New Members at St. Paul!

Pastor Ray receives new members, Cole and Amelia Hegeman and Don Trojacek during worship service on August 23.

Pastor Ray receives new members, Cole and Amelia Hegefeld and Don Trojacek during worship service on August 23.

Steve Grissom, St. Paul Head Elder, presents a gift Bible from the congregation to new members joining the church, -- Cole and Amelia Hegefeld and Don Trojacek.

Steve Grissom, St. Paul Head Elder, presents a gift Bible from the congregation to new members joining the church, — Cole and Amelia Hegefeld and Don Trojacek.

Cole Hegeman, Amelia Hegeman and Don Trajacek pose before cutting the cake at a reception for them after joining the church.

Cole Hegefeld, Amelia Hegefeld and Don Trojacek pose before cutting the cake at a reception for them after joining the church.

Dylan Brzozowski is shown guarding the special cake made by Peggy Spitzenberger for the reception honoring new members joining the church on August 23.

Dylan Brzozowski is shown guarding the special cake made by Peggy Spitzenberger for the reception honoring new members joining the church on August 23.

Sermon for August 23, 2015

Sermon for the Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost, Proper 16

St. Paul Lutheran Church, Wallis, Texas

Sermon Text:  Ephesians 5:22-33

Sermon Theme:  “And the Two Shall Become One”

 (Sources:  Brokhoff, Series B, Preaching Workbook; “Church Attendance,” Wikipedia Online; www.preachinghelps.com; “Percentages of Divorce” Online; “Love” and “Equality,” Christian Post; Online Marriage Jokes;  original ideas; Online Christian Jokes about Marriage; Charlie Brown and Lucy’s Relationship Online)

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

           In one episode of “Peanuts,” Lucy says to Charlie Brown, “You know what I don’t understand?  I don’t understand love!”

Charlie Brown replies, “Who does?”

Lucy continues, “Explain it to me, Charlie Brown.”

He says, “You can’t explain love.  I can recommend a book or a poem or a painting, but I can’t explain love.”

Lucy then adds, “Well, try, Charlie Brown, try!”

Charlie responds, “Well, let’s say I see this beautiful, cute little girl walk by, and . . .”

Indignant, Lucy interrupts, “Why does she have to be cute?  Huh?  Why can’t someone fall in love with someone with freckles and a big nose?  Explain that!”

Charlie says, “Well, maybe you are right.  Let’s just say I see this girl walk by with this great big nose, and . . .”

Lucy raises her voice, “I didn’t say GREAT BIG NOSE!”

Exasperated, Charlie concludes, “You not only can’t explain love, you can’t even talk about it!”

In various episodes of “Peanuts,” Lucy bullies Charlie Brown for no reason at all, always takes the football away before he kicks, calls him names like “Stupid,” does mean things to Linus, and blames Charlie for everything, even things that are her fault.  In spite of this, Charlie Brown cares about Lucy, likes her, and trusts her.  It’s a relationship that reminds us of some marriages. Continue reading

Sermon for August 16, 2015

Sermon for the Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost, Proper 15

August 16, 2015, St. Paul Lutheran Church, Wallis, Texas

Sermon Text:  Ephesians 5:6-21

Sermon Theme:  “Be Wise, Not Unwise, and Live a Life of Celebration and Thankfulness”

(Sources:  Brokhof, Series B, Preaching Workbook; Anderson’s Cycle B Preaching Workbook; Emphasis Online Commentaries; Emphasis Online Illustrations; original ideas; Online Sermon Humor; Online Stewardship of Life Jokes; Personal Email; “The Kingdom of God Is A Party” by Tony Campolo.)

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

           Today, we continue to mine the great reservoir of advice that is found in Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, starting a couple verses from where we left off  last Sunday.  In today’s text, Paul offers us four exhortations:  One, don’t associate with those who live in darkness (he’s referring to the pagan gentiles, who live in mental and moral darkness), but walk as children of light; Two, be wise, not unwise; in other words, live as a people of wisdom; Three, Avoid drunkenness and debauchery (something the heathens in Ephesus were known for); and Four, live a life filled with celebration and thankfulness.

Paul is speaking to his readers as the Body of Christ rather than as individuals.  You know congregations take on a demeanor, a personality.  Just as the heathens in their temple had a demeanor of debauchery, each Christian congregation takes on a demeanor, usually a Christ-like one, but not always.

Using picture language, we could describe some congregations as “mustangs”; some as “weasels”; some, “chickens”; some as “greedy hogs” and some as “well-mannered sheep who follow Christ.”  The list could go on.

