Sermon for the Tenth Sunday after Pentecost

July 24, 2016, Saint Paul Lutheran Church, Wallis, Texas

Sermon Text:  Luke 11:1-13

Sermon Theme: “God’s Door Is Always Open”

(Sources:  Brokhoff, Series C, Preaching Workbook; Emphasis Online Commentaries; Emphasis Online Illustrations; Westminster Dictionary of the Bible; Footnotes from the Life Application Study Bible; What Luther Says, Compiled by Ewald Plass; original ideas; Anderson’s Cycle C Preaching Workbook; “Six Reasons Prayers Are Not Answered” by David Wilkerson)

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

Many smaller churches have only four Elders, and they don’t always agree on things, so they have to take a vote to make a decision.  In one such church, there was an Elder who always cast his one-against-three losing vote no matter what the issue seemed to be.

After a number of years of always having to give in to the majority vote, this Elder brought up an issue he felt very strongly about and was sure he was right in God’s eyes.  Knowing that the other three would vote against him and believing that God was on his side of this particular proposal, he decided bold action was needed.  So when the negative vote came from the other three, he prayed aloud in front of them, “O Lord, I know in my heart that I am right and they are wrong.  Please show us a sign now, so that they will understand that I know your ways.”

At that very moment, a storm cloud moved across the sky, rumbled, and then disappeared.  The outvoted Elder said, “See, a sign from God!  Now you will have to believe me!”

But the other three disagreed, saying that storm clouds just suddenly form on hot summer days.

So the lone Elder prayed aloud again, “O Lord, I need a bigger sign to show them that I am right and they are wrong.  Please, God, give me a bigger sign.”  This time four storm clouds appeared out of nowhere and rushed toward each other to form one big cloud.  Then a bolt of lightning came down and knocked down a tree ten feet away from the window near where they were sitting.

“See, I told you I was right,” said the lone Elder.  Reluctantly, the other three said, “OK, we’ll agree with you that God thinks you are right.  But that only makes the vote 3 to 2.”  As if God’s will was only one vote.

In our sermon text from Luke, Jesus gives his disciples a two-part reply to their request, ‘Teach us to pray,’  — one is a model or example of prayer, and the other is a parable.  In the model and the parable Jesus focuses on three aspects of prayer, —  ONE, its content, TWO, our persistence, and THREE, God’s faithfulness. Continue reading →

Sermon for Ninth Sunday after Pentecost

July 17, 2016, St. Paul Lutheran Church, Wallis, Texas

Sermon Text:  Luke 10:38-42

Sermon Theme:  “Mary Has Chosen the Good Portion”

(Sources:  Emphasis Online Illustrations; Emphasis Online Commentaries; original ideas; “State of the Bible,” American Bible Society; Online Life Way Bible-Reading Survey; Statistics from the Pew Research Center; Online “The Mary/Martha Mother”; Anderson’s Cycle C Preaching Workbook; Nelson’s Three-in-One Reference; Online Stats for Church Attendance Worldwide)

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

The pastor of a large congregation with very poor weekly attendance got fired up by Romans 10:17, “Faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ.”  So he sent a newsletter to all members announcing that the next Sunday would be “No Excuse Sunday.”  Here’s what his newsletter promised so that everyone would come to church and hear the Word.

“There will be a special section with lounge chairs for those who feel that our pews are too hard.  Eye drops will be available for those with tired eyes from watching TV late Saturday night.  We will have steel helmets for those who say, ‘The roof would cave in if I ever came to church.’  Blankets will be furnished for those who think the church is too cold, and fans for those who say it is too hot.  Scorecards will be available for those who wish to list the hypocrites present.

