Category: Sermons
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Lent 1 – Midweek Series “Denying Eyes” (Mark 14:26-31; 66-72)
He was so sure that he would succeed where others failed. He could feel the zeal welling up within him. “Even though they all fall away, I will not.” Lord, how could you say that we will all fall away? What an awful thing to happen! “Truly, I tell you, this very night, before the…
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First Sunday in Lent (Matthew 4:1-11)
Jesus’ ministry begins not in a lush garden in the presence of God as it was in the beginning, but in the wilderness of a world that is under the curse of sin and death. His ministry after being baptized in the Jordan and declared to be the Son of God, goes immediately into the…
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Ash Wednesday (Mark 14:1-9)
Passion Reading: Mark 14:1–9 1It was now two days before the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread. And the chief priests and the scribes were seeking how to arrest him by stealth and kill him, 2for they said, “Not during the feast, lest there be an uproar from the people.” 3And while he was…
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The Transfiguration of Our Lord (2 Peter 1:16-21)
“While I was thus in the act of calling upon God, I discovered a light appearing in my room, which continued to increase until the room was lighter than at noonday, when immediately a personage appeared at my bedside, standing in the air, for his feet did not touch the floor. “He had on a…
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Sixth Sunday after the Epiphany (Matthew 5:21-37)
Jesus cuts to the chase. He doesn’t sugar coat His message to lure people in with fluffy words, only to hook them. Right away, He gets to what His work is about by confronting us our failures by the Ten Commandments. But He doesn’t quite follow the order given on Sinai (Exodus 20:1-20)—first our duty…
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Fifth Sunday after the Epiphany (Matthew 5:13-20)
There are two errors that we can fall into with good works: One error is that we can prove to God and others by our actions that we are good. The proof that we are right with God is that we are busy doing the things God apparently wants. This happens in many Christian churches…
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Purification of Mary and Presentation of Our Lord (Luke 2:22-32)
The Gnostics of the first century imported many strange ideas into the Christian Church. Named after their chief aim: knowledge/gnosis, they believed the story of salvation was that the stuff of this world was evil and foreign. Our true selves were meant to dwell in spiritual forms. They taught that Jesus came to impart this…
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Second Sunday after the Epiphany (John 1:29-42a)
Every year in January, the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) is a chance for manufacturers to tout their latest innovations, upgrades in the most attractive way. This year’s convention had everything from a foldable tablet to a spoof toilet paper robot by Charmin. But every year the theme is celebrating the new and leaving the old…
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Baptism of Our Lord (Matthew 3:13-17)
Among the many mysteries of Christmas is that God was born. This was something that many—trying to use their reason—couldn’t wrap their heads around. God fully embraced our human nature in Jesus Christ: “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us and we have seen His glory” (John 1:14). Another is that God revealed this…
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Second Sunday after Christmas (Luke 2:40-52)
Some eighteen years later, Jesus would sit up on a mountain and say: 31 Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. 33 But seek first the…