Here is a clip from Police Squad, a sitcom that came before the Naked Gun movies, starring Leslie Nielsen. Not only does this clip show you that money can buy you anything, it also solves a mystery about Dick Clark. Ah..... NOW it makes sense!
Sermons, ramblings, and maybe an occasional rant from a Lutheran subject of Jesus Christ.
Tuesday, March 9, 2021
Sunday, March 7, 2021
Sermon -- 3rd Sunday in Lent (March 7, 2021)
1 CORINTHIANS 1:18-25
POWER AND WISDOM ARE IN GOD’S WORD.
In the name + of Jesus.
When Jesus grabbed a bunch of cords to drive the animals and merchants out of the temple, those who were expelled were understandably surprised and upset. Jesus had disrupted business as usual. They demanded answers: “What sign do you show us for doing these things?” (John 2:18) A miraculous sign was one of the ways a prophet of the Lord would prove his authority, just as it was with Moses and Elijah. However, not every prophet is recorded to have done miraculous signs. Neither Nathan nor Jeremiah nor John the Baptist did a miraculous sign, and each of them was recognized as a prophet.
Still, the
Jewish religious leaders demanded Jesus prove himself with a miraculous
sign. What they missed was the true authority
Jesus claimed. Jesus had said to them, “It
is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you
make it a den of robbers.” (Matthew 21:13)
In that short comment, Jesus had quoted both Isaiah (56:7) and Jeremiah
(7:11). This was not about Jesus being in
an ornery mood or acting on impulse; this was about Jesus being zealous for the
house of the Lord. It was about Jesus holding
God’s word to be both dear and true. It
was about God’s people having sacred space for prayer. The authority Jesus invoked was the word of
God. Power and wisdom are in God’s word;
and they still are.
St. Paul emphasized that in his letter to the Corinthians. He wrote, “The word of the cross is folly to those who are
perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” (1
Corinthians 1:18) To those who are perishing, the word of God
is foolish, unreasonable, and worthy of scorn.
To you, however,
the word of God is both wise and powerful.
It makes you wise for salvation.
You know where to find the forgiveness of your sins. You cling to the promises of God which were fulfilled
by Jesus and which are applied to you by the word and sacraments. The Gospel is the power of God which releases
you from the grip of the devil, the threat of hell, and the fear of the
grave. God’s power to save is found in
Jesus as he was nailed to a cross, beaten, bleeding, naked, mocked, shamed, and
died. What appears as weak and pathetic is
the glory and power of God; for that is where sin, death, and the devil are all
defeated. These things are not automatically
known; they have to be proclaimed. These
things are not automatically believed; faith must be granted to you. God’s word has been put into your ears and
into your heart so that you receive God’s grace. Power and wisdom are in God’s word.
To you, it is also remarkable that so many would despise God’s
word. But that’s how it always has
been. St. Paul remarked, “Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but
we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles.”
(1 Corinthians 1:22-23) The Jews who
challenged Jesus in the temple were not swayed by God’s word when Jesus quoted
it. They demanded a miraculous sign
before they would believe Jesus. Ironically,
Jesus did give them a sign: “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise
it up.” (John 2:19) The temple is where God dwells with his people. Jesus is God who dwells with his
people. He foretold that they would kill
him, but that he would raise himself from the dead. He did, and they still did not believe. Whoever does not believe God’s word will not believe
even if miracles are presented as evidence.
The power to save is not in miraculous sings; the power is in God’s word.
Greeks, on the other
hand, look for wisdom. They want God’s
word to be reasonable and subject to scientific formulas. Or they may want a special wisdom that reads
minds or predicts the future. In either
case, they want God to be restricted to their own wisdom and whims. But God’s wisdom is not about telling the future
for this life; it is about revealing salvation for eternal life. True wisdom is found in God’s word.
