Zion Lutheran Church

Teach Us to Pray
Luke 11:1

[Click the arrow to begin playing the audio file of the sermon.]

There is no printed version of this sermon. We apologize for any inconvenience.

Fake Fellowships and Caring Congregations
Galatians 6:1, 5

[Click the arrow to begin playing the audio file of the sermon.]

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and Jesus Christ, our Savior. Amen.

Do you know what the difference is between a fake fellowship and a caring congregation? One is based on pride, and the other is based on Jesus Christ.

(more…)

Fruit of the Spirit
Galatians 5:22-23

[Click the arrow to begin playing the audio file of the sermon.]

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and Jesus Christ, our Savior. Amen.

I’ve got an apple here. Do you like apples? How many of you like apples? If you don’t like apples, then you’ll have to do me a favor today, and you’ll have to imagine that this apple is your favorite fruit—a banana, a strawberry, or whatever. Now imagine that someone you love walks up and hands you a piece of fruit like this—an apple with a big brown sore where it got bruised, a banana that’s all black and a bit soft, a strawberry that has begun to leak its red juice from a squishy spot. Sometimes we do this to each other. We take not such great fruit and we hand it to each other. (more…)

From Slave to Son
Galatians 4:7

[Click the arrow to begin playing the audio file of the sermon.]

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and Jesus Christ, our Savior. Amen.

The man had been imprisoned for a long time. He was not behind bars, and he was not bound in chains—in fact, people had tried to keep him in shackles and stand guard over him, but with an unhuman strength he would break the chains and escape. And yet, despite every escape, he was still imprisoned, and he could not get away. (more…)

Biggest Loser
Galatians 2:16

[Click the arrow to begin playing the audio file of the sermon.]

The text for this morning’s sermon is from the epistle lesson: “We know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ” (Galatians 2:16 ESV). Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and Jesus Christ, our Savior. Amen.

When you stop and think about it, the church has a lot in common with the television show “Biggest Loser.” (more…)

This Word’s From God
Galatians 1:11-12

[Click the arrow to began playing the audio file of the sermon.]

The text for this morning’s sermon is Galatians 1:11-12: “I would have you know, brothers, that the gospel that was preached by me is not man’s gospel. For I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ” (ESV). Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and Jesus Christ, our Savior. Amen.

I heard the story once of a congregation that purchased each of its newly confirmed teenagers a brand new Bible. The Bibles were beautiful—faux leather cover, gold gilded pages, words of Jesus in red. These were real keepsakes, Bibles the young men and women could treasure for many years to come. (more…)

A Pastor’s Prayer
Ephesians 1:16, 18-19

[Click the arrow to begin playing the audio file of the sermon.]

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and Jesus Christ, our Savior. Amen.

The apostle Paul prayed for his people, and he told them about it. He wrote to the Christians living in Ephesus, “I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which [God] has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might” (Ephesians 1:16, 18-19 ESV). This is a beautiful prayer for people who lived in a city where being Christian was difficult and dangerous. It was, I am sure, a blessing to the people to know that their founding father, the apostle Paul was praying for them. I pray for you as well, as a congregation and individually, but I don’t know that I have ever told you that I pray for you. This morning I want to share with you the prayer of the Apostle Paul for his people and my prayers for you, the people whom God has entrusted to my care.

(more…)

They Have No One
John 5:7

[Click the arrow to begin playing the audio file of the sermon.]

(The audio version of the sermon differs substantially from the print version.)

I tell you what, this wheelchair sure brings back memories. I wish we’d had these in my day. (more…)

Love One Another
John 13:34

[Click the arrow to begin playing the audio file of the sermon.]

The text for this morning’s sermon is John 13:34: Jesus said, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another” (ESV). Grace, mercy, and peace to you through Jesus Christ, our Savior. Amen.

Christ is risen. He is risen indeed. Alleluia!

“Love one another.” Doesn’t that phrase make you feel warm and peaceful? Christ calls us to live in love with one another, just as he loves us. Here in the church, in our families (hopefully), and to a lesser degree here in a small town we (often) experience that feeling of love. We give it to others, and they give it to us, with warm smiles, encouraging handshakes, and—in our families—the safe embraces of hugs. It’s a great feeling to love and to be loved. The question is, why did Jesus tell his disciples—why does Jesus tell us—to love one another as he has loved us? To find that answer, you don’t have to look very far. Ask yourself this: Where are you at your ugliest and meanest—with strangers or with those closest to you? It’s funny, isn’t it? We show our ugly side to the people closest to us, to those whom we love, but we don’t show it as much to strangers. And that is why Jesus commands us to love one another as he has loved us. Because you give offense, you treat your loved ones poorly, you think more highly of yourself than of people sitting around you in the pews. In short, you’ve got a lot of sins, and if the people around you did not bear with your sins and overlook them and forgive them, your ugliness would tear your family and your church apart. As Christ loved you by bearing your sins on the cross, so those around you are to love you by dealing with you patiently despite your sins, and you are to deal with them patiently despite their sins, because this is love.

(more…)

He’s Got You and Me in His Hands
John 10:28

[Click the arrow to begin playing the audio file of the sermon.]

The text for this morning’s sermon is John 10:28: Jesus said, “I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand” (ESV). Grace, mercy, and peace to you through Jesus Christ, our Lord.

Christ is risen. He is risen indeed. Alleluia!

The movie “Fireproof” has a rather suspenseful scene in which the main character, Caleb, leads his fire battalion to the scene of a house fire. As the men stretch out the hoses and put on their gear, Caleb talks to the homeowners, who assure him that everyone is out of the house. Just then, a young lady comes up screaming that she just got off the phone with the daughter, and the daughter is actually still in there. Caleb tells his men, crawls into the smoke and flames, and makes his way to the bedroom, where he finds the young woman passed out on the floor. (more…)