A Famine Not of Bread

Click here to listen to this sermon. For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted; a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; a time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; a time to tear, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; a time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace. What gain has the worker from his toil? I have seen the business that God has given to the children of man to be busy with. He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, He has put eternity into man’s heart, yet so that he cannot find out wha...

"Moses" by James I. Tissot Click here to listen to this sermon. Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ! In the Book of Deuteronomy, Israel is on the verge of a new journey. The nation had traveled from Egypt to Sinai and from Sinai to Kadesh-barnea. After forty years in and around Kadesh-barnea, Israel traveled north on the King’s Highway, around Edom, through the plains of Moab, and now, is on the east bank of the Jordan River gazing west into the Promised Land. It is an exciting moment, a joyful time, yet one filled with the fear and trepidation that comes with a new adventure into the unknown. Had not the spies some forty years earlier said, “The land, through which we have gone to spy it out, is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people that we saw in it are of great height?” (Numbers 13:32). What (or who) would they face when they came into the land? And there was still a faith problem. The regular religious life o...

Click here to listen to this sermon. Don, Steve, Jim, Barb, Brenda, other family and friends of Gwen: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ! Though each of us wishes we did not need to be here, (or at least that it would be for a different reason,) it is fitting that we are here at Trinity Lutheran Church in Jasper this morning. Though her failing health limited her ability to be with us here the last few years, many of the most important moments of Gwen’s life took place in this church. Gwendolyn Ann Larson was received as a child of God through the Sacrament of Holy Baptism here at Trinity Lutheran Church on August 19, 1934. Here, on May 16, 1948, she publicly confessed the faith given to her in her baptism in the Rite of Confirmation. Gwen and Don were united in Holy Matrimony here at Trinity on August 29, 1954. With her departure to be with the Lord, a wife and mother and grandmother and great grandmother is no longer here—a friend and sist...

Click here to listen to this sermon. “Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time, saying, ‘Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it the message that I tell you’” (Jonah 3:1). Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ! This week, there were many posts on social media about the “Minneapolis Miracle,” the improbable finish of the Vikings’ playoff game against the Saints. But one of the best was by Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church. It pictured the Vikings’ logo with the caption: “If you made any promises during the last ten seconds, Sunday masses are at…” and then listed their worship schedule. Now, I’m not going to ask if any of you made such promises last Sunday. But there is an element of truth, isn’t there? We can make a lot of promises to the Lord when we find ourselves in difficult circumstances. Stuck in the belly of a large fish, Jonah had made his own vow. And now it seems it is time for him to pay up. Per...

"The Calling of Samuel" by Joshua Reynolds Click here to listen to this sermon. “ And the Lord came and stood, calling as at other times, ‘Samuel! Samuel!’ And Samuel said, ‘Speak, for your servant hears’” (1 Samuel 3:10). Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ! Biblical illiteracy is a growing problem in our nation and church. That probably doesn’t surprise you. But a recent survey shows just how far biblical knowledge has declined. The survey found that fewer than half of all adults can name the four Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Many professing Christians cannot identify more than two or three of Jesus’ twelve apostles. 60% of Americans can’t name even five of the Ten Commandments. And 82% of Americans believe “God helps those who help themselves” is a Bible verse. I think it is safe to say that we’re drawing ever closer to the state that Samuel found himself in as a young boy. Do you remember what it said in verse 1? “T...

"Baptism of Jesus" by Jusepe de Ribera Click here to listen to this sermon. “We were buried therefore with Him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life” (Romans 6:4). Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ! He’s everything they’re not. And more. Do you see that crowd on the banks of the Jordan River, listening to John the Baptist? They’re the kind of poor, miserable sinners that the world just doesn’t get. Hey, look around and you’ll see what I mean. If you’re a sinner, what are you supposed to do about it? The old-school notion is that you pick up the pieces, ignore the past, and get on with the future. In terms of psychology and sanity, that’s a pretty good way to live. The popular option today, of course, is to parade your sin as blatantly as you can. You can boast in it, daring others to call it wrong. You can excuse it, clai...