Revelation – St. Paul's Lutheran Church, Lockport IL

The Festival of the Reformation
“Fear God and Give Him Glory”
October 28, 2018

Grace, mercy and peace be unto you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.

Dearly Beloved of the Lord,

It is the vision of John… St. John… what he is given the great privilege of seeing as to what is, and what is to come… that which will take place and is taking place throughout these latter days in which we live… in this time between Christ’s ascension into heaven and His glorious return on the last day.

Let us then, under the gracious guidance of the Holy Spirit, consider for a few minutes what John sees and hears. And this in two simple passages which, interestingly enough, clearly present the two key messages that we find in all of Holy Scripture… namely, Law and Gospel.

We could not pick a better day to do this than on Reformation Day. For you see, the key blessing of the same… of what came out of the Reformation… was the bringing into full light once again the Gospel of Jesus Christ… that which sinful men, churchly men no less, hid from the people… from the masses for so many years.

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The Second Sunday after Pentecost (A)
“For the Healing of the Nations”
June 18, 2017

Sermon Text: Matthew 9:35-10:8, Revelation 22:1-7

Grace, mercy and peace be unto you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.

Dearly Beloved of the Lord,

In April of this year, seventy-two people including women and children where killed in a deadly chemical attack in Syria. Some four hundred others were seriously injured.

It was a terrible scene, a heart-breaking one, a very challenging one for medical personnel as they rushed to treat victims and were, some of them, injured as well by rubble that fell when the hospital was bombed shortly thereafter.

So many people needing help. So many people suffering. So many… in misery.

St. Matthew tells us that our beloved Savior, Christ Jesus, went throughout all the cities and villages, teaching… proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction. We are also told that “when he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.” (Matthew 9:35-36)

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