Category: Epiphany Sermons

The Kingdom of Heaven is Yours

Text: Matthew 5:1-12
Occasion: The 100^th Anniversary of St. Paul, Wood River, IL
Date: Epiphany IV + 1/29/17

For one hundred years God’s Word has sounded forth from the pulpit of St. Paul Lutheran Church in Wood River, Illinois and generations of God’s people have believed and lived that Word, and have been given that new life God gives to those who repent and believe in His Son, Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world. First there is the preaching then the hearing, repenting, the living and believing.

I rejoice today with you that I was privileged to preach God’s Word here and live in the God-given fellowship of this congregation from 1983 to 1991 (the 77^th-86^th anniversary years), and that I can celebrate with you today this significant 100^th anniversary. Continue reading “The Kingdom of Heaven is Yours”

Text: Matthew 4:12-25
Date: Epiphany III + 1/22/17

Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come. The Kingdom is coming because the King has come. This was the proclamation of John the Baptist. Now he was arrested and out of the picture. By Jesus’ baptism with the Holy Spirit John and the world know that this is the Son of God our Savior. And by Jesus’ baptism now you have been captured in your baptism to saving faith. So now what? Continue reading “Thy Kingdom Come: The Kingdom of Heaven is at Hand”

Text: John 1:29-42a
Date: Epiphany II + 1/22/17

Thy Kingdom Come. The coming of the kingdom means and requires the coming of the King. But whereas “the kingdom of God certainly comes by itself without our prayer” the King Himself comes with the help and assistance of others. He comes in the flesh as the Son of Mary. He comes to you by means of others preaching the Word of God. So now at the beginning of His earthly ministry He comes by means of the one sent to prepare His way, by the revelation given to John the Baptist. John bore witness, saying, “I saw the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. I myself did not know him, but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ And I have seen and have borne witness that THIS IS THE SON OF GOD!” Continue reading “Thy Kingdom Come: A Man Who Ranks Before Me”

Text: Matthew 3:13-17
Date: Baptism of Our Lord + Epiphany I + 1/8/17

God’s kingdom, His rule of grace, comes to us in the sacrament of Holy Baptism. There we are buried or identified with the blessed death of our Lord for the forgiveness of our sins. There we receive the forgiveness of our sins, faith to believe in the forgiveness of our sins and adoption as sons and daughters in the family of God’s redeemed, restored, renewed creation. We are baptized for the forgiveness of sins. Continue reading “Thy Kingdom Come: He Comes, the King Anointed”

Text: Deuteronomy 34:1-12
Date: Transfiguration + 2/7/16

Time. Ever since God created “Yom,” the day, time, He called it very good. In our experience, however, time has proven anything and everything from beneficial to an outright threat. To the youngster time seems to drag on and on. “Are we there yet?” To the oldster it seems to go by too fast. “Where has the time gone?” To everyone, however, the plodding, methodical passage of time mystifies us and sometimes seems to imprison us. To break through the confines of the clock has challenged and fascinated everyone from Olympic runners and race car drivers to creators of the most captivating works of fiction. Continue reading “Time Travel”

Text: Jeremiah 1:4-10
Date: Epiphany IV + 1/31/16

Our text from Jeremiah this morning, the Call of Jeremiah, brings two issues to the fore. First, this text helps us to observe Life Sunday which we only mentioned in the prayers in the past two weeks. Then, secondly, and in concert with today’s Gospel let us take note and consider that the Word of God is A Powerful Word. Continue reading “A Powerful Word”

Text: Nehemiah 8
Date: Epiphany III + 1/24/16

Synagogue. The word literally means to bring together or an assembly. So it is used to describe especially a Jewish congregation or house of worship. The synagogue is for the sacrifice of prayer and teaching since the old animal sacrifices may only be offered in the Jerusalem Temple. Continue reading “Synagogue”

Text: Isaiah 62:1-5
Date: Epiphany II + 1/17/16

You all know the recent triumphs of the demonstrably very small homosexual lobby especially pressuring the Supreme Court of The United States of America to presume to change the definition of marriage to the great confusion and consternation of many, especially the faithfully Biblical and orthodox Holy Christian Church. I say they presume to change the definition because it is not within the power of any human government to change a fundamental part of the creation of God. God created marriage. And we discover today that He created it for more than just establishing and promulgating human society. He created it because marriage is of the very nature and essence of God’s relationship with His holy, redeemed people. Remember how Saint Paul, as he was talking about marriage, said, “‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.’” And then he continued, saying, “This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church” (Eph 5:31-32). That always seems like such a strange comment coming out of left field, so to speak, especially if it is read as one of the lessons at a wedding. In the parable of the Ten Virgins (Mt 25) Jesus refers to Himself as the bridegroom. The Church is the Bride of Christ. Continue reading “Called By a New Name”

Text: Isaiah 43:1-7
Date: Epiphany I + Baptism of Our Lord  1.10.16

On the First Sunday after the Epiphany we always remember, celebrate and proclaim the baptism of Our Lord by John the Baptist. Having worshipped at the nativity, then the circumcision, then the presentation in the temple, after the family’s escape or flight into Egypt and His surprising appearance as a twelve-year-old child in the temple, today marks the beginning of our Lord’s active earthly ministry. Whereas during Christmas we have witnessed His birth, His being made man as the result of so many Old Testament promises and predictions of God, now, when Jesus was about thirty years old, we begin to tell the Gospel of our salvation and the salvation of the whole world by our Lord’s active righteousness (living faithfully with us under God’s Law) leading up to His passive righteousness (His crowning, atoning, redeeming work on the cross, His innocent suffering and death). Continue reading “Called by My Name”

Text: Mark 9:2-9
Date: Transfiguration + 2/15/15

Today serves as sort of a bookend to the season of Epiphany. It began at our Lord’s Baptism with a dramatic appearance of the Holy Spirit and the Voice from heaven declaring, “This is my beloved Son.” Today the season ends with the even more dramatic vision of our Lord’s Transfiguration, the Voice from heaven repeating, “This is my beloved Son; listen to him.” In the first chapter of Mark’s gospel it is interesting to note how the Evangelist, already from the beginning, here and there hints at the heart of the gospel, namely, the resurrection of our Lord. Today we are given a glimpse, a vision, a description of our Lord Jesus Christ in His full heavenly glory. Continue reading “With Shining Face”