Preaching

The Mission

/ The Pastor

Holy God,
what a relief it is that my
strength,
abilities,
knowledge,
credentials,
and the like
are not what you are looking for
to advance the kingdom of heaven.
As Luther said in his sacristy prayer,
“if it were left up to me I would surely bring it all to ruin”.
That is so true.
Rather,
you call the unqualified to proclaim Your Good News;
qualifying us through the Holy Spirit.
May we keep our eyes on You
and not turn inward; thinking either
“I am not qualified” and thus turn away from the mission,
or think,
“I am pretty good” and thus focus on our abilities; derailing the mission.
Holy God,
through Jesus Christ You redeemed us and empowered us.
May we not abandon the mission
but rather proclaim from the mountain top,
“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand”.
All praise, honor, glory and worship be unto You,
oh God,
through Christ Jesus our Lord.
Amen!

The Pastor -|—

Bearing Fruit

/ The Pastor

The follow is a sermon teaser for tomorrow (Dec 18) on Matthew 3:1-12.

Bear fruit in keeping with repentance is John’s call for an authentic Jesus following life. It’s one thing to come to worship, confess your sins, put an envelope in the offering plate, and serve in the presence of others, but is your life bearing fruit in keeping with repentance. Do you abhor sin? Does what happened in the garden sadden you or are you enjoying the temporary freedom that Satan gifts you with? Bearing fruit in keeping with repentance is about turning away from sin, not just in words but also in deed. It is making a 180 degree turn and fleeing from that which draws you away from God. The fruit is a God-glorifying, Jesus-exalting life that leads people to the throne of God; where the true treasure lies, not some fool’s gold.

May the Gospel of Jesus Christ transform your life to the glory of God our Father through Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.

The Pastor -|—

To Follow

/ The Pastor

Holy God,
through Jesus Christ You call us to action,
as You call us to follow.
But road is not easy
and the task is daunting.
We are tempted to give up
or take shortcuts so not to offend people.

May we never do so.
May we always be faithful.

Grant us Your Spirit
that we may fix our gaze upon Jesus,
so much so,
that his glory is reflected in the world
through our faithfulness.
May our actions shed light
in a dark world
and
may our words speak peace and hope.

You call us to follow,
may we do so now without hesitation.
All praise, glory and honor
be unto You,
Creator God,
through Christ Jesus our Lord,

Amen.

The Pastor -|—

Never Ending

/ The Pastor / 3 Comments

Holy Father, loving God,
in this life we live in the reality
that all good things come to an end,
but You,
the Supreme Good,
ever ends.
It’s that reality we cling to
and the reason we gather to worship You.
You formed creation out of nothing with a simple Word.
You sustain creation with Your mighty hand.
You redeem creation with Your love and grace.
Oh God, in the same way
create faith here this morning with Your Holy Word.
Sustain faith through Your Holy Spirit.
Renew faith through Your love and grace.
May all who hear Your Word this morning look to You.
Strengthen us and embolden our words and deeds
that You may be glorified.
All praise, glory, honor and worship be unto You,
holy God,
through Christ Jesus our Lord,
Amen.

The Pastor -|—

Send ~ A Prayer

/ The Pastor

Holy God,
may You send Your Holy Spirit
that those here who do not believe
may come to a saving faith in Jesus.

Send also, Your Holy Spirit
to those struggling with doubts,
that the resurrection of Jesus may be confirmed in their souls.

Send Your Holy Spirit
that the peace that surpasses all understanding
may hold us firm when Satan is strongly attacking from all sides.

Send Your Holy Spirit
that we may know You better and better.

Oh God, please send Your Holy Spirit.

All praise, worship, glory and honor be onto You,
Holy God,
through Christ Jesus our Lord,
AMEN.

The Pastor -|—

Your Kingdom Come ~ A Prayer

/ The Pastor

Creator God,
to pray, “thy kingdom come” is to pray for our death;
the death of our old self
but New Life through Jesus.

May this kingdom come onto us as we hear Your most holy Word proclaimed.

But we also ask that we may feel a sense of urgency
to be agents of your kingdom message
and to be Your holy ambassadors in this world.
May we not take up residence here
but rather may we have a restlessness in our souls
that yearns to be home with You,
but not until we have accomplished that task You have for us.

And therefore…

…may we have holy eyes to see the outcast and forgotten.
May we have holy ears to hear Your children crying out.
May we have holy hands to serve one another.
May we have holy feet to go where you direct.

