Category: Sermons
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Third Sunday in Lent (John 4:5-26)
Bethlehem Lutheran Church, Lebanon, OR Third Sunday in Lent + March 19, 2017 Text: John 4:5-26 Jesus gives us a good conscience before God by hearing our confession and forgiving our sins. The Samaritan woman was doubly guilty. Samaritans were outcasts of Israel, the prodigals who had set up a rival temple in Samaria. “Our…
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Lent 2 Midweek (Luke 11:14-23)
Bethlehem Lutheran Church, Lebanon, OR Lent 2 Midweek – March 15, 2017 Text: Luke 11:14-23 The Second Petition “Thy Kingdom come” Martin Luther wrote about this petition: “Just as God’s name is holy in itself and yet we pray that it may be holy among us, so also his kingdom comes of itself without…
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Funeral of Helen M. Vorderstrasse (Luke 23:33, 39-43)
Bethlehem Lutheran Church, Lebanon, OR Funeral of Helen M. Vorderstrasse + March 15, 2017 Text: Luke 23:33, 39-43 Someone told me this week, “Helen remembers everything she forgot.” Because she has been granted rest from her labors, free from the effects of sin and death, she remembers all that vascular dementia covered over. But, these…
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Second Sunday in Lent (John 3:1-17)
Bethlehem Lutheran Church, Lebanon, OR Second Sunday in Lent + March 12, 2017 Text: John 3:1-17 “For God so loved the world.,.,” (you know it, finish it!) This passage contains one of the most beloved verses in the Bible, the Gospel in a nutshell. Let’s go deeper, though. Hearing these words of Jesus in context…
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Lent I Midweek (Matthew 6:9)
Bethlehem Lutheran Church, Lebanon, OR Lent I Midweek – March 8, 2017 Text: Matthew 6:9 The First Petition “Hallowed be Thy Name” In the Name of Jesus. Amen. There are countless descriptions of the Name of God in Scripture—Alpha and Omega, Blessed and Only Sovereign, Firstborn of the Dead, Immanuel, King of…
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The Ever-Effective Weapon Against the Devil (Matthew 4:1-11)
Bethlehem Lutheran Church, Lebanon, OR First Sunday in Lent + March 5, 2017 Text: Matthew 4:1-11 Doctors who fight infections are all too aware that having just one weapon isn’t enough. Viruses and bacteria each respond differently to medication. Sometimes a strain comes along that refuses to respond to treatment. Then, newer, stronger, and more…
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Ash Wednesday (Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21)
Bethlehem Lutheran Church, Lebanon, OR Ash Wednesday + March 1, 2017 Text: Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21 The Introduction “Our Father, who art in heaven” In the Name of Jesus. Amen. During this penitential season, we will turn our eyes to something which is integral to our life as Christians: prayer. You heard Jesus’…
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The Transfiguration of Our Lord (2 Peter 1:16-21)
Bethlehem Lutheran Church, Lebanon, OR The Transfiguration of Our Lord + February 26, 2017 Text: 2 Peter 1:16-21 On the Mount of Transfiguration, Peter, James, and John have a great experience. They saw Jesus transfigured before their very eyes, so that “his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as light.” They…
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Balancing the Scales with Grace (Matthew 5:38-48)
Bethlehem Lutheran Church, Lebanon, OR Seventh Sunday after the Epiphany + February 19, 2017 Text: Matthew 5:38-48 It’s the way of justice, the way of accounting, and the way of nature. An eye for an eye, reconcile every transaction, every action has an equal and opposite reaction. That’s fine for crime and punishment, economics, and…
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St. Valentine (Circuit Winkel) (Matthew 5:38-48)
Bethlehem Lutheran Church, Lebanon, OR St. Valentine (Circuit Winkel) + February 14, 2017 Text: Matthew 5:38-48 We know what we’ve heard about Valentine’s Day since we were kids. It’s about love. But as with most things of God which the world gets a hold of, it gets turned into a human parody of the real…