Sermon September 7, 2025

Title: The cross we bear connects us to Christ!
Text: Luke 14:25-35

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25 Now great crowds accompanied him, and he turned and said to them, 26 “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. 27 Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.

To live for Jesus is to deny life itself. Boy, discipleship is hard!
But we all know life can be hard. Harder for some more than others.
You might feel the difficulty of life now or in years past.

Whether success or failure, pressure is exerted.

How’s your health, job, family?
Do you have friends or lack thereof?
How about growing pains or just aches and pains?
And now Jesus tells these followers in the crowd:

27 Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.

Sounds like a good way to cause those who were following Jesus to fall away, or to even run away doesn’t it?

In our Old Testament lesson today we hear the very familiar call.

... choose life, that you and your offspring may live,

The idea of choosing sounds good to we who, living in a democratic society, get to choose quite a lot of things.

We can choose where we live in the country,
We choose what career we might wish to go into,
We choose whom we marry. We even get to choose what we signed up for the picnic today or whether to just come and enjoy!

The call of … choose life … is often confused in the life of a Christian and applied to the work of evangelism - as though we could choose to believe just as we choose to be born in our family.

The gift of life is both given in our natural birth as well as the gift of faith is given in our spiritual birth, from a God who came to redeem those who were unable to redeem themselves and that is why the text here today is a good one for us to understand and rejoice in.

The call of God in this text is not to the world but to God’s people Israel.

Those chosen children of Abraham whom Moses had given God’s Law written on the tablets of stone by the finger of God, were called by Him to stay in the relationship with Him apart from falling away into sin, false gods, and idol worship.

This keeping of God’s commandments, his statutes and rules would bring God’s blessing to them as they entered into the land that He was giving them to possess.

So also our own lives, as we cannot be Christ’s disciple without bearing our own cross and following him.

The reality of Jesus’ call … to hate father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters … figuratively as opposed to literally, yes and even his own life, shows the difficulty of being a disciple.

This, none the less, is a serious matter meaning that we cannot let anything draw us away from the gift of following Christ and being his disciple, being his child and being marked as his redeemed!

Some years ago, when I was witnessing to a friend, he joyfully came to me to proclaim that the night before he had prayed to Jesus - receiving him as his savior. What wonderful news! He, was quite happy because this had been a long and tedious process with many and various talks about Jew and Gentile, Old and New Testament, and Sabbath (Saturday)verses Sunday worship.

I so wanted to help him transition into being a disciple or follower of Jesus.

To be a follower – a disciple – requires an active walk.

Jesus called, “Follow me” to those fishermen. He didn’t say, “Stay where you are, I got this!”

When I first thought of going into ministry I wanted to learn, to go to seminary and to sit at the feet of the professors and to learn.

I didn’t want so much the work of the pastor. I didn’t want to visit the sick, or hold the hand of a grieving family member who has just lost a dear loved one. I certainly didn’t want to do a funeral. But that is what being a pastor requires and I’ve done my share of funerals as you know.

I preach to those at funerals hoping that by God’s word and the working of the Holy Spirit some may believe or be brought back to active discipleship. I preach here so that the Lord of life by that same Spirit would strengthen our faith and walk as disciples to that end.

St. Augustine writes:

“Why do I preach? Why do I sit up here? What do I live for? For this one thing alone: that together we may live with Christ! This is my passion, this is my honor, this is my fame, this is my joy, this is my one possession! … But I do not want to be saved without you!

Augustine’s focus was on making disciples. Changing lives with the Gospel and the gifts of Baptism and the Lord’s Supper. Saying:

“When I exhort you, I [first] peer into myself. For one is a hollow preacher of God’s word on the outside if one is not [first] a hearer on the inside”

Augustine and the Catechumenate Pg 188
28 For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? 29 Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, 30 saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’

There is a cost to becoming a Christian and with that we must place Christ first.

Many put family first - and it certainly is a great blessing to have a loving family - but the devil uses all things to divide and pull us away from Jesus and the family can be used in that way as well.

I did a baptism a few years ago for a little boy. The family doesn’t attend church here anymore though they desired baptism for their child. They had been a member once but moved.

As I spoke with them about the importance of regular worship and being fed God’s word the mom said, “Well we’re a sports family and the weekends are tied up with the Tigers, Lions and Red Wings!”

