Sermons from the Divine Service

In His Baptism, Jesus Takes His Place with Sinners. Our Lord Jesus is baptized “to fulfill all righteousness” (Matt. 3:13–17). He partakes of a baptism for sinners in order that He might be our substitute and bear the judgment we deserve. In the water, Jesus trades places with us. Our sin becomes His sin. His righteousness becomes our righteousness. Our glory, therefore, is in “Christ Jesus, who b...

The Lord God Is Manifested in the Incarnate Son. The Feast of the Epiphany centers in the visit of the Magi from the East. In that respect, it is a “Thirteenth Day” of Christmas; and yet, it also marks the beginning of a new liturgical season. While Christmas has focused on the Incarnation of our Lord—that is, on God becoming flesh—the season of Epiphany emphasizes the manifestation or self-revela...

The Seed of David Comes to His Temple. The Lord foretold that He would make a new covenant with His people: “I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people” (Jeremiah 31:33). In the fullness of time, God sent forth His Son Jesus to redeem us from the judgment of the Law (Galatians 4:1–7). Now He is presented in the temple in ful...

John the Baptizer Points Everyone to the Messiah. The coming of God in all His unveiled power at Mount Sinai was terrifying to the people of Israel. The thundering voice of the Lord puts sinners in fear of death (Deut. 18:15–19). God, therefore, raised up a prophet like Moses—the Messiah, the Christ. God came to His people veiled in human flesh. The skies poured down the Righteous One from heaven;...

John the Baptizer Prepares the Way for the Lord. The voice of the Baptizer cried out in the wilderness: “Prepare the way of the Lord . . .” (Isaiah 40:1). John called the people to be made ready for the Messiah’s coming through repentance, for “all flesh is grass” (Isaiah 40:6). Now He asks from prison, “Are you the one who is to come . . .?” (Matthew 11:2). Jesus’ works bear witness that He is. T...

The Lord Comes on the Last Day. The day on which our Lord returns will be a “ great and awesome day ” (Mal. 4:5). For He will come in a cloud with great power and glory. To the wicked and the proud, it will be a Day of judgment that will “ set them ablaze ” (Mal. 4:1). The signs preceding this Day will bring them fear and fainting. But to those who believe, who fear the name of the Lord, this Day...

The Lord Jesus Comes in Humility to Redeem Us. The new Church Year begins by focusing on the humble coming of our Lord. “Behold, your king is coming to you, humble, and mounted on a donkey” (Matthew 21:5). Even as He was born in a lowly manger, so Jesus rides into Jerusalem on a beast of burden. For He bears the sin of the world. He is the Son of David riding to His enthronement on the cross, wher...

By Faith We Are Prepared for Christ’s Return. “The day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night” (1 Thessalonians 5:1–11). The arrival of the bridegroom will be sudden and unexpected. Therefore you are to be watchful and ready like the five wise virgins. “For you know neither the day nor the hour” when the Son of Man is to return (Mathew. 25:1–13). The lamps are the Word of Christ. The oil...

Walking humbly with our God and forgiving one another. With what shall we come before the Lord (Micah 6:6) who forgives all our sins, and how often shall our fellow Christians sin against us and we forgive them (Matthew 18:21)? Our gracious God on high does not need our “burnt offerings” or “thousands of rams” (Micah 6:6-7), which we could legitimately offer in thanksgiving. He is the Savior who g...

God Declares Us Righteous Unsheathing His Word Against All Evil. “In this mountain the LORD of hosts will make for all people a feast of choice pieces” (Isaiah 25:6). Though the world is filled with sin and evil, the Lord is at work to restore His creation. The Father sent His Son to became flesh in Jesus Christ that He might restore fallen creation and save fallen man. To the nobleman whose son w...

Saints Are Blessed in the Eternal Presence of Christ. “A great multitude … from all tribes and peoples and languages” cry out, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne” (Revelation 7:9–17). Faith-filled saints from every place and time with unified voices eternally magnify the Lamb of God. As His beloved children, we, too, “shall see him as he is” (1 John 3:1–3). Joined with the throng...

