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

Sermon for Thanksgiving Eve November 26th, 2025 And so it begins. The great holiday push into the new year. Excitement, anticipation. A bit of anxiety and dread. Some sadness as you reminisce the good ole days and what used to be. Faces no longer at the table. But also unexpected surprises with new faces as the family grows. Exciting things on the horizon. The emotions are all over the place as you begin the holiday season. The buildup is greater and the expectations higher t

Sermon for the Last Sunday of the Church Year 2025 Matthew 25:1-13 November 23, 2025 “Then the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them, but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps.” The End of the World is coming. It will come when we least expect it; like a thief in the night. When the world says peace

Sermon for Trinity 22 - Matthew 18:21-35 November 16th, 2025 “Then Peter came up and said to him, “Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?” Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy-seven times.” Forgiveness is a hard thing. We are not good at it. Someone sins against us and we automatically build walls of defense against that person. Forgiving someone involves strong emotions. Anger and pride. Shame an

Sermon for Trinity 21 - John 4:46-54 November 9th, 2025 “Unless you see signs and wonders you will not believe.” The miracles of Jesus during His earthly ministry show visibly what His Words declare. He heals the sick. He brings the dead to life. Where there is unbelief He creates faith. Jesus is the Word of God made flesh. He is the Word that God spoke in the beginning to create all things. He is the Word that calls into existence the things that do not exist. What Jesus spe

Matthew 5:1-12 November 2nd, 2025 There is a bittersweetness to All Saints Day. The bitterness is death. Death always hurts no matter how many years have passed. It’s the bitterness of loss. Of wanting to go back in time to that one day, that one moment. To see that face; hear that voice, the laugh. The pain and tears never fully go away on this side of heaven. A part of us doesn’t want the hurt to go away. It’s because we still love them. It’s good and right to feel sadness

Luke 14:1-11 Remember the Sabbath Day By Keeping it Holy October 12th, 2025 Remember the Sabbath Day by keeping it holy. What does this mean? We should fear and love God so that we do not despise preaching and His Word, but hold it sacred and gladly hear and learn it. What is it with the Pharisees and Jesus and the Sabbath day? Seven times in the Gospels Jesus has healed someone on the Sabbath day and six of those are a direct challenge to the Pharisees teaching of the Sabbat

Luke 7:11-17 October 5th, 2025 Jesus hates death. You hate death. Death is never good. Death is not a blessing. Even when the person is...

Matthew 6:24-34 - Seek First the Kingdom of God and His Righteousness September 28th, 2025 There is a place where life isn’t broken. A...