote concerning God the Father and the Messiah: The Lord [God the Father] said to my Lord [the Messiah], ‘Sit at my right hand, until I put Your enemies under Your feet.’

Jesus points out that David himself called the coming Messiah “Lord.” David referred to both God the Father and the coming Messiah as “Lord” as greater than himself. So how could this Messiah be both the decedent and the Lord of David? No one can worship those who come after you.

There is only one answer to that significant question, He is Jesus. He is the one who was there at the creation of the world and is in every way God Himself. He was the one who commanded wind and waves to cease, and they obeyed. He was the one who healed physical infirmities, removed them as if they never existed. He was the one who demonstrated His authority over life and death by raising people from the dead. He was the One whom death and the grave could not hold. He was the One who rose triumphant from the grave.

He was, is, and remains David’s Lord and ours. For God has highly exalted Him and bestowed on Him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Jesus Christ sits at the right hand of the Father, a position of power and authority, reigning overall. From that place, He cares and provides for each one of us.

Glorious God, help us remember the teachings of the 10 Commandments. We need guidance in loving our families, our neighbors, and the leaders of our nation. Please give us the will to love others as You love all people. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Sermon - 10/27/24 - Reformation Sunday

Almighty and gracious Lord, as Your baptized people, You have called us to follow You. By Your Holy Spirit, grant that we abide in Your Word that we might know the truth, which sets us free; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, Amen

When was the last time you said: “I’ll never do that again!” Those are the words that usually come out of our mouths just after really messing up. We feel like idiots, embarrassed, and hoping no one else finds out. “I’ll never do it again.” But we do-- do it again. Why is that? We want to do it right– but we just can’t seem to make it work. Instead, we trip up & fall again.

That’s one of the one common thread that every person–all tribes and nations, races and tongues all suffer because we sin. In the second reading from Romans today, Paul puts it in plain language. He says to us, “There is no difference between people. Because all people have sinned, they have fallen short of God’s glory.” It’s been that way this side of Eden. It’s been that way for every single descendant of Adam and Eve. We’re all in that same patch of thorns.

But here’s the problem. We have a tendency of not remembering. It’s not a pleasant thing to be reminded that our very nature is flawed. Paul’s words, “All have sinned,” nobody likes to hear that. And so like memories of a bad dream, people ignore it; we have selective amnesia—it’s related to selective hearing. That’s what was going on in today’s Gospel lesson.

You see, this exchange between Jesus and some of his followers happened in the middle of several other intense confrontations. A group of religious teachers had just brought a fallen woman to Jesus. They wanted to trap Him. They said to Jesus, “We caught this woman in adultery. Our law says that she should be stoned. What should we do?”

Jesus knew that if He said, “stone her,” they would accuse Him of breaking Roman law. You see, only the Romans could sentence people to death.

And if He said, “Don’t stone her,” they would accuse Him of ignoring the Jewish law. So what does the Lord do? He reminded the religious leaders about what they had conveniently forgotten – that they too were fallen. Their condition was the same as the woman. He said, “The first one without sin can throw the first stone.” When they realized that Jesus had just stripped them of moral authority, they dropped their stones and left the woman alone.

In the Gospel Lesson that we just read, Jesus was teaching. He tells some of his Jewish followers that if they continue in his word, they will be truly free. But they react in almost shock. They denied that they needed anybody to free them. Had they forgotten about “Moses-leading-them-out-of-slavery-in-Egypt”? That was the very reason they celebrated Passover. And what about the Romans that were parading up and down their streets. What about the Roman governor, Pontius Pilate? How could any Jew ever forget about all that?

Nevertheless, the Jewish believers in today’s gospel say that they do not remember. My guess is that they didn’t want to hear what Jesus was saying to them - they were slaves. “Whoever lives a sinful life is a slave to sin.” Boy that hurts. It’s always easier to hear that other people have a sin problem. But it’s hard to hear that we are the ones who need to be freed – that we’re the ones who’ve made the same mistakes, said the same stupid things, & never learned our lesson.

There are two fundamental mistakes that we make as we confront our brokenness. The first is to conveniently forget; to forget that they were no different than the woman they planned to stone - that as sinners - they too, needed God’s forgiveness; to forget that we are slaves to sin & need to be freed; to forget that we stand before God and before each other, as broken messed up people.

The second tragic mistake that we make is to think that we can take care of the problem ourselves. We believe that somehow – by jumping through religious hoops – we’ll end up in heaven. That has been the corporate problem of the church for centuries. When the reality of man’s sin raised its head, the church has offered all kinds of solutions. Its sold forgiveness. Its prescribed ritualistic prayers and pilgrimages. It pointed the faithful to sacrifices, and punishments and penance. It’s offered everything under the sun – except what Jesus offered in today’s Gospel Lesson – the truth –only the truth makes people free!

The Reformation that we celebrate today is critical and vital. It isn’t the pride that we feel as we remember the events of some 500 years ago. Celebrating the Reformation is critical and vital because it points us to the awesome things that God did to preserve his truth among us. When it seemed that His truth was nowhere to be found: God made it shine brightly. Kings and paupers, priests and monks gave their lives to defend that truth; to restore it; to proclaim it; to honor it; to lift it up as the only beacon of salvation: that while we were sinners, Christ died and rose from the dead to give us a relationship with God.

