Pastor Leyrer

Sermon text: Luke 23:35-43

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Dear Friends in Christ, Things are not always as they seem.  Appearances can be deceiving.  You can’t judge a book by its cover. We’ve all heard such phrases.  We all know what they mean.  They warn us not to make judgments exclusively on the basis of what something looks like. Those phrases are never more true than where we find ourselves tonight as we continue our Lenten meditations.  Picture the scene. 

Pastor Schroeder

Sermon text: Matthew 20:17-28

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“How are you?”  It’s a question we ask and a question others ask us.  “How are you?”  Even though it is a chance to share how we are really, truly feeling at that very moment, far too often we respond with a far-too-brief answer.  Without even thinking about it, we say “I’m good”—or “I’m well,” depending on our preference for grammar and usage.  We say, “I’m fine” or “I’m OK,” and if the other person hasn’t already walked away, we might turn it back around and ask “How about you?”  And then most often we receive a response like our own and move on to other small talk, after what could have been the single most personal and meaningful conversation we had all day.

Pastor Phil Huebner, Wisconsin Lutheran High School

Sermon text: John 9:1-7,13-17,34-39

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Forcefully and deliberately you blink your eyes. It doesn’t help. That foggy haze won’t seem to go away. No matter how furrowed the brow, no matter how squinted the eyes, you can't seem to focus. You can’t find your way. Stumbling in a stupor of confusion, you feel so lost.

Pastor Bitter

Sermon text: John 4:5-26

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It’s hard to be outside.  Not outside of a building, but outside of a group.  Sadly, it’s something we all experience from time to time.  Maybe it was because of malice, at the hands of a bully in school who seemed to do everything in his power to make sure you were excluded from the group.  Maybe it was circumstantial, and you found yourself in a group where everyone else is from a different culture than yours.  They’re nice enough, but it can be uncomfortable.  Or perhaps you go on social media and you see all the wonderful things everyone else is doing…and your life doesn’t quite seem to measure up.  Or maybe it’s religious when you realize that as a Christian, you are an outsider from the common narrative in society on many issues.  Whatever the case might be, it’s not a particularly pleasant feeling. 

Pastor Schroeder

Sermon text: Matthew 4:1-11

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Today’s gospel reading gives us plenty to talk about, so we will get right into it.  We can start with the very first word:  “Then…”  In our gospel readings lately, we have skipped around a bit in the life of Jesus, so it would be easy for us to lose track of the chronology—the order of things—but we don’t want to do that.  What had just happened in Jesus’ life?  At the end of Matthew chapter 3 was Jesus’ baptism.  He had gone to the Jordan River to be baptized by John, and we are told that when Jesus came up out of the water, the Spirit descended on him like a dove, and God the Father spoke from heaven saying, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”  …