κήρυξον τὸν λόγον

For a complete document with footnotes, please send me an email. I will be happy to provide a PDF of this paper that includes citations. By the Rev. William Smith Jr, Pastor, Trinity Lutheran Church, Appleton City, Missouri Presented to the congregation on Sunday, November 26, 2023 More than four years ago, I stood before the congregation here acknowledging that “the Lord has called me through His Church into the ministry of Word and Sacrament,” that I “believe and confess the canonical books of the Old and New Testaments to be the inspired Word of God and the only infallible rule of faith and practice”; that the creeds are “faithful testimonies to the truth of the Holy Scriptures”; that the “Unaltered Augsburg Confession [is] a true exposition of Holy Scripture and a correct exhibition of the doctrine of the Evangelical Lutheran Church”; that everything in the Book of Concord is “also in agreement with this one scriptural faith”; that I will perform the duties of my office “in accorda...

He is risen! He is risen, indeed! Hallelujah! And He is coming! Watch, therefore, because you know neither the day nor the hour (v 13) This is the word for our meditation on this Last Sunday of the Church Year. Let us pray ... Lord Christ, you have given us all that is necessary to be ready for your coming. Let us not forsake the time given to us lest we miss our opportunity for repentance and the forgiveness of sins. Keep us in your care as we await your coming. In Jesus’ name. Amen. 1. Please now turn to page 323 and join me in confessing our faithful doctrine from the Third Article of the Apostles’ Creed.  As the head of the household should teach it in a simple way to his family ... What is the Third Article? I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Christian church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen. What does this mean? I believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ, my L...

We have probably all been told at one time or another: You can’t have your cake and eat it too. This is advice for people who are expecting to get more than they have coming.  The parable that Jesus told us about the rich man who longed for the easy life could have concluded with the same phrase. The rich fool in the parable had his cake ... that is, an abundance of riches of the earth at God’s expense, but he never got to eat, drink, or celebrate any of it. That is the concluding lesson our Lord teaches. Jesus shows us how dangerous it is when covetousness and unthankfulness penetrates to the soul of man. Such a man who lays up the riches of God for himself may never get to enjoy the riches of this life.  But to be rich toward God ... thankfully receiving and sharing the forgiveness of sins ... is to believe that God is the giver of all good things, most notably life and salvation.  WE FIND OUR ABUNDANCE IN GOD’S RICHES AT CHRIST’S EXPENSE AND ARE CALLED TO SHARE THEM. I...

Christ is risen! He is risen, indeed! Hallelujah! And he is coming again to judge the living and the dead. Brothers and sisters in Christ, this is our confession. The Son of Man, our Shepherd and King, is coming again. It is pure doctrine. As Jesus says in our Gospel reading for this second to last Sunday of the church year: When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and with him all angels, then he will sit upon his glorious throne, and all the nations will be assembled before him; and he will separate them from another just as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats (vv 31-32). This is the Word for our meditation this second to last Sunday of the church year. 5. Please now turn to page 322 in our (Lutheran Service Book) and join me in confessing this faithful doctrine. As the Head of the Family should teach it in a simple way to his household ...  What is the Second Article of the Apostles’ Creed? And in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spir...