Author: Evangelism

July 12, 2026                                                                  Text:  Isaiah 55:10-13

Dear Friends in Christ,

            Many of you know by now that what is preached is picked a month in advance.  I choose a text, hymns that go along with the text the last week of a month.  This way both Mary Anne, our organist, and Karen, our secretary have a sheet of paper, so they know what is coming.  As I chose this text it was ready made.  Water.  I’ve dealt with it at church this year, I dealt with it at home this year and since choosing the text we have seen many downpours.  But God wanted me to laugh even more.  So, he sent even more water into the church to be cleaned up last week.  That is what I bellyached about last Sunday.

             Let’s be honest, I may be the wrong Pastor to give this message, because I haven’t seen a lot of positives with water.  Well, God has.  Isaiah wrote it down.  That is good enough for me and it should be for you.  Holy Spirit, carry this message today . . .

“WATER:  BAD . . . AND GOOD”

            Our text is mostly positive about water.  The only negatives are in verse 13 where it talks about “thorn” and “brier.”  This is what you get when there is no water.  But boy what happens when you get water – wow.  The Lord has given us a word picture this last month.  On one of my routes on the way home, I pass by many corn and soybean fields.  At the beginning of June those plants were just breaking the surface.  Inches of rain later, some of the corn I saw this week is over three feet tall.  When Isaiah writes, “For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout.” (v. 10). We believe it here in surrounded by farmland central Illinois.

            We could continue our ag lesson, but let’s get a little more theological and spiritual.  Water is needed for life.  You don’t drink, you die.  We need the water of God’s saving Word to survive spiritually.  Without the Gospel we will die eternally.  God waters the earth for our living.  It also produces seed which then continues that growth.  The effects of water are ongoing.  “Seed to the sower and bread to the eater.” (v. 10b)

            Verse 11, “So shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.”  Just as surely as Jesus himself came down from heaven to water the earth with his own blood, so now does the preaching of Jesus serve to deliver the benefits of his blood to those who hear and believe.  Just as surely as rain and snow come down from heaven and serve to water the earth does the Word of the cross and the empty tomb now serve to give life to the world.  This is the promise given by the prophet Isaiah.  It is given for us to know and to trust, so that we might be certain that the Word of God will always work.

            No matter the setting or how bleak the situation, the death and resurrection of Jesus reveals that the Word will accomplish the Lord’s purposes and will succeed in bringing life to the world.

            When Isaiah writes in verse 13, “Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress; instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle; and it shall make a name for the Lord, and everlasting sign that shall not be cut off,” this takes us all the way back to Adam.  God had told him that “thorns and thistles” (Gen. 3:18) will inhabit the land.  This verse is a picture of paradise restored.  Because of the Lord’s work, his salvation, those plants of Eden will spring up again.  As the Lord’s people we are invited back to the lush garden.  Creation was corrupted in Adam’s fall, you know water problems you don’t foresee, in Christ that water is used to restore things to their pristine beauty, a sign of God’s redemption.

            Last Sunday I mentioned that the only thing water was good for at Good Shepherd was baptism.  It is the chief miracle.  We came to the fount in our original Adam corrupted sin but after a dash of water three times and the Word of God connected to it, we left in pristine beauty.  God’s redemption was our redemption.  We are now his child, and he will be with us all our days – the good water days and the bad water days.

            We will continue to pray for rain when needed.  Do you think He could provide it everywhere except on our building?  Maybe that’s asking a little too much.  Water as we have seen today has a lot more good than bad.  The power of God’s Word is evident in all circumstances and for all time.  Because of His love for us, God pours out His Word.  Blame it on the rain, yeh, yeh.

                                                Amen.         

July 5, 2026                                                                                    Text:  Proverbs 14:34

Dear Friends in Christ,

            Here are series of questions from a sermon I read recently.  You guess the year.  Why are 11 million American workers still without employment when there should be work for everyone with the broad sweep and natural resources of our country?  Why have we had masses of hungry people in this nation when the cornucopia of plenty has poured its blessings upon our fields and farmlands?  Why does destitution reign in many American families?  Why do we see ominous specters on our nation’s horizon, the shadow of national pyramiding debt, the dark forms of that anarchy under the guise of communism, the attempts to destroy lawful and representative government?  Got your answer?  That was a sermon by Lutheran Hour Speaker Dr. Walter A Maier in . . . 1937!

            Like I always say, “Come in from off the ledge.”  Our national blessing has nothing to do with political party.  It depends upon the Almighty.  We cannot build without God; we cannot build against God.  But we can build with God.  We don’t need a political platform or a social media blitz.  God’s plan for national blessing?  12 short, unadorned words.  These words of God say nothing of inflation or deflation; no insights on labor problems or unemployment; he doesn’t lay out a plan for banking or finance reform. 

