December 13, 2023 Advent 2 Midweek Sermon Isaiah 9:2-7

December 13, 2023 Advent 2 Midweek Sermon Isaiah 9:2-7

Advent 2 Midweek
Isaiah 9:2-7
December 13, 2023

“King of Kings”

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Amen.

In many and various ways God spoke to His people of old by the prophets, including among that list of prophets our dear brother, Isaiah. Through Isaiah God spoke to His people of old about His Son who would come now in these last days, saying, “For unto us a child is born, and unto us a son is given.” Seven hundred years before that child and son was delivered by the labor of His mother, Mary, and placed in a manger, Isaiah already saw Him and spoke of Him, and declared to us the wonders and mysteries of the babe of Bethlehem.

Isaiah speaks of this baby in chapter 9 as a great light shining into the darkness, as a great joy like that of the time of harvesting, as a great freedom for those under burdens and oppression, as a great and peaceful government carried upon His shoulders, as a Wonderful Counselor, a Mighty God, an Everlasting Father, and a Prince of Peace. Words, it would seem, will always fail us, even fail the greatest prophets of old like Isaiah, to communicate the immeasurable attributes of this child and Son, Jesus Christ. He is, without any qualification nor exaggeration, the King of all kings and the Lord of all Lords. He is our King and our Lord.

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November 12, 2023 Trinity 23 The Sunday of Rendering to Caesar and to God

November 12, 2023 Trinity 23 The Sunday of Rendering to Caesar and to God

Sunday: Trinity 23 | Sermon Text: Matthew 22:15-22

(No audio available this Sunday.)

Trinity 23
Matthew 22:15-21
November 9, 2023

“The Things That Are God’s”

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

“Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.”

It’s only money. It’s just money. “Jesus, is it ok for us to pay taxes to our government?” Wouldn’t part of you love it if He said, “No way! That’s your money. Don’t give it to the government!” But He doesn’t say that, does He? He holds up a coin to them and says, “Whose face is on this money? Caesar? Ben Franklin? The government’s face?  Then it’s only money. Give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar. Pay your taxes.”

It’s only money. That’s the first part of Jesus’ answer. Calm down and pay your taxes. God puts the government there for a reason. So do your duty under the government. But the second part of Jesus answer is much bigger, “Life isn’t only money. Life is much more than just money. Give to God all the things that are God’s.” 

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October 22, 2023 Trinity 20 The Sunday of the Wedding Feast

October 22, 2023 Trinity 20 The Sunday of the Wedding Feast

Sunday: Trinity 20 | Sermon Text: Matthew 22:1-14

Trinity 20
Matthew 22:1-14
October 22, 2023

“Few are Chosen”

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

Many are called, but few are chosen. Why? That’s what we want to know. Why are few chosen? If the Lord wants all people to be saved, as He tells us in His Word, and if Jesus died for the sins of the whole world then why are only a few chosen? That’s exactly why Jesus tells this parable. So that everyone will hear these warnings. He truly does want all people to be saved. He’s not kidding or playing games with us. He wants everyone and He calls everyone. But so many reject the invitation. So Jesus tells this parable of the wedding banquet so that we and all people will be warned of the danger and will not miss out on the wedding reception.

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October 15, 2023 Trinity 19 The Sunday of Forgiveness

October 15, 2023 Trinity 19 The Sunday of Forgiveness

Sunday: Trinity 19 | Sermon Text: Matthew 9:1-8

Trinity 19
Matthew 9:1-8
October 15, 2023

“To the Heart and Soul of It”

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

In the book The Fellowship of the Ring, Frodo and company are brought to meet the great elf, Lady Galadriel. After some discussion, she spends some time staring at each one of them, gazing deep down into their hearts and souls and reading their inner selves to see if they are true to the quest. They talk afterward about how they felt naked before her piercing gaze.

Jesus is even better than Lady Galadriel as He doesn’t have to stare at people for a while to read their hearts and souls. He does it instantaneously. In this crowded house in Matthew 9, He stares into the heart of the paralyzed man and sees faith, into the hearts and souls of the paralytic’s friends and sees their faith, and He pierces into the hearts of the scribes and sees evil.

