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The text is:

And Jesus went away from there and withdrew to the district of Tyre and Sidon. And behold, a Canaanite woman from that region came out and was crying, “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David; my daughter is severely oppressed by a demon.” But he did not answer her a word. And his disciples came and begged him, saying, “Send her away, for she is crying out after us.” He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” But she came and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, help me.” And he answered, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” She said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.” Then Jesus answered her, “O woman, great is your faith! Be it done for you as you desire.” And her daughter was healed instantly. (Matthew 15:21-28, ESV)

From the Sermon:

Jesus demonstrates his exceptional mercy in action. He demonstrated it through the healing of the woman’s daughter… but he demonstrated it even more clearly at the cross. It was because his cries for mercy there went unanswered that God hears our cries for mercy now. God, the Father, turned his back on his only begotten son on the cross. It is the rejection that we should experience. It is the punishment that should be ours for disregarding the law of God. It is the punishment we earn for our unwillingness to give help where help is needed simply because we think it won’t be appreciated, or properly received. We should be sent away, outsiders from God, no better than that woman from Canaan. But, we too, know what she knew. Jesus is for us. Because of Jesus death and resurrection, we are gathered to God. It isn’t because we are worthy, quite the contrary we are wholly unworthy. It’s because we have faith in Jesus to be for us exactly what he promises to be, and to do for us exactly what he promise to do.

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The Text:

Now when Jesus heard this, he withdrew from there in a boat to a desolate place by himself. But when the crowds heard it, they followed him on foot from the towns. When he went ashore he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them and healed their sick. Now when it was evening, the disciples came to him and said, “This is a desolate place, and the day is now over; send the crowds away to go into the villages and buy food for themselves.” But Jesus said, “They need not go away; you give them something to eat.” They said to him, “We have only five loaves here and two fish.” And he said, “Bring them here to me.” Then he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass, and taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven and said a blessing. Then he broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. And they all ate and were satisfied. And they took up twelve baskets full of the broken pieces left over. And those who ate were about five thousand men, besides women and children. Matthew 14:1-21 ESV)

From the sermon:

Jesus provides us with our greatest need. Like the bread in the wilderness Jesus gives us what we can’t possibly get any other way. Jesus provides for us the forgiveness of sins. You can’t get rid of the sin in your heart. Jesus can. He earns forgiveness for all people through his perfect life, death and resurrection. And he gives it to you and me, he provides it, as freely as he gave those folk the bread in baskets on the green grass. He provides it as abundantly as he did on that day at that party.

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The Text is:

“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. (Matthew 13:44 ESV)

From the Sermon:

You know, it occurs to me that we might just be reading this thing all wrong. Well, at least I hope we are reading it all wrong. What is it I always say about reading the bible? Jesus is at the heart and center of it all. If you want to understand what the bible is talking about you’ve got to put Jesus Christ crucified for you at the center of your thinking. You know what, when I read the parable with me as the guy who finds the treasure that puts me at the center. How would I read it so Jesus is there instead? How about this? Jesus is the guy who finds the treasure. Jesus is the guy who sells everything he has and buys the field and then rejoices in the treasure. Then what is the treasure?

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The Text:

Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted. And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:16-20 ESV)

From the Sermon:

But Jesus doesn’t just leave us hanging with his command. He says make disciples because he has authority. He’s going to make sure it happens, that’s what authority is. Next in the text he tells us how to do it. And at first it sounds pretty obvious but then it sounds a little bit surprising. How are we to make disciples? Now what? By baptizing. That’s God’s evangelism program, baptism. He doesn’t talk about knocking on doors, he doesn’t talk about white shirts and ties; he talks about Baptism. And not just any baptism either; baptism into God’s name. Martin Luther puts it clearly:

What benefits does Baptism give? It works forgiveness of sins, rescues from death and the devil, and gives eternal salvation to all who believe this, as the words and promises of God declare.

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This is God being faithful to his promise. You see, it is God who is faithful, not me, not you, not Abram. He promised to bless you and me through Abram and he did it in Jesus Christ. It is that shedding of His precious blood that wipes away every part of sin in all that we do. Back to the Epistle Lesson

And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness, just as David also speaks of the blessing of the one to whom God counts righteousness apart from works: “Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered; blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin.” (Romans 4:5-8, ESV)

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Transfiguration Sunday, February 3, 2008 Matthew 17:1-9 From the Sermon:

But without all of those things that Peter wanted to avoid, and not think about, without the suffering there would be not death, and without the death, there would be no resurrection. And without the resurrection there would be no restoration of human beings to God. What Peter wanted to avoid was the very purpose for which Jesus came. It was through pain and death that he would restore human beings to God, and through his resurrection that he would give them hope for the future. Jesus and his disciples couldn’t stay there on the mountain. God had a plan…

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The Third Sunday after the Epiphany

January 27, 2008

Matthew 4:12-17

From the Sermon

Well, now Gideon was pretty sure now that God was on his side. So he had his little army surround the Midianite camp in the darkness of the middle of the night. And here’s the interesting thing. He gave them all lights hidden under jars. At the sound of the trumpet they broke the jars and shouted. Well the Mighty Menacing Midianites weren’t so big now. They were literally scared to death. They actually used their weapons on each other. The great light around the camp defeated them. That great light was something more than just the light of 300 torches. God made it really, really, bright. They were no match for the light of God. Hey, did I tell you that the place where this all happened was the land of Zebulun and Naphtali. In Jesus time it was called Galilee. Way back then in the time of Gideon Zebulun and Naphtali saw a great light and it saved them from their enemies.

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Funeral Sermon for Louisa Fenton

Matthew 27:46

January 16, 2008

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Matthew 2:1-12

The Epiphany of Our Lord

January 6, 2008

Due to technical difficulties this is not the “Live Sermon” from worship rather a practice recording made earlier in the day.  Please forgive me for this shortcoming.

Pastor Watt.

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Matthew 1:11-25

Fourth Sunday in Advent

December 23, 2007

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