Sermons
"So, faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the Word of Christ." (Rom 10:17). While it's preferable to hear the sermon in person, those who could not attend, or would like to review the sermon again, can do so here.
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April 26, 2026
JESU JUVA JUBILATE / THE FOURTH SUNDAY OF EASTER Text: St. John 16:16-22 ALLELUIA! CHRIST IS RISEN! HE IS RISEN INDEED! ALLELUIA! IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER, AND OF THE SON, AND OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. AMEN. There is a lie circulating among many Christian circles and denominations. I am sure you have heard it; you may have even been taught it. “If you are a true Christian, if you believe hard enough, if you pray earnestly enough, your life will be prosperous, healthy, and happy. If only you have enough faith, your life will be trouble free.” Our LORD JESUS puts that lie to rest with the words He spoke to His disciples: “Most assuredly, I say to you that you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice; and you will be sorrowful....” Still, the lie persists. It says that Christian life, true Christian life, is without pain, sorrow, or suffering. The lie spreads its poison among Christians telling them the Christian life endures no real hardships and partakes in no real cross. It tells us that the Christian life is worry-free, hassle-free, and in effect, the Christian life is practically perfect in every way. The implication then is, if you experience any kind of despair, if you are tormented by disease of mind or body, if you are depressed or in anguish, if you suffer heartache for any reason, then you are not a true Christian. Because GOD is not blessing you there must be something wrong in your life. In short, you have fallen short of pleasing GOD, and for this reason your life is not blessed with the fruits of true faith. But that is a lie. The truth is that the Christian life is lived out in a fallen world full of heartache and pain, suffering and death, even as all the while the Christian life is also lived out in the redemption which can only be found in the shadow of the cross of CHRIST JESUS. So it is, that the Christian life this side of Heaven is a mixture of fear and love, weeping and laughter, sorrow and gladness, mourning and joy, insecurity and confidence. Even though we Christians feel the pain of cross and suffering in this life, we look forward to the fullness of true, lasting peace, contentment, and joy our LORD has reserved for us in the life of the world to come. These are not the words we want to hear. We would prefer to hear that life in CHRIST is a life full of comfort and ease. We want to hear that being Christian means we will be treated with the utmost fairness, that others will always love us, that our mountains will be made low and our highways made straight. That is what we would prefer to hear. We would tell our Blessed LORD that we not only want our sins removed—that He should not only die our death—but that He should also take away everything that annoys and frustrates or bothers us, every bad thing that can happen to us, every evil word or deed that might come against us. That is what we would prefer. Our text from Isaiah tells us that “those who wait on the LORD shall renew their strength.” This, too, is something we do not prefer to hear. We are far too short-sighted and far too short on patience. Our short-sightedness causes us to focus on the negative: “A little while, and you will not see Me… you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice; and you will be sorrowful.” Our impatience says, “LORD, look at all I have done for You and in Your name. Can You not give me a break?” Instead of saying what we want to hear, our LORD says what is true and real. And what is this? “A little while, and you will not see Me; and again a little while, and you will see Me, because I go to the FATHER.” So which “little while” should be our focus? Are we to focus on that “little while” when we do not see the LORD? That is precisely where Satan would have us focus. Satan cooperates with the world and plays with our mind and our emotions so we believe that our faith does us no good at all. In his deception the devil whispers to us that pain and sorrow are all that we will find in this life. He would strike down GOD’s gifts to us in Word and Sacrament and replace them with despair. Satan would have us concentrate on the “little while” of sorrow so that we turn that molehill into a mountain—so that the “little while” is no longer a “little while” but seems to us an eternity and all we can manage to see. So we do whatever we can to avoid the cross in our lives and shipwreck our faith. We take the path of least resistance and dodge the harder parts of our callings—or run from our callings altogether. We fail to speak the truth of what we believe as Christians for the sake of keeping a false peace; in an attempt to evade any negative consequences that we might experience as a consequence. JESUS says, “A little