August 10, 2025 Texts: Genesis 15:1-6, Hebrews 11:1-16
Dear Friends in Christ,
Good Shepherd Lutheran Church of Bloomington IL was officially thirty years old on February 19th. The church has been existence half of Toni and I’s life. We have been under the auspices of a gracious and benevolent God. We have a wonderful church building and God-Blessed people. But we don’t measure the progress of Good Shepherd by the ornateness of her building, the size of the parking lot, the social standing of her members or how many donuts have been consumed. Her advancement is measured by the faith of her members. How do we quantify faith? Faith is an active verb.
We see that in our two texts this morning. In the person of Abraham, we get a glimpse of what faith is all about. God’s Word will help us to see . . . .
“GOOD SHEPHERD’S PROGRESS”
While only thirty years old, Good Shepherd’s progress stretches back over 4,000 years. Our existence as a Christian congregation is rooted in the faith of Abraham. Paul says in Romans we are his spiritual descendants. We share in his legacy. Good Shepherd’s progress is advanced every time one of its members reaches out in faith, when they refute the teaching of the world and the doubters, when they worship and study God’s Word together. The will of the Creator is done when we remain faithful to the Scriptures and Lutheran Confessions.
This Creator would be Abraham’s shield and great reward. Abraham was doubting that God could give him one son, God promised him a whole host of offspring. He also promised one descendant would save the rest of the offspring. While we cling to our small thinking and sorry solutions, God has Christ and His countless blessings showered upon us.
Trusting in this, God’s more wonderful plans, we have the greater blessing, Christ’s own righteousness. What fuels the Church? Put another way, what is it that motivates, sustains, and activates the Church of Christ? It is God himself who provides the catalyst for our actions. God told Abraham what he was going to do, and Abraham believed it and it was counted to him as righteousness. It is this same faith that motivates us.
Do you ever consider what a miracle you are sitting here this morning? It is not natural to get dressed up and come to worship. To sacrifice your talents and earthly goods for a Savior the world makes fun of. You and I are part of the invisible church of all times and places. God has called us “out of darkness into His marvelous light.” Don’t think miracles still exist. Point to yourself, your faith is a miracle.
Hebrews 11:1 states, “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” That is the story of Abraham. Remember we said earlier faith is living and active. Look at all the action verbs when the writer of Hebrews talks about Abraham. Here is a list: obeyed, go out, went out, by faith, he went to live, looking forward, greeted them. All of this moved Abraham toward his ultimate goal. “But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.”
Good Shepherd’s progress is moving us toward this heavenly city. We have not been overwhelmed with funerals, having just over 75, averaging about 2 1/2 a year. But these saints who have gone before us have reached the better country, the golden city. We stand on their shoulders, and we continue the progress they laid down.
We also warn of the danger this day. Some have been making progress, believed the Lord and then almost in an instant the faith valve stopped flowing. Did they struggle to believe the promise? Could they not see past their problems? We pray for them. Maybe it’s a struggle. Could it be they have some shame and it’s hard to come back? We stand in this pulpit, and I think you all agree, we want to welcome you back to your church home. We want to walk alongside you again in faith. We want the Good Shepherd Progress to be done together.
Good Shepherd’s Progress depends on God in faith. Good Shepherd’s Progress is a faith in Christ Jesus that all God’s promises are true. Good Shepherd’s Progress is that we are right with God, possessing all the blessings Christ’s death and resurrection earned. Good Shepherd’s Progress is ongoing until we receive the heavenly inheritance.
Amen.