What was true in
Paul’s day is still true today. You and
I are influenced by it too, for sin still clings to our hearts. We still crave the signs. We want God to prove his love by feeding our
egos. A loving God should always give us
money, a clean bill of health, the downfall of our enemies, and honor, success,
and popularity. What does it say if we
don’t have them? Has God failed us? Does he actually love us? Our sinful flesh craves signs and questions
or even despises God when he does not perform.
Of course, we
also look for wisdom. Perhaps our greatest
threat to our faith comes from our desire to be loved and respected by the world. The world has its own wisdom. That’s not to say it is entirely useless or
evil. Science has benefited us with
medicine, homes that are lit and heated, personal computers, digital cameras,
and cars that can parallel park themselves.
For these things, we give thanks.
But those blessings only help with this life. They do not soothe a guilty conscience or comfort
a fearful heart.
The world in its
wisdom regards God and his word as foolish.
Science rejects God because God refuses to be reduced to formulas and equations. College professors may hold many degrees and dazzle
you with their intellect. They have
command of their topic, so it may feel like their arguments are undefeatable—even
when they mock God’s word and calls God a liar.
Don’t think so? Say that God
created the world in six days. State
that God created man and woman and did not suggest any additional sexes or
changing between them. You will be
mocked and ridiculed for believing what the Bible says about these things, and
you will hear arguments which supposedly prove God’s word is wrong. If you should have to suffer that, then
listen to the word of the Lord: “Blessed are
you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil
against you falsely on my account. Rejoice
and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted
the prophets who were before you.” (Matthew 5:11-12)
Sadly, many
Christian churches have abandoned God’s word and adopted this worldly wisdom. It has been met with great applause from the
world and with great pride from these churches.
But to adopt the world’s wisdom, these churches have had to dismiss God’s
word and say that God’s word does not mean what it says.
But now Paul would
ask you: “Where
is the one who is wise? Where is the
scribe? Where is the debater of this
age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?” (1 Corinthians
1:20)
Which philosopher can release you from the guilt of your sins? Which professor can outsmart the grave? If the wisdom of this world is so brilliant,
why aren’t people more honest, content, loving, chaste, and patient than they’ve
ever been? You who know and confess God’s
word still have not overcome your own sins.
If God’s people are still sinners, how can it be better for those who
mock God and his word? All the
intelligence and number crunching and technology in this world cannot take away
a single sin. No matter what your GPA
was, all are going to die. Where are the
scholars, the wise men, and the philosophers to fix that? Even if they reject God’s word and defy God
himself, they are still condemned by it and accountable to him. And they call you fools!
Wisdom and power
are in God’s word. “It pleased God
through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe.” (1
Corinthians 1:21) God chooses to use
what is foolish to impart divine wisdom.
God does this to show you that salvation is his gift and his work. You are not saved because you are
strong. It is those who confess that
they are powerless whom God saves. You
are not saved because you are smart. It
is those who confess the foolishness of their sinful hearts that are saved.
The payment God
made to save sinners was done on a cross some 2,000 years ago. Jesus died in humility and weakness, forsaken
and rejected by God, crushed and condemned for our sins. But the benefits of that payment are delivered
to you now. It is not delivered by miraculous
signs. It is not granted through some divine
insight from within you. It is delivered
with words. It is given through
preaching. It is proclaimed by weak,
sinful, flawed, and dying men who sometimes stumble over words or deliver it
poorly. It is unimpressive, isn’t it? And yet this is where the wisdom and power of
God are unleashed.
Wisdom and power
are in the word of God. For this is what
the Lord says: “Faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.” (Romans
10:17) God delivers his wisdom through words. God, who created the world through words,
creates a new life in you through words.
God decrees you absolved of sin, declares your verdict of innocence, and
pronounces your release from death and the devil through words. The Holy Spirit who breathed into the apostles
the very words of God breathes new life into you as those words are
proclaimed. And if the way God delivers
his gifts to you is underwhelming in appearance, it is because God desires to use
what is common and even despised for his glorious purposes. This is to show that the wisdom for salvation
comes from God and the power to save is God’s work alone.
