11132016 - 25th Sunday After Trinity - Apostle's Creed - "the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body,"

November 13, 2016
“the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body,”

In our Gospel this morning Jesus tells the parable of the Final Judgement that will occur.  Easily we could say this parable is told by Jesus in order to ‘call down judgement’ upon each other no matter the circumstance, no matter the reason.  Others would say it is to vindicate the Son of Man.  Yet, Jesus tells this parable not to vindicate, but to reveal Himself as the Shepherd, not to judge, not to justify, not to point out the log in other’s eyes, but simply to forgive and separate the sheep from the goats.

You see in Jesus day flocks were kept by the shepherds that included both sheep and goats.  The sheep were the prized possession of the herdsman.  On the other hand, the goat was not held in as much honor, because goats were bullies of the sheep and caused the destruction of the land causing erosion.  Hence why when gathered together the sheep and goats were separated by the shepherd, because the goats were trouble makers.

Jesus as the great shepherd knew this and tells this parable in order to further explain the difference between the believers, the sheep and the unbelievers, the goats.  Not much has changed in 2000 years.  Sadly in our world around us even here in Western Kansas, we have people who are bullies and the herd mentality and we also have the sheep who believe, but don’t stand up to the bullies.

Yet today in our confession of the Apostle’s Creed, we confess a need all of us should daily seek and a belief what will occur on the last day.  When we confess, “the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body,” it is with the clear understanding we believe we need forgiveness from God and we will on the last day receive a resurrected body.

One of the hardest things some Christians face is understanding our need for forgiveness.  Our culture always wants to be seen as ‘right’, never wrong, never to show weakness.  So to seek out forgiveness is in one sense ‘against our culture’.  In Lutheranism 101 a constant question I ask, as Christians who are supposed to be ‘disciples of Jesus Christ’, as Christians are we ‘in’ or ‘of’ the world?  The simple answer is we Christians ‘live in the world’, but we Christians are not ‘of the world’.  For as followers of Jesus Christ who confess our belief in what Jesus Christ did on the Cross of Calvary our values, our thoughts and our actions should mirror and be the same as Jesus Christ.

And what did Jesus Christ call for?  You guessed it, ‘repentance’ and “the forgiveness of sins”.  Jesus called for us to forgive one another and daily declare to one another what He offered so freely on the Cross of Calvary.  To either deny or not seek out and ask for forgiveness means we deny Jesus Christ, His death on Calvary and we deny the grace that He so freely wants to offers us.  Our culture sees forgiveness as a weakness, but with God when we confess and ask for and lay claim to “the forgiveness of sins” our reality changes.  We then more fully rely upon God, not only for this life that we live day to day, but a life that looks with eternal eyes that leads us deeper and more fully into what we confess in the Apostle’s Creed and a fuller relationship with Jesus Christ and the blessings only He can give to each of us.

Not only do we confess, “the forgiveness of sins,” which is for the ‘earthly’, but we lay claim to the eternal, with our belief in “the resurrection of the body,”.  Consider if you will we spare no expense to take care of our loved ones who have died, from the caskets, the flowers for the funeral, the plots that we will be buried in at the cemetery.  Yet as Christians, in our Creed we believe that the flesh we have will when Christ comes again will no longer matter, because we confess “the resurrection of the body,”.

Paul says it plainly in 1^st Corinthians 15 and 1^st Thessalonians, “the dead in Christ will rise first” and our bodies that we now worry about whether we are physically fit or able to wear the latest fashions, will remain in the dust of the earth and we will be given new bodies.  Spiritual bodies that don’t need to worry about aches and pains, pulled muscles, diseases like cancer, diabetes, broken bones or any ailments.  Our belief in “the resurrection of the body,” looks not with the earthly eyes we look for and see, but the eternal eyes.  For in our being raised with all the saints our bodies will be imperishable.

But of what value and importance is our confession of “the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body,”.  Simply we confess in this phrase of the Apostle’s Creed our trust in Jesus Christ.  For we receive forgiveness because of His great love for us and in our trusting Jesus it is not just for forgiveness, but that we will be with Him in heaven for eternity.  No matter the political parties that are in control, the hurts we inflict intentionally or unintentionally that we receive here on earth, none of this matters, because our faith is not built on the sand that shifts with the wind.  Our faith is firmly built on what Jesus Christ offered on Calvary and is the bedrock of our faith.  For our faith is built upon our trust in Jesus Christ and the offer of salvation for all of mankind. 

