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Showing posts from July, 2023

Sermon - Proper 6, Series A, Pentecost 3, 2026 - Matthew 9:35–10:20

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The Wolf and the Lamb , Jean-Baptiste Oudry, 18th century Being Faithful in the Midst of Wolves The harvest is plentiful; there are many unbelievers who need to hear Yet there are also those who hate the Lord, and will persecute us Therefore, we must faithfully bear witness to Christ As secularism increases in our nation and church attendance declines, we faithful Christians can be prone to despair and despondency about the future of the church and our nation. I understand, especially if you’re older than me, because if you’re older than me you remember a time when the church was growing and very different than it is today. So it can be disheartening to see the church across America in decline for the past 40 years.  But there’s another way to look at our current situation. Jesus says: “ The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest. ” The harvest is plentiful! We are surrounded by many ...
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Sermon - Trinity VI 2023 - Matthew 5:17-26

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Moses with the Ten Commandments, Rembrandt, 1659 Anger It’s easy to be angry with each other. There is such a thing as righteous anger, but not all anger is righteous We should seek reconciliation, not anger Our Lord forgives us, even though we clearly don’t deserve His mercy You know, it’s not always easy to get along with each other. We are certainly prone to anger. Obviously we’re all sinful, so we make mistakes and do wicked things, provoking each other to anger. But we’re also just different people, so we have different interests, personalities, and gifts. Additionally, we are easily offended, getting upset and emotional over everything. All of these things combine to make it difficult to get along and easy to be angry. Jesus taught us: “ But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire. ”  Jesus’ words are hard to ...
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Sermon - Trinity V 2023 - Luke 5:1-11

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The Miraculous Draft of Fishes,  Raphael, 1515-1516 “Faithfulness to the Word of God produces greater fruits than any amount of human wisdom.” The Value of Life God’s Word gives value and purpose Therefore a life lived in obedience to God’s word has greater value than a life lived according to human wisdom. What gives a life, your life, value? This is ultimately the question behind abortion and euthanasia and any number of life issues that we’re facing today. Typically today we answer that question very practically: what is that person producing and will that person have pleasure? So for an unborn child, maybe with disabilities, maybe with a single mother, maybe with poor prospects of wealth and happiness later, it’s concluded that that life is not worth living.  Elderly people wonder this too: why am I still alive? I can't do anything, I'm just a burden, I don't feel well, therefore my life is not worth living, some conclude.  To some extent, I think that this mindset al...
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Sermon - The Visitation 2023 - Luke 1:39-56

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The Visitation , Karl von Blass, circa 1850 Jesus comes and exalts those of low estate Context Of Mary, Of Zechariah and Elizabeth,  Of shoot of the stump of Jesse God came to exalt the lowly, not the mighty, by humbling Himself Blessed are you who believe God’s promises, for you will be exalted. A blessed feast of The Visitation to you dear friends in Christ. On this day we rejoice that Jesus comes and exalts those of low estate. The Visitation is a most joyful celebration of two of the most important people in history coming together before they were even born: John the Baptist and Jesus the Christ. To understand why this is such a joyful celebration, perhaps a bit of context is in order first. The Gospel began: “ In those days Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country, to a town in Judah, and she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. ” You might remember that immediately preceding this Mary had been visited in her home of Nazareth, by the archangel Gab...
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