A Luther Sermon on Good Works

Epistle Sermon on the Nineteenth Sunday after Trinity Martin Luther, Church Postil (1544) — Ephesians 4:22–28 Translated by John Nicholas Lenker (1909) 1. Here again is an admonition for Christians to follow up their faith by good works and a new life, for though they have forgiveness of sins through baptism, the old Adam still…

Wedding Homily

Preached at Dr. Long Methodist Church in Sofia, Bulgaria, at the joining of Matt Osterndorf and Yana Nikolova in holy matrimony on 16 July 2022 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ! Amen. Let us pray:Lord God, you sent Your Son Jesus Christ to be the Bridegroom of…

My Peace I Give to You

Sermon on the Feast of Pentecost Genesis 11:1–9, Acts 2:1–13, John 14:23–31 Preached at Our Saviour Lutheran Church, Fareham, on 31 May 2020 Grace to you and peace from God, our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. Let us pray: Come Holy Spirit and kindle the hearts of your faithful to the fire…

The Humble King

A sermon on Palm Sunday, preached at Our Saviour Lutheran Church, Fareham 20 March 2016 (You can listen to the sermon here.) Texts: Zechariah 9:9–12; Philippians 2:5—11; Matthew 21:1–9; Matthew 26:1—27:66   Behold, your king comes to you, humble and riding on a donkey. The people of Jerusalem recognised their king. They knew Him because…

Maundy Thursday: Eating and Drinking Life

Preached at Our Saviour Lutheran Church on 17 February 2014. You can listen to a recording of the sermon here. Text: 1 Corinthians 11:23–32 We have heard read tonight the institution of the Holy Supper of our Lord, as narrated by St. Paul to the church in Corinth, and with our own mouths we have confessed…

The Lord Who Saves

Sermon preached at Our Saviour Lutheran Church on the 2nd Sunday after Christmas, 5 January 2014 Text: Matthew 2:13–23 You can listen to the sermon here. What’s in a name? For us moderns, not a lot. Names are labels chosen from a stock of traditional or (increasingly) non-traditional stock. We name children after relatives or…

Death as debtor to Christ

An interesting thought from Luther's sermon for New Year's Day in the Church Postil: For when death fell on Him and killed Him, and yet had no right or case against Him, and He willingly and innocently submitted and let Himself be killed, then death became liable to Him, did Him wrong and sinned against…

The extraordinary ordinary

Homily preached at the Lutheran Women’s League of Great Britain Workshop at Our Saviour Lutheran Church, Fareham 9 November 2013 Text: Romans 16:1‒16; Luke 8:1‒3; 10:38‒42 The lists of names in the final greetings of the New Testament Epistles tend to pass us by in our daily reading. When I first started reading the Bible…

The Holy Spirit in Context

A sermon preached on Exaudi, 12 May 2013, at Our Saviour Lutheran Church, Fareham Text: John 15:26—16:4 A recording of the sermon is available here. What follows below is unedited, typos and all. Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. In the name of ✠ Jesus. But…

Quick to hear, slow to speak

Sermon on Cantate—28 April 2013 Preached at Our Saviour Lutheran Church, Fareham, and Oxford Lutheran Mission Text: James 1:16–21 A recording of the sermon from Our Saviour, Fareham, is available here. * * * In the holy name of ✠ Jesus. Let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for…