The Lutheran Sermon Podcast From Bethany

January 5, 2025 -- Vicar John Alwood -- "You are Stewards of the Revealed Mystery!" --- Ephesians 3:1-12 (3) This is the reason I, Paul, am the prisoner of Christ Jesus [a] for those of you who are not Jewish. 2 Certainly, you have heard how God gave me the responsibility of bringing his kindness [b] to you. 3 You have heard that he let me know this mystery through a revelation. I’ve already writt...

December 29, 2024 -- Vicar John Alwood -- "2025: Curse or Blessing?" -- Numbers 6:22-27 22 The Lord said to Moses, 23 “Tell Aaron and his sons, ‘This is how you will bless the Israelites. Say to them: 24 The Lord will bless you and watch over you. 25 The Lord will smile on you and be kind to you. 26 The Lord will look on you with favor and give you peace.’ 27 “So whenever they use my name to bless...

December 22, 2024 -- Pr. Kevin Kritzer -- "Coming Soon: Peace!" -- Luke 1: 6-80; 3:1-18 76 “You, child, will be called a prophet of the Most High. You will go ahead of the Lord to prepare his way. 77 You will make his people know that they can be saved through the forgiveness of their sins. 78 A new day will dawn on us from above because our God is loving and merciful. 79 He will give light to tho...

December 15, 2024 -- Pr. Kyle Blake -- "Coming Soon: Forgiveness!" -- Luke 1: 57-76 57 When the time came for Elizabeth to have her child, she gave birth to a son. 58 Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had been very kind to her, and they shared her joy. 59 When the child was eight days old, they went ⌞to the temple⌟ to circumcise him. They were going to name him Zechariah after his fa...

December 8, 2024 -- Pr. Kevin Kritzer -- "Coming Soon: Mercy!" -- Luke 1: 46-55 46 Mary said, “My soul praises the Lord’s greatness! 47 My spirit finds its joy in God, my Savior, 48 because he has looked favorably on me, his humble servant. “From now on, all people will call me blessed 49 because the Almighty has done great things to me. His name is holy. 50 For those who fear him, his mercy lasts...

December 1, 2024 -- Pr. Kevin Kritzer -- "Coming Soon: Joy!" -- Luke 1:24-45 24 Later, his wife Elizabeth became pregnant and didn’t go out in public for five months. She said, 25 “The Lord has done this for me now. He has removed my public disgrace.” 26 Six months after Elizabeth had become pregnant, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a city in Galilee. 27 The angel went to a virgin promised...

November 24, 2024 -- Pr. Nader Hanna -- "Christ Jesus Our One King" -- John 18:33-37 33 Pilate went back into the palace, called for Jesus, and asked him, “Are you the king of the Jews?” 34 Jesus replied, “Did you think of that yourself, or did others tell you about me?” 35 Pilate answered, “Am I a Jew? Your own people and the chief priests handed you over to me. What have you done?” 36 Jesus answ...

November 17, 2024 -- Vicar John Alwood -- "The Original Thanksgiving" -- Psalm 16 (16) Protect me, O God, because I take refuge in you. 2 I said to the Lord, “You are my Lord. Without you, I have nothing good.” 3 Those who lead holy lives on earth are the noble ones who fill me with joy. 4 Those who quickly chase after other gods multiply their sorrows. I will not pour out their sacrificial offeri...

November 10, 2024 -- Pr. Kyle Blake -- "You Won The Election!" -- Psalm 146 (146) Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord, O my soul! 2 I will praise the Lord as long as I live; I will sing praises to my God while I have my being. 3 Put not your trust in princes, in a son of man, in whom there is no salvation. 4 When his breath departs, he returns to the earth; on that very day his plans perish. 5 Blesse...

November 3, 2024 -- Pr. Kevin Kritzer -- "His 'R Us" -- 1 John 3:1-2 (3) Consider this: The Father has given us his love. He loves us so much that we are actually called God’s dear children. And that’s what we are. For this reason the world doesn’t recognize us, and it didn’t recognize him either. 2 Dear friends, now we are God’s children. What we will be isn’t completely clear yet. We do know tha...

October 27, 2024 -- Pr. Kevin Kritzer -- "Not to brag, but..." -- Romans 3:19-28 19 We know that whatever the Scriptures say applies to everyone under their influence, and no one can say a thing. The whole world is brought under the judgment of God. 20 Not one person can have God’s approval by any effort to follow the laws in the Scriptures. These laws show what sin is. 21 Now, the way to receive...

October 20, 2024 -- Vicar John Alwood -- "Sent for (the) Rest" -- Hebrews 4: 1-16 (4) God’s promise that we may enter his place of rest still stands. We are afraid that some of you think you won’t enter his place of rest. 2 We have heard the same Good News that your ancestors heard. But the message didn’t help those who heard it in the past because they didn’t believe. 3 We who believe are enterin...

