Crazy is Afoot | Sermon

Crazy is Afoot. (2 Cor. 5:13-15)

I preached this sermon at Our Savior Lutheran Church in Chester, CA. and First Lutheran Church in Greenville, CA. on June 14, 2015 (Third Sunday after Pentecost– Three Year Series, B).

Defining the Terms in the Truth of Jesus | Sermon

Defining the Terms in the Truth of Jesus (John 15:26)

I preached this sermon at Our Savior Lutheran Church in Chester, CA. and First Lutheran Church in Greenville, CA. on May 24, 2015 (Pentecost – Three Year Series, B).

The Open-Mindedness of Christianity | Sermon

The Open-Mindedness of Christianity (Luke 24:45)

I preached this sermon at Our Savior Lutheran Church in Chester, CA. and First Lutheran Church in Greenville, CA. on May 17, 2015 (The Observation of The Ascension of Our Lord – Three Year Series, B).

What do the words (and actions in the case of Timothy Leary) of Frank Zappa, Hunter S. Thompson, and Immanuel Kant have in common? They were all equally hijacked by the Holy Spirit to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ in this sermon. Want consciousness expansion, enlightenment, a mind like a properly functioning parachute? It only comes through the Holy Spirit working through God’s Word in and with the Sacraments as He creates faith in your heart.

Stricken and Smitten

Today’s Good Friday. A quote from Scripture seems fitting. Blessings.

Isaiah 52:13-53:12

13 Behold, my servant shall act wisely;
    he shall be high and lifted up,
    and shall be exalted.
14 As many were astonished at you—
    his appearance was so marred, beyond human semblance,
    and his form beyond that of the children of mankind—
15 so shall he sprinkle many nations;
    kings shall shut their mouths because of him;
for that which has not been told them they see,
    and that which they have not heard they understand.

Stricken and Smitten by Tyrel Bramwell on 500px

53 Who has believed what he has heard from us?
    And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?
For he grew up before him like a young plant,
    and like a root out of dry ground;
he had no form or majesty that we should look at him,
    and no beauty that we should desire him.
He was despised and rejected by men;
    a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief;
and as one from whom men hide their faces
    he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

Surely he has borne our griefs
    and carried our sorrows;
yet we esteemed him stricken,
    smitten by God, and afflicted.
But he was pierced for our transgressions;
    he was crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
    and with his wounds we are healed.
All we like sheep have gone astray;
    we have turned—every one—to his own way;
and the Lord has laid on him
    the iniquity of us all.

He was oppressed, and he was afflicted,
    yet he opened not his mouth;
like a lamb that is led to the slaughter,
    and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent,
    so he opened not his mouth.
By oppression and judgment he was taken away;
    and as for his generation, who considered
that he was cut off out of the land of the living,
    stricken for the transgression of my people?
And they made his grave with the wicked
    and with a rich man in his death,
although he had done no violence,
    and there was no deceit in his mouth.

10 Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him;
    he has put him to grief;
when his soul makes an offering for guilt,
    he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days;
the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.
11 Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied;
by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant,
    make many to be accounted righteous,
    and he shall bear their iniquities.
12 Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many,
    and he shall divide the spoil with the strong,
because he poured out his soul to death
    and was numbered with the transgressors;
yet he bore the sin of many,
    and makes intercession for the transgressors.

If you’d like to license this photograph for your use visit the image’s licensing page on 500px.com.

Tell the Great Physician Where it Hurts | Sermon

Tell the Great Physician Where it Hurts

I preached this sermon at Our Savior Lutheran Church in Chester, CA. on February 25, 2015 (The First Midweek Lent Service).

Sermon text: Psalm 32

Format AudioPosted on Categories Sermon, WritingTags , Confession and Absolution, Doctor, Great Physician, Jesus Christ, Joyce Meyer, Lent, Midweek Lent, Psalm 32, Leave a comment

How to Remain Steadfast in the Midst of Temptation | Sermon

How to Remain Steadfast in the Midst of Temptation

I preached this sermon at Our Savior Lutheran Church in Chester, CA. and First Lutheran Church in Greenville, CA. on February 22, 2015 (The First Sunday in Lent – Three Year Series, B).

