Rev. Michael Holmen's Sermons
276 episodes - English - Latest episode: 14 days ago - ★★★★★ - 1 ratingSermons preached at Peace Lutheran Church, Oelwein, IA and Our Redeemer Lutheran Church, Independence, IA. This is a dual parish of The Lutheran Church--Missouri Synod. We use the one year, historic lectionary.
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Episodes
240414 Sermon on talking about God (Easter 3) April 14, 2024
April 14, 2024 16:31Audio recording Sermon manuscript: Talking about God can be difficult. I’ve seen how talking about God can cause tenseness and awkwardness. People’s defenses go up. What is this person going to require of me? What is this person going to accuse me of? Am I supposed to be converted? People usually don’t like it. Because people don’t like it, most won’t do it. Why should they? It doesn’t seem to benefit them. It makes the situation weird. The prospects of something good coming from such an...
240331 Sermon on Jesus being Lord (Easter) March 31, 2024
March 31, 2024 15:45Audio recording Sermon manuscript: “And they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.” Everybody inevitably learns that there are some things you can’t change. Things have been written into our DNA, for example. One is predisposed for this. Another is predisposed for that. It’s disappointing, but what can be done? There are so many things like that. Things are the way they are. There’s a little bit of comfort that comes from acknowledging things as they are. Perhaps you’ve heard of...
240317 Sermon on greatness in the Kingdom of God (Lent 5) March 17, 2024
March 17, 2024 16:20Audio recording Sermon manuscript: People want to be the greatest because being the greatest is a lot of fun. It is fun to be the best at a sport. It is fun to be the best at an activity. Jesus’s disciples, James and John, wanted to be the greatest. That is what they are driving at when they say to Jesus: “Let us sit in your glory. One of us can be on your left and the other can be on your right.” Jesus did not rebuke them. He gently says, “You do not know what you are asking.” James and...
240310 Sermon on believing in Jesus (Lent 4) March 10, 2024
March 13, 2024 14:03Audio recording Sermon manuscript: Our Gospel reading proclaims well-known and well-loved promises: Whoever believes in Jesus will have eternal life. John 3:16 is perhaps the most well-known verse in the Bible: “God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”These promises are nice. I’m not aware of anybody who gets upset at such promises. A person might think the promises are untrue, but nobody thinks that...
240303 Sermon on why Jesus was upset (Lent 3) March 3, 2024
March 03, 2024 17:14Audio recording Sermon manuscript: Picture in your mind’s eye the scene described in our Gospel reading. It’s Passover. Many people, like Jesus and his disciples, have come to Jerusalem. It’s a busy place. The temple area has many tables and booths set up. Some were exchanging foreign money for the money that was accepted at the temple. Others were selling animals needed for sacrifices. The oxen and the sheep would have been tied up. The pigeons would have been in cages. Jews from far and...
240225 Sermon on confessing Jesus as the Christ (Lent 2) February 25, 2024
February 25, 2024 17:31Audio recording Sermon manuscript: In our Gospel reading Peter confessed Jesus to be the Christ. This is important and life changing because it is by our confession of Jesus as the Christ that we are saved. However, as we also heard, Peter ran into some difficulty when Jesus spoke about the cross. Today we will talk about what happened with Peter and how this also applies to us as Jesus’s followers today. We’ll begin with the story. Jesus was going to the villages of Caesaria Philippi wi...
240218 Sermon on fighting temptation (Lent 1) February 18, 2024
February 18, 2024 17:17Audio recording Sermon manuscript: Today I’d like to address something that all people must face: Temptation. Temptation is when we are lured and enticed to do something that is wrong. Where does temptation come from? It doesn’t come from God. James says in our reading, “God tempts no one.” Instead, as he says, temptation is when “each person is lured and enticed by his own desires.” This makes sense. If you don’t have a desire for something, how can you really be tempted? For example, s...
Sermon on same-sex attraction and gender confusion (special sermon series) February 4, 2024
February 04, 2024 17:13Audio recording Sermon manuscript: When Pastor Bertram and I were discussing what we might like to accomplish with this series on marriage, sexuality, and so on, we both thought that it would be good to address what is known as LGBTQ concerns. LGBTQ stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning or queer. Advocacy for LGBTQ rights has entered the mainstream. Our laws concerning marriage have changed. Workplaces are implementing DEI, which stands for diversity, equity, and ...
