Pastor Sullivan's Blog

Jeremiah 11:18-20 St. John 12:24-43 Almighty and Everlasting God, grant us grace so to pass through this holy time of our Lord’s Passion that we may obtain the pardon of our sins; through the same Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end. 1)          Yesterday Jesus was anointed for His burial. Today Jesus teaches the necessity of His death and burial. He says, “ Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain .” ( John 12:24 ) Jesus is the grain of wheat. If Jesus is not planted in the cold, dark ground His blessings will not be any good to us. He was a wonderful blessing to the men, women and children He came into contact with during the days of His humiliation. His presence was beneficial to the paralytic who received the use of his legs back from Jesus as wel...

Isaiah 50.5-10 John 12.1-23 Grant, we beseech Thee, Almighty God, that we, who amid so many adversities do fail through our own infirmities, may be restored through the Passion and intercession of Thine Only-Begotten Son, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end. 1)          Mary enters her home, where Jesus is, and begins to anoint His feet with a precious oil. St. Matthew and St. Mark record that Mary anointed Jesus head with oil. St. John takes this detail for granted and focuses instead up her anointing of Jesus’ feet. This anointing is a beautiful introduction to what will happen to our Lord this week and to what He will accomplish for our sakes. First we must note the reason for which Mary does this. It is no doubt done in thankfulness to Jesus. In the previous chapter of St. John’s Gospel, Jesus raised Lazarus, Mary’s brother, from the dead. With this anointing Mary demonstrates outward...

Order of Holy Communion (pg.15) Opening Hymn 160 "All Glory, Laud, and Honor" Sermon Hymn 142 "A Lamb Goes Uncomplaining Forth" Closing Hymn 162 "Ride On, Ride On in Majesty" 1)          In the year 167 B.C the Syrian ruler, Antiochus IV, marched into Jerusalem, erected an image of Zeus in the Temple and sacrificed a swine on the altar of God. All this desecrated the altar of God and the entire temple worship, for the Lord had said in Deuteronomy 14:8 that “ the swine is unclean for you, because it has cloven hooves, yet does not chew the cud; you shall not eat their flesh or touch their dead carcasses. ” So the Divine Service commanded by the Lord in Exodus and Leviticus ceased. For centuries, lambs for Passover and the Day of Atonement had preached the greater Lamb of God to come who would atone for the sins of the world. But no more. Along with the defilement brought about by the unlawful sacrifice of swine’s flesh, it was comma...