And today, that truth that is still setting people free. That truth is still reforming hearts. That truth is still shaping eternal destinies. That truth continues to bring comfort to our fallen lives. It tells us that even though we fall and we forget – God does not forget; and God keeps his promises. That same truth points us to one place and to one place only – to Jesus and his Cross and his empty tomb. God preserves that truth, beloved, to bless his people – You and me - those who have been chosen from the foundation of the earth!

The Name above all names – Jesus won’t forget that we need forgiveness and to be set free. If we forget, Jesus said – the stones will proclaim it. That truth is the heart of the Reformation.

From the Augsburg confession in 1530, Martin Luther said: "It is... taught among us that we cannot obtain forgiveness of sin and righteousness before God by our own merits, works, or satisfactions, but that we receive forgiveness of sin and become righteous before God by grace, for Christ’s sake, through faith..." Amen.

Sermon 10-20-24 Mark 10:46-52

Heavenly Father, we come to worship in order that we might be near to You. Teach us to love what You command, even when it is hard for us to understand, that we might grow in Your favor and witness to Your love to those around us. This we ask in Christ’s holy name. Amen

The American 21st century lifestyle really revolves around a “me first” mentality? We’re bombarded with this line of thinking in almost every kind of media we use. We’re told we’re at the center of our own universe. Whatever we want, we can have. Anything contrary to that thinking is politically incorrect.

So into this world of “me first” we hear these words of Jesus in our Gospel reading: “It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” What’s Jesus trying to tell us?

Our reading for this morning picks up where last Sunday’s left off, when the rich young man approached Jesus, and asked Him “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” The young man listed the commandments he had kept, but Jesus replied, “You lack one thing: sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven, and come follow me.” The young man went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.”

The disciples saw what was taking place and probably thought this young man was a good prospect! He seemed sincerely interested in following Jesus. But then, the mood changed when Jesus asked this wealthy young man to sell everything and give them to the poor.

This was shocking for more than the obvious reason. In Jesus’ day, Jews believed someone blessed with great material wealth, was an indication of God’s favor. So when Jesus asked this young man to sell all he had and give his money to the poor, it went against their very belief system. It was not the “politically correct” answer.

Jesus wanted this young man to trust Him for salvation, because no one is able to earn eternal life. Jesus underscores this same teaching in today’s Gospel when He says “How difficult it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.”

So the disciple’s response is logical: “Then who can be saved?” These are hard words to hear because they fly right in the face of our modern beliefs that “it’s all about me.”

Some people belief that wealth in and of itself is evil. They also believe that those who are wealthy have no chance with God. However, the sin of which the rich young man was guilty, wasn’t that he was rich. The problem for the rich young man was he’d turned his wealth into his God. He wasn’t able to give them up for eternal life.

When we put the focus on ourselves, on what we are doing, we’re guilty of the same thing. If we put our trust in a position we hold, or something we own, we have made it our God.

But in our text, Peter shows a hint of boasting-- when he says “See, we have left everything and followed You. We gave up lives, possessions, security, families, to follow You. Doesn’t that count for something?” Jesus cuts that idea off quickly. It’s filled with sinful pride.

But this warning about trusting in worldly riches isn’t just for the wealthy. The poor are also vulnerable to this sin too. Those who are lacking in worldly goods will often covet those things others have, forgetting about the gifts God has given to them.

Indeed, if left on our own, we have no hope. Whatever accomplishments or stuff we have in this world, there will come a day when we lose it. I have officiated for more than 200 funerals and no one has taken one thing out of the world.

If we are left on our own, and our “it’s all about me” attitudes, we, too, like the rich young man, will walk away from our Savior dejected. It would be easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God. Rich being inclusive of material things, family, friends, happiness, anything in this world that they trust more than they trust in God. That’s why Jesus responds to the objection of “who then can be saved” by saying “with man it is impossible, but not with God. For all things are possible with God.”

Because we are infected with sin from the moment of conception, we need a savior. Jesus is the one who paid the enormous debt of our sin. We in our sinfulness cling to our worldly riches, and Jesus willingly gave up the splendors of heaven, and His very life to save us.

At the cross, Jesus took all those times when we were focused on our selfish attitudes, all of our sins of thought, word, and deed and died for them, giving all repentant believers the gift of forgiveness, life, and salvation with no strings attached. When it comes to forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation, it’s not all about you, it’s all about Christ!

That’s the good news with which we have been entrusted, for our world today. There is a way to eternal life—all because of Christ. It’s not about our emotions or personal feelings. It’s all about Jesus!

There lies a great spiritual danger when we get our priorities mixed up. In worship Christ comes to us through the means of Word and Sacrament, to give us the free gifts of forgiveness of our sins, eternal life, and salvation. If we have the idea that worship must cater to our emotions, our feelings, our desires, our ideas instead of Christ, we are right back to trying to enter the Kingdom of God as a camel is trying to pass through the eye of a needle. It’s not possible when it’s all about us. But, when it’s all about Christ, all things are possible.

As we face a new work week, let’s repent of the times where we are tempted by the world’s cry of “It’s all about me.” Instead, let us center everything we do on Christ. Let our motto be “It’s all about what Christ has done for me and is doing for me today.” Thanks be to God when it comes to salvation, it’s not all about me, but it’s all about Christ. Amen.

Sermon 10-6-24

The first verse from the epistle reading in Hebrews for today is critically important: Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it.

And what we have heard is the Word of God.

For if we do not, if the Word of God is not in our hearts and minds, if the Word of God isn’t our anchor holding us fast . . . then we will drift away from it. Little by little, slowly but surely.

