Sermon Lent 2A - March 16, 2014

Lent 2A

Genesis 12:1-4; Psalm 121; Romans 4:1-5, 13-17; John 3:1-17

St Stephen Lutheran Church

March 16, 2014

Texts for the Day

Grace and peace to you from God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ.

It’s one of the most famous clandestine meetings in all of history.

Nicodemus, a leader of the Pharisees,

comes in secrecy to the upstart Rabbi from Galilee.

He comes out of the night,

bringing news, that Jesus has attracted notice.

Even though Jesus is an outsider,

uneducated in the standard Rabbinical circles,

he must be in God’s favor,

for the signs which accompany Jesus’ ministry

are unmistakable expressions of God’s power and presence.

And so Nicodemus comes,

perhaps under orders,

perhaps on his own,

to see what this rabbi, this teacher, this God-favored man

is all about.

He may expect a rabbinic pedigree,

where he was taught if he was not taught at the accredited schools,

whose feet he studied at,

and how he explained his signs from God.

What Nicodemus did not expect is to have his world turned on its ear.

Sermon - 1st Wednesday in Lent

Matthew 6:7-15

Almsgiving, fasting and prayer

are the three spiritual practices

Jesus expects of his people.

But he expects them to be done in a different way

than most people do it.

Spiritual practices are not to be performances.

They are not to be done in order to be seen by others,

nor to be evaluated by the self,

nor to impress God.

They are not performances.

Almsgiving, or giving for the relief of the poor,

shows love for God by imitating his generosity

and being the conduit through which God provides for the poor.

Fasting is the denial of self

which gives up earthly goods

in order to focus on the one true need.

And finally, prayer is not a virtuoso act of holiness,

not the stringing together of beautiful words

or the feeling of deeply felt feelings

in order to force God to act

or to gain approval from others.

Rather prayer is trusting, loving communication,

asking God to do his will

and to sustain us on our journey.

In blessed memory

Obituary

Stephen Baronetski, a member of our Saint Stephen Faith Family, died on March 8, 2014 at the age of 22. He and his family had moved from this area, but in his childhood and young adulthood he was part of our Weekday Church School and Confirmation ministries. A viewing will be held at Slater's in Scott Township on Tuesday, March 11, from 2-9. Funeral services will be at 11 am, Wednesday, March 12, at Slater's. 

Please join me in prayer for his family and friends, especially his mother Jacqueline and his father Michael.

Yours in Christ, Pastor Frontz

Sermon Lent 1 - March 9, 2014

Lent 1A

Genesis 2:15-17, 3:1-7; Psalm 32; Romans 5:12-19; Matthew 4:1-11

St Stephen Lutheran Church – The Rev. Maurice C. Frontz

9 March 2014

When we were taught to receive the Holy Communion,

we learned to receive the bread in one of two ways.

We either hold our hands out with one palm in another

or perhaps we open our mouths to have it placed on our tongues.

Both of these ways express a deep truth -

the truth of our dependence upon God.

Instead of reaching out to take the bread,

we wait upon someone to give it to us.

In some small way we are giving bodily expression

to what the faith teaches us:

that we don’t need to reach out for what we desire,

but that God will provide what we need.

John Chrysostom on Negligent Words

 'For (St. John) Chrysostom, the root sin is negligence, expressed most clearly in the easy familiarity of neighborhood gossip. For in gossip we treat other people's lives as occasions for entertainment and titillation, as opportunities to express complacent superiority or to express a burning envy.' -R.R. Reno, Genesis

Ash Wednesday Services 12:30 pm and 7:30 pm