240121 Sermon on what marriage is (Special Sermon Series) January 21, 2024
January 21, 2024 17:18Audio recording Sermon manuscript: Today we have begun a three week series on marriage, sexuality, and various issues that go along with these things. To do a series like this is a little unusual for us. We tend to follow the lectionary. The lectionary is a list of readings from the Bible that have been assigned for each Sunday in the Church Calendar. Pastor Bertram and I are happy to follow the lectionary. The assigned readings make sure that we hear the whole counsel of God’s Word inste...
231231 Sermon on the importance of being redeemed from the Law (Christmas 1) December 31, 2023
January 02, 2024 14:40Audio recording Sermon manuscript: Our Gospel reading this morning tells the story of what happened not long after Jesus’s birth. The Law of God, given to the Old Testament people, required that eight days after Jesus’s birth he needed to be circumcised. Then, forty days after Mary gave birth, she needed to offer sacrifices. This marked the end of her time of ceremonial uncleanness from giving birth. Our Gospel reading describes this. Mary and Joseph went up into Jerusalem. Jesus was pres...
231224 Sermon on the birth of the King (Christmas Eve)
December 31, 2023 14:10Audio recording Sermon manuscript: He rules the world with truth and grace. That line comes from the well-known and well-loved Christmas hymn, “Joy to the world.” “He rules the world with truth and grace.” Who rules the world? Jesus rules the world. Jesus being the king who reigns and rules is a theme that is found in a lot of Christmas hymns. I’ll give you a couple examples. O Come All Ye Faithful. O come all ye faithful to Bethlehem. Why? To behold the King of angels. Or Hark the Hera...
231213 Sermon on Ruth 3-4 (Advent 2 Midweek) December 13, 2023
December 20, 2023 20:20Audio recording Sermon manuscript: I’d like to begin tonight by orienting ourselves. Last week we heard the first two chapters of the book of Ruth. The two most important people in this book are Naomi and Ruth. Naomi used to live near Bethlehem with her husband and two sons, but they needed to leave when a famine came on the land. They had to move to Moab. As they were living in Moab, Naomi’s two sons married Moabite women named Orpah and Ruth. Not long after that all three husbands died....
231206 Sermon on Ruth 1-2 (Advent 1 Midweek) December 6, 2023
December 20, 2023 20:15Audio recording Sermon manuscript: The book of Ruth is about poor people. Being poor can lead to desperate actions. The book begins with a desperate action. A poor family leaves their homeland when they can no longer make ends meet. A famine struck the land. Naomi and her husband Elimelech have to leave their land behind in search of better conditions. They went to the land of Moab where the people worshipped other gods besides the Lord God. Naomi and Elimelech had two sons who married Mo...
231126 Sermon on Christ's Second Coming (Last Sunday of the Church Year) November 26, 2023
November 26, 2023 17:18Audio recording Sermon manuscript: One of the unusual features of the times we are living in is how many different beliefs there are. Perhaps you had a taste of that at your Thanksgiving gathering. Your cousins, nieces, nephews, in-laws might have very different understandings about what is right and wrong, the present state of things in the world, or what we should do about all of it. There have always been differences of beliefs. No two human beings have ever had the exact same thoughts...
231123 Sermon for Thanksgiving Day, November 23, 2023
November 23, 2023 15:50Audio recording Sermon manuscript: The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases. His mercies never come to an end. They are new every morning. Great is your faithfulness. Our country has been celebrating the National Day of Thanksgiving since 1863. In October of 1863 President Lincoln called upon the nation to consider its good fortune. It had been blessed with bountiful harvests, with healthful skies, with productive mines. The president declared that these things came from a generous Go...
231112 Sermon on Matthew 25:1-13 (Pentecost 24) November 12, 2023
November 12, 2023 17:26Audio recording Sermon manuscript: What are you looking forward to? Is there a family gathering coming up? Christmas is around the corner. What gifts would you like to receive? Retirement? Weddings? Children or grandchildren? There are a lot of things to look forward to. What about Jesus Christ’s second coming in power and great glory? Is that on your list? Probably not. There’s a proverbial saying: “It’s not the end of the world.” Behind that saying is a belief that the end of the world...