But that’s what happens, isn’t it? We’re not believers one day and unbelievers the next. We usually don’t go from right to wrong in one great leap, but usually an inch at a time.

When we listen to what we have heard from the world, and not God, we give in to our desires…which may even seem harmless at first; but before you know it hearts have grown hard—sin takes control and unbelief creeps in. God’s word is no longer the authority—church is out of the picture.

So when the Pharisees approach Jesus, as we heard in the Holy Gospel today, their question is not about what is good or right, it’s about what is lawful. Or in other words, what can we get away with? They’re really not interested in marriage, but in trapping Jesus, to give them the victory over Him. Marriage just happened to be the topic of the day. So, is it lawful, Jesus? What do you say?

But Jesus isn’t about the law; Jesus is about what He made good. He is the God of all creation standing before them. The God who created them. The God who gives good gifts, like life and marriage. Gifts that are to be received with thanksgiving. But how far the Pharisees had drifted away from God.

Our culture today has done the very same thing. We’ve taken what is not right, good or moral and legalized it—creating more problems for society, law enforcement and our legal system, not to mention the very risk of losing our souls.

To the Pharisees the issue was all about control. So, how about us? What’s the greatest stumbling block for Christians to day?

Does our culture think that marriage is good, or unnecessary?

Marriage is no longer the way God designed it. People can marry whoever they want. No one needs a piece of paper to have sex or children. There are even life-like robots, so there are no messy emotions or strings attached. When God created woman and walked her down the aisle in the garden of Eden and gave her to Adam and Adam to her it was good. How far we’ve drifted from the good God created. When God created someone who had never been before - a woman - and gave her to Adam they rejoiced in one another. Were one with each other and from their oneness came - children. Though many in our world today consider children to be an inconvenience or an accident that can be remediated with surgery, or a pill. and U know what? It’s lawful.

So what’s a God to do with people like us having such hardened hearts? Marriage and sexuality are just one issue where we’ve drifted away from God’s good. Not asking whether what we’re doing is good or not, but is it lawful? Can I get away with it?

Creation is fallen—marriage, families, communities, cities and nations. The world’s a mess. We are a mess.

And just because we call something good doesn’t mean it is. The only good is that which God calls good. So, what’s God to do?

Maybe He should have written us a certificate of divorce and sent us away. Maybe he should have let us destroy ourselves. But He didn’t.

Instead, He sent His Son that we might have life--a good life. That we might be born again from above. That we might be children of God. That we might be new creations from the water and blood that flowed from His side. That we might be good, washed clean from our sin, and be one flesh with Him.

In this life as we know it, death usually separates the husband and wife. But Jesus’ death, unites us to Him. Unites us to His resurrection…that our hardened hearts lying in the cold, dark grave, will be raised up to new life. God has given us what is really good, new life - not because of a loophole in the Law, but because our sin is forgiven in Jesus’ name. Our sin has been washed away, by water and the Word. The water of Holy Baptism, the Word of Absolution…

…for every sin and failure in marriage.

…for every sin in thought, word, and deed.

…for every doubt and failure to listen to God’s Word.

… for sins of our bodies and sins of our souls.

…for sins done knowingly and unknowingly. Jesus died for all of them,--no matter how ugly they are.

But in Jesus’ death on the cross, He also took everything infected and corrupted by our sin and made it perfect through His rising to life again. That is the good gift He offers to every one of us now.

What sin has caused you to drift from God? Is it something you’ve actually done, or something you’ve thought or said? Is it something you’ve put off doing? Is it an unforgiving heart? Jealousy? Anger? Selfishness? Self-indulgence?

There are so many tributaries of sin that cause us to drift away from God and His Word. Jesus was made like us in every way but without sin. He suffered when tempted - by the very same temptations that overwhelm us - He knows how hard it is. He comes to anchor us to God the Father and His Word, that we might remain firm in Him and live the good life He has chosen to give us. A life of love; of laying down our lives for others. Please pray with me.

O Guardian of our souls, we thank You for Your spirit’s voice that calls us to repentance when we have strayed from Your will. We pray that You will continue to speak to us through Your spirit, leading us away from sin and into righteous living. Please help us to be attentive to Your guidance and respond with gratitude as You show us the way to eternal life. In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen.

Sermon - September 22, 2024

Today we’re going to talk about worms…not the kind you use for fishing. But have you ever had a tune, or a jingle, of a song that worms its way into your head and you can’t get rid of it?

Or maybe it’s a thought that gets stuck in your head. Maybe it’s a concern in your life, a problem from work, or an assignment at school about which you can’t stop thinking.

Or it can be something good-- like an upcoming vacation. When you have a mind worm, you do things like forgetting to make a turn when you’re driving. Mind worms keep you up at night.

Or maybe it’s - a heart worm… a desire that worms its way into your heart. Something you want so badly that it begins to take over your life. You daydream about it, you obsess about it. Maybe it’s a person, or an accomplishment. But somehow it begins to define you; what you do and how you use your energy.

Mind worms and heart worms are not necessarily bad. It’s not bad to have goals or to try really hard for something. But they can turn bad.

When something controls you, like a heart worm, that’s idolatry—because it displaces God in your heart--it becomes what you fear, love, and trust instead of God. Something that you‘re afraid you’ll never get…something that you love more than anything else…something that gives you pleasure.

I think the disciples had a heart worm about greatness. They wanted to be the greatest. They even outrightly asked Jesus about it in Matthew 18. They argued about it in the Mark reading for today, and they were even disputing about it on the night when Jesus was betrayed, right after He gave them His Supper in Luke 22! That’s how dangerous heart worms can be. How they can take over your life and crowd everything else out.