            Let’s outline for you, with the Spirit’s help, God’s direction for . . .

“BUILDING A BETTER NATION”

            “Righteousness exalteth a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people.” (Prov. 14:34). When the text says, “sin is a reproach to any people,” this is not a theory – this history.  Where is the haughty Roman Empire?  The world dominion of Alexander the Great?  The kingdoms and nations of Cyrus?  I have been watching a lot of shows recently where at one time it looked like Hitler might take over the world.  You know how that ended.  We are not too big to fail.  Over the lost glory of every nation both the hand of God and the moving pen of history have written the verdict:  “The reproach of sin.”

            The counsel of God is always constructive.  It declares, “Righteousness exalteth a nation.”  This is not a fond dream – once again it is history.  Early Christianity exalted marriage, children parenthood, at a time when the lust of the flesh ran to ruin.  It exalted labor when people sought to escape work and pass it to slaves.  The love for one’s fellow man elevated the ancient business world.  The church, though despised and small, did what statesman of the ancient world could not do:  it bestowed, with God’s help, the righteousness that exalts a nation.

            What shower of blessing would reign upon this nation, if righteousness, and truth, and justice, and a brotherly regard of every man toward his fellowman would prevail.  What clash of conflict could be stifled.  How many of our broken homes could be spared.  If only this exalting righteousness would dominate the national and individual affairs of our country.

            How can we curb sin and selfishness and everything being political when even in our community we can’t celebrate America 250 with kids writing essays for the County History Museum?  How can we stop snapping at each other?  Maybe God will destroy social media.  That might be a start.  Did you see this week Ford rehired human engineers because AI wasn’t working.  Man, I love it when God does that. 

            Our nation building centers around this.  The words of Jesus, “without me you can do nothing.”  In our wide resourceful world, there is only one power that can “create a clean heart” and a “right spirit” within men, and that is faith in Jesus Christ, His cleansing blood, His atoning death, His victorious resurrection.

            The most vital message in human history is this:  God decreed that as punishment for our sin, Christ would die to bring us back to God, to everlasting forgiveness and the never-ending mercies of heaven.  Cherish it and trust it.  It is a gift.  You can’t earn it.  Repent of your unfaithfulness and putting trust in the wrong things.  Find forgiveness and peace in the arms ever outstretched to the contrite sinner.

            We pray the Spirit of God may rest upon our 345 million people and our 350,000 churches.  May we be equipped through daily study of God’s Word.  May Christ dwell in our churches and be servants of God and not servants of man.  May they know nothing else “save Jesus Christ and Him crucified.”  We pray for continued freedom of conscience and worship, which his Word grants.  We ask all of this, that we may have by God’s promise, that righteousness that will assuredly exalt this nation.

                                                                                                Amen.           

June 28, 2026                                                                                Text:  Jeremiah 28:5-9

Dear Friends in Christ,

            In my almost 35 years as a Pastor I have seen many so-called new movements pop in cultural Christianity.  These have ranged from Promise Keepers to the contemporary worship movement to The Purpose Driven Life and to “What Would Jesus Do?”  Everybody is out to save the world for Jesus – with conflicting theologies and goals.  In the book Dining With the Devil, a book now over 30 years old, but still relevant, Os Guinness wrote this, “The problem is not that Christians have disappeared, but that Christian faith has become so deformed.”

            What to believe.  More importantly, who to believe.  In our text, this is the quandary.  Is it Jeremiah or is it Hananiah?  Who has the message of God? 

“WILL THE REAL PROPHET PLEASE STAND UP”

            We need to understand the background.  The time of our text is prior to 586 B.C. and the fall and captivity of Jerusalem by the hands of the Babylonians.  God sent Jeremiah to warn the people of Jerusalem’s impending destruction and their captivity as a result of their Godlessness, refusal to listen to the Word of God and rebellion.  Into Jeremiah’s clear prophecies stepped false prophets who were telling the people they could have the “good life” here and now.  One of those charlatans was Hananiah.  Here is a portion of his lie from the beginning of chapter 28:

            “Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel:  ‘I have broken the yoke of the king of Babylon.  Within two years I will bring back to this place all the vessels of the Lord’s house, which Nebuchadnezzar took away…I will also bring back to this place Jeconiah…king of Judah, and all the exiles from Judah who went to Babylon, declares the Lord, for I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon.’”  (Jer. 28:2-4)

            Nice sentiments.  But they were all lies.  Hananiah was a deceiver.  He wanted to win the approval and following of humans.  He fed them what they wanted to hear.  Our text is Jeremiah’s response to this delusional man.  He said:

            “May the Lord do so; may the Lord make the words that you have prophesied come true…Yet hear now this word that I speak in your hearing and the hearing of all the people.  The prophets who preceded you and me from ancient times prophesied war, famine, and pestilence against many countries and great kingdoms.  As for the prophet who prophecies peace, when the word of that prophet came to pass, then it will be known that the Lord has truly sent the prophet.” (v. 6-9).  Will the Real Prophet Please Stand Up.

