Sermons 2025

Video

Text: Philemon 1-21
Theme: Useless to Useful

Outline
1.    Onesimus Useful as slave
2.    Now more useful as a Brother in Christ because found by Paul
3.    Found by Christ, makes us useful to others!

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 meditation today is the Epistle lesson of Philemon verses one through twenty-one.

Boys and girls, I pray that you are doing well today. Do you enjoy being be helpers? Maybe you help mom and dad around the house, cleaning up your rooms, taking out the trash, putting the dirty dishes in the sink, helping with your brothers and sisters. I know many of you enjoy being big helpers around the house, at school, and at church. In our text for today, we hear about a guy named Onesimus. He was a slave to a man named Philemon. Saint Paul says that Onesimus was useful as a slave but now is more useful as a fellow brother in Christ. How does Christ make us more useful to those around us? Ponder that question as you hear the rest of the sermon. You may go back to your seats and those who love you.

1.    Onesimus Useful as slave

Our text for today is a beautiful short letter written by Saint Paul to a man named Philemon. Philemon helped to found the church in Colossae who was well known for his hospitality, especially since the church met in his home. Philemon has a problem though. One of his slaves, a man by the name of Onesimus, whose name means Useful, has run away. Onesimus was a pagan. He was on the outskirts of society, as well as the home. He was on the outside looking in as the church met in Philemon’s home. 

Onesimus was very useful to Philemon as a slave. In the Graeco-Roman world, owning slaves was not limited to the rich; many households included at least one slave. The Greeks and Romans both employed a system in which slaves could own property, earn money, and buy their freedom.  Slavery provided labor for large portions of agriculture and handicraft. Those who wanted skilled workers often used slaves rather than free men. Thus, many slaves were more economically secure than many free wage-laborers.

Aristotle presents slavery as a part of the natural order: “It is manifest therefore that … some are free men and others are slaves by nature” (Pol. 1255a1–2). However, this was not the only view of slavery in the Graeco-Roman world. Philo, for example, differentiates between bodily and moral slavery and states about conventional slaves that they “rank lower in fortune, but can lay claim to the same nature as their masters” (On the Special Laws 3.137). On the other hand, in his view moral slavery is ordained by God and such slaves are better off as conventional slaves, controlled by an owner. Others declared that it was slavery itself that was against nature (Florentinus, Dig. 1.5.4.1). 

We are not told why Onesimus ran away. Some scholars say he was a runaway slave who had stolen money, others say he was in a dispute with Philemon and wanted a friend of the master to intervene. The majority hold that Onesimus was a runaway slave, a fugitive that if caught could be killed. All we know for sure is that he had time with Paul during Paul’s time of imprisonment. It was through the time spent with Paul that the Spirit brought Onesimus to faith in Christ. 

2.    Now more useful as a Brother in Christ because found by Paul

That faith is Paul’s reason for writing this letter to encourage Philemon to receive Onesimus back into the household. Paul desires κοινωνία “sharing” better translated as fellowship. This does not mean that Philemon and Onesimus are going to go grab a cup of coffee together on Onesimus’ return and talk about how life is going for each other. Kοινωνία is the idea that, in Christ, Christians belong to one another. More than that, Christians identify with fellow Christians. Thus, we rejoice when others rejoice and we weep with those who are going through troubled times. The main idea is that there is a “sharing” or “mutual participation” in and of the faith. Reconciliation, or the lack thereof, has ramifications that extend beyond the immediate parties involved.  It can affect the entirety of the church as well.

Thus, why Paul encourages Philemon to receive Onesimus back, no longer as a pagan slave, but as a beloved brother in Christ. Though Paul, Onesimus has come to faith in Jesus Christ, the same faith as the church that met in Philemon’s own house believed. Paul desires a willing and joyous reunion of fellow believers rather than one of an angry and harsh master towards a runaway slave.

Paul points Philemon to Jesus. He opens with Christian identity, thanking God for the love and faith that Philemon has for the Lord Jesus and toward all the saints. A love and faith that shows itself in the life of the believer. Paul ends the letter by stating that he knows Philemon will do even more than Paul is asking.

interpreters to question whether Paul asks—implicitly or directly—Philemon to grant Onesimus manumission, the act of freeing or liberating a slave. If Paul is requesting for Philemon to release Onesimus, then the letter marks a radical movement toward enacting within society the egalitarian view reflected in Gal 3:28 and Col 3:11. Even if Paul was not requesting manumission, his exhortation for Philemon to forgive Onesimus and treat him “as a brother” (Phlm 16) is notable since it makes Christian identity, and not cultural norms, the basis of ethical behavior. 

