James Peterson – What Does This Mean?

Advent Midweek I: Kings of Israel- David Anointed

1 Samuel 16

Pastor James Peterson

December 6, 2024

Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

The theme is this: The Lord anoints a king from Bethlehem.

When you’re trying to pick someone for your basketball team, usually you pick the tallest person, the best shooter, or the fastest runner. You would never pick the short, stubby kid who’s just there to get out of the house for the afternoon.

Or when you’re trying to pick someone for a job, you usually want someone with experience, or someone who is responsible, or someone who has good references. You would never pick someone who is least qualified, least educated, or least able to do the work. There are no blind umpires; for example, city folk oftentimes are not ready for farm work.

We look at appearances. We judge the book by its cover. What did they just call it in the College Football Playoff? The eye-test? It’s no longer about how many wins you have, but how you look on the field. We look at appearances, but God looks at the heart.

That’s the case in our reading this evening. Saul was the tallest and the most handsome guy to be king, the very first king over Israel. By all appearances, he looked like a leader, talked like a leader, and he was anointed and appointed to be the leader. But Saul’s heart was rotten. Saul’s faith was failing. Like so many people in our world today, Saul believed in himself, but He did not believe in the God who anointed him.

It comes as no surprise that Samuel the priest was quite disappointed. Our reading says, The Lord said to Samuel, ‘How long will you grieve over Saul, since I have rejected him from being king over Israel? Surely we have felt this way before. We picked the best player, but then he got injured. Or we picked the most qualified employee, but he left for a bigger and better job and was not loyal to the company. Bigger is not always better. Taller is not always faster. Stronger is not always smarter.

And so the Lord says to Samuel, Fill your horn with oil, and go. I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite, for I have provided for myself a king among his sons.” Who? Where? Jesse from Bethlehem? Who is that? What about Jonathan, Saul’s son? No, it will not be Saul’s son. It will not be Jonathan. For as the Lord says, He does not look at appearances; the Lord looks at the heart. The Lord will anoint a king from Bethlehem.

But Samuel the priest is not up to the task. Like Moses, he is scared to death of the mission of God. He is scared to death of the power of the earthly king. And Samuel said, “How can I go? If Saul hears it, he will kill me.” And the Lord said, “Take a heifer with you and say, ‘I have come to sacrifice to the Lord.’ And invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what you shall do. And you shall anoint for me him whom I declare to you.” Aren’t we all like Samuel? Scared to death to invite our neighbors to church? Scared to death that we might be cancelled by the culture? Scared to death that we might offend someone we care about?

We all are. And yet God’s answer is simple. Do what God says. The text reads, Samuel did what the Lord commanded and came to Bethlehem. And he consecrated Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice. Do what God says. Priest, make a sacrifice and anoint my man to be king. It is often difficult to do what God says for all the reasons given above. But when we do what God says, we have nothing and no one to fear.

As we all know, Samuel anointed David, the son of Jesse. The Lord anointed a king in Bethlehem. But David’s brothers, who are not anointed, give us a clue about the coming King who is both David’s Son and David’s Lord. Each of these names points us beyond David to Jesus, the King of Israel.

Jesse’s firstborn son Eliab’s name means “God is my Father.”

The next brother Abinadab’s name means “Father who vows.”

And the third brother Shammah’s name means “loss.”

The fourth brother Nethanel’s name means “God has given.”

The fifth brother Raddai’s name means “Ruler coming down.”

The sixth brother Ozem’s name means “eagerness.”

And finally, David’s name means “beloved.” Let’s put it all together. God is my Father. He is a father who vows and makes promises. God will lose His Son. God will give His Son. God’s Son is a Ruler coming down. God’s Son is eager and willing to forgive and to save His people from their sins. And finally, Jesus is the beloved Son, with whom God is well-pleased.

Jesse’s sons’ names clarify the promises of God. Certainly, the Lord anointed David to be king in Bethlehem. And certainly the Lord anointed a king greater than David to be king from Bethlehem for the whole world. Certainly, David’s name means “beloved.” And certainly Jesus is the beloved Son whom God has given because He loved the world.

David would not be the first king we would choose, for he was the youngest, the smallest, and the shepherd boy. And yet God made Him mighty for the nation of Israel. And Jesus certainly would not be the first king of Israel that you would think, born in a manger and hanged on a cross.

And yet, the Lord anointed His King in Bethlehem, King Jesus, who lives and reigns still and always. And this King did far more than win battles and expand territory. Jesus saved us from sin, rescued from death, and defeated the devil. His territory is in your hearts and souls. For God does not look at outward appearances, but He looks at the heart, hearts of faith and joy in Him. And His territory is right here in this church and right there in the heights of heaven.

David was great, but Jesus was greater. David was a king, but Jesus is still King. David was anointed, but Jesus was anointed, the Messiah of the Old Testament and the Christ in the New Testament. David was beloved, but Jesus was God’s only begotten and beloved Son.

The Lord anointed a King in Bethlehem, Jesus Christ, who reigns both now and forevermore.

In the Holy Name of Jesus. Amen.

Originally posted at What does this Mean? Blog: https://whatdoesthismean.blog

The posts in the blog What does this Mean? are now available at What does this Mean? | Rev. Robert E. Smith | Substack

Rev. James Peterson
St. John Lutheran Church
Curtis, Nebraska

Malachi Sermon

Lent Midweek V
Malachi 3:1-7b
April 9, 2025

Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

What better way to close out this sermon series on the Minor Prophets than with the prophet Malachi? The timing is impeccable. Every one of these prophets spoke about the coming Messiah, and this sermon leads us straight into Holy Week, where we hear about the suffering, death, and resurrection of that Messiah.

And while I know that Malachi is the last book of the Old Testament and that Matthew’s Gospel follows immediately afterward in our Bibles, you need to know that there was about four hundred years of history in between Malachi and Matthew. That’s a longer period than the history of America, and many things that happened during that time directly relate to the context in which Jesus was born and lived and died and rose again.

On that note, it is worthy of your time to seek out the history of the “Time between the Testaments,” which we call the Apocrypha. You may have seen these books if you have perused a Roman Catholic Bible once. Or maybe you have heard about those books on a TV program. And I bet you did not know that Luther’s German Bible included all of those Apocrypha books in it until very recently. What you need to know is this: The Apocrypha is good history, but the books are not biblical books and they are not written for faith and salvation.

