Lutheran Church
RESURRECTION
Lay ministers serve RLC
Resurrection Lutheran Church welcomes Rev. John Hazzard as its next pastor. Pastor John has been a member of Resurrection his whole life. On Nov. 2 he was ordained by the North America Lutheran Church Bishop Dan Selbo and installed by Pastor Tim Loehrke. After retiring from Port Clinton Schools, Pastor John followed finalized his dream to become a pastor.
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Sermons
Pastor John Hazzard December 7, 2025
2nd Sunday in Advent
Sermon Text: Matthew 3:1-12
“John the Baptist Crying in the Wilderness”
Grace be unto you and peace from God the Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
This past week, I tried to present Jesus’ self-proclamation that He is the way, the truth, and the life as a theme for this Advent season. Because hindsight is 20/20, we have a pretty good idea of what Jesus was trying to say when He made this statement, but for the first century Jewish people, the image of Christ was blurry. John the Baptist would be the focal lens used to bring clarity to the promised Messiah that was about to emerge onto the scene.
John must have seemed like a strange character. He chose to live in the Judean wilderness, even though he could have lived the life of a well-to-do Levitical Priest like his father, Zechariah. He was dressed in camel hair with a leather strap about his waist. He survived in the wilderness by eating locust and wild honey. All of this reminds us of Elijah, the Old Testament prophet, who was taken up to heaven in a chariot of fire without dying. Elijah was the prophet who people believed would return to pronounce the great and terrible day of the Lord. The day the Messiah would come to pronounce judgement and usher in the new age.
John the Baptist attracted quite an audience because many hoped that he was either Elijah or the fulfilment of him. People came to listen to John from Judea and Jerusalem and regions all along the Jordan River. For hundreds of years, the Jewish people had been waiting for a genuine prophet of God. The Jewish people knew all about the prophecies that said that before the emergence of the Promised Messiah there would be a forerunner to proclaim His coming. They believed this so much that they left a chair open for Elijah at each Jewish circumcision ceremony. Additionally, they poured a cup of wine during the Passover Seder meal, just for Elijah, in case he decided to show up that particular year to finally make His proclamation.
John caught everyone’s attention to the point that even the Sadducees and Pharisees were willing to attend the same function to see what all the hype was about. This was something that rarely happened. It was odd for both the Pharisees and the Sadducees to be found attending the same function. Each group hated what the other group believed. The Sadducees were members of the high-priestly class of landowners, and they controlled the temple and its affairs. The Sadducees did not believe in the resurrection of the dead. The Pharisees, on the other hand, formed a religious movement centered on the law which in their mind allowed them to become worthy of an eternal resurrection with God. Intense study of the Law and the importance of strictly following the Law so that they would be found worthy of an eternal resurrection with God. For both groups to wander out into the wilderness to listen to what John was proclaiming, tells us that John was doing a good job of catching the attention of everyone. You could say that he had “gone viral” to the point that he would have been considered the “GOAT,” the greatest influencer of his day.
Thirty years had passed since the birth of Christ, and John the Baptist had come to proclaim that God in human flesh and vulnerability had finally arrived. John the Baptist, as the voice of one crying in the wilderness, ended what is referred to as the “silent years.” This is a reference to the 400 years in which no new prophetic books were written, nor any new prophetic voices were heard. During this period, the land was ruled by different kingdoms such as the Persians, Greeks, Syrians, and, of course, the Romans. Additionally, it was during this time that we see the rise of groups like the Pharisees and Sadducees. So, when John the Baptist had come to prepare The Way for the coming of The Lord, it makes perfect sense that people would flock to him with great hope and anticipation.
John anticipated the shock and confusion that the Jewish people were feeling, especially those of the Pharisees and Sadducees. We are told, when (John) saw many Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruit worthy of repentance. Do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our ancestor’; for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham. Even now the axe is lying at the root of the trees; every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.” John is clearly telling these first century Jews that being a descendant of Abraham is not enough.
The kind of baptism that John was calling these first century Jews to, was one that was normally expected of gentiles who were looking to convert to Judaism. The fact that John was telling these Jewish people to perform this kind of Baptism would be offensive or puzzling to say the least. This baptism, called proselyte baptism, was normally performed by a gentile who was willing to completely break from their past idolatrous life and enter into a new way of thinking that allowed them to worship the One True God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. So, when John the Baptist declared that these Jewish people needed to be baptized in this fashion, he was telling them that being heirs of Abraham meant nothing if they could not love God with their whole heart, soul, and mind, all necessary conditions for Abraham’s heirs. All must repent and be baptized. This is the only way to prepare the way of the Lord and make his paths straight. This was not only the message John the Baptizer had for those 1st century Jews, but it still echoes true for us today.
If we are going to be prepared for the way of the Lord, and if we want to make sure God’s path is laid straight before us, we must also experience a baptism of repentance in our life. When John called the people to repent, he used the Greek word metanoeo. This word means “to think differently” or “change one’s mind.” This means that a very real rebirth occurs in our hearts so that we not only regret our past transgressions but turn completely from them and move toward God’s Kingdom. It is this metanoeo, this repentant change of heart, that allows the Holy Spirit to work in our lives so that we seek the Kingdom of God.
John goes on to make an even more amazing statement. He tells those gathered around him, “I baptize you with water for repentance, but one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and will gather his wheat into the granary; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.” Make no mistake, John was saying that Jesus, who would be coming soon, was far more powerful than he was. John’s baptism was a water baptism that cleansed through the very act of repentance, but Jesus baptizes with the Holy Spirit that leads to salvation and Fire that leads to eternal judgement. Those baptized in the Holy Spirit will be like the wheat that escapes the unquenchable fire of judgement as it is gathered into Christ’s granary of love and mercy.
The proclamation that John the Baptist declared, required a divine recognition of who we are and who The Savior is. We are all sinners—all people have sinned and fallen short of the Glory of God. No human being, who relies on his or her own effort, is worthy of a life and relationship with the God of the universe. We are sinners and only God Himself can cleanse us from our unrighteousness. The wages of sin we are told is death. We have all headed the wrong way and can do nothing to prevent it. Only God can, and The Gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
When John the Baptist came as the voice of one crying in the wilderness, he came to warn us that all people are in the wilderness of an empty and meaningless life without God. All human beings need to verbally and symbolically confess their need for that cleansing and eternal life that only God can give us. John called everyone to enter the baptismal waters of repentance. John’s baptism rite of repentance had no magical power. It wasn’t like Frosty the Snowman’s magical hat. As God’s prophet, John the Baptist was calling people to symbolically confess their unworthiness to be part of God’s Kingdom and their need for a Spiritual cleansing and rebirth which only God Himself can give. The cleansing and rebirth that leads to an eternal life saving faith graciously given to us as we place our trust in Jesus and Him crucified.
No matter how dark the wilderness may feel, no matter how deep the depression, or how heavy the grief and sickness, Jesus Christ has come for you. He stepped into our world of emptiness and walked our roads of pain so that you would never be alone in yours. When life feels like it makes no sense, when your heart feels too weak to keep going, and when every step feels useless, He is there — to strengthen, guide, and protect us. Jesus is the only One who gives life meaning when nothing else seems to make sense. He is the One who welcomes the broken, the weary, and the overwhelmed. You do not need to be strong to come to Him; you only need to call out his name.
And when you come, when you cry out to Him with even the smallest prayer of faith, He promises to hold you fast. Scripture tells us that He will never leave you nor forsake you. In His grace, He invites you to turn everything — fears, sins, hurts, and confusion — over to Him. He is your rock when everything else seems like shifting sand. He is the One who lifts your head when you cannot lift it yourself. He strengthens you physically when you are drained, mentally when you are lost, and emotionally when you are hurting. Jesus Christ is the one foundation that gives life its true purpose. In Him alone there is hope. In Him alone there is peace. And in Him alone there is the promise that even in the wilderness, you are deeply loved and never forgotten. We must never forget this.
As the forerunner of Jesus, John the Baptist preached two very important messages; people should repent as they place their trust in the Lord and that the Kingdom of Heaven was about to arrive with the coming of the long-promised Messiah, the King of Kings and LORD of Lords. John’s baptism was not only a baptism of repentance, it was a preparation for the Messiah, the vulnerable flesh and blood Christ, who washes away the sins of His people with His shed blood. Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life, the life we can have when we place all our trust in him and the life, a life He willingly gave, so that we can live eternally with Him now and forever.
