I've had an Epiphany!

Mark 13:32-37 32 “No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. 33 Watch! Be alert and pray, because you do not know when the time will come. 34 It is like a man going away on a journey. When he left his home, he put his servants in charge and assigned what each one was to do. He also commanded the doorkeeper to keep watch. 35 Therefore keep watch, because you do not know when the owner of the house is coming: whether in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or early in the morning. 36 If he comes suddenly, do not let him find you sleeping. 37 What I say to you, I say to everyone: Keep watch!” I bike a lot to church, to WLS, to Shoreland, and other places. In that biking, I’m on major roads. I want others to be watching out for me. So when the weather is nice, I wear a bright yellow shirt. Because I take my computer almost everywhere with me, I have a reflective vest from Waste Management permanently pinned...

Art: Baptism of Christ Artist: Pietro Perugino Worship Theme: Since his coming is sure and so important, he sends out forerunners in the footsteps of St. John the Baptist who help us to make proper preparation for his coming. They do that with a message not their own. They do it with the message that he himself has given. Pay close attention to those heralds of the coming Lord, the prophets and apostles, and to the pastors and teachers in our midst who have succeeded them to get us ready for his coming. Prayer of the Day: Stir up our hearts, O Lord, to prepare the way for your only Son.  By his coming give us strength in our conflicts and shed light on our path through the darkness of this world; through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Old Testament: Isaiah 40:1-11 Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. 2 Speak to the heart of Jerusalem and call out to her. Her warfare really i...

Ephesians 2:8-9 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—   9  not by works, so that no one can boast. I begin almost every sermon the same way, with the prayer, “Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and through our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.” Grace and mercy. We often use those words interchangeably. It’s easy to think they are the same. They are not. There is a subtle, but very real, difference between the words “mercy” and “grace.” Imagine for a moment that you’ve fallen behind in your car payments, in your house payments, and in your credit card bills. The businesses to whom you owe money expect to be paid. That’s understandable. At first, they ask nicely for their money. Then, they get more aggressive. They send you bills in the mail. They call you incessantly. Eventually, they take you to court. There’s no question that you owe them. You have an unpai...

Matthew 27:27–31 27 Then the governor’s soldiers took Jesus into the Praetorium and gathered the whole cohort of soldiers around him. 28 They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him. 29 They twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head. They put a staff in his right hand, knelt in front of him, and mocked him by saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” 30 They spit on him, took the staff, and hit him repeatedly on his head. 31 After they had mocked him, they took off the robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him away to crucify him. 1) Jesus on cross picture. We are still in the five hundredth anniversary of the Lutheran Reformation. With the Reformation, the Lord of the Church allowed His truth to be retold through the writings of Martin Luther. But, God also used artists to visually portray this gospel to the minds of His people. If we wanted to “picture” the Reformation in our mind’s eye, there is no better “picture” than The Weimar Altarpiece . In thi...

Art: Noah's Building of the Ark Artist: Edward Hicks, 1846 Worship Theme: This Sunday we begin a new Church Year with the season of Advent. In Advent the Word of God bids us prepare for the coming of Christ. The readings for Advent have this urgency to them: Since he is surely coming again in judgment, we desperately need for him to come to us first in grace. For without that coming in grace we will perish at his coming in judgment. Prayer of the Day: Stir up your power, O Lord, and come.  Protect us by your strength and save us from the threatening dangers of our sins; for you live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Old Testament: Genesis 6:9-22; 7:11-23 9 This is the account about the development of Noah’s family. Noah was a righteous man, a man of integrity in that generation. Noah walked with God. 10 Noah became the father of three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth. 11 In the sight of God the earth was morally corrupt, ...