Bible Study: Job 23:8-17, August 30, 2015

A Bible Study taught by Pastor Lewis Polzin on August 30, 2015 at Trinity Lutheran Church in Bemidji, MN, on Job 23:8-17. Play the audio by clicking here.

Sermon Audio: Deuteronomy 4:1-14, August 30, 2015

A sermon preached by Pastor Lewis Polzin on August 30, 2015 at Trinity Lutheran Church in Bemidji, MN, on Deuteronomy 4:1-14. The text of this sermon may be found by clicking this link and you may play the audio of the sermon here.

Sermon Text: Deuteronomy 4:1-14, August 30, 2015

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

The text this morning is from Moses’ Book of Deuteronomy, the fourth chapter:

“And now, O Israel, listen to the statutes and the rules that I am teaching you, and do them, that you may live, and go in and take possession of the land that the Lord, the God of your fathers, is giving you. You shall not add to the word that I command you, nor take from it, that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God that I command you. Your eyes have seen what the Lord did at Baal-peor, for the Lord your God destroyed from among you all the men who followed the Baal of Peor. But you who held fast to the Lord your God are all alive today. See, I have taught you statutes and rules, as the Lord my God commanded me, that you should do them in the land that you are entering to take possession of it. Keep them and do them, for that will be your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples, who, when they hear all these statutes, will say, ‘Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.’ For what great nation is there that has a god so near to it as the Lord our God is to us, whenever we call upon him? And what great nation is there, that has statutes and rules so righteous as all this law that I set before you today? “Only take care, and keep your soul diligently, lest you forget the things that your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life. Make them known to your children and your children’s children— how on the day that you stood before the Lord your God at Horeb, the Lord said to me, ‘Gather the people to me, that I may let them hear my words, so that they may learn to fear me all the days that they live on the earth, and that they may teach their children so.’ And you came near and stood at the foot of the mountain, while the mountain burned with fire to the heart of heaven, wrapped in darkness, cloud, and gloom. Then the Lord spoke to you out of the midst of the fire. You heard the sound of words, but saw no form; there was only a voice. And he declared to you his covenant, which he commanded you to perform, that is, the Ten Commandments, and he wrote them on two tablets of stone. And the Lord commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and rules, that you might do them in the land that you are going over to possess. 

Thus far the text.

My dear friends in Christ,

     Deuteronomy is a word that means the second law, or the second giving of the law.  We must remember that the Law of God is good and just and holy, and, as it was given to Israel, it was the basis of Israel’s covenant with God going into the promised land.  He gave them the Law, they said they would do it.  And if they obeyed the Law, if they kept the statutes and commands, they would live.

     But, God was under no false pretenses here.  He had led this people out of Egypt, parting the waters of the Red Sea, making them to walk through on dry ground, and at every turn Israel turned away from their God, from Him alone, and sought after false gods.  That is what happened at Baal-Peor: they took the Baal that the people of Peor worshipped and joined it together in some false wedding ceremony, giving Yahweh, their God, a wife that He never asked for.

Bible Study: Deuteronomy 4:1-14, August 26, 2015

A Bible Study taught by Pastor Lewis Polzin on Deuteronomy 4:1-14 at Trinity Lutheran Church in Bemidji, MN, on August 26, 2015. This Bible Study will help to lay a foundation for the sermon that is preached the following Sunday. Play the audio by clicking here.

Sermon Audio: Mark 7:1-13, August 23, 2015

A sermon preached by Pastor Lewis Polzin on August 23, 2015 at Trinity Lutheran Church in Bemidji, MN, on Mark 7:1-13. The text of this sermon may be found by clicking this link and you may play the audio of the sermon here.

Sermon Text: Mark 7:1-13, August 23, 2015

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 Mark, the seventh chapter:

Now when the Pharisees gathered to him, with some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem, they saw that some of his disciples ate with hands that were defiled, that is, unwashed. (For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they wash their hands properly, holding to the tradition of the elders, and when they come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they wash. And there are many other traditions that they observe, such as the washing of cups and pots and copper vessels and dining couches.) And the Pharisees and the scribes asked him, “Why do your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with defiled hands?” And he said to them, “Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written, “ ‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’ You leave the commandment of God and hold to the tradition of men.” And he said to them, “You have a fine way of rejecting the commandment of God in order to establish your tradition! For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother’; and, ‘Whoever reviles father or mother must surely die.’ But you say, ‘If a man tells his father or his mother, “Whatever you would have gained from me is Corban” ’ (that is, given to God)— then you no longer permit him to do anything for his father or mother, thus making void the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And many such things you do.” 

Thus far the text.

My dear friends in Christ,

     You have to remember that the Pharisees and their ways were well regarded in the time of Jesus.  The way they did things were the way the Jewish people, for the most part, wanted to do things.  Their way of living was to be highly imitated.  Most people thought that the Tradition of the Elders, which was the name of the religious system of the Pharisees, was straight from the mouth of God.  