Maybe that’s one of the reasons Jesus told the disciples in the Gospel text that He was going to be delivered into the hands of men, and they would kill him and when he was killed, after three days he would rise--but it kind of just bounced off them. It didn’t sink in. Because all they had on their minds and in their hearts was which of them was the greatest.

Jesus was nice about it; He asked them what they were discussing. Of the Gospel writers Mark is the most direct; he says they were arguing. But we do that too. We’re not fighting! We’re just having a discussion for heaven’s sake!

But we know what’s going on with the disciples, because it happens to us. Mind worms-- heart worms--worms of sin and evil from satan--worms from the world so we desire what they desire and value and then of course, there are some worms we come up with because of our own sinful nature. Those things that start out innocently enough, but the deeper they go, the more control they exert, and the more dangerous they become.

In the Epistle reading from James we heard about the jealousy and selfish ambition, passions at war within us. Somehow, we think we can be friends with the world --with desires like the world. But that becomes opposition to God. I’m not sure we realize just how dangerous this can be.

So how do we get rid of these worms, these consuming ideas in our lives? What we need is a jolt like a come to Jesus moment. So our focus on what is most important can be restored.

When the 12 disciples were arguing about worldly greatness, Jesus said: Look. If you want to be first, if you want to be great, you must be a servant and have faith like a child. That was just the shock--the jolt the disciples needed. It is absolutely necessary that we have these kinds of attitude corrections in our lives.

And that’s one reason we gather here for worship each week. Because the worms of satan, the world and our sinful selves try to squirm their way back into our ears, minds and hearts. When we are away from hearing God’s word, when we occupy our minds with other ideas and so-called truths, we place our lives in danger and if left alone our souls are endangered.

So we gather here each week to worship—to reset minds, hearts and lives. To focus on Jesus and His forgiveness and life. To fill our ears and minds and hearts with the realization we are not our own. We are subjects of King Jesus. We are not great in the eyes of the world, but we are pearls of great price in the eyes of God. King Jesus became the least to serve the likes of us.

So we gather to confess our sins. We pray for God’s mercy. We gather as old and young, parents and children, workers and bosses, to praise and thank the Lord our God. We gather to hear once again all that Jesus has done for us: He was delivered into the hands of angry men. He was killed and after three days He rose from the dead...to raise you and me up from our sins, to new life with Him. The world doesn’t think any of us are worth very much . . . but your value comes from the fact that God believes you are worth the life of His n! So many of the things we think we want, aren’t really worth having.

So we gather here week after week, blessed with so many children of all ages to be reminded we are His own.

As a groom looks lovingly at his bride, so Jesus looks at us with love in His eyes.

Jesus comes to us in word and sacrament; His divine word promises all believers eternal life. What we hear aren’t the opinions of a man or the thoughts of the world, but the words of truth from the Son of God Himself.

Jesus comes and feeds us with Himself to take away our sin and give us life and salvation. It’s kind of like being de-wormed so we can focus on what is life giving and lifesaving

So we pray today for the Lord to grant us humility and childlike faith. Humility, to realize and recognize who we are and what we are to be about. To look to the cross and see just how much God loves and values us, because God believes we’re worth it.

Dear Heavenly Father, we give You thanks for coming among us in the person of Your Son, Jesus the Christ, to restore us to a right relationship with You, our Creator. Through the power of Your Holy Spirit, please strengthen us in faith, that we might turn from our selfish ambitions and serve You by serving others, especially those in need. Let our lives be a mirror of Your redeeming grace. This we ask, in Jesus’ holy name. Amen.

Sermon 9-15-24 - Mark 8:27-39

HEAVENLY FATHER, May the words of my mouth and the meditation of our hearts be pleasing to You our rock and our redeemer. Amen

Someone who drives a BMW might say: “Fords are for losers.”

A football player might say: “Soccer is for losers.”

and a foodie might say: “Frozen pizza is for losers.”

You can make up Your own if none of these seem to fit.

Even if those comments are made in jest, they still irritate. No one wants to be thought of as a loser. That’s why we try to keep up with the latest fashions and technology. But have you ever considered heaven is for losers?

That’s what our Gospel text is about this morning.

Peter and the other disciples had come to believe that Jesus was the Son of God. Peter made the great profession about Jesus: “You are the CHRIST, the Son of the living God” (Matt. 16:16).Yeah Peter! But the disciples still had to learn what it meant that Jesus was the CHRIST.

The meaning of CHRIST is more than a part of Jesus’ name. CHRIST comes from the Greek word CHRISTos, which means anointed Jewish king who is yet to come. So when we refer to Jesus as the CHRIST it means He is more than our Savior from sin: He’s our king who deserves our allegiance.

Jesus was appointed to save the world from God’s anger over sin. That’s what Jesus meant when He told the disciples: “…the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and after three days rise again”.

Have we heard that Jesus had to suffer and die to pay for our sins so many times, that we’ve forgotten the real cost?

t time the disciples had heard Jesus speak about his upcoming death and they were shocked. It’s like the homeowner who had a leaky roof. It was just one spot, and it shouldn’t cost much to fix it. But the quote he received was for $20,000! Way more than he could have imagined; but to properly fix the problem the rotten roof sheathing, timbers and worn-out shingles all needed replacing.

The disciples didn’t really understand Jesus’ mission or how bad the problem of sin really was. They didn’t give a thought to the fact that Jesus would have to suffer and die – to fix the problem.

