Sunday, November 24, was the day chosen to celebrate “Pastor Appreciation Day” for Pastor Ray Spitzenberger, who has served at St. Paul’s for 25 years. The sign pictured proclaims the special day, and Pastor Ray was served many pieces of his favorite pie, pumpkin.
Sermon for the First Sunday in Advent
December 1, 2013, St. Paul Lutheran Church, Wallis, Texas
Sermon Text: Isaiah 2:1-5
Sermon Theme: “Swords into Plow Shares”
(Sources: Emphasis online Commentary by Ronald Love; Emphasis online Illustrations; Concordia Journal, Fall 2013, Vol. 39, No. 4; Anderson’s Preaching Workbook, Cycle A; original ideas; Houston Chronicle, 11/26/13)
Grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.
“’Tis the season to be jolly!” Most of us think we ought to be feeling that inside of us right now! We should be filled with joy and happiness as we anticipate family gatherings, gift sharing, brightly decorated Christmas trees, and neighborhood streets adorned with tinsel and lights! A happy time of the year it should be, and it is for many people.
But for some it is a time of great stress. According to the Life Stress Test, there are 43 life events which cause people much stress. Going to jail is one of those; moving to another city is another one. Going on a vacation trip is yet another. Christmas is on top of the list. Instead of being relaxed and feeling jolly, many folks stress out at Christmastime. Perhaps it’s because anticipating Christmas intensifies the other stresses already inside us. Continue reading
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 21st 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
Sermon for Twenty-second Sunday after Pentecost, October 20, 2013
St. Paul Lutheran Church, Wallis, Texas
Sermon Text: 2 Timothy 3:14-4:5
Sermon Theme: “Surrounded by the Enemy”
(Sources: Concordia Pulpit Resources, Vol. 23, Part 4, Series C; Harper’s Bible Dictionary; Concordia Journal, Summer 2013; original ideas; Believer’s Commentary)
Grace, mercy and peace to you from God the Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Former Lutheran Hour speaker, Kenneth Klaus, shares a war story from World War II that speaks to us this morning.
With over 250,000 German soldiers and 1,000 army tanks, the Nazi’s stormed the city of Bastogne, hoping to reclaim Europe. American troops, under the command of General A. C. McAuliffe were surrounded.
Their general would not surrender, so American soldiers were plenty worried. A sergeant in Bastogne talked to some of his men, including a young soldier, a private, from the South. Being relatively new, he might, you’d think, be shaking in his boots. He wasn’t. He seemed so incredibly calm that his sergeant asked him a question.
Expletives deleted, the conversation went something like this: The sergeant asked, “You do understand the Krauts have us surrounded, don’t you?”
“Yup, I got that, Sarge.”
“And how do you feel about that?” asked the Sergeant. Continue reading
Sermon for LWML Sunday, October 13, 2013
St. Paul Lutheran Church, Wallis, Texas
Sermon Text: Luke 24:44-53
Sermon Theme: “You Are My Witnesses”
(Sources: Emphasis online Illustrations; original ideas and personal examples; Examples, Rev. Dien Taylor, “You Are My Witnesses”; Online SermonSuite articles on Luke 24:44-53)
Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.
In all the years that my wife and youngest daughter went to LWML conventions, District and National, I never attended one. I guess I was just too intimidated by the thought of being so outnumbered by such a huge group of ladies! Each convention, the ladies had to have a pastor lead the Bible study and deliver the sermon, so there was always at least one man present, — maybe even the only one, or at least that’s the way I pictured it.
Pastor Gobrecht tells about a women’s convention he attended – he doesn’t say that it was LWML, but it sounded like it might be. This women’s group had a male speaker who looked terrified when he approached the microphone – one man looking out at a sea of women. His hands trembled.
“Ladies, I come to you from . . .” but his throat went dry.
“He started again, “Now, ladies, I come . . . “ but again his nerves defeated him.
Undaunted, he backed up a little and said, “Now, ladies, I come” . . . and he tripped over the microphone wire, landing in the lap of a woman sitting in the first row. “I’m terribly sorry,” he exclaimed, clambering to get to his feet.
Sermon for Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost, Oct. 6, 2013
St. Paul Lutheran Church, Wallis, Texas
Sermon Text: Habakkuk 1:1-4; 2:1-4
Sermon Theme: “Trust God’s Promises Even in the Worst of Times”
(Sources: Concordia Pulpit Resources, Vol. 23, Part 4, Series C; Emphasis Online Sermon Illustrations; Brokhof, Series C, Preaching Workbook; Believer’s Commentary; original ideas; Online Quotation page)
Grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.
In some ways, this sermon text from Habakkuk reminds me of a tempera and oil painting by John Biggers, painted in 1966, — that’s two years after the American Civil Rights Act was passed and public schools were integrated all over America.
Friends Into Serving Him
Friends Into Serving Him is a way to involve young girls in the vision and and ministry of service in Christ’s name. The girls are sponsored by the adult LWML society. They decide on their own service projects, meeting dates, and fellowship activities. A mind for mission and sight for service qualifies a teen for membership in Teen LWML. The girls serve the Lord with sincere hearts and a fresh, young vision.
Our teens at St. Paul work alongside their adult mentors. They participate in society activities, Zone rallies, and District conventions. At a very young age they get an insight of the important mission work of LWML. Pictured are Secretary Cassie Brzozowski; Vice-President Nicole Brzozowski; and President Lexie Brzozowski. They continue to grow in their service to the Lord.
Cassie, Nicole, and Lexie Brzozowski
Friends Into Serving Him Work Session