3.    Found by Christ, makes us useful to others!

In this Christian identity as the basis of ethical behavior, we found how it applies to us today. The same as Paul, Philemon, and Onesimus, we have been freed from the massive debt that we owned to God. Because of Adam’s fall, we were in slavery. In chains to our sinful nature with all of its lusts and passions. We were powerless under the power of the devil, falling into temptation again and again, slaves with nothing to look forward to but everlasting death itself in the fires of Hell. 

We have been freed! The iron fetters bound have been undone forever! Freed because of God Himself in the person and work of Jesus Christ. Jesus lived a perfect life, freeing us from the harsh requirements of the Law. As Saint Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 5:21 “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” Jesus bore our sins, nailing them to the cross. There, He bled and died, covering your sins with His holy and precious blood, enduring the full wrath of God in your place. Rising again from the dead, Jesus gives you newness of slavery. Slavery not to sin, devil, or death, but as His dear and beloved child.

It is the love of Christ that shapes your very identity and actions as Christians. Just as pagan Onesimus was watching the church from the sidelines, so too people are watch us as the church as well. How would Philemon react once Onesimus returned? Would he forgive or hold a grudge? As Christians we are called to reconcile and forgive, to show each other the same forgiveness and love that Jesus Christ showed to us. Having been forgiven by Jesus, we are useful as we show His love in action as we are reconciled to each other. 

We are useful, showing our faith in our lives as we live in this world because the world is watching. As we just sang, “How clear is our vocation Lord, when one we heed your call: to live according to Your Word and daily learn, refreshed, restored, that You are Lord of all and will not let us fall.” Pagans and those of other faiths are watching how we act while we are around our family, friends, neighbors, and others. They are listening to the words that are coming out of our mouths and what tone we are using. I pray that our thoughts, words, and deeds proclaim the Holy Spirit living within us as we joyfully proclaim Jesus’ death and resurrection for the reconciliation and healing of a broken and fallen world. 

Reconciliation and forgiveness are not easy. They mean defying our sinful nature, not letting bitterness and anger fester, but letting love in Christ reign. Philemon could have very easily held a grudge. He would have been within His right as a master to harm Onesimus severely. Yet, Philemon and Onesimus reconciled. Philemon then released Onesimus for a time to Paul for service in his mission work (see Col 4:7–9). It is also a possibility that this same Onesimus went on to become bishop of Ephesus in the early second century at the age of 70. None of this would have been possible without the forgiveness and love shown to them, and us, in Jesus Christ.
 

Dear brothers and sisters, let us always live in Jesus Christ, a life that shows  κοινωνία, fellowship, love, and, forgiveness to those who have harmed or hurt us, as our lives show the love of Christ for us, and for the world at large.

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

Text: Colossians 3:1-11

Outline
1.    We see dead people walking
a.    Dead in our sins and trespasses
2.    Dead can be made alive
a.    Not because we find some kind of medicine, but because we are given the best medicine, JC
3.    Alive people do not return back to death

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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 meditation today is Saint Paul’s letter to the church in Colossae, chapter three verses one through eleven.

Intro: Boys and girls, I pray that you are doing well today. Have you ever seen a poster like this? It is a poster that police used to use many years ago. They would put out this posters and say, “We want this person, dead or alive.” It did not matter if the person was dead or if they were still breathing. The police wanted to protect people from what this evil man was going to do. What would you think if your picture was here? It might be a little bit scary. You might be afraid.

But in Jesus, your picture is here. He wants you, He created, redeemed, and makes you holy. He takes you who were dead and makes you alive. Jesus says, Wanted, Alive! How does being made alive in Christ Jesus show itself in your life? 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 see dead people walking

When you look around at other people, what do you see? You might notice the color of their skin. The nice and neat or disheveled appearance of their clothing. If you have eyesight like Sherlock Holmes, you might notice minute details they have a button undone in their shirt, the small tattoos that point to a life of travel and adventure. If you are looking at them as Christ sees them, to quote the movie, The Sixth Sense, you can say “I see dead people.”

As we look at the people in the world around us, and even here at church, we rightly see dead people walking. That is because of our sinful nature. Because of the Fall, Adam and Eve brought upon all of humanity the curse of sin. Our default setting, as Saint Paul says, was one of a corpse. Dead in sins and trespasses. Saint Paul says that this was our former condition before our Baptisms and the creation of faith by the Holy Spirit. We were enslaved to Satan, our sinful nature, and eventually Death itself leading to eternal death.