But I digress. This is not a sermon on the Apocrypha. I just want you to know that there was a four hundred year gap between Malachi and Matthew. That realization makes Malachi’s message even more profound for us. These were the last words heard by God’s prophets and His beloved people: “Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. You and I both know that this refers to John the Baptizer, the cousin of Jesus. This word from Malachi sounds like Advent to us. That John the Baptizer will prepare the way of the Lord and make straight the highway of our God. But it also sounds like a Lenten theme, especially on a week like this. For Malachi’s words come true in the clearest way as Jesus enters into Jerusalem on a donkey.

At that point, the way had been prepared and God came to town. Malachi lays it out for us in so clear a way when he says, And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple. The Lord Jesus Christ came to Jerusalem. The High Priest Jesus came into the temple, His Father’s House. There are at least three stories related to this prophecy. First during Jesus’ childhood, He stayed behind when He was a boy and Joseph and Mary had to come back to find Him. Second during His ministry, Jesus overturned the tables of the moneychangers and declared the temple a House of Prayer rather than a den of robbers. And then finally, during this Holy Week, the Lord came to Jerusalem to “celebrate the Passover” as the Passover Lamb who took away all the sins of the world. Christ certainly came to His temple.

Christ certainly came to His temple and what a message this was for Malachi’s people who had not seen the glory of the Lord in the temple for over a hundred years and who would not see the presence of the Lord for another 400 years. The thought of God returning was yes joyful, but also a quite fearful thing for the people, especially as the years went on and on and God did not return. Malachi himself asked the congregation, But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears? This too we see in the Scriptures. Who could endure the day of Christ’s coming? Did Peter, who denied Him three times? Did Judas, who betrayed Him into the hands of the chief priests? Did the chief priests and Pharisees, those who should have welcomed our Lord to the temple, did they endure the day of Christ’s coming? What about the other disciples? They all scattered and only John was left there at the cross. Who can endure? Who can believe? Who can stand?

It turns out that following Jesus at the time of Malachi and at the time of Holy Week and even during our own lives now is incredibly difficult. Consider one simple example, who could commit on one week of the year to go to church so much, Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Easter Eve, and Easter Sunday? I completely admit, that it’s a lot of time and effort just to commemorate the days of Holy Week, but imagine if you lived in those days? Imagine if the events transpired in your lifetime, and you were eyewitnesses to the day of the Lord who came to die on the cross!

Malachi expresses this endurance and faith as a process of purification. He says to us today, For he is like a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap. He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, and they will bring offerings in righteousness to the Lord. Consider then these Holy Days of Holy Week not as a burden, but rather as the work of God upon your soul, to refine you like silver, to purify your minds toward God, and to strengthen your faith in Him. Consider then this Holy Week not as your work or obligation, but rather as the opportunity that God works on you, saying to you, Take eat and Drink of it all of you for the forgiveness of your sins. That God works on you and says, “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.” That the Lord works on you and says, “On the seventh Day God rested from all His work in the tomb.” That God works on you and says, “He is not here. He is risen just as He said.”

Malachi speaks four hundred years before the life of Christ, but his message is fulfilled even among us. And this final thing I leave with you. That Jesus is enough. That Jesus’ work during this Holy Week justifies and sanctifies you. That Christ’s death on the cross atones for you. That God the Father’s offering of His only-begotten Son for the sins of the world is enough. Malachi himself declares, Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the Lord as in the days of old and as in former years. That offering, Jesus Christ the Lord, is sufficient for your salvation. This messenger was sent, and this message was preached and even you believe it, that Jesus Christ died on the cross for the forgiveness of your sins, and that He rose again so that you too shall live forever.

In the holy name of Jesus. Amen.

Originally posted at What does this Mean? Blog: https://whatdoesthismean.blog

The posts in the blog What does this Mean? are now available at What does this Mean? | Rev. Robert E. Smith | Substack

Rev. James Peterson
St. John Lutheran Church
Curtis, Nebraska

Micah Sermon

Campus Ministry Night
Micah 5
January 15, 2025

Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

The theme is this: The Lord shall come from Bethlehem to rule over His people and be their Shepherd.

In these sermons during Epiphany, I want to show to you that each of these Old Testament characters point us to Jesus. On Sunday, it was clear that Joshua walking through the Jordan River pointed us to Jesus walking into the Jordan River to be baptized.

But today we take a look at Micah chapter 5. And believe it or not, you have heard this prophecy before. This is one of the big prophecies in the Old Testament that give very specific details about Jesus. It is in this chapter that the priests and the scribes tell Herod about where Jesus is to be born.

I’ll admit that it’s difficult to imagine the context for this passage. For we in America are the biggest and strongest nation, and we have few threats against us. We have all lived our lives in relative peace and there has not been a land war on American soil. Most of us have never seen war up close, only on the news. But that being said, imagine that we are under siege by the enemy. Imagine that we are trapped and surrounded by people who do not like us. Imagine that you are the underdog and you are about to lose your homes and your jobs and your wives and your children.

Imagine that you are about to lose a battle and the war. That might not be a common context for us, but that was the daily fear of the people of God. For the people of God had been slaves for 400 years. The people of God had enemies all around them, the Canaanites, the Philistines, the Amalekites, the Moabites, all the -ites. The people of God were threatened in this Micah passage with destruction from Assyria. And the southern kingdom would later be exiled to Babylon. Then the Greeks and the Romans would rule over them. God’s people were rarely free. They were constantly under siege or made to be slaves.

In truth, I want you to know that the people of the Middle East have always been at war and have always wanted to destroy one another. It was true back then and it is true today.

But even with that context, even if we can imagine being under attack, God never forsakes His people. God promises to fight for them. God has promised to deliver them. But He does not call on Jerusalem to muster up troops. He does not expect to use the powerful and populous to protect His people. Again and again, the Lord God does not use the strength of the army to win the war because God wants us to trust in Him to overcome our enemies.

He uses the weak and the small for His purpose, and He delivers them. Hear the words of the Lord. But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel. Imagine for a minute that North Platte was coming to ransack Curtis. It’s a crazy thought. But rather than calling upon Lincoln to save us, God would tell us that Stockville and Moorefield will come to save us. That’s no insult to Stockville or Moorefield, but that is so few people in comparison to North Platte. How could God do it?

