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Showing posts from September, 2025

Sermon - Trinity XXIII 2026 - Matthew 22:15-22

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Tribute Money , Peter Paul Rubens, 1612 The Things that are God’s Intro: The sorrows and travails of our lives with Caesar Nevertheless, God created the three estates, therefore all are God’s, including the state We owe Caesar what little belongs to him We owe God everything, since all belongs to Him Although Caesar has much power to do harm on earth, the Lord has far greater power to bless us for all eternity Joachim Magdeburg was a 16th century German Lutheran pastor. He was a man of firm resolve and faithful to his friends. Much of the time he was faithful to the pure doctrine of God’s word, even if at times he erred in this or that way. As a result of his staunch faithfulness for the most part, Joachim Magdeburg didn’t remain in any one place for very long. Just as the Son of Man had nowhere to lay his head, neither did Joachim Magdeburg, it would seem. Joachim Magdeburg during his life wrote a small set of hymns for each day of the week, and in that collection we find the first st...
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Sermon - St. Matthew 2025 - Matthew 9:9-13

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The Calling of Saint Matthew , Caravaggio, 1609 Filled with the Word Empty yourself of worthless wealth Be filled with God’s Word Follow Jesus despite the world’s enmity A blessed feast of St. Matthew to you my brothers and sisters! Today we give thanks to God for the apostle and evangelist Matthew. Through his local ministry in Ethiopia he proclaimed the Gospel to many, and through his book of the Bible he proclaimed the Gospel to many more millions and millions of people. According to tradition, he was martyred in Ethiopia during the Divine Service by a soldier sent from the king, since Matthew had rebuked the king for his sins. So Matthew fulfilled Christ’s command, and rose and followed Jesus through life and death, and one day shall follow Him to rise from the grave. Indeed, as we heard Matthew write of himself: “ As Jesus passed on from there, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he rose and followed him. ” Our Lord Jesus call...
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Sermon - Holy Cross Day 2025 - John 12:20-33

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Christ on the Cross , Andrea Solari, 1503 Let Us See Jesus Upon the Cross The cross looks like foolishness to the world But therein is wisdom The cross looks depressing to Christians But therein is hope and life A blessed feast of the Holy Cross to you dear brothers and sisters in Christ! This feast, Holy Cross Day, is perhaps one of the more controversial feast days among us Lutherans. Holy Cross Day is named after the discovery of the cross Jesus was crucified upon, by Helena, the mother of Emperor Constantine, in the 4th century. The Church of the Holy Sepulchre was then constructed on the site where it was discovered, and the cross was exposed for the public to see on September 14th, 335.  The controversial part of this is that as time progressed the relic trade became very popular, and pieces of the “true cross” were “discovered” all over the world and superstitiously venerated by the faithful. Instead of focusing upon Jesus who was crucified upon the cross, the focus became t...
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Sermon - Belle King Funeral

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Agnus Dei, Stained Glass at Church of St John the Baptist, Stockton Dear children and grandchildren, family and friends of Belle, according to the great mercy of our God and Father, He has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you. In holy baptism, on January 24th, 1926, Belle was born again through those waters into that hope which filled her life of 99 years. On May 28th, 1939, Belle was confirmed in that same faith, given the instruction: Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life. So as we mourn our loss of her from our lives today, we grieve with hope, for Belle shall rise from the dead with Jesus Christ on the final day and inherit a kingdom in the heavens with all the saints in splendor. A lot can happen in a short amount of time, and when you live nearly 100 years, there is a lot of life to have lived, and a lo...
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