So Peter tried to dissuade Jesus. There was no need for this loser talk. That wasn’t the way for a king to think. That’s when Jesus took Peter aside and rebuked him pretty harshly. “‘Get behind me, satan! You do not have the things of God in mind, but the things of men.’

Peter-- unintentionally insisting there was no need for Jesus to suffer and die, placed himself on satan’s side. Right after Jesus’ ministry, satan tempted Him with the offer to rule the world, if He’d just bow down to him.

Jesus didn’t tell Peter He’d think about it. He told him just how serious his suggestion was.

So how do we deal with temptation?

We often mull over a situation until we come up with a way to justify our actions, our words, our behavior then commit a particular sin --would be OK.

We often think that retaliation is my right because that person deserves it for being so mean. S/He did it first.

Or we ignore helping someone because they may misuse what we give them.

I can’t help someone at home because, I’ve already put in long hours at school. We seem to be able to come up with some justification to be comfortable in our sin. We let our opinion compromise our obedience to God.

Those are temptations we need to be rebuke immediately.

Interestingly enough, this text also illustrates how temptation can come from well-meaning friends.

Maybe it comes from the girl or boyfriend who suggests that moving in together would cut down on living expenses. Or it comes from your spouse who suggests that you can participate in a sinful situation if it’s legal and doesn’t hurt anyone. These are the temptations that are the most dangerous because they come to us from those we trust.

But now what did Jesus mean when He said to Peter “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.”

Heaven is for those who have turned to Jesus in their despair admitting they can’t do it alone. Heaven is for the disobedient child who asks for forgiveness. Heaven is for all those who consistently fail to live as one of God’s children and seek God’s mercy and grace.

But heaven isn’t for those who simply brush away their sin, like bothersome flies. Neither is it for those who despair over their sins and refuse to be comforted by Jesus’ promise of forgiveness.

Jesus never said, “Take up my cross and follow me.” Jesus’ cross is different than ours. With His cross Jesus felt God’s righteous anger, so we wouldn’t have to go through the same thing.

We need not beat ourselves up over our sins. We do need to confess them, and truly be sorry for them; we need to stop living in them, knowing that thru Jesus God has forgiven us. That’s what Jesus accomplished at the cross. He doesn’t ask us now to carry His cross, but to take up our own cross.

We sometimes think that our cross is a horrible disease like cancer or some other burden in life, but it isn’t that at all.

Taking up your cross means to put others needs before your own. It means in whatever circumstance we have influence--we share the name of Jesus. We are to reach out in all circumstances so that the name of CHRIST will be proclaimed. It means living your life to God’s glory and not your own. It means taking every opportunity—good or bad, to praise the name of Jesus, His goodness and the joy you have in His name.

That’s the cross Jesus is talking about.

The world and our culture wants power and idolizes those who have it. But remember Jesus’ warning in regard to such thoughts? He said, “What’s the point of gaining all the power and all the riches in this world if you end up losing the eternal life of happiness?”

It’s like the parent who endures hours of cooking—getting so tired, making a mess, having to clean up, but happy to do if for the family s/he loves. It’s that kind of joyful service we will be happy to give others because Jesus continues to joyfully serve us.

We are all called to give up our self-centered nature that resists Jesus—and it’s not easy and is usually associated with struggle and pain. As Jesus led His doubtful disciples through a time of change so He will lead us through times of uncertainty as well.

Let us pray. Almighty God, Your Son, Jesus CHRIST, was lifted high upon the cross so that He might draw the whole world to Himself. Grant that we who glory in His death for our salvation may also glory in His call to take up our cross and follow Him; through Jesus CHRIST our Lord, Amen.

Sermon - September 1, 2024 - Mark 7:14-23

Kind and generous God, You are the giver of all blessings, You alone can offer wholeness for our broken world; You alone offer well-being to each and every person. May we receive what You offer in gratitude and awe. May we share what You so freely give, so others will know the truth of Your salvation. In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.

How’s your recovery coming? Recovery from your heart surgery?

We know that heart disease comes from a number of factors: heredity, stress, diet and a few other things. A person who continues to eat fat foods, and fails to exercise regularly, with a history of heart disease in their family is very likely to have heart problems later in life.

As technology and medicine continue to advance, we are blessed to have many new procedures to correct some of the problems that have plagued people for centuries. Heart transplants are an amazing work of God given blessing to humanity and the graciousness of heart donors.

When a person receives a new heart, they also take a medication to make sure that the body does not reject the new tissue. The medical team will advise the recipient to break their unhealthy habits. Basically they suggest a regiment of exercise, a well-balanced diet low in cholesterol, sodium and fats, and to balance work and rest in the person’s daily routine.

All of God’s children have had heart surgery. We have had spiritual heart surgery. Our Gospel lesson describes our hereditary condition. Out of the evil heart comes evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, profanity, envy, slander, arrogance, and wrongdoing. That’s the way we were. Thru Holy Baptism God has given us new hearts.

The Holy Spirit has come in and done a heart transplant, empowering us to believe and trust in God. He has created faith in us. He has taken out our old heart that is selfish by nature and replaced it with a new one that wants to love God and wants to love its neighbors.

How are we to take care of our new hearts that God has given to us? God has provided us with His Word to nourish us, which happens anytime we hear God’s word read and preached. It happens when we read our Bible like daily exercise for our new hearts. In addition, Jesus gives us His body and blood in the Lord’s Supper to provide sustenance for our faith.

