A Famine Not of Bread

"The Gathering of Manna" by James Tissot Click here to listen to this sermon. “The whole commandment that I command you today you shall be careful to do, that you may live and multiply, and go in and possess the land that the Lord swore to give to your fathers. And you shall remember the whole way that the Lord your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that He might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not. And He humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord” (Deuteronomy 8:1-3). Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ! Thanksgiving is a time for reflection and remembrance. A time for reflecting upon the bounteous blessings God has so freely bestowed upon us out of His lavish love...

"The Gathering of the Manna" by James Tissot   Click here to listen to this sermon. Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ! Forty years earlier, Moses had led the people of Israel out of Egypt toward the Promised Land. Now they are camped, looking across the Jordan River to the land that God had promised to their forefathers. Not able to go into the Promised Land himself, Moses recounts what had happened during the wilderness wandering and he prepares them for the new land they will now receive. “And you shall remember the whole way that the Lord your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that He might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not” (Deuteronomy 8:2). Forty years it had taken them to make the 300-mile-long journey, an average movement of about 100 feet per day. Obviously, there had been a few bumps in the road along the way. The people ran out of water mor...

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. “For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it (Hebrews 12:11). Grace and peace to you from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ! Over the last three weeks, the author of Hebrews has been hard at work building us up in the faith. Two weeks ago he held before us the example of Abraham and the other patriarchs, and urged us to imitate their faith, a faith that does not receive the things promised in this life, but looks expectantly to them in the eternal life to come. Last week he encouraged us to look in faith to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, that we may run with endurance the race of faith set ahead for us. Today he encourages us to not grow weary or fainthearted in the midst of suffering and persecution for our Christian faith. The discipline of the Lord is proof of our sonship, not of God’s disfavor. And th...

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God the Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. It’s not good for a pastor to talk about himself too much in a sermon.   The sermon can easily degenerate into a speech like those essays from elementary school: “What I Did During Summer Vacation” or given the holiday we are observing today, “What I Am Thankful For.”   Or it can easily turn into a Joel Osteen pep talk on how to have your best life now if you just follow my example.   A proper sermon should be focused on Christ, and Him crucified.”   No, it’s not good for a pastor to talk about himself too much in a sermon.   But this time, for the sake of illustration, I’m going to risk it for a little bit.   I pray that it will help you view your own life’s detours from a Scriptural perspective. This is the second Thanksgiving in a row that I have had the privilege and pleasure of preaching at Christ Lutheran Church .   Certainly, two years ago, I would ...