Sermon May 17-18, 2025 – Fifth Sunday of Easter

Title: Christ is revealed!
Text: John 16:12-22

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20 Truly, truly, I say to you, you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice. You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn into joy. 21 When a woman is giving birth, she has sorrow because her hour has come, but when she has delivered the baby, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world. 22 So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you.

The President claimed that it was his prerogative to determine whether to provide military and diplomatic information to Congress. [George Washington]

The President also claimed that he had the power to choose whether or not to comply when the Chief Justice issued him a subpoena for testimony and documents. [Thomas Jefferson]

And the President repeatedly asserted executive privilege in the face of demands for members of his administration to testify, depriving the Senate committee of substantial information. [Dwight Eisenhower] - edited

https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-vs-nadler-congress-isnt-constitutional-crisis-its-how-constitution-is-designed-to-work

No, these are not the current battles with the President, Congress, or the Supreme Court. These were past battles for authority, by President’s -

George Washington – in refusing to provide some information to congress, Thomas Jefferson – in refusing to testify in the trial of Aaron Burr, and Dwight D. Eisenhower – in asserting executive privilege and refusing to testify at the McCarthy hearings.

In our constitutional republic we have three equal branches of Government with different powers all wrestling for authority?

Jesus says,

13 When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.

God’s economy of Father, Son and Holy Spirit, unlike our three branches of government, always work together in unity and perfect harmony. There are no checks and balances, no conflict in the Godhead, and though they are distinct persons, they work together in unity of purpose for all that God desires.

15 All that the Father has is mine; therefore, I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.

In the Godhead there is no conflict!
Trinity in unity and unity in Trinity!

What had the disciples heard from Jesus?

16 “A little while, and you will see me no longer; and again, a little while, and you will see me.”

Jesus is talking about his death and resurrection.

For us, the focus of not seeing a loved one comes to mind.

When I was a little boy and I was leaving my grandparent’s home in Pennsylvania to return home to Michigan after vacation, there was sorrow. I loved my grandparents and didn’t want to leave them or have them leave me, and I wondered when I would see them again.

But for the disciples … they didn’t understand what Jesus was saying.

“What is this that he says to us?”
“What does he mean by ‘a little while’?
“We don’t know what he is talking about.”

We too, when it comes to the word of truth at times find ourselves in conflict. As those who have been brought to faith in Christ, we wrestle in tension … in thought, word, and deed with the word of God and at times not understanding.

Jesus knew the disciple’s problem and ours.

He says to them:

20 Truly, truly, I say to you, you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice. John 16:20a

For the disciples, Jesus was pointing to his death on the cross.
The Lord of life would be killed and they, his followers, would morn.

The world - through those who were in authority - the Jewish leaders, the Roman government, the soldiers and even the people – the world then and now – would rejoice.

Sorrow and Joy in tension

But, by the working of the Holy Spirit this tension is made new.
You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn into joy. John 16:20b
They will be sorrowful at Jesus’ death but rejoice at his resurrection.
Jesus gives an illustration of sorrow, joy and truth to his disciples.

21 When a woman is giving birth, she has sorrow because her hour has come, but when she has delivered the baby, she no longer remembers the

anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world.

The world today has confused and flipped the narrative.
They joy in death and deny the gift of life saying:

When a woman is pregnant, she has sorrow because her hour has come, but when she has aborted the pregnancy, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that an unwanted pregnancy has been terminated in the world.

Birth, delivered the baby, human being and born – all words used by Jesus - have in the world - been changed to pregnant, aborted the pregnancy, unwanted pregnancy and terminated.

Joy here in the word of man is found not in life but in death.
Jesus is the author of life and we know this by his Holy Spirit.
When we hear the word of the Lord, it is by that same Spirit that we know truth.

When we deny the truth, we deny him and the truth is not in us. 1 John 1:10

The Spirit declares the unified authority He shares with the Father and the Son. He glorifies Christ and declares that truth to you and me.

The word of God is truth and not falsehood.
The world hates Jesus.

It hates truth.
It rejoiced in his death.
It denied his resurrection and it still does.
Its authority is temporal and condemned.

The Spirit illumines your hidden savior! For apart from his work, you cannot know Jesus nor have faith in him!

But by the Holy Spirit you love Jesus.
By his death he showed his love for you in taking your sins to the cross.
By his bodily resurrection he shows that you too will rise.
His authority is eternal, and all will see his coming.
We who believe will be raised to eternal glory.
Those who reject Christ are condemned to eternal punishment.

22 So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you.

Life and death, sorrow and joy, by the Spirit’s work, Jesus is made known to you dear friends and that truth is yours just as you are his.

6 And he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment. 7 The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son. Rev 21:6-7

And in knowing Jesus you, friends have peace!

In the name of the Father, and of the Son + and of the Holy Spirit!

Amen

Sermon May 10-11, 2025 - Fourth Sunday of Easter

Title: The voice of the shepherd calls his own!
Text: John 10:22-30

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27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.

Many times, in Bible study, the discussion centers around Jesus.
As the class goes on, we hear:

“Wouldn’t it have been great to have walked with Jesus and listened to him, and to have been in his presence?”

I must admit, I would have loved to have heard Jesus too. To have seen his kindness, care, and understanding. To have walked with him.

Today we hear of a special time of the year, in Jerusalem, and a conversation between Jesus and the religious leaders. Let us go there and walk with Jesus together!

22 At that time the Feast of Dedication took place at Jerusalem. It was winter, 23 and Jesus was walking in the temple, in the colonnade of Solomon.

