Sermons, Bible Studies, and other audio media from Saint Peter’s Lutheran Church in Door County, Wisconsin. Saint Peter’s Lutheran Church in Door County is located in the village of Forestville, Wisconsin. We are a congregation of the Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod. We are a confessional and liturgical congregation. Saint Peter’s is located at 316 W. Main Street, Forestville, WI 54213. Phone: 920-856-6420. Email: info@doorcounty.church. Website: https://doorcounty.church. We welcome listener comments, questions, and feedback.
Sermons and More from St. Peter's Lutheran Church, Forestville, WI
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Sermons, Bible Studies, and other audio media from Saint Peter’s Lutheran Church in Door County, Wisconsin. Saint Peter’s Lutheran Church in Door County is located in the village of Forestville, Wisconsin. We are a congregation of the Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod. We are a confessional and liturgical congregation. Saint Peter’s is located at 316 W. Main Street, Forestville, WI 54213. Phone: 920-856-6420. Email: info@doorcounty.church. Website: https://doorcounty.church. We welcome listener comments, questions, and feedback.
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August 3, 2026
Sermon: Spiritual Pride & Spiritual Humility
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Title: Spiritual Pride & Spiritual Humility<br>Text: Romans 9:1–13<br>Location: St. Peter’s Lutheran Church in Door County; 316 W. Main St., Forestville, WI 54213; 920-856-6420<br>Preacher: Rev. Dr. Christopher D. Jackson</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph"><a href="https://doorcounty.church/communities/luxemburg-wi/" data-type="page" data-id="4411">Saint Peter’s Lutheran Church serves Luxemburg</a> and other areas in Northeast Wisconsin.</p> <figure class="gb-block-image gb-block-image-1f0f4b27"><img fetchpriority="high" decoding="async" width="1200" height="628" class="gb-image gb-image-1f0f4b27" src="https://doorcounty.church/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/spiritual-pride-featured-image.jpg" alt="hands grasping for bread as a symbol for spiritual pride and spiritual humility" title="spiritual-pride-featured-image" srcset="https://doorcounty.church/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/spiritual-pride-featured-image.jpg 1200w, https://doorcounty.church/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/spiritual-pride-featured-image-300x157.jpg 300w, https://doorcounty.church/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/spiritual-pride-featured-image-1024x536.jpg 1024w, https://doorcounty.church/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/spiritual-pride-featured-image-768x402.jpg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px" /></figure> <p class="wp-block-paragraph"><br><strong>Transcript</strong><br>Today we are taking up the theme of spiritual humility, and in contrast to spiritual pride. And there’s a great story from the life of Martin Luther that I think really illustrates our true position under God. After Martin Luther perished, there were many efforts by people to make sure that his dying faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, and his commitment to the doctrine of justification, remain established, that nobody could say that he recanted on his deathbed or took back anything that he had taught.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">And one of the most fascinating pieces of evidence they found was on a little scrap of paper. And on this little scrap of paper, some curious writing there. Writing in both German and Latin, by the way. Lutherans love to do this. They love to mix up their languages. Our cornerstone, by the way, has both German and Latin on it back from the 1800s.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">And on this little piece of paper was a little bit of German and Latin. The German said, “Wir sind alle Bettler.” And then the Latin said, “Hoc est vere.” What does that mean? We are all beggars, wir sind alle Bettler. It is true, hoc est vere. Today, in our Old Testament lesson, Jesus, the Word of God in his pre-incarnate state, the Word of God is inviting us to be beggars.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">To receive food without payment and drink without money. And that certainly is a position of spiritual humility. That’s my prayer for us today, that through this sermon we would more and more put aside spiritual pride, but instead embrace spiritual humility and receive the gifts that Christ has humbly won for us.</p> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Spiritual Pride</h2> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">Spiritual pride—it’s a terrible malady, and it’s one that’s incredibly common all across the church and those who claim the name of Christian.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">Right now, there’s a really big movement called the New Apostolic Reformation, for example. What is the New Apostolic Reformation? It’s one of the most powerful, popular spiritual movements going on in the United States of America and across the world. How powerful is it? Guess what? The leader of the White House’s faith office is an adherent to the New Apostolic Reformation.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">And what does it teach? It teaches that God is appointing new apostles for this time, with an authority almost bordering on the apostles that were appointed by Christ himself. Now how do you know that the Lord has appointed you an apostle, or how can you know that someone has appointed someone else to be apostle?</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">It’s a little bit hazy to me. But certainly you must come yourself to this idea that the Lord has granted you special authority over others. It’s a form of spiritual pride. There are other forms of spiritual pride. A few years ago, I was watching some TV show. I can’t remember what it was, but some lady was having various kinds of personal problems, and she was kind of depressed and hanging out in her apartment.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">And Sunday morning comes along, and her friend comes, bursts into the apartment and says, “Get yourself ready. We’re going to church.” The lady says, “I’m not going to church.” And the friend says, “What? Do you think you’re too good for church?” And she thinks for a moment and says, “Yeah, I do think I’m too good for church.”</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">And isn’t that the case? The church—it’s a <a href="https://doorcounty.church/news/sermons/sermon-three-reasons-to-repent-today/" data-type="post" data-id="5303">hospital for those who are sin-sick</a>. And there are many people who don’t think they have that sickness of sin, and so therefore they see no need to receive God’s grace and mercy as he offers it in word and sacrament.