Series: Pentecost

Sermon Date: November 17, 2024

Grab your bible and let’s look at Matthew 7:15-19; John 8:44; 2 Corinthians 11:3-5, 13-15; 1 John 4:1-5

Sermon Date: November 10, 2024

Mark 12:38-44
“³⁸ In the course of his teaching he said, “Beware of the scribes, who like to go around in long robes and accept greetings in the marketplaces, ³⁹ seats of honor in synagogues, and places of honor at banquets. ⁴⁰ They devour the houses of widows and, as a pretext, recite lengthy prayers. They will receive a very severe condemnation.” ⁴¹ He sat down opposite the treasury and observed how the crowd put money into the treasury. Many rich people put in large sums. ⁴² A poor widow also came and put in two small coins worth a few cents. ⁴³ Calling his disciples to himself, he said to them, “Amen, I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all the other contributors to the treasury. ⁴⁴ For they have all contributed from their surplus wealth, but she, from her poverty, has contributed all she had, her whole livelihood.”

Sermon Date: November 3, 2024

Romans 6:1-11
“¹ What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase? ² Far from it! How shall we who died to sin still live in it? ³ Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? ⁴ Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too may walk in newness of life. ⁵ For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection, ⁶ knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; ⁷ for the one who has died is freed from sin. ⁸ Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, ⁹ knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, is never to die again; death no longer is master over Him. ¹⁰ For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all time; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. ¹¹ So you too, consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus.”

Acts 20:24
“²⁴ But I do not consider my life of any account as dear to myself, so that I may finish my course and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify solemnly of the gospel of God’s grace.”

Hebrews 12:1-2
“¹ Therefore, since we also have such a great cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let’s rid ourselves of every obstacle and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let’s run with endurance the race that is set before us, ² looking only at Jesus, the originator and perfecter of the faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

2 Timothy 4:7-8
“⁷ I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith; ⁸ in the future there is reserved for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing.”

1 Corinthians 9:24
“²⁴ Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win.”

Psalm 27:4
“⁴ One thing I have asked from the Lord, that I shall seek: That I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord and to meditate in His temple.”

Sermon Date: October 27, 2024

Matthew 1:21-23
“²¹ She will give birth to a Son; and you shall name Him Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.” ²² Now all this took place so that what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet would be fulfilled: ²³ “Behold, the virgin will conceive and give birth to a Son, and they shall name Him Immanuel,” which translated means, “God with us.”

Mark 1:14-15
“¹⁴ Now after John was taken into custody, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, ¹⁵ and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”

John 10:10
“¹⁰ The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came so that they would have life, and have it abundantly.”

Romans 5:6-8
“⁶ For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. ⁷ For one will hardly die for a righteous person; though perhaps for the good person someone would even dare to die. ⁸ But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

2 Corinthians 5:17
“¹⁷ Therefore if anyone is in Christ, this person is a new creation; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.”

Romans 12:1-2
“¹ Therefore I urge you, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. ² And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.”

Luther’s first of the 95 theses:
1. When our Lord and Master Jesus Christ said, “Repent” [Matthew 4:17], he willed the entire life of believers to be one of repentance.

Sermon Date: October 20, 2024

Mark 10:23-31
“²³ And Jesus, looking around, said to His disciples, “How hard it will be for those who are wealthy to enter the kingdom of God!” ²⁴ And the disciples were amazed at His words. But Jesus responded again and said to them, “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! ²⁵ It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” ²⁶ And they were even more astonished, and said to Him, “Then who can be saved?” ²⁷ Looking at them, Jesus said, “With people it is impossible, but not with God; for all things are possible with God.” ²⁸ Peter began to say to Him, “Behold, we have left everything and have followed You.” ²⁹ Jesus said, “Truly I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or farms, for My sake and for the gospel’s sake, ³⁰ but that he will receive a hundred times as much now in the present age, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and farms, along with persecutions; and in the age to come, eternal life. ³¹ But many who are first will be last, and the last, first.”

Hebrews 4:14-16
“¹⁴ Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let’s hold firmly to our confession. ¹⁵ For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things just as we are, yet without sin. ¹⁶ Therefore let’s approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace for help at the time of our need.”

