A Famine Not of Bread

"Miracle of the Loaves and Fishes" by James Tissot Click here to listen to this sermon. “Now when Jesus heard [about the death of John], He withdrew from there in a boat to a desolate place by Himself. But when the crowds heard it, they followed Him on foot from the towns. When He went ashore He saw a great crowd, and He had compassion on them and healed their sick. Now when it was evening, the disciples came to Him and said, ‘This is a desolate place, and the day is now over; send the crowds away to go into the villages and buy food for themselves.’ But Jesus said, ‘They need not go away; you give them something to eat.’ They said to Him, ‘We have only five loaves here and two fish.’ And He said, “Bring them here to Me.’ Then He ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass, and taking the five loaves and the two fish, He looked up to heaven and said a blessing. Then He broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. And they all ate...

Click here to listen to this sermon. “Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have good news preached to them. And blessed is the one who is not offended by Me” ( Luke 7:22-23). Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ! We live in a day where it seems that everyone is easily offended. Just look at the news or social media. Some people are offended if you say, “Merry Christmas!”, others are offended by “Happy Holidays!” Some are offended by nativity scenes in public places, others are offended by red Starbucks cups that fail to mention Christmas. Some are offended by just about anything said by President Obama or Hillary Clinton, others are just as scandalized by Ben Carson or Ted Cruz. Only Donald Trump seems to be able to offend just about everybody and get more attention and gain popularity. What does it take for someone or...

Click here to listen to this sermon. “There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light” (John 1:6-8). Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ! This Sunday could easily have been called “John the Baptist Sunday.” But I’m quite certain that John would have objected. John was the forerunner of Christ, not the Christ. He was a witness to the light, not the Light. He was a voice, preaching Christ, the light of the world. He was a finger, pointing people to Jesus, and saying, “There He is, the One you’ve been waiting for—the Lamb of God.” Ancient Christian art depicts John with an overly large mouth and a  hyper-extended  index finger pointing to Jesus. A big mouth and a pointing finger—that was John. Now, in our culture, such an image doesn’t seem very flattering, does it? As children...

Click here to listen to this sermon. The text for today is our Gospel lesson, Matthew 3:13-17. Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ! You were born as one lost and dead—lost in sin and dead in your trespasses.   By nature, an enemy of God, under His just wrath and displeasure and doomed to eternal damnation.   A slave to sin and subject to Satan, an unholy child of disobedience and unrighteousness, helplessly being led into the very jaws of hell.   A sad state of affairs, to be sure; an unnatural condition that God did not design or intend, but nevertheless, one that that describes every man, woman, and child conceived and born in sin since Adam and Eve.   Life in this world (even if lived in blissful ignorance) is still a whirlwind tour whistling through the graveyard.   In truth, apart from the triune God, His love and grace—it is really a living death.   Yet, since that living death is the only “life” you had k...