We were hostile to God and to what He says in His holy Word. Death showed itself in our lives as we follow the ways of our own flesh, gratifying our own desires. We get angry at our neighbor. We look upon others not with love but in wrath and malice, desiring for ourselves the things that they have. We use our words not to build one another up, but to slander others. We gossip and lie about others. We do not use our words to praise God. Rather, obscene talk comes from your mouth. Many times, we still do this today because we have our sinful flesh still clinging to us. Yet, for many in the world today, it is not their former condition, it’s their current condition!

The worst part, what can a dead person do? Nothing! People dead in their sinful nature are trapped. They cannot save themselves. They cannot free themselves and make themselves alive. They are trapped, slaves of Satan and Death until they suffer eternal death forever in the fires of hell.

2.    Dead can be made alive

What then can the dead do? They need to be made alive again, no longer dead. Just think of any zombie movie that you have ever seen, the scientists are always looking for a cure, looking for a way to remove the curse of the undead and make people alive again. We have something better than a scientist’s cure, we have the cure from God Himself for our dead, sin-filled condition.

Indeed those dead in their sins are made alive again in, though, and, because of Jesus Christ. Jesus took upon Himself their death. He was crucified, died, and was buried, so that the dead would not die eternally but have the forgiveness of their sins, the salvation of their souls, and, life everlasting with Him forever. All this He gives graciously in the waters of Holy Baptism. There, the dead come shambling from the grave of death. Their sins are crucified with Christ Jesus, buried in the tomb with Him, and they rise to newness of life forever. The dead are alive! They are freed from Sin, from the Devil, from Death itself by Jesus Christ. He died and rose so that you can live. He says, “Wanted: not dead, but alive forever. I paid your price with My own death and resurrection.”

3.    Alive people do not return back to death.

Because we are alive in Christ, we do not go back to the deadness of our sins. We do not return to the deadness of sinful ways  or gratify their desires. Rather, we live as His alive people in the midst of people dead in their sins. We die to our sinful natures and rise to new life in Christ. We put on Christ, the same way we change clothes daily. That when people look at our thoughts, words, or deeds, they do not see us, rather they see Jesus in us. We set our minds not on what we desire. Rather, we look heavenward. We look to Jesus and set our minds on things above, on doing the good works that He has given us to do as we serve our neighbors in love. We put Christ and His righteousness on ourselves, being renewed in Him, being strengthening by His word and Sacraments in our faith, as we daily grow in His grace, mercy, and love.
As we live out our lives as people made alive in and through Jesus Christ, let us always show grace and mercy to those still dead around us, as we point them to Jesus that they too may live with us in His kingdom forever.

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

Text: 1 Corinthians 10:1-13 
Theme: A Life Preserver 

Outline:
1.    Preserver Lost
2.    Preserved in Christ
3.    Preserved still 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 meditation this morning is the Epistle Lesson from Saint Paul’s first letter to the church in Corinth, the tenth chapter verses one through thirteen. 
Boys and girls how are you doing this morning? I pray that you are doing well. How good of a swimmer are you? Could you swim for hours and hours? Maybe? or would you need help? You might need what’s called a life vest or a life preserver. It is something that you can hold onto when you get tired of swimming and will hold you afloat so you will not drown. Once there were two friends fell off a ship. A life preserver was thrown to each person. One was relieved, grasped the preserver immediately, and was saved. The other believed he could do better on his own, pushed the preserver away, and was lost. Which of these are you? And if you are the one hanging on to the preserver, will you keep hanging on until you are safely pulled up onto the ship? Or is there the temptation to let go? How do we hold onto our life preserver given to us in and though Jesus Christ? Ponder these questions as you hear the rest of the sermon. You may go back to your seats and those who love you. 

Preserver Lost

In our text for today, Saint Paul draws on the history of Israel and uses it as an example of how people who have seen great things still need to be careful that they do not lose the thing that they have been given. 
The Israelites saw great and wonderful things. They were a privileged group of people. Graciously saved by God from slavery to the Egyptians. By God’s grace they saw and were a part of things that no people before or since have seen or been a part of. Israel had seen the Lord of the universe blazing a trail for them through the wilderness with a pillar of could in the daytime and a pillar of fire at night.  Israel had walked through the center of the Red Sea on dry ground with the water stacked up on both the left and right. Every Israelites who went through that dramatic baptism had a reason to think: “I must be one of God’s people. Look at what great thing He is doing for me! To save me!”  

They were certainly privileged people. God Himself was their Ruler, Shepherd, and Guide. Every year, the Israelites were to recall that saving event, called the Passover. The remembrance of Passover sustained and preserved the new life that they had been given. They were freed from the slavery and oppression in Egypt. 