Jesus can see into the very heart and soul of everything. That includes you. At times we use this phrase, “Let’s get to the heart of it.” That’s what Jesus does and that’s our teaching we’re focusing on this morning. That the heart and soul of life, of your life also, is the forgiveness of sins. That’s what every one of you needs more than anything else in the world. You need forgiveness of your sins. You need it more than you need money, more than groceries, more than any you can buy anywhere. You need forgiveness of sins more than you need a laugh, more than you need time to yourself, more than you need “self-care”, more than you need exercise. Your kids need forgiveness of sins more than they need sports, more than they need friends, more than they need to be successful. Let’s get to the heart and soul of it! This is what you and I need to hear most of all and for sure on every Sunday, “Take heart, my child; your sins are forgiven.” You have paralyzing sin—Jesus has forgiveness.

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October 2, 2023 Daniel 7:9-14 Sermon Pastors Conference

October 2, 2023 Daniel 7:9-14 Sermon Pastors Conference

Jonathan P. Boehne
Fall Pastors Conference CID
Daniel 7:9-14
October 2, 2023

“The Church Forever, Forever and Ever!”

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Amen.

This is one nasty, vicious horn in Daniel 7. An animal horn that has eyes and a mouth and speaks pompous, prideful, hateful things. An ugly thing to picture. Even when Daniel is seeing the Ancient of Days, the Father, on His throne with ten thousand times ten thousand of angels standing before Him, he still can’t help looking at this nasty, pompous animal horn. Daniel’s attention is drawn away from the Father to hear this horn still spewing out his venom. That horn is the Antichrist, the man of lawlessness.

In the rest of Daniel 7, we learn more about this pompous horn. He makes war against the saints (v. 21). He fights Christians. He speaks words against the Most High (v. 25). He blasphemes. He wears out the saints of the Most High (v. 25). He’s relentless against us Christians. And he thinks to change the times and the law (v. 25). He thinks to tear people away from God’s Divine Service and His Divine Law.

You see what’s going on here. This pompous, Satanic horn antichrist is wearing us down and making war against the saints, against our kingdom! He diverts our attention away from the Ancient of Days and the Son of Man. We’re tempted to lose heart. It was true for the exiles in Babylon who wept by the waters. It was true for Daniel and the three young men. And it’s true for us today.

But what becomes of the horn? He’s destroyed and burned with fire (v. 11). He’s consumed! All dominion is given to the “one like a son of man” coming in the clouds, to Jesus Christ. And His kingdom, His Church, is one that shall never be destroyed. And v. 18, “The saints of the Most High shall receive the kingdom and possess it forever, forever and ever!”

That’s the theme of Daniel 7 – “The Church forever, forever and ever!” And we’ll take it to heart right now even as that pompous horn bloviates all around us in the world and even within the Church.

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September 17, 2023 Sermon Trinity 15 The Sunday of Not Worrying

September 17, 2023 Sermon Trinity 15 The Sunday of Not Worrying

Sunday: Trinity 15 | Sermon Text: Matthew 6:24-34

Trinity 15
Matthew 6:24-34
September 17, 2023

“God’s Things First”

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

“You can’t tell me what to do!” You can’t say that to a lot of people without getting into some trouble. You can’t say that to your parents. You can’t say that to your boss. You can’t say that to a teacher. You can’t say that to the police if they pull you over for speeding. You can’t say that to the man at the checkout in the store when he says, “That’ll be $39.28.” God says that all of those people can absolutely tell you what to do. They can and you must obey as long as it doesn’t mean you’d have to disobey God. You can’t say to most people, “You can’t tell me what to do!”

But here’s a little fun. You can say that to the devil. You should say that to the devil all the time, “You can’t tell me what to do, you dirty devil.” And you can also say that to the world when the world demands that you do and be everything the world wants you to do and be. Then say to the world, “You can’t tell me what to do.” Because Jesus says that you cannot serve two masters. You can’t have two people telling you what to do. You cannot serve God and money. Only one master. And that master is God. And if the world tells you different, then you say, “You can’t tell me what to do.”

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