Today we celebrate our Thank Offering.  We smell the fruits of the ladies labor and the gifts of love that will fill our stomachs.  We have the distinct opportunity to gather this year to give thanks to God for what He has done and continues to do in and with us.  In the early summer, a bountiful wheat harvest not seen in a generation.  A corn harvest that fills the bunkers at Frontier and Co-Op.  The devil wants us to look at the prices for wheat, corn and cattle and worry about what will come tomorrow and how our finances will meet expenses.  But God wants us to focus on something totally different.  God wants us to simply be thankful for our lives, our harvest and especially the blessing of “the forgiveness of sins” and “the resurrection of the body” He gives through His Son Jesus Christ.

We have the greatest opportunity today to give thanks because of His sacrifice and honor the gifts that God offers unto us of eternal life.  In celebrating and giving thanks today we clearly lay claim to what we weekly confess in the Apostle’s Creed.  For this is our corporate and personal confession that not only gives thanks to God for the grace God offers us freely and without cost to us, but promises us what we need the most “the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body,”.  AMEN.

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11062016 - All Saints Sunday - 24th Sunday After Trinity - Apostle's Creed - "the communion of saints"

November 6, 2016
“the communion of saints”

This morning we gather as the ‘small c’ Holy catholic Church.  We gather as the visible Church of Jesus Christ here on earth, not only to receive the True Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, but boldly confess our faith.  We gather to receive the forgiveness of our sins.  We gather, because God not only created the heavens and the earth, but calls us to daily and weekly come to church and worship Him with our confession and faith in what Jesus Christ has done on the Cross of Calvary for all of mankind.

Yet, this morning we gather also boldly confessing another part of the Apostle’s and Nicene Creed that connects us, not only to the visible people gathered here, but especially to those who have gone before us.  This morning we celebrate All Saints Sunday, where we remember our loved ones and those who have passed from life here on this earth across the veil that separates the living and the dead into eternity.  We do this when we confess in both the Nicene, but especially the Apostle’s Creed, “the communion of saints”.

Some ask, what does “the communion of saints” really mean and how are we connected to those who have gone before us?  Whether this last week, last month or last year.  For some of us, including myself, driving out to the cemetery and walking among the gravestones is one way that I connect with some of the saints.  As I wrote in the last newsletter, I have gone, seen, visited and walked among many of the saints I have laid to rest.  Even as a young man I visited my grandparents cemetery plots both in Pennsylvania and Iowa as a way of honoring their memory and connecting with them, even though it was only their earthly bodies and not their eternal spirit given them by God.  Yet, believe it or not, I now understand and believe I don’t need to visit the cemetery any more.

The reason I say this is because, today and every day we celebrate Holy Communion we not only remember, but we can personally connect with “the communion of saints”.  You see the connection we can have comes through, by and is celebrated with our receipt of the precious Body and Blood of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  When we come forward and receive Holy Communion we make a connection not only with our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, but with our loved ones who have gone before us.  This is why it is called a ‘mystical communion’ a mystical connection that transcends time, space and even our own reason as limited as it is.

For when we not only come for continuous communion, but also with communion at the altar, we make the most intimate connection available for us this side of eternity.  When I visit both Wheat Ridge and Good Samaritan, I explain it this way.  The way most older churches were built, they purposefully placed the altar at the ‘front of the church’ against the wall and would depending upon the church have a communion rail placed around the altar, so members could come and take communion.  Historically the rail was a ‘half circle’ ending against the back wall that the altar was placed against.

When the ‘visible church’ would come and receive communion from the altar around the rail, the church would gather and receive Jesus Christ precious Body and Blood as a church family who had forgiven one another and did not hold any grudges or even any ill feelings.  A further confession by the church was the understanding that the rail, did not end with the wall.  The rail continued behind the wall and formed a full circle with the beautiful and theological understanding that we who are still on our earthly pilgrimage are still connected through the Lord’s Supper with “the communion of saints”, those who have gone before us.

So when we gather like today on All Saints day, we gather not as individuals, but with “the communion of saints” who await our entrance into eternity, but intimately and personally connected with them through our receipt of Holy Communion.  For with this understanding of the ‘mystical communion’, we begin to understand that God Who created the heavens and the earth, also created time and has dominion over it.  God is not limited by our ‘earthly construct’ and God with the faith given to us at Holy Baptism not only allows us, but encourages us to trust Him and believe in our personal connection with “the communion of saints” no matter if we met them or even with the saints like Martin Luther or Moses.

These last 8 days have in one sense allowed our celebration of All Saints Sunday to have an exclamation point put on it with my having performed three funerals and attending an additional funeral at the Max.  But I am reminded of one particular funeral in February 2013.

In October and November 2010 after our arrival here at Emmanuel I had the extreme pleasure of meeting, visiting and eventually bringing communion to Etta Butts both in her home when she could no longer drive and at Good Samaritan.  When Etta finally entered eternal glory in February 2013, we prepared for her funeral as was the normal custom.  Yet on the faithful day we were to lay her to rest, God gave Goodland a beautiful covering of snow.