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">There’s other forms of spiritual pride. So most of us, we probably don’t fall into that category that would consider ourselves to be apostles. It’s a beautiful Sunday morning, prime climactic real estate in Northern Wisconsin, and you’ve all chosen to be here instead of out on the lake or whatever it is.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">Certainly there’s some evidence there that you know that you need what the Lord offers here. And so maybe you might be thinking to yourself, spiritual pride, that’s not my problem. That’s the thing about spiritual pride. If you don’t think you’re spiritually proud, guess what?</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">You have spiritual pride.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">How many of us, when we really get down to it, can say that we utilize the Lord’s gifts as we ought? How many of us can say that we pray as we ought, that we read the Scriptures as we ought, that we allow our speech to be salted with the Word of God to each other as we ought? The plain fact of the matter is, none of us can.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">In a sense, all of us turn up our noses at the gifts of God in one way or the other. All of us have spiritual pride. It’s one of the great enemies of true authentic Christian faith. The kind of faith that shows up to Christ as a beggar saying, “Lord, please give me your good gifts.”</p> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Predestination and Spiritual Pride</h2> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">And because of that, the Scriptures deal abundantly with this. Paul deals with this in the early church. He was dealing with this in Romans. We’ll get to that in a second, but as we talked about the kind of spiritual pride that would hold itself up above others on account of various kinds of spiritual gifts, Paul addresses that too.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">The same sort of thing where people were holding themselves up as super Christians with a special kind of authority, spiritual authority over others. That happened in the church at Corinth. So Paul said, “Look, the gifts of the Spirit are there for the sake of service of others. And even if you have incredible spiritual powers but have not love, then it’s all pointless,” in 1 Corinthians 13. And here in Romans, he is talking about another kind of spiritual remedy to spiritual pride, and this is the knowledge of the predestination of God.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">So last week we talked about predestination, and we talked about the wonderful blessing that the knowledge of predestination is. And here Paul continues on that. In the extended reading, which I had Arnie read, which went beyond what’s printed in the bulletin there, Paul uses predestination to address spiritual pride in the Roman congregation.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">Now, what kind of spiritual pride was going on among the Romans? At the Roman congregation, there were those who were holding themselves up above others within the congregation on account of their ethnic background. So there were those who were Jewish by birth, who could trace their lineage generation by generation back to Abraham, and not only this, but also observed the Old Testament law.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">All the various kinds of laws and strictures that were given to the children of Israel at Mount Sinai, they continued to practice, and they held themselves in a higher status over those who couldn’t trace their background back to Abraham, what we often call the Gentiles, and who themselves as well didn’t live according to those Old Testament principles.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">And Paul’s trying to cut them down a little bit. Trying to cut them off at their knees in a couple different ways. So first of all, Paul undercuts them here in this passage by talking about what it means to be descended from Abraham. What that does and doesn’t mean. And he references, first of all, Isaac, and says, “Think about Isaac.”</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">Abraham had two wives. He had Sarah on the one hand, and he had Hagar on the other. From Sarah, he had Isaac. From Hagar, he had Ishmael. Why was one son chosen over the other? And St. Paul argues there is really, in a sense, nothing to commend Isaac over Ishmael. It was God’s sovereign choice.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">Now, there might be a little bit of a weakness in that argument, because someone might say, wasn’t Sarah a free woman and Hagar a slave? Therefore surely Isaac would receive the promise instead of Ishmael. Paul says wait. Just a second. Think about the sons of Isaac. Esau on the one hand, Jacob on the other.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">They had the same mother, Rebecca. And according to the ways of the world, it might be thought that Esau would be the favored one. He was the firstborn after all. He was as well his father’s favorite. And yet, it wasn’t Esau, but it was Jacob who inherited the promise. And this was determined by God before either of them had even come to be.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">So surely it wasn’t that God looked ahead and said Esau is going to be this incredible person, or rather, Jacob’s going to be this incredible person, so I’m going to give him the promise. No, it was entirely God’s providential decision and choice before any of them had even come to be. It had nothing to do with them, but it was purely about God and his decision and his choice. And so yes, you may be descended from Abraham according to the flesh, and there is much benefit to that.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">And he lists many of these benefits after all. He says, to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the <a href="https://doorcounty.church/news/sermons/sermon-dying-with-regard-to-the-law/" data-type="post" data-id="5748">giving of the law</a>, the worship and the promises, the patriarchs, and the greatest blessing that from their race according to the flesh, Jesus Christ would be born. But even all these things, they aren’t deserved. Pure blessing. Pure gift.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">Didn’t earn it. God just saw fit to give it to you. So because of this, there is no room for spiritual pride. If anything, you ought to acknowledge how humble your situation is, that God would simply give these things to you out of His grace, out of His mercy.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">And that point applies to us in a slightly different form, but it still applies to us today. Our status with God has nothing to do with our abilities, with our works, with our virtue, with our knowledge. But instead, our status with God has everything to do with Him, with His sovereign choice. And the flip side of that doctrine of predestination, God’s sovereign grace, is the doctrine of justification.