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January 8, 2025

Broadcast

                           Epiphany - Part 3
                             Matthew 2:7-8
                              01/08/2025


        7    Then Herod summoned the wise men secretly and
             ascertained from them what time the star had
             appeared.
        8    And he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, ``Go and
             search diligently for the child, and when you have
             found him, bring me word, that I too may come and
             worship him.''  (ESV)

        Wise Men from the east came to Jerusalem seeking the King of
   the Jews.  Being astronomers and astrologers, they looked to the
   heavens to discern what would be happening on earth.  God, in His
   wisdom, did not disappoint them, but showed them a clear sign
   which pointed to the birth of the Messiah.

        Eager to find the One foretold, the One of whom their
   predecessors had heard about from Daniel and other Jewish
   captives, the Magi traveled to Jerusalem.  There, the scribes and
   chief priests pointed them to the prophet Micah and his
   prediction that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem.

        Then Herod summoned the wise men secretly and
        ascertained from them what time the star had appeared.
        And he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, ``Go and search
        diligently for the child, and when you have found him,
        bring me word, that I too may come and worship him.''


        The Magi, who were not aware of local politics in Judea,
   heard the request of Herod.  This seemed a reasonable request.
   When they heard where the Child was to be born, they left the
   city, vowing to return with the good news.

        May our Lord grant us the faith to seek the Child of
   Bethlehem for our eternal blessing.  Amen.

January 7, 2025

Broadcast

                           Epiphany - Part 2
                             Matthew 2:3-6
                              01/07/2025


        3    When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled,
             and all Jerusalem with him;
        4    and assembling all the chief priests and scribes
             of the people, he inquired of them where the
             Christ was to be born.
        5    They told him, ``In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it
             is written by the prophet:
        6    `And you, O Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are
             by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for
             from you shall come a ruler who will shepherd my
             people Israel.'''  (ESV)

        Yesterday, the Feast of the Epiphany, we began the story of
   the Magi who sought Jesus.  Where else would you go to seek the
   King of the Jews but the capitol city, Jerusalem?  That is where
   the Wise Men asked, ``Where is He who is born the King of the
   Jews?"
        When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and
        all Jerusalem with him; and assembling all the chief
        priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them
        where the Christ was to be born.  They told him, ``In
        Bethlehem of Judea, for so it is written by the
        prophet: `And you, O Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
        are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for
        from you shall come a ruler who will shepherd my people
        Israel.'''


        The prophet Micah had clearly foretold the birth of the one
   for whom the Wise Men were seeking.  For years the chief priests
   and scribes had known this prophecy, which had now come true.

        We also can trust the Word of God to show us the truth where
   we find our Savior, Jesus Christ.  Only the Bible tells us of
   God's rich grace, love, and mercy.

        May our Lord grant that you find the Redeemer as you hear
   His Word.  Amen.

January 6, 2025

Broadcast

                           Epiphany - Part 1
                             Matthew 2:1-2
                              01/06/2025


        1    Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in
             the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from
             the east came to Jerusalem,
        2    saying, ``Where is he who has been born king of
             the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and
             have come to worship him.''  (ESV)

        Today is the Feast of the Epiphany, the day where the Church
   celebrates the visit of the Magi to the infant Jesus.  Because
   the Magi, the Wise Men, were not Jewish, today is often called
   the Gentile's Christmas.

        Epiphany comes from the Greek word which means ``dawn'' or
   ``sunrise.''  It is an unveiling, a revealing, or an appearance.
   During the Epiphany season, which lasts from January 6 to the
   Tuesday before Ash Wednesday, we see how Jesus is revealed as
   both true God and true man.

        Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the
        days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east
        came to Jerusalem, saying, ``Where is he who has been
        born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose
        and have come to worship him.''


        Since before the days of the Babylonian Captivity, six
   hundred years before the birth of Jesus, the sages of Babylon and
   Persia were astronomers.  While the children of Israel lived in
   Babylon, Daniel and several other Jews rose to positions of power
   in the court.  The Magi would have known about the prophecies of
   the Messiah, and would study the stars to seek wisdom.

