Lutheran Church of the Resurrection

Sermon by Pastor Chen from Grace Lutheran Church, Nashua, NH (audio only)

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

1. Drop an axe head into the water and you won’t soon recover it. Unless, of course, the prophet Elisha is there to speak God’s word, and bring it back. But under normal circumstances, if you drop an axe head into the water, you will not soon recover it, because water scatters. What is released into the water will soon be scattered and lost. Continue reading →

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

1. Blessing is the state of being which God desires for all people. We can see this demonstrated in the manner in which the Scriptures begin and end. In the beginning, when God created and placed man in the Garden of Eden, we’re told that He did so with a blessing: And God blessed them. Continue reading →

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

1. The word translated twice in verse 32 of our Gospel text as “acknowledge” in the ESV is the Greek word homologeō. If you know much about etymology, you can probably hear the two parts of this word. First is the prefix “homo.” This prefix is familiar to us in our time, so we should have no difficulty in recognizing that it simply means “the same.” Continue reading →

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

1. A man once hosted a great banquet and invited many people. When the banquet was ready to be served, the man sent his servant to announce that the fullness of time had come and that everything was now ready. However, the men who had already received the invitation spurned the servant’s announcement that the time had come. They did not desire to attend the great banquet. Continue reading →

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

1. We are all familiar with the sight—you are driving down the road or sitting at a stoplight; you look out one window, and there on the side of the road stands someone in tattered clothing, with greasy hair, and holding cardboard sign. Continue reading →

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

1. In today’s Gospel text, Nicodemus approaches our Lord to speak with Him. And the Gospel-writer tells us that it was night. Light and darkness are important themes in St. John’s Gospel, and so it is not insignificant that the events of John chapter 3 occur at night. Continue reading →

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

1. Since the tower of Babel, humanity has been confused and divided. To be sure, it’s not as if the tower of Babel was the beginning of this confusion and division—this began when Adam and Eve fell into sin. But the tower of Babel shows us the best of humanity and the worst of humanity. Continue reading →

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

1. The chief sin of humanity is unbelief. This fact is attested throughout the Scriptures. In Genesis chapter 3, humanity’s fall into sin occurred because of unbelief in God’s Word: “Did God actually say…” (Genesis 3:1). So, seeing that the tree was good for food, delightful to the eyes, and that it offered the promise of wisdom, Eve trusted the serpent’s word and in so doing disbelieved God’s goodness and so took of its fruit and ate. Continue reading →

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

1. On this Sunday, as the Ascension of our Lord draws nigh, we are exhorted to pray—Rogate in Latin. But far too often, we feel that our prayers are insufficient. “We do not know what to pray as we ought” (Romans 8:26). Continue reading →