Invocavit Sunday (Lent 1)| Matthew 4:1-11| Pastor James Preus| Trinity Lutheran Church| March 6, 2022 When people think of Satan, they often think of two extremes that are both false. The first extreme is that Satan is a harmless spirit, who couldn’t hurt you if he tried. (This is why many so flippantly play around…
Quinquagesima| Luke 18:31-43| Pastor James Preus| Trinity Lutheran Church| February 27, 2022 Jesus plainly says to his twelve disciples, “See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written about the Son of Man by the prophets will be accomplished. For he will be delivered over to the Gentiles and will be…
Sexagesima Sunday| Luke 8:4-15| Pastor James Preus| Trinity Lutheran Church| February 20, 2022 Jesus does every preacher a great kindness by interpreting this parable for us. The seed, which the sower sows is the Word of God. Yet, we must speak for a minute about the content of that Word. What is the message…
Septuagesima| Matthew 20:1-16| Pastor James Preus| February 13, 2022 In this parable, our Lord Jesus simply teaches us how God rewards his laborers in the kingdom of heaven. You shouldn’t get hung up trying to figure out what the denarius symbolizes, but simply recognize that God does not save us based on our works….
Transfiguration of our Lord| Matthew 17:1-9| Pastor James Preus| Trinity Lutheran Church| February 6, 2022 In the Old Testament, in Deuteronomy chapter 19, God commanded through Moses that no charge should be established except by the evidence of two or three witnesses. No charge was permitted on the evidence of one witness. And this standard…
Epiphany 4| Matthew 8:23-27| Pastor James Preus| Trinity Lutheran Church| January 30, 2022 In 1 Kings 18, the Prophet Elijah challenges the prophets of Baal to determine who the true God is, the LORD or Baal. Each party set up an altar and prepared a bull to be sacrificed, but neither the false prophets…
Epiphany 2| John 2:1-11| Pastor James Preus| Trinity Lutheran Church| January 16, 2022 St. John tells us that there were six stone water jars at this wedding for the Jewish rites of purification. These six stone water jars are a symbol of the Law. They are made of stone. God gave the Ten Commandments…
Baptism of our Lord| Matthew 3:13-17| Pastor James Preus| Trinity Lutheran Church| January 9, 2022 In the Grimm’s fairytale Snow White, the wicked witch tricks Snow White into biting into a poisonous apple. She does this by poisoning only one half of the apple. The witch takes a bite out of the nonpoisonous half…
Luke 2:21| Pastor James Preus| Trinity Lutheran Church| January 2, 2021 And at the end of eight days, when he was circumcised, he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb. The Old Testament Law can be divided into three categories: the moral, the civil, and…
Christmas Eve| Luke 2:10-12| Pastor James Preus| Trinity Lutheran Church| December 24, 2021 10And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy that will be for all the people. 11For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is…