Some congregations say by their actions who they are:  “Here at First Lutheran Church, we welcome all denominations,  — but mainly we prefer twenties and fifties.”

When Pastor Johnson moved to town, the local community service club honored him at a dinner.  To have some fun, members tinkered with his name tag, listing his occupation as “Hog Caller.”  Everyone at the dinner snickered as the name tag was presented to him with fanfare.

Pastor Johnson just smiled graciously, stood up and said to the assembly, “I am usually called “the Shepherd of the SHEEP,  . . . but I guess you know your people better than I do.”

Paul wants us to be people of light, people of wisdom.  But before you dash out and go enroll in college, we need to understand what Paul meant by that.  Our Old Testament lection for today helps us to understand what being wise, or what “true wisdom” really is.  “Wisdom” and “knowledge” are not the same thing, — you can have knowledge without having wisdom. Continue reading

Sermon for August 09, 2015

Sermon for Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost, August 9, 2015

St. Paul Lutheran Church, Wallis, Texas

Sermon Text:  Ephesians 4:17-5:2

Sermon Theme:  “Playing God the Right Way”

(Sources:  Anderson’s Cycle B, Preaching Workbook; Emphasis Online Commentaries; Emphasis Online Illustrations; original ideas; Online Religious Humor; Online christiansuite.com Jokes; Introduction to Ephesians, Concordia Self-Study Bible).

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

           While walking along the sidewalk in front of his church, a pastor heard the loud intoning of a prayer that nearly popped the clerical collar tab off his shirt!  Apparently his five-year-old son and his playmates had found a dead bird which they had felt needed a proper burial.

They put the bird in a little box they found, dug a hole in the ground, and planned a proper interment for the deceased.  The other boys decided the pastor’s son would need to officiate at the funeral, beings that he had watched his father do such things.

With solemn dignity, the pastor’s son loudly recited what he thought his father always said, “Glory be unto the Faaather, and unto the Sonnn, . . . and into the hole you goooo.”

We all imitate that which we respect, that which we look up to, which, in the case of kids, is usually their parents, — so, fathers and mothers, be careful and be clear.  In our sermon text for today, Paul sets the highest standard in all the world for Christians.  He tells the recipients of his letter and us that we must be imitators of God.

Later, Clement of Alexandria was to make the daring statement:  “The true and wise Christian practices being God!”  Although Clement meant what Paul meant in our text, for obvious reasons, that’s probably not the best way to say it.

Just like the woman who went to her pastor for counseling soon after she divorced her husband and said to the pastor, “You see, my husband thought he was God, . . . and I didn’t.” Continue reading

Sermon for August 02, 2015

Sermon for the Tenth Sunday after Pentecost

August 2, 2015, St. Paul Lutheran Church, Wallis, Texas

Sermon Text:  John 6:22-35

Sermon Theme:  “Good Food for God’s People”

 (Sources:  Anderson’s Cycle B Preaching Workbook; Emphasis Online Commentaries; Emphasis Online Illustrations; original ideas; Short Christian Jokes Online; Bon Voyage Online Charlie Brown Quotes)

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

           Bread is one of the most basic foods in almost all cultures, originating as early as 8,000 B.C.  Bread comes in many forms.  Today, Germany is the undisputed bread capital of the world.  Every year, the people of Germany eat one million, one hundred thousand tons of bread, five billion, twenty-four million rolls, and four hundred billion pretzels.  Wow!  America is not far behind.

Hardly a day goes by when we don’t encounter bread.

Charlie Brown, Peppermint Patty, Snoopy, and Woodstock take an automobile trip one day.  They take a loaf of bread and some lunch meat to make sandwiches on the trip.  Having divided up the bread, they make sandwiches and start eating.

All except Charlie Brown, that is!  It seems his share of the loaf got slammed into the hood of the car.

“Boy, Chuck, this is great,” says Peppermint Patty, “that was real generous of you to feed your share of the bread to the car.”  Everybody snickers except Charlie Brown.

“Notice,” continues Peppermint Patty, “how well the car is running since you gave it some bread!”

Our sermon text takes place right after the feeding of the 5,000 with five loaves of bread and two fish.  The crowds search for Jesus and find Him at Capernaum.  They question how He got there.  Jesus doesn’t answer but confronts them with the fact that they are not seeking the bread of heaven but earthly bread.  Jesus warns them to work for the brad that endures eternally, not the loaves which perish. Continue reading