Easter 4_4-29-2012_The Voice Of The One Who Loves You

Why do we confirm?  Not as a ticket to the Lord's Supper, not as a rite of passage, not as a graduation.  We confirm that our youths are beginning to recognize the voice of Christ, the Good Shepherd, as the voice of the one who loves them to death and to eternal life.

Click To Listen

Easter 3_4-22-2012_His Assurance To Us

Christ's physical presence after His resurrection was both the source of doubt and assurance as the disciples reckoned with the fact of His rising again.  In the flesh, Jesus reassured them of His victory and commissioned them to spread the Good News of repentance toward the forgiveness of sins.

Click To Listen

Easter 2_4-15-2012_We Always Have An Advocate

Christ is risen...and our confidence is up.  With Christ's return imminent, this is not the time to let our confidence flag, our courage falter, and doubts to fester.

Click To Listen

Why Do You Seek The Living Among The Dead?--Easter Sunday--4/08/2012

The angels' question has an air of obviousness to it, but the fact of Christ's resurrection was far from obvious to His disciples.  We, too, seek the living in places where only death reigns.  The world's "sin bins" are no better than the grave itself.  Real life is found in God's holy houses, in the presence of a Christ who is risen, where His Word and Sacraments feed, strengthen, and nourish.  Real living happens only here.

Click To Listen

His Blood Be On Us And Our Children--Holy Thursday--4/05/2012

These words of the bloodthirsty mob are richly ironic in that they are both a curse and a blessing.  The curse they called down on themselves was exactly what God the Father had in mind:  His Blood...on you and your children...for the forgiveness of your sins.

Click To Listen

He Remembers--Sunday Of Lent 2--3/4/2012

God remembers us in our sin because our sin means we do not remember our God and His grace.  This sermon was preached at the early service on March 4, 2012.

Audio Link

Lent 1 Midweek Sermon--He Saved Others. He Cannot Save Himself

Can a statement be true and not true at the same time?  The religious leaders insult which is the title for this sermon probably qualifies as both.  Surely, it was within Jesus' powers as the Son of God to save Himself, but then He wouldn't be saving you now, would He?

This sermon is a continuation of the Double Edged Sword series preached for our Lenten series.

Audio Link

Passion Sunday--Father, Forgive Them...

Nobody knew what they were doing on Good Friday, but it was also true of the crowds on Palm Sunday and the disciples in the Upper Room on Thursday evening.  Christ's passion is a passion for people who "do not know what they are doing."  Only He knows what He is doing.  He is saving the world from its own sin.

This sermon continues the Lenten Series, "The Double-Edged Sword."


Audio Link