Pastor Sullivan's Blog

Grace and Peace be unto you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. The prophet Isaiah wrote in his ninth chapter, “ Unto us a child is born, unto us a Son is given .” The child that is born for us, this Son that is given to us is no mere child, just as His birth is no ordinary birth. The child born of the Virgin Mary, wrapped in swaddling clothes, and laid in a manager is God the Word, the one of whom St. John says, “ In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God .” The Word is eternal, being with God from the beginning. The Word was God, John says. He does not say that the Word became God, or that the Word was created by God in the beginning to stand alongside God or next to God. The Word was not fashioned like the rest of creation. The Word simply was. He has always existed, being eternally generated from the God the Father in a way that is ineffable and indescribable and unfathomable. Paul describes Him in a similar fashion in this...

In the Name of the Father and of the Son + and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.  Today’s appointed gospel lesson tells us how Jesus left Judea and traveled north into Galilee. He came into Cana of Galilee where He had turned water into wine. There He is met by a nobleman. This nobleman had heard about Jesus’ miracle at the wedding when He had turned one hundred and eighty gallons of water into wine. Knowing Jesus’ power, He goes out to meet Him. The nobleman has a son who sick to the point of death. Not content to remain at his dying son’s bedside, He hurries to intercept Jesus where he implores Him to come down and heal his son. The man comes to Christ in faith, but it is weak faith, for He imagines that Christ has to be present in his house, in his son’s room, at his son’s bedside in order to heal him. Jesus’ answer isn’t what the nobleman expects. “ Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will be no means believe. ” It’s as if Christ were saying, “Everyone believes in me when...

In the Name of the Father and of the Son + and of the Holy Ghost. Amen. Today’s appointed Gospel lesson begins near the end of a dispute between Jesus and the Jews. They had sought to kill Jesus for some time now. Ever since Jesus healed an infirmed man at the pool of Bethesda they wanted to murder Him. They claimed He sinned by healing the infirmed man on the Sabbath, that that was a work which violated the commandment. But Jesus puts them in their place by pointing out that the Jews circumcise their children on the Sabbath. They do the work of God even on the rest day. He said, “ If a man receives circumcision on the Sabbath, so that the law of Moses should not be broken, are you angry with Me because I made a man completely well on the Sabbath? ” (John 7:23). He didn’t sin against the commandment. Yet they sin because they desire to kill Him, a clear violation of the commandment! That hatred boils over in today’s gospel lesson because they are unable to convict Him of sin. The...

In the Name of the Father and of the Son + and of the Holy Ghost. Amen. The apostle John writes 1 John 3:8, “ For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil. ” In today’s Gospel lesson Christ shows us this by pulling demon who was mute out of a man. When the man spoke, those who were present marveled at this incredible work of Jesus. Some however, blasphemed and said, “ He casts out demons by Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons. ”   They accuse Jesus of being in league with the devil. They imagine that Jesus has some sort of an agreement with Satan by which He may cast out Satan’s associates. These men prefer darkness to light. They would rather live with the works of the devil than the work of Christ. Luke then writes, “ Others, testing Him, sought from Him a sign from heaven. ” While the first group blaspheme Christ by calls the work of God the work of the devil, these others reject the blatant sign from heaven that has just been...

In the Name of the Father and of the Son + and of the Holy Ghost. Amen. On Sunday St. Matthew told us once again how our Lord Jesus Christ defeated the devil’s temptations in the wilderness. This is important for us to hear every year, so that the Holy Spirit can remind us that we are in a great battle in this life. The Son of God assumed human flesh, just like yours and mines, except without sin, and was tempted like a flesh and blood man. But this is not written so that we only know we have a Savior who can sympathize with us, though that is a wonderful comfort. The temptation of Jesus was put into writing to teach us that although we are beset by all sorts of temptations every day, we have the victory through Jesus Christ our Lord. When we believe the Gospel, that Christ has died to make full satisfaction for our sins, all of our sins are forgiven and we are given Christ’s perfect righteousness and merits. Not only are we declared to be righteous, we are declared to be victori...

In the Name of the Father and of the Son + and of the Holy Ghost. Amen. Moses tells us in Genesis 2:7, “ the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being. ” God created man from the soil of the earth and to remind him of his ancestry, God called him ‘Adam,’ which in Hebrew means ‘earth.’ The Lord God created man out of soil to signify that as man was cultivate and seed the soil of the earth, so God would cultivate and seed the heart of man, which had been brought forth from the earth. As the ground beneath our feet was created to accept seed and bear fruit, so God created the hearts of men to accept the seed of the divine word and bear spiritual fruit. God implanted the seed of His Word into Adam. That seed took root in Adam’s heart, but was soon torn away from him by the wiles of the devil. The devil tempted our first parents to be like God, to turn away from faith in their Creator and turn towards...

The Nativity of our Lord John 1:1-14 December 25, 2017 Grace and peace be unto you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. The Lord says in Micah 5:2, “ But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, Though you are little among the thousands of Judah, Yet out of you shall come forth to Me The One to be Ruler in Israel, Whose goings forth are from of old, From everlasting. ” The prophet records that the Messiah, the Christ, would be born in the little town of Bethlehem. So Joseph of Nazareth goes to Bethlehem to be registered for Caesar’s tax “ because he was of the house and lineage of David ” (Luke 2:4). He takes his legally betrothed wife, Mary, with him and she gives birth to her firstborn, a son. The Scriptures cannot be broken. The Lord will not let any of His words fall useless to the ground. He fulfills that which He prophesied through the mouth of the prophet Micah. Micah’s prophesy is about more than just the Christ’s birthplace though. The one who will be born in Be...

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. Amen. 1)         Ten virgins wait for the Bridegroom to arrive. He has already married his bride. Now He comes to take her to her new home. In Jesus’ day, when a man and woman were pledged to be married, they were legally married at that moment. But they did not immediately begin living together. The bride went back to her parents’ home while the groom went back to his home and made it ready for his new wife. Then one evening, the man would gather his attendants, form a procession, and go to his bride’s home to fetch her and bring her to her new abode, where Bride and Groom, family and friends, and all their attendants would feast in joy over this life-long union between man and wife. That is what these ten virgins are looking forward to. They know the Bridegroom is coming that evening so they get their lamps and wait at the home of their newly married friend. All ten have lamps....