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March 7, 2025

Broadcast

                      Lent: Seeing Jesus - Part 5
                              Luke 18:34
                              03/07/2025


        34   But they understood none of these things. This
             saying was hidden from them, and they did not
             grasp what was said.  (ESV)

        Jesus told the disciples what was to happen during the
   Passover in Jerusalem, how He would accomplish that which had
   been foretold by the prophets in the Old Testament.  ``But they
   understood none of these things. This saying was hidden from
   them, and they did not grasp what was said.''

        Traditionally, Lent is a time where we give up something
   which is precious, something which is delightful, so to remember
   that Jesus allowed Himself to be tortured, humiliated, and killed
   to redeem us from sin, death, and the power of the devil.  Our
   Lenten deprivations are to remind us that Jesus was deprived of
   His glory as the Son of God, and of His life as true man.

        Not all who bear the name Christian understand the
   importance of Lent.  Like the disciples, the message of the
   suffering and death of Jesus is hidden by the promise of the
   glory of victory.

        We preach Christ crucified.  Although the disciples were
   blind to the truth Jesus spoke, later they understood that the
   death and resurrection of Jesus is the only true message which
   brings hope to a sin-darkened world.  This is the message you
   hear each Sunday morning at 9:00 a.m. at Trinity Lutheran Church.
   This is the message you hear each Wednesday during Lent as we
   gather to ponder our Lord's gift of life everlasting.  Please
   join us as we seek to know and understand God's love.

        May our Lord's invitation to hear of His grace and mercy
   find opened ears and willing hearts.  Amen.

March 6, 2025

Broadcast

                      Lent: Seeing Jesus - Part 4
                             Luke 18:32-33
                              03/06/2025


        32   ``For he will be delivered over to the Gentiles
             and will be mocked and shamefully treated and spit
             upon.
        33   And after flogging him, they will kill him, and on
             the third day he will rise.''  (ESV)

        Jesus told the disciples what was to happen during the
   Passover in Jerusalem, how He would accomplish that which had
   been foretold by the prophets in the Old Testament.
        ``For [the Son of Man] will be delivered over to the
        Gentiles and will be mocked and shamefully treated and
        spit upon.  And after flogging him, they will kill him,
        and on the third day he will rise.''


        The season of Lent is a time of somber reflection on the
   enormity of our rebellion against God, of our sins against the
   Almighty and our neighbors.  In the Church building, purple
   adorns our altar.  There are no flowers, the crosses are veiled,
   and the joyful hymns of praise are silent.

        But the season of Lent is also a time of preparation.  Even
   as the lessons each week take us closer to the cross, even as our
   gathering becomes more somber, there is the hope which Jesus
   gives.  Yes, He was betrayed, abandoned, tortured, whipped,
   humiliated, and killed.  There was no time to render the proper
   respect for burial, just the hurried internment with the promise
   of proper cleaning and entombment on the third day.

        Jesus promised the resurrection.  The great prophetic Psalm
   of David, which begins with the cry of anguish, ends with the
   triumphant victory of life.  Jonah's three days in the large fish
   was a foretaste of Jesus' three days in the tomb.  Isaiah and
   Daniel and Hosea[1] all point to the death and resurrection of
   the Messiah.

        Therefore, even in the midst of tragedy, even in the midst
   of unjust persecution, we have the hope of everlasting life.
   Yes, Jesus predicted His death.  He also proclaimed His
   resurrection.

        May our Lord give you hope even in your darkest hours in the
   sure and certain knowledge that after Lent comes Easter.  Amen.
   ____________________

   1. Psalm  22;  Jonah  2:5;  Isaiah 53:10-11; Daniel 12:2-3; Hosea
      6:1-2

March 5, 2025

Broadcast

                      Lent: Seeing Jesus - Part 3
                             Luke 18:32-33
                              03/05/2025


        32   ``For he will be delivered over to the Gentiles
             and will be mocked and shamefully treated and spit
             upon.
        33   And after flogging him, they will kill him, and on
             the third day he will rise.''  (ESV)

        While on His final journey to Jerusalem, Jesus continued to
   teach His disciples.  He explained what was to happen during the
   Passover, how He would accomplish that which had been foretold by
   the prophets in the Old Testament.
        ``For [the Son of Man] will be delivered over to the
        Gentiles and will be mocked and shamefully treated and
        spit upon.  And after flogging him, they will kill him,
        and on the third day he will rise.''