Hebrews 2:12-18
“¹² I will proclaim Your name to My brothers, In the midst of the assembly I will sing Your praise.” ¹³ And again, “I will put My trust in Him.” And again, “Behold, I and the children whom God has given Me.” ¹⁴ Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, so that through death He might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, ¹⁵ and free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives. ¹⁶ For clearly He does not give help to angels, but He gives help to the descendants of Abraham. ¹⁷ Therefore, in all things He had to be made like His brothers so that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. ¹⁸ For since He Himself was tempted in that which He has suffered, He is able to come to the aid of those who are tempted.”

Sermon Date: October 13, 2024

Amos 5:6-7, 10-15
“⁶ Seek the Lord so that you may live, Or He will break through like a fire, house of Joseph, And it will consume with no one to extinguish it for Bethel, ⁷ For those who turn justice into wormwood, And throw righteousness to the earth.”

“^5:10 They hate him who rebukes in the gate, And they despise him who speaks with integrity. ¹¹ Therefore because you impose heavy rent on the poor And take a tribute of grain from them, Though you have built houses of cut stone, Yet you will not live in them; You have planted beautiful vineyards, yet you will not drink their wine. ¹² For I know your offenses are many and your sins are great, You who are hostile to the righteous and accept bribes, And turn away the poor from justice at the gate. ¹³ Therefore at such a time the prudent person keeps quiet, because it is an evil time. ¹⁴ Seek good and not evil, so that you may live; And so may the Lord God of armies be with you, Just as you have said! ¹⁵ Hate evil, love good, And establish justice in the gate! Perhaps the Lord God of armies Will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.”

Hebrews 3:12-19
“¹² Take care, brothers and sisters, that there will not be in any one of you an evil, unbelieving heart that falls away from the living God. ¹³ But encourage one another every day, as long as it is still called “today,” so that none of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. ¹⁴ For we have become partakers of Christ if we keep the beginning of our commitment firm until the end, ¹⁵ while it is said, “Today if you hear His voice, Do not harden your hearts, as when they provoked Me.” ¹⁶ For who provoked Him when they had heard? Indeed, did not all those who came out of Egypt led by Moses? ¹⁷ And with whom was He angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose dead bodies fell in the wilderness? ¹⁸ And to whom did He swear that they would not enter His rest, but to those who were disobedient? ¹⁹ And so we see that they were not able to enter because of unbelief.”

Mark 10:17-22
“¹⁷ As He was setting out on a journey, a man ran up to Him and knelt before Him, and asked Him, “Good Teacher, what shall I do so that I may inherit eternal life?” ¹⁸ But Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good except God alone. ¹⁹ You know the commandments: ‘Do not murder, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not give false testimony, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother.’” ²⁰ And he said to Him, “Teacher, I have kept all these things from my youth.” ²¹ Looking at him, Jesus showed love to him and said to him, “One thing you lack: go and sell all you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” ²² But he was deeply dismayed by these words, and he went away grieving; for he was one who owned much property.”

Sermon Date: October 6, 2024

Luke 1:26-38, 46-55
“²⁶ Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city in Galilee named Nazareth, ²⁷ to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the descendants of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary. ²⁸ And coming in, he said to her, “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.” ²⁹ But she was very perplexed at this statement, and was pondering what kind of greeting this was. ³⁰ And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. ³¹ And behold, you will conceive in your womb and give birth to a son, and you shall name Him Jesus. ³² He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David; ³³ and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end.” ³⁴ But Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?” ³⁵ The angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; for that reason also the holy Child will be called the Son of God. ³⁶ And behold, even your relative Elizabeth herself has conceived a son in her old age, and she who was called infertile is now in her sixth month. ³⁷ For nothing will be impossible with God.” ³⁸ And Mary said, “Behold, the Lord’s bond-servant; may it be done to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.”

“⁴⁶ And Mary said: “My soul exalts the Lord, ⁴⁷ And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior. ⁴⁸ For He has had regard for the humble state of His bond-servant; For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed. ⁴⁹ For the Mighty One has done great things for me; And holy is His name. ⁵⁰ And His mercy is to generation after generation Toward those who fear Him. ⁵¹ He has done mighty deeds with His arm; He has scattered those who were proud in the thoughts of their hearts. ⁵² He has brought down rulers from their thrones, And has exalted those who were humble. ⁵³ He has filled the hungry with good things, And sent the rich away empty-handed. ⁵⁴ He has given help to His servant Israel, In remembrance of His mercy, ⁵⁵ Just as He spoke to our fathers, To Abraham and his descendants forever.”

