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Sermon: Beware the Cunning of the World (Part Two) Series: The Promised Rest Sermon Text: Joshua 9:14; Eph. 2:1-10

This session deals primarily with the benefits of Church Membership and the ordinary means of grace.

Sermon: Living to the Glory of God Sermon Text: Rom. 12:1-2; Selected

This forgiveness Jesus speaks of, the forgiveness he gives us the authority to speak or withhold, is a real thing, a tangible thing, as real as the wounds of Christ, the dead body of Christ, and the resurrected, living body of Christ. Jesus illustrated this to Thomas. Thomas rejected Jesus’ resurrection.…

In his old age, the apostle John reflects back upon the first Easter. He remembers hearing Mary Magdalene say, “They have taken the Lord away!” He remembers the confusion of looking into an empty tomb and seeing with his own eyes the burial clothes neatly wrapped up and placed where once a cold, dead…

The Scriptures do not leave us in doubt, nor do they leave it to our imagination, to figure out what it is to remain in Christ, what that looks like. It looks like love for each other, sacrificial love that lays down its life for others, calling each other friends, not servants, people who know Christ…

Crowds came to see and hear John. And not just to see and hear him, but to buy what he was selling. Droves run out into the desert from all over the region and let John baptize them while they confessed their sins, like the masses at a revival, or a Billy Graham crusade, or a Sunday morning. Then what?…

“Oops, I did it again.” “I slipped up.” “I screwed up.” “I relapsed.” Here you have a few of the ways in which we acknowledge sinning. They tend to minimize sin. They make sin a slight fault, an error in judgment, a mistake. Not good, but, you know, not the end of the world or anything. The Bible doesn’t…

It’s possible for Jesus to be among us and unknown. John the Baptist says, “But among you stands one you do not know.” The words of John on Christmas Day remind us of this: “He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him.” Even John the Baptist says, twice…

Jeremiah struggled with God’s Word today. You wouldn’t know it by the words before you. As the verse of the day, you heard half of Jeremiah 15:16, “Your words became a joy to me, and the delight of my heart.” Hear the whole verse and you still might miss it it: “When your words came, I ate them; they…

What a weekend: a new family; a new Lutheran; a new teacher. In Baptism, God pours His love upon Bria McCue. He covers her in Christ’s blood. He forgives her sins and makes her His child. In confirmation, Ben Josten confesses the faith the Spirit works and then joins us for the first time in receiving…

Look at what God’s Word and Baptism does. Peter preaches to a crowd of faithful Jews about Jesus. He talks about Jesus’ miracle ministry, his death on the cross, and his resurrection from the dead. He points the finger: “You crucified Jesus. And, as it turns out, this man that you murdered, God appointed…

People always want to talk about stewardship. People never want to talk about stewardship. A Pharisee named Simon didn’t realize he was going to get a stewardship talk when he invited Jesus for supper. While eating, a notorious woman from town crashed the party. Not to nosh on Simon’s buffet, but to…

This morning we baptize Jameson Josten. As part of the rite, I read the words of Jesus from Mark, where Jesus begs us to bring little children to Him because the kingdom of heaven belongs to little children by faith. Then I remind Ben and Jeanne, and all of you of God’s promises about Baptism: “By the…

To all appearances, Baptism looks pretty shabby. A little bit of water poured or sprinkled upon a baby’s head and this, in the poetry of Jaroslav Vajda’s hymn, means that the child of nature we brought to the font “home we take a newborn creature”? This past weekend I got to thinking, as I poured this…

God says so many things, yet look around. He says He’s with us always. Where? When did He last prove it? He says He works out all things for the good of those who love Him? Where? When? From infancy on we sing, “He’s got the whole world in His hands,” yet a world ready to spiral into another Middle Eastern…

Pastor Johnold J. Strey Gloria Dei Lutheran Church; Belmont, CA Sermon on Acts 1:1-11 (focus on vv. 6-8) Seventh Sunday of Easter Ascension Sunday; School Graduation Service Sunday, June 5, 2011 ASCENSION LESSONS FOR GRADUATION DAY How quickly we forget the lessons Jesus taught us How glorious is the…

Pastor Johnold J. Strey St. Mark’s Lutheran Church; Citrus Heights, CA Sermon on Isaiah 55:10-11 Ninth Sunday after Pentecost (readings from Pentecost 8, Year A) August 14 & 15, 2011 CHURCH GROWTH—GOD’S WAY God’s Word is the tool for growth God’s Word has the power for growth Introduction Have you heard…

Pastor Johnold J. Strey Gloria Dei Lutheran Church; Belmont, CA Sermon on Acts 2:1-21 Pentecost Day; Farewell Sermon Sunday, June 12, 2011 WHAT DOES THIS MEAN? God works through his Word God has kept his Word NOTE: In addition to being a sermon for Pentecost Day, this sermon was Pastor Johnold Strey's…

Speak Up 2 Kings 5:1-19 Purpose: To see that all good things come from God, but that God uses means. To see that ordinary, even insignificant people doing God's will in small ways can accomplish more than kings and generals. To be encouraged because God's grace is given undeservedly. To be encouraged…

Twenty Second Sunday in Pentecost, October 12, 2008 Pastor Brian Henderson-Trinity Lutheran Church. San Diego, CA INTRODUCTION: Our Gospel lesson this morning is another parable that comes to us in a string of parables Jesus used to teach about the kingdom of heaven. In each story, his audience was forced…

Text: 1 Samuel 3:1-10 Title: Spiritual Language Thesis: Faith is believing what God is saying is true and responding to what God is calling us to do. Time: Epiphany, 2 Sun, B In High School I had a good friend named Henry. Interesting thing about Henry’s family, both of his parents were completely deaf.…

Reading: 1Corinthians 11:17-34 For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes. 1 Corinthians 11:26 (NIV) I. Receiving Grace A. Amazing Grace in the Ordinary 1. The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread. . . a. Ordinary, everyday bread.…