So how is your recovery coming?

Are you sticking to your spiritual diet? Or are you sneaking junk food the world offers and the evil one encourages?

Are you getting your spiritual exercise?

How about the stress? Are you stressing about whether God will take care of all of your needs?

It's really easy to fall into a Pharasitic syndrome and when we do our hearts suffer. When we make up our own rules about what was right and wrong, good or bad. very easy to point fingers at others, accusing them of being wrong, only to ignore or deny our own failing spiritual health.

That’s what the Gospel text says Pharisees do. Jesus quotes the Old Testament Prophet Isaiah, who said, “They have let go of the commands of God and are holding to the traditions of men.”

We have made up our own rules or removed God’s commandments because we think we know better than God. The evil one has really sold us a bill of goods.

Unfortunately, we aren’t very good at following even our own rules.

Many people see God’s laws as restrictions, preventing them from having fun. Nothing could be further from the truth. God loves us so much that He wants us to live life to its fullest. God’s commands are there to keep us from damaging our hearts. He wants us to follow them, not that we will earn His favor, not to keep Him from getting mad at us, but to keep us close to Him.

Here's an example. I love my wife and show her love in very tangible ways, not to earn her approval or bribe her into doing something for me. I do it to deepen our relationship—that I might be close to her. It’s the same with Jesus. When we try to obey God’s laws, we have a deeper fellowship with Him and it is good for our heart health.

God’s laws are also like a spiritual angiogram. If you are not familiar with the medical procedure, it is a way for doctors to see the places where the arteries in your heart might be clogged. God’s laws show us when we fall short of where God would want us to be in our relationship with Him and with others. They tell us when we have hurt our relationship with Jesus and with those we love.

In spite of our heart-damaging behavior, God is at work for us. God’s heart was so filled with compassion, that He rescued us. God’s love comes shining into our hearts even when we were lost in sin and He knew we couldn’t get out of it. He sent His Son, Jesus to repair the problem for us. Jesus, the Great Physician, came down from heaven. He followed the spiritual diet and performed the spiritual exercise for us. He kept the Law perfectly in our stead. Then He was nailed to a cross and His heart that was filled with our sinful, spiritual cholesterol finally stopped beating. But on the third day, His heart started pounding once again. The heartbeat of His love could not be silenced by the grave. God has given you a new heart. It cost Jesus His very life to give it to you. What a precious gift that God has given to us, His children.

What does God think about the way we live our lives?

Are our lives in sync with God’s plan for our lives?

Christianity should shape our thoughts, words and deeds—our personality.

So how’s your recovery going? Are you using God’s word for heart health?

Are you getting plenty of rest as you spend time alone with God?

Are you exercising yourself spiritually as you share your faith with people who don’t know Jesus?

Those who feel God’s love have much to offer the hurting and disconnected in our world. May we all let Jesus’ love shine through our words and deeds, and bring light and life to those around us. Amen

8-25-24 Sermon

Let us pray: Dear Heavenly Father, through the power of Your Holy Spirit, please open our hearts and minds to Your Word for our lives, revealed to us through Your Son, Jesus the Christ, and by that same Spirit, please give us the courage and wisdom to live our lives for You, that we might truly worship You in spirit and truth. This we ask in Christ’s holy name. Amen.

What image comes to your mind when you think of someone or something that’s “Squeaky Clean?” For me it is a sparkling, streak free window or mirror.

The Pharisees and teachers of the Law, in today’s Gospel reading, desired to appear “Squeaky clean” before God because of their outward actions and appearances. These same teachers criticized Jesus and His disciples for not keeping “all the traditions of the elders” and Jesus, quoting Isaiah, said, “These people honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me. They worship Me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men.” In Matthew 15, Jesus addressed the Pharisees and scribes and called them “HYPOCRITES.” He said in verse 8, “these people honor me with their lips but their hearts are far from me.”

It’s possible to say the right thing with the wrong heart. We can sing God-glorifying hymns on Sunday with hearts that are far from God. We can recite Scriptures and have God’s mighty Word come out of our mouths but have no intention of living for the One who inspired it.

When people always know what to say, sound wise, and speak eloquently, they seem like they know what they are talking about, and we assume they are close to God. That’s not what is impressive to God.

We see in Romans 12:2 that the Lord wants “living sacrifices.” It is the living for Jesus that is “true worship.”

Singing the right words without living the right way makes our worship worthless. Quoting Scriptures without any intention of doing what it says is useless.

Don’t be impressed by mere words someone says, but rather look at how they live and what they do. Jesus said in Matthew 7:16, “You will know them by their fruits.”

If we get our hearts right and treasure God above all else, we can give Him the best form of worship and offer ourselves as living sacrifices. When the fruit of our lives matches the fruit of our lips – that’s what is holy and pleasing to God.

In explaining further, Jesus told the parable in Mark 7, “Nothing outside a man can make him ‘unclean’ by going into him. Rather, it is what comes out of a man that makes him ‘unclean.’”

Jesus later told to His disciples that the real “heart of the matter” is “What comes out of a man’s heart that makes him clean or ‘unclean.’ Because from within, out of a person’s heart, comes evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, profanity, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. All of these evils come from inside and make the person ‘unclean.”‘

Only by God’s Word will we be able to define what is pleasing and what is displeasing to Him. God graciously gives us His Word so that by it we may gain wisdom and understanding. And He warns His followers – including you and me- not to “add to what He commands you and do not subtract from it, but keep the commands of the Lord your God that I give you.”

