Our text for this morning from the Gospel of St. Luke is commonly called the Parable of the Sower. This is actually a parable about four different kinds of dirt, or soil. The emphasis is not on the sower at all—although we will have a thing or two to say about him—but the focus is on the different kinds of soil into which the sower’s seed falls. To put it another way, this is not a parable about the preacher, it’s about the hearers….For more, click on the title above.
Tag: Pastor von Hindenburg
God’s Word: Our shield
At every ordination and installation of a pastor within the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod you will hear the following: “Do you believe and confess the canonical books of the Old and New Testaments to be the inspired Word of God and the only infallible rule of faith and practice?” And you will hear them answer in the affirmative….For more, click on the title above.
The Word made manifest
Today is January 18. This congregation and most of the Christian world celebrated the Epiphany of our Lord officially on January 6. But the Epiphany is not just a one-day event; it has a season of its own.
Sunday of last week we remembered the Baptism of Jesus. That’s the first bookend of the Epiphany season. Next Sunday, the 25th, we will celebrate the Transfiguration of our Lord, which is the closing bookend of the Epiphany season.
What does that mean? For more, click on the title above.
Where can we find Jesus?
In our Gospel text Jesus is 12 years old. Why would this, the only time we hear Jesus speak prior to his Baptism, why would this story be included in the season of Epiphany?
Jesus is in the holy city of Jerusalem for a particular reason–to celebrate the Passover. He did this because he was an obedient Jewish boy. He and his parents had traveled with a group from Nazareth to Jerusalem to the Temple, a distance of about 110 miles which would take several days. They had come to offer sacrifices because that was what was commanded of them according to the Law of Moses. …For more, click on the title above.
Who is this babe born in a manger
There hasn’t been, and won’t be, a word heard tonight, in song or text or sermon, that these walls haven’t heard hundreds of times before. No matter how old we are, most of us have sat here or someplace quite like this, on Christmas Eve, and heard these words, these songs, these texts before. …For more, click on the title above.
The Nunc Dimittis–Song of Simeon
I was brought up in the Church. It’s an advantage, I believe, because things that others, non-believers or new believers, don’t have. I was indoctrinated. Thank you dad and mom, and Pastors Ryding and Rittmann and Lorenz. I was indoctrinated by solid teaching and by living a life that was focused around Church.
And when I say focused around the Church, I don’t mean the potlucks, the Vacation Bible School, the camping trips, the youth groups and all of the “stuff” that goes with Church, I mean worship and confirmation classes and living with parents that taught and reminded us—my brother and me—about the importance of prayer….For more, click on the title above.
God’s gifts; our joy in responding
If you have spent any time reading the Holy Scriptures you’ll find that not every person is presented as a “hero of the Bible.”
In fact, most of those that we may aspire to follow—men like Moses, King David or St. Paul or even back to the Father of the nation of Israel, Abraham—we find that along with their admirable traits, they all had their faults. Sometimes they are positive examples. They hold to their faith despite great challenges. Sometimes, the examples are negative, and we are cautioned not to follow these examples and their descent into sin. …For more, click on the title above.
New heavens and new earth–What does this mean?
Our initial question for this morning is: What does it mean to create a new heaven and a new earth? Is the prophet speaking about the Kingdom of Grace in which we Christians now live, or, is this new heaven and earth the one Promised at the End of the Age?…For more, click on the title above.
Life to eternity
Forty years ago, on this date, November 22,1985, at about this same hour, I heard the sound of a phone ringing. I wasn’t a pastor at that time in my life. I was a salesman, making a presentation in a house in Silver City, New Mexico. This was before cell phones, so it wasn’t my phone, it was that of the homeowner. I was a little mad because it had interrupted the flow of my sales pitch….For more, click on the title above.
The call of Moses
I can just about guarantee each and every one of you gathered here this morning or listening to this sermon in some far-off place that one day you’ll find yourself wondering, “Who am I?” and “Why am I here?” Several thousand years ago, Moses was having one of those days. There he was, minding his own business, tending his father-in-law Jethro’s sheep, when God decides to call him to action. …For more, click on the title above.