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Showing posts with the label Epiphany IV

Sermon - Trinity XIII, 2026 - 2 Chronicles 28:8-15

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The Good Samaritan, Joseph Highmore, 1744   God’s People are Those Who Have Faith in Him We typically think my people are those who are like me externally History of the two kingdoms The Faithful Remnant of Samaria was more faithful than Judah We are God’s people through faith The lawyer asked Jesus: “ Who is my neighbor? ” That’s another way of asking: “Who are my people?” We ask this question because like prefers like and we want to love those people who are like us more than we love those who are not like us. This is a generally true principle in many facets of life. We do this in mostly playful ways with sports, where we greatly prefer our team which we identify with and we do not like the rival teams. This happens more seriously between countries, sometimes even to the point of war. This happens with some seriousness between political parties, sometimes leading to political assassinations. This happens in families when one family member defends another even through criminal be...
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Sermon - Ephiphany IV 2022 - Matthew 8:23-27

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Christ Calming the Storm , Juan de Flandes, circa 1500 Do you believe that Jesus is real and that He’s God and that He has authority over all this creation? Today’s lessons show us that those things are all true. Our readings also show us that we sometimes have a hard time believing it. Thus, the epiphany we have today is that Jesus has authority over creation. In our Old Testament lesson we heard the familiar story of rebellious Jonah fleeing from the Lord and getting on a ship going the opposite direction he was supposed to go. Because God is the Master of creation, “ the Lord hurled a great wind upon the sea, and there was a mighty tempest on the sea, so that the ship threatened to break up. ” But where was Jonah? Asleep in the belly of the ship! Apparently Jonah did not know the Proverbs too well. Proverbs 6 says that if you get caught in a snare by speaking foolishly with your neighbor, immediately go to your neighbor and fix the situation. “ Give your eyes no sleep and your eyeli...
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Sermon - Epiphany IV - Matthew 8:21-27

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You and I, we’ve boarded a ship and have embarked upon the greatest voyage of our lives. On the day you were baptized, you were brought aboard the magnificent ship of Christ’s Christian church. Like a ship, the church sails from country to country. Christ is our captain. The pastors are the helmsmen, who steer the ship at Christ’s command. The gangplank which brought us aboard is faith founded in baptism. Hope is our anchor that keeps us from drifting. The cross is our mast upon which carries the sails of God’s Word. At the top of the mast, flies the flag of the creed, which identifies us to all the world as Christians. Our little ship is pushed along by wind, that is, God’s breath, the Holy Spirit. The Christians are the crew, each with a vitally important job. The harbor towards which our ship sails is heaven.  As the ship set sail, the waters were calm, the skies were blue, the sun shined brightly in the east. At times the voyage is nothing but smooth sailing. The waters are ...
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