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“The Day Is Drawing Near: Let Us Draw Near, Hold Fast, and Stir Up” (Hebrews 10:11-25) “The day is surely drawing near,” we just sang. And our reading from Hebrews 10 closes with similar words: “as you see the Day drawing near.” What day is that? Let’s find out. And let’s consider what the implications are for us as we see that day approaching. Our text will tell us: “The Day Is Drawing Near: Let Us Draw Near, Hold Fast, and Stir Up.” The day is drawing near. The day of Christ’s appearing, his “parousia.” The day of Christ’s return,...

“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...

“Eleutherios: Free Indeed!” (John 8:31-36) Today, October 31, along with millions of other Christians around the world, we are celebrating Reformation Day. Why? What’s so special about this day? Well, 504 years ago today, on October 31, 1517, Dr. Martin Luther posted his Ninety-five Theses against the sale of indulgences on the door of a church in Wittenberg, Germany. And what Luther did that day started the movement known as the Reformation, which corrected many bad practices that crept into the church. Ever since, we observe the last Sunday in October as Reformation Day, and we thank God for using...

“Christ, Our Great High Priest” (Hebrews 7:23-28) For a number of weeks now, our Epistle readings have come from the Book of Hebrews. And throughout these readings, Hebrews has been making this major point: All the worship practices of Old Testament Israel, all its religious institutions, were pointing ahead to, and have been fulfilled by, Jesus Christ. The Sabbath rest, the tabernacle, the sacrifices, the priesthood--all these have been fulfilled in an even greater way by Christ. Take the priesthood, for example, and the office of the high priest, in particular. Our recent readings from Hebrews have made the point...

“The Wealth You Leave and the Wealth You Receive” (Mark 10:23-31) Today Jesus speaks to us about wealth. He speaks of the wealth you need to leave in order to enter the kingdom of God. And he speaks of the wealth you receive when you do enter. And so our theme this morning: “The Wealth You Leave and the Wealth You Receive.” Wealth is a subject that interests everyone. Wealth is something the rich have but want more of. Wealth is something the poor don’t have but want. And those of us in the middle? We may say we don’t...

“The Story of the Rich Young Ruler” (Mark 10:17-22) Today we have “The Story of the Rich Young Ruler.” It’s a story of idolatry, of the false gods that people have. But it’s also a story of love, the love that Jesus has for sinners, that he calls us to give up on our idols and to follow him in faith. Because that’s the only way that you and I will ever gain eternal life. “Come, follow me,” Jesus says, “and you will have treasure in heaven.” The story of the rich young ruler. We find this story recorded in...

“Oh That We Had Meat to Eat!” (Numbers 11:4-6, 10-16, 24-29) “Oh that we had meat to eat!” Oh that we had meat we could afford to buy! Have you looked at the price of meat lately? I have. I was at the grocery store the other day, and the prices for all kinds of meat are very high right now: steak, ground beef, pork, even chicken. It confirmed what I read in a news article recently. Prices for meat have skyrocketed this year. Across the nation, beef prices have surged a whopping 12% over the last year. Pork prices...

"Wisdom from Above: Humble Yourself, Serve Others" (James 3:13 – 4:10; Mark 9:30-37) In the Epistle for today, St. James asks, “Who is wise and understanding among you?” Well, I suppose all of us would like to be considered wise and understanding. To have people compliment us on how smart we are and what good decisions we make. And in the Gospel reading for today, Jesus says, “If anyone would be first.” Well, I suppose all of us would like to be first. We like it when we’re in the top spot. To be wise, to be first, to be...

“To What Shall We Compare the Tongue?” (James 3:1-12) Do you know you carry around with you, all the time, a very dangerous weapon? It’s not very big, but it can do a lot of damage. And it’s a weapon that can be very hard to control. In fact, you and I quite often do not use it as carefully as we should. What is this dangerous, hard-to-control, little weapon you have on your person? Of course, I’m talking about your tongue. And so is St. James. He’s talking about it, also, in our Epistle reading for today. So let’s...

“Jesus Speaks His ‘Ephphatha’ to Us” (Mark 7:31-37)In the Holy Gospel for today from Mark 7, people bring to Jesus a man who was deaf and had a speech impediment. Jesus says to him, “Ephphatha,” which means, “Be opened.” And, sure enough, the man’s ears are opened, his tongue is loosed, and he speaks plainly. Now what you’ll often get in sermons based on this text is something like this: “Friends, our ears are deaf to God’s Word, and our tongues fail to speak plainly the good news to our neighbors. We need Jesus to speak his ‘Ephphatha’ to us...

