Sunday, April 22, 2012
Podcast Sermon for April 22, 2012: Talking About Jesus
A sermon preached by Vicar Lewis Polzin on April 22, 2012 at Trinity Lutheran Church in Troy, MO, on Luke 24:36-49. The text of this sermon may be found at the following web address: http://apastoralapproach.blogspot.com/2012/04/sermon-for-april-22-2012-talking-about.html. The sermon recording may also be accessed by clicking the title of this blog post and playing it in your browser.
Sermon for April 22, 2012: Talking About Jesus
Grace and peace to you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.
The text for this morning’s message comes to us from the Gospel of Luke, the 24th chapter:
Dear Friends in Christ, He is Risen!
Jesus Christ is risen from the dead. He is the firstborn of the risen, the firstfruits of the dead, never to die again, never to pass away, always living, always standing, always interceding on our behalf before the Father. This should give you great comfort! Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, is risen!
Our Gospel lesson here picks up in the middle of the story. Let me fill it in for you. Jesus is missing from the grave. The women had been told by the angels that He had been raised from the dead, and that He would be visiting them soon. They ran, ran, ran, as fast as their legs could carry them to tell the Apostles. But they weren’t sure though. They knew Jesus wasn’t in the tomb, but really, anything could have happened, right? Might not they have just imagined the angels out of their grief? They were talking about Jesus, but they did not yet completely believe in Jesus and certainly not yet in the Resurrection.
The text for this morning’s message comes to us from the Gospel of Luke, the 24th chapter:
As they were talking about these things, Jesus himself stood among them, and said to them, “Peace to you!” But they were startled and frightened and thought they saw a spirit. And he said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me, and see. For a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.” And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. And while they still disbelieved for joy and were marveling, he said to them, “Have you anything here to eat?” They gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate before them.Thus far the text.
Then he said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures…
Dear Friends in Christ, He is Risen!
Jesus Christ is risen from the dead. He is the firstborn of the risen, the firstfruits of the dead, never to die again, never to pass away, always living, always standing, always interceding on our behalf before the Father. This should give you great comfort! Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, is risen!
Our Gospel lesson here picks up in the middle of the story. Let me fill it in for you. Jesus is missing from the grave. The women had been told by the angels that He had been raised from the dead, and that He would be visiting them soon. They ran, ran, ran, as fast as their legs could carry them to tell the Apostles. But they weren’t sure though. They knew Jesus wasn’t in the tomb, but really, anything could have happened, right? Might not they have just imagined the angels out of their grief? They were talking about Jesus, but they did not yet completely believe in Jesus and certainly not yet in the Resurrection.
Sunday, April 15, 2012
Podcast Sermon for April 15, 2012: My Little Children
A sermon preached by Vicar Lewis Polzin on April 15, 2012 at Trinity Lutheran Church in Troy, MO, on 1 John 1:1-2:2. The text of this sermon may be found at the following web address: http://apastoralapproach.blogspot.com/2012/04/sermon-for-april-15-2012-my-little.html. The sermon recording may also be accessed by clicking the title of this blog post and playing it in your browser.
Sermon for April 15, 2012: My Little Children
Grace and peace to you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.
The text for this morning’s message comes from the first Epistle of John, focusing in on the second chapter:
Dear Friends in Christ, He is Risen!
You know the truth of what I’m about to tell you. If you tell a child not to do something, like, let’s say, don’t hit your sister, what’s the first thing that child is going to want to do? Hit their sister. If you tell a child, don’t take a third cookie, what are they going to want to do? Take a third cookie. If you tell a child, don’t run at the pool, inevitably, what is that child going to want to do? Run at the pool!
Doesn’t it just seem to you that there is something inherently wired within us that just seems to ALWAYS want to do exactly the opposite of what we’re told. Let’s, for the sake of argument, call this “childishness.” For this reason, I know that I would not have made a very good military man. I know this. I can just see the drill instructor yelling in my face, telling me, “Drop and give me 20!” And I’d be all, “Your mom will drop and give you twenty.” Or, “I want that floor so clean I can eat off of it!” And I’d be like, “Plates really are more sanitary and you can take them really anywhere you go.” Just for the record, I want to say I absolutely respect those men and women who serve in the military; it’s just that I’ve known since I was a child that I was a stubborn-hearted little boy and I kind of seem that I will always be that.
