Reformation 2022| Romans 3:19-28| Pastor James Preus| Trinity Lutheran Church| October 30, 2022 The greatest task of the Lutheran Reformation was to properly distinguish between the law and the Gospel. If a person does not understand the difference between the law and the Gospel, then he cannot understand the Bible. The law is what…
Feast of St. James of Jerusalem, Brother of Christ and Martyr| Matthew 13:53-58| Pastor James Preus| Trinity Lutheran Church| October 23, 2022 Perhaps the most unpopular statement Jesus ever said was, “Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is…
Trinity 18| Matthew 22:34-46| Pastor James Preus| October 16, 2022 In Matthew chapter 22, Jesus is bombarded with questions from the Pharisees and Sadducees in vain attempts to catch him in his words. Finally, a lawyer from the Pharisee party asks Jesus which is the greatest commandment in the Law. Jesus teaches us that…
Trinity 17| Luke 14:1-11| Pastor James Preus| Trinity Lutheran Church| October 9, 2022 “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath, or not?”, Jesus asks. What kind of a question is this? Why wouldn’t it be lawful to heal on the Sabbath? The question lies in the Third Commandment. God gave Moses the Third…
St. Michael and All Angels (Observed)| Matthew 18:10| Pastor James Preus| Trinity Lutheran Church| October 2, 2022 “See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that in heaven their angels always see the face of my Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 18:10) September 29th is the…
Trinity 15| Matthew 6:24-34| Pastor James Preus| Trinity Lutheran Church| September 25, 2022 “Why does the sun go on shining? Why does the sea rush to shore? Don’t they know it’s the end of the world Cause you don’t love me any more? Why do the birds go on singing? Why do the stars glow…
Trinity 14| Luke 17:11-19| Pastor James Preus| Trinity Lutheran Church| September 18, 2022 It has become common for English speaking Lutherans to refer to their Sunday worship as the Divine Service. This is a translation from the German, Gottesdienst, which literally means, “God’s Service.” Yet, the term God’s Service or Divine Service is a…
Trinity 13| Galatians 3:15-22 (& Luke 10:23-37)| Pastor James Preus| September 11, 2022 Today, I want to teach you two words, so that you can avoid at all costs becoming one of them: legalist and antinomian. A legalist is someone who, claiming to hold a strict interpretation of the law, manipulates the law to…
Trinity 12| Mark 7:31-37| Pastor James Preus| Trinity Lutheran Church| September 4, 2022 “He has done all things well. He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.” In Genesis one, after each thing that God creates, Moses writes, “And God saw that it was good.” At the end of the sixth…
Trinity 11| Luke 18:9-14| Pastor James Preus| Trinity Lutheran Church| August 28, 2022 “For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.” Few statements so succinctly articulate the Christian religion as well as this. But what does it mean to exalt oneself? And what does…