It’s funny how from Clarkston to Peace is too far for worship even occasionally is impossible, but driving to Downtown Detroit for a sporting event is no big deal and becomes a family tradition.

It puts a bit of perspective as to what Jesus is talking about. What is it that draws you away? Give it some thought.

What is it that draws loved ones away, or even our children?

The devil divides and he delight in division.

33 So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple.

The great work of Dietrich Bonhoeffer the Cost of Discipleship comes to mind.

He writes:

“The messengers of Jesus will be hated to the end of time. They will be blamed for all the division which rend cities and homes. Jesus and his disciples will be condemned on all sides for undermining family life, and for leading the nation astray; they will be called crazy fanatics and disturbers of the peace. The disciples will be sorely tempted to desert their Lord. But the end is also near, and they must hold on and persevere until it comes. Only he will be blessed who remains loyal to Jesus and his word until the end.”

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship Bonhoeffer Works Vol 4 1937

This is the message of Jesus. Let nothing come between you and him and his saving Gospel.

Some years ago, I officiated at the funeral. Betty had the ups and downs of life that we all know. She had problems, she lost her husband in 1971; she lost her oldest son and then her youngest son as well, she lost her eyesight and largely the ability to care for herself, dementia stole her memory at times and brought the sad times of her life into view as if it was happening all over again.

On some visits she talked about her sons coming to visit her but they had been gone for 25 years or more.
But sill, the Holy Spirit was always with her pointing out that:

Jesus died for her, that Jesus carried her cares and burdens and that Jesus was always with her and would never leave her nor forsake her.

To be Christ’s is to give away all that you are (sinful and unclean) so that you receive from him all that he is. (Righteous and just)

God does the work of discipleship in you and for you! So, do not lose heart, God will keep you in the faith by his word and spirit.

In the name of the Father and of the Son + and of the Holy Spirit.

Amen

Sermon August 23-24, 2025

Title: Jesus, invites you to the table!
Text: Luke 13:22-30

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29 And people will come from east and west, and from north and south, and recline at table in the kingdom of God. 30 And behold, some are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last.”

When I was leaving my long-time job prior to my ordination my assistant manager and I went over some things to help in the transition. We discussed what being a good manager entailed and decided on two words: Good decisions.

As we continued to talk about the importance of good decisions in our work and where they came from, we decided on one word: Experience. So how do you get experience we thought? Two words: Bad decisions!

Today In The Word, November, 1989, p.23. Adapted

When you think of the good or bad decisions you’ve made in your life it is comforting to know that our good works don’t get us in and our bad decisions don’t keep us out because Christ has made us alive by his Spirit.

22 [Jesus] went on his way through towns and villages, teaching and journeying toward Jerusalem.

As we’ve discussed over the last few months, Jesus was resolute on His way towards Jerusalem. He was not running there but was diligently going on about His business to get there.

Along the way He did what He loved to do … teach!

As was the case with Jesus and His teaching and what happens often when teaching through the Bible, questions come to mind. Such was the case here. As Jesus went about His business someone in the crowd of followers who had been accompanying him says:

23 … “Lord, will those who are saved be few?”

Seems like a reasonable question.

Who will be saved and how will it be determined?

Again, as has been the case before, Jesus uses this question to answer and teach. The question might have been asked differently though, not so much, “will those saved be few”?

But, will I be among them?

This is how Jesus answers this important question.

And he said to them,
24 “Strive to enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able.

To those who see salvation as a cooperative act, it might seem to them that this work of striving is the work they do to enter in through this narrow door.

Christ is the door of entrance and we can know this from the epistle of St. John the 10th chapter, where Jesus says in verse 9:

9 I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture.

Those who enter in do so by faith in Christ. Those who cannot enter have been trying to make their own way and the key they’ve been trying to use to unlock the door will not open it because the key is faith in God’s only begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, Himself.

So Jesus gives this example in illustration:

25 When once the master of the house has risen and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and to knock at the door, saying, ‘Lord, open to us,’ then he will answer you, ‘I do not know where you come from.’

What a harsh reality. The door will not open. No pleading, no solution, a bad decision that has no happy ending - though the experience learned is written in the bible for our learning - at the time of judgment some will be excluded for lack of making use of it.

