LivingHopeWELS

Sermon by Pastor Michael Seifert for the Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost on Proverbs 25:6-7

Proverbs 25:6-7 True glory isn't ours to take; but God's already given it

Sermon by Pastor Michael Seifert for the Eighteenth Sunday of Pentecost on Numbers 12:1-15

Numbers 12:1-15 Envy breeds contempt; contentment breeds love

Sermon by Pastor Michael Seifert on Acts 26:19-26 for the Second Sunday of Easter. 
 
Today people usually attribute the faith of Christians to ignorance—that they aren’t thinking enough. Festus blamed Paul’s faith on his great learning—that he was thinking too much. But either way, charges of insanity don’t change facts.

Sermon by Pastor Michael Seifert on Acts 26:19-26 for the Second Sunday of Easter.

Today people usually attribute the faith of Christians to ignorance—that they aren’t thinking enough. Festus blamed Paul’s faith on his great learning—that he was thinking too much. But either way, charges of insanity don’t change facts.

Acts 26:19-29 As the Father sent Jesus, Jesus sends us

A sermon by Pastor Michael Seifert on Isaiah 25:6-9 for the Resurrection of Our Lord. 
 
When we say the Nicene Creed, we’re not going to stop at "on the third day Jesus rose again." There’s a big resurrection exclamation mark before the final "Amen." "We look for the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come." That’s Isaiah 25. That’s my friend Jamie triumphing over the grave his body’s been in since 1983. No longer just a soul in heaven, but body and soul reunited, the way we’re designed to be, the way it’s supposed to be, because the LORD Almighty…will swallow up death forever.

A sermon by Pastor Michael Seifert on Isaiah 25:6-9 for the Resurrection of Our Lord.

When we say the Nicene Creed, we’re not going to stop at "on the third day Jesus rose again." There’s a big resurrection exclamation mark before the final "Amen." "We look for the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come." That’s Isaiah 25. That’s my friend Jamie triumphing over the grave his body’s been in since 1983. No longer just a soul in heaven, but body and soul reunited, the way we’re designed to be, the way it’s supposed to be, because the LORD Almighty…will swallow up death forever.

Isaiah 25:6-9 God will swallow up death forever

A verse-by-verse study of Genesis 3:14-24 for Living Hope's Jesus and Me course. God pronounces consequences of the fall into sin, including a Savior from sin. 
 
Questions for discussion 
Why didn’t God wait for Adam and Eve to apologize before promising a Savior? 
 
Did God follow through on his threat in Genesis 2:17: “For when you eat of it you will surely die”? 
 
Is God to blame for evil in the world? Is God to blame for suffering in the world?

A verse-by-verse study of Genesis 3:14-24 for Living Hope's Jesus and Me course. God pronounces consequences of the fall into sin, including a Savior from sin.

Questions for discussion
Why didn’t God wait for Adam and Eve to apologize before promising a Savior?

Did God follow through on his threat in Genesis 2:17: “For when you eat of it you will surely die”?

Is God to blame for evil in the world? Is God to blame for suffering in the world?

Genesis 3:14-24 God's promise, Sin's consequences

Sermon by Pastor Michael Seifert on 1 Samuel 3:1-10 for the Second Sunday after Epiphany. 
It’s hard to listen to God. To be the servant. Just ask Samuel. But you don’t have to ask him. You know how hard it is when God’s morality conflicts with your own and you look for any way around it. But instead of putting in the earplugs, remember why he speaks. It’s not because he’s against you. It’s because he’s gracious. It’s because he loves you.

Sermon by Pastor Michael Seifert on 1 Samuel 3:1-10 for the Second Sunday after Epiphany.
It’s hard to listen to God. To be the servant. Just ask Samuel. But you don’t have to ask him. You know how hard it is when God’s morality conflicts with your own and you look for any way around it. But instead of putting in the earplugs, remember why he speaks. It’s not because he’s against you. It’s because he’s gracious. It’s because he loves you.

1 Samuel 3:1-10 When God speaks, it's light

Sermon on Isaiah 49:1-6 by Pastor Michael Seifert for the First Sunday after Epiphany. 
When he says, Listen to me, you islands; here this, you distant nations, Jesus is calling out to you and me. He’s revealing the determination of his heart. He’s describing his mission that no opposition can thwart. And both his mission and his heart include you. Isaiah 49 is about Jesus and it’s about you.

Sermon on Isaiah 49:1-6 by Pastor Michael Seifert for the First Sunday after Epiphany.
When he says, Listen to me, you islands; here this, you distant nations, Jesus is calling out to you and me. He’s revealing the determination of his heart. He’s describing his mission that no opposition can thwart. And both his mission and his heart include you. Isaiah 49 is about Jesus and it’s about you.

