Category: Sermon Page

5-19-2024 Pentecost Sunday :                                                         Restoration through the Spirit

Sermon Theme: The Holy Spirit works through preaching to bring restoration. Text: Ezekiel 37:1–14 Other Lessons: Psalm 139:1–12 (13–16); Acts 2:1–21; John 15:26–27; 16:4b–15

Goal: That you see that true life and restoration come from the ministry of the Holy Spirit delivered in repeated, habitual reception of the Word and Sacrament. Sermon ideas based on a sermon in CPR by Rev. Jacob Eichers,

Sermon: What would you do if you saw a valley full of skeletons? The Old Testament text read to us on Pentecost is quite odd. What do dry bones have to do with the Holy Spirit?

Turns out, the key words in this text are spirit and prophesy. The word Spirit we’ll have a bit of fun with. Prophesy—well, that too. Okay, maybe not fun, but prophesy in our context means preaching. From those dry bones, we’re going to see how The Holy Spirit Works through Preaching to Bring Restoration.

First, how the Spirit comes through preaching. Ezekiel has a problem in today’s text, and it’s that big pile of bones. “There were very many on the surface of the valley, and behold, they were very dry” (v 2). Is what he was seeing real? At the very least, these bones represented real people—moms and dads, grandpas and grandmas, and sons and daughters. People with real stories, real triumphs, and real sorrows. It would seem as though all of that was brought to nothing. Death is the great equalizer. And that is absolutely real.

The Lord’s solution for Ezekiel is for him to preach to these bones. “Prophesy,” preach.

And so you are gathered together here in this place on Pentecost, waiting for the Spirit of God to touch your life. The dry bones are all around us. Those made dry and brittle by the sorrows of this life, the sins that warp us, and the years wearing on us. “Then [God] said to me, ‘Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Behold, they say, “Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are indeed cut off” ’ ” (v 11). We are the dry bones.

The Lord’s advice to Ezekiel is the same as to us today. “Prophesy over these bones, and say to them, O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord” (v 4). We believe, teach, and confess, “To obtain such faith God instituted the office of preaching, giving the gospel and the sacraments. Through these, as through means, he gives the Holy Spirit who produces faith, where and when he wills, in those who hear the gospel” (AC V, Kolb-Wengert, 1–2).

Keep on showing up to church to hear God’s Word. Bring your kids, even if they don’t seem to be listening. If you don’t get the sermon, listen to it again on YouTube. Check out our website and download the sermon manuscript. Call the pastor and ask what he meant if you don’t understand a certain segment of it. Why? Because the Spirit comes through preaching.

We see this same thing in the reading from the Book of Acts, the Feast of Pentecost. Once the Spirit comes with the sound of the rushing wind, the flames of fire, all those foreign languages, almost immediately Peter gets up and addresses the crowd. He preaches. He preaches to the dry bones of those who have not yet come to faith in Jesus.

But why care about the Spirit? Look at the amazing things happening in our Old Testament text. The Spirit brings restoration.

The message of Christianity is that God sent his Son, Jesus, to this earth to live a perfect life and redeem us. The world is broken, lost in sin and hopelessness. We die, we become frail and brittle like these dry bones, but Christ has died for our sins, and he rose again on the third day. Jesus Christ came to redeem the world, and his death and resurrection is a sneak peek as to what will happen to us. Jesus came to redeem the world, and we see what the redeemed creation looks like in the perfect, sinless, resurrected Son of Man.

But we care about the Holy Spirit because if Jesus Christ is the blueprint for restored creation, the Holy Spirit is the builder. The Holy Spirit is the one who delivers that life, that perfection, and that restoration.

We are now living in the fulfillment of this promise. The Lord God has placed his Spirit in us, and we are living. At Pentecost, the Holy Spirit came to dwell in the hearts of believers, so that we may be restored from dry bones to living, breathing creatures. That is, those who have been restored and made alive in Christ.

Maybe we have friends who are on the fence about joining a church, or maybe they’re part of a church but they’re only nominally involved—only participating every once in a while. I think the devil tempts us to believe that being involved with the Church—participating in fellowship, worshiping here each week, attending Bible studies, doing family devotions in our homes—the devil tempts us to believe that these things will turn us from living creatures into dry bones. What’s more boring than your local church?

Perhaps that’s the temptation of young people. Maybe even adults! A Saturday night party, a weekend camping trip, Sunday morning brunch, Netflix, all of these are more entertaining and fulfilling than what goes on here on Sunday and throughout the week.

But the Spirit is in the restoration business. Ezekiel must preach twice to the bones for them to become living again, and so for us; it takes lifelong applications of the preached Word and Sacraments to have the Spirit work in us to restore us and finally put that meat back on our bones, so to speak. The end result will eventually be that the Spirit raises us from our tombs; we will be dry bones no longer.

And so we find that as the Spirit keeps on presenting this preached message of Jesus dying and rising for us, we are restored little by little every day. We find that our lives are restored bit by bit. Those relationships we thought we might lose are deepened as we grow closer to family—not only as biological family, but also as brothers and sisters in Christ. The hours we spend in prayer and study of God’s Word are given back to us as the Spirit is able to multiply our time and help redirect our priorities to the most needful things. The Spirit uses the preached Word to come to us and breathe into us new life. The final product being a life that has meaning, and a life that’s worth living. “O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord” (v 4). Celebrate the Holy Spirit, the great restorer, who restored those dry bones, who enlivened the disciples at Pentecost, and is here present even now, making all things new. Amen!