The truth is that the Word of God and the working of the Holy Spirit have been active … but rejected.

Some who call Peace their church home reject God’s gift too. They make little attempt to hear God’s word or receive his gift of faith in the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper. How sad to think that they too might hear, “I do not know where you come from”

To all who reject the gift of faith might not the cry be:

26 … ‘We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets.’ 27 But he will say, ‘I tell you; I do not know where you come from. Depart from me, all you workers of evil!’

The riches of temporal blessing and success, or mere apathy blind the way to the cross for many.

The figure of the Crucified invalidates all thought which makes success its standard.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Don’t you see that whatever you do as a means to find the measure of your worth in the eyes of God - through work, acts of love and caring, success in life, charity – amounts to nothing that can open the door to eternal life.

Some years ago while I was visiting with Duane and Eleanor brown in their home. Their son Steve was there and he told of a funeral he recently attended. The gentleman who had passed Steve had great respect for.

He was a mentor to Steve in his younger days when he had attended the Center for Creative studies, helped him with his art and was active with helping in the community. Steve saw him as a role model and person to emulate. As we visited, he turned to me and said,

“Pastor, I had no idea he was an atheist!”

He was heartbroken. The fact of an eternity separated from his friend brought sadness and tears to his eyes.

28 In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God but you yourselves cast out.

Those who hear Jesus hear the words of eternal life. Faith is created and the Kingdom is theirs and they have a seat at the table.

Those who in their sinfulness look to other means to open the door to salvation, or good works apart from God’s means by faith, will find the door locked and they themselves cast out.

It’s sobering to think about?

Some come to church … but only go through the motions failing to trust the promises of God.

Some have even stopped coming at all, thinking life too short or their lives too busy for making time to be in worship.

Especially, in the summer when the weather is so nice, I too can even tempted to take a weekend off. But Monica and I went to Christ Lutheran in Milford for their 7:00 Pm service on Monday nights during our vacation to hear and receive God’s word of forgiveness and blessing.

All churches just like here at Peace seem to experience a drop off in attendance during the summer months. Some go to the cottage, some attend elsewhere if out of town, it’s part of summer in Michigan.

But some get drawn away into other joys or just lose interest and don’t come at all.

Sad but true, and some, who’ve been given the gift of faith by the working of the Holy Spirit, will find no faith at all in that day, because their faith has died to the ways of the world.

But Christ still calls and comforts:

29 And people will come from east and west, and from north and south, and recline at table in the kingdom of God. 30 And behold, some are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last.”

The truth is that some will not enter because of a lack of faith. Jesus tells the people that the door is opened by faith in Christ alone and Jesus is that door.

Trusting in him is the key and it is the gift of faith which you cannot earn but is freely given by God’s Spirit so that you and I and all who believe can enter in.
Martin Luther says, that all of us come to church as poor, miserable sinners with an empty sack. We have nothing to give God. We confess our sins and receive forgiveness – in the blessed absolution, a gift from God, which we put in our sack. Over and over in the service we receive gifts: grace, mercy, love, the Word of God … A multitude of blessings!

All of these gifts go in our sacks. We leave the service with a sack over-flowing with good gifts from God. We take our gifts home, and we share all the goodies we received with our neighbor!

God gives His gifts to you. He forgives you. He blesses you and you receive his gifts from his word and through His sacraments of Baptism and the Lord’s Supper. This he freely gives … to you. And He calls you to come, as you are to His house because you are his child and he wishes to bless … you.

God’s grace is nothing you deserve; it is nothing you can earn; and it is only received by faith in the finished work of Christ through the working of the Holy Spirit. And you have been given that gift of faith in Christ and you receive his forgiveness in Christ and you are his Child in Christ and you will enter through the door that is Christ Jesus … because of his call and work in you.

The table of the Lord is yours!

In the name of the Father and of the Son + and of the Holy Spirit.

Amen

Sermon August 16-17, 2025

Title: By faith you are covered in Christ’s love and forgiveness!
Text: Heb. 11:17-31; 12:1-3 Luke 12:49-53

17 By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac,
23 By faith Moses, when he was born, was hidden for three months by his parents,
29 By faith the people crossed the Red Sea as on dry land,
12 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses,
3 Consider him [Jesus] who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted.

