Our Life with God, Lesson 3

Being More than Beggars, We also Join with the Saints and Angels in Eternity In our Christian lives, as we journey from the font to the grave, we walk before God the Father as beggars.  But that isn’t the full story.  We may be beggars, but we also associate with the holy angels!  In Christ […]

John 3:5, 16: Donna Defferding’s Funeral Sermon

We face death as we face life—with our eyes fixed on Jesus.  We cling to the promises of His Word, which, when facing death, seem even more incredible and powerful.  We find one of our Lord’s most beautiful promises in John chapter 14: “In My Father’s house are many rooms; if that were not so, […]

Our Life with God, Lesson 1: It Begins with Receiving

In 1 Corinthians 4:7, St. Paul confronted the Christian congregation at Corinth.  Since they had the Holy Spirit, they thought they were in charge of their spiritual life—they were the owners, not the receivers.  Paul wrote, “What do you have that you didn’t receive?  And if you received it, why do you boast as if […]

Isaiah 12:1-6: Worshiping the Lord in Spirit and Truth

How should Christians worship? Many are the wounds over this issue within our lifetimes. Long before that, however, even 700 years before Christ, the prophet Isaiah points us in the right way. Our Old-Testament reading for today comes right before the prophet speaks of the Messiah’s coming and His kingdom of peace and righteousness. People […]

Our Lord’s Final Words from the Cross: Thirst

The first one home is a thief. For Jesus told him, “I assure you: Today, you will be with me in paradise.” Jesus spoke those words—not to a devout man, or to a fine, respectable citizen, or to one of His disciples—but to a convicted criminal, found guilty of a capital crime. No doubt, Jesus […]

Luke 3:15-22: Baptized for You to Fulfill All Righteousness

When Jesus came the Jordan River for John to baptize Him, the entire Old Covenant came face to face with its Fulfillment. Every saving act of God, from Noah’s flood to the Red Sea, to the Temple sacrifices of atonement, came head to head with the Person to whom they pointed. Those events in the […]

What Jesus’ Incarnation Means for Us

Being Brought into the Old Covenant Genesis 17:9-14: God also said to Abraham, “As for you, you and your offspring after you throughout their generations are to keep my covenant…. Every male among you is to be circumcised…. On the eighth day after birth, every male in every generation must be circumcised… If any male […]

Titus, Lesson 6: Paul’s Conclusion in His Letter to Pastor Titus

Having told Titus what he was to teach (“speak”) to various groups in the congregation at Crete, Paul now moves into what God’s salvation for us means for all Christians.   How the Christian is to live in the World Read Titus 3:1-2 “Remind them”: Remind is an imperative verb, a command. This is what […]

All Saints Sermon: Now and Not Yet

Your life as a believer is both now and not yet. You can see what is “now”; you experience that every day. What you can’t see is the “not yet,” what awaits you in eternity. And, in this duality, you live in faith, believing to be true what you cannot see. For, as Scripture says, […]

Acts 2: It Had All Been For This

It had all been for this. Jesus ascended into heaven, taking His seat at the right hand of the Father, that position of authority and power, all to pour out the Holy Spirit from the Father. That Spirit, which Jesus had sent to His Church, was the same Spirit that had come to the Virgin […]