Sermons by Rev. Sherman D. Stenson, Associate Pastor (Page 15)
He Holds the Field, Victorious
Grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen. Don’t kid yourself for one single minute: The devil is smarter than you. The devil is stronger than you. And even at your most creative, sinister, manipulative best, the devil is craftier than you. The devil knows God’s Word better than you and I could ever hope to, also.…
Terror and Triumph
Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen. So, who would you rather be: Isaiah or Simon? Let me put it a different way: Which of the two experiences would you rather have had? Isaiah’s vision of being in the presence of the Lord on His throne in the temple, as we heard about in the Old Testament lesson today? Or…
Attentive Ears
Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen. From the book of the governor Nehemiah, the 8th chapter: “And [Ezra] read from [the Book of the Law]… from early morning until midday, in the presence of the men and the women and those who could understand. And the ears of all the people were attentive to the Book of the…
The Real Thing
Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen. Slogans come and slogans go, but no doubt some of you remember those old commercials for Coca-Cola. “It’s the real thing!” they said. The advertisers were saying that Coke was the real cola, and all the others were imposters. Organic foods, too, claim to be the ‘real…
Whom Do You Seek? What Do You Bring?
“We Three Kings of Orient Are.” Catchy little tune with a nice lyrical ‘hook,’ isn’t it? There was a time not so many years ago when you’d hear it piped over the loudspeakers of shopping centers during Advent, or played every few hours on the radio as part of their holiday music rotation. Nowadays, if you hear it at all in a public setting, it’s most likely just going to…
Fully Committed
No matter how faithful we might want to be to Jesus Christ, we’re all going to have occasional lapses in our faithfulness. We’re human beings caught in the tension of simultaneously being saint and sinner. There will be days when doubts will creep into our thinking. There will be moments when our fears and concerns about the here and now will overshadow our trust in God’s…
The Forgotten God
In our midweek Advent services this year, we are focusing each week on one of the three persons of the Holy Trinity and how that person is confessed in the articles of the creed. Tonight we look most closely at God the Holy Spirit. Now, if the Holy Spirit had human tendencies, he might not want to associate with Lutherans. That’s because even though we give Him plenty of…
Stand Up, Stand Up for Jesus
Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen. Dear brothers and sisters in Christ: If patience is a virtue, we’re not a very virtuous nation. Here we are, only three days after Thanksgiving, and I’ve already been informed ten or twelve times that Santa’s on his way. I hope the poor fellow’s packed a couple of changes…
Follow the Leader
Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen. Accompanying the much-needed rain which our part of Texas has finally received over the past several weeks in answer to our many prayers, my yard has been over-run by a huge number of small visitors. These visitors have been hundreds, if not thousands, of ground snails,…
Genuine Sacrifice
Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen. Over the last decade or so, I’ve noticed a certain trend among people who are publicly introducing others to various audiences. This is especially true if the person making the introduction is expecting and encouraging the audience to respond with applause. Instead of…