Sunday, July 10, 2016
Sermon Audio: Leviticus 19:9-18, July 10, 2016
A sermon preached by Pastor Lewis Polzin on July 10, 2016 at Mt. Olive Lutheran Church in Milwaukee, WI, on Leviticus 19:9-18. The text of this sermon may be found by clicking this link and you may play the audio of the sermon here.
Sermon Text: Leviticus 19:9-18, July 10, 2016
Passage: Leviticus 19:9-18
Liturgical week: Proper 10
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 third book of Moses, Leviticus, the 19th chapter:
When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap your field right up to its edge, neither shall you gather the gleanings after your harvest. And you shall not strip your vineyard bare, neither shall you gather the fallen grapes of your vineyard. You shall leave them for the poor and for the sojourner: I am the Lord your God. You shall not steal; you shall not deal falsely; you shall not lie to one another. You shall not swear by my name falsely, and so profane the name of your God: I am the Lord. You shall not oppress your neighbor or rob him. The wages of a hired worker shall not remain with you all night until the morning. You shall not curse the deaf or put a stumbling block before the blind, but you shall fear your God: I am the Lord. You shall do no injustice in court. You shall not be partial to the poor or defer to the great, but in righteousness shall you judge your neighbor. You shall not go around as a slanderer among your people, and you shall not stand up against the life of your neighbor: I am the Lord. You shall not hate your brother in your heart, but you shall reason frankly with your neighbor, lest you incur sin because of him. You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord.
Thus far the text.
My dear friends in Christ,
Some of you may remember what it was like back during the time that the Civil Rights movement really picked up speed. Malcom X, Martin Luther King, Jr., Ralph Abernathy, Rosa Parks. I wasn’t alive back then, but I imagine that the country felt a lot like it does right now. Two young black men shot, and it seems to me, unjustifiably, by the police. Police members targeted for death during a peaceful demonstration by snipers. This really has been going on for years, but the feeling of restlessness, of the need for justice, of the need for change, has become palpable in just the last few months. You can feel it in the air.
Racism is an evil that the devil has brought into this world to separate us. Black versus white, White versus Latino, Trump versus the World, Planned Parenthood versus African-Americans. We love, because of our sinful hearts, to find the differences in people, exaggerate them, and all so that we can feel better about ourselves, protect ourselves, protect what we think is our way of life.
But, today, the evil of racism pervades our culture, and it has for centuries. We have the opportunity now to stand up and say, “No more of this.” We have the opportunity to teach our children, our grandchildren, our friends and family, that racism deserves just as much opportunity to exist as abortion, which is to say, it doesn’t at all.
Sunday, June 19, 2016
Sermon Audio: Galatians 3:23-4:7, June 19, 2016
A sermon preached by Pastor Lewis Polzin on June 19, 2016 at Mt. Olive Lutheran Church in Milwaukee, WI, on Galatians 3:23-4:7. The text of this sermon may be found by clicking this link and you may play the audio of the sermon here.
Sermon Text: Galatians 3:23-4:7, June 19, 2016
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 letter to the Galatians, the third and fourth chapters:
My dear friends in Christ,
I’ve gotten a lot of questions this week with the whole shooting in Orlando. What’s the Christian response? How am I supposed to feel? Shouldn’t we ban guns? Shouldn’t we stop all the Muslims from coming into this country? Why did this happen? Whose fault is this? What can we do?
I can’t tell you I have all the answers. I can’t. Some of these are really hard questions that are more appropriate for our politicians, and us as the voters, to decide. I can’t say that there are Biblical answers to all of these things. What I can tell you is that our response to this horrific shooting, and to all disasters, both man-made and “natural,” is the cry of Christians for millennia: “Lord, have mercy. Christ, have mercy. Lord, have mercy.”
And I can tell you that when we pray that prayer, we pray it for others and for ourselves. And He does. He does have mercy. And He leads us to understand, too, that we follow in His footsteps, and we have mercy towards others. We have mercy upon those who identify as homosexuals. We have mercy on Muslims. We have mercy on gun-toting, Bible thumpers. We have mercy on liberals. We have mercy on conservatives. We have mercy, for we have received mercy.
The text this morning is from Paul’s letter to the Galatians, the third and fourth chapters:
Now before faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed. So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise. I mean that the heir, as long as he is a child, is no different from a slave, though he is the owner of everything, but he is under guardians and managers until the date set by his father. In the same way we also, when we were children, were enslaved to the elementary principles of the world. But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.Thus far the text.
My dear friends in Christ,
I’ve gotten a lot of questions this week with the whole shooting in Orlando. What’s the Christian response? How am I supposed to feel? Shouldn’t we ban guns? Shouldn’t we stop all the Muslims from coming into this country? Why did this happen? Whose fault is this? What can we do?
I can’t tell you I have all the answers. I can’t. Some of these are really hard questions that are more appropriate for our politicians, and us as the voters, to decide. I can’t say that there are Biblical answers to all of these things. What I can tell you is that our response to this horrific shooting, and to all disasters, both man-made and “natural,” is the cry of Christians for millennia: “Lord, have mercy. Christ, have mercy. Lord, have mercy.”
And I can tell you that when we pray that prayer, we pray it for others and for ourselves. And He does. He does have mercy. And He leads us to understand, too, that we follow in His footsteps, and we have mercy towards others. We have mercy upon those who identify as homosexuals. We have mercy on Muslims. We have mercy on gun-toting, Bible thumpers. We have mercy on liberals. We have mercy on conservatives. We have mercy, for we have received mercy.
Sunday, June 12, 2016
Sermon Audio: Galatians 2:15-21, 3:10-14, June 12, 2016
A sermon preached by Pastor Lewis Polzin on June 12, 2016 at Mt. Olive Lutheran Church in Milwaukee, WI, on Galatians 2:15-21, 3:10-14. The text of this sermon may be found by clicking this link and you may play the audio of the sermon here.
Sermon Text: Galatians 2:15-21, 3:10-14, June 12, 2016
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 Letter to the Galatians, the 2nd and 3rd chapters:
My dear friends in Christ,
It’s been in the news this week: a young college man committed a horrible crime on a college woman. This happens a lot, sadly, regrettably, but it’s made the news because the man received such a light sentence compared to the crime. If he had shoplifted a loaf of bread, we would expect him to get six months in prison. In Connecticut, kidnapping gets a year minimum. A year. What should it cost a man if he takes away a woman’s chastity, her feeling of being safe, her trust in men, her belief that this would never happen to her?
Justice for this woman would be a short sentence for the man who committed such an atrocious act upon her. It’s not justice, and it seems that there is a moral outrage among most people. Most people seem to be saying that this is not right, that the judge should be removed from the bar, that the man should have gotten more time, that the woman deserves some kind of restitution.
We expect restitution in these kinds of crime. Really, for any crime, we expect that there be some sort of punishment, and we expect that the punishment would fit the crime. For those people of Jewish descent to which Paul was writing, there was a specific understanding that they had a leg up. It wasn’t for them that they thought they could keep the Law perfectly, although there were certainly some Jewish sects that did, or at least tried, but that the Law had been revealed to them and they knew what God expected.
The text this morning is from Paul’s Letter to the Galatians, the 2nd and 3rd chapters:
We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners; yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified. But if, in our endeavor to be justified in Christ, we too were found to be sinners, is Christ then a servant of sin? Certainly not! For if I rebuild what I tore down, I prove myself to be a transgressor. For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose.
For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, “Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them.” Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for “The righteous shall live by faith.” But the law is not of faith, rather “The one who does them shall live by them.” Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree”— so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith.Thus far the text.
My dear friends in Christ,
It’s been in the news this week: a young college man committed a horrible crime on a college woman. This happens a lot, sadly, regrettably, but it’s made the news because the man received such a light sentence compared to the crime. If he had shoplifted a loaf of bread, we would expect him to get six months in prison. In Connecticut, kidnapping gets a year minimum. A year. What should it cost a man if he takes away a woman’s chastity, her feeling of being safe, her trust in men, her belief that this would never happen to her?
Justice for this woman would be a short sentence for the man who committed such an atrocious act upon her. It’s not justice, and it seems that there is a moral outrage among most people. Most people seem to be saying that this is not right, that the judge should be removed from the bar, that the man should have gotten more time, that the woman deserves some kind of restitution.
