Pastor's Sermon for the Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost, August 24 is online.

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Pastor's Sermon for the Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost, August 10 is online.

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Pastor's Sermon for the Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost, August 10 is online.

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Pastor's Sermon for the Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost, Aug 3 is online.

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Pastor Watt's sermons are now being broadcast on Pirate Christian Radio.  Stay tuned for scheduling information.

Also the quality of the broadcast has been greatly improved thanks to suggestions by Craig Donofrio at PCR.  It was simple and cheap and the results are fantastic!  If you need a good inexpensive microphone check at Musicians Friend.  (this one).

Now we use this mic and a free software program called Audacity with noticeable results.  We took the opportunity to change the format by adding an intro and trailer and some background music and a new title for the program. 

The title "Streams of Living Water" comes from the idea expressed in Psalm 1. 

Psalm 1 (ESV)

1 Blessed is the man
   who walks not in the counsel of the wicked,
   nor stands in the way of sinners,
   nor sits in the seat of scoffers;
2 but his delight is in the law of the Lord,
   and on his law he meditates day and night.
3 He is like a tree
   planted by streams of water
     that yields its fruit in its season,
     and its leaf does not wither.
   In all that he does, he prospers.
4 The wicked are not so,
   but are like chaff that the wind drives away.
5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
   nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous;
6 for the Lord knows the way of the righteous,
   but the way of the wicked will perish.

The Christian is truly blessed as he/she comes into contact with God's Word, but the Psalm really is an accusation of our sinfulness and the blessed nature of our Savior.

The psalm is a nice description of Christ.  The description of the Blessed Man is His alone.  We are deserving of punishment.  We are the chaff blown in the wind.  We are unfaithful in our diligent use of God's Word.  We can't even stand to be in worship more than an hour.  Not so our Savior Jesus.  All the psalm says is true for Him.  Jesus is the tree planted by the streams of water.  All the He does prospers.  He follows God, the Father's, will for his life.  Even when that includes suffering the punishment the wicked deserve.  Jesus stands innocent in judgement and yet He falls with the punishment meant for the wicked.  He perishes in our place.  In that knowledge we too are blessed by God's Word.

As far as the new program goes I think it sounds great.  Listen here.

Any comments or questions are greatly appreciated!  You may comment here on the webpage or send your comments to streams@StJohnsHoward.org.

Labels: Pirate Christian Radio, PodCast, Sermon, Streams of Living Water

Pastor's Sermon for the Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost, July 27 is online.

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Pastor's Sermon for the Tenth Sunday after Pentecost, July 20 is online.

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Pastor's Sermon for the Second Sunday after Pentecost, May 25 is online.

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Podcast Coming Soon (Usually Monday)

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The text is:

Hear this, you who trample on the needy and bring the poor of the land to an end, saying, “When will the new moon be over, that we may sell grain? And the Sabbath, that we may offer wheat for sale, that we may make the ephah small and the shekel great and deal deceitfully with false balances, that we may buy the poor for silver and the needy for a pair of sandals and sell the chaff of the wheat?” The Lord has sworn by the pride of Jacob: “Surely I will never forget any of their deeds. (Amos 8:4-7, ESV)

From the Sermon:

God remembers his promises. He places our sin and punishment on Jesus and gives us Jesus resurrection to new life. We walk in newness of life! We live and act and worship differently. What God has done for us in Jesus turns that turns our sin into sing. Oh come let us sing unto the Lord. Let us make a joyful noise to the God of our salvation. He turns our sin in to song. We rejoice. We celebrate. We sing about what God has done for us.

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The text is:

Now great crowds accompanied him, and he turned and said to them, “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’ Or what king, going out to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and deliberate whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? And if not, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace. So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple. (Luke 14:25-33, ESV)

From the Sermon:

The promise of God there is this. The sin in your life, the things that you put before God, I have done something about. I have killed you. I have raised you. You are my precious child. Just as I killed my own Beloved Son, just as I raised my own Beloved Son, this baptism is my promise to you that I have done all this for you. Go now live your life bearing your cross.

