Hope Lutheran Chuch

06/16/2026

From Pastor Kramer's sermon on June 14:

The harvest is plentiful, Jesus says at the beginning of this reading (Matthew 9:35: And Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction), but the laborers are few. Every laborer is needed. Every misfit is needed. (Many or all of the 12 apostles were misfits.) All of us. And so, we should pray – ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. But we should also be ready to be the laborer sent out into that harvest. Fishermen, tax collectors, politicians, and every misfit disciple is needed. And every one of us is called to join in this mission. Because the news is too good not to be shared, and the world needs to hear it too much. And it takes all of us to proclaim this good news, and to be the church of Jesus. So let’s do it, to the glory of God. Amen.

06/11/2026

THIRD SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST - June 14

Exodus 19:2–8
Romans 5:6–15
Matthew 9:35—10:8

The Lord Our God Saves Us in Love and Cares for Us by the Ministry of His Gospel

The holy Triune God “shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners,” ungodly and at enmity with Him, “Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). The incarnate Son has justified us by His blood and reconciled us to His God and Father (Romans 5:9–10). Whereas sin and death originated with Adam, forgiveness and life abound for all his children through “that one man Jesus Christ” (Romans 5:12–17). As the Lord brought Israel out of Egypt, so does He bring us to Himself by the Gospel and make of us “a kingdom of priests and a holy nation” (Exodus 19:6) by our Baptism into Christ. For “all that the LORD has spoken” (Exodus 19:8), Christ has done for us. As He has gone up to God by His cross and resurrection, so does He bring us to the Father in Himself (Exodus 19:3–4). Nor does He leave us “harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd” (Matthew 9:36), but He sends men with authority “to heal every disease and every affliction” by His forgiveness of sins (Matthew 10:1). In their proclamation, “the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matthew 10:7).

06/06/2026

A hymn related to the Scriptures for June 7

Let Me Be Thine Forever

1 Let me be Thine forever,
My faithful God and Lord;
Let me forsake Thee never
Nor wander from Thy Word.
Lord, do not let me waver
But give me steadfastness,
And for such grace and favor
Thy holy name I'll bless.

2 Lord Jesus, my salvation,
My light, my life divine,
My only consolation,
O make me wholly Thine!
For Thou hast dearly bought me
With blood and bitter pain.
Let me, since Thou hast sought me,
Eternal life obtain.

3 And Thou, O Holy Spirit,
My comforter and guide,
Grant that in Jesus' merit
I always may confide,
Him to the end confessing
Whom I have known by faith.
Give me Thy constant blessing
And grant a Christian death.

06/05/2026

Jesus Calls Sinners to Repentance and Newness of Life in Accordance with His Mercy

SECOND SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST - June 7, 2026
Hosea 5:15–6:6
Romans 4:13–25
Matthew 9:9–13

In calling Matthew the tax collector to follow Him, Jesus demonstrates that He has come “not to call the righteous, but sinners” (Matthew 9:9, 13). As a good physician, He comes not to confirm them in their sins, but to heal them with His grace, calling them to repentance, faith and newness of life (Matthew 9:12). He puts them to death by the preaching of His Law, in order to raise them with His Gospel, to live before Him in the righteousness of His resurrection (Hosea 6:1–2, 5). It is in this way that God “gives life to the dead,” that is, through faith in Jesus, “who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification” (Romans 4:17, 24–25). Thus, sinners from all nations are called to share the same faith as Abraham, the father of all who trust in Jesus (Romans 4:16–18). And as our Lord in mercy thus welcomes us poor sinners to recline at the table in His house, so does He “desire steadfast love and not sacrifice” (Matthew 9:10, 13; Hosea 6:6), that we should have mercy on our neighbors and forgive their sins against us for Jesus’ sake.

05/30/2026

One of the hymns related to Holy Trinity Sunday, May 31

Holy, Holy, Holy - LSB #507

1. Holy, holy, holy! Lord God Almighty!
Early in the morning our song shall rise to Thee.
Holy, holy, holy! merciful and mighty!
God in three persons, blessed Trinity!

2. Holy, holy, holy! All the saints adore Thee,
Casting down their golden crowns around the glassy sea;
Cherubim and seraphim, falling down before Thee,
Which wert and art and evermore shall be.

3. Holy, Holy, Holy! Though the darkness hide Thee,
Though the eye of sinful man Thy glory may not see,
Only thou art holy; there is none beside Thee,
Perfect in pow'r, in love, and purity.

4. Holy, holy, holy! Lord God Almighty!
All Thy works shall praise Thy name, in earth and sky and sea.
Holy, holy, holy! merciful and mighty!
God in three persons, blessed Trinity.

05/28/2026

There are three posts with the same content but done in different ways. This is an attempt to find out which one is best to use.

So please comment on the one you like best and give any information that might be useful. In particular, whether you're seeing it on a small screen, such as a phone, or a larger screen.

05/28/2026

THE HOLY TRINITY - May 31
Genesis 1:1—2:4a - Acts 2:14a, 22–36 - Matthew 28:16–20
The Holy Triune God Recreates Us
in the Image and Likeness of Christ Jesus

The holy Triune God “created the heavens and the earth,” and “behold, it was very good” (Genesis 1:1, 31). However, after Adam and Eve fell into sin and plunged God’s good creation into decay and death, the Son of God would be “delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God” to be “crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men” (Acts 2:23). As Jesus “received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:33), He also raises up all the baptized and pours out the Spirit upon them through the preaching of His Gospel. He sends out His apostles to “make disciples of all nations” by “baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,” and “teaching them to observe all that [He has] commanded” (Matthew 28:19–20). Through such baptizing and teaching — Gospel and Sacraments — the holy Triune God recreates us in the image and likeness of His incarnate Son, Jesus, the Christ, and behold, it is “very good” (Genesis 1:31).

05/28/2026