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! “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David; my daughter is severely oppressed by a demon” (Matthew 15:22). The worried mother comes with a problem and lays it at Jesus’ feet. She makes no claim of worthiness. She is a Gentile, a Canaanite woman with a demon-possessed daughter. What does she actually know? Is she simply mouthing words that she has heard others say, or is her plea coming from a heart that knows who Jesus is and what He can do for her and her daughter? She dares to approach Jesus and ask for His help because He is the Lord and Israel’s Messiah, the Son of David. The woman’s plea is not one of entitlement but of begging; not “I deserve,” but “Have mercy.” Mercy assumes need. Mercy assumes unworthiness. Mercy trusts the character of the giver. Mercy always implies that the recipient is undeserving. That certainly is our situation. And so we plead to God, “Give Your ...

Click here to listen to this sermon. Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ! Everyone knows what it is like to become overwhelmed: the phone call that changes everything, the diagnosis we did not expect, the grief that will not lift, the responsibility that feels heavier than we can carry. In such moments, we do not need advice about trying harder, working smarter, or changing our attitude. We need someone strong enough to take hold of us. The author of the hymn we just sang, Thomas Andrew Dorsey (1899–1993), knew what it was like to be overwhelmed. Born in Georgia to a revivalist preacher and a church organist, he moved to Chicago at seventeen and found success as a blues pianist, arranger, bandleader, and recording artist. He also suffered a nervous breakdown and struggled for years between the secular and sacred worlds of music. Eventually, he brought them together in a new form of sacred song and became known as the “father of gospel music.” In August ...

Click here to listen to this sermon. “And they all ate and were satisfied. And they took up twelve baskets full of the broken pieces left over” (Matthew 14:20). Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ! Every time I hear the story of the feeding of the five thousand, I’m reminded of my Grandma Moeller. No matter what hour of the day or how many people showed up unexpectedly, she could feed them and take care of them. No one ever left her table hungry. Perhaps you had a mother or grandmother like that. In the days before microwaves and pre-packaged foods, Grandma was a wizard at improvising and stretching a meal. Although she never would have been mistaken as a gourmet chef, she could turn a small beef roast and a few potatoes into more than enough for twelve. A loaf of Old Home bread, a brick of cheese, and a quart of ice cream made the most delicious “lunch” when people came visiting at night. How she was able to do that, I don’t know. It’s probably a l...