Do you have free will?

Are you bound to fate?

What does God have to say about it all?

Before we come to the first theological topic of sin in Philip Melanchthon's Commonplaces, we will deal with human powers and free will. This is not only a topic that was of great importance at the time of the Reformation, but it also speaks to our time. And we'll discover that the answer to the question of free will is: it depends on how you look at it.

This introductory episode discusses some of the background of Philip Melanchthon's Loci Communes (Commonplaces), why it should matter for Lutherans, and why it is an appropriate place to start a study on the doctrine of the Reformation.

Discover who Philip Melanchthon was and his purpose for writing this systematic treatment of theological topics, and how it should direct us to a fuller knowledge of God.

A sermon for the Seventh Sunday after Pentecost. When Jesus' disciples ask Him to teach them to pray, He gives them the words to say and a promise that God listens and acts as a Father. 

Reading Revelation has its blessings. Blessings for the one who reads. Blessings for the one who hears. And blessings for the one who keeps the Word close. This is the second part of St. John's Bible class on the introductory verses of the Revelation to St. John on September 19, 2021.

We begin to take a look at the introductory verses of the Book of Revelation and discuss how it is a revelation, or a making known, of Jesus Christ. Christ is at the center. Part 1 of St. John's Bible study on September 19, 2021

Part 2 of an Introduction to the Book of Revelation from St. John's Lutheran Church's Bible study.

The book of Revelation fascinates with its strange images and cryptic language. This episode is part 1 of an introduction to the book of Revelation as part of St. John's Lutheran Church's fall Bible class. 

Jesus feeds 5,000 plus in the green grass beside the still waters. With this feast, Jesus shows himself to be the Shepherd of sheep who have none. He shepherds his people by leading them with his voice from water to bread. And so we pass through the valley of the shadow of death from baptism to Eucharist, and find refuge in the green pastures of the church.

This is a sermon preached on the Eighth Sunday after Pentecost. 

A sermon for the Seventh Sunday after Pentecost on Amos 7:7–15. 

Amos the prophet appeals not to his credentials, but to his call from the Lord as the authority for his preaching. The priest and the king, Amaziah and Jeroboam, dismiss Amos and twist his words. 

But if they would hear the prophet, they would know that prophets prophesy righteousness, because prophets preach Jesus. Amos's vision of the Lord holding a plumb line paints the picture of the Lord's righteousness, which you can see fulfilled in the cross of Christ, placed squarely in the earth. 

Get right, and listen to the prophet.