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“The Suffering, Sacrificing, Saving Servant” (Isaiah 52:13 – 53:12) “Behold, my servant,” says the Lord. Yes, behold him today. Behold the servant of the Lord serving in a most unexpected way: serving by suffering. Today on this Good Friday we behold Jesus Christ, the Lord’s faithful, righteous servant, suffering a death he doesn’t deserve. But because he does, you will receive what you don’t deserve. And that is good news on this Good Friday. So now behold Jesus Christ, “The Suffering, Sacrificing, Saving Servant.” “Behold, my servant shall act wisely; he shall be high and lifted up, and shall be...

“The Catechism in Six Parts: The Sacrament of the Altar” Tonight we conclude our series on “The Catechism in Six Parts.” So far in the Catechism we’ve looked at the Ten Commandments, the Creed, the Lord’s Prayer, the Sacrament of Holy Baptism, and Confession. That brings us tonight to the Sacrament of the Altar--and fittingly enough, on Holy Thursday, the night in which this sacrament was instituted. Everything we want to say about the Sacrament tonight we find in the words with which Christ institutes this holy meal. These words: “Take eat; this is my body, which is given for...

“Holy Week: In Like a Lion, Out Like a Lamb” (Matthew 21:1-11; 27:11-66) “In like a lion, out like a lamb.” Have you heard that saying before? It refers to the month of March. The idea is that March usually comes in “like a lion”--the weather is harsh and cold--but at the end of the month, March often goes out “like a lamb”: the weather is fair and mild. “In like a lion, out like a lamb”: strong at the beginning of the month, gentle at the end. That may be true for the month of March, but you can...

“The Catechism in Six Parts: Confession” Tonight we come to the part of the Catechism that is probably the least known to us today, and that is Confession. The practice of Confession may be unfamiliar to you. Confession is unfamiliar to most Lutherans these days, even though it has been around for as long as the church has been around. It is a church practice that the church doesn’t practice much anymore. It is infrequently used. Tonight I want to dispel some myths and some fears about Confession, so that we’ll feel more comfortable about it and maybe put it...

“The Raising of Lazarus” (John 11:1-53) Our text today is the account of “The Raising of Lazarus,” from John chapter 11. In this chapter, Jesus does three things: He raises the dead. He arouses faith. And he rouses the opposition. Three things, and what he does, he does for you. The most obvious thing Jesus does is to raise a dead man. Think about that. Jesus raises a dead man! Who has ever heard of such a thing? The man’s name was Lazarus. He was a friend of Jesus and his disciples. His sisters you’ve heard of, too. Mary and...

“The Catechism in Six Parts: The Sacrament of Holy Baptism” So far in our series on the catechism, we’ve covered the Ten Commandments, the Creed, and the Lord’s Prayer. Tonight we come to the sacraments. We begin, fittingly enough, with the sacrament with which we begin the Christian life, the Sacrament of Holy Baptism. What I want to say about Baptism I can summarize in two words: It works. It works! It is effective. It actually does something--quite a lot, really. Holy Baptism works, and it works in your life. Tonight we want to answer three questions about the Sacrament...

“A Real Eye-Opener” (John 9:1-41) Our text today is a real eye-opener. It’s the story of Jesus healing the man born blind, from John chapter 9. It’s an eye-opener in several senses. Just the fact that Jesus can heal the eyes of a man born blind--that in itself is an eye-opener, in the sense of it being something startling or surprising. As the guy who was healed says, “Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a man born blind.” But then it’s a literal eye-opener for the man born blind. He receives...

“The Catechism in Six Parts: The Lord’s Prayer” So far in our series on the Catechism we’ve had the Ten Commandments and the Apostles’ Creed. The Commandments show us God’s good will for our lives, but the problem is, we don’t do it as we should, and so the Commandments show us our sin and our need for a righteousness we don’t have. Then the Creed comes along and shows us the answer to our problem, in the triune God who loves us and saves us and forgives our sins. Now that we are saved and are God’s children, the...

MISSOULA - Captain (Chaplain) Matthew Christensen, a 1992 graduate of Flathead High School, was awarded the Soldier's Medal last week for his actions that resulted in saving the lives of two soldiers. When Christensen went to counsel a soldier who was having a hard time, he didn’t realize it would escalate into a dangerous hostage situation. Christensen spent much of the night counseling the soldier. Later, the soldier's roommate and another chaplain showed up at the barracks. Things got worse. The soldier called some family members, cursing them for abusive situations in the past. Christensen said, "And then he just...

“The Samaritan Woman: A Well-Known Story” (John 4:5-26, 27-30, 39-42) Does God really accept me? I mean, I’m able to hide my faults and shortcomings from people--well, most of my faults from most people, at least. And I’m able to do it well enough so that there are people who do accept me--well, sorta, or at least they put up with me. But what about God? There’s no hiding things from him. He knows the real me. He knows my inner thoughts and my secret sins. Will God accept me? And if so, why? And what difference does that make?...

