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In the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. There will be great joy in heaven, for this all people with eyes and hope set there do long and expect. Ask any of those persons, yea, even believers, what joyous thing about the yonder that awaits do you look forward to now and the answer is likely to be seeing family, friends, pets or having favorite things, hobbies, perfect sunrises, food, drink, pleasure, and bliss. Our dear Lord Jesus teaches in today’s parable that which brings true joy in heaven. He explains the true hope of heaven,Read More →

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In the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. We human beings are complex and interesting creatures, being that we are created in the image of God with His good design, intent, and delight, yet with such an image that has been utterly corrupted. We are creatures of passion and emotion, even the stone-faced guys among us, because for every one of us there is always something that will stir us within. Life remains interesting when we discover, whether for shame or for joy, just how those complex thoughts and feelings within us have been handled, howRead More →

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In the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. We have confessed our merciful Lord today in two of the Church’s three magnificent, solid, entirely true ecumenical creeds. The Athanasian Creed, the least repeated among us likely because of its length, is the necessary result of the early Church battling heresy as it tried to creep in. There were those numbered among us who denied the divinity of Christ, who said that He wasn’t true God, existing from eternity past. Therefore, the Church, the true Body of Christ, the Eternal One, stood firm in the Scriptures, madeRead More →

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In the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. With these words, God invites us to be in accord with one another, and more so, with Him; to be in one place of mind, heart, and, yes, body regularly gathered around the reading of His Word, the breaking of bread, and the prayers. He invites us by His Word to look back upon what is considered the birth of the Church at Pentecost, to give thanks for what has beenRead More →

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In the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Thus says the LORD God: “If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.” His words in second Chronicles are ones prayed by many Christians in our day, for we see what our land has become and where it is continually headed. What once may have been able to be called a Christian nation is now a placeRead More →

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In the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. So then, after the Lord [Jesus] had spoken to [the disciples], He was received up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God, that is, at the right hand of the Father, at the place of glory and honor, power and dominion. This event was to be expected considering from whence this Mighty One came. He was resuming the place rightfully His from all eternity. From thence He came, first descending so that you might ascend with Him. You are right to believe that intoRead More →

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In the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. These words from the mouth of Christ teach us what He said elsewhere also to be true: You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these areRead More →

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In the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Dearly Beloved, St. James writes that every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning. Do you believe this, still, nearly a month after great Easter festivity? And if you believe this, is it by convenient accessory, such as cruise control on your car, looked to only as frequently as you venture onto the highway and desire a less wearisome journey? Or is what James writes looked to asRead More →

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In the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Just as we pondered Jesus’ teaching last week on Him being the Good Shepherd, words that came well before His crucifixion and resurrection, we join with His disciples again to recall more of what He said during His earthly ministry that we might be prepared well for the present and for the future. We are in real-time sense living out the remembrance of the 40 days between Christ’s resurrection and His ascension, numbering them likewise ourselves between the feasts celebrating those respective events, before following them with 10Read More →

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In the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. This morning, we pray “O God, who by the humiliation of Thy Son didst raise up the fallen world, grant unto Thy faithful ones perpetual gladness, and those whom Thou hast delivered from the danger of everlasting death do Thou make partakers of eternal joys.” We begin that collect in an acknowledgement which is good not to take for granted or to idly let slide right past us. We first confessed that O God, who by the humiliation of Thy Son didst raise up the fallen world. LetRead More →

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In the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Beloved in the Lord, during our 40-day Lenten journey, we prayed that with cleansed hearts we might be prepared joyfully to celebrate the paschal feast in sincerity and truth. The Church has long used that time for such preparation to lead up to the feast, and in Her earlier centuries did so in a very intentional way for converts who were being incorporated into the Body of Christ. As the Gospel would be proclaimed, consciences burdened by sin, and desire for the Savior enlivened, souls were called outRead More →

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In the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. The words of the prophet Job span countless years of our history. They stood boldly upon his tongue the day he uttered them. They reach to and comfort us on this joyous Easter Day. They go before us guaranteeing what is yet to be. I know that my Redeemer lives! Immediately before that proclamation though, we heard him also say, “Oh, that my words were written! Oh, that they were inscribed in a book! That they were engraved on a rock with an iron pen and lead, forever!”Read More →

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In the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Unlike the Passion accounts historically read this week from Matthew, Mark, and Luke, St. John doesn’t begin with the events in the Upper Room, but injects us directly into a garden, the garden over the Brook Kidron, the garden of Gethsemane. In the beginning, of the end, God the Light walked in the cool of the day among those who rebelled against Him, hiding neither themselves nor their sins, but carrying lanterns, torches, and weapons. They came in the darkness bearing created light so that they may takeRead More →

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In the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. On this night thousands of years ago, on the same night in which He was betrayed, God in human flesh took bread and wine, gave thanks, and spoke the words that we heard St. Paul recount and words that we ourselves will recount in remembrance of our crucified King. Earthly speaking, that is, on account of the body, the bread that we break and the cup that we drink would not even be considered a snack by most of our standards, and yet around this Table, around thisRead More →

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In the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Man is quite confident about our desires. We are sure about what we want and when we want it and that we know best. History testifies against us. We live in earthly kingdoms, all subservient to the eternal Kingdom of God, yet we demand and impose earthly wisdom upon its existence. No Kings, We have no king but Caesar, God save the king, Now make us a king to judge us like all the nations, Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? Behold yourRead More →

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In the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Almighty God is in the business of bringing beautiful order to grotesque chaos in majestic reversal. He does this in our hearts out of which we think, say, and do sins aboundingly. By His Holy Spirit, He dwells in us as in a temple sanctifying the heart, which is unclean, that it might be a fount and testimony of good things to God’s glory. He brings order to the chaos of our world, for where He is love, trusted, and obeyed, good order prevails and the people prosper.Read More →

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In the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Beloved in the Lord, on this day in which you began the Divine Service by praying, “Judge me, O God,” you do well to pay attention to what you hear and learn in this holy place, whether it be pondering upon certain words of God for the first time or as reminder for a countless number of times now. The Lord has commanded that you offer your bodies as living sacrifices of thanksgiving as you come here physically, but also that you offer up your heart and soulRead More →

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In the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. We know that the Holy Christian Church has crafted the sacred 40 days of Lent as an allusion to other 40s found in the Scriptures, one of them being the 40 years that Israel wandered in the wilderness as Moses records for us in Exodus and beyond. Chapter 16 brings us into their 40 to hear that the whole congregation of the children of Israel complained against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness. And the children of Israel said to them, “Oh, that we had died by theRead More →

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In the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Lent, which by week’s end shall be already halfway over, is a blessèd and necessary annual re-training of the Christian heart with the goal of bringing us, and our whole person, back to reality. We all need Lent, at minimum annually, for none of us shall shed the need of discovering and repenting of the sins in our lives until the Lord returns or until He ends this life of sin by death to draw us to Him yonder. We will only be done with our fight againstRead More →

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In the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Mothers are a blessing. They are a blessing simply by the fact of how God makes them to be mothers, for by the love of a husband and by the long months of nurturing life within their very own bodies, mothers are made. They are made as those through whom life comes. Apart from Adam and Eve, there is no person ever to have lived who did not have life because of a mother. And as expected, mothers grow quite attached to the lives that they berth. TheyRead More →

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In the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. We call this second Sunday in Lent Reminiscere, because we pray Remember, O LORD, Thy tender mercies and thy lovingkindnesses; For they have been ever of old. He must, for our sake, He must, for Christ’s sake, remember His tender mercies for we are always in great need of them. We need Him to remember them, for we go about this life of faith remembering things ourselves. We remember how we have sinned, how we like sheep have gone astray in our hearts, in our minds, in ourRead More →

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✠ Psalmody: Psalm 25:6, 2b, 22; 1–2a; Psalm 25:17-18; Psalm 25:17b–18, 1–3; Psalm 119:47–48a; Psalm 5:1b–2 ✠ Lection: Exodus 24:12-18; 1 Kings 19:3b-8 ; Matthew 12:38-50 In the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. On this cold February evening, let us head south, south with the prophet Elijah. In 1 Kings 19, we hear that he went to Beersheba, which belongs to Judah. He was coming from the northern kingdom of Israel, southward to Beersheba, which lay on the edge of the desert wilderness. Beersheba has much biblical significance in itself, but we shall first consider the frigid,Read More →

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In the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Brethren, we plead with you not to receive the grace of God in vain, for His grace is sufficient for you. It is helpful at all times and in all places, in everything that comes upon you in this life. Yes, the cliché Jesus is the answer is true, yet do not leave your understanding and trust to shallow passing thoughts as when seeing those words on an interstate billboard. Rather ponder more that He is your Refuge and your Fortress: your God; in Him will you trust,Read More →

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In the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. “The LORD gives voice before His army, For His camp is very great; For strong is the One who executes His word. For the day of the LORD is great and very terrible; Who can endure it?” These words immediately precede what we heard from the prophet Joel, and if you go all the way back to the beginning of chapter two in his prophecy, you will encounter more strong language that portrays how sin and sinners shall shake as an earthquake at encountering the terrible Day ofRead More →

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In the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Having heard that it is by God’s grace alone coming to you in His Word alone that you are saved, what is the means by which you know that such great things are being applied to you unto salvation? How do you know that you have received God’s grace and word with a noble and good heart and are thus counted as righteous before God? It is by faith alone in Christ alone. Faith is never alone. Yes, good works flow from it, as we remember that thereRead More →

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In the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. How we worship God reveals what we believe about Him and His Holy Word. It reveals what we believe about His seed that He faithfully and graciously scatters among us. If we gather around Him and His holy things with performance-focused gesture indecipherable from rock concerts, then we are revealing that we worship entertainment more than God; that in order to grab our attention and keep it, something, even God, must entertain us. Flipping TV channels and scrolling social media has only further turned us in on ourselvesRead More →

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In the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. In the Divine Service, we make use of ordinaries and propers, words given to describe the parts of the liturgy by which we are blessed every time we gather. Ordinaries are all the parts that ordinarily show up in their exact same form, week-in and week-out. The Preparation, The Kyrie, The Gloria in Excelsis, The Nicene Creed, The Offertory, The Lord’s Prayer, andThe Words of Institution are all examples of ordinaries. They occur in every Divine Service in the exact same form. The propers, on the other hand,Read More →

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In the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. ‘Tis good, Lord, to be here. ‘Tis good to be in His house on the Lord’s Day, this Transfiguration Sunday, for our fathers in the faith have given us great blessing in making today what it is in our annual cycle. The Transfiguration wasn’t always celebrated on the final Sunday of Epiphany. As a matter of fact, there are still some liturgical-year-observing church bodies, like that of Rome, that do not celebrate it in such a way. A large reason they have avoided doing so may be thatRead More →

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In the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. At the Epiphany, it was revealed to us Gentiles the wide-reaching love of God in Christ Jesus, born King of the Jews, born King of heaven and earth and all who dwell therein. Last week, it was revealed to us that the divine Boy was to be the culmination and fulfillment of all His Father’s holy things that had been instituted for our reconciliation and salvation. Today, Jesus’ words and actions at the wedding in Cana of Galilee reveal to us the very sympathy that He, the LordRead More →

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In the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all ye lands. Serve the LORD with gladness: come before His presence with singing. Know ye that the LORD He is God. To know that the LORD is God and that Jesus is manifested, revealed to be the LORD our God, is a central theme in the Epiphany season, the third of the Church Year into which we have already been propelled. If time seems to pass by quickly, give thanks to God that in it doing so, the saying isRead More →

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In the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. The Epiphany, the showing forth or the appearing of Jesus the Christ, the One born King of the Jews, wasn’t something the Lord would keep contained in the days of Herod the king or any other day. There would be no denial of Who He was for it was impossible for Him to do so. For the magi, He gave a bright shining light that drew them close who were far off. They were drawn to the Light that cometh into the world. They were drawn to theRead More →

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In the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. St. Lawrence was a Christian martyr who lived, and died, in the third century under great persecution of the Church by the Roman Emperor Valerian. In the period leading up to his death by being burned alive atop a grill like a steak, many other Christians had been rounded up and put to death, including the pope and multiple priests. The emperor, being greedy for the Church’s money, hoped to gain its treasures for himself. Thus, prior to his martyrdom, St. Lawrence… was summoned before a magistrate andRead More →

