“Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever.” Tomorrow is our country’s national Day of Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving became a national holiday in 1863, during the American Civil War, but the roots of this observance go back much further in American history. What is often referred to as the…
Matthew 25:31-46 “And He shall come again with glory to judge both the living and the dead.” With these words, or words like them, we regularly confess in the Creed our expectation that the momentous and sobering events described in today’s Gospel from St. Matthew will indeed happen. Christ will visibly descend to the earth…
Trinity 23 – Matthew 22:15-22 “Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” These words of our Lord, in today’s text from the Gospel according to St. Matthew, have always been seen as one of the chief proof passages in Scripture for the distinction we make…
Romans 8:23b-25 Please listen with me to these words from the 8th chapter of St. Paul’s Epistle to the Romans, beginning in the 23rd verse: “We also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body. For we were saved in…
Psalm 34:1-2, 11, 22 Because we are using the Chorale Service today, we are not singing the Introit that is appointed for the Festival of the Reformation. But if we were, this is what it would be, from Psalm 34: “I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my…
Sermon Text: Ephesians 5:15-21 The image of someone drinking alcohol alone – often drinking to excess – is not a happy picture. But the moderate use of wine or alcohol in a group, on social occasions, can often contribute in a positive way to the cheerful atmosphere of such a gathering. Psalm 104 declares that…
Genesis 28:10-17 One of the common beliefs that was held by the pagan idolaters of the ancient world, was the idea that certain deities were attached to certain geographical places, and served as special guardians and patrons for the people who lived in those specific geographical places. So, based on where they were at any…
1 Corinthians 1:4-18 Today’s sermon text is taken from the second section of today’s Epistle lesson, and from several verses that follow this section, beyond what we read a few minutes ago. In his First Epistle to the Corinthians, chapter one, verses 4 through 18, St, Paul writes: “I thank my God always concerning you…
Ephesians 4:1-16 Christians are supposed to be confident. But as they are confident, they are also supposed to be humble. Is that a contradiction? Well, it might seem to be, if you equate confidence with arrogance, and if you equate being humble with being demeaned. From that perspective, people, in their pride, would want to…