Sermons 2025

Text: Luke 20:27-40 

Theme: Relationship to Resurrection

 Outline 

1. Sadducees, no resurrection, then what is there to live for? 

2. Relationship with Jesus-Worthy to obtain resurrection of the dead/everlasting life 

3. Live not for mere moments but focused on eternity 

Sermon 

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

My dear beloved flock, the text for our mediation today is the Holy Gospel according to Saint Luke the twenith chapter verses twenty-seven through forty. 

Boys and girls, I pray that you are doing well today. Do you know how long eternity is? Eternity is a really long time. For example, this tape measure. This little bit (5 inches) is your life here upon earth. It is not very long. It is a small time, maybe 70-80 years. All this…tape measure to the limit, is the rest of your life in eternity with God. Do we live for this life or do we live for life in eternity with God? How does Jesus help us to life for life in eternity? Ponder those questions as you hear the rest of the sermon. You may go back to your seats and those who love you. 

1. Sadducees, no resurrection, then what is there to live for? 

Our text is set the Wednesday of Holy Week. In just a few short days our Lord is going to be betrayed into he hands of sinful men, crucified, and raise again from the dead. A few hours before Jesus had overturned the tables in the Temple courts, whipped the money changers, freed the beasts and birds of sacrifices. The Sadducees ruled over the Temple. They were in charge of everything that went on theologically in Jerusalem because of their control of the Sanhedrin, the ruling council of 70 Jewish elders. They applied the Law harshly to the people and were very hated by the people because of it. 

Angered at what our Lord has done by disrupting the economic business of the Temple, and their livelihood, they come to Jesus. They pose this gotcha question. According to what Moses said, as found in Deuteronomy 25, it was lawful for a woman whose husband died to marry the closest male relation, usually a brother, have a child, named after the late husband. 

This was done so that when the Promised Land was settled, every tribe and family would have a blood descendant in the Land and the promises of God would not fade from the Land or people. Therefor they posit this illustration. A woman has 7 husbands under the Law. If we are known and have marital relationships at the resurrection, whose wife will she be? 

Luke records that they do not believe in a resurrection of the body. They made a mockery of the resurrection by this line of questioning because it was absurd in their minds. In the mind of the Sadducees, all that mattered was life here and now, after we died, that was it, you simply ceased to be. 

How many people in the world today hold this viewpoint? How many times do we fall into this same line of thinking? We are bombarded constantly with the idea that we just need to live for the moment. We just need to live life here and now. We just need to live for this moment. The past is the past; we cannot change it so do not worry about it. Thinking about the future will only fill you with anxiety and terror over the unknown and what-ifs, why bring that kind of worry and fear into your life on a daily basis? You’d become a nervous wreck if all you did was worry about the future or past, just live for the moment. Celebrate and rejoice in what you can change and try to be the best person here and now that you can be. 

This is what the world says to us constantly. They strive to erase this text. There’s no past. There’s no future. There is only the here and now. Live your best life now. Be the best you can be with the short time that you have so you can be remembered for something before you fade away into dust.

 2. Relationship with Jesus-Worthy to obtain resurrection of the dead/everlasting life 

Yet our Lord’s response shows us that this viewpoint is completely wrong. He says that we cannot compare what happens in this world with the world to come at the resurrection. The new heavens and the new earth, along with our perfected bodies, will be something so glorious that anything we could compare it to upon this present world fails to compare. The resurrection to come is ours because the resurrection shows clearly the eternal nature of God. To misunderstand the resurrection is to misunderstand the eternal nature of God.

 To prove this point, Jesus quotes Himself speaking to Moses at the Burning Bush in Exodus chapter three, our Old Testament Lesson for today. There, when asked who He is, the Lord replies, “I am who I am, or I will be who I will be.” That He is, the God of Abraham, Issac, and Jacob. These blessed Patriarchs had been dead for hundreds of years before Moses, but notice the tense. The Lord does not say, I was…He says I am. Present tense here and now. Our Lord does not expound upon what the resurrection body and what that will look like. 

