Sermon for the Fourth Sunday of Easter - Jubilate John 16:16-22 April 26th, 2026 Jesus is preparing the disciples for His crucifixion. In only a few short hours Jesus would be arrested. He knew the disciples would be confused and scared. They would deny Him. They would see Him tortured and brutally killed. It wouldn’t make sense. They would be sad and afraid. But it would be short lived. A little while, only three days and they would see Jesus again. He would rise from the gr

A Sermon for the Third Sunday of Easter - Misericordias Domini John 10:11-16 April 19th, 2026 Standing up here looking out toward all of you I am constantly reminded of Jesus our Good Shepherd. The image in the stained glass window will not let me forget. Jesus the Good Shepherd tending His flock. Holding one of His dear lambs in His arms. My eyes are continually drawn to it throughout the service. There is a point in the liturgy when I especially notice the window. It comes

A Sermon for The Resurrection of our Lord - Easter April 5th, 2026 Alleluia! Christ is risen! “I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last he will stand upon the earth. 26 And after my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God, 27 whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not another. My heart faints within me!” Job gives one of the most beautiful and comforting confessions of the resurrection in all of Scripture. Death is not the end;

A Good Friday Sermon John 18:1-19:42 April 3rd, 2026 We’ve reached the pinnacle of the Church year. Everything has been building to this point in time in Jesus life. The Crucifixion. All through the season of Lent the bloody Cross of Jesus has been on the horizon. It’s form has intensified throughout the 40 days of Lent as the image of Jesus suffering and sacrifice began to take shape with every step closer to Good Friday. Passiontide took us to another level in the journey w

Sermon for Maundy Thursday John 13:1-15, 34-35 April 2nd, 2026 The word Maundy in Maundy Thursday comes from the Latin and means mandate or command. Thursday night is about the institution of the Lord’s Supper, but our reading is Jesus washing the disciples feet. The mandate or command referred to is not the Lord’s Supper but verse 34 of the Gospel reading. Jesus said: “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love

Sermon for Wednesday of Oculi March 11th, 2026 Matthew 15:1-20; Exodus 10:1-17 - Ten Commandments There are six chief parts of Luther’s Small Catechism. The Ten Commandments, The Apostle’s Creed, The Lord’s Prayer, The Sacrament of Holy Baptism, Confession, and The Sacrament of the Altar. In confirmation we work through all six chief parts always beginning with the Ten Commandments. The first few weeks are spent memorizing, quizzing, and discussing how God’s Law should be liv

Sermon for Second Sunday in Lent Reminiscere March 1, 2026 Jesus goes to the region of Tyre and Sidon to get away for bit. This is pagan country, northwest of Galilee on the Mediterranean Sea coast. These two cities were part of the ancient land of Canaan in the Old Testament. The Canaanites were the enemies of the Israelites when they went in to take possession of the Promised Land. These were not godly people. They worshiped Baal. Sexual immorality and child sacrifice were

Sermon for Wednesday of Reminiscere Matthew 12:38-50 February 28th, 2026 “An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.” Only a few verses before our Gospel reading tonight Jesus healed a blind and mute demon possessed man. All the people who saw it were amazed and begin asking “Can this be the Son of David?” When the Pharisees hear about the miracle they say: “It is only by Beelzebul, the prince of d

Sermon for Quinquagesima Luke 18:31-43 February 15th, 2026 Today is the final Sunday in Pre-Lent, Quinquagesima, which means about 50 days until Easter. This Wednesday is Ash Wednesday and then begins the five Sundays in Lent leading us up to Palm Sunday. Palm Sunday is the doorway to Holy Week. Holy Week ushers us to the cross and the bitter suffering and death of Jesus. On the horizon is Easter; the light of Easter morning never stops shining; it never leaves us alone in th

The Parable of the Sower Luke 8:4-15 February 8th, 2026 In the Parable of the Sower the seed that is sown is God’s Word. The sower is Jesus. All of humanity is the field where the Seed is sown. The Seed of God’s Word must enter the heart, take root and grow. This is faith. It’s end is eternal life. This faith produces the fruit of faith seen in the life of the believer. If the Seed, God’s Word, doesn’t take root and grow and produce fruit, in its place will grow the weeds of

