The Sower and the seed

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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.

God’s Word: Our shield

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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.

New heavens and new earth–What does this mean?

New Jerusalem by Jacqui Parkinson

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.