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The text is:

One Sabbath, when he went to dine at the house of a ruler of the Pharisees, they were watching him carefully. And behold, there was a man before him who had dropsy. And Jesus responded to the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath, or not?” But they remained silent. Then he took him and healed him and sent him away. And he said to them, “Which of you, having a son or an ox that has fallen into a well on a Sabbath day, will not immediately pull him out?” And they could not reply to these things. Now he told a parable to those who were invited, when he noticed how they chose the places of honor, saying to them, “When you are invited by someone to a wedding feast, do not sit down in a place of honor, lest someone more distinguished than you be invited by him, and he who invited you both will come and say to you, ‘Give your place to this person,’ and then you will begin with shame to take the lowest place. But when you are invited, go and sit in the lowest place, so that when your host comes he may say to you, ‘Friend, move up higher.’ Then you will be honored in the presence of all who sit at table with you. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.” He said also to the man who had invited him, “When you give a dinner or a banquet, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, lest they also invite you in return and you be repaid. But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. You will be repaid at the resurrection of the just.” (Luke 14:1-14, ESV)

From the Sermon:

Ah, but Jesus has something to say about that too. He sees the man with dropsy. He loves him and cares for him. He heals him. He sends him back to his life to live it all differently. Jesus sees you. He loves you. He heals your sin. He gives you his blood bought forgiveness. He doesn’t send you back to your life alone. He promises to go with you by giving you the Holy Spirit. He gives you his Word, full of his promises for you. He gives you his body and blood as food to continue the healing. Because of all the Jesus sees in you, you can and do see the world differently.

Labels: Sermon, Worship

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The text is:

He went on his way through towns and villages, teaching and journeying toward Jerusalem. And someone said to him, “Lord, will those who are saved be few?” And he said to them, “Strive to enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able. When once the master of the house has risen and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and to knock at the door, saying, ‘Lord, open to us,’ then he will answer you, ‘I do not know where you come from.’ Then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets.’ But he will say, ‘I tell you, I do not know where you come from. Depart from me, all you workers of evil!’ In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God but you yourselves cast out. And people will come from east and west, and from north and south, and recline at table in the kingdom of God. And behold, some are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last.” (Luke 13:22-30, ESV)

From the Sermon:

Right now Jesus makes it very clear that the door is still open. It is open wherever Christians speak up and tell people about Jesus and what he has done. But, it is open right now and especially right here where his Word is preached and his Sacraments given according to his command. We can actually see the open door here. We see it and feel it as water together with God’s name washes away our sins and makes us a member of his God’s family. We are pulled through the open door by God’s action, brought where his family is and given his very name. Inside we sit at table with him, in his very presence, and eat the food that we need to grow in faith. We hear his words that are spoken to us to keep our focus on what’s important. And yet there is a danger even here where God so clearly has the door open. There is a danger because the open door will not always be open as it is today, as Jesus tells us. Many of those inside will walk out the door.

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The text is:

By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was in the act of offering up his only son, of whom it was said, “Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.” He considered that God was able even to raise him from the dead, from which, figuratively speaking, he did receive him back. By faith Isaac invoked future blessings on Jacob and Esau. By faith Jacob, when dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, bowing in worship over the head of his staff. By faith Joseph, at the end of his life, made mention of the exodus of the Israelites and gave directions concerning his bones. By faith Moses, when he was born, was hidden for three months by his parents, because they saw that the child was beautiful, and they were not afraid of the king’s edict. By faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. He considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the reward. By faith he left Egypt, not being afraid of the anger of the king, for he endured as seeing him who is invisible. By faith he kept the Passover and sprinkled the blood, so that the Destroyer of the firstborn might not touch them. By faith the people crossed the Red Sea as if on dry land, but the Egyptians, when they attempted to do the same, were drowned. By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they had been encircled for seven days. By faith Rahab the prostitute did not perish with those who were disobedient, because she had given a friendly welcome to the spies. And what more shall I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets— who through faith conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made strong out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight. Women received back their dead by resurrection. Some were tortured, refusing to accept release, so that they might rise again to a better life. Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were killed with the sword. They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated— of whom the world was not worthy—wandering about in deserts and mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth. And all these, though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised, since God had provided something better for us, that apart from us they should not be made perfect. Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted. (Hebrews 11:17-12:3, ESV)

