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Atlantis ‹the domain of the Stingray›
By the time we get old enough not to care what anybody says about us, nobody says anything.
‹anonymous›
Atlantis: the domain of the Stingray
25Dec
2011
Sun
15:13
author: Stingray
category: Sermons
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Nativity of Our Lord

John 1:1-18

In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.”

Sing lullaby! Lullaby baby, now reclining, sing lullaby!
Hush, do not wake the infant King.
Angels are watching, stars are shining
Over the place where He is lying:
Sing lullaby!
24Dec
2011
Sat
23:57
author: Stingray
category: Sermons
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Eve of the Nativity of Our Lord

Luke 2:1-20

In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Love caused Thy incarnation, love brought Thee down to me; / Thy thirst for my salvation procured my liberty. / O love beyond all telling, that led Thee to embrace / In love all love excelling our lost and fallen race.
O LORD, HOW SHALL I MEET THEE
21Dec
2011
Wed
23:25
author: Stingray
category: Sermons
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Mid-week Advent IV

Luke 1:57-80

In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

What’s in a name? It’s an interesting question, isn’t it?

14Dec
2011
Wed
23:29
author: Stingray
category: Sermons
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Mid-week Advent III

Luke 1:39-56

In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

We have, this evening, a text which on the outset seems insignificant, Mary travels to visit Elizabeth, greets her, and the baby in Elizabeth’s womb moves at Mary’s greeting—seemingly insignificant...until we get to Mary’s song, the Magnificat.

Last week, we heard of the Annunciation, when Gabriel announced to Mary that she would bear the Savior of the world, and we heard in that text the very conception of the Son of God in the flesh—we heard, right before our ears, Mary becoming the Mother of God. We heard the significance last week: Jesus is Lord and Savior, even from the moment He was conceived.

This week, however, our text immediately follows last weeks. Gabriel leaves Mary, who has just spoken that marvelous sentence of faith, “Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word.” (Luke 1:38) Now, she has packed up, and she makes her way out of Nazareth to a city of Judah. She enters the house of her relative, Elizabeth, whose husband had six months previously been visited by the same angel with similar news: “[Y]our wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John.” (Luke 1:13)

7Dec
2011
Wed
23:09
author: Stingray
category: Sermons
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Mid-week Advent II

Luke 1:26-38

In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

There’s something else we could call The Annunciation, and that would be The Incarnation of Our Lord. It happened right before our ears; did you hear it? Hear it again: “[Gabriel said,] ‘Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women! And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name JESUS.’” Here is Gabriel announcing a very real, physical fact. When he says, “The Lord is with you,” this is not some simple acknowledgment of the omnipresence and omniscience of God. This time, he is telling Mary, “YHWH is right here, right now, with you, and because of this, you will conceive in your womb the Son of God. You will name Him Jesus, for He will save His people from theirs sins.” (cf. Matthew 1:21)

30Nov
2011
Wed
22:51
author: Stingray
category: Sermons
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Mid-week Advent I/St. Andrew

John 1:35-42a

In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
no audio, forgot recorder

“We have found the Messiah.” You might well imagine a little excitement in Andrew’s voice as he tells his brother that they had found the Messiah. And it wasn’t that Andrew was in the process of looking—waiting, perhaps, but not looking; on the contrary, Andrew and Simon happened to be where Jesus was when Jesus was pointed out to Andrew. “The Messiah is here!” “We have found the Messiah.” Same thing.

24Nov
2011
Thu
18:31
author: Stingray
category: Sermons
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National Day of Thanksgiving

Philippians 4:6-7

In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

St. Paul exhorts, “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”

20Nov
2011
Sun
17:10
author: Stingray
category: Sermons
read/add comments: 0
trackbacks: 0

Last Sunday in the Church Year

Matthew 25:31-46

In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Peace be to you and grace from Him / Who freed us from our sins / Who loved us all, and shed His blood / That we might saved be.
Sing holy, holy to our Lord / The Lord almighty God / Who was and is, and is to come/ Sing holy, holy Lord.
E’en So, Lord Jesus, Quickly Come, st. 1, 2 (by Paul Manz)
6Nov
2011
Sun
17:51
author: Stingray
category: Sermons
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All Saints' Day (observed)

Matthew 5:1-12; Revelation 7:2-17

In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore they are before the throne of God, and serve Him day and night in His temple. And He who sits on the throne will dwell among them. They shall neither hunger anymore nor thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any heat; for the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne will shepherd them and lead them to living fountains of waters. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.
30Oct
2011
Sun
17:22
author: Stingray
category: Sermons
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Reformation (observed)

95 Theses; John 8:31-36

In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

“Our Lord and Master Jesus Christ, when He said, ‘Repent,’ willed that the whole life of believers should be repentance.”