Isaiah 49:1-6 God's not settling for a loss

Sermon on 2 Timothy 4:9-18 for the Festival of the Reformation.

2 Timothy 4:9-18 If you're alone for the Lord, you're not alone

Mid-size service at Living Hope on the Day of Pentecost with sermon on 1 Corinthians 12:3-11. By the Spirit alone can we say, “Jesus is Lord.” By the Spirit alone can we serve Jesus our Lord.

Mid-size service at Living Hope on the Day of Pentecost with sermon on 1 Corinthians 12:3-11. By the Spirit alone can we say, ...

The Coming of the Holy Spirit -- 1 Corinthians 12:3-11

Sermon on Matthew 3:1-12 for the Second Sunday in Advent. 
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=matthew+3%3A1-12&version=NIV 
 
 In verse 2 John’s preaching is boiled down to a sentence: Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near. Let’s flesh out the image. Picture two different realms. There’s heaven, where God dwells. Then there’s earth, where we are. God’s original design was for those two realms to overlap. God and people together. The Father with his children. But the children rebelled against their Father and, as a result, those two realms were split apart. Sin separates people from God. John’s message—the kingdom of heaven is near—was that God was on his way to fix that. God himself would take away the sin and restore the universe to the way it’s supposed to be. That’s where the repent part comes into play. When God arrives, will you be ready for him, or are you going to be clutching on to the sin that he’s come to do away with?

Sermon on Matthew 3:1-12 for the Second Sunday in Advent.
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=matthew+3%3A1-12&version=NIV

 In verse 2 John’s preaching is boiled down to a sentence: Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near. Let’s flesh out the image. Picture two different realms. There’s heaven, where God dwells. Then there’s earth, where we are. God’s original design was for those two realms to overlap. God and people together. The Father with his children. But the children rebelled against their Father and, as a result, those two realms were split apart. Sin separates people from God. John’s message—the kingdom of heaven is near—was that God was on his way to fix that. God himself would take away the sin and restore the universe to the way it’s supposed to be. That’s where the repent part comes into play. When God arrives, will you be ready for him, or are you going to be clutching on to the sin that he’s come to do away with?

Matthew 3:1-12 Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near

Sermon on Revelation 21:1-7 for Saints Triumphant Sunday.

Revelation 21:1-7 God shows us the future to give us strength for the present

Sermon on Luke 14:1, 7-14 for the Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost. 
 
There’s a voice in my heart that objects: "If I’m always about pouring myself out for others, then I’m never going to get my fair share of video games, I’ll be sitting alone in the cafeteria, doing all the housework, and picking up everyone else’s slack at church!" But who ever said that greatness was easy?

Sermon on Luke 14:1, 7-14 for the Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost.

There’s a voice in my heart that objects: "If I’m always about pouring myself out for others, then I’m never going to get my fair share of video games, I’ll be sitting alone in the cafeteria, doing all the housework, and picking up everyone else’s slack at church!" But who ever said that greatness was easy?

Luke 14:1, 7-14 Upside down is right-side up

Sermon on Haggai 1:1-14 for the Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost. 
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=haggai+1%3A1-14&version=NIV 
God doesn’t use typical fundraising tactics to raise up his people to carry out his work. He doesn’t have Haggai preach about how good their contributions will make them feel. He doesn’t lay on guilt trips about giving back to society or tell them that top givers can have their name inscribed on a brick. He doesn’t say, "If you give x number of shekels and work x number of hours, I WILL be with you." Before anyone lays a stone he said, "I AM with you."

Sermon on Haggai 1:1-14 for the Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost. 
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=haggai+1%3A1-14&version=NIV
God doesn’t use typical fundraising tactics to raise up his people to carry out his work. He doesn’t have Haggai preach about how good their contributions will make them feel. He doesn’t lay on guilt trips about giving back to society or tell them that top givers can have their name inscribed on a brick. He doesn’t say, "If you give x number of shekels and work x number of hours, I WILL be with you." Before anyone lays a stone he said, "I AM with you."

Haggai 1:1-14 God's way to stir the hearts of his people: "I am with you."

Sermon for the Sixth Sunday after Pentecost on Luke 9:51-62 by Pastor Michael Seifert. 
 
