Our Savior Lynchburg

Preacher: The Rev. Aaron E. Yaeger

Proverbs 8:11–22 / Philippians 3:17–21 / Matthew 22:15–22

Render to God the things of God 
When confronted with the civic duty of paying taxes, our Lord Jesus, Wisdom incarnate, walked “in the way of righteousness, in the paths of justice” (Prov. 8:20) and discerned that wisdom “is better than jewels” and “better than gold, even fine gold” (Prov. 8:11, 19). When we set our minds on earthly things, such as wealth and passing glory, our “end is destruction” (Phil. 3:19). However, our humble and prudent Lord has rendered “to God the things that are God’s” (Matt. 22:21), namely, perfect fear, love, and trust, as well as the complete sacrifice for our sin. In so doing, He also rendered to Caesar the things of honor and justice, submitting to the law of the land that put Him on the cross. The true “riches and honor are with [Him],” because “enduring wealth and righteousness” (Prov. 8:18) are found in our heavenly citizenship from which “we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.” He “will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself” (Phil. 3:20-21).

Sermon text: https://oursaviorlynchburg.notion.site/41275af8d8cd804bb230ce4e9fa696cb

Preacher: The Rev. Aaron E. Yaeger

Revelation 7:2–17 / [1 John 3:1–3] / Matthew 5:1–12

Saints Are Blessed in the Eternal Presence of Christ
“A great multitude from all tribes and peoples and languages,” cry out “salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne” (Rev. 7:9–17). Faith-filled saints from every place and time with unified voices eternally magnify the Lamb of God. As His beloved children, we too, “shall see him as he is” (1 John 3:1–3). Joined with the throng of angels and a myriad of saints, we shall “serve him day and night in his temple” (Rev. 7:9–17). In our earthly tension vacillating between saint and sinner, faith and doubt, sacred and profane, we earnestly seek Jesus to calm our fears, comfort our spirits, and forgive our sins. The Holy Spirit, through faith in Christ propels us forward, fortifying us in Word and Sacrament, to our eternal home. In the midst of our constant struggle as believers, we need to be blessed. And so we are. The poor in spirit, the meek, the hungry, the thirsty, the merciful, the pure, and the persecuted are all blessed and we will most certainly inherit the kingdom of heaven (Matt. 5:1–12).

Sermon text: https://oursaviorlynchburg.notion.site/40b75af8d8cd8050ab37e0c2353204d3

Preacher: The Rev. R. Eric Malmstrom

[Revelation 14:6–7] / Romans 3:19–28 / Matthew 11:12–15*

The Son of God Has Set Us Free from Sin and Death by His Grace
“Wisdom is justified by her deeds” (Matt. 11:19), and the true Wisdom of God, Christ Jesus the incarnate Son, justifies us by His deeds. He prepares His way by the preaching of repentance, but He has suffered the violence of the Law and voluntarily handed Himself over to violent men, that we might eat and drink with Him in His Kingdom and “remain in the house forever” (John 8:35).  For He is “a friend of tax collectors and sinners” (Matt. 11:19), and He has rescued us by His grace from the slavery of sin and death. By the proclamation of His eternal Gospel “to those who dwell on earth, to every nation and tribe and language and people” (Rev. 14:6), “the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law” (Rom. 3:21), “that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus” (Rom. 3:26). And by hearing the Gospel of Christ Jesus, “whom God put forward as a propitiation by His blood, to be received by faith” (Rom. 3:25), “you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (John 8:31–32).

Sermon text: https://oursaviorlynchburg.notion.site/40575af8d8cd80a6a501cf4cc55a8403

Preacher: The Rev. Aaron E. Yaeger

Ezekiel 1:10–14* / 2 Timothy 4:1–18* / Luke 10:1–9

St. Luke, Evangelist
The Lord bids us to pray to the Lord of the harvest to send forth laborers into His harvest (Luke 10:2). The fields look more like deserts, filled with jackals (Isa. 35:6–7), and the Lord sends His laborers out as lambs in the midst of wolves. But Christ’s Word of “Peace” heals the sick and brings the very kingdom of God near to those who hear it (Is 35:5; Luke 10:3–9). St. Luke, the beloved physician (Col. 4:14), did the work of an evangelist. He diligently prepared both a Gospel, the history of Christ’s work in the flesh before His ascension, and the Acts of the Apostles, the history of His continued work among His Church. Luke and his Scriptures are a gift from this Ascended Lord (Eph. 4:8–12), written for Theophilus and for all who love His appearing (2 Tim. 4:5–8). Tradition suggests that Luke was one of the seventy-two sent out ahead of Jesus, two by two. Luke proved himself to be a faithful companion throughout St. Paul’s missionary journeys, through many trials and crosses, and even to Rome, where he alone was with Paul.

