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Showing posts with the label Candlemas

Sermon - Trinity IX, 2026 - Luke 16:1-13

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The Parable of the Unjust Steward , Marinus van Reymerswaele, 1540 Christian Wisdom Seeks Eternal Dwellings Wisdom is forward thinking and focused on the goal Christian wisdom employs every treasure, heavenly and worldly, for the sake of reaching the goal If there is a hardest parable, it might be this one; throws people off every time. The parable presents a rich man with a steward who was found wasting the rich man’s possessions. The job of a steward is to be faithful with someone else’s possessions, and this guy wasn’t cutting it. So obviously, he got fired. What’s crazy is the rich man lets the steward hand in the books, and he doesn’t hunt them down and take them from him immediately. The steward does exactly what you don’t want the steward to do, which is why normally the books get taken from the steward: the steward cooks the books. He meets some of the rich man’s debtors, probably tenant farmers, and in order to ingratiate himself with the debtors he adjusts how much they owe, ...
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Sermon - Purification and Presentation 2025

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To Dwell in the Temple of the Lord What is the Temple? The Temple is where God dwells on earth with His people. When the first temple was built, God’s glory descended on it, and when it was destroyed the glory of the Lord departed. When the second temple was built, God’s glory did not return, until Jesus entered because Jesus is the temple of the Lord. How do we dwell in the Temple of the Lord? Samuel was given to the Lord and dwelt in the temple his entire life. God makes our bodies His temple when He dwells in us through faith, therefore our whole lives are dedicated to the Lord. When we depart this life we go to dwell in the nearer presence of the Lord. We prepare for death by: Prayer and Devotion; Expecting it soon; Waiting patiently; Live holy lives as though every hour were the last; Keeping a calm and quiet heart; We lay hold of Christ the Prince of Life and Conqueror of death. A blessed feast of the Presentation of Jesus and Purification of Mary to you dear brothers and sisters...
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Sermon - Candlemas 2020 - Luke 2:22-32

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Today we don’t really get the concept of holiness and purity. In a way, we even look down on those who desire to be holy, we call them puritans or prudish, we call them bible thumpers or holier than thou pharisees. Rather we prefer to be a little rough around the edges, we romanticize the badboy like Mad Max, we celebrate the wildwest cowboy or pirate who drinks too much, shoots people, and is always running from the law. As a result of that we end up with supposed pastors melting down purity rings into erotic statues. This is what our culture has devolved into, in which we despise purity and rejoice in unholiness.  But I think we still at least a little bit understand the value of purity. For instance, if I were to bake you a batch of cookies and after you’ve eaten a couple I tell you that they’re a little impure, not a lot but just a little bit, you would be a little concerned, right? What if I told you that they’re 99% flour, sugar, butter, eggs, baking soda, and chocolate ch...
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