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">If our status with God has nothing to do with us and everything to do with Him, then salvation is pure gift. And that’s the great promise of the doctrine of predestination and salvation by grace through faith: they go hand in hand. They are two sides of the same coin.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">You can’t have one without the other.</p> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">The Humility of God</h2> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">And praise be to God that this salvation by grace has been won for us through perhaps one of the greatest paradoxes of the Christian faith: the fact that <a href="https://doorcounty.church/news/sermons/sermon-the-foolishness-of-god/" data-type="post" data-id="5614">almighty and glorious God humbles himself to serve us</a>. It’s at the core, by the way, of the miracle, the feeding of the 5,000, the humility of God in Christ.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">The feeding of the 5,000—it’s, aside from the resurrection of Jesus Christ, you might consider it maybe the most important miracle that Christ did. There could be an argument for that because, as far as I’m aware, and I could be wrong, and maybe you can check me on this, but as far as I’m aware, there’s only two miracles which are recorded in all four Gospels.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">The one is the <a href="https://doorcounty.church/news/sermons/easter-2026/" data-type="post" data-id="5680">resurrection of Christ</a>, and the second is the feeding of the 5,000. And why did they consider the feeding of the 5,000, the apostles, so important under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit? Many reasons, one of which I am convinced is that this feeding of the 5,000 shows us two realities. First of all, it shows us God’s humble service to us in creation, and second of all, it shows God’s humble service to us in redemption.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">In creation, first of all, because this feeding of the 5,000 opens our eyes to the fact that all of God’s earthly blessings are truly from Him by grace, and this is His humble service of us. Our God is not far off, but rather daily supplies us with every need. Yes, the Lord works mediately through all kinds of means, and yet it is the Lord at work.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">When the seed is down in that gritty ground, it is the Lord who causes it to germinate. When that seed is nourished by the rain, it is the Lord who has sent those waters upon the land to nourish it. It is the Lord who sends the sun’s rays to cause the plant to transform that energy into the kernel.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">And ultimately, it is the Lord who brings that kernel to our table to sustain this body and life. Every good gift in this life is from the hand of God. How marvelously humble is the Lord of glory.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">And therefore, God’s humility was not done. Even though we have failed to honor God as we ought, God yet sent His Son, Jesus Christ, who even though He was equal with the Father, did not consider equality with God a thing to be clung to, but made Himself nothing, taking the very form of a servant and humbling himself even to the point of death, even death on the cross. What incredible humility in the incarnation and the redemptive work of Jesus Christ, our Lord.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">My prayer for you, brothers and sisters in Christ, is that in perceiving, in treasuring this humble work of Christ, that the Spirit would move your heart to humbly receive the gifts of God. Acknowledging, yes, His incredible benefits in this life, but above all receiving His benefits of grace and mercy for the life to come.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph"></p> <p><p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://doorcounty.church/news/sermons/sermon-spiritual-pride-spiritual-humility/">Sermon: Spiritual Pride & Spiritual Humility</a> first appeared on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://doorcounty.church">Saint Peter's Lutheran Church</a>.</p></p>
July 6, 2026
Sermon: The Blessing of the Nation
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Title: The Blessing of the Nation<br>Liturgical Date: Pentecost 6 Proper 9 A<br>Calendar Date: July 5, 2026<br>Location: Saint Peter’s Lutheran Church in Door County, 316 W. Main St., Forestville, WI 54213. 920-856-6420.<br>Preacher: Rev. Dr. Christopher D. Jackson</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">Saint Peter’s Lutheran Church in Door County <a href="https://doorcounty.church/communities/baileys-harbor-wi/" data-type="page" data-id="4482">serves Baileys Harbor</a> and other areas in Northeast Wisconsin.</p> <figure class="gb-block-image gb-block-image-a7efc718"><img fetchpriority="high" decoding="async" width="1733" height="907" class="gb-image gb-image-a7efc718" src="https://doorcounty.church/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/sermon-blessing-nation.png" alt="sermon blessing of the nation" title="sermon-blessing-nation" srcset="https://doorcounty.church/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/sermon-blessing-nation.png 1733w, https://doorcounty.church/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/sermon-blessing-nation-300x157.png 300w, https://doorcounty.church/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/sermon-blessing-nation-1024x536.png 1024w, https://doorcounty.church/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/sermon-blessing-nation-768x402.png 768w, https://doorcounty.church/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/sermon-blessing-nation-1536x804.png 1536w" sizes="(max-width: 1733px) 100vw, 1733px" /></figure> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">TRANSCRIPT</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, amen.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">Today, we celebrate with great thanksgiving the 250th anniversary of our great nation. We praise and thank the Lord for the blessings that He’s given to this great nation, the blessing that He has given us through this great nation.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">To think that we stand as the most prosperous, most powerful nation that the world has ever seen. It truly is something from the hand of God, and something for which we ought to give Him thanks and praise. That’s the theme of our sermon today, the blessing of the nation. We’re going to be talking about how, first of all, it is God who caused our nation to arise. Second of all, we’re going to talk about the fact that the Lord blesses us through our nation. Third of all, we are going to talk about the fact that we are called to actively work for the wellbeing of our nation. Finally, we’re going to talk about how above all we belong to another nation, another kingdom, another city: the kingdom of heaven, which has been won for us through Christ Jesus, our Lord.