Bible Study: Job 7:11-8:7, August 31, 2014

A Bible Study taught by Pastor Lewis Polzin on August 31, 2014 at Trinity Lutheran Church in Bemidji, MN, on Job 7:11-8:7.

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

A Pastoral Approach: Sermon: Jeremiah 15:15-21, August 31, 2014

A sermon preached by Pastor Lewis Polzin on August 31, 2014 at Trinity Lutheran Church in Bemidji, MN, on Jeremiah 15:15-21. 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: Jeremiah 15:15-21, August 31, 2014

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

The text this morning is from the prophet Jeremiah, the 15^th chapter:

O Lord, you know; remember me and visit me, and take vengeance for me on my persecutors… Your words were found, and I ate them, and your words became to me a joy and the delight of my heart, for I am called by your name… Why is my pain unceasing, my wound incurable, refusing to be healed? …Thus says the Lord: “If you return, I will restore you, and you shall stand before me. If you utter what is precious, and not what is worthless, you shall be as my mouth. They shall turn to you, but you shall not turn to them. And I will make you to this people a fortified wall of bronze; they will fight against you, but they shall not prevail over you, for I am with you to save you and deliver you, declares the Lord.” 

Thus far the text.

Dear friends in Christ,

     I feel sorry for Jeremiah.  Really, I do.  Oh, Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it!  Those are the words of Jesus, some 600 years after Jeremiah lived.  Yet, I’m pretty sure that Jeremiah knew the track record for prophets prophesying against Jerusalem, and Israel.  It didn’t go well.  There were only a handful of prophets who seemed to have died naturally, that is, without the quote-unquote assistance of another.  Jeremiah knew that all too well.

     And so, he complains.  YHWH is sending Jeremiah to prophesy against Jerusalem for the sacrifice of their children to the foreign God, Molech.  He is to call all of Judah to repentance, he announces the ever-so-popular Babylonian exile, and he’ll prophesy over the new covenant that would come in Jesus Christ.  But, do you think people like to hear that?  Do you like it when someone tells you you’ve done something wrong?  

Bible Study: Job 6:23-7:10, August 24, 2014

A Bible Study taught by Pastor Lewis Polzin on August 24, 2014 at Trinity Lutheran Church in Bemidji, MN, on Job 6:23-7:10.

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

A Pastoral Approach: Sermon: Matthew 16:13-20, August 24, 2014

A sermon preached by Pastor Lewis Polzin on August 24, 2014 at Trinity Lutheran Church in Bemidji, MN, on Matthew 16:13-20. 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: Matthew 16:13-20, August 24, 2014

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

The text this morning is from the Gospel of Matthew, the 16^th chapter:

Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”

Thus far the text.

Dear friends in Christ,

     Who do people say that the Son of Man is?  For Jesus and His followers that day in Caesarea Philippi, that was like asking who is going to be the next Bachelor.  Yes, I mean the TV show.  Everyone is checking the internet, reading the blogs, getting the magazines, all to find out some hint of who the next Bachelor is going to be.  It’s rabid.  People get obsessed over this.  They can’t wait to find out the information, and they’re trying to be the first of their friends to know.

     So, when Jesus asks who people say the Son of Man is, it’s a celebrity thing for this culture.  Everyone is trying to figure who the Son of Man is.  Is it John the Baptist?  I heard it’s Elijah!  No, it’s Jeremiah!  They all want to know, but no one has been looking at Jesus.  No one was thinking it was this meek rabbi-carpenter from Nazareth.  After all, can anything good come from Nazareth?

Bible Study: Matthew 16:13-20, August 20, 2014

A Bible Study taught by Pastor Lewis Polzin on August 20, 2014 at Trinity Lutheran Church in Bemidji, MN, on Matthew 16:13-20. 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.

Sermon for the Funeral of +Kenneth Earl Steinmetz+, August 18, 2014

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

The text this morning is from the Gospel of John, the 10^th chapter:

“…He who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers… Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep… I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep… I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep.” 

Thus far the text.

Dear Kathy, Ami, Ashley, Scott, and my friends in Christ,

     None of us expected to be sitting here this morning.  None of us.  None of us expected that we would be mourning the loss of our brother in Christ, Ken.  None of us.  And so the news that Ken had died, that he had gone to be with his Lord last Sunday, that news was shocking.  I’ve yet to hear from one person who expected this, I’ve yet to see one person whose face wasn’t surprised.  This is not a death that was expected; Ken wasn’t sick, very old, in poor health. 

     But, as trite as this perhaps sounds, our Lord Jesus Christ was not surprised.  He had known this day was coming for Ken.  And despite our efforts, nothing would be done about it.  And so, our brother Ken is now at home with the Lord.

Bible Study: Job 6:10-23, August 17, 2014

A Bible Study taught by Pastor Lewis Polzin on August 17, 2014 at Trinity Lutheran Church in Bemidji, MN, on Job 6:10-23.

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

A Pastoral Approach: Sermon: Matthew 15:21-28, August 17, 2014

A sermon preached by Pastor Lewis Polzin on August 17, 2014 at Trinity Lutheran Church in Bemidji, MN, on Matthew 15:21-28. 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: Matthew 15:21-28, August 17, 2014

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

The text this morning is from the Gospel according to Matthew, the 15^th chapter:

…Behold, a Canaanite woman from that region came out and was crying, “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David; my daughter is severely oppressed by a demon.” But he did not answer her a word. And his disciples came and begged him, saying, “Send her away, for she is crying out after us.” He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” But she came and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, help me.” And he answered, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” She said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.” Then Jesus answered her, “O woman, great is your faith! Be it done for you as you desire.” And her daughter was healed instantly. 