The Son of God Has Set Us Free from Sin and Death by His Grace. “Wisdom is justified by her deeds” (Matthew 11:19), and the true Wisdom of God, Christ Jesus, the incarnate Son, justifies us by His deeds. He prepares His way by the preaching of repentance, but He has suffered the violence of the Law and voluntarily handed Himself over to violent men, that we might eat and drink with Him in His King...

In Life and Death, Christ Fulfills the Law of God. The Pharisees ask a Law question. Jesus asks a Gospel question. The Pharisees seek to test Jesus in His own words. Jesus seeks to “test” them in the saving reality of who He is as the Messiah (Matthew 22:34–46). The Law requires you to “fear the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and...

Whoever Humbles Himself Will Be Exalted. “Do not put yourself forward in the king’s presence” (Proverbs 25:6–14). Rather, take the lowest position at the table. Humble yourself before Him. For your place is not for you to take but for Him to give. Conduct yourself with all lowliness and gentleness, bearing with one another in love (Ephesians 4:1–6), that the King may give you glory in the presence...

Jesus Calls forth Life from Death. A large funeral procession carrying the only son of a widow is confronted by another large procession, Jesus and His followers. Death and Life meet face to face at the gate of the city (Luke 7:11–17). Filled with compassion, Jesus comes into direct contact with our mortality in order to overcome it. He touches the coffin and speaks His creative words of life, “Yo...

Anxious Bondage vs. Confident Trust. “You cannot serve God and money” (Matthew 6:24–34), for they require two contrary forms of service. Worry is the worship given to the false god of mammon, an unbelieving anxiousness and focus on the things of this world. Faith is the worship of the true God, a confident trust that He is a loving Father who will care for all of our needs in both body and soul. T...

St. Matthew, Apostle and Evangelist. Our ascended Lord gives “gifts” to His Church. In particular, He gave apostles and evangelists like St. Matthew, prophets like Ezekiel, and still gives pastors and teachers (Ephesians 4:8, 11). They speak Christ’s truth in love in order that the Body of Christ might be built up (Ephesians 4:12–13). Christ is not only the head of this body, He is her Good Physic...

The Exaltation of the Holy Cross. “Sir, we wish to see Jesus” (John 12:21). Then look to His holy cross. For just as Moses lifted up the bronze serpent in the wilderness, so Jesus, when He is “lifted up from the earth, will draw all people” to Himself (John 12:32). “He humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross” to save us (Philippians 2:8). “Everyone who is...

Faith Comes from Hearing. A man who was deaf and therefore also had an impediment in his speech was brought to Jesus (Mark 7:31–37). In the same way, all are by nature deaf toward God and therefore also unable to confess the faith rightly. Jesus put His fingers into the man’s ears, and He spat and touched His tongue. Even so in Holy Baptism, water sanctified by the words of Jesus’ mouth is applied...

This sermon was delivered by Pastor Akers at Lutheran Church of the Resurrection on September 3, 2025. 

The Lord Lifts Up the Lowly. “And the Lord had regard for Abel and his offering, but for Cain and his offering he had no regard” (Genesis 4:1–15). For unlike Abel, Cain’s offering did not proceed from a heart that revered and trusted in the Lord. Thus, the lowly tax collector who prayed, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner!” was the one who went down to his house justified before God, not the respec...

St. Bartholomew, Apostle. Skinned alive! That, according to tradition, is how Bartholomew (called Nathanael in John’s Gospel) was martyred. Christ’s preachers are not to be great lords, but servants who faithfully stay with Christ in His trials (Luke 22:24–30). They are “jars of clay”; the Savior they preach is the “surpassing power” (2 Corinthians 4:7). Christ’s servants are “afflicted in every w...

The Steward’s Shrewdness Sanctified. “The master commended the dishonest manager for his shrewdness” (Luke 16:1–9). The steward’s shrewdness is praiseworthy for two reasons. First, he knew the master would be merciful. He trusted that the master would honor the debts he forgave in the master’s name. In the same way, though we have squandered our heavenly Father’s possessions in selfishness and sin...