A Famine Not of Bread

Click here to listen to this sermon. Dear Boston and Hailey, You are standing here today to exchange your vows of love and loyalty to each other. What a miracle is taking place right before our eyes! According to God’s Word, the two of you are becoming one flesh—one in mind, body, and spirit. However, your oneness will be tested many times in the months and years ahead. You will face many challenging situations and issues in your marriage and family life. At those times, where will you turn? Where will you look for strength, guidance, and hope to carry on? Many couples look for wisdom and guidance for their marriage in all the wrong places, and the negative consequences speak for themselves. However, I pray that both of you will always turn to God’s inspired Word for wisdom and will turn to your Lord in prayer for His grace and guidance. These are the lifelines of love we discussed each time we met over the last few months. In the Bible, God provides us with an inspiring story of two p...

Click here to listen to this sermon. Peter said, “And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh” (Acts 2:17). Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ! Today, we gather to celebrate a pivotal moment in the history of our faith—the Day of Pentecost. Make no mistake about it; it had all been for this. To pour out the Spirit, Jesus—first conceived by that same Spirit—had taken flesh from the holy Virgin. To pour out the Spirit, the obedient Son of God had lived a perfect life of love to God and neighbor, had suffered and died, had descended to hell, and had risen in victory on the third day. To pour out the Spirit, He had ascended into Heaven and was seated at the Father’s right hand. It was this day, fifty days after Easter, that Jesus kept His promise to pour out His Holy Spirit, and the Spirit came with a startling suddenness that was impossible to miss. Imagine the scene: the disciples, filled with antic...

Click here to listen to this sermon. Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life” (Revelation 22:1-2a). Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Each of the last three weeks, our Epistle from Revelation has shown us a vision of the new Heaven and Earth. In chapter 21, we heard of “the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of Heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband” (v 1-2). Last week, John saw “the Bride, the wife of the Lamb” and went on to describe her beauty and radiance in detail (21:9 ff). Today, the depiction of the new Heaven and Earth is reminiscent of the Garden of Eden. To better understand this depiction, we go back to Genesis 2, “And the Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there He put the man whom He had formed. And out of t...

Click here to listen to this sermon. Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ! A curious question from the Apostles sets up the Ascension event, its meaning, and implications. They ask the risen Christ: “Lord, will You at this time restore the Kingdom to Israel?” Jesus does not answer the question directly but tells them to remain in Jerusalem (praying and keeping watch) until they receive the Holy Spirit on Pentecost. Then, as they are looking on, Jesus ascends before their eyes, tipping us off to a double transition for Jesus: enthronement in Heaven but also His abiding Word-and-Sacrament presence with His people and the giving of the Holy Spirit who reveals this same Jesus is present with and for His people. Now, if Easter is about Jesus as the prototype of the New Creation, then the Ascension is about His coronation as the One who rules forevermore on Earth as it is in Heaven. Easter tells us Jesus stands as the firstborn of the New Creation. His Asc...

Click here to listen to this sermon. “Then came one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues and spoke to me, saying, ‘Come, I will show you the Bride, the wife of the Lamb’” ( Revelation 21:9). Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ! As I read our text, I was reminded of the wedding announcements we used to read in our local paper. For those who don’t have such memories, here is an example from the Mitchell Daily Republic a little over 40 years ago: “[The bride] wore a gown of white satin and mandel rose galloon lace. The gown was styled with an empire waist and the bodice and bishop sleeves were of lace. The sleeves were caught in a satin cuff. Lace edged the rounded neckline. The gown featured a full-length detachable train of satin and lace… Her veil was attached to a cap trimmed with lace, satin appliques, and scalloped lace edging. She carried red roses, cushion mums, and baby’s breath tied with red and white rib...