That’s how it is, when God calls upon Bethlehem to save the nation. God uses the few to save the many. God demonstrates His power over against all the nations of the world to keep His people safe. He shall take from the least of these and from that small town shall be born a Savior. That’s why the priests and scribes tell Herod about this passage. Micah’s words had lain dormant for hundreds of years, but they were fulfilled in the birth of Jesus Christ.

And it’s a shame that the New Testament stops the prophecy there for it goes on when Micah says, Therefore he shall give them up until the time when she who is in labor has given birth; then the rest of his brothers shall return to the people of Israel. In other words, the battles will be waged, and wars will be lost. Land will be taken and families will be dispersed. The people shall be given up. Israel will lose. And they certainly did throughout their history. But when the virgin gives birth to Jesus, then the people will be saved. Seven hundred years later, God enters Bethlehem as a baby boy and all the angels announce it.

And here’s the Epiphany theme. When it says that the rest of the brothers shall return to the people of Israel, that means the Gentiles. That means us. In the grand scheme of things, one lost battle and one ransacked city does not compare to the love of God for His people. In the long range of history, the most significant moment was when Jesus was born in Bethlehem and died in Jerusalem. For this is a salvation that is way more than 1,000 people waiting to be delivered. In fact, through the birth and death and resurrection of Jesus, the whole earth has believed in Jesus the Savior and the rest of the brothers have joined in the heavenly host.

And here again Micah describes your Lord Jesus Christ when He says, He shall stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God. And they shall dwell secure, for now he shall be great to the ends of the earth. And he shall be their peace. That’s the comfort that we need to hear. That’s the comfort that we know so well. That’s what Jesus Christ has accomplished, that He defeated our enemies. And that’s what He has accomplished, that He has established His Church. And we the rest of the brothers have joined the Bethlehem band of believers. And He, Jesus Christ the Lord, shall rule over us now and always and He shall be our Shepherd forever and ever. Amen.

Originally posted at What does this Mean? Blog: https://whatdoesthismean.blog

The posts in the blog What does this Mean? are now available at What does this Mean? | Rev. Robert E. Smith | Substack

Rev. James Peterson
St. John Lutheran Church
Curtis, Nebraska

Kings of Israel: Saul

Campus Ministry Sermon
Psalm 24, 1 Samuel 10
October 25, 2023

Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

The theme is this: Saul points us to Jesus as the Prophet, Priest, and King.

Last month, we began this series recognizing that Jesus is the King of all. This month, we focus in on the very first king of Israel, Saul of the tribe of Benjamin. There are many stories you have probably heard about King Saul, but today we will only look at Saul’s anointing to become king. At Saul’s anointing, we notice that he foreshadows Jesus, who will be the Prophet, Priest and King for us.

First, we hear in the reading this evening, “Then Samuel took a flask of oil and poured it on his head and kissed him and said, “Has not the Lord anointed you to be prince over his people Israel? And you shall reign over the people of the Lord and you will save them from the hand of their surrounding enemies. Anointing with oil is not a common practice anymore in the world or in the church. We hardly have kings anymore; parliaments and presidents are much more common. But in the days of Saul, becoming a king was a religious experience. It was the church who anointed the kings. It was God who established the government authorities. Israel truly was a godly nation at that point in history.

But oil on the head only set Saul apart from the people as their king. What was it that confirmed that he was the king? Samuel prophesied a few signs. Our reading says, “And this shall be the sign to you that the Lord has anointed you to be prince over his heritage. When you depart from me today, you will meet two men by Rachel’s tomb in the territory of Benjamin at Zelzah, and they will say to you, ‘The donkeys that you went to seek are found, and now your father has ceased to care about the donkeys and is anxious about you, saying, “What shall I do about my son?”’ First, Saul has to go to Bethlehem; he had to journey to Rachel’s tomb and there he would pick up some donkeys. It is no small detail that the kings of Israel began to reign in Bethlehem. Before Bethlehem was known as the City of David, before David was even a king, Bethlehem was known as the City of Rachel, the burial place for Rachel, the wife of Jacob.

But more than Rachel, more than Saul and more than David, we all know that Jesus was born in Bethlehem and was given gifts by three kings, gold, and frankincense, and myrrh. It was at Jesus’ birth in Bethlehem that He was named the King of the Jews. It was in Bethlehem that He laid among the donkeys and other farm animals.

But donkeys? How can forget to mention the donkeys? It is shocking that Israel’s kings rode on donkeys. No movie shows a king riding on a donkey. No nation wants their kings riding on donkeys. Can you imagine instead of Air Force One that the President of the United States would ride into town on a donkey? What about the King of England? No, kings do not ride on donkeys. But here Saul is on the search for donkeys and he will get them.

And Jesus, the king of all, will ride on donkeys too. Jesus will ride on a donkey with His mother Mary as they journey to Bethlehem. Jesus will ride on a donkey into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday too. Saul, the first king of Israel, shows us what it means to be king, to ride on a donkey. And because of that, Jesus too is truly a King.

But what else is in this story? Then you shall go on from there farther and come to the oak of Tabor. Three men going up to God at Bethel will meet you there, one carrying three young goats, another carrying three loaves of bread, and another carrying a skin of wine. And they will greet you and give you two loaves of bread, which you shall accept from their hand. This second sign for Saul demonstrates the work of the priests. From Bethlehem as king to Bethel as a priest, Saul now sees a sign of three men, three goats, three loaves of bread, and some wine. The priest with the goats will make a blood sacrifice. The priest with the three loaves will make a grain offering. The priest with the skin of wine will make a thanksgiving offering. All of these things proclaim and confirm the kingship of Saul.

How does this point us to Jesus as a priest? Jesus will make a blood sacrifice, not of goats’ blood, but of His own blood. This is what John means when He proclaims, “Jesus the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world!” Not only this, but Jesus will make a grain offering, feeding 5,000 and 4,000 souls by the Sea of Galilee, doing a grain miracle just like the manna in the wilderness. And Jesus will take the cup of wine, and He will declare to the disciples, “This is the New Testament in my Blood, shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.” Yes. Jesus is a priest. In fact, He is the High Priest. He makes the sacrifice for the earth to cover all sins of all people.