With those words, many believe the Reformation of the 16th century began. For that is the first of the Ninety-Five Theses on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences. These theses, far from a confessional document—as we otherwise have contained for us in the Book of Concord—were meant to be the framework of a scholarly debate intended to expose the pious fraud being sold to the ordinary Christians.

18Sep
2011
Sun
16:46
author: Stingray
category: Sermons
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Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost

Matthew 20:1-16

In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

If you have any kind of a sense of fairness, you probably don’t like today’s Gospel lesson.

14Aug
2011
Sun
19:33
author: Stingray
category: Sermons
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Ninth Sunday after Pentecost

Matthew 15:21-28

In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

There is a common thread in the three lessons appointed for today: the Church is not just for the Jews. It’s a theme as old as the Hebrews being a chosen nation, for when that nation was reduced to One—in the Person of Jesus Christ—He was called what the nation was supposed to be: “[A] light to bring revelation to the Gentiles.” (Luke 2:32a) Israel may have been a chosen nation, but the God who chose them was the God of all creation. He is a God who never changes, and just as He now wants all men to be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth, as revealed to St. Paul (cf. 1 Timothy 2:4), so He always wanted it so.

17Jul
2011
Sun
23:29
author: Stingray
category: Sermons
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Fifth Sunday after Pentecost

Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43

In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

“The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field...”

The Sower is at work again. As we heard last week, He casts His seed lavishly everywhere He can, seeking His harvest from everywhere. His seed is good; it is His Word, and it accomplishes the task for which it is cast, in some 100-fold, in others 60-, and in others 30-; in today’s parable, the seed is the sons of the kingdom—the Church.

But, the Sower is not the only one at work. The evil one is always at work, too. He comes along as a bird to snatch away the seed from those who do no understand—who refuse to hear and understand it. The evil one is at work also with the world and our own sinful flesh to stir up doubt and despair that God does not care for us, in order that we might fall away from the Sower and not produce the fruit for which the seed of His Word was cast to us.

10Jul
2011
Sun
17:22
author: Stingray
category: Sermons
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Fourth Sunday after Pentecost

Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23

In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Jesus tells the Parable of the Sower. The Sower casts His seed, and it falls on various types of soil—hard, clay-like soil along a path where the birds eat it, soil that is full of rocks, soil that is full of thorny plants, and soil that is fertile and fully receptive of the seed. In most cases, the seed takes root and begins to grow, but then things happen.

Jesus explain this parable for us:

When anyone hears the word of the kingdom, and does not understand it, then the wicked one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is he who received seed by the wayside. But he who received the seed on stony places, this is he who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; yet he has no root in himself, but endures only for a while. For when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he stumbles. Now he who received seed among the thorns is he who hears the word, and the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful. But he who received seed on the good ground is he who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and produces: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.
19Jun
2011
Sun
23:57
author: Stingray
category: Sermons
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Holy Trinity

Matthew 28:16-20

In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

On this Holy Trinity Sunday, we are confronted once again with this sobering reality: we worship one God in Three Persons—the Father, uncreated, incomprehensible, eternal; the Son, uncreated, incomprehensible, eternal; the Holy Spirit, uncreated, incomprehensible, eternal. Yet, they are not three uncreateds, incomprehensibles, and eternals, but one. This is sobering because, as a brother-in-office once put it, “If we were inventing a god and a religion, we wouldn’t go this way.”

Yet, we go this way because this is how God reveals Himself to us. Thankfully, out of His divine mercy, God only says “go this way.” He doesn’t add the caveat, “and fully understand it, too.” This side of eternity, we will certainly never fully understand it. We may try to explain it using analogies, such as triangles and shamrocks, but even these do not allow for full comprehension. No, He simply says, “I AM, believe it,” then gives us the faith to believe it, so we, by faith, say, “Amen. Yes, yes, it is so.”

12Jun
2011
Sun
23:17
author: Stingray
category: Sermons
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Pentecost

John 7:37-39, Acts 2:1-21

In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

The catholic faith is this, that we worship one God in Trinity and Trinity in Unity, neither confounding the Persons nor dividing the Substance. For there is one Person of the Father, another of the Son, and another of the Holy Ghost. But the Godhead of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost is all one: the glory equal, the majesty coeternal.

