RoboPreacher

to seal their wills in Jesus trust A sermon that time Jesus invalidated his own sermon ( parable ): This might be the turning point in the whole Gospel. With this incident, the cross doesn’t just become inevitable; the resurrection does, too. Here, Christ turns everything , in the immortal words of Diana Ross, upside down , inside out , and round and ‘round . Yes, I know it looks like just another miracle, but with this miracle, Christ outdoes himself ! Literally ! And I don’t mean figuratively , either! I literally mean literally ! With this miracle, Christ literally outdoes HIMSELF! Let me tell you what I mean: But to do that, we have to go back a few weeks. And then, after that, we have to go back to last week. Are you willing to go there with me? Good! Ok. Remember a few weeks ago when Jesus told that parable about the sower and the different types of soil? There was the hard roadside soil, the shallow soil, the weed- infested soil, and then the good soil. And remember,

forever cursed to live unrelaxed A sermon on Jesus and the rich man who was poor in life : Here’s a guy who has it all . And he really has it all, too. He’s devout . Plus , he’s well -off, to boot.   And yet ! And yet , for all that, this fellow doesn’t feel like he’s got it all. Quite the contrary , he lives with—No, that’s not quite right. He’s not " living with .” No , he’s dying of—he’s dying of a constant, nagging sense that it’s all about to slip through his fingers. Instead of assurance , he feels anxiety . His life of means is not one of satisfaction. Rather , it’s a desperate one with a gnawing sense of having had , and forever lost , something of infinite value. Have you ever felt that way? I bet you have . I bet you have because, and here’s the bad news: I bet you have because that’s how it works! This rich man, as exceptional as he is, is not the exception in this regard. No , he’s the rule . Not the ruler, the rule . Sure, you and I may not tend to think o

nothing left to impart a baptism sermon on  what happens to demons in baptism : L, T, and V— and , by extension, Mom and Dad—and so also , all the rest of us, too, your sisters and brothers in Christ — we have all just witnessed a miracle ! And you , V, T, and L, you are the direct beneficiaries of this incredible work of the Lord ! BUT I know . It doesn’t LOOK like anything incredible has happened. Does it? Thus begins your formal theological training. You don’t have to go to seminary to become a theologian . As Luther said, life will make a theologian out of you. And, T, L, and V, your training begins now with the plain observation that God’s works aren’t often all that clear .   Martin Luther called this the deus absconditus . The hidden God. The God who absconds Thyself. And for Luther, this was a central tenant of theology AND life .   Luther, you understand, couldn’t bring himself to accept the easy answers. And this drove him deep into Scripture. And there, he found a