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The coronavirus (and now civil unrest) has changed the way we work, sudy, shop, and even worship. What will things be like after we get the situation under control? The prophet Joel tells us and the Day of Pentecost shows us.
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Luke sums up years of Jesus' early life with one sentence, "[Jesus] was obedient [to his obedients]." This not only was a blessing to his parents (think of how "easy" of a child he was to raise!) but also to us.
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When we endure hardships because of our faith in God, we don't have to "play the victim" before him. The Lord understands both what he will do through us and will do for us, just as he understood what he was doing through and for Jeremiah the prophet.
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Lots of people think Jesus is just some life coach who gives you practical wisdom and to-do's for this life. If you think that, you miss Jesus' bigger point in Luke chapter 14. Jesus isn't concerned so much about where you sit at an earthly meal. He's concerned about where you will sit for all eternity.
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Joshua's words, "As for me and my household, we will serve the Lord," have decorated the walls of homes for years, but they're easier said than done. In his grace, God gives us spiritual leaders who help us know and serve God better.
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If someone walked up to you and asked you how to pray, would you know where to begin? Jesus did, and in twelve concise verses he teaches us Christians what we need to know about prayer.
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Our midweek Advent worship series explores the names by which Jesus would be, and still is, called. Our sermon texts take us through Isaiah the Prophet's book and through these names we better know who our Savior is and what exactly he came to do.
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Our midweek services have examined a comforting name (Immanuel) and a wonderful name (Prince of peace). Our third and final midweek Advent service looks at a glorious name -- the LORD Almighty.
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Jesus' blood has already made saints out his believers, but while we live as God's holy people on this planet, we still have to fight and struggle against sin, death, and the devil. The good news is that there's an eternal celebration waiting for us at the end. Along with the Apostle John we get a glimpse of what it will look like to be a saint triumphant in heaven.
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Promises made are supposed to be promises kept. But when it seems like a promise has failed or will fail, we feel anguish and sorrow. The Apostle Paul recalls how he felt anguish and sorrow about a promise and tells you why you should never feel anguish and sorrow about God's promises.
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Last Sunday we emphasized the Chrisitian education aspect of our congregation's ministry. Christian education is not just for cute Sunday schoolers, young adults in catechism class, or those at a Lutheran high school. Paul's letter to Titus makes it clear that if a congregation wants to be health, Christian education must be a congregational-wide affair -- young and old, male and female.
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On Sunday we celebrated the Festival of Epiphany which highlights how Jesus appeared in the flesh to be the Savior of all people -- Jew and Gentile. Because Jesus is the Savior of all people of all races, that means there are some surprising people who come to see him and some surprising ways they get there.
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Part two of three of our midweek Advent series, "The Names by Which He'll Be Called", focuses on the wonderful name mentioned by Isaiah in chapter 9 of his book. The wonder is how a baby can do anything princely, let alone give us true spiritual peace.
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As if the 2020 presidential candidates weren't talking about the economy -- good and bad -- enough, enter the prophet Amos. What can this man from roughly 750 B.C. add to a conversation in 21st centurty capitalistc America? Plenty. And it has less to do with dollars and cents and more with hearts and souls.
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On the Christian church calendar, September 29 is the Festival of Saint Michael and All Angels where we praise and thank God for his gift of angels. While much of the world envisions angels as cute little chubby boys, John's vision here in Revelation pictures them as strong fighters. Watch intently, then, as Saint Michael and the holy angels fight against the devil and the fallen angels because this throwdown says something about your relationship with God.
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40 days after Jesus rose from the dead, he ascended back into heaven. Ascension Day is sometimes overlooked but is just as important as Christmas or Easter because it makes us happy -- for Jesus who ascended and for ourselves who will ascend into heaven.
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Christians recognize they are not their own masters; Jesus Christ is. And since Jesus is a good master who has served us and told us he will return at any moment, we are always ready to welcome him.
Our guest preacher is Seminarian Joshua Rathje, who has begun his final year at Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary. God willing, in May of 2020 Josh will be graduated and assigned to serve in the pastoral ministry. We pray for God's blessings on his school year!
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A basic truth of Christianity is that the only true God is triune, that is, he is three distinct persons -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit -- in one perfectly united and undivided God. Full confession: no Christian can understand that with human reason alone. Nor can any Christian understand why this Triune God would want to bless sinners like us.
But the believer's faith simply takes God at his Word. He is Triune. He is loving. And the loving Triune God blesses sinners freely.
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The world is full of sinners who blaspheme God, persecute Christians, and carry out violence in general. But that didn't stop Christ Jesus come into the world with his abundant grace for every sinner, including them "out there" and you right here.
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Sometimes people talk about having a "call" from God. In our verses, the four fishermen got a call from the Son of God himself: a call to public ministry. But, if you don't have a call for public ministry, that doesn't mean Jesus' isn't speaking to you here. He's calling to you with both law (commands for your life) and gospel (good news about free forgiveness).
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This sermon concludes our four part series on 2 Corinthians, and this particular theme is almost redundant with the overall series theme. Today, we focus on Paul's words, "Christ's love compels us," which is more or less another way of saying, "We conduct ourselves according to God's grace." Paul's message here isn't a new message, but it's so powerful it never stops moving and affecting everythign we do. Christ for us motivates us to live for God and for others!
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If you're a Christian, you must lose out on things in this life, but Jesus promises you that the eternal things you gain through his death, his resurrection, and his gospel far outgain what you give up in this generation.
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If you feel like our culture tries to quickly move past Christmas, you should meet King Herod. As Herod tries to carry out a sinister plot against the Christ-child, we see a comforting truth that will take us into the new year and decade.
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For everyone coming down in a post-Christmas crash, Simeon and Anna shift our focus to the Christ child because in him we see and understand that the joy of Christmas lasts longer than just a shopping season or a break from school.
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The words of 1 Corinthians are famous words. They are beautiful words. But can they also be frightening? When we recognize that we ourselves have not loved like this, we feel the fright of guilt and then look at Christ who has loved us like this. It's this love that we want to be confirmed in.
(In this worship service, we also confirmed a youth of our congregation, and allusions to that are made in the sermon.)
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During the season of Lent we are reminded again and again that the punishment for our sin should be condemnation in hell. But these verses from Romans remind us that what Jesus Christ did for us during Holy Week changed our relationship with God and what we get from him. Seminarian Josh Rathje shares that good news with us!
Josh is in his second year at Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary where, God willing, he will graduate in another two years and serve a congregation as pastor.
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God is not shy about interrupting our lives and changing both our earthly plans and our spiritual state. In the moment, we may not know what is going on and may wonder why God seems to be so rude. But when we have the eyes of faith that Mary and Joseph had, we see how God doesn't so much rudely interrupt as he graciously intervenes.