Let us pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you for this wonderful season of Advent — a time of watching, waiting, and preparing our hearts to receive Your incarnate Son, Jesus Christ. Let us understand, just as John the Baptist proclaimed, that the Kingdom of God is at hand. Let that message take root in us today. Turn our hearts toward You in true repentance, placing all our trust in our risen Lord and Savior who has come to bring forgiveness, life, and salvation. Lord, as we come before You in faith, cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Heal us physically, emotionally, and spiritually. Restore our relationships and grant us hope when we feel broken or discouraged. Give our lives meaning and purpose as we walk in the light of Christ.
We ask all this in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit — one God, now and forever. Amen.
Epiphany 3 January 25, 2026
Sermon Text Matthew 4:12-25
Pastor John Hazzard
“Follow Me”
Grace and peace to you from our Lord and Savior, Jesus the Christ
In this season of Epiphany, the Church rejoices that the Light of the world has dawned, not in secret, but openly in fulfillment of God’s promises. In today’s Gospel, Matthew shows us that Jesus’ ministry begins exactly where the prophets said it would, revealing Him to be the promised Messiah foretold throughout the Old Testament. From that place of fulfillment, Jesus then speaks His first public words: a call to repentance, as He summons ordinary men to follow Him in faith and obedience. Finally, Matthew shows us what this revealed Messiah does; He goes out teaching, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and bringing healing to a darkened and broken world. As we hear this Gospel, we are invited to see who Jesus truly is, to hear His call to repent and believe, and to recognize our own place in the ministry of the Light who now shines through His Church.
Matthew repeatedly uses the phrase “was to fulfill”—53 times directly and 43 times indirectly, for a total of 96 references—to make his purpose unmistakably clear. Writing primarily to people of Jewish background, Matthew demonstrates through the Law and the Scriptures that Jesus is the fulfillment of the long-promised and long-awaited Messiah. Jesus is not the Messiah because of a single text or isolated prophecy, but because the entire Old Testament bears witness to Him. He did not appear suddenly or act according to His own will; rather, everything He did was in perfect obedience to the will of the Father. We know this because Jesus’ actions were foretold hundreds, and in some cases thousands, of years before they occurred.
Matthew highlights this fulfillment in our Gospel reading when he writes, “Now when Jesus heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew to Galilee. He left Nazareth and made his home in Capernaum by the sea, in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali, so that what had been spoken through the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled.” Matthew then cites Isaiah: “Land of Zebulun, land of Naphtali… the people who sat in darkness have seen a great light.” These verses leave no doubt that Jesus is the promised Messiah, not only for Matthew’s original Jewish audience, but for all who have “eyes to see and ears to hear.” I don’t know of any other religious leader, or any other leader for that fact, that can make this claim. These verses leave no doubt that Jesus was truly the promised messiah just as it did for those 1st century Jewish people that had “eyes to see and ears to hear.”
Having established Jesus’ messianic identity, Matthew then turns to Jesus’ message: “From that time Jesus began to proclaim, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.’” This call to repentance stands at the heart of Jesus’ preaching and remains central throughout Scripture. Repentance is not merely an acknowledgment of sin; it is a change of mind that leads to a change of life. This same call is echoed by John the Baptist, Peter, Paul, and the apostles, demonstrating that repentance is inseparable from the proclamation of the gospel itself.
Indeed, Scripture makes clear that there is no salvation without repentance. Paul states plainly in Acts 20:21, “I earnestly bore witness for both Jews and Greeks to repentance before God and to faith in our Lord Jesus.” Salvation comes through repentance toward God and faith in Jesus Christ. Through the regenerating work of the Word of God and the Holy Spirit, we are brought into Christ, and Christ comes to dwell in us. As Paul declares in Galatians 2:20, “It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me,” demonstrating the reality of Christ’s indwelling presence.
This gracious union with Christ is further emphasized throughout the New Testament. Colossians 2:6–7, Romans 6:4–5, and 1 John 2:5–6 all testify that believers are “in Christ” through God’s gracious work, expressed through baptism, sustained in Holy Communion, and shown by a genuine desire to live a godly life. These realities reflect not only our outward actions, but a deep spiritual identity: we are in Christ, and Christ is in us. For this reason, Jesus’ proclamation remains as urgent now as it was then: “Repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand.”
We see in the Gospels that Jesus’ apostles immediately left their livelihoods, families, and everything familiar to follow Him. When Jesus called His disciples, He did not choose priests from the Sanhedrin, nor the Sadducees, Pharisees, or scribes. Instead, He called men whom the world would have considered ordinary and unimpressive. This stands in sharp contrast to how leadership is typically chosen today. In business, organizations, or even coaching positions, those selected are usually people with proven success, people with impressive résumés, or recognized status. Jesus, however, did none of this when He chose those who would walk closest with Him.
In our passage, we see that the first four men Jesus called were fishermen. Later, these same men would be described by the Jewish leaders as uneducated and untrained, and the people were amazed because these were not the kinds of individuals one would expect to help establish a kingdom. To say their résumés were lacking would be an understatement. Yet, when Jesus called them, they immediately left their nets, boats, businesses, and families to follow Him. They did not delay, hesitate, or attempt to negotiate the cost. Their response was one of immediate obedience.
Jesus called these ordinary men in the same way He calls us today. Though they were common by worldly standards, they would go on to change the world through the apostolic message they proclaimed. Andrew, Peter, James, and John followed Jesus at once, and we, too, are called to follow Him with that same readiness and trust. Their lives remind us that God does not depend on human credentials but on faithful obedience.
Following Christ, however, requires sacrifice. We must be willing to give up things in our lives in order to be obedient to Him. At times, this may mean losing friends or even experiencing division within our families, as some may view us as self-righteous or unwilling to compromise. While “family first” is a common cultural motto, Scripture calls Christians to place Christ above all else. Others may even accuse us of being unloving because we refuse to say what God has told us in scripture is wrong so that people don’t have to feel bad about themselves. Yet our obedience must always be carried out with a loving and compassionate heart, recognizing that loving God with our whole heart and loving our neighbor as ourselves often comes at a cost.
This raises an important question: why is immediate obedience so important? First, it demonstrates genuine faith in Christ. When we obey without delay, we show that we trust Him. Second, hesitation can cause us to miss the very blessing Christ intends for us. When we pause to overthink, rationalize, or delay, we reveal a lack of faith, and this may cause us to miss the opportunity God had prepared. Delayed obedience can result in lost moments of grace and purpose.
For this reason, we must learn to listen carefully and respond immediately to what the Lord is calling us to do today. Perhaps God is calling you to witness to someone, but hesitation or fear causes you to ignore that prompting. In doing so, you may miss the moment when that person’s heart was ready to hear and receive the gospel. Scripture and experience alike teach us this truth: delayed obedience is disobedience.
Matthew writes, “Jesus went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and curing every disease and every sickness among the people.” As a result, His fame spread throughout Syria, and people brought to Him all who were suffering, those afflicted by disease, pain, demonic oppression, epilepsy, and paralysis, and He healed them. Great crowds followed Him from Galilee, the Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea, and from beyond the Jordan. These verses present for us the ultimate model of Christian ministry. Jesus’ work can be clearly summarized in three interconnected actions: He reached people, He taught them, and He cared for them.
First, Jesus reached people by going to where they were and speaking to them. He did not wait for the crowds to come to Him; He went throughout Galilee, engaging people in their everyday lives. Second, He taught them by proclaiming the good news of the kingdom of God. His message was not moral improvement or religious self-effort, but the announcement that God’s saving reign had arrived in Him. Finally, Jesus cared for the people by healing every disease and affliction imaginable, demonstrating the restoring power of God’s kingdom breaking into a broken world.
This same pattern is evident in the early Christian Church described in Acts chapter 2. In verse 47, we are told that the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved, God was reaching people. In verse 42, the believers were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching, God was teaching His people through His Word. And in verse 45, they were selling their possessions and distributing the proceeds to care for anyone in need—God was caring for His people through the love and generosity of the Church. The ministry of Jesus continued through His body, the Church.
