Peculiar People: A Lenten Study of 1 Peter (Part 4)

Taught by Pastor Matt Doebler---Pastor of Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church (LCMS) in Norfolk, VA.

⁠⁠⁠tlcnorfolk.com⁠⁠

Summary

This sermon from the Peculiar People series calls Christians to “arm themselves” with the same mindset as Christ, who suffered in the flesh knowing that glory would follow. Because Christ now reigns at the right hand of God, His people are called to live with that same perspective—prepared to endure suffering while keeping their eyes fixed on the promised end.

"From Natural Blindness to Baptismal Sight"

Sermon for the Fourth Sunday in Lent

Sermon Text: John 9 (Jesus heals the man born blind)

This sermon reflects on Jesus’ healing of the man born blind as a sign that reveals who Christ is and what He still does for His people. In this sign, Jesus teaches that all people are born spiritually blind through Adam’s fall, unable to recognize the things of God or find their own way to salvation. Yet Christ, the Word made flesh, comes to open blind eyes and bring a new creation through His Word and work.

The sermon then draws a rich connection between this healing and Holy Baptism. Just as Jesus makes mud, anoints the man’s eyes, and sends him to wash in Siloam, so Christ now anoints and restores His people through the washing of regeneration. In baptism, the Sent One joins His Word to water, opens our eyes, gives us the Holy Spirit, and makes us new creations who can finally see what is good, true, and pleasing to the Lord.

Finally, the sermon prepares Christians for the troubles that follow baptismal healing. The man born blind is questioned, mocked, and cast out because of what Christ has done for him, and so too baptized believers must expect opposition from the world, from public opinion, and even from earthly authorities. Yet the same Christ who opened our eyes remains with us, strengthens us by His Word, and receives those whom the world rejects. Once we were blind, but now by His grace we see.

Preacher: Rev. Matt Doebler, pastor of ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church in Norfolk, VA⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ (LCMS)⁠

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠TLCnorfolk.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Our mission is to make disciples and make them stronger through Word and Sacrament. (Mt. 28: 18-20)

One Body: Israel, the Church, and the Promises of God (Part 1)

Lesson 22 in our series (series began September 7, 2025)

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Click here to view the lesson slides⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ (Slides cover Parts 1 & 2)

Lesson Summary

In this One Body excursus session, the study pauses the discussion of justification to address a pressing theological question: What is the relationship between the Church and Israel? The lesson examines the modern idea of Christian Zionism, which teaches that God’s promises to Israel must be fulfilled through the modern political state of Israel and that Christians are therefore obligated to support it.

Tracing the origins of this belief, the class explores dispensationalism, a 19th-century interpretive system popularized through the Scofield Reference Bible. Dispensationalism separates Israel and the Church into two distinct peoples and claims that God’s promises to Israel are fulfilled through a future earthly kingdom and restored temple worship.

The lesson contrasts this view with the historic Christian understanding of Scripture. Reading the Old Testament Christologically, it demonstrates that the entire biblical story centers on the promise of Genesis 3:15, the promise of the offspring who would defeat the serpent. From Abraham’s covenant to Israel’s possession of the land, the promises ultimately point not to a political nation but to Jesus Christ, the true offspring of Abraham and the faithful Israel.

Through the teaching of Jesus, the prophets, and the apostles, the Scriptures reveal that all God’s promises find their fulfillment in Christ. Those who belong to Christ by faith—Jew and Gentile alike—are the true heirs of Abraham and members of the one people of God. The kingdom of God is therefore not bound to a geographic land or ethnic lineage but is fulfilled in Christ and extended to all nations through the Gospel.

Key Themes

• Christ is the fulfillment of all God’s promises.
• The Old Testament must be read with Christ as its center and goal.
• The inheritance promised to Abraham ultimately belongs to Christ and to those who belong to Him by faith.
• The Church is not a parenthesis in God’s plan but the gathering of all who believe in the Messiah from every nation.

Scriptures Referenced

Genesis 3:15; Genesis 12; Genesis 15; Deuteronomy 4; Deuteronomy 6; Leviticus 18; Isaiah (Servant prophecy); Luke 24:44–47; Matthew 1:1; John 8:56; Acts 13; Galatians 3:16; Luke 13:23–30; 2 Corinthians 1:20

Peculiar People: A Lenten Study of 1 Peter (Part 3)

Taught by Pastor Matt Doebler---Pastor of Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church (LCMS) in Norfolk, VA.