As the family gathered here at the church we only had in total about 10-15 people to attend.  Unlike the funeral at the Max Jones this week, having only 10-15 people here in the church was honestly very sad.  But what I take comfort and solace in is that even though the pews appeared mostly empty, “the communion of saints” filled every last pew.  For “the communion of saints” celebrated the entrance of Etta into eternity and welcomed her home into the loving arms of her Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

This is why when we celebrate All Saints Sunday we do so not only to remember those who have passed in the last year, but also to remember all the saints of all time and all place.  For in the Apostle’s Creed we make the clear connection and confession that “the communion of saints” not only connects us but enables us to be comforted by Jesus Christ Precious Body and Blood, but also have a foretaste of the feast to come.  For the mystical communion we celebrate is because of the free offer of grace and salvation offered by Jesus Christ for all of mankind that will join all of us together in one confession as “the communion of saints”.  AMEN.

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10302016 - Reformation - 23rd Sunday After Trinity - Apostle's Creed - "the Holy catholic church"

October 30, 2016
“the Holy catholic church”

In the Diary of Anne Frank, she unknowingly chronicled a history and has had an impact upon not only the history of the United States, but countless other young children who have read the diary she wrote.  As a high school 10^th grader I read her diary and learned about her willingness to be open and vulnerable in the face of her circumstances of living in a time when the Nazi’s were inflicting their tyranny.  For Anne lived in an attic while her city endured the greatest tragedy of the 20^th Century.

What I find redeeming as I think back to reading her diary is how Anne’s simple narrative chronicled not the loss of life, but the joys of simple confessions that she thought would only be read by her.  But ironically has been shared after her death, across Europe, the Atlantic and especially across the world.

This morning like Anne, we come to celebrate and confess a simple phrase in the Apostle’s Creed.  We confess, “the Holy catholic church”.  You see, 499 Years ago tomorrow, Martin Luther with hammer and nails pounded the 95 Theses on the door at Wittenberg, a catholic Church.  Father Martin Luther, then a monk of the Augustinian order was following the habit of the day to post on the church door items or concerns that he believed needed discussed or debated.  And this was common practice, it was in one sense a ‘public bulletin board’ for the community.  For in that time, everyone went to church, not just on Sunday’s, but sometimes even daily for mass and private confession, but more importantly to come and worship God as not only was the custom, but the tradition passed down from the Old Testament, but also even Jesus ministry of attending the synagogue daily for prayer.

When Martin Luther pounded his theses on the door at Wittenberg it was in the hopes of helping the Church to reform and return to the Gospel and what we confess today, “the Holy catholic church”.  For in our confession today here in the Church, we are not a ‘big C’ Catholic, but a ‘small c’ catholic.  What is understood to be the ‘universal’ Church.

Many times I have been asked, why do we say, catholic at all?  Simply it is because we confess the faith of the small “c” catholic or ‘universal’ Church.  For the universal church simply has as its core confession what Jesus Christ did on Calvary for all of mankind.  This is the free gift God offers out of His great love for us and which not only binds us together, but unites us as “the Holy catholic church”.

So why is there division, hatred and even ill words that have destroyed families and even caused individuals to leave organized religion or remove themselves out of protection?  Simply it is because we, all of humanity are born and conceived in sin and our sin comes out and divides us.  We hold it over one another and refuse to let go of bitterness and hatred and our own plotting, because we believe we are right.

Thom Rainer said recently, “Many churches have more self-inflicted wounds than external injuries.”  I believe Thom is right and the best case in point is Martin Luther.  For when Martin Luther nailed the 95 theses, with every blow of the hammer, Martin Luther unknowingly was kindling a fire in the Church catholic which would lead to the largest split of the church and which still is impacting us today.

What is God calling us to?  Like Martin Luther to return to the central message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and confess our faith in “the Holy catholic church”.  This is our calling as Christians, but also as one’s who confess, not only Jesus Christ as Lord, but with our confession of the Apostle’s Creed.

We do this in three distinct ways.  First by unconditionally loving one another as the “the Holy catholic church”.  We have the opportunity to love everyone, even if we disagree with them and have at times been hurt by them, whether intentionally or unintentionally.  Second we can forgive as Christ forgives us in “the Holy catholic church”.  We are called to forgive, for if we do not forgive one another from the heart, how can we expect Jesus Christ to forgive us if we hold things against one another.  And finally we are called to build and create unity in “the Holy catholic church”.  The unity we need to build and rebuild comes simply not only by our confession of the Apostle’s Creed and the forgiveness of sins in Jesus Christ, but in our intentionally being united in purpose and mission of the spread of the Gospel of Jesus Christ for all of mankind.

