A Sermon for the Third Sunday of Advent

Once again, our Gospel text is about John the Baptist. What’s a preacher to do?! One of the things that preachers sometimes do is dress up in a burlap sack, carry a plate with grasshoppers and honey on it, and walk up and down the aisle with a staff, crying: “Prepare the way!”

As we noted last week, in the book of Malachi, (“Malachi,” Hebrew for messenger), it says that there will be a messenger who will come and proclaim the Day of the Lord, the Day of Judgment (Malachi 3:1, 4:5).

According to Matthew’s Gospel (11:11-14), John the Baptist is this one, the new Elijah, the greatest of the prophets. Yet John himself says: “He who is mightier than I is coming, the thong of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie” (Luke 3:16).

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Malachi 3:1-4; Luke 3:1-6

A Sermon for the Second Sunday of Advent

On this second Sunday of Advent, we have a messenger. The word “Malachi” is really the word “messenger” and in the third chapter of Malachi it talks about sending a messenger and in the fourth chapter the messenger is said to be Elijah, and then in the New Testament here comes John the Baptist who is understood to be Elijah come again.

What does he mean? John the Baptist appears in the texts for this Sunday and next Sunday and also in January. Why so much about John the Baptist? How does he compare with Jesus? What does this mean for Advent?

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Ephesians 1:10; Galatians 4:4

A Sermon for the First Sunday in Advent

Our situation as we begin a new church year is like starting a road trip toward a distant mountain range. When you begin to see the foothills and they seem to be not so far away although they are several hundred miles away, you have the sense: “We’re almost there!” But the closer you get, the more you see those foothills are pretty big, then come the mountains, only then the peaks. This is where we are in the church year, driving toward the foothills.

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Revelation 1:4b-8; John 18:33-37

A Sermon for Christ the King Sunday

In the church year today is New Year’s Eve, a time for celebration. The new year begins next Sunday, the first Sunday of Advent. As we typically do on New Year’s Eve, we take stock of what has been and look ahead at what is to come.

Along with looking back, we look forward to Advent, which tells us about God coming to help us, and then Christmas, which is pointing to Good Friday and Easter, where God solves the problem and then sends his Holy Spirit who leads us and guides us as individuals and Christians together to the end of the next year.

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Mark 13:1-8

A Sermon for the Twenty-Sixth Sunday after Pentecost

This thirteenth chapter of Mark is about signs of the end. Mark 13:5: “Many will come in my name and say: ‘I am he!’ And they will lead many astray.” It goes on to say that there will be famine and earthquakes and all kinds of tribulation. Finally, the end comes. What can we say to this?

To begin with, let’s look briefly at three examples of end-times thinking in our country, although this sort of thing happens many other places, too.

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