We expect restitution in these kinds of crime. Really, for any crime, we expect that there be some sort of punishment, and we expect that the punishment would fit the crime. For those people of Jewish descent to which Paul was writing, there was a specific understanding that they had a leg up. It wasn’t for them that they thought they could keep the Law perfectly, although there were certainly some Jewish sects that did, or at least tried, but that the Law had been revealed to them and they knew what God expected.
Sunday, May 1, 2016
Bible Study: One Christ, Many Creeds: Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Pentecostalism, Emergent/Evangelical Churches, May 1, 2016
This Bible Study is taken from and based upon the "One Christ, Many Creeds" curriculum from Concordia Publishing House. It was taught at Trinity Lutheran Church in Bemidji, MN on May 1, 2016. Play the audio by clicking here. You may also follow along with the teaching using this sheet.
Sermon Audio: John 16:23-33, May 1, 2016
A sermon preached by Pastor Lewis Polzin on May 1, 2016 at Trinity Lutheran Church in Bemidji, MN, on John 16:23-33. 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 16:23-33, May 1, 2016
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 16th chapter:
My dear friends in Christ,
He is risen! He is risen, indeed! Alleluia! And He is risen, and He is ascended to the right hand of God the Father. From there, Christ rules over all things. He, alone in all of the universe, has power, glory, honor, blessing, and dominion. Amen.
But He is not bodily gone from us forever. He now sits in the heavens, a place which He has created, and He shall descend upon the earth, carrying with Him all of the saints who have gone before us. And on that day, when Jesus Christ returns, He shall remake all things. He shall remove the stain of sin which we have left upon this earth. He shall return our land to the Eden it was. And He shall make us glorious as He is glorious, not that we should be equal with God, but that Jesus would share all things that He has with us.
In that day, we will need nothing. We need ask God for no thing, for He shall give all things to us freely, without price. We shall have the Bread of Life in our midst, and from His pierced side would flow the fountain of eternal life. That which is His, which is all things, shall be inherited by His creation, every man, woman, and child who is baptized in His name.
The text this morning is from the Gospel of John, the 16th chapter:
In that day you will ask nothing of me. Truly, truly, I say to you, whatever you ask of the Father in my name, he will give it to you. Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full. “I have said these things to you in figures of speech. The hour is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figures of speech but will tell you plainly about the Father. In that day you will ask in my name, and I do not say to you that I will ask the Father on your behalf; for the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God. I came from the Father and have come into the world, and now I am leaving the world and going to the Father.” His disciples said, “Ah, now you are speaking plainly and not using figurative speech! Now we know that you know all things and do not need anyone to question you; this is why we believe that you came from God.” Jesus answered them, “Do you now believe? Behold, the hour is coming, indeed it has come, when you will be scattered, each to his own home, and will leave me alone. Yet I am not alone, for the Father is with me. I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”Thus far the text.
My dear friends in Christ,
He is risen! He is risen, indeed! Alleluia! And He is risen, and He is ascended to the right hand of God the Father. From there, Christ rules over all things. He, alone in all of the universe, has power, glory, honor, blessing, and dominion. Amen.
But He is not bodily gone from us forever. He now sits in the heavens, a place which He has created, and He shall descend upon the earth, carrying with Him all of the saints who have gone before us. And on that day, when Jesus Christ returns, He shall remake all things. He shall remove the stain of sin which we have left upon this earth. He shall return our land to the Eden it was. And He shall make us glorious as He is glorious, not that we should be equal with God, but that Jesus would share all things that He has with us.
In that day, we will need nothing. We need ask God for no thing, for He shall give all things to us freely, without price. We shall have the Bread of Life in our midst, and from His pierced side would flow the fountain of eternal life. That which is His, which is all things, shall be inherited by His creation, every man, woman, and child who is baptized in His name.
Sunday, April 24, 2016
Sermon Audio: Revelation 21:1-7, April 24, 2016
A sermon preached by Pastor Lewis Polzin on April 24, 2016 at Trinity Lutheran Church in Bemidji, MN, on Revelation 21:1-7. The text of this sermon may be found by clicking this link and you may play the audio of the sermon here.
Sermon Text: Revelation 21:1-7, April 24, 2016
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.
The text this morning is from John’s Revelation, the twenty-first chapter:
My dear friends in Christ,
He is risen! He is risen, indeed! Alleluia! Today, John sees in his revelation that there is something greater coming than this day. John sees that there is something greater coming than this time. John sees that there is something greater coming than this place, than this era, than this moment, than this life. There is the life to come.
The life to come. For the Christian, our great hope is not in that we get to go to heaven and wander around like ephemeral-type spirits. Our hope as Christians is greater than that. Our hope, and it is a sure and certain promise, is that we shall rise from the dead, in our bodies, glorified like Jesus is glorified, and we shall live forever with him in everlasting righteousness, innocence, and blessedness.
The text this morning is from John’s Revelation, the twenty-first chapter:
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” And he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment. The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son.Thus far the text.
My dear friends in Christ,
He is risen! He is risen, indeed! Alleluia! Today, John sees in his revelation that there is something greater coming than this day. John sees that there is something greater coming than this time. John sees that there is something greater coming than this place, than this era, than this moment, than this life. There is the life to come.
The life to come. For the Christian, our great hope is not in that we get to go to heaven and wander around like ephemeral-type spirits. Our hope as Christians is greater than that. Our hope, and it is a sure and certain promise, is that we shall rise from the dead, in our bodies, glorified like Jesus is glorified, and we shall live forever with him in everlasting righteousness, innocence, and blessedness.
Wednesday, April 20, 2016
Bible Study: Revelation 21:1-7, April 20, 2016
A Bible Study taught by Pastor Lewis Polzin on Revelation 21:1-7 at Trinity Lutheran Church in Bemidji, MN, on April 20, 2016. This Bible Study will help to lay a foundation for the sermon that is preached the following Sunday. Play the audio by clicking here.
Sunday, April 17, 2016
Sermon Audio: John 10:22-30, April 17, 2016
A sermon preached by Pastor Lewis Polzin on April 17, 2016 at Trinity Lutheran Church in Bemidji, MN, on John 10:22-30. 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 10:22-30, April 17, 2016
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 John, the tenth chapter:
My dear friends in Christ,
He is risen! He is risen, indeed! Alleluia! Today, Good Shepherd Sunday, is all about election. Not the national election, though it might be nice if God actually told us who we should vote for instead of risking getting someone, anyone, who might just mess up the country in one fell swoop. But, this is God’s election, the election, the choosing of humanity to salvation.
Before the foundation of the world, God elected all of mankind into salvation. He knew exactly what would happen: He would create Adam and Eve, they would choose to listen to the devil’s temptations instead of trusting in God, they would fall into sin and away from the righteousness that was given to them and that they lived in, and there would have to be some way then to save them. God knew this was going to happen and He planned for it.
Of course, the question inevitably comes up, why God would let them fall into sin. The Biblical answer is that we really don’t know. God never revealed that information to us. Never. Some people try to say that it’s because God wanted a relationship, not a robot. Okay, that might make some sense. But, still, God could’ve had a relationship with Adam and Eve and just never let the devil set foot on earth. I mean, there are literally millions of hypothetical situations to which we’re never going to have the answers.
The text this morning is from the Gospel according to John, the tenth chapter:
At that time the Feast of Dedication took place at Jerusalem. It was winter, and Jesus was walking in the temple, in the colonnade of Solomon. So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.” Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father’s name bear witness about me, but you do not believe because you are not among my sheep. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.”Thus far the text.
My dear friends in Christ,
He is risen! He is risen, indeed! Alleluia! Today, Good Shepherd Sunday, is all about election. Not the national election, though it might be nice if God actually told us who we should vote for instead of risking getting someone, anyone, who might just mess up the country in one fell swoop. But, this is God’s election, the election, the choosing of humanity to salvation.
Before the foundation of the world, God elected all of mankind into salvation. He knew exactly what would happen: He would create Adam and Eve, they would choose to listen to the devil’s temptations instead of trusting in God, they would fall into sin and away from the righteousness that was given to them and that they lived in, and there would have to be some way then to save them. God knew this was going to happen and He planned for it.
Of course, the question inevitably comes up, why God would let them fall into sin. The Biblical answer is that we really don’t know. God never revealed that information to us. Never. Some people try to say that it’s because God wanted a relationship, not a robot. Okay, that might make some sense. But, still, God could’ve had a relationship with Adam and Eve and just never let the devil set foot on earth. I mean, there are literally millions of hypothetical situations to which we’re never going to have the answers.
