A Famine Not of Bread

Click here to listen to this sermon. “Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of My pasture!” declares the Lord . Therefore thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, concerning the shepherds who care for My people: “You have scattered My flock and have driven them away, and you have not attended to them. Behold, I will attend to you for your evil deeds, declares the Lord . Then I will gather the remnant of My flock out of all the countries where I have driven them, and I will bring them back to their fold, and they shall be fruitful and multiply. I will set shepherds over them who will care for them, and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall any be missing, declares the Lord. “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and He shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. In His days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is the nam...

Click here to listen to this sermon. Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ! “And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing” (Genesis 12:2). Most Christians are familiar with the term “blessed to be a blessing.” It refers to the fact that God has blessed us and desires we bless others as well. The actual reference is from the biblical story of God making a covenant with Abraham, telling the patriarch that He would bless Abraham and would bless the nations through Abraham and his offspring. We know this was faithfully accomplished through Jesus Christ, the world's Savior. According to the flesh, there will be those from every people, tribe, and tongue who will receive the eternal blessing of heaven through Jesus, a descendant of Abraham. “Blessed to be a blessing.” I think this phrase is undoubtedly fitting to describe Carol and her life. The Lord blessed Carol in many ways, and she ...

Click here to listen to this sermon. “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber. But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.” This figure of speech Jesus used with them, but they did not understand what He was saying to them” (John 10:1–6). Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ! In our Gospel lesson for today Jesus speaks to the Jews. He had just healed the man born blind and the Pharisees are seething at Jesus’ implication that they are spiritually blind; so blind, in fact, they are completely oblivious to their conditi...

Click here to listen to this sermon. "For thus says the Lord God: Behold, I, I Myself will search for My sheep and will seek them out. As a shepherd seeks out his flock when he is among his sheep that have been scattered, so will I seek out My sheep, and I will rescue them from all places where they have been scattered on a day of clouds and thick darkness. And I will bring them out from the peoples and gather them from the countries, and will bring them into their own land. And I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, by the ravines, and in all the inhabited places of the country. I will feed them with good pasture, and on the mountain heights of Israel shall be their grazing land. There they shall lie down in good grazing land, and on rich pasture they shall feed on the mountains of Israel. I Myself will be the Shepherd of My sheep, and I Myself will make them lie down, declares the Lord God. I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the strayed, and I will bind up the inj...