A Famine Not of Bread

"Jesus and Nicodemus" by Henry Ossawa Tanner Click here to listen to this sermon. "Nicodemus said to Him, ‘How can these things be?’ Jesus answered Him, ‘Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these things? Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know, and bear witness to what we have seen, but you do not receive our testimony. If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things?’” (John 3:9-12). Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ! This week I was watching a podcast where Andrew Klavan was interviewing Jordan Peterson, the best-selling author of 12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos . For those of you unfamiliar with Peterson, I would encourage you to get to know a little about him. New York Times   columnist David Brooks has called him the “most influential public intellectual in the Western world.” What I found most interesting about the conver...

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Click here to listen to this sermon. “If we receive the testimony of men, the testimony of God is greater, for this is the testimony of God that He has borne concerning His Son. Whoever believes in the Son of God has the testimony in Himself. Whoever does not believe God has made Him a liar, because He has not believed in the testimony that God has borne concerning His Son. And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. “I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life. And this is the confidence that we have toward Him, that if we ask anything according to His will He hears us. And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of Him” (1 John 5:9–15). Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ! In this world t...

Click here to listen to this sermon. Dear family members, friends, and neighbors of Helen, Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ! We have the same readings for today that were read at the funeral of Helen’s husband, Jim, over 11 years ago. We were pretty sure that since Helen picked them out then, she would be happy to have them read today as well. Perhaps you noticed that three of the readings have a common theme: Following the Good Shepherd. In our Gospel, Jesus, the Good Shepherd, says, “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.” Then He promises: “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” (John 10:27-29). The Good Shepherd called Helen to His flock when she was baptized as an infant at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Scarville, Iowa. There, in the water and ...

Click here to listen to this sermon. “Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of Him. By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey His commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome. For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?” (1 John 5:1–5) Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ! Christ is risen! He is risen, indeed! Alleluia! It is still the season of Easter. Fittingly, this is a resurrection text. It may not seem so since resurrection is never mentioned, but the whole idea of love, faith, and obedience to the commandments of God discussed in this text are dependent upon the reality of the resu...

Click here to listen to this sermon.  [Jesus said:] “I am the true Vine, and My Father is the Vinedresser. Every branch of Mine that does not bear fruit He takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit” (John 15:1-2). Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ! As Jesus speaks these words, He is preparing His disciples for His death. He has spoken of His betrayal, predicted Peter’s denial, and now He teaches His disciples one more time before closing with His High Priestly Prayer, and heading to the Garden of Gethsemane. Which raises the question: “Why do we spend time reading and meditating on these words in the season of Easter?” Because when you look back on these words during Easter, you see that Jesus was doing something more than preparing His disciples for His death. He was also preparing them for His life: His resurrected life. In these words, Jesus offers His disciples (of all times) a promise that...