while, and you will not see Me; and again, a little while, and you will see Me.” There will be those “little while[s]” when you cannot seem to see JESUS, when life is fierce, when the world seems to be laughing at you, when you are sharing in the trials of our LORD. But He reminds you here, “It really is only a little while that you must endure. That pain, that disease, that heartache, that difficult situation is almost over. Just hang on, hang on to Me. Trust in Me to pull you through this time of pain. It may seem like an eternity, but it is only a little while. Your Easter is coming.” As the Psalmist writes: “Weeping may endure for a night, But joy comes in the morning.” Consider the bloody, perilous passage of birth for both mother and child. The mother experiences intense pain as wave after wave of contractions overwhelm her. Yet all the while she is clearly focused on but one goal; she cares about nothing other than getting that baby out. So also, we still bear the burden of the Law and the consequences of sin. We are forgiven, like Eve in the garden, clinging to the promise of the MESSIAH, but still waiting for the consummation of our joy. That consummation lies in the future, but until then, the Law continues to bring pain and sorrow. Into the midst of this comes JESUS, our SAVIOR; the One whose whole life and being were consumed with, and immersed in, our “little while” of doubt and anxiety and sorrow and misery. He comes and says to us three times “a little while,” “a little while,” “a little while.” That is the length of our suffering. A “little while” is the length of Christian sorrow. Consider again the mother in labor. For all she experiences, she is a woman uniquely focused upon the joy to come. She is not distracted by the petty things of this life. As she goes through the pain of giving birth, she cares not at all if the doctors, nurses, or passersby see her physical condition. She does not care if her faced is flushed and sweaty, she does not care if her hair is a mess; she is giving birth to new life, and for “a little while,” that is all that matters in her mind. For “a little while,” she has sorrow, but then the baby comes and when the child is laid upon her breast for the first time, all is forgotten. Her sorrow is complete and her joy begins. So it is with us. We endure for now and live through this “little while” keeping our eye on the prize—keeping our eye on the long while, the never ending moment in the unending Day of our LORD. For while the cursed sorrow and the devilish despair last only a little while, then comes the joy which knows no end and the peace which surpasses our human understanding. Then comes the blessing that far outstrips any temporal heartache. But first, comes “a little while.” While you are in that “little while” of impatient, despondent sorrow, do not be like a pregnant woman who dreads the “little while” of pain she must face on day she will give birth. Instead, think of the joy of a woman who has just given birth and whose happiness cannot be contained. For “as soon as she has given birth to the child, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world.” Turn now with joy to the gifts our LORD gives to you in His life-giving Flesh and His life-giving Blood. Even now, the LORD sees you again as He smiles on you with His life-giving Word of renewal and forgiveness. For in this, CHRIST creates within you a new heart and an upright spirit as you experience the joy of His salvation. Even now, our LORD JESUS is waiting to bestow upon you a foretaste of the joy and peace to come in the Feast of the altar. In this we rightly rejoice, for in this blessed Sacrament is a joy no one can take from us. In it can be heard a blessed Word that no devil or enemy of GOD can undo, for it is as though JESUS says to you, “I promise that your little while is but a little while and it will soon be over and I will return for you, “and your heart will rejoice and your joy no one can take from you. For I have suffered your “little while” that in My cross and resurrection you can experience My eternity. These things I did to forgive all your sins. IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER, AND OF THE SON, AND OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. AMEN. SOLI DEO GLORIA Rev. Raymond D. Parent II Our Savior Evangelical Lutheran Church Crestview, Florida
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April 19, 2026