Known as Solomon's colonnade we’re told it was a cool wintry day – probably a lot like the weather we’ve had this Spring! It’s been pretty cold at times, and here Jesus is confronted with an equally cold reception from the Jewish leaders in the community.

24 So the Jews gathered around him and said to him,
“How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.”

The question was not a sincere one from those in authority.

The religious leaders were really trying to catch Jesus in a way that they could point him out as the fraud they believed him to be and to make it known to the public so that he might be rejected there too.

A bit earlier in the gospel reading, Jesus had healed a man who was born blind. Even the leaders themselves were confused and divided in their opinions as to how they should understand and address this healing, concerning him.

16 Some of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath.” But others said, “How can a man who is a sinner do such signs?” And there was a division among them. John 9:16

The evidence pointed to something greater.

Jesus had tried to explain the importance of his mission to them. But they would not listen.

So:

25 Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father's name bear witness about me,

The real truth was put before them when Jesus said:

26 but you do not believe because you are not among my sheep.

Adding this wonderful truth:

27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.

The Lord’s sheep recognized his voice, and they follow him. That is, his disciples and that is you and as well, friends.

Many times, this text and this truth is proclaimed at funerals so that, those who are gathered to mourn might hear the hope and calling of Christ for them as it was in there dead deceased friend or relative.

You are not here by accident.

The voice of the Lord has called you believe and to follow him and it is the Lord’s desire that all would come to the knowledge of the truth and follow him.

But many, still refuse to hear.

We can hear the truth or we can hear the lies and falsehood. But to know truth we have to hear the Good Shepherd’s voice, and we hear him in the voice of the word of God and by the working of God’s Holy Spirit!

If you are not in the word, you can’t know the joy that heaven promises.

As a child growing up, I had a priest in my Catholic church who was a bit heavy set and when he preached his head got really red because yelled a lot. He somewhat scared me as he talked about the reality of Hell.

Hell, scared me and I didn’t want to go there.

My dad liked the priest because he was fast and church got over quickly.

A Psychiatrist once commented on why the word hell is so commonly used and said that there is something deep in our subconscious that makes us afraid that we might actually go there - and that we use it all the time to remove or dull the fear.

There is plenty of evidence I believe to support that point of view.
What becomes common is less scary.

The Lord’s desire is that all would come to the knowledge of the truth, but the brokenness of sin in our fallen state blinds us to the reality of a world without hope, saying that Heaven and Hell don’t exist.

We know that life and death are real. We joy in the birth of a child and we cling to the blessings of this life daily and grieve deeply at the loss and separation from a loved one, especially a close relative.

God created life and he recreated life as well.

As the wages of sin brought death God the Father sent this only begotten son to recreate what had been lost in the fall.

Having just celebrated Easter and the joy of the resurrection, we know that what had been lost in the fall was restored in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus.

The devil has been defeated but he still masquerades as an Angel of light, a false god with a false truth and a false hope, and many still fallow him and are led astray.

Jesus doesn't want people to listen to the devil whom he calls the father of lies. He doesn't want people to suffer that second and eternal death which separates us from him for all eternity.

Jesus came that he might give us eternal life with him forever.

To bless us from the brokenness of this life with the unbroken reality of and eternity with him that never ends.

So, the question is, are you listening to Jesus?
Do you hear his voice?
Are you one of his own?
Are you his sheep, and his little lamb?

Jesus says:

27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.

The question again remains:
Who are you following?
Who are you trusting in?
Are you hanging on the words on Jesus Christ?
Or are you being deceived with lies?
Truth of falsehood. Which will it be?

C.S. Lewis once said:

You never know how much you really believe anything until its truth or falsehood becomes a matter of life and death.

It is easy to say you believe a rope to be strong, as long as you are merely using it to [tie] a box. But suppose you had to hang by that rope over a [cliff]. Wouldn't you then first discover how much you really trusted it?

C.S. Lewis, A Grief Observed.

Friends, our eternal lives depend on it!

It brings me to the truth of God’s word in Proverbs 3:5-6 this is what I chose as an adult for my confirmation verse.

5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart,
And lean not on your own understanding;
6 In all your ways acknowledge Him,
And He shall direct your paths.

At a time in my life that I needed it, God’s word brought me truth, clarity and comfort.

The spirit will turn us and point us to Jesus. And all that he has done.
It is the good news that we cling to, that in Christ we have everything given us by faith in him.

By faith, we commit our lives to Jesus.
By faith, we believe and follow him as a blessed sheep.
By faith, we receive all that is good and necessary from God.

Give yourselves totally to that relationship by faith, and in serving Jesus Christ our Lord, you follow, listen, serve and obey him in love of God and care of neighbor.

That friends, is the good news of being his sheep and hearing his voice, so that we following the Good Shepherd in sincerity and truth.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son + and of the Holy Spirit!

Amen

Modified: Concordia pulpit Rev, David P. Schmidt C 1976

Sermon May 4-5, 2025 – Third Sunday of Easter

Title: The Kingdom’s net has been cast!
Text: John 21:1-14

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5 Jesus said to them, “Children, do you have any fish?” They answered him, “No.” 6 He said to them, “Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some.” So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in, because of the quantity of fish.

Life easily slips into a routine. It seems endless – waking, working, eating, and drinking. Listening, and talking. We do what we do, day after day. Each day, feeling much like the previous one, and for the disciples too, the routine continued.

Left to the routine of life that continued for them after Jesus’ death and resurrection, it must have seemed like ordinary business to get into their boat and go back to fishing.