        The day that the serpent deceived Eve, the day that Adam
   defied God, was the first time that we heard of the death of the
   Savior.  ``And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and
   between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou
   shalt bruise his heel.''[1] Here we see the virgin birth, the
   crucifixion, the defeat of the devil, and the resurrection.  Here
   we see the love the Father has for His creation, and the love of
   the Son who willingly bore the torture and death we rightly
   deserve.  Here we see the work of the Holy Spirit who creates the
   faith in our hearts which trusts only in God, which believes His
   promise of forgiveness and life everlasting.

        Today, on Ash Wednesday, where we are marked with the ashes
   of repentance, we thank and praise the Triune God that we have
   been redeemed from sin, death, and the power of the devil by the
   innocent suffering and death of Jesus Christ.

        May our Lord richly bless you this Lenten season as you
   ponder the gift of grace and mercy given to you for the sake of
   Jesus.  Amen.

March 4, 2025

Broadcast

                      Lent: Seeing Jesus - Part 2
                              Luke 18:31
                              03/04/2025


        31   And taking the twelve, he said to them, ``See, we
             are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is
             written about the Son of Man by the prophets will
             be accomplished.''  (ESV)

        While on His final journey to Jerusalem, Jesus continued to
   teach His disciples.
        And taking the twelve, he said to them, ``See, we are
        going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written
        about the Son of Man by the prophets will be
        accomplished.''


        We believe, teach, and confess that the Bible, the prophetic
   words of the Old Testament and the apostolic writings of the New
   Testament, are the inspired and inerrant Word of God.  Therefore,
   what was written millenia before the birth of Jesus still stands
   as true, as a witness to that which we need in order to have
   faith in God's promise of the forgiveness of sins and life
   everlasting.

        Jesus said, ``everything that is written about the Son of
   Man.''  Unless God clearly says, ``This no longer applies because
   the purpose has been fulfilled,'' that which was written still is
   in force.  The daily sacrifices in the Temple pointed to the
   sacrifice of Jesus on the cross, so we no longer need to
   slaughter lambs or bulls for a burnt offering.  The dietary laws
   which set the children of Israel apart from the gentiles were
   abolished by Jesus as recorded in Mark's Gospel, and as recorded
   by Luke in Acts.

        Therefore, the work of salvation was foretold and explained.
   Jesus points us to the Old Testament to see why and how He
   fulfilled that which was foretold.  The New Testament is the
   eyewitness accounts of that fulfillment, and how the Church grew
   in the first decades after His resurrection.

        May our Lord grant us faith to hear and trust in His Word.
   Amen.

March 3, 2025

Recording

                      Lent: Seeing Jesus - Part 1
                             Luke 18:31-34
                              03/03/2025


        31   And taking the twelve, he said to them, ``See, we
             are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is
             written about the Son of Man by the prophets will
             be accomplished.
        32   For he will be delivered over to the Gentiles and
             will be mocked and shamefully treated and spit
             upon.
        33   And after flogging him, they will kill him, and on
             the third day he will rise.''
        34   But they understood none of these things. This
             saying was hidden from them, and they did not
             grasp what was said.  (ESV)

        This week, Wednesday, begins the season of Lent in the
   Christian Church.  For forty days, plus Sundays, we shall ponder
   our sin which Jesus was willing to take upon Himself.  He, the
   sinless Son of God, for our salvation from eternal death, to
   reconcile us to God the Father, perfectly fulfilled the Law on
   our behalf, then suffered to pay the price we should pay.

        And taking the twelve, he said to them, ``See, we are
        going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written
        about the Son of Man by the prophets will be
        accomplished.  For he will be delivered over to the
        Gentiles and will be mocked and shamefully treated and
        spit upon.  And after flogging him, they will kill him,
        and on the third day he will rise.''  But they
        understood none of these things. This saying was hidden
        from them, and they did not grasp what was said.


        Although the death of Jesus took the disciples by surprise,
   and His resurrection confounded the religious leaders of the day,
   nothing Jesus accomplished should be unexpected.  That which was
   written by the prophets from the time of Moses, that which Jesus
   told His disciples, stood as a clear witness of God's plan to
   redeem sinners.

        This week we will look at our Lord's words, and the
   disciples' reaction, as we prepare to ponder Jesus' crucifixion.