This is also the ministry to which we are called as members of Resurrection Lutheran Church. As members of the one true Church, the Body of Christ, of which Christ Himself is the head, we are called to follow this same pattern. We gather first to worship, to hear God’s Word, and to receive His gifts. Then we are sent out to reach those we encounter in our daily lives, teaching and “healing” them through the proclamation of the Good News of Jesus Christ and His plan of redemption and salvation.
So, what does all of this mean for you and for me? It means, first and foremost, that Jesus Christ, just as Matthew’s ninety-six references to Old Testament prophecy testify, is the promised Messiah, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. It also means that when we repent and turn to Christ, we are saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. Our hope does not rest in our strength, our obedience, or our worthiness, but entirely in Him.
Finally, it means that no disease, no pain, no suffering, and no demonic power can ultimately overcome us, because Jesus Christ reigns as Lord and final judge over all things. The same Savior who reached, taught, and cared for the crowds continues to reach, teach, and care for us today, and He now sends us out to do the same, confident that His kingdom has come and His victory is already secure.
The peace of God which surpasses all human understanding keep your hearts in our crucified and Risen Lord and Savior, Jesus the Christ; The Lamb of God who is the Great Light that over comes the darkness of this world.
Advent Four December 21, 2025
Sermon Text Matthew 1:18-25
“Not What I Had Planned!”
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
One of the trends in North American culture which should trouble us is the rising number of young people who say they don’t plan to marry and don’t want to have children. Studies show a concerning rise, especially among young women. Why is that the case? Many point to the fact that some young people want to plan their own lives, chart their own course in life, and being married and having children is thought to disrupt that. So, while some are choosing to marry and start a family later in life, a significant percentage are choosing not to marry at all, seeing spouse and children as a barrier, a hindrance, to what they have planned for their lives.
This fourth Sunday in Advent, the lessons always focus on Mary and Joseph, as we stand on the threshold of our observance of the birth of Jesus, to Mary, a young maid, unmarried, yet pregnant, and Joseph, an honorable, just man, betrothed to a young woman, already pregnant, but not by him! It certainly causes us to pause and think, “Surely, none of this was in their plans for the course of their lives!” Today, Mary might have an abortion so that her life could continue without the burden of a child at such a young age. Joseph, if he stayed with Mary at all, might have pressured Mary to end the pregnancy, so that they could continue with marriage and establishing a home, as they had planned, having their own children, maybe, sometime in the future, when they were more stable financially and more prepared to be parents, maybe. We can imagine they had talked and shared and plotted their own future, as they became engaged, with great hopes and dreams for themselves and their life together, as most couples do.
However, an angel visited Mary and an angel came to Joseph in a dream, turning their world upside down. Everything the angel shared, with Mary and Joseph, was not the way it was supposed to happen, from a worldly perspective, for them, or any couple preparing for marriage. They were supposed to marry and then have time to sort things out, establish a home, find out who they are, as individuals and as a couple, before entering child-rearing, if they enter into child-rearing! The angel’s messages totally twisted their lives around, setting them on a different path, from what they had planned before. Isn’t our experience in life, not unlike that of Mary and Joseph? Have any of us gone through life without at some point stopping to think, “This is not how I had my life planned out!” “This is not how things were supposed to go for me!” Sometimes, it’s only looking back on our lives that we are able to reflect and say, “Thank you, God!” “Thank you, God, for the surprises and challenges and changes that you brought into my life, setting me off in a different direction, that turned out to be—a blessing.”
Sometimes it is an unplanned pregnancy that brings greater joy and promise than we ever could have imagined. Sometimes it’s meeting the love of your life, when you weren’t really looking, yet your life changed completely for the better. Sometimes, even serious illness or the loss of a loved one too soon in life, opens new chapters and opportunities for growth and change, as God brings new life and new hope, even from grief and loss. There is some truth to the saying, “When a door closes, God opens a window.” The challenge is for us to be open to all the ways in which God may turn us in new directions in life, giving us new opportunities and possibilities we can’t even imagine, when we are so doggedly fixed on the path through life that we have planned. There is nothing wrong with planning, and having dreams for the future, so long as we realize God may have other ideas. God may lead us in other directions in life.
For when we reflect upon the lives of Mary and Joseph, we see what miracles may happen, when we are obedient to God’s will for us! Our sinful human nature wants to hold onto our plans and our expectations for our lives, as if we are God and Lord of our destiny and our destination. We need to see the response of Mary and Joseph as examples, if we will, of what it means to receive and accept God’s will, which may be different from my will. Sure, Mary and Joseph both wondered, “How can this be?” Mary asked, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?” Joseph thought, “How can I marry Mary, when she is already pregnant and will bring shame on me and my family?” Both came to the realization that with God, all things are possible—and both finally accepted God’s will and plan for their lives, which was also God’s will and plan for our lives and the life of the world. For Joseph’s and Mary’s obedience, their acceptance of God’s will, carried so much more weight than most of our decisions in life. For their obedience was meant for the salvation of the world, the redemption of every person who would ever live! For the angel told Joseph and Mary, “You shall name your child Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins, as this child will be Holy, the Son of the Most High God, and He will be Immanuel, God with us!”
What would have happened if Mary and Joseph had said, “No—no, God, this isn’t how we planned out our lives.” What would have happened to us sinners had Joseph and Mary been unwilling to yield to God’s will, unwilling to marry and give birth to Jesus, Immanuel, who would die on the cross to save us from our sins?” Would God have looked for another? Would there have been another, any other, who might have said “Yes,” to God, given the circumstances? Thankfully, we don’t have to speculate, as Mary and Joseph responded, saying, “Let it be to me according to your will,” doing as the Angel of the Lord commanded, marrying, giving birth to a Son, naming Him Jesus. That is what we celebrate today. That is what we give thanks for today as we ponder the reality of Mary and Joseph’s “Yes,” to God and His will. And how might we respond to God’s grace and their example?
First, we will remember and trust Luke 1:37: “For with God, nothing will be impossible!” With God, there are great possibilities in life, for you and for me, even when things aren’t going according to our plans. God gives us new opportunities and new strength and courage, even when we are stymied and feel weak and uncertain. The angel said to Joseph, “Do not fear…” How often have we not been open to new directions and new challenges, because we are afraid? Too often, we allow ourselves and our choices in life to be determined, not by faith, but by fear. Which is why the angel may be speaking to us, today—to you today, saying, “Do not fear—do not be afraid!”
So as we conquer our fear and respond in faith, we open ourselves to God speaking to us, through Holy Scripture, yes, even in dreams, when He may be inviting us to turn around, to turn a corner, to go in a new direction in life. Many think that God isn’t speaking, today, in the same way He spoke to Mary and Joseph, but I’ll share this with you. God spoke to me in a dream so clearly, that I couldn’t go back to sleep until I got out of bed, got pencil and paper, and drew out the vision for a new building that God showed me in the dream. That dream is now, 30 years later, a reality you can see at Saint Luke’s Lutheran Church, in Colorado Springs. In the same way, in my four calls to ministry, in Hobbs, New Mexico, Colorado Springs, serving with the bishop in the NALC and coming to be pastor of this congregation, God’s will was so clear that it was like He hit me upside the head with a 2x4 and said, “Get packing, you’re moving!” Does God speak to everyone that clearly? God’s Word tells us He will make His will clear to us, as we listen and are open to receiving. Which is why Jesus says, “Let the one who has ears, hear!”
That is the good news for us, this Fourth Sunday in Advent, even as it is the good news of the birth of Jesus, bringing the promise and the assurance of new life and new hope and new possibilities. New life and new hope and new possibilities—for you! Does it seem, today, like doors are closing in your life? Are you in an uncertain time, unsure which way to go? Are you waiting, hoping that God may give you some direction, either through a still, small voice, or a 2x4 up-side the head? Christmas is a time of new birth and new beginnings and renewed life and purpose and meaning. May our celebration of Christmas help us hear God speaking anew and afresh, the old, old story, giving us courage and joy as we prepare for the future God has planned for us!