“Relatives and friends will be in attendance for those who can’t go to church and cook dinner, too.  We will distribute ‘Stamp Out Stewardship’ buttons for those that feel the church is always asking for money.  Doctors and nurses will be in attendance for those who plan to be sick on Sunday.  The sanctuary will be decorated with both Christmas poinsettias and Easter lilies for those who never have seen the church without them.  And we will provide hearing aids for those who can’t hear the preacher and cotton wool for those who think he is too loud.” Continue reading →

Sermon for the Eighth Sunday after Pentecost

July 10, 2016, St. Paul Lutheran Church, Wallis, Texas

Sermon Texts:  Leviticus 19:9-18 and Luke 10:25-37

Sermon Theme:  “’You Shall Love Your Neighbor as Yourself’:  the Whole of the Law”

(Sources:  Concordia Pulpit Resources, Volume 26, Part 3, Series C; Harper’s Bible Dictionary; Anderson’s Cycle C Preaching Workbook; original ideas; Online “How to Love Your Enemies”; Online “Bible Verses Loving Your Neighbor as Yourself”; Online Christian Jokes; “Love Your Neighbor As Yourself” by Rick Warren; Online “Enter the Bible”; Online Study of Leviticus 19; “The Pursuit of Holiness” by Doug Van Meter; “Is Loving Yourself a Sin,” wordpress)

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

In our sermons, we pastors try to teach the congregation about both Law and  Gospel, hoping that this will strengthen their faith as well as help them invigorate their moral code.  With the Lutheran emphasis on salvation by grace through faith alone, this isn’t always an easy task.  “Sin big, be forgiven much!  After all, we’re  under the New Covenant, and besides, God’s Law is for Baptists, and God’s Grace is for Lutherans.”  But it’s not just Moses under the Old Covenant who preached the Law; even Jesus, who brought the New Covenant, preached the Law.

A pastor, who was giving a sermon based on Jesus’ command to love your enemies, said, “Now, I’ll bet that many of us feel as if we have enemies in our lives.  So, raise your hands if you have lots of enemies.”  Quite a few people raised their hands.

“Now raise your hands if you have only a few enemies.”  About half as many people raised their hands.

“Now raise your hands if you have only one or two enemies.”  And even fewer people raised their hands.  “See,” said the pastor, “most of us feel like we have a lot of enemies.”

“Now raise your hands if you have NO ENEMIES AT ALL.”  The pastor looked on the left side of the church, and no one had raised their hand.  Then he looked to the right side, and no hands were up.  Then, finally he noticed, way in the back, a very, very old man holding his hand up.

“I have no enemies whatsoever,” the elderly man proclaimed.

“’What a blessing!,” the pastor said.  “Come up here and tell us more about  yourself.  How old are you?”

“I’m 98 years old, and I have no enemies!’

“What a wonderful Christian life you must lead!  And tell us all how it is that you have no enemies.”

“All those good-for-nothing slime balls have died!”

I have chosen two sermon texts for today, one from the Old Testament and one from the New Testament.  The Old Testament is from Leviticus, and it’s Law; the New Testament from Luke is Gospel, and they come together. Continue reading →

Sermon for Independence Day Sunday

Seventh Sunday after Pentecost, July 3, 2016

St. Paul Lutheran Church, Wallis, Texas

Sermon Text:  Galatians 6:1-10, 14-15

Sermon Theme:  “’Sow’ What?”

 (Sources:  Anderson’s Cycle C Preaching Workbook; Brokhoff, Series C, Preaching Workbook; Online Christian Quotes from George Washington; Online Quotes from John Adams Historical Society; Online Quotes from Thomas Jefferson; Online LCMS Harrison Reacts to Supreme Court Abortion Clinic Ruling; Online LCMS Lutheran Center for Religious Liberty; LCMS Harrison’s Letter, “A Time to Act”; original ideas)

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

           Many, if not most, of our Lutheran ancestors came to America from Germany for religious freedom.  In 19^th Century Germany, the Prussian Union required that you belong to either the Roman Catholic Church or the generic Protestant Church, neither of which upheld the Biblical truths of the Lutheran Confessions.

For over 150 years, we have enjoyed and cherished the freedom of religion here in America.  So much so, in fact, that we became complacent and detached from the reality of the shrinking of that freedom, most of which has occurred in recent years.  This fact is not at all consistent with the vision of the Founding Fathers of our nation.  So let me review the theological ground our first three great Presidents of the United States stood on. Continue reading →

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 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 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 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 →

Sermon for Graduate Recognition Sunday

Second Sunday after Pentecost, May 29, 2016

St. Paul Lutheran Church, Wallis, Texas

Sermon Text:  Luke 7:1-10

Sermon Theme:  “Keep the Faith, Be Healed, Don’t Give Up”

(Sources:  Anderson’s Cycle C Preaching Workbook; Emphasis Online Commentaries and Illustrations; original ideas; The Parables of Peanuts by Robert Sharp; Online Jokes and Quotations for Graduation; Brokhoff’s, Series C, Preaching Workbook)

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

Today’s sermon text from the Gospel according to St. Luke is a text about faith and healing.  When a loved one passes away, do we question God, ‘Why wasn’t my loved one healed?’  And when our children graduate from high school or college, do WE have the faith, and do THEY have the faith, to believe that God will lead them to a secure future.

