Easter 2 – John 20:19-31 St. John tells us in his Gospel that on the evening of the first day of the week, the doors were locked where the disciples were, “for fear of the Jews.” The disciples of Christ, as they huddled together on the evening of that first Easter, were afraid. They were…
Easter Day – Matthew 27:62 – 28:15 Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Today is the high festival of the Resurrection of Our Lord. To be sure, Easter is but one day in the church year. But it is the day that gives meaning to every other day. If the resurrection of Jesus had…
Easter Dawn – 1 Corinthians 5:6b-8 Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! For the nation of Israel, their ancestors’ miraculous deliverance from slavery in Egypt – crystalized especially in the events surrounding the first Passover – was a fundamental component of their identity as a people. If anyone would ever wonder if the ten…
The Old Testament priesthood – comprised of the descendants of Aaron the Levite, the brother of Moses – offered regular and special annual sacrifices, to atone for the sins of the people of Israel, according to the ritual requirements of the Mosaic Law. But, as the Apology of the Augsburg Confession explains, “The law called…
Are you a member? There are lots of times and places when we might be asked such a question, such as when we try to enter a private golf course, or when we try to purchase something from an organization at a members-only discounted price. If you are a member of certain clubs and organizations,…
Sermon Text: Matthew 21:9-11 Before his arrival at Jerusalem on the first Palm Sunday, Jesus – who was known to be a descendant of the royal family of Israel – had also developed a reputation as an awe-inspiring wonder-worker. He had been very compassionate and generous in performing miracles for needy people. The hungry had…
Genesis 22:1-18 Think about someone right now whom you would consider a friend. You are more than likely thinking about someone with whom you have some significant shared experiences, or whose life experiences are similar to yours. The closest friends we have tend to be people like this. Those common experiences serves as a bonding…
John 6:26-69 After the miraculous feeding of the multitude, which today’s Gospel reading from St. John recounts, Jesus and his disciples left the place where this had happened and went to Capernaum. The next day, when the people had figured out where Jesus had gone, they followed him. It would seem that they wanted an…
Ephesians 4:17–5:9 Our text is from St. Paul’s Epistle to the Ephesians, including today’s second lesson, but also including several verses that immediately precede that section of the epistle. And so we read, beginning with verse 17 of the fourth chapter of Ephesians: This I say, therefore, and testify in the Lord, that you should no longer…
Matthew 15:21-28 We think of Jesus as a Savior who loves us and accepts us, and who takes a very personal interest in each one of us. And we think of him as a Savior who treats everyone in this way – without the bigotries that so often taint us, and the way we feel…