Faith Lutheran Oregon, Wisconsin

We’re all familiar with the visit of the Wise Men, depicted popularly at Christmas with three regal men with their gifts following the Star to the young child Jesus.  But this morning I want to address something that is in the air with Epiphany, and the Wise Men, and the Star.  And it’s the idea that the Christian faith is somehow opposed to science or reason.  

(They aren’t: what I want to develop today is that the Wise Men actually show that true science and Christianity actually fit together.)

Sermon for the third Sunday in Advent, Gaudete, on 1 Corinthians 4:1-5

Sermon for the second Sunday in Advent, Populus Zion, on Romans 15:4-13.

Sermon on Romans 13:11-14 for the first Sunday in Advent by Rev. Jeff Hendrix

Sermon on Philippians 1:1-11 for Thanksgiving 2024 by Rev. Jeff Hendrix

“Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar?” The Pharisees craftily asked Jesus. They knew their government wasn’t being lawful or good itself.  So they think they are tricking Jesus.  But Jesus’ amazingly simple and profound response, after he has them hold up a coin bearing the image of Caesar, is to say,  “Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.”

Today I want to explore and apply this to our cultural context today living in 2024 under our particular rules and system of government.  What are those things that we owe to Caesar today?

A sermon on John 4:46–54, about a man who comes to Jesus worried about petty things, and leaves trusting the most important thing. Jesus words are true and they are good.

Just like the words Jesus spoke to the paralyzed man were surprising to him and his friends, the original fairytale of Cinderella is surprising. She forgives her wicked sisters and invites them to live with her in the palace. To be forgiven is to have a happy ever after, THE happy every after: the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting. Sermon on Matthew 9:1-8 for Trinity 19 by Rev. Jeff Hendrix.

Angels are messengers. They tell stories. It is important that we recognize what messages and stories we are hearing and believing. Sermon on Rev. 12 for St. Michael and All Angels by Rev. Jeff Hendrix

Fellowship is a pillar of the Christian faith and life in the Christian Church: What it means to understand God and His relationship to us as Christians.  Fellowship is a uniquely Christian word: People who are linked together, united, by their common faith in Jesus, and enabled to have a kingdom relationship as a result of that, which is different from what passes for friendship in our world.  A good way to illustrate what Christian fellowship is, is to use J.R.R. Tolkien’s Fellowship of the Rings.

Sermon on Luke 14:1-11 by Rev. Jeff Hendrix