Out into the deep they launch the boat to begin the familiar task.
Fisherman go fishing but they didn't catch anything.

Not a single fish.

Wow, not a pleasant outcome for fishermen.

4 Just as day was breaking, Jesus stood on the shore; yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. 5 Jesus said to them, “Children, do you have any fish?” They answered him, “No.”

They were probably thinking:
We toiled all night and took nothing.

Then into the ordinary circumstances of their life, Jesus came, just as day was breaking. He's the same Lord today, doing extraordinary things in our ordinary lives - and causing the kingdom that has been cast to come into our lives too.

Jesus shows how extraordinary he is by taking interest in all that we do.

The disciples didn't have to be in the temple, or in the holy city of Jerusalem, or doing religious things for Jesus to take interest in them.

They were doing what they normally do.

The disciples were far from the pillars of the religious life. In the times of their normal lives Jesus had called them to follow him, and for 3 years of Jesus’ earthly ministry they had walked, talked, followed and lived with Jesus as he taught them the blessings of the Kingdom.

But now, after all that had happened, they were back to life as usual.
It is sometimes hard for us to realize that Jesus is interested in our lives wherever we are.
We're usually conscious of God’s presence when we're in church.

We're nearly as conscious of his presence when we take trips, and pray for safe travel or need to have tests done at the hospital. But Jesus often seems far removed from our activities and the things that we do, whether at work or play.

Whether we're hunting in the woods or playing golf, sitting and reading, or doing work around our homes or watching the game.

We thing little of him.

Jesus says he's always with us, and it didn’t matter to Jesus that the disciples were not engaged in formal worship and probably not even in religious discussions.

They had work to do. They needed it to survive. The scriptures remind us that if you don’t work you don’t eat.

Jesus was interested in everything about his children and wanted to know how they were doing.
5 Jesus said to them, “Children, do you have any fish?” They answered him, “No.”
Jesus is interested in your activities, and he wants to know how you are doing too.

What's happening in your life? Is there any successes or failures that he can be part off or help you overcome the trials?

There have been times when we've had to say Lord. I haven't been doing very well.

We've come to a point of feeling completely abandoned at times by God. We may not like the circumstances were in, but at times that's where we find ourselves - and sometimes Christ needs to be there too.

He needs to shoulder our problems to help us. Through those difficult times he takes interest because he's a wonderful and extraordinary Lord who wants to know how our ordinary lives are going.

He wants to be part of your life and mine.

The disciple's greatest need was to be sustained in their relationship with God – good or bad.

They needed the assurance that their slowness to believe everything Jesus had told them as well as the cowardly behavior they showed at the time of his death would not cut them away from God mercy, grace and love.

They needed forgiveness. They needed Jesus's death and resurrection to comfort and guarantee them that and his resurrection and peace were real.

And that that he did was for them.
Christ’s peace was real.

The disciple’s relationship with God would be sustained by the means of his forgiveness.
No doubt about it. Jesus was their savior, and their God.
We need that same hope, forgiveness, and relationship with God as well.

We need a sustained relationship with Jesus., knowing that our sins are forgiven and that Jesus is with us always. But also, we need to live in that relationship with Jesus daily - good, bad or simple and boring as it may be.

Our forgiveness of sins was sealed for us in baptism, and it is continually part of who we are.

Though sinners in this life, God reminds us by his Spirit, that Christ has redeemed us by his death and resurrection and that in Christ we have peace with God.

God's blessing is continuously given to us in the gospel. By the forgiveness of sins, we have the favor of God on account of Christ and that great comfort is ours because we have a great relationship with our loving God.

A second basic need is to keep us sustained in this life physically.

6 He said to them, “Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some.” So, they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in, because of the quantity of fish.

Jesus provides abundantly for the disciples though tired and hungry after a long night's work. Our blessed Lord Jesus even prepared a meal for them.

9 When they got out on land, they saw a charcoal fire in place, with fish laid out on it, and bread. 10 Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish that you have just caught.” 11 So Simon Peter went aboard and hauled the net ashore, full of large fish, 153 of them. And although there were so many, the net was not torn.

The fire was going with fish and bread nearby.
It wasn't a fancy meal but it met their need.
What a blessed Lord he is.

He provides not only spiritual but physical food. And he sustains our faith and our bodies because we are his beloved children.

Some of you who are older can remember those difficult times in life.

My former boss, Ben, used to always tell me about growing up in the depression and how, even as a successful businessman, he would still drive by a gas station to save a few cents a gallon.

It's just part of who we are.
Do not take what we're blessed with for granted.

God also tells us through the apostle Paul, in Philippines 4:19.

19 And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.

So how do we respond to God’s provision?

While we serve honor and obey him, we keep him close to our hearts.

As we continue to live our daily lives. We gather together to hear his word and to receive his gifts, especially in the blessing of the supper, where he sustains our faith and continues to bless us.

We give him all the credit that is, due to him, the one who has come to live, suffer, die and rise again just for us.

As the disciples say, “It is the. Lord.”

We notice all his activity in our lives.
We pray that he will continue sustaining blessings.
He's blessed me and I know he's blessed you far beyond our deserving.
He's crowned all our efforts with his grace.

Life does not consist in success and at times things don't go right, we fail and fall short. And it's my prayer, as it is I know yours, that we would turn to him and ask his blessing of his comfort guidance and peace.

Jesus is intimately involved in our ordinary lives.

Where he continues to sustain you and me as his beloved children, so that we always look to him for our sustenance in time of need.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son + and of the Holy Spirit!

