http://www.sjlc.com St. John's Lutheran Church in Alexandria, VA, a member congregation of The Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod. en St. John's Lutheran Church in Alexandria, VA, a member congregation of The Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod. St. John's Lutheran Church no St. John's Lutheran Church Sermons office@sjlc.com ℗ & © 2010 St. John's Lutheran Church 720 Repentance is not actually an emotion or feeling, although it can produce strong emotions and feelings within us. What does repentance look like? Jesus helps us to understand this change of heart and mind, this returning to the Lord, with the parable of the fig tree in Luke 13. Repentane that is real can and will produce fruits of repentance - just as John the Baptist exhorted the people of his day: "Bear fruits that are worthy of repentance." The unproductive fig tree is a picture of our own lives - on the verge of being cut down by order of the Master! And yet the Gardener pleads for the unproductive fig tree. He will dig around it and put manure on it to fertilize it. In the same way, Jesus pleads for us, his unproductive people. His redeeming blood is the fertilizer of forgiveness that sinks down deep into our roots, nourishing our life with his death, so that we might bear fruits that are indeed worthy of repentance. http://www.sjlc.com/sermon/an-emotional-lent-repentance Sun, 07 Mar 2010 14:56:27 GMT Rev. Jack Meehan Lent 2010 - An Emotional Lent repentance,fruits,fig_tree,gardener,jesus,forgive,vineyard,lent As God provided for Jonah -- despite the prophet's stubborn actions and attitude -- we can see the Lord's beckoning grace at work. We reflect on God's provision for our needs of body and soul as we look again to the Sign of Jonah. http://www.sjlc.com/sermon/our-providing-god http://www.sjlc.com/mediafiles/sermon-audio-20100303-our-providing-god.mp3 Wed, 03 Mar 2010 16:06:14 GMT Rev. Braun Campbell Lenten midweek 2010 - The Sign of Jonah jonah,stubborn,repentance,provision 10:42 Our journey through “An Emotional Lent” continues as we hear Jesus call out in grief over Jerusalem’s rejection of God’s messengers. As the fulfillment and embodiment of the Gospel message, Jesus came to deliver forgiveness of sin. The world, though, rejected him. In this time of Lent, we reflect on the grief that Jesus felt for our sake, knowing that he calls us to come to him and know the shelter of his wings. http://www.sjlc.com/sermon/an-emotional-lent-grief http://www.sjlc.com/mediafiles/sermon-audio-20100228-an-emotional-lent-grief.mp3 Sun, 28 Feb 2010 16:04:23 GMT Rev. Braun Campbell Lent 2010 - An Emotional Lent lent,grief,loss,emptiness,fulfillment,shelter,psalm_91 10:57 There are countless stories of individuals whose lives have been spared in the midst of horrific storms. One such individual is Jonah, the prophet in the Old Testament. Called by God to preach judgment against the mighty Assyrian capital city of Ninevah, Jonah instead chose to run in the opposite direction. The ship he was on was caught in a terrible storm at sea, and his life - and the lives of the other people on board - was spared only when Jonah instructed them to throwh him overboard. Reluctantly, they did so. There was another whose life was sacrificed, and that is Jesus, who willingly gave his life on the cross for our sins. In difficult and challenging storms of life, Jesus invites us to cry out to him. In his mercy, e hears and helps. http://www.sjlc.com/sermon/saved-in-the-storm http://www.sjlc.com/mediafiles/sermon-audio-20100224-saved-in-the-storm.mp3 Wed, 24 Feb 2010 15:54:34 GMT Rev. Jack Meehan Lenten midweek 2010 - The Sign of Jonah jonah,storm,sacrifice,jesus,save,god 9:29 Temptation is a reality in this life, and we face it on a daily basis in our walk of faith. The devil's purpose of temptation now with us is the same as it was with Jesus: to cause us to doubt who Jesus really is, and to doubt who we are in relationship to Him. We often con ourselves into thinking that we are entitled to indulge in temptations that come our way; that somehow the normal rules which apply to everyone else don't apply to us. For all of the temptations that we give in to, for all our sins, Jesus paid the penalty by giving his life on the cross. He now calls us to follow Him. http://www.sjlc.com/sermon/an-emotional-lent-temptation http://www.sjlc.com/mediafiles/an-emotional-lent-temptation.mp3 Sun, 21 Feb 2010 20:58:52 GMT Rev. Jack Meehan Lent 2010 - An Emotional Lent temptation,jesus,lent,devil,emotions,if,savior 14:36 God called Jonah to proclaim repentance to the people of Nineveh, but the prophet ran the opposite direction. We, too, often try to run away from God's call to live as His witnesses. In this Lenten season, God calls us to follow. http://www.sjlc.com/sermon/god-is-calling http://www.sjlc.com/mediafiles/god-is-calling.mp3 Wed, 17 Feb 2010 16:04:52 GMT Rev. Braun Campbell Lenten midweek 2010 - The Sign of Jonah word,grace,fear,calling,lent,jonah 11:28 After the dazzling apperance faded away, after Moses and Elijah departed, after the cloud was gone and the Voice was just a memory, what is left on the mount of Transfiguration is Jesus alone. Sometimes being alone with Jesus troubles us. We're afraid that all of our excuses and masks will be exposed, and we will be seen for what we truly are: sinful human beings who are in need of a Savior. But that is exactly what we need - a Savior! Because of Jesus' innocent suffering and death, his aloneness there on the cross of Calvary, we are assured that we will never be alone. Jesus himself is with us, even to the end of the world. http://www.sjlc.com/sermon/jesus-alone http://www.sjlc.com/mediafiles/jesus-alone.mp3 Sun, 14 Feb 2010 20:42:50 GMT Rev. Jack Meehan Lectionary transfiguration,jesus,alone,moses,elijah,mountain 13:43 God's call comes to people who often are not ready to accept that call - witness Jeremiah in today's Old Testament lessson (Jeremiah 1:4-10). God's call to Jeremiah was not just to the house of Israel, but to the nations. God's call is often much larger and more expansive than anything we can imagine. In the Gospel lesson (Luke 4:21-30), Jesus is threatened with murder by the people of his own hometown when he, like Jeremiah, lifts up the truth that God's mission and concern is for all people, not just a select few. This is still the church's mission today - to the nations. http://www.sjlc.com/sermon/the-call-and-the-challenge http://www.sjlc.com/mediafiles/the-call-and-the-challenge.mp3 Sun, 31 Jan 2010 18:05:55 GMT Rev. Jack Meehan Lectionary call,challenge,word,nations,jesus,people 17:29 God's Word gives us sight in a dark world of fear and hopelessness http://www.sjlc.com/sermon/seeing-by-hearing http://www.sjlc.com/mediafiles/sermon-audio-20100124-seeing-by-hearing.mp3 Sun, 24 Jan 2010 18:04:10 GMT Rev. Braun Campbell Lectionary god's_word,haiti,epiphany 11:42 In the wedding feast at Cana, God reveals himself as an unexpected Messiah to an unexpected audience with unexpected grace. http://www.sjlc.com/sermon/unexpected http://www.sjlc.com/mediafiles/sermon-audio-20100117-unexpected.mp3 Sun, 17 Jan 2010 14:31:54 GMT Rev. Braun Campbell Lectionary haiti,earthquake,grace,cana,wine,sign,epiphany 13:14