Wednesday, April 13, 2016
Bible Study: John 10:22-30, April 13, 2016
A Bible Study taught by Pastor Lewis Polzin on John 10:22-30 at Trinity Lutheran Church in Bemidji, MN, on April 13, 2016. This Bible Study will help to lay a foundation for the sermon that is preached the following Sunday. Play the audio by clicking here.
Sunday, April 10, 2016
Sermon Audio: John 21:1-19, April 10, 2016
A sermon preached by Pastor Lewis Polzin on April 10, 2016 at Trinity Lutheran Church in Bemidji, MN, on John 21:1-19. 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 21:1-19, April 10, 2016
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 John, the 21st chapter:
Thus far the text.
My dear friends in Christ,
He is risen! He is risen, indeed! Alleluia! And Peter knew it. Thomas knew it. Nathaniel knew it. John and James and the other two disciples in the boat knew it, too. They had spent at least a little while watching and listening to the Risen Lord. But, Peter, at least so far as we know, hadn’t yet spoken to Him.
You have to put yourself in the mindset of Peter. Remember all the way back to Maundy Thursday night. What did he do? He denied his Lord. Three times. And in Peter’s mind, it seems, it was a denial of faith. After all, this is the man who said to Jesus, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life,” and, “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God.” Peter had believed in Jesus, at least a little bit. He may not have understood everything, but he got some of it. He believed Jesus was the Messiah. But, Peter denied the man.
It wasn’t just a little lie. It wasn’t just a time where he said that he didn’t know that man, Jesus. His three denials were for him a falling away from faith. He walked away. After all, he had heard the Lord tell, many times, that one must deny himself and follow Jesus. He had also heard Jesus say that whoever denies Him before men, Jesus will deny before His Father who is in heaven.
The text this morning is from the Gospel according to John, the 21st chapter:
After this Jesus revealed himself again to the disciples by the Sea of Tiberias, and he revealed himself in this way. Simon Peter, Thomas (called the Twin), Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two others of his disciples were together. Simon Peter said to them, “I am going fishing.” They said to him, “We will go with you.” They went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing. Just as day was breaking, Jesus stood on the shore; yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to them, “Children, do you have any fish?” They answered him, “No.” He said to them, “Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some.” So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in, because of the quantity of fish. That disciple whom Jesus loved therefore said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his outer garment, for he was stripped for work, and threw himself into the sea. The other disciples came in the boat, dragging the net full of fish, for they were not far from the land, but about a hundred yards off. When they got out on land, they saw a charcoal fire in place, with fish laid out on it, and bread. Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish that you have just caught.” So Simon Peter went aboard and hauled the net ashore, full of large fish, 153 of them. And although there were so many, the net was not torn. Jesus said to them, “Come and have breakfast.” Now none of the disciples dared ask him, “Who are you?” They knew it was the Lord. Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them, and so with the fish. This was now the third time that Jesus was revealed to the disciples after he was raised from the dead. When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Feed my lambs.” He said to him a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Tend my sheep.” He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, “Do you love me?” and he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep. Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were young, you used to dress yourself and walk wherever you wanted, but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will dress you and carry you where you do not want to go.” (This he said to show by what kind of death he was to glorify God.) And after saying this he said to him, “Follow me.”
Thus far the text.
My dear friends in Christ,
He is risen! He is risen, indeed! Alleluia! And Peter knew it. Thomas knew it. Nathaniel knew it. John and James and the other two disciples in the boat knew it, too. They had spent at least a little while watching and listening to the Risen Lord. But, Peter, at least so far as we know, hadn’t yet spoken to Him.
You have to put yourself in the mindset of Peter. Remember all the way back to Maundy Thursday night. What did he do? He denied his Lord. Three times. And in Peter’s mind, it seems, it was a denial of faith. After all, this is the man who said to Jesus, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life,” and, “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God.” Peter had believed in Jesus, at least a little bit. He may not have understood everything, but he got some of it. He believed Jesus was the Messiah. But, Peter denied the man.
It wasn’t just a little lie. It wasn’t just a time where he said that he didn’t know that man, Jesus. His three denials were for him a falling away from faith. He walked away. After all, he had heard the Lord tell, many times, that one must deny himself and follow Jesus. He had also heard Jesus say that whoever denies Him before men, Jesus will deny before His Father who is in heaven.
Wednesday, April 6, 2016
Bible Study: John 21:1-19, April 6, 2016
A Bible Study taught by Pastor Lewis Polzin on John 21:1-19 at Trinity Lutheran Church in Bemidji, MN, on April 6, 2016. This Bible Study will help to lay a foundation for the sermon that is preached the following Sunday. Play the audio by clicking here.
Sunday, April 3, 2016
Bible Study: One Christ, Many Creeds: The Salvation Army and The Church of the Nazarene, April 3, 2016
This Bible Study is taken from and based upon the "One Christ, Many Creeds" curriculum from Concordia Publishing House. It was taught at Trinity Lutheran Church in Bemidji, MN on April 3, 2016. Play the audio by clicking here. You may also follow along with the teaching using this sheet.
Sermon Audio:Revelation 1:4-18, April 3, 2016
A sermon preached by Pastor Lewis Polzin on April 3, 2016 at Trinity Lutheran Church in Bemidji, MN, on Revelation 1:4-18. The text of this sermon may be found by clicking this link and you may play the audio of the sermon here.
Sermon Text: Revelation 1:4-18, April 3, 2016
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.
The text this morning is from John’s Revelation, the first chapter:
My dear friends in Christ,
He is risen! He is risen, indeed! Alleluia! And John knew that, too. John, the beloved apostle, John, who was locked in the room when Jesus appeared, John, who watched Thomas be offered the chance to stick his hand in Jesus’ side, John, who spent 40 days with Jesus after the resurrection, John knew his Lord was risen from the grave.
John, you remember, saw Jesus in His glory, or at least a shadow of His true glory, on the Mount of Transfiguration. There, Jesus’ clothes turned white, His face shined like the sun, and He was surrounded by witnesses to His divinity, Moses and Elijah, a small part of the heavenly council, those who worship at the feet of God. But now, John sees Jesus even more fully. John sees Jesus for who He truly is: the Lord of all creation, standing in the midst of His Church.
The lampstands in John’s vision symbolize the churches to whom John will write the words of Jesus. And Jesus stands in their midst. Jesus won’t have good words for all these churches, but their light still burns, Jesus is still with them, and He will call them to repentance and the forgiveness of sins.
The text this morning is from John’s Revelation, the first chapter:
John to the seven churches that are in Asia: Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne, and from Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of him. Even so. Amen. “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.” I, John, your brother and partner in the tribulation and the kingdom and the patient endurance that are in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos on account of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet saying, “Write what you see in a book and send it to the seven churches, to Ephesus and to Smyrna and to Pergamum and to Thyatira and to Sardis and to Philadelphia and to Laodicea.” Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me, and on turning I saw seven golden lampstands, and in the midst of the lampstands one like a son of man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around his chest. The hairs of his head were white, like white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire, his feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar of many waters. In his right hand he held seven stars, from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength. When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he laid his right hand on me, saying, “Fear not, I am the first and the last, and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades.Thus far the text.
My dear friends in Christ,
He is risen! He is risen, indeed! Alleluia! And John knew that, too. John, the beloved apostle, John, who was locked in the room when Jesus appeared, John, who watched Thomas be offered the chance to stick his hand in Jesus’ side, John, who spent 40 days with Jesus after the resurrection, John knew his Lord was risen from the grave.
John, you remember, saw Jesus in His glory, or at least a shadow of His true glory, on the Mount of Transfiguration. There, Jesus’ clothes turned white, His face shined like the sun, and He was surrounded by witnesses to His divinity, Moses and Elijah, a small part of the heavenly council, those who worship at the feet of God. But now, John sees Jesus even more fully. John sees Jesus for who He truly is: the Lord of all creation, standing in the midst of His Church.
The lampstands in John’s vision symbolize the churches to whom John will write the words of Jesus. And Jesus stands in their midst. Jesus won’t have good words for all these churches, but their light still burns, Jesus is still with them, and He will call them to repentance and the forgiveness of sins.
Wednesday, March 30, 2016
Bible Study: Revelation 1:4-18, March 30, 2016
A Bible Study taught by Pastor Lewis Polzin on Revelation 1:4-18 at Trinity Lutheran Church in Bemidji, MN, on March 30, 2016. This Bible Study will help to lay a foundation for the sermon that is preached the following Sunday. Play the audio by clicking here.
