Sermon Audio: John 1:1-14, December 25, 2015

A sermon preached by Pastor Lewis Polzin on December 25, 2015 at Trinity Lutheran Church in Bemidji, MN, on John 1:1-14. The text of this sermon may be found by clicking this link and you may play the audio of the sermon here.

Bible Study: Job 41:12-42:17, December 20, 2015

A Bible Study taught by Pastor Lewis Polzin on December 20, 2015 at Trinity Lutheran Church in Bemidji, MN, on Job 41:!2-42:17. Play the audio by clicking here.

Sermon Audio: Luke 1:39-56, December 20, 2015

A sermon preached by Pastor Lewis Polzin on December 20, 2015 at Trinity Lutheran Church in Bemidji, MN, on Luke 1:39-56. The text of this sermon may be found by clicking this link and you may play the audio of the sermon here.

Sermon Text: Luke 1:39-56, December 20, 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 Luke, the first chapter:

In those days Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country, to a town in Judah, and she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, and she exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! And why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.” And Mary said, “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant. For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed; for he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name. And his mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation. He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts; he has brought down the mighty from their thrones and exalted those of humble estate; he has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty. He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his offspring forever.” And Mary remained with her about three months and returned to her home.

Thus far the text.

My dear friends in Christ,

     During this Advent season, it’s amazing how many things there are that work to distract us from our focusing upon the mysteries of the Incarnation of Jesus CHrist.  The Incarnation is an incredible moment, when the angel, Gabriel, spoke the Word of God to Mary, and through that Word, the Holy Spirit entered into her to conceive in her womb the Son of God.  The One who is eternal from all time, the one who has always been in existence with the Father and the Holy Spirit, comes into Mary and is made man.

     Mary has within her, growing, changing, developing, her son, who is the Son of God, and who would be named Jesus, the Christ.  Most of you know that Liz and I had our first baby this year.  And starting in August of last year, we watched through sonograms and fetal heart monitors the growth of our son, who was expanding her belly.  He developed from two cells to four to eight to sixteen to over 400 billion cells by the time he was born.  He developed a brain to think, eyes to see, ears to hear, a nose to smell, fingers to feel, feet to walk.  And we watched it all.

Bible Study: Job 39:1-41:11, December 13, 2015

A Bible Study taught by Pastor Lewis Polzin on December 13, 2015 at Trinity Lutheran Church in Bemidji, MN, on Job 39:1-41:11. Play the audio by clicking here.

Sermon Audio: Luke 7:18-28, December 13, 2015

A sermon preached by Pastor Lewis Polzin on December 13, 2015 at Trinity Lutheran Church in Bemidji, MN, on Luke 7:18-28. The text of this sermon may be found by clicking this link and you may play the audio of the sermon here.

Sermon: Luke 7:18-28, December 13, 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 Luke, the seventh chapter:

The disciples of John reported all these things to him. And John, calling two of his disciples to him, sent them to the Lord, saying, “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?” And when the men had come to him, they said, “John the Baptist has sent us to you, saying, ‘Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?’ ” In that hour he healed many people of diseases and plagues and evil spirits, and on many who were blind he bestowed sight. And he answered them, “Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have good news preached to them. And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.” When John’s messengers had gone, Jesus began to speak to the crowds concerning John: “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind? What then did you go out to see? A man dressed in soft clothing? Behold, those who are dressed in splendid clothing and live in luxury are in kings’ courts. What then did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. This is he of whom it is written, “ ‘Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way before you.’ I tell you, among those born of women none is greater than John. Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.” 

Thus far the text.

My dear friends in Christ,
     John, the prophesied herald of the coming of the Messiah, sat in prison, languishing under the rule of Herod.  He was not in kings’ courts, but in the king’s prison.  He was not in regal robes, but sackcloth.  But, he did his duty.  He was not blown about by false winds of doctrine, nor did he scratch itching ears by telling them what they wanted to hear.  He preached the good news that the Messiah was coming, he helped the people prepare the way of the Lord, he preached repentance and the forgiveness of sins.  And he did all of this unabashedly.  He made no apologies for his preaching, even if it offended a person, or, in John’s case, the most important person in the area, King Herod.  He preached the Word of God with no apologies.

