A Famine Not of Bread

Click here to listen to this sermon. The text for today is our Gospel lesson, Matthew 16:21-28. Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ! The time has come for Jesus to speak frankly to His disciples about His imminent suffering and death. He surely has spoken of these things before, but the disciples have not understood. They do not grasp what Jesus tells them here either. In fact, Peter takes Jesus aside and rebukes Him: “Far be it from You, Lord!” Peter says. “This shall never happen to You!” Peter’s intentions are good., but He speaks without considering the implications. The man who just acknowledged Jesus as the Christ, the Son of the living God, now contradicts Jesus. Jesus must go to Jerusalem. Jesus must suffer many things. Jesus must be killed. Jesus must be raised on the third day. Jesus had commended Peter’s confession of faith, which came directly from the Father. Now He rebukes him sternly, even addressing him as Satan. Peter essentiall...

"Christ's Entry into Jerusalem" by Benjamin Robert Haydon Click here to listen to this sermon.  "The next day the large crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet Him, crying out, ‘Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!’ And Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, just as it is written, ‘Fear not, daughter of Zion; behold, your king is coming, sitting on a donkey’s colt!’ His disciples did not understand these things at first, but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things had been written about Him and had been done to Him” (John 12:12-16). Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ! Palm Sunday processions come in many shapes and sizes. In some churches, they gather in the parking lot. Palms are distributed and blessed and then the crucifer leads then up the doors of the church. Th...

"John the Baptist in Prison" by Cornelis Galle the Younger Click here to listen to this sermon. Now when John heard in prison about the deeds of the Christ, he sent word by his disciples and said to Him, “Are You the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?” And Jesus answered them, “Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them. And blessed is the one who is not offended by Me” (Matthew 11:2-6). Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ! In his weekly radio program, Garrison Keillor would end by saying that in Lake Wobegon all the children are above average. Fictitious or not, there is some truth in this. Every parent’s child has hidden talents waiting to be discovered. Our job as parents and teachers is to recognize their abilities and help them to perfect them. Without a se...

"Illustration to Book of Job" by William Blake Click here to listen to this sermon. Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ! “If you’re so smart, then tell me this…” Ever heard those words? They’re usually words children speak when they’re playing the game of one-upmanship. One child brags how far ahead he is of the rest because he’s been there, done that. Someone else doesn’t like the insinuation and says, “Oh, yeah. Well, if you’re so smart, then how did you get a C on that last science test? If you’re so smart, why did you have to stay in for recess yesterday? If you’re so smart…” Our Old Testament Reading contains God’s words to Job at the end of the lengthy discussion between Job and his three friends, Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar, plus a fourth by the name of Elihu. After letting the human counselors and counselee vent for thirty-five chapters, God finally speaks out of the storm. His silence throughout the long days of Job’s il...

"The Three Crosses" by Rembrandt Click here to listen to this sermon. And they said to Him, “Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory.” Jesus said to them, “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or to be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?” (Mark 10:37-38). Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ! Fellow theologians. Yes, that’s right. I called you a theologian. Regardless of the level of your religious training, you are a theologian. All of us are theologians. Being a theologian just means thinking and speaking about God. And it is impossible to go for long without thinking about God. Things happen. Accidents. Tragedies. Death. Disaster. Disease. Disappointment. And there is also good fortune. Unexpected success or escape from danger. Experience of great beauty or pleasure. Sheer grace. Chance encounters that determine our lives. Love. With...

Click here to listen to this sermon. “From that time Jesus began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised” (Matthew 16:21). Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ! Are you familiar with the term “bucket list”? It was coined by Justin Zachman, a screenwriter, who created his own list, which he first called “Justin’s List of Things to Do Before I Kick the Bucket.” The first item on his own bucket list was to have a screenplay produced at a major Hollywood studio. Realizing that a “bucket list” could itself be fodder for a film, he wrote a screenplay about two dying men racing to complete their own bucket list. The film, “The Bucket List” was released in 2007, starring Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman. Since that time, a lot of people have created their own bucket lists. Maybe you have one yourself. Visit Paris. Run with th...