If you’ll pardon my jumping ahead a week, this is what we’ll confess next week, speaking in no uncertain terms on Holy Trinity Sunday that we believe in one God in three Persons, distinct yet the same God. I bring up this portion of the Athanasian Creed because today is a day set aside to acknowledge the work of one of the Persons in particular—the Holy Ghost—and when speaking of the work of the Holy Ghost, one cannot escape speaking of the work of God in three Persons; one, because He is one God always at work in all three Persons whether we recognize or acknowledge it or not; and two, because the work of the Holy Ghost is almost always behind the scenes, and drawing attention away from Himself.

5Jun
2011
Sun
20:15
author: Stingray
category: Sermons
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Seventh Sunday of Easter

John 17:1-11

In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Jesus is praying. He is soon to be captured to be crucified, and He prays. “Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son, that Your Son also may glorify You, as You have given Him authority over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many as You have given Him. And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.” He prays for a glory unlike any other.

It’s nothing new, the world’s idea of glory. Those who are highly esteemed are said to have the glory of men. We pin medals and ribbons on them. We award them gold, silver, and bronze medallions. We present them with trophies. We pay $10 a person to spend an hour and a half to watch them on a 30-foot high screen. We pay upwards of hundreds of dollars to sit with thousands of others to watch them play a game. Fame, fortune, and beauty (and maybe valor) are the defining characteristics of glory to the world.

But Jesus is praying for a glory unlike the world understands. “And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself,” He once said. (John 12:32) Glory does draw people.

22May
2011
Sun
19:50
author: Stingray
category: Sermons
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Fifth Sunday of Easter

John 14:1-14

In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Christians are elitists. They claim that only those who believe in Jesus Christ and trust in Him for salvation will get to heaven. A God who is loving wouldn’t deny entry into heaven for anyone, especially if they were good people. Furthermore, we are all generally good people.

Now, I don’t mean to espouse this ideal and philosophy, especially on this day after the predicted rapture (which doctrine, by the way, is not supported by Scripture). However, these statements are indicative of the religion of man; symptoms of the disease which has plagued mankind since Eve first took a bite of fruit from the forbidden tree.

8May
2011
Sun
19:28
author: Stingray
category: Sermons
read/add comments: 0
trackbacks: 0

Third Sunday of Easter

Luke 24:13-35

In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

That we may obtain this faith [by which is received justification], the Ministry of Teaching the Gospel and administering the Sacraments was instituted. For through the Word and Sacraments, as through instruments, the Holy Ghost is given, who works faith; where and when it pleases God, in them that hear the Gospel, to wit, that God, not for our own merits, but for Christ’s sake, justifies those who believe that they are received into grace for Christ’s sake. (AC V, Triglotta)

Also [our churches] teach that one holy Church is to continue forever. The Church is the congregation of saints, in which the Gospel is rightly taught and the Sacraments are rightly administered. (AC VII, Triglotta)

Although the Church properly is the congregation of saints and true believers, nevertheless, since in this life many hypocrites and evil persons are mingled therewith, it is lawful to use Sacraments administered by evil men, according to the saying of Christ: The Scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat, etc. Matt. 23, 2. Both the Sacraments and Word are effectual by reason of the institution and commandment of Christ, notwithstanding they be administered by evil men. (AC VIII, Triglotta)

1May
2011
Sun
20:52
author: Stingray
category: Sermons
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Quasi modo geniti

John 20:19-31

In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Then, the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst, and said to them, “Peace be with you.”

We often like to look back at the disciples and wonder how they could be so foolish. As they walked with the Lord, they hardly ever understood Him, even when He explained Himself. In fact, if you were here for the Matins service you would have heard that “as yet they did not know the Scripture, that He must rise again from the dead,” (John 20:9) as Peter and John entered the empty tomb.

24Apr
2011
Sun
22:39
author: Stingray
category: Sermons
read/add comments: 1
trackbacks: 0

Resurrection of Our Lord

Matthew 28:1-10

In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

We have been through Holy Week and have witnessed again with our own ears our Lord’s Passion. He rode into Jerusalem as a king, to His coronation of thorns and to take His place on the throne that is His cross, upon which He died. He rode in knowing full well what would happen to Him.