            As you already know, nothing that Hananiah “prophesied” came to pass.  He was, as most of Israel was, ignorant of God’s Word. 

            Now, here are the questions:  Do you think anything has really changed?  Do you think that everyone who cries out the name ‘Jesus’, writes a book and prances around a stage in the name of Jesus is really from Jesus?  Do you think this world really has a chance to become better and attain peace by itself? 

            The peace the world offers is peace of mind through possessions and a secure financial future.  The peace the world offers is through tolerance and political correctness.  If we buy into these, we are following the wrong prophet.

            God’s Word shows the falseness of this peace.  Possessions can become insecure.  Glossing over hatreds and jealousies can never bring peace as long as sin remains. 

            God gives a peace we can believe in through his Word.  His final word through Jeremiah announced hope for the future.  God promised a new covenant.  Jesus is the Messiah who established the new covenant and has given us true peace.  Born of the line of David, Jesus’ death and resurrection has defeated sin, death, and the devil and given us true peace.  We can be at peace with God and others.  We don’t want the false peace being spouted by others. 

            Let’s tell the false prophets to please sit down.  We don’t want your prosperous life falsehoods.  We don’t want your false separation of church and state, and secular teachings.  We don’t want the tearing down of God’s Word.  Isaiah wrote this, “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!  Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes.” (Is. 5:20-21)

            Os Guinness was right.  The Christian faith is deformed.  Little flock, let’s hear the Word of God and inwardly digest.  For in it is truly comfort and hope and peace.  All of it directs us to the true prophet Jesus the Christ.

                                                                                    Amen.      

June 14, 2026                                                               Text:  Romans 5:6-11

Dear Friends in Christ,

            Are you a demonstrator?  I have been alive for 7 decades – 1960’s to the 2020’s.  what have people demonstrated for?  In the 1960’s some of you might have been burning your draft cards and bras or marching for civil rights and against Vietnam.  In the 1970’s it was Vietnam still, also inflation and Watergate.  The 1980’s brought Apartheid, aids, Iran-Contra and in Europe the great demonstrations against Communism.  The Million Man March and WTO protests were in the 1990’s.  In the 2000’s people took to the streets against the Iraq War and the never-ending problems of the Middle East.  2010’s was social change and climate change.  And now so far in the 2020’s people get off their couch to demonstrate against police overreach, racial injustice, the 2020 election and all things Trump.  And the one I have been a part of…Pro-Life demonstrations.  So, yes I will answer in the affirmative to being a demonstrator.  How about you?

            Let’s be honest.  The greatest demonstration occurred on Golgotha and at the open tomb.  God knew that the only way humankind could be rescued from sin and death was the death of His beloved Son.  He demonstrated this by sending Jesus into the world to live the perfect life and lay down his life for us.  What a demonstration. 

“GRACE IS DEMONSTRATED”

            We do not deserve God’s grace.  Maybe we question if we should even be saying grace.  In our text we are called “weak” and “ungodly.”  We have ingrained in our hearts and minds a moral weakness.  Haven’t you ever said something like this, “I was so weak there.  I have to do better.”  Because of our inherited sin and the daily consequences of our thoughts and actions, we are incapable of getting God to love us or earn forgiveness and salvation.

            This demonstration of grace is highlighted in verse 7.  “For one will scarcely die for a righteous person though perhaps for a good person one would dare to even die.”  We understand the concept.  We find it easier to help people that we like or who share our values and faith.  This is wonderful proof of God’s love.  Look at the world He was willing to die for.  It is filled and always has been with not so good human beings.

            Then we get to my favorite verse.  Law and Gospel.  It is the verse on our church website and notecards.  Again, we translate it accordingly, “But God demonstrates his love for us in that while were still sinners, Christ died for us.”  (v. 8).  Not only words of grace, but deeds of grace.  People like to hear “I love you” from us, but they also want us to demonstrate that love.  We help out, we take time, we show our loved ones the love that we possess because of Christ.  Our demonstration of love can be powerful, but it in no way compares to what God has demonstrated.