In our gospel reading Jesus says:

51 Do you think that I have come to give peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division.

A world of nice people, content in their own niceness, looking no further, turned away from God, would be just as desperately in need of salvation as a miserable, [broken and retched] world -- and might even be more difficult to save.

C.S. Lewis, quoted in Against the Night, Charles Colson, p. 139.

It’s like the story of the school teacher who lost her life savings in a business scheme … by a swindler. When her investment disappeared and her [dreams were] shattered, she went to the Better Business Bureau. "Why on earth didn't you come to us first?" the official asked. [“Well], she said … I didn't come because I was afraid, you'd tell me not to do it."

Jerry Lambert. (modified)

You see … the truth is … we want to believe the lies.

In a way it explains the cross. Not as peace and comfort but as agony and death.

Not as accomplishing anything good … but only something bad that shouldn’t have happened, we think.

What truly lies beyond the cross … the resurrection of Jesus and salvation that he gives is unable to be seen through the eyes of self and can only be received as a gift through the eyes of faith.

By faith Abraham believed that God was able, even to raise Issac from the dead, from which figuratively speaking, he did receive him back. Heb. 11:19

Jesus says:

49 “I came to cast fire on the earth, and would that it were already kindled! 50 I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how great is my distress until is accomplished!

What fire is Jesus talking about?
Why is he anxious and distressed?
And what does baptism have to do with it?

Well, the fire is the wrath of God cast down from heaven on the earth as punishment for sin; and yes, Jesus wants it done with and finished.

He also has a baptism to be baptized with – not of washing away sin - but of receiving the sins of the whole world upon him so that God’s wrath might be focused in one place, on Jesus, once and for all.

That brings Jesus great distress because his baptism is a bloody baptism.

As Christ was baptized by John, he was marked for you and me and all as our substitute. As the lamb of God that takes away the sin of the word,

Jesus saw the Spirit descend like a dove 17 and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”

The father was pleased because Jesus was an acceptable sacrifice. Without spot or blemish, he could stand and receive God full wrath and make payment for sin with his sinless life and death in your place.

And with that – his death on the cross - God’s wrath would be appeased and paid for.

51 Do you think that I have come to give peace on earth?

Well yes, we want to believe that.

Jesus said to bring the little children to him and not prohibit them.
He hoped to gather Jerusalem to himself like a hen gathers her chick under her wings.
He told the woman found in adultery to go and sin no more after her accusers left and Jesus said neither do I accuse you.

So yes, we want Jesus to bring peace. But he says:

No, I tell you, but rather division.

52 For from now on in one house there will be five divided, three against two and two against three.


The devil delights in division.
He delights in apathy.
He delights is discord.
He delights in death. He delights in whispering in your ear.
He delights in us having faith in ourselves.

“You’re a pretty good person. You’ve helped many people in need and done good things. You know right from wrong and there are certainly many others who do much less than you. God will be pleased with you!”

Families are divided. The church is too. The world is broken in sin.

51 Do you think that I have come to give peace on earth?

Jesus says: “No, I tell you, but rather division.”

Dear friends, the brokenness of this world will not get better.

I saw this quote online:

“This society in which we live is radically changing. What previous generations saw as evil is now embraced as being good. It is a dangerous and slippery slope upon which we stand when we reject what Solomon called the beginning of wisdom – the fear of God.”

— Ray Comfort

But Christ has secured your rescue - by faith – not in a world that will be destroyed but in Jesus who died for you and rose again from the dead.

“Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.” Heb 11:18

In the first chapter of Matthew we receive this genealogy:

2 Abraham was the father of Isaac, and Isaac the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers, Matt 1:2

Our Epistle continues:

22 By faith Joseph, at the end of his life, made mention of the exodus of the Israelites and gave directions concerning his bones. Heb 11:22
29 By faith the people crossed the Red Sea as on dry land, but the Egyptians, when they attempted to do the same, were drowned. Heb: 11:29

The Gospel in Matthew reveals:

5 and Salmon the father of Boaz by Rahab, and Boaz the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse, 6 and Jesse the father of David the king. Matt 1:5

31 By faith Rahab the prostitute did not perish with those who were disobedient, because she had given a friendly welcome to the spies. Heb 11:31

King David’s great grandmother was Rahab whom God had used so that:

30 By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they had been encircled for seven days.

The genealogy concludes:

16 and Jacob the father of Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom Jesus was born, who is called Christ. Matt 1:16

By faith we too have rescue.

