All Saints' Sunday

November 2^nd

Collect of the Day:

Heavenly Father, Your beloved Son befriended frail humans like us to make us Your own.  Teach us to be like Jesus’ dear friends from Bethany, that we might serve Him faithfully like Martha, learn from Him earnestly like Mary, and be ultimately raised by Him like Lazarus; through their Lord and ours, Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

Theme for the Week          Weeping for Saints

Verse of the Week:                        John 11:33

Daily Bible Reading List:

Mon: Matthew 5:1-12           Tues: 1 John 3:1-3  Wed: Ezra 3:1-13

Thurs: Nehemiah 1:1-11   Fri: Hebrews 10:1-18

Catechism Reading:

What is confession?

 Confession has two parts.

First, that we confess our sins,

and second, that we receive absolution,

that is, forgiveness, from the pastor as from God Himself,

not doubting, but firmly believing that by it our sins are forgiven

before God in heaven.

What sins should we confess?

 Before God we should plead guilty of all sins,

even those we are not aware of, as we do in the Lord's Prayer;

but before the pastor we should confess only those sins

which we know and feel in our hearts.

Which are these?

 Consider your place in life according to the Ten Commandments:

Are you a father, mother, son, daughter, husband, wife, or worker?

Have you been disobedient, unfaithful, or lazy?

Have you been hot-tempered, rude, or quarrelsome?

Have you hurt someone by your words or deeds?

Have you stolen, been negligent, wasted anything,

or done any harm?

Reformation Sunday (Sermon)

Confessed the Resurrection

John 11:17-28

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

It is on this day that we celebrate many different events. We remember Martin Luther posting of the Ninety-Five Theses on the Castle Church at Wittenberg. These Theses were to refute practices in the Catholic Church, which Luther recognized to be wrong. We also remember Luther’s bold statement at the Diet of Worms, where Luther was called upon to recant of his writings. There he made the confession “Here I Stand.” Likewise, we can recall the Lutheran Princes standing before their Emperor Charles V. They boldly presented at Augsburg what is now referred to as the Augsburg Confession. This with several other documents make up what we call the Lutheran Confessions.

We celebrate and remember these things as the beginning of the Reformation. In each of these cases the people, the church, and the government are asked to answer Jesus' question. In John 11, Jesus boldly states who he is and asks Martha one simple question. Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?”

Each time Luther was asked to recant or deny, it was like Jesus asking Martha, "Do you believe this?" Luther boldly confessed, "Yes, Lord." Just as we are still asked this same question today. 

Do you believe Jesus Christ is true God and true man? "Yes, Lord." Do you believe all humans are conceived and born sinful? "Yes, Lord." Do believe God created the heavens and the earth in Six 24 hour days? "Yes, Lord." Is it a sin to disrespect those in authority over you? "Yes, Lord." Are we supposed to love our enemies? "Yes, Lord." Has God spoken about homosexuality as an abomination and sin? "Yes, Lord." Are we to talk bad about our neighbors as long as they are not around? "Yes, Lord." Oh, wait that one is actually a No. Likewise, we are not to steal, or covet our neighbor's property. 

Jesus does not ask Martha all of these questions. He focuses on what he himself is doing, and will continue to do for his people. He is much more focused on: do you believe Jesus Christ has died in your place and for your sins? "Yes, Lord." Do you believe Christ is risen as the first fruits of your resurrection? "Yes, Lord." As we have been connected with Christ's death and resurrection in our baptism. 

We can very easily often times place ourselves in the roll of Martha. We say,  “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died." We recognize death to be the enemy. We likewise see Jesus as the one who stands in opposition to death. But we can not see the immediacy of Christ's victory. Martha even confesses, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” If Jesus told you “Your brother will rise again” today, you would be able to repeat Martha's words at any funeral. But Jesus does have something greater in store for this brother. Jesus is going to show the glory of God. We will have to wait a couple of weeks to hear the glorious story, but here we remember the confession of Martha's faith in the face of death.

