The lutheransermons's Podcast

Sermon for All Saints‘ Sunday - November 7, 2021

Sermon for All Saints' Sunday, based on:

Revelation 7:2-17

1 John 3:1-3

Matthew 5:1-12

Sermon originally delivered November 4, 2012

Preparing for Worship - November 7, 2021

The readings for this weekend are for All Saints Sunday, which many churches will observe this weekend, though the actual All Saints Day was Monday. November 1.

In place of an Old Testament reading, this week is a reading from Revelation 7:(2-8) 9-17. This is a vision that the apostle John saw of the saints in heaven - people from every nation and background, worshiping and singing praises to God. They wear white robes, washed in the blood of the Lamb, Jesus, their Shepherd. Through Him they are forgiven and holy and have eternal joy in the presence of the Lord.

The Psalm is Psalm 149. Again we see the children of God singing praises to the Lord, for He has “adorned the humble with salvation” - those who praise His Name and will be victorious with Him, their King, on the Day of Judgment.

The Epistle is from 1 John 3:1-3. John speaks of the great love the Father has given to us by making us His children through true knowledge of and trust in Jesus. Through Him we are purified and will one day “see Him as He is” in eternal glory.

The Gospel lesson is from Matthew 5:1-12. This is the beginning of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, the beatitudes, where He speaks of the blessings He brings. We can only receive from Him, since we are spiritually poor and meek and mourn over our sins and can only hunger and thirst for His righteousness and mercy for us. Jesus gives us His mercy, through His sacrifice for us, and makes us children of the kingdom of heaven. In the future, He will give us even more of His blessings, as we trust in Him - though now we will face persecution and evil.

Bible Study on 2 Thessalonians - Part 4 2 Thessalonians 3:6-18

Last week we heard Paul again emphasizing the faithfulness of God to the believers at Thessalonica. He had established this church and given them so many gifts and would guard them against the evil one. In turn, they were to hold fast to what had been handed down to them, the very Word of God, in which God would direct them especially to His love and the steadfastness of Christ and to thank Him with their good words and works in everyday life. Paul also asked them to pray for him and his fellow workers, that this Good News of Jesus would “speed ahead” to many other people through their witness.

Then, in 2 Thess. 3:6, Paul returned to a concern he had already raised in his first letter - that some people were living in a disorderly way, especially in being idle and not working and supporting themselves and others when they could do so. (See 1 Thess. 4:11 and 5:14.) Paul must have heard that this problem was continuing among some and may have been because of the idea that “the day of the Lord had already come”
(2 Thess. 2:2) or would come so soon that they might as well just quit their jobs and whatever else they were doing and just sit and wait for Jesus.

Remember that the Greek word for “idleness” was a military word which meant “getting out of line,” not marching in step, and even ”deserting one’s post” or place of responsibility. Paul called such disorderly conduct, such “idleness," “not in accord with the tradition that you received from us.” Here he was clearly speaking of God’s Word, not just a human tradition, since he said, “We command you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you keep away from any brother who is walking in idleness.”

Paul then used himself as an example, calling upon the Thessalonians to “imitate” him and his fellow workers (2 Thess. 3:6-9). Paul’s previous job was as a tentmaker, and he went on remind the people that he was not “idle” but had worked at this job or another the whole time he was in Thessalonica. The same was true of Timothy and Silvanus, so that none of them would be a burden on the people they were reaching out to with God’s Word.

Paul made it clear that they had the right to ask for help and support. (See v.9 and 1 Corinthians 9:9-12,18 and 1 Timothy 5:18, for example. Paul often welcome and received such support.) In this case, though, he and the others chose to work hard, to set an example for the Thessalonians and to show that the Gospel is “free” and they were not preaching for profit or out of greed, for themselves (1 Thess. 2:5).

Paul also wanted to show that he tried to practice what he preached: “If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat” (2. Thess. 3:10). Some in the church at Thessalonica were not listening, though, and were “walking in idleness, not busy at work, but busybodies,” bothering and interfering with lives of others and doing nothing useful for themselves or others (v.11). (See a similar situation and the concern of Paul in 1Timothy
5:13.) Paul then “commanded” and “encouraged in the Lord Jesus Christ” such idle persons to “work quietly and to earn their own living” (literally, “to eat their own bread”) without expecting others to take care of these and their needs. (See what Paul had already said in 1 Thess. 4:11-12, with similar words.)