The Centurion speaks in our text, “Just say the Word, and I know my servant will be healed.”  Now there is faith!  Luke is reminding us of the power of the Word.  All words are powerful.  They hurt and heal, condemn and save.  Just ask anyone who has stood before a judge or heard such words from a loved one or a doctor or a minister.

In our text, the words spoken BEFORE the Centurion’s servant is healed, and AS he is healed, are not merely words from human mouths, but are the Words of Jesus, our God incarnate.

When our children graduate, especially from high school, lots of words are spoken by educators at the Commencement Ceremony and by parents at home.  Not coming from God, sometimes these words are powerful advice, and sometimes they are shallow and funny, or a mix of both.  Since today is Graduate Recognition Sunday, let me share some of those words spoken to graduates.

“There is no elevator to success.  You have to take the stairs.”

“Just remember, you can’t climb the ladder of success with your hands in your pockets.”

And here is my favorite:  “Go to it.  Be bold.  Be true.  Be kind.  Rotate your tires.  Don’t drink so much; there aren’t going to be enough liver transplants to go around!”

The best words we can offer our graduates are God’s words from Holy Scripture, and the words in today’s sermon text are no exception.  These words from St. Luke speak to our graduates, but at the same time speak to all of us, single adults, married couples, parents, and grandparents.  The graduates are having to deal with many issues at the beginning of their adult life’s journey, and some of us senior citizens are having to deal with doctors’ appointments, medications, mobility, diet, etc., as our fan belts wear thin and our engine slows down. Continue reading →

Sermon for Holy Trinity, May 22, 2016

St. Paul Lutheran Church, Wallis, Texas

Sermon Text:  Proverbs 8:1-4, 22-31

Sermon Theme:  “Who Is Wisdom Anyway?”

(Sources:  Anderson’s, Cycle C, Preaching Workbook; Brokhoff’s, Series C, Preaching Workbook; original ideas; Emphasis Online Commentaries; Online Religious Jokes; Explanation to Luther’s Small Catechism; Concordia Pulpit Resources, Vol. 26, Part 3, May 22-August 21, 2016, Series C)

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

Today is Holy Trinity Sunday.  How do you explain something that is essential but unexplainable?  In today’s world, many people do not even know who Jesus is, — like the little boy is VBS who asked me who the naked man hanging on the pole was.  So how do you explain Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, three persons, one God.

There’s the story about the pastor whose financially-pinched congregation cut his salary.  To make ends meet, he had to take a job delivering pizzas.  He tried to make the extra job part of his ministry by telling folks about Jesus.

On the second day on the job, he was walking past a big construction site when he heard the workers using the foulest language he’d ever heard.  So he stopped and asked the man closest to him, “Do you know Jesus Christ?”

The worker turned to look at his fellow workers and shouted, “Hey, does anybody know Jesus Christ?”  He paused for a minute, and then announced, “His pizza is here.”

To a child who attends Sunday School and DOES know who Jesus is, the Bible can still be very confusing.

Having just joined a church and being a new Christian, Joey’s mom asked Joey what he learned in Sunday School.

“Well, Mom,” he replied, “our teacher told us how God sent Moses behind enemy lines on a rescue mission to lead the Israelites out of Egypt.  When he got to the Red Sea, he had his engineers build a portable bridge, and all the people walked across safely.  He used his cell phone to call headquarters and order an air strike.  They sent in bombers to blow up the bridge after all the Israelites went across safely and the Egyptians drowned.”

“Now, Joey, is that REALLY what your teacher taught you?’  his mother asked.

“Well, no, Mom, but if I told it the way the teacher did, you’d never believe it!” Continue reading →