ST. STEPHEN’S EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CHURCH
Striving to speak God’s saving truth in love. Ephesians 4:15
31Dec
Time Equals Grace
Sermon referencing Ecclesiastes 3:1-8, Psalm 90, Hebrews 13:5-8, 14, Matthew 25:1-13 for New Year’s Eve, December 31, 2018 What is time? How would you define it? Someone might say time passes in seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months and years progressing from past to present to future. That’s how we measure time. That’s the flow of time. That…
25Dec
Glory, Grace and Truth
Sermon on John 1:14 for Christmas Day December 25, 2018 Today we’re going to look at the last verse of the Gospel lesson: The Word became flesh and dwelled among us. We have seen his glory, the glory he has as the only-begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. John the disciple calls Jesus “The…
24Dec
Christmas Dreams Become a Reality
A sermon based on Matthew 1:18-25, for Christmas Eve Candlelight Service December 24, 2018. Those moments happen so fast in our life. We never could see them coming. By the time we know what is going on, it is too late to change course. One minute we plan how our life will go, but the…
16Dec
God Lifts Us “Out of the Depths” and Brings Us Hope and Joy
Sermon on Psalm 130 for the Third Sunday in Advent, December 13 & 16, 2018 John the Baptist’s call was a shocking one. “You brood of vipers.” If you don’t know, a “brood of vipers” is a nest full of baby snakes. That’s more than an insult—it’s an accusation and a judgment. He is making this connection:…
02Dec
God Warns Us about the End
A sermon on Luke 21:25-36 for the 1st Sunday in Advent, November 29 & December 2, 2018. We settle down on the couch. Our favorite show is about to begin. We cannot wait to see how the events will unfold from the previous week’s cliff hanger. The opening captures our attention. The theme song interrupts…
25Nov
What Should We Do While We Wait for the End?
Sermon on Jude 20-25 for the Sunday of the Fulfillment, November 25, 2018 Jesus clearly tells us “No one knows about the day or the hour” of the end of the world or the Day of Judgment (Matthew 24:36). But what would you do if you knew for certain when the world would end? There was a…
18Nov
Wake Up!
A sermon on Daniel 12:1-3 for the 26th Sunday after Pentecost, November 15/18, 2018. We roll around. Our eyes, barely open, squint at the clock. All of a sudden a shot of adrenaline rushes through our body. We jump out of bed. We run around trying to make up for lost time. The alarm failed…
04Nov
Jesus Gives Hope to His Saints
Sermon on John 11:32-44 for All Saints, November 1 & 4, 2018 There is a word that has one meaning, the way we commonly use it, and another meaning when it is used in the Bible. That word is hope. A couple weeks ago, I could have asked, “Do you think the Brewers will make it to the…
28Oct
Don’t be Fooled!
A sermon on Mark 13:5-11 for Reformation, October 25/28, 2018. Warnings go out constantly for people to beware of certain scams. I think we have all received a suspicious email. It claims that money is waiting for us from the IRS, lottery, and inheritance, or whatever else it might be. Just click on the link…
14Oct
“All These I Have Kept”? No. All These Jesus Has Kept!
Sermon on Mark 10:17–27 for the 21st Sunday after Pentecost, October 11 & 14, 2018 We learned the First Commandment as “You shall have no other gods.” And the explanation we learned from the Catechism says, “We should fear, love, and trust in God above all things.” In his Large Catechism, Martin Luther said this about the…
30Sep
The Christian Rejoices in Forgiveness
A sermon on James 4:7-12 for the 19th Sunday after Pentecost, September 27/30, 2018. Some of the hardest words to speak are “I’m sorry.” Oh, they flow from our lips quite easily, but the meaning behind those words is lost. We say that we are sorry just to get someone off our back. We do…
16Sep
All This Craziness in the World Is Spiritual Warfare
Sermon on Ephesians 6:10-18 for the 17th Sunday after Pentecost, September 13 & 16, 2018 There’s some craziness going on in our world, in case you haven’t noticed. If you look at history—ancient history or recent history, you see people raging and destroying and doing terrible things to each other. Tuesday was September 11. We remembered what…
09Sep
Our Heart Leaps for Joy
A sermon on Isaiah 35:4-7a for the 16th Sunday after Pentecost, September 6/9, 2018. The big day arrives. Our palms grow sweaty from the eager anticipation. The days, which we have been patiently counting down for months, finally grow into hours and minutes. Our hearts pound. All of this builds up to this grand event….
02Sep
“Create in Me a Clean Heart, O God!
Sermon on Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23 for the 15th Sunday after Pentecost, September 2, 2018 Let me share a little story about a lady I knew about 25 years ago – not here in Beaver Dam. At the time of this incident I will relate she was about 75 years old. She was a sweet,…
26Aug
Jesus Is the Living Bread that Came Down from Heaven
Sermon on John 6:51-69 for the 14th Sunday after Pentecost, August 23 & 26, 2018 When Jesus fed the 5,000, he had a double purpose, like he did for all his miracles. First, to meet someone’s need. (This is actually the way Jesus fulfills the fifth commandment for us. He fed the hungry, healed the sick, and…