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Sermon - New Years' Eve 2025 - Luke 12:35-40

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The Faithful and Wise Steward , Jan Luyken, 1840 Readiness The New Year is a time to reflect upon the past, and make preparations for the future In reflection we must recognize that we have not always been as ready as we ought to have been For which we deserve punishment Our Lord is merciful and forgiving, so we begin the new year afresh, and ready ourselves for Christ’s return When He returns, He reverses situation and becomes the slave who serves us A blessed New Year’s Eve, dear brothers and sisters in Christ! The close of the year calls for a time of thanksgiving and celebration. We look back upon the past twelve months and meditate on all of God’s providential care for us and our loved ones. Even in reflecting upon our crosses which we suffered through, we remember God’s goodness in preserving us through those trials. Any number of things could’ve happened this past year, and yet the Lord preserved us through it all. So tonight and tomorrow celebrate and rejoice in God’s omnipoten...
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Sermon - Christmas Day 2025 - John 1:1-18

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Nativity , Sandro Botticelli, 1475 A New Birth The birth of Jesus foreshadows our new birth through Holy Baptism The birth of Jesus foreshadows our new birth in the day of resurrection Merry Christmas! “ And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. ” That Word which was in the beginning, who is God, through Whom all things have been made, through Whom is life and the light of men, that Word became flesh in the womb of blessed virgin Mary. He who created Adam and Eve and Mary, who created wombs for infants, He became man and entered into the flesh and the womb of the woman He had made. He who created women to nurture and feed with their own body, was born of Mary and fed from her. He who created light and air and food and water and creatures of every size and sort stepped into His created world. Though He is uncreated, in the incarnation the infinite has put on the finite to dwell with His cr...
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Sermon - Christmas Program Service 2025 - Psalm 98

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Concert of Angels and Nativity from Isenheim Altarpiece, Matthias Grunewald, 1515 Christians Sing We sing because of God’s actions We sing as a collective whole “ Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth; break forth into joyous song and sing praises! ” From young to old, with voices and instruments, we have made a joyful noise to the Lord, we have broken forth into joyous song! It’s that time of year when everyone is singing, not just here at church, but all over the place. You go to the grocery store and listen to some Nat King Cole and Bing Crosby or Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra. You go to music recitals or Christmas concerts for little kids admiring their enthusiasm. You go to Christmas at Bethany or CSP or another university and admire the stunning beauty of the sounds hitting your ears.  Of course in church we sing more than usual as well, such as we just did today and will do on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day this week. However, have you ever wondered or asked the qu...
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Sermon - Advent Midweek 2, 2025 - LSB 334:3,4

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The Last Judgment , Unknown Artist, 1549 Rejoice, then, ye sad-hearted, who sit in deepest gloom Intro: Explain 10 stanzas originally written Through sin we sit in gloom and are covered in shame Christ descended into our deepest gloom through His love for us Through His incarnation He frees us from sin and brings us into His kingdom Last week pastor Matheny gave you a great rundown on some of the important details of the author of our Advent hymn we’re meditating on this year: Paul Gerhardt. Gerhardt wrote some of the greatest hymns ever penned likely as a result of the many sorrows which framed his life. Last week you heard he was born in 1607, but by 1618 the Thirty Years’ War began. This war would raze his home village, Gräfenhainchen, to the ground. Thankfully before the village was sacked he had been sent to school at Grimma where he studied Latin classical poetry, awakening in him his poetic skills. It was in the midst of that tumult that he wrote the hymn O Lord, How Shall I Mee...
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