Pious Lutheran

St. Peter Preaching in the Presence of St. Mark, Fra Angelico, 1433 Hearing the mighty works of God The Holy Spirit brings us God’s word We keep God’s word when we speak it to others When you think about Pentecost and the Holy Spirit working, what kinds of things do you think about? Perhaps you think about Pentecostals and them “speaking in tongues” or publicly weeping. Maybe you think about revivals, like Billy Graham’s crusades or that revival that was taking place down in Kentucky. Maybe you think about mass conversions, as is happening in some places in Africa. But the work of the Holy Spirit typically isn’t as showy as all of that and the Holy Spirit Himself is rarely ever even visible, since the Holy Spirit’s job is to point to Christ, that all might hear the mighty works of God. To be fair, the Holy Spirit was quite showy on that first Pentecost, 50 days after Easter. “ And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where t...

Persecution of Christians,  J. Wierix, 1532-1603 To keep us from falling away Persecution for being faithful may tempt us to apostatize Jesus warns us so that we can prepare Jesus strengthens us by sending the Holy Spirit Alleluia! Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia! Last Sunday we heard in the sermon that theology has consequences, and many of these consequences are fantastic! Chiefly, the consequence of theology is our redemption, our salvation from sin and death to life eternal through the sacrifice of our Lord Jesus. Consequently we are no longer dead in our tresspasses, but we are alive in Christ; we are free to live good lives. We aren’t doomed to dwell in our past errors and sins, instead each day is a new day and we are given a fresh start to make this a good day. God’s word shapes us and forms us in the likeness of Jesus, so that our every thought and action is taken captive to obey Christ, and thus our lives are made good when we live in Christ’s light. The vas...

Reading the Bible,  Jean-Baptiste Greuze, 1755 Theology has consequences Introduction to Postmodernism. A person’s beliefs shape their behaviors. God’s Word shapes our minds, and therefore shapes our behaviors. Alleluia! Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia! So many things are changing very rapidly today; it practically gives a person whiplash. It’s almost hard to believe how dramatically and quickly things are changing. Just in the past couple of decades, for example, sodomy and transgenderism went from being somewhat unheard of and unacceptable to the majority of the population, to today where if you don’t accept these perversions you’re considered a hateful bigot. A century ago, when clothing was much more expensive, when do you think men wore suits and top hats and women wore big dresses? Practically anytime they went out in public. The same was mostly true just half a century ago. Now many people don’t even own anything nicer than a pair of jeans. Half a century ago n...

19th Century windows in the Evangelische Stadtkirche Ravensburg with inscription from Psalm 133:1 God’s implanted word replaces the anger and wickedness of our hearts. Anger and quarrels are common among man. We are to be different because we are brought forth by the word of truth. The word of the Spirit makes us loving like God. Alleluia! Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia! No one has to ask why James would tell us Christians not to be angry with each other, because we get into so many arguments it’s painfully obvious. “ Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God. ” We christians are to be different, because God’s implanted Word of love replaces the anger and wickedness of our hearts.  But anger and quarrels are common among mankind. Anger is common whether at work, at home, in the government, among friends, and even in the church. Bosses lose their tempe...

Alleluia! Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia! Dear Paul, children and grandchildren, relatives and friends, our dear Lord Jesus comforts us in the midst of our sorrows and says: “ Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven. ” Jesus does not lie; the reward for the faithful christian is great! Ruth has just now begun to enjoy the great rewards of everlasting life, since her soul is with the Lord in heaven. The days of her suffering and enduring the hardships of life are past, now she rests in the Lord. She is enjoying the reward of everlasting life won for her by Jesus. Therefore Ruth is already, right now, rejoicing and is glad, for her reward is great in heaven. For Ruth this instruction to rejoice and be glad is an easy one, since her soul rests with God now. For us on the other hand it’s a bit more difficult, to put it lightly. One reason for this is because Ruth had a large presence, right? She was always active and involved with the people around her. I not...