A Famine Not of Bread

Click here to listen to this sermon. “After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, ‘Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!’” (Revelation 7:9-10). Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ! The Feast of All Saints is the most comprehensive of the days of commemoration within the Church year, encompassing the entire scope of that great cloud of witnesses that surrounds us (Hebrews 12:1). It holds before our eyes of faith that great multitude which no man can number: all the saints of God in Christ—from every nation, race, culture, and language—who have come out of the great tribulation … who have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb” (Revelation 7:9, 14). As such, it ...

  Click here to listen to this sermon. “Encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing” (1 Thessalonians 5:11). Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ! If you’ve watched any amount of religious programming on TV, you know that the majority of what many televangelists preach about is Judgment Day and the signs of the end times. They are forever exploring, interpreting, and guessing about what some of the more obscure prophecies about the future might mean, as they study the books of Daniel and Revelation and apply them to the headlines of the day, overlooking what Scripture says about “times and dates.” God has not chosen to reveal the time when Christ will come nor the reason that He planned it for when He did. Anyone who says he knows the time contradicts Jesus’ clear words: “No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father” (Matthew 24:36). Thereby he also reveals himsel...

Click here to listen to this sermon. “Behold, I am coming soon, bringing My recompense with Me, to repay everyone for what He has done.” (Revelation 22:12). Grace and peace to you from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ! “Just wait until your father comes home!” Those words can bring two extremely different reactions, depending upon the father and his disposition to his son or daughter. It could be a word of woe and warning—or it could be a word of joy and promise. The father could be an iron-fisted tyrant with a terrible mean streak bent on meting out punishment for each and every offense and infraction. Or he could be the Ward Cleaver type who opens the front door to be greeted warmly with hugs and kisses from his wife and kids. It all depends. Jesus’ words have a similar effect: “Behold, I am coming soon!” These words always have a double edge, frightening those who picture a wrathful Judge, but comforting those who know Jesus as gracious Savior, warning the unrepen...

Click here to listen to this sermon. mp3 files are available upon request. The text for today is Revelation 12:7-12. Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Today is the Feast of St. Michael and All Angels, a day in which we commemorate the work of St. Michael and all the holy angels in service to God and man.   And what a variety of service that is!   In our Gospel, Jesus refers to what we sometimes call “guardian angels,” those who watch over the little ones and see the face of the Father.   Our Psalm speaks of angels who “guard you” and “bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.”   In our Old Testament lesson, Michael, the archangel, comes to Daniel as a messenger sent by God, to help the prophet “understand what is to happen to your people in the latter days.”   But perhaps most startling, is St. John’s vision of Michael and his angels engaged in a war in heaven against Satan and his army.   That...