“Confidence, Unity, and Joy: God’s Gifts to Our Church” (1 John 5:9-15; John 17:11b-19) Today we are very happy to receive yet another family into our congregation. That makes seventeen new members added to our little church so far this … Continue reading
“Water, Blood, and Spirit Crying” (1 John 5:1-8) “Water, Blood, and Spirit Crying”: That’s the hymn we just sang (LSB 597). Listen again to the words of the first stanza: Water, blood, and Spirit crying, By their witness testifying To … Continue reading
“We Love Because He First Loved Us” (1 John 4:1-21) Love, love, love. How often do we hear that word “love”! We use it so freely, so loosely. We use it for McDonald’s hamburgers: “I’m lovin’ it.” We use it … Continue reading
“One Name, One Flock, One Shepherd” (Acts 4:1-12; John 10:11-18) Today is the Fourth Sunday of Easter, also known as “Good Shepherd Sunday,” the day in the church year every year when the propers–that is, the various parts of the … Continue reading
“To Understand the Scriptures” (Luke 24:36-49) Have you ever thought about what the Bible is all about? I mean, if you had to boil it down to just a few short sentences, what would you say is the main message … Continue reading
“Faith, Fellowship, and Forgiveness” (John 20:19-31; 1 John 1:1 – 2:2; Acts 4:32-35) Did you get any gifts for Easter? Maybe an Easter basket, filled with chocolate bunnies and jelly beans and Easter eggs that you open up and there’s … Continue reading
“Speaking of Life” Mark 16:1-8 Other Holy Week sermons from Pastor Asburry: Palm/Passion Sunday Good Friday Maundy Thursday P: Christ is risen! C: He is risen indeed! Alleluia! Friday left us in the darkness of death, the valley of … Continue reading
“Just as He Told You” (Mark 16:1-8) Alleluia! Christ is risen! (He is risen indeed! Alleluia!) And you say that with such conviction! As you should. The announcement of Christ’s resurrection elicits from us a hearty response of faith and … Continue reading
By now most Americans have probably heard of the Iranian/Persian New Year festival called Nowruz, or No Ruz. One of the more recent claims against Easter is that this Christian Holy Day is merely a hijacked version of the Persian … Continue reading
“Glorious Suffering” (1 Peter 4:12-19; 5:6-11; John 17:1-11) Have you ever heard of the term “oxymoron”? An oxymoron is when you have two words placed next to each other in a phrase, but they really don’t belong together. For example, … Continue reading
“Baptized, Saved, and Ready to Speak” (1 Peter 3:13-22) Are you ready? Let me ask you again: Are you ready? And you say, “Ready for what? Ready to do what?” So I say, “Ready to speak.” “Ready to speak about … Continue reading
“Living Stones and a Holy Priesthood” (1 Peter 2:2-10) In the Epistle for today, St. Peter compares us Christians to, among other things, “living stones” and a “holy priesthood.” Both of these images are based on things that were realities … Continue reading
“Redeemed: From What? With What? Now What?” (1 Peter 1:17-25) To introduce the sermon today I’d like us all now to open our hymnals to page 322, to the Small Catechism, the part on the Creed. And under the Second … Continue reading
“Born Again to a Living Hope” (1 Peter 1:3-9) Our reading today from 1 Peter 1 says a lot about your past, your present, and your future, and we can sum it up in this phrase from our text: “Born … Continue reading
“Amen” (The Lord’s Prayer; 2 Corinthians 1:18-22) Alleluia! Christ is risen! (He is risen indeed! Alleluia!) Yes, “Alleluia” of course is the word of the day for Easter Day. We’ve been saving it up all Lent, and now today we … Continue reading
A brief note on the misuse of Bodleian Library Manuscript Bodl. 264 Folio 21 This image is now being used to demonstrate pagan origins of the Easter Bunny: An example from California State University-San Marcos The drawing is from Prudence Jones … Continue reading
This is a reposting of a pair of articles published last year on the origins of Easter and some Easter traditions. The sources are given so that the reader can better be able to debunk the popular “historical” nonsense about … Continue reading
This is a reposting of a pair of articles published last year on the origins of Easter and some Easter traditions. The sources are given so that the reader can better be able to debunk the popular “historical” nonsense about … Continue reading
“Jesus Prays for Us” (John 17:20-26) Did you know you are mentioned in the Gospel reading for today? You are. Jesus is talking about you–in fact, he is praying for you–in the passage known as his “High Priestly Prayer” in … Continue reading
“In Jesus, Peace; In the World, Tribulation” (John 16:23-33) Hear again the words of Jesus at the end of John 16, verse 33: “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world … Continue reading
“A Little While” (John 16:12-22) “We do not know what he is talking about.” Maybe you say that sometimes towards the end of my sermons. “We don’t know what he’s talking about!” Well, if so, then I’m in good company, … Continue reading
“By the Charcoal Fire” (John 21:1-19) It’s been a couple of weeks now since Jesus rose from the dead and appeared to his disciples. Last Sunday, Jesus came and appeared to them a second time, on that occasion especially to … Continue reading
“Words of Life” (John 20:19-31; Acts 5:12-32; Revelation 1:4-18) To those sitting in prison, facing a death sentence, filled with fear at what awaits them, nothing is more welcome than someone coming with a message of pardon and release. Those … Continue reading
“Lessons from the Paschal Candle” (John 1:4-5) “In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” John chapter 1, verses 4 and 5. On … Continue reading
“Acts of Witness, Mercy, Life Together” (Acts 4:32-35) As many of you may know, for the last couple of years our Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod has been organizing its work under the banner of “Witness, Mercy, Life Together.” You can see … Continue reading