Amen

Modified Concordia Pulpit Rev. Henry Eggold c 1976

April 26-27, 2025 - 2nd Sunday after Easter

Title: Have no doubt … Jesus lives, and so will you!
Text: Acts 5:12-20

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14 And more than ever believers were added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women,

Over the last few months, we’ve welcomed the Christ child, born in a manger and celebrated the Epiphany of our Lord as he is revealed and made know to the world through the visit of the wise men. We watched Jesus grow in wisdom and stature and begin his ministry. He taught, cast our demons, healed the sick and raised the dead. He was celebrated as a great teacher but ultimately was rejected by the religious elite and the people. He was tried, convicted, crucified, dead and buried. It is finished.

Then … Easter came and Jesus rose from the dead. Death has been changed forever – swallowed up in victory as we proclaim. It is now the blessed hope of all who die in Christ that we too will rise and live with him free of sin, death and the power of the devil forever.

Have no doubt … Jesus lives, and so will you!

The reality of this life, broken by sin though continues and it continued for the Apostles as well.

Signs and wonders were regularly done among the people at the hands of the Apostles, and they were held in esteem by the people.

They even carried out the sick into the streets and laid them on cots and mats that as Peter came by at least his shadow might fall on some of them.

From the surrounding towns and villages they brought their sick and those with unclean spirits, and they were all healed!

Much had changed but much remained the same.

Those afflicted … remained so.

Those called by Jesus to follow him … followed in his footsteps in the care of souls.

Those opposed to Christ – the high priest and the party of the Sadducee's –rose up being filled with jealousy and rage … and:

18 they arrested the apostles and put them in the public prison.

Much had changed but much remained the same.

When I think about growing up, I remember times of struggle. We all had times and circumstances that defined us that helped us become who we are. It is never easy going through had times but you can become better for it.

When my children were growing up, I wanted to help them through the hard times they encountered but, it wasn’t my battle. I had to let them work through it too, and in a sense I’m glad I did because I believe that it helped them in life and they are better for it.

Struggle is certainly part of this life.
Struggle is certainly part of the Christian Walk as well.
Many of you struggle with the trials of life. I do too.

Sickness and death, job loss, guidance and care issues for our spouses, children, and parents. Friends and loved ones with cancer, you name it - and it seems to go on and on.

Today those opposed to Christ seem greater than ever. Foreign and domestic opposition to Jesus is rampant.

College campuses indoctrinate free thinking and alternate lifestyles and they have for years, as long as your free thinking is not in support of traditional family values and accepted religious and public norms.

Politically correct views shout down that which was traditional accepted.

“Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe.”

Even if they don’t say it the world means it.

And even if they do see the nail marks and can place their hand into the side of Jesus they still don’t believe.

Because, to believe takes faith - and faith is a gift!

The vision of St. John in the book of Revelation comforts we who morn for those martyred for their faith in chapter 6.

When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the witness they had borne. They cried out with a loud voice, “O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” Then they were each given a white robe and told to rest a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brothers should be complete, who were to be killed as they themselves had been.

Rev. 6:9-11

Persecution remains part of our Christian Walk; though we hope to be hidden behind the door of God’s protection.

Not to cower but to be wise in God’s mercy.

It is easy to see that the corruption of this world continues. And though the wages of sin have been overcome by Christ in his death and resurrection, we all wait in anticipation for the glorious appearing of our great God and savior Jesus Christ and an eternity with him that he has promised. Titus 2:13

Even the Apostles, after Christ rose from the dead … and now doing his blessed work in his name - were arrested and thrown in prison for their witness.

Persecution, doubt, loss and fear continue to hound the church and those sent to serve. It will continue until Christ returns.

The joy of Easter though, is celebrated as it was last weekend, but the reality of persecution continues for Christ’s church and Christians all around the world.

In our day some who once followed Jesus, rebel in sinful disobedience to the word of God.
Others have an apathetic disdain for God’s word and all that Christ has done on their behalf.
Truthfully, we all fall short in our love of God and service to neighbor.
We confess that we are by nature sinful and unclean and that rings true again for us week after week.

The truth is that Jesus died for you and for me in a very public way, so we cannot live for him by ourselves in private.

And though it’s not a work, it is a fruit of who we are in Christ.
Fear grips us all and it gripped the disciples too.

They, for fear of the Jews, were locked in a room and Jesus came and stood before them saying, “Peace be with you.”

This peace from Christ is real.

God has made what we could never make possible a reality. Now he brings this reality to you and me through his means.

Jesus showed them his hands and his side, the reality of his death was there, the holes in his hands and feet, the mark in his side from the spear, all those remaining marks of his finished work for you and me were there, and he says and again … bringing the words of comfort …

“Peace be with you.”

But now gives the means of this gift for the world’s peace and salvation.

“As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.”

Christ Jesus here sends these disciples, these 10 men locked in this room - Judas having fled and taken his life in despair while Thomas was not yet there among them.

22 And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld.”

It is a true absolution and peace, true forgiveness, not because the men who stand in the place and by the command of Christ, stand of their own accord, but because we stand as servants of the word.

We do what Christ does and commands because, it is his words of peace, it is his words of forgiveness and it is his words of comfort spoken by those called to stand as under shepherds of the Good Shepherd Jesus Christ himself.

Peace is truly a gift, but it also truly had a cost. Jesus is both the gift and the price that was paid to procure your peace and your salvation.

In Baptism, we too, who are brought to the font, receive that same gift of peace by Jesus.

