Northwoods Table Talk

  He Came To Redeem Us! Titus 2:11-14 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and our Lord and Savior, Jesus the Christ.   Amen. Blessed, holy Christmas Eve to you! It is a joy to be in God’s house on this hallowed Eve to rejoice and praise our God for the most precious gift given. Yeah, you bought gifts – probably armed with a gift list to help you buy specifically what people wanted? Some of you are happy with what you bought for the loved ones on your list. Some of you probably wish that you would have been able to give something more – financially it has been a tough year. W hat did you ask to be given to you as gifts? Tools to do those odd jobs around the house? A year’s subscription to Amazon Prime? Maybe a PlayStation Portal to stream those games everywhere? Maybe a PlayStation 5 Pro, Xbox Series Elite, or the Nintendo Switch 2? I love the commercial where he gets her a puppy and she gets him a GMC Sierrra. That ain’t happenin’ at the Jerabek home? No mor...

  God’s Recompence  Comes To Save You Isaiah 35:1-10   Grace to you and peace from God our Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.   If you have not noticed, I love the Old Testament. I mean, how can you not love it? At least, there is a lot to love if you understand the Old Testament correctly.   Now I suppose you want to know how to understand it correctly. It is rather simple. You need to understand it as Jesus does, and as Jesus desires you to understand it.   Of course, there is something that gets in the way. What is it that gets in the way? Human pride and hubris! OK, let us be more honest, SINFUL human pride and hubris. I am sure you have heard it, and maybe even expressed it yourself. It comes out like this – “we are New Testament Christians, not Old Testament Christians. We are about the Gospel, not the Law. The Old Testament is Law, the New Testament is Gospel.”   Is that really true? No, it is not! In fact, Jesus, Tru God,...

  Comfort? Isaiah 40:1-11   Grace to you and peace from God our Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.   Have you ever heard the phrase, the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence?   It is commonly used to get people to stop wishing for those things which they do not have. Although things might look splendid in someone else's life, all have the same desire. Unless something in someone’s life sticks out as sorely miserable, another person's life always seems to look better. Have you ever wondered why other people have it so much better than you? Have you ever contemplated the question of why life seems so miserable? In fact, you probably know someone who claims that man is born, he suffers, he dies. That is all there is! So, what's the purpose of life? I can safely say that in a moment of doubt we have all asked the same sort of a question. Our text from the prophet Isaiah seems to echo those thoughts: The mouth of the Lord has sp...

  A Shoot From the Stump Isaiah 11:1-10  G race to you and peace from God our Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.   Isaiah pens what God inspires him to write and it is glorious. There shall come forth a Shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit. And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. And His delight shall be in the fear of the Lord. He shall not judge by what His eyes see, or decide disputes by what His ears hear, but with righteousness He shall judge the poor and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; and He shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of His lips he shall kill the wicked. Righteousness shall be the belt of His waist, faithfulness the belt of His loins. The wolf shall dw...

  Welcome One Another Romans 15:4-13 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Amen. When was the last time you had a nice conversation in the backyard with your neighbor? How about the last time you sat on your porch and struck up a conversation with someone walking by? Or maybe you were at the grocery store and you spent a half hour talking with someone from church? Or was it at the post office? You said, “hello!” but what does that mean? Was it the word to the thought, “I see you here and acknowledge your presence?” Did you ever think about what you meant by saying it? How about this greeting, “how are you?” That three-word phrase is often spoken as a greeting. When you use it as a greeting are really asking the question expecting a response? That question is more like, “Hello, I acknowledge and note your presence.” These aren’t the droids you’re looking for, move along. Can you imagine the person you greet, “How are you?” ...

  Chief Mountain House of the Lord Grace to you and peace from God our Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. Our introit, Psalm 122, is a Psalm of Ascents, and is attributed to David. Psalms of Ascent have to do with going into God’s house. Into the tabernacle in David’s day or going into the temple after it was completed. These Psalms prepare the heart and mind toward God, to meditate upon His mercy and what was going to take place in God’s House.   This Psalm was written by David 1000 BC. This is one of David’s prayer-songs as he ascends, that is, as he comes into God’s house. He is glad to go into the House of the Lord.   One of the things in this prayer is for the peace of Jerusalem. What does that mean?   You have probably seen phrase, “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem,” or heard it spoken. Maybe you know songs which have the line “pray for the peace of Jerusalem” in it.   It quoted very often today. We spoke about Jerusalem as a h...