Martha was not facing her own death, but she was faced with the death of her brother. If remember from all those superhero movies, you always want to find who they love. You capture that individual and use killing them against them. Think of Luther not having Katie while he posts the 95 Theses. He is not even married yet when he stands at the Diet of Worms. But Luther after marrying Katie does not journey to Augsburg, but faithfully trusts the princes to yield  their own heads for the confession of the true faith.

Luther stands up to confess with Martha. The Princes of Germany stand up to confess with Martha. Martin Chemnitz stands up to confess with Martha. Even Thomas will stand up and confess with Martha. We today as we confess the creed, and publicly confess at the Altar, will join with these and many others who have said, “Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world."

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

Reformation Sunday

October 26^th

^{OT: Ezekiel 37:1-14}

^{NT: Hebrews 9:11-28}

CL: John 11:17-28

Collect of the Day:

Almighty and gracious Lord, pour out Your Holy Spirit on Your faithful people.  Keep us steadfast in Your grace and truth, protect and deliver us in times of temptation, defend us against all enemies, and grant to your Church Your saving peace; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

Theme for the Week          I Am the Resurrection

Verse of the Week:            John 11:25

Daily Bible Reading List:

Mon: Ezekiel 37:1-14          Tues: John 8:31-36 Wed: Romans 3:19-28

Thurs: Hebrews 9:11-28    Fri: Zechariah 10:1-12

Catechism Reading:

I believe in the Holy Spirit,

the holy Christian church,

the communion of saints,

the forgiveness of sins,

the resurrection of the body,

and the life everlasting. Amen.

What does this mean?

I believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength

believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or come to Him;

but the Holy Spirit has called me by the Gospel,

enlightened me with His gifts,

sanctified and kept me in the true faith.

In the same way He calls, gathers, enlightens, and sanctifies

the whole Christian church on earth,

and keeps it with Jesus Christ in the one true faith.

In this Christian church He daily and richly forgives all my sins

and the sins of all believers.

On the Last Day He will raise me and all the dead,

and give eternal life to me and all believers in Christ.

This is most certainly true.

Sunday of the Lord's Anointed (Sermon)

Mercy upon the Lord's Anointed

1 Samuel 24:1-22

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

Our text is from the Old Testament lesson, and David tells Saul, “Why do you listen to the words of men who say, ‘Behold, David seeks your harm’? Behold, this day your eyes have seen how the Lord gave you today into my hand in the cave. And some told me to kill you, but I spared you. I said, ‘I will not put out my hand against my lord, for he is the Lord’s anointed.’" The word spared may not strike you all that clearly. But in Hebrew this word is related to steadfast love, compassion, or even pity.

So I want to talk about the difference between grace and mercy. We like to talk about God saving us by grace, which is the gift of his Son as our sacrifice for sin, and the gift of the Holy Spirit to grant us faith in God.

But God has mercy, compassion, and spares us from the judgment we deserve. Similarly, David's men and even David himself will talk about how the LORD handed Saul over into his hand to kill him. But David had compassion, pity, and yes mercy upon his King, the LORD's anointed. God has this similar mercy, to spare us from the wrath, judgment, and condemnation we deserve.

But you may be thinking like I would, do I really deserve to die for the things I have done. I have not done anything like Saul. I have not contacted a witch, or necromancer. I have not tracked done my friend with murder in my heart. I have not threatened to kill my children. I have not taken an oath and reneged on a promise, because I was supposed to kill my Son. I am not like Saul.

But remember the proverb of your fathers, Out of the wicked comes wickedness. We come from Adam, who was sinful. Your parents are sinful people. Likewise, your own small wicked deeds you are revealed to be wicked. We may review our own ways of misusing God's name, searching out guides for our future. We have disrespected or dishonored our parents and other authorities. We have disliked, thought ill, and wished bad things about our neighbor. I may skip the sexual immorality this week, but we have not always put the best but rather the worst construction on things. We even like our neighbors toys just a little more than our own toys.

All of these things remind us how we are wicked and breed wickedness. We stand as an enemy to God. Even as we listen to people who we think have the best in mind for us, they lead us to track down and destroy God. But even while God could strike us dead he has mercy on you. God shows his compassion not by making your life perfect, but by giving you hope in your suffering. 