⁠⁠tlcnorfolk.com⁠

Summary

This Peculiar People sermon reflects on Peter’s call to bless those who do evil to us and revile us. To bless is not mere outward niceness, but true goodness flowing from a heart shaped by the Holy Spirit — a goodness that prays for enemies, forgives sins, and entrusts justice to God.

Drawing on David’s humiliation before the Philistines, Psalm 34, and the examples of Moses, Stephen, and above all Christ, the sermon shows that Christians can endure persecution without fear because the Lord sees the righteous, hears their prayers, and surrounds them with His angelic care.

The sermon also distinguishes suffering for Christ’s sake from suffering brought on by our own sinful choices, urging Christians to be zealous for what is good while remaining ready to confess the hope within them with gentleness and respect. Finally, Peter’s use of Noah and the ark becomes a picture of the Church and Holy Baptism: just as God prepared the ark, called Noah into it, and brought him safely through judgment, so God now calls His people into the ark of the Church through baptism, keeps them safe through the flood of this fallen world, and preserves them for the blessing that is still to come.

"Empty Jars and Living Water"

Sermon for the Third Sunday in Lent

Sermon Text: John 4: 5-42 (Jesus' conversation with the Samaritan woman at the well)

This sermon reflects on Jesus’ encounter with the Samaritan woman at the well and the deeper thirst that lies beneath human lives. While the women of the village usually gathered at the well as a daily communal ritual, this woman comes alone at midday—isolated, ashamed, and carrying the emptiness of a complicated past. Yet the Savior meets her there.

Jesus reveals that the real need is not merely physical water but the living water that only he can give—water that becomes a spring welling up to eternal life. Though he exposes the truth of her life and her sin, he does not come to condemn her but to fill her emptiness with forgiveness and hope.

The sermon points to the cross, where Jesus himself thirsts so that living water might flow from his pierced side for the life of the world. Today that same living water is given through Christ’s Word and Sacraments, calling sinners to lay down their shame, their loneliness, and the empty jars they carry. In Christ, the dry places of the human heart are filled with a fountain of mercy, forgiveness, and life that never runs dry.

Preacher: Rev. Matt Doebler, pastor of ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church in Norfolk, VA⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ (LCMS)⁠

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠TLCnorfolk.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Our mission is to make disciples and make them stronger through Word and Sacrament. (Mt. 28: 18-20)

One Body: Justification, Part 2

Lesson 21 in our series (series began September 7, 2025)

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Click here to view the lesson slides⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Lesson Summary

This One Body session continues the study of justification, the article of faith on which the Church stands or falls. The lesson reviews justification as God’s declaration that sinners are righteous for Christ’s sake and then builds on the distinction between objective justification and subjective justification.

Objective justification means that Christ died for the sins of the whole world. Subjective justification addresses how the benefits of Christ’s atoning work become mine personally — through faith.

The class also takes up the error of universalism, the idea that all people will be saved regardless of faith, and shows why Scripture does not teach that “love wins” apart from repentance and belief. In contrast, Scripture teaches that Christ’s saving work is for all, but its benefits are received through faith.

A significant portion of the lesson focuses on the relationship between faith, baptism, and teaching, especially in response to questions about infant baptism, adult catechesis, and why the Church instructs people in the faith rather than treating baptism as an isolated act. Throughout, the lesson emphasizes that God’s gifts are never despised or separated from His Word, and that baptism, faith, repentance, and instruction all belong together in the making of disciples.

Scriptures Referenced

John 3:18; Mark 16:16; Acts 2:37–41; John 4 (referenced in connection with the Samaritan woman); Matthew 28:19–20 (referenced conceptually in the discussion of baptism and teaching); Ephesians 2 (referenced conceptually regarding being dead in trespasses and sins)

Peculiar People: A Lenten Study of 1 Peter (Part 2)

Taught by Pastor Matt Doebler---Pastor of Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church (LCMS) in Norfolk, VA.

⁠tlcnorfolk.com⁠

Summary

Continuing our Lenten series Peculiar People, this sermon explores 1 Peter 2:11-3:8 and what it means for Christians to live as “sojourners and exiles” in the world.