JESU JUVA MISERICORDIAS DOMINI / THE THIRD SUNDAY OF EASTER Text: St. John 10:11-16 ALLELUIA! CHRIST IS RISEN! HE IS RISEN INDEED! ALLELUIA! IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER, AND OF THE SON, AND OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. AMEN. JESUS said, “I am the Good Shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own.” If you are a sheep who dwells in the pasture of our LORD, then you know the voice of your Master. His is the only voice to which you will respond. All other voices fade into the voices and cacophony or background noise of this life. The Master’s sheep do not hear the voices of strangers, and so, do not respond to them because they do not recognize them. Such selective hearing is much like when one is engrossed in a book, a daydream, or an app on a cell phone. One hears the voices around him or her only in a peripheral sort of way. One may recognize a word here or a phrase there, but one does not respond to them. It is only when one is called by name that one is finally awakened from his or her reverie and hears. So, my question for you this morning is this: Have you heard your name? The Good Shepherd, our LORD JESUS CHRIST, has called you. Are you listening? Do you hear His voice? Are you a sheep of the Good Shepherd or do you belong to another? Our Good Shepherd knows His sheep. He numbers the hairs on the heads of His sheep and He knows and calls each and every one of them by name. They are His—they belong to Him even as He belongs to them. They are joined by Flesh and Blood—His Flesh, His Blood; His Flesh given into death for them, and His Blood poured out to give them rich and abundant life. He is the Good Shepherd. He came to give His life for the sheep, and His sheep hear and know His voice and follow Him. The irony here is that these same sheep, the very same for whom JESUS gave up His life and died, these very same sheep, had a hand in the murder of their Shepherd. Their sins killed the One who loved them, but only because He allowed it. No one can take His life from Him; He laid His life down that He may take it up again and shepherd them. JESUS is the Good Shepherd and He loves His sheep to the end. Yet, there are those who would seek to plunder the Good Shepherd’s sheep. They are not the Good Shepherd and they care not a whit for the sheep because the sheep of the Good Shepherd are not their own. Without a care for the Good Shepherd’s flock they eat the fat of the sheep and clothe themselves with their wool. They neglect the weak and do not give them words of strength. They ignore the sick and do not provide care for the broken. Nor do they seek those who have been driven away. Like wolves in sheep’s clothing, they deceive the sheep, feeding on them until the sheep are no more. Then they flee, in search of another flock to plunder. Such a one is not a shepherd, but a hireling. Hirelings serve neither GOD nor Church but only their own stomachs. They do not pastor the LORD’s sheep out of love for them, but for temporal earthly rewards. In self-interest, they seek to profit only themselves without any concern at all for the souls of the sheep. Thus, they spend all their time counting the sheep without truly caring for the sheep. Their hearts are set ablaze for the purpose of worldly advantage and honor among men, but the hireling is not at all set aflame with enthusiasm or love for the sheep. Without regard or compassion for the sheep the hireling will not take a stand when the wolf comes and the sheep are in danger. Because he esteems the honor of men, because he enjoys his worldly advantages, he will not warn, rebuke, or correct the sheep who stray. Instead, he prefers the safety of the golden middle, being neither cold nor hot. So no, the hireling harbors no love for the sheep, but would gladly exchange the sheep for a sack containing thirty pieces of silver. Therefore, the hireling, all for the sake of false peace, is willing to call an evil thing good and that which is good, evil. As I said, He looks for the safety of the golden middle. He is at home seated comfortably on a fence. His byword is compromise, but this is evil of the worst sort because that which he compromises is the Word of GOD. In compromising the Word of God, the hireling leaves the flock with no defense against the wolf when he stalks and attacks them. In this world’s economy, sheep are raised to fleece, to slaughter, and devour. They are used for food, clothing, and sacrifice. But JESUS, the true Good Shepherd, is different. He does not abuse the sheep nor fleece them for personal gain. He does not sacrifice His sheep, but instead, sacrifices Himself in their place. As a Shepherd in sheep’s clothing, God in man has become one of the sheep, and giving Himself into cruel death, He is the universal all-atoning Blood Sacrifice in their place. Instead of devouring His flock, the Good Shepherd feeds Himself to His flock—His Flesh for them to eat and His Blood for them to drink. Instead of fleecing them, He clothes them in pure garments of His righteousness. When the old evil foe came to ravage His flock, He did not flee. He did not desert them. The Good Shepherd laid down His life on behalf of His sheep. He willingly presented Himself as a Sacrificial Lamb to save them. Becoming one of them, He allowed the wolf to seize Him in their place and rip and tear His Flesh apart. He allowed the wolf to sink his fangs into His heel until He was dead. But JESUS, the Good Shepherd did not simply lay down His life; the story does not end there. The Good Shepherd took His life up again. The Lamb who was slain is dead no longer. His tomb is empty. The heel that still bears the scars of Satan’s fury has crushed the