A Famine Not of Bread

Click here to listen to this sermon. The word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.” Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many...

Predella on altarpiece at St. Mary's in Wittenberg by Lucas Cranach Click here to listen to this sermon. Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ! The altarpiece of St. Mary’s in Wittenberg is a masterpiece of religious art by Lucas Cranach the Elder and his son Lucas the Younger, designed to represent visually what Lutherans teach about how God works to create and maintain Christian faith. The altarpiece consists of a painting in three parts, a triptych, and a fourth panel, the predella, underneath the triptych and closest to the altar itself. Each of the four scenes depicts a unique way in which the one Gospel promise is delivered: preaching, Baptism, the Lord’s Supper, and the Office of the Keys. It is the bottom panel to which I want to draw your attention this morning. Martin Luther stands in the pulpit and preaches, expounding the Holy Scriptures. The reformer’s left hand rests upon an open Bible, while with his right he points to the Sa...