Sermon text: https://oursaviorlynchburg.notion.site/3fd75af8d8cd80f0a9c7c5db7c1c7f02

Preacher: The Rev. Aaron E. Yaeger

Isaiah 44:21–23* / Ephesians 4:22–28 / Matthew 9:1–8

Jesus’ Incarnation Secures for Us Life, Forgiveness, and Healing
The Lord does not require us to ascend to Him; in mercy He descends to us (Gen. 28:10–17). The ladder in Jacob’s dream was not for climbing; it was the means by which the Lord came to bless Jacob. This event finds its fulfillment in Christ who descended from His throne to save and bless us. By His incarnation He is the eternal bridge between heaven and earth. “The Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins” (Matt. 9:1–8). The Lord was present in the flesh to absolve the paralytic. Jesus also healed and restored this man’s body. “For where there is forgiveness of sins, there is also life and salvation” (Small Catechism). The Lord still has power on earth to forgive sins. In holy absolution He raises up the new man (Eph. 4:22–28) and bestows the healing medicine which will bring about our resurrection on the Last Day. Thus we say with Jacob, “This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven!” (Gen. 28:17)

Sermon text: https://oursaviorlynchburg.notion.site/3f675af8d8cd80c7939cc4a1ba7619f5

Preacher: The Rev. Aaron E. Yaeger

Sermon text: https://oursaviorlynchburg.notion.site/3f575af8d8cd80dabf9fc284b93567c2

Preacher: The Rev. Aaron E. Yaeger

Deuteronomy 10:12–21 / 1 Corinthians 1:4–8 / Matthew 22:34–46

In Life and Death, Christ Fulfills the Law of God
The Pharisees ask a Law question. Jesus asks a Gospel question. The Pharisees seek to test Jesus in His own words. Jesus seeks to “test” them in the saving reality of who He is as the Messiah (Matt. 22:34–46). The Law requires you to “fear the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul” and to “love the sojourner” (Deut. 10:12–21). Failure to keep the Law perfectly brings judgment. On the other hand, the Gospel brings the grace of God given by Jesus Christ, that you may be blameless in the day of His return (1 Cor. 1:1–9). Jesus is David’s Son yet David’s Lord, true God and true man. He is Love incarnate who fulfilled all the demands of God’s Law on our behalf, that we might be saved from the Law’s condemnation and sanctified in the Gospel’s forgiveness. Thereby we see that “God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord” (1 Cor. 1:9).

Sermon text: https://oursaviorlynchburg.notion.site/3ef75af8d8cd8038b73af70f3249591d

Preacher: The Rev. R. Eric Malmstrom

Daniel 10:10–14; 12:1–3 / Revelation 12:7–12a* / Matthew 18:1–11

Our Father in Heaven Protects His Children by Giving His Holy Angels Charge Over Them 
We live in “a time of trouble” (Dan. 12:1), in great tribulation; Satan and his wicked angels have been thrown out of heaven and have come down to earth “in great wrath,” with woeful “temptations to sin” and with constant accusations (Rev. 12:8–12; Matt. 18:7). Even so, we are encouraged by the presence and protection of St. Michael and the holy angels, whom God sends to help amid the strife (Dan. 10:11–13), and even the Second Person of the Most Holy Trinity, the Son of God Himself (Josh. 5: 13–15). By “the authority of his Christ,” His holy angels guard and keep us in body and soul. These heavenly servants of God preserve His human messengers on earth, the ministers of “the blood of the Lamb,” against all the power of the enemy; for by “the word of their testimony,” the Church is saved and the devil is defeated (Rev. 12:10–11; Luke 10:18–19). By their preaching and Baptism of repentance, the old Adam and the old evil foe are “drowned in the depth of the sea” (Matt. 18:6); and as God raised Christ Jesus from the dead, so are His people delivered and raised from the dust of the earth through the forgiveness of their sins (Dan. 12:1–3).

Sermon text: https://oursaviorlynchburg.notion.site/3e875af8d8cd80fe9e58c7c8be3346c0

Preacher: The Rev. Aaron E. Yaeger

1 Kings 17:17–24 / Ephesians 3:13–21 / Luke 7:11–16*

Jesus Calls forth Life from Death 
A large funeral procession carrying the only son of a widow is confronted by another large procession, Jesus and His followers. Death and Life meet face to face at the gate of the city (Luke 7:11–17). Filled with compassion, Jesus comes into direct contact with our mortality in order to overcome it. He touches the coffin and speaks His creative words of life, “Young man, I say to you, arise.” Jesus does what is neither expected nor requested. For through Christ, God the Father “is able to do far more abundantly than all we ask or think” (Eph. 3:14–21). Jesus bore our death in His body that we may share in His resurrection. Even as Elijah stretched himself out three times over the Zarephath woman’s son (2 Kings 17:17–24), God stretched Himself out over us in the threefold application of His name in the baptismal water, breathing new and everlasting life into us. “To Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.”

Sermon text: https://oursaviorlynchburg.notion.site/3e075af8d8cd8046a79bcd0ccf416533

Preacher: The Rev. Aaron E. Yaeger

[Numbers 21:4–9] / Philippians 2:5–11* / John 12:32–36a*

The Exaltation of the Holy Cross
Sir, we wish to see Jesus! (John 12:21). Then look to His Holy Cross. For just as Moses lifted up the bronze serpent in the wilderness, so Jesus, when He is lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to Himself (v. 32). He humbled Himself and became obedient even to the death of the cross to save us (Phil. 2:8). Everyone who is bitten by the ancient serpent’s venom of sin, when he sees Christ shall live (Num. 21:8). The true Holy Cross is lost to history, and we cannot return to Calvary to find our salvation. So Christ brings the New Testament in His Blood to us. We preach Christ crucified . . . the power of God and the wisdom of God, though foolishness to the unbelieving world (1 Cor. 1:23–24). It pleases God through the folly of the cross we preach to save those who believe (v.21). We find the fruit and benefit of this Holy Cross poured out in Holy Baptism, spoken in the preaching of Holy Absolution, and delivered in the Body and Blood given and shed there for us. Thus are we strengthened to take up our crosses, sanctified by His (John 12:25–26).

Sermon text: https://oursaviorlynchburg.notion.site/3da75af8d8cd80b1a520e02ce16e8cc7