Rather instead He points to the covenant and the relationship between God and His people. “Our Lord here testifies of the conscious intent of God in speaking the words. God uttered them, He tells us, to Moses, in the consciousness of the still enduring existence of His peculiar relation to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob” (Meyer). “The groundwork of His argument seems to me,” says Alford, “to be this: the words ‘I am thy God’ imply a covenant. There is another side to them: “Thou art mine” follows upon “I am thine.” When God, therefore, declares that He is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, He declares their continuance, as the other parties in this covenant. It is an assertion which could not be made of an annihilated being of the past.” 

There is a resurrection from the dead because of the eternal nature of God and His relationship with His people. He is not a dead God, but a living God for all live for Him. God is eternal, without beginning or end. That is a characteristic of His nature. Because of that, every person who has ever lived, are alive in His perspective in eternity, no matter how long they may have been dead upon this earth. Some are alive and rejoicing in His presence, those who do not believe are also alive, but in eternal suffering. 

3. Live not for mere moments but focused on eternity 

So, what does all of this mean for us today? It means that we are not living merely for the passing moments of this life. It means that because of our relationship with God, which has been restored in and through Jesus Christ, His perfect life, suffering, death, and resurrection from the dead. You and I will live eternally. We live not only for this life but especially in, and for, the life to come, whatever that may look like. 

We do not disregard the past. While yes, we cannot change it, we can learn from it. Our past influences our present. We may look upon our past actions with sadness, regret, or joy. We learn from them. God uses them to build us up, lead us to mourn them in repentance, and strengthen our relationship with Him as we turn towards Him, seeking forgiveness and mercy. Our present is not merely seeking our wants and needs in this moment. Known that God alone has all wealth, power, and authority. We do not seek after anything in this world for our own gain, but rather that we may use what we have been given to seek what is best for our neighbor. The eternal relationship that we have with our Heavenly Father means that even the future is not a worry for us. 

While we may not know what the future holds for us, God knows. We live continually before Him and He is indeed our Good Shepherd. He leads us to springs of living water and green pasture, working out everything for our good, even if we cannot see how in the midst of the chaos and fallness of the present world. Dear beloved flock, rejoice that our God is indeed a not a God of the dead but of the living for all live to Him. Live not merely for the moment. Live not for this world, it’s wealth, power and possessions. Rather, live for eternity with God in the life of the world to come, seeking here and now serving the needs of your neighbor as we show the love of God to the world.

 The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, guard, and keep, your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. 

Amen.

Text: 2 Timothy 2:1-13
Theme: Endure!

Outline
1.    We undergo suffering because of the Gospel
2.    Endure because of Christ
3.    Endure unto life everlasting

Sermon
 

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

My dear beloved flock, the text for our mediation today is the second letter of Saint Paul to Timothy the second chapter verses one through thirteen.

Boys and Girls, I pray that you are doing well today. Do you know what is in this ring? It is a diamond. Diamonds are formed deep in the earth. Coal is pressed and pressed by the earth until eventually they cannot be pressed any more. They turn hard and eventually sparkle into beautiful diamonds. Did you know that the same thing happens to you? We are pressed when bad things happen to us. We have pain in this life. Friends and families die. We become sad and angry. Yet, in our text, Saint Paul calls on us to endure steadfast in the Gospel because all of this suffering will get us something  far greater in the end. What awaits us at the end? Ponder that question as you hear the rest of the sermon. You may go back to your seats and those who love you.
 

1.    We undergo suffering because of the Gospel
 

How many of you undergo suffering in this life? We have a lot of suffering in this life. We have the suffering of the fallen world that we live in. All of the lusts and passions of the world that entice us into world pleasures. The fancy cars, the big televisions, the most up to date phone or computer. Eventually, it will all fade away into dust and brokenness. Yet, the pleasures of the world still pressure us to look, not towards things eternal and permanent, but towards things temporary and transient.

We have the suffering of our sinful flesh. Just as the world is temporary, so too is our flesh. Because of Adam and Eve and the Fall into sin, all of us are sinners by our very nature. We sin in our thoughts, our words, and our deeds. We break the Law of God over and over again. Because we sin, we encure the price of death. As the Lord told Adam, “You are dust and to dust you shall return.” Unless our Lord comes again, every single one of us will face that reality.  This means we face the suffering, not only of our flesh decaying, but the reality of the death of friends, of family members, of loved ones no longer with us. This was not the reality that the Lord created us to live in. He created us to live with Him forever. Because we see the effects of sin and death, we mourn. We become saddened and crushed as we face what should never have been, but we are powerless to change it. 

