Sermons

The Canaanite woman came to Jesus seeking help for her daughter. Her simple 3-word prayer is a model for us today: "Lord, help me."

Jesus came to the disciples on the Sea of Galilee, walking on the water. Jesus comes to us today in the midst of our fear and confusion, saying to us as he did to Peter: "Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid."

In feeding the 5000 with five loaves of bread and two fish, Jesus used the little that was available to provide much. As He instructed the disciples, so He instructs us today as well: "You give them something to eat."

It is through the cross and Jesus' redeeming work there for us and for our salvation that we can say with sure hope and confidence "nothing in all creation can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 8:39).

Today we look back. Today we look ahead. Today we look to Jesus.

Jesus' parable of the sower and the seed calls us to examine our own lives and ask ourselves what kind of soil am I? Does the life-giving Word of God find good soil in my heart for it to grow and thrive? Thanks be to God that the sacrifice of Christ on the cross covers all our sins and that this is source for that seed to grow.

There ain't no rest for the wicked.

Jesus calls on his followers to take up their cross and follow him. As people rejected Jesus in his day, so today people can also reject the message which Jesus' followers bring to the world. Whatever we may be called upon to sacrifice or suffer for Jesus' sake pales in comparison with what Jesus sacrified and suffered for our sake.

You should be afraid, right?

The harvest outlook for the kingdom of God is what Jesus says it is: plentiful. Jesus calls us to pray to the Lord of the harvest to raise up workers for his harvest fields.

God created you. And God created your neighbor, too.

On that first Pentecost, the reaction of many was, "What is going on?" In our own lives, we also ask that same question as we discern what the Spirit is doing. It is the Holy Spirit who calls us and keeps us in the one true faith, leading us to love God and serve our neighbor.

This is the time in-between.

In sports, and in witnessing to the truth of our risen Savior, the best offense is a good defense, as Peter tells us in 1 Peter 3:15.

Looking for a house that didn't shut you in but connected you to the world around you?

Jesus is our Good Shepherd, and He has laid down his life for the sake of his sheep. He has come that we may have full and abundant life in him.

They don't return as they left.

Thomas' doubt and disbelief were transformed into faith and trust after he saw the risen Christ. But that same risen Christ calls blessed those who have not seen, and yet believe. And so we walk by faith - not seeing is believing.

That's not the end of our story.

On the night when He was betrayed, Jesus instituted the Lord's Supper and He washed the feet of his disciples, giving them and us as new command: that we love one another as He has loved us.

Palm Sunday is also the Sunday of the Passion. Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem led him to the cross where He delivered us from sin, Satan, and death.

Jesus' raising of Lazarus from the dead called Mary and Martha, as well as each one of us, to belief and trust in him as the resurrection and the life.

Jesus opens eyes.

In his conversation with the Samaritan woman at the well, Jesus offered to us and to us his gift of living water - eternal life and salvation in him.

What's the thing that goes "bump" in the night?

Yes. The answer is “Yes.”

It's about the truth.

Through our Baptism into Christ's death and resurrection, we are called by Christ to be his living witnesses in the world. By our words and actions, we reflect the light and love of Jesus to other people.

That doesn't sound like me!

Christ crucified - the power of God and the wisdom of God, as Paul the apostle writes. That is where we see God at work. God is also at work in the world and in our lives. How do you see God at work?

Servant leadership for a praying people

Jesus' baptism by John in the Jordan River marked him as the Father's beloved and chosen Son to fulfill all righteousness. Our Baptism into Jesus' death and resurrection joins us to our Triune God and bestows all that Jesus has done for us. Flowing from this great gift, we are called to walk in newness of life.

The light breaks through.

Joseph is warned by an angel in a dream to take Mary and Jesus and flee to Egypt - not leisurely, holiday travel, but travel for survival's sake. Jesus' life is spared so that He might offer his life upon the cross as the atoning sacrifice for our sins.

The good news of Christmas is that whether we are ready for it or not, it still comes. Jesus' coming for our salvation comes to us. That is the good news of Christmas.

It's something different, unique. Both brand-new and impossibly old.

What's in a name? (Matthew 1:18-25)

Is everything looking like it should?

The season of Advent calls us to get ready for the day - not just the day of Christmas when we celebrate Jesus' birth, but the day of his coming again when He will return with great power and glory as King and Judge of all creation.

Before the new church year begins, the current one must come to its ending. And what an ending it is!

In the midst of all the distressing signs preceding his coming again, Jesus calls us to straighten up and lift up our heads because our redemption is drawing near.

Moses was having one of those days.

Remembering and giving thanks to God for all the saints, we rejoice also that through the cleansing blood of Jesus we, too, are numbered among the saints. Because of this, "Blessed are you."

We don't deserve to be here. But that's exactly why we are here.

Jacob left home with only the staff in his hand, but returned years later with great possessions. As he wrestled with God in an all-night struggle, the Lord God renamed him: Israel. Jacob's possessions didn't define him, and neither should ours. Our identity is given to us in Christ: we are God's beloved children through the cleansing blood of Jesus.

Tick-tock.

Often we are tempted to give God the leftovers of our lives, rather than the first fruits of our selves, our time, and our possessions. If God did not withhold the life of his only Son to save us, how can we withhold anything from our lives as a first fruits offering of thanks to the Lord?

It's what this day is all about. (St. Michael and All Angels)

Jesus calls us to faithfulness in all things, managing wisely and faithfully what belongs to Him.

You are never lost to God.

Jesus calls us to take up our cross and follow him in a life of discipleship. We do so in response to Jesus' laying down his life for us and for our salvation.