Sermon Text: Jeremiah 23:1-6 Please listen with me to a reading from the 23rd chapter of the Prophet Jeremiah, verses 1 through 6. You’ll notice that the last part of this text overlaps with the first part of today’s Old Testament lesson. “Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of My pasture!,”…
Sermon Text- Proverbs 14:34 Thanksgiving Day is a national holiday in our country. The Christian church year, in its historic, international form, does not include such a festival, and there are many countries in the world that do not have a thanksgiving observance. But we live in a country that does. And so, as the…
Matthew 25:1-13 The full meaning of some of the Lord’s parables is not immediately clear to us. Jesus’ parables were spoken to a first-century Jewish audience. He often told stories that drew on certain unique customs of first-century Jewish people that are not familiar to us today. Today’s parable from St. Matthew, about the ten…
Matthew 25:31-46 If you have ever had the occasion to visit a national cemetery, you will notice that almost all the grave markers are ornamented with some kind of religious symbol. The size and style of the markers themselves are uniform and the same, but there is quite a diversity to be found in the religious symbols on those markers. This…
Sermon Text: Matthew 5:1-12 I remember a time a few years ago, while I was watching an episode of the CSI television program, when I heard this line, spoken by a criminal character on the show, explaining why he had perpetrated the notorious “signature” crime that he had committed: “I want something of me to…
Reformation Sunday – John 8:31-36 O God, our Lord, Your Holy Word was long a hidden treasure Til to its place it was, by grace, restored in fullest measure. For this today our thanks we say, and gladly glorify You. Your mercy show and grace bestow, on all who still deny You. This opening verse…
Funeral for Vicki Angstman – 1 Corinthians 15:51-58 As I was thinking about and preparing this message, I typed the words “Change is” into my Google search engine. In various places on the internet, those two words are finished off in lots of different ways. A few examples: Change is inevitable. Change is good. Change…
St. James of Jerusalem – Acts 15:12-22a On our church calendar, today is the commemoration of St. James of Jerusalem. The New Testament calls him a “brother” of Jesus. This probably means that he was a step-brother – a son of Joseph by a previous marriage. There is circumstantial evidence that James was older than…
Genesis 1:1-2:4 “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” It’s not possible, in just a few minutes, to explore everything that is touched on in today’s text – the creation account from the Book of Genesis. But we can think together about some of the things that the creation account tells us…
Matthew 22:1-14 The parable that Jesus tells in today’s Gospel from St. Matthew, is one of the more important mission texts of our faith. It is also an important text about God’s justification of sinners. Through this parable, our Lord teaches us what the scope of the church’s outreach is to be – that is,…