We have little problem recognizing, as a concept, that God exists as a Divine Being. God in His Divine Being is God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This is God as He exists in His essence (or “substance” as we confess in the Creeds). Although we don’t have problem understanding that God exists as a […]
John 16:16-22: The “Woman” and the “Man”
May 15, 2011 by
“When a woman is in labor, she has pain, because her time has come. Yet, when she has given birth to the child, she no longer remembers the agony, because of the joy that a Man has been born into the world” (John 16:21). So says our Lord in St. John’s Gospel. Jesus said those […]
Faith? Works? Yes!
May 12, 2011 by
This is an article that I wrote for the May 20th edition of the Stone County Gazette. Did you realize the Bible never says that we are saved by “faith alone”? In all of Scripture, you will never find those words, “faith alone.” This is what Scripture says: We are “justified by faith, apart from […]
Called to Suffer: 1 Peter 2:21
May 8, 2011 by
Somehow, in some way, a malformed idea has infected the Church. The idea is this: It is that our faith is all about worldly well-being and pleasure. Because of this idea, we have lost our focus on eternity, expecting God to give us heaven on earth. Because of this idea, we’ve given up preaching “Jesus […]
Lay Readers in the Lutheran Church: A Short Primer
May 3, 2011 by
Lay Readers: A Scriptural, Historical, and Lutheran Look By Pr. Rich Futrell Introduction Within our lifetime, we have seen “lay readers” become the norm when it comes to the reading of scripture during worship. Although this practice is now widespread, most of us don’t know what prompted this change. For most of us, it just happened. […]
Sts. Philip and James, Apostles: John 14:1-14
May 1, 2011 by
How strange, how strange in so many ways. It’s Easter and, yet, we find ourselves back in Lent. We find ourselves again on Thursday, the night of Jesus’ betrayal. It is the Thursday before Good Friday, but also the Thursday before Christ’s resurrection. The disciples, minus Judas, had just eaten the Passover meal. They had […]
St. Philip and St. James
April 27, 2011 by
On May 1st, we will be celebrating and remembering Sts. Philip and James in our Divine Services. The New Testament Gospels mention St. Philip as one of the apostles (Matthew 10:3, Mark 3:18, Luke 6:14, and Acts 1:13). But it’s in John’s Gospel where we get to know more about him. Philip was from Bethsaida […]
Easter Sermon: Matthew 28:1-10
April 24, 2011 by
Could there be a more glorious day than this? For this day, the day of Jesus’ resurrection, will blaze forever in its glory and beam forth the light of heaven. Indeed, this day, the day of Jesus’ resurrection, is by far the most glorious day of all time. For Christ is risen! He is risen, […]
Good Friday: John 19:31-37
April 22, 2011 by
Tonight, our Lenten journey ends. It ends, just as Jesus said it would end. Several times, Jesus said that He was going to Jerusalem, where many would mock and ridicule Him. His own people would hand Him over to the Gentiles to be beaten and crucified. He was going to Jerusalem to die. Yet, more […]
Maundy Thursday, Matthew 26:26-30
April 21, 2011 by
Could Jesus have made it any simpler? It is Thursday, and Jesus is with His disciples in a borrowed room. They are there to celebrate the Jewish feast of Passover. They are there for the yearly remembrance of Israel’s rescue from their slavery in Egypt. They recall that glorious rescue from God. They remember when […]