At times the word of God’s Law points us all to our sinful nature, so that we might be brought to repentance. But God’s forgiveness is certain for those who repent, so that we might live redeemed, in the midst of a world broken by the fall.

In the lives of the Apostles the prison they were placed in was real.

19 But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the prison doors and brought them out, and said, 20 “Go and stand in the temple and speak to the people all the words of this Life.” Acts 5:19-20

It is God who forgives and it is God who speaks forgiveness to a broken world. The gospel always brings peace and erases doubt. Be comforted and strengthened as you stand in a world increasingly opposed to Christ for this world is dying but the gospel makes alive.

Just as Christ lives “in him we live and move and have our being … For we are indeed his offspring, (Acts 17:28)

And as his children, adopted into Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit, God will change hearts and brings peace.

14 And more than ever believers were added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women,

Have no doubt friends … Jesus lives, and so will you!

In the name of the Father, and of the Son + and of the Holy Spirit!

Amen

April 19-20, 2025 – Easter

Title: Following our living and risen Lord!
Text: 1 Cor. 15:20-23

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20 But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. 21 For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. 22 For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. 23 But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ.


You have come here to celebrate.
I am here to celebrate with you.
We celebrate the day of resurrection, Christ’s and ours.

This is the Lord's Day.

The only reason we come together and worship on Sunday throughout the year is that this is the Lord's Day. It all began on here, the first day of the week.

It all began quietly in the darkness of the dawn of the Lord's Day, when some women came inside of the tomb to take care of some duties for which there had not been time the previous Friday evening.

It was a considerate and loving thing to do.
Women have a way of doing things like that?
Where were the men?

They cowering behind locked doors for fear of what someone might do to them?

So, it was the women who first heard the good news.
Almost too good to be believed, too awesome to be grasped.
We can understand their feelings when they saw from a distance that the stone had been rolled away.
We can feel with them when they looked into the tomb and saw that his body of Jesus was not there.

5 And as they were frightened and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead? 6 He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, 7 that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise.” 8 And they remembered his words, 9 and returning from the tomb they told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest.

Jesus is alive!
He is risen.
Fear and terror were upon them.

The angel had to tell the shepherds not to be afraid, and two men in shining clothing had to tell the woman not to be afraid, and you and I have come and need to hear it again.

Good news from God in a world of bad news.
It comes straight from God’s word.

20 But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.

That is the work of our heavenly father, by his great glory, God raised Jesus from the dead and declared him to be the Son of God with power.

He is Lord, he is alive.
Death makes afraid, but God makes alive!
In fact, Christ has been raised from the dead.
If you miss that then you miss everything about Easter.
It doesn't make any difference what kind of problems you bring with you to church today?
It doesn't make any difference what kind of sins rise up to trouble you?

Jesus Christ is alive, take heart. In him sins are forgiven!

The sermon hymn brings this joy to our mouth and ears right from the start.

Jesus lives! The vict'ry's won!
Death no longer can appall me;
Jesus lives! Death's reign is done!
From the grave Christ will recall me.
Brighter scenes will then commence;
This shall be my confidence.

The history of our sinful world, is described by saint Paul in our epistle today in such wonderful terms.

22 For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.

The resurrection story is as carefully documented by eyewitnesses as any event that ever happened in history.

People saw Jesus, talked to him and ate with him.

Those people who were afraid and despondent after his death, suddenly found a courage and enthusiasm that took them to the ends of the Earth.

In the face of all kinds of difficulties and dangers which might have invited them to forget all about him - they proclaimed the resurrection of Jesus Christ, as the hope of Mankind.

They were convinced beyond all doubt that he had risen.

Listen to the Apostle Paul, who as a a persecutor of the church had an encounter with Jesus Christ on the Damascus Road:

With unaccustomed humility he asks.

4 And falling to the ground, he heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” 5 And he said, “Who are you, Lord?” And he said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.

He is alive.
In fact, Paul writes:
Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep

The resurrection of Jesus Christ is a work of God.
It happened to Jesus Christ and it will also happen to you.
By faith in Christ, you have this promise.

20 But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. 21 For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. 22 For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. 23 But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ.

The good news from God is that Jesus Christ was a man.
He was human as Adam was human and as we are human.
He was fully man, and fully God.
He was like us, having to take all the pressures of life and subject to the same temptations, yet in all his humanity, without sin.

He suffered everything we have to suffer even death itself.
We feel with him as he said that day on his cross.

“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

That is a human response. Christ is fully human but also fully God.

Jesus lives! To Him the throne
High above all things is given.
I shall go where He is gone,
Live and reign with Him in heaven.
God is faithful; doubtings, hence!
This shall be my confidence.

With confidence we celebrated today but others are fearful.
Death is a hard subject.

The reality of death causes some to think about it all the time and they just can't get death off their minds.

Even their happy moments are ruined because they know that these moments can't last forever.

Death will come. Maybe a lot sooner than you might expect. How can you be happy when you know that? How can anyone expect to be happy when he knows that?

Funerals bring that to mind.
You feel the reality of death yourself.
Funerals are hard to accept so we celebrate life.

It was by a man that death came. Paul wrights, and all men die. We are all born in Adam and born is sin and the wages of sin is death.

We are human as Adam was human.

On the other side we celebrate the man who rose from the dead. On the 3rd day after his crucifixion, Jesus Christ woke up from death as death could not hold him.

Saint Paul tells us that Christ rose from the dead never to die again.
Other resurrections were only a postponement of death.
Christ victory over death is complete and permanent.
When he left the tomb and the first Easter, Jesus said Goodbye to death forever.

