A Famine Not of Bread

Click here to listen to this sermon. “As for you, brothers, do not grow weary in doing good” (2 Thessalonians 3:13). Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ! You see it all the time: As the end draws near, there is a temptation, if not a tendency, to slack off. Businesses retire with their owners. Once the drive to build a business dissipates, advertising and promotion no longer are seen as investments in the future but as drains on the current balance sheet. The intangible value of a company’s reputation and customer base evaporates, and potential owners see little value left to purchase. Congregations decline as their long-term pastor nears retirement. First, little things go by the way, then secondary ministries drop off because there isn’t enough energy or enthusiasm left in the tank. You can see this happens with the last generation of a family farm, too. Building maintenance slips to the bare minimum. Outdated equipment is not replaced. Traili...

Click here to listen to this sermon. “And we have something more sure, the prophetic word, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts” (2 Peter 1:19). Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ! On this last Sunday after the Epiphany, we celebrate with great joy the Feast of the Transfiguration of Our Lord, God, and Savior, Jesus Christ. The Transfiguration of Our Lord is the annual feast celebrating Jesus’ stunning change of appearance while in the presence of Peter, James, and John. In our Gospel, Matthew writes, “[Jesus] was transfigured before them, and His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became white as light” (17:2). At that moment, Moses and Elijah appeared and they were talking with Jesus about His imminent departure, literally His exodus. Peter, misunderstanding the meaning of this manifestation, said, “Lord, it is good that we are here,” a...

Click here to listen to this sermon. When [Jesus] heard that John had been arrested, He withdrew into Galilee. And leaving Nazareth He went and lived in Capernaum by the sea, in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali, so that what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled: “The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles—the people dwelling in darkness have seen a great light, and for those dwelling in the region and shadow of death, on them a light has dawned” (Matthew 4:12-16). Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ! The ministry of Jesus seems to be filled with ups and downs, highs and lows. In Matthew’s account (as in our lives), it’s not always easy to tell if the Light that has dawned on God’s people is winning or waning? In the verses immediately preceding our Gospel, Jesus emerges victorious from His battle in the desert with Satan (Matthew 4:1-11). Our Champion stands toe-...

Click here to listen to this sermon. “They shall be Mine, says the Lord of hosts, in the day when I make up My treasured possession, and I will spare them as a man spares his son who serves him. Then once more you shall see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not serve Him” (Malachi 3:17-18). Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ! A few years ago, The Matrix trilogy offered the premise that the world we see and experience is not real, but computer-generated. This is a secret known only to the few humans who’ve been liberated. Only after being freed from the machine do they finally see how deceptive what they thought to be the “real world” truly is! In our text, the people of Israel had their own perception of the “real world.” They were still living in the glory days when their nation had been very powerful and God had blessed them with peace and prosperity. Sadly, they failed to remem...

Click here to listen to this sermon. An mp3 file is available upon request. The text for today is our Gospel lesson, Luke 23:27-43. Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ! Today is the Last Sunday of the Church Year, where our attention is pushed to the last things.   All things promised will be completely fulfilled in Jesus’ glorious return.   The resurrection of the dead will bring body and soul together.   There will be a new heaven and a new earth.   Sin and Satan will be dispatched forever.   All God’s people will be taken to live in His eternal presence. However, the readings for today also draw us back to the cross, when Jesus fulfills the ancient prophecies of the Christ, the Chosen One.   He delivers His people from darkness and into His kingdom, through the forgiveness of sins, because He is the firstborn from the dead (Colossians 1:13-14, 18).   Those in the book of remembrance are God’s treasured pos...