Sermon - Trinity XI, 2026 - Luke 18:9-14

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The Pharisee and the Publican , Barent Fabritius, 1661 The Righteousness of Faith External righteousness is an unreliable predictor of true righteousness Pride often masquerades as righteousness True righteousness is received in humble repentance You can’t judge a book by its cover, as the saying goes. The same is similarly true in regards to righteousness. External righteousness is an unreliable predictor of true righteousness. This is evidently true throughout the scriptures. We see Cain and Abel; both hard working men, both offer the fruit of their labors to the Lord, with Abel the Lord is pleased, and with Cain the Lord is not. We see Saul and David. Saul is a man’s man, tall, handsome, muscular, the kind of man you’d expect to be king. David is ruddy and youthful, you might say he’s a pretty boy. Yet David was a man after God’s own heart, and Saul displeased the Lord. We see a Pharisee and a tax collector. The Pharisee is a good solid church goer, lives an upright life, very pious...
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Let the Children Come to Me - Emmetsburg Newspaper Article - May 5th, 2022

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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


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