head of His enemy. For JESUS is no ordinary shepherd. An ordinary shepherd may indeed lay his life down for his sheep, but to what end? When the shepherd is dead the sheep are left as prey for the wolf. But JESUS is the Good Shepherd. He has the power to lay His life down and the power to take it up again. In fact, JESUS laid down His life for that very purpose. Dying and rising again for the life of the world is the office and work of the Good Shepherd. It is for this reason the FATHER sent Him to be born of human flesh. For through His innocent suffering and death, the Good Shepherd grants His sheep eternal life so they will never perish, and no one will snatch them away from Him. JESUS died the death of His sheep that they will never die. His death has completely satisfied the wrath of His FATHER for our sins. He paid for the guilt of the sheep, redeeming them with His precious Blood through his innocent suffering and death. His Blood poured out of Him and into the waters of Holy Baptism where we are baptized into His death for the forgiveness of our sins and raised again with Him in His resurrection as new creations. No longer then, are we simply sheep. We are sons and daughters of our FATHER in Heaven and brothers and sisters of our risen LORD and SAVIOR, JESUS CHRIST. That same life-giving Blood is poured into you in His Holy Supper, that with His Body and Blood you will be strengthened when the wolf comes knocking upon your door, giving you the strength to resist his temptations. JESUS said, “I am the Good Shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own.” Sheep know the voice of their master. His is the only voice to which His sheep respond. JESUS is our Master and it is with His Holy Word, given in the gifts of preaching, absolution, and the blessed Sacraments, that we hear His voice clear and strong. There, through His gifts, JESUS, the Good Shepherd, brings us to green pastures and still waters, restoring our souls while He prepares a table for us with cups overflowing with His grace, mercy, and peace for our joy. So, let us come this day and feast with the Good Shepherd, our LORD JESUS CHRIST, who is the very Food He provides for the sheep. Let us feast on the Risen, Living LORD who laid down His life for us. Let us feast and hear the voice of the Good Shepherd who died and rose up again to forgive us all our sins. IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER, AND OF THE SON, AND OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. AMEN. SOLI DEO GLORIA Rev. Raymond D. Parent II Our Savior Evangelical Lutheran Church Crestview, Florida 4/19/26 AD
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April 12, 2026
JESU JUVA QUASIMODO GENITI—THE OCTAVE OF THE FEAST OF THE RESURRECTION OF OUR LORD Text: St. John 20:19-31 ALLELUIA! CHRIST IS RISEN! HE IS RISEN INDEED! ALLELUIA! IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER, AND OF THE SON, AND OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. AMEN. Doubt. If you are human, then you have wrestled with doubt. It plagues all of us, and when it comes to our faith in JESUS—who He is and what He has done for our salvation—doubt comes as that tiny little voice that seems to whisper in your ear, “Is this really true? Did GOD really come and live among us and die for us? Is JESUS really GOD? Did JESUS really rise from the grave? Did JESUS really die for me?” In other words, “Did GOD really say…?” Doubt. It is the fruit of all unbelief. Doubt, all doubt, stems from our failure to fear, love, and trust in GOD above all things. Doubt is what happens when one feels he or she needs more control over one’s life. Doubt can produce feelings of fear and hopelessness as though one’s life is slowly spinning out of control. Doubt-induced feelings of fear and hopelessness certainly invaded that little locked room where the disciples had hidden themselves away on that first Easter Sunday evening. The disciples heard the reports of the women who went to the grave with spices. Saints John and Peter even ran to the tomb to see things for themselves. Two of JESUS’ disciples rushed back on foot from the village of Emmaus to Jerusalem in the dark, a distance the Bible tells us of seven miles, to share the news that they had seen the Lord. Still, ten of JESUS’ closest disciples could not believe the reports, and so they hid for fear of the Romans and their fellow Jews. They had seen the cruelty and viciousness meted out to JESUS three days before and they wanted no part of it. The disciples feared for their lives, and I am sure they thought that they would be the next to be crucified if only they were found. Then behold, here is JESUS standing among them speaking sweet words of absolution, “Peace be with you.” JESUS did not break down the door. He did not have to. The One who burst from the tomb without bothering to roll away the stone has no need to break down locked doors. The disciples, still fearful, did not believe their eyes. Then JESUS showed them the wounds in His hands and His side in order to break down the doors of doubt and