Northwoods Table Talk

(This was my sermon from the 3rd Last Sunday of the Church Year, 11/9/2014. A couple people asked for it, I thought I'd post it here.) Dead In Christ Will Rise 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ.   Amen. I do not believe it is only me, but death has touched our area recently in very tragic ways. In a twenty mile radius around Embarrass, six young people, younger than twenty-five, have died in the last few weeks. As I said before, I do not know the faith of those who died, so I am not speaking of them today. But, I thought today would be a good day to talk about some things about which there seems to be some confusion and misunderstanding. Today’s sermon will not be my normal Law/Gospel sermon where I lead us all to repentance and then proclaim forgiveness and life in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Instead, this sermon will be what is called a didactic sermon, a sermon which has as its ...

It really is just a stupid fishing pole. It is an inanimate object. If it were gone, it means nothing. So, this story begins in 1993 when a buddy gives me a 10’ G. Loomis 7 weight IM6 fly rod, with a hand-painted inscription on it commemorating my Ordination into the Office of the Holy Ministry. It was a rather expensive gift from a dear friend. Whenever I would use it, I would remember my friend.   It was a great stick, excellent feel and action. I cannot even figure how many Atlantic Salmon, Steelhead, Brown trout, Chinook, and Cohos have been caught on this rod. Many were caught while used as intended, as a fly rod. It was also used with a spinning reel and finesse fished - rigged that way, it was easier for those who do not know how to fly-cast. I believe it caught many times the number caught using it as a fly rod. This was how it was most often rigged, especially when I took other people fishing for Steelhead and Salmon, as it was so easy to use this way. ...