Sermons 2026

Text: 1 Corinthians 2:1-16 

Theme “Mind and Spirit of Christ” 

Outline 

1. Pastors and people might not always say things the same way. What matters is what we confess about Jesus Christ and Him Crucified.

2. Given of God’s Spirit, He who knows the mind of God Himself being Himself, that we might understand God as He reveals in Holy Scripture. 

3. Share of the Mind of Christ, He died and Rose that we might be forgiven and His children, we know His will for our lives as beloved children. 

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 Epistle of Saint Paul, the first letter sent to the church in the area of Corinth, the second chapter verses one through sixteen. 

Beloved lambs, I pray that you are doing well today. How many of you have seen a scary movie before? What about a sad movie? That’s a lot of us! Didn’t you feel scared after a scary movie? Didn’t you feel sad after a sad movie? That’s because you sat for two hours being scared or sad. Your focus was on that. See this picture? This is called a stereogram. It’s an illusion picture. If you focus really hard on it you’ll see the hidden picture. There’s something good hidden in here! Let’s focus for a few minutes to see what we can find. If you find the hidden message keep it to yourself. Don’t give it away! (Allow kids time to find the message.) In our text, Saint Paul says that we have the mind of Jesus. It is hidden, we cannot see easily at the moment, but we have Jesus. How can we focus upon Jesus and have His mind in this world? Ponder that question as you hear the rest of the sermon. You may go back to your seats and those who love you.

 1. Wisdom of Christ 

My dear beloved saints, I have a confession to make today. I am completely and utterly terrified at the moment. Every time I step into this pulpit, I tremble with fear and awe. Why? Not because I do not know what to say, but because of the grand responsibility I have been given. I am a frail, feeble, and sinful man. Yet, through my voice, and actions, you hear and see the great proclamation of Jesus Christ and Him Crucified for you and your salvation. Through the Pastoral Office, you hear the wondrous news of your everlasting salvation, Jesus Christ died and rose to give you the forgiveness of your sins by restoring you to a right relationship with God again. 

How is this great message given? Your salvation does not depend upon knowing the definitions of big, long words, like justification, atonement, sanctification (Though knowing their meanings is indeed good). Your salvation is not given through great rhetoric, like a treasure for following a logical, complex train of thought, or using your reason to understand every little bit of doctrine that we believe, teach, and confess. Nor is your salvation given because of the man in the Pastoral office, because I am such an exciting preacher, always using the best illustrations on a text, or speaking so wondrously as to hold all of you in suspense upon my every word. Rather, your salvation is through simple proclamation. 

We often get lost in the words that we use, thinking that by using larger words, we are making ourselves look better or wiser. We fall into the sin of pride, thinking that we are so great, placing our trust in ourselves and our words. This was especially true of the Corinthians. 

The Corinthians held the eloquent speaker in high regard. In fact, they idolized him. The clever speaker, the skillful debater—they not only admired the man who had a way with words, but they were ready to lay out good Greek drachmas to hire such a man to teach them rhetoric and eloquence. They wanted their worldly wisdom to be presented with persuasive words and eloquent diction. Otherwise they would not value the message. Yet, 

Paul’s simple message is told simply. Why? Because our salvation rests not upon man’s wisdom, but upon the power of God. Our salvation does not rest upon someone that preaches well, or upon fancy logic or wise rhetoric. Our salvation is given simply, because of the power of the Holy Spirit that opens our hearts to the proclamation of the Gospel. 

2. Mind of Spirit 

We have the Spirit of God given to us through the Word of Holy Scripture. This Word is made visible first for many of us as infants through the blessed waters of Holy Baptism. There, God places His name upon you, claims you as His own dear child, and gives you His wisdom and knowledge. Even a little baby, washed by the waters of Holy Baptism, is wiser than any worldly leader. This is not something complex, as the Psalmist says, “From the mouths of infants and babes you have ordained praise.” Even our children, who have only an elementary understanding of the gospel, have the highest wisdom when they believe that Jesus died on the cross for them. They are among the mature because they have the heart and core of true wisdom. 

This is not something that the world can understand on it’s own. As Paul writes, 8 None of the rulers of this age understood this, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. 9 But, as it is written, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him”— 10 these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. ” We are given of God’s Spirit who reveals to us what the Mind of God is. 

The Spirit of God is not an unmoving force, like from Star Wars. He is the active Third Person of the Holy Trinity. The omniscient Holy Spirit can know who God is, what God thinks, what he plans, how he governs the affairs of men. Everything that we have in Scripture is knowledge and wisdom that the Holy Spirit has found out for us. Everything we know about our damnation and our salvation has been searched out by him and, through his holy writers, recorded for us. Our wisdom is Spirit-given. 

It is the Holy Spirit who through the means of the Word reveals just how broken, and sin-stained we really are. It is through Him that we realize the severity of our sins. You and I deserve everlasting death because of our transgressions of the Law, both that we have done and that we leave undone. If God took away my wife, my children, all of my possessions, struck me with every disease under the sun, killed me, and condemned me to hell forever, that would be better that I deserve, and He would be well within His power and right to do so because of my sins. 

3. Mind of Christ 

Yet, it is also through the Holy Spirit that God reveals to us His wisdom and grace in Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit gives us the mind of Christ here and now in the present world. Because of God, we are clothed with Christ. We have His perfection and righteousness given to us even today. We are both sinner and saint. Like the Stenograph, our sainthood seems hidden many times in this world as we wrestle with our sinful nature, the Devil, and the pressures of this world. Yet though it is hidden, that does not mean that we do not have it. We are forgiven by Jesus, covered by His blood, raised to newness of life by His resurrection, and are being sanctified by the Holy Spirit. We see reality as it really is. We know because God has revealed it to us. Does the man of the world know what sin and guilt are? Does he know the depth of the wickedness in the heart of man? What are the answers to the problems of sickness and suffering? Why will there always be crime and war? What is the true worth of earthly possessions? Why will this world never achieve justice and equality? Why does death reign? What are the limits of education? What is the hereafter? Who is God? 

God gives us the answer to these types of questions, as well as the ability, to proclaim what He has done in the midst of the world. The reality is that our pain, our tears, our hurt, and sadness is not how things are supposed to be. God did not create us to suffer and die. He created us to live forever in Paradise with Him. Because of Adam, we suffer and die, we come from dust and will return to dust. Through, Jesus, our humanity has been fully restored, and He will indeed restore us perfectly when He comes again in glory. 

Until that glorious day, think as Christ does. See people as Christ sees them, as souls in need of a Savior. Through your words and deeds, share with them the reality that God has revealed to us, the reality of our sins but also the reality of the forgiveness and new life Jesus has given to us by His death and resurrection. 

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