In Christ who is our hope and our deliverer!

The genealogy continues for you and me as well as we think of our grandparents and our parents on down to ourselves and our children.

As my own would read and you can write your own as well.

And Michael was the father of Albert, and Albert the father of Russell, and Russell the father of Amy and Jonathan, and by faith in this same Christ and his baptism into death, a death on a cross, we too have the promise that just as he was raised from the dead we too will rise.

In the name of the Father and of the Son + and of the Holy Spirit.

Amen

Sermon August 9-10, 2025

Title: There's A Reason Not to Worry! – Rev. Terry Nelson 

Text: Luke 12:22-34

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32 “Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom.

Sermon August 2-3, 2025

Title: In Christ, we cast it away!
Text: Luke 12:13-21, Col. 3:1-11

Facebook live: In Christ, we cast it away!

20 But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’21 So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.”

Jesus says in our gospel reading for today:

“Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” Luke 12:15

In a sense Jesus is asking, “What is your focus, hope or trust?”

Paul in our epistle reading for today is asking his Colossian hearers their focus, hope, or trust and to put on the new self, to live in the new hope which is their life in Christ - to set their minds on things above and not on things that are on the earth.

Perspective is a wonderful thing. The further you get away from something the smaller the object appears.
The view from above can make the enticements vanish and problems seem not as consuming. But perspective can also be viewed from below, in the midst of turmoil and through the coveting of the flesh where the joy of Christ can be so far away and hidden from view that you can't see Jesus.

A young man in our Gospel calls to Jesus saying, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.”

To which Jesus answers to the crowd: “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.”

Saying in a sense, “Don’t lose focus on who you are in Christ.”

The Colossians, were losing their focus on Christ. They were being pulled in different directions.

Some wanted to pull them back to the Law and its requirements.
Col 2:4

Some wanted them captive to philosophy, empty deceit, and human tradition, according to the world. Col 2:8

Some wanted to pass judgment with questions of food and drink, a festival, new moon or a Sabbath. Col. 2:16

And some were feeling disqualified for not measuring up by those who were puffed up and self-righteous. Col 2:18
You might know how this might feel. I do.

Death though is the universal equalizer.

Satan stamps us at birth as his children, Dead to God, as we discussed last weekend. He is our father and we are his offspring as Jesus reminded the unbelieving Pharisees in John Chapter 8 saying:

44 You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies. John 8:44

But for the Colossian believers and you and me we are now marked, Alive in Christ in baptism, by the working of the Holy Spirit for all who believe, because we have died to self and have now been buried in baptism and raised to newness of life by faith in Jesus.

Where is your focus and perspective?

Are you looking at self and the things of this life or are you looking to our hope in Christ?

We like the Colossians can all fall victim to our sinful flesh and the working of the devil and have our perspective turned inward.

In this life - that which looks bad [loss of loved ones, jobs and the like] God can use for good and that which looks good [earthly pleasures] the devil can use for bad.
Paul says:

5 Put to death therefore what is earthly in you:

That maybe easier said than done in this world where we live daily.

I’ve shared in the past some of my own failing in sermons – guitars and banjos, bikes – both the pedaled and motorized verities.

Even riding mowers once captivated my focus. When you have to cut the grass a riding mower can become an idol too.

For some - maybe it’s the cottage, the 401K savings, the good
life in retirement, sports, reunions, favorite restaurants, music and clubs, life on your terms and your way each and every day.

Maybe it is just nice weather and doing nothing at all?

At the ordination for Pastor Alex Hinojosa last Sunday afternoon I joined with brother pastors in support and participation in the service.

As we gathered in the office getting robed, pastor Bryan Schendel commented that he had told Alex, “With nice weather we might not get very many pastors to attend, so don’t be discouraged.” But then said, “Wow, look at how many came!”

We had 17 pastors in attendance!

President Davis too thanked all the pastors that came saying,

“Look, I know you all could find good reasons to not be here, but I am so thankful that you are.”

Things in life can pull us away from things in Christ.

Where Jesus is, his gifts are delivered to those in attendance and his gifts bring hope, forgiveness and life. That is his church gathered in worship.

