Sunday, April 30, 2017
Sermon Audio: Acts 2:14a, 36-41, April 30, 2017
A sermon preached by Pastor Lewis Polzin on April 30, 2017 at St. Peter–Immanuel Lutheran Church in Milwaukee, WI, on Acts 2:14a, 36-41. The text of this sermon may be found by clicking this link and you may play the audio of the sermon here.
Sermon Text: Acts 2:14a, 36-41, April 30, 2017
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 Acts of the Apostles, the second chapter:
But Peter, standing with the eleven, lifted up his voice and addressed them:
Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.” Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.” And with many other words he bore witness and continued to exhort them, saying, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation.” So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls.
Thus far the text.
My dear friends in Christ,
He is risen! He is risen, indeed! Alleluia! And Peter isn’t ashamed to let anyone know it, even the very people who were responsible for crucifying our Lord. Now, this perhaps is a complicated question: who crucified Jesus?
I say it’s complicated because it depends on your perspective. Sadly, due to the racism of the age and the economic lack that the Jews faced, the Jews were blamed by the Ancient Christian church, and this perhaps unfairly. The Jews were judged as crucifying Jesus based solely on the fact that people hated them; they were displaced, having no homeland of their own after Jerusalem was destroyed, they were poor, having no trades which were useful to others, they were religious outsiders, for they did not share the Roman pantheon of gods, much less seeing Caesar as god.
Were the Jews guilty? Yep. No question. The Pharisees grew jealous of Jesus’ popularity. The Saducees didn’t like Jesus’ focus on the life which was to come. The High Council thought His followers would start a rebellion, which would make the Romans nervous and twitchy and they would destroy the entire state. So, they all conspired together to make sure that, even if this Jesus was the Messiah to come, it wouldn’t be on their watch. It wouldn’t be their fault.
Sunday, April 23, 2017
Sermon Audio: Acts 5:29-42, April 23, 2017
A sermon preached by Pastor Lewis Polzin on April 23, 2017 at St. Peter–Immanuel Lutheran Church in Milwaukee, WI, on Acts 5:29-42. The text of this sermon may be found by clicking this link and you may play the audio of the sermon here.
Sermon Text: Acts 5:29-42, April 23, 2017
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 Acts of the Apostles, the fifth chapter:
My dear friends in Christ,
He is risen! He is risen, indeed! Alleluia! And even with a risen Lord and Savior, Peter and the Apostles were stuck in a pretty precarious situation. Here they are in Jerusalem, having seen the work of the Holy Spirit converting thousands to the faith of Jesus Christ, having mass baptisms, having miracles done just by their presence, having the very beginnings of what we think of as the ancient Church begun, and they are arrested.
Peter and the Apostles are preaching the Word of Jesus Christ, the Good News that this Jesus, the Son of God, lived, died, and was resurrected from the dead for all mankind, and out of jealousy, the high priest of the Temple has them all arrested and put in jail. What’s cool is that in the middle of the night, and angel of God comes down, opens the prison doors, lets them all out, and tells them to go back to the Temple and start preaching again.
Can you imagine the look on the face of the high priest, strolling into the temple, humming to himself, and there are the twelve men he had locked up the night before? It must’ve been hilarious. Yet, it only served to enrage the high priest all the more and he had the twelve come before the entire council. And so here then comes one of the most famous passages of all Scripture.
The high priest told the apostles that he had commanded them to shut their mouths and not teach about Jesus. Yet, by the Apostles’ teaching the blood of Jesus Christ, the guilt of His awful and heinous murder was falling upon their heads. Can you hear the guilt? Don’t preach about Jesus, don’t tell people the truth, don’t tell anything about Him lest the people believe you, blame us, and take their revenge.
