The threefold Gospel cycle of our lectionary gives us the opportunity to hear our Lord’s passion in a new voice each year. This year the voice is St. Luke’s. The passion of Luke is the longest of the synoptics and the voice of Jesus is heard more often as well. If one chants it in ..
By William Carr In spring 2013, I taught an elective to our Residential Alternate Route students on the book of Micah. Early in the term, one of the students asked how the Seminary can afford to offer a full ten-week course to the study of just one book, as brief as Micah. I can imagine that most of ..
Editor’s Note: The following homiletical help is adapted from Concordia Journal, October 1998. By Quentin F. Wesselschmidt Textual considerations: The Old Testament lesson for the Third Sunday after the Epiphany begins with chapter 9 of Isaiah, which contains one of the best-known prophecies of the birth of Christ in Scripture, namely, verses 6 and 7. The first ..
By Bruce M. Hartung An encouragement when preparing to preach on this text, the Epistle assigned for the Last Sunday of the Church Year: Read aloud and meditate on all the assigned readings for the day, praying that the Holy Spirit will enlighten and move you with the truth of the Scriptures which you are reading and on ..
By Rick Marrs Since becoming a seminary professor, I have been unpleasantly surprised at the number of lay people who have told me that they do not believe their parish pastor is working very hard. Note that this is their perception, and is not necessarily truth. They have said things like, “Our pastor preaches and teaches on Sunday ..
By David I. Lewis Overview In 2 Thessalonians 2 the Apostle Paul discusses matters of eschatology as he exhorts the church in Thessalonica not to be disturbed by false teachings that said that the day of the Lord had already come. He quells these fears by pointing out what must take place first, namely the apostasy and revelation ..
By Kent Burreson Looking Forward to the Family Reunion Certain feast days in the church calendar have a decidedly baptismal focus: Epiphany, the Baptism of our Lord, the Easter Vigil and Easter Sunday, Pentecost, the Presentation of our Lord, and . . . All Saints’ Day. All Saints’ Day focuses upon the lives of all ..
By Bruce Schuchard The church’s celebration, its regular remembrance, of seminal events––like the Reformation––happens so that the faithful might be encouraged to remember and never to forget what the faithful must never forget. Thus, the chief, the simplest, the most fundamental, articles of the faith are the focus, so that the faithful might remain grounded, ..
By Andrew Bartelt Exegetical Comments The past two weeks have heard the apostle encourage the “next generation” (1:2) to carry on and carry out the gift of God “delegated” to him (1:6) as one of Paul’s dearest and most trusted co-workers in ministry, keeping and proclaiming the “pattern of sound words” (1:13) and confession of ..
By David L. Adams The Text as Text Several significant translational issues arise near the beginning of this reading. First, the imperative ἐνδυναμοῦ (be empowered), is a present rather than an aorist passive imperative, indicating an on-going feature of the life of faith rather than a one-time action. In addition, the phrase immediately following, ἐν ..
By Travis J. Scholl I am consistently in awe of the poetic beauty, the intimacy, the sincerity of Paul’s second letter to Timothy. The eloquence of the letter makes it so easy for me to envision Paul, imprisoned in his last days, writing this farewell letter to his disciple, his companion, his “beloved child,” with ..
By David Schmitt On the celebration of St. Michael and All Angels, it would be easy to expand a sermon on this text in Revelation into a larger discussion of angels and their service before God. In fact, the Collect of the Day encourages such a broader emphasis. What happens, however, if you read the ..
By Reed Lessing Comments on the Text: The sermon’s focus is on 1 Timothy 2:1–6, thus the comments only pertain to these verses. Verse 1: The apostle’s repeated use of πάντων, “all,” begins here. “First of all … for all people” (1 Tm 2:1) … “on behalf of all … so that we may live ..
By William W. Schumacher The two alternatives for this pericope suggest rather different directions for a sermon, with the briefer reading perhaps lending itself to a clearer focus on the gospel and the longer risking a distraction by vivid depictions of sins. The shorter version (vv. 12–17) is preferred, in which Paul offers himself as ..
By Michael J. Redeker To be sure, Paul’s letter to Philemon is about reconciliation between two people. However, if that were all that this letter was about, then Paul’s advice would be no different from what can be found in the secular world. Reconciliation is more than simply exchanging greetings afterwards, keeping up appearances for ..
By Dale A. Meyer Caveat Cultor A summary you can expand into the sermon: caveat emptor is an old Latin warning, “Let the buyer beware.” This text suggests, caveat cultor—“Let the worshipper beware!” Beware of worship? No. Worship is where God especially gives us his gifts for life and salvation. In worship we hear a ..