Sunday, September 29, 2013

Podcast Bible Study: The Book of Concord, The Apostles and Nicene Creeds

A Bible Study taught by Pastor Lewis Polzin on September 29, 2013 at Trinity Lutheran Church in Bemidji, MN, on The Book of Concord. This Bible Study uses Concordia Publishing House's Concordia: The Lutheran Confessions as a basis for our study. Please feel free to follow along.

The Bible Study recording may also be accessed by clicking the title of this blog post and playing it in your browser.

Podcast Sermon for September 29, 2013: Luke 16:19-31

A sermon preached by Pastor Lewis Polzin on September 29, 2013 at Trinity Lutheran Church in Bemidji, MN, on Luke 16:19-31. The text of this sermon may be found by clicking this link here. The sermon recording may also be accessed by clicking the title of this blog post and playing it in your browser.

Sermon for September 29, 2013: Luke 16:19-31

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.  Amen.

The text this morning is from Luke’s Gospel, the 16th chapter:
“There was a rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. And at his gate was laid a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man’s table. Moreover, even the dogs came and licked his sores. The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried, and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side. And he called out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in this flame.’ But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner bad things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish.’”
Thus far the text.

Dear friends in Christ,
     I have to tell you here and now that being rich won’t send you to hell.  Being rich also won’t send you to heaven.  Being poor won’t send you to heaven.  And being poor won’t send you to hell.  How much wealth you have doesn’t determine anything about your eternal life.  Not one bit.  Not at all.

     Instead, knowing who it is that has provided for you all the benefits and blessings you have and trusting Him, THAT determines your eternal life.  You see, the rich man in Jesus’ story in today’s Gospel reading didn’t have any understanding that God had provided to him the riches he so enjoyed.  He wore the royal color purple, he wore fine linen, he ate the best food much and often.  But, he thought he earned it.  He thought his works brought him all the good.  He was wrong.  He received the good things from the hand of God but never gave thanks back to his Creator, the one who brought these things forth out of nothing but His own Word.  And did you catch that word in there?  Received.  The rich man received all the things.  He passively received them, they were brought into his life; he did not reject them.  He did not turn them away, but received them.  They were offered as a gift, and he accepted.  And he didn’t care about God, he didn’t trust in the God who saves him.

     Lazarus in the story here, Lazarus, whose name means “God is my help,” Lazarus is different.  Lazarus received things from God, too.  Just as the rich man received the wealth he had from the hand of God, so, too, did Lazarus receive the skin affliction he was given by God.

Thursday, September 26, 2013

Podcast Bible Study: Growing in Christ: 1 Kings 17

A Bible Study taught by Pastor Lewis Polzin on September 26, 2013 at Trinity Lutheran Church in Bemidji, MN, on 1 Kings 17. This Bible Study is based on the curriculum from Concordia Publishing House's Sunday School curriculum, "Growing in Christ," a curriculum for all ages, helping to teach parents and teachers the material God in Christ wishes His children to learn to trust more in Him.

The Bible Study recording may also be accessed by clicking the title of this blog post and playing it in your browser.

Wednesday, September 25, 2013

Podcast Bible Study: Luke 16:19-31

A Bible Study taught by Pastor Lewis Polzin on September 25, 2013 at Trinity Lutheran Church in Bemidji, MN, on Luke 16:19-31. This Bible Study will help to lay a foundation for the sermon that is preached the following Sunday.

The Bible study recording may also be accessed by clicking the title of this blog post and playing it in your browser.

Tuesday, September 24, 2013

Podcast Sermon for September 22, 2013: Luke 16:1-15

A sermon preached by Pastor Lewis Polzin on September 22, 2013 at Trinity Lutheran Church in Bemidji, MN, on Luke 16:1-15. The text of this sermon may be found at the following web address: http://apastoralapproach.blogspot.com/2013/09/sermon-for-september-22-2013-luke-161-15.html. The sermon recording may also be accessed by clicking the title of this blog post and playing it in your browser.

Sunday, September 22, 2013

Podcast Bible Study: The Book of Concord, Preface

A Bible Study taught by Pastor Lewis Polzin on September 22, 2013 at Trinity Lutheran Church in Bemidji, MN, on The Book of Concord. This Bible Study uses Concordia Publishing House's Concordia: The Lutheran Confessions as a basis for our study. Please feel free to follow along.

