Sermon for September 22, 2013

Sermon for Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost, Sept. 22, 2013

St. Paul Lutheran Church, Wallis, Texas

Sermon Text:  Luke 16:1-15

Sermon Theme:  “That Dirty Five-Letter Word, “Money”

 

(Sources:  Emphasis online Commentary; Emphasis online Illustrations; Brokhof, Series C, Preaching Workbook; original ideas)

 Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.

 The IRS has never called me to verify large contributions made by church members, but I have known a couple pastors who have received such inquiries. 

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Rally Day Pictures

Swimming at he Wooley’s Pool

Enjoying the Party

Cassidy Enjoys the Pool

Annie Mae and Susan Visit

Polly, Annie Mae and Cheryl Visit

Caught One

Fishing

Enjoying Fellowship

LWML Midcoast Zone Fall Workshop, Oct. 5, 2013

The LWML of Our Redeemer Lutheran Church, Palacios, Texas invites you and your guests to the Mid-Coast Zone Fall Workshop to be held at Our Redeemer Lutheran Church, 1206 4th Street, Palacios, TX on Saturday, October 5, 2013.

The speakers will be:  Lydia LeBlanc, a senior student at Concordia Austin. She will present, “Lutheran Women:  Grounded in Theology & Moving in Mercy” and  Earl Hudson, a representative of Bread of Life whose mission it is to provide free meals to anyone who needs one in Palacios and the surrounding areas.

Sermon for September 15, 2013

Sermon for Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost, Sept. 15, 2013

St. Paul Lutheran Church, Wallis, Texas

Sermon Text:  Luke 15:1-10

Sermon Theme:  “Lost and Found”

(Sources:  Emphasis online Commentary; Emphasis online Illustrations; personal examples and original ideas; Brokhof, Series C, Preaching Workbook)

Grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.

 

Most of you have been lost at one time or other in your life, I’m sure.  It’s a terrible feeling!  Growing up with a perceptual problem that is probably a mild form of dyslexia, I have always had trouble with directions and not knowing whether I should turn right or left.  When I was seven years old, I got so lost I thought I’d never see another human being ever again.

My parents, my aunts and uncles, and my brother and I were fishing in the deep woods in Dime Box.  We were fishing in groups at several locations on this endless creek, and I left my parents’ group to go join one of my uncle’s group.  Rather than follow the winding creek, I took a short cut to save time.  Well, it was the long cut, because I soon found myself in a strange part of the woods, far from any branch of the creek.  No one answered when I hollered for help, because I was too far away for my voice to carry.  Keep in mind there were no cell phones in those days. Continue reading

Sermon for September 8th 2013

 

Sermon for Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost, Proper 18

September 8, 2013, St. Paul Lutheran Church, Wallis, Texas

Sermon Text:  Deuteronomy 30:15-20

Sermon Theme:  “What Do You Choose?”

(Sources:  Emphasis online Illustrations; Believer’s Commentary; Concordia Pulpit Resources, Vol. 23, Part 4, Series C; original ideas; Nelson’s Three-in-One Concordance notes)

 

Grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.

 

You did not choose to be born in Wallis.  Or in East Bernard.  Or in Dime Box.  You did not choose to have Lutheran parents who made you memorize Luther’s Small Catechism, — parts of it, in German.  You did not choose to have a father who could not read.  You did not choose to have a mother who was like a marine sergeant.  You did not choose many things in your life.

Some of us were able to choose the college we attended; some were not.  Whether the young man, whose tragic story I’m about to tell, was able to choose the college he attended, or not, I don’t know.

His mother was very proud of him as he left home to attend Tuskegee  Institute.  She said tearfully to him, “Don’t forget who you are and whose you are.  Study hard and do your best.  Don’t settle for anything less.”  She was a very devout Christian, and she warned him not to bow down to the false gods of the world.

Away from home for the first time, the young man had lots of choices.  He began to party more than study.  He soon lost all sense of responsibility and purpose; it no longer mattered to him why he was in college.  He fell in with the wrong crowd, stayed out late and drank heavily. Continue reading

Sermon for September 1, 2013

Sermon for Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost, Sept. 1, 2013

St. Paul Lutheran Church, Wallis, Texas

Sermon Text:  Hebrews 13:1-8

Sermon Theme:  “The Same Yesterday and Today and Forever”

(Sources:  Brokhof, Series C, Workbook; Emphasis Online Illustrations; original ideas; Concordia Journal, Summer 2013; Concordia Pulpit Resources, Vol. 23, Part 4, Series C.)

Grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.

 I like the story told by the Krammers son.  When they got home from Church and Sunday School one Sunday, the dad asked Junior what he had learned in Sunday School that morning.

“Well, the boy said with excitement, Mrs. Fitzpatrick told us the story from Exodus about how the Israelites came to the Red Sea!   He paused for a moment and continued, The Hebrews pumped up their inflatable boats so they could escape from the soldiers of the Pharaoh.”

Dad, with a quizzical look, asked Junior if this was really how the teacher told the story in the class.  To which the boy replied, “If I told it the way she did, you would never believe it!

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