Sunday, March 27, 2016
Sermon Audio: Luke 24:1-12, March 27, 2016
A sermon preached by Pastor Lewis Polzin on March 27, 2016 at Trinity Lutheran Church in Bemidji, MN, on Luke 24:1-12. 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 24:1-12, March 27, 2016
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 24th chapter:
My dear friends in Christ,
He is risen! He in risen, indeed! Alleluia! Today is the first day. Yesterday, the seventh day, the Sabbath day, God rested. He rested from all the work he had done. He had accomplished all that He had set out to do. So, He rested. In the tomb.
But today, He is risen! He is risen, indeed! Alleluia! Jesus Christ does not rest any more, for today is the first day, as it was the first day for those women who had gone to the tomb to put spices upon Jesus’ body. It was the first day for them. It was the first day they were in public since their rabbi was killed, executed, murdered. It was the first day they had to face other people. It was the first day of abject terror. They had never felt more unsafe, more unprotected, more lost.
And they were going out, out in the streets, out where people who wanted to kill would do them harm, out to a garden, a garden protected by soldiers, out to touch a dead body. There was no safety. There was no security. There was no comfort for them. The world was turned upside down and it was likely that they would lose their lives soon, too.
But, when they arrived, their world would turn again. You know that feeling you get right before the teacher calls on you when you don’t know the answer? You know that feeling you had when your first girlfriend broke up with you? You know that feeling when you’re about to be sick and the entire room seems to zoom up at you like a close-up on the TV? They saw the stone from the entrance of the tomb rolled away.
The text this morning is from the Gospel according to Luke, the 24th chapter:
But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared. And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they went in they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men stood by them in dazzling apparel. And as they were frightened and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise.” And they remembered his words, and returning from the tomb they told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest. Now it was Mary Magdalene and Joanna and Mary the mother of James and the other women with them who told these things to the apostles, but these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them. But Peter rose and ran to the tomb; stooping and looking in, he saw the linen cloths by themselves; and he went home marveling at what had happened.Thus far the text.
My dear friends in Christ,
He is risen! He in risen, indeed! Alleluia! Today is the first day. Yesterday, the seventh day, the Sabbath day, God rested. He rested from all the work he had done. He had accomplished all that He had set out to do. So, He rested. In the tomb.
But today, He is risen! He is risen, indeed! Alleluia! Jesus Christ does not rest any more, for today is the first day, as it was the first day for those women who had gone to the tomb to put spices upon Jesus’ body. It was the first day for them. It was the first day they were in public since their rabbi was killed, executed, murdered. It was the first day they had to face other people. It was the first day of abject terror. They had never felt more unsafe, more unprotected, more lost.
And they were going out, out in the streets, out where people who wanted to kill would do them harm, out to a garden, a garden protected by soldiers, out to touch a dead body. There was no safety. There was no security. There was no comfort for them. The world was turned upside down and it was likely that they would lose their lives soon, too.
But, when they arrived, their world would turn again. You know that feeling you get right before the teacher calls on you when you don’t know the answer? You know that feeling you had when your first girlfriend broke up with you? You know that feeling when you’re about to be sick and the entire room seems to zoom up at you like a close-up on the TV? They saw the stone from the entrance of the tomb rolled away.
Sunday, March 20, 2016
Bible Study: One Christ, Many Creeds: Methodists, March 20, 2016
This Bible Study is taken from and based upon the "One Christ, Many Creeds" curriculum from Concordia Publishing House. It was taught at Trinity Lutheran Church in Bemidji, MN on March 20, 2016. Play the audio by clicking here. You may also follow along with the teaching using this sheet.
Sermon Audio: John 12:20-43, March 20, 2016
A sermon preached by Pastor Lewis Polzin on March 20, 2016 at Trinity Lutheran Church in Bemidji, MN, on John 12:20-43. 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 12:20-43, March 20, 2016
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 twelfth chapter:
My dear friends in Christ,
The time is here. We have arrived right at the beginning of Holy Week with Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem. And right there, right in that place, there were Greek converts to Judaism who wanted to see Jesus. “Sir, we want to see Jesus,” they ask. They wanted to see the One who had done so many miracles, the One who preached the Word of God, the One who came into the city as a triumphant, peaceful King. So, they went to the most Greek guy in Jesus’ apostles and begged to see Jesus. Word got passed around and back to Jesus. Jesus doesn’t outright say yes; in fact, He doesn’t say much of anything regarding those guys. Or does He?
You see, when Jesus begins in on explaining everything that is to come, He is answering them. He’s telling His disciples that the hour has come, and even the Gentiles of the world are coming to see the spectacle that begins this day and continues through Good Friday, and, by the grace of God, even these people will continue to believe and see Jesus Resurrection Sunday.
Jesus says, through metaphor, that He must fall to the earth and die, and if He does, He will bear much fruit, the fruit of all the believers in Him, even the Gentiles. But, to those who love this world more than their God, to those who love their lives, they will not come to Christ in the end. They will be plucked from the vine as rotten and soured grapes, people who reject the good gifts of God in Christ Jesus.
The text this morning is from the Gospel of John, the twelfth chapter:
Now among those who went up to worship at the feast were some Greeks. So these came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and asked him, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” Philip went and told Andrew; Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. And Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him. “Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? But for this purpose I have come to this hour. Father, glorify your name.” Then a voice came from heaven: “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.” The crowd that stood there and heard it said that it had thundered. Others said, “An angel has spoken to him.” Jesus answered, “This voice has come for your sake, not mine. Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” He said this to show by what kind of death he was going to die. So the crowd answered him, “We have heard from the Law that the Christ remains forever. How can you say that the Son of Man must be lifted up? Who is this Son of Man?” So Jesus said to them, “The light is among you for a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you. The one who walks in the darkness does not know where he is going. While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light.” When Jesus had said these things, he departed and hid himself from them. Though he had done so many signs before them, they still did not believe in him, so that the word spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled: “Lord, who has believed what he heard from us, and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?” Therefore they could not believe. For again Isaiah said, “He has blinded their eyes and hardened their heart, lest they see with their eyes, and understand with their heart, and turn, and I would heal them.” Isaiah said these things because he saw his glory and spoke of him. Nevertheless, many even of the authorities believed in him, but for fear of the Pharisees they did not confess it, so that they would not be put out of the synagogue; for they loved the glory that comes from man more than the glory that comes from God.Thus far the text.
My dear friends in Christ,
The time is here. We have arrived right at the beginning of Holy Week with Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem. And right there, right in that place, there were Greek converts to Judaism who wanted to see Jesus. “Sir, we want to see Jesus,” they ask. They wanted to see the One who had done so many miracles, the One who preached the Word of God, the One who came into the city as a triumphant, peaceful King. So, they went to the most Greek guy in Jesus’ apostles and begged to see Jesus. Word got passed around and back to Jesus. Jesus doesn’t outright say yes; in fact, He doesn’t say much of anything regarding those guys. Or does He?
You see, when Jesus begins in on explaining everything that is to come, He is answering them. He’s telling His disciples that the hour has come, and even the Gentiles of the world are coming to see the spectacle that begins this day and continues through Good Friday, and, by the grace of God, even these people will continue to believe and see Jesus Resurrection Sunday.
Jesus says, through metaphor, that He must fall to the earth and die, and if He does, He will bear much fruit, the fruit of all the believers in Him, even the Gentiles. But, to those who love this world more than their God, to those who love their lives, they will not come to Christ in the end. They will be plucked from the vine as rotten and soured grapes, people who reject the good gifts of God in Christ Jesus.
Sunday, March 13, 2016
Bible Study: One Christ, Many Creeds: Anglicans/Episcopalians, March 13, 2016
This Bible Study is taken from and based upon the "One Christ, Many Creeds" curriculum from Concordia Publishing House. It was taught at Trinity Lutheran Church in Bemidji, MN on March 13, 2016. Play the audio by clicking here. You may also follow along with the teaching using this sheet.
Sermon Audio: Luke 20:9-20, March 13, 2016
A sermon preached by Pastor Lewis Polzin on March 13, 2016 at Trinity Lutheran Church in Bemidji, MN, on Luke 20:9-20. 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 20:9-20, March 13, 2016
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 20th chapter:
My dear friends in Christ,
Our passage today shows us the extravagant patience of God our Father. The man, the owner, is God. The vineyard is Israel. The tenants are the religious leaders, those who spoke for Israel. The servants are the prophets. The Son is Jesus Christ.