The Bible Study recording may also be accessed by clicking the title of this blog post and playing it in your browser.

Sermon for September 22, 2013: Luke 16:1-15

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.  Amen.

The text this morning comes to us from Luke's Gospel, the 16th chapter:
He also said to the disciples, “There was a rich man who had a manager, and charges were brought to him that this man was wasting his possessions. And he called him and said to him, ‘What is this that I hear about you? Turn in the account of your management, for you can no longer be manager.’ And the manager said to himself, ‘What shall I do, since my master is taking the management away from me? I am not strong enough to dig, and I am ashamed to beg. I have decided what to do, so that when I am removed from management, people may receive me into their houses.’ So, summoning his master's debtors one by one, he said to the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ He said, ‘A hundred measures of oil.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty.’ Then he said to another, ‘And how much do you owe?’ He said, ‘A hundred measures of wheat.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill, and write eighty.’ The master commended the dishonest manager for his shrewdness. For the sons of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than the sons of light. 
Thus far the text.

Dear friends in Christ,
     Sometimes, I sit in my study alone, and I look through the texts of the week and I say, “What in the world is going on here?  Why is Luke such a downer?”  I mean, it seems to me that we’ve had about 6 weeks of difficult teaching.  And then, this week, we’ve got 4 verses of Amos about God’s judgment, we’ve got Paul telling Timothy that a woman should learn in quietness, and then we’ve got this Gospel where we think we hear Jesus telling us to be dishonest in order to win friends and influence people.  Any text I chose to preach this week felt like it basically went in a loss category for me, kinda like playing Eli Manning in Week 2 of Fantasy Football.

     Anyway, these are some hard texts, and I couldn’t really get away from any of them.  It’s not like I can just come along and insert my own hobbyhorse into the readings.  When the lectionary committee got together, they put these readings together for a reason, and that reason wasn’t likely to make the pastor’s job more difficult, though sometimes it does.  The reason is that they’re all about stewardship and they’re all about mercy.

Thursday, September 19, 2013

Podcast Bible Study: Growing in Christ: 1 Kings 5-6

A Bible Study taught by Pastor Lewis Polzin on September 19, 2013 at Trinity Lutheran Church in Bemidji, MN, on 1 Kings 5-6. This Bible Study is based on the curriculum from Concordia Publishing House's Sunday School curriculum, "Growing in Christ," a curriculum for all ages, helping to teach parents and teachers the material God in Christ wishes His children to learn to trust more in Him.

The Bible Study recording may also be accessed by clicking the title of this blog post and playing it in your browser.

Wednesday, September 18, 2013

Podcast Bible Study on Luke 16:1-15

A Bible Study taught by Pastor Lewis Polzin on September 18, 2013 at Trinity Lutheran Church in Bemidji, MN, on Luke 16:1-15. This Bible Study will help to lay a foundation for the sermon that is preached the following Sunday.

The sermon recording may also be accessed by clicking the title of this blog post and playing it in your browser.

Thursday, September 12, 2013

Podcast Bible Study: Growing in Christ: 1 Kings 3

A Bible Study taught by Pastor Lewis Polzin on September 12, 2013 at Trinity Lutheran Church in Bemidji, MN, on 1 Kings 3. This Bible Study is based on the curriculum from Concordia Publishing House's Sunday School curriculum, "Growing in Christ," a curriculum for all ages, helping to teach parents and teachers the material God in Christ wishes His children to learn to trust more in Him.

The Bible Study recording may also be accessed by clicking the title of this blog post and playing it in your browser.

Wednesday, September 11, 2013

Podcast Bible Study on Isaiah 61:1-62:7

A Bible Study taught by Pastor Lewis Polzin on September 11, 2013 at Trinity Lutheran Church in Bemidji, MN, on Isaiah 61:1-62:7. This Bible Study will help to lay a foundation for the readings and sermon preached the following Sunday.

The sermon recording may also be accessed by clicking the title of this blog post and playing it in your browser.