The 13 “heart issues” which Jesus says make us unclean” divide into 3 categories –unclean thoughts, unclean words and unclean actions—that’s what defiles us. (Evil thoughts include greed, cruelty or hatred, deceit, envy and arrogance; ungodly and slanderous words include cursing, false testimony or lies and using profanity. Jesus goes on to say that the unclean actions which defile us “from within” include sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, obscenity and making light of what is serious.”)

Urged by the Holy Spirit, it becomes evident that we each need to humbly bow before our Creator in repentance, asking His forgiveness. In Christ Jesus, we fully and freely receive His mercy, forgiveness and grace because Jesus took upon Himself all our sin, guilt and shame. For these He was punished, crucified and died, in order that through His victory over sin, death and the power of the devil, we would receive forgiveness and eternal life!

What we could NEVER do for ourselves- making ourselves acceptable to God by our own actions and following man-made traditions- Jesus has fully accomplished for us. God doesn’t want empty promises. He desires a life that is truly aligned with His. Thanks be to God, through Jesus, we are “Squeaky Clean – Inside and Out!”

Gracious, merciful and all loving God, it is not always easy to follow You. Please strengthen our willingness to trust You and do what pleases You. As others once shared the good news and invited us to follow, so may we be the ones to invite others, that by sharing the Gospel they too will meet the God who gives new life. May we live Your love with joy each day. In Jesus’ name we pray Amen.

8-18-24 Sermon

Heavenly Father, we give You thanks for Your gift of creation and for establishing life on this planet we call earth. We thank You for revealing Your will for our life, through the words of holy scripture. But most importantly, we thank You for the gift of life, given to all who believe that Christ has redeemed us from our sin, and offers us the hope of new life in Your heavenly kingdom. In Christ’s name we thank You. Amen.

There was a man who got a very simple job packing oranges. He was told: "Just put the big oranges in the green box, the medium-sized oranges in the white box, and the smallest oranges in the yellow box." An hour later, the new employee told his new boss, ’’I quit.” "Why?” asked the boss in amazement. “I cannot take the pressure making all these high management decisions,” he replied.

Decisions are part of life—whether we like it or not. Some decisions are easy and can be made in a split-second --others take longer. Some decisions need to be made to protect our lives— or the lives of others.

In the gospel lesson, people had a chance to receive the salvation of God but were offended because Jesus said that He was the Living Bread from heaven, and if anyone ate his flesh they would live.

That offended people. They were willing to settle for a materialistic miracle--the free bread. But when Jesus talked about being the Bread of life and offering heaven to them, they walked away. They were offended at the idea that God would come down from heaven and be one of us. They had a hard time believing another human being could offer the gift of eternal life. They were offended at the free offer of salvation & many of them walked away.

So Jesus asked the 12 disciples "Do you also wish to go away?" And good old Simon Peter answered for them by saying, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life; and we have believed and have come to know that you are the Holy One of God!”

Peter hasn’t always received great reviews. He was often impulsive, hot-tempered man. Peter didn’t understand all that Jesus was saying about flesh and blood either, but Peter had faith in Jesus. Peter wasn’t just a fair-weather friend. LORD, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.

And later when Peter addressed the council of Jewish leaders, he said: Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to people except the name of Jesus. Peter’s proclamation could have had him stoned to death.

Now Peter could have claimed his identity as a Jew, one of God’s chosen people, a descendant of Abraham as a way of salvation.

He could have pointed to animal sacrifices at the temple as a way to forgiveness.

He could have hoped that his good deeds outweighed the bad ones so he could have been considered righteous, as many people still do today, but he didn’t. He went all in for Jesus. He didn’t hold anything back and neither can we!

When it comes to eternity, we can’t claim self-righteousness. We don’t follow new age philosophies.

When it comes to eternal life, we look only to Jesus the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.

We know and believe that Jesus suffered and died for every one of our sins once and for all and we claim His promise that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have the gift of eternal life.

But it’s when we’re asked to invest our entire life in Jesus, we start stammering—we become hesitant. So which of Jesus’ teachings offend you?

Are we offended when we are told to love our enemies?

What about giving our possessions to those who are in need? We take offense, because how do we know if they are deserving?

When Jesus says, “Go and sin no more” -- we know sin is deadly, but how dare Jesus expect us to change our lifestyle?

We are offended when Jesus commands us to love people we don’t like. To love others the way Jesus loved us means I must take abuse from people and still pray that God the Father will forgive them. I’m not sure I like that one very much. Loving one another as Christ loved us means I don’t get my way all the time. It means I have to put the needs of others at the level of my own. It means that I will build up someone instead of criticizing.

Loving one another the way the LORD loved us means that I have to change. But I don’t want to change. Whether we admit it or not, we too, find the words of Jesus hard to listen to. So the bottom line is this: are you willing to turn away from the words of eternal life?

In all the decisions we are called to make, the most important one has to do with our relationship with Jesus Christ. Jesus asked the disciples whom they would follow. All of us must answer the same question. What is our life going to be about?

Each one of us must decide how much control Jesus is going to have if any at all.

But Jesus calls His followers to take the difficult path. Will you follow Jesus when it calls for sacrifice, service, love, involvement? Will you partner with Him in all areas of your life?

Apart from Christ we can be fooled into living only for the moment and of making no preparation for the world to come. Eternal life means more than living for satisfaction now. It means a destiny beyond the grave. It means hope in the face of death.

Joshua said, "but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD."

Peter said, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life."

