Preachrblog

Matthew 2:13-18 Holy Innocents December 28, 2008 “The Blood of Many – the Blood of One” I hope you all had a merry Christmas filled with family gatherings, good food, peace and joy, and also meaningful time to ponder the mysteries of God's love in Jesus Christ, the true reason for the season. Today's sermon, as well as hymns and prayers, are based on the Gospel reading for the day, from Matthew 2. For at least 1500 years the church has observed this strange day in our calendar, commemorating the slaughter of the “Holy Innocents”. And with all of the “good vibrations” of the Christmas holiday, all the syrupy-sweet warm fuzzies our culture builds into the holiday, and especially here in the church where we celebrate our Savior's birth and focus on its actual meaning.... Still, it's kind of shocking, three days after Christmas, to be faced with such a gruesome story. We know the background – the wise men from the East came looking for the one born to be king of the Jews. B...

http://www.concordiatheology.org/ has some videos posted.... I can't link to them directly. But the second one (August 2008) is interesting. The panel includes Dr. Raabe, Dr. Hermann (a classmate of mine) and Dr. Diekelman (1st VP of synod). Dale Meyer, seminary president, moderates. This roundtable discussion is on the restructuring proposal. I made some notes as I watched/listened. Diekelman talks about how as a church body we are in decline, cites the numbers. Says the question the president asked is, "are we best structured to accomplish our mission?" Meyer asks, "so are there any hard proposals yet?" Diekelman admits they are not final but this is a work in progress. Raabe wonders if the word "synod" is helpful or not, with its many meanings. Hermann, too, seems to emphasize that theology should inform our discussions of structure. Diekelman: we're not changing the constitution or foundations (doctrine, etc), but how do we govern? Hermann obs...

Luke 2:1-20 Christmas Eve December 24, 2008 “The Usual and the Unusual Christmas” A decree went out from Caeser. It was a real time in history. Quirinius was governor of Syria. Nazareth. Galilee. Bethlehem. Real places. Real people facing real problems – travel, taxes, a difficult pregnancy, finding a place to stay. Joseph dutifully obeyed the authorities. He did what Caesar said. He had no choice. But because he was a righteous man he had given Mary the benefit of the doubt when he had the choice. He would have divorced her quietly. But a higher authority prevailed, and once again, Joseph obeyed. He did his part. Mary was betrothed and with child. Not quite married, but more than just engaged – still it wasn't normal for her to be great with child and going on a journey. But she too was an obedient to her authorities and to her Lord. She did what she what was expected of her. What a strange mix of the usual and the unusual this Christmas story is. Everyday people ...

Luke 1:26-38 Advent 4 December 21, 2008 “Mary's Impossible Faith” We've had a very busy Advent season. We've heard from John the Baptist. We've remembered the Shepherds and Angels. We've covered all the usual prophecies and themes, we're almost ready for Christmas. But there's another Advent personality we haven't yet considered – Mary. Our lectionary puts her before us today. We read our Gospel text from Luke 1, an event called the “Annunciation”, in which the angel Gabriel tells Mary she will bear the Christ-child. Let's consider today the words of the angel, the reaction of Mary, and what it all means for Advent, Christmas, and faith. We'll see Mary's faith, and in it, we will see our faith – faith in Mary's Savior and ours – Jesus Christ. We'll see how in Jesus, God accomplishes the impossible, and gives us every reason to respond like Mary, “Let it be to me as you have said”. No we don't venerate the Virgin Mary like our Roma...

So our City Council in Racine just approved a LGBT Community Center. You can read the story at the local paper's website here: http://www.journaltimes.com/articles/2008/12/17/local_news/doc49488be844b85734395983.txt Rather than comment and get lost in the string of sniping back and forth that follows the article, I'll share some thoughts here - I'm glad there was no taxpayer money used to fund this. I think there is an important difference between allowing something and, through use of state or local public funds, actually promoting it. This is what true tolerance is about - allowing something you disagree with. Still, if I were a local Councilman, I would have voted against it. If you truly believe that an activity is immoral, then wouldn't you oppose it? For instance, if someone wanted to open a community center that helped people learn how to - oh - cheat on their wives. I would oppose that. I'm sure there are "haters" on both sides of this issue...

John 1:6-8,19-28 Advent 3 December 14, 2008 “Pointing to Christ” We all know it's not polite to point at people. Pointing means you're talking about them, and usually not to say something nice. So momma always said, “don't point”. But every Advent, we have a visit from John the Baptist, whose primary role was as a pointer. He pointed, of course, to Jesus. He talked about, preached about, and prepared the way for Jesus. Even his baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins found its fullness in Jesus Christ. Now John was a popular guy. The gospels tell us “all of Judea” went down to be baptized by him, and while that's certainly a figure of speech, some estimate as many as 250,000 responded to John's preaching. The Jewish leaders were threatened enough to send delegations to John, “who is this guy?” And Jesus himself heaped praise on John. “Among those born of women none is greater than John” You'd think it would all go to John's head. But he was a humbl...

2 Peter 3:8-14 Advent 2 December 7, 2008 “Patience” There are lots of ways to sin, and many forms sin can take. In this season of preparation for Christmas, perhaps some of those sins take a more prominent place. At this very busy time of year, we can easily become distracted, caught up in all there is to do. Perhaps we grow jaded over time, despondent, and even depressed. Some are just downright crabby. The “Bah Hum” bug bites more than a few of us. What is meant to be a season of joy and peace and hope and love can be, for many, a time of stress and sorrow and conflict and consternation. Some can't wait for Christmas to come, and some can't wait for it to be over. Which brings us to another common species of holiday sin – impatience. How often anticipation goes sour, and our looking forward expectantly becomes looking forward cynically, perhaps too eagerly, as in, “let's get this over with already”. Come to think of it, it's not just at Christmas that we are s...

Dear Blog Readers, I received the following letter from our South Wisconsin District's delegate to the recent convocation on synodical restructuring. Having heard Rev. Torkelson address this issue in person, and also having grave reservations about the proposals myself, I submit this letter for the benefit of our district and others. Thanks for your thoughts, Rev. Torkelson! -Rev. Tom Chryst ___ Dear Brothers in the South Wisconsin District, As many of you know, a proposal to restructure the LC-MS is rapidly approaching.  As the clergy delegate from the South Wisconsin District to the so-called “theological conference” in August, I became convinced, for a number of reasons, that the proposals being set forth for Synodical restructuring were not in the best interest of the Synod’s pastors and congregations. Among these reasons, I include the following: 1.The theological and Gospel foundations of our current structure were completely ignored in the Conference itself. 2.The proposal...

I found some fun cards over at The Wondermark Goodsery

Check out the spiffy Virtual Advent Wreath in my sidebar, curteousy of the Curt Jester .

Mark 11:1-10 Advent 1 November 30, 2008 “Christ is Coming” A new church year has begun. The wreath of four colored candles is out, the paraments are blue, and we're singing, “O, Come, O, Come, Emmanuel”. We're starting those midweek services, and pretty soon it will be Christmas – but first – Advent. Let's not pass over this time of preparation, in which we focus our attention on the coming king. Christmas is coming. The manger, the angels, the shepherds are coming. The little town of Bethlehem is coming. “O Come, All Ye Faithful” is coming. In the secular celebrations, Santa Claus is coming to town, but here in the church we know that Jesus is coming. The king is coming. That's the theme of this season of advent – the word “advent” itself, means, “coming”. With all that in mind, it makes sense, doesn't it, that our Gospel reading today takes us to Palm Sunday. For Jesus went many places, and he came many places, but one of the most memorable was when he came to Jer...