SERMONS

LCMS Lectionary Summary B
 
Sunday – Divine Services:  10: 15AM
Holy Communion Each Sunday
 
Lent Theme:  The Hand Of The LORD ..
 
 
 
 
The Third Sunday in Lent
23 March 2025
 

Ezekiel 33:7–20

1 Corinthians 10:1–13

Luke 13:1–9

Jesus Calls You to Repentance

 

“Unless you repent, you will all likewise perish” (Luke 13:3, 5). By this warning, the Lord would turn us away from wickedness and bring us to life in Himself. For He is patient with us, that we would not be cut down in our sin but live and bear fruit in Him. As He lives, the Lord has “no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live” (Ezek. 33:11). So the Scriptures have been “written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come” (1 Cor. 10:11), that we should not desire evil but trust in Christ. He alone is faithful, the Rock who feeds us with His “spiritual food” and pours out His “spiritual drink” (1 Cor. 10:3–4).

 
 
 
Lent Midweek 2
19 March 2025
 

“AS WE GATHER”

In repentance we are compelled to take sin seriously. All people have inherited sin; it is the cause of our fallen condition. Human nature was created perfect, sinless, and at one with our Creator. “I’m only human” does not explain or excuse sin. When we seek where this deadly infection originated, we are directed by God’s Word to the reality of the fallen angel Satan and his minions. Satan is real. Temptation is real. Demonic activity is rampant and powerful. True repentance and faith require us first to admit that we are powerless on our own to defeat the devil. His grasp is too much for us. Faith then looks to our Lord, who took sin and Satan seriously for us. By the bloody battle He waged on the cross, He has defeated the old evil foe for us. With His victory at hand, given to us by the hand of His ministers in Holy Baptism, Holy Absolution, and Holy Communion, our hands are empowered now to wield the instrument of prayer. In that victory, we have the sure deliverance and salvation of the Crucified One, now risen and ascended and ruling for us from the right hand of the Father.
 
 
 
 
 

SECOND SUNDAY IN LENT

(16 March 2026)

 

Jeremiah 26:8–15

Philippians 3:17–4:1

Luke 13:31–35

 

Jesus Rescues Us from Death and Brings Us into Heaven

 

The prophet Jeremiah faithfully preached “all that the Lord had commanded him to speak to all the people” (Jer. 26:8). He called the people to repentance, lest the Lord’s judgment come upon them. The violence that Jeremiah suffered for this preaching foreshadowed the cross and Passion of Christ Jesus, who suffered the judgment of God for the redemption of all people. For Jesus “comes in the name of the Lord” (Luke 13:35) in order to lay down His life for the sins of the world. Earthly Jerusalem was blind to His gracious visitation, and it put Him to death like the prophets before Him. Yet, His sacrifice upon the cross became the cornerstone of the new Jerusalem, His Church. He visits us today in mercy with His preaching of forgiveness, to gather us to Himself within that holy city, “as a hen gathers her brood under her wings” (Luke 13:34), for “our citizenship is in heaven” (Phil. 3:20).

 

 

Sermon:
 

Lent Midweek 1 Divine Service
12 March 2025 at 3:30PM

Old Testament: Job 9: 1-12
Epistle: Ephesians 2: 1 – 10
Gospel: Matthew 14: 22 – 33

PREPARATION
“AS WE GATHER”


The God who is Creator of all came to save us from sin and death in the incarnate Son of Mary, Jesus, the Christ, the Son of the living God. He is God. He first revealed Himself to Moses with the holy name “I AM,” saying, “Say this to the people of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you’” (Exodus 3:14). When Jesus came to His disciples walking on the crashing waves of the sea of Galilee, He said, “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid” (Matthew 14:27). “It is I” is the same term for the divine name, “I AM.” As He reached out His hand and grabbed the fearful, doubting, sinking Simon Peter, so does His compassionate hand save you in times of despair and helplessness. His greatest deliverance was when He allowed His hands to be nailed to a cross for your sins. As we are helpless like drowning Peter, our repentant prayer this day is in the words of the hymn, “Nothing in my hand I bring; simply to Thy cross I cling” (LSB 761:3).

 
Sermon:

 

 

 
 
 
FIRST SUNDAY IN LENT
(9 March 2025)

Deuteronomy 26:1–11
Romans 10:8b–13
Luke 4:1–13

Jesus Christ Is Our Champion Against the Devil

Jesus Christ, our champion against the devil, endures and overcomes “every temptation” (Luke 4:13) on our behalf. He worships the Lord, His God, and serves Him only by trusting the Word of His Father: “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased” (Luke 3:22). Jesus’ victory is now ours through His gracious Word, which is not far away but near us — in our mouth and in our heart, in the proclamation of repentance and faith. For “with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved” (Rom. 10:10). Our confession of Christ
includes the prayer of faith, which is not disappointed, “for ‘everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved’” (Rom. 10:13). The Lord is not oblivious to “our affliction, our toil, and our oppression” (Deut. 26:7), but has mercy upon us. He has brought us out of bondage through the “signs and wonders” of Holy Baptism, “with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm” (Deut. 26:8), and now He leads us by His Spirit even in the wilderness.
 
Sermon: