St. Martin Sermons

Sermon from Sunday September 26

Numbers 6:22–27

[22] The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, [23] “Speak to Aaron and his sons, saying, Thus you shall bless the people of Israel: you shall say to them,

[24] The LORD bless you and keep you;

[25] the LORD make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you;

[26] the LORD lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.

[27] “So shall they put my name upon the people of Israel, and I will bless them.” (ESV)

Sermon from Sunday September 19

Matthew 28:16–20

[16] Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. [17] And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted. [18] And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. [19] Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, [20] teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (ESV)

Sermon from Sunday September 12

James 3:1–12

[1] Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness. [2] For we all stumble in many ways. And if anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle his whole body. [3] If we put bits into the mouths of horses so that they obey us, we guide their whole bodies as well. [4] Look at the ships also: though they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. [5] So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things.

How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire! [6] And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell. [7] For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, [8] but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. [9] With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. [10] From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so. [11] Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and salt water? [12] Can a fig tree, my brothers, bear olives, or a grapevine produce figs? Neither can a salt pond yield fresh water. (ESV)

Sermon from Sunday September 5

Psalm 14

To the choirmaster. Of David.

[1] The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.”

They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds;

there is none who does good.

[2] The LORD looks down from heaven on the children of man,

to see if there are any who understand,

who seek after God.

[3] They have all turned aside; together they have become corrupt;

there is none who does good,

not even one.

[4] Have they no knowledge, all the evildoers

who eat up my people as they eat bread

and do not call upon the LORD?

[5] There they are in great terror,

for God is with the generation of the righteous.

[6] You would shame the plans of the poor,

but the LORD is his refuge.

[7] Oh, that salvation for Israel would come out of Zion!

When the LORD restores the fortunes of his people,

let Jacob rejoice, let Israel be glad. (ESV)

Sermon from Sunday August 29

Psalm 13

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.

[1] How long, O LORD? Will you forget me forever?

How long will you hide your face from me?

[2] How long must I take counsel in my soul

and have sorrow in my heart all the day?

How long shall my enemy be exalted over me?

[3] Consider and answer me, O LORD my God;

light up my eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death,

[4] lest my enemy say, “I have prevailed over him,”

lest my foes rejoice because I am shaken.

[5] But I have trusted in your steadfast love;

my heart shall rejoice in your salvation.

[6] I will sing to the LORD,

because he has dealt bountifully with me. (ESV)

Sermon from Sunday August 22

Psalm 12

To the choirmaster: according to The Sheminith. A Psalm of David.

[1] Save, O LORD, for the godly one is gone;

for the faithful have vanished from among the children of man.

[2] Everyone utters lies to his neighbor;

with flattering lips and a double heart they speak.

[3] May the LORD cut off all flattering lips,

the tongue that makes great boasts,

[4] those who say, “With our tongue we will prevail,

our lips are with us; who is master over us?”

[5] “Because the poor are plundered, because the needy groan,

I will now arise,” says the LORD;

“I will place him in the safety for which he longs.”

[6] The words of the LORD are pure words,

like silver refined in a furnace on the ground,

purified seven times.

[7] You, O LORD, will keep them;

you will guard us from this generation forever.

[8] On every side the wicked prowl,

as vileness is exalted among the children of man. (ESV)

Sermon from Sunday August 15

Psalm 11

The LORD Is in His Holy Temple

To the choirmaster. Of David.

[1] In the LORD I take refuge;

how can you say to my soul,

“Flee like a bird to your mountain,

[2] for behold, the wicked bend the bow;

they have fitted their arrow to the string

to shoot in the dark at the upright in heart;

[3] if the foundations are destroyed,

what can the righteous do?”

[4] The LORD is in his holy temple;

the LORD’s throne is in heaven;

his eyes see, his eyelids test the children of man.

[5] The LORD tests the righteous,

but his soul hates the wicked and the one who loves violence.

[6] Let him rain coals on the wicked;

fire and sulfur and a scorching wind shall be the portion of their cup.

[7] For the LORD is righteous;

he loves righteous deeds;

the upright shall behold his face. (ESV)

Sermon from Sunday August 1

Psalm 9

I Will Recount Your Wonderful Deeds

To the choirmaster: according to Muth-labben. A Psalm of David.

