A Famine Not of Bread

"The Angel and the Shepherds" by James Tissot Click here to listen to this sermon. Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ! I’m guessing that most of you have seen “A Charlie Brown Christmas,” the Christmas special featuring Charlie and all the other “Peanuts” characters. First aired in 1965, it, more than any other Christmas special, captures the true meaning of Christmas. On their way to join their friends ice skating, Charlie confides in Linus that, despite all the things he likes about the Christmas season, he is still depressed. When Linus offers little help, Charlie visits Lucy, who suggests that he direct the group’s annual Christmas play so he might get in the Christmas spirit. As he heads for rehearsal Charlie becomes even more discouraged by the commercialization of Christmas. Lucy laments not receiving real estate for Christmas; Snoopy decorates his doghouse for a neighborhood lights and display context; and Charlie’s younger sist...

"Christmas Joy" Click here to listen to this sermon.  

Click here to listen to this sermon.

"The Nativity of Christ" by Vladimir Borovikowsky Click here to listen to this sermon. “But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart” (Luke 2:19). Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ! At first hearing, it seems as though Mary must have gotten it all wrong. I mean, isn’t Christmas a time for celebration? And here, Luke tells us that “Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart.” The contrast is striking. While every year the Christmas retail season starts earlier and earlier and the hype gets more and more intense, the first Christmas was not an intense affair at all. If anything, it seems to be quite calm and quiet in comparison to today’s festivities. Now, of course, you can’t blame people for trying to make a dollar. And we have probably all fed the beast of the commercialization of Christmas to one extent or another. But we’ve not come here to fight the “war against Christmas” or the b...

“And the angel said to them, ‘Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger’” (Luke 2:10-12). Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ! The heavens are not silent in shame when the eternal, almighty God is born a helpless baby. They sing! “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom He is pleased!” Perhaps they’ve chosen the shepherds as their audience because they are the only ones who might appreciate a Savior whose birthing room is filled with the pungent aroma of hay and manure. But there in the manger lies the swaddled Creator, all wrapped up in the things of creation—infant holy yet infant lowly, a diapered divinity. You might suppose all this to be beneath God, but you’d be wrong. The Inc...

Click here to list to this sermon. “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall crush your head, and you shall bruise His heel” (Genesis 3:15). Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ! It is fitting, I suppose, that we speak tonight from the shadow of a tree. It is Christmas Eve, after all, and we Lutherans love our Christmas trees. In fact, it was a Lutheran pastor, Rev. H. C. Schwann, who is credited with putting up the first Christmas tree in an American church in 1851. What a beautiful tree we have here! Bright white lights! Shiny silver and royal blue ornaments! A dazzling star! But the fruit on this tree, though a delight to the eye, is obviously not good for food, nor does it promise to make one wise, like the forbidden fruit of the tree in Eden.  The Lord spoke the words of our text from the shadow of that tree on one of the worst days ever—the day that Adam and Eve fell into sin. God had ...

The text for today is our Gospel lesson, Matthew 1:18-25, which has already been read. Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God the Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! “This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about.”   So begins our text.   Actually, the Greek word translated as birth is “genesis,” the same word used for the first book of the Bible.   Depending on its context, the word can mean “birth,” “genealogy,” “beginning,” or “origin.”   We know from Scripture that as the Son of God, Christ had no beginning.   He’s at the Father’s side from eternity.   But we also know that as a human being He had a beginning, and it’s this origin the evangelist relates.   Matthew tells us of the way the Messiah assumed human nature, and took upon Himself our flesh.   No other person had an origin in this way.   Oh, yes, the origin of Adam was wonderful: “God formed the first man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his ...

The Naming of St. John the Baptist - Fra Angelico , 1434-1435 The text for today is our Gospel, Luke 1:57-80, which has already been read. Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God the Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The Nativity of St. John the Baptist.  It seems a little out of place, doesn’t it?  We’re used to hearing about John the Baptist in Advent or in Lent.  His message of repentance fits very well with those two penitential times of the church year.  But here it is…the early part of Pentecost.  So why are we hearing about his birth?  Well, do the math.  When do we celebrate the Nativity of Our Lord?  December 24 th and 25 th .  And how far along in her pregnancy is Elizabeth when the Virgin Mary is visited by the angel Gabriel?  Six months.  So, back up six months from Christmas and you land on June 24 th .  That’s why we celebrate the Nativity of St. John the Baptist on this date. St. Luke, ...