http://www.lutheranforum.org daily 1 2007-08-15T18:07:56Z http://www.lutheranforum.org/sermons/sermon-of-straw-13 James seems to give us a sure-fire guaranteed method for health using oil, which was the medicine of the day. Jesus has a radically different solution for our problems, and his solution involves the use of a well-oiled chain saw... No publisher Nicholas Hopman sermons 2008-11-10T16:44:58Z News Item http://www.lutheranforum.org/sermons/sermon-of-straw-12 One of the things I enjoy most about my annual vacation is worshiping with other congregations. I feel kind of like a homemaker who, after planning, preparing and serving family meals day after day, welcomes the chance to go out and enjoy a meal planned, prepared and served by someone else... No publisher Peter Lisinski sermons 2008-10-03T03:45:41Z News Item http://www.lutheranforum.org/sermons/sermon-of-straw-11 Today James tells us perhaps the most obvious fact in the world. Words have power. Indeed let me say it again. Our words have power! Today James wants us to do more than to recognize the obvious. James wants us to pay attention to the obvious. Both how we speak and what we have to say has tremendous power to heal or to destroy. As tiny as the human tongue is, it can be a lethal weapon or a skilled tool for building people up and even restoring them. James reminds us that we Christians are not our own. We belong to God... No publisher Samuel D. Zumwalt sermons 2008-10-03T03:02:19Z News Item http://www.lutheranforum.org/sermons/sermon-of-straw-10 My wife and I have a friend from our seminary days whose mother kept telling as she grew up, “You’re going to marry a pastor.” The young woman kind of scoffed at the idea— nothing wrong with pastors, you see, but being married to one, that was a different story. She went off to college, and she met a man, and she married him—and the guy wasn’t even a Lutheran! Here she was, her life in her hands, and her mother’s predictions proven false. Then life threw her a curve ball—or maybe her husband pitched it, or maybe even God himself... No publisher David Loy sermons 2008-10-03T03:47:00Z News Item http://www.lutheranforum.org/sermons/sermon-of-straw-9 The second lesson for the past few weeks has come from the letter of James, the brother of Jesus, an often overlooked gem of the New Testament. In today’s text, he continues to write very practical words about the struggles that we Christians face as we seek to live as God would have us live, and as we want to live. One particular verse here is on my heart this morning, verse 16 of chapter 5: “Confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, so that you may be healed.”... No publisher Richard O. Johnson sermons 2008-10-03T03:03:39Z News Item http://www.lutheranforum.org/sermons/sermon-of-straw-8 In his epistle, St. James writes: "What good is it...if you say you have faith but do not have works? Can faith save you?...[F]aith by itself, if it has no works, is dead. (2:14,17)" And as Lutherans we respond and say: "Whoa, now! Wait a minute there!" That doesn't sound like what we have been taught; I thought we were saved by faith... No publisher Peter C. Jacobson sermons 2008-10-03T03:48:10Z News Item http://www.lutheranforum.org/sermons/sermon-of-straw-7 Have your ever visited a foreign culture? Have you ever had that experience of being the one that doesn’t know the language and customs of another people? It can be quite uncomfortable. You look for a friendly face. You listen for one familiar voice. You look for someone that can translate for you and make the strange intelligible... No publisher Samuel D. Zumwalt sermons 2008-10-03T02:44:14Z News Item http://www.lutheranforum.org/sermons/copy_of_sermon-of-straw-6 Remember Rosa Parks? She is the African-American woman known for staying in her seat in a Montgomery, Alabama bus in 1955 when the bus driver moved the “Colored Section” sign to accommodate white passengers. African-Americans had long been relegated to a sort of second-class status. Our culture and our laws were set up to remind them of their status, and where they could sit was a big part of it. Where you sat said something about your status back then. Sitting up front meant you had higher status. Sitting in the back meant you had lower status. The same was true in the ancient world... No publisher David Loy sermons 2008-09-11T18:33:09Z