        May our Lord grant us eyes to see His love, and ears to hear
   of His mercy.  Amen.

February 28, 2025

Broadcast

                         Sowing Seed - Part 5
                              Luke 8:8,15
                              02/28/2025


        8    ``And some fell into good soil and grew and
             yielded a hundredfold.'' As he said these things,
             he called out, ``He who has ears to hear, let him
             hear.'' ...
        15   As for that in the good soil, they are those who,
             hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest and
             good heart, and bear fruit with patience.  (ESV)

        This week we are looking at the Parable of the Sower.  God
   causes the seed of His Word to be cast in bad soil and good.  We
   have seen how the devil, the world, and our own sinful flesh
   conspire to keep the Word from growing into faith.

        ``And some fell into good soil and grew and yielded a
        hundredfold.'' As he said these things, he called out,
        ``He who has ears to hear, let him hear.'' ...  As for
        that in the good soil, they are those who, hearing the
        word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and
        bear fruit with patience.


        The Church does not exist to be a moral police force.  The
   Church exists to proclaim God's rich love, that the Father sent
   His Son into the world to pay the price of our sin, to die and
   rise again that we may have eternal life with Him.  The Church is
   the refuge for the weary sinner, the place where God promises to
   be found, the place where He promises us the hope which comes
   from the forgiveness of our sins.

        Each week, at 9:00 a.m. on Sunday, at Trinity Lutheran
   Church, the good seed of God's Word is sown in faith.  We
   believe, teach, and confess that the Word of God has the power to
   transform our lives, to give us hope, to set our eyes on God's
   mercy.  As we look first to our loving, heavenly Father, as we
   are embraced by His Son, as the Holy Spirit creates and sustains
   our faith, we have hope in a hopeless world.

        For the sake of Christ Jesus, you have the promise of life
   everlasting.  Please join us each Sunday morning to hear this
   message of God's love.  May our Lord grant you the peace of
   knowing your sins are forgiven.  Amen.

February 27, 2025

Broadcast

                         Sowing Seed - Part 4
                              Luke 8:7,14
                              02/27/2025


        7    And some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up
             with it and choked it.
        14   And as for what fell among the thorns, they are
             those who hear, but as they go on their way they
             are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures
             of life, and their fruit does not mature.  (ESV)

        This week we are looking at the Parable of the Sower.
        ``And some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up
        with it and choked it. ...  And as for what fell among
        the thorns, they are those who hear, but as they go on
        their way they are choked by the cares and riches and
        pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature.''


        In 1974, Harry Chapin wrote a song about the problems of a
   father making time for his son.[1] Everything else took priority,
   work, and money were more important than being present for the
   son's first steps, or learning to throw a ball, or all the other
   things which bring the joy of raising a child.  Our relationship
   with God is no different.  The quest for fame and fortune, the
   struggle to make ends meet, to stretch the paycheck to cover the
   bills, become more important than taking time to hear of the
   Father's love for His children.

        The devil, our sinful flesh, and the joys or problems of
   this world all conspire to take our eyes off of Christ Jesus.
   The promise, ``I will get to it later,'' never is fulfilled.  Our
   priority should not be the things of this world, but the
   blessings of God, our relationship with Him, our relationship
   with the people He has placed around us.

        May our Lord grant us faith which seeks first the kingdom of
   God, which seeks the good of our neighbor, and which ignores the
   allure of the transient things of this world.  Amen.
   ____________________

   1. Cats in the Cradle

February 26, 2025

Broadcast

                         Sowing Seed - Part 3
                              Luke 8:6,13
                              02/26/2025


        6    ``And some fell on the rock, and as it grew up, it
             withered away, because it had no moisture.
        13   And the ones on the rock are those who, when they
             hear the word, receive it with joy. But these have
             no root; they believe for a while, and in time of
             testing fall away.''  (ESV)

        This week we are looking at the Parable of the Sower.
        ``And some fell on the rock, and as it grew up, it
        withered away, because it had no moisture. ...  And the
        ones on the rock are those who, when they hear the
        word, receive it with joy. But these have no root; they
        believe for a while, and in time of testing fall
        away.''