August 3, 2025 Text: Luke 12:13-21

Dear Friends in Christ,
In some parts of South Africa, farmers are frequently plagued by monkeys who destroy their corn crops in a very deliberate yet foolish way. These monkeys, similar to baboons, walk along the rows of corn and rip off a corncob, place it under one arm, and then proceed to the next corn plant. Again, they’ll rip its cob off, and this one they’ll place under the other arm. But they are not content with the two cobs they already have under their arms. They want more, and so they continue with their task at ripping off cobs and placing them under their arms, only to lose those they already have tucked away. One can imagine the chaos these monkeys leave behind with all the cobs lying scattered on the field – and for what?
Do we ever act like these monkeys? Do we ever amass things that we cannot keep? What we have are wonderful gifts from God. We are the most blessed people in the whole world. Look at the trillions of dollars that are going from one generation to another generation in the next twenty years. The world has never, ever seen anything like this. Today’s text is a prime opportunity to analyze how we look at what we have been given. In our use of possessions are we . . .
“PRUDENT OR POSSESIVE?”
Was the man in our text who asked Jesus to mediate the inheritance being prudent or possessive? Wasn’t he just trying to get what was rightfully his? Or did he want a bigger share that wasn’t fair? The way he phrases his question may give us a hint. “Tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” (v. 13b). His desire is distracting him from the teaching of Jesus. Was this fella prudent or possessive?
He came by his wealth honestly. There needed to be a plan for the extra crops. Prudence demands that we plan for the future. Toni and I have started looking toward retirement and I know many of you have been through this as well. One question you get asked is phrased like this: “What is the goal for your money?” My answer was, “first class airfare to Australia.” It should have been “what can we give to the Lord.” When I have held my paycheck over the years to pay other church bills, I always want to make sure we have enough for our weekly offering. That’s it. It is really that simple. Is that how you see it? God wants you using your wisdom and interest rates, to be good stewards. But it must always start with the idea that is His money, not ours.
The first-person pronouns indicate the man’s desire. It was about himself. That is the huge danger for the average American. Listen to our speech. It is all first-person pronouns. Get a tax refund – “what can I do with it?” Get an inheritance – “What can I do with this money?” Our motives can be more possessive than prudent.
Jesus goes beyond the surface and takes it to a more frightening level. Is this rich fool not just possessive but possessed by his possessions? Are these things his god?
Why are gambling and e-trading and gold and crypto so big in our society? Because people always want more. Our consumer-oriented society slams it in our face. Do you remember the days when only the rich flew on airplanes? You can’t get on a plane today that isn’t full. In a financial roundtable that was watched this week, they said that salaries are up 40% since the days of Covid. Some of that is balanced out by higher inflation over the last five years. Prudent or possessive?
Well, you are not rich fools I pray, so you know the answer and where it is found. Jesus Christ. He gave up the riches of heaven and became poor, so that through His poverty we might become truly rich. That is foolishness to the world, but wisdom of God that has saved you and me.
You became Christ’s possession in your baptism. Adopted into His family. Clothed with His righteousness so that you can put God ahead of possessions. You receive the riches of His cross in the Lord’s Supper.
When we are possessed by Christ and His Gospel, then we begin to see all that we have as a gift. We use some for our pleasure – “eat, drink, and be merry” – but we also use it for God’s glory and in service to our neighbor. This is our mission – to “set our minds on things above, not on earthly things.”
Prudence or possessive? Prudence looks beyond possessions, where moth and rust destroy, to the riches of heaven. In Christ and through the Holy Spirit, we hang on to the real treasures of forgiveness, salvation, and eternal life. Christ has earned them for us. It is all from Him. Remember that and this part of life makes sense.
Amen.

July 27, 2025 Text: Colossians 2:6-15

Dear Friends in Christ,

How much debt do you have? If you are the average American household, you have a mortgage, student and auto loans and credit card debt that averages $105, 056. Generation X has the biggest debt. Generation Z has the lowest. What do you think about that?
Other than when we first purchased our house, we have not lived with a bunch of debt. But the Lord sent us to a church where that is all we have been living under. It has been a burden. Less money for missions. Church projects delayed etc. Don’t wiggle in your pew, this sermon isn’t about money. Though I would love to see this church with no debt before I ride off into retirement.
Consumer debt can bring a mixture of shame, depression, frustration, anger, anxiety. Wouldn’t it be great if that debt just went away?
Our focus today is on spiritual debt. It too can bring shame, depression, frustration, anger and anxiety. Wouldn’t it be great if it just went away? It would be a blessing to have a…
“DEBT PAYER”
No doubt we live in a strange world. I just read of man who was looking for trouble, so he decided to cut in front of a car just to provoke a fight. The thing is the car he decided to cut off was an unmarked police car. Let’s be careful out there.
That story is not an isolated incident. Satan is using people and circumstances to try to devour us. Peter tells us that he prowls like a roaring lion, and we must resist him and stand firm in the faith. (1 Peter 5:8-9) Let’s tie that word RESIST into the opening verses of our text. “Therefore, just as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.” (v. 6-7). The only way to resist the attempts of Satan is to nurture the connection with Christ. So how do we handle Satan? How do we overcome this spiritual debt?
We start by lessening our focus on the debt. We get caught up in philosophy and empty deceit. We convince ourselves that we can pay the debt. We can stand strong against the devil’s advances. But we labor under the shame and frustration of not being able to do anything. We lose the focus. It should be on the debt payer. Without Jesus, the debt cannot be paid. Following the world just leads us deeper into the abyss.
Do you remember this story? Dr. Jerome Frank was a professor of psychiatry at Johns Hopkins University. Years ago, when bombs on board planes were an occasional occurrence and security checkpoints were not even there, he flew on an airplane. He sat next to a man and started a conversation. The man’s mother-in-law had been on a flight where someone smuggled a bomb on, but it didn’t go off. He could not shake the idea that his plane could have a bomb. Dr. Frank asked him how he handled that.
He told Dr. Frank that he went to therapy to help him with this fear. He was told there was only a 1 in 10,000 chance that someone on board would have a bomb. He didn’t like the odds. He then stated this to Dr. Frank. “I reasoned that if there was only 1 chance in 10,000 of a bomb on my plane, there was only 1 chance in 100 million that two bombs would be on board. I could live with those odds.” Dr. Frank said, “But what good does that do?” He replied, “Ever since, I carry one bomb on myself – just to improve the odds!”
Isn’t that the insanity of the world? We trust in ourselves above the Living God. We are human timebombs crawling all over ourselves trying to improve the odds. Paranoia is the living companion of far too many. Debt, Satan, whatever is driving the world insane.
In steps the debt payer. Sent by God. The record of your debt of sin was set aside, when Jesus became the focus of God’s attention as the one paying your debt. He nailed that notice to the cross by doing this in verse 14, “canceling the record of debt.” The record of your debt of sin was nailed to the cross with Jesus. There it died. The proof is in the resurrection of the debt payer. Verse 13 says that “God made alive.” We can hardly escape debt and certainly can’t escape death. But God accepted the debt payer Jesus’ payment made for us and raised him from the dead. Through faith in Jesus, you also have been raised to live a debt-free life.
You know it’s going on my tombstone – he never paid a finance charge. Financially, I almost have a perfect credit score. But more importantly and the same goes for you, we have no debt, no finance charge, a perfect credit score when it comes to our spiritual books. No burdens. Living for Christ in forgiveness and eternal hope.
Amen.