17Apr
2011
Sun
17:18
author: Stingray
category: Sermons
read/add comments: 0
trackbacks: 0

Palmarum

John 12:1-43

In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Jesus, His mother, and His disciples had been invited to a wedding. It was a great party, so much so that before it ended, the reception had run out of wine. Mary approaches Jesus. She knows who He is and what He is capable of. "They have no wine." Jesus said to her, "Woman, what does your concern have to do with Me? My hour has not yet come." (John 2:3b-4)

Later, Jesus was teaching a large crowd, and the day was fading. They were getting hungry and there was no food, nor time to get food. However, there was a boy present who had a few fish and loaves of bread. From this, Jesus feeds the crowd. From there, Jesus walks around Galilee; He did not want to walk in Judea, though, because the Jews wanted to kill Him. It was about the time of the Feast of Booths, so His brothers in Galilee, who did not yet believe in Him, told Him to go to Judea for the Feast: "Depart from here and go into Judea, that Your disciples also may see the works that You are doing. For no one does anything in secret while he himself seeks to be known openly. If You do these things, show Yourself to the world." But Jesus told them, "My time has not yet come..." (John 7:3-4, 6)

Though He stayed in Galilee for a little while, once His brothers went, He also went to festival, but secretly. The Jews were looking for Him in the crowd, but they could not find Him. Once the festival was halfway over, Jesus went to the temple and started teaching. His words surprised some and angered others. Some claimed He had a demon in retort to His question, "Why do you seek to kill Me?" After some more teaching, "they sought to take Him; but no one laid a hand on Him, because His hour had not yet come." (cf. John 7:11-30)

Later again, the scribes and Pharisees brought a woman to Jesus who had been caught in adultery. "Now Moses, in the law, commanded us that such should be stoned. But what do You say?" they asked Him. He answers by writing something in the sand, as though He had not heard them. They ask again; Jesus stands up. "He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first." After stooping down again, the crowd begins to disperse, "beginning with the oldest even to the last." Seeing no one left to accuse the woman, Jesus dismissed her: "Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more." After finding the scribes and Pharisees, he teaches them again, further enraging them. Yet, "as He taught in the temple; and no one laid hands on Him, for His hour had not yet come." (cf. John 8:1-20)

13Apr
2011
Wed
23:54
author: Stingray
category: Sermons
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trackbacks: 0

Mid-week Lent V

Romans 8:1-11

In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do. If, then, I do what I will not to do, I agree with the law that it is good. But now, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find. For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice. Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? I thank God—through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin. (Romans 7:15-20, 24-25)
6Apr
2011
Wed
22:22
author: Stingray
category: Sermons
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Mid-week Lent IV

Ephesians 5:8-14

In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Dear fellow blind-seers, "you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light finding out what is acceptable to the Lord. And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them."

3Apr
2011
Sun
23:33
author: Stingray
category: Sermons
read/add comments: 0
trackbacks: 0

Fourth Sunday in Lent

John 9:1-41

In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

I have occasionally wondered if it would have been better to be born blind. That way, you couldn't see to be distracted from anything; you could never have seen and be distracted. Still, I don't want to take for granted that I have been born with the gift of sight. Man was created with the ability to see, and even this was called very good; so far be it from me to denounce what has been given by God as not good.

30Mar
2011
Wed
23:04
author: Stingray
category: Sermons
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Mid-week Lent III

Romans 5:1-8

In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

We...rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.

27Mar
2011
Sun
21:58
author: Stingray
category: Sermons
read/add comments: 0
trackbacks: 0

Third Sunday in Lent

John 4:5-30, 39-42

In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Jesus has finished talking with Nicodemus—one must be born of water and the Spirit in order to see the kingdom. From there, He goes into the land of Judea and baptizes (though really, His disciples do the baptizing)—He makes of sinners righteous co-heirs who will see with Him the kingdom. But His time in Judea is short, and we are told just before today's Gospel lesson starts that, "He left Judea and departed again to Galilee. But He needed to go through Samaria." (John 4:3-4)

23Mar
2011
Wed
23:10
author: Stingray
category: Sermons
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Mid-week Lent II

Romans 4:1-8, 13-17

In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, And whose sins are covered; Blessed is the man to whom the LORD shall not impute sin.

St. Paul quotes from David in Psalm 32. He says that David is describing the "blessedness of the man to whom God imputes righteousness apart from works." Earlier, St. Paul also described God as one who justifies the ungodly, stating, "Now to him who works, the wages are not counted as grace but as debt. But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness..."

