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Showing posts from February, 2019

Sermon - Trinity I, 2026 - Luke 16:19-31

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Parable of Lazarus and the Story of Job , Erhard Altdorfer, circa 1520 Two Rich Men and Lazarus The rich men of this age who are lovers of money justify themselves by their earthly riches Jesus is the Rich Man who loves mankind, and justifies others by means His heavenly riches, namely His precious blood Lazarus, the poor sick beggar, is all who desire to be fed with the crumbs that fall from Jesus’ table. Earlier in Luke 16 Jesus famously says: “ You cannot serve God and mammon.” Then shortly before telling today’s parable of the rich man and Lazarus, He explains: “ The Pharisees, who were lovers of money, heard all these things, and they ridiculed him. And he said to them, “You are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts. For what is exalted among men is an abomination in the sight of God. ” Thus, the issue of money and earthly wealth, and how we Christians are meant to treat our earthly riches, is most certainly at the forefront of today’s text. But today...
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Sermon - Sexagesima 2019 - Luke 8:4-15

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The earliest Christians after the resurrection and ascension of the Christ were often relegated to meet in their homes, in caves, or at cemetaries since they weren’t permitted to build church buildings by the government. Once Christianity became legal in many places and they were allowed to build churches, many Christians were burned alive inside of their churches as pagans sought to kill them.  In fact, this sort of thing still happens to this day, a cursory glance at a google search of Christian churches being burned down will bring up a plethora of results. For instance, just last October in Nigeria, Muslims attacked a crowded marketplace where many Christians gathered in order to kill them or burn them alive. At least 55 were killed that day, some of whom were burned beyond recognition. The next month, in the Congo of Africa, more than 40 Christians were massacred by Muslims while worshipping in their church. The doors were locked and all were burned to ashes. These weren’...
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Sermon - Septuagesima 2019 - Matthew 20:1-16

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Among American Christians predestination is one of the more controversial topics. The teaching of God’s eternal foreknowledge, election, and predestination is a narrow road to trod and it’s quite easy to fall off the path and land on either side in the ditch. On the one side, there are those who rightly recognize that we don’t earn our own salvation, instead God chooses us. But they thus reason that if God chooses to save us, then He must also choose to condemn some of us.  On the other side in the other ditch, there are those who correctly understand that some go to hell by their own rejection of God’s gifts. But they further reason that if we go to hell by our own power, then we must also go to heaven by our own decisions. There are many American Christians who fall off on either side of this narrow road, they start off with good intentions, but quickly err and are deceived. What gets them on either side is that they depend on their powers of reasoning, instead of the pure Wor...
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Sermon - Transfiguration 2019 - Matthew 17:1-9

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“ And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God. ” “ The disciples fell on their faces and were terrified. ” Upon hearing the voice of God their heavenly Father, these people fell down and hid their faces, cowering in terror. That probably seems like an unusual reaction to you, doesn’t it? Why would anyone want to hide from God? Shouldn’t they have been overjoyed that God spoke to them directly? Shouldn’t they have begun dancing with delight and singing God’s praises? Why were they sore afraid when they heard God?  Well, their reaction to the sound of God’s presence is nothing unusual in the Bible, these aren’t isolated instances. After Adam and Eve fell into sin, they hid from God because they were afraid of Him when they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden. When God spoke to Abraham, the first words God had to say to him were “Fear not!” When the angels appeared to the shepherds after the birth of Christ, the shepherds were filled with great fear....
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Sermon - Epiphany IV - Matthew 8:21-27

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You and I, we’ve boarded a ship and have embarked upon the greatest voyage of our lives. On the day you were baptized, you were brought aboard the magnificent ship of Christ’s Christian church. Like a ship, the church sails from country to country. Christ is our captain. The pastors are the helmsmen, who steer the ship at Christ’s command. The gangplank which brought us aboard is faith founded in baptism. Hope is our anchor that keeps us from drifting. The cross is our mast upon which carries the sails of God’s Word. At the top of the mast, flies the flag of the creed, which identifies us to all the world as Christians. Our little ship is pushed along by wind, that is, God’s breath, the Holy Spirit. The Christians are the crew, each with a vitally important job. The harbor towards which our ship sails is heaven.  As the ship set sail, the waters were calm, the skies were blue, the sun shined brightly in the east. At times the voyage is nothing but smooth sailing. The waters are ...
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