Our Savior Evangelical Lutheran Church
Crestview, Florida
Sermons
The Second Sunday after Michaelmas
October 11, 2026
The Holy Spirit sounds forth the Gospel call: "See, I have prepared my dinner. . .Come to the wedding" (Matthew 22:1-14). But many reject this invitation in favor of worldly pursuits. And so the call goes out to others, both the good and the bad. For the wedding invitation is not based on the qualifications of those invited but on the basis of the merits and work of Christ. The feast is free: "You who have money, come, but and eat. . .Let your soul delight itself in abundance" (Isaiah 55:1-9). Those rejecting the Spirit's work shall experience God's wrath and judgment. Those who are not clothed in Christ's righteousness shall be cast into outer darkness where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Let us therefore seek the Lord while He may be found, for He will have mercy upon us. Let us redeem the time, being filled with the Spirit, giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ (Ephesians 5:15-21).
The First Sunday after Michaelmas
October 4, 2026
The Lord does not require us to ascend to Him; in mercy He descends to us (Genesis 28:10-17). Thee ladder in Jacob's dream was not for climbing; it was the means by which the Lord came to bless Jacob. This event finds its fulfillment in Christ who descended from His throne to save and bless us. By His incarnation He is the eternal bridge between heaven and earth. "The Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins" (Matthew 9:1-8). The Lord was present in the flesh to absolve the paralytic. Jesus also healed and restored this man's body. "For where there is forgiveness of sins, there is also life and Salvation" (Small Catechism). The Lord still has power on earth to forgive sins. For "God has given such power to men." In hloy absoultion He raises up the new man (Ephesians 4:22-28) and bestows the healing medicine which will bring about out resurrection on teh Last Day. Thus we say with Jacob, "This is none other that the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven!"
The Seventeenth Sunday after Trinity
September 27, 2026
"Do not exalt yourself in the presence of the king" (Proverbs 25:6-14). Rather, take the lowest position at the table. Humble yourself before Him. For your place in not for you to take but for Him to give. Conduct yourself with all lowliness and gentleness, bearing with one another in love (Ephesians 4:1-6), that the King may give you glory in the presence of those at the table with you. "For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted" (St. Luke 14:1-11). Is this not the way of Christ? He is the one who took the lowest place, who humbled Himself even to the point of death for us. He is now exalted to the highest place at the right hand of the Father that penitent believers may be exalted together with Him in the resurrection. To the humble at His Supper He says, "Friend, go up higher," giving you His very Body and Blood for your forgiveness that you may ascend to take part in the great Wedding Feast which has no end.
Sixteenth Sunday After Trinity
September 20, 2026
A large funeral procession carrying the only son of a widow is confronted by another large procession, Jesus and His followers. Death and Life meet face to face at the gate of the city (St. Luke 7:11-17). Filled with compassion, Jesus comes into direct contact with our mortality in order to overcome it. He touches the coffin and speaks His creative words of life, "Young man, I say to you, arise." Jesus does what is neither expected nor requested. For through Christ, God the Father "is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think" (Ephesians 3:13-21). Jesus bore our death in His Body that we may share in His resurrection. Even as Elijah stretched himself out three times over the Zarephath woman's son (2 Kings 17:17-24), God stretched Himself out over us in the threefold application of His Name in the baptismal water, breathing new and everlasting life into us. "To Him be glory in the Church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever."
Fifteenth Sunday After Trinity
September 13, 2026
"You cannot serve God and mammon" (St. Matthew 6:24-34), for they require two contrary forms of service. Worry is the worship given to the false god of mammon, an unbelieving anxiousness and focus on the things of this world. Faith is the worship of the true God, a confident trust that He is a loving Father who will care for all of our needs in both body and soul. The widow of Zarephath served God, that is, she believed the Word of the Lord spoken by Elijah that the bin of flour would not be used up, nor would the jar of oil run dry (1 Kings 17:8-16). He who feeds the birds and clothes the flowers will certainly provide for our daily needs. For He has already provided for our eternal needs, clothing us with Christ's righteousness in Baptism and feeding us His Body and Blood for our forgiveness. With such confidence we are liberated from worry and freed to do good with our material resources, especially to those who are of the household of faith (Galatians 5:25-6:10).
The Fourteenth Sunday after Trinity
September 6, 2026
The ten lepers cried out from a distance, "Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!" (Luke 17:11-19). Their condition cut them off from God and others. So also do the works of the flesh cut us off from God and others, "Those who practice such things will not inherit the Kingdom of God" (Gal 5:16-24). Thus, we cry out with the lepers, "Lord have mercy, Christ have mercy, Lord have mercy," eagerly seeking His good gifts. Jesus said to the lepers, "Go, show yourselves to the priests." And as they went, they were cleansed. So too, we walk by faith and not by sight, being confident of Jesus' help before we see any evidence of it, trusting that Jesus' cleansing words of forgiveness will restore us to wholeness in the resurrection.
Our Savior Evangelical Lutheran Church is a congregation of The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod