A Famine Not of Bread

"Christ on the Road to Emmaus" by Duccio Click here to listen to this sermon. Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ! Last week I posted this thought exercise on my Facebook timeline: “There’s no doubt been many inconveniences, much anxiety, and (at least for some) acute suffering during this time. But I’m the type who looks expectantly for a pony in the manure pile. So, I invite all of you to complete this sentence: An unanticipated blessing brought about because of the pandemic has been...” There were a wide variety of answers, including: ·         Lots of good homemade cooking. ·         A greater appreciation for the church, particularly for the Lord’s Supper. ·         I have been able to spend family time with my husband and sons without us all going in a hundred directions. ·         [Time] to refre...

Macklin Bible "The Angel Freeing the Apostles" Click here to listen to this sermon. “We must obey God rather than men” (Acts 5:29). I wrote this sermon back in the last week of February, so it could be recorded for the Main Street Living television program. If you want to compare, you can go to mainstreetliving.com This was before most of us knew much of anything about COVID-19, social distancing, stay-at-home orders, or essential and non-essential businesses and workers, so it is not particularly directed at our specific situation, although I think now because of current events it might be easier for each of us to imagine a scenario where this comes into play. Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ! A couple of months ago, a fellow LCMS pastor, the Rev. Christopher Thoma, was invited to give the invocation at the Michigan State Senate. But as he negotiated the words of the prayer with a staff member, he was told that he could not ...

"Jesus Washing Peter's Feet" by Ford Madox Brown Click here to listen to this sermon. [Jesus said:] “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:34-35). Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ! Children know the song “He’s got the whole world in His hands.” Every power is at His disposal. Every authority under heaven and earth is His. He has created everything. And He holds everything in His eternal hands. And now, “Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come from God and was going back to God, rose from supper. He laid aside His outer garments, and taking a towel, tied it around His waist. Then He poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around ...

Click here to listen to this sermon. After saying these things, Jesus was troubled in His spirit, and testified, “Truly, truly, I say to you, one of you will betray Me.” The disciples looked at one another, uncertain of whom He spoke. One of His disciples, whom Jesus loved, was reclining at table close to Jesus, so Simon Peter motioned to him to ask Jesus of whom He was speaking. So that disciple, leaning back against Jesus, said to Him, “Lord, who is it?” Jesus answered, “It is he to whom I will give this morsel of bread when I have dipped it.” So when He had dipped the morsel, He gave it to Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot. Then after he had taken the morsel, Satan entered into him. Jesus said to him, “What you are going to do, do quickly.” (John 13:21-27) Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ! Have you ever been betrayed? Betrayal, at its heart, is a break of trust, particularly a break of trust from someone close to you, someone you should ...

Click here to listen to this sermon. "Entry of the Christ in Jerusalem" by Jean-Leon Gerome “This is the Lord’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes. This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it” (Psalm 118:24). Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ! Due to attempts to curb COVID-19 with social distancing, the chances are that most of you who are hearing this sermon are not here in the same building as me, but are listening livestream or recorded on Facebook or our parish website from your own home. Sadly, there will be few palm branches waving today, and the pews will probably still be empty on Easter. Many of you have expressed thanks for having this opportunity to hear God’s Word, but you hope that it doesn’t go on for long. And that’s an understandable, even laudable sentiment, for worship is meant to be a physical, corporate activity. Throughout history there have been other times when God’s people found i...