[1] I will give thanks to the LORD with my whole heart;

I will recount all of your wonderful deeds.

[2] I will be glad and exult in you;

I will sing praise to your name, O Most High.

[3] When my enemies turn back,

they stumble and perish before your presence.

[4] For you have maintained my just cause;

you have sat on the throne, giving righteous judgment.

[5] You have rebuked the nations; you have made the wicked perish;

you have blotted out their name forever and ever.

[6] The enemy came to an end in everlasting ruins;

their cities you rooted out;

the very memory of them has perished.

[7] But the LORD sits enthroned forever;

he has established his throne for justice,

[8] and he judges the world with righteousness;

he judges the peoples with uprightness.

[9] The LORD is a stronghold for the oppressed,

a stronghold in times of trouble.

[10] And those who know your name put their trust in you,

for you, O LORD, have not forsaken those who seek you.

[11] Sing praises to the LORD, who sits enthroned in Zion!

Tell among the peoples his deeds!

[12] For he who avenges blood is mindful of them;

he does not forget the cry of the afflicted.

[13] Be gracious to me, O LORD!

See my affliction from those who hate me,

O you who lift me up from the gates of death,

[14] that I may recount all your praises,

that in the gates of the daughter of Zion

I may rejoice in your salvation.

[15] The nations have sunk in the pit that they made;

in the net that they hid, their own foot has been caught.

[16] The LORD has made himself known; he has executed judgment;

the wicked are snared in the work of their own hands. Higgaion. Selah

[17] The wicked shall return to Sheol,

all the nations that forget God.

[18] For the needy shall not always be forgotten,

and the hope of the poor shall not perish forever.

[19] Arise, O LORD! Let not man prevail;

let the nations be judged before you!

[20] Put them in fear, O LORD!

Let the nations know that they are but men! Selah (ESV)

Sermon from Sunday July 25

Psalm 8

To the choirmaster: according to The Gittith. A Psalm of David.

[1] O LORD, our Lord,

how majestic is your name in all the earth!

You have set your glory above the heavens.

[2] Out of the mouth of babies and infants,

you have established strength because of your foes,

to still the enemy and the avenger.

[3] When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers,

the moon and the stars, which you have set in place,

[4] what is man that you are mindful of him,

and the son of man that you care for him?

[5] Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings

and crowned him with glory and honor.

[6] You have given him dominion over the works of your hands;

you have put all things under his feet,

[7] all sheep and oxen,

and also the beasts of the field,

[8] the birds of the heavens, and the fish of the sea,

whatever passes along the paths of the seas.

[9] O LORD, our Lord,

how majestic is your name in all the earth! (ESV)

Sermon from Sunday July 11

Psalm 7

A Shiggaion of David, which he sang to the LORD concerning the words of Cush, a Benjaminite.

[1] O LORD my God, in you do I take refuge;

save me from all my pursuers and deliver me,

[2] lest like a lion they tear my soul apart,

rending it in pieces, with none to deliver.

[3] O LORD my God, if I have done this,

if there is wrong in my hands,

[4] if I have repaid my friend with evil

or plundered my enemy without cause,

[5] let the enemy pursue my soul and overtake it,

and let him trample my life to the ground

and lay my glory in the dust. Selah

[6] Arise, O LORD, in your anger;

lift yourself up against the fury of my enemies;

awake for me; you have appointed a judgment.

[7] Let the assembly of the peoples be gathered about you;

over it return on high.

[8] The LORD judges the peoples;

judge me, O LORD, according to my righteousness

and according to the integrity that is in me.

[9] Oh, let the evil of the wicked come to an end,

and may you establish the righteous—

you who test the minds and hearts,

O righteous God!

[10] My shield is with God,

who saves the upright in heart.

[11] God is a righteous judge,

and a God who feels indignation every day.

[12] If a man does not repent, God will whet his sword;

he has bent and readied his bow;

[13] he has prepared for him his deadly weapons,

making his arrows fiery shafts.

[14] Behold, the wicked man conceives evil

and is pregnant with mischief

and gives birth to lies.

[15] He makes a pit, digging it out,

and falls into the hole that he has made.

[16] His mischief returns upon his own head,

and on his own skull his violence descends.

[17] I will give to the LORD the thanks due to his righteousness,

and I will sing praise to the name of the LORD, the Most High. (ESV)