A Famine Not of Bread

Click here to listen to this sermon. “You shall have no other gods” (Exodus 20:3). Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ! Our summer sermon series is on the Ten Commandments. Before we start on the Commandments themselves, however, we should reflect on why they were given in the first place. We go back to the father of the Hebrews—Abram—and to the covenant that God had made with him and his descendants. The Lord promised Abram a son, and, through that son, many heirs who would inherit the land He showed him. But Abram’s offspring would first live as slaves in a foreign land for many years until the time was right to bring them to the Promised Land. At the time of our text, the children of Israel had been in Egypt for 430 years. Though once treated favorably for Joseph’s sake, a new king had arisen who neither recognized Joseph, nor more importantly, Joseph’s God. Jealous of their fruitfulness and strength, Pharaoh set taskmasters over the Isr...

Click here to listen to this sermon. “So God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. God blessed them and said to them, ‘Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground’” (Genesis 1:27-28). Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ! “We’re all made in the image of God.” You’ve heard that line before. It’s often invoked by those who are demanding equal rights, to demonstrate that we are all equal, that we’re all the same, and that we should all be treated that way. And, in a culture that lauds equality, it has a ring of truth. But the truth is that in our world we are not all equal. Not all life is considered the same. Today, a lot of children still in the womb aren’t considered all that valuable by many. Neither are those in nursing homes, or on life support, or...

Click here to listen to this sermon. The text for today is Acts 2:1-21. Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ! Moses had had enough. His patience was about as thin as the flakes of manna left with the dew each morning. These ungrateful people! Nothing was ever good enough for this rowdy rabble. God had delivered them from the bondage of Egypt and was on the verge of bringing them into the Promised Land. But then the grumbling had started, and Moses was taking the brunt of their criticism. They were tired of manna; they wanted meat to eat. They were tired of following Moses, and longed to return to the heavy yoke of Pharaoh. Frustrated, Moses cried out to the Lord. At first, it seems that his complaining was much like Israel’s, but it was different in an important way: Moses turned to the Lord in his feelings of insufficiency and frustration, so his complaint did not degenerate into rebellion. Moses cast his cares upon the Lord and the Lord ca...

Click here to listen to this sermon. The text for today is John 17:1-11, which has already been read. Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ! Shhh! Listen closely! Our Lord is praying in the Upper Room, and you and I get to listen in. But it’s not eavesdropping, for as He prays to His heavenly Father in the presence of His disciples, and then leads one of them by His Holy Spirit to record these words, Jesus invites you and me to listen, too. It is the night of the Last Supper. Before He heads out for Gethsemane, Jesus lifts up His eyes to heaven and prays aloud to God the Father. This prayer has been called Jesus’ High Priestly Prayer because with it Jesus functions as high priest and intercedes to the Father, for Himself first, then His disciples, and then for all believers. It is a prayer such as only the Son of God could pray. Jesus prays chiefly for three things: (1) that He would be glorified; (2) that His disciples would be protected;...