Lutheran Church of the Resurrection

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

1. Our text for this morning invites us to reflect further on a theme which we began to see unfold two weeks ago on Invocabit Sunday. Contrary to the Rationalist Enlightenment philosophy which has dominated much of mainstream western Christian thinking for centuries, the Scriptures teach us that spiritual warfare is real. Demonic oppression is all around us. (Just to be clear, demonic oppression and demonic possession don’t necessarily have to be the same thing.) Continue reading →

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

1. A week ago in the Gospel of Invocabit Sunday, we read the story of Christ struggling with Satan in the wilderness as he overcame the devil’s temptations. In today’s Gospel Reading, we encounter another struggle. This time, it’s a Canaanite woman who is struggling with Christ as she desperately pleads for him to heal her demon-oppressed daughter. In this Gospel reading, we encounter a version of Jesus that we generally don’t like very much. Continue reading →

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

1. When I was a boy, there was something about heroes that always enamored me. Not superheroes—I’ve never cared much for superheroes. I don’t have any superpowers. I was just an ordinary boy who related better to “ordinary” characters. I preferred a movie like the Lord of the Rings: Return of the King, where Aragorn leads an army of men to fight Sauron’s army at the Black Gate against all the odds. They knew that they were all probably going to die, but they bravely fought anyway. Continue reading →

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

1. As we have gone through the short three week pre-Lenten season, we have encountered Gospel texts which have conveyed to us some of the most important biblical truths which exist. Two weeks ago on Septuagesima Sunday, we heard the Parable of the Laborers in the Vineyard, which conveyed to us the truth of salvation by grace alone. We don’t do anything to earn it. Salvation is a free gift of God. Continue reading →

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

1. We are creatures of habit. When we do the same thing enough times within the same set of circumstances, our reaction and choices become almost automatic. We don’t even have to think about it. It seems that we don’t have to choose to do anything, we just do it. This, as you know, can be a good thing or a very bad thing. When it is good, we don’t even notice it because those habits are reinforcing good and noble things in our lives. Continue reading →

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

1. Our text for this morning is the Gospel Reading from Matthew 20—Jesus’ parable of the Laborers in the Vineyard. The message of this parable is simple yet profound: God treats all those who are laborers in the kingdom of heaven the same. Because of God’s grace, there is no distinction on the Last Day. Continue reading →

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

1. Our text for today is the Gospel Reading from Matthew 17:1-9. We will be paying particular attention to verses 7-8, which read: But Jesus came and touched them, saying, “Rise, and have no fear.” And when they lifted up their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus only (Matthew 17:7-8). Continue reading →

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

1. Our text invites us to reflect on the theme of authority. In the 3 chapters of Matthew’s Gospel preceding our text, Jesus’ famous Sermon on the Mount can be found. In this sermon, Jesus speaks definitively and authoritatively about the upside-down nature of the kingdom of heaven. Jesus’ kingdom is a place where the poor in spirit are blessed, as we know from the beatitudes. Continue reading →

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

1. In our Gospel Reading for this morning, we hear the account of Jesus’ first public miracle. It’s worth noting, though, that John prefers to use the term “sign” rather than the term “miracle.” At the end of the account, John tells us that when Jesus turns water into wine at the wedding of Cana, it is not only the first or beginning of Jesus’ signs, but the Greek term that John uses indicates that it is the chief or ruling sign, by which all future signs will be measured. Continue reading →