This is what was celebrated at the ordination as we, together with our friends at Prince of Peace, welcomed a new under shepherd to guide and lead them in Christ’s word and gifts.

Paul calls everything - apart from Christ - idolatry.

Name your poison he says, immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire or coveting. We are victims of it all, you and me, our children, our grandchildren, friends and foes alike.

We all look to remove the spec from our brother’s eye while not seeing the log in our own eye. All earthly passions can point us away from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

6 On account of these Paul says, the wrath of God is coming.

If Christ is not your leader certainly another god / idol will fill his place and the wrath of God awaits all not covered in this righteousness.

7 In these you too once walked, when you were living in them.

I myself feel like Paul - Chief of sinners though I be - I have been given so much in Christ and yet I stumble and fall daily. Sin covers even my good works so that my own pride can negate the work of God.

Forgive me and all Lord, who in anger speak evil of a fellow believer.

Forgive me and all Lord, and help me pray that your wrath be lifted off those who think wrongfully of your church, so that they may also receive the full blessing of your care.

Forgive me and all Lord, so that the malice of thought and the slander of speech may be buried from our lives, and may you by your Spirit turn our coarse and obscene talk into voices of praise.

Let this life of faith become a new life in Christ daily, as we die to self and live to Christ remembering his work, restored in the image of the creator who desires all to come to the knowledge of the truth.

Remember this, God has many children but no grandchildren.

All who come to faith become his child. We therefore must pray, witness, and encourage those in our life to desire and cherish what God has done for them and in them by his Spirit.

11 Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, [or] free; but Christ is all, and in all.

And I might add for all.

God’s peace and blessings be with you now and always!

In the name of the Father and of the Son + and of the Holy Spirit.

Amen

Sermon July 26-27, 2025

Title: Praying as the Lord teaches!
Text: Luke 11:1-13

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11 Now Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.”

Our Gospel lesson today begins with our Lord in prayer … a practice that we know from the scriptures, that He did very often.

Most of us know that prayer is – conversation with God – we talk to God about our needs and wants but find it hard at times to know how or for what to pray. This leads to the disciples in our lesson asking Jesus to teach them to pray and His giving of the Lord’s Prayer.

Martin Luther the great reformer was also asked by his barber, Master Peter Beskensdorf, how he prays?

Luther, not one for quick or short answers in spite of all that consumed his time gave his barber a reply … a letter of 40 printed pages! Titled “A Simple Way to Pray”, Luther delved into his deep understanding of prayer and all that the world, the flesh and the devil work at to keep you away from prayer and your conversation with God.
Jesus teaches his disciples:

“Father, hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come.
3 Give us each day our daily bread,
4 and forgive us our sins,
for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us.
And lead us not into temptation.”

Martin Luther begins his letter to Master Peter by focusing on what he needs to do to be skilled at his vocation as a barber.

Luther says:

“A good clever barber must have his thoughts, mind and eyes concentrated upon the razor and the beard and not forget where he is in his stroke and shave.

If he keeps talking or looking around or thinking of something else, he is likely to cut a man’s mouth or nose – or even his throat.

So anything that is to be done well … ought to occupy the whole man with all his faculties and members. As the saying goes, He who thinks of many things thinks of nothing and accomplishes no good; How much more must prayer possess the heart exclusively and completely if it is to be a good prayer!”

Jesus says:

9 And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.

Prayer is a beautiful thing but one that has many obstacles.

The moment you wake up each morning, all your wishes and hopes for the day rush at you like wild animals. And the first job each morning consists in shoving it all back; in listening to that other voice, taking that other point of view, letting that other, larger, stronger, quieter life come flowing in.

C.S. Lewis

You and I know we miss the mark many times when we pray.

So do I … and so did our Synod President Matt Harrison. In one of his talks at a convention he told a story of when he first was elected president and of a visit with an old pastor, a bishop, of a partner church in Germany.

He said, “In his room was a kneeler that the old man obviously used very often. There were knee marks in the worn pad where he had spent many hours and the arm rest was indented as well. Also, the pages of the Bible were thin with the oil of the hands making them almost transparent.” President Harrison said, “Seeing that I thought to myself – I need to learn how to pray!”

It is one of the things that I resolved to do and to be better at as well. Prayer is something that must be done by you and by me as Jesus tells us to:

… ask … than to seek … and finally to knock.