            God’s demonstration of grace was like no other demonstration.  When God demonstrated His grace, it cost Him His only Son.  Christ demonstrated His grace through his humiliation.  “Born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried.”  We are now reconciled to God.  The barrier of sin has been removed.  We have been “justified by his blood.”  We are no longer in our sin because of God’s work for us.

His rising from the dead has secured our salvation, now and forever. 

            So forgiven Christian believer that is going to heaven, you are free to demonstrate.  Be a demonstrator in your daily life.  March onward as a Christian soldier.  Pick up your cross and demonstrate what Christ has done in your lives.  Don’t be afraid to be a branch because you are connected to the vine.  Take the grace initiative and show love to others.  Demonstrate sacrificial action in a God-pleasing way.

            As seen by the beginning of this sermon, we are a nation of demonstrators.  I gave you just a few.  I could have listed many more.  Have your words and deeds been demonstrating your gratitude?  What kind of demonstrating have you been doing?  The Holy Spirit empowers and energizes us through Word and Sacrament to demonstrate daily God’s grace to us and for us.  Let the demonstrations begin!

                                                                                                            Amen.            

June 7, 2026                                                                                   Text:  Matthew 9:9-13

Dear Friends in Christ,

            I ran across this recently on the internet, “11 things to look for in a Pastor.”  I will share a few you might enjoy.  “Should know Greek and Hebrew, makes him sound like he knows something about the Bible.” “Diehard NFL fan.  Gets you out of church by noon.”  “Must enjoy a wide variety of casseroles.”  “Willingness to preach boldly against sins you don’t personally commit.”  “Must be friendly and always available, but not all up in your business.”  “Is a man.  This one’s non-negotiable.”  And this last one, “No more than 6 disqualifying sins in his past.”

            That last one might be a little hard for our main character today – Matthew.  Let’s see what made him such a bad candidate for the ministry.  He is an IRS man of his day.  Despised by the people.  He probably gouged people to line his own pockets.  His Jewish name was Levi.  Being from the tribe of Levi made him eligible for the priesthood, but he goes in almost the complete other direction.  Could this have caused him to despise himself?  We better put this guy into the “do not call” pile.

            But you see we are not doing the call.  Jesus is running this show.  He sees something in this publican that the world does not.  Jesus understands this is . . .

“THE CALL OF THE IMPERFECT”

            The text begins, “As Jesus passed on from there, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, ‘Follow me.’  And he rose and followed him.” (v. 9). Like many of the other disciples called, Matthew just gets up and followed.  I am always amazed at this dedication.  He may have known of Jesus’ ministry and Jesus had just come from healing the paralytic, but this imperfect man still was able to get on board.

            “And as Jesus reclined at table in the house, behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and were reclining with Jesus and his disciples.  And when the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, ‘Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners.?’” (vs. 10-11).  During this time in history, sharing a meal was as important as sharing life itself.  The Pharisees who thought their own righteousness made them right with God, could not stomach Jesus’ table fellowship with these imperfect people.

            Jesus is ready with the answer for the imperfect.  “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.  Go and learn what this means, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’  For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.” (vs. 12-13).  Jesus is telling these pompous Pharisees to go back to school.  They did not see that mercy was the point of God’s work.  Hosea condemned the same thing with Israel in our Old Testament Lesson.  He told them to “return to the Lord…I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.” (Hos. 6:1a, 6).

            We are imperfect people called to follow the Savior.  “I believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or come to him.”  These words in our Catechism show the language of repentance.  We have no merit or worthiness to make a decision for Jesus.  The Holy Spirit has called us by the Gospel.  The perfect man died and rose for the imperfect Matthew and the imperfect you and I. 

            Matthew talked and ate with Jesus.  We have this same presence with Jesus.  Word and Sacrament.  The preaching of the Gospel and the eating of Jesus’ body and blood.  Basic elements of human existence but raised to a higher level by the presence of Christ.

            The church is not just a collection of people.  It is a hospital filled with sick, sick people.  Our doctor knows what horrible thoughts and actions can come from the patients.  He knows we need Him.  We need a Physician for our imperfections.  We need a Savior for our sickness.  We need the Lamb of God for our lethargy.  We need a Redeemer for our restless heart.  Speak to me Doctor.

            When He speaks we hear the call of the imperfect.  We join Matthew, Peter, and John and the other imperfects in our calling.   David Burgess wrote this, “In the future, the most important test of the Christian church may not lie in the wisdom of our planning or the skill of our preaching but in the plain, stubborn, devoted commitment of people like ourselves, who are not wise enough or good enough to deserve the name of Christians but who resolve to follow Christ in everything we do.”

                                                                                    Amen.