 As the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem. And he sent messengers on ahead, who went into a Samaritan village to get things ready for him; but the people there did not welcome him, because he was heading for Jerusalem. When the disciples James and John saw this, they asked, “Lord, do you want us to call fire down from heaven to destroy them?” But Jesus turned and rebuked them. Then he and his disciples went to another village. 
 As they were walking along the road, a man said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” 
 Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.” 
 He said to another man, “Follow me.” 
 But he replied, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.” 
 Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” 
 Still another said, “I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say goodbye to my family.” 
 Jesus replied, “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.”

Sermon for the Sixth Sunday after Pentecost on Luke 9:51-62 by Pastor Michael Seifert.

  As the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem. And he sent messengers on ahead, who went into a Samaritan village to get things ready for him; but the people there did not welcome him, because he was heading for Jerusalem. When the disciples James and John saw this, they asked, “Lord, do you want us to call fire down from heaven to destroy them?” But Jesus turned and rebuked them. Then he and his disciples went to another village.
  As they were walking along the road, a man said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.”
  Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.”
  He said to another man, “Follow me.” 
  But he replied, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.”
  Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God.”
  Still another said,

Luke 9:51-62 The man on a mission says, Follow me!

Sermon on Luke 4:2-32 on Epiphany 4. The reaction to Jesus' preaching in Nazareth. 
 
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=luke+4%3A20-32&version=NIV 
 
Even just a glance at history will show you that the preaching of the gospel is like rain cloud—always moving from one place to another. When people despise Jesus’ salvation in one place, he takes it somewhere else where people will listen. Think about Germany. Around the time the United States was born, Germany was still a haven for Christianity—our own church body was begun by missionaries from there. Now we send missionaries to them. How long will it be before Christians in other countries see a need to send missionaries to our children?

Sermon on Luke 4:2-32 on Epiphany 4. The reaction to Jesus' preaching in Nazareth. 

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=luke+4%3A20-32&version=NIV

Even just a glance at history will show you that the preaching of the gospel is like rain cloud—always moving from one place to another. When people despise Jesus’ salvation in one place, he takes it somewhere else where people will listen. Think about Germany. Around the time the United States was born, Germany was still a haven for Christianity—our own church body was begun by missionaries from there. Now we send missionaries to them. How long will it be before Christians in other countries see a need to send missionaries to our children?

Luke 4:20-32 When Jesus preaches, his neighbors don't like the sermon

"He’s God MY Savior," Mary marvels. "He hasn’t forgotten." He remembered the promise he made when there were still bits of forbidden fruit stuck in Adam and Eve’s teeth and all they were willing to offer was shame and excuses. He remembered the promise he directed straight at the devil: Her offspring will crush your head. Every generation since then has given him a million reasons to forget it and so have we, but he hasn’t let go of his promise to be merciful to Abraham and his descendants forever, to everyone who puts their trust in him from generation to generation. His mercy isn’t erratic. It never skips a generation. It never falls short of what a sinner needs. And there the promise was, jostling in Mary’s tummy. Jesus wasn’t sinless because of her; she was forgiven because of him. "My spirit rejoices in God MY Savior," she sings.

Luke 1:39-55 Rejoice in God, MY Savior

"Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?" Jesus responds that they’re asking the wrong question and that they’re looking at the wrong Bible passage for the answer. They were arguing over a section from Deuteronomy that regulated divorce in order to protect people who were being victimized by a widespread, hard-hearted disregard for marriage. Jesus responds that instead of arguing over the wording of regulations for divorce, they should be paying attention to God’s definition of marriage. A man and a woman voluntarily enter into it, but God is also involved by defying the rules of mathematics and making 1+1=1. "Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate."

Mark 10:2-16 Jesus loves family

If you’ve ever loved someone enough to tell them what they don’t want to hear but still need to hear and it only seemed to make things worse, then you know how Jeremiah felt when he sank down into the mud. The muck and darkness and hunger and thirst had to be miserable. But still, when tough love is met with rejection, it’s the heart that hurts the most.

Jeremiah 38:1-13 It's always worth to say, "This is what the Lord says."

When Elijah was afraid and alone and exhausted in the desert, and it was way too much for him—it wasn’t too much for God and Elijah’s despair didn’t stop God from giving.

1 Kings 19:3-8 God know what we need even better than we do

What God tells us in the Bible doesn’t come naturally to us. The default position of our hearts isn’t faith; it’s unbelief. Our default attitude toward God is like the know-it-all adolescent’s attitude toward his parents: "I know better than God does. I don’t need God to set me straight, God needs me to set him straight." And the awful thing about it is if that’s the road we choose to go down, because deep inside we think we have a better handle on the truth than God does, we will have absolutely no problem finding someone to tell us exactly what our itching ears want to hear.

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