     But, for that he was thrown into prison, for his preaching of the Law was too much to sensitive ears; it pricked the consciences of Herod and his wife, and they could not let it stand.  So, John sits in prison.  And his faithful disciples, those who had come out into the wilderness to hear the Word of the Lord, watched and waited with him.

Bible Study: Job 38:22-41, December 6, 2015

A Bible Study taught by Pastor Lewis Polzin on December 6, 2015 at Trinity Lutheran Church in Bemidji, MN, on Job 38:22-41. Play the audio by clicking here.

Sermon Audio: Luke 3:1-20, December 6, 2015

A sermon preached by Pastor Lewis Polzin on December 6, 2015 at Trinity Lutheran Church in Bemidji, MN, on Luke 3:1-20. The text of this sermon may be found by clicking this link and you may play the audio of the sermon here.

Sermon: Luke 3:1-20, December 6, 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 Luke, the third chapter:

In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene, during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John the son of Zechariah in the wilderness. And he went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. As it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be made low, and the crooked shall become straight, and the rough places shall become level ways, and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.’ ” He said therefore to the crowds that came out to be baptized by him, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruits in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham. Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.” And the crowds asked him, “What then shall we do?” And he answered them, “Whoever has two tunics is to share with him who has none, and whoever has food is to do likewise.” Tax collectors also came to be baptized and said to him, “Teacher, what shall we do?” And he said to them, “Collect no more than you are authorized to do.” Soldiers also asked him, “And we, what shall we do?” And he said to them, “Do not extort money from anyone by threats or by false accusation, and be content with your wages.” As the people were in expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Christ, John answered them all, saying, “I baptize you with water, but he who is mightier than I is coming, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.” So with many other exhortations he preached good news to the people. But Herod the tetrarch, who had been reproved by him for Herodias, his brother’s wife, and for all the evil things that Herod had done, added this to them all, that he locked up John in prison. 

Thus far the text.

My dear friends in Christ,
     In the Gospel text of today, we have John the Baptizer whose main job it was, as the last Old Testament prophet, the last prophet before the coming of the Messiah, to try to prepare the people of Israel for this Messiah.  He doesn’t prepare them by telling them to get the lights up on the house, or the ornaments on the tree, or the presents all wrapped.  In fact, except for being directly located in the Advent season, the time before we celebrate Christmas, you’d never know that this text had anything to do with Christmas, the birth of the Christ into human flesh.

     I mean think about it, we spend all this time before Christmas trying to get ready for the celebration of Jesus’ first coming in the flesh, and looking forward to His second coming at the end of time.  We decorate our houses, both inside and outside.  We decorate our church beautifully with garlands and lights and the tree.  We shop ‘till we drop.  We buy for almost anyone, really.  We search for all the right gifts, all the right wrapping paper, all the right bows.  We do so much to prepare for a single day located in a single season.

Sermon for the Funeral of +Arlene "Sis" Harriet Abrahamson+, December 5, 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 Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians, the 15th chapter:

I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperisahable, and we shall be changed. For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.” “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 

Thus far the text.

Dear Judy, Lee, Gary, and my dear friends in Christ,
     If you knew Sis, you knew her laugh.  I was remarking to her family the other day that it is sort of this combination between a light-hearted cackle and a giggle.  And it was somewhat infectious.  When you heard it, you couldn’t help but chuckle to yourself.  It was just very sweet.

     But as time went on with Sis, as I went to go and visit her, the laughs were further in-between.  It wasn’t because life wasn’t funny or there wasn’t humor, just that it was harder for Sis to laugh, or to talk, or to really do too much of anything she’d done before.  The reason why is simple: she was approaching her death.