Wisdom and power are in God’s
word. “Faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.” (Romans
10:17) Faith came to you through the word—whether preached
or attached to the sacraments. Faith continues
to come, is sustained, and is strengthened through the word—whether preached or
attached to the sacraments. This word is
where the Holy Spirit works to keep you in the Christian faith. That is why we always gather around the word
and sacraments.
Be aware: You can forfeit the
salvation God has given you. The most
common way that happens is that you to stop listening to the word of the
Lord. If you do, some other word will
take its place. You will end up
embracing and believing what the world passes off as wisdom. You might even feel proud that you are
smarter than God, but you will forfeit the only deliverance from sin, death, and
the devil there is. You might still be a
nice person. But Jesus does not save
nice people; Jesus saves only those who believe. For, “it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to
save those who believe.” (1 Corinthians 1:21)
If you long to be wise for salvation, listen to the word. If you want to know the power that delivers you from sin, death, and the devil, listen to the word. The power to save and the wisdom for salvation are found only in God’s word. All the wisdom, power, and glory of the world will pass away; but the word of the Lord endures forever. So do those who believe it.
In the name of the Father and of the Son + and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Friday, March 5, 2021
Sermon -- Chapel at Huron Valley Lutheran High School (March 5, 2021)

JESUS SATISFIES US WITH A BETTER HOME.
In
the name + of Jesus.
The patriarchs “acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth” (Hebrews
11:13). You probably understand what it means
to feel like a stranger. If you have
ever felt like you don’t belong, you can appreciate how the patriarchs felt. When you don’t feel like you belong, it is probably
because you have different interests than your classmates and friends. When your interests or personality or sense
of humor is different, you don’t fit in like you want to. You just want to belong, to be accepted, and
to be loved.
For Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and their families, it was more than
that. They acknowledged that they were exiles. Strangers may not feel like they belong in
the room, but exiles have been shown the door.
Strangers might be tolerated, but exiles are rejected and despised. Why would the patriarchs feel that way?
For one reason, they did not have a country to call their home. They were nomads, moving from place to place
in tents. God had promised them that
they would one day own all the land. In
proclaiming the word of the Lord and the promise of the Savior, they likely
told the peoples around them that part of the promise, too. So, they were not always welcomed where they
went. Some even viewed them as a
threat.
But the truth is that the patriarchs did not try to blend in with the
nations around them. They did not become
like Sodom and Gomorrah so that they would be liked by them. They did not adopt the perverted worship of
the Canaanites. They would have been received
much better if they had, but they refused.
They persisted in their belief that not all religions are the same. They remained faithful to the word of the
Lord. And they proclaimed and confessed
that word, whether it was well received or not.
If you want to blend into the world, you can. To do so, you have to adopt worldly thinking
and worldly behavior. And to do that,
you will have to renounce the words and promises of God. If you do, you will be welcomed, accepted,
and even praised by the world. It will
feel good, and you may even benefit with possessions, prestige, and pride. But this is what the Lord says: “Whoever is ashamed of me and of my words
in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the
Son of Man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels” (Mark 8:38). So
you can blend into the world, but then you better know at what
cost. Beware.
Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebekah, Jacob and all his family chose not
to be received and praised by the world.
Why? Because they were longing
for a better home. While they enjoyed
some blessings in this world—and God grants blessings to all, even to the
wicked—they also longed to be free from every form of evil. They longed to be free from the fear of
death. They longed to be free from pain
and sorrow. They even longed to be free
from their own sinful desires which favor acceptance from the world over
acceptance from the Lord. They renounced
the world and were willing to be strangers and exiles in it. That produced its own hardships and
challenges, but it was okay. For, they
longed for a better home; and the Savior would satisfy them with it.
Now you, dear Christians, face the same world and the same struggles as
they did. Granted, you enjoy better technology
and nicer houses, but you live in the same wicked world. The attitudes and actions of this world have
not changed. And you battle the same
temptations that they did—wanting to belong, to be accepted, and to be praised
by the world. It is hard to be a
stranger, and even harder to be an exile.