unbelief in their hearts and minds. Again JESUS says, “Peace be with you,” and His words give what they say: Peace. “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” His peace comes amid turmoil, unrest, fear, hopelessness, and doubt. “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” JESUS, the Lamb of peace, having conquered death through His innocent suffering and death, now comes in peace to bring life to His disciples and all creation. Still, there is St. Thomas or Doubting Thomas as we have come to know him. He was missing that night and missed the chance to see JESUS. Not seeing JESUS, he refused to believe. “Unless I see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe.” St. Thomas, another practical man, must have thought, “This story must be some sort of cruel joke. What kind of a fool do you take me for? How can the dead raise themselves from the grave? Do you really expect me to believe such silly nonsense? Show me the proof and I will believe.” That is the reaction of our unbelieving world as well. Indeed, St. Thomas sounds a lot like the so-called “scholars” we see on nearly every Easter television special; documentaries claiming to be historically based about JESUS. When the Body of CHRIST on Earth celebrates the resurrection of our LORD you can count on the naysayers to come out of the woodwork like cockroaches when one turns out the light. Pick up nearly any so-called news magazine and you will read story after story casting doubt on the faith of the Church. They call into question the truthfulness of the Bible with many denying that JESUS ever really lived, never mind His rising from the dead. Book upon book searches for the “Real JESUS” and claims that if JESUS lived at all, His bodily resurrection after His brutal death is a misunderstanding of the truth by foisted upon unsophisticated peasants; that He only spiritually or figuratively rose from the grave; that in truth the story about JESUS’ birth, life, death, and resurrection is nothing more than a wonderful fable meant to simply illustrate some higher truth or meaning in life. Worse, they often accuse the early Church Fathers of purposely lying in order to advance some moral agenda. The saddest part of all of this is that many of the so-called “scholars” writing these lies or appearing on these programs, call themselves Christian. To be honest, and just as sad, St. Thomas often sounds like many of us as well. We want proof. “Seeing is believing,” or “I will believe it when I see it!” are phrases one often hears. We are natural-born skeptics. So, we search for signs that GOD is real, that He is truly with us while we look for them in the wrong place—our hearts. We judge our relationship with GOD by what we feel, not by what His Word tells us. The pastor will tell us what GOD has said and promised, and then we will tell the pastor what we really believe. But do you not know that Satan and his demons believe in GOD? Do you not know that Satan and his demons even believe JESUS is the SON of GOD? That is why they hate Him and had a hand in murdering Him. That is why they fear Him, and that is why they hate you. You see, JESUS has come to crush the head of the serpent—Satan. To be sure, Satan got in his licks bruising JESUS’ heal with the pain of crucifixion. Satan though he had won the battle not realizing he had lost the war. JESUS crushed that old evil foe and ground him into powder! Yes, JESUS did suffer and die, and indeed, no ordinary man has ever climbed up out of the grave on his own. But JESUS is not only true Man, but He is also true GOD. “Very GOD of very GOD… of one substance with the FATHER.” Our LORD JESUS is the same true Man and true GOD who came to that pathetic little room one week later, appearing again to His disciples and St. Thomas. JESUS appeared and fulfilled Thomas’ requirement to believe, “Reach your finger here, and look at My hands; and reach your hand here, and put it into My side. Do not be unbelieving, but believing.” With that St. Thomas repented of his unbelief, “My LORD and my GOD!” Then JESUS imparts more teaching to Thomas and to all of us, “Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” JESUS is telling Thomas, and by extension all of us, that we are to “walk by faith, not by sight.” He is telling us that our axiom should not be “seeing is believing,” but “believing is seeing.” For “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” So, we too, just as St. Thomas, must repent. We must hear JESUS’ Words, “Do not be unbelieving, but believing.” Our hearing of the Word of CHRIST is important because, “Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.” We do not physically “see” JESUS among us with the eyes of flesh, yet we do see Him with the eyes of faith. He is no less present for us than He was for His disciples locked away in that little room. With the words, “Peace be with you,” JESUS announced His presence among His disciples. Today, He announces, through our pastors, His very same presence among us in in Word and Sacrament. In a moment you will hear of our LORD’s presence