Luke 16:13 As Americans, we usually pride ourselves on the conviction that we are free. We go to great efforts to preserve our political and social freedom, and we are indignant when others infringe on our freedom. In the realm of our civil life, we do, of course, live in a mostly free society. We…
Trinity 8 – Acts 20:27-38 “For I have not shunned to declare to you the whole counsel of God.” With these words, St. Paul the apostle summarizes his previous ministry with the presbyters or pastors of the church at Ephesus, with whom he was meeting in today’s text from the Book of Acts. The full…
Romans 6:1-11 The Bible often emphasizes the negative side of the gospel. The negative side of the gospel, you ask? Yes. From one angle, the message of the gospel is a pledge that God will not do certain things, because of Christ. Those who repent of their sins and trust in Christ are assured that…
Trinity 5 – Luke 5:1-11 Simon Peter, the fisherman from Capernaum, had been introduced to Jesus by his brother Andrew. Andrew in turn had been directed to Jesus by John the Baptist, whose disciple he previously had been. After Peter got acquainted with Jesus, he became what we might call a part-time disciple of the…
Augsburg Confession (transferred) – Jeremiah 6:16-19 Please listen with me to a reading from the 6th chapter of the Prophet Jeremiah, beginning at the 16th verse. Thus says the Lord: “Stand in the ways and see, and ask for the old paths, where the good way is, and walk in it; then you will find…
Luke 15:1-3, 11-32 “A certain man had two sons.” So begins what is commonly called the parable of the prodigal son, as told by Jesus, and recorded in St. Luke’s Gospel. In the parable this younger of two sons said to his father, “Father, give me the portion of goods that falls to me.” And…
Trinity 1 – Luke 16:19-31 The story of the rich man and Lazarus that Jesus tells in today’s Gospel from St. Luke is intriguing in many respects. It is often referred to as a parable, but it does not bear some of the common characteristics of a parable. Usually when Jesus tells a parable, he…
The first portion of the video is our confirmand reviewing the creed and the explanations. The service begins at 11:33 on the video. Trinity Sunday Imagine a married man saying something like this: “I know that I was united in marriage to a woman several years ago, but I can’t remember which woman it was,…
Acts 2:1-21 We have passed through the first half of the church year, which was marked in sequence by the four chief festivals of Jesus Christ: the festival of his nativity, the festival of his epiphany or manifestation to the gentiles, the festival of his resurrection, and the festival of his ascension. These festivals remind…
Easter 7 – Acts 11:1-18 Please listen with me to a reading from the 11th chapter of the Book of Acts, beginning at the 1st verse: Now the apostles and the brothers who were throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles also had received the word of God. So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, the…