We face the pressures of the devil and all his temptations as he rages against us because we follow Jesus Christ. The devil knows that he has been defeated eternally. Yet, still he rages against God and His Anointed. The devil has one goal, cause us to lose our faith in Jesus Christ. If we no longer trust in Jesus, we no longer look to Him for salvation, forgiveness of sins, and every good thing, then the Devil has won and our faith has been lost.

The Devil, our flesh, the world, all of these add constant suffering, pain, and anguish to our lives. They do not desire to hear the Word of God. They do not listen. They stick their fingers in their ears like toddlers not wanting to listen to their parents and go lalalala. They cause us to suffer for the gospel, as hidden as it may be in our nation today, we have been blessed that is it not as overt as in many countries today where Christians are bound in chains, imprisoned, and killed for their faith. That is what Paul is experiencing. As he writes this letter to young Timothy, he is chained twenty-four seven to a Roman soldier. He says I am in chains for the Gospel.

2.    Endure because of Christ
 

We can almost hear him yell the next part, “Yet the word of God is not bound!” In the midst of his pain, suffering, and imprisonment, Paul encourages Timothy, and us, to be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus in and though faithful men preaching the Word. Paul may be bound in chains but the proclamation of the Gospel continues through Timothy and others. Timothy is called here to keep preaching the Gospel, as well as instructing other men into continuing that proclamation. 

It is a proclamation that continues today as the Lord continues to send out faithful Pastors into His Church. Through their faithful preaching of Christ, believes are given forgiveness and strength to endure the pains, hardships, and trials of this world. You are given strength that comes from the divine grace that Christ Jesus has shown to us.  “Timothy himself is encouraged to draw on divine strength to sustain him in the difficult situation where ‘everybody’ has deserted Paul and in order to emulate the good example on Onesiphorus. The motif is linked to the concept of grace and strength being given to a person who is being installed as a successor, like Joshua to Moses… The life and service of the Christian believer should be characterized by the strength and power to do what God requires, by contrast with that of apostates who profess religion but lack the spiritual force that should be associated with it (3:5).”  

We are strengthened to endure because of what Christ Jesus Himself endured. Paul continues, “Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, the offspring of David, as preached in my gospel, 9 for which I am suffering ” Remember Jesus, the promised Messiah. A King of royal blood, who entered this world as a true human being, in whom dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.  Remember, and be strengthened by your Lord who has undergone all suffering, to the point of death upon a cross, for you. Remember Jesus who is not dead. He has risen from the dead! 

By His death and resurrection from the dead, Jesus gives you mercy without end. He gives you every single one of God’s riches thought His Word and Sacraments. Jesus gives you forgiveness of every single one of your sins. He gives you everlasting peace with God. He gives you strength to endure whatever the devil, the world, and your flesh can do, that you may withstand steadfast in faith unto the end.

3.    Endure unto life everlasting

What a joyous end awaits steadfast and faithful believers in Christ! 

We endure the same as an athlete, soldier, or farmer. Work is hard, the labor can see monotonous and mind numbing, the same routines, the same fields, the same training, over and over again for seemingly no reward or profit. Yet, all that endurance, all that training and labor, does indeed carry with it a great reward at the end when the battle is won, the race is over and the gold medal is yours, the crops, so painstakingly cared for, grow up in  harvest of thousands plentiful.

“Among the Romans crowns were the highest distinction for service in war. The corona triumphalis of laurel was presented to a triumphant general; and the corona obsidionalis was awarded to a general by the army which he had saved from a siege or from a shameful capitulation. It was woven of grass which grew on the spot, and was also called corona graminea. The corona myrtea or ovalis, the crown of bay, was worn by the general who celebrated the lesser triumph or ovatio. The golden corona muralis, with embattled ornaments, was given for the storming of a wall; and the corona castrensis or vallaris, also of gold, and ornamented in imitation of palisades, was awarded to the soldier who first climbed the rampart of the enemy’s camp.”  