231029 Sermon for Reformation Day 2023
October 29, 2023 16:32Audio recording Sermon manuscript: “Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.’” Today we commemorate the Reformation. One of the greatest consequences of the Reformation was that western Christendom was divided. Prior to the Reformation the Christians in Europe were united under the pope and the bishops under him. After the Reformation there continued to be Christians...
231022 Sermon on Matthew 22:15-22 (Pentecost 21) October 22, 2023
October 22, 2023 16:22Audio recording Sermon manuscript: For better understanding what is going on in our Gospel reading, it is helpful to know the context. Our reading today is during Holy Week. Jesus entered Jerusalem a couple days before on Palm Sunday. The people hailed him as king. He then went to the Temple, clearing out the money changers, flipping over tables and such. All of this made the leaders in Jerusalem very upset. They had always believed that Jesus was no good. So in the readings for the past ...
231001 Sermon on how outward appearances are not enough (Pentecost 18) October 1, 2023
October 02, 2023 00:33Audio recording Sermon manuscript: “Repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand!” In our Gospel reading the chief priest and elders are upset about Jesus. The chief priests and elders had never liked Jesus. Jesus wasn’t a part of their club. He wasn’t from Jerusalem. He didn’t go to the right schools. He wasn’t from the right families. What’s more is that he also appeared to them to be a dangerous heretic. He healed people on the Sabbath, for example. That’s work, is it not? That’s forbi...
230917 Sermon on forgiving from the heart (Pentecost 16) September 17, 2023
September 17, 2023 16:30Audio recording Sermon text: Forgiveness can be difficult. It can be complicated. If I accidentally bump into you as we are passing by each other, that’s not hard to forgive. Not all forgiveness is like that. In fact, I don’t know if that really is forgiveness. It’s more like politeness. Forgiveness is more serious. Being polite is easier than forgiving. Since politeness is easier than forgiveness we often try to have politeness be considered a sufficient substitute for actual forgivenes...
230903 Sermon on the strangeness of Christ's cross (Pentecost 14) September 4, 2023
September 04, 2023 13:38Audio recording Sermon manuscript: Jesus said, “The first shall be last, and the last shall be first.” Let me begin by running a couple ideas by you. How about this idea for a marriage: Husband and wife get married. Like most married couples they thought it was going to be great. They had visions and plans in their heads. Not long after they tie the knot, however, they find out who it is that they really married. Who they married doesn’t match up at all with the ideas that they had in th...
230813 Sermon on Peter walking on water (Pentecost 11) August 13, 2023
August 15, 2023 13:15Audio recording Sermon manuscript: “Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you.” Let’s begin by setting the scene. Our Gospel reading today picks up where last week’s reading left off. Last week Jesus fed the 5,000 with five loaves and two fish. Immediately after that, as we heard in today’s reading, Jesus sent the disciples off in a boat on the sea of Galilee. Jesus went up on a mountain by himself to pray. He was praying by himself...
230806 Sermon on Matthew 14:13-21 (Pentecost 10) August 6, 2023
August 07, 2023 13:02Audio recording Sermon manuscript: Jesus said, “The things which are impossible with man are possible with God.” In our Gospel reading today we are told about an impressive miracle. There is a very large crowd. Maybe we can use our imagination to get a mental picture of this crowd. The crowd would have been about the size of all the residents of Fairmont. Our town has about 10,000 people. At the end of our reading it says that there were about 5,000 men, not counting the women and childr...
230730 Sermon on Matthew 13:44-52 (Pentecost 9) July 30, 2023
August 06, 2023 13:02Audio recording Sermon manuscript: For the past few weeks our Gospel readings have been from Matthew chapter 13. This chapter has a bunch of parables about the Kingdom of Heaven. So you heard about the kingdom of heaven being like a farmer who sows his seed so that it falls on all kinds of different soils. You heard about the kingdom of heaven being like a field that was sown with good seed, but the enemy came and sowed weed seed. With our reading today we are at the end of this section...