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
First Sunday of Christmas December 28, 2025 Sermon Text John 1:1-18 Pastor John Hazzard Resurrection Lutheran Church
“Christ Dwelt Among Us”
Grace be unto you and peace from our Risen Lord and Savior, Jesus the Christ
About 7 years ago my wife and I celebrated our 30th wedding anniversary and as a part of that celebration we decided that we would finally go on our honeymoon. Our original honeymoon was supposed to be an exciting ski trip to Cleveland, but as luck would have it, we ended up getting 10 inches of blowing snow and had to settle for a hotel room in town, with a promise that I would take her somewhere real nice once we graduated from college. So, 30 years later, Kristin reminded me of that promise. Of course, me, being the spontaneous and romantic type, I told Kristin that she should choose our destination and surprise me. Boy did she surprise me.
Out of all the places in the world we could have gone to celebrate our long-awaited honeymoon, she chose camping in Big Bend National Park in South Texas. There, she had me canoe her up the Rio Grande for six hours with a group of other couples before setting up camp to ring in the New Year beneath the open sky. We pitched our tent in a dark, steep-walled canyon that framed the night above us, echoing God’s promise to Abraham that his descendants would be as numerous as the stars and that through his seed all nations would be blessed. The sky blazed with what seemed like millions of stars and distant galaxies. Our accommodation was a simple two-person tent packed in and packed out by canoe. That, of course, is the point of a ten; it is temporary, never meant to be a permanent dwelling.
Today, we hear the Christmas story according to the Gospel of John, and we are told that the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. Jesus, the promised Messiah, is the greatest Christmas gift that was ever given to the world. As cousin Eddie famously put it, “It’s the gift that keeps on giving the whole year round.” The eternal Word did not remain distant or abstract. He became the vulnerable flesh and blood Christ and came to live among ordinary people. John’s language helps us see just how close God has drawn near. The Greek verb John uses, eskēnōsen, which means “he pitched his tent,” “he made his dwelling,” “he tabernacled among us.” The Word of God came to set up His tent in our midst, to become our living tabernacle, Immanuel, God with us. Jesus, true God and true man, descended from heaven and pitched His tent among sinners like you and me, not to observe us from afar, but to live with us and for us.
As we know, tents are temporary. They wear out. They offer only partial shelter from wind, cold, and storms. The same is true of our humanity. Our lives are fragile and fleeting; our bodies wear down, and even at our best we are only partially sheltered from suffering and death. Yet, this is precisely the human condition into which Jesus came. The incarnate Word took on our flesh and blood and entered fully into our mortality—into weakness, pain, suffering, and even humiliation and death on a cross. He emptied Himself and became obedient unto death, carrying our sin so that we might stand, not temporarily but eternally, before a righteous and merciful God.
Each of the four Gospels begins by telling us who Jesus is and where He comes from. Mark introduces Jesus as an adult, “a man from Nazareth,” whose appearance fulfills God’s saving promise foretold by the prophet Isaiah. Matthew and Luke take us back further still, tying Jesus’ conception and birth in the promises of the Old Testament and God’s plan to deliver His people. John, however, does something different. He pushes the story of Jesus all the way back before Bethlehem, before Abraham, before creation itself, back to the very beginning of time.
When we hear the Spirit-inspired words John uses to open his Gospel, we are given a precise and decisive confession of who Christ is. It is easy to get carried away by the poetic rhythm of this heavenly description of Jesus, but John is not being vague or symbolic. He is making a clear proclamation: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” John the Baptist, the forerunner of Christ, echoes this confession by pointing to Jesus as, “the Light who shines in the darkness and the Word who became flesh and dwelt among us.” This is not speculation or metaphor. This is not abstract theology. This is the foundation of our faith.
So, who is Jesus, and what has He done for both you and me? John answers clearly, “He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being.” First, we hear that in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God. This is a clear unmistakable declaration that the Word—Jesus Christ—was present when time and what we call reality was first brought into existence. Jesus Christ was present when time itself began. The One who hangs on the cross is the very One through whom the world was made. The hands pierced by nails are the hands that formed Adam from the dust. The blood poured out at Calvary is the blood of the eternal Word made flesh. All of creation comes into being through Him. This means that Jesus is not part of creation trying to fix creation from the inside. He is the creator Himself stepping into His broken world to save it. And lest there be any confusion, John leaves no room for doubt at the close of that first verse: “And the Word was God.” The Son is co-eternal and co-equal with the Father. Jesus shares the same divine glory, majesty, and authority as God Himself. Yet this same divine Son did not cling to His glory but emptied Himself. He became flesh. He took on your humanity, your weakness, your suffering, your mortality—without sin. He knew hunger and temptation, sorrow and pain.
This being the case, we see then that Jesus is not a created being. He is not an ethereal super-angel; He is not merely a great prophet favored above all others. He is true God and true man. The eternal Word became flesh. The Son of God took on a real, vulnerable flesh and blood human body, conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the blessed Virgin Mary. He became like us in every way, yet without sin. Jesus knew hunger and temptation, pain and sorrow, suffering and death.
And He carried all of it to the cross. In the unity of His one divine Person, He acts both as God and as man, doing what belongs properly to each nature. This is why John insists that to see Jesus is to see the Father. And this is why, at the end of the Gospel, doubting Thomas’s confession brings us full circle: when he touches the risen Christ and cries out, “My Lord and my God!” he echoes the Gospel’s opening words and proclaims the truth at the heart of the cross and the resurrection.
This is where justification comes into view. The eternal Word became flesh not simply to show us who God is, but to do something for us that we could never do for ourselves. The sinless Son of God took our sin into His own body and bore it suffering the death we all deserve. At the cross, the Creator stands in the place of the creature. The righteous One is condemned so that sinners might be declared righteous. Your justification does not rest on your faithfulness, your obedience, or your worthiness—but on who Jesus is and what He has done for you. Pastor Jerimiah reminds us, “The one, who is God, has died for you. The one, who is God, has risen for you. And because He lives, you stand justified, fully forgiven, declared righteous, and given life in His name.”
Jesus, the promised Messiah, is the greatest Christmas gift that was ever given to the world. As cousin Eddie famously put it, “It’s the gift that keeps on giving the whole year round.” Jesus is not only our Creator; He is, as we have been told, “the way, and the truth, and the life.” He is the source of all revelation, “the true light that enlightens everyone,” radiating the glory and grace of God. John rightly declares, “And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father's only son, full of grace and truth.” Moses saw the divine glorious light in the burning bush; the whole nation of Israel saw it at the Red Sea; Isaiah saw it in his heavenly vision; and John saw it for himself during the Transfiguration of the Lord. Jesus is “the way, the truth, and the Life” because He lived the perfect life we could not live, carried the sins of the world to the cross, and paid their full price by shedding His blood. On the third day, He rose from the dead, conquering sin, death, and the devil once and for all. And because He lives, all who trust in Him are raised with Him into an eternal relationship with God, by grace, not by works.
All of this brings us back to a simple but vital truth: Jesus is what Christmas is all about, not the lights, not the gifts, not the traditions—as good as those things may be—but Jesus. The eternal Word, who became flesh. The Creator who entered His creation. The Savior who came not to be admired from a distance, but to dwell with us, suffer for us, die for us, and rise for us. When John tells us who Jesus is and what He has done, he is reminding us that Christmas is not primarily about sentiment or nostalgia; it is about salvation.
And in light of what John has revealed, this Gospel does not stop with us, it should move through us. As those who have been enlightened by the true Light, justified by Christ’s cross, and given life by His resurrection, we are called to bear witness to Him in the world. This should not be considered a burden to us, but a joy that flows from our faith. Just as John the Baptist pointed away from himself and toward Christ, we too should share the Good News of the Gospel with those around us—in our homes, our workplaces, our neighborhoods, and our communities. We need not be ashamed to say, “Merry Christmas,” to speak Christ’s name, to bless one another with words like, “God bless you,” and “May the Lord give you peace.” In doing so, we confess what we believe: that Jesus Christ is our Lord and Savior, and that He is the greatest Christmas gift the world has ever received.
Most importantly, Christmas is not only about time off work, presents, and gathering to enjoy a family meal, that seems to rarely happen these days. It is about understanding who Jesus is and what it means to live in relationship with Him. The Word became flesh so that you might know God, not as a distant judge, but as a gracious Father who draws near to you in Christ. Jesus is always present with His people. He is there in your joy and in your sorrow, in your strength and in your weakness, in your certainty and in your doubt. He is Immanuel—God with us—and He does not abandon those whom He has redeemed.