October 13, 2024 -- Pr. Kyle Blake -- "Connected: to hold fast to one another" -- Hebrews 3: 12-19 12 Be careful, brothers and sisters, that none of you ever develop a wicked, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. 13 Encourage each other every day while you have the opportunity. If you do this, none of you will be deceived by sin and become stubborn. 14 After all, we will remain C...

October 6, 2024 -- Pr. Kyle Blake -- "Gathered to Jesus' as His Siblings" -- Hebrews 2: 8b - 18 (8b) You put everything under his control.” When God put everything under his Son’s control, nothing was left out. However, at the present time we still don’t see everything under his Son’s control. 9 Jesus was made a little lower than the angels, but we see him crowned with glory and honor because he s...

September 29, 2024 -- "Strawman: Art of Mis-Direction" -- Pastor Kevin Kritzer -- James 5: 13-20 13 If any of you are having trouble, pray. If you are happy, sing psalms. 14 If you are sick, call for the church leaders. Have them pray for you and anoint you with olive oil [a] in the name of the Lord. 15 (Prayers offered in faith will save those who are sick, and the Lord will cure them.) If you ha...

September 22, 2024 -- "Strawman: The Grudge Match" -- Pastor Kevin Kritzer-- James 4: 1-12 (4) What causes fights and quarrels among you? Aren’t they caused by the selfish desires that fight to control you? 2 You want what you don’t have, so you commit murder. You’re determined to have things, but you can’t get what you want. You quarrel and fight. You don’t have the things you want, bec...

September 15, 2024 -- Pastor Kevin Kritzer -- "Strawman: !@#$%" -- James 3:1-12" (3) Brothers and sisters, not many of you should become teachers. You know that we who teach will be judged more severely. 2 All of us make a lot of mistakes. If someone doesn’t make any mistakes when he speaks, he would be perfect. He would be able to control everything he does. 3 We put bits in the mo...

September 8, 2024 -- "Strawman!" -- Pastor Kevin Kritzer -- James 2:1-10, 14-18 (2) My brothers and sisters, practice your faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ by not favoring one person over another. 2 For example, two men come to your worship service. One man is wearing gold rings and fine clothes; the other man, who is poor, is wearing shabby clothes. 3 Suppose you give special att...

September 1, 2024 -- "Won By Christ!" -- Rev. Seth Moorman -- Ephesians 4:4-6 4 There is one body and one Spirit. In the same way you were called to share one hope. 5 There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all, who is over everything, through everything, and in everything. http://www.bethanylutheran.org⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠...

August 25, 2024 -- "Armor-Up!" -- Pr. Kyle Blake -- Ephesians 6:10-20 10 Finally, receive your power from the Lord and from his mighty strength. 11 Put on all the armor that God supplies. In this way you can take a stand against the devil’s strategies. 12 This is not a wrestling match against a human opponent. We are wrestling with rulers, authorities, the powers who govern this world of...

August 18. 2024 -- "Being Children of Light" -- Pastor Kyle Blake -- Ephesians 5: 6-20 6  Don’t let anyone deceive you with meaningless words. It is because of sins like these that God’s anger comes to those who refuse to obey him.  7  Don’t be partners with them. 8  Once you lived in the dark, but now the Lord has filled you with light. Live as children who have light.  9  Light produce...

August 11, 2024 -- Vicar John Alwood -- "The New Self" -- Ephesians 4:17 - 5:2 17 So I tell you and encourage you in the Lord’s name not to live any longer like other people in the world. Their minds are set on worthless things. 18 They can’t understand because they are in the dark. They are excluded from the life that God approves of because of their ignorance and stubbornness. 19 Since...

August 4, 2024 -- "Unity in the Spirit" -- Pastor Kevin Kritzer -- Ephesians 4:1-16 I, a prisoner in the Lord, encourage you to live the kind of life which proves that God has called you. 2 Be humble and gentle in every way. Be patient with each other and lovingly accept each other. 3 Through the peace that ties you together, do your best to maintain the unity that the Spirit gives. 4 Th...

May 12, 2024 - "Gathered to Echo!" - Pastor Kevin Kritzer, Bible Text John 17:11b-19 11 I won’t be in the world much longer, but they are in the world, and I’m coming back to you. Holy Father, keep them safe by the power of your name, the name that you gave me, so that their unity may be like ours. 12 While I was with them, I kept them safe by the power of your name, the name that you ga...

May 5, 2024 - "Gathered to Flow!" - Pastor Kyle Blake, Bible Text John 15: 9-17 9 “I have loved you the same way the Father has loved me. So live in my love. 10 If you obey my commandments, you will live in my love. I have obeyed my Father’s commandments, and in that way I live in his love. 11 I have told you this so that you will be as joyful as I am, and your joy will be complete. 12 L...