κήρυξον τὸν λόγον

1.     You should be ashamed of yourselves! The Lord God Almighty has led each of you out of the wilderness of sin by stages. He has passed each of you through the waters of baptism. He has nourished each of you with the bread of heaven. He has provided more food than you can possibly eat every day. You have called on him, and he has heard your voice. You have sought salvation, and he has set you free.  But no sooner than salvation came unto us by God’s free grace and favor (LSB 555:1) ... you began grumbling and complaining about it ... just like the people of Israel ... just like the people of Corinth.  You don’t have enough, you say. And what you have isn’t good enough.  We can take better care of ourselves, you say. And you aren’t interested in receiving the tangible forgiveness of sins every week.  You convince yourselves that if you just try a little harder ... fight a little stronger ... read a little deeper, I’ll all be OK. 2.   ...

  And Peter said to Jesus, Lord, it is good for us to be here (v. 4). What is it about a space that makes it “holy” and “good”?  Is it appearance only? Is it the nature of the place ... or the inner being?  Is it something given to the object that makes it sacred?  Does it have to include something tangible like paraments, bread and wine, stained glass, special candelabrum, vestments, or a particular font used in holy baptism? Or can it be intangible like this large rectangular room that was moved to the corner of Locust and First Street 117 years ago? Are these why it’s good to be here? It seems that we often think of the sacred in terms of people, places, or things. The word sacred itself describes something that is dedicated or set apart for the divine. Sacred is holy and good. Holy and good is sacred. The temple in Jerusalem was designed with the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies. Every Sunday ... and I pray, every day ... we return to Holy Baptism. Twice a mont...

  This was the first of his signs ... and his disciples believed in him.  The world loves signs. We are constantly looking for signs. When we see them we strain and crane to read them. We want to know what they mean. We want to believe what they have to say. Some are easy to read; some are hard. Some are ordinary; some extraordinary. Some need just one or two words to get their point across.  The Internet is filled with information about signs ... I didn’t know this, but did you know there are “scientifically proven” signs that you are in love? There are also pages upon pages providing us with signs of menopause and memory loss ... stroke and stress overload ... cancer and cardiovascular disease ... Alzheimer’s and anxiety.  We want to know the signs. We need to see the signs.  We want to know everything will be alright. Saint John the Apostle and Evangelist knew this when he wrote his book of signs, which we call the Gospel According to John. He writes: These t...

I can’t remember the last time I made a New Year’s resolution. Every year, though, I hear about others making them. They want a fresh start, a new outlook on life. They want to feel better about themselves ... to put away the past ... or even to forget 2020. They say their good resolutions will help them become the person they want to be.  They resolve to do what’s right. The tradition of making New Year’s resolutions began during the reign of Caesar, who created the calendar we use today. Because the first month was named for a two-faced Roman god who supposedly looked backward and forward, people began using the first day of the new year to think about past mistakes so that they could resolve to do better, to be better. Christians ultimately took over this practice, even turning the practice into a worship. Tell me, how have those resolutions worked out for you?  We all have good intentions. We might even make good resolutions. But studies have shown the extreme majority of ...