Sermon - Trinity VII, 2026 - Mark 8:1-9

-
Image
The Multiplication of Loaves, Daniel Halle, 1664 Those who abide with Jesus will be satisfied by Jesus Jesus has compassion on those who abide in Him Jesus provides for us by means of others Those who sacrifice for Christ shall receive far more later Jesus satisfies our hungry hearts so that we do not faint on the way but have strength to reach our heavenly home St. Paul explains: “ I am speaking in human terms, because of your natural limitations. ” We’re simple people, or at least I am, and the way in which the Lord reveals Himself to us is through natural, human things. As such, the miracles of Jesus are always more than meets the eye. Of course the feeding of the four thousand reveals God’s providence for us. Of course each miracle reveals the divinity of Christ. However, the miracles are more than the miracles themselves, and they do more than reveal the divinity of Christ. Each miracle Jesus performs is meant to teach us and reveal to us God’s greater work of redemption for all o...
Post a Comment

Let the Children Come to Me - Emmetsburg Newspaper Article - May 5th, 2022

-



Here are a couple sobering numbers: Approximately 800,000+ abortions are performed yearly in the United States. About 3,500 abortions take place here in Iowa each year. About as many people as live in Emmetsburg are killed before birth in Iowa. More people than live in Des Moines are killed yearly in the United States. 

The Total Fertility Rate (children a woman has in her lifetime) for the US was right at replacement rate (2.1) in 2008, but now we’re at 1.64. How exactly this will impact our nation is unknown, but it won’t be pretty. Just consider how many things have changed here in our county since 1940 when our population was 16,000, to today when our population is 9,000.

These numbers reveal something about us and our nation: children are not our priority. But they are for Jesus: “They were bringing even infants to Jesus that He might touch them. And when the disciples saw it, they rebuked them. But Jesus called them to Him, saying, “Let the children come to Me, and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God.””

Jesus loves children so much that He went to the cross to die for them and win God’s kingdom for them. The world is filled with darkness and evil, but children make this life brighter. All of our wealth can be easily lost, but our children are the one thing we can take with us. When we’re sick or dying we want to be surrounded by our kids. Children are a heritage from the Lord; they should neither be killed in the womb nor prevented, but welcomed and received with joy!

In Christ,

Rev. John Henry Koopman


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A Defense of Headcoverings

-
Image
A Defense of Headcoverings in the Lutheran Church by Rev. John Henry Koopman “ Now I commend you because you remember me in everything and maintain the traditions even as I delivered them to you. But I want you to understand that the head of every man is Christ, the head of a wife is her husband, and the head of Christ is God. Every man who prays or prophesies with his head covered dishonors his head, but every wife who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head, since it is the same as if her head were shaven. For if a wife will not cover her head, then she should cut her hair short. But since it is disgraceful for a wife to cut off her hair or shave her head, let her cover her head. For a man ought not to cover his head, since he is the image and glory of God, but woman is the glory of man. For man was not made from woman, but woman from man. Neither was man created for woman, but woman for man. That is why a wife ought to have a symbol of authority on her head, ...
Read more

The Fruit of the Womb are a Reward - Algona Newspaper Article

-
Image
Children are very often treated as a curse in our culture; we don’t want to have “too many” of them. Fertility is regularly treated like a disease, something which we medicate against. Unborn children are treated like commodities or science experiments. For example, Francis Collins, the former head of the NIH presided over, funded, ordered, or participated in experiments on human fetuses procured from abortions, such as a University of Pittsburgh experiment which grafted infant scalps onto lab rats. These are the types of atrocities we’d expect from Nazis, yet they’re taking place in our own modern day nation.  Approximately 800,000+ abortions are performed yearly in the United States. About 3,500 abortions take place here in Iowa each year. Think about those numbers for a moment. About as many people as live in Emmetsburg are killed before birth in Iowa. More people than live in Des Moines are killed yearly in the United States. Those are some sobering numbers. Contrast that with ...
Read more

Sermon - Easter Vigil 2023

-
Image
The Resurrection of Christ , Giovanni Battista Moroni, circa 1545-1548 This is the night When the Pascha is not merely celebrated but enacted in us by faith To borrow a phrase from T. S. Elliot’s epic poem about time, tonight is a “still point in the turning world.” The Creation of the world, from darkness to light, and chaos to order; the Exodus out of Egypt, in which the angel of death passed over the faithful and the Israelites passed over the Red Sea on dry ground; the Passion of our Lord, instituting His Supper, His betrayal in the garden, the unjust trial and His bloody crucifixion; the Resurrection from the tomb; your Resurrection on the final day. All this, the past and the future of redemption is right now. This, your redemption, is not merely celebrated like a birthday or an anniversary, but it is relived in us by faith this very night. At the Passover meal the Israelites did not merely remember the historical event of the Exodus, but they relived the Passover as their own de...
Read more