Great rewards indeed for the pain of enduring the suffering of battle and training. 
 

Even greater than a wreath that fades is the reward awaiting us! What awaits us is not a wreath but a crown. A crown that will be given to us, not by fellow believers, but by the loving hand of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. A crown of everlasting life with Him that will never fade away. A crown that we shall wear as we reign with Him in everlasting blessedness forever (Revelation 3:21).
 

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, continue to endure steadfast in the grace of Christ Jesus. Endure the pain and sufferings of the world, your flesh, and the devil, secure and steadfast in the work of Christ Jesus done for you. Until that glorious day when your Savior gives you the crown of life everlasting.

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, guard and keep your hearts and minds, in Christ Jesus. Amen.
 

Text: Luke 24:44-53

Theme: WHEN WILL WE MEET HIM AGAIN?

Outline: 
1.    Jesus with Disciples
2.    Jesus with us today

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

My dear beloved flock, the text for our mediation today is the Holy Gospel according to Saint Luke the twenty-fourth chapter verses forty-four to fifty-three.

Boys and girls, I pray that you are doing well today. Have you ever had an important meeting? I am sure that mom and dad have had important meetings with your principal and teachers as you begin the school year. Meeting new friends for the first time is certainly important. As you get older there are meetings that have great impact. That moment when you met your spouse, or that person who gave you a new insight, or maybe that one person who by their witness moved you to change the direction you were going in life.  After these meetings, we are often wondering when you will meet that person again. In our text for today, we see a similar event. Jesus is ascending into heaven and the disciples are left wondering when they will see Jesus again. When, how, do we see Jesus today? Ponder that question as you hear the rest of the sermon. You may go back to your seats and those who love you.

1.    Jesus with Disciples

In the Gospel reading for this day, we are at the scene of the Ascension of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Think of what has happened here. Forty plus days earlier the Lord was on the cross. He was suffering and dying. He had cried out in anguish, “My God, My God why have you forsaken me?” The Father forsakes the Only-Begotten Son. 

Jesus hangs His face toward the ground, so great is the weight of what He was bearing, the agony and horribleness of the whipping, beatings, and crucifixion. The strain it put upon His body. Even more so than all of these was the wrath vented upon Him by His Father in heaven over sin which was not His own. Jesus in the midst of deep agony breathlessly states, “It is finished,” then as the Gospel of John records, “and He bowed his head and gave up his spirit.” It is then Jesus’ side is pierced by the spear, blood and water pour forth signifying fully and completely the Lord Jesus Christ had died. God had died. Jesus’ body then is taken down from the cross, hurriedly wrapped with linen and spices and laid lifeless in a tomb that was not His own. He was buried with a rich man in his death as the Psalmist prophecies. 

Jesus’ followers must have wondered when they would meet with Him ever again. But then, praise be to God three days later, the first day of the week, the first Easter Sunday occurs as Jesus steps forth from the tomb alive! Jesus had conquered death and the grave. He had risen victorious! Jesus had defeated death not only for Himself but for you the believer.

Then, in the time between Jesus’ resurrection and His ascension, Jesus meets with His followers opening to them the Scriptures, They see plainly with their own eyes that Jesus is alive! He is resurrected! Jesus had conquered the grave, stating for believers, stating for you who believe today, it’s a reality, it is truth, you shall not die but you shall live with Christ eternally! Then we come to this day, the day of the Ascension. Those forty days before this event must have been wondrous and inspiring, meeting with the Lord. Those there that day though must have left wondering, “Where will Jesus meet us next? What joy awaits us! This is great!”

2. Jesus Today

Jesus brought teaching and blessings when He made those appearances, and people rejoiced at His meeting with them. Then this day. Jesus now ascends into the heavens, “He parted from them.” Now, they may have thought, “Well, that was a little different than His other times of leaving, but He has always come again. I wonder though where we will meet Him next?’
You through Scripture’s witness have read that Jesus didn’t appear to them again bodily on earth. But, as you know, Jesus didn’t leave them without His presence; He didn’t leave them without Him being a part of their lives. It is as Jesus promised, “I will not leave you as orphans” (John 14:18a).