“Put on the Whole Armor of God” (Ephesians 6:10-20) These days many people have taken up a variety of precautions and protections to guard against the Covid virus and its variants. They have put on face masks. They have put on face shields. They sanitize their hands. They keep social distance. They take zinc and an assortment of vitamins. They get injected with a vaccine and maybe now a booster shot as well. All these precautions and protections to guard against a virus. But friends, there’s something much more dangerous and deadly than a virus going around. As St. Peter...

“This Is a Hard Saying” (John 6:60-69) For the last couple of weeks, the Holy Gospel has been Jesus’ famous “Bread of Life” discourse from John chapter 6. And last week I preached on the appointed text, under the theme, “Eat This Bread and Live Forever.” But last week I only got through the first half of that text. What I didn’t get to was the reaction to what Jesus said. And that’s what I want to take up this morning. And so our sermon text today is what is printed in your bulletin, namely, John 6, verses 60 through...

“The Lord Kept Sharon in the Faith” (Psalm 121; John 6:35-40) Dear family members, church members, I must confess, you have an advantage on me: You’ve known Sharon a lot longer than I have. Family members--you, her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren--you have known Sharon literally your entire life. Church members, many of you have known her for ten, fifteen, twenty years or more. Me? I’ve only known Sharon for just one year. So you all have the advantage on me on that. You have a lot more memories to share with one another than I have. But, in serving as...

“Eat This Bread and Live Forever” (John 6:51-69) The world’s oldest living person is a woman in Japan by the name of Kane Tanaka. She is 118 years old. She has held the title of oldest living person for over three years, which is unusually long for someone to be the world’s oldest living person. Usually, they relinquish the title before that long. What is Miss Tanaka’s secret? “Eating delicious food and studying,” she says. Her nurses say, “She has a strong appetite and likes eating chocolate and drinking Coke.” Well, I have a strong appetite, I like eating delicious...

“A Christmas Carol” (John 6:51-58) One of the first things you notice about Carol’s obituary is the date of her birth: December 25, 1940. Carol was born on Christmas Day! It was like God was sending us a nice Christmas present that we all could enjoy for the next 80+ years. She was a true “Christmas Carol,” and the music was sweet indeed! What a gift Carol was to us! Beloved wife to Jim for over 60 years. Loving mother to all you “T” kids, her children: Tammy, Tom, Tim, Terri, Tracy, and Toni. Whew! Grandmother, great-grandmother, faithful church member,...

“Strengthened for the Journey” (1 Kings 19:1-8) I haven’t been following the Olympics, but I understand that this weekend was one of the main events, namely, the marathon. If you’re not familiar with the marathon, it’s a long-distance race in which the competitors run a total of 26.2 miles! 26.2 miles! Imagine that! What a grueling test of training and endurance that must be! The runners have to be in tip-top shape in order to compete, much less complete the race. And their training has to go on for months beforehand. Long preparation is required in order to run that...

“No Longer Aliens” (Ephesians 2:11-22) Aliens are not very popular. I’m not talking about aliens from outer space. I’m talking about aliens who are illegal immigrants, people who come in as outsiders. Often there is hostility between the aliens and the people who’ve been there their whole lives. They feel like their territory is being invaded. Foreigners, strangers, outsiders are seen as a threat. In whatever the culture, throughout history, aliens generally have been unwelcome. Well, that was what the situation was like at the time of the New Testament. The insiders were the Jews, God’s chosen people. The outsiders,...

“Babylon Down! Babylon No More!” (Revelation 18:19-24) “Babylon down! Babylon no more!” That is the powerful message of our text today, from Revelation 18. “So will Babylon the great city be thrown down with violence.” This is a word of terrifying judgment coming on the world. “Babylon Down! Babylon No More!” But the surprising part of our text is how we are to react to this oracle of doom. We’re told to rejoice over Babylon’s fall: “Rejoice over her, O heaven, and you saints and apostles and prophets, for God has given judgment for you against her!” Really? We are...

“The Grace of Giving” (2 Corinthians 8:1-9, 13-15) Today let’s talk about giving. Yes, that’s right, giving--like we do when we put offerings into the offering plate. Usually that’s a subject we like to avoid. People become defensive or uncomfortable if the subject of giving comes up. They’ll make excuses for why they can’t give more. They instinctively reach for their wallets and hold on tight, so that no one can get in there. And they close their ears as well. People don’t like to have someone put pressure on them to put more in the plate, like this is...

“In Christ: Chosen, Redeemed, and Sealed” (Ephesians 1:3-14) Picture in your mind a great treasure chest--a big, heavy box, with one of those curved lids on it, like you’d see in a pirate movie. The lid is closed, and there’s a large lock hanging on the front. Inside this treasure chest, so you’ve been told, are all sorts of wonderful things--gems, rubies, diamonds, gold and silver coins--a fortune beyond your wildest dreams. And all these valuable treasures are yours for the taking. The only thing is, you need the key. Without that key, the treasure chest will simply remain a...