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“Best Picture: The Transfiguration of Our Lord” (Matthew 17:1-9) Tonight will be the Academy Awards ceremony coming from Los Angeles. Tonight they’ll give out the award for, among other things, Best Picture of the year. I don’t know which one will win, but I want to tell you, this morning here in the church, we get to see a far better “Best Picture,” and it is none other than “The Transfiguration of Our Lord.” The picture we see at the Transfiguration had its share of special effects--lighting, sound, and so on. And there were a couple of guest stars making...

“Be Who You Are, Children of Your Heavenly Father” (Matthew 5:38-48) The Holy Gospel for today can be a hard one to understand, much less a hard one to actually do. In it Jesus says things like “Turn the other cheek,” “Give somebody the shirt off your back,” and “Go the extra mile.” Oh, Jesus, really? Those things sound hard! Maybe you don’t really mean that. Is there a way we can explain those things away? But then Jesus goes further. He not only says we should love our neighbor--that can be hard enough--he even says we are to love...

“Salt of the Earth, Light of the World” (Matthew 5:13-16)Our text today is a portion of the Holy Gospel, reading again from verses 13-16 of Matthew 5: “You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet. You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light...

“Your Blest Life Now” (Matthew 5:1-12) You’ve probably heard of a TV preacher by the name of Joel Osteen. He’s got a huge megachurch down in Houston, and he’s got a massive audience on television. He’s also written a number of best-selling books, the most famous of which is called “Your Best Life Now: 7 Steps to Living at Your Full Potential.” What Mr. Osteen does that has made him so successful is to dish out some warmed-over self-help pabulum, and people are lapping it up. He says things like this: “Your best days are not behind you, they’re still...

“You Are My Servant, Israel” (Isaiah 49:1-7) Two weeks ago, for the Baptism of Our Lord, the Old Testament reading was from Isaiah 42, the first of four so-called “Servant Songs” in the second half of Isaiah. “Behold my servant,” Isaiah 42 begins, “my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights; I have put my Spirit upon him; he will bring forth justice to the nations.” And we certainly see Jesus as the fulfillment of that prophecy in his baptism, as he sets out to do the will of his Father, fulfilling all righteousness. The Father...

[Note: The Divine Service at St. Matthew Lutheran Church in Bonne Terre, Missouri, for January 15, 2017, has been iced out. So I am posting the sermon for the equivalent Sunday, the Second Sunday after the Epiphany, Series A, from January 20, 2008. CH]“Three Evangelism Pointers: Point, Invite, and Find” (John 1:29-42a) The Epiphany season traditionally is a time for emphasizing the church’s work of evangelism and missions. Why is that? Well, think of the event celebrated on the Epiphany festival: Wise men from the east, being led by a star to find the Christ child--in other words, the spread...

“Behold My Servant” (Isaiah 42:1-9)“Behold my servant,” the Lord says to us today. Who is this servant, you ask? It’s Jesus, of course. The Christ, the Anointed One, baptized as the Lord’s servant, to do the will of the one who sent him. Jesus, the Christ, anointed with the Holy Spirit at his baptism. And Isaiah is here to tell us about him. Through the prophet Isaiah now, the Lord invites us to look upon Christ, saying, “Behold My Servant.” “Behold my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights; I have put my Spirit upon him;...

“Arise, Shine, for Your Light Has Come” (Isaiah 60:1-6) “Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD has risen upon you.” “Arise and shine”? Are you kidding me? On a Friday night? In January? On a dark and cold night, with snow on the ground? “Arise and shine”? Heck, it was hard enough to arrive on time, much less “arise and shine”! “Arise and shine.” After the week I’ve had? Yeah, Pastor, why are you dragging us out here on a Friday night in January anyway? I don’t know of many other churches that are...

“On the Eighth Day of Christmas: The Circumcision and Name of Jesus” (Luke 2:21) On the eighth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me . . . the circumcision and name of Jesus? Huh? What? Yeah, well, that’s what happened on this day. On the eighth day of Christmas, God’s true love gave to me--and to you, to us--the circumcision and name of Jesus. That’s what our text says, the Holy Gospel for this day, Luke 2:21, which reads again as follows, “And at the end of eight days, when he was circumcised, he was called Jesus, the...

“And the Government Shall Be upon His Shoulder” (Isaiah 9:2-7) About 26 days from now, we’re going to have a change in our government. A new president will take the oath of office, and a new administration will take over. For some people this will be a welcome change; for others, it will mean weeping and gnashing of teeth. But in any case, there will be a new president, and the weight of the White House will rest upon his shoulders. Well, I’m here to tell you today, the most important change in administrations has already taken place, and it...

