What an honor, what a privilege, what joy to be here today as my dear friend, Rev. James N.S. Kollie is installed as Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Liberia!
When I was asked if I would preach for this installation service, there was no hesitation. How could I say no to such an opportunity? Immediately, I asked Pastor Kollie if they had decided on a theme text for the installation. He told me “No…we’re going to let you pick it.” …For more, click on the title above.
Tag: Pastor von Hindenburg
We believe, teach and confess
We will begin this morning with some sure and certain premises:
1) Faith alone makes us Christians.
2) Confession alone marks us as Christians.
3) Only God can judge the heart, and
a. Only God can see what we really and truly believe.
Nobody but God can see our faith, but the whole world can hear our confession of the faith. Christians confess their faith. Let’s face it, the only real reason someone won’t confess his faith is because he has no faith to confess. …For more, click on the title above.
The Good Bloody Shepherd
If you haven’t figured it out yet from the name of this particular Sunday, Misericordias Domini, which translates to “the mercies of the Lord,” or from our Hymn of the Day, “The King of Love my Shepherd Is,” or the Hymn which will follow the Offertory, which we have noted as Good Shepherd Hymn, “The Lord’s My Shepherd, I’ll Not Want,” or from the Psalm appointed for this day, which is Psalm 23, or from the bulletin cover.….well, today is officially “Good Shepherd Sunday.” Our focus therefore will be on sheep and shepherds….For more, click on the title above
The Way
Today we have a Feast day to celebrate St. Philip and St. James – but what do we really know about these two called disciples of Jesus.
for the full Sermon click on the above title
The Doubt of Thomas
Dear brothers and sisters of our risen Lord Jesus Christ this morning’s question may seem quite
simple, but it is oh, so important. Ready?
What makes us Christians different than everyone else?
Click on the above title for the full Sermon
I know that my Redeemer lives
The message of Good Friday is that Jesus, the Incarnate Son of God died for the sins of the world. All transgressions have been paid for by Jesus, the Lamb of God Who takes away the sin of the world. The message of Easter is of Life in the Resurrection of the crucified Son of the Living God.
This has been the hope that God’s people have always had, believed and confessed. …For more, click on the title above.
The blood of the Lamb
Thousands upon thousands of lambs—buckets upon buckets of blood—this is the history of the Passover. Long ago, in the land of Egypt, in a land of exile, in a land of slavery, the Israelites suffered under the iron fist of Pharaoh.
This line of pharaohs had forgotten the saving work of Joseph and how he had delivered Egypt from the devastating famine. They had enslaved the Hebrew people to do the pharaohs’ manual labor—to build their cities and erect their monuments. …For more, click on the title above.
Why Easter? To proclaim Christ crucified to forgive sin
We have heard three readings from Holy Scripture today, our Old Testament reading from Isaiah, the 2nd reading from the Book of Revelation, and the Passion reading from St. Luke. As we gather this day, it is appropriate that we focus on three points:
1. The betrayal of Jesus by his friend, Judas,
2. The vengeance that is yet to come upon the enemies of our Lord, and
3. To continue in our Lenten theme, “Why Easter?”
For more, click on the title above.
‘My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?’
That brings us to our theme verse for this evening’s meditation on “Why Easter?” “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
What a mournful, pitiable, anguished cry! Forsaken by God. I looked up the definition of the word forsaken: To forsake another person is to leave them entirely, usually in a moment of need. Another definition for this transliteration of the Aramaic into Greek is abandonment—to leave, or renounce someone. …For more, click on the title above.
Why Easter?
Our Theme for Lent is “Why Easter?”(Pretty clever, huh?) A small difference is that we will be giving the answer to that question delivered from our Savior himself in what is known as the Seven Words from the Cross. Here, in brief, are what might be termed, Previews of Coming Attractions:
The Seven Words are:
• “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.”
• “Today, you will be with me in paradise.”
• “Woman, behold, thy son! Behold, thy mother!”
• “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
• “I thirst.”
• “It is finished” and
• “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.”
For more, click on the title above.