Faith Lutheran Oregon, Wisconsin

A Canaanite woman who came to Jesus wasn't given much of a reason to continue putting her faith in Jesus, just crumbs, or so it seems.  Sermon on Matthew 15:21-28 by Rev. Jeff Hendrix

St. Matthias is unremarkable. We know next to nothing about him, but it is precisely this reason why the account about him in Acts 1 is so comforting and encouraging for us.  Sermon on Acts 1:15-26 by Rev. Jeff Hendrix for the Feast of St. Matthias.

Counterintuitively, it is possible to have too much, to feast too heavily on worldly things and end up starving spiritually.  So then, what is the most important thing to feast on, so that we do not fast from what we really need?  Jesus shows to us as He is tempted by the devil in the wilderness and He fasts for 40 days.  Sermon on Matthew 4:1-11 by Rev. Jeff Hendrix

If a person’s heart is not in the right place, namely in God, they attempt to fill the void and need to justify themselves.  Self-Justification is to believe that you are “enough."  But as we confess in the Creed, and as Ash Wednesday so profoundly shows to us, we are not enough.  But Jesus is. Sermon on Matthew 6:16-21 by Rev. Jeff Hendrix

Can something be valuable and important if you don't remember it?  We reverse the Gospel when we think the value of something that God gave depends on us.  Love is a commitment.  Baptism is God's commitment to you.  Sermon on Matthew 3:13-17 by Rev. Jeff Hendrix

It is a fundamental Christian truth that God speaks.  God always has a word for you.  God is never silent.  “He who has ears to hear, let him hear!” Jesus says.  This is a parable about God’s Word, and what God says and what His Word does. Sermon on Luke 8:4-15 by Rev. Jeff Hendrix

We think it's not fair if we don't get what we think we deserve. Grace isn't a thing God gives us because we deserve it; it's not a thing God gives us so we can accept Him/do good works/help ourselves.  Rather, grace is an attitude, God's perspective toward us, through Jesus finished work. By Grace, God's gives us everything.  Sermon on Matthew 20:1-16 by Rev. Jeff Hendrix

Peter attempts to make a dwelling, a home, on the Mountain of Transfiguration.  His heart and mind is in the wrong place.  God directs away from how he feels, to rather what he hears. Sermon by Rev. Jeff Hendrix on Matthew 17:1-9.

If an ancient Jewish wedding ran out of wine, it meant immense shame on the bride and groom and all the guests.  While we don’t exactly have the same type of cultural expectations of our weddings banquets as in Jesus' day with a seven-day banquet and the problem if we run out of wine, if we’re talking about marriage in particular and broadly, the 6th commandment and God’s gift of physical int...

The Gospel writer Luke presents Jesus’ life as a journey, all centered around the temple, that is, the church where God’s people gather.  The story begins at the temple in chapter 1 with the angel appearing to Zachariah. Luke tells us that at eight days old and again at 40 days old, the infant Jesus went to the temple to fulfill the law.  The journey climaxes with Jesus teaching at the t...

The star, visit of the wise men, and their gifts are more than just a cute story.  They are a lesson in the way God works even today.  Sermon on Matthew 2:1-12 by Rev. Jeff Hendrix

The Sunday after Christmas – where we read of Herod's slaying of the boy babies in Bethlehem – teaches us about the nature of the Kingdom of God.   The Kingdom of God is not now, never has been, and never will be found according to the way the world wants.  It is hidden behind sorrow and suffering, persecution and scorn, behind defeat and loss, in the insignificant things of the wor...

On the three days after Christmas, we celebrate three more "birthdays:" heavenly births.  December 27 is the Feast of St. John, who was “a martyr in will but not in deed," meaning that he was willing to lay down his life for his Lord, but was not called on to do so.  Instead, he died of old age, and as the apostle who wrote that Jesus is the Beginning and the End, has some important thin...

Sermon & Exordium for Christmas Day from John 1:1-14 by Rev. Jeff Hendrix

Sermon for Christmas Midnight from Luke 1:1-14 by Rev. Jeff Hendrix

Sermon for Christmas Eve (early) Vespers from Matthew 1:18-25 by Rev. Jeff Hendrix

We have pressure on us.  Sure, we blame other things like covid or the holidays, but really, we take on ourselves things we were never meant to carry.  We want our voices to be heard, when that's not what we need at all.  Our voices fade away, Christ is the Word who endures forever.  John the Baptist teaches us what a spirit of gentleness actually looks like and why we can rejo...

The coming of God in all His unveiled power at Mt. Sinai was terrifying to the people of Israel.  The thundering voice of the Lord puts sinners in fear of death (Deut 18:15–19).  He had come to test them, just as He had done with Abraham.  Just as God provided a substitute for Abraham, God also would raise up a prophet like Moses, the Messiah, the Christ. But not in all his might an...

John the baptist seems to be despairing in prison.  But he knows where to look:  to the word and promises of Jesus.  When Jesus sends His Word back to John, He sends comfort and joy to us as well.  Sermon on Matthew 11:2-10 by Rev. Jeff Hendrix

The one who created the heavens and all the stars, who set them in their places and sets light apart from dark is also the one who sets right apart from wrong.  And He does so for our good, and for our redemption.    Sermon on the Ten Commandments for Advent Vespers by Rev. Jeff Hendrix.

Advent is about preparing.  Not for Christ’s first coming, but His second coming.  When He will come back in glory to judge the living and the dead.  But for Christians, this means we can lift up our heads, our hearts, because our burdens can be placed on Jesus, and we can be of great hope.     Sermon on Luke 21:25-36 for the second Sunday in Advent by Rev. Jeff Hendr...

Sermon based on the giving of the Ten Commandments, Exodus 20:1-2 for Advent Vespers, 2020 "In Cloud and Majesty and Awe."

The word Advent simply means “coming,” and in Advent, we celebrate the fact that God comes to you.  You don’t have to go to Him, He comes to you.  He came 2,000 years ago when He was born in Bethlehem; He is coming again in glory to judge the living and the dead; and He continues to come to us today through His Word and Sacraments.  It is on Palm Sunday, when Jesus rides into Jerusa...

“Concerning the times and dates, brothers, there is no need to write to you,” Paul says in our text.  Indeed, we do not need to be told that our world is in crisis.  The future is out of our control.  Like a thief in the night the Lord will come.  Can we have certainty or comfort in these times?   Sermon on 1 Thessalonians 5:1–11

What comfort is there on the day of judgement?  Or what comfort is there when things don't go according to plan?  A lot, actually.      A sermon on 2 Thessalonians 1:3–10 by Rev. Jeff Hendrix Please consider giving online to the mission of Faith Lutheran Church at https://faithlutheranoregon.com/onlinegiving