Sermons Archive - Prince of Peace Lutheran Church

The prophet Malachi proclaimed a decree of utter destruction for those who did not turn from their evil ways. For God is not evil, God is good. God is not sin, God is sinless. God is not hate, God is love. But we are not God. We cannot be sinless. We cannot even be good. We certainly cannot be love. So what can we do? Must we simply wait for our destruction?

The season which comes before Christmas is known as Advent. It is a season of preparation for arrivals: The arrival of the Son of God as the baby Jesus in Bethlehem, the arrival of Jesus in our hearts, and the arrival of Jesus on the Last Day. In preparing our hearts to celebrate the first arrival of Christ on Christmas, we prepare ourselves to meet Him when He comes again!

The Christian life is frequently described as a life in which a person is perpetually awake and does not sleep. But what does that mean? Nowadays people talk about "being woke," that is, about being aware of injustices in the world. But the Christian who is truly awake, that is, who lives daily through faith in Jesus Christ, is not only aware of the world's injustices, but of so much more! Of sin! And death! But also of forgiveness from sin! And life!

When we were baptized into Christ, we were taken on as a project by our Father in heaven. That means that every day He works on us. And He does so by means of His Word and the crosses that we must bear in this life. That can be discouraging. But it need not be. For our crosses are indications that God continues to work upon us; that He is not finished with us. And He won't be finished with us completely until we rise again from the dead on the Last Day.

How is it that we can live in the world in these End Times? The devil continues to work in the world, coming at us in so many ways that it can be difficult simply just to live! But with the whole armor of God, with the truth, righteousness, peace, faith and hope we have in Jesus Christ, we can indeed live. We can even stand! And continue to serve each other in love.

Death without Jesus Christ is the beginning of an eternity lived apart from God. This is a serious matter for it is God who sustains us each and every day with everything that we need to live. And yet life on earth is not heavenly life. It is not the future for Christians. So what we are right now, is not what we will be when we will live with Christ eternally. At that time, all sin having been removed from us, we will enjoy an existence we have never experienced here on earth.

Why did the Reformation of the church happen 500 years ago? Because the church had, over time, drifted away from the Word of God, from the words of Jesus. And having done so, church buildings and careers became more important than the proclamation of the very Gospel of Jesus Christ. But it is not that this does not still happen. Whenever any Christian drifts away from the Word of God they too are going to need a reformation, that is, a returning to the Word of God.

In order for Jesus to actually have meaning for us, He must and does possess incredible power and authority. But who likes power and authority today? We run from such things thinking that somehow if we do, we will be safe and at peace. But that is not the case. In order for Jesus to be our friend, our redeemer and our savior, He must also be our Lord and our God!

The Christian life is really a calling, that is a life into which a Christian is led by the Holy Spirit of God. But what does such a life look like? Scripture tells us that it is a life of humility, which leads to gentleness and patience. But how can that be?