Lent 2, February 28th

One word, "weep" ties together the readings this Sunday. Jesus wept over Jerusalem's refusal to repent and recognize "the day of God's favor" in the coming to them of the Messiah. St. Paul urges his fellow Christians "with tears" to keep striving to imitate the best examples among their fellow Christians, in response to God's mercy and forgiveness, as they stand firm in their hope of the resurrection of the body. The Faith sermon for Lent 2 is based on that epistle lesson, Philippians 3:17-4:1

Faith Carthage Sermon, Lent 2, February 28, 2010

New Recordings Posted at FaithCarthage.org

Well, good news! We've got the lens cleaned on our CD audio recorder at the church. The last couple of sermons have had to be rerecorded from the audio tape which we also make at each service. As of today, all our recordings are up-to-date and posted.

That includes the recording for the First Sunday in Lent, the Temptation of Jesus:

Faith Carthage Sermon for Lent 1, February 21

2nd Wednesday in Lent Recording available

This is a recording of our entire (47 min.)Lenten Service from Wednesday, February 24:

Faith Carthage Lenten Service, Wednesday February 24

2nd Wednesday in Lent

Once again tonight we will have the opportunity to share one another's fellowship as we gather at the foot of the cross to hear and meditate together on the word of God. We'll be focusing on the opportunity the disciples had to do just that in the Garden of Gethsemane, as Jesus spent time in intense prayer with his Father. Our text is Luke 22:39-47.

Sermon for the Transfiguration of Our Lord

For some time now, I've been posting audio of the sermons at Faith Lutheran in Carthage on our church website, www.faithcarthage.org.

Through this blog, I'm trying to make them available as podcasts.

The sermon for the last Sunday after the Epiphany, Transfiguration Sunday reminds us that Jesus showed he really is God, before his disciples would see in gruesome fashion how truly human he is in the suffering that he would shortly undergo in Judea and Jerusalem as our Sacrifice of Atonement on the cross.

Here's the sermon audio.

What's with the name?

Carthage is named after the famous ancient north African city of Carthage, or Carthago. Carthage posed a very real threat to the city of Rome and its desire for world dominance. These two cities were therefore arch enemies. The Roman elder statesman Cato the Elder is said to have ended all his speeches in the senate with the phrase "Carthago delenda est" which means "Carthage must be destroyed."
Thus the title of this blog means "Carthage must NOT be destroyed!" Of course, nobody would want his own city destroyed, but my fuller meaning, being a Lutheran Pastor, is a prayer that God would continue to bless the spiritual life in this city through the preaching of the pure Gospel and the correct administration of the sacraments. It is a prayer that God would let Faith Lutheran Church of Carthage continue to be the salt of the earth preservative in our community!