You will find the church wherever two or more are gathered in the name of Jesus, that is, with faith in him, teaching the gospel, and administering the sacraments.
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We may go about living our lives with good, Christian courage, knowing that we belong to the Lord. He has prepared us for both life and death.
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What was in the beginning — even before the beginning — and where did it all come from is the subject of John's and Luther's writings today.
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Jesus was clear on this matter when he was brought before Pilate. His kingdom is not of this world. It is not temporal but instead, spiritual.
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God will repay the wicked for their persecution of Christians, and he will reward Christians, though not for the reasons many think.
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Jesus was clear on this matter when he was brought before Pilate. His kingdom is not of this world. It is not temporal but instead, spiritual.
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Do we believe the Word of God because of the revelation or because of its messenger, because it is God's Word or because of the preacher?
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As worshipers come forward for Holy Communion, many pause at the baptismal font, place their fingers in the water, and make the sign of the cross on their forehead.
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We are not so pious as we imagine ourselves to be. Take care of your self-regard and pious pride, for the gospel grows in the pasture of confession.
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All those who by nature were born Jews, or Abraham’s seed, were given the law so that they might be an example to the nations of how God would have people live.
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Jesus took on our nature so that, through faith in him, we may be given his nature, and be made right to be with him in eternity.
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The Body of Christ is not an organization that merely goes through the motions of ceremonies. The Church has gifts in the heart, namely, the Holy Spirit and faith.
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The “house of the righteous,” the church, is infiltrated by the wicked. Sometimes, they seem petty, though they are aggravating and ungodly.
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When we perceive the threat to the Church — a threat that exists both from within and without — we can be led to despair of her continued existence.
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We believe in the Church. This is the congregation of those who believe in Christ. They are spread throughout the ages — past, present, and future.
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Our lives, like John the Baptist's life and ministry, should direct our family, friends, and neighbors to Christ and his gospel.
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So we must be careful to confess that sinful people, such as ourselves, become righteous and holy only through the grace of God.
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God's Word-angel made manifest the sin and religion that would hinder the coming grace of his Christ, the Messiah, the long-awaited one.
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Until the heart believes in God, it is not possible to rejoice in him. But for the believer, both rejoicing and peace are possible.
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We deplore the condition of some church bodies, that they have abandoned the Word of God for culturally correct beliefs. Yet, we should not complain overly much.
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Some people attend church because they were raised to do so. They give no thought to faith; it is simply the right thing to do.
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It is not enough to put off the works of darkness; one must put on the armor of light. Without the light of faith, even works we think good are not.
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Nearly 40 years ago, a half dozen people from a local cult attended my church, trying to get people to follow their false god.
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Jesus did not come into the world to teach sinners how to save themselves. “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.”
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Declaring that a Christian’s deeds are required for justification and salvation both denies Christ and leaves the believer in despair
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The disciples were in hiding, very likely imagining that they were next, that the authorities would come for them too. They had crucified the Lord; what would they do to his followers?
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Surely, it is thought, there must be something we must do. This is the seed of religion and heresy, for faith knows that we can do nothing.
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It is human nature to imagine that we can buy our way out of problems. The person caught speeding, therefore, pays the court to keep the offense off the books so that insurance rates will not increase
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Jim Nestingen once said that “four o’clock in the morning is when the flesh attacks.” He meant that our minds rehearse or run over and over all those disappointments in ourselves.
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“The power of sin and death could be broken only by a greater power.” God’s power that is greater than sin and death is himself.
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Let us continue to keep Christ at the center of all things. The promised Messiah, conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin from the lineage of kings, suffered, was crucified and buried for our sins.
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The ability to love God is not something that we are born with or that we can develop on our own with this fallen nature of ours. In order to love God, one must first be born again.
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Jesus has made a display of his cross-conquered enemies, leaving them stripped of all power on the battlefield of the world.
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God’s pursuing mercy finds its target through the cross. Through faith in God’s grace through Christ, the law’s condemnation cannot follow through.
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Jesus rebuked the Pharisees because they valued their own traditions more than God’s commandments, so we must be careful to evaluate those things that we believe and do.
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A sermon for the Third Sunday in Advent, Year A • Download PDF Welcome to this sermon for the third Sunday in Advent in year A of the preaching lectionary. This is December 11, 2022, when I am actually preaching it but you may be listening to it at some point in the future. You may even be listening to it a ...
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It is easy for us to confuse the plain sense of things. Sometimes we need someone to come in to our midst and cut to the chase.
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Death may think it rules the world, but there is another who rules over death, for he brings to life even those who have died. “Christ is the Death of death.”
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Lift up the shield of faith in Christ every time the devil attacks. Do not trust your thinking and your doing. Trust Christ, who is your shield.
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How was Christ Jesus able to conquer our enemies: sin and death, the devil and hell? Look no further than the incarnation.
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If your sin is found in you, you will pay. If, however, your sin is borne by Christ Jesus to the cross, he who is found to be with our sin, pays the penalty for us.
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Justification, righteousness, and salvation are not only received by faith, these gifts of God are preserved for us to the end of time.
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If we go to church, feed the hungry, and buy coats and mittens for the poor, but have no faith in the God who calls us to do such things, do those good works save?
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The Lord looked down from height of heaven and saw a world imprisoned by sin. There was nothing we could do about it. God had to do it himself.
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Jesus satisfied God’s requirement of keeping the law perfectly. Moreover, he paid the penalty for the sins of those who cannot keep the commandments.
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If Christ must be a pretty, sinless Savior, then our sins are cast back on us. We should want nothing to do with this false, Roman faith.
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The living grace of God is Jesus Christ. There is no salvation available to us without this grace. There is no grace without Jesus Christ.
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We are spared a great and eternal penalty, separation from God and the fire of hell, because God has laid on his Christ the iniquity of us all.
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We cannot reason our way to righteousness. Who has been able to say, “In this way, I shall be a good person” and been successful in the enterprise?
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Though the innocent, unblemished Lamb of God, “personally innocent,” as Luther wrote, “his sinlessness was defiled with the sinfulness of the world."
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Justification is that obedience to the gospel that hears and believes, that trusts God’s promise. Sanctification is the obedience that results from such faith.
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If Jesus were not a cursed sinner, he would not have died, and a whole world would be lost in sin and death.
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Lasting peace with God comes through faith. Our deeds can make us feel good for a while but that feeling is not only false, it does not last.
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God has turned the tables on law-keepers everywhere. Christ is the law-keeper, our law-keeper. He is our law-keeper because we are joined to him.
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Yes, God wants our good works, but he earnestly desires our hearts. Works that are done with an unbelieving, faithless heart are not good works; they are hypocritical.
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The righteous and innocent soul who is the very Son of God, had to die because upon him was laid the charge and penalty of all sinners: sin and death.
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