So, this Christmas, hear again the message John proclaims: The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. God has come near. Your sins are forgiven. Death has been defeated. And eternal life has been given to you by grace. This is the heart of Christmas. This is the Good News we believe, the Good News we live in, and the Good News we share—now and always. Amen.
Let us pray…
Our Father and our God, You are the peace which surpasses all human understanding. We thank you for sending Your only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, to us to be Our Lord and our Savior. Help us to understand that Jesus is not only a model of the Godly life, but the way to know Your truth, that gives us an eternal life with you. Strengthen us by the power of the Holy Spirit in our times of need, as well as when we need to share the Good News of Your Gospel to those in need around us. Give us the courage to always speak about your gracious Love and Mercy. We ask that that You continuously guide, strengthen, and protect us in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit…Amen.
2nd Sunday After Epiphany January 18, 2026 Sermon Text: John 1:29
Pastor John Hazzard
“Lamb of God”
The grace and peace be to you from our Risen Lord and Savior Jesus the Christ.
In England a person’s title is seen as important because it shows the person with the title to be a prominent member of society. No matter the title, from King, to Queen Mom, to Prince and Princess, to Duke and Duchess, to Earl and Lad, people covet the titles that are bestowed on them. Just a little side note. I am not sure if many of you are aware of this, but when I was in high school, I was given the illustrious title of Duke. Not “the Duke of Earl,” nor was I called “the Duke of Port Clinton” or anything like that, my title was just Duke. As many of you may have already guessed, it was because The Dukes of Hazzard was a popular TV show at the time.
This title was a nickname given to me by the older wrestlers on my high school team. Having this nickname/title seemed to entitle me to several privileges which included sitting at the Junior/Senior lunch table, which my freshman classmates did not have the privilege to enjoy, not getting locked in the wrestling mat storage box, as well as having the privilege of riding “shotgun” in the front seat when I rode to football and wrestling practice with Fudge Gutowski or John Gluth. The nicknames we had for one another were very important, every bit as important as the titles given to the British Royalty. As a matter of fact, if you didn’t have a nickname, you felt left out. I felt like a big shot because of this exclusive title of Duke, even if it was the result of a corny early 80s tv show like The Dukes of Hazzard.
Like most titles and good things, they do not always last. Once my upper-class teammates graduated from high school, my title and privileges graduated with them. I found myself sitting alone at the lunch table and driving myself to practice for a while, which was quite a humbling lesson. I was no longer the bigshot I felt my title suggested.
With all that being said, the most titled person of all time is Jesus of Nazareth. RC Sproul tells a story about a speaker who was scheduled to speak about “Who Is Jesus.” This speaker did nothing but list all the known titles of Jesus and it took that speaker about a half hour to list them all. He began, the Christ, the Son God, the Son of Man, Lord, the Consolation of Israel, the Lion of Juda, the Alpha and the Omega, and the list went on and on, but out of all of those names, the title which should be by far the most important to us is the title John the Baptist gives Jesus, “The Lamb of God” who takes away the sin of the world! This is a title that is much more than some simple nickname; it is the most important of all the titles Jesus had.
In our Gospel text we are told, “The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him and declared, “Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” This title is only found in two books of the Bible. Here in John’s Gospel he reveals several of the titles attributed to Jesus. In John chapter 1 Jesus is called the Word of God. John the Apostle declares, in the beginning was the Word, and the word was with God, and the Word was God. Later in verse 34 Jesus is called the Son of God, in verse 36 he is called the Lamb of God, in verse 38 he was called Rabbi by two of John the Baptist disciples who then decided to follow Jesus, in verse 41 Andrew called Jesus the Messiah as he described him to his Brother Simon Peter, in verse 49 Nathanael tells Jesus that he is the Son of God; the King of Israel, and finally in verse 51 he calls himself the Son of Man. In this very short literary span, we hear Jesus called by all these titles, but the most important of the titles used is “The Lamb of God”.
The title Lamb of God is a rarely used in the Holy, as a matter of fact this title is only used in two places in all of Scripture and both of those books are written by the Apostle John. We hear this title used here in Chapter 1 of his Gospel and then in the 6th Chapter of last book of the Bible, the Book of Revelations. So, we may be wondering how John came up with this title?
We know in the Old Testament—as part of the Law—that bulls and goats were used as sin offerings. The scapegoat then had all of the sins placed upon it after which it was driven out into the wilderness. But lambs were not mentioned. So where does this idea come from that Jesus is “The Lamb of God” that takes away sin.
The obvious answer is that like Moses, Isaiah, Elijah, Daniel and the others, John the Baptist was a prophet and was more than cable of giving revelation from the Mind of God. The other part of the answer is that Jesus, as the Lamb of God, has been present in the Old Testament all along. And just like one of those “seek and find puzzles,” in which the longer you stare at the page the more you see the little pictures hidden in plain sight, Jesus comes into view.
The image of Jesus as the Lamb of God begins to appear when we read in Isaiah 53 how it will please the Lord to offer up his suffering servant. It is written;
We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
each of us has turned to our own way;
and the Lord has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.
7 He was oppressed and afflicted,
yet he did not open his mouth;
he was led like a lamb to the slaughter,
and as a sheep before its shearers is silent,
so he did not open his mouth.
8 By oppression[a] and judgment he was taken away.
Yet who of his generation protested?
For he was cut off from the land of the living;
for the transgression of my people he was punished.[b]
So here in Isaiah 53 we have the suffering servant that God sends being compared to a Lamb that willingly suffers for all of our iniquities.
Additionally, another hidden image can be seen when we look closely at what Moses commanded the Israelites to do on the day of Passover. He told his people to sacrifice a spotless lamb without blemish and then they were to place the blood of the lamb on their doorposts so that the Angel of Death would “pass over” their homes sparing their firstborn from death.
Finally, we see Jesus pictured in Genesis 22 when God commands Abraham to go to Mount Mariah and sacrifice his only son Isaac. Just as Abraham is about to faithfully plunge his knife into the heart of Isaac, he is stopped as a ram, a male sheep suddenly becomes trapped in a thicket and becomes the substitutional sacrifice taking the place of Isaac. So, we see that throughout History the strand that runs through all of Scripture is that God provides the perfect sacrifice that would take the wrath that we all deserve. Jesus is and always has been “The Lamb of God that Takes Away the Sin of the World.”
This has all been prefigured in Isaiah’s prophecy, in the “pass over” narrative, and in the grace, God exhibited when He offered the lamb to take Isaac’s place as the sacrifice. These are all figures of Christ as the “Lamb of God” as they suddenly emerge from the mouths of the prophets and the pages of Scripture when we take the time to read the Holy Bible.
We hear all the titles given in the first chapter of John’s gospel, but out of all those titles, as I stated early, Jesus as “The Lamb of God” who takes away the sins of the world, is arguably the most important. As the “Lamb of God” Jesus lived the perfect life so that as He shed His spotless blood, died, was buried, and rose again from the dead he conquered death once and for all. Jesus as the Lamb of God was anointed during his baptism by the pouring out from heaven the Holy Spirit. He is the one who brought about Pentecost, the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit. God’s title is proclaimed by John the Baptist. Even though he didn’t immediately understand its significance, Jesus is the spotless Lamb of God who came to take away the sin of the world.
So, what does all of this mean for you and for me? It means that our standing before God is not based on a title we carry, a reputation we’ve earned, or a place we think we deserve at the table. Unlike the titles of this world, whether royal, social, or even the nicknames that once made us feel important, this title of Jesus does not inflate our pride. It humbles us. Because the title Lamb of God tells us something honest and uncomfortable about ourselves: we needed a sacrifice. We needed a substitute. We could not fix our sin, outrun it, or outgrow it.
But it also tells us something astonishing about God. God did not demand that we bring the lamb. He provided it. Just as He provided the ram for Abraham, just as He commanded the blood of the Passover lamb to protect His people, God Himself provided the Lamb who would finally and fully take away sin—not just cover it for a time but remove it forever.
When John the Baptist points to Jesus and says, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world,” he is declaring that forgiveness is no longer a ritual, no longer temporary, and no longer reserved for a few. It is finished in Christ. Your guilt, your shame, your failures, and your rebellion were laid on Him. And like the lamb led to the slaughter, Jesus did not resist, He did not protest, and He did not turn away—because His love for us held Him there.