Galatians 3:26-28
“²⁶ For you are all sons and daughters of God through faith in Christ Jesus. ²⁷ For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. ²⁸ There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”

Sermon Date: September 29, 2024

Genesis 2:15-17
“¹⁵ Then the Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to cultivate it and tend it. ¹⁶ The Lord God commanded the man, saying, ‘From any tree of the garden you may freely eat; ¹⁷ but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for on the day that you eat from it you will certainly die.'”

Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John all describe Jesus’ crucifixion on the tree of the cross

Galatians 3:13
“¹³ Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us — for it is written: ‘Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree.'”

Psalm 1
“¹ Blessed is the person who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, Nor stand in the path of sinners, Nor sit in the seat of scoffers! ² But his delight is in the Law of the Lord, And on His Law he meditates day and night. ³ He will be like a tree planted by streams of water, Which yields its fruit in its season, And its leaf does not wither; And in whatever he does, he prospers. ⁴ The wicked are not so, But they are like chaff which the wind blows away. ⁵ Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, Nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous. ⁶ For the Lord knows the way of the righteous, But the way of the wicked will perish.”

Jeremiah 17:5-8
“⁵ This is what the Lord says: ‘Cursed is the man who trusts in mankind And makes flesh his strength, And whose heart turns away from the Lord. ⁶ For he will be like a bush in the desert, And will not see when prosperity comes, But will live in stony wastes in the wilderness, A land of salt that is not inhabited. ⁷ Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, And whose trust is the Lord. ⁸ For he will be like a tree planted by the water That extends its roots by a stream, And does not fear when the heat comes; But its leaves will be green, And it will not be anxious in a year of drought, Nor cease to yield fruit.'”

Colossians 2:6-8
“⁶ Therefore, as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, ⁷ having been firmly rooted and now being built up in Him and established in your faith, just as you were instructed, and overflowing with gratitude. ⁸ See to it that there is no one who takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception in accordance with human tradition, in accordance with the elementary principles of the world, rather than in accordance with Christ.”

Ephesians 3:17-19
“¹⁷ … so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, ¹⁸ may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and height and depth, ¹⁹ and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled to all the fullness of God.”

Galatians 5:19-26
“¹⁹ Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: sexual immorality, impurity, indecent behavior, ²⁰ idolatry, witchcraft, hostilities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions, ²¹ envy, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. ²² But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³ gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. ²⁴ Now those who belong to Christ Jesus crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. ²⁵ If we live by the Spirit, let’s follow the Spirit as well. ²⁶ Let’s not become boastful, challenging one another, envying one another.”

Revelation 22:1-5
“¹ And he (one of the angels) showed me a river of the water of life, clear as crystal, coming from the throne of God and of the Lamb, ² in the middle of its street. On either side of the river was the tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit every month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. ³ There will no longer be any curse; and the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and His bond-servants will serve Him; ⁴ they will see His face, and His name will be on their foreheads. ⁵ And there will no longer be any night; and they will not have need of the light of a lamp nor the light of the sun, because the Lord God will illuminate them; and they will reign forever and ever.”

Sermon Date: September 22, 2024

Mark 9:33-37
“³³ They came to Capernaum; and when He was in the house, He began to question them: “What were you discussing on the way?” ³⁴ But they kept silent, for on the way they had discussed with one another which of them was the greatest. ³⁵ And sitting down, He called the twelve and *said to them, “If anyone wants to be first, he shall be last of all and servant of all.” ³⁶ And He took a child and placed him among them, and taking him in His arms, He said to them, ³⁷ “Whoever receives one child like this in My name receives Me; and whoever receives Me does not receive Me, but Him who sent Me.”

Philippians 2:1-4
“¹ Therefore if there is any encouragement in Christ, if any consolation of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and compassion, ² make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose. ³ Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility consider one another as more important than yourselves; ⁴ do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.”

Galatians 5:26
“Let’s not become boastful, challenging one another, envying one another.”

Romans 12:10
“Be devoted to one another in brotherly love; give preference to one another in honor …”

Ephesians 5:21
“… and subject yourselves to one another in the fear of Christ.”

Romans 12:16
“Be of the same mind toward one another; do not be haughty …”