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In the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Our Christmas Day text from Isaiah begins similarly to how the pericope from chapter seven did last Wednesday; a somewhat midstride proclamation set in developments of prophetic detail within a book resplendent with messianic language. If we back up to the beginning of tonight’s fifty-second chapter, Isaiah’s words begin their work of wrangling into our minds images of themes and aspects about the coming Christ encountered in the Church’s yearly cycle. The chapter begins, “Awake, awake!” likely conjuring up fresh memories of singing the stellar hymn “Wake, AwakeRead More →

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In the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. The Holy Christian Church has long held a daily divine office called vespers, a name derived from the Latin meaning evening, for that is when it is held. In the week leading up to Christmas, beginning on December 17, specific verses for each of those seven days would be chanted during vespers right before the singing of the Magnificat, the blessed song of Mary. Those verses, to which we now refer as the O Antiphons, all sourced from the prophet Isaiah, draw attention to specific aspects and propheciesRead More →

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✠ Psalmody: Isaiah 45:8a;Psalm 19:1;24:7, 3-4a;145:18, 21;Isaiah 35:4b;7:14b ✠ Lection: Isaiah 2:2-5;Isaiah 7:10-15;Luke 1:26-38a In the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. It is by the prophet Isaiah that we have the prophetic sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel, a name that is especially popular around this time of year as we ponder upon the Advent of our King. It’s a name so popular that countless children have received it as their own over the past millennia, as well as a multitude of schools and churches, causing itRead More →

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In the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. The first words of the Divine Service proper for this Gaudete Sunday aren’t sourced from the Old Testament as usual. No, on this day the Holy Church takes words that were written after our dear Lord’s first Advent, from an epistle of St. Paul, through whom Christ’s Holy Spirit tells us to Rejoice in the Lord always: and again I say, Rejoice. Let your moderation be known unto all men. We are to rejoice, for we, unlike the unbelieving world, have unfailing eternal riches in Christ that indeedRead More →

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✠ Psalmody: Isaiah 30:30a, 29a, c;Psalm 80:1a;50:2-3a, 5;85:6-7; Baruch 5:5a;4:36b ✠ Lection: Malachi 3:1-5;4:1-6a;St. Matthew 11:11-15 In the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. If you hear what Scripture, what Jesus Himself, says about John the Baptist and believe it, then you have ears to hear Christ and the salvation that He brings, for it is in John’s voice in the wilderness that every valley is exalted and every mountain and hill made low; the crooked straight and the rough places plain. We hear Jesus’ assured words telling us that among those born of women there has notRead More →

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In the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. People of Zion, behold the Lord is nigh. He, the kingdom of heaven, is at hand. He came into Jerusalem lowly, mounted on a donkey, bringing salvation unto us who sat in darkness. But we have seen a great Light. We see each and every time that we come into this glorious abode of Light, that this same glorious, saving King comes lowly again and again unto us. The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the Blood of Christ? The bread whichRead More →

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✠ Psalmody: Psalm 25:1-3a;25:4;25:3a, 4;85:7;25:1-3a;85:12 ✠ Lection: James 5:7–10; Romans 13:11-14;St. Matthew 3:1–6 In the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. The Holy Gospel according to St. Matthew begins on familiar ground. There’s the genealogy of the Christ, His birth in Bethlehem, the visit of the Magi from the East, the Holy Family’s flight into Egypt, Herod’s slaughter of the Holy Innocents, and Jesus’ return to Nazareth to grow in wisdom, stature, and favor of God. All that is in the first two chapters, out of which St. Matthew takes us right into chapter three with the wordsRead More →

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In the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Except for the young among us, we all have memories to some degree and in some ways of “good ol’ days”. Considering what we face day in and day out in our present world, even the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ tends to look back longingly at such times as what we read about in the book of Acts, in historical records about how our great fathers battled heresies and the Gospel made great headway, and even back to when Church pews were regularly full in ourRead More →

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In the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. The faithful, watchful Christian eye is set upon the Last Day, for in it we know that the King will come and call all His servants to settle accounts. The Christian eye fears this not, because it has been restored to eternal sight through faith in the long-awaited Bridegroom Who, at His own all-exacting expense, has paid the debt we owe. He has given faith to His Church, washed us by His Spirit and His Word, and donned upon us pure white robes of righteousness; a righteousness whichRead More →

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In the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. An unforgiving heart is unfit to receive forgiveness itself although it is likely to demand it when roles are reversed. The Lord Jesus gives a stern warning to all benefactors of God’s inestimable grace: forgive as you have been forgiven, lest forgiveness be taken from you. His parable teaches this clearly, sufficiently for this to end here as the shortest sermon you’ve heard. Yet, we shall not rush through our dear Lord’s words, but will reflect upon them for at least a few more minutes. May God’s willRead More →

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In the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. We love our independence, our strength, our inherit ability to get done what needs to be done, even if speaking merely of personal daily tasks. As creatures prone toward pride, anything that lends toward us seeing how good we are is likely to be taken in favor. The longest season of the Church Year, Trinitytide, is nearly all passed by already, in much of a blur in many of our perspectives, yet recall the pride recounted just before this season began; recall Pentecost and the hearts of theRead More →

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In the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. The Revelation of Jesus Christ to St. John, the final book of the Holy Scriptures, is not written to be a troubling puzzle but a comforting and reassuring vision of what is, what was, and what is to come. Avoid not the words within it, for the book itself begins with promise: Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written in it; for the time is near. On this All Saints Day, hear the WordRead More →

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In the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Amen. Amen. A Mighty Fortress is our God, a Trusty Shield and Weapon. He is a Refuge in Whom faithful men before us trusted even under threat of death so that they themselves might keep hold of the Gospel of Life, and preserve it in truth and purity for the generations who followed. We give thanks to God as we commemorate the Reformation and the sweet, undefiled Gospel of Christ that was restored to His people then and unto this very day. For, it is in God, byRead More →

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In the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. The LORD our God is almighty, all-knowing, all-holy, and altogether perfect. He created all things out of nothing by the power of His Word and on the sixth day God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thingRead More →

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✠ Psalmody: Psalm 119:137, 124a; 1; Psalm 33:12, 6; Psalm 115:11; Daniel 9:4, 17a, 19b; Psalm 76:11–12 ✠ Lection: Proverbs 25:6–14; Ephesians 4:1–6; Luke 14:1–11 In the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. We all want the world to be a better place, or at least a good place, which would mean a betterment of it if we see we’re not there yet. Unfortunately, though, many an idea of better originates in the sinful heart of fallen man and are focused on what each individual person deems and wants his better world to be like. Hence, we returnRead More →

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✠ Psalmody: Psalm 86:3, 5; 1; Psalm 102:15-16; Psalm 114:1-2; Psalm 40:13b–14a; Psalm 71:16b–17, 18b ✠ Lection: 1 Kings 17:17–24; Ephesians 3:13–21; Luke 7:11–16 In the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. As a father pities his children, So the LORD pities those who fear Him. For He knows our frame; He remembers that we are dust. As for man, his days are like grass; As a flower of the field, so he flourishes. For the wind passes over it, and it is gone, And its place remembers it no more. We get into long stretches of life,Read More →

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✠ Psalmody: Psalm 86:1a, 2b–3; 4; Psalm 92:1-2; Psalm 108:1; Psalm 40:1, 3a; John 6:56 ✠ Lection: 1 Kings 17:8–16; Galatians 5:25—6:10; Matthew 6:24–34 In the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. In the second petition of the Lord’s Prayer, we pray Thy kingdom come. The lust of the flesh desires to keep this truth at a distance; to keep the kingdom of God as some abstract truth confined to motions of habit constrained to Sunday morning, or else a far-off reality about which only the true religious nuts among us really take seriously. But to be ChristianRead More →

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✠ Psalmody: Psalm 84:9–10ab; 1-2a; Psalm 118:8-9; Psalm 95:3a, 4b; Psalm 34:7–8a; John 6:51b ✠ Lection: Proverbs 4:10–23; Galatians 5:16–24; Luke 17:11–19 In the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. As Jesus went to Jerusalem He passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee. On the way to the place where all the Lord’s work would come to a glorious climax on the cross, on the way to the great city of God that would reject Yahweh in the flesh Himself, the Savior was passing along between two divided areas: Samaria, the land the true Jews saw asRead More →

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✠ Psalmody: Psalm 74:20a, 19b, 22a, 23a; 1; Psalm 74:20a, 19b, 22a; 89:50; Psalm 95:1-2; Psalm 31:14–15a; Wisdom 16:20 ✠ Lection: Leviticus 19:9–18; Galatians 3:16–22; Luke 10:23–37 In the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Dear saints in the Lord, blessed are the eyes which see the things you see, if you truly see them. Consider what Jesus is saying to His disciples, both then and now. There are many sets of eyes among us this morning, all functioning, all doing their duty as we look upon one another, upon our bulletins and hymnals, upon the holy thingsRead More →

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Transcription from audio file: In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Gracing our ears this morning are multiple accounts of two men presenting themselves before God, presenting sacrifices before God. First is that of Cain and Abel, brothers, sons of our first parents, one a keeper of sheep, and the other a tiller of the ground. Both brought an offering to the Lord, and he respected Abel in his offering, but he did not respect Cain in his offering. It is challenging to conclude just from that text why this was so. Some inferences may be assumed,Read More →

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✠ Psalmody: Psalm 55:17b, 18b, 19b, 22a; 1; Psalm 17:8, 2; Psalm 88:1-2; Psalm 25:1–3a; Psalm 51:19 ✠ Lection: Jeremiah 7:1–11; 1 Corinthians 12:2–11; Luke 19:41–48 In the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. As Jesus drew near Jerusalem, He saw the city and wept over it, saying, “If you had known, even you, especially in this your day, the things that make for your peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes… because you did not know the time of your visitation.” Jesus weeps over those who did not, who do not know the time ofRead More →

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✠ Psalmody: Psalm 54:4-5; 1; Psalm 8:1a, 1b; Psalm 78:1a; Psalm 19:8a, 10b–11a; Matthew 6:33 ✠ Lection: Proverbs 16:1–9; 1 Corinthians 10:6b–13;Luke 16:1–9 In the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. The parables of our Lord Jesus Christ are spoken masterpieces woven, painted, sculpted by the One Whose Word brought into creation all the beauty that we behold when we take time to look down, around, and up. The heavens declare the glory of God; And the firmament shows His handiwork. Similarly, the priceless pieces created by man that stand and hang at places like the Cleveland MuseumRead More →

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✠ Psalmody: Psalm 48:9-10; 1; Psalm 31:2b, 1a; Psalm 65:1, 4b; Psalm 18:27, 31a; Psalm 34:8 ✠ Lection: Jeremiah 23:16–29; Romans 8:12–17; Matthew 7:15–23 In the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. God the Father tested Abraham. He said to him, “Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.” So Abraham rose early in the morning and saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him,Read More →

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✠ Psalmody: Psalm 28:8-9; 1a; Psalm 90:13, 1; Psalm 47:1; Psalm 17:5, 6b–7a; Psalm 27:6b ✠ Lection: Exodus 20:1–17; Romans 6:3-11; Matthew 5:20-26 In the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. The Lord Jesus says, “Assuredly, I say to you, unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and the Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.” He spoke these blessed words to His disciples as they had pressed upon Him when He gave the Sermon on the Mount. This is early in His ministry, showing that He still had much to teach,Read More →

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✠ Psalmody: Psalm 27:7a, 9b; 1a; Psalm 84:9a, 8a; Psalm 31:1–2a; Psalm 16:7a, 8; Psalm 27:4ab ✠ Lection: 1 Kings 19:11–21; 1 Peter 3:8–15a; Luke 5:1–11 In the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Come, oh blessed multitude, and press about Jesus to hear the word of God. Alleluia! His strong word cleaves the darkness of the chaotic world in which we swim as well as that of the shroud of sin, doubt, and shame that so heavily and relentlessly try to cloak our living minds and hearts. Our dear Jesus delights in giving to us that whichRead More →

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✠ Psalmody: Psalm 27:1-2b; 3a; Psalm 79:9b-10a, 9a; Psalm 21:1; Psalm 13:3b–4a; Psalm 18:2a ✠ Lection: Isaiah 58:6–12; Romans 8:18–23; Luke 6:36–42 In the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. The prophet Moses died in the wilderness. But he had an assistant who carried out and completed his role as deliverer: humble, faithful, and courageous Joshua, who himself was a type of Christ; who led the people Israel out of the wilderness, through the waters of the Jordan, and into the land promised by God as an inheritance. Joshua led the conquest of the land and saw toRead More →