You and I
have been no better than the world we live in.
We, too, are sinners. We prove it
with our willingness to abandon God’s word when we want to be cheered by worldly,
sinful people. To feel like we belong,
we boast about our sins and laugh with others who boasts about theirs. What else is this but to be ashamed of our
Lord and his word?
But, dear Christians, the Lord has not been ashamed of you. He is not ashamed to be called your brother. He does not merely tolerate you. He loves you.
God was pleased to become one of us so that he could redeem all of
us. Even though he created the world, he
was not received in it. He was rejected
and despised by men and familiar with suffering. And it was more than just feeling like he did
not belong. He also was rejected and
despised by his heavenly Father. For Jesus
took up our sins and was crucified and condemned for them. He was forsaken by his Father so that we
would be forgiven of our sins. He was
rejected so that we would be reconciled.
Therefore, now that you have been rescued from the devil, the world, and
your own sinful flesh, you are strangers and exiles in the world. But fear not; for, Jesus satisfies you with a
better home. St. Paul wrote: “You are no
longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with
the saints and members of the household of God.” (Ephesians 2:19) At your baptism, God put his name on
you. Since you now bear the family name,
you possess the family treasures—the favor of God, the forgiveness of sins, and
the inheritance of the heavenly kingdom.
Jesus satisfies you with a better home.
He has also given you a place in the Christian church with fellow
strangers and exiles in this world. In
the Church, you have fellow Christians who delight in acknowledging Jesus
Christ and his word, which also means renouncing the devil and all his works
and all his ways. The world adopts those ways and even calls them good. You hold onto God’s word and call them
evil. For this, you are rejected and
despised. So, if
you feel like a stranger and an exile in this world, it is not because there is
something wrong with you. It is because the
Lord has made you lights in the world. In
the darkness, lights tend to stand out.
As it did for the patriarchs, so also for you: It produces
hardships and challenges, but that’s okay.
For, like the patriarchs,
you long for a better home; and the Savior will satisfy you with it.
Until Jesus comes and brings you to that heavenly home, you will continue
to be strangers and exiles here. That is
why you will continue to need to join together with your fellow strangers and
exiles at church. You will need God’s
word and sacraments to keep you faithful.
You will need to pray, a lot. And
you will need the encouragement of your fellow Christians so that you remember
you are not the only stranger and exile here.
Yes, you are a stranger and an exile in the world, but you are a dearly
loved child in the kingdom of God. This
world will pass way, but the kingdom of our God endures forever. This world will perish, but you look for the
resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come. Jesus grants all of this, and he satisfies
you with a better home.
In the name of the Father and of the Son + and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Thursday, March 4, 2021
YouTube -- Lenten Vespers (March 3, 2021)
Here is the service from Wednesday, March 3, 2021. The guest preacher is Pastor James Frey of St. Paul's Evangelical Lutheran Church of Belleville, Michigan.
Update from Good Shepherd (March 4, 2021)
Greetings!
DAYLIGHT SAVINGS TIME – March 14Once again, we will “spring forward” from Saturday into Sunday, March 14 at 2:00 AM. Generally, that means people lose an hour of sleep. A helpful suggestion: Move your clock ahead in the afternoon on Saturday and then go to bed according to the updated time. That allows you to get your full night’s sleep and wake up refreshed for Sunday School, Adult Bible Class, and the Divine Service.
REGULAR SCHEDULE
Good Shepherd 40th Anniversary Photo Compilation
This year is the 40th anniversary of Good Shepherd Lutheran Church! To commemorate the occasion we would like to put together a compilation of photos to develop into a video. If you're interested, please find photos of your time with the congregation that you would like to share and email them to Brian Wilder, Pastor, or Dan LeFevre so we can compile them into a video. Also, if anyone has experience developing a video for this type of project and would like to assist in the creation any help would be greatly appreciated!
EASTER FOR KIDS
Easter for Kids will be a do-it-yourself event, after participants pick up their materials from Good Shepherd. The pick-up date will be Saturday, March 27 (9:00-11:00 AM). Registration forms (in paper and online) will be available soon.
