Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
I. Introduction
1. What are you working towards? This is a question that some people never even consider asking. They just go through the motions of life and do what needs to be done without a second thought as to why. They have very little, if any, savings. Their retirement plan in non-existent (much to the dismay of all the financial advisers out there). Continue reading
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
I. Introduction
1. In our Gospel Reading for today, our Lord says:
“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will recognize them by their fruit†(Matthew 7:15-16a).
When we hear the word “prophet†(or “false prophet†in this case), we often think of someone who receives divine revelations directly from God through dreams or visions and then declares that revelation to others. Continue reading
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
I. Introduction
1. The discussion of identity has never been more relevant than it is today. In fact, I would like to suggest that we, as a nation (and I mean this primarily on the individual level), are experiencing an identity crisis. Most people are confused about who they are. Continue reading
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
I. Introduction
1. Have you ever noticed that we live in a profoundly angry world? Anger is absolutely everywhere. Just drive down the highway, listen to the drama that people spend so much of their time talking about, or scroll through social media and you will very quickly see just how profoundly angry the people around us are. But let’s be honest with ourselves as well. It’s not just other people who are profoundly angry, it’s us too. Continue reading
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
I. Introduction
1. We are living in difficult times. The last two-and-a-half years have produced wave after wave of challenge and difficulty. We have seen this as a nation in many ways. We have experienced the chaos and difficulty called COVID-19. We have experienced unrest in many parts of our nation along with not-so-civil disobedience. And now most recently we are experiencing financial difficulties with rising fuel and food costs that show no signs of returning to normal. Continue reading
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
I. Introduction
1. We live in a society that wants to be all about mercy and compassion. The problem is, they have a different definition of what it means to be merciful and compassionate. To show mercy to someone according to our society’s definition means to affirm them in who they are and to help them to be true to themselves. There is nothing greater and more merciful than to help someone to look deep within themselves and recognize and become their true self. Continue reading
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
I. Introduction
1. In our Gospel Reading for today, we hear two of our Lord’s parables which illustrate our Lord’s delight in receiving sinners and offering them forgiveness. The scene is set up when some tax collectors and sinners draw near to Jesus to hear him. These people are the societal outcasts. Continue reading
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
1. Our Gospel Reading for today is the story of the Rich Man and Lazarus. You’ll notice that while this story is never directly called a parable, it functions much like one. This is a story which was told by our Lord for the purpose of instructing through illustration and example. The original hearers of this story are not named directly in our text, but you don’t have to look far to find them. Continue reading
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
1. Today we celebrate the Feast of the Holy Trinity. This feast day is actually one of the newest feast days in the church year. It didn’t come into widespread use in the church until the 11th century. This feast day is unique in that it is the only day of the church year dedicated to a doctrine rather than a person or event in the life of our Lord or of the church. Continue reading
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
1. Today we celebrate the third of the three great Feast Days of the Church Year: The Day of Pentecost. First, Christ came to earth and became man at his nativity. Second, at his resurrection, he announced his new life after defeating the powers of death and the devil. And now on Pentecost, we celebrate that this new life has been given to us through the in-dwelling of the Holy Spirit. Continue reading