News Item http://www.lutheranforum.org/sermons/sermon-of-straw-5 Several years ago the Sacramento Bee told a story about Marvin, a homeless man who lived wherever he could along the Sacramento River. He was about 45 at the time, an alcoholic, dirty, destitute—not exactly, he would admit, a model citizen. One afternoon he was hanging around the edges of a street fair downtown when he noticed a young boy sitting alone on the grass. He was about four years old, and Marvin thought he looked a little overwhelmed. Marvin watched him for a long time, and gradually came to the realization that this boy didn’t seem to have any adult connected to him... No publisher Richard O. Johnson sermons 2008-09-03T17:59:59Z News Item http://www.lutheranforum.org/sermons/sermon-of-straw-4 How grateful are you? That’s what the apostle James is asking us today. Are you grateful enough to do more than listen to God? Are you actually grateful enough to do something about what you have heard?... No publisher Samuel D. Zumwalt sermons 2008-09-03T17:51:47Z News Item http://www.lutheranforum.org/sermons/sermon-of-straw-3 You are not saved by doing good works, but He who saves you through His Word calls you to do good works. You are not saved by refraining from sin in your life, but He who saves you through His Word calls you to refrain from sin in your life. “Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you” (James 1:21 NIV). Christ gave his life to save us from sin, and he rose from the dead to give us new lives. We Christians are stewards of the salvation he won for us... No publisher David Loy sermons 2008-09-03T17:42:37Z News Item http://www.lutheranforum.org/sermons/sermon-of-straw-2 Channel-surfing a few days ago, I came upon one of those so-called “infomercials.” This one had nothing to do with diets, psychics, or get-rich-quick schemes. No, it was none other than Charlton Heston, peddling membership in the National Rifle Association, of which he is the current president. His pitch was interspersed with pictures of NRA rallies showing happy gun owners carrying picket signs with messages like: “More Guns—Less Crime” and “An Armed America Is a Safe America.” As a special introductory offer, new members would receive (honestly, I’m not making this up) a silver bullet, engraved with Mr. Heston’s personal autograph!... No publisher Peter Lisinski sermons 2008-08-04T03:35:47Z News Item http://www.lutheranforum.org/sermons/sermon-of-straw-1 Have you ever been in a place where you don’t belong and the people there let you know it? I had that experience at a local men’s clothing store. I went to the store on my day off (which means I didn’t shave), my pants were very casual (the ones I wear to mow the lawn), and I was wearing one of my favorites shirts (Ronald Reagan was president when I bought it). I thought I looked okay, but the sales staff did not approve of my scruffy face, my worn-out pants, and my old shirt. The sales staff gave me that what-are-you-doing-here? look, and they asked if they could help me, making it obvious that the last thing they wanted to do was help anyone as shabby as me... No publisher Jonathan Jenkins sermons 2008-08-04T03:34:37Z News Item http://www.lutheranforum.org/sermons/there-will-be-blood “Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus.” St. Paul urges us to think in a certain way: with the mind of Christ. We are to shape our lives by the saving story of Jesus, which Paul describes today using an early Christian hymn. It is an excellent summary of the story of Holy Week, of Jesus’ death and resurrection. The Holy Week story is a story of bloodshed: of a corrupt trial, of torture, of a cruel death. Yes, indeed: this week, as the recent movie title suggests, there will be blood... No publisher Dan Biles sermons 2008-04-26T11:19:25Z News Item http://www.lutheranforum.org/sermons/husbands-and-wives When I was invited to come to Wittenberg for these two weeks, the fellow doing the inviting told me that this was by far the best weekend of the summer. I now know he’s right! What a blast it’s been to be part of all this! There’s obviously lots of stuff being celebrated here this weekend: beer, brats, and a free market economy. But at the heart of it all, what we’re really here to celebrate, is the gift of marriage... No publisher Robert Spicer sermons 2007-11-19T13:23:48Z News Item