Jesus lives! I know full well
Nothing me from Him shall sever,
Neither death nor pow'rs of hell
Part me now from Christ forever.
God will be my sure defense;
This shall be my confidence.

With confidence we say goodbye to death forever too!
Jesus is unique. The victim became the Victor.
Not only did he overcome death, he overcame the cause of death, sin.

St. Paul writes: the sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the Law, but thanks be to God, who gives us victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!

Christ accepted the punishment of sin himself.
He experienced the whole force of sin, himself.
He came out on top carrying with him the sins of the whole world.
He overcame the cause of death for you too!

All those who belong to Jesus Christ with confident faith that he is their savior of the world; God will raise from death to life.

Believe it!

Jesus lives! And now is death
But the gate of life immortal;
This shall calm my trembling breath
When I pass its gloomy portal.
Faith shall cry, as fails each sense;
Jesus is my confidence!

There are two types of death.
One is for the purpose of judgment. The others for the purpose of resurrection.
One is headed for destruction. The other is headed for life.

You plant a seed, and with great hope and expectation you wait, knowing that the time will come when it sprouts.

God brings that seed the life. Only God’s power can.

The resurrection of Jesus Christ puts power into the lives of his people.
It is what happens to people who belong to Christ Jesus.

His disciples were people like you and me, in need of forgiveness for the past and for fearfulness of the future.

Though fearful on the morning of his resurrection, these disciples went out with Great-Power and gave witness to the resurrection with great courage.

What they had was a new life empowered by the power of God who raised Jesus from the dead.

What they had was hope, not in the celebration of a life that would end, but in a hope of a life eternal that Christ promised will never end.

This hope is yours.

Jesus Christ gives life to the dead and in Christ you will rise!

In the name of the Father, and of the Son + and of the Holy Spirit!

Amen

Modified: Concordia Pulpit Rev. Oswald C. J. Hoffmann C 1976

April 18, 2025 - Good Friday

Title: Following Jesus to the cross and finish!
Text: John19:17-30

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29 A jar full of sour wine stood there, so they put a sponge full of the sour wine on a hyssop branch and held it to his mouth. 30 When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished,” and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

Many things have been done in the name of religion.
Some have been good and some have been bad.
Some people have been helped others have been hurt.

Religion has given rise to great institutions of healing, and it is also produced some of the most vicious wars in history.

What we are talking about today is not fictitious?

It is real. The place of the skull not imaginary, it is real. In Hebrew. It has a real name, Golgotha.

Two men were crucified there that day and their crimes were real.
Whether the judgment passed upon them was just or not, the penalty was real.
One of them thought the penalty was just. He was probably right.

The third man is real too.

We know the judgment that brought him there was not just, it was just about as unjust as any judgment in the history of the world.

Nevertheless, there they nailed him to the cross. They also nailed the two other men to crosses, one on each side with Jesus between them.

This is life as it is lived in our world. Crucifixion is a very real part of life even today. It goes on all the time. People crucify other people and so doing they also crucified themselves. The world crucifies itself. It is a brutal thing to see, but our world appears to be intent on doing it.

A feature of crucifixion that is most often ignored, but was obvious to anyone who ever watched?
It was the disgrace of the crucified who became a target for popular scorn.
His very humanity was even caricatured:

It might be of interest to note that the earliest known pictorial depiction of Jesus on the cross was a cartoon. Often referred to as “The Alexamenos Graffito,” it’s a crude drawing of a human figure raising a reverent hand toward a crucified individual with the head of a mule. Discovered on the plaster wall of an ancient Roman school, this second-century parody of a certain Jewish Messianic movement includes, scrawled beneath the caricature, a taunt, perhaps best translated as “Alexamenos worships his god.”

You can see it – the crucifixion in the world - even in the 2nd century.

Beyond these childish taunts, there was torture not to mention suffering and dehydration. Fever, stretched muscles, dislocated joins, and unrelieved pain.

There was numbness and exhaustion. There was agony and finally there was death.

Bodies were not always taken down from the cross. They were allowed to decompose up there and then crumble away. They were a reminder.

Sometimes they were left for the wild animals.

A couple of men had the nerve to come forward in spite of what it might do to their reputations and positions in society, and take the body of Jesus Christ down from the cross and put it in the tomb over the weekend.

But not everybody got that kind of consideration.

The world doesn't mind seeing people torn up. If they can't be torn up in one way, there is always another way. This is the devil at work. Of course, but that's the way of the world. It invites the devil in, it encourages his worst.

The world judges but the true judgment comes from God.

The actions of our world constitute a mass challenge against God. The creator of the natural order of things is God, and the world is trying to rearrange that order.

It's action sometimes remind you of one who is deranged.

The Earth is not ours to do with it as we please. It is the Lords and he is the one who made it. We have defiled what belongs to him. It is his judgment upon us.

The cross of Jesus Christ tells us how God feels about human sin.
It is a brutal, bloody thing, that cross of Jesus Christ.
The wrath of God is for real.

The payment was real too.

But no one forget that when he looks at the cross of Christ, God is not a kindly old grandfather who winks at the mistakes of his children and their children. He is a just God and he makes it quite clear whatsoever a man sows that shall he also reap.

Playing God is sin.

When Martin Luther was asked to describe sin, he said it is man turned in upon himself.

It is not an irony of modern civilization that people have been deliberately educated, trained, and reared to regard this almost as a virtue in our day, the truth is finally beginning to dawn upon us.