Sunday, September 8, 2013

Podcast Sermon for September 8, 2013: Philemon 1-21

A sermon preached by Pastor Lewis Polzin on September 8, 2013 at Trinity Lutheran Church in Bemidji, MN, on Philemon 1-21. The text of this sermon may be found at the following web address: http://apastoralapproach.blogspot.com/2013/09/sermon-for-september-8-2013-philemon-1.html. The sermon recording may also be accessed by clicking the title of this blog post and playing it in your browser.

Sermon for September 8, 2013: Philemon 1-21

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.  Amen.

The text this morning is from Paul’s Epistle to Philemon:
So if you consider me your partner, receive [Onesimus] as you would receive me. If he has wronged you at all, or owes you anything, charge that to my account. I, Paul, write this with my own hand: I will repay it—to say nothing of your owing me even your own self. Yes, brother, I want some benefit from you in the Lord. Refresh my heart in Christ. 
Thus far the text.

Dear friends in Christ,
     Admittedly, the sermon text this morning is a little strange for our modern ears.  We don’t know much of slavery, and that which we do know is really centered around the atrocious behavior of certain Christians and non-Christians in America’s history, where, on the basis of race and white supremacy, they enslaved those who were differently colored and forced them into abusive and destructive service.  It was wrong, it wasn’t Christian love at all, it spoke nothing of the vocation that each of us have to our neighbor, to love and to care for and protect them.  

     But, the slavery in the passage from today, the slavery of the ancient world, cannot be judged by our modern view and judgment of slavery.  It was very different.  It was a slavery, not based on race, but based on contractual agreements.  The slave owner was just as responsible for his actions as the slaves were responsible for theirs.  Slaves were more like family members who didn’t have the choice of running away, unlike some bad-tempered 6-year olds in some of our families.  I’m not saying slavery back then was necessarily right, it just was very different.  

Wednesday, September 4, 2013

Podcast Bible Study on Philemon 1-21

A Bible Study taught by Pastor Lewis Polzin on September 4, 2013 at Trinity Lutheran Church in Bemidji, MN, on Philemon 1-21. This Bible Study will help to lay a foundation for the sermon that is preached the following Sunday.

The sermon recording may also be accessed by clicking the title of this blog post and playing it in your browser.

Sunday, September 1, 2013

Podcast Sermon for September 1, 2013: Luke 14:1-14

A sermon preached by Pastor Lewis Polzin on September 1, 2013 at Trinity Lutheran Church in Bemidji, MN, on Luke 14:1-14. The text of this sermon may be found at the following web address: http://apastoralapproach.blogspot.com/2013/09/sermon-for-september-1-2013-luke-141-14.html. The sermon recording may also be accessed by clicking the title of this blog post and playing it in your browser.

Sermon for September 1, 2013: Luke 14:1-14

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.  Amen.

The text for this morning's message is from Luke’s Gospel, the 14th chapter:
One Sabbath, when he went to dine at the house of a ruler of the Pharisees, [Jesus said to them], “…Everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”He said also to the man who had invited him, “When you give a dinner or a banquet, …invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the just.”
Thus far the text.

My dear friends in Christ,
     Sometimes it is quite difficult to start a sermon, especially when the text is on something that feels so opposite to everything your pastor has ever been taught.  I have learned, over my many years of study, that the Bible is not, I repeat, is not, a collection of sayings and principles that we should apply to our lives.  Rather, the whole thing, each and every word and phrase, should point us to Jesus first, and most often, point us to Him only.  Anything less than that is a gross misuse of the Scriptures.  We shouldn’t expect to mine the Bible for secret passages that make us powerful.  That’s a misuse of the idea of Biblical principles.  That’s just the way it is.  And most of the time this is true.

     We can’t just take Jeremiah 29:11 and apply it to our lives.  The prophetic word that says, “I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope,” isn’t meant for us, but is rather, in the greater context of this prophecy, given specifically to the Israelites who are in Exile in Babylon.  God is promising to bring them back to Jerusalem, where they shall live in peace, where God will be their peace, which is ultimately a prophecy of Christ's redeeming love.  So, unless you are 2,600 years old, this passage isn’t about you.  It just isn’t.  It's about Jesus.