</p> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">God Who Caused Our Nation to Arise</h2> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">I’d like to start off today by reading from the Book of Acts, in chapter 17. There, St. Paul is addressing the Athenians in what we now call Greece. And he says this: God made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, that they should seek God and perhaps feel their way toward Him and find Him.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">In this passage, St. Paul relates the fact of what we as Christians know, that it is only through the hand of God that any nation arises. It is only through the hand of God that any nation prospers. It is only by the hand of God that the borders of the various nations are set. 250 years ago, our nation came about through ink on paper, through the writing of Thomas Jefferson and the endorsement of all of those who signed the Declaration of Independence.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">Our nation has been preserved ever since then, through its tender early years as a tiny upstart nation among these great superpowers France, England, Spain. As we continue to grow in power still we faced other kinds of obstacles and other kinds of threats. We had the Civil War, and God saw us through that. And then finally, the two great wars, World War I and World War II. Wars, in a sense, of existential import. And God saw us through these as well. Then finally, in the last 70, 80 years, the Lord has caused our great nation to grow into a hegemonic superpower. The most prosperous, the most powerful nation that the world has ever seen.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">Now, to the <a href="https://doorcounty.church/news/sermons/sermon-jesus-the-solution-to-our-faith-problem/" data-type="post" data-id="4418">unbeliever</a> they look at this and what do they see? They see pens writing on paper and the Declaration of Independence. They see guns firing in the War of Independence. They see, once again, guns firing through the various other wars. And in our final period here, they see economic systems at work. Certainly all of that is the case. But as Christians, we understand the truth that behind all of these things, it is the hand of God who has been working. And because of this, we lift up our praise and thanks to Him on account of these great blessings.</p> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Turning Blessings into Gods</h2> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">Speaking of the praise and thanks to Him, this is a place where perhaps I feel a little despairing about our nation. Acts chapter 17, as we just read, why did God do this? God did this that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward Him and find Him. What ought to be the reaction of our people to these incredible blessings? We ought to be a people marked above all by greatness of faith. There should be more people in pews this Sunday morning than there were at fireworks displays last night. And yet the opposite is the case, is it not?</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">And here we come to a great trouble on account of our sinfulness. The Lord gives us blessings. He gives us great goods, and we are to receive those goods from the Lord as the blessings that they are. We ought to <a href="https://doorcounty.church/news/sermons/sermon-blessing-people-on-the-way-to-heaven/" data-type="post" data-id="5204">steward those blessings towards His purposes</a>, and we ought to give thanks to the Lord for these blessings. And yet, on account of our sinfulness, we have this tendency to turn goods into gods, little “g” gods. And certainly this is the case with even the great good of a nation. Instead of receiving this gift from the hand of God and therefore causing their hearts to rise up to God in thanksgiving, instead people end up worshiping the gift rather than the giver. Let it not be for us, we Christians. But instead, let us recognize the blessing that our nation is from the hand of God and how God continues to bless us through our nation.</p> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">The Lord Blesses Us Through Our Nation</h2> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">This comes to our second point today, that the Lord blesses us through our nation.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">I’d like to read to you from Romans chapter 13. Another writing of St. Paul. And he starts off here in Romans talking to the Romans in a very similar way that he does to the Athenians. Talking about the fact that it’s the Lord who established civil power. He says this, “Let every person be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God.”</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">So we just heard that point from Acts when he was talking to the Athenians, that every authority in this world is established by God. He then goes on to say this, “Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good and you will receive his approval.” Now, I want you to listen to this, “For he is God’s servant for your good.” He’s God’s servant for your good. The Lord brings us great blessings by means of our nation.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">And because the Lord brings us great blessings by means of our nation, therefore it is our duty to render obedience to the nation, to the state, insofar as it doesn’t ask us to do anything contrary to the Word of God. Now, I’m gonna take you back to catechism class. Many of you might remember the explanation to the fourth commandment as you studied the Small Catechism. The fourth commandment is about honoring father and mother, but it’s more than just honoring father and mother. It’s about honoring all authority that the Lord has given into our lives, whether that’s our employers, our teachers, our government, or our fathers and mothers.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">It says this is the first commandment with a promise. The promise is this: That if we<a href="https://doorcounty.church/news/sermons/sermon-holy-trinity-fathers-day/" data-type="post" data-id="5186"> honor father and mother</a> and every other authority, including our civil government, it will go well with you, God says. It will go well with you. In what way? The Lord grants us many blessings through our civil government.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">One of the ways that the Lord blesses us is through a system of laws, for example, that allows us to conduct our affairs with each other in ways that are fair, in ways that are equitable, in ways in which we don’t have to have recourse to violence because the state will enforce these things for our sakes. Why are people not able to come and just take our home from us or to take this church property from us? Because the laws of our nation establish what it means to have title to a property. Why is it that businesses want to do business in the United States of America? A big reason for this is on account of our laws. That if you violate a contract, there will be recourse to the courts, and the courts will enforce the terms of your contract as long as the contract itself is lawful.