What a man sows, that also shall he reap.
We are part of the world and we have made our own contribution to the world as it is.

There is no escape from the cross.

There is no way out of the harvest of confusion we have prepared for ourselves unless God comes to our rescue.

What we are talking about is sin. The thing people don't like to talk about if they do talk about at all.

It is usually something other people do.
There is sin in this congregation because everyone here is a sinner.

(President Harrison’s election in 2010)

The reality of what happened at the place of the skull, brings home to me again, with devastating force that there, they nailed Jesus to the cross for my sin, and also nailed two other men to crosses, one on each side and Jesus between them.

If sin is for real, so is he everything about that cross.

A notice had to be put on the cross and Pilate put it there, Jesus of Nazareth the king of the Jews is what he wrote.

Reaction to the sign, as human reactions often are, was immediate and violent.

Many Jews read this because the place where Jesus was nailed to the cross was not far from the city. The notice was written in Hebrew, Latin and Greek.

The first was the language of religious people in that city and the other two languages of commerce in the Roman Empire.

The Jewish chief priest said to Pilate,

“Do not write the king of the Jews, but the man said I am the king of the Jews!”

By this time the governor, had had his fill of their self-righteousness Scribes and Pharasees, saying,

“I have written what we have written.”

The truth must be told even if pilot has to tell it.
The soldiers beneath the cross were real.

Their - kickback - as it is called in our world for their work happened to be the personal effects of the crucified, who would have no further use for them.

The soldiers took his clothes and divided them into four parts, one for each soldier.

They also took the robe which is made of one piece of woven cloth without any seams in it and threw dice to see who would get it.

Saint John reminds us that too was in fulfillment of God's plan.
This happened to make the scripture come true.
They divided my clothes among themselves.

Most poignantly real, is the little amount of people standing close:

25 but standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene.

One man was there. The disciple whom Jesus loved, as John described himself.
And when Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing there. He said to his mother:

“Woman, behold, your son!” 27 Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!”

Here is His dying wish for the woman who gave him birth, and this was carried out by John, and from  hour the disciple took her to his own home.

Jesus knew by now that everything had been completed in order to make the scriptures come true.

28 After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said (to fulfill the Scripture), “I thirst.”

He suffered as men suffer and he was thirsty.
A real man died there that day.
He really died, without a thought for self.

29 A jar full of sour wine stood there, so they put a sponge full of the sour wine on a hyssop branch and held it to his mouth.

30 When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished,” and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

God shows himself to be real.

This is his way of doing things.
Only God would have thought of doing it that way?
I could think of other ways and so, could you?
But this is his way.
This is how we know love. Not that we love God but that he loved us.

He gave his only son-in propitiation of his wrath as a substitutionary sacrifice for our sins.
God was reconciling the world to himself not counting their sins against them.

It's hard to believe why would God do something like that?

By his own power and glory, a real man died there that day and a real man arose from the dead.
He was delivered for our offenses and raised again for our justification.

Don't sit there in your sin, accept his forgiveness!

The salvation of God is real.

It is new life that can truly be called eternal life.
It is a new peace, as you see our loving God in Jesus Christ, as your savior.
It is a new hope, and that friends is exactly what all of us need.

The judgment of God upon our world and upon us has been shouldered by Jesus Christ, he took the disgrace, he took the rebellion, the hatred, the pride, which constantly pressed in upon us.

There is one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus.

He took it all friends for you!

In the name of the Father, and of the Son + and of the Holy Spirit!

Amen



Modified: Concordia Pulpit Rev. Oswald C. J. Hoffmann C 1976

April 17, 2025 - Maundy Thursday

Title: Following Jesus in word and gift, Past, Present and Future!
Text: Luke 22:7-20

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13 And they went and found it just as he had told them, and they prepared the Passover.

Past

Whenever the Jews gather to celebrate the annual feast and festival of the Passover, one of the youngest family members asks.

“What does this supper mean?”

The head of the household repeats for all present. The story of God's deliverance of the children of Israel from the bondage of Egypt. Similarly, as we gather to commemorate the institution of the Lord Supper, we might well ask:

What does this supper mean?

Our text answers this question as it views the Lord supper from three perspectives the past, the present, and the future.

Before Jesus instituted the Lord supper, he celebrated with his disciples, the ancient feast of the Passover.

As the shadows of the evening came on that first Maundy Thursday, Jesus told Peter and John to go and prepare us the Passover that we may eat.

“Go and prepare the Passover for us, that we may eat it.” 9 They said to him, “Where will you have us prepare it?” 10 He said to them, “Behold, when you have entered the city, a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him into the house that he enters 11 and tell the master of the house, ‘The Teacher says to you, where is the guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?’ 12 And he will show you a large upper room furnished; prepare it there.” 13 And they went and found it just as he had told them, and they prepared the Passover.

What is amazing about all this is that Jesus saw everything that was to happen as though it had already taken place.

He is our omniscient, Lord.

When the disciples and Jesus reached the upper room, the savior said:

15 And he said to them, “I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer.

The Passover, you will recall. Was celebrated every year to commemorate God's deliverance of Israel from the 400-year bondage in Egypt. The book of Exodus gives us the account of their wilderness journey and escape.

You remember how God sent Moses to Pharaoh with the command let my people go and when pharaoh refused to release the children of Israel from bondage, God sent 10 plagues one after another.

Among them, frogs, locus, boils, hail, flies and the rivers turned to blood. And at last God resolved to send the angel of death through Egypt to kill the first born of all the living.

