In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. In our first reading for this morning, St. Paul writes: Purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened. For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us. Therefore let us keep the feast,…

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. In the beginning was darkness. The earth was without form, and it was void. And darkness was on the face of the deep (cf. Genesis 1:2). And yet, God was there too. His Spirit was hovering over the waters. He was about to bring order…

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. And Jesus, bearing His cross, went out to a place called the Place of a Skull, which is called in Hebrew, Golgotha, where they crucified Him, and two others with Him, one on either side, and Jesus in the center. Now Pilate wrote a…

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Lent is a somber season, even more so as Holy Week approaches. And yet, on this day we find ourselves singing “Alleluia” and Glory be to the blessed Trinity, words which we would normally refrain from singing during this somber time…

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Death is the ultimate enemy of mankind, even more so than Satan and the demons. Satan and the demons constantly assail God’s people, but their attacks are limited in power apart from the threat of death and eternal separation from…

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Our texts for today direct us to consider the Sacrament of Holy Baptism. Ezekiel prophesies of a time when the Lord would sprinkle His people with clean water to cleanse them from their filthiness and idolatry. And likewise Isaiah…

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. The season of Lent has come to be thought of by many present-day Lutherans as a forty-day period of reflection upon the sufferings and death of Christ for our salvation. You have probably noticed that the Church’s historic lectionary…

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. In today’s Gospel text, our Lord speaks of how defilement comes from within. The scribes and Pharisees were obsessed with external obedience to the law and traditions of the elders. But Christ says that external obedience, or lip…

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Our text for this morning invites us to reflect further on a theme which we began to see unfold two weeks ago on the First Sunday in Lent. Contrary to the Rationalist Enlightenment philosophy which has dominated much of mainstream…

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Today’s Gospel text reveals to us a hard truth—namely that greatness in the kingdom of God comes through suffering. On some level, all humans desire to achieve greatness. To be sure, one person’s concept of greatness likely differs…