        When a star appeared in the appropriate place in the sky,
   the Magi saw the sign that a new King was born in Israel.  They
   went seeking for this king.

        Please join us at Trinity this evening, at 7:00 p.m. for the
   Epiphany Service with Saint Paul, Fulda, where we will hear more
   about the Magi.  May our Lord continue to bless you with faith
   and wisdom.  Amen.

January 3, 2025

Broadcast

               From Everlasting to Everlasting - Part 5
                            Psalm 90:14-17
                              01/03/2025


        14   Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast
             love, that we may rejoice and be glad all our
             days.
        15   Make us glad for as many days as you have
             afflicted us, and for as many years as we have
             seen evil.
        16   Let your work be shown to your servants, and your
             glorious power to their children.
        17   Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us, and
             establish the work of our hands upon us; yes,
             establish the work of our hands!  (ESV)

        During the week we have seen the reports and videos about
   the events of the past twelve months.  We sought answers to the
   wars in the Ukraine and Middle East, and celebrated the successes
   of this nation.  Knowing that our Lord has placed us in a country
   where the government is designed to listen to the citizens, we
   voted according to our beliefs, praying that our newly elected
   leadership would govern according to God's gracious will.

        In the end, all that matters is God's grace.  He created us.
   He sustains us.  He redeems us for the sake of Christ Jesus.  He
   gives us the ability to serve Him by serving our neighbor.  He
   gives us wisdom as we seek to know more about Him, to fear, love,
   and trust in Him above all things.

        Moses wrote:
        Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love,
        that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.  Make us
        glad for as many days as you have afflicted us, and for
        as many years as we have seen evil.  Let your work be
        shown to your servants, and your glorious power to
        their children.  Let the favor of the Lord our God be
        upon us, and establish the work of our hands upon us;
        yes, establish the work of our hands!


        Please join us on Sunday morning at Trinity Lutheran Church
   to hear more about God's rich love, grace, and mercy.  This is
   one new year's resolution which will bear eternal fruit, which
   will be a blessing to you now and forever.

        May our Lord grant you His favor.  Amen.

January 2, 2025

Broadcast

               From Everlasting to Everlasting - Part 4
                            Psalm 90:11-13
                              01/02/2025


        11   Who considers the power of your anger, and your
             wrath according to the fear of you?
        12   So teach us to number our days that we may get a
             heart of wisdom.
        13   Return, O LORD! How long?  Have pity on your
             servants!  (ESV)

        Having acknowledged our sin, we consider God's judgment.
   Moses wrote:
        Who considers the power of your anger, and your wrath
        according to the fear of you?  So teach us to number
        our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.  Return, O
        LORD! How long?  Have pity on your servants!


        The power of God's wrath was poured out, not on Adam and
   Eve, not on you and I, but on Jesus Christ.  Saint Paul wrote to
   Timothy, ``God would have all people to be saved and come to the
   knowledge of the truth.''[1] Jesus was forsaken by God in your
   place and mine so that we will never be deprived of His love.

        The fear of the Lord, knowing of His perfect righteousness,
   is the beginning of wisdom.  Each day, knowing that our times are
   in His hands alone, we look to Him for love and pity.  Therefore
   we seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, knowing
   that God's grace and mercy are sufficient.  We reflect His love
   in our dealings with others, loving our neighbor, helping each
   other.

        May our Lord grant us the wisdom to trust in Him, to know
   our days are in His keeping, and to seek first His kingdom.
   Amen.
   ____________________

   1. 1 Timothy 2:4

January 1, 2025

Broadcast

               From Everlasting to Everlasting - Part 3
                             Psalm 90:8-10
                              01/01/2025


        8    You have set our iniquities before you, our secret
             sins in the light of your presence.
        9    For all our days pass away under your wrath; we
             bring our years to an end like a sigh.
        10   The years of our life are seventy, or even by
             reason of strength eighty; yet their span is but
             toil and trouble; they are soon gone, and we fly
             away.  (ESV)

        Happy New Year.  This morning as we contemplate the eighth
   day of Jesus' life, the day He first bled for the sins of the
   world as He was named and circumcised, we remember that His name
   means ``The LORD is Our Salvation.''  Our only hope for the
   forgiveness of our sins is found in this infant who is destined
   to die for our transgressions, only to rise again to give us
   eternal life with Him.