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✠ Psalmody: Psalm 25:16, 18; 1-2a; Psalm 55:22a, 17b, 18b; Psalm 18:1-2a; Psalm 9:10–11a, 12b; Psalm 17:6 ✠ Lection: Micah 7:18–20; 1 Peter 5:6–11; Luke 15:1–10 In the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. How much of a part do lost sheep and lost coins have in being restored to those to whom they belonged? None. Bearing the sinful flesh means that we can only claim credit for rejecting a call to repent, to turn and seek, which means we have zero role in coming to salvation and to the forgiveness of sins. God brings those to us.Read More →

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✠ Psalmody: Psalm 18:18b-19; 1-2a; Psalm 120:1-2; Psalm 7:11; Psalm 6:4; Psalm 13:6; 7:17b ✠ Lection: Proverbs 9:1–10; 1 John 3:13–18; Luke 14:16–24 In the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Beloved, the time to take the Lord seriously is now. It’s always now; for every one of us, for we all live in the midst of earthly life. Whether we’re still early in our life, trying not to be stepped on by bigger siblings while trying also not to step on the elderly in our vigor; or whether we’re middle age wondering how so much has alreadyRead More →

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✠ Psalmody: Liturgical Text; Tobit 12:6b, d; Prayer of Azariah 1:32a, 33; Prayer of Azariah 1:3a, 32b;Tobit 12:6d; Tobit 12:6b–d ✠ Lection: Isaiah 6:1–7; Romans 11:33–36; John 3:1–17 In the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. We need not have an extended addition such as the Athanasian Creed in order to be reminded of the content of the catholic faith, of the universal faith that Father, Son, and Holy Spirit bestow upon all believers. On all the other Sundays and feast days without our grand, lengthy creed, in every single Divine Service, comes bountiful opportunity for you toRead More →

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✠ Psalmody: Wisdom 1:7; Psalm 68:28b–29a; Liturgical Text; Psalm 33:6; Psalm 68:28b–29; Acts 2:2, 4a, 11b ✠ Lection: Genesis 11:1–9; Acts 2:1–11; John 14:23–31a In the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. A lot can happen over the course of 100 years. There are some among us who can personally recount most of the changes that have come about in the world over the past century, having, by God’s grace, lived the majority of it. Many, many in our day consider it all to be progress, to be advancement, to be the betterment of mankind as we haveRead More →

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✠ Psalmody: Psalm 27:7a, 8–9a; 1a; Psalm 47:5; Psalm 68:17b–18a; Acts 1:11; John 17:12a, 13a, 15 ✠ Lection: Ezekiel 36:23a, 23c–28; 1 Pet. 4:7b–11; John 15:26—16:4a In the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Through the gift of the Gospel, that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, died for our sins, was raised on the third day, and ascended into heaven, we have been given the great gift and treasure of faith. It isn’t a generic faith that can be confused with just being optimistic. We don’t skip about through life as the blind fools that unbelievers viewRead More →

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✠ Psalmody: Acts 1:11a, c; Psalm 47:1; Psalm 47:5; Psalm 68:17b–18a; Psalm 47:5; Psalm 68:32b–33a✠ Lection: 2 Kings 2:8–15; Acts 1:1–11; Mark 16:14–20 In the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.Nestled in the less-ventured, weekday shadow of the annual favorites of Easter 40 days prior, and of Pentecost and Holy Trinity in the weeks that follow is this Feast of the Ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ. Unlike other high holy days, especially Easter and Christmas, the biggies, the Ascension has no pageantry, no vigils, no aspirations of chorale delight, no special breakfasts, nor long-awaited fastingRead More →

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✠ Psalmody: Psalm 98:1a, 2b; 1b; Luke 24:34; 1 Corinthians 5:7b, 5:8a, c; Psalm 66:1–2a, 16; John 16:8 ✠ Lection: Isaiah 12:1–6; James 1:17–21; John 16:5–15 In the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. In this queen of seasons bright celebrating the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, we continue to glean from the fruit of the Tree of Life great treasures that not only provide for our needs in this life, but bring with them the great joy from God Himself. The Christian Church is a singing Church, which, just by saying this alone, may make someRead More →

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✠ Psalmody: Psalm 66:1–2; 3a; Liturgical Text; 1 Corinthians 5:7b, 5:8a, c; Psalm 146:1–2; John 16:16 ✠ Lection: Isaiah 40:25–31; 1 Peter 2:11–20; John 16:16–22 In the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. We are now three weeks beyond the end of our fasting and the return to chanting, glorias, and joyous alleluias. We do well to humble ourselves and learn from each annual cycle of the Holy Church’s observances of the life, death, resurrection, and ascension of our blessed Savior, preparing us for the eternal day to come. Who are you who walk in sorrow away fromRead More →

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✠ Psalmody: Psalm 33:5b–6a; 1; Liturgical Text; 1 Corinthians 5:7b, 5:8a, c; Psalm 63:1a, 4b; John 10:14 ✠ Lection: Ezekiel 34:11–16; 1 Peter 2:21b–25; John 10:11–16 In the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. For thousands of years, since very near the beginning of all human history, man has shepherded flocks of animals, an image that the Lord Himself has used in how He desires the sheep of His hand to be tended to, as well as how from among the flock comes reconciling sacrifice through the shedding of blood, through the laying down of life. Shepherd andRead More →

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✠ Psalmody: 1 Peter 2:2a; Psalm 81:1; Matthew 26:32; 1 Cor. 5:7b, 5:8a, c; Matthew 28:2b, 5a, 6a; John 20:27b ✠ Lection: Ezekiel 37:1–14; 1 John 5:4–10a; John 20:19–31 In the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Through St. John’s first epistle, the Spirit of the Lord teaches that whatever is born of God overcomes the world, that our faith is the victory that has overcome the world, and that he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God overcomes the world. It’s an overcoming expressed in three-fold measure that describes the truth that there is something,Read More →

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✠ Psalmody: Psalm 139:18b, 5b–6a; 1–2ab; Psalm 118:24, 1; 1 Corinthians 5:7b, 5:8a, c; Psalm 76:8b–9a ✠ Lection: Job 19:23–27; 1 Corinthians 5:7–8; Mark 16:1–8 Alleluia, Christ is risen! He is risen indeed, Alleluia! In the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Come quickly to peer into the tomb of Christ on this glorious Easter morn to behold what awaits you. Human tracks lead to a grave, a place of death, as ours are already determined and as we have those of others all around us as we walk in this place of relentless reminder that “thou artRead More →

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The Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ according to St. John: The Sermon: ✠ Psalmody: Psalm 140:1–9, 13 ✠ Lection: Hosea 5:15b—6:6; Exodus 12:1–11; John 18:1—19:42 In the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. The Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ according to St. John begins and ends in a garden. So does man’s redemption story. So, this evening, we meditate upon the bookends of this Passion and upon the one that takes us back to the first garden, seeking to grasp how all three present to those who need to hear it the Good News of God’sRead More →

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✠ Psalmody: Galatians 6:14b; Psalm 67:1–3, 6b–7;Philippians 2:8b-9;Psalm 111:4–5; John 6:55–56 ✠ Lection: Exodus 24:3–11;1 Corinthians 11:20–32;John 13:1–15 In the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Blessed be the Name of the Lord our God, Who has not left us in our sin, but has come into our midst of His own volition, of His own love, of His own sacrifice so that we may be rescued from every evil of body and soul. The beautiful feet that bring this Good News walked in the Garden in the coolness of day as He Himself sought out the firstRead More →

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The reading of the Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ according to St. Matthew: The sermon: ✠ Psalmody: Psalm 22:19, 21; 1a; Psalm 73:23b–24, 1–3; Psalm 22:1–8, 17b–18, 21, 23a, 31; Psalm 69:20–21; Matthew 26:42b ✠ Lection: Zechariah 9:9–12; Philippians 2:5–11; Matthew 26:1—27:66 In the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. By the blessed Gospel according to St. Matthew, we heard much this morning. We said much. We numbered ourselves among many a great sinner, confessing their words as ours, bundled with them like chaff prepared for the eternal fire if there were no One to save us,Read More →

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✠ Psalmody: Psalm 18:48a; 1–2a; Psalm 30:1, 2–3; Psalm 103:10; 79:8–9; Psalm 59:1; Psalm 26:6–7 ✠ Lection: Leviticus 19:1-2a, 10b-19a, 25b ; John 10:22-38 In the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Blessed be the Lord God, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all days, and of all seasons! Blessed be His holy Name that He has seen fit to bring winter to us a week into April and illumine our Gospel tonight by what we have looked through the window to see over the past three days. For, in John 10, it was the Feast ofRead More →

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✠ Psalmody: Psalm 43:1–2a; 3a; Psalm 143:9a, 10a; 18:48; Psalm 129:1–4; Psalm 9:1a; 119:17, 25b; 1 Corinthians 11:24b, 25b ✠ Lection: Genesis 22:1–19; Hebrews 9:11–15; John 8:46–59a In the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Psalm 45 speaks of Christ in saying, Thou art fairer than the children of men: Grace is poured into thy lips: Therefore God hath blessed thee for ever. Indeed, our Blessed Savior has come meek and lowly, mounted even on a donkey in a triumphal ride to bloody victory, His mouth full of grace, gentleness, and truth. A Jesus Who is kind, compassionate,Read More →

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✠ Psalmody: Ezekiel 36:23b, 24b, 25a, 26a; Psalm 34:1; Psalm 34:11, 5; 33:12, 6; Psalm 103:10; 79:8–9; Psalm 66:8–9, 20; John 9:11 ✠ Lection: Ezekiel 36:23a, 23c-28; Isaiah 1:16-19 ; John 9:1-38 In the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. It’s no light matter to be a prophet, or to at least speak as one. For what is a prophet? It is a man who speaks on behalf of God. This very fact alone makes such speech highly important, for who would dare speak on behalf of the all-mighty, all-powerful Creator of all things without being told, asked,Read More →

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✠ Psalmody: Isaiah 66:10a, 11a; Psalm 122:1; Psalm 122:1, 7; Psalm 125:1–2; Psalm 135:3, 6a; Psalm 122:3–4 ✠ Lection: Exodus 16:2–21; Galatians 4:22—5:1a; John 6:1–15 In the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. The Lord is always right on time. He is neither early nor late, for His ways are perfect. Whether we see our current time as a heyday, on the verge of one, or far beyond the last hope of one, none of this time has the significance of what is to come in the life of the world to come. As we journey through thisRead More →

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✠ Psalmody: Psalm 31:6b–7a; 1; Psalm 6:2a, 2b-3a; Psalm 103:10; 79:8–9; Psalm 109:21a; Psalm 16:11a ✠ Lection: Exodus 20:12-24a ; Matthew 15:1-20 In the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. From atop Mount Sinai thundered the Lord’s giving of the Ten Commandments; good and holy words from a good and holy God. Every single one of them pure, without a shred of cruelty in them that should ever cause us to detest their existence. They describe a reality that exists in and by the one Who Is. May we never view or treat the Law of God asRead More →

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✠ Psalmody: Psalm 25:15–16; 1–2a; Psalm 9:19, 3; Psalm 123:1–3a; Psalm 19:8a, 10b–11a; Psalm 84:3–4 ✠ Lection: Exodus 8:16–24; Ephesians 5:1–9; Luke 11:14–28 In the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Grosser than a bulletin graphic of a mute demon coming out of a man’s mouth is the widespread effect of sin, demons, and the prince of demons upon us. Jesus is the greater prince, the Prince of Peace, Who holds authority over the winds and the sea, over the powers and principalities waging war in the heavenly places all for the spoils of the souls of man.Read More →

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✠ Psalmody: Psalm 38:21–22; 1; Psalm 28:9a, 1; Psalm 103:10; 79:8–9; Psalm 25:1–3a; Psalm 11:7 ✠ Lection: Greek Esther 13:8b–11, 15–17; Matthew 20:17-28 In the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Though we don’t live under a king, at least not since 1776, the concept of a kingdom still remains. There are kingdoms all over the face of the earth; dominions, regions organized by set borders with leaders over each that have either been elected, have inherited rule, or taken it by force. God uses all in such authority, for there is no authority except from God, andRead More →

