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Showing posts from January, 2025

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

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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...
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Sermon - Epiphany 2, Year C, 2024 - John 2:1-11

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The Wedding at Cana,  Paolo Veronese, 1562 Jesus Manifests His Glory in Marriage Jesus manifested His glory at the wedding at Cana His hour hadn’t yet come; the ultimate wedding feast is yet to come Our abuse of marriage dishonors Christ  Our honoring of marriage points us to the wedding feast of the Lamb in His kingdom to His bride the church. When you think of all of the things which have changed over the past century, from vehicles to entertainment to careers to clothing, many things have changed dramatically. But perhaps one of the most dramatic changes in the past century has been something far simpler: the household. Marriage is one of those areas of life that has seen dramatic change. A century ago nearly 80% of US households included a married couple, today it’s closer to 45%. Of those married couples today, the majority have no children compared to a century ago when the majority did have children.  I mention these statistics, however we know this already without...
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Sermon - Christmas II, Year C, 2025 - Luke 2:40-52

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Child Jesus in the Temple , Jan Steen,1659 The Comfort of Predestination Distinction between foreknowledge and predestination We are predestined through Christ and His work of redemption We are predestined through the hearing of His Word “ In love He predestined us for adoption to Himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of His will.” The topic of predestination often reveals the confusion people have regarding who is going to be saved. For example, there are some groups of Christians who believe in what is called double-predestination, whereby God predestines some to heaven and some to hell. Or on the other side of this many conclude that none are predestined to hell, but that all people are predestined to heaven. In which case they missapply predestination to mean that it doesn’t really matter what they believe or do in life, since if they’re predestined to heaven they will be saved regardless. It’s this latter misapplication I mention which is I think most prev...
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