        Today is also the day many people make resolutions to
   accomplish great things, be it to lose 25 pounds, or give up
   smoking, or to finish that college degree.  Resolutions say that
   we have failed in the past, that we need to improve.  Moses said
   the same thing in the Psalm we are studying this week.
        You have set our iniquities before you, our secret sins
        in the light of your presence.  For all our days pass
        away under your wrath; we bring our years to an end
        like a sigh.  The years of our life are seventy, or
        even by reason of strength eighty; yet their span is
        but toil and trouble; they are soon gone, and we fly
        away.


        Saint Paul reminds us, ``For the wages of sin is death, but
   the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our
   Lord.''[1] Because of our sin we stand condemned.  Because the
   LORD is our Salvation, we know that we have the forgiveness of
   our sins.  Though this life is short, we have the promise of
   eternity in the mansions of heaven.

        May our Lord grant you a safe and blessed New Year.  Amen.
   ____________________

   1. Romans 6:23 (ESV)

December 31, 2024

Broadcast

               From Everlasting to Everlasting - Part 2
                             Psalm 90:3-6
                              12/31/2024


        3    You return man to dust and say, Return, O children
             of man!
        4    For a thousand years in your sight are but as
             yesterday when it is past, or as a watch in the
             night.
        5    You sweep them away as with a flood; they are like
             a dream, like grass that is renewed in the
             morning:
        6    in the morning it flourishes and is renewed; in
             the evening it fades and withers.  (ESV)

        This week, as we ponder the year in review, we hear the Word
   of God as given through Moses.  Psalm 90 speaks of God's
   creation, power, and might.  It speaks of our rebellion, our sin,
   and the curse of our transgressions.

        You return man to dust and say, Return, O children of
        man!  For a thousand years in your sight are but as
        yesterday when it is past, or as a watch in the night.
        You sweep them away as with a flood; they are like a
        dream, like grass that is renewed in the morning: in
        the morning it flourishes and is renewed; in the
        evening it fades and withers.


        This year, as we learned of the passing of various famous
   people such as Teri Garr, James Earl Jones, Bob Newhart, and Phil
   Donahue, we were made aware of our own mortality.  While some
   would suggest that we eat, drink, and be merry, we rather should
   look at the cause of our short life span and prepare for
   eternity.

        We prepare by acknowledging our Creator, admitting that His
   justice is fair, and trusting in His grace and mercy.  Our help
   is in the Name of the Lord, our Redeemer from sin, death, and the
   power of the devil is Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of the
   Father.

        May our Lord grant us faith to hear His Word, to believe
   that which we learn from the pages of Scripture, and to trust
   only in Him.  Amen.

December 30, 2024

Broadcast

               From Everlasting to Everlasting - Part 1
                             Psalm 90:1-2
                              12/30/2024


        1    Lord, you have been our dwelling place in all
             generations.
        2    Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever
             you had formed the earth and the world, from
             everlasting to everlasting you are God.  (ESV)

        This week we will hear a lot about the last twelve months.
   Reporters will talk of the top stories of 2024, the growth of the
   economy, the effect of the elections, and dozens of other recaps
   of the year.  Moses, in the oldest Psalm of the Bible, does
   exactly the same thing.  He recounts God's goodness, our sin, and
   the Lord's rich mercy.

        As we prepare for the ball to drop in Times Square, we will
   join with Moses in looking back so to plan for the future.

        Lord, you have been our dwelling place in all
        generations.  Before the mountains were brought forth,
        or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from
        everlasting to everlasting you are God.


        We believe, teach, and confess that in the beginning God
   made the heavens and the earth.  He existed before time and space
   and all things material.  He cares for His creation and directs
   all things for the eventual good of those who fear and love Him.