Obviously, other Scriptures also recognize that not everyone can or must work for pay. Some have illnesses or disabilities or problems of many kinds. Others are elderly or infants and children and cannot work and support themselves. The Scriptures say much about the need to help the widows and orphans, the poor and the needy, and others who cannot help themselves. A parent staying home and caring for children, and a spouse caring for home duties or helping other family, a student and many others are all doing plenty of “work” without being paid, too.

Paul was not trying to put an unnecessary “guilt trip” on people. So he added, “As for you, brothers, do not grow weary in doing good.” Every Christian has callings, vocations, in life and can do good in a whole variety of ways. Keep doing what you can, Paul was saying, for yourself and others, even if it is very limited. We don’t have to do spectacular things. “Work quietly,” Paul wrote. An elderly person who just prays is still doing much good. Keep doing what you can until the very moment Christ returns. Just don’t be lazy and idle and be a “deserter” about what you can do, until He returns.

In closing, Paul spoke once again about “taking note of an ‘idler’ and having nothing to do with him, that he may be ashamed. Do not regard him as an enemy, but warn him as a brother.” The goal of any “warning” or use of God’s Law is to wake a person up to realizing wrongdoing and to call him or her back to the right and better way, according to God’s Word. We need to try to treat each other as “brothers” in Christ, Paul said, as we all fail at  times and need warnings about various things to wake us up to repentance, too. See, for example, Galatians 6:1-2. And thank the Lord that He is willing to forgive and lift us up, too.

We could do another whole study on what “having nothing to do with” someone might mean. Jesus gave us direction for discipline in the church in Matthew 18:15-18. The last step is removing someone entirely from the church, though even then, the hope and prayer is that the person would repent and be restored to the church. You can find examples of that in 1 Corinthians 5, with gross immorality, and Romans 16:17-18, where false doctrine is harming and leading others astray, away from the Lord.

In this 2 Thess. situation, though, Paul still seemed to be at an earlier stage of warning people, while still treating them as brothers in the faith. Notice in the final verses of this letter, Paul twice said, “The Lord be with you all” - with everyone, including those who were weak and struggling in some way. That means that we are included, too, even in our own low moments in life (2 Thess. 3:16,18).

Paul ended this letter with a prayer that “the Lord of peace” would give the Thessalonian believers “peace at all times in every way” (2 Thess. 3:16). We may not seem to see and feel that peace, but it is the promise of God and the way God looks at us through Christ, as we trust Him. See the words of Jesus in John 14:25-27 and Paul’s words in Romans 5:1 and Philippians 4:6-7 and many other places. All this comes through “the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ,” the love and favor and forgiveness that Jesus earned and gives to us, though we do not deserve any of it (2 Thess. 3:18).

Paul added one more special note to this letter. He signed it in his own hand (2 Thess. 3:17). This was the way he wrote, so that there would be no question about whether this letter was genuinely from him.(Remember the rumors mentioned in 2 Thess. 2:2. We are told in other places that sometimes Paul dictated his letters to other Christian leaders, who actually wrote them down for him. God guided this whole process, though, so that we have exactly what He wanted written down and have all the letters He wanted to have preserved for us. See also Colossians 4:18 and 1 Corinthians 16:21, where Paul indicated that he signed those letters in the same way.)

Next week, we will move on to another portion of Scripture - possibly to the passages in the Gospels that tell of the birth of Christ, since we are now only three weeks away from the beginning of the Advent/Christmas season, where we focus on the specific first coming of Jesus, as God and man, into our world. Best wishes in Christ to you all.

Sermon for Reformation Sunday - October 31, 2021

Sermon for Reformation Sunday, based on:

Revelation 14:6-7

Romans 3:19-28

John 8:31-36

Sermon originally delivered October 31, 2010

Preparing for Worship - October 31, 2021

October 31 is now Halloween; but in the Lutheran church, it is the 504th anniversary of the beginning of the Lutheran Reformation, when Martin Luther posted on a church door (the "internet" in those days) in Germany 95 Theses, statements about church beliefs that he thought ought to be discussed. Eventually, out of that discussion came the Lutheran church. The Scriptural readings for this Sunday help us reflect on some of the key Biblical ideas that Lutherans emphasize.

