Sermon for Rally Day, Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost

September 7, 2014, St. Paul Lutheran Church, Wallis, Texas

Sermon Texts:  Ezekiel 33:7-9; Romans 13:1-10; Matthew 18:5-6, 10-14

Sermon Theme:  “Watchmen and Developing Minds and Souls”

 (Sources:  Concordia Journal, Summer 2014, Volume 40, Number 1; Anderson’s Lectionary Preaching Workbook, Cycle A; original ideas; Emphasis Online Illustrations; Kids Say the Funniest Things by David Wallace; Church Kids Say the Darndest Things; Timeless Truths of Sunday School Teaching by Katzmann; How to Be an Awesome Sunday School Teacher by Bullock; Characteristics of the Best Sunday School Teachers by Lamon)

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

           Rally Day Sunday, the Sunday that begins the new Sunday School year, is almost never observed on the same Sunday by all LCMS churches; consequently , the Lectionary texts are never chosen especially for Rally Day.  So it amazes me that all three texts for today are so perfect for Rally Day!

          The Old Testament lection from Ezekiel speaks especially to the teachers.  The Epistle from Romans speaks to the students, and the Gospel from Matthew speaks to both.  Continue reading →

Sermon for Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost, Aug. 31, 2014

St. Paul Lutheran Church, Wallis, Texas

Sermon Text:  Matthew 16:21-28

Sermon Theme:  “The Cross: A Bearable Idea?!”

 (Sources:  Emphasis Online Commentaries; Emphasis Online Illustrations; original ideas; Anderson’s Cycle A Preaching Workbook; UltimateRiddles.com; Halley’s Bible Handbook)

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

           The greatest temptation that you and I have, as well as other Christians and the church itself, is to “stay away from Jerusalem.” 

          Not in the literal sense, of course, but figuratively.  Jerusalem is that place Jesus must go in order to accomplish the will of God.  Jerusalem is that place where conflict is likely to happen.  Jerusalem is that place where we can expect to find change and challenge and choices.  Jerusalem is a place where we likely will experience suffering. 

          But Jerusalem is a place where we must go.  Continue reading →

Sermon for Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost, Aug. 24, 2014

St. Paul Lutheran Church, Wallis, Texas

Sermon Text:  Romans 11:33-12:8

Sermon Theme:  “What Is Worship?”

 (Sources:  Anderson’s Cycle A Preaching Workbook; Emphasis Online Commentary; original ideas; Emphasis Online Illustrations; Concordia Pulpit Resources, Volume 24, Part 3, Series A)

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

           What is worship?

          Today’s sermon text boils down to that one question.  In other words, what do we really mean by worshipping God? 

          We often think of worship as something we do in a church service, such as sit down, stand up, sit down, stand up, walk to the chancel area, kneel down, stand up, return to pew, sit down, stand up, doing such things for religious purposes in a building that is used primarily for religious purposes. 

          However, if our bodies aren’t set apart for serving God, then we are merely going through the motions on Sunday morning, merely burning calories as we sit, kneel and stand.  If songs of praise, prayers, and meditation are not connected to what we do the rest of the week, then our worship is merely physical exercise.  Continue reading →

Sermon for Tenth Sunday after Pentecost, Aug. 17, 2014

St. Paul Lutheran Church, Wallis, Texas

Sermon Text:  Matthew 15:21-28

Sermon Theme:  “And That’s a Fact!”

 (Sources:  Emphasis Online Commentary; Emphasis Online Illustrations; Believer’s Bible Commentary; original ideas; Anderson’s Cycle A Preaching Workbook; Harpers Bible Dictionary)

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

           Joseph Goebbels, Adolf Hitler’s Minister for Public Enlightenment and Propaganda, seriously stated once, “Christ cannot possibly have been a Jew.  I don’t have to prove that scientifically.  It is a fact.” 

          Of course it was not a fact; Jesus was indeed a Jew.  Stating that something is true because you say it is true is a gross fallacy in reasoning.  To say that the Jesus we see in our sermon text is not the real Jesus would be such a fallacy.  Continue reading →

Sermon for Ninth Sunday after Pentecost, August 10, 2014

St. Paul Lutheran Church, Wallis, Texas

Sermon Text:  Romans 10:5-17

Sermon Theme:  “Near You, In Your Heart, and Out of Your Mouth”

(Sources:  Emphasis Online Commentary; Emphasis Online Illustrations; original ideas; Believer’s Bible Commentary); Anderson’s Cycle A Preaching Workbook)

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

          When I was a kid, I would put a cup towel around my neck and play like I was Superman.  My brother, with his cap gun, always wanted to be the Lone Ranger, and our friend Jackie, with his cap gun, was Red Ryder.  I didn’t need a gun, because I was Superman. 