To protect the houses of the Israelites, God commanded each family member to slay a lamb without blemish and to put the blood on the door post so that the angel of death would pass over their houses.

The next day God led his people safely through the parted waters of the Red Sea, while the pursuing Egyptian army perished in the waters as they came together again.

Ever since, the Jews have been celebrating the Passover each year to recall how God redeemed them from the bondage of Egypt.

The Lord’s Supper too, is a feast of remembrance too.

After instituting the Lord's Supper, Jesus:

19 … took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”

Christ has delivered us from a bondage far worse than that of slavery in Egypt.

For by nature, all men are the slaves of sin, death, and the devil.

As St. Paul writes in Romans:

12 Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men[a] because all sinned—

All men by nature are subject to the cruel tyrant, the devil and to eternal death.

As little as the children of Israel could free themselves from their life of slavery, so little, can any man free himself from sin and dearth.

But Jesus Christ did deliver us.

John, the Baptist pointed to Jesus and said:

“Behold the lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!”

As the Passover lamb, was without blemish and without spot, so too Jesus, was wholly harmless, undefiled, and separate from sinners.

He kept God's law perfect for us as our substitute.

But, more than that, he was God's great sacrificial lamb offered on the altar of the cross for the sins of the world.

He took upon himself the guilt and the punishment of our sin as a substitute.
He gave his body and his shed his blood for us.

As writer to the Hebrews 9 says:

12 he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption.

And in Isaiah 53:

5 But he was pierced for our transgressions;
he was crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
and with his wounds we are healed.

And, 1 John 1:7:

7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.

So, the blood of Jesus Christ saves us from eternal death.

8 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

The glorious liberty and freedom of the children of God is what we ought to think of every time we celebrate the Lord's Supper. Our Exodus from sin and death.

Our hearts ought to swell with joy every time we hear the words:

“This is my body which is given for you. This cup is the New Testament in my blood which is shed for you.”

For these words assure us that we have been redeemed through the holy and precious blood of Christ. How eagerly we ought to join the grateful refrain!

Present

The Lord supper is not only a memorial to God's grace made known to you and me once for all in Christ.

It is also a gift of God for us Christians here, and now!

Christ's intention, as he instituted the Lord supper, was to give his disciples an abiding gift of grace.

He took the bread gave thanks broke it and gave it to the disciple saying, this is my body which is given for you, this do in remembrance of me.

He took the cup of wine and said, this cup is the New Testament in my blood which is shed for you.

In these words, Jesus assures the disciples that they were receiving bread and wine in a natural manner, but also that in, with, and under the bread and wine, in the sacramental union they were receiving his true body and blood in a supernatural manner as well.

But, more than that, Christ added the promise intended for each of the disciples.

“This is my body which is given for you. “

“This cup is the New Testament in my blood which is shed for you.”

The disciples were to know that each time they celebrated the Lord Supper, Christ was offering and giving them the forgiveness of sins.

The very words of institution carried the promise of pardon.

What a blessing the Lord supper is for us.

Our greatest need in life is for the assurance of the forgiveness of sin.

Pilgrims on our journey through life, we sin every day against God and our neighbors in thought word and deed.

And how often we neglect to do the good that we should.

How often our conscience is accuses of wrongs that we have done or good left undone.

Where shall we go with our guilt?

In the Lord supper, Jesus invites us:

28 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

Matt 11:28

When we hear of comfort are burdened with sin:

13 But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’

Luke 18:13

Or, even the Prodigal as he contemplates his situation:

18 I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you.

Luke 15:18

Like the prodigal we come to the Lord's supper with joy and confidence to hear The Promise:

This is my body given for you.
This cup and the New Testament in my blood which is shed for you.

Here. Christ says to each penitent center. I forgive you, go in peace. And as a pledge and seal of that forgiveness, he gives us his true body and blood.

Accepting this promise in faith, we can go on our way rejoicing.

Assured that God has blotted out our sins and has cast them behind his back and drowned them in the depths of the sea of his grace.

What a precious gift the Lord Supper is!

How eagerly we ought to receive this sacrament frequently to have the assurance of God's love and forgiveness of our sins.

Future

With deep emotions, Jesus gathered his disciples in the upper room on the first Maundy Thursday evening. Jesus expressed his deep feeling in these words:

15 And he said to them, “I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. 16 For I tell you I will not eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.”

The time of parting had come.

Jesus was now to suffer and he knew it well. At the same time, the disciples were to be without his gracious presence for a time.

However, Jesus sees beyond the cross to the open grave to the hill of the ascension to his own coronation at the right hand of God is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

At the same time, he sees the dawn of his Kingdom of glory. When the disciples, together with all the redeemed, would be with him forever.

So, the Lord's Supper ought to remind us of the day when we will join the company of the redeemed to be with Christ forever.

Our celebration of the Lord supper is a foretaste of the blessedness of heaven.

For as we gather at the Lord's table, we express our fellowship with the Lord and with one another in the body and blood of Christ.

Paul reminds us:

17 Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread.

And with one another gathered to the Lord, our bodies shall be made like Christ's glorious body.

We shall see God face-to-face. We shall be forever with the Lord and the glory. What a day and supreme joy and glory awaits us all!

As we continue to celebrate the Lord's supper for the forgiveness of our sins and the strengthening of our faith let us fill our hearts with joy as we reflect upon Christ death for us.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son + and of the Holy Spirit!

Amen

Modified Concordia Pulpit Rev. Henry Eggold c 1976