A Famine Not of Bread

Click here to listen to this sermon. “The voice of the Lord is over the waters; the God of glory thunders, the Lord, over many waters. The voice of the Lord is powerful; the voice of the Lord is full of majesty” (Psalm 29:3-4). Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ! A common theme of our Psalm, Old Testament reading, and Gospel for today, the Baptism of Our Lord, is the mention of the voice of the Lord over the waters. The creation event begins with the Holy Spirit hovering over the waters. In addition to creation, the Psalm speaks of the Flood, where the powerful voice of the Lord was over the many waters He used to cleanse and recreate His world. In the Baptism of Jesus, we see the waters of the Jordan and the presence of the Spirit in the form of a dove as the voice of the Lord speaks well of His beloved Son. Together, our readings provide a beautiful picture of what God has done in restoring His creation through His Son. Christ has come to make al...

  "The Baptism of Christ" by Guido Reni Click here to listen to this sermon. The voice of the Lord is over the waters; the God of glory thunders, the Lord, over many waters. The voice of the Lord is powerful; the voice of the Lord is full of majesty” (Psalm 29:3-4). Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ! A common theme of our Psalm, Old Testament reading, and Gospel for today, the Baptism of Our Lord, is the mention of the voice of the Lord over the waters. The creation event begins with the Holy Spirit hovering over the waters. In addition to creation, the Psalm speaks of the Flood where the powerful voice of the Lord was over the many waters He used to cleanse and recreate His world. In the Baptism of Jesus, we see the waters of the Jordan and the presence of the Spirit in the form of a dove as the voice of the Lord speaks well of His beloved Son. Together, our readings provide a beautiful picture of what God has done in restoring His crea...

Click here to listen to this sermon. “Ah, you who hide deep from the Lord your counsel, whose deeds are in the dark, and who say, ‘Who sees us? Who knows us?’ You turn things upside down! Shall the potter be regarded as the clay, that the thing made should say of its maker, ‘He did not make me’; or the thing formed say of him who formed it, ‘He has no understanding?’” (Isaiah 29:15–16).   Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ! Like the plot of a good action thriller it goes down to the wire. At the last minute, God mercifully intervenes to deliver Jerusalem from the Assyrian horde poised at the city gate. But something is wrong. The people do not see beyond the immediate threat they have just avoided. They fail to recognize the hand of the Lord or their sin and idolatry that brought them so close to utter ruin. God’s deliverance does nothing to turn them to repentance and the promises of the Messiah. And so the deliverance will only buy them...

Click here to listen to this sermon. “But now thus says the Lord, He who created you, O Jacob, He who formed you, O Israel: ‘Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine” (Isaiah 43:1). Grace and peace to you from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ! We are in the second week of the new year, a couple of days past Epiphany, the end of the twelve days of Christmas. Are you experiencing a little bit of a letdown? The Christmas decorations have been packed away and there’s a bit of a holiday hangover? Or maybe the credit card bills have started coming in and the reality of just how much you got in the commercial spirit of Christmas has come home to roost? Perhaps your struggle to keep this year’s New Year’s resolution reminds you of your miserable failure last year? Maybe your family gatherings were not so much like those painted by Norman Rockwell, but more like an episode of Jerry Springer? And then there’s the weather that’s generally so cold...

The text for this message is Romans 8:31-39. The Apostle Paul by Rembrandt Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ! Imagine what it was like for Casey Anthony to sit in the courtroom, day after day, and hear all the accusations and evidence presented against you.   Or imagine what it was like for Michael Vick facing charges of animal cruelty.   Or for Saddam Hussein sitting in the courtroom, knowing you face a grisly judgment. But, dear Christians, you don’t really need to imagine that much do you?   You know what it’s like to be in their shoes.   Oh, you may not be facing prison time or the death penalty, but you know what it’s like—for you are constantly sitting in a courtroom, hearing judgments against you—judgments from within, judgments from without.   Daily you are judged by your friends, co-workers, employers, and family members.   You are “let go” because your productivity doesn’t measure up to others.  ...