But wait. What is the final sign? Our reading continues with these words: After that you shall come to Gibeath-elohim, where there is a garrison of the Philistines. And there, as soon as you come to the city, you will meet a group of prophets coming down from the high place with harp, tambourine, flute, and lyre before them, prophesying. Then the Spirit of the Lord will rush upon you, and you will prophesy with them and be turned into another man. Now when these signs meet you, do what your hand finds to do, for God is with you.

First, we saw that Saul was to be the Bethlehem king. Then we saw that Saul was to be the Bethel priest. Now, Saul will be a prophet. In the midst of the Philistines, Saul will begin to proclaim the true God to unbelievers. What a miracle that was! This passage shows us so much more than establishing the kingship of Israel. It is way more than oil on the head. In this reading, we recognize what godly kings are supposed to be like and what they are to do.

Saul’s anointing as king over Israel foreshadows to us that Jesus will be the true King of Israel. It shows to us that Jesus is the King, the Priest, and the Prophet of God Most High. Saul was the first king of Israel, but his life turned out that he was not the best of the kings of Israel. Yet Saul’s anointing reminds us and helps us look forward to Jesus’ anointing.

Jesus the King lives and reigns over all of creation. Jesus the Priest sacrificed for the whole world. Jesus the Prophet proclaimed the Easter victory over sin, death, and the powers of hell. What Saul could not accomplish, Jesus has accomplished for us.

Long live the King, the King Jesus! Now let us live forever with Him.

In the Holy Name of Jesus. Amen.

Originally posted at What does this Mean? Blog: https://whatdoesthismean.blog

The posts in the blog What does this Mean? are now available at What does this Mean? | Rev. Robert E. Smith | Substack

Rev. James Peterson
St. John Lutheran Church
Curtis, Nebraska

Obadiah Sermon

Advent
Midweek II
Obadiah
December 11, 2024

Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

There are a few things about Obadiah that I think you should know. First of all, it all boils down to Jacob and Esau. Jacob deceived Esau and got Esau’s birthright for a bowl of soup. And Jacob deceived Isaac for Esau’s blessing for well-cooked wild game. Jacob got everything; Esau got nothing. Even though Esau was older and Esau was stronger, Jacob prevailed and he made off with the promises of God.

Jacob ran away after that for twenty years. I was just reading with someone about Jacob and Esau the other day. And Jacob and Esau did finally meet again. And Jacob assumed war, but he and his brother reconciled. And yet there was still bad blood between them. For Israel ended up with the good land and Esau’s descendants ended up with the land of Edom, on the east of the Jordan.

Obadiah’s whole book is about this feud. His small chapter in the Bible, only 21 verses, was written about 1,300 years or more after Jacob and Esau lived in the land. By that time, Edom had attacked Israel and judgment was upon them. Brother rose up against brother, as it were. Assyria had already taken the northern kingdom and Babylon was near at hand to take Jerusalem. And Edom was gloating and boasting at the ruin of their brother Jacob, the nation of Israel. There was little hope for the people of God who had forsaken the Lord.

That’s the first point, that it all boils down to Jacob and Esau. But just like Jacob ran away from Esau in the beginning of this feud, Obadiah mentions that the people of God will also escape when he says, But in Mount Zion there shall be those who escape, and it shall be holy, and the house of Jacob shall possess their own possessions. The house of Jacob shall be a fire, and the house of Joseph a flame. In other words, and this is the second point, the church shall not be snuffed out. And that is valuable for us. Think about what God has done. First, He gave Jacob the blessings. Then He helped Jacob escape. Later, God’s people received the judgment and yet God still delivered them and they escaped.

Here we see 1,300 years of God’s mercy at work. Obadiah reminds us that we shall not be utterly destroyed. While there are powerful forces in our world that would love to humiliate us and to displace us, we have nothing to fear, for like Jacob we shall be preserved. Consider how much greater the house of Jacob is in our world today than the house of Esau. There is no house of Esau. But there is an incredibly vast and numerous church. Esau’s land was small, but the church has spread to every nation and tribe and language.

It is as Obadiah says, that the house of Esau is stubble; they shall burn them and consume them, and there shall be no survivor for the house of Esau, for the Lord has spoken. At the end of the day, Esau has been judged. While Jacob was suffering at that time and Israel was under attack and nearly lost everything, the church, the Israel of God, has prevailed and expanded by God’s grace.

Consider what St. Paul says about this Jacob-Esau feud in Romans chapter 9. He boils it all down to this simple point: “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy. We know that this is true. We do not fight battles and wage wars for material gains by human will or exertion. We do not fight battles and wage wars for an eternal earthly kingdom. Rather we know that God has mercy on us and has compassion towards us. Fighting only accomplishes small victories. But God’s grace through faith is the eternal victory that has lasting, ahem, everlasting effect, as you yourselves can testify.

But to the next point. And this is the one that most clearly points us to Jesus. Obadiah ends his book with this beautiful promise: Saviors shall go up to Mount Zion to rule Mount Esau, and the kingdom shall be the Lord’s. Here is the Jesus prophecy that we need to hear. The Savior shall fight for the church. The Savior shall save the church. From Mount Zion to the Mount of Olives, your Lord Jesus Christ overcame all the enemies and made them a footstool under His feet. From Mount Esau to Mount Calvary, your Lord Jesus Christ established the kingdom of God, the church on earth.

The Savior has come! That’s the Advent message for you today. We already knew that Obadiah’s prophecy was fulfilled in the person of Jesus Christ. We already knew that from Jacob’s family, Jesus has been born. We already knew that our God would deliver us, as He did for thousand of years before His Son was born in Bethlehem.

The kingdom is the Lord’s, dear people of God. His kingdom grows and expands more and more by His grace and through faith. And His kingdom shall have no end. Let us rejoice and sing, for what Obadiah has foretold has come true for us, that God saves us now and forevermore.

In the holy name of Jesus. Amen.