230702 Sermon on Matthew 10:34-42 (Pentecost 5) July 2, 2023
July 05, 2023 15:31Audio recording Sermon manuscript: In the Name of Jesus The words that Jesus said in our Gospel reading sound strange: “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace to the earth, but rather a sword. I have come to set a son against his father and a daughter against her mother and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. A person’s enemies will be those of his own household.” These words sound strange. How can we understand them? The conte...
230625 Sermon on Matthew 10:21-33 (Pentecost 4) June 25, 2023
June 25, 2023 16:28Audio recording Sermon manuscript: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Our Gospel reading last week, our Gospel reading this week, and the reading that you will hear next week, is all from the same section. It is from when Jesus sent out his 12 apostles. He told them what they were supposed to do. They should tell people that the kingdom of heaven had drawn near. The kingdom of heaven has at its core the word kingdom. With kingdoms there is reigning and ruling. So with the ki...
230611 Sermon on Matthew 9:9-13 (Pentecost 2 Proper 5A) June 11, 2023
June 13, 2023 13:54Audio recording Sermon manuscript: Jesus said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.” Are you sick? It’s not easy to say “Yes, I am sick.” Let me illustrate. Sometimes pastors get asked to visit non-members who are terminally ill. I’ve made more than a few visits like that. I usually ask someone who is dying, regardless of membership, whether he or she believes that he or she is a poor, miserable sinner. You’re familiar with that language because we s...
230528 Sermon on Pentecost being a great Christian festival
May 28, 2023 16:15Audio recording Sermon manuscript: Today I would like to speak with you about why Pentecost is a great Christian festival. Pentecost is one of the three great Christian festivals. Christmas and Easter are the other two. Among these three, there is a tendency for Pentecost to be overshadowed. Every Christian knows the meaning and importance of Christmas. It’s when the Son of God was born as a baby boy. Every Christian knows the meaning and importance of Easter. It’s when the Son of God def...
230514 Sermon on better understanding how spiritual things work (Easter 6) May 14, 2023
May 16, 2023 17:05Audio recording Sermon manuscript: Being able to understand how things work is one of the special privileges of being a human being. We have been created differently. We have been created in the image of God. We understand lots of things. And it is not just we who are living who have understood how things work. Generations before us have understood how things work too. For hundreds of years people have been writing down what they have learned about how things work. Each generation teach...
230430 What is an abundant life? (Easter 4) April 30, 2023
April 30, 2023 16:53Audio recording Sermon manuscript: Jesus said, “I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” What is an abundant life? This is a big question. What is an abundant life immediately brings up other questions: What is life for? How should we live our lives? Big questions like these have been asked and answered in countless ways. Philosophy and religion are two enormous fields of study that work with questions like these. Countless lifetimes could be spent reading the books that h...
230416 Sermon on John 20:19-23 (Easter 2) April 16, 2023
April 16, 2023 16:24Audio Recording Sermon manuscript: Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.” And when he had said this, he breathed on the disciples and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of anyone, they are forgiven; if you withhold forgiveness from anyone, it is withheld.” These words were spoken on the evening of Easter day. In the morning the women had found the tomb empty. The angels told them that Jesus was not ...
230408 Sermon for Easter Vigil (John 3:16ff) April 8, 2023
April 09, 2023 13:20Audio recording Sermon manuscript: Tonight I would like to speak briefly using just one of the many themes found in this Easter Vigil service. We have heard many times tonight that Jesus is the light who lightens the darkness. I’d like read some Scripture. You will no doubt be familiar with a portion of it. Our reading begins with John 3:16: Jesus said: For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. Then, a ...
230407 Sermon for Good Friday April 7, 2023
April 08, 2023 00:22Audio recording Sermon manuscript: King David prays to God in Psalm 38 like this: O Lord, rebuke me not in your anger, nor discipline me in your wrath! For your arrows have sunk into me, and your hand has come down on me. There is no soundness in my flesh because of your indignation; there is no health in my bones because of my sin. What you have just heard King David say in Psalm 38 is uncommon. He is afraid of God: “O Lord, rebuke me not in your anger, nor disci...
230402 Behold Your King is Coming to You (Palm Sunday) April 2, 2023
April 07, 2023 20:10Audio recording Sermon manuscript: Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he. “Behold, your king is coming to you.” This prophecy was made hundreds of years before Palm Sunday. The fulfillment of this prophecy explains all the rejoicing, the shouting aloud, that we hear about on Palm Sunday. Behold, your king is coming to you. If you asked the peop...