Sermon text: Mark 1:9-15; James 1:12-18; Genesis 22:1-18

Format AudioPosted on Categories Sermon, WritingTags , , Forgiveness, Genesis 22:1-18, James 1:12-18, Lent, Mark 1:9-15, , Temptation, TestingLeave a comment

The Authority of Jesus | Sermon

The Authority of Jesus

I preached this sermon at Our Savior Lutheran Church in Chester, CA. and First Lutheran Church in Greenville, CA. on February 1, 2015 (The Fourth Sunday after Epiphany – Three Year Series, B).

Sermon text: Mark 1:21-28

Life Together

The following excerpt from Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s book, Life Together (pages 91-92) highlights the reality that though we’re individuals, in the Church we’re never isolated from other members of Christ’s body.

Americans, perhaps more than other people groups, tend to emphasize a person’s individuality while dismissing, or at least downplaying, the reality that in one way or another we all live in relationship to others, be it in a family, our community, or that we just happen to live on the same rock that’s cruising around the sun as the guy next door. Even in solitude Christians are not alone. This concept rejects the line of reasoning that makes room for “victimless crimes” or any argument that espouses personal choice, for no crime is truly ever victimless and no choice, no matter how personal, is made within a vacuum. Within the Church such a rationale doesn’t exist. As a member of Christ’s body everything I do, indeed even what I think, has an impact on other people – other members of the Body. What a provocative thought for a society steeped in individualism.

“Every day brings the Christian many hours of being alone in an unchristian environment. These are times of testing. This is the proving ground of a genuine time of meditation and genuine Christian community. Has the community served to make individuals free, strong, and mature, or has it made them insecure and dependent? Has it taken them by the hand for a while so that they would learn again to walk by themselves, or has it made them anxious and unsure?… Has it transported them for a few short moments into a spiritual ecstasy that vanishes when everyday life returns, or has it planted the Word of God so soberly and so deeply in their heart that it holds and strengthens them all day long, leading them to active love, to obedience, to good works?… Is the invisible presence of the Christian community a reality and a help to the individual? Do the intercessory prayers of the others carry me through the day? Is the Word of God close to me as a comfort and a strength? Or do I misuse my solitude against the community, against the Word and prayer? Individuals must be aware that even their hours of being alone reverberate through the community. In their solitude they can shatter and tarnish the community or they can strengthen and sanctify it. Every act of self-discipline by a Christian is also a service to the community. Conversely, there is no sin in thought, word, or deed, no matter how personal or secret, that does not harm the whole community. When the cause of an illness gets into one’s body, whether or not anyone knows where it comes from, or in what member it has lodged, the body is made ill. This is the appropriate metaphor for the Christian community. Every member serves the whole body, contributing either to its health or to its ruin, for we are members of one body not only when we want to be, but in our whole existence. This is not a theory, but a spiritual reality that is often experienced in the Christian community with shocking clarity, sometimes destructively and sometimes beneficially.

“Those who return to the community of Christians who live together, after a successful day, bring with them the blessing of their solitude, but they themselves receive anew the blessing of the community. Blessed are those who are alone in the strength of the community. Blessed are those who preserve community in the strength of solitude. But the strength of solitude and the strength of community is the strength of the Word of God alone, which is meant for the individual in the community.”

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Little Johnny Made A Poopy | Sermon

Little Johnny Made A Poopy

I preached this sermon at Our Savior Lutheran Church in Chester, CA. and First Lutheran Church in Greenville, CA. on January 25, 2015 (The Third Sunday after Epiphany – Three Year Series, B).

Sermon text: Mark 1:14-20

Format AudioPosted on Categories Sermon, WritingTags baptism, , Fishers of Men, Following Jesus, Jesus Christ, Mark, Mark 1:14-20, religious, Leave a comment