Sermon for the Fifth Sunday in Lent

April 6, 2014, St. Paul Lutheran Church, Wallis, Texas

Sermon Text:  Romans 8:1-11

Sermon Theme: “The Spirit of God Dwelling in You”

(Sources:  Emphasis online Illustrations; Concordia Pulpit Resources, Volume 24, Part 2, Series A; original ideas; Anderson’s Preaching Workbook, Cycle A; online songs; online movie summary.)

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

 During World War II, a Dutch family was arrested by the Nazis for hiding Jews in their home.  The family was placed in a cattle car of a train to be taken to one of the death camps.  They rode all night and spent the time fearful of what lay ahead. 

Finally, as daylight was breaking, the train stopped. The door of the cattle car was opened, and they were told to get out.  Fearing the worst, they looked around . . . and they saw they were not at a death camp.  In fact, they weren’t even in Germany.  They were in Switzerland.  During the night, some courageous and daring person had tripped a switch and sent the train to Switzerland and freedom.  Instead of being sent to certain death, they were welcomed to new life. Continue reading →

Sermon for the Fourth Sunday in Lent

March 30, 2014, St. Paul Lutheran Church, Wallis, Texas

Sermon Text:  Ephesians 5:8-14

Sermon Theme:  “Living in the Light”

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

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

 Living in the light took on a whole new dimension for my grandparents in 1942 or 1943, when electricity finally came to their farm home.  The REA (Rural Electric Association) had come to Lee County in 1939, but at that point in time, my grandparents could not afford the $8 per month it would cost them.  That was not a good year for most farmers in the area, but four years later, cotton prices were better, so Grandpa signed up for electricity.  This was a time in their lives they had been looking forward to for a long time with great excitement.

This wonderfully bright lighting was especially good for my grandmother, as doing the intricate needlework she did by the light of a kerosene lamp was a struggle.  In town, my parents had had electricity for some time, and the contrast between electric light bulbs and kerosene lamp light was almost the difference between light and darkness itself.

The joy, anticipation, and excitement of the farmers in Dime Box were dampered somewhat by fear and apprehension.  Old timers like my grandfather were afraid of electricity.  What if it leaked out of the power lines coming into the house?  Will it kill us in our sleep? Continue reading →

Sermon for Third Sunday in Lent, March 23, 2014

St. Paul Lutheran Church, Wallis, Texas

Sermon Text:  John 4:5-26

Sermon Theme:  “A Paradigm for Witnessing”

(Sources:  Emphasis online illustrations; Emphasis online Commentary; Anderson, Cycle A, Preaching Workbook; original ideas; Concordia Pulpit Resources, Volume 24, Part 2, Series A)

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

I want to tell you an old story that’s been around for so long you may know it.  Even if you’ve heard it before, I’m going to tell it anyway, because it’s one of my favorite stories and it helps to make the main point of my sermon.

The story is about two evangelists who went door-to-door inviting people to come to church.  They knocked on the door of a certain woman who told them in no uncertain terms that she did not want to be bothered.  To reinforce her point she slammed her door right in the faces of the evangelists, but the door just bounced open again. Continue reading →

Sermon for Second Sunday in Lent

March 16, 2014, St. Paul Lutheran Church, Wallis, Texas

Sermon Text:  Romans 4:1-8; 13-17

Sermon Theme:  “God’s Ledger”

 (Sources:  Anderson’s Preaching Workbook, Cycle A; Harper’s Bible Handbook; original ideas; Emphasis Online Illustrations; Online Yahoo Answers; Book of Life by Jack Zavada, about.com/Christianity; Wikipedia; Online Bible Hub)

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

 As I’ve said many times, we are not saved by our good deeds; they are performed out of gratitude to God for having already saved us.  It is faith in Christ, not the good works that come from that faith; that saves us.

Here’s an example.  A single-engine plane was flying over ocean waters with three men aboard.  While still several hundred miles from shore, engine trouble developed and the plane was forced to land on the water.  The three men barely climbed from the plane before it sank into the depths.

Of the three men aboard, one could not swim, and quickly drowned.  The second man could swim but was not physically fit and after about ten minutes he sank below the waves.  The third man was an Olympic medal winner in swimming.  He kept afloat for three hours but eventually was exhausted and could not save himself from drowning.  Continue reading →

Sermon for the First Sunday in Lent, March 9, 2014

St. Paul Lutheran Church, Wallis, Texas

Sermon Text:  Genesis 3:1-21

Sermon Theme:  Life Has to Have Boundaries

(Sources:  Concordia Pulpit Resources, Vol. 24, Part 2, Series A; Anderson’s Preaching Workbook, Cycle A; original ideas; Emphasis online Illustrations)

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

 I want to begin by sharing a story with you that is only too human:

A young woman stopped into a coffee shop.  When asked if she wanted any fresh Danish pastries with her coffee the woman declined saying that she was on a diet.  Taking a seat by the window she noticed the man at the next table was preparing to leave, and lo and behold, when he got up, he left behind one perfectly good untouched donut. 

Inside the young woman there was a struggle, and very soon she gave into temptation.  She reached over and took the pastry from the table and bit into it just as the man returned carrying his second cup of coffee.