We may never see the results, but instead of kindling a fire or kindling dissension, distrust and disease in the church or the membership, which is against God’s sole intent to unite us in “the Holy catholic church”, we can be changed and empowered to love one another.  For in our united confession of “the Holy catholic church” we then thwart division and instead unite behind “the Holy catholic church”.

A perfect example of this unity comes from a woman in the Bible.  Queen Esther for whom the book of Esther is written united God’s chosen people to do a simple task, to pray that not only God’s will would be completed, but His Glory would be revealed and she would be used to ‘make a difference’.  For without Queen Esther and her willingness to go to her husband and make the bold request to save God’s chosen people, history would have been different than we know it today.  We to can make that difference.

So to Martin Luther with his nailing the 95 Theses on the door at Wittenberg had one intent in mind to turn the ship of the church around.  To unify the Church ‘small c’ catholic and return to the sole intent of Jesus and the clear proclamation of the Gospel.  For the Gospel is what unites us and enables us to confess with the whole Church on earth and the hosts of heaven the Apostle’s Creed and our belief in “the Holy catholic church”.  AMEN.

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10232016 - 22nd Sunday After Trinity - Apostle's Creed - "I believe in the Holy Spirit."

October 23, 2016
“I believe in the Holy Spirit,”

Growing up in the Bible Belt of the South, you easily find in most every town a Baptist Church on one corner, a Pentecostal church down near the creek and a Methodist or Episcopal church usually in town.  To find either a Catholic or Lutheran Church meant you had to drive sometimes an hour or more one way.  But what was very clear if you attended any of these churches no matter the name the Holy Spirit was working.  As a child I remember attending an African American church that clearly would call upon the Holy Spirit during the service, because the people believed in the clear and manifest work of the Holy Spirit.  They would shout from the pew, ‘preach it’, ‘Amen’ and other acclamations of praise.  For some of us this would be seen as rude and disconcerting, but these people would not just hear the Word of God, they would let the Word of God inspire them to speak and in one sense cheer on the preacher and this was a strongly conservative Lutheran Church.

At our latest LCMC Convention in Denver, Rev. Ebassa Berhanu preached the opening worship.  Though born in Africa he grew up in his formative years in Minnesota.  Not only have I met him, but attended many meetings with him.  When we would sit around the table talking, he is very reserved, very soft spoken and very quiet and introspective.  But Sunday October 2, 2016, Ebassa didn’t speak with timidity or lack of conviction.  Ebassa was given a gift that we confess in the Apostle’s Creed.  For nearly 30 minutes, Ebassa not only engaged, but mesmerized and inspired many in the audience.  He not only preached the Word of God and the purity of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, but simply allowed himself to be led, inspired and emboldened to preach by the power of the Holy Spirit on him and his message.  Many people I talked with afterwards, who watched whether in person or on the internet agreed even three weeks later, Ebassa was on fire with the Holy Spirit.

You see, today we turn a page in our confession of the Apostle’s Creed.  We have talked in the last 7 weeks specifically of the Father Who Created the heavens and the earth.  Declared that Jesus Christ the Second Person of the Holy Trinity came down to earth and walked among us, healed many people, but ultimately was crucified, died, was buried, but rose from the dead and ascended into heaven.  And boldly confessed Jesus Christ will come again as we said last week to judge between the living and the dead.  And today as we turn the page, we now move to the Third Person of the Holy Trinity, the Holy Spirit.

We confess, “I believe in the Holy Spirit,”.  Our confession of the Holy Spirit is a simple, yet powerful acclamation that the same Spirit that inspired people to shout ‘Amen’ or inspires a preacher to speak with clear boldness and authority like Ebassa did at the convention, is the same Holy Spirit that we believe in and boldly claim today with our confession of “I believe in the Holy Spirit,”.

Martin Luther who pounded the 95 Theses on the door at Wittenberg almost 499 years ago in his Small Catechism makes a bold assertion of what not only belief in the Holy Spirit means, but how it applies to each of us today.  Luther writes in his explanation of the Third Article of the Apostle’s Creed, “What does this mean? I believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or come to Him; but the Holy Spirit has called me by the Gospel, enlightened me with His gifts, sanctified and kept me in the true faith.”

You see this same Holy Spirit that is not only the Third Person of the Holy Trinity is directly responsible for our faith.  Luther says even our ‘reason or strength’ cannot be used to believe in what Jesus Christ did on the Cross of Calvary.  Unlike other churches, Luther says we cannot believe without the divine Work of the Holy Spirit.  For “the Holy Spirit has called [me/us] by the Gospel”.  The Holy Spirit breaks through our at times hard outer shell that we put on like a coat to protect us from the cold winds of Western Kansas, but the Holy Spirit cuts through all layers and powers that we think we have in order to ‘call each and every one of us by the Gospel of Jesus Christ.’

