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Sermo Dei: Holy Thursday 2016
There were three great Patriarchs of the Jews: Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Jacob had a twin brother Esau, and they had parted when Jacob by trickery got their father’s blessing instead of Esau. Esau had...
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Sermo Dei: Good Friday Passion Vespers 2016
When people hurt us—if they say something mean, don’t keep their promise, don’t invite us to their party—when anything unkind happens to us, our natural reaction is to be angry. Even if we don’t react...
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Sermo Dei: The Resurrection of Our Lord 2016
Alleluia! Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia! Alleluia! Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia! Alleluia! Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia! Three years ago, an article...
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Sermo Dei: Misericordias Domini 2016
Alleluia! Christ is risen! Children learn to speak by being spoken to. So it is with the children of God. Ephphatha, the pastor says to the one coming to Baptism. He is repeating the Word of Jesus...
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Sermo Dei: Jubilate 2016
Alleluia! Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia! “A little while,” “A little while,” “A little while,” “A little while,” “A little while,” “A little while,” “A little while.” Seven times our...
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Sermo Dei: Groundbreaking 2016
Immanuel Lutheran School Faculty (Kevin Wolf/Photo) Immanuel Lutheran School Expansion Project Groundbreaking Ceremony April 17, 2016 The sin at the Tower of Babel was not building a tower. It was in...
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Sermo Dei: Ascension 2016
The purpose of the world was for man to receive the love of the Father through His gifts to man and His presence with man. He gave His gifts to us in creation, and in our senses that delight in...
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Sermo Dei: Psalm 119:41-48 (Waw)
June 15, 2016 Evening Prayer, Wednesday of Trinity 3 At the head of the Augsburg Confession, the first great Evangelical statement of faith in the sixteenth century, is this Bible verse: “I will also...
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Sermo Dei: The Marriage of Ross George and Jennifer Berry
Text: Hosea 2:18-23 “I will betroth you to Me,” “I will betroth you to Me,” “I will betroth you to Me.” Three times the Lord says this through the prophet Hosea. It’s reckless and pollyannic, for the...
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Sermo Dei: Fourth Sunday after Trinity and the Ordination of Jonathan Scheck
Joseph’s Coat Brought to Jacob (Giovanni Andrea de Ferrari, c.1640) Text: Genesis 50:15-21 Parents are not supposed to have favorites. But this father did. He loved his boy Joseph above all the others....
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Sermo Dei: Fifth Sunday after Trinity and the Ordination of Noah Rogness
L-R: Christopher Esget, Peter Eckardt, Noah Rogness, Robert Kieselowsky, Gregory Todd June 26, 2016 Luke 5:1-11 I think my first conversation with Pastor-elect Rogness was down on the blacktop at...
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Sermo Dei: Sixth Sunday after Trinity 2016
No two people will agree on everything. Unless a community is controlled by a tyrant, where free thought is forbidden, there will be disagreements. We would like to think it wouldn’t be so among...
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LCMS Convention Sermon: “Saints and Faithful Brothers”
Our Lord Jesus Christ, on the night when He was betrayed, took bread, gave thanks, and gave it to the disciples. And the disciples argued. How quickly we can go from the Lord’s Table to the devil’s...
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Sermo Dei: Trinity 9, 2016
God made man to give him gifts. God made the world out of nothing, and He made it for man. Man is the crown of God’s creation. God gave man everything in the creation. He gave it for Adam’s enjoyment...
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Sermo Dei: Trinity 13, 2016
Olympic gymnast Simone Biles talks about the dedication necessary to compete at the highest level. “I could choose to hit snooze…. I’m at the gym 300 days a year. I could take a day off. But I don’t....
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Sermo Dei: Trinity 15, 2016
Fifteenth Sunday after Trinity September 4, 2016 Matthew 6.24-34 Worship doesn’t only happen in church. Everything is worship, service, attachment. Go to a football stadium, and you will see throngs...
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Sermo Dei: IC Chapel Service
Matthew 6:24-34 LCMS International Center Chapel Matins, September 9, 2016 In the beginning, “What shall we eat?” was a question answered by God: “All these trees are food for you.” “What shall we...
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Sermo Dei: Trinity 17, 2016
Duccio, Healing of the Blind Man Luke 14:1-11 September 18, 2016 Baptism of Adam James Winterstein Adam James. What a wonderful name for a boy. The middle name was an especially brilliant choice. But...
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Sermo Dei: Trinity 20, 2016
The sexual revolution was underway. So was the British Invasion, when bands from the UK changed America forever. The Beatles were on their second U.S. tour, visiting the old Met Stadium in Minnesota,...
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Why does God treat us this way? Why does He wait and wait? Why does He seem so distant? For all the tender depictions of Jesus—welcoming a child, or gently cuddling a lamb—the picture we get from the...
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