230305 Farewell Sermon on Genesis 12 (Lent 2) March 5, 2023
March 05, 2023 15:48Audio recording Sermon manuscript: I’d like to begin today by talking about how important our Old Testament reading is for understanding the Bible. Then I’d like to relate what we learn about Abraham to the relationship we have had as congregation and pastor. Our Old Testament reading is from Genesis chapter 12. That’s not too far into the book. We meet a couple name Abram and Sarai who are later given the names Abraham and Sarah. Since we know their latter names better than their former...
230226 Sermon on what lies beneath temptation and the Gospel's response (Lent 1) February 26, 2023
February 28, 2023 16:55Audio recording Sermon manuscript: We hear quite a bit about temptations in our readings this morning. The first one ever was “Did God really say?” “Did God really say you shouldn’t eat from that tree? Why that tree? Just that tree?” And Jesus was tempted in different ways. Maybe he could satiate his hunger by turning stones to bread. He could show his glory by plunging from the temple. He could acquire the earth by worshipping the prince of this world rather than purchasing the world wit...
230219 Sermon on the Transfiguration of our Lord February 19, 2023
February 19, 2023 15:50Audio recording Sermon manuscript: I’d like to begin today by speaking about a detail that could be easy to overlook. At the beginning of our reading it says, “Six days later Jesus took Peter, James, and John to a high mountain.” The transfiguration took place about six days later. Six days after what? It took place about six days after Peter’s confession that Jesus is the Christ. I’d like to go through that history since I think it sheds light on what is going on with the transfiguratio...
230212 Sermon on the work of the Holy Spirit vs the divisions of party spirit (Epiphany 6) February 12, 2023
February 12, 2023 15:34Audio recording Sermon manuscript: Thank you for indulging me with all the sermons that I’ve been preaching on 1 Corinthians. This will be the last sermon on 1 Corinthians, at least for now, since the readings will move on to other things next week with the Transfiguration. Today I’ll preach on 1 Corinthians one more time though. I really like the two Corinthians letters. I find them to be very instructive for our times. We have struggled, and struggles continue over what the Christian ...
230205 Sermon on identifying true spirituality (Epiphany 5) February 5, 2023
February 05, 2023 15:47Audio recording Sermon manuscript: The word “spiritual” brings to mind a lot of things. For me it brings to mind a lot of things that aren’t good. What one person regards as spiritual, another person regards as a delusion. For some there seems to be no limits for what is acceptable when it comes to spirituality. Folks might talk about energies, crystals, disciplines, psychedelic drugs, and many other things. I don’t understand these things, and they make me nervous. But this is not just s...
230129 Sermon on the message of the cross as foolishness (Epiphany 4) January 29, 2023
January 29, 2023 15:45Audio recording Sermon manuscript: You’ve noticed, I’m sure, graffiti etched into the walls or etched into the stalls of bathrooms. The grafitti might say, “So and so was here.” Often, at least in the men’s bathroom, they are off-color. Sometimes they can be about other people. So and so likes to do this or that, and the this or that is usually not flattering. I’d like to begin today by speaking about some ancient graffiti that scholars believe is from around 200 A.D. in the city of Rom...
230122 Sermon on divisions that happen in the church (Epiphany 3) January 22, 2023
January 22, 2023 15:45Audio recording Sermon manuscript: In our epistle reading we learn that there were divisions in the congregation at Corinth. Paul tells the congregation what he has been hearing: “Each of you says, ‘I belong to Paul,’ or ‘I belong to Apollos,’ or I belong to Cephas,’ or ‘I belong to Christ.’” We know who Paul is. He is the one writing this letter. Apollos was one of the preachers that spent some time in Corinth. Cephas is the Apostle Peter. “Cephas” is Aramaic for “rock.” So what Paul has...
230115 Sermon on 1 Corinthians 1:1-9 (Epiphany 2) January 15, 2023
January 15, 2023 15:43Audio recording Sermon manuscript: Today I’d like to look closely at our epistle reading. We heard the opening verses of St. Paul’s letter to the Corinthians. These words address what is fundamental about being a Christian. It is helpful to know what is fundamental. When we lose sight of what is fundamental we get confused. What are we really about? What is going on? How should I see myself and my future? These are fundamental questions that Paul answers in our reading this morning. Befo...