When we confess, “I believe in the Holy Spirit,” we believe the Holy Spirit is not only the Third Person of the Divine Trinity, but the Holy Spirit calls each of us with the Gospel.  For in this call, we receive the proclamation of God of the forgiveness of sins and life and salvation.  We hear the sweetest story ever told that changes our eternal destination.  For it is through and by the Holy Spirit that the Holy Spirit, “enlightens [me/us] with His gifts and kept [me/us] in the true faith.”  This is the gift of God our Father, His Son Jesus Christ, and by the divine Work of the Holy Spirit the gift that is offered unto us when we confess, “I believe in the Holy Spirit,”.

Yet you might ask, I don’t feel any different, I don’t understand how this can occur for me here in Goodland, KS?  Six years ago today in this very sanctuary, I took my ordination vows and publically accepted the yoke of responsibility signified by the stole as the Pastor of Emmanuel Lutheran Church.  I say this not, and let me repeat that, not to hold it over anybody, but simply because one person who was here that day felt how tangible the Holy Spirit was in our congregation of Emmanuel.

Jason Trupp who at that time was Pastor of the Four Square Church here in Goodland took part in my ordination reading one of the lessons.  After that day when meeting with other pastors here in town, Jason made not only an observation, but an acclamation of being able to see and feel the Work of the Holy Spirit here at Emmanuel at my ordination.  Not only in the ordination and installation, but Jason said the Holy Spirit’s presence was so tangible for him and his wife Beverly.  At that acclamation I agreed and said, yes it was present and we as the people of Emmanuel remember the Holy Spirit with a simple light fixture.

It’s not one of the lights out in the sanctuary proper that help you all to read the bulletin or sing the songs.  The Light that reminds us of what the Holy Spirit continues to do with our confession of “I believe in the Holy Spirit,” comes from the altar.  The eternal light is the beacon, the light in the darkness of our fallen world that daily reminds us of Gods continuing to walk with us in our walk of faith.  It is the reminder of how Martin Luther explained it in the Small Catechism.  Our belief in the power of the Holy Spirit Who still today inspires pastors to preach with vigor and vitality like Ebassa, but also the people of God to respond to God’s Work for us, in us and how the Holy Spirit keeps us in the true faith.  May we not only remember what the Holy Spirit does when we see the eternal light when we enter for worship or the darkened sanctuary at night, but believe and boldly confess with the entire church on earth, “I believe in the Holy Spirit,”.  AMEN.

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05172015 Sunday After the Ascension - We are kept from stumbling

Gospel Audio (Will be added soon!)
Sermon Audio (Will be added soon!)

May 17, 2015

We are kept from stumbling

Have you ever stubbed your toe?  Or have you tripped over something that was in your way.  Whether the toy or messy living room that was left by one of your children.  The hitch on the trailer that you thought you had cleared when filling the seed box getting ready to plant or even a tree root that you have walked over countless years and one time you catch your toe just right and fall to the ground.  We all have had these experiences.  Whether it was the Lego’s or Lincoln Logs in the living room, the teddy bear in the hall or even the shoes that should have been left by the door or in the mud room.  We clearly stumble easily, whether toddlers who get to running to fast and even older adults who move more slowly or need help from walkers or canes.  All of us are susceptible to stumbling both physically, mentally and emotionally.

 Yet as Christians, God clearly doesn’t want us to stumble in our faith life, but we do.  We daily encounter people who lure us away from God.  We encounter a culture who even questions our need of God and the feeling that events are more important than daily encounters with the almighty.  From sports teams that play on Sunday, our own desire to ‘have a day of rest’ from the business of life, to even our relegating God to tomorrow or next week or the next holiday, because we have so much we feel we need to do today in order to pay the bills.  We daily fall clearly into the trap set by evil and fall away from God, whether in what we watch on television or the internet, what we look at in the store or online and even here in worship, when we don’t listen to the readings, but let our minds wander.  We stumble and fall.

Could God get mad about this and at us?  Yes, God could easily be very angry with each and every one of us, even me the Pastor.  But God doesn’t get mad, doesn’t get even and doesn’t hold a grudge against us.  God loves us, with an unmistakable love that is above and beyond what we deserve.  God Who loves us and wants us to know of His boundless compassion and love does something that would be out of character for mankind.  God gives us a gift.  And this gift is none other than the Holy Spirit.

You see this past week on Thursday, the church celebrated Jesus Christ ascension into heaven.  Hence why the Pascal Candle has moved yet again.  From its being on the level with the people of God when Jesus came in the manger, it was next moved to next to the Baptismal Font with His Resurrection and now is at the Right Hand of God.  This is where our Creed’s we confess clearly every Sunday show where Jesus is today.  But now that we are alone after Jesus ascension, how can the Holy Spirit be a gift.

