A Pastoral Approach: Sermon: Romans 6:1-11, January 11, 2015

A sermon preached by Pastor Lewis Polzin on January 11, 2015 at Trinity Lutheran Church in Bemidji, MN, on Romans 6:1-11. The text of this sermon may be found by clicking this link here. The sermon recording may also be accessed by clicking the title of this blog post and playing it in your browser.

Sermon: Romans 6:1-11, January 11, 2015

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

The text this morning is from Paul’s Letter to the Romans, the sixth chapter:

What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For one who has died has been set free from sin. Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. 

Thus far the text.

My dear friends in Christ,

     Sometimes, don’t you just hate to read Paul?  I mean, don’t get me wrong, I love the theology of Paul, but it requires so much effort to bring out what he’s saying.  He writes in such long sentences, and every sentence is based on something from before, even sometimes from the front of the book.  It’s rough.  

     Now, today’s text is rough.  We get what we like out of it.  We get what we’re used to hearing.  Baptism… death… resurrection… dead to sin… go out and live for Jesus…  At least that’s how this often goes because we’re not really careful with Paul.  But is that what Paul is saying?  Let’s break it down…. old school.  Okay, well, let’s just look at what he’s saying.

     First, Paul is basing this whole reading off what came before, specifically that as we sin, and we will continue to sin all through our lives, God’s grace continues to cover us.  We can never out-sin God’s grace.  And that grace, in essence, is Jesus Himself.  We are saved by grace through faith, right?  But what is grace?  God’s favor?  God’s love?  Yes, all these things, but they are located in the person of Christ.  We are saved by Jesus through faith.

Sermon for the Funeral of +Donald Eugene Koski+, January 10, 2014

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

The text this morning is from the Gospel according to John, the fourteenth chapter:

“Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. And you know the way to where I am going.” Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me… Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else believe on account of the works themselves. “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father. Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it. 

Thus far the text.

Dear Tim, Jim, Dan, Kris, Cathy, Betty, and my dear friends in Christ,

     There is little, of course, that can be said to ease the pain of the loss of Don from your lives.  And that is not because there is no hope, but that in these times of uncertainty, the pain we feel often overtakes that which we know to be true.  We feel loss rather than joy, heartbreak instead of confidence, and perhaps even fear instead of surety.

     But, as I’ve been told time and time again, that is not what Don felt in these last days.  And I’m not talking about the last days of his life, but rather these last days of this sinful and sin-filled world, the days that will come to an end when our Lord Jesus Christ returns from heaven to make all things new in him, including Don, and including all of us who are in Christ.

Bible Study: Romans 6:1-11, January 7, 2015

A Bible Study taught by Pastor Lewis Polzin on Romans 6:1-11 at Trinity Lutheran Church in Bemidji, MN, on January 7, 2015. This Bible Study will help to lay a foundation for the sermon that is preached the following Sunday.

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

Bible Study: Job 13:17-28, January 4, 2015

A Bible Study taught by Pastor Lewis Polzin on January 4, 2015 at Trinity Lutheran Church in Bemidji, MN, on Job 13:17-28.

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

A Pastoral Approach: Sermon: Luke 2:40-52, January 4, 2015

A sermon preached by Pastor Lewis Polzin on January 4, 2015 at Trinity Lutheran Church in Bemidji, MN, on Luke 2:40-52. The text of this sermon may be found by clicking this link here. The sermon recording may also be accessed by clicking the title of this blog post and playing it in your browser.

Sermon: Luke 2:40-52, January 4, 2015

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

The text this morning is from the Gospel according to Luke, the 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’ve just spent the last week with four children, ages 6 months to 4 years old.  It’s amazing to me how busy these kids can be, even at 6 months.  I guess we’ll find out ourselves in a bit.  But what was really amazing to me is how much these kids had changed since we last saw them in July and how much they can learn in, seemingly, a moment.

     That’s because their brains are growing at incredible rates.  Neurons, which are like super-highways of your brain, are forming at this age like frost on grass.  They form so quickly, really, during this period, that there’s nothing like it the rest of your life.  Learning as a child is so important, because there, everything is big.  

     My four niblings, that’s the word for the plural of nieces and nephews, my four niblings are growing and changing right before my eyes.  And soon, my son will do the same.  And it is incredible.  And that must have been what Mary felt, looking at her son, Jesus.