Trinity 6| Romans 6:1-2; Matthews 5:20| Pastor James Preus| Trinity Lutheran Church| July 27, 2025 “What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound?” Of course not! But why does Paul ask such a question? To answer that, we need to zoom out a bit for context. The…
Wittenberg Retreat Matins John 21:1-14 Pastor James Preus April 25, 2025 Our text for today in John 21, where Jesus appears to His disciples for the third time since His resurrection from the dead bears a striking resemblance to when Jesus first called Peter and the other disciples into ministry back in Luke chapter…
Matthew 16:13-19 (Acts 15:1-12; Galatians 2:1-10)| Pastor James Preus| Trinity Lutheran Church| June 29, 2025 The Feast of St. Peter and St. Paul is one of the oldest feast days in the church. The early church records that St. Peter and St. Paul were executed in Rome under Emperor Nero on the same day,…
Trinity 1| Luke 16:19-31| Pastor James Preus| Trinity Lutheran Church| June 22, 2025 Jesus’ story about the rich man and the poor man Lazarus teaches us four important lessons, which are taught throughout Scripture. First, heaven and hell are real. And everyone will go to either heaven or hell when he dies and will…
Trinity Sunday| John 3:1-15| Pastor James Preus| Trinity Lutheran Church| June 15, 2025 Is Baptism Law or Gospel? The conflict about Baptism among Christians centers around this question. The Bible is divided into two fundamental teachings: The Law and the Gospel. The Law is what God commands of us, summarized in the Ten Commandments….
Pentecost 2018| John 14:13-31| Acts 2:1-24| Pastor James Preus| Trinity Lutheran Church| May 20, 2018 When you think of Pentecost, what do you think of? A rushing wind? Tongues of fire dancing on the heads of Christ’s disciples? Uneducated Galileans speaking in languages they’ve never learned? Yes, these things did indeed happen on that…
Rogate Sermon| John 16:23-30| Praying in Jesus’ Name| Pastor James Preus| Trinity Lutheran Church In our Gospel lesson, Jesus commands His disciples to pray. We pray to God for two reasons. First, God commands us to pray to Him. Second, God promises to hear us and to answer us. Martin Luther explains the conclusion…
Cantate Sunday (Confirmation)| John 16:5-15| Pastor James Preus| Trinity Lutheran Church| May 18, 2025 It is common for people to speak about God without specifying which god they mean. But not all gods are the same. The god worshipped in Islam, Hinduism, and Judaism did not send Jesus Christ to die for our sins….
Jubilate Sunday| John 16:16-23| Pastor James Preus| Trinity Lutheran Church| May 11, 2025 “When a woman is giving birth, she has sorrow because her hour has come, but when she has delivered the baby, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world.” Jesus tells…
Rev. Rolf Preus| May 4, 2025| Trinity Lutheran Church, Ottumwa Iowa| John 10:11-16 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep. But a hireling, he who is not the shepherd, one who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees; and…