Obviously, she wasn’t strong enough to resist temptation, she gave herself permission to take something that was not her right to give, and her sinful action had consequences – we don’t know what they were, but if nothing else, — embarrassment. Continue reading →

Sermon for the Transfiguration of Our Lord

March 2, 2014, St. Paul Lutheran Church, Wallis, Texas

Sermon Text:  2 Peter 1:16-21

Sermon Theme: “The Voice of the Mountain and the Bright Morning Star”

(Emphasis Online Commentary; Derl Keefer and Ron Love, Emphasis Online Illustrations; Anderson’s Preaching Workbook, Cycle A; original ideas; GotQuestions.Org; Concordia Pulpit Resources, Vol. 24, Part 1)

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

The theme song of the Disney film Pocahontas is a song called “Colors of the Wind.”  The song is sung by a reflective young Indian maiden to a self-assured young English explorer, John Smith.  She explains to him that his notion of the way things are may not be quite complete.  Where he sees this new land,America, as a place to exploit and conquer, she sees it as a place to embrace and call home.

She pleads with him in the song, as she sings, “Can you sing with all the voices of the mountains?  Can you paint with all the colors of the wind?” Continue reading →

Sermon for Seventh Sunday after the Epiphany

February 23, 2014, St. Paul Lutheran Church, Wallis, Texas

Sermon Text:  1 Corinthians 3:10-23

Sermon Theme: “The Building Code”

 (Sources:  Anderson’s Preaching Workbook, Cycle A; Emphasis Online Commentary; original thoughts and ideas; Emphasis Online Illustrations; A Great Sermon Illustration by Roger E. Olson (online); Online Humorous Sermon Illustrations; Kent Crockett’s online illustrations; Believer’s Commentary)

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

 Most of you have probably been through church building programs.  For many of us, the edifice on the other end down there (pointing to the fellowship hall) was our most recent one.  I read about a congregation that recently began a new building program by appointing a Building Committee.  The Committee has already met four times, each time passing a resolution.  Here are their 4 resolutions in consecutive order:

First Resolution:  We shall build a new church.

Second Resolution:  The new building is to be located on the site of the old one.

Third Resolution:  The material in the old building is to be used in the new one.

Fourth Resolution:  We shall continue to use the old building until the new one is completed.  Uh…..yeah!  I think they needed a Master Builder.  Continue reading →

Sermon for the Sixth Sunday after Epiphany

February 16, 2014, St. Paul Lutheran Church, Wallis, Texas

Sermon Text:  Deuteronomy 30:15-20

Sermon Theme:  “Life or Death?  Whose Choice Is It?”

 (Sources:  Anderson’s Preaching Workbook, Cycle A; Emphasis Online Commentary; Emphasis Online Illustrations; original ideas; Concordia Pulpit Resources, Vol. 24, Part 1, Series A)

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

 The story, Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll, illustrates the difficulty of making choices when the person, in this case, Alice, doesn’t know where she wants to go. 

Alice was treading the path through the forest in Wonderland when it divided in two different directions.  As she stood there wondering what to do, the Cheshire Cat suddenly appeared in the crotch of a tree.  Alice asked him which path she should choose. 

“Where do you want to go?”  asked the cat.

“I don’t know,” said Alice.

“Then,” said the cat, “it really doesn’t matter, does it?” Continue reading →

Sermon for Fifth Sunday after the Epiphany

February 9, 2014, St. Paul Lutheran Church, Wallis, Texas

Sermon Text:  1 Corinthians 2:1-12

Sermon Theme:  “God’s Spirit Connecting with Our Spirit”

(Sources: Anderson’s Cycle A Preaching Workbook; Emphasis Online Illustrations; Believer’s Commentary; original ideas; Online Articles about Tripartite or Trichotomy Versus Dichotomy Theology)

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

 Like all Pharisees, the ex-Pharisee, St. Paul, was well educated.  I think it would be safe to say he was an intellectual.  Unlike some intellectuals who do not make good parish pastors, Paul did not allow his erudition get in the way of his preaching and teaching.

Pastor Bob Ove tells the story about the son of one of his friends.  The young man had just finished his PhD in Theology at the Seminary, and he was called to be a pastor in a small farming community. 

Here’s how he began his first sermon to his rural congregation:  “Of course all of you have read the play by Moliere.”  Then he looked out and saw the blank looks on the farmer’s faces, and he started again, “Perhaps some of you have read the play by Moliere.”  He still got blank looks from his audience. 

Finally he said, “There is a play by a writer named Moliere.” 

Continue reading →

Sermon for The Purification of Mary and the Presentation of Our Lord

February 2, 2014, St. Paul Lutheran Church, Wallis, Texas

Sermon Text:  Luke 2:22-32

Sermon Theme:  “The Song That Stays in Your Head”

 (Sources:  Emphasis Online Commentary; Emphasis Online Illustrations; Concordia Pulpit Resources, Volume 24, Part 1, Series A; original ideas; Harper’s Bible Dictionary; Halley’s Bible Handbook; Online Wikipedia.)

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

 Most of you are probably like me, — you get a song in your head, and you go around hearing that tune inside your head, and then you start humming it all day long.  Just recently, it was “O What a Beautiful Morning,” the Rodgers and Hammerstein song from Oklahoma. 

One Saturday night, as I was preparing the worship service for Sunday, even though no one could know, I was really embarrassed because of the song I kept  hearing in my head and kept humming!  It was Hank Williams’ “There’s a Tear in My Beer Tonight.”  At least by Sunday morning, it had left my consciousness.

Continue reading →