What Happens to the Sacrament (the Reliquae) after Distribution?
It is not by accident that there is a great deal of reverence in the Divine Service associated with the celebration of the…
Author: Pastor Eric Andersen
Pastor Andersen serves Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church in Summit, IL and Immanuel Evangelical Lutheran Church in Hodgkins, IL.
He is also the Associate Editor of Brothers of John the Steadfast, Bible Study editor for Around the Word, and teaches at Wittenberg Academy. You can read his sermons here.
In This Together: A Sermon for the Baptism of Our Lord on St. Matthew 3:13-17
So far this liturgical year we’ve prepared for the Lord’s coming, celebrated His Incarnation, witnessed the slaughter of the Holy Innocents, and looked…
Jesus in the Lions’ Den: A Sermon for the Nativity of Our Lord
Our celebration of the Savior’s birth can become so routine that we become numb to the joy—and the horror— of it all. On…
“Inviting Some and Keeping Back Others”: Who is Welcome to the Lord’s Table?
Christ established His Church on earth so that sinners might receive His gifts of Word and Sacrament. Put another way, the Church exists…
Löhe on Koinonia, Novelty, and the “Modern” Pastor
A great deal of practical wisdom for the church today can be found in Wilhelm Löhe’s “Three Books about the Church.” In this…
Meditation: Jerome, Translator of Holy Scripture
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual…
Sacramental Entrepreneurship or Franchise Corruption?
The first Lutherans didn’t use the term “Lutheran” to describe themselves. They identified themselves by the much more apt term “evangelical.” After all, the…
Satan’s Angelic Disguises
If you were to stop and consider the devil’s appearance for a moment, you might imagine something frightening. He very well may show up in…
The Godly Kind of Mercy Killing
There’s a ungodly type of mercy killing that receives a great deal of sympathy, if not support, in our world today. Consider the…
The Problem of Denominational Loyalty
It’s not uncommon these days to hear people lament the loss of denominational loyalty, particularly in congregations which were once thriving but are…
Thrivent: Repent or Take Off the Fleece
Last week a financial representative from Thrivent stopped by my house. The purpose of his visit was 2-fold: to drop off some materials…
Complaint without Restraint- A Sermon for Septuagesima on St. Matthew 20:1-6
Complaining is something we do all too naturally. Consider the children of Israel. When they were in slavery, the Egyptians were ruthless toward them and made their…
Why Church? A Sermon for the Third Sunday after Epiphany on St. Matthew 8:1—13
If you ask people why they come to church, they might say, “It makes me feel good.” There’s nothing quite like gathering together around…
Dumber than a Rock?
It’s easy to think we’re smarter than we actually are. We live in a time when technology has put unprecedented amounts of information…
Free Devotions, Courtesy of Around the Word
Around the Word Journal produces weekly devotions for family and individuals, which are emailed every Wednesday. Signing up is free. The devotions include:…
The Holy Boast (Sermon on Ephesians 6:10-17)
In the name of Jesus, Amen. Beloved in the Lord: it’s good to be here with you. Praise be to the Lord of the…
Rejoice, O Gentiles: An Offertory for Epiphanytide
Here’s my setting of the offertory “Rejoice, O Gentiles”, from the 1969 TLH Worship Supplement. Feel free to reproduce for congregational use. Audio:
Parallels of Pornography and “Praise” Music
Warning: this post contains sexually explicit material Pornography is wicked. So is the sinful flesh, which is why porn sells. One source reported a “conservative…
Christmas Catharsis
There’s nothing like a family gathering to raise the blood pressure. If your family is anything like mine, you’ve probably experienced your share…
Into the Chaos: A Sermon for the Nativity of Our Lord on St. John 1:1-14
Glory be to God on high, and on earth, peace, good will toward men! But instead of peace on earth, chaos often reigns….
Dialogueolatry
Dialogue is not the infallible cure-all that we often make it out to be. There comes a point when we simply need to…
Equal, but Not Interchangeable
There is perhaps no greater threat to both the Gospel and to the family today than the sexual identity crisis in our culture….
Brainwashing Our Children?
Are parents- especially Christian ones- brainwashing their children? Dr. Chester M. Pierce, Emeritus Professor of Education at Harvard Medical School and Psychiatry, thinks so….
Rejoicing in the Violence of the Cross: A Sermon for Gaudete on Matthew 11:2-10
The introduction to this sermon has been adapted from Pastor Ken Kelly’s excellent Gaudete homily. You can read the whole thing at: https://homofactusest.com/2013/12/10/gaudete-rejoice-in-the-lord/. That John…
Burned Alive: A Sermon for Populus Zion (Malachi 4:1-6)
Virgil Solis (1514-1562), “Malachi” Malachi speaks to the people about the return of Elijah. In the background, John the Baptist points to Jesus….