Simply the Holy Spirit is the gift from God of God’s presence here among us and for us today.  No matter the season of the church year we always have a clear and present representation of the Holy Spirit here in worship.  When I walk into the sanctuary at night, I always can look and see the Eternal Light, God’s reminder to and for we who gather here in His house, of God’s eternal presence with us in the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit daily keeps us from stumbling.  This is the clear job of the Holy Spirit to keep us from stumbling in the darkness that surrounds us.  The Holy Spirit is the reminder for each of us of God’s Love for us and His abiding Holy Spirit given to each and every one of us.  We are not left alone.

For the Holy Spirit has four tasks in each of our lives as Martin Luther says.  First the Holy Spirit calls us.  We are not just called, “Christians”, we are called by name.  When we stumble, the Holy Spirit calls our names, gently and firmly, but the Holy Spirit also reminds us that God is there to love us, forgive us and protect us.

Second the Holy Spirit gathers us together.  We are gathered here as the Body of Christ.  We have heard God’s Word, we will be receiving in a few moments His Sacrament of Jesus Christ True Body and Blood.  And we gather in unity like a family not only as a symbol, but a clear confession we are God’s Children.

Third, God’s Holy Spirit promised to us by Jesus Christ enlightens us daily.  When we see the sun rise in the morning when headed to the field, the smile of our children or parents, this is a gift for us from the Holy Spirit to enlighten us and clearly demonstrate God’s continued love for us each and every day.

And finally God sanctifies us.  Sanctify is a ’50 cent’ word.  It simply means, God makes us Holy.  God through the Holy Spirit not only sanctifies and makes us holy, but keeps us in the one true faith we have been baptized into and called by God to guard, protect and proclaim in our daily lives.

God gives us the Holy Spirit to be His Witness.  James says it so well, we need to be ‘doers of the Word’, ‘not just hearers’.  This is how the Holy Spirit gives us the spirit of power and might to stand up and proclaim that Jesus Christ died for all of mankind.

The best example of this comes not from outside of our church, but inside.  Last year, the Pre-School program of our Vacation Bible School took time and through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit to pray.  The whole class was given an opportunity to pray and through their words, of both boys and girls, their prayers inspired by the Holy Spirit not only melted the hear

ts of everyone, but were bold witnesses of God’s gift of the Holy Spirit in each of them.  Each child showed their faith and the strength given by the Holy Spirit in their lives.

The witness they gave not only inspired each other to pray with boldness, but even inspired the leaders to tell me of the power they felt resonating from the mouths of the children entrusted to us.  This is how the Holy Spirit not only emboldens us, but insures we will not stumble when we fully rely upon Him.  For the Gift of the Holy Spirit is not only for a select few, but for all of mankind including all of us saints gathered here at Emmanuel this morning insuring we are kept from stumbling by the Holy Spirit.  AMEN.

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05032015 - 4th Sunday After Easter - We need a guide...the Holy Spirit

Sermon Audio

May 3, 2015

We need a guide!

This afternoon, the ladies will be celebrating another year of their Spring Tea.  It is not only a festal time, but one where mother, daughter, granddaughter, aunt and cousins and all the ladies can enjoy conversation and cordiality as ladies need.

One of the advantages that women have is that they are not afraid to stop and ask for directions.  Most men if lost will drive either until they break down or run out of gas.  Women on the other hand do not have a problem stopping and asking for directions.  They are easily guided and even seek out a guide.  This trait is one of the reasons women are so well loved in the church.

In our Gospel this morning Jesus after allaying the fears of the disciples and foretelling that their grief will be turned into joy, now transitions and tells them, “One is coming to be our guide”!  The One Jesus is talking about is none other than the Third Person of the Holy Trinity, the Holy Spirit.  With the promise of the Holy Spirit, Jesus wants us to understand three things.

First, we cannot do life alone, we need a guide.  Unlike the machoism that the disciples probably had of going it alone, Jesus is clearly telling the disciples, they need a guide.  They need someone to help and to guide them along their journey.  So to we who gather here today need this same guidance.  We need a guide.  We like the disciples need the Holy Spirit to poke and prod us to be the Children of God He has made us to be.  Just as we need parents to be born, we need the Holy Spirit to birth within each of us the desire to serve God.  For we cannot do it alone.  Left to our own devices, we do and will find reasons to pull away, whether from family, friends and even the church.  But the Holy Spirit as our Great Guide is there to fulfill His role to as Martin Luther said, to “Call, gather and enlighten” each of us and “keep us in the Christian faith”.