For you and me, this means freedom. It means we no longer live trying to earn God’s approval, because the Lamb has already made us acceptable. It means we no longer define ourselves by past sins or fading titles, because Jesus has given us a new name: forgiven, redeemed, child of God. It means when we stand before God, we do not stand alone—we stand covered by the blood of the Lamb.
And finally, it means hope. Because the Lamb who was slain is also the Lamb who reigns. The same Jesus who took away the sin of the world now lives, reigns, and intercedes for His people. One day, as John tells us in Revelation, every knee will bow before the Lamb, and those who belong to Him will worship, not in fear, but in joy. So, behold the Lamb of God. Trust Him. Rest in Him. Follow Him, because this is the only title that saves, and it is enough for you and for me.
The peace of God which surpasses all human understanding keep your hearts and minds in our Risen Lord and Savior, Jesus the Christ; The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Amen.
Second Sunday After Christmas January 4, 2026 Sermon Text: Luke 2:40-52 Pastor John Hazzard
“Kids say the Darndest Things”
Grace be unto you and peace from our crucified and risen Lord and Savior, Jesus the Christ.
Today’s sermon text reminds me of the very first class that I took in seminary. It was a class about the early Church fathers and how they helped to shape, organize, and defend the original teachings given by Jesus and His apostles. Furthermore, these patristic fathers provided The One Holy Christian and Apostolic Church with the creeds, confessions, and sacraments that help ground what we believe today as members of the body of Christ.
As part of that class, I had to choose a topic from a list of the required readings, write a five-page summary, and then help lead discussions on the topic. By the time I figured out that the signup list was posted two weeks before the class started, there was one topic left to choose from. It was a disputation written by St. Bonaventure on the second person of the Godhead, Jesus Christ. In that paper Bonaventure argued for the fact that Jesus was the Word made flesh, one person with two natures one truly human and the other truly divine.
This understanding of Christ’s two natures has been at the center of many debates throughout the Church’s history. Over the centuries this topic of how these two natures worked in Christ has led to some controversy. It even led Martin Luther to proclaim, “Some have broken their heads over the meaning of the words of Luke where he says that Christ advanced in wisdom and grace, for they assume that as true God he possessed all wisdom and grace from the time of his conception. But (Jesus) grew continually and waxed strong in the Spirit, just as any other man” (Martin Luther’s Sermons). Those very words from Luther lead us directly into Luke’s Gospel and today’s sermon text.
In Luke’s account we see that he omitted the visit of the Magi and the flight into Egypt. The theme of Jesus’ early rejection that is so prominent in Matthew’s Gospel was not where Luke focused his attention. Luke picked up after Christ’s birth, with a narrative that gives some insight into how Jesus’ two distinct natures worked when He was just a boy.
Luke’s focus helps us see not only who Jesus is, but how He lived within an ordinary human family. This lone biblical insight into the youth of Jesus portrays Him as a typical boy in a typical family. His lingering was neither mischievous nor disobedient. The fact that Jesus was left behind was because Mary and Joseph both assumed that Jesus was with other family members. There is no doubt that Joseph and Mary would have been traveling in a large caravan made up of family and friends from Nazareth. There would have been hundreds of people from their community that chose to safely travel together to Jerusalem to celebrate the Feast of the Passover and the week-long Feast of Unleavened Bread that immediately followed. Men and women in such groups chose to travel separately. If that were the case it is easy to see how each parent might have thought that Jesus was with the other. Yet what happens next shows that this was no ordinary child.
Most twelve-year-olds, if left to themselves, would soon enough find themselves in some sort of mischief. Yet, Jesus was left to himself for two days, and then on the third day, His parents finally found Him in the temple, learning from the teachers. Jesus was listening to them and asking them questions. He showed some of the brightest teachers in Jerusalem respect by humbling Himself as He assumed the role of a student. Yet, even at this tender young age, Jesus proved to be more than your typical student. His wisdom totally astonished and amazed the teachers. Luke tells us, “46After three days they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. 47And all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers.” I suspect the student quickly became the teacher. I am not too proud to say that I had a few of those moments in my own experiences as an educator.
Luke makes clear that this wisdom, though remarkable, was still part of a genuine human growth. Although the rabbis were amazed at how intelligent He was and how easily He comprehended what was being taught, he continued to increase in wisdom. Nonetheless, even at this young age, he was already able to have thoughtful dialogue with the best teachers in Jerusalem. Understanding of the ways of God like that displayed by the boy Jesus would be expected to come after a lifetime of experience and study of the Torah. The fact that Jesus had such a depth of wisdom and understanding as a child is a sign of his divinity as Son of the heavenly Father. That divine wisdom soon gives way to a moment of human concern and parental fear.
Luke goes on to describe, “48When his parents saw him they were astonished; and his mother said to him, ‘Child, why have you treated us like this? Look, your father and I have been searching for you in great anxiety.’ 49He said to them, ‘Why were you searching for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father's house?” Or as some translations say, “be about my Father’s business.” Mary’s words convey a tone of exasperation and rebuke, which would be a normal response for a worried mother. I can only imagine what must have been going through the minds of both parents as they pondered what could have happened to Jesus. In this case Jesus was not hiding from them nor was he defying their authority. He was doing just what he suggested, He was going about His Father’s business.
Jesus’ response to His parents was not meant to be disrespectful in any sense. Rather, it reveals His genuine amazement that they did not know where to find Him. His words show that, even at a young age, Jesus already knew who He was and where He belonged. Being in His Father’s house was not an act of defiance, but the most natural expression of His identity and calling. This whole episode offers an early look into Jesus’ self-understanding as the Son of God who lives totally committed to the will and work of His Father in heaven.
Our sermon text goes on to explain, “Then he went down with them and came to Nazareth and was obedient to them. His mother treasured all these things in her heart. Jesus increased in wisdom and in years, and in divine and human favor.” Jesus did not cease being God or somehow put off His divinity to become man. Instead, As Pastor MacArthur states; “He took on a [vulnerable flesh and blood] human nature in addition to his divinity, surrendered the use of his divine attributes to the will of His Father in heaven. That is why there were times when His omniscience was in view, yet at other times was concealed by His Humanity in perfect accord with the Father’s will. Jesus was therefore exposed to the normal process of human development, intellectually, physically, spiritually, and socially.”
Luke’s description of Jesus’ growth does not distract from His mission but instead prepares us to understand the purpose for which He was sent. With that said, Jesus’ purpose, first and foremost, was to do the will of the Father—to accomplish the work of salvation for the world. From a young age, His life was directed toward obedience, culminating in His suffering, death, and resurrection. He came not merely to teach moral truths, but to redeem humanity from sin, death, and the devil. His presence—as the vulnerable flesh and blood Christ in the temple—foreshadows this mission: the true Son of God standing in the midst of God’s Word, preparing to fulfill all that the Scriptures promised concerning the Messiah.
What Jesus came to accomplish for the world is not distant or abstract but has direct meaning for our own lives of faith. For our lives, Jesus’ purpose is deeply personal and saving. He came to reveal the Father’s heart to us, to reconcile us to God, and to give us a new identity as beloved children of God through faith. By His obedience, He restores what our disobedience has broken; by His life and death, He gives us forgiveness and peace with God. Pastor Borow said it best when he said, even as a child in the temple, Jesus points us to where He is still found today—in His Father’s Word and presence—calling us to trust Him, learn from Him, and live in the confidence that our lives, too, are held within the saving purposes of God.
In Christ, God has blessed us with spiritual blessings and made known to us the mystery of his will. As sons and daughters of our heavenly king, we like Solomon before us, are afforded great wisdom. The wisdom our Father has given us is a knowledge of the word of truth, the good news of salvation, his plan for the fullness of time. God has given spiritual blessings to all who have been chosen in Christ before the foundation of the earth. The word used here signifies just how long God has been planning this salvation: since before creation — before human beings even existed. Scripture says that our closeness is based simply on God’s love for us. The grace we are shown in Jesus Christ is his own self-giving, unmerited, and undeserved.