among us in the words of the liturgy, “The peace of the LORD be with you always.” Then, the risen JESUS will invite you to touch His hands and His side in the Eucharist. For CHRIST, through His called servants gives His true Body still bearing the scars of the wounds made by the nails for the forgiveness of our sins—scars that are marks of our salvation. Then, receiving His true Blood we touch His side. For what was it that flowed from JESUS’ side but His precious Blood? Therefore, when the host is placed on your tongue, when His life-giving Blood is poured into your mouth, you are truly touching the Flesh and Blood of CHRIST for the forgiveness of your sins. So it is, that here, at the altar, we repent with Thomas, “My LORD and my GOD!” And here at the altar, we receive the same life-giving absolution JESUS spoke to His disciples, “Peace be with you.” His Word gives what it says: Peace. Just as the apostles, we too know Him by His scars, and by them we are healed. By the grace of God, here at Our Savior, there is not a first day of the week that JESUS does not come to you, His disciples. Every Sunday is a Good Friday and Easter, and every day is a first day of the week, a new creation, when the Crucified and Risen Lord is present with His disciples with His Words and His wounds, His breath, and Spirit. Hear now Jesus’ Words of peace, “Peace be with you, for I have died and have risen again for the forgiveness of all your sins.” IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER, AND OF THE SON, AND OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. AMEN. SOLI DEO GLORIA Rev. Raymond D. Parent II Our Savior Ev. Lutheran Church Crestview, Florida 4/12/26
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April 5, 2026
+++JESU JUVA +++ THE FEAST OF THE RESURRECTION OF OUR LORD / EASTER DAY Text: St. Mark 16:1-8 Alleluia! CHRIST is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia! IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER, AND OF THE SON, AND OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. AMEN. Yesterday, I took the opportunity to again watch the Mel Gibson movie, “THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST.” To meditate on Our LORD’s suffering is a good and noble thing. But it strikes me that proper and helpful meditation of the LORD’s passion is far too often misunderstood. But how? How can meditation on the suffering of our LORD ever be improper and therefore unhelpful for the strengthening of our faith and the understanding of our salvation in CHRIST? And that brings up another question. For what reason have we so joyfully gathered together this morning? Certainly, we have not come to pour oil and spices over a dead body, as did the women who traveled to JESUS’ tomb early that first Easter morning. Or have we? I feel obligated to remind you that there is a reason we call the Friday just past “Good Friday.” If we do not guard our hearts as we ponder the suffering of our LORD we can quickly be turned inward. Let me give you a couple of examples. During Passion Week, in many Christian congregations from various denominations all around the world, the Church of CHRIST remembers the events of that week with reenactments of our LORD’s last days upon this earth—from Palm Sunday parades, to foot washing and Seder meals on Maundy Thursday, even up to, and including, our LORD’s suffering and death upon the cross on Good Friday. So, in many locations like the Philippine Islands and Mexico, they beat their flesh with whips (called flagellum) until they are a bloody mess, and in others, they actually nail men to crosses to reenact CHRIST’s suffering and death in a twisted effort to show the world and GOD the depth of their piety in a vain attempt to merit GOD’s forgiveness. Yet, for all their piety, those who believe such things merit forgiveness are mistaken; their faith is misplaced and for this they must repent. They are mistaken because their desire has already been fulfilled and the empty tomb of Easter dawn is proof positive that all the work of our LORD for our salvation is completely accomplished. “It is finished” even as JESUS said. We Christians should not dwell in the past, but live in the ever-present reality of the eternal day of our LORD. The death of JESUS on Good Friday and His resurrection on Easter Sunday are not simply days on the calendar of human history long past. They are days whose events transcend all time, reaching farther back than the very first day of creation, and forward even beyond the Day of our LORD’s triumphant return on the clouds of Heaven. For this reason, it is proper to say that every day in the life of a Christian is Good Friday and Easter. You see, we are Good Friday and Easter people who, by faith in the all-atoning Sacrifice of CHRIST upon the Cross to save us, live every day in the gracious mercy of our GOD who has given us a share in His victorious resurrection. Therefore, we Christians celebrate Good Friday and Easter, not as the ancient Hebrews and their Jewish descendants celebrate Passover. Good Friday and Easter