Posted by: St. Mark Lutheran Church | February 6, 2012

Sermon on Mark 1:29-39

Life’s tough…and then Jesus died.

  • Order of Service:  Word and Sacrament, CW p26
  • Lessons:  Job 7:1-7, 1 Corinthians 9:16-23, Mark 1:29-39
  • Hymns: 353, 371:1-4, 93, 363

In the name of Jesus Christ, the Word made flesh.

After capping off a Sabbath’s day teaching by casting out a demon, Jesus heads over to Peter’s house for the Sabbath supper.  The end of a long day.  Now some rest.

But just the beginning.  When they arrive at Peter’s house – Jesus, Peter, Andrew, James, and John – they discover Peter’s mother bedridden with fever.  This puts Jesus back on the clock.  They talk to Him about her, asking Him to help.  “What can you do for her, Lord?”  Well, we know what Jesus can do.  He took her by the hand.  He treated that fever like the demon He cast out, rebuking it.  And she was well again.  So well, in fact, that she ran right into the kitchen and began preparing the evening meal.  Now, finally, some rest.

Except, the Sabbath’s finally over, which means people can walk somewhere other than to the synagogue.  And they walk to Peter’s house.  The whole town.  That could mean hundreds of people.  Peter’s front porch becomes an emergency room.  Litters, stretchers, and crutches battle for space.  The demon possessed howl.  The sick moan.  The crippled groan.  Some vomit.  Some cough.  Some gasp.  Some bleed.  Some cry.  Peter peeks out the peephole.  For a moment, perhaps, he considers pretending they’re not there.  But he can’t.  Jesus washes off His hands and gets back to work.  Mark says He healed many.  Luke says He laid hands on each one.  Marvelous, considering that the almighty God could have stepped outside the door, spoken one word – “Healed!” – and then gone back in for dessert.

But instead He knelt by the paralytic’s stretcher and made his legs work again.  He touched the blind man’s eyes and restored sight.  He cast out demon after demon and shut them up just as He’d done earlier so that they couldn’t poison the well with their testimony about Him.  He rebuked each fever.  He made well every deaf ear.  For the whole city.  No doubt each miracle took a couple of minutes.  Time to talk to the person or group before the healing.  Time for the healing.  Some post-healing thanks and praise.

All who came left well.  Now, finally some rest: Read More…

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Posted by: St. Mark Lutheran Church | January 30, 2012

New Bible study going online to download

The new Sunday morning Bible class — “What Luther says about…” — has something Bible studies at St. Mark haven’t for the past couple of months:  worksheets that are downloadable.

Go to the Bible Studies page and scroll all the way down and you’ll be able to access the lessons from this series.

Our first week’s study looks at what Luther said about Justification.  In future weeks we’ll look at a handful of other topics, including marriage and Baptism.

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Posted by: St. Mark Lutheran Church | January 29, 2012

Sermon on Mark 1:21-28

Him you shall hear

  • Order of Service: Morning Praise (CW, p45)
  • Lessons: Deuteronomy 18:15-20, 1 Corinthians 8:1-13, Mark 1:21-28
  • Hymns: 82, 395

In the name of Jesus Christ, the Word made flesh.

The people of Capernaum were of two minds about Jesus.  On the one hand, what He said struck them.  Mark says they were astonished at His teaching (Mark 1:22, NKJV).  Jesus knocked these people for a loop because it was so different from the sermons they usually heard.  When their rabbis taught, they cited Rabbi So-and-So and precedent such-and-such.  They piled commandment after commandment upon them as they built fences ever further away from God’s Word so that people wouldn’t accidently misstep.

When the Rabbis taught, Jesus said, They bind heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on men’s shoulders…, and in so doing make him twice as much a son of hell (Matthew 23:4, 15, NKJV).  People could not love God’s Word from rabbi’s lips, because all they heard was, “You must do this and you must do that to please a holy God.  And if you do this, and if you do that, you will dwell in heaven forever.”

But when Jesus spoke, He amazed the crowds.  When He spoke, the words of the Psalmist came true, How sweet are Your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth (Psalm 119:103, NKJV).  For the people were crying out, When will you comfort me?…  I am yours, save me (Psalm 119:82, 94, NKJV).  And now they hear one saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand.  Repent, and believe in the gospel (Mark 1:15, NKJV).  When Jesus preaches, everything tastes differently, because He points the people not to themselves and their own works, but to Himself and His work.  And so they are amazed, astonished, and in their amazement rejoice.

But then He muzzles the demon and casts it out.  And again, Mark says, [T]hey were all amazed (Mark 1:27, NKJV).  But he didn’t use the same word as before.  This word describes an astonishment and amazement tinged not only with joy, but maybe with some fear and terror.  We’ll run into that throughout the Gospels.  Sometimes when Jesus heals and casts out demons the people rejoice and say, “He does everything well.”  But sometimes they ask Him to get out of town as quickly as He can.