        Therefore, as those who are created by God, as those who are
   the capstone of His creative work, we should fear, love, and
   trust in God above all things.  In His hands are all the days of
   His people, all the days of the earth.  Because of His love,
   nature and all of creation has an order which we can discover and
   use to our benefit.

        In this Psalm, Moses certainly presents the law, the wrath
   of God.  He does this to call us to repent, to acknowledge our
   sin, and to trust only in God's rich mercy.

        May our Lord grant us wisdom and peace as we hear His holy
   Word, as we look back on our lives, and forward to God's grace.
   Amen.

December 27, 2024

Broadcast

                              Saint John
                              John 21:24
                              12/27/2024


        24   This is the disciple who is bearing witness about
             these things, and who has written these things,
             and we know that his testimony is true.  (ESV)

        On the third day of Christmas the Church celebrates the
   memory of Saint John the Apostle and Evangelist.  John was the
   son of Zebedee and the brother of James the Elder.  He was one of
   the first disciples to be called by Jesus.  Rarely does he
   mention his own name in his Gospel, but refers to himself as
   ``the disciple whom Jesus loved.''

        On the night that Jesus was betrayed, only John did not
   forsake Him in the hours of His suffering and death.  John
   followed Jesus to the house of the high priest, and stood at the
   foot of the cross.  He was entrusted with the care of Mary, who
   he took to his own home immediately.

        John spent his ministry in Jerusalem and Ephesus.  Although
   he is the only apostle of Jesus who did not die as a martyr, he
   was persecuted for his faith.  He wrote the book of Revelations
   while an exile.  John is the author of the fourth Gospel and
   three epistles, as well as Revelations.

        One of the most famous passages in the Bible flowed from
   John's pen by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.
        For God so loved the world, that he gave his only
        begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should
        not perish, but have everlasting life.[1]


        John said of himself, ``This is the disciple who is bearing
   witness about these things, and who has written these things, and
   we know that his testimony is true.''

        May our Lord grant that we witness our faith in our Lord
   Jesus Christ as did the Apostle John.  Amen.
   ____________________

   1. John 3:16 (KJVA)

December 26, 2024

Broadcast

                             Saint Stephan
                             Acts 7:59-60
                              12/26/2024


        59   And as they were stoning Stephen, he called out,
             ``Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.''
        60   And falling to his knees he cried out with a loud
             voice, ``Lord, do not hold this sin against
             them.'' And when he had said this, he fell asleep.
             (ESV)

        Yesterday we celebrated the birth of our Lord and Savior,
   Jesus Christ.  With rapt attention, we listened to the angel
   choir sing ``Glory to God in the highest,'' and contemplated that
   the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.  Coming to faith in
   Christ Jesus, holding to Him as our redeemer from sin, death, and
   the power of the devil, comes with a price.  The second day of
   Christmas is the Feast of Saint Stephen, the first martyr of the
   Christian Church.  Stephen, who was one of the deacons appointed
   by the apostles to assist with caring for the Church, was a holy
   and upright man.  He dared to proclaim the truth of salvation by
   grace through faith for the sake of Christ, even before the
   Sanhedrin.  For speaking the truth, Stephen was taken outside the
   walls of Jerusalem and stoned to death.

        Saint Luke recorded the last moments of Stephen's life.
        ``And as they were stoning Stephen, he called out,
        `Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.'  And falling to his
        knees he cried out with a loud voice, `Lord, do not
        hold this sin against them.' And when he had said this,
        he fell asleep.''


        There is a cost of discipleship, a cost of being in the
   world but not of the world, a cost for trusting in Christ Jesus
   alone.  Whereas we will, more than likely, not be stoned for our
   faith, yet we will constantly be asked to defend our faith.
   Saint Stephen serves as an example of one for whom Christ Jesus
   is the most important.  He also serves as an example of one who
   forgives even as he has been forgiven for the sake of Christ.
   May our Lord grant us faith like that of Saint Stephen, that we
   be faithful to Christ Jesus no matter the cost.  Amen.