St. Paul's Lockport Sermons

The difference between Jesus and the Pharisees, between our religion and all others, is the question Jesus asks. What do you think about the Christ? Whose Son is He? The Christ, who is both the Son of David and David’s Lord, must be God and man. The Christ is the true Son of God. Everything centers around Jesus as the true Lord.

The Pharisees cared very much about appearance. When they invited Jesus to dine on the Sabbath, they wanted to watch his appearance, check His every move. Their goal was to see if there was some flaw in Him that they could perceive and pounce on. For all of us, that would be a terrifying prospect, your every move being watched. But Jesus, in perfect humility, does not care about his appearance bef...

You have a Lord in Jesus Christ who knows and feels your sorrows. He has perfect compassion for you. Our Psalm today tells us that “weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning.” In Christ, weeping is only temporary, but His compassion never ceases. He proved this even going to His own death as an act of compassion for sinners. His life, the perfect life of love, was lived to sa...

The book of Deuteronomy is Moses' final sermon to the Israelites before they cross over to the promised land. His message to them is DO NOT FORGET. If there is any point in confirmation, it is to remind us - do not forget!

All of our lessons today point to the Christian life as a way. A way can be a road or a path. It is something that is continually traveled. Jesus calls himself the way, the truth, and the life. There is the true way of life in Jesus Christ, and there is the way of death. Solomon, in Proverbs, tells his son to walk in the way of wisdom, that he has been led in right paths. To walk in the way of wis...

How do I live a truly Christian life? For anyone who cares about Christ and what He teaches, this is the essential question. 

The day is finally here. Our organ has returned after many months in the shop. While it has been good to have the accompaniment of the piano, nothing assists the human voice like the organ. That is why we use it after all. The point of having an organ isn’t to have beautiful organ recitals. That’s fine of course, nothing against them. But the organ isn’t just here for you to listen to. We have the...

To build ourselves up by our self-righteousness, we must push other people down. If we don’t murder them outright like Cain, then we sacrifice them in our hearts like the Pharisee. Christian humility looks like the tax collector. Though he is definitely a sinner and of no reputation, God hears his prayer “God, be merciful to me, a sinner.” 

Jesus predicts the destruction of Jerusalem for this reason – “you did not know the time of your visitation.” Though Jerusalem means peace, the Jews there did not know the things which make for peace. They refused to know Jesus. Jesus had entered into Jerusalem that Palm Sunday, and the leaders of the Jews did not celebrate but told Jesus to rebuke His disciples. They could not stand Jesus being c...

A man’s heart plans his way, but the Lord directs His steps. As James says, we should not say I go here or there, do this or that, without saying “God willing.” This “God willing” is not throwing up our hands to fate, or to an indifferent God who pulls strings like a puppet master. It is entrusting our life and our ways to our loving heavenly Father, our faithful creator. We do not know what will...

WHY IT IS NECESSARY FOR CHRISTIANS TO JUDGE PREACHERS Christians must be vigilant and judge preaching because of the great danger that comes with believing the words of man over the words of God. In our OT lesson, Jeremiah speaks the Word of God against false preachers who have deceived the people and gives the diagnosis -

Here in Jesus Christ we see the image of God shining out in a living breathing man. He was free of every stain of sin, perfectly pure and holy from birth, and also perfectly kept the law. What the stone tablets of Moses reflected in outward characters, He fulfilled as a living, breathing Person. All so that He could give this obedience to us by faith and restore us to God through the work of the H...

In this scene, Jesus has attracted crowds - thus already shown he can bring in many people and teach them. He has miraculously brought in a catch of fish - shown His divine power to provide beyond any human expectation or knowledge. Now we see that the two are connected. Jesus is using the catch of fish to compare the lesser to the greater. 

This strengthening of faith leads to great joy. Joy is a fruit of the Spirit, and Elizabeth, John in the womb, and Mary, are all filled with great joy at the news of the Lord’s work. Trusting in God, they cannot help but be joyful when they hear of his fulfilled promises. That is a great thing other Christians can console with, pointing to those fulfilled promises when everything seems black. Brin...

Therefore, be wary about who your guides are, that they aren’t blind. There are many guides in this world who have some sort of goodness. They do things that seem good and helpful. Jesus even told the disciples to do what the pharisees said, but not what they do, because they were hypocrites. You cannot just follow anyone who seems to be right in your own eyes

Sermon by guest preacher, Rev. Jim Kress

We cannot look to Providence for how God feels toward us, but must look to Christ

This is the same story which gets repeated throughout history. Whether it’s a person, like Nimrod, or an idea, like the tower and the city, man in his sin always tries to form some kind of greatness without God. Like the people of Babel turned away from the teaching of Noah, so it always begins with the current authority being the enemy. We first throw off the 4th commandment authority God has put...

The good news is that even in Ezekiel’s time, God promised that what He will do for us is not for our sake or what we have done. We will not sanctify His name. We will not be the ones who need to make God holy. He will sanctify His own name, for His holy name’s sake. The good that God will do, the gifts that He will grant, will come from the promises He has made from Himself, from His own desires.

In Jesus’ ascension he has gone to heaven, the highest heavens, and is at the right hand of God. Despite the ascension being an upward motion, Jesus has not moved to a space that is both up and far away. Heaven cannot be reached by any rocket, over any amount of time. Heaven is the unseen place wherever God is. So Jesus is with God the Father, He is not seen, and still He says to us, “I am with yo...

The process of growing is necessary to make a real plant. It’s more than just appearances. This is an analogy for the Christian life. It is never about appearances. If it is about appearance to you, then the one you are deceiving most of all is yourself. This is what James says in chapter 1 – “Be doers of the Word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.”

Just has Christ displayed in His glorious resurrection, there is never a change in any promises that God gives. James is telling us that we receive these gifts from God by faith. This is not really talking about first article gifts, our physical needs, but third article, the spiritual gifts which we receive from God concerning our new life and salvation. In these things God does not change. Given...

Therefore, the focus for our meditation today is the words of Peter in the epistle, “Beloved, I bed you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul, having you conduct honorable among the Gentiles, that when they speak against you as evildoers thy may, by your good works which they observe, glorify God in the day of visitation.” Peter calls Christians sojourne...

You probably know it’s easy to be good when everyone is good to you. Jesus in His earthly ministry was continually attacked by the chief priests, scribes, and pharisees. They tried to tempt Him, test Him, and plotted to kill Him. Then there were of course many more well-meaning people making demands on Him. The disciples needed to be taught and not getting it. The people making Him physically wear...

The foundation of that forgiveness is what Jesus shows them – the pierced hands and the wounds in His side. This is the Crucified one, the one who was given over as a sacrifice for their sins. The foundation of their peace is Christ’s atoning death, and the proof of it’s working is His resurrected body right before them. Everything that they need to know is right there in the room – the crucified...