Reminiscere Sunday (Lent 2)| Matthew 15:21-28| Pastor James Preus| February 25, 2024 Last week, our greatest enemy Satan pretended to be a friend. He offered Jesus food, the help of angels, and the kingdoms of the world and their glory. Yet, it was an attempt to destroy Jesus and us. This week, our greatest…
Invocative Sunday (Lent 1)| Matthew 4:1-11| Trampling Satan| Pastor James Preus In 1 Samuel chapter 17 a hefty wager is made on a strange battle. Goliath the Philistine giant made a wager with the Israelite army. He would fight any of them. If an Israelite soldier could defeat him, then the Philistine army would…
Quinquagesima Sunday| Luke 18:31-43| Pastor James Preus| February 11, 2024 There is a false teaching, which states that you must make a decision for Jesus in order to make Him your Lord and Savior. It is called Decision Theology. At first it sounds good, because of course you should believe in Jesus as your…
Epistle: 1 Corinthians 9:24-10:5 24 Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. 25 Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. 26 So I do not run aimlessly;…
Transfiguration Sunday| Matthew 17:1-9| Pastor James Preus| January 21, 2024 Those who profess to be Christians, but do not go to church will often say, “But I pray a lot.” And that’s good. Every Christian should pray. But what is prayer? Prayer is speaking to God in faith. As Jesus teaches us to pray…
Epiphany 2| John 2:1-11| Pastor James Preus| Trinity Lutheran Church| January 14, 2024 The overarching theme of Christmas, obviously, is the incarnation of Christ, that God became a man in human flesh. Epiphany means manifestation, that is, that Christ shows Himself to us. Our Gospel lesson concludes, “And He manifested His glory and His…
Epiphany (Observed)|Matthew 2:1-12| Pastor James Preus| January 7, 2024 Unless the angel heralded the news, the shepherds would have never known that their Lord and Savior was born in Bethlehem. If you put a lamp under a basket, its light will not illuminate the room. And without Epiphany, the miracle of Christmas remains hidden…
Christmas Day 2023| John 1:1-14| Pastor James Preus| Trinity Lutheran Church The Christmas story we are all familiar with comes from the Gospels of Matthew and Luke. Matthew and Luke detail the nativity of Christ with remarkable care, both in the events as they happened as well as the theological significance of them. Matthew…
Advent 3| Matthew 11:2-10| Pastor James Preus| Trinity Lutheran Church| December 17, 2023 “And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.” People who are quickly offended are difficult to live with. It can make you feel like you’re walking on egg shells trying to navigate around people, who might get offended…
Advent 2| Romans 15:4-7| Pastor James Preus| Trinity Lutheran Church| December 10, 2023 “For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through the endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.” St. Paul tells us that the Holy Scriptures were written for our instruction. It…