20Feb
2011
Sun
16:53
author: Stingray
category: Sermons
read/add comments: 0
trackbacks: 0

Seventh Sunday after the Epiphany of Our Lord

Matthew 5:38-48

In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

"Blessed are you...because of me," we heard Jesus proclaim. "I did not come to destroy [the Law and the prophets,] but to fulfill [them]," we heard Jesus proclaim. "For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven," we heard Jesus proclaim. And, we heard Him tell how the Law puts it with regard to murder, adultery, divorce, and oaths.

Now, four weeks after starting it, we come to the end of St. Matthew's fifth chapter, yet not the end of the Christ's Sermon on the Mount. We'll save that for two chapters down the line.

13Feb
2011
Sun
23:14
author: Stingray
category: Sermons
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Sixth Sunday after the Epiphany of Our Lord

Matthew 5:21-37

In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

The mind of Old Adam (your own minds) hears the Law of God, and to him it is simple. It's simple because that's the way we want to hear it, to make it manageable, as you have heard me describe Old Adam's twisting of God's Word in the past. He likes to make God's Law manageable in order to know just how much you have to do—to know just how much you can get away with.

12Feb
2011
Sat
22:48
author: Stingray
category: Sermons
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A Funeral Homily

John 14:1-7; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18

In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Friends and family of Oral, the Lord and Savior of all says through the pen of St. Paul, "we do not want you...to grieve like the rest of men who have no hope." This is the grace and mercy of God in action for those who are in Christ who mourn the loss of a loved one.

30Jan
2011
Sun
17:19
author: Stingray
category: Sermons
read/add comments: 1
trackbacks: 0

Fourth Sunday after the Epiphany of Our Lord

Matthew 5:1-12

In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

When discussing the Preaching Office, in all its ministerial capacity, not simply preaching, The Reverend Doctor Normal Nagel likes to ask his students and peers, "How does this text give us Jesus?" So, as we look at today's Gospel lesson, let us ask that question as well. How do these words give us Jesus? It is Jesus speaking them, part of His Sermon on the Mount, so how does Jesus give Himself to us in this text?

The simple answer is found right at the end where Jesus proclaims to His listeners, and you can include yourselves in that bunch, "Blessed are you..."

16Jan
2011
Sun
18:31
author: Stingray
category: Sermons
read/add comments: 2
trackbacks: 0

Second Sunday after the Epiphany of Our Lord

John 1:29-42a

In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Jesus has now been revealed as the Son of God. No longer is He living in obscurity. Now, Johnny arrives on the scene, and he acts as every preacher should: "Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!"

He's been doing this for a while. After all, He was called by God to make straight the way to the Son of God; he was set apart from before He was born, much like we heard from Isaiah this morning. But now, now that Jesus has been Baptized, now John can point to the Son of God and make the proclamation. Now, John can decrease that the Son of God may increase. "Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!"

9Jan
2011
Sun
22:03
author: Stingray
category: Sermons
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Baptism of Our Lord

Matthew 3:13-17

In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

For 30 years the Son of God has lived in relative obscurity. There is so little written of Him before the age of thirty. His birth, His circumcision, Simeon and Anna, then 12 years later amazing the Torah teachers—that's it. There's nothing more about Jesus, ages 0 to 30.

6Jan
2011
Thu
20:00
author: Stingray
category: Sermons
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Epiphany of Our Lord

Matthew 2:1-12

In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Yesterday was the twelfth and final day of Christmas—the twelve drummers drumming and all of that. It was the end of the season of Christmas, which means today begins the new season, and it begins with the Feast of the Epiphany of our Lord.

2Jan
2011
Sun
13:32
author: Stingray
category: Sermons
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Second Sunday After Christmas

Luke 2:40-52

In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Every year they made this trek—Nazareth to Jerusalem. There was business to conduct at the temple. It was time to be in the presence of God. It was time to make a sacrifice.

This time, Jesus got to go. He was now 12 years old. We are entering a transitional period in the life of the enfleshed God. Jesus was no longer a boy, He was a man, now. As such, it was time for Him to sit at the feet of the teachers for Torah instruction.

1Jan
2011
Sat
13:10
author: Stingray
category: Sermons
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Circumcision and Name of Our Lord

Luke 2:21

In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

And when eight days were completed for the circumcision of the Child, His name was called JESUS, the name given by the angel before He was conceived in the womb.

It has to be the shortest appointed Gospel lesson in any lectionary. One, short verse that picks up where we left off eight days ago. For then it was proclaimed by angels to shepherds as they watched by night,

I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger...Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!" (Luke 2:10-12, 14)

So, while today's lesson may be short, it has a very important lesson: this one born "to you...Savior, who is Christ the Lord" is already at work to save, even at eight days old.