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Sermon - Misericordias Domini 2024 - John 10:11-16

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Good Shepherd ,   Catacomb of Priscilla, Italy, Rome, 3rd Century Jesus is the Great I AM God revealed Himself in the Old Testament as I am who I am, or YHWH. God in the New Testament revealed Himself more fully through Jesus finishing the sentence I am… Jesus is the Good Shepherd, the only human of the I Am statements. Alleluia! Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia! Who does God say that He is? We say that God is Triune, and He is, because that is how He has revealed Himself to us in the scriptures. He is one God in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. But in the Old Testament the personal name of God is recorded as four consonants, in our alphabet it’s YHWH, which is usually pronounced like Yahweh. Although from what we’re aware the pious practice was to not even say God’s name, which is still retained in our English Bibles where we have the word LORD in capital letters. Whenever you see the word LORD in capitals in the Bible it’s actually the Divine Name, YHWH.  But
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Sermon - Quasimodo Geniti 2024 - John 20:19-31

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The Incredulity of Saint Thomas, Caravaggio, 1600 The Ministry of Peace Jesus’ work of death and resurrection give us peace, as seen in the wounds which remain in Jesus’ resurrected and glorified body. Jesus gives this peace through His pastors whom He sent to forgive sins in His place. Pastors come and go throughout life, yet the peace which different pastors give comes from the same Christ Jesus. Alleluia! Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia! Have you ever been gripped with fear? The Apostles were in our reading today. “ On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews. ” Though, one day, not long before this, the Apostles had heard that Lazaraus had died, and that Jesus was going to go to him. It was a risky trip, since the Jews were seeking to stone Jesus. But Thomas piped up: “ Let us also go, that we may die with Him ” Then, on the night when Jesus was betrayed, Peter and all the apostles said:
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Sermon - Easter Day 2024

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Women at the Empty Tomb , Fra Angelico, 1439 Do not be Alarmed for He has Risen Christians feel very defeated these days The Crucified One is risen Instead of being defeated, we Christians are in fact victorious Alleluia! Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia! Oh rejoice ye Christians loudly! Christ has risen from the dead! Let the bells ring and the organ pipes sing with jubilation! Let our voices be raised with loud shouts of Hallelujah! This is the day for celebration and jubilation, since today is the heart of Christianity, the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ! This is the highest feast and holiday, outshining all the others. This feast is so great it’s the basis for why we gather every Sunday, since every Sunday we are celebrating the resurrection. Every Sunday is, in a sense, Easter! The whole year therefore is crowned with the joy of Easter. Yet the typical mindset of a Christian these days is very similar to the mindset prevalent among the women who first reached t
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Sermon - Good Friday 2024

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Ecce Homo,  Caravaggio, 1605 Behold your King! His kingdom is not of this world His glory is His crucifixion He rules by bearing witness to the truth Out stepped Jesus, wearing a crown of twisted thorns and a purple robe, while soldiers spit on Him, hit Him, and mockingly paid homage to Him: “ Hail, King of the Jews! ” Pilate brought Him before the people, declaring: “ Behold your King! ” Stripping Him naked He was nailed to the cross, and above His head a sign was posted: “ Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews. ” Soon the veils will be removed from the crosses here, and we too will gaze upon the cross. The words of Pilate ring out into our ears: “ Behold your King! ” Christ is King! This notion brought great anger to the crowd of Jews. “ If you release this man, you are not Caesar’s friend. Everyone who makes Himself a king opposes Caesar. ” They went so far as to confess: “ We have no king but Caesar. ” For them the only kingdom they wanted was an earthly kingdom. They wanted the
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Sermon - Maundy Thursday 2024

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Last Supper , Jacopo Bassano, 1546 Food that Matters Food is important to us This Lord’s Supper is more important We want to eat healthful food The Lord’s Supper is medicine of immortality, except to those who eat unworthily Food is kind of a big deal. We eat it every day. We have multiple rooms in our houses dedicated to food. The most frequented stores sell food, like grocery stores, restaurants, and gas stations. When we get together with others one of the central activities is typically eating. Even our churches have kitchens and dining rooms as big as our sanctuaries. Food is kind of a big deal in the Bible, too. The opening chapters of Genesis are about God creating a world to feed us with, and Adam and Eve falling into sin with the action of eating wrongly. Throughout the Bible food is everywhere, from Old Testament dietary laws to the heavenly wedding feast in Paradise with the Lamb of God. Today we heard about one of the most significant events among the Israelites, the Exodus
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Sermon - Palmarum 2024 - Matthew 26:1-27:66

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Give Us Barabbas , 1910 Jesus takes the place of a Criminal Jesus took the place of Barabbas Jesus took our place His blood is on us and on our children I really appreciate the story of Barabbas. Barabbas is legitimately a criminal; he’s an insurrectionist and a murderer. Jesus is charged with insurrection, but is innocent and everyone knows it. Barabbas deserves to die, but he goes free. Jesus deserves to live, and he is crucified. Jesus takes the place of a criminal. This story of Barabbas is actually a very beautiful parallel to Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. This was the most solemn feast among God’s people in the Old Testament. This was the one day of the year when the high priest entered the holy of holies in the temple or tabernacle. On this day two male goats were taken. One of those goats was to be taken for the sin offering, and the other was the scapegoat.The goat which was to be offered for sin was sacrificed and its blood was sprinkled in the temple to make atonement be
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Sermon - Lent Midweek 5, 2024 - Job 1:6-22

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Job and His Friends , Ilya Repin, 1869 As Christ Suffered, So Shall We Job Suffered He suffered because He was blameless and upright, feared God, and turned away from evil His suffering was good because  through it God proved Job’s faith Jesus suffered He had not sinned, and was not punished for His sins, yet He suffered His suffering was good because it results in our salvation We suffer We are sinners, and we suffer, but not necessarily because of specific sins This suffering is good because it strengthens us and prepares us for our salvation Why do people suffer? People tend to think of it like karma. If you do bad things, bad things happen to you. If you do good things, good things happen to you. To some extent this is true, there are consequences for your actions. If you’re a criminal, the consequence may be that you go to jail. However, life doesn’t always work so simply. It’s not a one to one correlation, where bad things happen to you because you did bad things, or you’re succe
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