So, when God plants this vineyard, He wants the tenants to take care of it. When He puts Israel into the land He promised them, He wants them to listen to Him, take care of Israel and all her people, and keep pointing them back to the Owner. So, He sends the prophets to them, to remind them of the Lord’s decrees, to urge them to repent, which is the true fruit of the vineyard. But they beat the prophets. Really, they kill them. They hate that the Owner of the vineyard wants something from them and they refuse to listen to Him any more.
So, finally, with all authority and power in His hand, the Son is sent by the Father to bring the children of Israel back to God. But they hate the Son even more than the prophets. Instead of just killing Him like they did the prophets, they plot to take Israel for themselves, they plot to humiliate the Owner by denuding the Son, and then kill Him.
The text this morning is from the Gospel according to Luke, the 20th chapter:
And he began to tell the people this parable: “A man planted a vineyard and let it out to tenants and went into another country for a long while. When the time came, he sent a servant to the tenants, so that they would give him some of the fruit of the vineyard. But the tenants beat him and sent him away empty-handed. And he sent another servant. But they also beat and treated him shamefully, and sent him away empty-handed. And he sent yet a third. This one also they wounded and cast out. Then the owner of the vineyard said, ‘What shall I do? I will send my beloved son; perhaps they will respect him.’ But when the tenants saw him, they said to themselves, ‘This is the heir. Let us kill him, so that the inheritance may be ours.’ And they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. What then will the owner of the vineyard do to them? He will come and destroy those tenants and give the vineyard to others.” When they heard this, they said, “Surely not!” But he looked directly at them and said, “What then is this that is written: “ ‘The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone’? Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces, and when it falls on anyone, it will crush him.” The scribes and the chief priests sought to lay hands on him at that very hour, for they perceived that he had told this parable against them, but they feared the people. So they watched him and sent spies, who pretended to be sincere, that they might catch him in something he said, so as to deliver him up to the authority and jurisdiction of the governor.Thus far the text.
My dear friends in Christ,
Our passage today shows us the extravagant patience of God our Father. The man, the owner, is God. The vineyard is Israel. The tenants are the religious leaders, those who spoke for Israel. The servants are the prophets. The Son is Jesus Christ.
So, when God plants this vineyard, He wants the tenants to take care of it. When He puts Israel into the land He promised them, He wants them to listen to Him, take care of Israel and all her people, and keep pointing them back to the Owner. So, He sends the prophets to them, to remind them of the Lord’s decrees, to urge them to repent, which is the true fruit of the vineyard. But they beat the prophets. Really, they kill them. They hate that the Owner of the vineyard wants something from them and they refuse to listen to Him any more.
So, finally, with all authority and power in His hand, the Son is sent by the Father to bring the children of Israel back to God. But they hate the Son even more than the prophets. Instead of just killing Him like they did the prophets, they plot to take Israel for themselves, they plot to humiliate the Owner by denuding the Son, and then kill Him.
Thursday, March 10, 2016
Sermon for the Funeral of +Helen Clara Johnson+, March 10, 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 John, the twelfth chapter:
And Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.
Thus far the text.
My dear friends in Christ,
Of course we today are grieving. We should. It’s a hard day when we lose our mother, our grandmother, our aunt, our friend, our sister in Christ. Having Helen taken away from us by death is not an easy thing. Not for us. But, for Helen, this is a great day. She closed her eyes in death on Saturday, but immediately opened them and saw her Lord. And soon, she, even in this body, will open her eyes again, and see, not only her Lord, but also all of us who are in Christ.
Helen knew what it was to plant. She knew what it was to put a seed in the ground, bury it, water it, feed it, care for it, and have from it grow a beautiful flower. Now, she didn’t really know how it grew. No one actually does. What is it about a seed that really makes it split open and shoot up a stem and have a plant grow? I don’t know, Helen didn’t know.
Sunday, March 6, 2016
Bible Study: One Christ, Many Creeds: TULIP Recap, Presbyterianism, Christian Reformed, March 6, 2016
This Bible Study is taken from and based upon the "One Christ, Many Creeds" curriculum from Concordia Publishing House. It was taught at Trinity Lutheran Church in Bemidji, MN on March 6, 2016. Play the audio by clicking here.
Sermon Audio: 2 Corinthians 5:16-21, March 6, 2016
A sermon preached by Pastor Lewis Polzin on March 6, 2016 at Trinity Lutheran Church in Bemidji, MN, on 2 Corinthians 5:!6-21. The text of this sermon may be found by clicking this link and you may play the audio of the sermon here.
Sermon Text: 2 Corinthians 5:16-21, March 6, 2016
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 Second Letter to the Corinthians, the fifth chapter:
My dear friends in Christ,
Pinch yourself. Go on, do it. Pinch yourself. Nice and hard. Did you feel it? Congratulations. You have flesh. But, that’s not what Paul is talking about when he mentions that we won’t regard anyone according to the flesh. Paul is talking about the idea that he, and his companions, the pastors he would set up in cities as he went on his journeys, would regard people according to God’s point of view, a point of view that sees a person through the eyes of faith.
Once, Paul saw Jesus as a mere man, a criminal who was hanged upon a cross so that He would be punished for His crimes against God. Paul saw Jesus as a blasphemer, a rebel, someone who needed to be sentenced to death. Yet, in Paul’s conversion, in the Baptism that was given him by God, Paul eyes were cleared. Something like scales fell from them, both literally and metaphorically. Literal scales fell from Paul’s eyes, scales that had blinded him to the entirety of life. And metaphorical scales went away as well, scales that blinded his heart from seeing Jesus for who He really is, God in human flesh, sent to take on the sins of the world.
The text this morning is from Paul’s Second Letter to the Corinthians, the fifth chapter:
From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.Thus far the text.
My dear friends in Christ,
Pinch yourself. Go on, do it. Pinch yourself. Nice and hard. Did you feel it? Congratulations. You have flesh. But, that’s not what Paul is talking about when he mentions that we won’t regard anyone according to the flesh. Paul is talking about the idea that he, and his companions, the pastors he would set up in cities as he went on his journeys, would regard people according to God’s point of view, a point of view that sees a person through the eyes of faith.
Once, Paul saw Jesus as a mere man, a criminal who was hanged upon a cross so that He would be punished for His crimes against God. Paul saw Jesus as a blasphemer, a rebel, someone who needed to be sentenced to death. Yet, in Paul’s conversion, in the Baptism that was given him by God, Paul eyes were cleared. Something like scales fell from them, both literally and metaphorically. Literal scales fell from Paul’s eyes, scales that had blinded him to the entirety of life. And metaphorical scales went away as well, scales that blinded his heart from seeing Jesus for who He really is, God in human flesh, sent to take on the sins of the world.
Thursday, March 3, 2016
Bible Study: Discernment in the Church Today, March 3, 2016
A Bible Study on 'Discernment in the Church Today' and its necessity, taught at Trinity Lutheran Church in Bemidji, Minnesota on March 3, 2016. You may listen to the audio here, or click the post title for the audio.
Sunday, February 28, 2016
Sermon Audio: Luke 13:1-9, February 28, 2016
A sermon preached by Pastor Lewis Polzin on February 28, 2016 at Trinity Lutheran Church in Bemidji, MN, on Luke 13:1-9. 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 13:-19, February 28, 2016
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 thirteenth chapter:
My dear friends in Christ,
The Roman governor, Pilate, was not really a man to mess around with. He was in a lot of trouble, actually. He already had a couple of rebellions on his hands, and Caesar told him if he had any more, he would be recalled to Rome. For Pilate, losing his position like that would mean embarrassment, exile, possibly even execution. You can understand now, perhaps, even why he allowed the Jews to crucify Jesus rather than have another rebellion that Good Friday.
To keep the peace, it seems he was a harsh ruler. He was so harsh even, that one day, while there were Galileean believers in the Temple, he had his soldiers rush in and slaughter those Galileeans where they stood. They had been there to bring their sacrifices to God, according to the Mosaic law. And as their bodies lay bleeding in the Temple, their blood became mingled with the blood of those animals they had come to offer to God in atonement for their sins.