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">The government protects us as well from those who would do ill. If I drive recklessly in a way that endangers the community, there’s a good chance I’m gonna get pulled over, slapped with a fine, maybe even thrown in jail. This acts as a deterrent against those who would put us in harm’s way on account of their recklessness. The Lord grants us many great goods by means of our government, and therefore we are called to obedience to it.</p> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Actively Work for the Wellbeing of Our Nation</h2> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">But not only obedience, but also we are called to actively work for the wellbeing in turn of the nation. Even as the Lord grants us wellbeing through the nation, we are called to work for the wellbeing of the nation.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">Last week’s sermon, we discussed Jeremiah and how he confronted a false prophet by the name of Hananiah. Hananiah was a priest, but was attempting to give prophecy and ended up giving false prophecy. Hananiah prophesied that even while God had allowed Babylon to exercise authority over Judah, and therefore take away a number of the precious implements and instruments of the temple worship, and as well take away Judah’s great leaders, their great people of commerce, their great generals and aristocrats, and as well even the king himself. Hananiah said within two years, everything’s gonna go back to the way it was. Those temple instruments are gonna come back. These people who are exiled are gonna come back.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">Jeremiah had a much darker message. He said, “No, Hananiah, you’re wrong. In fact, actually, it’s gonna get worse than it currently is.” But still, Jeremiah had a word of encouragement to those who were caught up in the deepest, darkest aspect of all of this, those who had been ripped away from their homeland and exiled to Babylon itself. In Jeremiah chapter 29, Jeremiah pens a letter to these exiles. And it’s a fascinating thing ’cause here are people who are living in a state which is not their own state, and it’s an imperfect state at that. It’s a state given over to idolatry and immorality. And Jeremiah says this:</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: Build houses and live in them. Plant gardens and eat their produce. Take wives and have sons and daughters. Take wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage that they may bear sons and daughters. Multiply there and do not decrease. But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">Now, isn’t that fascinating? People who found themselves foreigners and in a strange land, people who had been ripped away from their homes, and from their properties, and their families, people who had a very unstable prospect. But what does God say to them by means of the prophet Jeremiah? God says to them, “Work to the welfare of this nation in which you find yourself.” As imperfect as it is. Work for its welfare, pray for its welfare, for its well-being, and in turn you will do well as well.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">Again, fourth commandment. It’s the first commandment with a promise.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">And this call, if this applied to the people of Judah, how much more does it apply to us? We’re citizens of this great nation, not subjects. How much more are we as God’s people called to work for the welfare of our nation? There are many ways that we can work to the wellbeing of our nation. One way, for example, perhaps we would serve our nation through such things as military service or through working our local protection services like the rescue squad, firefighters, whatever it is. That’s one way. Certainly wisely exercising the right that we have, this precious right to vote, exercising that with wisdom and faithfulness is another way that we can work to the wellbeing of our nation. But the strongest way that we can work to the well-being of our nation is by minding our own domains, our own homes.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">Did you notice what Jeremiah said? What did he connect to their well-being and the well-being of the nation? Build houses and live in them. Plant gardens and eat their produce. Take wives and have sons and daughters. Increase, do not decrease. And finally, pray. If there is one thing that Christians can do for the sake of the nation, it is this: to establish stable, prayerful, fecund, and economically productive Christian households. We live in a time in which there are so many pressures against household life, against family life. The Lord calls us instead to insofar as we are able to establish Christian households.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">This is going to look different for all of us. Maybe if we are a young person we would seek when the time is right to establish a household, to take a husband or a wife. That this household would as well, if the Lord blesses us in this way, to be blessed with children and to gladly welcome children into our households. Not all of us are called to a family life in this way. Not all of us are called to marriage. Not all of us are called to have children. But no matter what the situation of our household, it can always be a household of prayer, a household in which the Word of God is read, and that Word of God reflected back to Him with <a href="https://doorcounty.church/news/sermons/sermon-glad-confession/" data-type="post" data-id="5744">words of prayer</a>.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">And finally, no matter what the situation of our household, whether we are single or married or widowed, whether we have children or not, in all likelihood, most of us are called to have an economically productive household. As God said through Jeremiah, he said, “Plant gardens and eat their produce.” To give of our productivity for the wellbeing of all those around us. Yes, our families, but also our communities and our nation as well.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">My brothers and sisters in Christ. The strength of our nations begins in the strength of our homes. Therefore, let our homes be stable and strong, built above all on that great foundation Christ the rock who stands against the quaking of the earth, who stands against wind and wave.</p> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">We Belong to Another Kingdom</h2> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">And therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, let us Christians always make use of the gifts that He has given us, of Word and sacrament. And let this Word and sacrament work itself out in words of prayer. Prayer for our households, prayer for ourselves, prayers for our church, and as well, prayers for our nation. And we as Christians are empowered above all to serve the nation in this way because we belong to another nation, another city, the new Jerusalem.