At first this startles us.  How can you fear Jesus? Read More…

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Posted by: St. Mark Lutheran Church | January 28, 2012

New hymn added: “My soul boasts in the Lord alone”

A new hymn has been added to the hymnody page.  You can read it below.  At the “Hymnody” page you can download a Word file of the hymn.

My soul boasts in the Lord alone

Psalm 34

  1. My soul boasts in the Lord alone, at all times, even when I groan. I glorify the Lord’s great name, Whose Son in this meal me does claim.
  1. He saves me from my darkest fears, in days past and in future years. I called Him in my deep distress. “Absolved!” He said when I confessed.
  1. Today we taste and find Him good, we eat and drink Him as we should. Though others hunger and they thirst, feasting on Him no longer cursed.
  1. Come and I’ll teach you of the Lord, our Savior and our great Reward. Turn from your ways and seek His face, Seek Him who pours upon you grace.
  1. Our Father’s eyes see us His sons, He turns His face to His dear ones. But towards the wicked only hate, “Turn now, repent, it’s not too late.”
  1. In our great fears our soul cries out, to God the Lord our great redoubt. He comes so close in His dear Son, Who on the cross forgiveness won.
  1. Yes, true, our troubles seem so great, sorrow and trials seem our fate. Yet, Christ our Savior sees this too, our bones He heals and foes He slews.
  1. Foes of our God condemned all stand; redeemed, a righteous holy band, stands now this Church fed on our Lord, in heaven is our treasure stored.

Text: Benjamin Tomczak, b. 1980 (October 2011)

Tune: Christum Wir Sollen Loben Schon (Ein Enchiridion oder Handbuchlein, Erfurt, 1524, alt.)

(If you’re having trouble figuring out the tune, it’s “Now Praise We Christ the Holy One,” [Christian Worship, 39])

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Posted by: St. Mark Lutheran Church | January 28, 2012

New Bible class offerings

We’ll be starting some new Bible class topics soon, which means it’s a great time to jump into Bible class (or jump back in if you’ve been gone for a little bit).

On Sundays (9:15am), we’ll take a break from our study and comparison of Bible translations to see some various Biblical and doctrinal topics through the pen of Martin Luther, “What Luther says about…”

Some topics we may look at include (depending on time and class preference) what Luther says about…

  • Affliction
  • Baptism
  • the Ministry
  • Marraige
  • the Government
  • Law and Gospel
  • the Lord’s Supper
  • the Pope
  • Worship
  • Prayer
  • God
  • Free Will
  • the freedom of the Christian
  • translating
  • faith and good works

On Wednesdays (9:30am), starting February 1, we’ll begin a study of the book of Proverbs.

Join us!

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Posted by: St. Mark Lutheran Church | January 23, 2012

Sermon on Mark 1:14-20

Jesus Comes and Calls You

  • Order of Service: Common Service, CW p15
  • Lessons: Jonah 3:1-5, 10, 1 Corinthians 7:29-31, Mark 1:14-20
  • Hymns: 85, 770, 452, 542

Pr. Andrew Naumann, recruitment director at Michigan Lutheran Seminary (Saginaw, MI), preached this sermon for St. Mark’s Ministerial Education Sunday.

Downloadable Version

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Posted by: St. Mark Lutheran Church | January 15, 2012

Sermon on John 1:43-51

Jesus finds what He needs

  • Order of Service: Common Service, CW p15
  • Lessons: 1 Samuel 3:1-10, 1 Corinthians 6:12-20, John 1:43-51
  • Hymns: 283, 403, 86, 47:1, 4-5

In the name of Jesus Christ, the Word made flesh.

Sometimes the temptation overwhelms you to cry out, “God, you just don’t know anything!”  Intellectually, of course, the Christian understands the all-knowing and all-wise nature of God.  But viscerally, emotionally, in the moment, events convince us that God just doesn’t know us, He doesn’t know our situation, He doesn’t know what we need, when we need it.

Or, coming at it from another angle.  Maybe we wonder about God’s decision making sometimes.  We see people holding various offices and just sort of wonder:  “Really, God wants him doing that?”  Maybe not every pastor has seemed fit for office, or that particular call, or that time in that call.  We question God’s decision making.  We wonder if God’s just throwing darts at a dart board.

Nathanael wondered about that today when he scoffed at Philip’s words.  Can anything good come out of Nazareth (John 1:46, NKJV)?  Life in a sinful world warrants wariness and cynicism, to a point.  Think of Paul telling the Thessalonians to Test all things (1 Thess. 5:21, NKJV) or even Jesus saying, Beware of false prophets (Matthew 7:15, NKJV).