Matthew 20:1-16; 1 Corinthians 9:24-10:5 February 1st, 2026 In the parable of the Laborers in the Vineyard, we Christians are the laborers God has brought into the vineyard, His Kingdom, through faith in the work of Christ alone. All the laborers in the Kingdom of God are equal. No one is greater or more deserving of salvation than anyone else. We all came into the Kingdom through faith by hearing the Word of Christ. There will be no distinction on the Last Day between you an

Sermon for the Transfiguration of Our Lord Matthew 17:1-9 January 25th, 2026 “He was still speaking when, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, ‘This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.’” The Transfiguration of Jesus took place during the third and final year of His earthly ministry. Right after the Transfiguration Jesus begins His final trip to Jerusalem. Holy Week and the Cross is only a few weeks away for Jesu

Sermon for the Second Sunday after the Epiphany John 2:1-11 January 18th, 2026 And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come.” On the third day there was a wedding. Jesus was invited. The third day. This should immediately take our minds to the Cross and Jesus death and then His resurrection from the grave three days later. We are always looking for the Cross and Jesus and His suffering and His blood shed and His death and then His

Sermon for the First Sunday after the Epiphany Luke 2:41-52 January 11th, 2026 “And he said to them, ‘Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?’” The Passover Festival at Jerusalem was celebrated once a year. Originally every male was expected to make the trip to Jerusalem for three different feasts including the Passover, but since many Jews had been scattered great distances away from Jerusalem, it made it difficult to travel the gre

Sermon for First Sunday after Christmas Galatians 4:1-7 December 28th, 2025 But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. Only three more days and 2025 comes to an end. Has it really been 26 years since the turn of the millennium? It doesn’t seem that long ago we were facing all the fears and uncertainty of Y2K. We are now over a quarter of t

Sermon for Christmas Eve Luke 2:1-14 December 24th, 2025 Christmas Eve is unlike any other night of the church year. It’s not that it’s the best night or that it somehow surpasses Good Friday, it doesn’t, but there is no Good Friday without Christmas Eve. We need the angels, and the shepherds, and Joseph and Mary, and the manger and the tiny babe wrapped in swaddling cloths in order to get to the Cross. Every event of the salvation story from the very beginning to the end of

Messengers From John the Baptist Matthew 11:2-11 December 14th, 2025 John the Baptist has a strange question for Jesus. “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?” It’s strange because John the Baptist was the forerunner of Christ. He was filled with the Holy Spirit as an unborn child. He leapt in his mother’s womb when Mary, pregnant with Jesus, entered the room and greeted Elizabeth. He baptized Jesus and saw the Holy Spirit descend as a dove and then he

Repentance Part 2 - Sermon for Advent 2 Midweek Service - Apology of the Augsburg Confession Article XIIA Matthew 4:12-17 December 10th, 2025 Tonight we continue our march through the penitential season of Advent. Once again our focus will be on repentance. Advent, like Lent is a season of repentance. It’s a time to consider our sin more deeply and the necessity of repenting in order to receive Jesus. If there is no repentance there is no Jesus. True repentance involves heari

Sermon for the Second Sunday in Advent Luke 21:25-36 December 7th, 2025 In so many ways we have become desensitized to the signs and the warnings of the End in the world around us. We tell ourselves Jesus probably isn’t going to come back anytime soon, or at least not today. Maybe true. Maybe not. Maybe you will depart this life through death first and then awaken from your grave at the resurrection of the dead instead. Or maybe you will be one of those still going about your

Sermon for the First Sunday in Advent Matthew 21:1-9 November 30th, 2025 Today is the first Sunday in Advent and all around us is the feel and anticipation of Christmas. It would be easy to think that the season of Advent was all about Christmas as we prepare and anticipate December 25 th . But the season of Advent is not mostly about Christmas. If we actually lived according to the Church liturgical calendar we wouldn’t put our Christmas trees up until the Christmas season a