The first lesson is not from the Old Testament, but from the last book of the New Testament, Revelation 14:6-7. Here is a prophecy of an “angel” (a messenger) proclaiming an “eternal Gospel” to everyone on earth. “Worship” must be in God and His Word, not based on the ideas of human beings. Only then, trusting that Word from God, are we ready for the return of the Lord and the “Day of Judgment.”

The Psalm is Psalm 46, which reminds us that “God is our Refuge and Strength, a very present Help” in all the troubles and challenges we face in our lives. He is with us and like a “fortress” for us, helping us to deal with all our fears, as we trust in Him. This psalm was a great inspiration for Luther in writing his hymn, “A Mighty Fortress is our God.”

The Epistle lesson is Romans 3:19-28, a key passage that helped Luther and helps us to understand that we can never be justified, acceptable and right with God, by our own efforts to do enough good to please God. Instead, the Law of God “shuts our mouths” and shows us what sinners we really are. It was Jesus Who was perfectly good and righteous in our place and Who redeemed us by paying for all our sins on the cross. We are justified simply “by faith in Jesus, apart from works” that we have done to keep the Law.

There are two choices for the Gospel lesson. The first is John 8:31-36. Jesus told believers, “If you abide in My Word, you are truly My disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth shall set you free.” Jesus was speaking of slavery to sin and the condemnation for sin, a problem for everyone, from which only Jesus could set people free. He is “the Way and the Truth and the Life” (John 14:6); and only through “faith in Him” are people “free indeed” and heirs of eternal life.

The other Gospel reading is from Matthew 11:12-19. Jesus is speaking here, too, and says that those in “the kingdom of heaven” by faith, while still here on earth, often “suffer violence.” It was true for John the Baptist and is true for Jesus, also, because people are often like selfish children, wanting what they want instead of what God wants for them in John and especially in Christ. But the “wisdom of God” would ultimately show itself and be “justified” (shown to be true) in the saving work of Jesus. Jesus Himself is later called “the Power of God and the Wisdom of God” (1 Corinthians 1:24).

All these are truths we still try to proclaim to the world, as Lutherans.

Bible Study on 2 Thessalonians - Part 3 2 Thessalonians 2:13-3:5

Last week, we heard warnings about Satan and his continuing desire to draw people away from Jesus and the truth about Him as our Savior. Satan often uses people who are forces for evil, sometimes called “antichrists” or “antichrist” or in 2 Thessalonians, “the man of lawlessness” or just “lawlessness.”

In spite of all this, Paul went on to give strong encouragement to the believers in Thessalonica, in 2 Thess. 2:13-15. He said for the third time in these two short letters, “We ought always to give thanks to God for you.” (See also 1 Thess. 1:2 and 2 Thess. 1:3.) God is and must be thanked because of all that He has been doing for these believers, to bring them to faith and to keep them in that faith in Him.

Paul piled up the words, describing the blessings God had given them to help them deal with the challenges they faced. God “dearly loved” them. God “chose” them, as some of the first people (“firstfruits” of God’s work) to be “saved” (rescued by God). God had “sanctified” them through the Holy Spirit. They were forgiven and counted as holy people, acceptable to God, “by the Spirit,” as they were also brought to “belief in the truth” of Jesus and His perfect life and saving work, credited to them. To this belief, centered in the “Lord Jesus Christ,” God Himself “called” them, “through the Gospel” that Paul and Silvanus and Timothy preached. Through trust in this Good News, the believers in Thessalonica would one day be able to be with Christ in “glory” in eternal life. (Notice that everything that Paul mentioned in v. 13-14 was Christ's work and doing for them. None of it was earned or deserved by any of them. It was all the gift of God.)

In verse 15, Paul called upon the believers in Thessalonica to “stand firm” in their faith and to “hold to what they were taught” by the “words spoken” or the “letters written” by Paul and the others. Paul used here the word “traditions” which simply means the “teachings handed down” by God to the prophets and apostles, including Paul, and then handed down by them to others.