That gift of grace also reshapes how we view God’s Word, including His commandments. I hear people say, “I love all of those stories about the Old Testament prophets. I love the stories about Jesus’ parables and his life.” But rarely if ever do I hear people talk about how much they love reading about the law and what is commanded of us in the Scriptures. Yet, we heard the psalmist and King Solomon speak of their strong desire to know and understand God’s law. The psalmist attributes his wisdom as being a result of following the Lord’s commandments. The psalmist is wiser than the elders who have lived for a longer time, because he simply attended to God’s Word and his commands. “Through your commandments I gain understanding; therefore, I hate every lying way,” he proclaimed. This shows how important it is to be in God’s Word and follow his commands, not because we can earn our way into heaven by being a good person, but because it will lead us to the gracious faith that saves and keep us from heaping heartache and trouble on ourselves. The things of this world and the evil one do a good enough job of this without us helping. A life shaped by God’s Word requires not only devotion, but also discernment.
What is the value in the gift of discernment in the life of the believer? The gift of discernment is important because it helps believers recognize what is true and what is false. Guided by the Holy Spirit and God’s Word, discernment protects Christians from false teaching and spiritual confusion. It allows believers to test what they hear and experience, keeping their faith centered on Christ. In this way, discernment strengthens faith and helps believers remain grounded in the truth of the gospel.
Scripture gives us a powerful example of this gift of discernment in the life of King Solomon. We see in our first lesson that King Solomon was blessed with the gifts of a place on the throne of Israel and the gift of discernment to know God’s will and His ways—the gift of spiritual discernment and wisdom. There is a lot to be learned in this understanding. First, Solomon’s place on the throne of Israel was the result of God’s love for Solomon’s father, David. Additionally, God honored Solomon’s request for spiritual discernment to know God’s will and his ways because he humbly asked to fairly and faithfully serve God’s people. As a matter of fact, King Solomon was known as the wisest person to ever live, except for Jesus Christ of course.
Yet, even Solomon’s great wisdom ultimately points to us beyond himself. Solomon realized that he was over his head, that he was too young to understand how to rule his father’s throne. It was only by the grace of God that Solomon was given his divinely inspired wisdom. For Jesus, on the other hand, we see that He already exhibited an astonishing and amazing wisdom at an early age because Jesus was truly human and truly God. Jesus was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God from before any created reality. It is no wonder Jesus the 12-year-old boy was such a fast learner. Because Christ is the source of all true wisdom, we too are invited to seek understanding from God.
We too may ask God for a heart of wisdom. He has given us the way to wise understanding through his word. As we meditate on God’s word, we gain understanding that may surpass our teachers. If we meditate upon Scripture, day and night, we are made wiser than our enemies. The child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom, and the favor of God was upon him. Still, seeking wisdom through God’s Word is not without its challenges.
Devotion to God’s Word is difficult to maintain. Human nature gets in the way of sustained dedication. “The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak,” (Matt 26:41). Our piety ebbs and flows, so we must depend upon a higher power than our own. Christ has blessed us with every spiritual blessing; it is not our piety that has been the blessing. So, we must sit at the feet of the one who himself sat at the feet of others. We grow in wisdom and stature by listening to him (Luke 9:35). For this reason, our hope rests not in the strength of our devotion, but in the faithfulness of Christ himself.
So, for us today, it is important for us to understand that we are not called to become wiser or more faithful by our own strength. Instead, we are called to follow Jesus to the place where He is found. Just as the boy Jesus was found in His Father’s house, so He meets us today in His Word and promises. There, He teaches us, forgives us, and gives us true wisdom by the Holy Spirit.
So, remain close to His Word. Listen to Him, trust Him, and return often to what He has given you. Not to earn God’s favor, but because in Christ you already have it. And as you go, live in the confidence that the One who grew in wisdom for you now reigns for you in grace and mercy, now and forever.
The peace of God which surpasses all human understanding keep your hearts in your Risen Lord and Savior, Jesus the Christ. Amen
Baptism of Our Lord Sunday Jan. 11, 2025 Sermon Text Matthew 3:13-17 Pastor John Hazzard
“God’s Beloved Son”
GRACE AND PEACE TO YOU FROM GOD OUR FATHER AND FROM OUR LORD AND SAVIRO JESUS CHRIST.
There are moments in life when we know—deep down—that something is not right. There are moments when the weight of guilt, fear, grief, or uncertainty presses in on us, and we come to the realization that we cannot fix what is broken. We might try to lie to ourselves, justify ourselves, or work harder to make things right, but sooner or later we must face the truth that we are not who we were created to be, and we cannot make ourselves whole.
This realization is not new. It’s as old as humanity itself. It’s the same reality that drove crowds out into the wilderness to hear a strange man who called people to repentance at the Jordan River. They came confessing their sins, stepping into the water as a sign that they needed cleansing, something only God could give.
Then, when no one expected it, Jesus stepped into the same sin filled water. The sinless Son of God stood with sinners as He entered the waters meant for repentance. Jesus came to stand among us and by doing so, He revealed not only who He is, but also who God is for us.
Today, as we hear the account of Jesus’ baptism from Matthew’s Gospel, we are invited once again to the waters to see our Savior standing in our place, fulfilling all righteousness, and to hear the voice of the Father declaring His love. This is not merely a story about something that happened long ago. It is a revelation of God’s heart toward sinners, a promise spoken over Christ and, a promise given to us through Him.
Let us listen carefully to the Gospel, and see what Jesus’ baptism meant for John, for Israel, and for us. Our Gospel reading tells us: “Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John. But John tried to deter him, saying, ‘I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?’” John is essentially saying, “I know who you are. I cannot baptize you. I am the one who needs to be baptized by you—please forgive me.” We can hear clearly how uncomfortable John is in this moment. Once he recognized Jesus as the long-promised Messiah, it is almost surprising that he was able to function at all.
Throughout Scripture, when human beings encounter God or an angel of the Lord, the response is almost always the same fear, trembling, and falling on one’s face. The glory of such an encounter is simply too much to bear. Instinctively, they recognize themselves as fallen creatures with no hope in themselves. This is why Moses encounters God in the form of a burning bush, and why, when God descends in glory upon Mount Sinai to deliver the Ten Commandments, Moses is allowed to see only God’s back. When Moses returns to the people, his face shines with reflected glory, and it is too much for them to endure. He must veil his face to speak to them.
It is only because Jesus’ glory was hidden, present within Him but not outwardly displayed, that He was able to live among and communicate with people during His earthly ministry. Jesus did not come in visible majesty and divine splendor; instead, He took upon Himself the very nature of man. Yet John recognized Him immediately. At His baptism, Jesus fully identifies with us. The purpose of His life is to take on sin and destroy it forever. He comes to bridge the divide between God and humanity so that we might live in harmony with God and with one another. John also knows that he, along with the rest of the world, stands in desperate need of a Savior.
Because of this, John tries to prevent Jesus from being baptized. He does not feel worthy to baptize Jesus, nor does he believe Jesus needs baptism at all. After all, John’s baptism is a baptism of repentance, symbolizing the need for forgiveness of sins. How, then, could the spotless Lamb of God submit to such a baptism? But Jesus responds to John’s reverence by declaring, “Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.” Jesus must be baptized because everything that is right must be done.
The image of Jesus standing among sinners is striking. He enters the waters of the Jordan—waters filled with the confessed sins of the people, and He takes those sins upon Himself. He takes the form of a servant, even placing Himself under the authority of John the Baptist. One would expect Jesus to be the one calling sinners to repentance, yet instead He stands with them. More than that, He fulfills all righteousness by responding to the call on our behalf. He responds for us because He has become one with us. As Isaiah declares, “The righteous servant shall justify many” (Isa. 53:11). To justify the many, Jesus begins His ministry by becoming one of them. The only Holy One of God becomes one with us poor sinners, going down into the river to fulfill all righteousness so that we might be made righteous.
God sends forth His Servant—indeed, He sends Himself. This Servant is no ordinary one, but the One who will go all the way to death in order to accomplish the Lord’s mission. He fully identifies with sinners, even submitting to baptism, so that sinners might be baptized into His baptism—into His death and resurrection. To be baptized into Christ is to be baptized into His death, where the old sinful nature is put to death. And because Christ has risen, those who are reborn through baptism into Him will also rise in newness of life, both now and eternally. This promise is spoken by the Lord’s own voice over the waters of baptism, and therefore it is sure.
