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Sermon - Proper 7, Year C, 2025 - Luke 8:26-39

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The Swine Driven into the Sea, James Tissot, 1886 Jesus Casts Out Demons Jesus casted out the demons from the demoniac and cleansed the man Our nation is plagued by demonic oppression The Word of Jesus casts out demons and cleanses us Demons are real. Jesus casts out demons. When Jesus first entered the Decapolis, particularly the region of the Gerasenes, it was gentile territory. This means that these people did not worship the true God but were pagans and heathens. The soul is like a vacuum, so where the Holy Spirit does not dwell, unclean spirits dwell. Thus, it’s entirely unsurprising that “ When Jesus had stepped out on land, there met him a man from the city who had demons. For a long time he had worn no clothes, and he had not lived in a house but among the tombs. ” It should come as no surprise that when people are without the Lord there will be demons there. When demons inhabit or oppress a person they make that person look inhuman and freakish. For instance, the Goliath whom ...
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Sermon - Merle Kitzmann

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The Burial  Carl Heinrich Bloch, 1873 Hark, a loud voice from the throne of heaven declares: “ Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be His people, and God Himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away. ” Dear Lois, Anne, John, siblings, relatives, friends, and brothers and sisters in Christ, death shall be no more! Our God and Lord, Jesus the Christ, has destroyed death. In dying He has atoned for sins, and in rising again He has opened the gates of paradise. What joy to know that this man whom we remember today has been forgiven all of his sins by the blood of Jesus, and shall follow his Master from the grave to the holy city of the New Jerusalem! Death, Merle’s death, shall be no more. His tears and yours shall be wiped away by the hand of God. Today, however, tear...
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Sermon - Pentecost 2025 - John 14:23-31

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The Pentecost, El Greco, 1600 The Holy Spirit Provides for His Church What the church is and where it is found The Spirit provides for His church The Spirit gives His church peace Happy birthday and a blessed feast of Pentecost to you dear brothers and sisters in Christ! Today the church of God celebrates the birth of the church, fifty days after Easter, ten days after the Ascension, when the Holy Spirit descended upon the apostles as tongues of fire in order that they may tell of the mighty works of God. From that day on the church of God has been proclaiming the Gospel of repentance and forgiveness of sins in Jesus’ name throughout the entire world. Immanuel Lutheran Church, right here in rural Minnesota, is an heir, a beneficiary, and a part of this Spirit filled church of God. Today is a day to celebrate the mighty works of God, not just all over the world, but especially right here in these hallowed halls. The church of God exists where Christians physically gather to hear God’s W...
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Sermon - Ascension Day 2025 - Mark 16:14-20

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Christ Enthroned , Emmanuel Tzanes, 1664 King Jesus Nourishes His Church Jesus’ ascension marks His enthronement as King His church lives in the wilderness of this world King Jesus rules with a rod of Iron, His Holy Word, in order to nourish us “ So then the Lord Jesus, after He had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven and sat down. ” Sounds pretty lame, huh! Here Jesus dies and rises again, conquers sin, death, and hell, and what does He do next? He sits down. It sounds terribly anticlimactic, kind of like the creation account. God creates all things, from nothing and chaos to a perfectly ordered universe teeming with life, and then on the 7th day God rested. But of course God didn’t just give up on the 7th day and take a nap, but He thenceforth continued to uphold and preserve the universe. Likewise, Jesus ascending to heaven and sitting down does not at all mean He’s just kicking back in His Lay-Z-Boy, throwing back a couple beers and lazily smoking His pipe. Instead, Jesus’ asc...
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Sermon - Easter 5, Year C, 2025 - John 16:12-22

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The Christian Martyr's Last Prayer , Jean-Leon Gerome, 1883 True Christian Joy The Sorrows of life Worldly Joy Godly Joy Alleluia! Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia! “ Truly, truly, I say to you, you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice. You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn into joy. ” You will be sorrowful, Jesus says. There are some people who really embrace that, and go so far as to enjoy being upset and angry. We live in an outrage culture, where every issue that arises causes us anger, and our first and only response is to be outraged! Instead of thinking clearly about the issues, or trying to have a balanced and level headed approach to problems, calmly and rationally managing crises, we blow up and become enraged. Or, if we’re not outraged, we’re also prone simply to sorrow and grumbling, wallowing in our problems, saying: Woe is me! Perhaps we have valid reasons to be upset; we really are treated unjustly, or have been injured, or our lot...
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