A Famine Not of Bread

Click here to listen to this sermon. Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ! A curious question from the Apostles sets up the Ascension event, its meaning, and implications. They ask the risen Christ: “Lord, will You at this time restore the Kingdom to Israel?” Jesus does not answer the question directly but tells them to remain in Jerusalem (praying and keeping watch) until they receive the Holy Spirit on Pentecost. Then, as they are looking on, Jesus ascends before their eyes, tipping us off to a double transition for Jesus: enthronement in Heaven but also His abiding Word-and-Sacrament presence with His people and the giving of the Holy Spirit who reveals this same Jesus is present with and for His people. Now, if Easter is about Jesus as the prototype of the New Creation, then the Ascension is about His coronation as the One who rules forevermore on Earth as it is in Heaven. Easter tells us Jesus stands as the firstborn of the New Creation. His Asc...

Click here to listen to this sermon. After John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the Gospel of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the Kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the Gospel” (Mark 1:14). Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ! Herod is in a tough spot. He’s just put John the Baptist in prison. He’s not happy about it, though. He’s afraid of John, who has attracted quite an enthusiastic following. But Herod can’t have John running around preaching that Herod’s new marriage is a sinful one. What John is saying is all true, mind you—and he’s not preaching it to stir up trouble or cause rebellion but to call Herod to repentance. But a king can’t have his critics speaking inconvenient truths, so he’s imprisoned the famous prophet. How will the people react? This is a tense moment for Herod, and you can bet he’s got his spies working overtime to see if the people will rise up or just accept John’s arrest. An...

Click here to listen to this sermon. Now when the king lived in his house and the Lord had given him rest from all his surrounding enemies, the king said to Nathan the prophet, “See now, I dwell in a house of cedar, but the ark of God dwells in a tent.” And Nathan said to the king, “Go, do all that is in your heart, for the Lord is with you.” But that same night the word of the Lord came to Nathan, “Go and tell my servant David, ‘Thus says the Lord: Would you build Me a house to dwell in? I have not lived in a house since the day I brought up the people of Israel from Egypt to this day, but I have been moving about in a tent for My dwelling. In all places where I have moved with all the people of Israel, did I speak a word with any of the judges of Israel, whom I commanded to shepherd My people Israel, saying, “Why have you not built Me a house of cedar?” ‘Now, therefore, thus you shall say to My servant David, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, I took you from the pasture, from follo...

"Temptation of Christ" by Vasily Surinov Click here to listen to this sermon. Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness for forty days, being tempted by the devil. And He ate nothing during those days. And when they were ended, He was hungry. The devil said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.” And Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone.’” And the devil took Him up and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time, and said to Him, “To You I will give all this authority and their glory, for it has been delivered to me, and I give it to whom I will. If You, then, will worship me, it will all be yours.” And Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only shall you serve.’” And he took Him to Jerusalem and set Him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to Him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourse...

"The Last Judgment" by Francisco Pacheco Click here to listen to this sermon. [Jesus said:] “In those days, after that tribulation, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will be falling from heaven, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken. And then they will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory. And then He will send out the angels and gather His elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven” (Mark 13:24–27). Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ! Trust in the midst of trouble. That’s what our Lord calls us to experience today. In our Gospel reading, Jesus speaks to a few of His disciples about the end of the world and Judgment Day. The vision He offers is frightening, unsettling. Nature breaks apart. The sun and the moon no longer give light. The stars tumble from the heavens. Everything is falling apart. But trouble brings trust to light an...