Lutheran Church of the Resurrection

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. Our text for this Reformation Day is the Gospel Reading from Matthew 11:12-19.

1. Let’s be honest, this text seems to be an odd choice for Reformation Day. When you think about Martin Luther and the Reformation, you think of Romans chapter 3, “For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law” (Romans 3:28). You think of Revelation 14 and the “eternal gospel” being proclaimed there. Maybe youl think of John’s Gospel, which Luther loved so much, where Jesus says things like, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples” (John 8:31). But I would be willing to bet that of all the Biblical texts you might think of in connection with Luther and the Reformation, this text from Matthew 11 would not be one of them. Continue reading →

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. Our text for today is the Gospel Reading—Mark 10:46-52. In this text we hear the story of Jesus healing blind Bartimaeus, which is his final act in Mark’s Gospel before the events of Holy Week begin to unfold. What is particularly notable about this text is that at the end we see Bartimaeus being commended by Jesus for his faith and thus the attitude with which he approached the Lord. This begs the questions, What attitude should we have when we approach the Lord?
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Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. Our text for this morning is the Gospel Reading, which once again comes from Mark chapter 10, this time from verses 23-31.

1. As I mentioned last week, this text is the continuation of the story we heard in our Gospel Reading last week where the nameless rich man comes to Jesus asking about what he needs to do to inherit eternal life. At the end of last week’s text, we see the man leaving in sorrow because Jesus knew this man’s greatest idol—his god, if you will—was his possessions. Jesus had challenged the man to sell his possessions and give to the poor, then come, follow Jesus. And the man went away in sorrow because he had many possessions. Continue reading →

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. Our text for this morning is the Gospel Reading – Mark 10:17-22, which picks up immediately after last week’s reading. As you might recall, the first twelve verses of Mark 10 deal with the topics of divorce and the sixth commandment, which we discussed at length last week. But at the end of last week’s reading, there is a short account which provides a buffer between last week’s text and ours. Continue reading →

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. Our text for this morning is the Gospel Reading, Mark 10:2-12.

1. Let’s be honest, this is an extremely uncomfortable text for most people. I say this because in it Jesus specifically addresses the topic of marriage and divorce, and really he is addressing the sixth commandment in general. The reality is nearly every one of us knows all too well what it looks like and what it feels like to sin against the sixth commandment. Whether it’s thoughts in our minds, images found online, or physical acts with another person, we know all too well what it’s like to sin in this way. Continue reading →

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. Our text for this morning is the final section of the Old Testament Reading: Daniel 12:1-3.

1. Our Old Testament Reading for this morning gives us (more or less) the beginning and ending of Daniel’s final vision. But there is much that has happened in Daniel’s life and his previous visions which build up to this moment. At the start of the book of Daniel, we are introduced to Daniel, who was just an ordinary, young Jewish man living in Jerusalem and, presumably, doing his own thing. Daniel was an intelligent, wise young man. Continue reading →

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. Our text for this morning comes from the Epistle Reading: James 4:1-10.

1. What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not a discussion about finances with your spouse? Is it not broaching the topic of religion around your non-Christian friends? But maybe most of all right now, is it not a discussion about COVID-19 and the inevitable political conversation that follows which causes quarrels and fights among us? Continue reading →

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. Our text for today is the Epistle Reading from James chapter 2. We will be focusing on the final section, verses 14-18, under the theme Faith Works.

1. I’m reminded of a story, I’m not quite sure of the origin of it, but the story is of a tight-rope walker who was performing at Niagara Falls. I don’t know if you have ever been to Niagara Falls, but it is one of the most intimidating places I have ever been. The sheer volume of water that flows through combined with the incredible height of the falls is enough to make anyone queasy, especially when you’re standing at the edge looking over. Continue reading →

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

1. Today we celebrate the Martyrdom of St. John the Baptist, which, admittedly, might seem like a strange thing to celebrate. But it has been the church’s practice for nearly 2,000 years to celebrate the day of death of saints. Why? The day of a saint’s death has always been viewed by the church as their birthday into eternity. But still, this is a foreign concept to many of us. After all, in twenty-first century American culture, we view anything relating to self-denial, suffering, or death as to be avoided. But this is why it is important that we Christians celebrate days like today. The life, and consequently the death, of St. John the Baptist remind us of the importance of humility, submitting to the will of the Lord, and, to use a more modern phrase, canceling ourselves. Continue reading →