Pastor Chris Brademeyer’s Podcast

Jesus’s parable here illustrates a similar point: the master is disregarded. His feast is a momentous event and an important matter. The excuses, which may be valid for a lesser thing, are silly in comparison to the grand feast that he wants to throw. Wives, and oxen, and fields are matters that are not minor, but they are also not pressing in the sort of way that would prevent attendanc...

Our Lord Jesus tells a striking parable this morning. He places before our eyes two men whose earthly circumstances could hardly have been more different. One was rich, clothed in purple and fine linen, feasting sumptuously every day. The other was poor, covered with sores,  who laid at the rich man's gate, longing for scraps from the table. One was honored by the world. The other was desp...

By saying that “[t]he Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you” our Lord teaches us not only that the Holy Spirit is real but also what the Holy Spirit does. This matters greatly, because there is much confusion about the Holy Spirit in the world today.

After His resurrection and before Pentecost, Jesus prepared His disciples for something important. He knew that He would shortly ascend to the right hand of the Father. In doing this, He took up openly and publicly the reign and authority that already belonged to Him as the crucified and risen Lord. Christ is King. This is not a title that merely has meaning in some symbolic or poetic sense, b...

Forty days after His resurrection, Jesus ascended into heaven. Dear Christians, saints of the Lord, the Ascension is not Jesus leaving His Church behind. It is not Christ withdrawing from the world. Rather, the Ascension is Christ taking His throne. The crucified and risen Lord is now enthroned as King of kings and Lord of lords at the right hand of God. Ascension Day is a feast of victory and ...

Faith without works is dead. This is true. After all, the Holy Spirit caused St. James to write these very words. More than this, it is also somewhat obvious. Actions are physical confessions of what one holds dear. What we treasure and trust will shape what we do and how we live. For example, someone who claims to be a Vikings fan but who refuses to watch the games, buy the gear, and hope agai...

Dearly beloved in Christ, and especially Kyle and Alyx, today is a day of great joy. God has gathered us together to witness and rejoice in the union that He Himself has instituted and blessed. Marriage is not merely a human arrangement, nor simply a legal contract or emotional partnership. Marriage is God’s design. It is His gift to mankind from the very beginning.

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St. James give us a sharp and necessary warning: “Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers.” James assumes something about our condition here in this world. That is to say, he not only assumes that we will have the possibility of deception, but that it is likely. You, dear Christian, can be misled. Deception comes from the father of lies, the devil and all his demons. It comes from th...

The temperature is rising, the grass is growing green, and the ice is melting - summer is coming. With the summer months, though, church attendance often drops as busy North Dakotans try to squeeze many activities into the summer months before they have to hibernate again next fall. With this said, does church still matter over the summer or does summer vacation apply to the church as well? Join us in this episode titled, "Faithful...

Beloved in the Lord, St. Peter addresses Christians who are, in his words, “sojourners and exiles.” You live here, in this world, but you do not ultimately belong to it. Your citizenship is elsewhere. Your being is not determined by the shifting standards of culture, reputation, or public approval, but by Christ and His saving work. No matter what comes in this life, your ultimate s...

Dear friends in Christ, it is with heavy hearts that we gather to lay to rest our dear sister Carol. There are many things that can be said about her. Indeed, God gave her many vocations, that is, Christian duties, in this life. There is much to recall fondly, especially her over sixty years of marriage to Ernie. This godly union led to an increase in family, and many warmly recall her love for...

There is a deep and persistent longing in the human heart to be known, to be protected, and to be led. We feel it most clearly when life becomes unstable. That is, it becomes very apparent when plans unravel, when sickness comes, when guilt presses in, or when death draws near. In those moments, we are forced to reckon with something we often try to ignore: we are not as strong, as self-sufficient, or as secure as we would like to ...

St. John makes a bold and striking claim. Christians do not merely cope with the world; we do not tolerate or endure it. We do not simply survive it. He says that those who are born of God overcome the world. This seems rather bold. When we look around us at this world and look within ourselves, we sometimes do not find much to justify the idea that we overcome anything, let alone the world.

The world often seems very strong, more ...

Mary Magdalene came to the tomb while it was still dark. This is not only a description of the time of day, it is also an accurate assessment of the world as she knew it. The sun was not yet up, the night was still there, but more than that, it was dark in her mind and heart. Jesus was dead.

The One who had cast out her demons, the One who had spoken with authority unlike the scribes, the One who had healed the sick, forgiven sinne...

We do not gather today to admire a noble martyr. We are not here merely to remember an example of courage under suffering. We are not here simply to reflect upon injustice, cruelty, or the tragedy of human violence. No, we are here because our sin required this. This truth, as difficult as it is to confess, is the great offense behind Good Friday and, indeed, the Christian religion. But it is al...

Tonight is a night of gifts. That may not be the first thing we think of when we think of Maundy Thursday. Usually our minds go to the Upper Room, to Judas slipping away into the darkness, to Peter’s coming denial, to the agony in Gethsemane. Everything is moving rapidly toward the cross.

But here, before Good Friday arrives in full, before the nails an...