Oh God, mighty Father,
hear our prayer and send us Your kingdom.
Through Jesus Christ our Lord we pray, Amen.

The Pastor -|—

The Son of God ~ A Prayer

/ The Pastor

Holy Father,
You sent Your one and only Son,
Jesus
to bear the sins of the world for our sake.
You sent Jesus to suffer the cross and enter death
so we could have the hope of everlasting life.
Jesus, Your dear Son,
received the full cup of Your wrath
that we would be spared from it.

Oh God,
may all who hear these words be drawn to You
and make the confession that Jesus,
Your Son,
is their Lord and Savior.
May these words spoken here
convict people to run to you;
confessing their sins and thus hear forgiveness.

But we also remember those who are not here;
who are not hearing these words.
May we be sent out to preach this Gospel.
May those who don’t know Jesus
be overwhelmed by Your Spirit and thus be saved.
Oh God,
holy Father,
bless us now and forever more, as we long to bring glory to Your most holy name.
It’s in the name of Jesus I pray,

Amen.

Amazing Grace ~ A Prayer

/ The Pastor

Holy God,
how amazing is Your grace
and how sweet the sound is to our ears;
for You have saved wretches such as us.
We were once lost but now we’re found;
once blind but now we see.

Oh God,
may Your grace continue to teach our hearts to fear
that our worldly fears may be relieved.
Oh how precious You grace indeed is,
from that very moment we first believed.

And despite the many dangers, toils and snares
that will certainly come our way,
Your amazing grace will continue to lead us home;
as You have promised good to us
and thus, through Your most trustworthy word,
our hope is secure, all our life long.

And when we have been worshiping You,
in Your holy courts for 10,000 years,
we will have no less days to praise you than when we first begun.
Amazing grace, how sweet the sound.

All praise, honor and worship be to You,
holy God,
through Christ Jesus our Lord,
Amen.

The Pastor -|—

Speaking ~ good; silence ~ bad

/ The Pastor

I am finishing the sermon for tomorrow and wanted to share this little tid bit with you before I posting the prayer I wrote for the closing of the sermon:

In the Gospel of Mark, chapter 14, Jesus is on trial before the high priest. During the trial, (false) witnesses came forward with testimony against Jesus, but with one glaring problem: Their testimony did not agree. More witnesses came forward but still could not agree. And when asked by the high priest to answer these charges, Jesus remained silent. At this point, there was nothing to convict Jesus and thus remaining silent could have meant his freedom because after all, the truth was on his side but also THE Truth was on his side, and thus silence is not an option.

So the high priest eventually chimes in to ask if Jesus was the Son of God, and Jesus breaks his silence to speak the Truth; signing his own death certificate. All Jesus had to do, to save his life, was remain silent, but he spoke the Truth to set you free.

And what about you, do you remain silent about the Truth of God; about the Gospel. Sure, it may be easier to remain silent in this world that is hell bent on discrediting Christians, but what does that silence achieve? To remain silent may secure your comfort but it may mean eternal death for someone else if they don’t hear about Jesus. Silence may be easy for you but it may come with a high cost for someone else.

But really, if you truly know the Truth of God through Jesus Christ, how does one keep silent. Speak, for the truth has already set you free. Let’s pray…

All honor, glory and worship be unto You,
oh God,
for the awesome gift of life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
All thanksgiving be to You
for giving us Your Holy Spirit to sustain us.
All praise be to You,
Holy God,
for receiving redeemed sinners into Your presence through Jesus.
May we be so bold to speak and abhor silence when it comes to the Good News of Jesus.
May proclaiming Your grace and love be as natural to us as breathing,
as we look forward to that day when we begin worshiping You
forever and ever
in Your glorious kingdom.
Through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior, I pray,
Amen.

The Pastor -|—

Devoted ~ A Prayer

/ The Pastor / 1 Comment

Holy God,
as we gather, this morning, to worship You,
I feel that we are still coming up short.
Nothing that we do or offer seems sufficient
given Your holiness and amazing love.
Nothing seems enough
given Your grace and faithfulness.
We may have the intention to show You great devotion
but way too often You get our leftovers.
Way too often we examine our needs now
so we may determine what we can afford to give You later.

Oh God, holy Father,

may our devotion be wholly on You;
giving You the first fruits of all we have,
because really,
those first fruits came from You.

May our sacrifices be worthy of You.
May our devotion be wholly true.

All praise, worship, honor
and devotion
be given to You,
awesome God,
through Christ Jesus our Lord,

Amen.

God bless you as you praise and worship our awesome God!

The Pastor  -|—