In order for this to be a worthwhile event for participants, we will have a lot of preparations to make so that children who are involved in Easter for Kids will still feel a connection to Good Shepherd.
Here is what we need:
ADULT BIBLE CLASS – NEW SERIES
One of the great wars being waged against the Christian faith today is done by attacking the biblical teaching of creation. Many within the Church have tried to find a compromise between creation and science (evolution) called theistic evolution. This Bible study (the schedule is here) compares scriptural teaching with theistic evolution and shows that theistic evolution ends up compromising, not just biblical creation but all the major teachings of Scripture: the nature of God’s original perfect creation, the origin and perfect nature of the first humans, the fall into sin, sin’s curse on creation, God’s plan of salvation for sinners, the saving work of Jesus Christ, and the source of “right and wrong.”
Each lesson begins with a study of Scripture and then compares that with the teachings of theistic evolutionists presented in their own words.
The book “Elephants in the Room: Evolution vs. The Message of Scripture” may prove beneficial for your studies with this class. If you are interested in purchasing a copy ($16), please order it by March 7 so that you can get it quickly. Confirm your order with Pastor Schroeder. Checks can be made payable to Good Shepherd.
CONCERNING PASTORAL CARE
Pastor Schroeder is available for private devotions, Holy Absolution, and Holy Communion to members in small groups or to individuals. You may call to set up an appointment at any time. Visits by appointment can be done either at church or at your home.
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We desire as many as possible to rejoice in the Gospel which we proclaim and confess. Share the information from our weekly email blast, links to our web page, and even to the pastor's blog to let others know that we have a space in our congregation for them!
BAD WEATHER POLICY FOR SERVICES AT GOOD SHEPHERD
We will always have services as scheduled at Good Shepherd. Since I live across the parking lot, I can get to the church no matter how bad the weather gets. Even if the service is just me and my family, we will be here. For everyone else, please use your God-given common sense to determine whether or not you will get on the road to attend any service when the weather is bad. We don't want anyone to risk his or her life to be here. But if you do venture out, the scheduled service will take place. It may be only a handful with a cappella singing and/or spoken liturgy, but we will be here.
Bible Classes and meetings may be canceled due to weather. Check your email regarding announcements to see if any of those scheduled events is canceled. If there is no email about it, it is not canceled. But again, use common sense to determine if you can make it, and call the pastor to let him know if you will not be coming.
Tuesday, March 2, 2021
Something from ... Martin Luther re: God's promises, threats, and fulfillment of them.
“One must be careful to hold fast to the fact that God makes promises and defers the things promised, and that He tries us with a scarcity of available things in order to instruct us in faith in the promise and in order that this faith may be strengthened and may learn to believe God not only in prosperous times, when things are available, but also in adversity, when things are lacking. …
“But it is the chief subject of all Holy Scripture to know and understand God when He makes a promise. For He helps and bring support even with the actual realization of His promise and when it is fulfilled; but before this He disciplines faith in the promise by means of a lack of things of which we are in need. He does this in order that we may learn to trust Him and not to tempt Him.
…
“But the flesh is so smug and evil that it not only distrusts the promises but also despises the threats. For the threats, too, are delayed. Therefore the flesh does not believe God when He threatens. And when those despisers and irrational people hear that a judgment against sin remains for that Day, they say: ‘Perhaps what you are threatening is true. I wish I had money to count in the meantime.’ God wants His threats to be feared and His promises to be awaited. But this is impossible except by faith.
“For the world cares about neither of these things, no more, in fact, than if a goose were hissing at it. For God is patient and slow in carrying out both His promises and His threats. But he does not lie, and He makes up for that slowness either with the severity of the punishment or with the large number and the greatness of His blessings. Finally He does come, and comes for sure.” (Martin Luther. Luther’s Works: American Edition, Volume 9 [Lectures on Genesis, chapters 45-50]. Pages 201-202)

