Preaching

Come and See

/ The Pastor

I wrote the following poem as the opening of a sermom I preached. I haven’t done this for a while but God placed this on my heart, so I want share it with you. To God be all the glory!

Come and see, and worship the Lord, give thanks to His holy name.
Come and see, and sing praise to Him, He is worthy to acclaim.
Come and see, and rest in this place, for healing is what He gives.
Come and see, and receive His Word, and in Him you’ll always live.
Come and see, and be filled with hope, for through him you’ll live in peace.
Come and see, and open your heart, for your fears he does release.

A Prodigal Poem

/ The Pastor

I wrote the following poem for a sermon I wrote and preached on 03/27/22. The text was Luke 15:11-32, The Parable of the Prodigal Son (you probably figured that out from the poem title). I haven’t written a poem for a while but when I wrote the sermon title, “From Pig Slop to Fattened Calf”, the poem began to flow. I share this with you for the glory of God.

From pig slop to fattened calf
Jesus died on my behalf.
Spotless lamb he’s true and right.
Suffered, died, was raised by might.
Sinner I am, prodigal yes
Father God I am, such a mess.
Father God, You run to me.
Restoration by decree.
You’re full of love and mercy too.
Embracing me You make me new.

Feasting

/ The Pastor

Father God, You have prepared the Wedding Feast; the marriage of Your Son, Jesus Christ, to his bride, the Church. You have spared no expense for Your glory has no price. You are more precious than diamonds and more costly than gold. Your worth has no number for You are holy beyond anything I can image or know in this life. And though I am a sinner, You have extended the invitation — to me. Through faith in Jesus by the Holy Spirit, You clothe me in righteousness. In the here and now, I continue to walk through dark, dangerous, and scary valleys, but I do so with my Good Shepherd leading the way. May my eyes always be fixated on Your rod and staff; Your holy provision, faithfulness and love. May I stay the course with You; having my soul refreshed and sustained until that day I dwell in Your house forever and ever. To You be all glory and honor through Christ Jesus my Lord, Amen.

Handling the Word Rightly

/ The Pastor

The following prayer is something I wrote for this past Sunday. It is a prayer that was placed on my heart to prepare me for preaching. But really, this prayer could be used by anyone who speaks and proclaims the Gospel. Whether you are talking with your neighbor, leading a Bible study, answering a question from a child or whatever, as a Christian, we have the responsibility to handle the Word of God rightly. And handling it rightly is something we cannot do without help for on my own I would surely bring it all to ruin.

And so I commend this prayer to you. Use it as you wish as share your faith and teach/preach the Word. Let us handle the Word rightly. Way too many people take the Word lightly. This is God’s Word, so ask Him for help and He will be pleased to do so. After all, to God be the glory 🙂

Father God, I now come to this holy moment and awesome responsibility of preaching Your Word. For Your Word through Jesus Christ is Life and salvation. It is the Gospel of reconciliation. It is the Truth. To mishandle it is to commit a grave sin and thus lead people astray. No one should enter this moment lightly, and without fear and trembling. You are sovereign and thus You are worthy of all obedience, thanksgiving, worship, honor and praise. You are King and reign on high. You are Creator and thus I am clay in Your hands. May I rightly handle this text and boldly proclaim the Truth of Jesus Christ. May I stand firm on Your promises and not water anything down. May Your Spirit take these words and use them to bring life to those who would hear. Oh holy God, this is indeed an awesome responsibility. Please help me, for on my own I would surely bring it all to ruin and give Satan a platform to deceive Your flock. To You be all glory through Jesus Christ Your dear Son and my Lord, Amen.

The King is Coming

/ The Pastor

The following is the opening paragraph of the Palm Sunday sermon I am preaching tomorrow. The text is Luke 19:36-40 and the live stream will begin at 9:30 AM (Pacific) on our YouTube channel (Living Word Lutheran Church – Graham, WA). To God be the glory!

The King is coming, but is the road paved with your cloaks of homage? Are your palm branches of celebration ready and in hand? Are your voices ready to shout in worship among the crowds so that the rocks have no reason to come alive? The King is coming. The King has arrived. The King is here. And the Church has been deployed into the mission field. We always have been deployed, but now the mission field is in the midst of the battlefield – figuratively and literally. Now, more than ever, the King needs to be proclaimed. Are you ready and willing to loudly pay homage to the King? Let your voices ring. Let you shouts go out. As you lay your cloaks down. Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord.