     The Tradition of the Elders was supposed to be an oral Law, kind of the extra instruction that God gave to the elders of Israel on Mount Sinai some 1500 years before Jesus.  Or at least that’s what everyone thought.  In reality, according to Jesus, this other testament of the Law was no more the Word of God than the closed caption systems on your favorite television show.  What the Tradition of the Elders did do, however, is spur people on to do good works in their attempt to keep the Law.  What it did badly was make people obedient to another law, not the Law from God, in order to be saved.

Sermon for the Funeral of +Josephine Rosella Oelrich+, August 22, 2015

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 fifth chapter:

So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise. For the Father loves the Son and shows him all that he himself is doing. And greater works than these will he show him, so that you may marvel. For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom he will. The Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son, that all may honor the Son, just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him. Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life. 

Thus far the text.

Dear Dan, Jerry, Ron, Joan, all of Jo’s family, and my dear friends in Christ,
     My friend, your mother, your grandmother, your friend, Jo, has fallen asleep in our Lord Jesus Christ.  And this is a sad day.  For us.  It is an awful day for us.  For we mourn her loss.  She is gone from our presence here now and we miss her.  It wasn’t that Jo was in perfect health.  It wasn’t that she was young.  In fact, we all know, she was 93 and was suffering from cancer and pain.  She was dealing with much in her life, but, in her own stubborn way, she held on as long as she could in this life, but yet was prepared for the next.

Bible Study: Luke 7:1-13, August 19, 2015

A Bible Study taught by Pastor Lewis Polzin on Luke 7:1-13 at Trinity Lutheran Church in Bemidji, MN, on August 19, 2015. This Bible Study will help to lay a foundation for the sermon that is preached the following Sunday. Play the audio by clicking here.

Sermon Audio: Proverbs 9:1-10, August 16, 2015

A sermon preached by Pastor Lewis Polzin on August 16, 2015 at Trinity Lutheran Church in Bemidji, MN, on Proverbs 9:1-10. The text of this sermon may be found by clicking this link and you may play the audio of the sermon here.

Sermon Text: Proverbs 9:1-10, August 16, 2015

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 Book of Proverbs, the ninth chapter:

Wisdom has built her house; she has hewn her seven pillars. She has slaughtered her beasts; she has mixed her wine; she has also set her table. She has sent out her young women to call from the highest places in the town, “Whoever is simple, let him turn in here!” To him who lacks sense she says, “Come, eat of my bread and drink of the wine I have mixed. Leave your simple ways, and live, and walk in the way of insight.” Whoever corrects a scoffer gets himself abuse, and he who reproves a wicked man incurs injury. Do not reprove a scoffer, or he will hate you; reprove a wise man, and he will love you. Give instruction to a wise man, and he will be still wiser; teach a righteous man, and he will increase in learning. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight. 

Thus far the text.

My dear friends in Christ,

     Frequently throughout the Book of Proverbs, Wisdom and Folly go together.  Now, it doesn’t mean that they’re friends; in fact, quite the opposite.  Wisdom is seen as a gift from the Lord, and Folly is seen as anything that goes against the Lord’s commands, His wishes, His righteousness.  Wisdom leads to life; Folly always leads to great death.

     And so, when Solomon wrote this proverb, he did so to teach those who would read it exactly what is the character of God’s wisdom and His invitation to such righteousness.  In fact, it’s made clear through this proverb that there will be some, in fact, many, who will avoid Wisdom and seek after their own ways, which always lead to Folly.

Sermon Audio: John 6:35-51 August 9, 2015

A sermon preached by Pastor Lewis Polzin on August 9, 2015 at Trinity Lutheran Church in Bemidji, MN, on John 6:35-51. The text of this sermon may be found by clicking this link and you may play the audio of the sermon here.

Sermon Text: John 6:35-51, August 9, 2015

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 sixth chapter:

Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe. All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.” …No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day. It is written in the Prophets, ‘And they will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me— not that anyone has seen the Father except he who is from God; he has seen the Father. Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.” 

Thus far the text.

My dear friends in Christ,

     Of the multiple things going on this reading for today, John tells us two major things.  First, Jesus is the bread of life, so that when one has Jesus they have life eternal.  And second, Jesus claims to be both God and the Messiah.  What’s amazing is that it is only because Jesus is God that He can redeem His people, and it’s only through His redemption of the world that He gives eternal life, and it’s only through bread and wine, food and drink, to stop your hunger and slake your thirst, that the redemption that is in Christ Jesus comes to us as often as we would have it.

     It is only because Jesus is the God-man, being God from before all time and being man, incarnate by the Holy Spirit in the Virgin Mary, that He can redeem His people.  Only one who is both God and man could have won for the world the forgiveness of sins; only one who is both God and man could reconcile the two parties.  You see, our God has a holy Law, and the people whom He created are guilty of breaking that Law.  

Bible Study: John 6:35-51, August 5, 2015

A Bible Study taught by Pastor Lewis Polzin on John 6:35-51 at Trinity Lutheran Church in Bemidji, MN, on August 5, 2015. This Bible Study will help to lay a foundation for the sermon that is preached the following Sunday. Play the audio by clicking here.