Originally posted at What does this Mean? Blog: https://whatdoesthismean.blog

The posts in the blog What does this Mean? are now available at What does this Mean? | Rev. Robert E. Smith | Substack

Rev. James Peterson
St. John Lutheran Church
Curtis, Nebraska

Jonah Sermon

Advent Midweek III
Jonah 3:1-5, 10
December18, 2024

Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

Would you go? Would you go to Los Angeles and tell everybody you meet they need to repent? Would you walk right into the mayor’s office in Los Angeles and say, “Mayor, change your ways, believe in the Lord.” And then you would say, “Yet forty days and Los Angeles shall be overthrown!” That would take guts! We all might think that we would simply be escorted out of the office with guards, never to see the Mayor’s face again.

Would you go? Would you go to Las Vegas, to the casinos and the brothels, and go to the magnificent mansions and tell the leaders of the city, “Yet forty days and Las Vegas shall be overthrown!” Doesn’t it seem like a nearly impossible task to accomplish? Do you blame Jonah for running the other way?

Would you go? Would you go to Washington D.C. to turn the nation back to the Lord? You wouldn’t go there for political purposes and you wouldn’t go there for a vacation. You would go there to say to the President, “Yet forty days and America shall be overthrown!” I imagine the message falls on deaf ears. The security would probably think that you were nuts!

But Nineveh was not known for those things that Los Angeles and Las Vegas and Washington D.C. are known for. No, Nineveh was known for murdering enemies. The Ninevites were ruthless people. They killed babies. Would you go to Nineveh? Would you walk into the offices of the Nineveh of our day, Planned Parenthood, and preach against that slaughter and murder of the next generation? “Yet forty days, and Planned Parenthood shall be overthrown!” Imagine how many people would hate you! Imagine trying to stay alive yourself if you did that.

We may be able to sympathize with Jonah. We wouldn’t want Jonah’s job either. I think that all of us would rather run away from God and His people who need to hear the Gospel. We may not take a boat on the sea, but who among us would get in a car or a train or a plane to go anywhere but the place that God sends us.

Dear people of God, the first thing we ought to do is to pray for those Christians who are enduring persecution. Pray for the Pastors certainly, but also the congregations who live in the midst of great and grievous sin, who live where love and life are so messed up, who live among great leaders who despise God’s Word and do not gladly hear and learn it.

It takes incredible courage to be willing to go and to obey the voice of the Lord. The Lord said to Jonah a second time in our reading today, “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it the message that I tell you.” Sometimes parents do have to say something more than once for the kids to do what they ask. And in this case, God did have to tell Jonah more than once what his job really was. I have been pondering this recently with one of my friends who was called to Canada. Would you uproot your family who had lived fifteen years in one place to move to a different country, to become citizens, to change schools, to endure the cold? I think for most of us we would definitely think twice before making that decision.

But that is the thing about God. He calls us to tell others about Jesus, and He does the rest of the work. There was no hope for Nineveh. They were ruthless, but by the power of the preached Word, by the conviction of the Law, especially these words, “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!” By these words and certainly the rest of the sermon, the whole city of Nineveh repented and believed in God. He worked a miracle. Jonah started as a coward, but God turned him around and sent him to the city. And Nineveh started as murderers, but they ended in sackcloth and ashes and turned a whole city to God.

We spend a lot of time thinking about the fascinating story of the Joppa high dive and the digestion of whales. But here is the message: And the people of Nineveh believed God. Imagine for a moment what happened, 120,000 souls turned and believed in God. The Lord used the most unlikely prophet to convert the most heathen city at that time.

Now, I have no desire to live in a city, and we continue to pray for those who do. But sometimes I’m jealous of Jonah, for his preaching converted 120,000 and I work to convert just 1,000 or 2,000. But I get ahead of myself. This is not my ministry; this is our ministry. This is not only our ministry; this is God’s ministry here in Curtis and the surrounding area. Together, we work to convert the people of our community to the church of Christ. It is tough work, but it is amazing work. We tell others about Jesus, and God will do the rest of the work of converting souls and changing hearts.

This is what He already has done in us, and like Nineveh, we believe in God and trust in Him for all things. Like Nineveh, God has relented against the disaster planned against us for our sins. Like Nineveh, Jesus died for us to save us from sin, death, and the power of the devil. Like Nineveh, God’s Word goes out, and it does not return to God void, but it accomplished that for which He sent it, namely for your faith by His grace unto life everlasting.

In the holy name of Jesus. Amen.

Originally posted at What does this Mean? Blog: https://whatdoesthismean.blog

The posts in the blog What does this Mean? are now available at What does this Mean? | Rev. Robert E. Smith | Substack

Rev. James Peterson
St. John Lutheran Church
Curtis, Nebraska

Amos Sermon

Advent Midweek I
Amos 5:18-24
December 4, 2024

Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

Dear people of God, we ought never to wish that we were dead. It is perfectly normal to desire to meet Jesus in heaven and we certainly will when we die. But there is always a reason that we are alive, and we should never wish that we were dead. We are alive to spread the Gospel, we are alive to serve our neighbor; we are alive to worship our God.

And we ought never to wish that other people would die. We must protect and defend every human life regardless of circumstance. Life is a gift from God. We must never hope that so-and-so would die, that evil nation would be defeated, that despicable family would experience hardship, or anyone else. That is committing murder in our own hearts.

And that is taking life from others who God has created, loved, and died for. We are alive to spread the Gospel to our enemies, we are alive to serve those who hate us, and we are alive to worship God all our days.

I mention all this because Amos wrote about the judgment against all of Israel’s neighbors for the previous four chapters. This nation was unfaithful; that nation was murderous. This nation was sinful; that nation was worthless. And at least to some degree, the people would cheer for the destruction of others. Those people should die! Think of how it is today. That nation rises up against nation to annihilate each other, total war, bombs, rockets, and missiles.

We should give thanks that we are safe from warfare at this point. And we should pray to God that we do not enter into war. But there is definitely a bit of smugness in each of us when we think, “But they deserve to die. Those people are evil. That group hates Christians.” And we sit on our couches wishing vengeance on our enemies.

But then the Lord commands Amos to preach against the people of Israel and Judah as well. For it is well-known that no one is righteous, no not one. And that caused a moment of reflection. What? You mean that we also deserve to die? That we also are under judgment? That Your vengeance, O Lord, shall be exacted against us?

Three times in Amos 5, the preacher preaches, “Seek the Lord and live!” That was a call to repentance. For it was easy to cheer on destruction when it wasn’t happening to us. But here is that chilling realization that God shows no partiality. If anything, God expects more out of us than He does out of the pagan nations.