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">Nations in this world, they rise and they fall. They wax and they wane in power. But there is one nation, one city, one kingdom which endures forever, and we as Christians belong to it. Hebrews 13:14, it says this: “For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come.” And then he goes on to say, “Through him then, let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God. That is the fruit of lips that acknowledge His name. Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.”</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">All of us who believe and are baptized belong to the New Jerusalem. We belong to that eternal kingdom. That status in the kingdom of God has been won not at the tip of a spear against our enemies, but rather through the spear that was thrust into the side of our Lord. It was won not through the shedding of blood of earthly soldiers, but rather through the shedding of the blood of our great champion, the Lord Jesus Christ. This is earned not by putting to death our enemies, but rather through the death of the Son of God, Jesus Christ. In that death, our sins are forgiven, and all of us who believe and are baptized stand as God’s people, forgiven, holy, and therefore belonging to the New Jerusalem, the <a href="https://doorcounty.church/news/sermons/sermon-hope-for-the-life-to-come-easter-2025/" data-type="post" data-id="4951">eternal city</a>, the kingdom of heaven.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">Because of this, we have a power which surpasses any power here on Earth, and that is the power of the holiness and righteousness of God. Therefore, let his holiness and righteousness show forth in our lives. Holy and righteous as we seek to imitate Christ in lives of sacrifice in this world, lives in which we gladly sacrifice for the sake of our fellow countrymen, in the service of our nation. Lives which seek to help our earthly households to reflect our heavenly household. And lives above all in which we offer up prayers to the Lord God. Prayers of thanksgiving, above all for the heavenly blessings He has granted to us through Christ our King, but also prayers of thanksgiving for the blessings that He grants us through this nation, and prayers as well on behalf of the nation.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.</p> <p><p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://doorcounty.church/news/sermons/sermon-the-blessing-of-the-nation/">Sermon: The Blessing of the Nation</a> first appeared on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://doorcounty.church">Saint Peter's Lutheran Church</a>.</p></p>
June 29, 2026
Sermon: Dying with Regard to the Law
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Title: Dying with Regard to the Law<br>Text: Matthew 10:34–42<br>Liturgical Date: Pentecost 5 Proper 8 A<br>Calendar Date: June 28, 2026<br>Location: St. Peter’s Lutheran Church in Door County. 316 W. Main St., Forestville, WI 54213. 920-856-6420.<br>Preacher: Rev. Dr. Christopher D. Jackson</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">Saint Peter’s Lutheran Church serves <a href="https://doorcounty.church/communities/ephraim-wi/" data-type="page" data-id="4449">Ephraim</a> and other areas within Door County.</p> <figure class="gb-block-image gb-block-image-5f442fa5"><img fetchpriority="high" decoding="async" width="1734" height="907" class="gb-image gb-image-5f442fa5" src="https://doorcounty.church/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/dying-law.png" alt="dying-law" title="dying-law" srcset="https://doorcounty.church/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/dying-law.png 1734w, https://doorcounty.church/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/dying-law-300x157.png 300w, https://doorcounty.church/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/dying-law-1024x536.png 1024w, https://doorcounty.church/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/dying-law-768x402.png 768w, https://doorcounty.church/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/dying-law-1536x803.png 1536w" sizes="(max-width: 1734px) 100vw, 1734px" /></figure> <p class="wp-block-paragraph"><strong>Transcript</strong></p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph"><strong>In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.</strong></p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">Christ our Lord said, “Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” Today we’re going to be talking about death and the law in three different ways. First, we will talk about death through the law. Second, death to the law. And finally, death unto the law. We’ll tease out some of these fine distinctions.</p> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Living in the Past: The Example of Hananiah</h2> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">Have you ever met or known someone who kind of lives in the past? A lot of times it’s a guy who hasn’t updated his wardrobe since high school. Maybe he lives on his high school athletic accomplishments. He hasn’t gotten the notice that times have changed—that the man he once was thirty years ago no longer exists. He’s failing to live in the now because he’s failed to die to the past.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">We have something similar in our Old Testament lesson today. Jeremiah is confronting Hananiah, and Hananiah is a man who has failed to die to the past and is failing to live in the present situation. In what way? Hananiah has failed to die to the past because he does not recognize God’s judgment for what it is.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">As we meet Hananiah and Jeremiah at this point in the Book of Jeremiah, Babylon has already come. This great empire, with its headquarters in what we would now call southern Iraq, has overwhelmed Judah. In the process, they have carried off some of Judah’s greatest treasures.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">First, quite literally the treasures: you might remember the various items, implements, and vessels that God had instructed Israel to fashion for worship in the tabernacle and then eventually in the temple. Babylon had carried off a number of these. Not only that, but Babylon had also carried off many of the people—the highest among the people of Judah: their great merchants, their great generals, their nobles, and even the rightful Davidic <a href="https://doorcounty.church/news/sermons/sermon-christ-the-king/" data-type="post" data-id="4621">king</a> himself. They carted them off back to Babylon. In the king’s place, they installed their own puppet king, one the Judahites would have considered illegitimate.