God points out to us how he could have destroyed, or killed you. But he killed his only Son Jesus Christ in your place. And as he holds up the cross before our eyes as David holds up the corner cut off Saul's robe.

Therefore, we should share the statement of Saul to David pleading for continued mercy. "You are more righteous than I, for you have repaid me good, whereas I have repaid you evil. And you have declared this day how you have dealt well with me, in that you did not kill me when the Lord put me into your hands. For if a man finds his enemy, will he let him go away safe? ... And now, behold, I know that you shall surely be king, and that the kingdom of Israel shall be established in your hand. Swear to me therefore by [yourself] that you will not cut off my offspring after me, and that you will not destroy my name out of my father’s house.” And we may add, "but keep my name written in your book of life."

God has crucified his Son for you. He has joined you to his death and resurrection through Baptism. He has written your name in the book of life. He has anointed you to be his holy nation and royal priesthood. Even as Jesus is the Messiah and the true King of Israel, the Son of God and Son of David. God has had mercy upon you, and will continue to spare your life, even as we may seek to kill or illuminate God. We come back here to receive forgiveness of all our sins through our King Jesus Christ.

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

Christ the King Sunday (Sermon)

The Unmentionable Sin

1 Samuel 8:1-22

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

One of the greatest yet least spoken about sin, is addressed in 1 Samuel 8. The people reject the LORD their God in favor of a government like the nations. There are many people in the world that desire to live in a democracy or Republic like the United States. There are likewise people groups that do not desire such a government.

But before I get to the unmentionable sin, I want to ask how often you pray for our countries enemies? The North Korean leader has been out of the public eye for some unknown reason. Do we pray for the leaders of ISIS to be able to live a long life and receive the First Article gifts of God? Likewise, whether we like the politics of Russia or China, shouldn't we pray for them to have success in their endeavors?

Jesus tells us, "You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven." Christ died for all sins. He died for everyone, no matter their country, or politics, or even religion, Christ paid the price for their sins. Thus, even the enemies of this great nation deserve our prayers, and the call to faith in Jesus Christ.

Our lack of praying for our enemies is not the unmentionable sin. This just moves us one step closer. At our pastors conference during the service I heard an odd line that kept me thinking about something. When the pastors asked the congregation to rise for various parts of the service, he said, "we ask those who are able to rise for" then which ever part of the service it was. But at the Football game, or maybe a different sporting event, at the beginning of the event, they announce something like, "rise and pay proper respect to the flag by placing your right hand over your heart and men please remove your headgear," as someone plays or sings the national anthem. Hopefully you know the connection between how you pay proper respect to the flag of our country and proper respect to the Word of God, or even God himself.

But this still is not the unmentionable sin. The unmentionable sin is how all of you worship your Country more than you worship God. I should say government but most of you would take offense because you may not like the current president, or have not in the past. But in either case you do enjoy focusing on political issues and problems. You think that if you could just make a few changes in the political structure, budget, or laws of this country we would have paradise on earth. 

God warned the people that it does not matter who you elect, or your laws, or even the financial structure, you want a government or King like the nations. The king will take your sons and appoint them for war. He will take a tenth of your grain and your stuff. He will even take your servants for his own. He will possess all you have and use it for his own pleasure. And when it comes time for you to cry out about your King, the LORD will not answer. You want to complain to God about our government, go right ahead because he isn’t going to listen.

You might think we have the greatest nation on earth. And it might be true. But as long as we are ruled and governed apart from God, we have still rejected God. We put our trust in the United States Military to provide safety and security around the world. Even in places where other authorities are providing a sense of security. We put our trust in the government programs to feed the poor, and help in times of disaster. We turn to the our politicians to help safe guard us from future distress.

Is it nice to know that the government provides services like unemployment or disaster relief? Yes, but should I put my trust in a system developed and created by Man? No, I should put my trust in a Heavenly Father who loves me enough to send his son to die in my place and for my sins.

Even when Samuel is distressed God tells him, “Obey the voice of the people in all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected ME from being king over them. According to all the deeds that they have done, from the day I brought them up out of Egypt even to this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are also doing to you.”

Christ is our King. He is the one who rules over our lives. God is the one who places those who are in authority over us. He is likewise the one who has placed all the leaders around the world in their positions of authority. Therefore, we should pray for all those appointed, or anointed by God to be leaders around the world.