“Isaiah Foretold It, Jesus Fulfilled It” (Isaiah 7:10-17)In the hymn we just sang, “Lo, How a Rose E’er Blooming,” there’s this line, “Isaiah ’twas foretold it.” And yes, it was Isaiah who did foretell it. But what was it that Isaiah foretold? Isaiah prophesied the birth of Jesus Christ. The gospel writer Matthew tells us as much, that this is the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy. He writes: “All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: ‘Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel’ (which means, God...

“Isaiah’s Immanuel Prophecy” (Isaiah 7:10-17)Oh, come, oh, come, Emmanuel, And ransom captive Israel, That mourns in lonely exile here Until the Son of God appear. Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel Shall come to thee, O Israel! There’s that word “Emmanuel.” And we sing that hymn every Advent. But what’s it mean? Who is this “Emmanuel”? Why are we praying to Emmanuel to “come and ransom captive Israel”? And this “mourning in lonely exile” business--what’s that all about? Today we’ll find out, and we’ll find out how it applies to us, as we listen to “Isaiah’s Immanuel Prophecy.” The year is 735 B.C....

“He Comes, We Come” (Isaiah 35:1-10) “You go, we go.” That’s what the Chicago Cubs told their centerfielder and leadoff man Dexter Fowler the last couple of years. “You go, we go.” In other words, “As you go, Dexter, so we will go. You are the guy who makes this team go. When you get on base and play well, our team will do well.” And that is what happened. Fowler played very well, and the Cubs won the World Series. “You go, we go.” And now that Dexter Fowler has signed with St. Louis, the Cardinals are hoping for...

“Be Patient until the Coming of the Lord” (James 5:7-11) Advent is a season of waiting. We’re waiting for Christmas. This is a time of penitential preparation awaiting that festive celebration. The season of Advent always begins on the Sunday closest to November 30, which can be as early as November 27, and that’s what it was this year. So this year we’re having the longest possible Advent, a full total of 28 days. But we get kind of antsy about waiting and letting Advent be Advent: “We gotta get the Christmas tree up!” “We gotta have the Christmas party...

“The Shoot and the Root of Jesse” (Isaiah 11:1-10) Today we continue our series on “Isaiah’s Advent Prophecies.” Today’s prophecy comes from Isaiah 11, and it begins, “There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit.” And then our text closes, “In that day the root of Jesse, who shall stand as a signal for the peoples--of him shall the nations inquire, and his resting place shall be glorious.” Notice that this one who is coming is first called “a shoot from the stump of Jesse,” and then he...

“Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven Is at Hand” (Matthew 3:1-12) “Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven Is at Hand”: That was the message of John the Baptist as he came preaching in the wilderness. “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand”: That is the message of John the Baptist as he comes preaching in our midst today. Let’s listen and take heed to what he is saying. “Repent”: That’s the big word that comes through in our text today. What does this call to repentance mean for us and for our lives? What shape will it take?...

“The Mountain of the House of the Lord” (Isaiah 2:1-5) Today we’re beginning a series of sermons I’m calling “Isaiah’s Advent Prophecies.” We’re taking the Old Testament readings for this season of Advent, all taken from the prophet Isaiah, and making them the basis for these messages. Today it’s the reading from Isaiah 2, as we will hear. In the movie “Field of Dreams,” the main character is told, “If you build it, he will come.” What is it that he is to build? And who is it that will come? That’s what the movie is about. It turns out...

“‘Hosanna!’ Our Advent Prayer and Praise” (Matthew 21:1-11)Today is the First Sunday in Advent, the season leading up to Christmas. But you’ll notice that the Holy Gospel for this day is actually a reading about Palm Sunday. What gives? Why do we get a Palm Sunday reading here at the beginning of Advent? Well, if you think about it, there is a good reason for this selection. Think about what those crowds were doing on Palm Sunday. They were welcoming Jesus as their coming king. “Behold, your king is coming to you,” our text says, quoting from the prophet Zechariah....

“Thanking God for His First-Article Gifts” (Apostles’ Creed) Thanksgiving is a time for “Thanking God for His First-Article Gifts.” What do I mean by that? I mean all the good gifts our heavenly Father gives us that are summarized in the First Article of the Apostles’ Creed. Let’s turn there, shall we? Page 322 in your hymnal. We’ll read that article of the Creed itself and then the explanation from the catechism. Together: “The First Article: Creation. I believe in God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth. What does this mean? I believe that God has made me...

“Changing Kingdoms” (Colossians 1:13-20) Perhaps you recall, earlier this year there were a number of celebrities who said they would move out of the country if a certain candidate got elected. They were all going to move to Canada if he got in. They were willing to change their citizenship from one nation to another, because things would be so bad. Well, come November, that candidate did win, and so you would think there would be planeloads of celebrities evacuating the country and heading to Toronto. But somehow that didn’t happen. They’re still here. I guess their promise to leave...