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">Hananiah is saying, “In two years, it’s all going to go back to the way it was. In two years those vessels are going to come back, and the king will be restored to his rightful place on his throne in Jerusalem. We will, in essence, be reliving what they thought was their golden age.”</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">Jeremiah says, “Okay, that’d be great if that happens,” but actually (and this is beyond what we read today) he says it’s going to get worse than what we’re presently experiencing—and it’s going to get worse for you, Hananiah, because you are actually going to die within a year’s time. <a href="https://doorcounty.church/news/sermons/sermon-jesus-prophet-above-prophets/" data-type="post" data-id="4759">Both of those prophecies came true, by the way</a>.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">Hananiah ought to have died to the past. He ought to have recognized the Babylonian takeover of Judah for what it was: God’s judgment over the fact that they were already dead in the past. They were dead because they failed to keep God’s law. They failed to love the Lord their God with all their heart and soul and strength and mind. Instead, they allowed themselves to be led astray by idolatry. Not only that, but they had failed to show the brotherly love that the Lord had instructed them to show.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">So much of the Old Testament law exists to establish and maintain a brotherhood among the children of Abraham, and they had rejected this purpose of the law. People misused each other, abused each other, and violated God’s commands with regard to one another. They were already dead, and they ought to have recognized that death and died to the past. But Hananiah failed in this regard.</p> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Death Through the Law</h2> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">At the center of our sermon today, we understand that under the law we stand dead, and that we therefore die to the law by faith in Christ. But on the other side of that, we are empowered to live unto God and to live unto His gracious will for us—to live unto the law.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">St. Paul in our epistle lesson today has a really complicated argument. I’m probably going to oversimplify it, but I’ll simplify it for you to help us see two major themes. We’re actually going to take the second theme that he brings up first, which is that through the law we die.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">We die through the law. In what sense? The law arouses disobedience to God on account of our sinful nature. St. Paul goes on at great length about this. He says, “Apart from the law, sin lies dead. I once was alive apart from the law, but then the commandment came. Sin came alive and I died. The very commandment that promised life proved to be death to me.”</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">The law of God is certainly there for the sake of our life, for the sake of our wellbeing. If we obey the law of God, things would tend to go well for us and for our families. This is a big part of what God was indicating when He set the law before the Israelites and said, “Keep this and you’ll live, but depart from it and you’ll have curses.”</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">But here’s the thing: because we are sinful, we take that opportunity to live through the law and instead die through it. We take it as an opportunity toward disobedience. I know I reuse my examples, but I love this one. You’ve heard it multiple times, but I think it’s a good example, so I’m going to say it again.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">When my little nephew Luke was two years old, I was watching him and told him, “Don’t touch the remote control.” I said that for his wellbeing, because if he touches that remote, it’s never going to work again and we’re never going to be able to get the cartoons up that he wants to watch. So, “Luke, don’t touch the remote control.” What did he do? He went and touched it with the tips of his fingers to show that he was touching it—not because he wanted to touch it, but because he wanted to rebel against me.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">That’s our situation as sinners. We are all spiritual two-year-olds who take the commands that the Lord has given us—good and righteous commands that are there for our wellbeing—and we take them not as an opportunity of obedience to Him and an expression of love toward Him and toward our neighbor, but instead as an opportunity to rebel. “Okay, God, you told me not to do this, so therefore I’m going to do it. God, you told me to do this, so I’m not going to do it.”</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">That’s our situation under the law according to our sin, and therefore the law kills us. Under our sin it increases our sinfulness, and therefore we stand condemned and judged under God’s righteous rule.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">Brothers and sisters in Christ, the good thing for us is to recognize that—to not be like Hananiah and think things were fine before, so therefore God will return us back to that situation. No. Instead, what is good is for us to recognize the fact that we are dead, and therefore to die unto our sinful selves.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">In the book of Romans, a few chapters before our reading today (chapter 3), we find these words: “Now we know that whatever the law says, it speaks to those who are under the law so that every mouth may be stopped and the whole world may be held accountable to God. For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.”</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">We will not be justified in the sight of God according to the law, because through the law we become rebellious sinners according to our sinfulness, and therefore we understand our sinful nature. And we therefore do not even try to justify ourselves before God. That’s a good dying to the law.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">St. Paul goes on: “But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from law, although the law and the prophets bear witness to it—the righteousness of God <a href="https://doorcounty.church/news/sermons/sermon-jesus-the-solution-to-our-faith-problem/" data-type="post" data-id="4418">through faith in Jesus Christ</a> for all who believe.”</p> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Death to the Law</h2> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">And so this is the second dying with regard to the law we’re talking about. Through the law we die, but through faith in Christ we die to the law. And that’s actually the first point that St. Paul is taking up today: that through faith in Christ we die to the law.