Sermons 2026

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 is the Epistle of Saint Paul to the church in Galacia the second chapter verses nine and ten.

Beloved Lambs, I pray that you are doing well today. Do you like helping around the house? Maybe you help to put away the clean silverware, or put away your clean clothes into your drawers. I know that you collect up all your dirty clothes and help to put them in the washer. You like to be helpers, which is a great thing. In our text, we hear about Paul being a helper to the Gentiles. How is he a helper? How can we be helpers in our church and world today? Ponder those questions as you hear the rest of the sermon. You may go back to your seats and those who love you.

1.    Gathered to receive God’s gifts

Dear believers, what great joy is ours as we gather here this day. We are gathered here in the presence of the Almighty God, the creator of the heavens and the earth. We are in the presence of the One who is over life and death, the eternal judge of all. We are bold enough, not to bow in worship as we should, but to stand before Him. It is truly an amazing action on our part. What makes us think we should have any right, any authority to be here? We have none.  This is God’s house, the place where His name is therefore, the place where He is, what permits us to stand here? We should not stand but bow before Him, worshiping in awe, humility, and fear. The only way we can stand is because of the grace of God, divine mercy on God’s part. We are bold because we know God’s amazing grace, God’s Riches at Christ’s Expense. God’s mercy has wrapped us in Christ’s righteousness. This Almighty God before whom we are gathered, has every right to condemn us in our sins and destroy us completely. Instead of complete destruction, note what takes place here, note what we rejoice over, we describe it with two very simple words, Divine Service. What takes place here is that the merciful, gracious, Divine One is here, to serve you and me. The Great I Am, Yahweh is here to serve you and me, He graces us with forgiveness and life. What an amazing reality!

Truly we need His service. He serves us, bringing us from the death of our sins to everlasting life in Jesus Christ, from being not a people to being the very people of God.  All this, plus much more, God does in His service to us.

2.    Sin filled World

We need God to serve us because we live in a world of so much toil and unrest. We live in a world that has been sorely affected by sin, indeed the world groans under the weight of it, waiting to be delivered when Jesus comes again and makes a new heaven and a new earth.

Our toil in this world is not always easy. We work with people who are sinners and therefore do sinful things. Sinner are going to sin in thought, word, and deed. How often have you, and others, made a promise with good intent? How often have you kept that promise? They are not always kept, much to others’ discouragement. We put ourselves first, looking to our own needs and wants. We see the sinfulness of our own lives. We are often disappointed the things that we do and say. We wonder if I am not perfect, why would we want to help anyone else? I am not worthy, so clearly, they are not worthy of support or aid. They will just abuse any help I would give to them.” How do I know that the money I give to a panhandler will really be used on food and drink, rather than on alcohol and cigarettes? It is easy nowadays to become jaded over this notion of supporting others, supporting those in need when so many abuse the gifts given to them.

3.    Saving Message of Gospel

We support others because our goal is not that they use the gifts given how we want them to. Rather, our goal is the proclamation of the Gospel. As St. Paul, the missionary to the Gentiles, writes, he was “entrusted with the Gospel to the uncircumcised.” St. Paul as we know went far and wide to carry the saving message of Christ to multitudes of people, starting churches, and establishing pastors for their care.

Yet, he also saw to the material needs of the people around him. When he was in Jerusalem with those gathered in council, in particular James, Cephas, and John, they asked Paul in his journeys to remember the poor. Paul states, “that was the very thing I was eager to do,” he wanted to support that mission of mercy as well.

The Gospel, the message of salvation in and through Christ, moves you to support not only its proclamation, but also, in response from the mercy received, moves you to care for those who are in need.

The proclamation of the Gospel is of first, of primary importance. You desperately, eagerly want people to come to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. But, through that salvation from Christ you also are moved to be concerned for people’s daily needs.

St. Paul was eager to care for the poor. Many times, in his letters Paul encourages those that he is writing for, to give to the collection he had gathered for the poor in Jerusalem. What is the point in all of this? The point is this: the mission of the church is varied, but it is all to be centered in the Gospel.

