A Famine Not of Bread

Click here to listen to this sermon. Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ! In addition to being the day in which six of our parish confirmands publicly confess the faith and the other spiritual gifts that were given them in Baptism, today commemorates Martin Luther’s initiation of the Reformation on October 31, 1517. What began as an invitation for academic debate over the abusive doctrine of indulgences, soon became a call for the return to God’s Word as the sole authority for the Church’s doctrine and life. Scriptures clearly teaches that a sinner’s only hope in life or death is that Jesus’ perfect life, death, and resurrection are enough to save them. Solely by virtue of Christ’s substitutionary life and death, are sinners declared righteous before their holy God. Luther and the other reformers had to fight, some to the death, to preach this Gospel to Christ’s Church. Today our confirmands will make a vow to do similarly if necessary. They will be...

"The Judgment of Solomon" by Giorgione Click here to listen to this sermon. “Behold, what I have seen to be good and fitting is to eat and drink and find enjoyment in all the toil with which one toils under the sun the few days of his life that God has given him, for this is his lot. Everyone also to whom God has given wealth and possessions and power to enjoy them, and to accept his lot and rejoice in his toil—this is the gift of God. For he will not much remember the days of his life because God keeps him occupied with joy in his heart” (Ecclesiastes 5:18-20). Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ! “His whole body was filled with delight. The aroma was so good, so tempting. It merited a closer look. At the jar’s edge, the scent overwhelmed him. He settled upon it and gorged himself with sticky sweetness. But then he could not pull away. Although he beat his wings until they buzzed, the ointment clung to him and drew him down to silence. ...

"Amos" by James Tissot Click here to listen to this sermon. “Seek the Lord and live, lest He break out like fire in the house of Joseph, and it devour, with none to quench it for Bethel, O you who turn justice to wormwood and cast down righteousness to the earth!... “They hate him who reproves in the gate, and they abhor him who speaks the truth. Therefore because you trample on the poor and you exact taxes of grain from him, you have built houses of hewn stone, but you shall not dwell in them; you have planted pleasant vineyards, but you shall not drink their wine. For I know how many are your transgressions and how great are your sins— you who afflict the righteous, who take a bribe, and turn aside the needy in the gate. Therefore he who is prudent will keep silent in such a time, for it is an evil time” (Amos 5:6–7, 10-15). Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ! A few weeks ago, we focused on the importance of holding your tongue and wat...

"Jesus Blessing the Children" by Gustave Dore Click here to listen to this sermon. Pharisees came up and in order to test [Jesus] asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?” He answered them, “What did Moses command you?” They said, “Moses allowed a man to write a certificate of divorce and to send her away.” And Jesus said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart he wrote you this commandment. But from the beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female.’ ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate. And in the house the disciples asked Him again about this matter. And He said to them, “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her, and if she divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery.” And they were bringing children to Him that He might...