κήρυξον τὸν λόγον

You know, O Lord. What’s the point? How many times have you asked yourself this question?  What’s the point in working so hard when I think it’ll be all for nothing? What’s the point in making my bed when I know that I’ll just mess it up again? What’s the point in speaking the Word of God to my friends and my neighbors when I believe they’ll rebuff me ... ridicule me ... ignore me ... persecute me?  It seems hopeless. ... So we ask ... What’s the point? 3. It’s a mighty difficult thing to share the Gospel with the world, isn’t it? Most of us are downright intimidated by the prospect.  But the gospel aside, I don’t think there’s anything more difficult about being a Christian than calling your brothers and sisters to repentance.  I am not talking about doing this with just the brothers and sisters of Trinity Lutheran Church. I am talking about your actual brothers and sisters, those closest to you. I’m talking about your friends and neighbors, too, your husband, yo...

Then Jesus said, On this rock I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. There are questions in life we should never ask. We should never ask, why are you single ... when are you going to have children ... or even worse ... are you pregnant? We should never ask, what’s up with that spot on your face ... or are you on a diet? We should never ask, what happened to your hair ... or is that your real hair color?  Whether it’s been at a family gathering or the time you met a neighbor at the grocery store, we’ve all been asked questions that should never be asked.  But there is one question you should answer every day. It is the supreme question of life. And blessed are you who answer it correctly. This question was asked first by Jesus. First, he asked the disciples, who do the people say the son of man is ? Then, most importantly, he asks NOW WHO DO YOU SAY I AM? 1. No doubt the disciples should have a good handle on how to answer this supreme qu...

And her daughter was healed from that hour. One of the most comforting truths we find in the gospels is the willingness of Jesus to perform miracles. Everywhere he goes, he is moved with compassion that leaves us in awe. The Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John record three dozen different miracles and leave many, many more unspoken. The sick are cured. The dead are raised. The blind are given first-light. The deaf begin hearing pin drops. Thousands are fed. Last week we even saw Peter walking on water. Lord, have mercy .  And he does ... bringing order out of the chaos as he constantly seeks you, calls you, pursues you, calms you, nurtures you, heals you, making you whole.  Yes, He gathers the outcasts of Israel (Isa 56:8) so that they too can be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth of who Jesus really is. And then comes today’s Gospel reading.  A mother approaches Jesus on behalf of her daughter, pleading with him ... not once, not twice, but three times .....

You know the question. It is on the hearts, minds, and lips of every child young and old. Why? “Mom, why can’t I have pie for breakfast?”  If you lived in my house, you knew the answer ... “Because Dad ate it all!”  But why? We all are dying to know. Why can’t I drive 55? Other times our children drill us, and we don’t know why. Then, we grow weary of being peppered with why. They want to know why, and they want to know now. And they want to know where, and when, and how? They want to know ... they demand to know ... why you can’t bake another pie. When we refuse to give an answer, it’s not because we’re mean; it’s often because we know something our children don’t. We’ve learned an important lesson in the past ... gained an insight our kids might not understand.  And so ... we offer ... silence.  In our Old Testament reading, Job had asked our heavenly Father, “Why?” ... I suspect it was more like ... Whyyyyyy! And even, WHY ! And he got no answer. ... For 37 chapte...