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The Festival of the Reformation (Observed) 2019

10/27/2019

Salvation unto us has come by God’s free grace and favor.” This is the glorious Gospel of Reformation Day. We haven’t come together to celebrate Lutheranism and honor ourselves, but we are here to hear the saving Gospel of Our Lord Jesus Christ. We hear this Gospel as we remember that we dwell in the Church Militant, the Church that must, for a time, endure the attacks of Satan. “Though with a scornful wonder the world sees us oppressed, by schisms rent asunder, by heresies distressed,” God has set watchmen who guard against the sad divisions of Satan, watchmen who never hold their peace, proclaiming “‘Surely your Salvation is coming;’ soon your weeping shall be replaced with song, ‘and the great Church victorious shall be the Church at rest.’”

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The Third Sunday of Michaelmas (Trinity 21) 2019

10/20/2019

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Martin franzmann, the author of this morning’s first hymn and a long-time professor in our Synod, called the man in today’s Gospel “the man who went home with only a word in his pocket.” I think this does more to help us understand today’s Gospel and its importance than anything else. The nobleman is a reminder to us, an encouragement to us, to live by faith alone, faith in the strong Word of God. He went home with only the Word, only a promise. His faith was rewarded with fulfillment. May God grant us all such a faith that endures all things, content with only a Word in our pocket and nothing more!

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The Second Sunday of Michaelmas (Trinity 20) 2019

10/13/2019

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Isaiah said, “Seek the Lord while He may be found; call upon Him while He is near; let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the Lord, that He may have compassion on him, and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon.” This is Our Lord’s Law and Gospel. It’s sweetest Gospel: This is the time of God’s grace! He abundantly pardons! He gives bread and wine and milk without money and without price and living water so that you never thirst again. He gives spiritual food and drink—nourishment, health, healing that have no price tag, no strings attached. But there is law here, too. “Seek the Lord while He may be found.” We live in a time of grace will not last forever. As longsuffering as our God is, the invitation has a time limit. The end of days will come and it will be too late to accept the invitation, to repent of sins, to be absolved, and to have eternal life. So in this life, as long as the call rings out, “The feast is ready. Come to the feast, the good and the bad. Come and be glad! Greatest and least, come to the feast!” it is imperative to heed it. All who reject it will find a place in the outer darkness where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth.

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The First Sunday of Michaelmas (Trinity 19) 2019

10/6/2019

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Jesus shows us, through the paralyzed man, what the Christian life is all about. The Christian life is not about having it good in this world. It’s not about being free from disease, pain, poverty, and the like. If that’s what the Christian life is all about, if that’s what makes someone a Christian, then there are no Christians! There isn’t a single person anywhere in the world who can honestly say that they are free from anxiety, pain, disease, weariness, or any other problem. Everyone, despite economic status, gender, age, or any other demographic, struggles with something. And all of that proves what Jesus shows in this healing of the paralytic. What we really need is not the elimination of all problems. What we need is forgiveness. That is to say, what we need is Jesus.

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The Festival of the Reformation (Observed) 2019

The Third Sunday of Michaelmas (Trinity 21) 2019

The Second Sunday of Michaelmas (Trinity 20) 2019

The First Sunday of Michaelmas (Trinity 19) 2019

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