Thus far the text.

Dear friends in Christ,

     It’s not often that our Lord commends someone for their faith.  In fact, it happens so infrequently compared to how often Jesus laments over weak faith, that it tends to pass us by.  Think about it, in fact.  Where was the other place that Jesus commended the faith of someone?  Well, it was the faith of the centurion who asked Jesus to heal his servant.  Yet, think about how many times Jesus mentions weak faith.  The storm upon the water, Peter walking on the water, the disciples failing to cast out demons.

     Now, we talked about this last week.  In all these stories of Jesus, the little faith isn’t there to encourage us to have greater faith, to make our own faith, to somehow grow whatever we can.  Jesus reminds the disciples, and perhaps even us, that weak faith still looks to Christ, even when it is all going wrong.  By that same token then, even strong faith looks to Christ.  Weak or strong, it is still faith, and that faith is dependent upon Christ.  It can’t do anything by itself.  It needs Jesus first and only.

A Pastoral Approach: Sermon: Matthew 14:22-33, August 10, 2014

A sermon preached by Pastor Lewis Polzin on August 10, 2014 at Trinity Lutheran Church in Bemidji, MN, on Mathew 14:22-23. 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: Matthew 14:22-33, August 10, 2014

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

The text this morning is from the Gospel according to Matthew, the14^th chapter:

When evening came, [Jesus] was [on the mountain] alone, but the boat by this time was a long way from the land, beaten by the waves, for the wind was against them. And in the fourth watch of the night he came to them, walking on the sea. But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, and said, “It is a ghost!” and they cried out in fear. But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.” And Peter answered him, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” He said, “Come.” So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, “Lord, save me.” Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him, saying to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased. And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.” 

Thus far the text.

Dear friends in Christ,

     So many times I’ve heard sermons on this text.  And so many times, this text gets twisted so that our eyes are on Peter, the doubter, the one of little faith.  But that’s not where Matthew is trying to take us.  That’s not it at all.  Instead, let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, even the author and perfecter of Peter’s little faith.

     See, the point of this text is not to say,  if you want to walk on water, you have to get out of the boat.  That’s just dumb.  If I get out of any boat, I’m gonna sink.  It’s the way it is.  And if the point of it is to say that I need to take chances to achieve and live my dream, then that’s dumb, too, because sometimes dreams fail.  In fact, most of the time, dreams fail.  Most new businesses fail in the first few years. Children leave the house.  Families fall apart.  People shipwreck their faith.  Everyone dies.  And I still don’t have the supernatural ability to fly.  Dreams often fail.

     So, that’s not the point of the story.  If the point of the story is to have more faith, well, then we’re all in trouble.  We all fall short.  We all come up wanting.  Again, I still can’t walk on water, so my faith must not be big enough.  That kind of reading to this story makes it seem like it’s my work to grow my faith, my work to make sure I believe enough, my work to do whatever it takes to do whatever it takes.  And that just doesn’t sound Christian at all.

     If the point of the story is to learn how to worship Jesus when the wind and the waves are against you, well, at least that’s closer to something sort of Biblical, but what that does is gives us just an analogy.  That makes this story nothing more than just a Biblical moral tale.

Bible Study: Job 6:1-9, August 3, 2014

A Bible Study taught by Pastor Lewis Polzin on August 3, 2014 at Trinity Lutheran Church in Bemidji, MN, on Job 6:1-9.

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

A Pastoral Approach: Sermon: Isaiah 55:1-5, August 3, 2014

A sermon preached by Pastor Lewis Polzin on August 3, 2014 at Trinity Lutheran Church in Bemidji, MN, on Isaiah 55:1-5. 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: Isaiah 55:1-5, August 3, 2014

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

The text this morning is from the Gospel according to Isaiah, the fifty-fifth chapter:

“Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy? Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food. Incline your ear, and come to me; hear, that your soul may live; and I will make with you an everlasting covenant, my steadfast, sure love for David. Behold, I made him a witness to the peoples, a leader and commander for the peoples. Behold, you shall call a nation that you do not know, and a nation that did not know you shall run to you, because of the Lord your God, and of the Holy One of Israel, for he has glorified you. 

Thus far the text.

Dear friends in Christ,

     In our text today, we hear the call, “Come, come, come!”  Come to the waters and drink!  Come buy grain and eat!  Come buy wine and milk without money!  Come buy them all without any labor on your part!”  This is like walking into a downtown market, or most big malls today with those annoying little kiosks in the center aisle between the stores, where every vendor is yelling at you and accosting you to come and try and buy their product.

     Only, Isaiah today is telling us that the products that are being sold in this marketplace are free to you.  Take as much as you need.  Take and take and take, because there is no running out of the things that are being sold.  They are being given to you for free.  And what are these things?  Grain.  Wine.  Milk.  Water.  Take them.  They are your yours.

     Isaiah wrote these words today to Israelites who were about to have their land and people ravaged by the Babylonians, Israelites who would be taken into exile for years, Israelites who were facing fierce judgment from God for their disobedience, and Israelites who were promised the Messiah to come to save them from their sins and take their punishment forever.  These words were for them, yet I think there is something in them for us today, too, so that we may hear that which Isaiah is saying.