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">For by faith we are united to the work of Jesus Christ for us on the cross. As it says in Romans chapter 6, all of us who are baptized into the death of Jesus—so that even as Jesus Christ rose from the dead, so also through this washing of rebirth and regeneration we have the promise that we too will live. If by faith we die with Jesus—this death in which He died to take the consequences for our sins—therefore we die to the law as well. The law can no longer condemn us. The law can no longer stand in judgment over us, because in Christ we have already been judged. And through Christ we have also received His righteousness.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">And therefore we die to the law. That is gone and passed. Just like that guy who is still reliving his high school days thirty years on ought to die to who he was, so also in Christ we die to who we were. Once we were sinners, once we were condemned, but now we are righteous, we are holy, and we stand as God’s children. Die to the law by this means.</p> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Living Unto the Law</h2> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">And as we die to the law, we then live to God and live unto His will. And we live unto the law—not under the law, but rather fulfilling the law as God has always desired us to fulfill it. Not as external compulsion, but rather out of internal heartfelt desire. As it says, “I no longer live; I’ve died. Christ lives in me.” And as Christ lives in us, therefore we follow in His footsteps.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">As Christ says, <a href="https://doorcounty.church/news/sermons/sermon-the-foolishness-of-god/" data-type="post" data-id="5614">take up his cross and follow Him</a>. Now, as we take up the cross of Christ and follow Him, this certainly means that the world will look at the way that we live and consider us foolish, and maybe even evil according to its standards.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">I think that in a community like Forestville, Wisconsin, these words that Christ said can be very hard for us to hear. Family is everything, right? And so it’s hard for us to hear Christ say, “Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me. And <a href="https://doorcounty.church/news/sermons/sermon-holy-trinity-fathers-day/" data-type="post" data-id="5186">whoever loves son or daughter</a> more than me is not worthy of me. And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.”</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">We look at that and think, “Lord, what an awful thing for you to put in front of us.”</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">As we look at this, we need to keep in mind who Jesus was speaking this to. He does speak this to us, but He was speaking this originally to His apostles—whom He was getting ready to send out to spread the word of God. These are men, most of whom are in the working years of life, from their teens to their forties, maybe fifties. These are men who certainly maybe their fathers and mothers depended upon them. Men who had wives and children. Men who had careers. And yes, Jesus was asking them to sacrifice—not only asking them to sacrifice in worldly understandings, but also asking their families to sacrifice in a worldly sense.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">And yet what an incredible act of love the apostles performed as they fulfilled this first mission, and then eventually the other mission by which the gospel has come to us. Through the work of the apostles, the message of Christ Jesus has gone out into all the world so that hearts would be transformed into hearts of faith in God and therefore as well love to the neighbor. This was a means by which the love of God has been spread throughout the world. Did it entail sacrifice, worldly sacrifice? It absolutely did.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">And yet Christ gave them an even greater way to love. In this way they followed along in the footsteps of Christ. Yes, the apostles faced all kinds of persecution, and most of them—all but one—also faced death for the sake of the gospel. And yet Christ Jesus certainly warned them of such, that they were taking up their cross, which He did for our sakes.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">When we think of love, what greater love is there than this? Than that a man might give up his life for his friends—which is what Christ Jesus has done for our sakes.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">What I’m getting at, brothers and sisters in Christ, is that the gospel of Jesus Christ <a href="https://doorcounty.church/news/sermons/sermon-holy-trinity-doctrine-of-the-heart/" data-type="post" data-id="5731">transforms our hearts</a> so that we are able to love in ways in which the world is unable to. And therefore we are able to sacrifice in the ways that the world is not able to. Most of us are not called to leave house and home and family for the sake of obedience to God. Most of us are called to labor in our places and to serve the Lord in our workplaces, in our homes, in our communities. But you too have had the same transformation that the apostles did.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">Your hope is not in this world, but rather in the <a href="https://doorcounty.church/news/sermons/sermon-hope-for-the-life-to-come-easter-2025/" data-type="post" data-id="4951">world to come</a>, and therefore you are empowered to sacrifice for the sake of others in ways that the worldly are not empowered to. And no sacrifice is a worthy sacrifice if it is done simply by external compulsion. But instead, your hearts have been transformed to render this service unto others by the gospel of Jesus Christ, so that you do so willingly as God’s children, gladly taking up your crosses and following in the way of Christ.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">And by this means you fulfill the ultimate commands: to love the Lord your God with all your heart and soul and strength and mind, and to love your neighbor as yourself—not by your own power, but rather by the power of God in Christ Jesus.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">My brothers and sisters in Christ, let us gladly hear the testimony of the law that we stand condemned under God’s righteous rule so that we might embrace the gospel and therefore die to the law. And let us gladly as well follow along in the footsteps of Christ so that we might live unto the law out of willful, glad obedience.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph"><strong>In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.</strong></p> <p><p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://doorcounty.church/news/sermons/sermon-dying-with-regard-to-the-law/">Sermon: Dying with Regard to the Law</a> first appeared on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://doorcounty.church">Saint Peter's Lutheran Church</a>.</p></p>
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