κήρυξον τὸν λόγον

Can you see it now? In our Gospel reading, there was a stream of parents knocking on the door of the house where Jesus was staying. Matthew and Mark seem to indicate this home was just across the Jordan east of Jericho. Our Lord stopped here on his final journey to Jerusalem, where he will draw all people to himself.  And here they come. They’re coming because they most certainly have seen Jesus healing many people. They’re coming because they’ve heard him teaching about the value of God-given marriage. They’re coming ... bringing their children, notably their babies, to Jesus, so that he would lay hands upon them ... so that he might bless them and pray for them and make them whole. They’re coming, living out their vocations as fathers and mothers. When the disciples saw them bringing noisy children to church, they rebuked them. Why? ... Why would the disciples do such a thing?  I’m sure the disciples must have been exhausted at this point of Jesus’ ministry. Can you imagine ...

Jesus said, don’t worry (v 25). Then he followed that up by twice saying, stop worrying (vv 31, 34).  [Introduction] Worry is a first commandment sin. What is the First Commandment? You all know this one well. In Exodus 20[:3]: and Deuteronomy 5[:7], the Lord your God declared that you will have no other gods before [him] . In other words, God says you’ll have no need to worry. And what does this mean? It means, as Luther teaches us in the catechism ... we should fear, love, and trust in God above all things . Why? Because we trust he has us covered.  When we worry that we are NOT like everyone else and believe like everyone else, we become idolaters just like Aaron and the Israelites, who worshiped and danced around the golden calf at the foot of Mount Sinai. ... When men worry about their political and familial stability, they become idolaters like King Solomon, who used that as an excuse to marry 700 women from the kingdoms of the world. That ultimately led him into the w...

[Introduction] I don’t know if you noticed, but last week I finally changed the message on the wayside pulpit ... you know ... that sign out front on the corner.  It now reads: Remember, It’s still all about Jesus .  I chose that message because too many people have forgotten that truth. Our whole life together at Trinity is all about Jesus. Too many have forgotten that Bible study is all about Jesus. ... They stopped coming. ... They forgot that the Divine Service is all about Jesus. ... They stopped worshiping. ... They forgot the sermon is all about Jesus ... They stopped listening. ... They forgot the hymns are all about Jesus. ... They stopped singing. ... And they forgot the sacraments are all about Jesus. ... They stopped receiving.  Too many people want Sunday worship to be about us, about what we are doing and feeling.  BUT REMEMBER, IT’S STILL ALL ABOUT JESUS 1. What we are experiencing here at Trinity isn’t a new phenomenon; although you might think it is ...

[Introduction] Maybe you’ve seen the videos on YouTube or Facebook ... videos of babies and children and teens and adults alike all hearing sound for the first time in their life through a device called a cochlear implant. Their reactions are priceless and overwhelming. They are left with WIDE eyes, HUGE smiles, and tears of pure joy as they HEAR the word of their loved ones for the first time. If you’ve never seen one of these videos, let me tell you, when you watch, you can’t help but cry.  What must it be like not to be able to hear a Word ... or anything at all ... ever?  I know many of you have hearing aids, and if you turn them off, you might have a sense of what the man in our Gospel reading experienced when Jesus said Ephphatha . But what would it be like to live years and years never hearing anything? How disorienting would that be? In our Gospel reading, Jesus healed a man such as this. Because he could hardly speak, I suspect that means there was at least a time in ...

[Introduction] Did you know we are both dead and alive?  That seems to be a weird thought, doesn’t it ... that we are dying, yet living ... dead and alive? But that is what our reading from Saint Paul’s epistle to the Ephesian church is declaring today. And this is not the first time Peter, Paul, or our Lord Jesus has said this.  In John 5, Jesus said, an hour comes and now is here when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. Paul tells us in Romans 6 that you must consider yourselves to be dead to sin, on the one hand, but living to God in Christ Jesus, on the other. ... And again in Romans 8 that although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. Peter preaches this same word in his first epistle, saying ... this is why the Gospel was preached even to those who are dead, so that in being judged according to human flesh, they might live according to God in the Spirit (4:6).  Which leads us into t...

[Introduction] Today we are on the road with Jesus, traveling from the Mount of Olives to Jerusalem. It’s a short walk ... not quite a mile ... to the temple. The city’s population is swelling because Passover is near. And with Jesus in sight, the people begin rejoicing and praising God, waving palm branches and spreading their cloaks on the path in front of him. They’re rolling out a red carpet, so to speak. Their refrain ... Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord ... is echoing. Meanwhile, the magnificent white, marble temple that’s overlaid with gold, is shimmering in the sunlight (vv 36-38).  Yet right in the middle of this chorus of praise, Jesus pauses, looks up, sees the city and temple and ... he weeps, saying, If you knew on this day, even you, the things that bring peace . But now, [that which brings peace] is hidden from your eyes because the days will come upon you when your enemies will encircle you, and barricade you, and surround you, and confine...