In sermons FOR YOU, Higher Things makes available preaching that gives listeners Christ-focused, Gospel drenched, sacramental sermons FOR YOU with the earnest hope that the Holy Spirit uses these preachers to give comfort and consolation to you, that you may rejoice in God’s baptismal grace and peace which are FOR YOU in Christ Jesus today and always.
The Spirit’s got one job. He’s the Paraclete, the Comforter, the Helper. He’s your Comforter, your Helper. That’s what He does for you, and He does it just like Jesus says, “He will testify about Me.”
Text: Jn 15:26–16:4; 1 Pt 4:8
Preacher: Pastor Aaron Fenker, Bethlehem and Immanuel Lutheran Churches, Bremen, KS
Christian prayer is a wonderful gift. Jesus today promises that our Father hears our prayers for His sake. He tells how to pray, what to pray, and why to pray. And thus, prayer is His gift to us, so that with all boldness and confidence we may pray as dear children of our Heavenly Father.
Text: John 16:23-33 (One Year)
Preacher: Pastor Christopher Gillespie, St. John Ev. Lutheran Church (Sherman Center), Random Lake, WI
Sinful human beings don’t really know what is good for us. However, Jesus does, and He gives us exactly what we need: He gives us the Holy Spirit and the Church.
Text: John 16:5-15 (One Year)
Preacher: Pastor Eric Brown, Trinity Lutheran Church, Herscher, Illinois
Text: John 16:16-22 (One Year)
Preacher: Pastor Jacob Ehrhard, St. John’s Ev. Lutheran Church, Chicago, Illinois
The world tempts us to measure it otherwise. By works. By wealth. We are sinners suffering in a painful world. We’ve told ourselves that if Christianity were true, we wouldn’t be here like this. The truth is, if Christianity were true, Jesus would be. The good shepherd seeks out his sheep.
Text: John 10:11-16 (One Year)
Preacher: Pastor Harrison Goodman, St. Paul Lutheran Church in Carroll, Nebraska
For all that Thomas is, I thank God. Yes, for his pig-headedness, for his doubt, for his denial, for his dyed-in-the-wool skepticism — for all that, I thank God. Why? Because, as St. Gregory put it, “More does the doubt of Thomas help us to believe, than the faith of the disciples who believed.”
Text: John 20:19-31 (One Year)
Preacher: Pastor Christopher Gillespie, St. John Ev. Lutheran Church — Sherman Center, Random Lake, WI
But he said to them, “Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He is risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid Him.
Text: Mark 16:6
Preacher: Pastor Donavon Riley, St. John Lutheran Church, Webster, MN
Death. He’s your enemy. The enemy we’re all afraid of. No one wants to die. We’re not too afraid of the devil, we’re generally not too afraid of our sins either. We should be. But the fact that one second your here and the next your not, well, that’s just terrifying!
Text: Ex 14:10–15:1
Preacher: Pastor Aaron Fenker, Bethlehem and Immanuel Lutheran Churches, Bremen, KS
“How could this be the plan? Who’d make a plan like this? Who’d even do it!? It’s questionable at best. Really looking at it, it’s ridiculous, insane. You could almost say its demonic! That’s really the sort of plan it is. Is there another way to explain it?”
Text: Gen 22:1–14; Heb 9:11–15; Jn 8:46–59
Preacher: Pastor Aaron Fenker, Bethlehem and Immanuel Lutheran Churches, Bremen, KS
Maybe you have even lamented like your fathers, “Would that we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt when we sat by the meat pots and ate bread to the full…” Life was so much better before? Ignorance was bliss? But you are not simply physically hungry, because there is a greater hunger and thirst. No amount of earthly bread or the loveliest spring water will satisfy the demands of the Law and death.
Text: John 6:1-15 (One Year)
Preacher: Pastor Christopher Gillespie, St. John Ev. Lutheran Church — Sherman Center, Random Lake, WI
