Sermon for June 26, 2016

Sermon for the Sixth Sunday after Pentecost, June 26, 2016

St. Paul Lutheran Church, Wallis, Texas

Sermon Text:  Galatians 5:1, 13-25

Sermon Theme:  “Love As the Definition of Freedom”

(Sources:  Concordia Pulpit Resources, Vol. 26, Part 3, Series C;  Emphasis Online Commentaries; Emphasis Online Examples; Online “Love Is” Quotes from Charlie Brown; Brokhoff, Series C, Preaching Workbook; Anderson’s Cycle C Preaching Workbook; original ideas; footnotes, Life Application Study Bible)

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

Our sermon text for today, from Paul’s Letter to the Galatians, is about freedom.  There are many definitions of “freedom,” some of which we will hear next week at Fourth of July celebrations.  A Christian’s definition of “freedom” is “love,” and Paul has much to say about that in our text.

Over the many years Charles M. Schulz’s drew his Peanuts’ strip, Charlie Brown and the Peanuts gang have had a lot to say about “love.”  Here are just a few:  “Love is getting someone a glass of water in the middle of the night.”  “Love is making fudge together.”  “Love is walking in the rain together.”  “Love is sharing your popcorn.”  “Love is hating to say goodbye.”  “Love is not nagging.”  “Love is walking hand in hand.”

Charlie Brown and his friends were getting close to defining love.  A good definition of “love” is a definition of “freedom.”

In our text, Paul describes the freedom of the Christian in terms of love, a love defined by servant-hood.  Freedom is not a license to do what one pleases; it is an opportunity to follow the guidance of the Holy Spirit.  We are free “from” the law, so that we may be free “for” love.  Continue reading

Sermon for June 19, 2016

Sermon for Father’s Day, June 19, 2016

Fifth Sunday after Pentecost, St. Paul Lutheran Church, Wallis, Texas

Sermon Text:  Galatians 3:23-4:7

Sermon Theme:  “Whose Tender Care”

(Sources:  Anderson’s Cycle C Preaching Workbook; original ideas; Emphasis Online Commentaries and Illustrations: Concordia Pulpit Resources, Vol. 26, Part 3, May 22 – August 21, 2016, Series C; Harper’s Bible Dictionary; Online Quotes and Jokes about Father’s Day; The Lutheran Hymnal; Lutheran Worship)

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

Lucille Ball, shortly before her death in 1989, was interviewed by Merv Griffith.  During that interview, he said to her, “Lucy, you’ve lived a long time on this earth and you are a wise person.  What has happened to our country?  What’s wrong with our children?  Why are our families falling apart?  What’s missing?”

Lucy answered without hesitation, “Papa’s missing.  Things are falling apart because Papa is gone.  If Papa were here, he could fix it.”

What has happened to the role of father in American families?  Interestingly, that interview took place the first full year of my serving here at St. Paul Lutheran Church in 1989; it is eerie how appropriate Lucille Ball’s statement still is in 2016!

There is an ancient, anonymous aphorism which goes like this, “God is the Father Who is always at home.”

The First Chapter of Genesis tells us that God created light on the FIRST day; the waters divided by the firmament on the SECOND day; dry land separated from the seas on the THIRD day; sun moon and stars on the FOURTH day; fish and birds on the FIFTH day; and the lower land animals and us humans the higher ones on the SIXTH day before He took the first Sabbath on the SEVENTH.

Of all those creations, God gave cognition to only one of them, — me, you, us, people, even put us over the lower land animals.  He didn’t give cognitive ability to the waters, the mountains, the trees, the lower animals,  — no, just us, mankind.   And that involved a problem.  How is He going to explain Himself to us in ways the human mind can grasp?  He doesn’t have to worry about the trees and the birds because they have total incognizance. Continue reading

Sermon for June 12, 2016

Sermon for the Fourth Sunday after Pentecost

June 12, 2016, St. Paul Lutheran Church, Wallis, Texas

Sermon Text:  Luke 7:36-8:3

Sermon Theme:  “Anointing the Feet of Jesus”

(Sources:  Anderson’s Cycle C Preaching Workbook; original ideas; Emphasis Online Illustrations; Harper’s Bible Dictionary; Online Christian Jokes about Hypocrisy)

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

A backsliding member of the church accidentally ran into her pastor in the grocery store one day.

Instead of trying to hide behind the grocery stacks as some people might do, she boldly confronted him and boasted, “I never go to church!  Perhaps you have noticed that, Pastor?”

“Yes, I have noticed that,” said the Pastor.

“Well, the reason I don’t go is because there are so many hypocrites there!”

“Oh, don’t let that keep you away,” replied the Pastor with a smile, “there is always room for one more.”

In our sermon text for today, it’s obvious that Simon the Pharisee is a hypocrite; in fact, you cannot help but think when you read the New Testament that all Pharisees were hypocrites. Continue reading

Sermon for June 05, 2016

Sermon for Third Sunday after Pentecost

June 5, 2016, St. Paul Lutheran Church, Wallis, Texas

Sermon Text:  Galatians 1:11-24

Sermon Theme:  “Impossible to Change?  Not with God”

(Sources:  Anderson’s Cycle C Preaching Workbook; Harper’s Bible Dictionary; original ideas and examples; Emphasis Online Commentary; Emphasis Online Illustrations; The Parables of Peanuts by Robert L. Short; Concordia Pulpit Resources, Vol. 26, Part 3, Series C; Online ‘How Things Change,’ Online jokes; Online Peanuts Quotes)

 

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

Not too long ago, the Dollar General Store in East Bernard changed the way you put your Master Card into the slot.  Now, every time I use my card there, I do it wrong.  The last time I did it wrong, I told the checker, “I’m sorry.  Can you show me again?  When you get old, it’s hard to change.”

“What you’re saying,” she replied, “is that you can’t teach an old dog new tricks.”

As I left the store, I thought to myself, ‘Well, that’s not always true, is it?  I used to use a typewriter, but now I’ve learned to use a computer, a change making my work a lot easier.’  However, it did take a lot of getting used to.

In the old days, a keyboard was a piano, memory was something that you lost with age, a CD was a bank account, a “cursor” used profanity, “log on” was adding wood to the fire, “hard drive” was a long trip on the road, “a mouse pad” was where a mouse lived, “a backup” happened to your commode, “a web” was a spider’s home, and a “virus” was the flu.  That called for change in my thinking.

Charlie Brown had issues with change.  In a Peanuts strip, Charlie says to Lucy, “Next year I’m going to be a changed person.”

“That’s a laugh, Charlie Brown,” replies Lucy.

“I mean it,” insists Charlie, “I’m going to be strong and firm!”

“Forget it . . . you’ll always be wishy-washy!

As Lucy walks away, Charlie says, “Why can’t I change just a little bit?”  Then he shouts to Lucy, “I’ll be wishy one day, and washy the next!”

Today’s sermon text from Paul’s letter to the Galatians is about change.  Big-time change!  Impossible to change?  Not with God!  Not only can God change you, but in an instant, and in an astounding way!  Or He can change you gradually, little by little, over the years. Continue reading