Category: Sermons

A sermon on Isaiah 40:1-8 for the Fourth Sunday in Advent. Delivered by Pastor Caleb Strutz. “O come, O come, Emmanuel, and ransom captive Israel.” This beloved Advent hymn is a rephrasing of the ancient O Antiphons, which is the original Christmas countdown. An antiphon is a refrain that is used during the daily prayer…

A sermon on Psalm 85 for the Wednesday after the Third Sunday in Advent. Delivered by Pastor Caleb Strutz. Sunday’s sermon was a little weird, focusing on the Introit instead of one of the readings. And we’re continuing that weirdness today, as we focus on the Psalm instead of the Gospel or Epistle. Psalm 85…

A sermon on Philippians 4:4-6 for the Third Sunday in Advent. Delivered by Pastor Caleb Strutz.  Normally the sermon is on one of the lessons assigned for that day, but today, I want to draw our attention to something that we probably overlook from Sunday to Sunday. The lessons change from week to week, but…

A sermon on Luke 12:25-30 for the Wednesday after the Second Sunday in Advent. Delivered by President Timothy Hartwig of Bethany Lutheran Theological Seminary in Mankato, MN. No transcript is available for this recording.

A sermon on Luke 21:25-36 for the Second Sunday in Advent. Delivered by Pastor Caleb Strutz. It’s the end of the world… again. We just spent the end of the church year looking at the end of the world from the angles of judgment and readiness. And  we’re opening our new church year by looking…

A sermon on John 18:33-37 for the Wednesday after the First Sunday in Advent. Delivered by Pastor Caleb Strutz. If Sunday’s Gospel seemed a little out of place, this one is, at first glance, even more bewildering. We started Advent with Palm Sunday and now we’re continuing on to Good Friday. What’s the deal? This…

A sermon on Matthew 21:1-9 for the First Sunday in Advent. Delivered by Pastor Caleb Strutz.  We just started Advent, so why are we reading about Palm Sunday? It doesn’t make any sense. And chronologically, it doesn’t. We also see this text the Sunday before Easter as Jesus rides into Jerusalem to die and rise…

A sermon on Luke 17:11-19 for Thanksgiving. Delivered by Pastor Caleb Strutz.  Christmas is one of the most exciting days in a child’s life because you can ask for just about anything, and you’ll get it. I remember one year I had my heart set on a Darth Vader voice changer. If you don’t know…

A sermon on Matthew 25:1-13 for the Last Sunday of the Church Year. Delivered by Pastor Caleb Strutz. One really interesting phenomenon is doomsday preppers. Have you heard of these guys? There are people who want to prepare for the end of the world, not in a theological sense, but in case nuclear bombs drop…

A sermon on Matthew 25:31-36 for the Second-Last Sunday of the Church Year. Delivered by Pastor Caleb Strutz. One of the things that really surprised me when we first moved to Florida was that our county’s sheriff is somewhat of a viral sensation. Just scrolling through my social media feeds, I’ll see videos of none…