Preacher: Pastor Christian Preus

11-8-20 Trinity 22

It is heavenly when brothers dwell together in unity, as our Gradual says. It is hellish when they envy one another and hold grudges and refuse to forgive. This is what Jesus means when he speaks of hell as weeping and gnashing of teeth. It is the devil’s great aim, especially in these last days, to pit us against one another, to make us refuse reconciliation, to hold grudges, to withhold forgiveness from our brothers in the Kingdom of heaven. The world attacks us, entices us, lies to us, and we suffer this together, we must suffer it together. And we suffer it together strong and united, only when we rely on the forgiveness won by our Lord Jesus’ blood and given to us freely here in Christ’s Church, when this forms our faith and so our lives. Without this forgiveness, the wolf will scatter the sheep and there will be none to deliver. We rely on it completely. And if we are to meet the years ahead together, we need to live in forgiveness for one another. This is why Jesus tells us the parable he tells us today.

November 8, 2020
It is heavenly when brothers dwell together in unity, as our Gradual says. It is hellish when they envy one another and hold grudges and refuse to forgive. This is what Jesus means when he speaks of hell as weeping and gnashing of teeth. It is the devil’s great aim, especially in these last days, to pit us against one another, to make us refuse reconciliation, to hold grudges, to withhold forgiveness from our brothers in the Kingdom of heaven. The world attacks us, entices us, lies to us, and we suffer this together, we must suffer it together. And we suffer it together strong and united, only when we rely on the forgiveness won by our Lord Jesus’ blood and given to us freely here in Christ’s Church, when this forms our faith and so our lives. Without this forgiveness, the wolf will scatter the sheep and there will be none to deliver. We rely on it completely. And if we are to meet the years ahead together, we need to live in forgiveness for one another. This is why Jesus tells us the parable he tells us today.

10-25-20 Trinity 20

Come to the feast, the Lord says. He sends his servants out to invite the whole world. So, it’s not men and women and boys and girls who invite him into their hearts and their lives, it’s He who invites them into His. We need to reverse the vocabulary of our current American Christian scene; this talk of us inviting Jesus into our hearts. You won’t find the Bible talking that way. Instead, Jesus is consistently the inviter and we are the invitee. Come to me, He says. Come to the feast, He says.

October 25, 2020
Come to the feast, the Lord says. He sends his servants out to invite the whole world. So, it’s not men and women and boys and girls who invite him into their hearts and their lives, it’s He who invites them into His. We need to reverse the vocabulary of our current American Christian scene; this talk of us inviting Jesus into our hearts. You won’t find the Bible talking that way. Instead, Jesus is consistently the inviter and we are the invitee. Come to me, He says. Come to the feast, He says.

10-11-20 Trinity 18

When we see our failure to love. When we see our great need for forgiveness from our God. Then we have no business asking about the law. It will only condemn, expose our pride and our envy and our resentment and our apathy, and knock us further down. But this question, the question on which the history of the world turns, is what we need asked, “Who is the Christ?”

October 11, 2020
When we see our failure to love. When we see our great need for forgiveness from our God. Then we have no business asking about the law. It will only condemn, expose our pride and our envy and our resentment and our apathy, and knock us further down. But this question, the question on which the history of the world turns, is what we need asked, “Who is the Christ?”

10-4-20 Trinity 17

“God resists the proud,
But gives grace to the humble. Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time.”

October 4, 2020
“God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble. Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time.”

9-27-20 St. Michael and all the Angels

Jesus told his disciples that he saw the devil falling from heaven like lightning. God created the devil a good and beautiful angel in the beginning. But the devil rebelled and God cast him from his presence along with all the other angels who followed him.

September 27, 2020
Jesus told his disciples that he saw the devil falling from heaven like lightning. God created the devil a good and beautiful angel in the beginning. But the devil rebelled and God cast him from his presence along with all the other angels who followed him.

9-20-20 Trinity 15

There are things worse than death. There are things that we should never, ever put a price on.

September 20, 2020
There are things worse than death. There are things that we should never, ever put a price on.

9-13-20 Trinity 14

Some punishments you can bring on yourself. But it’s also true that people suffer all sorts of horrible things not because they did anything, but because they were born a sinner into a sinful, corrupt world.

September 13, 2020
Some punishments you can bring on yourself. But it’s also true that people suffer all sorts of horrible things not because they did anything, but because they were born a sinner into a sinful, corrupt world.

9-6-20 Trinity 13

We should have no doubt at all that the parable of the Good Samaritan is about Jesus. Jesus is the Good Samaritan. The popular misunderstanding is to make this parable a simply moral tale, like Aesop’s Fables, telling you what to do to lead a good and prosperous life, but this can only be done by ripping the parable completely out of its context.

September 6, 2020
We should have no doubt at all that the parable of the Good Samaritan is about Jesus. Jesus is the Good Samaritan. The popular misunderstanding is to make this parable a simply moral tale, like Aesop’s Fables, telling you what to do to lead a good and prosperous life, but this can only be done by ripping the parable completely out of its context.

8-30-20 Trinity 12

Usually when Jesus performs a miracle he does it by speaking. He just says it and it happens. This is what happened right before our Gospel lesson, with the Syro-phoenician woman. Jesus just says, the demon has left your daughter, and that’s what happens.

August 30, 2020
Usually when Jesus performs a miracle he does it by speaking. He just says it and it happens. This is what happened right before our Gospel lesson, with the Syro-phoenician woman. Jesus just says, the demon has left your daughter, and that’s what happens.

8-9-20 Trinity 9

Jesus isn’t against money. He’s not against people making it or having lots of it. He does say, “How difficult it is for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of heaven.” But, he follows this immediately by saying, “With man this is impossible. But with God all things are possible.” A rich man can enter into the kingdom of heaven. But not the lover of money, rich or poor. Jesus means it when he says, “You cannot serve two masters. You cannot serve both God and money.”

August 9, 2020
Jesus isn’t against money. He’s not against people making it or having lots of it. He does say, “How difficult it is for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of heaven.” But, he follows this immediately by saying, “With man this is impossible. But with God all things are possible.” A rich man can enter into the kingdom of heaven. But not the lover of money, rich or poor. Jesus means it when he says, “You cannot serve two masters. You cannot serve both God and money.”
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