Sermons (Page 97)
And This Is God’s Will
Brothers and sisters in Christ, friends and family members of Brianna, Julie and Allen. The text to celebrate the life, but more importantly, the faith in which Brianna died comes from that Gospel reading, especially this verse: “For this is the will of my Father that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in Him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on…
Rejoice that Your Names are Written in Heaven
Grace, mercy, and peace be unto you from God, our Father, and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, the text for this morning comes from the Gospel reading, but, of course, the theme for the day is St. Michael and All Angels. We know that sometime during those first six 24-hour days in which our Lord created everything that we can…
The Wisdom of Humility
Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen. My father is a wise guy. No, I don’t mean that he’s part of an organized crime family. Nor is he one of those constant smart-alecks we all find annoying, although he’s always been rather witty and quick with a quip to suit the occasion. What I mean is that he has a…
Continually Inviting
Grace, mercy, and peace be unto you from God, our Father, and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, the text for this morning comes from that Gospel reading. Complacency kills. One of the most sorrow-filled times as a chaplain in Iraq was seeing how soldiers who’d begun to become complacent weren’t checking their weapons as they…
On Your Side
Some of you may remember the radio and television ad campaign from several years ago for a company called Nationwide Insurance. With all the shakeups, mergers, and failures in that industry in recent years, I’m not sure they’re even in business today, or at least operating under the same name. Like any human creation, companies come and companies go. Cars and houses,…
Cleanliness is NOT next to Godliness
Grace, mercy and peace be unto you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Beloved in the Lord! The text from this morning comes from the Gospel reading. A man who had spent 45 years in the office of pastor, preaching and proclaiming faithfully. I was introduced to him when I first got out of the Seminary. He was in our circuit. Watching this man…
Finding the Gospel
Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen. “This is the Gospel of the Lord.” We all heard Pastor Nuckols declare that a short time ago, following the reading from the 7th chapter of St. Mark. And we all responded by saying, “Praise to you, O Christ.” This is the Gospel of the Lord, huh? Is it, really? Maybe it’s…
Great Things for You
“From now on all generations will call me blessed,” said Mary. And indeed they have called her blessed, though certainly not all people in all generations. It’s a great shame of Christian history that our Savior’s dear mother has been perpetually caught in a tug-of-war over her role and status in the Church. That’s not Mary’s fault, of course. It wasn’t Mary that elevated…
Being Fed God by God
Grace, mercy and peace be unto you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Sisters and brothers in Christ, the text from this morning comes from that Gospel reading. In the twelfth century, an Islamic scholar said this about us, or we, as Christians. He said, “They are the most malicious, despicable and blasphemous people on earth because they…
What Miraculous Sign?
Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen. Do you ever have the feeling that, no matter what you do, it’s just not good enough to satisfy somebody? That no matter how hard you try, or even how much you accomplish, it’s not going to matter? Maybe they’ll think you didn’t do enough. Maybe they’ll think you didn’t do…
