Preaching and Teaching from St. John Ev. Lutheran Church (Sherman Center), Random Lake, Wisconsin

Text: Exodus 32:1-20

Samson is a reminder to us of the faults and flaws shared by all the Lord’s servants. No one is perfect and righteous and holy on their own, and it does us no good to compare Samson with Abraham or Moses or David. They are all equally sinful. And they all equally depend on the grace of God.

Text: Acts 1:15-26

Text: Exodus 17:1-7

Text: Exodus 16:1-15, 31

Baptism, temptation, and cross all go together. This is the way of Jesus and His way is your way. He’s the course set by God the Father. You follow the Son by His Word, led by the Holy Spirit. You are given new life in Baptism. You bear the cross as you are attacked day and night by the flesh, the devil, and this world. And finally, when your last our comes you’ll die just like everyone has always done, except you’ll see the resurrection to eternal life on the last day. There is no other way, or truth, or life that will do.

Text: Genesis 3:1-21; Hebrews 4:14–16

Text: 1 John 4:7-21

We are all dying. That’s the message of the ashes and the cross this day. One day those words will be spoken over your dead body, “Earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust,” as your body is lowered into the ground from which it was made. You were not made to die, of course. Death is not natural. Death is a result of sin and all the brokenness that it brings. Adam and Eve brought death into the world through their rebellion against God, and they passed that sin, that death, that rebellion on to their children. We see the fruits of this sin crystal clear tonight as Cain murders his brother Abel.

Text: John 2:1-11