The text for this morning’s message comes from the first Epistle of John, focusing in on the second chapter:
My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.Thus far the text.
Dear Friends in Christ, He is Risen!
You know the truth of what I’m about to tell you. If you tell a child not to do something, like, let’s say, don’t hit your sister, what’s the first thing that child is going to want to do? Hit their sister. If you tell a child, don’t take a third cookie, what are they going to want to do? Take a third cookie. If you tell a child, don’t run at the pool, inevitably, what is that child going to want to do? Run at the pool!
Doesn’t it just seem to you that there is something inherently wired within us that just seems to ALWAYS want to do exactly the opposite of what we’re told. Let’s, for the sake of argument, call this “childishness.” For this reason, I know that I would not have made a very good military man. I know this. I can just see the drill instructor yelling in my face, telling me, “Drop and give me 20!” And I’d be all, “Your mom will drop and give you twenty.” Or, “I want that floor so clean I can eat off of it!” And I’d be like, “Plates really are more sanitary and you can take them really anywhere you go.” Just for the record, I want to say I absolutely respect those men and women who serve in the military; it’s just that I’ve known since I was a child that I was a stubborn-hearted little boy and I kind of seem that I will always be that.
Saturday, April 14, 2012
Podcast Speech for the LWML Rally: Vocation and Shining Like Stars - Philippians 2:14-15
I had so much fun with this. The Lutheran Women's Missionary League asked me to speak at their circuit Spring Rally this morning. They also asked me to speak for 20 minutes. I went 40. So much for not messing with the LWML. =) I had fun. Great group of women who have passionate hearts for Christ, serving through their vocations.
This is a speech given by Vicar Lewis Polzin on April 14, 2012 at Trinity Lutheran Church in Troy, MO, for the LWML Spring Rally hosted by Trinity and Child of God. There is no text available for the speech. The recording of the speech may be accessed by clicking the title of this blog post and playing it in your browser.
Thursday, April 5, 2012
Podcast Sermon for April 5, 2012: A Word from the Upper Room
A sermon preached by Vicar Lewis Polzin on April 5, 2012 at Trinity Lutheran Church in Troy, MO, on Matthew 26:28. The text of this sermon may be found at the following web address: http://apastoralapproach.blogspot.com/2012/04/sermon-for-april-5-2012-word-from-upper.html. The sermon recording may also be accessed by clicking the title of this blog post and playing it in your browser.
Sermon for April 5, 2012: A Word from the Upper Room
Grace and peace to you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.
The text for this Maundy Thursday comes to us from the Gospel of Matthew, the 26th chapter:
Dear Friends in Christ,
This evening we will celebrate the Lord’s Supper together, rejoicing and reveling in the gift that our Lord gave to us this Maundy Thursday nearly 2,000 years ago. We do this in remembrance of Jesus, not that we are merely remembering Him, but that we remember He told us to do this as He Himself has instructed and for the reason He Himself gave us: that it IS His blood and it DOES forgive our sins.
And no instruction is more incredible, and no instruction is more misunderstood than what Jesus Christ states for us in this short reading: “For this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.”
If we move too fast, we miss what Jesus is saying. We miss the context. We miss the setting. We miss the history. We miss all that our Lord has fulfilled and promised. You see, God has been making covenants with His creation since the fall of man into sin, but this one, this one is special.
The text for this Maundy Thursday comes to us from the Gospel of Matthew, the 26th chapter:
…For this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.Thus far the text.
Dear Friends in Christ,
This evening we will celebrate the Lord’s Supper together, rejoicing and reveling in the gift that our Lord gave to us this Maundy Thursday nearly 2,000 years ago. We do this in remembrance of Jesus, not that we are merely remembering Him, but that we remember He told us to do this as He Himself has instructed and for the reason He Himself gave us: that it IS His blood and it DOES forgive our sins.
And no instruction is more incredible, and no instruction is more misunderstood than what Jesus Christ states for us in this short reading: “For this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.”
If we move too fast, we miss what Jesus is saying. We miss the context. We miss the setting. We miss the history. We miss all that our Lord has fulfilled and promised. You see, God has been making covenants with His creation since the fall of man into sin, but this one, this one is special.
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