Matthew continues: “As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, ‘This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.’” In Jesus’ baptism, both Jesus and John cooperate in fulfilling all righteousness. As Jesus emerges from the water, the Father declares Him to be His beloved Son, echoing the messianic promises of Psalm 2 and Isaiah 42 concerning the suffering Servant. Isaiah had proclaimed, “I have put my Spirit upon Him,” words that find their fulfillment as the Spirit descends upon Jesus. The Spirit’s appearance as a dove is a visible manifestation of God’s approval and empowerment of His Son as He begins His earthly ministry.
In this single, remarkable moment, John is granted a front-row seat to the revelation of the Triune God: the Father speaking from heaven, the Son standing in the water, and the Holy Spirit descending upon Him. What a truly glorious sight that must have been. Jesus’ very first public act is rich with meaning. It foreshadows His death and resurrection, demonstrates the significance of Christian baptism, and confirms that He is the long-awaited Messiah—declared so by God Himself. Here, all three persons of the Trinity are clearly revealed. The Father’s declaration and the Spirit’s descent officially inaugurate Christ’s ministry.
The theme of our psalm is the voice of God, a voice mentioned seven times in just eleven verses. God’s voice matters. His Word reigns over all things. When His voice is enthroned in our lives, He rules there with strength and peace.
The Servant of God, the incarnate Savior, is the One in whom God delights. Jesus is God’s Son, yet fully human—the living Word made flesh. At the Jordan, God assures Jesus that He is accomplishing the mission for which He was sent, declaring, “You are my beloved Son.” There is salvation in no other name. Idols fall. Human work fails. But the Servant of the Lord is called in righteousness to take us by the hand and lead us by His own righteousness. Fix your eyes on Him who cannot fall, because His Father will never fail Him. Trust in Him, and God will not fail you either. As Luther writes, “Keep your eye on Him, observe what He does, says, and teaches, because He is My Servant” (Luther’s Works, Vol. 17). We are all sinners. All people have sinned and fallen short of the Glory of God. No human being, who relies on their own effort, is worthy of a life and relationship with the God of the universe. We are sinners and only God Himself can cleanse us from our unrighteousness. The wages of sin we are told is death. We have all headed the wrong way and can do nothing to prevent it. Only God can and the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
When John the Baptist came as the voice of one crying in the wilderness, he came to warn us that all people are in the wilderness of an empty and meaningless life without God. All human beings need to verbally and symbolically confess their need for that cleansing and eternal life that only God can give us. John the Baptist was calling people to symbolically confess their unworthiness to be part of God’s Kingdom and their need for a Spiritual cleansing and rebirth which only God Himself can give. The cleansing and rebirth that leads to an eternal life saving faith graciously given to us as we place our trust in Jesus and Him crucified. No matter how dark the wilderness may feel, no matter how deep the depression, or how heavy the grief and sickness — Jesus Christ has come for you. He stepped into our world of emptiness and walked our roads of pain so that you would never be alone in yours. When life feels like it makes no sense, when your heart feels too weak to keep going, and when every step feels useless, He is there to strengthen, guide and protect us. Jesus is the only One who gives life meaning when nothing else seems to make sense. He is the One who welcomes the broken, the weary, and the overwhelmed. You do not need to be strong to come to Him; you only need to call out his name.
I was reminded in my weekly devotion that Martin Luther encourages us as Christians to remember our Baptism often. In his Small Catechism, Luther wrote that when we get out of bed in the morning and when we go to bed at night, we should make the sign of the cross and say, “Under the care of God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.” These words about our baptism should remind us that God is always with us, so that we can live as we have been called to live.”
And when you come, when you cry out to Him with even the smallest prayer of faith, He promises to hold you fast. Scripture tells us that He will never leave you nor forsake you. In His grace, He invites you to turn everything — fears, sins, hurts, and confusion — over to Him. He is your rock when everything else seems to be pulled out from under you. He strengthens you physically when you are drained, mentally when you are lost, and emotionally when you are hurting. Jesus Christ is the one foundation that gives life its true purpose. In Him alone there is hope. In Him alone there is peace. And in Him alone there is the promise that even in the wilderness, you are deeply loved and never forgotten. We must never forget this.
THE PEACE OF GOD WHICH SURPASSES ALL HUMAN UNDERSTANDING KEEP YOUR HEARTS AND MINDS IN OUR CRUCIFIED AND RISEN; LORD AND SAVIOR; JESUS THE CHRIST.
Third Wednesday Advent Dec. 17, 2025
Sermon Text: John 6:32–40 and John 11:25–26
Pastor John Hazzard
"Our Hope Is on Jesus as The Life"
Grace and Peace unto you from our Risen Lord and Savior, Jesus the Christ.
In this holy season of Advent, we gather once again in the quiet of the midweek, to wait, to listen, and to hope, remembering that the world’s greatest desire is not for more things, more noise, or more activity, but for life—true life, lasting life, the kind of life only God can give.
From the very beginning, the Scriptures tell us that God is the giver of life: He breathes life into Adam, He sustains Israel through wilderness and exile, and through the prophets He promises a day when life, full and eternal, will break into our dying world.
Advent is the season in which God teaches us to hunger for this life, to feel our need for it, to recognize the places in our lives and in our world where life is missing, fading or even threatened, and then lift our eyes toward the One who is coming to restore life to His people. It is in that spirit that we hear two of the most powerful passages in the New Testament about Jesus as the Life: John 6 and John 11.
In John 6:32–40, Jesus speaks to a crowd that has come searching for Him after the feeding of the five thousand, a crowd that wants more bread, more miracles, more signs. And Jesus tells them that the true bread—the bread that gives life—is not the kind of bread Moses gave in the wilderness, not manna that fed Israel for a day and then was gone, but the bread the Father gives in Him, in Jesus Himself. “For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world,” Jesus says, and then He makes the stunning claim: “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.” Jesus is not simply offering spiritual nourishment or moral encouragement; He is offering Himself—the very source of life—who desires to establish both a temporal and an eternal relationship with us when He comes to us in daily prayer, worship and our daily devotions.
Jesus is telling us that life is not found in our accomplishments or our goodness or our strength, but in the One sent from heaven who gives His life for the world. And this life is not temporary. This life doesn’t fade when circumstances change. This life isn’t undone by sickness or sorrow or even death. Jesus says, “This is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in Him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.” He doesn’t say He might raise us up if we perform well or if we follow every spiritual rule with perfection. He says He will raise us up.
Eternal life is tied to Him—His promise, His cross, His resurrection, His hands. Our hope of life rests in Christ alone, and Advent is all about learning again to trust that hope. But Scripture gives us an even clearer picture of Jesus as the Life in John 11:25–26, when Jesus stands before the tomb of His friend Lazarus. There, surrounded by grief, anger, confusion, and the raw reality of death, Jesus speaks words that echo through the centuries: “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die.” Advent is a season in which we are painfully aware that the world is still full of tombs—literal and metaphorical.
We know the grief we experience. We know the wounds that have not fully healed. We know the losses that still ache in our hearts. We know the parts of our lives that feel dried-up, weary, and fragile. But into that reality, into the places where the world and the flesh and the devil still try to steal life, Jesus declares that He is the resurrection and the life.
He doesn’t merely offer life after death; He brings life into death. He brings life into grief. He brings life into every place where we feel the shadow of the grave. And because of His resurrection, because He walked out of His own tomb, the promise He made to Martha is the promise He makes to us: “Whoever believes in Me will live.” That is the heart of our Advent hope: not that life will get easier on its own, not that we can manufacture peace or joy by our own effort, but that Christ Himself comes to us, enters our world, takes on our flesh, takes up our cross, and gives us life that no one and nothing can take away.
And what does that mean for us today? It means that we don’t have to settle for the thin, temporary imitations of life the world offers. We don’t have to define our worth by our achievements or our possessions or our circumstances. We don’t have to live in fear of the future or in anxiety over the past. Jesus is our life—our forgiveness, our strength, our peace, our future, our hope.
So tonight, as we continue our Advent journey, we fix our eyes not on ourselves but on Him—the bread of life who feeds us, the resurrection and the life who raises us, the Lord of life who comes to us even now. And with the one Holy Christian and Apostolic Church across all ages, we pray: Come, Lord Jesus. Bring your life again to your people.
The peace of God which surpasses all human understanding keep your hearts and minds In Christ Jesus, Our Risen Lord and Savior, The light and the hope of our Advent Season. Amen.