“Oh Yeah, Jesus Died” A Summary of Reformation Teaching

The Reformation, What’s That? What is the Reformation about? We know that 494 years and one day ago, All Saint’s Eve of 1517, a monk and professor of theology walked down the street of Wittenberg, Germany and nailed a list of grievances to the door of the castle church. We know that that was a [...]

Joel Osteen versus Martin Luther

Osteen I’m reading Joel Osteen’s newest book Every Day a Friday. I’ve seen Joel’s TV sermons here and there, but I’d never sat down to read what he says until now. Here’s a sample: “My purpose in writing this book is to help you arrange your mind so that you choose happiness each and every [...]

Christ dwells only among sinners.

Every page of the New Testament is indeed testimony of the Christ whose proper office it is “to save sinners” (1 Timothy 1:15), “to seek and save the lost” (Luke 19:10. And the entire saving work of Jesus-from the days when he was in Galilee and, to the amazement and alarm of the Pharisees, ate [...]

Hey, don’t forget the bamboo.

Stewardship Letter, 2011

Dear Saints, The Holy Spirit teaches us to love the Gospel, to treasure the Lord’s gift of forgiveness. This is why it is a joy for the Lord’s Christians to support the work of the church. We know that Jesus established His church on the earth to deliver the forgiveness of sins (Matthew 16:17-19, John [...]

What the Pope Says About Himself

Furthermore, we declare, we proclaim, we define that it is absolutely necessary for salvation that every human creature be subject to the Roman Pontiff. Unam Sanctam, 1302 That’s what the Pope said about himself in 1302. Here’s what he says in 1962: In this Church of Christ the Roman pontiff, as the successor of Peter, to [...]

Forgiven First

Matthew 9:1-8 | ‘Forgiven’ | The 19th Sunday after Trinity Sunday | 9 October 2011 Your Biggest Problem What is the most troubling thing in your life right now, at this very moment? What do you think about when you wake up in the middle of the night? What is your biggest problem? You can make [...]

Luther on Memorizing the Scriptures

In the Large Catechism, Martin Luther expounds the Third Commandment (“Remember the Sabbath Day by keeping it holy”) by extolling the treasure of the Lord’s Word. One of the way the Lord’s Christians honor the Word is by memorizing it. Here’s what Luther says about that: Know, therefore, that you must be concerned not only [...]

What to Look for in a Church

It happens that sometimes in this life we find ourselves looking for a church. What, exactly, are we looking for? What do we base our search upon? To begin, let’s make a distinction between what is nice and what is necessary. There are a lot of nice things to find at a church: an active [...]

No Room for the Devil (St Michael and All Angel’s Day Sermon)

INJ Revelation 12:(1-6) 7-12 ‘No Room for the Devil’ Divine Service The Feast of St Michael and All Angels | 2 October 2011 Dear Saints, September 29th is set aside in the church to remember St Michael and all angels. This is good for us. There is an unseen reality surrounding us, in this room, [...]