are not annual requirements observed only once a year, nor are they celebrated simply as memorials through which we remember our redemption and its cost. For the Christian, every day is a small Easter because every day we reap the benefits of Good Friday. They are, therefore, ever-present realities in the life of GOD’s Church and her people—realities lived out in the here and now in our risen LORD, JESUS CHRIST. Nor is our celebration simply a passion play performed to get the players and audience closer to JESUS. We need no such prompts or crutches, for we are alive in CHRIST and He in us. This life became a reality in your Baptism on the day you were buried into death with JESUS that you be raised again with Him to newness of life in His resurrection. We Christians celebrate Good Friday and Easter every LORD’s Day as we hear GOD’s Word, pray in JESUS’s Name, and eat and drink His sacrificed Body and Blood. This is how we Christians can face the pain of this life. For all the pain experienced in this vale of tears, for war, famine, disease, earthquake, hurricane, fire, and flood, even for temporal death and the cold dark grave, believers in CHRIST JESUS sing the song of everlasting life. We sing because we know that we are nothing more than strangers here. We know that all we experience here, gold or dross, wealth or poverty, good or bad, is only temporary; Heaven is our home. So we sing. We tell all the earth what JESUS has done. We would have all the world know what GOD has accomplished in CHRIST for the whole of creation. We sing, we confess, we celebrate, and yes, we remember. We remember, but not for the reason of conjuring up saccharine-sweet emotions, not for tears, not to feel closer to JESUS, but in remembrance of Him who died and yet lives. We remember that because He lives, so too, do we. We remember what His sacrifice means to our here and now—that we are redeemed, forgiven, and made holy—that because JESUS died we live, now and forever—that because JESUS died conquering Satan and sin, because JESUS rose again on the third day conquering death and the grave, Satan no longer can accuse us, sin no longer holds sway over us, and death has lost its sting—the grave its victory. “O Death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?” They are swallowed up in the death and resurrection of our LORD and SAVIOR, JESUS CHRIST. For this reason, we Christians sing because we no longer need fear the grave. We no longer need approach the tomb with sorrow or foreboding. Death has lost its power for “Death is swallowed up in victory.” We sing because JESUS’ death and resurrection have defeated death forever. We sing because death is dead, and life lives! Thus, the tomb we witness this day is not the tomb we left behind on Good Friday. That tomb preached sin, death, and despair. It held the broken, bruised, and bloodied Body of a broken Man—a dead Man. Today, that tomb proclaims life. The guards are gone, the stone is rolled away, the Body is gone, and instead of death, a young man clothed in white garments, whose face glows with the brilliance of heaven, is there to greet us. The tomb of Good Friday preached an indictment against a fallen world, a world in which every intent and thought of the heart of men was only for evil. Today, it preaches Light and Life and freedom for the captives. This messenger from Heaven now brings a message of eternal life. What is that message? “Do not be alarmed. You seek JESUS of Nazareth, who was crucified. He is risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid Him.” Therefore, I ask you, “What became of mold and decay?” Our LORD JESUS is not found in the grave; He is not there. He has gone before us to prepare our final home where we shall one day follow Him and live with Him forever. If it were not so, He would have told us. So no, we do not wait for JESUS to fulfill all things. That He has already done. Remember, “It is finished.” Now we patiently await our LORD’s return. That Day, the Day of our LORD’s return at the end of time will be heralded by trumpets; glorious divine music which will signal the last day has finally arrived. JESUS’, “…resurrection is the first and decisive blast of GOD’s great final music. That final music cannot cease because the score is written by GOD, and He writes no unfinished symphonies. As surely as Adam once set a fatal deathward cadence for mankind and made all human life a march of death, so surely has CHRIST reversed that cadence and made it music that shall surge inevitably upward to eternal life.” (Martin Franzmann, Ha! Ha! Among the Trumpets. St. Louis, CPH, 1966, p. 67.) This is the meaning and message of Good Friday and Easter. Death is dead and life lives! CHRIST is risen! He is risen, indeed; and the Risen CHRIST says to you, “I forgive you all your sins.” Alleluia! Amen! IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER, AND OF THE SON, AND OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. AMEN. SOLI DEO GLORIA Rev. Raymond D. Parent II Our Savior Evangelical Lutheran Church Crestview, Florida 4/5/26 AD