The text this morning is from the Gospel according to Luke, the thirteenth chapter:
There were some present at that very time who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. And he answered them, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered in this way? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them: do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.” And he told this parable: “A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it and found none. And he said to the vinedresser, ‘Look, for three years now I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and I find none. Cut it down. Why should it use up the ground?’ And he answered him, ‘Sir, let it alone this year also, until I dig around it and put on manure. Then if it should bear fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down.’ ”Thus far the text.
My dear friends in Christ,
The Roman governor, Pilate, was not really a man to mess around with. He was in a lot of trouble, actually. He already had a couple of rebellions on his hands, and Caesar told him if he had any more, he would be recalled to Rome. For Pilate, losing his position like that would mean embarrassment, exile, possibly even execution. You can understand now, perhaps, even why he allowed the Jews to crucify Jesus rather than have another rebellion that Good Friday.
To keep the peace, it seems he was a harsh ruler. He was so harsh even, that one day, while there were Galileean believers in the Temple, he had his soldiers rush in and slaughter those Galileeans where they stood. They had been there to bring their sacrifices to God, according to the Mosaic law. And as their bodies lay bleeding in the Temple, their blood became mingled with the blood of those animals they had come to offer to God in atonement for their sins.
Sunday, February 21, 2016
Bible Study: One Christ, Many Creeds: Introduction to Calvinist Church Bodies, February 21, 2016
This Bible Study is taken from and based upon the "One Christ, Many Creeds" curriculum from Concordia Publishing House. It was taught at Trinity Lutheran Church in Bemidji, MN on February 21, 2016. Play the audio by clicking here.
Sermon Audio: Philippians 3:17-4:1, February 21, 2016
A sermon preached by Pastor Lewis Polzin on February 21, 2016 at Trinity Lutheran Church in Bemidji, MN, on Philippians 3:17-4:1. The text of this sermon may be found by clicking this link and you may play the audio of the sermon here.
Sermon Text: Philippians 3:17-4:1, February 21, 2016
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 letter to the Philippians, the third and fourth chapters:
My dear friends in Christ,
There is nothing, nothing that stands so much against the idea of being a Christian than the idea that our lives are ones of simple pleasures in which we can just lay back at take it easy. Now, it’s not to say that relaxing on occasion, taking the time to slow down, to rest from trials and tribulations, are sinful. These aren’t sinful things. But, what I am talking about is the idea that our lives are filled with great burdens, and burdens which we are called to bear, burdens which can come upon us at any time. Difficulties that make life one of suffering… these are to be expected.
Our Master, Jesus Christ, was crucified, and so why should we expect ease in this life? He was pierced through with nails, and we expect comfort? No, the reality is that we are called to be soldiers of the faith, stalwart, strong, and bearing up under the harsh burdens of warfare as we follow our General, our Lord, wherever it is He may take us.
This is why Paul says that many walk, according to their own bellies, as enemies of the cross. Life isn’t easy, it isn’t comfortable, and we as Christians shouldn’t expect it to be. Was the cross a recliner? Was it a Jacuzzi? No, it was a torture stick where criminals were bathed in blood. We should expect the same for ourselves, and, with Paul, as he says elsewhere, give thanks in all situations, no matter what may come.
The text this morning is from Paul’s letter to the Philippians, the third and fourth chapters:
Brothers, join in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us. For many, of whom I have often told you and now tell you even with tears, walk as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things. But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself. Therefore, my brothers, whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm thus in the Lord, my beloved.Thus far the text.
My dear friends in Christ,
There is nothing, nothing that stands so much against the idea of being a Christian than the idea that our lives are ones of simple pleasures in which we can just lay back at take it easy. Now, it’s not to say that relaxing on occasion, taking the time to slow down, to rest from trials and tribulations, are sinful. These aren’t sinful things. But, what I am talking about is the idea that our lives are filled with great burdens, and burdens which we are called to bear, burdens which can come upon us at any time. Difficulties that make life one of suffering… these are to be expected.
Our Master, Jesus Christ, was crucified, and so why should we expect ease in this life? He was pierced through with nails, and we expect comfort? No, the reality is that we are called to be soldiers of the faith, stalwart, strong, and bearing up under the harsh burdens of warfare as we follow our General, our Lord, wherever it is He may take us.
This is why Paul says that many walk, according to their own bellies, as enemies of the cross. Life isn’t easy, it isn’t comfortable, and we as Christians shouldn’t expect it to be. Was the cross a recliner? Was it a Jacuzzi? No, it was a torture stick where criminals were bathed in blood. We should expect the same for ourselves, and, with Paul, as he says elsewhere, give thanks in all situations, no matter what may come.
Sunday, February 14, 2016
Sermon Audio: Romans 10:8b-13, February 14, 2016
A sermon preached by Pastor Lewis Polzin on February 14, 2016 at Trinity Lutheran Church in Bemidji, MN, on Romans 10:8b-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: Romans 10:8b-13, February 14, 2016
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 Letter to the Romans, the 10th chapter:
My dear friends in Christ,
Paul says there are two kinds of righteousness. Just a little bit before our reading today, he lays out one kind, perhaps the one we’re most familiar with, the one we think we can do. He says that there is a righteousness that comes from obedience to the Law of God.
Now, this righteousness is interesting, mostly because, as we all know, obedience to the Law is impossible for mankind to accomplish because we are sinners. We aren’t sinners because we sin, we sin because we’re sinners. Let’s say that another way: we were conceived in sin, even in our mothers’ wombs, and sin has infected us in such a way that every thought, word, and deed we think, say, or do is, by its nature, sinful. Sadly, there is no perfect, righteous deed that any sinner can do.
The text this morning is from Paul's Letter to the Romans, the 10th chapter:
But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”Thus far the text.
My dear friends in Christ,
Paul says there are two kinds of righteousness. Just a little bit before our reading today, he lays out one kind, perhaps the one we’re most familiar with, the one we think we can do. He says that there is a righteousness that comes from obedience to the Law of God.
Now, this righteousness is interesting, mostly because, as we all know, obedience to the Law is impossible for mankind to accomplish because we are sinners. We aren’t sinners because we sin, we sin because we’re sinners. Let’s say that another way: we were conceived in sin, even in our mothers’ wombs, and sin has infected us in such a way that every thought, word, and deed we think, say, or do is, by its nature, sinful. Sadly, there is no perfect, righteous deed that any sinner can do.
Sunday, February 7, 2016
Bible Study: One Christ, Many Creeds: Eastern Orthodoxy, February 7, 2016
This Bible Study is taken from and based upon the "One Christ, Many Creeds" curriculum from Concordia Publishing House. It was taught at Trinity Lutheran Church in Bemidji, MN on February 7, 2016. Play the audio by clicking here. You may also follow along with the teaching using this sheet.
Sermon Audio: Luke 9:28-36, February 7, 2016
A sermon preached by Pastor Lewis Polzin on February 7, 2016 at Trinity Lutheran Church in Bemidji, MN, on Luke 9:28-36. 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 9:28-36, February 7, 2016
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 ninth chapter:
My dear friends in Christ,
Traditionally, today, the last Sunday before the Lenten season begins in earnest, is the day the Church puts away her Alleluias. We don’t sing them, we don’t say them, we try not to think them, and so, today, we try to get as many in as we can. Alleluia means “Praise the Lord.” It’s not that during the Lenten season we don’t praise the Lord; we certainly do. But we restrain ourselves from using the word for the Lenten season is one of penitence, one of seeking after the Lord in repentant faith.
We hide the Alleluias because Alleluia is a blessed word, a joyful word, a word that takes delight in the Lord and His Word and His gifts and His blessed Son. We hide the Alleluias because the Lenten season is one of suffering, not only as we recognize the suffering that we ourselves go through as sinners in this fallen world, but as we watch the suffering and death of our beloved Savior, Jesus Christ. In fact, just before our Gospel reading for today, Jesus has told His disciples exactly what He will suffer. He says He will suffer, be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, He will be killed.
This is our experience as well. As Christians, we follow our Christ. We look to Him as our example of what to do, that we should be holy and righteous, doing good to our neighbor and thereby serving God. But we also look to Christ as our example of what will come to us. If the perfect and holy Son of God will suffer all these things at the hands of angry men, what may we expect to experience in the world?
