Sermon summaries and audio files
2/12/2024 0 Comments Funeral for Barbra KraklowOur faithful member was laid to rest on Saturday. The funeral sermon is here.
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2/12/2024 0 Comments Quinquagesima SundayThe sharp contrast between the disciples who did not understand Jesus and the blind man who did is remarkable. And he serves as an example for them and for us, as he boldly cried to the Son of David for mercy. He wanted to receive his sight, and when he did, he saw Jesus. Let us boldly ask him as well, that we may see with the eyes of faith and receive him who has saved us. Sermon for Quinquagesima.
2/8/2024 0 Comments Midweek of SexagesimaThe kingdom of heaven is like a seed cast into the ground by a man who then goes and sleeps and rises. The kingdom grows of its own accord. And who is this man who sows the seed? Is it not Christ, who as he was preaching these parables, said, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear? And then what? When his three years of preaching were done, he went to sleep, for he was crucified, dead, and buried. Yet he also rose! And then his little church of his disciples grew to the church of Pentecost, and then continued to the present day to the four corners of the earth. And at the judgment, he shall put in the sickle and harvest his own, bringing his people into his everlasting hom.
And what of the mustard seed? The smallest of seeds grows into a great tree where the birds make their nests. So is the kingdom of heaven. So small! For its king was born in Bethlehem in a stable with ox and ass, and only a few shepherds and foreigners saw. And after his ministry he was beaten and abused, and crucified, dead, and buried. See how small! How utterly humiliated! Yet he rose from the dead, and is the first fruits of them that sleep. So be not dismayed at trouble and grief, and smallness, and disappointments. For this kingdom is his own, and he shall make it grow! Stand aside and watch! For he shall surely bring his harvest home. Sermon for midweek of Sexagesima. 2/4/2024 0 Comments The Sower went out to sowThere are so many impediments to faith. The devil who prowls around, this is the first peril. The seed by the wayside is snatched by the birds. Then there is the approach of trouble, or tribulation. When the sun beats down on the new growth and it withers away, lacking moisture. Trouble will come, of that we can be sure. And third, perhaps most treacherous, is cares and riches and pleasures of this life, which, like thorns, can choke the growth. Ironically, having plenty, having it good, is a time of great peril for faith, and should be seen this way. So, having hears to hear, let us hear, and hold fast the faith. And then we shall be like that good seed that fell on rich ground and grew up and yielded a hundredfold. But is this not Christ himself, who was buried in good ground, indeed a grave that could not hold him, for he rose again the third day. So let us be found in him and in his word, that we may be in his crop forevermore. Sermon for Sexagesima Sunday.
2/1/2024 0 Comments The Parable of the TalentsThe parable of the talents shows us first that there will certainly be a day of reckoning. Second, it shows the perils of the sin of slothfulness, one of the seven deadly sins. Nothing that we have is really ours, and none was received by merit or worthiness. Everything is a gift, and therefore we are bound to use our gifts wisely, and repent of all slothfulness. The tenant who buried his talent in the ground was not using it as it was meant to be used, and he failed to acknowledge the Giver. Thus he was condemned. And consider the greatest Gift of all, buried in the ground. This is Christ himself, who was crucified, dead, and buried; but he arose from the dead. Therefore let us live as bound to the new life we find in the resurrected Lord. Let us consider what we’ve been given, then; especially the greater gifts: Baptism, the preaching of the Word, and the Sacrament. These must never be taken for granted, but used. And using them we find the forgiveness of sins granted by them. How much we’ve been given! How much we need to use it! Sermon for midweek of Septuagesima.
1/28/2024 0 Comments SeptuagesimaThe laborers who went out first into the vineyard had a contract, which was dutifully met by the owner; but they were unhappy because they compared themselves to others; they didn’t consider that the landowner is good. And those who went out later had not contract, but simply trusted that he would given them what was right, or righteous. What they received was not a penny for their labors but for the labors of Another: for Christ was crucified the third hour, and darkness fell on the land the sixth hour until the ninth hour; and by the eleventh hour he died and was taken down. The work was accomplished. And so with gladness we receive his Penny, though it be despised by others for seeming so worthless; yet we know how rich we truly are only for having this Penny, the gift of eternal salvation. Sermon for Septuagesima.
1/25/2024 0 Comments The Conversion of St PaulIn bringing the conversion of St Paul to pass, God's heavenly payback snatched from the devil's army one of his chief persecutors; this is a fitting reversal of how the devil snatched Judas from the closest circle of Jesus' disciples. So Paul is brought into the light, and brings many into it. Sermon for the Conversion of St Paul.
1/22/2024 0 Comments TransfigurationLet us go in heart and mind with the three disciples and see with their eyes the transfigured Lord. See, here is God of God, Light of Light, who made all things. And Peter knew of the greatness of the occasion, so he proposed three tents, one for Moses, one for Elijah, and one for Jesus. Yet he was interrupted by the voice of God, and the one cloud, the one divine tent, and the admonition to listen to the One. He it is that we must here when we listen to Moses or Elijah, he is the One of whom all the Scriptures speak. And as the disciples fell down for fear and Jesus raised them up and said fear not, so does he for us, who fall and shall fall until we die; but he will raise us even from death, and he tells us also to leave off all of life's distractions and hear only him, who says Fear not. And here also we see what we ourselves shall become. For we receive him here, and so a guarantee of our own transfiguration. Sermon for Transfiguration Sunday.
1/10/2024 0 Comments First Sunday after EpiphanyMary knew well that her Son was the Christ, for He was virgin born. Yet it was still difficult to come to terms with the fact that He is the Incarnate God, the eternal Son of the Father Almighty. So she was in anguish when they found Him in the temple after three days. But He reassured her that He must be about His Father's business, which would ultimately be even His crucifixion; yet even then, He rose on the third day. So it is with us: we find ourselves forgetting who He is, and thus we become troubled and even anguished in the face of difficulties in life. So must we also be reassured that He is ever with us, and even comes to us again in the Supper, and is always about His Father's business, which is our eternal salvation. Sermon for the Sunday after Epiphany.
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