There are many organizations out there that do important work, caring for people in so many ways: rebuilding homes, collecting clothing and shoes for others, giving people a roof over their heads, and much more. Yet, how many of them make certain that the proclamation of the Gospel is at the center of their work? How many are motivated by the very mercy of Christ? You and I are to be like St. Paul; we want the proclamation of the Gospel to be the main thing! We want the Gospel to be at the core of those missions we would choose to support.

Why would that be so? Because you and I by grace through faith see the wonders of what God has done for us. As our Lord Jesus Christ states, “for the Son of man did not come to be served but to serve and to give His life as a ransom for many.” You and I as believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, are those for whom our Lord was and is a ransom. Jesus paid the ransom price for our sins by giving His very life upon the cross.  Jesus suffered and died that we might have life in His name. His death upon the cross paid the price for our freedom from sin, death, and the power of the devil.

You are cloaked in the blood of Jesus which was shed for you. You wear His righteousness. It was placed upon you in the waters of Holy Baptism. There you died with Christ and you were raised in Christ. You have received mercy. In God’s grace you stand today before this Holy God. He continues to serve you by gracing you with His love and forgiveness. Your heart and mind have been reshaped, you have been reborn, recreated in the image of your Lord Jesus Christ. You wear His work accomplished at the cross. Because of this, you view all people differently.

4.    Gospel shown in Service

You desire that others come to know the mercy, grace, and peace that God alone can bring. You desire for the Lord to bring other people from death to life. The Lord has come to you and served you, ransoming you from eternal death and hell. In your thoughts, words, and deeds, you carry this gracious Lord to others.

You support missions. You eagerly speak of this Christ Jesus and the wondrous gift He has given you in forgiveness and life in His name. You set aside the angst you have against people around you. You look past what keeps you separated by sin. You remember that the Lord Jesus died for all, therefore His grace is for all. You remember our Lord associated with the poor and needy of His day, speaking of salvation, healing and comforting those in need, even to those that others would have called unclean. He sent out His disciples proclaiming His Word that they might know of the salvation He was bringing.

The Lord desires that His Word would go to all nations making disciples, receiving His gifts of life, love, mercy, and forgiveness. Yet, you cannot be everywhere at once. Your talents cannot meet all needs everywhere at once.

That is why the Lord God has blessed His church with numerous people, willing and gracious people, to serve and spread the Gospel message through numerous mission efforts. The LWML is one of those mission efforts. The Lutheran Women in Mission support missions in 85 different countries around the world. They have touched lives through numerous missions, such as working with people in disaster response teams, braille work, providing water trucks, mental health issues, supporting missionaries who have taught the saving message of Christ to others in places like West Africa, Honduras, and many other locations around the world. The list is long. All of this is supported through the mites given by faithful members. It does not seem like a lot, but the loose change adds up. Since March of this year $1,148,532 has been fully given out with another $1,473,738 pending. All of this comes from a heart of mercy given to them, and you, through our Lord Jesus Christ. All of this mission work is done while making certain that the Gospel of Christ is at the heart and center of all these missions as LWML joyously supports them on your behalf.

Their desire is your desire, that Christ Jesus be proclaimed in all everything that is undertaken. St. Paul in His missionary journeys was eager to see that the Gospel be carried to others. That message of hope and peace, life and forgiveness were given to the  Gentiles to the point that they responded by providing for the needs of the Jewish Christians in Jerusalem! A serving Lord makes a serving people. The Christ who moved Paul to action is the same Christ who has come to you. The reason you support missions alongside of LWML and here in this congregation is that you have come to know the peace, joy, and comfort that Christ alone gives to you through the forgiveness of sins and life in His name. You joyfully share, support, and excitedly carry forth the message of Christ in all the means available to you. You cannot be everywhere. You cannot do everything. So you support the efforts of others from a heart touched by the mercy of God. As Saint Peter puts it, you are a living stone whose lives are living sacrifices as you share the message of Christ in all you do, for you, all of you are the ransomed of the Lord! You have received Christ — the Divine One has served, and continues to serve, you!

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