Sermons

Why does Jesus raise his friend Lazarus from the grave, and what does it mean for us?

At the Pool of Siloam in Jerusalem, a man blind from birth is able to see through the healing mercy of Jesus. His eyes were opened not only for physical sight, but also for faith. Ironically, the religious leaders who were able to see, did not see, and were blind to God's work among them. On this Lenten road, our constant prayer of repentance must be: "Lord, open our eyes, we want to see Jesus."

Jesus, the Word made flesh, gives the living water of God's promise of grace to our dry world. We drink from that living water as we spend time in the Scriptures.

Nicodemus comes to Jesus at night, under cover of darkness. He learns from Jesus that to enter God's kingdom one must be reborn from above by water and the Spirit. And so it is with us on the Lenten road today. We are reborn through the cleansing waters of holy Baptism where the Holy Spirit is given to us, and through this gift we receive the good news of Jesus, who came into the world not to condemn it, but that the world might be saved through him.

In the desert, Jesus did what we could not: overcame the devil's temptation and selflessly obeyed our heavenly Father's will

There are lots of things going on in the world that are crying out to us for our listening attention, but are we listening to Jesus? The Father's voice from the bright cloud spoken at Jesus' transfiguration still speaks to us today: "This is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased; listen to him" (Matthew 17:7). In the midst of so many things calling out for our attention, there is only one thing needful, and that is listening to Jesus, and in listening to him, receiving the gifts that He alone can give: forgiveness, life, and salvation.

Jesus calls his disciples to lives freed from worry, because the Father cares for them

Jesus' call to "be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect" (Matthew 5:48) is rooted in God's command to "be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy" (Leviticus 19:2). But how can sinful and imperfect human beings be holy and perfect? We cannot, but through Jesus' redemption, we are declared holy and righteous before God. Through Jesus' sinless life and his innocent suffering and death all this has been done for us. Though we do still struggle with sin and its effects in our life, our calling in Christ is to love our enemies, do good to those who hate us, and pray for those who persecute us. It is Jesus at work in us which enables this to happen.

Jesus lays out God's intention behind His instruction, calling his hearers to beware of the dangers of complacency around culturally-common sin

Jesus is the Light of the world, and He calls us his people to be light for the world - to shine with the light of his love and to season the world with the salt of his grace. Jesus himself calls us and makes us to be salt and light so that our words and deeds - our whole life - becomes a living witness to Christ Jesus.