Pastor Tim Weiser

Guest Pastor David Schmitt

He Cares: Easter 4 4-21-24

Sermon Theme: Jesus is the Shepherd who cares for you.

Text: John 10:11–18

Other Lessons: Acts 4:1–12; Psalm 23; 1 John 3:16–24

Goal: To find peace and assurance in the knowledge that Jesus truly is their Good Shepherd who intimately knows and cares for them. Sermon ideas gleaned from a sermon by Rev. Dr. James Elmore, in Concordia Pulpit Resources

Sermon

This morning, every one of you will hear everything that is said, read, and sung in this service. But the reality is, not every one of you will listen to everything that is said, read, and sung in this service. Listening is much more involved; it takes effort. We hear things all the time, but it’s only some of what we hear that we tune in to and listen to. With all our present technology and social media, there is an even greater increase in the number of voices coming at us. It can be rather overwhelming to know what “voice” to listen to.

So do we always have discernment about who gets our attention? It stands to reason that we ought to listen to those who care about us. But do we always recognize who cares about us? I mean, who does really, lovingly care for us? How do you even know? Our Scripture for today on this Good Shepherd Sunday speaks to this. It teaches us that

Jesus Is the Shepherd Who Cares for You.

When Jesus came along, his voice was different. It was the voice of someone who cared—really, truly, lovingly cared. “They will listen to my voice,” Jesus said (v 16). How would they know? Because it was not just words, as John says in our Epistle, but it was demonstrated and backed up through Jesus’ actions—which did speak louder than words alone.

In John 10, Jesus claims that he is the “good shepherd” (v 11). “Good” can also be translated as “noble” or “excellent.” The shepherd’s job was not easy. It was tiring and hazardous. In the context of Jesus’ statement, the point of contrast is to those bad shepherds, like the Pharisees and Sadducees, what he calls in our text the “hired hand” (v 12). That person is distinguished by his lack of concern and commitment to the sheep. When danger comes, he flees. He looks out for his own self-preservation and his own self-interest. The good shepherd owns the sheep, so he has a commitment to them. Unlike those other shepherds, Jesus cares for his sheep. He does what is necessary to protect them.

The feature Jesus most highlights as he describes the good shepherd is that he “lays down his life for the sheep” (v 11). Ordinarily, shepherds protect sheep, but they do not die for their sheep. Jesus, the Good Shepherd, cares so much that he is willing to come between his flock and danger. When trouble comes, the hired hand won’t take any risk. He disappears. But Jesus is willing to die for his sheep.

In Jesus’ description, the key word is “for”—and it reflects his commitment to die “for” the sheep in obedience to God’s will. The Good Shepherd has a profound commitment to the ones he loves. We might remember a different image from Ephesians 5. Paul writes, “Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her” (Eph 5:25). He gave, he surrendered, for his Bride. This is an important point. Jesus was not a victim of human conspiracies: “No one takes [my life] from me, but I lay it down of my own accord” (v 18a). Jesus gave himself to die, but he also took back his life in resurrection: “I lay down my life that I may take it up again” (v 17b). The resurrection was just as much in God’s plan as was Jesus’ sacrificial death.

The term shepherd is what Jesus uses to identify himself. He really is the true Good Shepherd. But remember, shepherd is also a term used to describe those other people who tend to God’s flock, people who have spiritual oversight.

The message of the resurrection can transform lives. The ultimate consequence of Easter is when one’s life is radically changed for the good. When the message of the resurrection is internalized into people’s lives, they become different people. It begins with saving faith in Christ. Then it continues with acts of kindness just like our caring Shepherd performs.

In John 10, what John shows through Jesus’ words, and what stands out, is the presence and care of this Shepherd, one unlike all others. It’s his willingness to lay down his life for his sheep. The sheep have come to trust their Shepherd because of what they know through his actions for them, on their behalf. In all of his interaction with people, Jesus never closes his heart.

As important as such words are to us, they take on a whole new level of importance when it comes to our relationship with God. That’s why God took the most important message any of us will ever receive, and he perfectly translated it into human flesh, so that God’s Word could reach us. Reach me. Reach you. Personally. The “Word became flesh” and came to “dwell with us” (see Jn 1:14).

As he has come among us and is now among us through his Spirit, he cares. In the same beautiful and profound way that the Son and the Father know each other, our Shepherd knows us and our needs—what’s truly important to you, what’s truly important to me. As we tune into his voice, we can know that we are listening to someone who cares. As he was for David in Psalm 23, the Lord becomes “my shepherd” too. He can be trusted to lead, guide, renew, and restore our lives and spirits. And even when we are faced with the enemy of death, we are assured of his presence with us. His good words and actions are a comfort. And he will, as he promised, be with us all the days of our life. His goal is to lead us home.

What does God want you to hear? What does God want you to hear from the voice of our Good Shepherd this morning? Two words. Two words that are deeply profound and life changing: “for you.” They are two words spoken personally to you by your loving and caring Good Shepherd. In the Words of Absolution. In the words in today’s readings. In today’s message. And as ordinary bread and wine are given—an extraordinary things takes place. Jesus gives himself, personally, and says, “for you.” Your Shepherd goes with you today and with you into this week. He cares. Peace. Amen.

Thank you Pastor David Schmitt for brining us God’s word today.