Luther continues his letter to his barber with this:

It is a good thing to let prayer be the first business in the morning and the last in the evening.

Guard yourself against such false and deceitful thoughts that keep whispering: Wait a while. In an hour or so I will pray.

I must first finish this or that. Thinking such thoughts, we get away from prayer into other things that will hold us and involve us till the prayer of the day comes to (naught). nothing

You can’t know your heavenly father without communing with Him.

This is done by prayer as you ask, seek and knock and by hearing his word of reply as you partake of weekly worship, hearing the Lord’s word of Law and Gospel but truly being comforted by his holy absolution given by God through his means of word and sacrament.

I have been involved in ordinations and installations services over the years and many new pastors called from the seminary have been ordained into the office of the Holy Ministry with a beautiful service, wonderful music, the laying on of hand from the local pastor’s in attendance, and with much singing and prayer.

I look forward to that again this afternoon at Pastor-Elect Alex Hinojosa ordination and installation service at Prince of Peace in Farmington Hills.

When God calls a pastor to His church, He is calling a pastor to be His representative, called through the congregation to bring Christ and His gifts to His people. It was joyful to be involved and to celebrate what God has done and continues to do for his people and I know it will be a joy today as well.

As we think about our Lord’s words again in the Gospel for today regarding prayer:

11 What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; 12 or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? 13 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

The Holy Spirit is given in abundance at these ordinations and installations because God wishes to richly bless His people with His gifts and the most blessed gift you can have is the gift of the Holy Spirit given to you … who works in you, faith in Christ’s finished work and keeps you pointed to Him so that on the last day you may stand firm in that faith unto life everlasting.

And by the Holy Spirit’s work in you from our epistle reading today bring the joyful gift of prayer to the Lord’s logical conclusion when it says:

10 and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority. 11 In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, 12 having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead. 13 And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, 14 by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. 15 He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.

When you were born in sin the devil would have placed a sign upon your forehead that read "Dead to God," which means that you are dead in sin and dead you will stay. But, God in Christ has ripped that sign from your forehead and replaced it with a new sign that reads “Alive in Christ!”

Your sin has been paid through the cross that Christ endured for you, so that in Him you might have an eternity:

21 far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come.

Eph. 1:21

In the name of the Father and of the Son + and of the Holy Spirit.

Amen

Sermon July 19-20, 2025

Title: We only need Jesus!
Text: Luke 10:38-42

Facebook live: We only need Jesus!

Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.”

38 Now as they went on their way, Jesus entered a village. And a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. 39 And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet and listened to his teaching.

We can only imagine the knock at the door.

Martha welcomes Jesus to her home. “How wonderful it is to see you, Lord!” She might have exclaimed.

“It is wonderful to be here!” Jesus might have responded to this welcome greeting from Martha

Martha had heard from her sister Mary that Jesus had come to Jerusalem and she asked him to be their guest. Not so different a situation then we might have with a guest coming into our house.

Come over and have dinner with us and rest a while.

Not because Martha and Mary had some problem that they wanted Jesus to solve, but because there was gladness and joy that she wanted him to share t with them so Martha reached out to Jesus in an time of happiness, she had called for him to come to their house when she didn't have a hundred or a thousand needs to bear.

We need to check as well our motivation for fellowship with the Lord. At what times do we call on him? Are they times of joy and celebration or can most of them be considered an emergency need or simply a time to dial 911?

When we're in the depths of despair.
There is the Lord and his divine ear that we reach out to.
When it's a cry for immediate assistance.
It is God's telephone number that we dial and run to.

And it is good to remember him in these times of need.

Life can bring those times of need. Fire truck, police car and ambulance are needed and called upon. We reach out and lament to God.

“Lord, help me!”

Is it though, only in times of great need that we call on the Lord or invite him into our lives?

“Hear me, help me, save me, spare me! Or even - Why me!”
Is that how we use Jesus? Is it the only time we call?

How often do you call God, remember and think of him or send him a prayer of thanks for the many blessings you have received? I need to do it more and so do you.

Lord it is so good to be your child? Thank you for always being with me and promising to never leave.

How often do you connect with Christ?
Do you begin and end you day with him?

The Lord’s prayer, The Apostles Creed, Luther’s morning and evening Prayer? Great places to begin and to connect with Christ.

