A Famine Not of Bread

Click here to listen to this sermon. [Jesus said:] “ It is like a man going on a journey, when he leaves home and puts his servants in charge, each with his work, and commands the doorkeeper to stay awake. Therefore stay awake—for you do not know when the master of the house will come, in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or in the morning—lest he come suddenly and find you asleep” (Mark 13:34-35). Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ! The last Sundays of the Church Year bring eschatology, the study of the last things, into focus with the lectionary’s emphasis on death, the final judgment, and the promise of the new heaven and the new earth. These Sundays bring us to the conclusion of the Nicene Creed, “And He will come again with glory to judge both the living and the dead.” We have said those words so often, but what do they mean? Truth be told, we are often more concerned about the judgment that comes from other human...

"The Healing of the Ten Lepers" by James I Tissot Click here to listen to this sermon. “ Then one of [the lepers], when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice; and he fell on his face at Jesus’ feet, giving Him thanks. Now he was a Samaritan. Then Jesus answered, “Were not ten cleansed? Where are the nine? Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?” And He said to him, “Rise and go your way; your faith has made you well.” (Luke 17:15-18). Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ! It’s hard to bow down with a full belly. Pregnant women coming to the communion rail know this. Middle-aged men trying to pick up a scrap of paper from the floor know this. And on days like tomorrow (today), with Thanksgiving dinners, there will be a lot more people who experience this firsthand. But that’s just from the physical aspect. I would submit to you that it’s hard to bow down spiritually ...

Click here to listen to this sermon. “But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at His coming those who belong to Christ. Then comes the end, when He delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death” (1 Corinthians 15:20–26). Randy, Rhonda, other family members and friends of Veva: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ! This weekend we observed the 100 th anniversary of the end of World War I. The “war to end all wars,” it was optimistically, if not naively dubbed. At first idealistic, the term has become quite ironic. In the 100 year...

"The Widow's Mite" 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! Jesus watches the offering. He sees the offering made by the rich people and He watches the poor widow put in her offering. He sees who puts in a lot, and who puts in a little. He knows who has an abundance and who lives in poverty. But more than that, Jesus sees what is in their heart as they give those offerings. Jesus sees the motives for giving and the faith or lack of faith behind the giving. That should probably give us pause: Jesus watches our offering, too. Dear Christian friends: You all know the story, but you don’t know all the story. Our text that we’ll examine together this morning (evening) is the familiar story of the widow’s mite. We’ll look first at some of the things everyone knows about the text, then at something you may not know, and finally at one thing nobody knows. We’ll start with some things...

"Allerheiligenbild" by Albrecht Durer Click here to listen to this sermon. “Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when He appears we shall be like Him, because we shall see Him as He is” (1 John 3:2). Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ! We observe the Feast of All Saints today. But you may rightly ask: Why? Why have such a day on the Lutheran church year calendar? Do “saints” have any significance for our faith? Let me say this at the outset: The saints are not important for us for our faith because they might in any way be the mediator between Christ and us. And certainly, the saints are not important because they might be the recipients of our prayers and petitions, as if we were afraid to address almighty God directly. And most certainly, the saints are not important to us and to our faith because they performed so many good works that they could pass some of them on to...