        Our own desires also get in the way of the Word of God.
   Often people begin to come to faith looking for the benefits and
   supposed blessings which come from loving God.  They look for the
   final victory over sin and death, not when Jesus comes again to
   judge the living and the dead, but today.  They don't realize
   that the victory is won, but the celebration and the blessings of
   that victory are still in the future.

        When the normal problems of life happen, these self-serving
   Christians get angry at God for not protecting them from all harm
   and danger.  Didn't King David write, ``Even though I walk
   through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil,
   for you are with me, your rod and your staff they comfort
   me.''[1]

        Our hope in this life comes from knowing that Jesus Christ
   overcame sin, death, and the power of the devil.  He walked the
   road before us, He is with us always through the Word and
   Sacraments.  He promises us the joys of heaven, eternal life
   because He paid the price of our rebellious sin.

        May our Lord grant us faith which holds to His promises,
   trusting in Him even during the difficulties we face each day.
   Amen.
   ____________________

   1. Psalm 23:4 (ESV)

February 25, 2025

Broadcast

                         Sowing Seed - Part 2
                            Luke 8:5,11-12
                              02/25/2025


        5    ``A sower went out to sow his seed. And as he
             sowed, some fell along the path and was trampled
             underfoot, and the birds of the air devoured it.
        11   ``Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of
             God.
        12   The ones along the path are those who have heard.
             Then the devil comes and takes away the word from
             their hearts, so that they may not believe and be
             saved.''  (ESV)

        Why do people, who can see that each of us has sinned
   against God and neighbor, reject the good news that for the sake
   of Christ Jesus our sins are forgiven?  Why do people reject
   God's rich grace, love, and mercy?  The Parable of the Sower
   shows us that the devil, the world, and our own sinful flesh
   conspire to pull us from our Savior's compassion.

        ``A sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed,
        some fell along the path and was trampled underfoot,
        and the birds of the air devoured it.''


        The disciples were unclear about the message of the parable.
   Jesus explained:
        ``Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God.
        The ones along the path are those who have heard. Then
        the devil comes and takes away the word from their
        hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved.''


        The lies told by the devil seem reasonable.  On the surface,
   we really can agree.  For example, one lie says ``You don't need
   God in your life.''  This seems true, until the moment you are
   confronted with your mortality, or with personal disaster.  All
   of a sudden, the focus on yourself, on the goodies of life, is
   inadequate.  The same lie, in different terms, ``You don't need
   to wear your seat belts while driving.''  Yet the instant you
   need seat belts, you are glad you followed the safety advice.
   After all, you don't know when you will have an accident, so you
   are prepared.  By going to Church, by seeking first the Kingdom
   of God, by taking your eyes off of yourself, you are better
   prepared for the problems of life.

        May our Lord grant that we ignore the lies of the devil,
   that we may look to Jesus Christ for our salvation.  Amen.

February 24, 2025

Broadcast

                         Sowing Seed - Part 1
                              Luke 8:4-8
                              02/24/2025


        4    And when a great crowd was gathering and people
             from town after town came to him, he said in a
             parable:
        5    ``A sower went out to sow his seed. And as he
             sowed, some fell along the path and was trampled
             underfoot, and the birds of the air devoured it.
        6    And some fell on the rock, and as it grew up, it
             withered away, because it had no moisture.
        7    And some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up
             with it and choked it.
        8    And some fell into good soil and grew and yielded
             a hundredfold.'' As he said these things, he
             called out, ``He who has ears to hear, let him
             hear.''  (ESV)

        We believe, teach, and confess that our redemption from sin
   and eternal death is a gift from God, not something which we
   earn.  In the Parable of the Sower we see that God causes His
   Word to be spread to all people.  The Word may fall on
   unproductive soil, the Word may grow and bear fruit.

        This week we will look at the effect of the unholy three,
   the devil, the world, and our own sinful flesh, as we study this
   parable.

        And when a great crowd was gathering and people from
        town after town came to him, he said in a parable: ``A
        sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some
        fell along the path and was trampled underfoot, and the
        birds of the air devoured it.  And some fell on the
        rock, and as it grew up, it withered away, because it
        had no moisture.  And some fell among thorns, and the
        thorns grew up with it and choked it.  And some fell
        into good soil and grew and yielded a hundredfold.'' As
        he said these things, he called out, ``He who has ears
        to hear, let him hear.''


        May our Lord grant that we receive His Word with open ears,
   and that we do not reject His grace, love, and mercy.  Amen.