But the people were praying and praising for the destruction of others. This is what Amos means when He says, Woe to you who desire the day of the Lord! Why would you have the day of the Lord? Amos preaches to bloodthirsty, vengeful people who want to see the downfall of other nations. Amos preaches to self-righteous hypocrites who do not acknowledge that they have murderous hearts.

I remind you, we are alive to spread the Gospel, we are alive to serve our neighbors, and we are alive to worship God. Shouldn’t we spread the Gospel to Russia AND Ukraine? Shouldn’t we pray for war to cease in the Middle East?

These wars and rumors of wars are for us an example of what we deserve from the Lord: death. And this violence and threat is an example for us of what the day of the Lord would be for us if we did not have the Gospel. As Amos says, It is darkness, and not light, as if a man fled from a lion, and a bear met him. In our reading today, Amos provides a scary picture of the end of the world, a hopeless image of running from a lion to a bear which would end with the same result: death.

But this is not because the Lord does not love us. It is because the hearts of God are not gracious and merciful. It is because our souls want revenge. We want other people to die because they deserve it, because they are evil and we are not. Or so we think.

Consider these words from God through the prophet Amos: “I hate, I despise your feasts, and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies. Even though you offer me your burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them. I totally get it, when God is angry with us, His Word cuts us to the heart. To be sure, there is not much hope or Gospel in this passage today. God’s Word does cut us deeply in our hearts. This is how it happened with Cain after he killed Abel. This is what happened when Nathan confronted David about killing Uriah.

But let us learn this lesson today and not repeat the sins of the past. As Amos says, “Seek the Lord and live. Seek good, and not evil, that you may live; and so the Lord, the God of Hosts, will be with you, as you have said. Hate evil, and love good, and establish justice in the gate; it may be that the Lord, the God of Hosts, will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.” I remind you, it is not God’s will to destroy us, to kill us. Rather, it is one of the major themes of Advent, that God is with us.

Do not forget that. God is with you. What a comfort that is when there is vengeance against all the nations. God is with you even when the cities are falling. God is with you even if you have to fight in a war. God is with you and it is not His intention that you ought to die, or that anyone else should die.

Seek the Lord and live, the Word says to you today. For our God has been gracious to us, the remnant of Joseph. God is gracious to us now, that He spares our lives. He spares us so that we can spread the Gospel to the nations who are warring against one another. He spares us so that we can serve our neighbors and even our enemies. God spares us destruction and woe so that we can freely worship Him here. God spares us that we can live now on earth, and eternally with Him in heaven.

For it is in heaven, as Amos says, that justice rolls down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream. What a beautiful picture. And what an obvious joy! That there is no war in heaven; there is ever-flowing peace. That there is no anger in heaven; there is ever-flowing joy. That there is no vengeance in heaven; there is ever-flowing grace. Like a stream, like the stream of living water, our Lord Jesus Christ shall reign with justice and righteousness as the eternal King of Kings.

In the holy name of Jesus. Amen.

Originally posted at What does this Mean? Blog: https://whatdoesthismean.blog

The posts in the blog What does this Mean? are now available at What does this Mean? | Rev. Robert E. Smith | Substack

Rev. James Peterson
St. John Lutheran Church
Curtis, Nebraska

Hosea Sermon

Campus Ministry Night
Hosea 5:15-6:6, Psalm 119:65-72
September 11, 2024

Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

Sometimes in life, we have to learn the lesson the hard way. If we reject what our teachers teach us, then we may only barely scrape by in school and we won’t really want to go to college. If we ignore the laws of the land, then we will pay fines for bad behavior or serve time in jail for the wrongs that we have committed. If we hate our parents and do not listen to their wisdom, then we will fall into many pitfalls and find out that we need our parents to help get us out of our predicaments.

It is the same way with the Lord. And like the other authorities in our life, sometimes the Lord lets us fail and go our own way. Try it out; see if it works for you. It never does work, of course, not in the end. The Lord waits for Prodigal Sons to return home and to be faithful.

That’s really the lesson of Hosea. The northern kingdom had forsaken the Lord. Rather than worshipping the Lord where He can be found, they were worshipping all sorts of gods on all sorts of altars. They were faithless to the Lord their God. They were breaking the first, second, and third commandments.

And if that’s not bad enough, the northern kingdom had forsaken one another as well. Husband and wife were not faithful to one another. A symptom of the faithlessness to God was the faithlessness to one another. The nation had prostituted herself with other gods and the results were grief and destruction and death. They were breaking the sixth commandment.

But then the Lord says in our reading this evening, I will return again to my place, until they acknowledge their guilt and seek my face, and in their distress earnestly seek me. In other words, the Lord the Shepherd would no longer go out seeking the sheep to bring them in. Rather the Shepherd would return to the tabernacle, to the temple, and the people would have to come back to Him. God returned to His house; and He waits for His people to return to Him there.

Will God’s people return, repent, and acknowledge their guilt? That sounds like what we do in church every time we gather. We confess our sins, and God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Can you imagine with me for a moment, though, how amazing it would be if the whole nation returned, repented and acknowledged their guilt? That would be more than life-changing. That would be world-changing.

Will God’s people earnestly seek the Lord? Here is the mention of prayer. Christians pray. It’s a fact of life. But prayer indicates to God that the proper relationship between God and His people has been restored. If you have been unfaithful to God, prayer is a great thing to start. If you have been unfaithful to one another, praying to the Lord is the best place to start to restore trust and love for one another.

God wants His people to say to Him, “Come, let us return to the Lord; for he has torn us, that he may heal us; he has struck us down, and he will bind us up. After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will raise us up, that we may live before him. This is the prayer that God wants. But as we know, the northern kingdom never does return to the Lord and repent and acknowledge their guilt. Instead, the northern kingdom is destroyed and never heard from again.

Let them be a lesson for us. For God sent to them the prophet Hosea who married a prostitute to indicate to the people the problem with the relationship they had with God. God sent them the prophet Hosea who preached to them to turn from their wicked ways. And they did not listen to the preacher; they did not listen to God.

