A Famine Not of Bread

"Joseph Dwelleth in Egypt" by James Tissot   Click here to listen to this sermon.  When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, “It may be that Joseph will hate us and pay us back for all the evil that we did to him.” So they sent a message to Joseph, saying, “Your father gave this command before he died, ‘Say to Joseph, “Please forgive the transgression of your brothers and their sin, because they did evil to you.”’ And now, please forgive the transgression of the servants of the God of your father.” Joseph wept when they spoke to him. His brothers also came and fell down before him and said, “Behold, we are your servants.” But Joseph said to them, “Do not fear, for am I in the place of God? As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today. So do not fear; I will provide for you and your little ones.” Thus he comforted them and spoke kindly to them ( Genesis 50:15...

Click here to listen to this sermon. “If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over” (Matthew 18:15). Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ! Let’s have a show of hands. How many of you enjoy confrontation? No hands. That’s what I was expecting to see. Most people, unless they’re a sociopath, do not like to confront others. People who enjoy confrontation should be disqualified from doing so. They will never do it in the right spirit of love. Nevertheless, somewhere along the line it may become necessary to talk to others about their shortcomings. Although we should be willing to overlook minor offenses, there are some problems that will only grow worse if they are not dealt with properly in a straightforward way as Jesus urges us to do in our text. The following story illustrates this truth in a more personal way. Larry irritated almost every person in ...

Click here to listen to this sermon. The text for today is our Gospel lesson, Matthew 16:21-28. Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ! The time has come for Jesus to speak frankly to His disciples about His imminent suffering and death. He surely has spoken of these things before, but the disciples have not understood. They do not grasp what Jesus tells them here either. In fact, Peter takes Jesus aside and rebukes Him: “Far be it from You, Lord!” Peter says. “This shall never happen to You!” Peter’s intentions are good., but He speaks without considering the implications. The man who just acknowledged Jesus as the Christ, the Son of the living God, now contradicts Jesus. Jesus must go to Jerusalem. Jesus must suffer many things. Jesus must be killed. Jesus must be raised on the third day. Jesus had commended Peter’s confession of faith, which came directly from the Father. Now He rebukes him sternly, even addressing him as Satan. Peter essentiall...