Read and listen to the most recent sermons http://www.nhlutheran.com We should see the destruction of Jerusalem for what it is—a warning to all who reject the things of God for the doctrines and teachings of this world. We are Christians. We are God’s chosen people and like the city of Jerusalem in our text, we are held to a different standard than those of this world. We are citizens of heaven and God demands that we act like it. http://www.nhlutheran.org/sermon_20100808_jesus_tells_of_the_destruction_of_jerusalem.htm Jesus spoke first the parable of the lost sheep, then the parable of the woman and the lost coin and finally, Jesus closed His discussion with the Pharisees with the parable of the prodigal son. Then Jesus changes His audience and speaks this parable of the unfaithful servant and He is speaking only to His disciples. What is Jesus trying to teach us? http://www.nhlutheran.org/sermon_20100801_a_study_of_faith_and_works.htm Today’s text has so many lessons for us to learn but we must limit ourselves to one aspect of the truth. Paul says we must live by the Spirit that is within us. Every Christian has the Holy Spirit dwelling within him and it is by listening to the Sprit within us that we should live our lives. http://www.nhlutheran.org/sermon_20100725_living_by_the_spirit.htm We must work to preserve the ability to read the words of God in their purity. Luther understood that and that is why the schools were so important to him and to the Church. If we are not reading the Bible in Hebrew we lose much of God’s message. let’s examine some examples. http://www.nhlutheran.org/sermon_20100718_preserving_the_truth_of_gods_word.htm This is the traditional text used by some church bodies to proclaim the doctrine of baptism by immersion, but we need to go beyond that. We can see a physical picture of a person being buried in the water and rising from baptism a new man in Christ, but is that Paul’s complete message?—NO! Paul is using the example of baptism to teach us about the Holy Spirit. http://www.nhlutheran.org/sermon_20100711_our_christian_life_on_earth.htm As we discussed many times in the past, when Christ ascended into heaven He left one Church in this world. He sent only one Holy Spirit to dwell among us and within us. Christ left one Church and we are to remain true to the Word of God until His return. God’s Word will maintain us in the truth until His return—one Church family—brothers and sisters in Christ. http://www.nhlutheran.org/sermon_20100704_unity_of_the_church.htm This is the first in a series of parables Jesus uses to teach the Pharisees and scribes the lesson of why He eats with sinners. First the Parable of the Lost Sheep. Next the Parable of the Woman who lost her coin, The Prodigal Son and ending with the Parable of the Unfaithful Steward. Today we focus on the Parable of the Lost Sheep. http://www.nhlutheran.org/sermon_20100620_the_parable_of_the_lost_sheep.htm Our Lord’s choice of the invitation to the supper is not by chance. Supper is the evening meal--the last nourishment before going to sleep—-the meal before the coming of darkness. In this case of the parable, the supper is the feeding of the Holy Gospel—-the last doctrine God gave us and the doctrine that will usher in the end of the world. The supper is free to those who are invited, but the man giving the supper paid a great price for it--the life of His Son. http://www.nhlutheran.org/sermon_20100613_the_great_supper.htm The story of Lazarus and the rich man gives us a view of heaven that we receive nowhere else in Scripture. The rich man is in hell and Lazarus is in heaven. Some teach that the lesson here is that if you are rich in this world you cannot go to heaven. It doesn’t say that at all. Abraham was rich. Job was rich. Solomon was rich. And I believe that we will see each of these men in heaven. http://www.nhlutheran.org/sermon_20100606_the_rich_man_and_lazarus.htm The traditional text for Trinity week is Jesus’ conversation with the learned Pharisee Nicodemus. At first we might not recognize how appropriate this text is. There are many who deny the Holy Trinity because they don’t understand it. For some, if they cannot reason through a concept, it cannot exist. But for us Christians, we see the things of God with our hearts. The Holy Spirit reveals them to us and that is going to be the lesson for Nicodemus. http://www.nhlutheran.org/sermon_20100530_the_lesson_of_nicodemus.htm On Pentecost Day, 50 days after the resurrection of our Lord Jesus, the promise of the sending of the Holy Spirit was fulfilled. That is what our text is about today, the coming of the Holy Spirit. http://www.nhlutheran.org/sermon_20100523_the_lesson_of_pentecost_law_and_gospel.htm Mark’s account of the events of Jesus’ ascension include a concise summary of the events from Easter Eve to Jesus’ ascension 40 days later. Jesus is instructing the disciples who must carry the Gospel message to the world. He tells them they have what they need. The gifts of the Holy Spirit will come to provide the tools to do the job. After the Lord spoke He ascended into heaven to be at the right hand of the Father until He returns again to take us home. http://www.nhlutheran.org/sermon_20100516_jesus_ascension_into_heaven.htm Jesus just explained that He would be going away and sending the Holy Spirit to the disciples to comfort them and teach them. In our text Jesus tells His disciples that they have not asked Him for anything while He walked with them. When He goes away to return to heaven they do not need Him to go to the Father on their behalf. The Father loves them because they believed the Son and they loved the Son as the Son of God. They should pray to the Father and ask that He keep His promises. http://www.nhlutheran.org/sermon_20100509_jesus_teaches_about_prayer.htm Jesus’ disciples were thinking that Jesus would establish an earthly kingdom and they would be part of that kingdom. However, they misunderstood these things from the beginning. Now Jesus is telling them that He will leave and He will send them the Holy Spirit and that it will be a good thing that He leaves. http://www.nhlutheran.org/sermon_20100502_sin_righteousnes_and_the_cross.htm In the past, we spoke of the institution of the office of the Apostles and the successors of the apostles. These would also be called shepherds and they would speak the message of Christ, just as He taught us. Today there are many pastors, or shepherds leading parts of the flock but there is only One Good Shepherd and there is only one flock. http://www.nhlutheran.org/sermon_20100425_Jesus_the_good_shepherd.htm There is a tradition in the Lutheran church. When a child enters the teenage years they study Luther’s Catechism in classes with their pastor. My granddaughter just completed those studies with me. It is a great privilege to study with her and I learned much from her. I hope I also taught her many things about God’s Word and how to apply what she learned to her daily life. http://www.nhlutheran.org/sermon_20100418_a_message_for_my_granddaughter.htm This lesson comes on the first Easter evening when the disciples were gathered together trying to make sense of the recent events they had witnessed. Jesus was arrested. He was judged by liars and thieves representing themselves as God’s servants. He was nailed to the cross. He died. He was buried. And now, on this 3rd day, they have seen the empty tomb and some have seen Jesus walking and talking. http://www.nhlutheran.org/sermon_20100411_jesus_brings_peace_to_his_disciples.htm