In this passage Paul was clearly talking about the Word of God itself that Paul shared with others. Remember what He had said in 1 Thessalonians 2:13 - that what he spoke and wrote was “really the true Word of God” and not “the word of men.” (See 1 Corinthians 11:2,23 and 15:3 and Hebrews 2:3, where “things handed down” were also the Word of God. In fact, all of the Scriptures are “God-breathed” and come from God and are delivered to us through these prophets and apostles. See 2 Timothy 3:14-17 and John 8:31-32 and 17:14-17, for example.)

At the same time, the Scriptures also warn about “traditions” handed on from generation to generation  that are simply "words of men” and did not come from God and even contradict what God says in the Scriptures He gave us. (See the discussion of Jesus with the Jewish religious authorities in Mark 7:1-12.) Frankly, many of the differences among various religious denominations and groups come from people adding traditions, “words of men," to the Word of God, or from people using “words of men” to reject Scriptures they do not like, and then insisting that others must do what they do to have the real “truth.”

Scripture does not “contain” the Word, and then we have to figure out what is “true” and what is not. Scripture is entirely the Word of God; and conservative Lutherans say it is ”the only rule and norm according to which all doctrines and teachers alike must be appraised and judged.” (See Psalm 119:105 and Galatians 1:8, for example.) “Other writings of ancient and modern teachers, whatever their names, should not be put on a par with Holy Scriptures. Every single one of them should be subordinated to the Scriptures.” This includes Martin Luther or Popes or Church Councils or any particular pastors, including the one who is writing this today. You should always compare what is said with what the Scriptures say.

One last thought: most churches do have certain human “traditions” that they follow. That is OK, as long as these traditions do not contradict Scripture and as long as we do not make these traditions into new “Laws” that everyone must follow or they are doing wrong, as if these human ideas were clearly taught and commanded in Scripture.

As he sometimes did, Paul then stopped and offered a prayer at this point in his letter, 2 Thess.2:16-17, that God the Father and God the Son (together with God the Holy Spirit) would bring “comfort to the hearts” of the believers in Thessalonica  and “establish” them in doing all sorts of “good works” and in speaking “good words.” Again, Paul prays that these believers would be enabled to use good words and do good works in order to thank God for His good gifts and honor Him and be useful people and help others in this life. They are not to do good works thinking they will earn God’s favor and be able to attain salvation, as a result. Earlier in this prayer Paul had affirmed that God already “loved” all believers and had given them (and us) “good hope” for their future and even “eternal comfort” for their future after this life “through His grace.” All this is through His good news and mercy and favor toward us, given as a gift. It does not need to be earned.

As 2 Thess. 3 begins, Paul asked the Thessalonian believers to pray for him and his fellow workers, too. First, he needed their prayers “that the Word of the Lord would speed ahead (literally, “run”) and be honored by more people as they heard that Word. (v.1) Paul knew that the Word had power and was “living and active” (Hebrews 4:12), because the Holy Spirit was at work, whenever that Word was used.

Paul had seen the power of the Word in the short time he had to speak it to the people at Thessalonica (1 Thess. 1:4-7). “It happened among you,” he reminded them. Paul also needed prayer because of continuing trouble “from wicked and evil men” who opposed him sharing it with others because they did not “have faith.” He need to be “delivered” from such people. Also, the evident fact that “not all have faith” was a clear indication that many more people needed to hear the Good News of Christ. But, Paul said, “the Lord is faithful” (2 Thess. 3:2-3).

The Lord would be faithful in helping Paul and Silvanus and Timothy in their work; and He would be faithful to the Thessalonian believers in their struggles, too. The Lord “will establish you and guard you against evil and the evil one.” Paul had confidence that this would happen because he had confidence in the Lord and His promises. Paul was confident that the Lord would also lead the believers to keep on doing the things Paul commanded them to do. (We will hear more about this and what he wants to have happen, next week, as Paul closed this letter (2 Thess. 3:3-4). 

All this will happen, Paul said, as “the Lord kept directing their hearts to the love of God and the steadfastness (the patient endurance) of Christ in His dealings with them and others (2 Thess. 3:5). (May our own study of the Word help us to see more clearly God’s love and Christ’s steadfastness toward us, too. He is also faithful to us. And may we, too, pray that the Word of God will reach more and more people these days, as well. For certainly, it is still very true that “not all have faith.”

Sermon for the 22nd Sunday after Pentecost - October 24, 2021

Sermon for the 22nd Sunday after Pentecost, based on:

Jeremiah 31:7-9

Hebrews 7:23-28

Mark 10:46-52 

Sermon originally delivered October 28, 2012

Preparing for Worship - October 24, 2021

Jeremiah, the weeping prophet, has Good News for his people in Jeremiah 31:7-9. After the weeping and sorrows of exile in Babylon, because of their sin and rebellion, God will bring a remnant of His people back to Israel in joy. He will be like a shepherd to them, and ransom and redeem them from hands too strong for them. Read also v.10-11.

The Psalm, Psalm 126, is a psalm of joy at the return of God’s people to their homeland after the exile, as God had promised through Jeremiah. “The Lord has done great things for them.” At the same time, there are still sorrows and troubles, even in Israel, and the people need to keep praying, “Restore our fortunes, O Lord.”

In the Gospel lesson, Mark 10:46-52, Jesus shows that He is that promised Shepherd for His sheep. He even gathers in a “blind beggar," as predicted in the Old Testament lesson. Jesus heals the man physically, so that he can see again, but also heals him spiritually, so that he follows Jesus in faith and salvation.

The Epistle lesson, Hebrews 7:23-28, explains why Jesus could be the Savior of people. He was a sinless high priest who offered Himself up once for all, like a perfect sacrificial Lamb, in payment for the sins of all people by His death on the cross. He also rose from the dead and continues alive forever in order to intercede on behalf of all those who draw near to God through Him. Through Him, they (and we) are helped and saved.

Bible Study on 2 Thessalonians - Part 2 2 Thessalonians 2:1-12

Last week, we studied 2 Thessalonians 1 and heard Paul reassuring the people of the Thessalonian church that their eternal future was secure, whenever Jesus returned, as they continued to trust not in themselves and their goodness and efforts, but in the grace of God and what He had already done for them in Christ Jesus their Savior. In contrast, those who lived and died without faith, apart from Christ, would continue always apart from God and all His blessings in Christ.

As Chapter 2 begins, Paul spoke about “the coming or our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to Him.” Apparently, some people were confused and thought that Jesus had already come back again and they had somehow missed Him. Some may have thought that they had received a direct message from some sort of “spirit” who told them this. Others may have have heard this from someone claiming to be a Christian disciple like Paul. Still others may have heard this from a letter claiming to be from Paul and yet which was not genuine or true (2 Thess. 2:1-2).

Paul told the Thessalonians “not be be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed" by such messages. “Let no one deceive you in any way,” he said. The return of Christ has not yet come, and “That day will not come” until other things have taken place (v.3). Paul also reminded the people that when he had been with them before, he had told them “these things” (v.5). There would be “rebellion” against God and “the man of lawlessness, the son of destruction” would be revealed. This one would “oppose and exalt himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God” (v.3-4).

Something was “restraining him," this evil one, at the time Paul wrote. However, “the mystery of lawlessness” was already at work in the world (v.6-7). All of this seems to be a reference to the work of sin and Satan in what are called in other places “antichrists” - people rejecting Christ Jesus and God’s plan of salvation through Him, revealed in God’s Word.

Such opposition to God and His will was prophesied in the Old Testament and in the rebellion of many of God’s own chosen people against Him. See passages in Ezekiel and in Daniel, for example. (See Daniel 7:23-27, 8:23-25, 9:27, 11: 31,36-37, 12:11, etc. If you want to study this more, go back in the podcasts to the study of Daniel and see comments there.)

Jesus also had predicted such troubled times ahead and opposition to Him and His Gospel. See Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43, where there are predictions of weeds being planted among wheat, where Satan will try to do his evil work among believers. See also the predictions in Matthew 24:4-5,15-16,24-25. Paul was likely quoting from Jesus in 2 Thess. 2:2-3, for he uses some of the same words that Jesus uses in Matt. 24. See predictions that the Apostle John also made in 1 John 2:18-20 and 4:1-6, about “antichrists” and “antichrist” and “false prophets."