“The Catechism in Six Parts: The Creed” The Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, in a big national survey a few years ago--the Pew Survey found that 92% of Americans say they “believe in God or a universal spirit.” 92%! Well, whoop-de-do. Big deal. That doesn’t really say much. Who is this God you believe in? Allah, the false god of the Muslims? Sorry, I bear witness that there is no god called Allah, and Mohammed is his false prophet. Is this “god” you believe in some depersonalized “universal spirit” or “higher power”? That won’t do you any good,...

“When the Tempter Comes Calling” (Matthew 4:1-11) What are you going to do when the tempter comes calling? Oh, be assured, he will come. The tempter came for Adam and Eve. The tempter came for ancient Israel. He even came for Jesus. So what are you going to do “When the Tempter Comes Calling”? Who is this tempter? It is the devil, of course. Satan, the accuser, the adversary, the evil one, the enemy of our souls. His goal is to destroy you, to do you evil, to tear you away from your faith in God, to doubt God’s word...

“The Catechism in Six Parts: The Ten Commandments” Tonight we start a Lenten series on “The Catechism in Six Parts.” We’ll be following the six chief parts as Luther lays them out in the Small Catechism: The Ten Commandments, the Creed, the Lord’s Prayer, the Sacrament of Holy Baptism, Confession, and the Sacrament of the Altar. We begin tonight with the Ten Commandments. It’s fitting that today, on Ash Wednesday, we hear the Ten Commandments. For on this solemn and somber day of repentance, the Ten Commandments, God’s Law, will show us our sins and our need for God’s forgiveness,...

“Best Picture: The Transfiguration of Our Lord” (Matthew 17:1-9) Tonight will be the Academy Awards ceremony coming from Los Angeles. Tonight they’ll give out the award for, among other things, Best Picture of the year. I don’t know which one will win, but I want to tell you, this morning here in the church, we get to see a far better “Best Picture,” and it is none other than “The Transfiguration of Our Lord.” The picture we see at the Transfiguration had its share of special effects--lighting, sound, and so on. And there were a couple of guest stars making...

“Be Who You Are, Children of Your Heavenly Father” (Matthew 5:38-48) The Holy Gospel for today can be a hard one to understand, much less a hard one to actually do. In it Jesus says things like “Turn the other cheek,” “Give somebody the shirt off your back,” and “Go the extra mile.” Oh, Jesus, really? Those things sound hard! Maybe you don’t really mean that. Is there a way we can explain those things away? But then Jesus goes further. He not only says we should love our neighbor--that can be hard enough--he even says we are to love...

“Salt of the Earth, Light of the World” (Matthew 5:13-16)Our text today is a portion of the Holy Gospel, reading again from verses 13-16 of Matthew 5: “You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet. You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light...

“Your Blest Life Now” (Matthew 5:1-12) You’ve probably heard of a TV preacher by the name of Joel Osteen. He’s got a huge megachurch down in Houston, and he’s got a massive audience on television. He’s also written a number of best-selling books, the most famous of which is called “Your Best Life Now: 7 Steps to Living at Your Full Potential.” What Mr. Osteen does that has made him so successful is to dish out some warmed-over self-help pabulum, and people are lapping it up. He says things like this: “Your best days are not behind you, they’re still...

“You Are My Servant, Israel” (Isaiah 49:1-7) Two weeks ago, for the Baptism of Our Lord, the Old Testament reading was from Isaiah 42, the first of four so-called “Servant Songs” in the second half of Isaiah. “Behold my servant,” Isaiah 42 begins, “my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights; I have put my Spirit upon him; he will bring forth justice to the nations.” And we certainly see Jesus as the fulfillment of that prophecy in his baptism, as he sets out to do the will of his Father, fulfilling all righteousness. The Father...

[Note: The Divine Service at St. Matthew Lutheran Church in Bonne Terre, Missouri, for January 15, 2017, has been iced out. So I am posting the sermon for the equivalent Sunday, the Second Sunday after the Epiphany, Series A, from January 20, 2008. CH]“Three Evangelism Pointers: Point, Invite, and Find” (John 1:29-42a) The Epiphany season traditionally is a time for emphasizing the church’s work of evangelism and missions. Why is that? Well, think of the event celebrated on the Epiphany festival: Wise men from the east, being led by a star to find the Christ child--in other words, the spread...

“Behold My Servant” (Isaiah 42:1-9)“Behold my servant,” the Lord says to us today. Who is this servant, you ask? It’s Jesus, of course. The Christ, the Anointed One, baptized as the Lord’s servant, to do the will of the one who sent him. Jesus, the Christ, anointed with the Holy Spirit at his baptism. And Isaiah is here to tell us about him. Through the prophet Isaiah now, the Lord invites us to look upon Christ, saying, “Behold My Servant.” “Behold my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights; I have put my Spirit upon him;...