Peter reminds the Church that we belong to God and are heirs of a promised inheritance, yet for now we live among those who do not yet know Christ. Because of this, our conduct matters. Christians are called to live honorably so that even when the world misunderstands or accuses them, God’s work will ultimately be revealed and glorified.

One of the first places Peter directs our attention is God’s good order in the world. Through human institutions and authorities, God preserves peace and restrains evil. Christians therefore live as good citizens, honoring those in authority not out of fear of them, but out of faith in God who has placed them there.

Yet this obedience is not slavery—it is freedom. In Christ we are free people, and we use that freedom to serve God and our neighbor. Jesus himself is our example: though truly free, he willingly submitted to earthly authorities and even to the cross for our salvation.

As God’s peculiar people—chosen, redeemed, and free—we are called to live in a way that reflects the Lord who has called us out of darkness into his marvelous light.

"What is Saving Faith?"

Sermon for the Second Sunday in Lent

Sermon Text: John 3:1-17 (Jesus' conversation with Nicodemus)

What is saving faith — and how do you know you have it? This sermon explores the difference between mere knowledge about God and true justifying faith. Knowing God exists, or even knowing facts about Jesus, is not enough; even demons know those truths. Saving faith is the Holy Spirit’s gift: trust that Christ’s righteousness and sacrifice are for you.

The sermon walks through Jesus’ conversation with Nicodemus, showing that faith is new birth by water and the Spirit, not human achievement. Faith rests not in its own strength but in Christ’s promises. Even weak, struggling faith is real faith when it clings to Jesus.

Listeners are encouraged not to measure faith by feelings but by God’s Word — delivered through baptism, the Lord’s Supper, and the Gospel itself. In a world of doubt and spiritual struggle, Christ continues to strengthen faith through his gifts, assuring believers that they belong to him and are justified by faith alone.

Preacher: Rev. Matt Doebler, pastor of ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church in Norfolk, VA⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ (LCMS)⁠

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠TLCnorfolk.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Our mission is to make disciples and make them stronger through Word and Sacrament. (Mt. 28: 18-20)

One Body: Justification, Part 1

Lesson 20 in our series (series began September 7, 2025)

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Click here to view the lesson slides⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Lesson Highlights

This One Body session introduces the doctrine of justification — the teaching at the heart of how sinners are made right with God. Building on earlier lessons about God, sin, and the person of Jesus Christ, the class explores how Christ’s victory over sin becomes personally ours. Justification is defined as God’s declaration that sinners are righteous for Christ’s sake, received through faith apart from works — “just as if I never sinned.”

The lesson contrasts Christianity with every other religion, showing that while man-made religions attempt self-justification through effort, morality, or comparison, Christianity proclaims salvation as a gift entirely accomplished by Christ.

Special attention is given to objective justification, emphasizing that Christ died for the sins of the whole world, with Scripture passages highlighting the universal scope of his atoning work.

The session also begins addressing common misunderstandings, such as limited atonement, showing how errors in justification affect assurance, evangelism, and the church’s confession. The class concludes by preparing to explore the next question: if Christ died for all, why are not all saved — setting the stage for the distinction between objective and subjective justification in the next lesson.

Scriptures Referenced:

John 1:291 John 2:22 Corinthians 5:19John 3:16–17Romans 5:18–19Romans 1Apostles’ Creed (referenced)Nicene Creed (referenced)

Peculiar People: A Lenten Study of 1 Peter (Part 1)

Taught by Pastor Matt Doebler---Pastor of Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church (LCMS) in Norfolk, VA.

tlcnorfolk.com

Summary

What does it mean to be a “peculiar people”? In this opening message of our Lenten study of 1 Peter, we explore how the Church is called “peculiar” not because we are strange, but because we are God’s treasured possession — chosen, set apart, and marked as his own.

Peter writes to believers as elect exiles, people who live in the world but belong to another kingdom. Through Christ’s resurrection and the work of the Holy Spirit, we are born again into a living hope and an inheritance that cannot fade. Even in trials, God refines our faith and fills us with a joy rooted in the salvation already at work among us.

As living stones built upon Christ the cornerstone, we are formed into a holy household — a royal priesthood called to offer spiritual sacrifices of prayer, praise, thanksgiving, and lives shaped by mercy. Our calling is not merely to be different, but to proclaim the excellencies of the One who has called us out of darkness into his marvelous light.

This sermon invites us to remember who we are, whose we are, and how that identity shapes the way we live as God’s peculiar people in the world.