Author: Bethlehem Lutheran
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Twelfth Sunday after Trinity
Readings: Isaiah 29:17-24 | 2 Corinthians 3:4-11 | Mark 7:31-37 Text: Mark 7:31-37 “And they brought to [Jesus] a man who was deaf and had a speech impediment, and they begged him to lay his hand on him. And taking him aside from the crowd privately, he put his fingers into his ears, and after…
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Eleventh Sunday after Trinity
Readings: Genesis 4:1-15 | Ephesians 2:1-10 | Luke 18:9-14 Text: Luke 18:9-14 In the hearts and minds of the faithful, this parable stands second only to the Parable of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-32). It is one of the most important because it contains the core message of our faith: that no man is holy…
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Tenth Sunday after Trinity
Readings: Jeremiah 7:1-11 | Romans 9:30-10:4 | Luke 19:41-48 Text: Jeremiah 7:1-11 Law in the Text The people were being duplicitous. It wasn’t their first time, either. Jeremiah was preaching to the Israelites about 150 years after the events of Elijah: 21And Elijah came near to all the people and said, “How long will you…
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Ninth Sunday after Trinity
Readings: 2 Samuel 22:26-34 | 1 Corinthians 10:6-13 | Luke 16:1-13 Text: Luke 16:1-9 This parable has been making people squirm since it was first on the Lord’s lips. To some, it offends because it seems like the Lord is advocating that we break the Seventh Commandment, “You shall not steal.” The manager cooks the…
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Seventh Sunday after Trinity
Readings: Genesis 2:7-17 | Romans 6:19-23 | Mark 8:1-9 Text: Romans 6:19-23 Martin Luther wrote in a 1523 sermon: “Unbelief is the cause of all sin and vice, which have now taken the upper hand in all stations of life. How does it come to pass that everywhere there are so many foolish women and…
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Sixth Sunday after Trinity
Readings: Exodus 20:1-17 | Romans 6:1-11 | Matthew 5:17-26 Text: Matthew 5:17-26 Rules are great…when they apply to other people. That’s the way it is for sinners. As soon as the Law of God lands on our door, we squirm and writhe. In the Old Testament lesson. the verses immediately following the Ten Commandments show…
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Third Sunday after Trinity
Readings: Micah 7:18-20 | 1 Timothy 1:12-17 | Luke 15:1-10 Text: Luke 15:1-10 Sometimes, Jesus is offensive. Not offensive in the click-bait type of “even bad press is good.” Jesus is offensive because He sheds His holy light on what is ungodly in us. When Jesus brings that light to men, one of two things…
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Feast of Saints Peter and Paul, Apostles
Readings: Acts 15:1-21 | Galatians 2:1-10| Matthew 16:13-20 Text: Acts 15:1-12 Amidst the swell of information and ideas that freely travel in our day, it’s become quite overwhelming to discern truth from error. Often, it’s easier to simply say that everything is a matter of personal perspective. It can easily become rampant relativism, which says…
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First Sunday after Trinity
Readings: Genesis 15:1-6 | 1 John 4:16-21 | Luke 16:19-31 Text: Luke 16:19-31 This second Sunday into the season known as the Time of the Church begins with Jesus’ lesson about the rich man and Lazarus. It comes right after a dispute that Jesus was having with the Pharisees and their desire to justify their…
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The Holy Trinity
Readings: Isaiah 6:1-7 | Romans 11:33-36 | John 3:1-17 Text: John 3:1-17 Every discipline that is undertaken by people has a technical language, a kind of jargon that is foreign to those outside the trade. ~ Electricians have code manuals that they have to be conversant in.~ Lawyers need to know technical terms, precedents, and…