The text this morning is from The Acts of the Apostles, the fifth chapter:
But Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than men. The God of our fathers raised Jesus, whom you killed by hanging him on a tree. God exalted him at his right hand as Leader and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. And we are witnesses to these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him.” When they heard this, they were enraged and wanted to kill them. But a Pharisee in the council named Gamaliel, a teacher of the law held in honor by all the people, stood up and gave orders to put the men outside for a little while. And he said to them, “Men of Israel, take care what you are about to do with these men. For before these days Theudas rose up, claiming to be somebody, and a number of men, about four hundred, joined him. He was killed, and all who followed him were dispersed and came to nothing. After him Judas the Galilean rose up in the days of the census and drew away some of the people after him. He too perished, and all who followed him were scattered. So in the present case I tell you, keep away from these men and let them alone, for if this plan or this undertaking is of man, it will fail; but if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them. You might even be found opposing God!” So they took his advice, and when they had called in the apostles, they beat them and charged them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. Then they left the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name. And every day, in the temple and from house to house, they did not cease teaching and preaching that the Christ is Jesus.Thus far the text.
My dear friends in Christ,
He is risen! He is risen, indeed! Alleluia! And even with a risen Lord and Savior, Peter and the Apostles were stuck in a pretty precarious situation. Here they are in Jerusalem, having seen the work of the Holy Spirit converting thousands to the faith of Jesus Christ, having mass baptisms, having miracles done just by their presence, having the very beginnings of what we think of as the ancient Church begun, and they are arrested.
Peter and the Apostles are preaching the Word of Jesus Christ, the Good News that this Jesus, the Son of God, lived, died, and was resurrected from the dead for all mankind, and out of jealousy, the high priest of the Temple has them all arrested and put in jail. What’s cool is that in the middle of the night, and angel of God comes down, opens the prison doors, lets them all out, and tells them to go back to the Temple and start preaching again.
Can you imagine the look on the face of the high priest, strolling into the temple, humming to himself, and there are the twelve men he had locked up the night before? It must’ve been hilarious. Yet, it only served to enrage the high priest all the more and he had the twelve come before the entire council. And so here then comes one of the most famous passages of all Scripture.
The high priest told the apostles that he had commanded them to shut their mouths and not teach about Jesus. Yet, by the Apostles’ teaching the blood of Jesus Christ, the guilt of His awful and heinous murder was falling upon their heads. Can you hear the guilt? Don’t preach about Jesus, don’t tell people the truth, don’t tell anything about Him lest the people believe you, blame us, and take their revenge.
Friday, April 14, 2017
Sermon Audio: John 19:25-27, April 14, 2017
A sermon preached by Pastor Lewis Polzin on Good Friday, April 14, 2017 at Mt. Olive Lutheran Church in Milwaukee, WI, on John 19:25-27, the third word during their annual Tre Ore service. 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 19:25-27, April 14, 2017
THE THIRD WORD
“Woman, behold your son! …Son, behold your mother.”
Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, amen.
My Dear friends in Christ,
What wondrous love is this that a mother should watch her son die. Mary perhaps always knew it was coming. From the very word of Simeon, the song of Simeon, Mary must’ve heard that this would happen: that a sword would piece her heart as well. Surely, the sword of the centurion pierced her heart as it pierced her son, her baby boy, the son of Mary.
Can you imagine Mary that day? Can you imagine a mother staring up at her son, naked for all the world to see, as naked upon the cross as the day she pushed Him out into the world from her womb? Can you imagine the smell of blood coming from that cross, the same smell of blood she sensed when she kissed His little skinned knees? Can you imagine hearing the cry of thirst from her Jesus, the same cry He had when He would scream from the milk from her breast? Can you imagine the pain she watched, the agony that came from the same place when Jesus mourned the death of his adoptive father?
“Woman, behold your son! …Son, behold your mother.”
Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, amen.
My Dear friends in Christ,
What wondrous love is this that a mother should watch her son die. Mary perhaps always knew it was coming. From the very word of Simeon, the song of Simeon, Mary must’ve heard that this would happen: that a sword would piece her heart as well. Surely, the sword of the centurion pierced her heart as it pierced her son, her baby boy, the son of Mary.
Can you imagine Mary that day? Can you imagine a mother staring up at her son, naked for all the world to see, as naked upon the cross as the day she pushed Him out into the world from her womb? Can you imagine the smell of blood coming from that cross, the same smell of blood she sensed when she kissed His little skinned knees? Can you imagine hearing the cry of thirst from her Jesus, the same cry He had when He would scream from the milk from her breast? Can you imagine the pain she watched, the agony that came from the same place when Jesus mourned the death of his adoptive father?
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