Some of these leaders may be ruthless and terrible in our eyes. But God has placed them there. It is not our place as Christians to question this. Even if Christians are being killed for their faith, Jesus told us to take up our cross and follow him. Every Christian is called to a life of suffering on account of our faith. If that means at the hands of the government, then so be it. If it means at the hands of a terrorist group, then so be it. 

We are called to follow our Lord Jesus Christ. He was lead before the religious authorities and appointed to die. He was lead before the political authorities and judged to be crucified. Why should we think that we should be any different?

The greatest unmentionable sin in the United States, is the false worship of our country over the LORD our God, who has sacrificed Christ Jesus for your sins. He has claimed you to be his people. But we have turned the blessing of having human authorities to protect, serve, and defend us, into our own false gods.

I want to make it clear, God has established authorities to govern and rule over us and it is our duty to serve them and obey them. But this is just one of many gifts given to us by God, not to replace or stand in opposition to God. So we should give thanks to God for placing us under the Authority of our leaders and that those leaders would be blessed by God to do his will. We ourselves should be willing to suffer all and love our neighbors and our enemies more than ourselves.

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

The Sunday of the LORD’s Anointed

October 19^th

^{CL: 1 Samuel 24:1-22}

^{NT: Hebrews 5:11-6:12}

^{G: John 11:45-57}

Collect of the Day:

Lord Jesus Christ, Your body was anointed with holy oil by the woman at the house of Simon the leper to prepare it for burial.  May Your Church continue to take care of Your Body as she feeds Your people the holy food of Your very body and blood for the forgiveness of sins; for You live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

Theme for the Week          The LORD’s Anointed

Verse of the Week:            1 Samuel 24:6

Daily Bible Reading List:

Mon: Acts 4:13-22    Tues: John 11:45-57          Wed: 1 Samuel 24:1-12

Thurs: Hebrews 5:11-6:12            Fri: John 19:1-11

Catechism Reading:

And in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord,

who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,

born of the Virgin Mary,

suffered under Pontius Pilate,

was crucified, died and was buried.

He descended into hell.

The third day He rose again from the dead.

He ascended into heaven

and sits at the right hand of God, the Father Almighty.

From thence He will come to judge the living and the dead.

What does this mean?

I believe that Jesus Christ, true God,

begotten of the Father from eternity,

and also true man, born of the Virgin Mary,

is my Lord.

Who has redeemed me, a lost and condemned person,

purchased and won me from all sins,

from death, and from the power of the devil;

not with gold or silver,

but with His holy, precious blood

and with His innocent suffering and death,

that I may be His own

and live under Him in His kingdom

and serve Him

in everlasting righteousness, innocence, and blessedness,

just as He is risen from the dead, lives and reigns to all eternity.

This is most certainly true.

Christ the King Sunday

October 12^th

^{CL: 1 Samuel 8:1-22}

^{NT: Hebrews 5:1-10}

^{G: John 18:28-40}

Collect of the Day:

Everlasting Father, source of every blessing, mercifully direct and govern us by Your Holy Spirit that we may complete the works You have prepared for us to do; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

Theme for the Week          The LORD our King

Verse of the Week:            1 Samuel 8:7

Daily Bible Reading List:

Mon: Hebrews 5:1-10         Tues: John 18:28-40          Wed: 1 Samuel 8:10-22

Thurs: Revelation 11:15-19           Fri: Luke 23:32-43

Catechism Reading:

I believe in God, the Father Almighty,

Maker of heaven and earth.

What does this mean?

I believe that God has made me and all creatures;

that He has given me my body and soul,

eyes, ears, and all my members,

my reason and all my senses, and still takes care of them.

He also gives me clothing and shoes,

food and drink, house and home, wife and children,

land, animals, and all I have.

He richly and daily provides me with all that I need

to support this body and life.

He defends me against all danger

and guards and protects me from all evil.

All this He does only out of fatherly, divine goodness and mercy,

without any merit or worthiness in me.

For all this it is my duty to thank and praise, serve and obey Him.

This is most certainly true.