Go back to 2 Thess. 2:6-7 now. We do not know just what Paul meant by someone or something “restraining” the lawlessness for a time. Some think it was the power and control of the Roman Empire, until it collapsed. The Romans persecuted Christians at times and were very opposed to them. The Romans also did some good, too, with good roads and some peace and stability in the Empire, allowing Christianity to spread to many places, through the witness of Christian people about Jesus and His Word.

In the Dark Ages and Medieval times that followed, much power became concentrated in the Roman Catholic Church in the Western world. Popes grew in power and many traditions and new teachings were added that went far beyond Scripture and contradicted the Biblical teaching of salvation through Jesus and what He did for us. By 1302, Pope Boniface VIII declared in Unam Sanctam that “It is altogether necessary to salvation for every human creature to be subject to the Roman pontiff” (the Pope). One could not be saved without following what the Pope said, whether it agreed with Scripture or not.

By the time of the Reformation in the 1500’s, Luther and others concluded that the Office of the Papacy (the Pope) sounded a lot like what Paul warned about in 2 Thess. 2:4: “he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself” almost “to be God” and taking on powers that belong only to God and making laws and decrees that are not Scriptural and making salvation dependent upon our works, in addition to the grace of God.  

Since that time, there have been changes in the Roman Church, but still concerns about mixing faith and works as the means of salvation and about other teachings. Sadly, some Lutherans and other Protestant groups have drifted away from God’s Word, too. Note what Paul warned about in 2 Thess. 2:8-12, as well, in describing this “lawlessness." “Sin is lawlessness,” John wrote (1 John 3:4). This does not refer to breaking the laws of our government, though that can also be sin. This passage refers to breaking any of the laws and will of God and anything God tells us and wishes for us in the Scriptures.

The one behind all lawlessness is Satan himself. Jesus said to those who opposed Him, ”You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and has nothing to do with the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies. But because I tell the truth, you do not believe Me” (John 8:44-45).
Satan wants to keep unbelievers in unbelief and draw believers away from the truth of God and His Word and from Jesus and pull them into error and unbelief.

Paul put it this way: The coming of the lawlessness is by the activity of Satan, “with false signs and wonders and all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved” (2 Thess. 2:9-10). Paul also gave the sober warning that if people “do not believe the truth but have pleasure in unrighteousness," they can eventually have “strong delusion” and really “believe what is false,” ending up in “condemnation” (2 Thess. 2:11-12).

Other Scriptures warn about the same dangers. See Romans 1:18-32. People “suppress” the truth of God and His Word and begin to “worship and serve things in the created world, rather than the Creator.” Over time, “they become futile in their thinking," though, “claiming to be wise.” They “do what ought not to be done.” (Here is one of the strongest Biblical condemnations of homosexual behavior, with its possible consequences. But, if you read on, Paul mentions “all manner of unrighteousness," and all of us can find our own sins and struggles in the list, for which we too need to repent and return to our Lord for His mercy and forgiveness. Verse 32 warns that if we follow down the wrong path, away from our Lord, we continue to do much wrong and even “approve of those who practice” the wrong things. Doesn’t that sound too much like our own society today?)

See 2 Corinthians 4:3-4 to see what Satan and “the man of lawlessness” want to do - to blind people to the truth and try to pull them away from God. But read also what God continues to do, in 2 Corinthians 4:1-2 and 5-6. God provides His Word, and the Holy Spirit working through that Word, to give us the truth, as we keep reading and studying it, as we are doing right now. And He provides teachers like Paul, “who proclaim not themselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord,” with the eternal “light” He brings us, “out of the darkness.”
   As we go back to 2 Thess. 2, then, remember what Paul also said in v.8. The "lawless one will be revealed,” but Jesus has already won the ultimate victory for us, as our Savior, and when He returns on the last day, He will “kill” all this evil “with the breath of His mouth” and “bring it to nothing” and “gather” us and all believers, living and dead, to Himself in everlasting life and joy (v.1 and 1 Thess. 4:16-18). That is our hope and confidence in Christ.

Sermon for the 21st Sunday after Pentecost - October 17, 2021

Sermon for the 21st Sunday after Pentecost, based on:

Ecclesiastes 5:10-20

Hebrews 4:1-16

Mark 10:23-31

Sermon originally delivered October 21, 2012