Night

/ The Pastor

The following is a sermon teaser for the sermon I am preaching tomorrow (March 8) on John 3:1-8 — Nicodemus coming to Jesus at night. The complete sermon can be viewed on my congregation’s website early next week: http://www.livingwordlutheranchurch.com

I came across this quote from Paul Washer that he proclaimed at the 2020 Shepherd’s Conference. Paul said, “We preach to dead men, and there is no crowbar from the secular world we can use to pry them out of a tomb.” [Paul Washer, 2020 Shepherd’s Conference] – let that sink in for a moment.
You really need to listen to Paul Washer deliver that quote as it will kick you in the butt to battle the darkness. It sure kicked me in the butt.

You see, we live in a world of darkness and we’re surrounded by people living in the darkness of their own tombs – but through Jesus Christ, the light of the world, we have the ultimate weapon to battle that darkness – The Gospel of Jesus. We must wield this weapon with love and gentleness, not with frustration and force, and let the Holy Spirit blow as it may. Nicodemus came to Jesus in the night – the darkness – and heard from the Light of the World. Let us, too, hear from the Light of the world…

To God be the glory as I fine tune this message. May the light of Jesus transform and lead us into the darkness.

A Prayer about Prayer

/ The Pastor

The following prayer was inspired by the sermon I prepared for today on James 5:13-20. The video of the sermon should be posted within a couple days at http://www.livingwordlutheranchurch.com. To God be the glory.

Holy God, You command us to pray, not in order to satisfy some narcissistic desire of Yours, but that Your glory would be be proclaimed through us. But we too often limit our interaction with You and thus we miss those holy moments. We procrastinate our prayers to a more convenient and safe time. We utter idle pastoral care type words in order to satisfy some Christian obligation to pray for one another. We miss moments of ministry because of our fear of failure. Give us faith and courage, oh God, to make much of You through unceasing prayer with one another. Open our eyes that we may see Your glory manifest itself in the everydayness of our lives. May we not miss a single moment to pray with and for our brothers and sisters in Christ. To You be all glory, honor, praise and worship through Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen.

Holy Awe

/ The Pastor

The following is the prayer I wrote to pray before the sermon this morning. God help me…

Holy God, as a minister of the Gospel, I come to this task of preaching, as I do every time I step to the pulpit, with a heavy sense of awe. For it is Your Word I have been called to proclaim – Your Word, not mine. To withhold or to add to Your Word, would be to deny the truth of who You are. To twist, shape and mold to fit my agenda would be to misrepresent who Your are. Your Word is holy as it is. As the psalmist says in Psalm 19: The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple; the precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes; the fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever; the rules of the LORD are true, and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb. Moreover, by them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward. This is the holy awe with which I am faced. And so, I ask for Your Spirit to guide my words that I may not run afoul of this holy task. May I make much of You and You alone. To You be all glory, praise, honor and worship through Christ Jesus my Lord, Amen.

Prayer for Christmas Preaching

/ The Pastor / 2 Comments

This is the prayer I wrote that I will use before I preach tonight. May all preachers grab hold of the opportunity to boldly preach the Gospel as there will, no doubt, be people in attendance who don’t know Jesus. Don’t drop the ball. Give them Jesus.

Holy and awesome God, when sin fractured Your perfect creation You immediately proclaimed hope to a fallen world. Jesus is that hope – Your Son and our Lord. We praise You for Your faithfulness to rescue a lost and fallen creation – and may Your mighty power continue this night.

If there are hurting hearts present who are mourning the loss of a loved one – comfort them. If there are un-convinced hearts present – show them the Light. If there are lost hearts present – claim them. If there are searching hearts present ~ reveal Your Truth to them. Holy God, use my words this night and may they not return to You empty, but continue to work in order to rescue lost people. Awaken hearts and enliven souls as only You can do, oh God.

And now, Father God, as the shepherds made haste to find the Christ-child, a Savior born for all, may we too join in the joyous procession – living in the joy and love of Christmas all year round. To You be all glory, honor, praise and worship through Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.

Guarding

/ The Pastor

I am preaching on Romans 10:8-17 this morning. Earlier i posted, A Gospel Poem, that flowed from this sermon prep. Now, i have written this Holy Communion liturgy that was inspired by that text. To God be the glory, always and forever, Amen.

It is indeed right and salutary that we should at all times and in all places give thanks and praise to you,
oh God,
for You have given us the word of truth that saves us our souls –
Jesus Christ,
Your only Son,
our Lord.
And through Jesus, You have given us a “good deposit” that is to be guarded with our lives, not hidden away and protected as gold or silver, but maintained in all its integrity. For it is only through the unadulterated Gospel of Jesus Christ that people are saved.
And so,
may You send our feet to people who have not heard –
that faith may come through their hearing of the Gospel that flows from our lips and may those who hear this Good News come to call upon Your most holy name.
Oh Lord,
my God,
You are mighty to save and thus we join with the Church on earth and the hosts of heaven in singing Your unending praise…