The text this morning is from the Gospel according to Luke, the ninth chapter:
Now about eight days after these sayings he took with him Peter and John and James and went up on the mountain to pray. And as he was praying, the appearance of his face was altered, and his clothing became dazzling white. And behold, two men were talking with him, Moses and Elijah, who appeared in glory and spoke of his departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. Now Peter and those who were with him were heavy with sleep, but when they became fully awake they saw his glory and the two men who stood with him. And as the men were parting from him, Peter said to Jesus, “Master, it is good that we are here. Let us make three tents, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah”—not knowing what he said. As he was saying these things, a cloud came and overshadowed them, and they were afraid as they entered the cloud. And a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is my Son, my Chosen One; listen to him!” And when the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. And they kept silent and told no one in those days anything of what they had seen.Thus far the text.
My dear friends in Christ,
Traditionally, today, the last Sunday before the Lenten season begins in earnest, is the day the Church puts away her Alleluias. We don’t sing them, we don’t say them, we try not to think them, and so, today, we try to get as many in as we can. Alleluia means “Praise the Lord.” It’s not that during the Lenten season we don’t praise the Lord; we certainly do. But we restrain ourselves from using the word for the Lenten season is one of penitence, one of seeking after the Lord in repentant faith.
We hide the Alleluias because Alleluia is a blessed word, a joyful word, a word that takes delight in the Lord and His Word and His gifts and His blessed Son. We hide the Alleluias because the Lenten season is one of suffering, not only as we recognize the suffering that we ourselves go through as sinners in this fallen world, but as we watch the suffering and death of our beloved Savior, Jesus Christ. In fact, just before our Gospel reading for today, Jesus has told His disciples exactly what He will suffer. He says He will suffer, be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, He will be killed.
This is our experience as well. As Christians, we follow our Christ. We look to Him as our example of what to do, that we should be holy and righteous, doing good to our neighbor and thereby serving God. But we also look to Christ as our example of what will come to us. If the perfect and holy Son of God will suffer all these things at the hands of angry men, what may we expect to experience in the world?
Wednesday, February 3, 2016
Bible Study: Luke 9:28-36, February 3, 2016
A Bible Study taught by Pastor Lewis Polzin on Luke 9:28-36 at Trinity Lutheran Church in Bemidji, MN, on February 3. 2016. This Bible Study will help to lay a foundation for the sermon that is preached the following Sunday. Play the audio by clicking here.
Sunday, January 31, 2016
Sermon Audio: Luke 4:31-44, January 31, 2016
A sermon preached by Pastor Lewis Polzin on January 31, 2016 at Trinity Lutheran Church in Bemidji, MN, on Luke 4:31-44. 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 4:31-44, January 31, 2016
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 fourth chapter:
And he went down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee. And he was teaching them on the Sabbath, and they were astonished at his teaching, for his word possessed authority. And in the synagogue there was a man who had the spirit of an unclean demon, and he cried out with a loud voice, “Ha! What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God.” But Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be silent and come out of him!” And when the demon had thrown him down in their midst, he came out of him, having done him no harm. And they were all amazed and said to one another, “What is this word? For with authority and power he commands the unclean spirits, and they come out!” And reports about him went out into every place in the surrounding region. And he arose and left the synagogue and entered Simon’s house. Now Simon’s mother-in-law was ill with a high fever, and they appealed to him on her behalf. And he stood over her and rebuked the fever, and it left her, and immediately she rose and began to serve them. Now when the sun was setting, all those who had any who were sick with various diseases brought them to him, and he laid his hands on every one of them and healed them. And demons also came out of many, crying, “You are the Son of God!” But he rebuked them and would not allow them to speak, because they knew that he was the Christ. And when it was day, he departed and went into a desolate place. And the people sought him and came to him, and would have kept him from leaving them, but he said to them, “I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns as well; for I was sent for this purpose.” And he was preaching in the synagogues of Judea.
Thus far the text.
My dear friends in Christ,
Jesus went to His home. He had just been rejected in Nazareth, the town in which He grew up, and He went home, to where He would live and make the home base for His ministry. Nothing special about Capernaum, though it does seem it was some type of peaceful place, a place where there was some beauty on the shores of Lake Galilee. But it was Jesus’ home.
And as was Jesus’ custom, just as He had done in Nazareth, He went to where He could hear the Word of God on the Sabbath. He went there to be refreshed, to hear, to meditate, to teach. And He taught with authority. We’ve heard all this before of Jesus. People are amazed. They marvel at His teaching. They want to hear more because it is just that good. He taught as the quintessential example of Christian preaching, with love, patience, kindness, goodness, not being envious or boastful, not arrogance or rudeness, not irritability or resentfulness. He taught with love, bearing all things, hoping all things, enduring all things.
But, the peace of Capernaum wouldn’t last. At least, not that Sabbath, not in that synagogue. A man, a man who had presumably come to hear the Word of God just as Jesus had, stood up. And this man, prideful and arrogant as only the devil can make one, stood up. And Jesus, the Teacher of teachers, could not bear the spitting of the demon and cast the demon out from His midst and away from the Word of God.
Sunday, January 24, 2016
Bible Study: One Christ, Many Creeds: Roman Catholicism, January 24, 2016
This Bible Study is taken from and based upon the "One Christ, Many Creeds" curriculum from Concordia Publishing House. It was taught at Trinity Lutheran Church in Bemidji, MN on January 17, 2016. Play the audio by clicking here. You may also follow along with the teaching using this sheet.
Sermon Audio: Luke 4:16-30, January 24, 2016
A sermon preached by Pastor Lewis Polzin on January 24, 2016 at Trinity Lutheran Church in Bemidji, MN, on Luke 4:16-30. 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 4:16-30, January 24, 2016
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 Luke, the fourth chapter:
My dear friends in Christ,
Have you ever been offended? Truly offended? I mean, like someone has made a racist joke at your expense offended? Like someone makes a sexist joke offended? Like someone does or says something so vile and nasty to you that you actually begin to think of ways that you can “get rid of them” so that no one would know but you offended? Good. Then you’re beginning to think like the Nazarenes.
Jesus offended them. Jesus, you know, isn’t in the meek and mild business. He’s not interested in keeping the status quo. He’s not interested in making people feel good about themselves. He knows who we are. He knows what the Law says about us. He knows that we’re dirty, rotten sinners. And He knows that we, even the Nazarenes in today’s text, don’t deserve kind words or happy sayings or good things. He knows all that.
Now, of course, you also know that doesn’t stop Jesus from giving those kind words or happy sayings or good things to you. You don’t deserve them, but Jesus often gives them anyway. We don’t deserve forgiveness; but He gives it. We don’t deserve good health; but He gives it. We don’t deserve happy days; but He gives them. We don’t deserve anything good but it doesn’t stop Him from giving it.
The text this morning is from the Gospel of Luke, the fourth chapter:
And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. And as was his custom, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up to read. And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. And he began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” And all spoke well of him and marveled at the gracious words that were coming from his mouth. And they said, “Is not this Joseph’s son?” And he said to them, “Doubtless you will quote to me this proverb, ‘Physician, heal yourself.’ What we have heard you did at Capernaum, do here in your hometown as well.” And he said, “Truly, I say to you, no prophet is acceptable in his hometown. But in truth, I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heavens were shut up three years and six months, and a great famine came over all the land, and Elijah was sent to none of them but only to Zarephath, in the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow. And there were many lepers in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian.” When they heard these things, all in the synagogue were filled with wrath. And they rose up and drove him out of the town and brought him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they could throw him down the cliff. But passing through their midst, he went away.Thus far the text.
My dear friends in Christ,
Have you ever been offended? Truly offended? I mean, like someone has made a racist joke at your expense offended? Like someone makes a sexist joke offended? Like someone does or says something so vile and nasty to you that you actually begin to think of ways that you can “get rid of them” so that no one would know but you offended? Good. Then you’re beginning to think like the Nazarenes.
Jesus offended them. Jesus, you know, isn’t in the meek and mild business. He’s not interested in keeping the status quo. He’s not interested in making people feel good about themselves. He knows who we are. He knows what the Law says about us. He knows that we’re dirty, rotten sinners. And He knows that we, even the Nazarenes in today’s text, don’t deserve kind words or happy sayings or good things. He knows all that.
Now, of course, you also know that doesn’t stop Jesus from giving those kind words or happy sayings or good things to you. You don’t deserve them, but Jesus often gives them anyway. We don’t deserve forgiveness; but He gives it. We don’t deserve good health; but He gives it. We don’t deserve happy days; but He gives them. We don’t deserve anything good but it doesn’t stop Him from giving it.
