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

Text: Luke 2:22-32

Text: Luke 2:22-24

Text: Matthew 2:13-18

In the Bible a sign often means something that contains what God is doing and giving. But at the same time, a sign hides under what appears to be the opposite. What we see, touch, feel, or experience seems quite the opposite of what God says it is. We can only know the sign by the word of God, which requires hearing and receiving, that is, faith or trust. The ear is the organ of faith. God’s dealing with us in this way reduces us to the point where we are nothing but receivers, receiving by hearing.

Text: Acts 6:8-7:2a,51-60

Christmas isn’t about being filled with empty thoughts, empty pursuits, and empty calories. Christmas is about the empty being filled with the good thing, Jesus for you. In Jesus, you have access to God and His heaven, all graciously given to you by your Baptism as your eternal inheritance. By the preaching and teaching of the Word, you are filled with the Spirit of wisdom and the knowledge of Jesus for you. Your eyes are opened to see Jesus with the light of understanding. He feeds your hungry soul with His forgiveness, life, and salvation in the Supper of His body and blood. By these gifts of Jesus received within His body, the church, you all will come to the unity of the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God, each filled with the fullness of Christ.

All history is wrapped up in the swaddling clothes. All that was foretold and foreshadowed begins to find its fulfillment on that night. Time and eternity are joined in the Babe of Bethlehem. The Bread from Heaven is given from a manger trough, to feed you with forgiveness He earned by His body given and His blood shed at Calvary. And now you are wrapped up in Jesus, clothed in baptismal garments of His righteousness. The promise given by the Prophets, the Patriarchs, the Psalmist is yours in the God who is with His people to save your sins, the Immanuel Jesus.

Text: Luke 2:1-20

Text: Formula of Concord, Article I, para 33 (https://bookofconcord.org/formula-of-concord-solid-declaration/article-i/)

Text: Luke 1:26-38