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Darkness covers the land. The picture has gotten darker, hasn’t it? Sure the colors have gotten darker. The colors have darkened to the point that greater and greater definition and depth has been added. But it reflects a different kind of darkness that has come. It has gotten darker yet on this night. But it […]

This is a special night in Holy Week. There are probably a couple of ways that we could look at this special day. First of all there is the dim view. It is seen as dim because tomorrow, the darkness of Good Friday is coming. At the end of the service, we have the stripping […]

Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the Highest. All Glory Laud and Honor to You Redeemer King. Palm Sunday is a different kind of day especially in the midst of Lent! This whole time, we have spoken of penitence and what our sin has brought, the sin that […]

We do not have a warm and fuzzy feeling text this morning. As we don’t throughout much of Lent. It is a text that reveals the cold and calloused nature of this world, but before we get to that, even the cold and calloused nature of the leadership in Israel. The kind of thing that […]

In our text this morning, we have the Pharisees as they get upset over the fact that Jesus is eating with tax collectors and sinners. They cannot stand that Jesus is associating with the likes of these people. They are dirty. They are grimy. They do horrible things like being extortioners of people’s money and […]

Patience and Mercy. Lent is a time of reflecting as the time grows short. The darkness of Good Friday is coming. It is at hand. It is a time for repentance. It is the time that we bring purple into the church. It is the color of penitence. In our Gospel reading this morning, we […]

As we spoke of at the Transfiguration, Luke’s Gospel account is all heading to one place. It’s heading to Jerusalem. That is the place where we heard of Moses and Elijah speaking with Jesus about His great exodus. They were speaking with Jesus about his departure. Jerusalem is the holy city. Jerusalem is God’s city […]

This morning, we have a text about Jesus’ Temptation in the desert. The Devil’s temptation of Jesus in the desert isn’t about these peripheral things that we usually associate with temptation. No, he knows just where to point his finger. The Devil knows that at the heart of every temptation is the temptation of all […]

The ashes that we place on our foreheads this evening are ashes that remind us of something. It’s a solemn reminder of the reality of our grave situation. That is, we are mortal. It’s not just the sense that we will die like everyone else. We enter into this season of Lent to be reminded […]