Wednesday, January 20, 2016
Bible Study: Luke 4:16-30, January 20, 2016
A Bible Study taught by Pastor Lewis Polzin on Luke 4:16-30 at Trinity Lutheran Church in Bemidji, MN, on January 20. 2016. This Bible Study will help to lay a foundation for the sermon that is preached the following Sunday. Play the audio by clicking here.
Sunday, January 17, 2016
Bible Study: One Christ, Many Creeds: Historic Lutheranism, January 17, 2016
This Bible Study is taken from and based upon the "One Christ, Many Creeds" curriculum from Concordia Publishing House. It was taught at Trinity Lutheran Church in Bemidji, MN on January 17, 2016. Play the audio by clicking here. You may also follow along with the teaching using this sheet.
(This recording seems to skip a few milliseconds every so often. Apologies for that. It makes it hard to listen. The gist of the argument is that the Lutheran Faith is one that focuses plainly on the Word, Baptism, and the Lord's Supper as our gifts of salvation to us.)
(This recording seems to skip a few milliseconds every so often. Apologies for that. It makes it hard to listen. The gist of the argument is that the Lutheran Faith is one that focuses plainly on the Word, Baptism, and the Lord's Supper as our gifts of salvation to us.)
Sermon Audio: Isaiah 62:1-5, January 17, 2016
A sermon preached by Pastor Lewis Polzin on January 17, 2016 at Trinity Lutheran Church in Bemidji, MN, on Isaiah 62:1-5. The text of this sermon may be found by clicking this link and you may play the audio of the sermon here.
Sermon Text: Isaiah 62:1-5, January 17, 2016
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 Isaiah, the 62nd chapter:
My dear friends in Christ,
Begin by imagining that some force, let’s say Canada, amasses thousands of troops and tries to take over Bemidji. Makes sense, right? We’re pretty awesome. By taking over Bemidji, they have control over the area that goes between themselves and the Cities. They have good reason to take over Bemidji. But, when they get here, they don’t think the people will submit to their rule, eh? They also don’t like the layout of the place. So, they send all the people of Bemidji up to Canada to live in exile, and on top of that, they loot all our stores, all our houses, and they destroy, burn to the ground this church.
Now, we didn’t see any of that because we were already in exile. We didn’t see the devastation the Canadians caused in their oh-so-polite manner. But, 70 years later, our children and our grandchildren are finally allowed to return home by the Canadian overlords. When they get here, they see nothing but devastation, and they see this church, the place where their families were baptized, were fed, where they worshipped God in Spirit and in Truth, without roof, without walls, without any of the holy things that exist here today. And they weep. And they lament. And they begin to worry that nothing will even be the same again.
The text this morning is from the Prophet Isaiah, the 62nd chapter:
For Zion’s sake I will not keep silent, and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not be quiet, until her righteousness goes forth as brightness, and her salvation as a burning torch. The nations shall see your righteousness, and all the kings your glory, and you shall be called by a new name that the mouth of the Lord will give. You shall be a crown of beauty in the hand of the Lord, and a royal diadem in the hand of your God. You shall no more be termed Forsaken, and your land shall no more be termed Desolate, but you shall be called My Delight Is in Her, and your land Married; for the Lord delights in you, and your land shall be married. For as a young man marries a young woman, so shall your sons marry you, and as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall your God rejoice over you.Thus far the text.
My dear friends in Christ,
Begin by imagining that some force, let’s say Canada, amasses thousands of troops and tries to take over Bemidji. Makes sense, right? We’re pretty awesome. By taking over Bemidji, they have control over the area that goes between themselves and the Cities. They have good reason to take over Bemidji. But, when they get here, they don’t think the people will submit to their rule, eh? They also don’t like the layout of the place. So, they send all the people of Bemidji up to Canada to live in exile, and on top of that, they loot all our stores, all our houses, and they destroy, burn to the ground this church.
Now, we didn’t see any of that because we were already in exile. We didn’t see the devastation the Canadians caused in their oh-so-polite manner. But, 70 years later, our children and our grandchildren are finally allowed to return home by the Canadian overlords. When they get here, they see nothing but devastation, and they see this church, the place where their families were baptized, were fed, where they worshipped God in Spirit and in Truth, without roof, without walls, without any of the holy things that exist here today. And they weep. And they lament. And they begin to worry that nothing will even be the same again.
Wednesday, January 13, 2016
Bible Study: Isaiah 62:1-5, January 13, 2016
A Bible Study taught by Pastor Lewis Polzin on Isaiah 62:1-5 at Trinity Lutheran Church in Bemidji, MN, on January 13. 2016. This Bible Study will help to lay a foundation for the sermon that is preached the following Sunday. Play the audio by clicking here.
Sunday, January 10, 2016
Bible Study: One Christ, Many Creeds: Introduction, January 16, 2016
This Bible Study is taken from and based upon the "One Christ, Many Creeds" curriculum from Concordia Publishing House. It was taught at Trinity Lutheran Church in Bemidji, MN on January 10, 2016. Play the audio by clicking here.
Sermon Audio: Isaiah 43:1-7, January 10, 2016
A sermon preached by Pastor Lewis Polzin on January 10, 2016 at Trinity Lutheran Church in Bemidji, MN, on Isaiah 43:1-7. The text of this sermon may be found by clicking this link and you may play the audio of the sermon here.
Sermon Text: Isaiah 43:1-7, January 10, 2016
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.
The text this morning is from:
But now thus says the Lord, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. I give Egypt as your ransom, Cush and Seba in exchange for you. Because you are precious in my eyes, and honored, and I love you, I give men in return for you, peoples in exchange for your life. Fear not, for I am with you; I will bring your offspring from the east, and from the west I will gather you. I will say to the north, Give up, and to the south, Do not withhold; bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the end of the earth, everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.”
Thus far the text.
My dear friends in Christ,
Today, the first Sunday after the Epiphany, we celebrate the Baptism of our Lord. This is appropriate. In fact, it is the most appropriate time to celebrate it. Epiphany, January 6th, is a day in which we celebrate that the Gentiles also are included in the salvation work of Jesus. Even Gentiles can be saved. That’s good news, since everyone here is a Gentile.
We celebrate it by looking at the texts when the wise men came from a far off place to worship at the feet of the child Jesus. Even those who are outside the communion of Israel knew and saw the King, and gave Him what He was due, worship, thanksgiving, and gifts of great measure, even gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh, that look forward to the King’s death, where the King would be rubbed and covered in such expensive aloes, befit for a King.
But, today, the thanksgiving to God for the inclusion of the Gentiles continues. For here, we see our Lord baptized by John the Baptizer, not, as were all others, for the forgiveness of His sins, for He was and is sinless. Jesus was baptized here as the start, as the seal of His public ministry. But even more than that, Jesus was baptized for you.
Sunday, January 3, 2016
Sermon Audio: Luke 2:40-52, January 3, 2016
A sermon preached by Pastor Lewis Polzin on January 3, 2016 at Trinity Lutheran Church in Bemidji, MN, on Luke 2:40-52. 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 2:40-52, January 3, 2016
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 second chapter:
And the child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom. And the favor of God was upon Him. Now His parents went to Jerusalem every year at the Feast of the Passover. And when He was twelve years old, they went up according to custom. And when the feast was ended, as they were returning, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem. His parents did not know it, but supposing Him to be in the group they went a day’s journey, but then they began to search for Him among their relatives and acquaintances, and when they did not find Him, they returned to Jerusalem, searching for Him. After three days they found Him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. And all who heard Him were amazed at His understanding and His answers. And when His parents saw Him, they were astonished. And His mother said to Him, “Son, why have you treated us so? Behold, your father and I have been searching for you in great distress.” And He said to them, “Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” And they did not understand the saying that He spoke to them. And He went down with them and came to Nazareth and was submissive to them. And His mother treasured up all these things in her heart. And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man.
Thus far the text.
My dear friends in Christ,
I think it’s hard for us to understand Jesus’ response to His parents here. I mean, He is supposed to be perfect, but it’s almost as if He responds to their concerns over His disappearance with, I don’t know, condescension? It’s like He’s talking down to them. In our world, if a child did that to their parent, wouldn’t they be seen as disobeying? Wouldn’t they be punished? I know I would have been.
But, see how Luke addresses this, right at the beginning and the ending. “And the child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom.” “And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man.” Luke informs us that this isn’t disobedience, it isn’t sin, it’s wisdom. But it’s hard for us to see that, isn’t it? We are so caught up in our sin-filled world and lives that we can’t understand that Jesus, the perfect Son of God, could do such things without it being sinful.
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