Guides are great, but even with a guide, we need to understand a guide is only as good as the one following the guides directions.  Whether the guidance farmers get from the USDA office or the crop consultant, they are a guide for our economic future.  But we need a spiritual guide as well.  In essence, we need to do what our spiritual Guide says.  Since God sent the Holy Spirit to guide us, we need to follow the directions, poking’s and prodding’s of the Holy Spirit.  It would be like when spraying in our fields, gardens or yards and we read the directions on the chemical of how to mix the spray.  But when it comes down to it, we want the expensive chemical to last longer so we only put in half the required amount of concentrate.  Then two weeks later when the weeds come back and we either have to go back and respray or even when we do spray again, the weeds don’t die, because they have become resistant, we wonder why.  It is because we have not listened nor followed the directions of the manufacturer.

So to in our lives, God is our manufacturer and God sends His Holy Spirit to give us the directions we need.  We aren’t called to doubt the Holy Spirit, because we ‘know better’, or explain away someone’s action, because ‘they are that way’.  God is calling us to follow and do His bidding to reach the world, impact our community and lead our church as His Children by doing what He is calling us to do as His followers and be guided by the Holy Spirit to do what is right.

Not only do we need a guide and we need to follow what our Guide says, but most importantly, we need to trust the Holy Spirit.  Trust for some is very difficult.  Whether it is because it has been violated by our family or friends or even by the Shepherd God sent to lead the church.  Trust is a commodity that some will only give, if it is a last resort, like when we are dealing with cancer and the medical community is the last hope for us.  Or when we take our tractor, combine, planter or vehicle we drive daily to the dealership, we have to trust the mechanics to replace the parts needed to keep it running so we can make the land payment, pay off the note after harvest and even insure we can make it to town for groceries.

So to we don’t have to, but we need to trust the Holy Spirit in our daily lives.  God sends the Holy Spirit to rebuild our trust and heal the trust that has been violated.  For the Holy Spirit will not violate our trust.  For when we trust Jesus Christ Words from our Gospel and we receive the Holy Spirit and trust the Holy Spirit to guide us, we will be changed.  The change we will experience will be from the inside out.

For when we trust the Holy Spirit, God will change us and the Holy Spirit will help us to pray for things that are not even on our radar.  A question we all need to ask and answer for ourselves is what kind of legacy do we want to leave?  What is most important in our lives?  What will we be remembered for?  Is it having the most land that we farm in Sherman, Cheyenne, Wallace or Rollins County?  Is it the best farmstead?  Or is our legacy to be a follower of Jesus Christ that follows God’s Word, listens to the Holy Spirit and trusts God with everything we hold dear?

God has a simple goal in mind, our being with Him in heaven for eternity.  We can get there if we remember we can’t do it alone, we need a guide, the Holy Spirit.  We can’t get there if we don’t do what our guide the Holy Spirit says.  And finally we won’t get to heaven, if we don’t trust in Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit as our guide.  For Jesus Christ came to die on the Cross of Calvary in order to set us all free.  This is God’s offer of Grace and a demonstration of His love for each and every one of us.  When we trust God and His Grace and His Holy Spirit we then will be changed from the inside out and made new creatures that have been redeemed by the Blood of the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world.  This is what Jesus Christ is offering each and every one of us who gather here today and believe.  This is God’s gift for all of mankind, but especially all of us saints gathered here this morning who trust in Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit as our guide for each of us today.  AMEN.

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Speak Your Mind

06082014 Pentecost Sunday

Sermon Audio

May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be pleasing in Your sight, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer.  AMEN.

Today is the festival of Pentecost.  On this day 50 days after Easter, when Jesus Christ rose from the dead, we celebrate the giving of the Holy Spirit.  Today the disciples who had fled the Garden when Jesus was betrayed, cowered in fear of their being killed like Jesus in the upper room and some who had even watched Jesus suffer on the Cross, today received the Holy Spirit.  It may seem anti-climatic nearly two thousand years later, but Pentecost is our opportunity as a congregation for us to remember what it means for the Holy Spirit to descend upon us.

If you will notice the colors of the paraments are red today to remember the Holy Spirit descending upon the disciples.  Not only is this a reminder for all of us of Jesus baptism, where the Holy Spirit descended upon Jesus Christ head in the form of a dove, but it also is a reminder of our baptism and our confirmation.  When the Pastor placed his hands on your head and you took responsibility for your faith that was your Pentecost moment.

For some the day of our confirmation is etched in our minds, where we took upon ourselves our responsibility and now stand shoulder to shoulder with our brothers and sisters in Christ.  Our vows, not only link us with our church here at Emmanuel.  We are firmly connected to the church throughout the world, our parents, grandparents, great-grandparents and others who confess our Christian faith.  We today not only remember our baptism, but especially our confirmation with the descent of the tongues of fire that now rest over our heads.

