Trinity Lutheran Elkhart Homilies

April 18, 2025

April 13, 2025

April 6, 2025

April 9, 2025

April 2, 2025

March 30, 2025

March 26, 2025

Pastor Mielke explores the concept of repentance and wholehearted living through Jesus' teachings and parables. He emphasizes that God's patience and mercy provide opportunities for spiritual growth, urging listeners to turn towards God and bear the fruits of love rather than exhausting themselves and others. March 23, 2025

March 19, 2025

Pr. Mielke explores how we can become wholehearted when we have resisted Jesus, using the metaphor of a hen gathering her chicks under her wings. He identifies five reasons why people resist Jesus' protection and love, and ultimately calls for believers to stop resisting and relent to Jesus' open arms. The sermon emphasizes that true wholeheartedness comes from allowing ourselves to be l...

March 12, 2025

This sermon on the first Sunday of Lent reflects on Jesus' temptation in the wilderness and its significance for our spiritual journey. In the desert we are not alone- Jesus is with us, calling us to something greater.

March 5, 2025

March 2, 2025

Pastor Mielke explores the concept of resurrection in 1 Corinthians 15, emphasizing that "second is best" in Christianity. He explains how our earthly bodies will be transformed into glorious, incorruptible heavenly bodies, drawing parallels between the first Adam (earthly) and the second Adam, Jesus (heavenly). The sermon concludes with a powerful reminder that the hope of resurrection...

An introduction to the series "Rising Up" that will look at: 1. Our Hope: The Resurrection of our Bodies on the Last Day - how we will be saved. 2. How we are also being saved. We are Rising Up even now as we cling to this hope. 

This sermon on the Feast of the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple highlights the themes of waiting and suffering, both in the lives of Simeon and Anna and in our own. Mary and Joseph bring Jesus to the temple for consecration, where they encounter Simeon, who proclaims Jesus as the fulfillment of God’s promise, and Anna, who rejoices at His arrival. These two elderly prophets represent Israel’s...

After the major accomplishment of rebuilding the wall around Jerusalem in 52 days, the Judahites hear the Torah. But instead of a time of celebration, they are deeply grieved and begin to weep. Nehemiah, Ezra and the Levites call to them to celebrate because the Joy of the Lord is our Strength.

January, 19, 2025

This sermon on the Baptism of the Lord emphasizes Jesus’ identity as the beloved Son of God and the profound significance of His baptism. At His baptism, the heavens open, the Holy Spirit descends, and the Father declares, "You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased." Jesus, though sinless, enters the waters not for His sake but to sanctify them for our salvation, cleansing and p...

Those who are wise know they are not wise. That’s why they seek wisdom. And wisdom is found in Jesus. He is wisdom.  And the Wise Men find him seated on the lap of Mary. She is given the honorary title “Seat of Wisdom” because he is enthroned on her lap.  Mary is also the icon of the New Jerusalem, Holy Mother Church, whose heart throbs and overflows with joy when her sons and daughters come home...

This sermon reflects on the disintegration of families and communities, identifying the human heart as central to the problem. The story of Mary and Joseph anxiously searching for the boy Jesus highlights the importance of being in the Father’s house, where priorities are realigned, hearts are nourished, and families are strengthened. Jesus' response, “Did you not know that I must be in my Fa...

A reflection on Irish artist Adam Pomeroy’s The Nativity. December 24, 2024

Where is the holiest place on earth? The womb! Of all of the places on earth, God chose to dwell in the womb of Mary. This gives us great reverence for the dignity of human life in the womb and for the dignity of all women.  But the “womb” is also a way of describing the spiritual life, according to St. Maximus the Confessor.