Christ Himself was present with them in the rock that provided water and in the manna from heaven. Daily, they were provided for by God Himself. Every single day God did wonders to provide for them. They saw manna daily on the ground before. They saw every evening flocks of quail for them to eat. Yet, in spite of all of this Israel rejected God. They fell into idolatry, sin, and eternal death. However, those who did not reject the rock, those who held into the promises of God, were saved through their faith. Out of all of the original Israelites who walked through the Red Sea, 600,000 plus men twenty years and older, there was only two who remained faithful, Joshua and Caleb, who entered the Promised Land. 

Preserved because of Christ

If people as privileged as Israel could fall away from their God, what warning for us! Just as the people of Israel, the church in Corinth have graciously saved by God from bondage to the pagan idols. They are no longer slaves to false gods of wood, stone, and lustful passions. They have been saved by the wonderous work of God on their behalf.

They had seen the gracious works of God in and through Jesus Christ. Their reaction? One bordering on arrogance leading to eternal damnation. They took the mercy of God for granted, thinking that they could go back to their old ways. They could return to the worship of false idols, ways of ungodly living, and everything would be ok. Saint Paul warns them against this. He says, ‘do not be idolaters as some of them were…We must not indulge in sexual immorality… we must not put Christ to the test.’ 

Why? Because Baptism into Christ meant a new way of life. It means putting away forever former things. No longer going towards sinful ways but resisting them by standing firm in Christ Jesus. Indeed, given all of the enemies against them, they must be on guard and take heed lest they fall. Recalling their Baptism and salvation in Christ (including the Lord’s Supper, as Paul will explain later), they are sustained and preserved that new life that is granted to them. 

Where the Word and Sacraments are, there Christ is present. He the same as He accompanied ancient Israel, so too He accompanied the church in Corinth. They knew that because Christ was with them, they were provided the way out of sinful dangers. They did not depend upon themselves, but upon Christ’s death and resurrection, and His strength. They knew that with Christ living in them through Holy Baptism, that they could resist sin. They heeded Saint Paul’s warning. They did not become arrogant and prideful. If that happened, then Christ is rejected and everything is lost.  Those grasping him through faith are saved. It means repenting of sin, again and again, and  living in the forgiveness of Christ. 

Preserved in Christ still today

What was true of Isreal, and the church in Corinth, is also true of you. You have been graciously saved by God. You do not need to embrace our pagan culture. You have seen the great signs and wonders that God has done on our behalf, by sending His only Son, to suffer, bleed, and, die for you and me. We dare not become arrogant. We face the same weaknesses as Israel and Corinth. 

Christ, our Shepherd, the Son of God, has mercy upon you by sending pastors as your undershepherd. It is the responsibility of a pastor to forgive you of your sins in the name and stead of Christ. By Word and Sacrament, to give you new life in the waters of Holy Baptism. To come along side daily, helping and strengthening you by the Gospel to live out that new life given to you in Christ. Living out this new life is not an easy task, we are daily tempted, we daily struggle.  

Yet, we do so giving thanks for what Jesus has done for us. By the shedding of His innocent, holy, and precious blood, Jesus has taken away all of our sins. Rising again from the dead, we are given new life. Through the sending of the Holy Spirit, we are strengthened. Jus as Christ was with Isreal, and the church in Corinth, so Christ is present with us as well. Christ is present in the apostolic Scriptures. Every Word is about, and points to Christ. We are given Jesus’ very body and blood in, with, and under, the bread and the wine of the blessed Eucharist. As we live out our lives, Christ’s Word, and Sacraments, accompany us giving us strength and empowering us. 
When we are tempted and threatened with sin that leads to death, to toss away our life preserver, Christ’s presence, through His Word and through the voice of your pastor, your under Shepheard, provides the way out. We draw strengthen from Christ’s temptation, His defeat of Satan, and Christ’s suffering for us. We do not take it lightly. We hold it close and highly value it. We constantly remind each other, “Christ died for you. By His resurrection, He has given to you newness of life. Live in Him. Resist sin, hold fast to Christ.” 

One way that we can do so is every time we wake up and lay down for the evening.  Luther recommends that one’s first words on rising and retiring for the evening be the trinitarian invocation, the Name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, thus reminding us of our Baptism. Then he suggests praying the morning and evening prayers. 

The Christian life is like a journey on a ship. From time to time, for a variety of reasons, we each find ourselves thrown overboard, swimming in a sea of temptations. We cannot swim long on our own. We need something to hold on to for our salvation. Continue to hold onto Jesus. Hold onto your Baptism into his name. Baptism into Christ is our life preserver. Grasp him and hold him tight, even when the seas roar and foam, dear Christian hold tight. Your Savior is present with you, hold fast to Him. 

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