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✠ Psalmody: Psalm 25:6, 2b, 22; 1–2a; Psalm 25:17–18; Matthew 15:26–28a; Psalm 119:47–48a; Psalm 5:1b–2 ✠ Lection: Genesis 32:22–30; 1 Thessalonians 4:1–7; Matthew 15:21–28 In the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. The Lord remembers in that He never forgets the way that we do; forgetting to turn the stove off, forgetting to stop by the store on the way home, forgetting to wash the forehead after getting home from Ash Wednesday evening service. He isn’t susceptible to forgetfulness as we are, meaning that in His omniscience He knows everything that has happened, is happening, including our secretRead More →

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✠ Psalmody: Psalm 25:6, 2b, 22; 1–2a; Psalm 25:17-18; Psalm 25:17b–18, 1–3; Psalm 119:47–48a; Psalm 5:1b–2 ✠ Lection: Exodus 24:12-18; 1 Kings 19:3b-8 ; Matthew 12:38-50 In the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign. It is evil and adulterous because of how it questions the trustworthiness of the heavenly Bridegroom by demanding that He prove Himself more than He already has, does, and promises to. A demand for a sign from God outside the bounds of what He has given reveals not a lack on His part, but onRead More →

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✠ Psalmody: Psalm 91:15a, c–16a; 1; Psalm 91:11-12; Psalm 91:1–7, 11–16; Psalm 91:4; Psalm 91:4 ✠ Lection: Genesis 3:1–21;2 Corinthians 6:1–10;Matthew 4:1–11 In the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. The serpent is more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God has made. The evil and wily foe is your enemy, a no-longer-holy angel who has set himself against the Lord and His elect and has all manners of hostility and malice in his heart toward you. Your demise, your pain, your suffering your unbelief and faithlessness is the goal of all attacks broughtRead More →

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✠ Psalmody: Wisdom 11:23a, 24b, 23c;Psalm 57:1a;Psalm 57:1a, 3a;Psalm 103:10;79:8-9;Psalm 30:1–2;Psalm 1:2b, 3b ✠ Lection: Joel 2:12–19; 2 Peter 1:2–11; Matthew 6:16-21 In the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. As you sit with ashes upon your head this evening reminded of your mortality, take heart, for the Lord is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness; and He relents from doing harm. Even mortality is good news in Jesus Christ. It is good news in winter, spring, and summer. It is good news in somber Lent when we are bidden by God to takeRead More →

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✠ Psalmody: Psalm 31:2b–3; 1; Psalm 77:14–15; Psalm 100:1–3; Psalm 119:12–13; Psalm 78:29–30a ✠ Lection: 1 Samuel 16:1–13;1 Corinthians 13:1–13; Luke 18:31–43 In the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of Man will be accomplished. For He will be delivered to the Gentiles and will be mocked and insulted and spit upon. They will scourge Him and kill Him. And the third day He will rise again.” As the Christ first said these words to His disciples, so tooRead More →

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✠ Psalmody: Psalm 44:23-24a, 25b-26a, 44:1a; Psalm 83:18, 13; Psalm 60:2, 4b, 5a; Psalm 17:5, 6b–7a; Psalm 43:4a ✠ Lection: Isaiah 55:10–13;2 Corinthians 11:19—12:9;Luke 8:4–15 In the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. As Christians, and especially as Lutherans, we should be familiar with the idea of Sola Scriptura, a Latin phrase translated as Scripture Alone. We measure all things seen and unseen by Scripture alone, by God’s Word alone, for it alone is His special revelation that endures forever. In our faithful confessional documents collected in the Book of Concord, the Reformers boldly state “We believe, teach,Read More →

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✠ Psalmody: Psalm 18:4a, 5a, 6a, c, 18:1-2a; Psalm 9:9b–10, 18–19a; Psalm 130:1–4; Psalm 92:1; Psalm 31:16–17a ✠ Lection: Daniel 9:2-10; 1 Corinthians 9:24—10:4; Matthew 20:1–16 In the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. So, the last will be first, and the first last. With these words, the dear Lord Jesus calls us to judge wisely and correctly, to make necessary distinction between truth and lie, between labor and idleness, between good and evil, between how God sees us and how we see Him. Such distinctions are necessary in this life, for the need to cultivate and laborRead More →

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✠ Psalmody: Psalm 2:7b; 1; Psalm 110:3, 1; Wisdom 7:26; Psalm 93:1b–2; Psalm 110:3b ✠ Lection: Exodus 34:29–35; 2 Peter 1:16–21; Matthew 17:1–9 In the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. On this day when we remember the bright glory of Christ shining upon the mount, we first consider the darkness shrouding the Lord at Sinai. Indeed, when Moses entered into the Divine Presence in the Tent of Meeting, he would come out with face all aglow. The elements of light stand in contrast to the conclusion of the first giving of the Ten Commandments when “the peopleRead More →

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✠ Psalmody: Psalm 48:9-10, 1; Psalm 48:9-10a, 48:8a;Psalm 45:2b; Luke 2:26 ✠ Lection: Malachi 3:1–4; Hebrews 2:14–18; Luke 2:22-32 In the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. We think, on this 40th Day of Christmas, upon the infant Lord Jesus again and the precious life that God gives from the point of conception. It was at that point in the womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary that the Holy Son of God entered into Creation unlike ever before. Indeed, there were theophanies throughout the Old Testament, that is, instances of God revealing Himself as He walked with ourRead More →

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✠ Psalmody: Psalm 97:7b-8a, 1; Psalm 102:15–16; Psalm 148:2; Psalm 118:16-17; Luke 4:22b ✠ Lection: 2 Kings 5:1-15b; Romans 12:16b-21; Matthew 8:1-13 In the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Unless you are a member of the polar plunge club, who likes to subject your body to extremely cold water for who knows why, you’re likely not to be dipping yourself in Lake Erie right about now. The waters are not appealing in their rough frigidity and you wisely understand there’s no real sense in going down into them, regardless of how anyone tries to convince you. Now,Read More →

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✠ Psalmody: Psalm 66:4, 1-2; Psalm 107:20–21; Psalm 97:1; Psalm 66:1-2a, 16; John 2:7a, 8b, 9a, 10b, 11a ✠ Lection: Amos 9:11-15; Romans 12:6–16a; John 2:1–11 In the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. In the highlands of southwest Tanzania is a town in which we lived a number of years, Mbeya. Even though its population is reported to be 270,000, being in such a large place doesn’t exempt its residents from the country’s widespread poverty, for even the daily need of water requires much work. Our househelp, Mama Ima, told us of her children getting up veryRead More →

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✠ Psalmody: Psalm 72:1;Isaiah 60:6b, 1;Matthew 2:2b;Psalm 72:10–11 ✠ Lection: Isaiah 25:1;26:11a;28:5a;35:1a, 2b, 10a;41:18a, c;52:13b;12:3–5; Ephesians 1:13b–18;St. John 1:29–34 In the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. It is more than fitting to celebrate the Baptism of Jesus on the octave of the Epiphany, that is, on the eighth day after observing that feast as we did last Sunday. Such is true because He Who was revealed to the world, Jew and Gentile alike, as both God and Man, is shown on this day how the full counsel and intention of the Holy Trinity, Father, Son, and HolyRead More →

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✠ Psalmody: Malachi 3:1;1 Chronicles 29:12;Psalm 72:1;Isaiah 60:6b, 1;St. Matthew 2:2;Psalm 72:10–11;St. Matthew 2:2 ✠ Lection: Isaiah 60:1-6;Ephesians 3:2b-12;St. Matthew 2:1-12  In the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. In the midst of an ever-increasingly tumultuous world, when you come to church, you may be tempted to feel like you’re avoiding what’s going on around you by living in a bubble, by burying your head in the sand of religion, by being here this morning, in a place that is intentionally different than the ways of the world. Yet, you do no wrong to seek Christ’s ‘bubble’ whereRead More →

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✠ Psalmody: Wisdom 18:14–15a;Psalm 93:1a, b;45:2a, 1;93:1a, b;93:1b–2;St. Matthew 2:20 ✠ Lection: Jeremiah 31:31-34;Galatians 4:1–7;St. Luke 2:33-40 In the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. As if the holiday season stretching from Thanksgiving through the New Year isn’t active enough with the number of things we pack into our personal lives with parties, family gatherings, shopping, cooking, and napping, the calendar of the Church also allows us a ton of observances itself. There’s the usual addition of a mid-week Advent services. Then, there’s Christmas Eve with the possibility of two services on that same day: The Service ofRead More →

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Psalmody: Isaiah 9:6a; Psalm 98:1a;98:3b-4a, 2;89:11, 14a;98:3bLection: Isaiah 52:6-10;Hebrews 1:1-12;St. John 1:1–14 In the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. In the beginning…of December, we entered the season of Advent, looking forward to the coming of Christ in the manger, in the Holy Supper, and in the clouds on the Last Day. We withheld the Gloria in Excelsis from our liturgy to further prepare our minds and hearts for the Christmas joy of singing it once again; Glory be to God on high! The multitude of the heavenly host of angels burst forth at the birthRead More →

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✠ Psalmody: Ps. 106:4–5;1b;145:18, 21a;Luke 1:28bc, 42c;Isaiah 7:14b ✠ Lection: Deuteronomy 18:15–19;Philippians 4:4–7;John 1:19b–28 In the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. We pray for God to always bless us with His voice, for we need to constantly hear from Him. If we don’t hear from Him, our conscience becomes misinformed by what it soaks up from other sources, be it the media, atheistic moralism, or our emotions. A conscience that binds itself to feelings isn’t being rightly informed by the objective truth of God that comes to us through the Holy Scriptures. We are not saved byRead More →

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✠ Psalmody: Isaiah 45:8a;Psalm 19:1;24:7, 3-4a;145:18, 21;Isaiah 35:4b;7:14b ✠ Lection: Isaiah 2:2-5;Isaiah 7:10-15;Luke 1:26-38a In the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. There is much that is impossible with God, that is, from our perspective, meaning He is not limited as we are, therefore it is impossible with God that we know Him fully. He is infinite. He is pure. He is holy; all things that we are not. It is impossible for us to see into the utter depths of Who He is and what He has done, is doing, and will do. Thanks be to GodRead More →

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✠ Psalmody: Philippians 4:4-6;Psalm 85:1;80:1b, 2b, 1a;80:2b;85:1-2a;Isaiah 35:4a, b, d ✠ Lection: Isaiah 40:1–8;1 Corinthians 4:1–5;St. Matthew 11:2–10 In the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Rejoice in the Lord always. Again, I will say, Rejoice. Rejoice as we move into the latter half of this Advent season of preparing for the coming Christ. Rejoice as the darker color of repentant violet (purple) is lightened a few shades to the rose (pink) that you see today, as your dear Father in heaven reminds you of the great love with which He loves you; to remind you that evenRead More →

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✠ Psalmody: Isaiah 30:30a, 29a, c;Psalm 80:1a;50:2-3a, 5;85:6-7; Baruch 5:5a;4:36b ✠ Lection: Song of Songs 2:8b-14;Romans 15:4-13;St. Luke 21:25-33 In the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. The season of Advent can easily and accidentally be absorbed into all the Christmas atmosphere and its preparations that begin earlier and earlier than most of us are used to, stretching now back into September as stores make sure that you have plenty of time to buy, buy, buy. Black Friday and Cyber Monday have also succumbed to consumer-driven elongation by now being week-long, or more, events. But, the season ofRead More →

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✠ Psalmody: Psalm 25:1-3a;25:4;25:3a, 4;85:7;25:1-3a;85:12 ✠ Lection: James 5:7–10; St. Matthew 3:1–6 In the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. The Sundays in the Church Year function not as stand alones, but as the very thing that they are, that is, the first day of a week of days. So, for example, if you’ve ever wondered how it is decided which color the paraments and vestments will be in a Saturday or weekday service, the days following Sunday typically inherit the preceding Sunday’s color, with some notable exceptions like the upcoming Ember Days following Gaudete. Church seasons tendRead More →

