Posts in Advent

A Sermon for Gaudete on the Stewardship of Closing the Altar by Rev. Evan Scamman

Explanation of Closed Communion on Gaudete Sunday

Advent, Church Fellowship, PreachingDavid PetersenDecember 19, 2023The Office of the Ministry, Closed Communion, Gaudete, Lutheran Sermon, Lutheran Preaching, Advent Preaching Comments

The Lord Is with You Where the Wild Things Are

Because you are ransomed and redeemed by the Lord, reconciled to God, and righteous in His sight through faith in His Word, the roaring lion who is always on the prowl, always seeking to devour you, and the vicious beasts that would destroy you — they are all kept at bay. The wild things cannot harm you, because the Lord is with you. It often may not seem that way at all in your present experience. For here and now, in this body and life on earth, you still suffer harm and heartache, hurts and hungers, death and the grave. But have you not heard? Christ Jesus Himself has also suffered all of these things and more, and everything that you suffer. He has spent His time in the wilderness, where the wild things are.

Advent, SermonRick StuckwischDecember 16, 2023Advent, Gaudete, SermonComment

Singing the Priestly Song of Christ with St. Ambrose

Whether you are a pastor or a parishioner, a priest or a bishop, a deacon or an acolyte, or a member of the choir; whether you are male or female, young or old, rich or poor, married or unmarried, you also sing the Church’s song. With King David and the Levites, with St. Mary and St. Elizabeth, with St. Ambrose, St. Augustine, Dr. Luther, and all the faithful who have gone before us in the Word and faith of the Holy Trinity, you also sing and confess the Lord Jesus in His Holy Church.

Advent, Music, SaintsRick StuckwischDecember 7, 2020Sermon, Advent, Ambrose, Visitation, SingingComment

O Lord, Open My Lips, that My Mouth May Declare Your Praise

It is by the Sacrifice of His Cross that Jesus the Christ, the Lamb of God, bears in His body and takes away the sins of the whole world, as St. John preaches, and as St. John inaugurates by means of his Baptism of repentance. So is the Lamb first offered up in the waters of the Jordan, unto His innocent suffering and death on Good Friday. So does He make full Atonement for all your sins. And it is by virtue of His Sacrifice that you are able to draw near and enter into the Holy Place, and that your prayers are heard and answered by God the Father in heaven. Indeed, your prayers rise before Him as a sweet-smelling incense, because He delights in you in Christ Jesus.

Advent, SermonRick StuckwischNovember 28, 2020Advent, Annunciation of St. John the Baptist, Incense Offering, ZachariasComment

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