Category: Turn Your Radio On 2024

January 27, 2025

Broadcast

                           Healing - Part 1
                             Matthew 8:2-4
                              01/27/2025


        2    And behold, a leper came to him and knelt before
             him, saying, ``Lord, if you will, you can make me
             clean.''
        3    And Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him,
             saying, ``I will; be clean.''  And immediately his
             leprosy was cleansed.
        4    And Jesus said to him, ``See that you say nothing
             to anyone, but go, show yourself to the priest and
             offer the gift that Moses commanded, for a proof
             to them.''  (ESV)

        During the Epiphany season, which begins on January 6, the
   Church studies how Jesus revealed Himself as true God.  Last week
   we read of His first miracle, turning water into wine, which
   shows that Jesus has His Father's power to create.  This week we
   will look at two healing miracles Jesus performed after He taught
   His disciples on an unnamed mountain.

        And behold, a leper came to him and knelt before him,
        saying, ``Lord, if you will, you can make me clean.''
        And Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him,
        saying, ``I will; be clean.''  And immediately his
        leprosy was cleansed.  And Jesus said to him, ``See
        that you say nothing to anyone, but go, show yourself
        to the priest and offer the gift that Moses commanded,
        for a proof to them.''


        This leper teaches us several lessons.  First, Jesus
   certainly is God, one who can restore health.  By calling Jesus,
   ``Lord,'' the leper is confessing that Jesus is true God.
   Second, we pray ``Thy will be done.''  You and I cannot see the
   big picture, how our situation may serve as a blessing to either
   ourselves or others.  Saint Paul asked for a ``thorn in the
   flesh''[1] to be removed, and God said that infirmity served a
   greater purpose.

        God hears our prayers.  By asking that His will be done, we
   confess that we are mere children standing before our heavenly
   Father.  We pray that our will conforms to His will, that we
   trust in Him even if we do not understand why He may answer
   ``no.''

        May our Lord grant us faith to pray, and grace to accept the
   answer He gives.  Amen.
   ____________________

   1. 2 Corinthians 12:7-8

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.

December 25, 2024

Broadcast

                      Glory to God in the Highest
                           Luke 2:1-14 (ESV)
                              12/25/2024


        Saint Luke wrote:
        In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus
        that all the world should be registered.  This was the
        first registration when Quirinius was governor of
        Syria.  And all went to be registered, each to his own
        town.  And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the
        town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which
        is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and
        lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his
        betrothed, who was with child.  And while they were
        there, the time came for her to give birth.  And she
        gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in
        swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because
        there was no place for them in the inn.

        And in the same region there were shepherds out in the
        field, keeping watch over their flock by night.  And an
        angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of
        the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with
        fear.  And the angel said to them, ``Fear not, for
        behold, I bring you good news of a great joy that will
        be for all the people.  For unto you is born this day
        in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.
        And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby
        wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.''
        And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of
        the heavenly host praising God and saying,

        ``Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among
        those with whom he is pleased!''


        O God, You make this most holy night to shine with the
        brightness of the true Light.  Grant that as we have
        known the mysteries of that Light on earth we may also
        come to the fullness of His joys in heaven; through the
        same Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and
        reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and
        forever.[1]


        Please join us this morning at 9:00 a.m. at Trinity Lutheran
   Church to celebrate our Lord's birth.  May our Lord grant you a
   blessed Christmas.  Christ the Savior is born.  Amen.   ____________________

   1. Collect  for  Christmas  Midnight,  LSB Propers of the Day, p.
      294.

December 24, 2024

Recording

                              God With Us
                            Matthew 1:18-25
                              12/24/2024


        18   Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this
             way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to
             Joseph, before they came together she was found to
             be with child from the Holy Spirit.
        19   And her husband Joseph, being a just man and
             unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce
             her quietly.
        20   But as he considered these things, behold, an
             angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream,
             saying, ``Joseph, son of David, do not fear to
             take Mary as your wife, for that which is
             conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.
        21   She will bear a son, and you shall call his name
             Jesus, for he will save his people from their
             sins.''
        22   All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had
             spoken by the prophet:
        23   ``Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a
             son, and they shall call his name Immanuel,''
             (which means, God with us).
        24   When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel
             of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife,
        25   but knew her not until she had given birth to a
             son. And he called his name Jesus.  (ESV)

        Saint Matthew wrote:
        Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way.
        When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph,
        before they came together she was found to be with
        child from the Holy Spirit.  And her husband Joseph,
        being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame,
        resolved to divorce her quietly.  But as he considered
        these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to
        him in a dream, saying, ``Joseph, son of David, do not
        fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is
        conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.  She will
        bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he
        will save his people from their sins.''  All this took
        place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the
        prophet: ``Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a
        son, and they shall call his name Immanuel,'' (which
        means, God with us).  When Joseph woke from sleep, he
        did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his
        wife, but knew her not until she had given birth to a
        son. And he called his name Jesus.


        O God, You make us glad with the yearly remembrance of
        the birth of Your only-begotten Son, Jesus Christ.
        Grant that as we joyfully receive Him as our Redeemer,
        we may with sure confidence behold Him when He comes to                  
        be our Judge; through the same Jesus Christ, our Lord,
        who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one
        God, now and forever.  Amen.[1]


        Please join us this evening at 7:00 p.m. at Trinity Lutheran
   Church to hear the message of God's rich grace, love, and mercy.
   May our Lord grant you a blessed Christmas.  Christ the Savior is
   born.  Amen.
 ____________________

   1. Collect for Christmas Eve, LSB Propers of the Day, p. 293.