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Ad Te Levavi – Sunday 1 December A✠D 2024 ✠ Psalmody: Psalm 25:1-3a;25:4;25:3a, 4;85:7;25:1-3a;85:12 ✠ Lection: Jeremiah 23:5–8;Romans 13:11-14;St. Matthew 21:1–9 In the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. We enter into another Church Year today. The old has passed. The new has come, which makes it proper to orient our minds and hearts upon He Who enters into our midst as King. We welcome Him. We adore Him. We worship Him as He deems fit to come to us. He arrives not in grand motorcades nor in private jets. He does not flex power as the worldRead More →

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The Last Sunday in the Church Year – Sunday 24 November A✠D 2024 ✠ Psalmody: Jeremiah 29:11-12, 14;Psalm 85:1, 7, 9, 11;45:14–15;Revelation 21:2 ✠ Lection: Isaiah 65:17–25;1 Thessalonians 5:1–11;Matthew 25:1–13 In the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. We have now come as far as we can in our observation of the Church’s life in this age on Earth. Timewise, we’ve learned of the significant events that now have us standing at the edge, on the brink of the Last Day, longingly looking into the sky for the glorious return of Christ, the Church’s Savior and Bridegroom, prayingRead More →

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The Third Last Sunday in the Church Year – Sunday 10 November A✠D 2024 ✠ Psalmody: Psalm 31:9a, 15b, 17a; 1–2a, 5, 24;74:4, 2a;46:4 ✠ Lection: Job 14:1–6;1 Thessalonians 4:13-18;Matthew 24:15-28 (Sermon by guest Pastor Rev. George Hansell. Transcribed by turboscribe.ai.) Grace, mercy, joy, and peace be multiplied unto you from God our Father and from our crucified, risen, and ascended Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. The text for our meditation this morning is taken from Saint Paul’s first letter to the Thessalonians, the fourth chapter, verses 13 through 18. Please hear these words once again. Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleepRead More →

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Guest Pastor: Rev. Allen Lunneberg (Transcribed by TurboScribe.ai) In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen. With the approach of the closing chapters of the church year, our annual task of proclaiming the entire gospel of salvation today is given a standing ovation by the entire body of Christ. The whole church, throughout the world, of every time and every place, and as we say at the celebration of every Lord’s Supper, with angels and archangels and all the company of heaven. From Advent, through Christmas, Epiphany, through Lent and the great Holy Week, from Easter, throughRead More →

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The Commemoration of the Reformation – Sunday 27 October A✠D 2024 ✠ Psalmody: Psalm 119:46;34:1-2, 11, 22;48:1, 12-13;48:14 ✠ Lection: Revelation 14:6-7;Romans 3:19-28;St. Matthew 11:12-15 (Transcribed by TurboScribe.ai.) In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. In the revelation to Saint John, chapter 14, the apostle saw in his vision an angel flying in the midst of heaven. An angel, a messenger, bearing the message of God in the midst of heaven. The very place, if you look up to see the mid-heaven, the brightest place at which the sun shines at its midday. That is what the message thatRead More →

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The Twenty-First Sunday after Trinity – Sunday 20 October A✠D 2024 ✠ Psalmody: Esther 13:9-11; Psalm 119:1;90:1-2;125:1 ✠ Lection: Isaiah 25:6–9;Ephesians 6:10–17;St. John 4:46b–53 (Transcribed by TurboScribe.ai.) In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. As the nobleman in John chapter 4 wisely goes up to Jesus to plead with him to come down, we too are wise to do the same, to ask the Lord to come down, especially when in the hour of deepest need. That is what prayer is, to ascend with our thoughts and our hearts to heaven, to the very throne of grace, to askRead More →

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(Transcribed by TurboScribe.ai.) In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. In Ephesians chapter 5, similarly to much throughout St. Paul’s epistle to the church in Ephesus, he gives us much contrast in his language that he uses, much contrast between two opposites through admonitions and exhortations, through warnings as well as encouragements to stand to hold. Consider his words through the lens of the gospel that you heard, through the parable of our dear Lord Jesus, for St. Paul is speaking in his letter not to unbelievers but to believers. Therefore he warns and encourages Christians asRead More →

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(Transcribed by TurboScribe.ai.) In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, every present generation, in its present, bears the responsibility, yes, even the privilege, of establishing a godly legacy for those who follow. This means, of course, that life itself takes effort. Effort to cultivate joy it takes. It takes effort to grow stronger. It takes effort to stand firm. It’s only the flesh that wants to sit and to receive all good things without any effort, without putting anything forth to show the value of what is sought to be gained. Life also takes shared effort, meaningRead More →

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(Transcribed by TurboScribe.ai.) In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Who is like God? Many Old Testament names, both of people and places, are actually confessions about who God is or what God has done in a certain place. If you see a name of a place or a person in the Old Testament that ends with the letters E-L, then it’s a confession or a statement or a question about God, about what he has done, about who he is. Names like Peniel, Bethel, Ezekiel, Daniel, or Michael, or as we would say, Michael. Michael isRead More →

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(Transcribed by TurboScribe.ai.) In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. One of the greatest tactics of the enemy in our day is distraction. Distraction by politics, distraction by TV, distraction by handheld screens, distraction by social media, distraction by jobs, distraction by entertainment, distraction by hobbies, distraction by leisure, distraction by on and on and on in a land with so great many things, the list surely is endless. From what have these things distracted us? We’ve become distracted from the table fellowship of Christ our Lord. Table fellowship can be understood in this way when IRead More →

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(Transcribed by TurboScribe.ai.) In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints. This is what Psalm 116 says. So why then, if it’s precious in his sight, does Jesus reverse this? If this is his saint being carried out of Nain, why does he then raise him from the dead? We all have grieved over death coming very near to us, or we still do now. Most certainly, we will. This cannot be denied in this life that death does come near, both to us andRead More →

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(Transcribed by TurboScribe.ai.) In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Let us not be like the Jews in John chapter 8 and assert that we have never been in bondage to everyone. For everybody this most certainly is not true, that we have not nor have we never been in bondage. We are all in bondage, in bondage to something or in bondage to someone. We are all slaves. We all serve a God. Even the atheists who deny that they serve a God, indeed whatever they look to for their happiness, their joy, their contentment, theirRead More →

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The Thirteenth Sunday after Trinity – Sunday 25 August A✠D 2024 ✠ Psalmody: Psalm 74:20a, 21a, 22a, 23a;88:1 ✠ Lection: Leviticus 19:9-18;Galatians 3:16–22;St. Luke 10:23–37   (**Preached from an outline, so no manuscript is available to post. The transcript below was generated by turboscribe.ai**) In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. A certain lawyer asked Jesus, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? What shall you do to inherit eternal life? It’s a good question to ask, although in asking it, as the lawyer did, is slightly askew in thinking, what do I do to inherit eternal life? ButRead More →

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The Twelfth Sunday after Trinity – Sunday 18 August A✠D 2024 ✠ Psalmody: Psalm 70:1-2a;70:2b, 4a, 5b;34:1-2;81:1 ✠ Lection: Isaiah 29:17–24;2 Corinthians 3:4-11;Mark 7:31-37 In the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Old Testament saints, those who before the first advent of Christ had faith in Him and His redeeming work as promised of old in the Garden of Eden, were given mighty words from the Lord as is testified to throughout the Hebrew Scriptures. Through the prophets, like Isaiah as we heard this morning, magnificent proclamations and prophecies filled with hope often came to their ears throughRead More →

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The Eighth Sunday after Trinity – Sunday 21 July A✠D 2024 ✠ Psalmody: Psalm 48:9-10; 1, 3, 11, 14;31:2b, 1a;78:1 ✠ Lection: Jeremiah 23:16–29;Romans 8:12–17;Matthew 7:15–23 In the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. It’s never heard of for eyesight to naturally improve with age. As we all advance in years, such things deteriorate and most of us are bound to conclude this life under the same description as the patriarch Isaac when it is written that he was old and his eyes were so dim that he could not see. We do much to try to counterRead More →

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The Seventh Sunday after Trinity – Sunday 14 July A✠D 2024 ✠ Psalmody: Psalm 47:1, 47:3, 6-8;34:11, 5;59:1 ✠ Lection: Isaiah 62:6-12;Romans 6:19-23;St. Mark 8:1-9 In the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. From whence does your help come, all your help? Do you fear that the bounty, the provision, the health upon which you’ve grown to depend has or is depleting and you worry what shall you be able to do when certain conditions no longer exist for you in life? Indeed, challenges do come to us all, yet we are to trust not what we haveRead More →

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The Sixth Sunday after Trinity – Sunday 7 July A✠D 2024 ✠ Psalmody: Psalm 28:8-9; 28:1-2a, 7;90:13, 1-2b;31:1 ✠ Lection: Exodus 20:1-17;Romans 6:3-11;St. Matthew 5:20-26 In the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Blessed be God the Father for giving His children another day in His house where we might receive blessings from Him in His Divine Service, bestowing Christ upon us in the power of the Holy Spirit. The Lord’s Day affirms what we believe, teach, and confess as sacramental, Christ-centered, crucifix-focused Christians. We have plenty of other adjectives to boldly describe who we are, but theseRead More →

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The Third Sunday after Trinity – Sunday 16 June A✠D 2024 ✠ Psalmody: Psalm 25:16, 18;25:1-2, 5, 15, 20;55:22, 16, 18a;18:1-2a ✠ Lection: Micah 7:18-20;1 Peter 5:6-11;St. Luke 15:1-10 In the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. The historic lectionary gives us the first two of three parables in Luke chapter 15, with the last being familiar even to unbelievers in our day. Many know and use the term prodigal son, but the real treasure in the story is the faithful Father. O, that we all had earthly fathers like the one in Luke 15! Not to pronounceRead More →

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The Second Sunday after Trinity – Sunday 9 June A✠D 2024 ✠ Psalmody: Psalm 18:18b-19;18:1-2a, 27, 30a;120:1-2;7:11 ✠ Lection: Proverbs 9:1-10;1 John 3:13-18;St. Luke 14:16-24 In the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. God has instituted a great supper that hasn’t changed over time. His grace is seen in bountiful food and drink set before us at home, at altar, yet we are fed by His hand in countless ways beyond what we chew and swallow and by what we gulp down. His grace abounds, but His forgiveness is given by specific means. When we see the imageRead More →

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The First Sunday after Trinity – Sunday 2 June A✠D 2024 ✠ Psalmody: Psalm 13:5-6;1-4;41:4, 1;7:1 ✠ Lection: Deuteronomy 6:4–13; 1 John 4:8b–21; St. Luke 16:19–31 In the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. We love the here and now so much that the truth about heaven and hell don’t typically come to mind until death comes near to us; either in our own near pass to it or when a loved one’s death startles us to the impending reality that none of us live in this place forever. In those times, for passing moments at least, whatRead More →

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Holy Trinity – Sunday 26 May A✠D 2024 ✠ Psalmody: Psalm 8:1-2a, 3-5;Daniel 3:26 ✠ Lection: Isaiah 6:1-7;Romans 11:33-36;St. John 3:1-15 In the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. It’s an indescribable joy to be the one installed into the Office of the Holy Ministry, the Office instituted by God Himself, which is carried out in the lives of the Church by God the Holy Spirit Himself. The joy is immeasurable to have the honor and privilege of standing before you every Sunday morning, at the least, and beginning the Divine Service, His Divine Service of you, byRead More →

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Whitsunday (Pentecost) – Sunday 19 May A✠D 2024 ✠ Psalmody: Wisdom 1:7a, Psalm 68:3;1 ,4a, c, 11a, 33b, 35a;104:30 ✠ Lection: Genesis 11:1-9;Acts 2:1-11;St. John 14:23-31a In the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Just as the dispersal of languages from the Tower of Babel was a one-time significant event, so to was the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost in Acts, chapter two. It was the fulfillment of what our Lord had promised to His disciples as we’ve been hearing in our recent Gospel texts from John 15 and 16. The third person of the Trinity,Read More →

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Exaudi – Sunday 12 May A✠D 2024 ✠ Psalmody: Psalm 27:7a, 8, 9a;27:1, 11a, 12;47:8;St. John 14:18a, 28b, 16:22b ✠ Lection: Ezekiel 36:23a, 23c-28;1 Peter 4:7b-11;St. John 15:26—16:4a In the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. As the Lord Jesus prepared His disciples in John 15 and 16 for His death, resurrection, and ascension, He likewise prepares us by His same blessed words. We see that after His ascension, the eternal kingdom that He establishes comes by the sending of the Holy Spirit to us, the third Person of the Holy Trinity, Who bears witness to Jesus andRead More →