          Since my cup towel cape enabled me to fly, I jumped off the roof of the garage one day, and the only thing that kept me from breaking my legs was the manure pile I landed in.  Fortunately, it was dry manure. Continue reading →

Sermon for Eighth Sunday after Pentecost, Aug. 3, 2014

St. Paul Lutheran Church, Wallis, Texas

Sermon Text:  Matthew 14:13-21

Sermon Theme:  God’s Incredible Generosity

 (Sources:  Emphasis Online Illustrations; Anderson’s Cycle A Preaching Workbook; original ideas and examples; Believer’s Commentary)

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

           Not only does God keep all of us alive by providing us with our basic needs, but also His great generosity leaves us with abundance.  A little boy learned this lesson in Sunday School one Sunday. 

          After the boy got home from Sunday School, and his mom served lunch, he began to examine a slice of tomato and commented to his mother that it was awesome how many seeds the tomato had.  She replied that each seed had the potential of creating a whole new plant, but that hardly any of them would get planted.

          The little boy pondered on that for a minute and exclaimed, “God sure wastes a lot, doesn’t He?”  Continue reading →

Sermon for Seventh Sunday after Pentecost, July 27, 2014

St. Paul Lutheran Church, Wallis, Texas

Sermon Text:  Romans 8:28-39

Sermon Theme:  “Is God A Good God?”

 (Sources:  Emphasis Online Illustrations; original ideas; Anderson’s Cycle A Preaching Workbook; Believer’s Bible Commentary; Hebrew/Greek Key Study Bible)

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

          A college professor asked his class to write a paper outside of class on the subject, “Is God A Good God?” 

          One student struggled with this topic all weekend, and finally went to her pastor to see if he could help her with the paper.  In speaking with her pastor, she asked, “If God is a good God, how can we account for all the evil in this world?”

          To this question, her pastor answered her with a question, “Yes, I agree that there is evil in the world, but is God to blame for this evil?” 

          The young college student wasn’t sure how to answer her pastor’s question so she asked him another question, “Perhaps God isn’t to blame for all that is wrong in the world, but why doesn’t God do something to make the world a better place?”

          To this, her pastor replied, “God has!  God placed you in this world!  So get busy!” Continue reading →

Sermon for Sixth Sunday after Pentecost, July 20, 2014

St. Paul Lutheran Church, Wallis, Texas

Sermon Text:  Romans 8:18-27

Sermon Theme:  “Suffering, Glory, and Perspective”

(Sources: Emphasis Online Commentary; Believer’s Bible Commentary; Emphasis Online Illustrations; Anderson’s Cycle A Preaching Workbook; original ideas)

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

           Two preachers were talking over coffee about the sorry state the world is in as well as the problems in their churches.  One confided in the other how his congregation was moaning and groaning and complaining about the miserable problems in their church, and they were making things worse.

“So to your congregation, it’s always raining,” replied the other preacher.

“No, it’s more like tornadoes and hurricanes!” Continue reading →

Sermon for the Fifth Sunday after Pentecost

July 13, 2014, St. Paul Lutheran Church, Wallis, Texas

Sermon Text:  Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23

Sermon Theme:  “Seeds, Soils, and Sowers”

(Sources:  Emphasis Online Sermon Illustrations; Anderson’s Cycle A Preaching Workbook; original ideas and examples; Concordia Pulpit Resources, Volume 24, Part 3, June 15-Sept. 14, 2014, Series A.)

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

When my wife and I bought our home some years ago, we created some flower beds around the trees.  All the beds were circular, except for one, which we called at the time, and still do, “The Astronaut Bed,” — that’s because it turned out to be in the shape of a space capsule – don’t ask me why, it just did.

Not only was it the only odd-shaped bed, it was the only one where nothing wanted to grow.  We tried petunias, we tried sweet Williams, we tried periwinkles – and you know if periwinkles won’t grow in the soil, nothing will!  Continue reading →

Sermon for Fourth Sunday after Pentecost, July 6, 2014

St. Paul Lutheran Church, Wallis, Texas

Sermon Text:  Matthew 11:25-30

Sermon Theme:  “Is the Yoke on Us?”

 (Sources:  Emphasis Online Illustrations; Anderson’s Cycle A Preaching Workbook; original ideas; Concordia Pulpit Resources, Vol. 24, Part 3, Series A)

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

           At a petting zoo I went to once, there was a small carousel with five ponies tethered to a pole.  Round and round they would go in circles, wearing blinders to keep them from seeing far ahead, harnessed into a path that never changed.  The small children who had never ridden on a horse were delighted with the experience, but they soon tired of the little circular path.

          So the children were removed from the saddles and new children mounted up.  The ponies would go round and round, again and again, in an uneventful and unimaginative parade that went nowhere.

          Jesus observed that some people have a faith a lot like the little carousel. Continue reading →