Category: Moments of Meditation

March 14, 2025

Broadcast

                          Temptation - Part 5
                             Matthew 4:11
                              03/14/2025


        11   Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came
             and were ministering to him.  (ESV)

        Jesus, immediately after He was baptized, was led by the
   Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.  Each of
   the temptations was a temptation we also face.  Jesus was told to
   use His power to serve Himself rather than trust in His Father.
   Jesus was told to trust in a promise never given in the Bible.
   Jesus was told to worship something other than God.

        You and I are confronted with the same temptations.  How
   easy it is to be selfish, to listen to lies, and to turn our back
   on God.  We daily fail when confronted with the same temptations
   Jesus faced.  ``Seek first the Kingdom of God and His
   righteousness''[1] seems to take a back seat to ``You only go
   around once, so live for today.''

        Jesus overcame temptation on our behalf.  Saint Matthew
   recorded, ``Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and
   were ministering to him.''  That which the devil promised, but
   could not deliver, was given to Jesus because He remained
   faithful to His heavenly Father.

        Jesus' obedience to God's Word is credited to each of us.
   We do not earn God's love, nor do we deserve it.  Yet, when Jesus
   cried out on the cross, ``It is finished,'' your sin and mine
   were obliterated.  The offer of the forgiveness of our sins is
   given to everyone for the sake of the death and resurrection of
   Jesus.

        That is the message of the Church, the message you will hear
   each Sunday at 9:00 a.m. at Trinity Lutheran Church.  Come, hear
   of God's grace and undeserved love, and receive the hope which
   comes from faith in Christ Jesus as our Redeemer from sin and
   eternal death.

        May our Lord grant us faith to trust in Him alone.  Amen.












   ____________________

   1. Matthew 6:33

March 13, 2025

Broadcast

                          Temptation - Part 4
                            Matthew 4:8-10
                              03/13/2025


        8    Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain
             and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and
             their glory.
        9    And he said to him, ``All these I will give you,
             if you will fall down and worship me.''
        10   Then Jesus said to him, ``Be gone, Satan! For it
             is written, `You shall worship the Lord your God
             and him only shall you serve.'''  (ESV)

        The final temptation of Jesus shows the true desires of the
   devil, the world, and our own sinful flesh.  We do not desire to
   fear, love, and trust in God above all things, especially when
   the choice is between the hardship of remaining faithful or the
   ease of denying God.

        Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and
        showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their
        glory.  And he said to him, ``All these I will give
        you, if you will fall down and worship me.''  Then
        Jesus said to him, ``Be gone, Satan! For it is written,
        `You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall
        you serve.'''


        Jesus won the victory over sin, death, and the grave.  He
   has given us the promise of heavenly glory.  However, today we
   are still in this world, still tempted to turn our backs on God,
   still wanting to ease our burdens in any way possible.  The devil
   promised Jesus the glory of victory without the agony of the
   cross.  But that would be a hollow glory, for our redemption
   rests on Jesus fulfilling the entire Law of God on our behalf.

        The first commandment, ``You shall have no other God's
   before me,'' says that we turn our backs on the easy gains in
   this world.  Jesus later told His disciples, ``If anyone would
   come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and
   follow me.''[1] The victory is indeed ours, but the victory
   celebration starts when Jesus returns to judge the living and the
   dead.  Until then, we are on guard against our sinful desires,
   the temptations of the devil, and allure of the glamour of this
   world.

        May our Lord strengthen our faith to seek Him above all
   things.  Amen.
   ____________________

   1. Matthew 16:24 (ESV)

March 12, 2025

Broadcast

                          Temptation - Part 3
                             Matthew 4:5-7
                              03/12/2025


        5    Then the devil took him to the holy city and set
             him on the pinnacle of the temple
        6    and said to him, ``If you are the Son of God,
             throw yourself down, for it is written, `He will
             command his angels concerning you,' and `On their
             hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your
             foot against a stone.'''
        7    Jesus said to him, ``Again it is written, `You
             shall not put the Lord your God to the test.'''
             (ESV)

        After Jesus was baptized, He was led by the Holy Spirit into
   the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.  Here Jesus, weakened
   by hunger, confronted the father of lies.  The next temptation
   was one which is familiar to all Christians, the misquoting and
   misapplication of the Bible, twisting God's Word to say things
   which our Lord never promised.

        Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on
        the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, ``If you
        are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is
        written, `He will command his angels concerning you,'
        and `On their hands they will bear you up, lest you
        strike your foot against a stone.'''  Jesus said to
        him, ``Again it is written, `You shall not put the Lord
        your God to the test.'''


        The devil conveniently misquoted Psalm 91 to sound like God
   promises to save us from physical harm when we do something we
   know is stupid, such as expecting the angels to become a
   parachute when we jump from a building.  Satan left out the
   phrase, ``to keep you in all your ways,'' that the angels point
   us to the promises of God.

        If we have faith in God, if we fear, love, and trust in Him
   above all things, we know that He will give us that which He has
   promised.  For the sake of Jesus, our heavenly Father gives us
   the forgiveness of our sins and life everlasting.  We have no
   need to test God's character, for we see His love in the cross of
   Jesus Christ.

        May our Lord grant us faith in His Word, that we may have
   life everlasting.  Amen.

March 11, 2025

Broadcast

                          Temptation - Part 2
                             Matthew 4:2-4
                              03/11/2025


        2    And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he
             was hungry.
        3    And the tempter came and said to him, ``If you are
             the Son of God, command these stones to become
             loaves of bread.''
        4    But he answered, `It is written, `Man shall not
             live by bread alone, but by every word that comes
             from the mouth of God.'''  (ESV)

        This week we are looking at the temptation which Jesus
   experienced in the days following His baptism.  Directly after
   the heavens opened and the Holy Spirit descended on Jesus in the
   form of a dove, directly after the Father exclaimed, ``This is My
   beloved Son,'' the Spirit led Jesus into the barren wilderness.

        And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was
        hungry.  And the tempter came and said to him, ``If you
        are the Son of God, command these stones to become
        loaves of bread.''  But he answered, `It is written,
        `Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word
        that comes from the mouth of God.'''


        Here the devil, the father of lies, begins by mocking the
   declaration of God the Father.  He calls into question the
   declaration, ``This is My beloved Son.''  So the devil suggests,
   ``If this is the case, prove it by making bread so that you are
   no longer hungry.  The Son of God should be able to do such a
   simple thing.''  Jesus counters, not with power, not with a
   display of force, not by using His creative abilities to serve
   Himself, but by quoting the lesson learned by the children of
   Israel as they ate manna in the desert.  We live eternally, not
   by bread that satisfies an immediate and temporal need, but by
   trusting God's Word and His promises alone.

        Later Jesus taught, ``But seek first the kingdom of God and
   his righteousness, and all these things will be added to
   you.''[1] Or as Luther explained, ``We should fear, love, and
   trust in God above all things.''[2] May our Lord grant that we
   hear His Word and trust in His promises alone.  Amen.
   ____________________

   1. Matthew 6:33 (ESV)

   2. Small Catechism, Explanation of the First Commandment

March 10, 2025

Broadcast

                          Temptation - Part 1
                              Matthew 4:1
                              03/10/2025


        1    Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the
             wilderness to be tempted by the devil.  (ESV)

        There is a difference between testing and temptation.  A
   test is a situation which God allows with the intention of
   revealing our loyalties, motivations, character, or trust in Him.
   A temptation is an enticement to sin, to disobey God's Word, to
   go against that which we know to be the correct action.

        Saint Matthew recorded Jesus' baptism.
        And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up
        from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to
        him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a
        dove and coming to rest on him; and behold, a voice
        from heaven said, ``This is my beloved Son, with whom I
        am well pleased.''

        Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness
        to be tempted by the devil.[1]


        Immediately after being baptized, anointed as the Lamb of
   God who takes away the sins of the world, Jesus went into the
   wilderness.  As the Savior, He had to keep the Law perfectly on
   our behalf.  He had to expose and defeat the lies of the devil,
   the world, and our own sinful flesh while remaining faithful to
   God the Father.

        Jesus, as true man, suffered every temptation we suffer.
   Jesus, as true God, overcame the enticement to sin, the
   enticement to take the forbidden fruit, no matter how delicious
   it might be, no matter how giving in to temptation might bring
   Him temporal power and glory.

        This week we will be looking at the temptation of Jesus to
   learn of His power over sin and death.  May our Lord grant that
   we be not led into temptation but delivered from all evil.  Amen.
   ____________________

   1. Matthew 3:16-4:1 (ESV)

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.