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Appearances Can Be Deceiving

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Click here to listen to this sermon. Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Appearance. Style. Image. They’re everything in our world. In debates. At work. In school. Even in the church. Among Christians. Are you healthy, wealthy, and successful? Is your church growing rapidly? Well then, God must love you. That’s the popular thinking. But appearances can be deceiving. Take Lazarus, for example. A beggar. His body is riddled with oozing sores. Dogs lick the pus, and he’s too weak, too depressed, to stop them. He’s an outcast who rummages through the dumpster, looking for the scraps that have fallen from the table of the rich and elite. Does Lazarus look like he’s blessed? No, he looks like he’s a man to be pitied. He appears to not be blessed by God. In fact, maybe God doesn’t even like Lazarus too much. Otherwise, he’d be healthy, wealthy, and prosperous. That’s what the world would say in a culture where image is everything. Then there’s the ric...
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What Makes the Angels Rejoice?

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Click here to listen to this sermon. Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ! Dressed in the finest white gown, this beautiful young blonde comes to meet her Bridegroom and receive His name . She’s escorted down the aisle by her father , and her mother joins in giving her away at the front of the church . Eight days old, she’s certainly unable to come up on her own or speak on her own behalf . The pastor marks her with the sign of the cross as one redeemed by Christ the crucified and baptizes her in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit . And “there is joy before the angels of God.” Dressed in faded blue jeans and an old flannel shirt, he feels a bit out of place among the suits and ties, dresses and skirts, of those standing with him . But then, he’s certainly not there to make a fashion statement . He’s not even sure why he’s there . He feels so lost and alone . It’s been a long time since he’s joined in the assembly . At fir...
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Choose Life

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Click here to listen to this sermon. Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ! A point of climax and decision has arrived on the Plains of Moab. Moses is nearing death after leading Israel in the wilderness for forty years. The younger generation is about to enter the Promised Land, and he is preparing them for what’s ahead. So, here it is: “See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil. If you obey the commandments of the Lord your God that I command you today, by loving the Lord your God, by walking in His ways, and by keeping His commandments and His statutes and His rules, then you shall live and multiply, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land that you are entering to take possession of it. But if your heart turns away, and you will not hear, but are drawn away to worship other gods and serve them, I declare to you today, that you shall surely perish. You shall not live long in the land that you are going over the Jorda...
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Living in the Resurrection Now (2)

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Click here to listen to this sermon. [Jesus said]: “But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the just” (Luke 14:13-14). Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ! On first reading, this text appears to be an assortment of different, unconnected moments in the ministry of Jesus. We have a healing (vv. 1-6), a parable (vv. 7-11), and then a teaching about concern for the poor (vv. 12-14). When you look at the text more closely, however, you see that this all happens on one occasion. The text begins with a reference to a meal on the Sabbath at the house of a ruler of the Pharisees in verse 1, and it is not until verse 25 that we leave this occasion. Recognizing this unity encourages us to look for the connection among these seemingly unrelated events. Like a friend telling us what happened last night at dinner, Luke re...
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Blood That Speaks

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Click here to listen to this sermon. Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ! Look at him! Not so high and mighty now, is he? The shepherd has been struck, and all his sheep have scattered. As his breath leaves and his blood drips to the ground, he doesn’t look much like one whom the Lord God favors. His father was unable to protect him, as even now his body bears the marks of the instrument used to bring him death. What good did his sacrifice do for him now? Why, I believe that the Lord God had even declared him to be perfect. Him… perfect! In all truth, he was the one who was the renegade. He went out into the countryside chasing after his stupid sheep! I, on the other hand, followed in my father’s footsteps, working in the fields. It’s backbreaking work, and the yield is limited due to insects, weeds, poor soil conditions, and a lack of water. But the ground isn’t my only adversary; so is the harsh, demanding Creator of heaven and earth. The shephe...
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