A Famine Not of Bread

Click here to listen t o this sermon. “For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of His glory He may grant you to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. “Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen” (Ephesians 3:14–21). Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ!   Almost two weeks ago, LCMS Pastor Jim Roemke received national attention for the benedicti...

"Adoration of the Magi" by Rembrandt Click here to listen to this sermon. Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you. For behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but the Lord will arise upon you, and His glory will be seen upon you. And nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising   (Isaiah 60:1-3). Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ! Today is the Feast of the Epiphany of our Lord, the beginning of the church season in which we celebrate the Lord Jesus manifesting Himself to the world as God. “Epiphany” comes from the word “to shine,” and the picture is of that light shining into the darkness and overtaking it. In the past few weeks, we have been talking and singing about light—about Jesus, the Light of the world. At candlelight services on Christmas Eve, we sang about the “Son of God, love’s pure light.” We sang about how in...

"Jesus Walks on Water" by Ivan Aivazovsky The text for today is Ephesians 3:20-21: “ Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to Him be glory in the Church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever.  Amen.” Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God the Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. You would think that the disciples would get it by now.  They’ve been with Jesus for some time.  They’ve seen Him preach with amazing authority, heal the sick with a touch, cast out demons with a word, raise the dead, calm a stormy sea, and feed thousands of people with only five loaves of bread and two fish.  Sent out by Jesus and acting on His authority, they’ve even personally participated in some of that powerful stuff.  You would think they would get it.  You would think they would begin to have an inkling of just who Jesus is and what He can do. ...

"Paul's Farewell to the Elders at Ephesus" a woodcut Biblical illustrations by Julius Schnoor von Carolsfeld, copied from the book "Das Buch der Bücher in Bilden" and made available by World Mission Collection: http://www.wmcwels.com/cgi-bin/home.pl?/ClipArt#volumetwo   The text for today is our Epistle, Ephesians 3:13-20, which has already been read. Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God the Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Here’s a key to properly interpreting passages of Scripture: context.   Look for what is happening and being said before and after the passage.   And consider the time in which it was originally written.   Understanding the literary, cultural, and historical contexts will help you to better understand the author’s intent.   Permit me to illustrate.   Suppose your seven-year-old son walks up to you when your back is turned and asks, “Mom, can I kill this?”   What’s the first thing you must find out b...