Archives: Sermons

12-27-20 Christmas 1

December 27, 2020
It is Christmastime, beloved. Let us be glad. Our Advent prayers have been heard. Our Lord has stirred up his power and come to save us. “God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.” How much nearer to God could we be than to be his sons through his Son? How much nearer to us…

12-25-20 Christmas Day

December 25, 2020
Heaven was opened that first Christmas. Everything that belonged in heaven was suddenly on earth. The glory of God shone round about them, the angels filled the air, music meant for immortals struck their ears, and God himself was found among them. Heaven had been opened before. Jacob saw it, with a ladder coming down from the Lord and angels ascending and descending. And God had visited earth before. Abraham saw it, talked with God…

12-24-20 Christmas Eve

December 24, 2020
“It will be said on that day, ‘Behold, this is our God; we have waited for him, that he might save us. This is the Lord; we have waited for him; let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation’” (Is. 25:9). Thus Isaiah prophesied about the day of the Lord, the coming of the Son of God. “This is the Lord; we have waited for him; let us be glad and rejoice in his…

12-20-20 Rorate Coeli

December 20, 2020
The name of this Sunday, the Sunday right before Christmas, is Rorate Coeli. It’s a beautiful name, because it expresses exactly the significance of Christmas. Rorate coeli are the first words of our Introit in Latin, “Rain Down O heavens.” It‘s God’s command to Himself, to open heaven and rain down the Righteous One. This is exactly what we just confessed, “Who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven.” And the…

12-16-20 Advent Midweek 3

December 16, 2020
During our Advent midweek services we’ve been focusing on the Last Day: what life is like for Christians leading up to the Last Day, and what will happen on the Last Day. Tonight we’ll look at what life is like for Christians after the Last Day. Eternal life after the Last Day will be very different from how life is now. In tonight’s reading, life on earth, now, was called “the great tribulation.” Our current…

12-13-20 Gaudete

December 13, 2020
Among those born of women there has arisen none greater than John the Baptist. If St. Paul can say, I am not aware of anything against myself, John the Baptist could say it a thousand times over. He is of that class of people we usually find annoying, people who seem practically perfect in every way. Most of us know that whatever front we put off in public, if people were to peer into our…

12-6-20 Populus Zion

December 6, 2020
We’re used to hearing about the world being evil here in Church. I preach it. Pastor Richard preaches it. The Bible preaches it. Jesus says, “In the world you will have trouble.” He calls the devil the prince of this world. And his apostle urges us to be in the world and not of it. We sing this way too. The hymn “Jerusalem the Golden,” is actually one of many verses of a hymn by…

11-29-20 Ad Te Levavi

November 29, 2020
The time will come, and it’s sooner now than when we first believed, when Christ will come in splendor and power to free His Church from every evil of body and soul. We confess every Sunday that we look for that day, “And I look for the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come.” And that looking is a happy looking, it’s a looking forward to, like a child looks…

11-25-20 Thanksgiving Eve

November 25, 2020
It seems 2020 has given us more reason to complain than give thanks. The prayer of most is that God mercifully end this year as quickly as possible. We should be careful what we ask for. There’s no promise that 2021 won’t be worse than 2020. What is there to complain about in 2020? A disease that’s killed some two hundred thousand in our country, the shut-down of the economy, the loss of jobs (including…

11-22-20 Trinity 27

November 22, 2020
Faith in Jesus is a living thing that must feed on the Word of God, and if it does not feed, then it dies. In the passage immediately before today’s Gospel reading, Jesus warns that pastors had better be feeding his people properly, if they value their lives. “Who then is the faithful and wise servant,” Jesus says, “whom his master has set over his household, to give them their food at the proper time?…
Recent Sermons