At His ascension, Jesus had given the disciples an assignment to carry out, one which would occupy their time, their talent, and their treasure for the rest of their lives. The assignment which Jesus gave them has effects down to this very day. For you are the recipients of their work, you are those who have heard the proclamation, “that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his [Christ’s] name to all nations.” 

Just as the disciples wondered, when they would see the Lord Jesus again, so too have we. In the midst of sickness, the death of loved ones, the loss of income and work, the constant changes of life, we often wondered just where the Lord Jesus is for you.  You question how God could love you, if God will meet with you, care for you. Where is this Jesus of promise? Where will Christ meet me, come to my aid? You are called to repent and recognize there is much over which you need to repent and know the reconciling peace with God. For of your own efforts and your own ways there is no ability in you to reconcile with God Almighty. By your works there can be no peace with God. That is why this proclamation of repentance and forgiveness in the name of Jesus is so vitally important.

This very proclamation of repentance and forgiveness has been given to the Church by the Lord Jesus Christ. You, hear the forgiveness of your sins in the blessed words of Holy Absolution as I, as the called and ordained servant of Christ and by His authority, forgive you all of your sins. As the body of Christ, as His church, you have the responsibility to proclaim the message of Christ, to be that body which proclaims repentance and forgiveness, which shows forth the merciful Christ in what you do and say.

This merciful heart is what Christ wants people to hear and know, that they may know and live in His gracious hand, just as you and I do.

After our Lord’s Ascension, the disciples did not mourn or weep. Rather, they returned to Jerusalem with joy. They met together, gathered around, and, recalling the glorious gifts which this Lord Jesus had given them! Jesus came to them in the breaking of bread. He joined with them through the waters of Baptism. He came to them through the Word. Jesus was present with them for He came to them in the Means of Grace. Dear believer, the same is true today. You do not have to wonder where the Lord Jesus is, you don’t ever have to search for Him. You don’t ever need to wonder if He is present here with you in this life to lead and guide you, to comfort you.

Why?

Because the Lord Jesus comes to you as He has promised! He comes to you in His body and blood in the Holy Supper. Yes, Jesus meets with you! He meets you in the waters of Holy Baptism, the Lord Jesus comes to you in this sacred act as He places His name upon you. In the blessed waters, you are baptized into the Lord’s death and raised into the Lord’s life, there you are granted a new life. (Romans 6:3–4) Yes, the Lord Jesus meets with you. For even through the Word of God the Lord Jesus meets you as He who is the Word made flesh, gives to you Himself in and through that Word. Your life is tied to Christ, for He gives to you the words of eternal life.

As the Lord meets with you, He brings to you all of His gifts. He gives to you His life. He gives to You forgiveness. He gives to you His peace. He gives to you His promises. He gives to you freedom! Freedom to live and express Him in the world. He meets you here in this world that you may know this God and Lord, now and today and to do so with great joy.

But as you know dear people of God there are many who do not meet with this Lord to know Him as their loving and gracious Savior. You are those who are blessed to know the forgiveness of sins. You are blessed to know this Jesus Christ who has done all things necessary for your salvation. You are blessed to know you have a glorious home to which you look forward, where you know you will meet with the Lord for an eternity. 

It is a monumental but vitally necessary task that the Lord has given to His Church. You as believers are not alone. The whole Synod, but especially the ladies of the LWML works to carry the Gospel to those very people who need to meet our Lord Jesus Christ. They are involved in so many ways the world over, gather blankets to take to those who are going through tragedy, putting meals into the mouths of those who have gone through disasters as they aid relief efforts, gathering mites on behalf of people in Africa and around the world, granting them access to the Word of God. They are the ones who become for you, in numerous places, the very heart and hands of the compassionate, merciful Lord who saves, who meets people where they are and grants them life eternal.

Where is our Lord? He is here, in the heart, hands, and voice of His people. He is there in the LWML that as they in their efforts may reach others with the message of repentance and forgiveness in His name.
The Lord is where His Word is preached, and His Sacraments are rightly administered in His name. 

Yes, you are blessed, for the Lord continues to meet with His people, to meet with you, and you have forgiveness and life in His name. How blessed and enriched you are! 

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, guard, and keep, your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

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