A Famine Not of Bread

Click here to listen to this sermon. "Ascension of Christ" by Benvenuto Tisi " For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. And he put all things under his feet and...

You have to walk before you run.  Recently I was reminded of the wisdom of that old saying as I’ve been trying to get back to running on a regular basis. While being a pastor is work, it is obviously not physically active work, so I need to intentionally set aside time to exercise. Because it seems there are always more things for me to do than I have time, I must look for balance between work, family, and play, and make exercise a priority. For me, running seems to be the best fit. I can burn a lot of calories in a fairly short time. I can do it according to my own schedule. I don’t need a lot of extra equipment. It gets me outside. And I actually feel good when I get done. I never intended to run in the first place. I started walking with Aimee because it was a good chance to spend time with her and we could get a nice discount on our health insurance. We needed to walk 150 minutes (or 50,000 steps) a week. So, we planned to walk for 3 miles, three times a week. Afte...

Click here to listen to this sermon. [Jesus said:] “In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ! Jesus makes two big promises that Christians need to hear. The latter is more popular and, at first glance, more comforting. It is the kind of promise that people put on the signature line of their emails or make into memes on Facebook or Instagram. The former is just as certain, however, and equally significant, but in a different way. Jesus spoke these two big promises to His disciples in the Upper Room just before His death and resurrection, but they apply to all followers of Christ. We’ll start with the first promise: “In the world you will have tribulation.” Jesus begins by talking about the world. He said a lot about the world in the Upper Room that night: it cannot receive the Spirit of truth (John 14:7); it does not give peace as Jesus gives (...

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Click here to listen to this sermon. “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest” (Exodus 33:14). Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ! As you’ll read in her obituary, Lorraine confessed publicly the faith into which she was baptized in the Rite of Confirmation at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Trosky on April 2, 1944. On that day, Lorraine promised that she would “continue steadfast in this confession and Church and to suffer all, even death, rather than fall away from it.” By the grace of God, Lorraine kept that promise; she fought the good fight of faith and has received the crown of eternal life. On the day of her confirmation, Lorraine received this verse, Exodus 33:14, a promise of God, that she wanted you to hear today: “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.”   What an excellent text for the Christian life and death of one of God’s saints! As we should do with any and every Bible passage, we’ll first ...

Click here to listen to this sermon. “For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their Shepherd, and He will guide them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes” (Revelation 7:17). Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ! Each year, the Fourth Sunday of Easter is Good Shepherd Sunday. Fittingly, all our readings today give us insight to the relationship we have with Jesus as sheep and Shepherd and the benefits of that relationship. Our Gospel takes place during the Feast of Dedication, also called Hanukkah, the Jewish national holiday celebrating the purification of the temple by Judas Maccabaeus in December 165 B.C. Jesus was walking in the temple area near Solomon’s colonnade. It offered some protection from the winter’s cold. The Jewish religious leaders encircled Jesus and asked Him point blank: “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.” Sad to say, they ...

"The Second Miraculous Draught of Fish" by James Tissot Click here to listen to this sermon. As day was breaking, Jesus stood on the shore; yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to them, “Children, do you have any fish?” They answered Him, “No.” He said to them, “Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some.” So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in, because of the quantity of fish (John 21:4-6). Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ! This last week, both of our LC-MS seminaries held their call services for new candidates in the ministry. I’m pleased to announce that Jesse Baker received a call to Zion Lutheran Church in Hardwick, MN. We thank God for providing a pastor for Zion and we look forward to working with him in our Pipestone Circuit and Minnesota South District. Call days tend to get pastors reminiscing and/or commiserating about their own call night. An a...