From the Sermon:

God’s Word tells us that God himself came to earth to deal with pain and suffering. He became a human being to deal with sin. In Jesus Christ, the wholeness of God dwells, we are told. He suffered and died for the sins of the whole world. He bore the punishment for all sin on the cross. No matter how great your suffering is, it will never compare to what Jesus suffered for you. He didn’t just suffer physical pain, nails in his hands, bruises and cuts, and harassment. He suffered spiritual death and separation from God. Jesus suffered the pain of hell on the cross.

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The text is:

13Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” 14But he said to him, “Man, who made me a judge or arbitrator over you?” 15And he said to them, “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” 16And he told them a parable, saying, “The land of a rich man produced plentifully, 17and he thought to himself, ‘What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?’ 18And he said, ‘I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. 19And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.’ 20But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ 21So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.” Luke 12:13-21 (ESV)

From the Sermon:

That’s what it means to be rich toward God. To have Jesus in the life you now live in the flesh. To have faith that what God declares for you is true. To believe that everything that he has done for you means that he will take care of you no matter what. You know what he has done, you know the promises he has made. The perfect life of Jesus; the perfect suffering and death of Jesus; the resurrection to new life by Jesus; is God’s gift to you. It’s God’s promise that you are forgiven, that your sinful nature doesn’t affect your relationship with him. To live by faith in the Son of God, is to hold on to the promises of Jesus who loves you and gave himself for you. That’s what it means to be rich toward God. That was it means to be really, really rich. Few of us will ever be called multi-millionaires. Few of us can really imagine how much money that really is. The richness that God gives us in Jesus is also totally beyond our understanding.

Labels: Sermon, Worship

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The text is:

Now Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.” And he said to them, “When you pray, say: “Father, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread, and forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation.” And he said to them, “Which of you who has a friend will go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves, for a friend of mine has arrived on a journey, and I have nothing to set before him’; and he will answer from within, ‘Do not bother me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed. I cannot get up and give you anything’? I tell you, though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his impudence he will rise and give him whatever he needs. And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” (Luke 11:1-13, ESV)

From the Sermon:

He’s saying, “You know what it means to have a loving father. No loving father is going to give his son poison when he asks for food.” God is our true father. He is God over all things. He will give us everything we need, because He alone knows exactly what we need. And as Luther said, “God tenderly invites us to believe” this. When we pray the Lord’s Prayer, we are confessing that we believe that God is our Heavenly Father; that He loves and cares for us beyond our understanding. We pray that He will do what is best for us, no matter what. And because of Jesus, that’s God’s promise to us, God’s Children.

Labels: Sermon, Worship

The text is:

Now as they went on their way, Jesus entered a village. And a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to his teaching. But Martha was distracted with much serving. And she went up to him and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me.” But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.” (Luke 10:38-42, ESV)

From the Sermon:

A different Gospel writer put it this way, “… the he Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many." (Matt 20:28) In the midst of Martha’s busy life, Jesus Christ came to serve her. In the midst of our busy lives, Jesus Christ has come to serve us. He has come to give us the one thing that we need most. Jesus Christ comes to serve… remember how he healed the man with the withered hand, how he restored sight to the blind. Remember too how he said to Jairus’s daughter, “Talitha Kum!” and life returned to her cold dead body. Jesus Christ comes to serve… he served us beyond all our ability to serve ourselves. When we deserved death because of our selfish will to live our lives without God. Jesus Christ served us by dying for us. When we deserved God’s wrath and punishment for our rejection of God’s control of our lives, Jesus Christ served us by enduring that wrath and punishment. When we deserved to die and stay dead, Jesus Christ served us by rising from the death and breaking its hold on us forever.

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