Pastor Bitter

Sermon theme: Romans 4:18-25

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He was used to people looking down on him, and he’d brought it on himself by his choice of career.  The man was a tax collector, and the system was set up in such a way that he was allowed to draw bonuses to his salary from whatever he collected above and beyond the taxes the authorities demanded.  How many times had he succumbed to the temptation to enrich himself?  When Jesus called Matthew to follow, many of the religious leaders of the day were skeptical – why would Jesus choose Matthew as his follower?  Didn’t he want to surround himself with the good people, the righteous people, the ones who did the right things?  Was Matthew really what righteousness looked like? 

Pastor Schroeder

Sermon text: Romans 3:21-26

To some degree, we all know how a legal trial works.  Some of us have been there ourselves, but even if we haven’t, most of us have seen a court case depicted on television or in a movie.  But no matter how much or how little experience we have with court cases, we know that the biggest moment, the most intense point of the whole proceedings, what everything else builds up to, is the announcement of the verdict.  At the time of announcement, the verdict is the only voice that matters. 

Today, as we begin our summer series on Paul’s letter to the Romans, it is no overstatement to say that these are some of the most important verses in the whole book.  Some would go so far as to say that these are some of the most important verses in the whole Bible, which would, in turn, tell us that these are the most important words that human ears can hear.  They are words that teach us about a verdict that has already been announced, and a voice that will one day resound before all humanity as everyone who has ever lived will be gathered for judgment. 

Pastor Bitter

Sermon text: 2 Corinthians 13:11-14

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If the verses of today’s second lesson were the only thing we knew about the Christians living in the ancient city of Corinth, we’d have a far from accurate picture of the church that existed there.  If we were to take the time this morning to read both letters Paul wrote, all 29 chapters of them, you’d see what I mean.  Some of the leaders in Corinth had written Paul, asking for his help with a wide variety of problems, and going down the list seems shocking.  Perhaps at the back of their mind was this question: how can Christian people behave this way? 

Pastor Leyrer

Sermon text: John 16:5-11

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Dear Friends in Christ, Pentecost was originally a major Old Testament Jewish harvest festival that took place fifty days after Passover.  It was a pilgrim festival, meaning devout Jewish believers throughout the world would gather in Jerusalem (as we heard just moments ago in our reading from the Book of Acts).  Old Testament believers most often referred to it as the Feast of Harvest, or the Feast of Weeks.