A Famine Not of Bread

Depiction of Cyrus the Great by  Jean Fouquet , 1470. Click here to listen to this sermon. “Thus says the Lord to His anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have grasped, to subdue nations before him and to loose the belts of kings, to open doors before him that gates may not be closed” (Isaiah 45:1).      Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ! Cyrus was the king of Persia, who conquered the great Babylonian empire in 539 BC. It was a surprisingly easy victory considering the reputation the army of Babylon had for ruthlessness. As Cyrus’ army surrounded the city of Babylon, the priests of Marduk surrendered, declared him to be Marduk’s chosen new monarch, and then opened the city gates to allow him to enter peacefully. The Babylonians had been the ones who had destroyed Jerusalem and the temple, and had deported the Jews from Judah and Jerusalem. The prophets had explained that this devastating work had been the judgme...

Click here to listen to this sermon. Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ! I must tell you: I started to think about this theme about six weeks ago, long before the recent presidential election, but certainly during the heat of the campaign when the outcome was still undetermined. It is not intended to be a celebratory spike of the ball in the end zone. It is not intended to be a sore loser’s lament. It is not intended to be political in any way—though given today’s climate in which even one’s choice in entertainment, fashion, or food source, is seen to have political ramifications, I realize this is a futile goal. In our text, St. Paul exhorts: “First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way” (1 Timothy 2:1-2). In Romans, Paul instructs: “ Let every person be ...

To listen to this sermon click here. or here. “Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you” (Exodus 20:12). Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ! The church was packed for the funeral of a lady in her upper eighties. She and her late husband had had five children, and here they were, along with a whole bunch of grandchildren and even more great-grandchildren. Add in the spouses of the various generations, plus nieces and nephews and their children, and the church was pretty much filled with family, all coming before God to thank Him for this woman’s life and to commend her back to Him. But what if this woman had not happened to meet her husband way back in the 1940s? What if they had not gotten married? Half of the people in the church, from the middle-aged grandparents to the little kids squirming in the pews, would not exist. The union of that man and woman had consequences they co...