Not because you want to say listen to me, be attentive to me, I have needs and you need to listen now, but to just say:

“Come Lord, Jesus, be my guest. Come, sit with me and rest.

Show me in your word. Bring your comfort, peace, and joys to me this day.

Do we only talk to God when we are crushed?
Do we only reach for the Spirit when we have some cross to bear?
Do we only pray when we're forced by the trials we face?
Do we ever knock at the saviors’ door so we might sit in the father's Lap as His child letting him comfort us by his words that bring peace?

40 … Martha was distracted with much serving …

Had the master come early when things weren't ready?

She was working very hard. She had to excuse herself, graciously, because she had things to do.

You know the feeling. Mary sits. Frustration abounds!

“Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me.”

No longer is Jesus the guess but now he is the enforcer. Tell her to get up and do something. The look in the Lord's eyes couldn’t have been one of approval but of sorrow. What had begun joyfully in greeting was now consumed in the temporal. Here today and gone tomorrow.

“Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things,

Jesus may have thought:

I didn’t come to cause you stress and a busy moment.

I didn’t come so that you would use your hands to wait on to me, but that my hands, presence and peace would come to administer to you.

All things seemed important to Martha.
At times, many things seem important to us.

We need to cast our cares on Jesus and we need to elevate to the highest place, and rest in the presence of Christ.

You need to do some clear and straight thinking.

What we do for the redeemer and the ministry of him is surely import and as James in his epistle reminds us, faith without works is dead.

So we do serve and help

That Christ has given us his Spirit into a beating heart is true. It is given so that we can shine “this little light of mine” as Christ has given to us, to those who need to hear about Jesus and see hope in this dark world.

Our witness needs to do that.
Christ is the one thing needful.

I will serve Jesus and I will serve - as we learned last week - my neighbor as myself.

Jesus doesn’t need my service - but my neighbor does.

When you and I stand before God's throne in paradise. This is what will really matter.

Not that I have taught for him in a Sunday school or Bible class, or sung for him in the choir, or hand Bells or pushed the buttons for CD or played the organ or even made evangelism calls. These are all but a fruit of what he has given us in him as his dear children. We can’t but help, and serve.

Through his love for us and through the work of his Spirit we know all that Jesus has given us by his life, death, and resurrection - so that we might have an eternity with him forever and the peace that passes all understanding.

Our deep love for him is that we remain focused on him in the good times and in the bad ones as well.

As Paul reminds the Philippians:

12 I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. 13 I can do all things through him who strengthens me.

But my neighbor might need me.

Some received miracles in this temporal world and we rejoice with them in these blessings.

A miracle of the Lord can save a life.
But the word of the Lord can save a soul.
A miracle of the Lord can give health for today.
But the word of the Lord can preserve faith for eternity.

How I prayed and hoped that the Lord would give are friend and member, Mark Bunarek the successful healing he needed in his surgery.

Unfortunately for us all he didn’t even get to the operating table. But I know that Mark held to Christ in good times and bad - sharing this wonderful verse from Job 19 at the committal for his dear mother only a few short years ago through tears at her committal service.

Job 19:24-26

24 Oh that with an iron pen and lead
they were engraved in the rock forever!
25 For I know that my Redeemer lives,
and at the last he will stand upon the earth.
26 And after my skin has been thus destroyed,
yet in my flesh I shall see God,

This eternity promised in Christ is the one thing needful.

“Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, 42 but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.”

Luther views Martha's busyness as a representation of the distractions and worries of daily life. He acknowledges her good intentions but emphasizes that her focus on service can lead to anxiety.

Mary, sitting at Jesus' feet, symbolizes the ideal response to Christ's presence. Luther highlights her choice to listen and learn as the "better part," which he believes is essential for spiritual growth.

Luther concludes in this way his thoughts:

Christ himself says, “One thing is needful,” i.e., that Mary sits at the feet of Christ and hear his word daily. This is the best part to choose and it shall not be taken away forever. It is an eternal word. Everything else must pass away, no matter how much care and trouble it may give Martha. LW Vol. 53 pg. 14

Jesus, is the one thing needful!
God help us to see and desire this!

In the name of the Father and of the Son + and of the Holy Spirit.

Amen

Based and Modified Concordia pulpit 1977 Rev Lester A Wolf