Today is our Pentecost here at Emmanuel.  We are not only empowered, but enriched and encouraged to live out the Gospel.  We have a decision to make as individuals and as a congregation.  The best way I can help you to clearly understand the power you have on this Pentecost Sunday is by giving you a gift.

Before I give you this gift, I need to warn you.  What I am about to give you can either be like Thor’s hammer, constructive or destructive!  It can mean and be for each of us a symbol for change and opportunity, a reminder when we look upon it, what God gives us with His Holy Spirit, or the potential for God to light a fire in each of us as the body of Christ for the spread of the Gospel for all of mankind.  We have a decision to make how to use the gifts and the power each of us has been individually given by God and the gift I give you today is meant only to be a reminder of God’s gift to us.  It is a symbol or a metaphor for us today on Pentecost of the power of God that lies within each of us.

Please understand, power can be used in at least two ways: it can be unleashed, or it can be harnessed. The energy in ten gallons of gasoline, for instance, can be released explosively by dropping a lighted match into the can. Or it can be channeled through the engine of a tractor in a controlled burn and used to run a combine, a bush-hog or even a tractor trailer to bring a harvest to the elevator. Explosions are spectacular, but controlled burns have lasting effect, staying power. The Holy Spirit that we celebrate its gift to us today works both ways. At Pentecost, the Holy Spirit exploded on the scene; His presence was like "tongues of fire" (Acts 2:3). Thousands were affected by one burst of God's power upon the people of God. But He, that is the Holy Spirit, also works through we the church here at Emmanuel—we are the institution God began to tap and use the Holy Spirit's power for the long haul. Through worship, fellowship, and service, we the Saints of Emmanuel are provided with staying power through the Work of the Holy Spirit in and through our lives.

It is this staying power that we have been given in the Holy Spirit for all the saints here at Emmanuel.  So may the gift I give to you today may it simply symbolize the potential that God sees in you and is willing to give you the power to use in His Kingdom and for His Glory for all of mankind, but especially all of you saints gathered here at Emmanuel on this Pentecost Sunday.  AMEN.

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12222013 Advent 4 Children's Program

Sermon Audio

May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be pleasing in Your sight, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer.  AMEN.

Let us pray, Gracious Father, thank You for sending Your Holy Spirit that continues to call, gather and keep us in the one true faith.  May we celebrate in Jubilee not only the coming of the Christ Child, but also that the Holy Spirit unites us during this Advent season, especially all of us saints gathered here at Emmanuel.  AMEN.

Right here in this very sanctuary in July we celebrated with the Counselors of Sky Ranch the Jubilee of the camp that our congregation helped begin and fund in Colorado.  And today we come together not only to continue this celebration, but put the perfect exclamation point on it for us here at Emmanuel Lutheran Church in Goodland, KS, with our celebration of the Jubilee!

We join today in Jubilee celebration, because of Jesus Christ entrance into the world as we know it.  In a few minutes all of you young people will tell the story of Jesus birth, but what all of us need to understand is that not only do you tell the story and the people here in the audience hear again the story that never gets old, but we celebrate the Jubilee of Jesus Birth in the manger in Bethlehem.

We come to celebrate, because the Holy Spirit fulfills His job to call, gather, enlighten and sanctify us in the one true faith.  This dovetails perfectly with our review of the Apostle’s Creed.  Hence, this week instead of hearing and reciting again what the Holy Spirit does in the Third Article of the Apostle’s Creed, I want you to think for a second, who first brought you here to this church.  [WAIT 5 SECONDS].

Do you remember who it was?  Was it your parents, grandparents, your friends or a relative of yours?  Ironically, we may not remember who it was who did this initially, but I want you to understand that the important part is there was always someone who did this for each of us.  The person who brought us was inspired to bring them and you, because of the Holy Spirit Who calls us by name, gathers us in God’s house, opens the scriptures to us as you will do in a few minutes and keeps us in the one true faith til we go to heaven.  This is why we come today to celebrate, not only the work of the Holy Spirit in each of our lives, but also the entrance of Jesus Christ in the manger.  This is what the Christmas message of Jubilee is all about.  We are celebrating the Jubilee and the work of the Holy Spirit of telling of Jesus Birth.

May we who gather today around the manger because of the work of the Holy Spirit, hear the clear message of Jesus Birth to save all mankind and come and celebrate in Jubilee, with hearts, voices, tamborines, drums, bells and songs the Joy of Jesus birth.  Thank you to all of you young adults and the leaders for this gift you are giving to all of us that was given in a lowly manger to save us.  And thank you for you the children who tell this sacred story of Jubilee for all of mankind, including all of us saints here at Emmanuel.  AMEN.