Author: Bethlehem Lutheran
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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…
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The Feast of Pentecost
Readings: Genesis 11:1-9 | Acts 2:1-21 | John 14:23-31 Text: Genesis 11:1-9 What’s in your heart? If you’re honest with yourself, most of it’s not pretty! There’s a good chance there’s some anger toward your parents or teachers in there. Probably also some jealousy toward your friends or classmates who have newer cars, or bigger…
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Seventh Sunday of Easter / The Ascension of Our Lord
Readings: Ezekiel 36:22-28 | 1 Peter 4:7-14 | John 15:26-16:4 Text: Luke 24:44-53; John 15:26–16:4 Times of uncertainty, fear, and disappointment leave us grasping for something sure. One of the effects of the pandemic five years ago was that it left people vulnerable to clinging to any confident sounding voice, or anyone who has a…
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Sixth Sunday after Easter
~ Rogate ~ Readings: Numbers 21:4-9 | James 1:22-27 | John 16:23:30 Text: Numbers 21:4-9 (read the text) It’s easy to chide the people and think, if I had been there, I wouldn’t have spoken against God and against Moses and Boy, did they get it for being grouchy! Good thing God doesn’t do that…
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Fifth Sunday of Easter
~ Cantate ~ Readings: Isaiah 12:1-6 | James 1:16-21 | John 16:5-15 Text: John 16:5-15 It’s a recurring complaint about the Bible that it’s so ancient that it’s out of step with modern life. After all, the earliest authors wrote 3,500 years ago. It’s possible to take a mystical approach and say, like the Wheel…
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Fourth Sunday after Easter
~ Jubilate ~ Readings: Isaiah 40:25-31 | 1 Peter 2:11-20 | John 16:16-22 Text: John 16:16-22 Scope of the next few Sundays: Preparing the disciples not just for the moment, but for the whole of the time of the Church, from Jesus’ Ascension to His return in glory. The next 3 Sundays aim us forward…