But such wariness and cynicism quickly morphs into doubt, a doubt that becomes doubt of God and His Word.  We doubt the truthfulness of words like, The authorities that exist are appointed by God (Romans 13:1b, NKJV), or He Himself gave some to apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers (Ephesians 4:11, NKJV), or Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right (Ephesians 6:1, NKJV).  And that doubt leads us to forget Who institutes governments, Who calls pastors, Who assigns parents.  We start to think in terms of randomness, of darts thrown at a board, of a world like that envisioned by the Deists – formed by God, and now left alone by God.  Or worse, we pull God down off His throne and make Him merely semi-divine, like the gods of Greek or Hindu mythology.  We make God something like us.  He means well, but doesn’t always get it right.  He’s tainted by the same things that taint us.  Pride fills Him.  Lust motivates Him.  Childish anger determines decisions.  He’s a crony capitalist at heart, practicing nepotism, showing favoritism, and not really understanding reality.

And when we’ve opened that door, we’ve thrown God and His Word out to the curb.  God and His Word no longer rules and norms our lives, because we’ve made God in our own image, in our own likeness.  In reality, we’ve unmade God, cast Him down off His thrown and torn down the gates of heaven.  Which, by the by, leaves only the gates of hell for us to pass through.

So we have to remove those thoughts and feelings from the equation.  We have to submit our own inclinations to the test and find them wanting in the light of God’s revelation. Read More…

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Posted by: St. Mark Lutheran Church | January 7, 2012

50,000 and counting!

Not too long ago St. Mark’s little website/blog reached a mini-milestone — our 50,000th visit!  It’s hard to believe it has been almost three years since we established this site.

We pray that the content of this site — the posts, the sermons, the pages, the links, the Twitter feed, etc. — has been of benefit to you and your faith.  We will continue to make it a goal to provide faithful, Scriptural, confessional Lutheran materials, resources, pages, and posts.

Thank you for visiting!  Thank you for reading!  Please continue to share this site with others who you know who need/want to read and hear about Jesus and His Word!

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Posted by: St. Mark Lutheran Church | January 2, 2012

Sermon on Luke 2:21

We need this…

  • Order of Service: Word and Sacrament, CW p26
  • Lessons: Numbers 6:22-27, Philippians 2:9-13, Luke 2:21
  • Hymns: 70, 708, 76, 584

In the name of Jesus Christ, the Word made flesh.

I’m going to say something radical, “We need Jesus.”  There, aren’t you glad you’ve sent in your mission dollars for the last fifty years to support twelve years of ministerial education school training to prepare pastors until they get to this very moment in this very pulpit and say something so breathtakingly simple?  It’s times like this, I’m sure, that you wish you could have a pastor like Luther rather than being stuck with me.  But stuck with me you are, and I’ll say it again, “We need Jesus.”  Because we won’t get through 2012 without Him.

And it’s not because the Mayan calendar is right and turning the page of your calendar to 2012 ushers in the apocalypse.  Though, Jesus could certainly return sometime this year.  No, you won’t get through 2012 without Jesus because you’re you.  That’s right, I said it.  You’re you and that’s the problem.  And I’m me, and that’s also the problem.

Last week we talked about the Word becoming flesh and paused to consider just what that meant.  It meant that the Almighty God assumed flesh like mine.  This flesh.  Right here.  This putrid, stinking, corrupted flesh that’s only slouching closer and closer to returning to the dust from which it was made.  Jesus took on the flesh that sin stings.  He took on the flesh that death remained undefeated against.

Because of our problems.  For example: Read More…

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Posted by: St. Mark Lutheran Church | December 25, 2011

Sermon on John 1:14 (Christmas Day)

The Word became flesh

  • Order of Service: Divine Service II (CW: Supplement)
  • Lessons: Isaiah 52:7-10, Hebrews 1:1-9, John 1:1-14
  • Hymns: 55, 62, 750 (1, 5-6), 35, 61

In the name of Jesus Christ, the Word made flesh.

After church, on your way out, we’ll shake hands, or, as some say, we’ll press the flesh.

Then some of you will go somewhere for lunch, a nap, some football or basketball, and maybe seeing some extended family, your flesh and blood.

I’ll be getting on a plane later this afternoon and flying up to Minnesota, so that I can be with my family face to face, in person, you know, in the flesh.

Here we’ve found another of those words that has many possible meanings depending on usage and context:  flesh.  The Bible uses that word – sarx in the Greek – in a variety of ways as well.  Paul uses it a couple of times in Romans to refer to his fellow Jews, those of his own flesh.  Once Jude uses it to describe the sin of Sodom, they went after strange flesh (Jude 7, KJV).  Just a verse earlier in John 1, John uses it to talk about the sexual desires that lead to conception.  Often it refers to our sinful nature, as in Galatians 5, Now the works of the flesh are manifest… (Galatians 5:19, KJV).  But it also often refers to what we most commonly think of when we hear the word flesh:  bodies, skin, living creatures, humans, people.

And so, The Word became flesh.  Which of those meanings did John mean? Read More…

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