A Famine Not of Bread

  "The Adoration of the Mystic Lamb" by Jan Van Eyck Click here to listen to this sermon. After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, 10 and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying, “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.” Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, “Who are these, clothed in white robes, and from where have they come?” I said to him, “Sir, you know.” And he said to me, “These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed ...

  Click here to listen to this sermon. “And I heard a voice from heaven saying, ‘Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.’ ‘Blessed indeed,’ says the Spirit. ‘that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow them!’” (Revelation 14:13). Randy, Greg, Daniel, Mitchell, family and friends here today, and those watching livestream: Grace to you from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ! I pray that you will find comfort and hope in the Word of God we have before us today. For, in times such as this, that is all we really have. There are no human words that can be said, no human actions that can be done, that can give you hope and comfort outside of the Good News of the resurrection of our Lord. And that is simply fine, for Christ promises, “My grace is sufficient for you.” The Word of the Lord that I’ve chosen to share with you today is based on the Gospel reading from Matthew you just heard a few minutes ago, the portion known as “The Beat...

Click here to listen to this sermon. “Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. For by works of the law no human being will be justified in His sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin. “But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it—the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by His grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by His blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in His divine forbearance He had passed over former sins. It was to show His righteousness at the present time, so that He might be just and the justifier of the one who ha...

"The Wedding Banquet" by Eugene Burnand Click here to listen to this sermon.   Again Jesus spoke to them in parables, saying, “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son, and sent his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding feast, but they would not come” (Matthew 22:1-3). Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ! If you start out wrong when you read a parable, you’re going to end in the wrong place. And generally, people start out wrong. They focus on what all the sinful people are doing in the parable, trying to find a moral lesson to follow. But when Jesus tells a parable about the kingdom of heaven, the focus of the parable is on the King of heaven. Jesus is not seeking to tell you what to do but proclaiming what great things God has done for you. Therefore, as we look at today’s parable, we don’t focus on the wedding guests, even though we’ll get to them. No, this parable is about th...

Click here to listen to this sermon. “Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me His own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:12-14). Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ! He’s never been one to hide who he is or what he thinks. He is often rather earthy in his choice of words. He seldom beats around the bush, but he’s not above using hyperbole to make a point. As he lists his many accomplishments, it sounds to many as though he is boasting. In the face of opposition, he’s been known to use some forceful and colorful language, including name calling.   No, I’m not talking about one of our current candidates for the highest office in the land. I’m talking a...

"The Good Shepherd" by Henry Ossawa Tanner Click here to listen to this sermon. [Jesus said:] I am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd lays down His life for the sheep. He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. I am the Good Shepherd. I know My own and My own know Me, just as the Father knows Me and I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep...  My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. I and the Father are one” (John 10:11-15, 27–30). Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ! Given what is going on in the ...