“The Will of My Father”

[The] rejection, restyling and perversion of the man as head of household along with fatherhood and the father figure (that is to say, this re-creation and playing God we do) is as old as sin itself. In the beginning, the will of God the Fa...ther—through the Word that is His Son who sends forth the Holy Spirit to do His good work—was to create and forever sustain life. The epitome of that life, the crown of His creation, and the focus of His love was and ever will be the man He created in His image and made to be male and female—distinctly different with specific non interchangeable roles and vocations, yet one flesh. Man to be the head of the woman to provide for and take care of her as his own flesh and raise children with her, in their image, that only she could bear and nurse.

The sin of Adam was a rejection of what he was created and given to be by his Father in heaven—thus a rejection of the Father Himself, as well as His Word and Spirit.

“In the day that you eat of it you will surely die.” They did. We do.

You can make fun of “Father Knows Best” all you want. But He does [know best]. So the Word, His only begotten Son, became flesh—human flesh--distinctly male flesh—to do the will of His Father that Adam and every man since has failed to do. And He did it not by man’s will, but by His Father’s. On the way to the cross He prayed, “Not My will but Thy will be done.”

To hear and/or the entire sermon preached for the Eighth Sunday after Trinity, click on this link. http://lcmssermons.com/index.php?sn=3374See More

The Compassion of Christ

 

Christ knows our need before we do. And He supplies it at the proper time.

We, the Baptized children of God, really do get the best of both worlds. We might not get the most. We might not get everything we covet. We might not get it exactly when and where we want it. But the LORD, our Father in heaven truly does “give them their food in due season. [and] open [His] hand [to] satisfy the desire of every living thing [whose] eyes ... look to Him for their daily bread.

To hear and/or read the entire sermon preached for the Seventh Sunday after Trinity, click on this link. http://lcmssermons.com/index.php?sn=3364

 

"Until All Is Accomplished"

In none of [His own works] did even this man, Jesus, boast even though He was and is the Christ, the very Son of God. Even though He could have done it all by His own work, He became passive and “obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. (Philippians 2:8) ”

Herein is righteousness that exceeds the scribes and the Pharisees and the most obedient, holiest, nicest, sweetest, even most helpful, compassionate, and tolerant people among us.

And herein is our entry ...into the kingdom of heaven—not to be excused or exempted or even freed from good works and righteous behavior, but as both Paul and Chrysostom point out, to be “Christ’s workmanship” who fulfill these things “Until All Is Accomplished” on the Last Day when Jesus “shall come to judge the living and the dead.“

To hear and/or read the entire sermon preached for the Sixth Sunday after Trinity, click on this link. http://lcmssermons.com/index.php?sn=3359

The Foolishness of God

[The Ten Commandments] are the beginning of the words of the cross that lead us to know our sin and our need for a Savior--folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

We don’t like that much and we fight it like stubborn children who know what they want and insist on getting it and doing it.

God’s Word doesn’t change based upon what we like, what we think, what we want. The way of life is the way of life—and the way of death is ...the way of death. And we will find that out one way or another—either now by hearing and listening to and believing the Word Christ preaches and teaches and pours over our heads and places between our lips, or on the Last Day when, [as] it is written, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.”

To hear and/or read the entire sermon preached for the Fifth Sunday after Trinity, click on this link. http://lcmssermons.com/index.php?sn=3350

 

This My Son Was Dead

What better text to have set before us than Jesus’ parable of The Loving & Faithful Father? Yes, we have come to know it as the parable of the Prodigal Son. But if you really examine it, you can’t help but see the love and faithfulness of the Father throughout the story.

...from start to finish this parable is all about the love and faithfulness of the Father who not only provides in the beginning, but forgives in the end.

To hear and/or read the entire sermon preached for the Third Sunday after Trinity, click on this link. http://lcmssermons.com/index.php?sn=3331

Taste My Banquet

From the moment “the water included in God’s command and combined with God’s word” [SC Explanation to Baptism, Part 1] was poured over your head “in the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit,” God has been inviting you to taste of His banquet and partake of His heavenly gifts for everlasting life.

 

To hear and/or read the entire sermon preached for the Second Sunday after Trinity, click on this link. http://lcmssermons.com/index.php?sn=3326

Two Rich Men

It is not a sin to be rich.

English is a difficult language for the preaching and teaching of God’s Word. Any human language is really because God’s Word conveys heavenly things in earthly language. Here the word “rich” in the Hebrew is i...ndeed the sinful kind. But it is not in the sense of having wealth—lots of money and stuff and power—which in itself is a gift of God and the economy of His creation. It’s about the heart of the one who has it and how he is disposed, or predisposed, to use it.

Wealth, the stuff, is not the problem. Otherwise why the commandments about keeping your hands—as well as your hearts and minds—off of other people’s money and property?

To hear and/or read the entire sermon preached for the First Sunday after Trinity, click on this link. http://lcmssermons.com/index.php?sn=3319