“By the Grace of God” Galatians 3:23-29 New Year’s Day The Circumcision of Our Lord January 1, 2017   Playing by the Rules New Year’s Resolutions: good or bad? On the good side, I’m all for people bettering themselves. Face it: bad habits don’t require willpower or planning. We just slip into t

Luke 3:15-22 The Baptism of Our Lord Epiphany January 8, 2017 The Word of the Lord from John 3: “He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.” The First Baptism, Leading to the Second What in the world is Jesus doing? Clearly, He’s getting baptized. But why? This baptism that John preache

The Fellowship of the Lamb (1 Corinthians 1:1-9) 2 Epiphany January 15, 2017 Dear Friends in Christ, If you and I were roommates, would we still be talking to each other? Set gender aside for the moment. But if you and I spent that much time in the same place, would we still be friends?  Maybe we’ll

WITH GREAT BOLDNESS Sermon for January 22, 2017 The Confession of St. Peter (observed) Matthew 16:13-19 “Who do people say the Son of Man is?”  That sounds like the kind of question you might get when someone is taking an opinion poll.  Opinion polls are very popular these days. Companies and organi

“The Cross — Foolishness or Wisdom” 1 Corinthians 1:22-25 January 29, 2017 Dear Friends in Christ, Jews and Gentiles, Signs and Wisdom “Show us a sign, Paul.” The apostle could count on those words, more or less, whenever he preached in a synagogue. His fellow Jews had some specifi

The Law Fulfilled Matthew 5:13-20 Epiphany 5 The Word of the Lord from Matthew 5:17: Jesus said, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.” The Back Door Attack on the Gospel It’s no secret that church attendance and churc

Law and Gospel Applied Matthew 5:21-37 6 Epiphany A February 12, 2017   The Word of the Lord from Matthew 5:21: “But I say to you.” This is the Word of the Lord. Three Foundational Teachings Jesus is still teaching His disciples about the Law in our Gospel lesson for today. In part, He continue

Essentials and Non-Essentials 1 Corinthians 3:10-23 7 Epiphany A The Word of the Lord from 1 Corinthians 3: “For God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple.” This is the Word of the Lord.   Dear Friends in Christ, There are essentials, and there are non-essentials. A car has to have things l

A Glimpse of Glory Matt. 17:1-9 The Word of the Lord from Matthew 17: “This is My beloved Son with whom I am well peased; listen to Him!” This is the Word of the Lord.   I. Who Is He? For just a brief moment, they see it. Peter, James and John see Jesus looking a little bit more like God. They’