Sermon for Christ the King, Last Sunday of the Church Year

November 24, 2013, St. Paul Lutheran Church, Wallis, Texas

Sermon Text:  Luke 23:27-43 and Colossians 1:13-20

Sermon Theme:  Is Christ Your King?

                                                          (Sources:  Brokhof, Preaching Workbook, Series C; David Smith, Sermon Central.com; original ideas; Emphasis online Illustrations; Concordia Pulpit Resources, Vol. 23, Part 4, Series C; “William Willimon,” Wikipedia online)

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

 A Sunday School teacher was doing a lesson on the crucifixion, which is essentially what our sermon text for today is describing.  The teacher tried her best to tell the story as realistically as she could, describing the thorns piercing our Lord’s head and the awful pain of nails being driven through his hands and feet. 

In fact, the horrifying details came across so graphically to the children that one little boy blurted out, “Where in the heck were the Marines?” Continue reading →

Sermon for Twenty-sixth Sunday after Pentecost

November 17, 2013, St. Paul Lutheran Church, Wallis, Texas

Sermon Text:  2 Thessalonians 3:6-13

Sermon Theme:  “Christians Aren’t Grasshoppers”

(Sources:  Emphasis online Commentaries; Emphasis online Illustrations; original ideas; 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. 

 You can’t help but think of Aesop’s fable about the ant and the grasshopper when you read today’s sermon text.  But Pastor Mosley came up with a 21^st Century version of the ancient fable which I want to share with you today.

The ant works all summer long, building his house and laying up supplies for the winter.  The grasshopper laughs and dances and plays the summer away.  Come winter, the ant is warm and well-fed, but the grasshopper has no food or shelter.  Shivering, the grasshopper calls a national press conference and demands to know why the ant should be allowed to be warm and well-fed while others are cold and starving.  All the major broadcast and cable networks show up and provide pictures of the shivering grasshopper next to film of the ant in his comfortable home with a table filled with food. Continue reading →

Sermon for Twenty-fifth Sunday after Pentecost

November 10, 2013, St. Paul Lutheran Church, Wallis, Texas

Sermon Text:  Exodus 3:1-15

Sermon Theme:  “Excuses, Excuses, Nothing but Excuses!”

 (Sources for this sermon:  Emphasis online Illustrations; Brokhof, Series C, Workbook; original ideas; Believer’s Commentary; Halley’s Bible Handbook)

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

 When Imelda Marcos was criticized for having 3,000 pairs of shoes in her closet, her excuse was:  “Everybody kept their shoes there.  The maids . . . everybody.”  (The Divine Salvage)

When Zsa Zsa Gabor slapped a Beverly Hills policeman, her excuse was:  “I am from Hungary.  We are descendants of Genghis Khan and Attila the Hun.  We are Hungarian freedom fighters.”  (Ibid.)

When God asked Moses to go liberate a nation of slaves, he had more excuses than either Zsa Zsa or Imelda.  A couple of those excuses are found in our sermon text, and the others are found in Chapters 4 and 5.  Continue reading →

Sermon for All Saints’ Day (Observed)

November 3, 2013, St. Paul Lutheran Church, Wallis, Texas

Sermon Text:  Revelation 7:9-17

Sermon Theme:  “Song of Victory for the Church Triumphant”

(Sources:  Emphasis Online Commentaries; Emphasis Online Illustrations; original ideas; Deutsche Zitate.german.about.com; Concordia Pulpit Resources, Volume 23, Part 4, Series C)

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

 It’s interesting to see how congregations name their church.  Have you every noticed that a vast majority of Missouri Synod Lutheran churches are named either St. Paul, St. John, or Trinity?  Maybe that’s a reflection of the sober, sedate, staid nature of a denomination founded by conservative, Midwestern German immigrants.

For more colorful diversity in the naming of churches, you need to drive around East Texas.  Or Upper Peninsula Michigan.  Piney Shade Baptist Church, for example.  But one of the funniest church names I’ve ever read about requires an explanation, or you might not get the humor. Continue reading →