Sermons on Isaiah (Page 4)
December 13, 2020
The Messenger of the Messenger Isaiah 61:1-4, 8-11 1 Thessalonians 5:16-24 John 1:19-28 And so John came, baptizing in the desert region and preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. That is what the Gospel of Mark says in verse 4 of chapter 1. A question I get all the time is: Did the Jews baptize like we do? To answer that question let me tell you a story about Muslims. Every year we take the Confirmation…
December 6, 2020
“What Was, and What Will Be” Isaiah 40:1-5 2 Peter 3:8-15a Mark 1:1-8 May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O God, our strength and our redeemer. Amen. So, about a week ago, I sat in on a Zoom meeting with Rev. Tussing, Amy LaDu, Gregg Dudash, and our current confirmation class. One of the things the confirmands had been asked to do was to submit a photo…
October 18, 2020
October 18, 2020 “Going with God” Isaiah 57:1-7 1 Thessalonians 1:1-10 Matthew 22:15-22 May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O God, our strength and our redeemer. Amen. Several years ago I was having a conversation with a friend and the topic somehow turned to a very “hot button” issue. My friend and I respectfully expressed our opposing views on this hot-button topic – and then my friend…
October 4, 2020
October 4, 2020 “The Truth of the Matter” Isaiah 5:1-7 Philippians 3:10-14 Matthew 21:33-46 May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O God, our strength and our redeemer. Amen. OK, I am going to start with a confession. I found this week’s scripture passages to be extremely challenging and difficult – they talk of murder and death and destruction – hardly “feel good” passages. However, not every passage…
August 16, 2020
August 16, 2020 “Do the Right Thing” Isaiah 56:1, 6-8 Romans 11:1-2a, 29-32 Matthew 15:10-20 In our Old Testament passage for today, God instructs the people, through the prophet Isaiah, to “maintain justice” and “do what is right.” When I read those words my mind immediately went to a movie my children and I recently watched. Over the course of these past months of sheltering in place I have been very grateful to have my children with me. And…
July 19, 2020
July 19, 2020 “The Wheat and the Weeds” Isaiah 44:6-8 Matthew 13:24-30 In todays passage from Matthew 13:10 we have the disciples coming to Jesus and asking him :”Why do you speak to (the people) in parables?” Basically what Jesus says in answer to that is: you must listen AND understand; look AND perceive and then understand with your heart. So then, today’s reading in Matthew offers us a parable and also the reading for today is about the reason…
July 12, 2020
July 12, 2020 “What Do We Sow?” Isaiah 55:10-13 Romans 8:1-11 Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23 I am guessing that most of us grew up knowing this childhood rhyme: Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me. I looked up this expression, and there are varying accounts as to where it originated, as well as its intended purpose and meaning. But I think even as a child I understood it had a much deeper meaning than…