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Ascension – Thursday 5 May A✠D 2024 ✠ Psalmody: Acts 1:11;Psalm 47:1-2, 5;Psalm 47:5;68:18a ✠ Lection: 2 Kings 2:8–15;Acts 1:1–11;St. Mark 16:14–20  Alleluia, Christ is risen! He is risen indeed, Alleluia!   In the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. The Church is blessed with two lengthy accounts written by St. Luke. First, his Gospel text that concludes with the Ascension of our Lord. Second, the book of Acts, which begins with the Ascension of our Lord, but with different details from the Gospel, some of which give us insight into the Son of God’s intention in descending andRead More →

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Rogate – Sunday 5 May A✠D 2024 ✠ Psalmody: Isaiah 48:20b;Psalm 66:1–2a, 17, 19–20;St. John 16:28 ✠ Lection: Numbers 21:4–9;James 1:22–27;St. John 16:23b–30  Alleluia, Christ is risen! He is risen indeed, Alleluia!   In the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Most people, especially those with even the slightest amount of Christian background and learning, make a monumental assumption when we pray by expecting that God will actually hear our prayers, that He will turn His ear to listen to us. What right do we have to the ear of God? Have you ever considered that? Almighty God, littleRead More →

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Cantate – Sunday 28 April A✠D 2024 ✠ Psalmody: Psalm 98:1b, 3-4, 1a, 2b;118:16, Romans 6:9 ✠ Lection: Isaiah 12:1–6;James 1:17–21;St. John 16:5–15    Alleluia, Christ is risen! He is risen indeed, Alleluia!   In the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Within salvation and sanctification in the life of a sinner, blindness gives way to sight as a redeemed believer comes to see the unseen. This does not mean that once faith is granted to a person that he or she is then able to see demons hiding behind bushes or angels standing at the foot of the bed.Read More →

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Jubilate – Sunday 21 April A✠D 2024 ✠ Psalmody: Psalm 66:1–2; 3, 5, 8–9;111:9a, St. Luke 24:46b, 26b ✠ Lection: Isaiah 40:25–31;1 Peter 2:11–20;St. John 16:16–22 Alleluia, Christ is risen! He is risen indeed, Alleluia!   In the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Jubilate; make a joyful noise unto God, have jubilation unto God, rejoice! Advent and Lent aren’t the sole benefactors of Sundays dedicated to jubilation and rejoicing in the Lord. This one most definitely and appropriately falls here right about halfway through the Easter season, but we shall leave the pink paraments and vestments stored andRead More →

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Misericordias Domini – Sunday 14 April A✠D 2024 ✠ Psalmody: Psalm 33: 5b, 6a, 1, 18–20;St. Luke 24:35b;St. John 10:14 ✠ Lection: Ezekiel 34:11–16;1 Peter 2:21b–25;St. John 10:11–16  Alleluia, Christ is risen! He is risen indeed, Alleluia!   In the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Jesus Christ is the Good Shepherd, and the earth is full of the misericordias Domini, the goodness of the Lord. It is full of His mercy, for by His merciful works, our eyes have seen and our ears have heard His goodness toward us. Though we have not seen like Thomas, Peter, James,Read More →

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Quasimodo Geniti – Sunday 7 April A✠D 2024 ✠ Psalmody: 1 Peter 2:2a; Psalm 81:1, 7, 10, 16b;St. Matthew 28:7b; St. John 20:26a, c ✠ Lection: Ezekiel 37:1-14;1 John 5:4-10a;St. John 20:19-31  Alleluia, Christ is risen! He is risen indeed, Alleluia!   In the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Nearly all fear is unwarranted, regardless of the threats of this world, and regardless of our misconstrued fears of God Himself. Nearly all fear is unwarranted, especially for the Christian heart, especially in the fresh news of Christ’s resurrection from the dead. His victory over the grave is notRead More →

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Easter Day – Sunday 31 March A✠D 2024 ✠ Psalmody: St. Luke 24:5b-6b; Psalm 118:24, 1;1 Corinthians 5:7, 8 ✠ Lection: Job 19:23-27;1 Corinthians 5:7-8;St. Mark 16:1-8 In the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Hopefully you’ve come to God’s Divine Service on Easter Day to hear of victory in a world where you’re constantly being bombarded with and conditioned to believe in a life of loss. If you’ve come looking for how there is victory in a world of so much apparent defeat, then the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ is it, singularly, as in, thereRead More →

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Sermon: The reading of the Passion: Good Friday – Friday 29 March A✠D 2024 ✠ Psalmody: Psalm 22, 2, 27, 51 ✠ Lection: St. John 18:1—19:42 In the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. We stand peering in darkness at the pinnacle of salvation’s story. If we had been there, on Golgotha, on the day our Lord hung from the cross, then the three hours of darkness would be a sign far greater than any rush to spectacle in a three-minute solar eclipse, for even the smaller event heeds a call to repent and to diligently seek theRead More →

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Maundy Thursday – Thursday 28 March A✠D 2024 ✠ Psalmody: Galatians 6:14b; Psalm 67:1–3, 6b–7;Philippians 2:8b-9;Psalm 111:4–5; John 6:55–56 ✠ Lection: Exodus 24:3–11;1 Corinthians 11:20–32;John 13:1–15 In the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Oh, how rich and delightful is the family meal at the Table of our Lord when more are able to join in. This night, on which we remember the betrayal of our Lord Jesus Christ and His institution of Holy Communion, we at Our Savior shall welcome two young children from among us to receive their Savior’s Body and Blood for the first time.Read More →

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Sermon: The reading of the Passion: Palmarum – Sunday 24 March A✠D 2024 ✠ Psalmody: Psalm 22:19, 21;22:1, 7-8, 11;73:23b-24, 1-3;22: 1, 6, 19, 22, 31 ✠ Lection: Exodus 15:27—16:7a; Luke 19:29–40;Philippians 2:5-11;Matthew 26:1-27:66 In the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. By your mouths this morning, you spoke harrowing words about the Lord Jesus, saying, “Let Him be crucified!…Let Him be crucified!” We not only consider this Palm Sunday, but The Sunday of the Passion, because by entering into Holy Week, the Church has historically used this Sunday to begin reading in its gatherings the Passion accountsRead More →

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Judica Mid-Week – Wednesday 20 March A✠D 2024 ✠ Psalmody: Psalm 43:1-2a;43:3-5;143:9a, 10a;18:48a, c;129:1-4 ✠ Lection: Leviticus 19:1-2a, 10b-19a, 25b; St. John 10:22-38 In the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Those who believe Jesus, follow Jesus. They say rightly that He is a king. For this cause He was born, and for this cause He has come into the world, that He should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears the voice of Jesus. As He taught truth, He was confronted, He was surrounded by those who question Who He is, thusRead More →

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Judica – Sunday 17 March A✠D 2024 ✠ Psalmody: Psalm 43:1-2a;43:3-5;143:9a, 10a;18:48a, c;129:1-4 ✠ Lection: Genesis 22:1-19;Hebrews 9:11-15;St. John 8:46-59a In the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. It is truly meet, right, and salutary that we should at all times and in all places venerate the crucifix, which depicts the death of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is also truly meet, right, and salutary to consider and repeatedly consider the beautiful symbolism that we employ in our worship and in our daily lives as Christians. We often adorn our own bodies with small crucifixes hung from ourRead More →

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Laetare Mid-Week – Wednesday 13 March A✠D 2024 ✠ Psalmody: Isaiah 66:10a, 11a;Psalm 122:1-2, 6, 8;122:1, 7;125:1-2 ✠ Lection: Ezekiel 36:23a, 23c–28; Isaiah 1:16-19; St. John 9:1-38   In the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Rejoice ye with Jerusalem, and be glad with her, all ye that love her: that ye may suck, and be satisfied with the breasts of her consolations. Children receive the satisfying nourishment from their mother, and, as we heard on Laetare, we are fed and sustained by the Food that comes down to us from above. The Jerusalem above is free, which isRead More →

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Laetare – Sunday 10 March A✠D 2024 ✠ Psalmody: Isaiah 66:10a, 11a;Psalm 122:1-2, 6, 8;122:1, 7;125:1-2 ✠ Lection: Exodus 16:2-21;Galatians 4:22—5:1a;St. John 6:1-15 In the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Rejoice and be glad in Jesus, priceless treasure, fount of purest pleasure, for He pours down enduring abundance from heaven for you in His good gifts of Word and Sacrament. In a world where you need more than bread alone, He feeds you with every word that proceeds out of His mouth. He feeds you with what you need to endure, to thrive, to build one anotherRead More →

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Oculi Mid-week – Wednesday 6 March A✠D 2024 ✠ Psalmody: Psalm 25:15-16;25:1-2, 17-18, 20;9:19, 3;123:1-3 ✠ Lection: Exodus 20:12–24a;St. Matthew 15:1–20 In the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. To eat with unwashed hands does not defile a man, yet our modern minds kind of half agree with the scribes and Pharisees that it’s a bad idea not to wash our hands before we eat. After all, haven’t we been enlightened to know that there are microscopic dangers lurking about waiting for us to forgetfully not wash our hands so that they can get us and make usRead More →

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Oculi – Sunday 3 March A✠D 2024 ✠ Psalmody: Psalm 25:15-16;25:1-2, 17-18, 20;9:19, 3;123:1-3 ✠ Lection: Exodus 8:16-24;Ephesians 5:1-9;St. Luke 11:14-28 In the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Mine eyes are ever toward the LORD; Look upon mine affliction and my pain; And forgive all my sins. We beseech You, almighty God, to look upon the hearty desires of Your humble servants; Unto thee lift I up mine eyes, O thou that dwellest in the heavens. Behold, as the eyes of servants look unto the hand of their masters, And as the eyes of a maiden untoRead More →

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Reminiscere Mid-week – Wednesday 28 February A✠D 2024 ✠ Psalmody: Psalm 25:1–2a, 7–8, 11; antiphon: vv. 6, 2b, 22;Psalm 25:17–18;Psalm 106:1–4 ✠ Lection: Esther 13:8-11, 15-17 (Apocryphal); St. Matthew 20:17-28    In the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Faith not only peers into the unseen with hope, but it endures, yea, it embraces the seen as part of Christ’s work; not the wickedness of this evil age, but the Lord’s use of it, especially in service to one another. Only He can take what is meant for evil and make it for good. He makes it for goodRead More →

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Reminiscere – Sunday 25 February A✠D 2024 ✠ Psalmody: Psalm 25:6, 2b, 22;25:1-2a, 7-8, 11;25:17-18;106:1-4 ✠ Lection: Genesis 32:22-32;1 Thessalonians 4:1-7;St. Matthew 15:21-28 In the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. In contrast to last Sunday, when we praised Jesus as our Champion, as our Victor, as He was led into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil and overcame him by the word that proceeds from His mouth, today we see Jesus conquered. Twice. It was His will in both instances that this happened. It was His will that Jacob prevailed over Him, even after inflictingRead More →

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Invocavit Mid-week – Wednesday 21 February A✠D 2024 ✠ Psalmody: Psalm 91:15a, c, 16;91:1-2, 9-10, 13;91:11–12;91:1, 2 4a ✠ Lection: Exodus 24:12–18;1 Kings 19:3b–8;St. Matthew 12:38–50 In the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. When we gather around the Table of Christ to taste forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation, to receive into our own person eternity, let us not take even a singular moment for granted. Repent for any moment that you take God and His gifts for granted as He brings heaven to earth in His Divine Service. Turn and ever lift up your hearts toRead More →

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Invocavit – Sunday 18 February A✠D 2024 ✠ Psalmody: Psalm 91:15a, c, 16;91:1-2, 9-10, 13;91:11–12;91:1, 2, 4a ✠ Lection: Genesis 3:1-21;2 Corinthians 6:1-10;St. Matthew 4:1-11 In the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Through one man’s offense judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation. This is what happened in the Garden when the serpent of old deceived our first parents. The devil is a created being, so taking on the Creator head-to-head in a battle of opposing strength or might is obviously, even in a fallen angel’s eyes, foolish with no possibility of success. In order toRead More →