But the words of Hosea remind us today what we should do: Let us know; let us press on to know the Lord; his going out is sure as the dawn; he will come to us as the showers, as the spring rains that water the earth.” For if you know the Lord, then you will not know the ways of the world or the ways of other gods. And if you know the Lord, then you will know how to live before Him. And if you know the Lord, then you will be faithful to Him and fervently love the spouse, children, and family that He has given you.

Rather than breaking the first, second, third, and sixth commandments, we will return, repent, and acknowledge our guilt before God and before one another, and the relationship will be restored.

Now, I certainly agree that that might be learning the hard way. But sometimes in life, the hard way to learn something is the best way for it to stick with us. It would be best to remain faithful, but when sin enters in, then repentance and faith are the only solution for our sins and struggles.

Now that you have been hewn by the prophet Hosea and slain by the words of my mouth, repent and live. Jesus loves you, forgives you, and restores you. Remember well these final words: For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings. Let me remind you: the Lord waits for all of His Prodigal Sons to return home, repent, believe, and live forever with Him.

In the holy name of Jesus. Amen.

Originally posted at What does this Mean? Blog: https://whatdoesthismean.blog

The posts in the blog What does this Mean? are now available at What does this Mean? | Rev. Robert E. Smith | Substack

Rev. James Peterson
St. John Lutheran Church
Curtis, Nebraska

Kings of Israel: Samuel, Kingmaker

Campus Ministry Sermon
1 Samuel 8
September 27, 2023

Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

The theme is this: Jesus is the King of all.

As we begin this sermon series together, every campus ministry night and every Advent and Lent midweek service is going to focus on the Kings of Israel. We know about David and Solomon, or at least we know the books they wrote, Psalms and Proverbs. But we probably know about their lives at least a little bit.

We know David was a shepherd boy and that he slayed Goliath. We know he sinned with Bathsheba and that he killed Uriah. And we probably know that Solomon was wise and that he built the temple for the Lord. We know Solomon married 700 wives, and that caused so many problems.

But this year, I want to teach and preach about all the faithful kings of Israel. This year, we will cover kings that maybe you have never heard of, like Asa. Or maybe you have heard about Jehoshaphat, but you know nothing about him.

But even more, we will learn about the Fourth Commandment, about honoring authorities. We learn that Jesus Christ is the King of all, the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. We will learn more about that part of the Lord’s Prayer, Thy kingdom come.

It’s quite a project, quite a sermon series. And there is much to learn. So where do we start? Today’s reading starts where the whole kingdom began: Israel demands a king.

Our reading begins with these words: When Samuel became old, he made his sons judges over Israel. The name of his firstborn son was Joel, and the name of his second, Abijah; they were judges in Beersheba. Yet his sons did not walk in his ways but turned aside after gain. They took bribes and perverted justice.

First, we need to talk about Samuel. Samuel was a priest, a holy man, and not a king at all. Samuel was given to the Lord by his mother, Hannah, to be a priest in the church of the Old Testament. Samuel was a good guy in our stories, a faithful man leading the church and the nation to obey God in all things.

But his sons turned aside. Though they were raised in the church and knew God’s Word, they thought that they knew what was best and they did their own thing and disobeyed God and Samuel, their father.

This is a pretty common thing; to go to church as a kid with mom and/or dad, but when we leave for college to skip church and do our own thing. Freedom is wonderful for a time, but faith is far more important. Making money is a great feeling, but the love of money is the root of all evil. Samuel’s sons took bribes and relied on money instead of God. What is more important to you? Making lots of money or believing in the Savior?

What happened in Israel is that the people forgot God and wanted a king to rule over them. Rather than relying on God, the people wanted a king like all the rest of the world. Our reading says, Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah and said to him, “Behold, you are old and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now appoint for us a king to judge us like all the nations.” But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, “Give us a king to judge us.” Israel wanted to become like all the other nations around them.

This is something that I think we all understand, too. We think, “I want to be like so-and-so.” Boy, this is everywhere in our culture. Support this perverted idea or be silenced. Support that country or our own country will be in peril. Watch out, or you might be cancelled. It takes great courage to stand up for what you believe in. It takes great faith to be a Christian today. The pressures of campus, the pressures of friends, and the pressures of the internet all try to discourage us and to be like Israel, wanting a king, anybody other than God to rule over us.

But look at what Samuel did. And Samuel prayed to the Lord. And the Lord said to Samuel, “Obey the voice of the people in all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them. According to all the deeds that they have done, from the day I brought them up out of Egypt even to this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are also doing to you. Now then, obey their voice; only you shall solemnly warn them and show them the ways of the king who shall reign over them.”

First things first. Samuel prayed about this problem. He prayed about his nation and his people and his church. He prayed just like his mother Hannah had prayed for a son to be born for her. Samuel knew that prayer was necessary, that God’s kingdom would come and God’s will be done.

And the Lord reluctantly grants the request of Israel. Much like Jesus says in the Gospel, “Those who reject you are really rejecting me,” so here the Lord says to Samuel, “They do not reject you, but they reject me.” The people of Israel want a king, anybody other than God.

This is exactly how it is in our world. The world wants money, the world wants to do its own thing. The world wants to tempt us and mislead us. The world wants the church to fail. We experience this on campus, we experience this in our homes, we experience this on the news, we experience this in our own country.

But this is not how it is in the church. In the church, Jesus is the King of all. In this church, we obey God rather than man. In the church, we walk in God’s ways and not in the ways that the world wants us to go.

As we begin to move through the books of 1 and 2 Samuel and 1 and 2 Kings this year, we will learn so many things. We will realize just how our world worships anything other than God Himself. We will learn about leaders of nations, the godly ones, and yet we will recognize that they are sinners just like us.

But most importantly, let the Gospel ring true, Jesus Christ is the King of all. This is the whole point, and this is the comfort. That no matter who cancels us, no matter what the world does, no matter how hard it is at times, Jesus Christ is our King and this world is not His country. No, Christ rules heaven, that world to come, for which we yearn and about which we believe.

Nobody can take our King away from us. And nobody can kill Him anymore. Our King Jesus lives and reigns to all eternity. And we His subjects will live with Him forever.

In the holy name of Jesus, Amen.

