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“The Now and Not Yet of All God’s Saints” (Matthew 5:1-12; 1 John 3:1-3; Revelation 7:9-17) Today, as we do every year on the first Sunday in November, we observe the historic Christian festival known as All Saints’ Day. On this day we thank God for making us all his saints, his holy ones, set apart by God’s grace to belong to God alone. We thank God for the saints of the past, those who have preceded us in the faith, who by the witness of their lives inspire us and encourage us to carry on. And we remember the...

“God’s Testimony: Eternal Life in His Son” (1 John 5:9-15) This week the Epistle reading once again is from First John. This has been the Epistle featured throughout this Easter season, and for good reason. The author, St. John, was an eyewitness of the risen Lord Jesus, and in this letter John bears witness concerning the life God has given us through the death and resurrection of his Son. John opened this letter by saying: “The life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life.” Now as we come...

“The Spirit and the Water and the Blood” (1 John 5:1-8)Our Epistle today from First John includes a section that at first glance may seem a little puzzling. But when we look at it a little more closely, we’ll see how it really does make sense. Indeed, it makes quite clear the very heart of our faith and salvation. The passage in question is 1 John 5:6-8, as follows: “This is he who came by water and blood--Jesus Christ; not by the water only but by the water and the blood. And the Spirit is the one who testifies, because...

“The Love That Lays Down Its Life” (1 John 3:16-24) “The King of Love My Shepherd Is.” What a beautiful hymn to sing on this day in the church year known as “Good Shepherd Sunday”! How we need a good shepherd to lead and guard and guide us! That’s why we follow Jesus and listen to his voice. We sing his praises, because of his great love for us. He loved us so much that he laid down his life for his sheep. Today we want to see what the results are of Christ laying down his life for us....

“What We Are Now and What We Will Be” (1 John 3:1-7) Last week we began a series of six straight weeks of Epistle readings from 1 John. Our theme last week was “Fellowship through the Word of Life”: We have fellowship with God and with one another through the Word of Life, enfleshed and proclaimed. Now today we want to find out more of what this fellowship with God means for us, both for now and for the future. And in today’s lesson the apostle John tells us: “What We Are Now and What We Will Be.” What we...

“Fellowship through the Word of Life” (1 John 1:1 – 2:2) Today on this Second Sunday of Easter, we begin six straight weeks of Epistle readings from First John. This is quite appropriate for the Easter season, since First John is all about a real crucified-and-risen, flesh-and-blood Savior for real flesh-and-blood sinners. In his epistle John is telling us that this is the only way to have fellowship with God and with one another: It is through Christ, the eternal Son of God, coming in the flesh, shedding his blood for us, and rising from the dead bodily, to give...

“Confidence, Unity, and Joy: God’s Gifts to Our Church” (1 John 5:9-15; John 17:11b-19)Today we are very happy to receive yet another family into our congregation. That makes seventeen new members added to our little church so far this year. Seventeen! That is remarkable. From out of the blue, quite unexpectedly, God has gifted us with these brothers and sisters in Christ, who are joining our church. Thanks be to God! Yes, today we give thanks to God for the gift of these new members, who already are being a real blessing to our church. But now I want to...

“Pure Doctrine and Love for People” (1 John 4:1-11) Sometimes we who insist on pure doctrine are accused of not caring for people: “You black-shirt round-collar types, all you care about is getting things right! You don’t care about people.” Pure doctrine--pure doctrine is seen as an outmoded concern. Doctrine is assumed and taken for granted. We’re even told that insistence on pure doctrine is an impediment to being “missional”: “We’ve got to stop this incessant internal purification and get ablaze with mission! Mission is Job One!” All of this talk puts forward a false dichotomy between doctrine and mission,...

“The Spirit and the Water and the Blood” (1 John 5:1-8)Today we come to the fifth in our six-part series on First John. And our text includes a brief passage that at first may seem a little puzzling, but when we take a closer look at it, we’ll see how it really does make sense, and indeed makes absolutely clear the beating heart of our faith and salvation. The passage in question is 1 John 5:6-8, as follows: “This is he who came by water and blood--Jesus Christ; not by the water only but by the water and the blood....

“Fellowship through the Word of Life” (1 John 1:1 – 2:2)Today on this Second Sunday of Easter--the second of seven Sundays in the Easter Season--we begin six straight weeks of Epistle readings from First John. This is quite appropriate for Easter, since First John is all about a crucified-and-risen, real flesh-and-blood Savior for real flesh-and-blood sinners. John in his epistle is telling us that this is the only way we have fellowship with God and thus with one another: It is through Christ the eternal Son of God coming in the flesh, shedding his blood for us, and rising from...

“Faith, Fellowship, and Forgiveness” (John 20:19-31; 1 John 1:1 – 2:2; Acts 4:32-35) Did you get any gifts for Easter? Maybe an Easter basket, filled with chocolate bunnies and jelly beans and Easter eggs that you open up and there’s a coin inside? Well, I can think of some Easter gifts that are even better than that. And today I want to tell you about them. They’re right there in our readings for today, and they are these Easter gifts, three of them: “Faith, Fellowship, and Forgiveness.” Faith, fellowship, and forgiveness: three Easter gifts that we have because of the...

“Who We Are and What We Will Be” (1 John 3:1-3)Today as we observe All Saints’ Day, we look back and remember with thanksgiving the saints who have gone before us, who now rest from their labors and are with the Lord. We look around us, and even though we cannot see them, we know that we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses to the faith, all of us united in the one great communion of saints, the whole church on earth and in heaven. And we look ahead, we look forward with hopefulness to the day...

“Sanctified in the Word of Truth” (John 17:11b-19; 1 John 5:9-15)In today’s Gospel reading, Jesus prays for his disciples--he prays for all believers, he prays for his church--he prays for us, here in this time between his ascension and his return. And one of the things Jesus prays for us is this, where he says to the Father: “Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.” “Sanctified in the Word of Truth.” Let’s find out what that means for us now. The prayer that Jesus prays in John 17 is often called his “High Priestly Prayer.” Jesus is coming...

“All You Need Is Love” (1 John 5:1-8; John 15:9-17)“All you need is love. Love is all you need.” No, I’m not quoting John the Beatle. I’m quoting John the Apostle, or at least I’m paraphrasing him. Yes, John--that John, St. John--talked about love a lot. And he’s doing it again today, both in the Epistle reading from 1 John and in the Gospel of John. Basically, John is saying today, “All You Need Is Love.” Listen first to John’s first epistle: “Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the...

“The Now and Not Yet of God’s Baptized Saints” (Matthew 5:1-12; 1 John 3:1-3; Revelation 7:9-17)On this day when we have a baptism in our midst and we commemorate the faithful departed from our midst, on this All Saints’ Day observed, I want to talk to you briefly about “The Now and Not Yet of God’s Baptized Saints.” We’ll be looking at aspects of this theme from all three of our lessons today. First, when I say, “God’s baptized saints,” I’m talking about us. You and I are God’s baptized saints, the people he has made his own in Holy...