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Ash Wednesday – Wednesday 14 February A✠D 2024 ✠ Psalmody: Psalm 69:16,1;31:2b–3;1, 5, 9, 16;57:1a, 3a;103:10;79:8, 9 ✠ Lection: Joel 2:12–19;2 Peter 1:2–11;St. Matthew 6:16-21 In the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Hypocrisy is very rewarding, especially if you’re good at it. To be a hypocrite is to be aware, to acknowledge, to desire something that is good and to do what is necessary to obtain it. In and of itself, such a tactic in life isn’t necessarily bad. If we see godly virtue as that which is good, then it is wise to pursue it, toRead More →

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Quinquagesima – Sunday 11 February A✠D 2024 ✠ Psalmody: Psalm 18:5-6a, 49;18:1-2a, 27, 32;77:14-15;100:1-3 ✠ Lection: Isaiah 35:3-7;1 Corinthians 13:1-13;St. Luke 18:31-43 In the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. By this day’s end, you will have had but a mere 11 Sundays in which to prepare for your coming King, to celebrate His Holy Nativity, to follow the Magi by faith, to ascend to the Mount of Transfiguration with the disciples, and to prepare for the journey of Lent that will bring us to Jerusalem with Jesus. A late start to Advent followed by an early EasterRead More →

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Sexagesima – Sunday 4 February A✠D 2024 ✠ Psalmody: Psalm 44:23, 25a, 26a;1–2, 7–8;83:18, 13;60:1–2, 5 ✠ Lection: Isaiah 55:10–13;2 Corinthians 11:19—12:9;St. Luke 8:4–15 In the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Our dear Lord Jesus graciously tells His disciples and us that the seed that is sown in the parable is the Word of God. His parables do have meanings in them that are for our understanding, by the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit to understand spiritual things, but the same meanings are hidden from those who do not believe. This means that the parables are forRead More →

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Candlemas – Friday 2 February A✠D 2024 ✠ Psalmody: Psalm 48:9;Psalm 48:1–3, 8;Psalm 48:1, 8a, 9;St. Luke 2:34b ✠ Lection: Malachi 3:1–4;Hebrews 2:14–18;St. Luke 2:22–32 In the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. One thing I have desired of the LORD,That will I seek:That I may dwell in the house of the LORDAll the days of my life,To behold the beauty of the LORD,And to inquire in His temple. On this Friday evening, we are here inquiring in His temple, seeking and desiring the LORD; this is good. Fridays can be holy, too, as we learn in theRead More →

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Septuagesima – Sunday 28 January A✠D 2024 ✠ Psalmody: Psalm 18:5-6a;1–2a, 27, 32, 49;9:9–10, 18–19a;130:1–4 ✠ Lection: Daniel 9:2-10;1 Corinthians 9:24—10:4;St. Matthew 20:1–16 In the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. How is it that you might come down from the Transfiguration mount with and in your Lord Jesus, and traverse life’s valleys of cross and suffering? These three Sundays of Pre-Lent teach you foundational truths about the Christian faith that are meant to strengthen and encourage you in body and soul so that you may endure. My opening question assumes much. It was only God and HisRead More →

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The Transfiguration of Our Lord – Sunday 21 January A✠D 2024 ✠ Psalmody: Psalm 77:18b;84:1–2a, 4, 10–11;45:2a;110:1;96:2–3 ✠ Lection: Exodus 34:29–35;2 Peter 1:16–21;St. Matthew 17:1–9 In the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. As with Saints Peter, James, and John, the Lord has been showing and teaching us much as He’s brought us to His Transfiguration. Our flight up to the top of this mountain of remembrance has been swift, being that it was still but a month ago that we were preparing to celebrate the Nativity of our Lord. And here we are today closing out EpiphanyRead More →

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The Baptism of Our Lord – Sunday 14 January A✠D 2024 ✠ Psalmody: Psalm 89:20;89:1, 26-28;72:18–19;143:10 ✠ Lection: Isaiah 42:1-7;1 Corinthians 1:26-31;St. Matthew 3:13-17 In the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Be not thou far from me, O LORD: O my strength, haste thee to help me. The psalmist David spoke these prophetic words that became the prayer of our dear Lord as He neared His death upon the cross. Likewise, the Holy Spirit inspired them that they may be our own, too. Do you ever pray asking God to not be far from you, but nearRead More →

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The Epiphany of Our Lord – Sunday 7 January A✠D 2024 ✠ Psalmody: Psalm 72:1, 2, 10-11;Isaiah 60:6b, 1;St. Matthew 2:2b ✠ Lection: Isaiah 60:1–6;Ephesians 3:2-12;St. Matthew 2:1–12 In the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Behold, the LORD and the Ruler is come: and the kingdom is in His hand, and power, and dominion. Now, for more than a month, we have begun this new Church Year by the preparation of Advent leading into the joys of Christmastide, praising our coming King Jesus at His birth, wrestling with the signs that He brings, especially within our ownRead More →

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The First Sunday after Christmas – Sunday 31 December A✠D 2023 ✠ Psalmody: Psalm 93:5, 2; 1, 3–4;45:2a, 1b;93:1 ✠ Lection: Jeremiah 31:31-34;Galatians 4:1–7;St. Luke 2:33-40 In the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Christmastime is not immune to controversy nor to conflict. Overall, most people tend to be nicer, more giving, jollier than at other times of the year, yet we know, some by very close and personal experience, that controversy and conflict can happen anywhere and anytime people are involved. As we have heard, so have we seen that we have the most certain Reason, theRead More →

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The Nativity of Our Lord – Monday 25 December A✠D 2023 ✠ Psalmody: Isaiah 9:6;Psalm 98:1-4;118:26a, 27a, 23 ✠ Lection: Isaiah 52:6–10;Hebrews 1:1-12;St. John 1:1–14 In the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. To what shall we compare this generation? It is like a guest invited to and seated at a great banquet feast and yet proceeds to ignore the Table and eat from the gruel in the dog’s bowl. We shall not completely disparage the gruel, for is it not also provision from the Lord’s hand? Likewise, we shall not disparage the gift of family and presentsRead More →

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Vigil of the nativity – Sunday 24 December A✠D 2023 ✠ Psalmody: Psalm 2:6-7;24:1, 3-5;98:3b–4a, 2;2:7 ✠ Lection: Isaiah 62:1–4a;Romans 1:1–6;St. Matthew 1:18b–21 In the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Blessed Advent and Merry Christmas! What we experience today is a liturgical oddity that is infrequently seen, but oddity may convey a shred of negativity. Let us not at all be negative on this Eve of the Holy Nativity of Our Lord that is also the fourth and final Sunday in Advent. When that fourth Sunday falls on December 24th, the Church has historically observed an interestingRead More →

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Gaudete Midweek – Wednesday 20 December A✠D 2023 ✠ Psalmody: Philippians 4:4-5;Psalm 85:1, 2, 6, 8;80:1–2;80:2b ✠ Lection: Isaiah 2:2-5;Isaiah 7:10-15;St. Luke 1:26-28a In the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. We like to give up. Not only in easy, permissible times, such as Advent midweek meals, but in important matters, especially if suffering is involved or if we don’t see any reward or payoff coming from us sucking it up and putting in honest effort. Some of us give up more quickly than others, but for each one of us, there is something or somethings that canRead More →

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Gaudete – Sunday 17 December A✠D 2023 ✠ Psalmody: Philippians 4:4-5;Psalm 85:1, 2, 6, 8;80:1–2;80:2b ✠ Lection: Isaiah 40:1-8;1 Corinthians 4:1-5;St. Matthew 11:2-10 In the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Do you rejoice in the Lord always? It’s quite a steep and startling admonition by St. Paul, is it not? Always is as often as often can get. So, how about ever? Do you ever rejoice in the Lord? Do you ever find yourself optimistic about what He has done in you and has in store for you ahead? Do you see your remaining time in thisRead More →

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Populus Zion Midweek – Wednesday 13 December A✠D 2023 ✠ Psalmody: Isaiah 62:11;30:30, 29;Psalm 80: 1, 3, 14, 17;50:2-3, 5;St. Luke 21:26b-27 ✠ Lection: Malachi 3:1-5;4:5-6a; St. Matthew 11:11-15            In the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. As this Adventide is already half-over, we prepare for our coming Lord further by examining our life, our very existence, in the kingdom, in the reign, of heaven, for, indeed, He draws near. We hear what our dear Lord tells us about the Day that has come and in which we now live. Many in the Church like the words fromRead More →

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Populus Zion – Sunday 10 December A✠D 2023 ✠ Psalmody: Isaiah 62:11;30:30, 29;Psalm 80: 1, 3, 14, 17;50:2-3, 5;St. Luke 21:26b-27 ✠ Lection: Song of Songs 2:8b-14;Romans 15:4-13;St. Luke 21:25-33 In the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Behold, your King is coming to you and He brings with Him the Kingdom of Heaven. He has come to draw near to us who have distanced ourselves from Him, but He has yet brought the Kingdom in its full measure or else it would have been of no use for us to confess our sins this morning. When theRead More →

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Wednesday of Ad Te Levavi – 6 December A✠D 2023 ✠ Psalmody: Psalm 25:1-3a;25:4–5, 21–22;25:3-4;85:7 ✠ Lection: James 5:7–10; St. Matthew 3:1–6 In the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand! Don’t be scared. Don’t shrink back from this stern warning coupled with its awful, awesome reason. Remember that your King comes to you not to condemn you but to save you; not to break you or quench you like a bruised reed or a smoldering wick, but to lift you up from the darkness of this world; to satisfyRead More →

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Ad Te Levavi – Sunday 3 December A✠D 2023 ✠ Psalmody: Psalm 25:1-3a;25:4–5, 21–22;25:3-4;85:7 ✠ Lection: Jeremiah 23:5–8;Romans 13:11-14;St. Matthew 21:1–9 In the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Behold, your King is coming to you! Two weeks ago on the Second Last Sunday in the Church Year, we were reminded of how terrifying the truth of the King coming on the Last Day will be for the goats, the unbelievers, who will be cast away from the glorious presence of God into everlasting punishment. But the righteous, the sheep, the blessed of the Father, will be welcomedRead More →

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Thanksgiving – Wednesday 22 November A✠D 2023 ✠ Psalmody: Psalm 150:6;150:2, 1;145:15-16;103:1-2 ✠ Lection: Deuteronomy 8:1-10;1 Timothy 2:1-8;St. Luke 17:11-19 In the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. It is good to give thanks to the LORD; to sing praises to Your Name, O Most High; to herald Your love in the morning, Your truth at the close of the day. Thus here we are on this eve of our national day of Thanksgiving. Though we would contend with the Pilgrims on multiple points of doctrine, we would not deny them to be Christian brothers and sisters. ThereforeRead More →

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The Second Last Sunday – Sunday 19 November A✠D 2023 ✠ Psalmody: Psalm 54:1–2;3–5, 7;50:4, 6;Isaiah 35:10a ✠ Lection: Daniel 7:9-14;2 Peter 3:3-14;St. Matthew 25:31-46 In the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. The Son of Man, the Son of God, will come again in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, and He will sit on the throne of His glory. Much like our preparation when a guest is coming to our home, especially an honored guest, so may the Final Day bring about both excitement and anxious fear. Is everything in order? Have IRead More →

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Reformation – Sunday 29 October A✠D 2023 ✠ Psalmody: Psalm 119:46;34:1-2, 11, 22;48:1, 12-13;48:14 ✠ Lection: Revelation 14:6-7;Romans 3:19-28;St. Matthew 11:12-19 In the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. He who has ears to hear, let him hear! Hear what? Hear how? For do not all with functioning ear lobes and drums hear when things are spoken? Do not all with ears that work hear it when the truth of God is proclaimed? Yes, they do. Yes, you do. But there’s a big cliff just inside the ear, a chasm between ear and heart into which our fleshRead More →

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The Twentieth Sunday after Trinity – Sunday 22 October A✠D 2023 ✠ Psalmody: Psalm 48:1, 9–11;145:15–16;130:1–2a ✠ Lection: Isaiah 54:17b—55:11;Ephesians 5:15–21;Matthew 22:1–14 In the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. The Lord Jesus spoke a parable about the kingdom of heaven to the chief priests and Pharisees. In it, He teaches about how this marvelous kingdom comes and how it will come in its full, unbridled measure on the Last Day. Tucked into the parable are truths hidden from eyes that cannot see, but revealed for the comfort and assurance to those of us whom the Holy SpiritRead More →