Originally posted at What does this Mean? Blog: https://whatdoesthismean.blog

The posts in the blog What does this Mean? are now available at What does this Mean? | Rev. Robert E. Smith | Substack

Rev. James Peterson

St. John Lutheran Church

Curtis, Nebraska

Zechariah Sermon

Lent Midweek IV
Zechariah 9:9-12
April 2, 2025

Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

I know that you are familiar with blue-colored paraments for the season of Advent and purple-colored paraments for the season of Lent, as you see here. But did you know that there are pink colored paraments? Or rather, I should say that we do not call it pink, but we call it “Rose.” You may not be aware of it as far as paraments go, but you are aware of it in terms of the Advent wreath. We have three candles that are blue and one that is rose.

Why do I bring this up? Well, there are two Sundays in the Church Year where “Rose” is the color of the day. One of those Sundays is in Advent, when we light the rose candle. And the other Sunday was this past Sunday during the season of Lent. This practice is meant to emphasize “rejoicing” and “joy.”

And it is especially important during the season of Lent. Lent is well-known as a repentant season, sackcloth and ashes and the whole bit. But right in the middle of the season is this message of joy. In the middle of the forty-day fast is a moment of feasting, of rejoicing at what the Lord has done for us.

The text from Zechariah for us today fits perfectly during this particular week. Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Rejoice, o people of God! Again, I say, Rejoice! Break the fast! Worship the Lord. Serve the Lord with gladness. This message from Zechariah is so different in tone from all the rest of the Minor Prophets that we have read and pondered this year. While we did hear the words of Micah that prophesied about Jesus’ birth, today we hear the words of Zechariah that prophesy that Jesus will die.

Or rather, we hear about the arrival of the king, a king who we know is about to die. Zechariah says, Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. Dear people of God, you hear these words every year on Palm Sunday, and that day is surely drawing nigh for us in a week and a half. The King, greater than David, greater than Solomon, greater than Herod, is coming to you. I ask you, would you be excited if the President was coming to your house? I imagine you would want to clean the house and prepare the grounds for his arrival. That would be a big deal for any one of us.

And we would probably ask, Why is the President coming? I just mind my own business, I just work on my farm. But that is the point. The King is coming to earth to save. The King is coming for you. But this is where our preparations would go overboard. If we were expecting the king, we would plan the best food and have the best furniture for him. But your Lord is so much different than a President. Your Lord is in fact a humble King, one who rides on a donkey, and a small one at that. I mean, this is no bullet-proof motorcade. The King Jesus comes riding on a donkey, and His donkey would probably love to meet your donkey.

In fact, the Lord God does not come to earth to fight. He is not a King of war, but of peace. A King of war would come with sword and shield and helmet, but your King comes to you to bring peace. Zechariah says this in a few ways when he says of the Lord, I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim and the war horse from Jerusalem; and the battle bow shall be cut off, and he shall speak peace to the nations. In other words, Jesus the King is coming to end the battle between Jacob and Esau. He comes to earth to end the war between Cain and Abel. When you think of these words of Zechariah, remember what Pilate asks Jesus “Are you the King of the Jews?” And Jesus says, “My kingdom is not of this world.” Jesus the King does not come to wage war and to gain territory. Jesus the King came to earth to bring peace and to save souls.

His kingdom shall be the whole earth. His kingdom shall be saved and they shall believe in Him. That is what he means when he says, His rule shall be from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth. Too often, we think only about ourselves, like the people of Israel did. All they wanted was a political leader. Instead they received a heavenly leader. And we too want a political leader for our nation, one that will bring peace to nations and one that will protect us from the enemy. And yet this reading for today tells us in a word that God so loved the world, from sea to sea, from the River to the ends of the earth.

He came for all people regardless of who they are. And he comes to save. That is something to rejoice greatly about. That is something to shout aloud to those who will hear it. But do not forget. Your King is coming for you, to make you His Christian subject. Your King is coming humble for you to ride with Him to heaven.

know, Your King has already come to earth to shed His blood and by that blood to bring peace and to set the prisoners free. Hear the Word of the Lord: As for you also, because of the blood of my covenant with you, I will set your prisoners free from the waterless pit. In case you did not know, the “waterless pit” is instead the pit of fire, or rather the depths of hell. And your King by His Blood has rescued you from it and set you free.

And His sermon to you is simply this: Return to your stronghold, O prisoners of hope! Return to the church and sing. Return to the sanctuary and be at peace. Return and rejoice! For you are right now prisoners of hope. You live in the world, but have been set free to live in heaven forever. And you have no more enemies, for you today hope in the Lord who has come for you and who has promised to come again for you and me and for all those who believe.

Behold, your king is coming for you, humble and riding on a donkey.Rejoice and be glad. Eternity is yours.

In the holy name of Jesus. Amen.

Originally posted at What does this Mean? Blog: https://whatdoesthismean.blogThe posts in the blog What does this Mean? are now available at What does this Mean? | Rev. Robert E. Smith | Substack

Rev. James Peterson
St. John Lutheran Church
Curtis, Nebraska

1 Samuel 16

Pastor James Peterson

December 6, 2024

Lent Midweek V Malachi 3:1-7b April 9, 2025

Campus Ministry Night Micah 5 January 15, 2025

Campus Ministry Sermon Psalm 24, 1 Samuel 10 October 25, 2023

Advent Midweek II Obadiah December 11, 2024

Advent Midweek III Jonah 3:1-5, 10 December18, 2024

Advent Midweek I Amos 5:18-24December 4, 2024

Campus Ministry Night Hosea 5:15-6:6, Psalm 119:65-72 September 11, 2024

Campus Ministry Sermon 1 Samuel 8 September 27, 2023

Lent Midweek IV Zechariah 9:9-12 April 2, 2025

Lent Midweek V
Malachi 3:1-7b
April 9, 2025

Campus Ministry Night
Micah 5
January 15, 2025

Campus Ministry Sermon
Psalm 24, 1 Samuel 10
October 25, 2023

Advent
Midweek II
Obadiah
December 11, 2024

Advent Midweek III
Jonah 3:1-5, 10
December18, 2024

Advent Midweek I
Amos 5:18-24
December 4, 2024

Campus Ministry Night
Hosea 5:15-6:6, Psalm 119:65-72
September 11, 2024

Campus Ministry Sermon
1 Samuel 8
September 27, 2023

Lent Midweek IV
Zechariah 9:9-12
April 2, 2025