ST. STEPHEN’S EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CHURCH
Striving to speak God’s saving truth in love. Ephesians 4:15
05May
We Join in Singing Praises to Our God
A sermon based on Revelation 5:11-14 for the 3rd Sunday after Easter, May 2/5, 2019. Have you ever seen a celebration so amazing and spectacular that you wish you could just be there? Many times we watch these events on television. You receive an overall view of what things look like. You can still hear…
21Apr
Death, where is your sting? Grave, where is your victory?
Sermon on 1 Corinthians 15:51-57 for the Easter Day, April 21, 2019 Do you know what a rhetorical question is? It’s a question you ask without really expecting an answer. Public speakers ask them to try to get people thinking about the implied answer. In 1 Corinthians 15, Paul has two rhetorical questions as the conclusion to…
19Apr
A Curse for Us
Sermon on Galatians 3:10-13 for Good Friday, April 19, 2019 I’m afraid the word “curse” is a foreign word to us. Yes, we know what people say when they accidentally hit their thumb with a hammer or shut their fingers in a door. That’s cursing. Our Catechism class definition of cursing is “Using God’s name to wish…
16Apr
We’re Caught
A sermon based on II Samuel 12:1-13 for the Confessional Service, April 16, 2019. The deer in the headlights look. The deer stands frozen staring right back into the oncoming headlights. The driver tries to guess the deer’s next movement to avoid an accident. The hearts of both the deer and driver pound rapidly wondering…
15Apr
Lift Up Your Heads! The LORD Comes to Cleanse, Forgive and Save
Sermon on Psalm 24 for Palm Sunday, April 14, 2019 Today’s sermon is based on Psalm 24, and if you want to follow along, you may turn to page 73 in the hymnal (Christian Worship: A Lutheran Hymnal). About a thousand years before Jesus was born, King David wrote Psalm 24. “Lift up your heads, O you…
07Apr
One Good Thing Deserves Another
A sermon based on Isaiah 43:16-21 for the 5th Sunday of Lent, April 7, 2019. The expectations have been set. They really knocked it out of the ball park with their activity. How would they ever top this? Did anyone really expect them to start this fast out of the gate? They set the bar…
03Apr
Let’s Me the “Prodigal” Family!
Sermon on Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32 for the 4th Sunday in Lent, March 31, 2019 The television game show “Family Feud” has been on for at least 25 years, probably more. Families compete with one another to answer questions and ultimately to win the cash prize. The show begins with the host (Richard Dawson, years ago;…
24Mar
We Come in Repentance
A sermon on Luke 13:1-9 for the 3rd Sunday in Lent, March 24, 2019. It is time for us to go back to school for a little bit. I have a science question to ask you. What is Newton’s 3rd law of motion? You probably did not think that this would ever come up in…
17Mar
No One Can Resist God’s Plan; No One Should Resist God’s Grace
Sermon on Luke 13:31-35 for the Second Sunday in Lent, March 17, 2019 In the Lord’s Prayer, we say “your kingdom come,” and “your will be done.” There are two angles on both of those petitions. First, if God’s kingdom is where God rules, then God’s kingdom is everything, right? There’s nothing beyond his control. And if…
06Mar
Take Him Away!
A sermon on John 19:14-18 for Lenten Midweek worship service. The shrieks could be heard from down the hallway. Audible gasps from the gallery filled the air. Even some cheers showed excitement at what had just happened. The verdict just came in. The defendant, who sat confidently throughout the entire trial, heard his fate. His…
24Feb
Love Overcomes All
A sermon on Genesis 45:3-15, for the 7th Sunday after Epiphany, February 21/24, 2019. They can be the best of friends. They can also be the worst of enemies. One minute they play a game together in the living room as happy as can be, but the next minute their voices fill the house with…
17Feb
God’s Grace Is Sufficient
Sermon on 2 Corinthians 12:7-10 for the Sixth Sunday after Epiphany, A, February 7/9/10, 2019, St. John’s, Juneau/Horicon; February 14/17, 2019, St. Stephen’s, Beaver Dam The Discovery Channel, A & E, and National Geographic all produced TV series called Mysteries of the Bible. Usually the topics were things like “The Dead Sea Scrolls,” “The Ark of the…
27Jan
The Messenger Brings Hope
A sermon on Isaiah 61:1-6 for the 3rd Sunday after Epiphany, January 24/27, 2019. Ed had been here before. It seemed like the new normal for his life. Ed would look across the desk. A doctor sat opposite him going over the file before them. For a moment the silence was deafening. Ed and his…
25Jan
Beyond Imagination!
Sermon on Ephesians 3:14-21 for 2nd Sunday after Epiphany, January 20, 2019 A concern among child psychologists and probably teachers, and maybe parents today is that children aren’t allowed or forced to use their IMAGINATIONS. They don’t seem to read like children used to. They don’t seem to be shooed outside by Mom and…
13Jan
See God’s Kindness and Love!
Sermon on Titus 3:4–7 for the Baptism of Our Lord, C, January 10 & 13, 2019 In Catechism class, we teach the kids about the attributes of God. Maybe you remember some of them. They were the omni- words. God is omniscient, which means all-knowing. And he is omnipotent, which means all-powerful. And the easiest one, omnipresent,…