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The Nineteenth Sunday after Trinity – Sunday 15 October A✠D 2023 ✠ Psalmody: Psalm 35:3b;34:17a, 6b;48:14a;78:1–3, 4b;141:1–2;98:1a ✠ Lection: Isaiah 44:21–23;Ephesians 4:22–28;Matthew 9:1–8 In the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Which is easier when crossing a small sea: to get into a boat powered only by wind in its sail and human muscle thrusting it forward by the use of paddles and oars as it fights the imbalance of waves, the heat of the sun, opposing headwinds, and whatever else comes in Creation’s demand for submission to its might; or, to walk at a leisurely pace acrossRead More →

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The Eighteenth Sunday after Trinity – Sunday 8 October A✠D 2023 ✠ Psalmody: Ecclesiasticus 36:21-22a; Psalm 122:1, 6, 8-9;122:1, 7;130:1-2a ✠ Lection: Deut. 10:12-21;1 Cor. 1:4-8;St. Matthew 22:34-46 In the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. The will of God is always best and He has revealed His will to us in His Holy Word in both Law and Gospel. We are not to pit these two against one another as if they are opposed or as if there is any variation or shadow of turning with God and with what He says. He has given us bothRead More →

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The Seventeenth Sunday after Trinity – Sunday 1 October A✠D 2023 ✠ Psalmody: Psalm 119:137, 124; 1–2, 5–6;33:12, 6;116:1 ✠ Lection: Proverbs 25:6–14;Ephesians 4:1–6;Luke 14:1–11 In the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. We all want the world to be a better place, or at least a good place by what we each understand as good, which would mean a betterment of it if we’re not there yet by our individual measures. If we say that we desire unity among all peoples, then here it is: we all want something better. We’re at least unified in that desire.Read More →

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St. Michael and All Angels – Friday 29 September A✠D 2023 ✠ Psalmody: Psalm 103:20;103:1, 21-22; 91:11;103:1; Revelation 12:11 ✠ Lection: Daniel 12:1–3; Revelation 12:7–12a; St. Matthew 18:1-11 In the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. When we consider the might of St. Michael and all angels to keep charge over us and to keep us in all our ways, we consider the source of their power and ours: God Himself. For without Him all created beings would claw and scrape only by their own strength and power. Therefore, we must consider what war is fought in RevelationRead More →

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The Sixteenth Sunday after Trinity – Sunday 24 September A✠D 2023 ✠ Psalmody: Psalm 86:3, 5;86:1, 7, 12–13;102:15-16;114:1-2 ✠ Lection: 1 Kings 17:17-24;Ephesians 3:13–21;St. Luke 7:11-16 In the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. He has created each person with his and her own unique stations in life, capable to be fulfilled at times only by, and at other times definitely better by, each of the individual two sexes. The grunt work, the physical labor, the headshipRead More →

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The Fifteenth Sunday after Trinity – Sunday 17 September A✠D 2023 ✠ Psalmody: Psalm 86:1a, 2b, 3;86:4, 6, 15a, 16;118:8-9;57:7 ✠ Lection: 1 Kings 17:8–16;Galatians 5:25—6:10;Matt. 6:24–34 In the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other.” The Lord Jesus makes it explicitly clear what two masters we sinners commonly try to have and serve simultaneously: God and mammon, that is, money. What does it mean to serve mammon? NoneRead More →

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The Fourteenth Sunday after Trinity – Sunday 10 September A✠D 2023 ✠ Psalmody: Psalm 84:9-10a;84:1-2a, 4, 10-11b;92:1-2;65:1 ✠ Lection: Proverbs 4:10-23;Galatians 5:16-24;St. Luke 17:11-19 In the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. None of us enjoys mundane or lackluster worship, hymns, or sermons. Neither do or should any of us desire a hum-drum, boring God. Who among us is actually okay or content with the feeling of not being excited to go to church or content with valuing it so little to think that it doesn’t really matter whether we gather regularly or not? Who actually wants suchRead More →

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The Thirteenth Sunday after Trinity – Sunday 27 August A✠D 2023 ✠ Psalmody: Psalm 74:20a, 21a, 22a, 23a;88:1 ✠ Lection: Leviticus 19:9-18;Galatians 3:16–22;St. Luke 10:23–37 In the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Consider Moses, Isaiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, Elijah, and Elisha; big names, maybe lofty names in your minds, renowned prophets of old that received word from the LORD and faithfully delivered it to the people often causing the prophets honorable suffering of harm, ridicule, and persecution. Consider David, Solomon, Hezekiah, and Josiah: more great and lofty names; magnificent kings among the other wretches of the Old Testament,Read More →

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The Twelfth Sunday after Trinity – Sunday 27 August A✠D 2023 ✠ Psalmody: Psalm 70:1-2a;70:2b, 4a, 5b;34:1-2;81:1 ✠ Lection: Isaiah 29:17–24;2 Corinthians 3:4-11;Mark 7:31-37 In the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Disabilities that plague the human body and mind are not uncommon among us. In quite humbling ways, they become scenarios through which God teaches us to love one another, for it is He Who has first loved us as He looked upon us all who are burdened with the corrupting disability of sin. By the new heart that He gives, what were once only thoughts ofRead More →

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The Tenth Sunday after Trinity – Sunday 13 August A✠D 2023 ✠ Psalmody: Psalm 55:16a, 17b, 18a, 22a;55:1, 4-5, 16;17:8, 2;88:1 ✠ Lection: Jeremiah 7:1-11;1 Corinthians 12:2-11;Luke 19:41-48 In the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. As Jesus drew near Jerusalem, He saw the city and wept over it, speaking words of lament and woe that ended with, “because you did not know τὸν καιρὸν τῆς ἐπισκοπῆς σου (because you did not know the time of your visitation).” I bring up the Greek because that next to last word ἐπισκοπῆς, or visitation, is the same root from whichRead More →

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The Ninth Sunday after Trinity – Sunday 6 August A✠D 2023 ✠ Psalmody: Psalm 54:4-5; 54:1-3, 7;8:1;112:1 ✠ Lection: Proverbs 16:1-9;1 Corinthians 10:6b-13;Luke 16:1-9 In the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. The unjust steward is a marvelous parable, just as are all those given to us from the mouth of our Lord Jesus Christ. In our annual encounter with it, as with all parables, we must continue to remember to seek first what is being taught to us about God, and, only then, secondly what a godly response from us would look like. Without the prior, theRead More →

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The Seventh Sunday after Trinity – Sunday 23 July A✠D 2023 ✠ Psalmody: Psalm 47:1, 47:3, 6-8;34:11, 5;59:1 ✠ Lection: Isaiah 62:6-12;Romans 6:19-23;St. Mark 8:1-9 In the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Following Jesus in this life brings about many challenges. Those challenges wouldn’t exist if there were no devil, world, or sinful nature, but since those three are at constant work against God and the new creations into which He has made us, everyday struggles abound. This is sure to be true when we consider the places from which we have come, that is, being conceivedRead More →

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The Sixth Sunday after Trinity – Sunday 16 July A✠D 2023 ✠ Psalmody: Psalm 28:8-9; 28:1-2a, 7;90:13, 1-2b;31:1 ✠ Lection: Exodus 20:1-17;Romans 6:3-11;St. Matthew 5:20-26 In the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. There is no drudgery on any Sunday with which our dear Lord has blessed us, even if it occurs during the long, green, often times quite hot and humid, season of Trinity. Rather what we are given in our propers this morning is a rich dose of the Catechism. We, as Lutherans, worship neither Luther nor his most beneficial little book of Christian teaching, butRead More →

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The Fifth Sunday after Trinity – Sunday 9 July A✠D 2023 ✠ Psalmody: Psalm 27:7a, 9b;27:1a, 11-12, 14;84:9, 8;21:1 ✠ Lection: 1 Kings 19:11-21;1 Peter 3:8-15;St. Luke 5:1-11 In the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Christians, even the pious ones who read the Scriptures while outside the walls of the church, who pray in bad times and in good, who honestly seek to live by the Holy Word handed down from the prophets and apostles, even those Christians need constant reminding of the teachings of the one true faith. And what does that say about us all?Read More →

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The Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary – Sunday 2 July A✠D 2023 ✠ Psalmody: St. Luke 1:46b–47;1 Samuel 2:1–2, 7–8;Psalm 103:2; 105:5;100:4;St. Luke 1:45 ✠ Lection: Song of Solomon 2:8b–14;Romans 12:9-16;St. Luke 1:39-56 In the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Remember our dear sister Elizabeth’s situation leading up to six months prior to the Blessed Virgin visiting her home in the hill country of Judea. She was far beyond any feasible child-bearing years; an obvious many number of them married to Zechariah, which normally would’ve been plenty of opportunity for childbearing, but not only was sheRead More →

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The Presentation of the Augsburg Confession – Sunday 25 June A✠D 2023 ✠ Psalmody: Psalm 119:46;34:1–2, 11, 22;48:1a, 12–14a;Luke 12:32 ✠ Lection: Nehemiah 8:1–10;1 Timothy 6:11–16;St. Matthew 10:26b–33 In the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Many Christians celebrate, remember, and give thanks for the event that took place on October 31, 1517 when Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses to the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg. They consider it the genesis of what came to be whatever doctrinal belief system to which they belong. Arminians, Calvinists, Baptists, Presbyterians: they all have no qualm with sayingRead More →

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The Second Sunday after Trinity – Sunday 18 June A✠D 2023 ✠ Psalmody: Psalm 18:18b-19;18:1-2a, 27, 30a;120:1-2;7:11 ✠ Lection: Proverbs 9:1-10;1 John 3:13-18;St. Luke 14:16-24 In the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. The sense of urgency is a feeling that comes about in all people, even if it’s something small and simple as hurrying to straighten out the living room right before guests arrive, unloading the final bags of groceries as rain clouds loom and thunder rolls, or finally pulling the weeds when we notice that they now tower higher than our vegetable plants or flowers. ButRead More →

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Holy Trinity – Sunday 4 June A✠D 2023 ✠ Psalmody: Psalm 8:1-2a, 3-5;Daniel 3:26 ✠ Lection: Isaiah 6:1-7;Romans 11:33-36;St. John 3:1-15 In the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. How can these things be? Nicodemus asked this after the Lord Jesus told him one of the very basics of the Christian faith. At first, the man had played dumb, but by this point in the conversation, maybe he truly was dumbfounded by how both profound and how simple it was what Jesus was saying. It’s not all that hard to be overwhelmed by the infinite truths about AlmightyRead More →

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Whitsunday – Sunday 28 May A✠D 2023 ✠ Psalmody: Wisdom 1:7a, Psalm 68:3;1 ,4a, c, 11a, 33b, 35a;104:30 ✠ Lection: Genesis 11:1-9;Acts 2:1-11;St. John 14:23-31a In the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. We are not to be confused about the work of the Holy Spirit. Too many have come to either deny that He is truly the Third Person of the Blessed Holy Trinity or that His work among us is one divine life coach, crystal-ball-ish revealer, or frenzy-causing motivator. St. John is clear, by the revelation of the Holy Spirit, of what the Third Person comesRead More →

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Exaudi – Sunday 21 May A✠D 2023 ✠ Psalmody: Psalm 27:7a, 8, 9a;27:1, 11a, 12;47:8;St. John 14:18a, 28b, 16:22b ✠ Lection: Ezekiel 36:23a, 23c-28;1 Peter 4:7b-11;St. John 15:26—16:4a Alleluia, Christ is risen! He is risen indeed, Alleluia!   In the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. I hope that the joy of the Lord has been with you in this glorious Eastertide that has been full of renewed celebration, singing, praying, and rejoicing as you’ve been constantly reminded that and how the Lord God is your strength and your song, and He has become your salvation. To draw thisRead More →

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Ascension – Thursday 18 May A✠D 2023 ✠ Psalmody: Acts 1:11;Psalm 47:1-2, 5;Psalm 47:5;68:18a ✠ Lection: 2 Kings 2:8–15;Acts 1:1–11;St. Mark 16:14–20  Alleluia, Christ is risen! He is risen indeed, Alleluia!   In the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. To remember our crucified, risen, and ascended Lord is to remember the blessed Holy Baptism with which He has instituted and gifted to us. The end of St. Mark’s gospel urges our hearts to have faith in that which Christ has done and has given. Our trek through this joyous season had us in the first part of MarkRead More →