What do you say? All glory be to the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit as it was in the beginning is now and forever will be. Amen

August 4, 2024 Sermon

Great Giver of what is satisfying and good, help us discard the junk foods of this life to take hold of what is life-giving—bread that satisfies, waters that quenches thirst, and Your light that shines in the darkest places of our being. Please fill each one of us, we ask, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

What do today’s vehicles, computers, cellphones, appliances, McDonald Happy meals toys, and Chinese food all have in common?

They all rely on a business concept, first coined by Brook Stevens, in 1954. His theory is called planned obsolescence, which is nothing really new. But after he coined the term, it became the strategy used to help businesses prosper. Create a product, that creates excitement, and the product will sell. However, the product is intentionally designed to become either obsolete or cease to function. But because people have a perceived need, it will need to be replaced. We can all think of countless examples!

Computers are made to be replaced in two to five years. New software is written every six months, requiring a new pc to run it. Vehicles have an average lifespan of 11.5 years. Dealerships want you to purchase an extended warranty. Simply meaning they don’t expect the vehicle to hold up much beyond the five-year mark. Household appliances are no longer expected to last more than ten years.

We fall for the principle of obsolescence over and over again. We even seek such things out, for the rush, for the excitement of having something new again. Today’s gospel challenges that thought. Jesus advised the people of God then and all of us today, to switch from chasing that which is planned to be obsolete, and switch to desiring that which will satisfy forever.

We read from Mark’s Gospel about the feeding of the thousands of people with five loaves and two fish. People had run all the way around the Sea of Galilee, looking to find Jesus. There in a desolate region, after teaching them about God’s love, Jesus fed them with two fish, and some bread, which only nourished them for a short time. Getting hungry again, they went searching for him throughout Galilee because they wanted more food from him… They were motivated by a self-interest to seek out Jesus. They found Him in the Capernaum synagogue.

Just as we need to replace those things of which we are so proud, the truck that will cost more to fix, than it is worth; the computer that will no longer update anymore. They wanted the food, to have their desire and hunger satisfied.

Jesus even acknowledged their self-serving motivation for seeking Him out. He calls them to seek something more substantial--something that will be everlasting: Food that sustains to eternal Life.

Jesus takes their hunger and changes it towards something more nourishing.

We live in a culture, that seeks satisfaction. When something or even someone no longer satisfies us, we replace it. A new vehicle, or a new home, that gives us the excitement for which we’re looking. If it doesn’t satisfy or excite us – trade it in, for something more powerful, faster, or that which gives a greater sense of being satisfied.

Jesus is really speaking to the obvious: nothing truly satisfies, nothing quenches our thirst, and we chase after that lack of satisfaction until it destroys us.

Jesus says: Do not labor for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you.

Don’t chase after the sin, which promises fleeting satisfaction at best, but leaves you empty and wasted. Instead, look for the things that will sustain you, forever. Look to Jesus, and what He provides. It sustains us, and will indeed satisfy us, more than anything else.

God the Father sent Jesus to give us the things that cause life to thrive until we enter into eternity. Jesus encourages everyone to take what He alone can give.

Did they listen? Do people today listen? Of course not.

We like planned obsolescence!

When Jesus says that his food will nourish you until eternal life—food that he gives out, they ask what’s the catch? What’s the cost. They plainly ask: "What must we do, to be doing the works of God? What price do we have to pay?”

They didn’t listen, or they didn’t get it. That which is worth the most, is that for which the price has already been paid!

There is still another element in our personalities that stands in the way of receiving what Jesus offers to give. It’s part of our temporary enjoyment to be able to think or say: “I earned this.”

By taking credit for the upgrade’s, we experience in life we think we earned it. Maybe in some way planned obsolescence shows us we have worth and value—without God.

When the people mention Moses giving them the manna from heaven, Jesus corrects them. It was God the Father who gave them the manna. His correct points them to the One who is able to provide all things. Pretty simple thing actually. Trust the Father and the one the Father has sent. Trust Jesus. That’s it!

You want to live forever in complete joy? Trust Jesus.

You want your sins forgiven, and temptations removed? Trust Jesus.

You don’t have to go on a pilgrimage, You don’t have to pay thousands or millions of dollars or say thousands of prayers. Just trust Him.

Trust that His death on the cross was for You. Jesus paid all the cost. Jesus provided the way back to having a relationship with God the Father. Trust in Him. Have faith that Jesus’ work, is for You and all believers.

But the people that day just couldn’t do that, much like most people today. They asked: Then what sign do you do, that we may see and believe you?

For anyone who is used to planned obsolesce, it’s a very good question. The people of Israel’s ancestors were fed, not by their own work, but because God proved Himself trustworthy and faithful to care for His people.

We know that the bread of life, Jesus, was sent down from heaven, and because of that, we know we are sustained in Him, for eternity.

That is how the passage ends, with an incredible guarantee. When Jesus provided that which would sustain life, His very life and death, and resurrection, our chasing after that which satisfies, becomes mute. For nothing will satisfy our true needs like Jesus. Not food, or drink, not stuff, or luxuries, not even a meal at the pizza ranch or China buffet will stay with us as long.

What will, is the incredible love and mercy, grace and peace of God, revealed to us in Christ Jesus. Things that were planned, from before the foundation of the world will never become obsolete or have an expiration date. God is for us, that will never perish.

and because the love of Jesus will not perish neither shall we. We will have complete satisfaction, God’s favor and peace!

And now may the peace of God, guard Your heart and mind in Christ Jesus, AMEN.