July 20, 2025 Text: Genesis 18:1-14

Dear Friends in Christ,

Stress relief from laughter? It’s no joke. In the short-term laughter stimulates intake of oxygen rich air, helps the heart, lungs, muscles, and brain. It cools down your stress response and gives you a good, relaxed feeling. Long-term laughter improves your immune system, relieves pain, helps cope with difficult situations and improves mood.
Today we are going to join Sarah in laughter. God doesn’t think it is all that funny. But why? Let’s smile at what the Lord can do as we are reminded . . .
“STRESS RELIEF FROM LAUGHTER? IT’S NO JOKE”
The phrase “last laugh” developed out of a play entitled, Christmas Prince, first performed in Cambridge, England in 1608: “He who laughs last laughs longest.” In 1924, a German film had the title Last Laugh. A doorman at a famous hotel is demoted to washroom attendant and suffers scornful laughter. But what happens is a wealthy patron dies in his arms in the bathroom and leaves his fortune to the demoted attendant, who gets the last laugh.
Before we get to the laughing in our text, let’s set the scene. Abraham believed what God had told him that he would be the father of many nations, but first he had to be a father. He laughed when God first told him, but he believed in joy it would happen. Three visitors come to Abraham. Who are they? One is the Lord, a preincarnate Christ, the other two are angels. Abraham serves as the host to these men. They need food and water because in the midday of the Middle East temps can reach 120 degrees. Abraham shows great respect.
But why did these men come? Because Sarah needed to hear God’s promise. Strangers normally would not inquire of one’s wife in this culture, but then, this is God who is inquiring! He wants to get Sarah’s attention.
God tells Abraham that him and Sarah will have a son. Sarah overhears and laughs. This is a cynical chuckle, like the pitcher who gives up three home runs in a row and just laughs because he can’t believe it. Sarah knows her age and post-menopausal condition. She thinks this is a joke. God notices. He asks Abraham why his wife is laughing. Then says, “Is anything too hard for the Lord?” Well, is it?
Sarah had been beaten down. Trying and praying for decades to have a child. She observed other women having children, including her servant Hagar. She remained barren and became bitter. This affected how she heard God’s Word. She laughed at it.
Do you feel beat down by unmet expectations? Your marriage, children or other family members haven’t been what you hoped for? Your job, goals, and aspirations haven’t panned out? You’ve seen a healthy retirement ruined by injury or illness.
Like Sarah, we laugh at God’s promises. We question if God can work in our life. We think we know better than Him. Satan can have us questioning the promises of God.
There is no Word too wonderful for God. Stress relief from laughter? It’s no joke. God said “Let there be” and creation was formed out of nothing. God’s Word brought faith to Sarah. He confronts Sarah with her lying in verse 15. God’s Word brought not only conception but faith too. Listen to this from Hebrews: “By faith Sarah herself received power to conceive, even when she was past the age, since she considered him faithful who had promised.” (Heb. 11:11). The child, Isaac, carried the seed of the Messiah, Jesus. “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us.” He would crush Satan’s head and bless all nations. Jesus perfect life has reconciled us to the Father. This should bring us joy and great laughter. It’s no joke, it’s stress relief.
A year ago, this God-ordained laughter gave some of us stress relief when we were stuck in the Charlotte airport on our way back from Germany. Six people were at O’Hare waiting, 10 of us were in Charlotte. From 2 p.m. to after midnight, we changed gates at least five times. People were everywhere. Our plane had to come from another city. Even when we boarded, we sat there for almost an hour. If you didn’t laugh at this point, you would cry. We had all been going for almost 24 hours. We finally lifted off, made it to Chicago and got the pleasure of seeing an empty airport in one of the busiest places on earth. The final laugh came later that day when we learned that the whole airport system was shut down because of a computer glitch. We had to be one of the last airplanes landing in the world that night. I say it all the time, God makes me laugh. What a blessing.
God’s promise came true. Then the laughter really came. Isaac was born, and his name means “he laughed” or “laughter”. We have been laughing with Abraham and Sarah ever since. Laughing for the wonderful and powerful message of God’s Word. That night in Charlotte we trusted God’s Word. God’s Word gets the last and longest laugh. That’s no joke.
Amen.