Parish Blog

allsaintsjonesboro Uncategorized

Let down the nets for a catch!

On this Fifth Sunday after Trinity, our Gospel lesson from Luke 5:1-11 points us to the reality of Christ within the boat of the Church and His command to His disciples (which includes all Christians) to let down the nets for a catch by striving to catch men with the Gospel. In our baptisms we enter this holy ark of the Christian Church; through God’s constant provision of Word and Sacrament, we are kept safe with Him as our Captain and sent forth to share Christ and to invite people into the boat with us. Like Peter, we may have “toiled all night” in sharing the Gospel, only to feel empty-handed. Yet at Jesus’ word we cast the nets again—trusting that He, not we, fills them. This miraculous catch points us to our duty within our various vocations: every baptized Christian is called to “fish for men.” Evangelism isn’t firstly the job of a committee or the pastor—it’s our daily calling in our homes, workplaces, and friendships. We speak of Christ not because we have the power to persuade, but because Jesus works through the words and witness of His people. Just as others once brought us into this ark of salvation, so now we are sent to rescue others from the flood of sin and death. Fed and strengthened by Christ within the Divine Service, may we joyfully and faithfully let down the nets again and again.

allsaintsjonesboro Sermons

Repentance is God’s Work

Repentance is God’s gracious work—His seeking, finding, and restoring of the lost—and yet it is a resistible work of God. Like the lost sheep or coin (Luke 15:1-10), we cannot find ourselves; God must bring us to repentance and faith through His appointed means: Word, Sacrament, and the ministry of the Church. Just as we cannot become Christians on our own, neither can we remain Christians apart from God’s continual work through the Means of Grace. This is important for us to remember, both for ourselves and for those we love. For those resisting God’s work to bring them home to the Church where He desires to feed them and care for them, we must not only pray, but also work to actively invite and encourage them to return to Christ, who still receives sinners and eats with them. Listen to Father Leigeber’s homily from yesterday to learn more.

allsaintsjonesboro Sermons

Feast of Sts. Peter & Paul

Today (June 29) is the Feast of Saints Peter and Paul, the holy apostles “through whom we have received the beginning of our religion,” as we prayed during Mass in the ancient Collect of the Day. In Ephesians 2:20, we hear that as those who have been made members of the household of God, we are built upon the “foundation of the apostles.” What does all of this mean? How do the apostles–and these two men in particular–fit into a biblical, Christ-centered faith? Is the foundation upon which the Church (and we as members of it) are built the apostles as men (as important as they are) or is that foundation perhaps something, rather, which comes to us from the apostles but is more bound up with their doctrine and Scriptural writings? These two men teach us an important lesson today, a lesson which helps us remain on the via media and avoid the extremes of either papism or modern evangelical biblicism. Listen to the sermon below for more.