Concordia Sermons

Sometimes, we get so caught up worrying about what we have stored up, we forget that, no matter how much or how little we may have on this earth, God has something fantastic in store for us – nothing less than a crown of righteousness. In a world that test and try our faith, we can be confident that our faith will be vindicated when Christ returns.

If we are going to store up things, what things should we be storing? Jesus invites us to store up things that are imperishable – things that last into eternity. Thus, in this life, we ought to store up God’s Word in our hearts and we ought to store up people in our lives, for these treasures last.

The first principle of stewardship is this: no matter what we may store, it ultimately belongs to God. Any store house is finally God’s house. To help us understand this, God has given us a tithe. In the tithe, we not only give to God, we give back to God, since everything we have comes from Him in the first place. When we give back to God, we learn that God continues to give us what we need and even beyond what we need.m

Today, we celebrate a moment in time when a man with a message changed the world. In 1517, Martin Luther gave voice to concerns by posting his 95 Theses (against indulgences) on the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg on October 31. His intention was to bring to light the fact that the people were being led into false belief in a practice called indulgences. What happened changed the world in profound ways.

When it comes to understanding God, it can be all too tempting to trust ourselves rather than God’s Word. We try to trust our consciences, our culture, or our comprehension. But going beyond God’s Word either allows us to create a God in our own image (Mark 7:1-13) or saddles us with burdens we cannot bear (Matthew 23:4).

They way in which we receive God’s grace is through faith. We trust that God wants to forgive and save us. If we seek to work for what God has given, we are saying that God’s work is not enough. Do we trust God’s work so completely that we do not try to add to it or augment it?

Grace is when God gives us what we do not deserve. In a culture that works on merit, that can be difficult for us to accept! Yet, even if grace goes against our cultural senses, it is a deep spiritual need – for each and every one of us.

It is tempting to exalt ourselves over Christ. John the Baptist, however, knew that things work the way they should only when we decrease and Christ increases. In what ways are you trying to add your boasting to Christ’s work? How does that lessen your hope?

As recovery efforts from Hurricane Harvey get underway, insurance companies will be working overtime. One insurance company boasts, “Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there!” We don’t need to work for an insurance company, however, to be a good neighbor. Jesus explains that being a good neighbor can be as simple as seeing a need and taking the time to offer your help. Everyone can be a good neighbor. Everyone can serve.

When the disciples are caught in a furious squall on the Sea of Galilee, they offer up a simple, ineloquent prayer: “Lord, save us! We’re going to drown!” No matter how simple the prayer, Jesus hears and helps because Jesus has been there the whole time. As we process what has happened with Hurricane Harvey, we must remember that Jesus hears and helps us when we pray because He is not only the calmer of storms, He is with us through every storm.

After all that Joseph’s brothers have done to him, when Joseph becomes second in command in Egypt, he could use his power to exact vengeance from his brothers. But instead, he eventually reconciles with his brothers. In Genesis 43, when the brothers are getting ready to go see their brother Joseph a second time, Judah offers to bear the blame if something happens to his younger brother Benjamin. How far are we willing to go to love our families?

After being thrown into a cistern, Joseph eventually winds up in prison in Egypt. But even in prison, Joseph seeks to serve God by helping others. During our worst times, do we seek to help others, or are we only focused on ourselves?

Every family is broken. Just ask Joseph. His brothers hate him so much that they throw him into a cistern and almost leave him for dead. When our families are filled with brokenness and acrimony, we must seek reconciliation and forgiveness.

As Jacob is running from his brother, he wrestles with God in the middle of the night. Have you ever felt like you were wrestling with God? Counterintuitively, our greatest struggles with God can lead to great growth in our strength and in our faith.

When Jacob falls in love with his uncle’s daughter, Rachel, he is willing to do anything to get her. Love drives us to do many things. This is why we can be thankful that God’s love for us drove Him to do the ultimate thing – to sacrifice His Son for our salvation.

From the womb, two brothers, Jacob and Esau, feud with each other. When we feud with others, how are we to handle these feuds? Our desire to love others must always be stronger than our desire to triumph over others.

God makes an unthinkable request of Abraham – to sacrifice his only son, Isaac. But a human sacrifice can never atone for human sins. God Himself must provide the perfect sacrifice for the sins of the world.

Sodom and Gomorrah were the epitome of wickedness in the ancient world. Yet, in spite of their wickedness, Abraham argues for God’s grace. When we see wickedness, how do we argue? Do you we argue for judgment or grace?

God continues to seek new beginnings in a world filled with old sin. He makes a promise to Abraham to, from him, bring forth a new nation that will be a beacon of righteousness in a world darkened by sin. He also shows us how righteousness ultimately comes about – by faith.

Noah brings a new beginning, but humanity quickly falls back into its old ways as it seeks to usurp God’s position by building a tall tower. This tower demonstrates both the folly and the danger of human ambition. Human ambition is filled with folly because, of course, no one can build a tower to the heavens. But human ambition is also filled with danger because it cannot compete with God’s perfect commands.