230108 Sermon on the nature of true faith (Baptism of our Lord) January 8, 2023
January 08, 2023 15:38Audio recording Sermon manuscript: It is fairly well known that in order to be saved from what we deserve for our sins we must have faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. There are many passages that could be cited as proof for this. I’ll give you just one. Christ our Lord says in the last chapter of Mark: “Whoever believes and is baptized shall be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.” Faith and baptism make for salvation. Unbelief brings condemnation. Since faith in Jesus is ...
230106 Funeral Sermon for Larry Lillibridge, January 6, 2023
January 06, 2023 18:25Audio recording Sermon manuscript: It is customary for the family to provide input as to the hymns and Scripture readings that are used during the funeral service. So it is also today. The hymns were chosen by the family. The readings, also, were from their input, especially the second reading from Ephesians about marriage. That was because Larry and Jeanette were married for 57 years. The Gospel reading, John 3:36, was chosen because Lance saw this reference on a billboard when he learne...
230101 Sermon on Galatians 3:23-29 (Circumcision and Naming of Jesus) January 1, 2023
January 01, 2023 15:44Audio recording Sermon manuscript: The relationship that we human beings have with God is of the greatest possible concern. Even though how we stand with God is so important, it seems that our fallen, sinful nature makes us very sleepy about this standing. There is nothing more common and natural than for people not to think about God or to think about how God is regarding them. All manner of different things capture and hold our attention instead. It’s not hard for hours, days, maybe eve...
221225 Sermon comparing John 1 with Genesis 1 (Christmas Day)
December 25, 2022 15:54Audio recording Sermon manuscript: I’d like to show you some purposeful similarities between what John said in our Gospel reading and the beginning of Genesis. I’m going to be kind of flipping back and forth between the two. We can begin by how they share opening lines: “In the beginning…” John says in the beginning was the Word, the Logos, the second person of the Trinity. The Word was with God and the Word was God. Genesis says, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth....
221224 Sermon on "Glory to God in the highest, on earth peace, goodwill toward mankind" (Christmas Eve)
December 25, 2022 15:49Audio recording Sermon manuscript: Tonight I’d like to focus on the angels’ song: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward mankind.” Before I get into the actual words themselves, I’d like to first speak a little bit about the setting. The shepherds were keeping watch over their flocks by night when suddenly one angel of the Lord appeared to them. Real angels are quite different from how they are pictured in popular imagination. They are warriors, for one thing,...
221218 Sermon on how to handle shame (Advent 4) December 18, 2022
December 18, 2022 15:47Audio recording Sermon manuscript: Shame is very powerful. Being ashamed, being under the power of shame, is so unpleasant we all try to escape it if that is at all possible. So we try not to let anyone see. If some evidence of wrong-doing comes to light, it is awfully tempting to lie: “No, I didn’t do that.” And since our fellow human beings are not God, those lies work, maybe even most of the time—especially if you get good at telling lies. But sometimes the proof for the shameful deed...
221214 Advent Midweek Sermon on Joy, December 14, 2022
December 15, 2022 00:28Audio recording Sermon manuscript: Joy is one of the finest things in life. Joy from receiving a gift, joy from receiving praise, joy from amusements—joy can come from so many different things. Can we ever have too much joy? It certainly doesn’t seem so. Perhaps, then, a natural question would be: “How do I get some more joy?” That, in fact, is one of those big questions in life. If we could put joy in a bottle and sell it for just a nickel we would soon be very wealthy. Lots of books, l...
221211 Sermon on Jesus's encouragement to John the Baptist and to us (Advent 3) December 11, 2022
December 11, 2022 15:31Audio recording Sermon manuscript: John the Baptist was a great man. You don’t have to take my word for it. Jesus said so. “None born of women has arisen who is greater,” Jesus said. What made John so great was his trust in the Word of God. John said God’s Word. He wasn’t ashamed of it. He didn’t change it. He didn’t improve upon it. He just said it and let God do whatever he wanted to do through it. So, as we heard last week, John said to the Pharisees and Sadducees that they were a bro...