Sermon File

In the Name of the Father and of the X Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Grace and Peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ and may our Lord and Savior sanctify you in the truth, for His word is truth. Amen

Twenty-first Sunday after Pentecost (2026)

A Model Mission Congregation                                                                                     Rev. Toby Byrd

“For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you, because our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction. You know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sake. And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you received the word in much affliction, with the joy of the Holy Spirit,” (1 Thessalonians 1:4–6, ESV)

We’re reminded that at our Lord’s Transfiguration, the apostles Peter, James, and John, overcome by our Lord’s divinity, fell on their faces, prostrate and terrified, because on that mountain Jesus shows them who He really is, He uncovered His Godhead hidden under the veil of His flesh. He showed them that He was the Son of God, the second person of the Godhead. If the brilliance of His divinity was not enough to terrify them, their fright became amplified even more when during His unveiling they heard His heavenly Father say, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.” (Matthew 17:5, ESV) Then to console them, after this miraculous event was finished, Jesus came to the fearful apostles, still lying face down in the dirt, and touched them. Turning and looking up, each of the apostles “saw no one but Jesus only.” (Matthew 17:8, ESV)

Seeing no one, but Jesus only. Isn’t that a wonderful thought to carry with you every day? In fact, shouldn’t that be the motto of our nation, indeed of every nation; to see no one, but Jesus only. To exalt Him and follow His teachings of humility and gentleness as we interact with others. “Seeing Jesus only” ought to be the motto for management and labor, for statesmen and politicians, for teachers and pupils, for husband and wives, and for parents and children. It ought to be the motto of every church. For everything we are, and everything we have as Christians comes not from our wisdom or intelligence, not from our human morality and accomplishment—but only from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. For Jesus is the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End of our salvation.

Jesus, who is the author of our faith, deserves our trust, our love, our obedience, and our service. Therefore, as baptized children of God, guided by the Holy Spirit, let us seek Him only, see Him only, hear Him only, while keeping His Word before us in our daily living seeing Him only as we follow Him as His disciples shutting out every earthly sin and distraction; hearing only His voice, following only His guidance. For He alone is our Hope in life and death. He is life eternal, for us and for the world. Therefore, let us, with the help of the Holy Spirit, extol His greatness, His glory and His merciful kindness to people who do not see Him every day; both in our nation and around the world.

But some of you may ask: “How can we experience what the apostles experienced when they were with Jesus? Where can we see Him today? How can we behold His glory even now? How can we hear Him speaking to us in the moment? Where shall we find His directions for daily living? From where will freedom from sin and death descend upon our weary souls? Where shall we find the peace of Calvary? There is but one place and one answer—in the Gospel.

The Gospel is God’s personal love letter to the world. It is the “good news” that contrite sinners want and need to hear. No, it’s not the good news that they have suddenly become heirs to a vast fortune of stocks and bonds; it is not the good news that they have signed a lucrative contract, or been elected President of the United States, or that cancer and heart disease has suddenly been conquered, nor is it the news that we have been reconciled with our enemies, or that a loved one long believed to be dead has suddenly been found; alive and well. No! The “good news” of the Gospel is something far more glorious than any blessing the world has to offer. For the Gospel is the message of salvation through the vicarious and sacrificial death of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. It is the “good news” which confesses that because of His atoning sacrifice we are now justified before God, heirs of heaven, children of a gracious heavenly Father through Baptism, and recipients of Christ’s victory over sin, death, and the devil. This “good news” means triumph after defeat, peace after war, and life after death. This is the “good news” that the world needs to hear.

In our Epistle Reading, St. Paul tells the Thessalonians that when he visited them, he preached the Gospel to them in his public sermons, in his private talks, and in his daily discussions regarding the way of salvation. The spoken word was his means of conveying the grand story of God’s love for the world through Christ.

As a called missionary for the Gospel, St. Paul brought the Gospel to many both in his spoken word and in his written word. But words themselves are nothing more than breath in the mouth or ink on paper. They cannot think for themselves. They cannot arrange themselves in some logical order. Nor can they protest when someone uses them incorrectly. Words are inanimate in and of themselves. So, to convey the message they intend, they must be properly chosen, thoughtfully arranged, and transmitted to others in a manner that is understandable. God gave this ability to the great poets such as Homer, Shakespeare, and Whitman, that they could convey the beautiful thoughts and concepts of the human mind. But this truth is even more critical when it comes to speaking the Gospel, for the Gospel conveys the saving words of God.

The Gospel is God’s Word in the mouths of men, words inspired by the Holy Spirit so that man may be brought to faith in the merit and work of Christ Jesus, saving men from their sin. So, the Gospel is not just man’s word, but the Word of God proclaimed by men which delivers the power of God unto salvation.

Throughout history the world has witnessed the wonderful and even remarkable things that man can do. But the world has never witnessed a man saving himself from his sin. Man cannot achieve—a clean heart and a right spirit, he cannot create a washed and restored soul—this is solely the work of the Holy Spirit working through the Gospel. It is the Spirit who invites us to believe. Therefore, without any merit or worthiness in us He calls us to the great feast where all spiritual blessings freely flow. He enlightens our darkened understanding. He regenerates and renews us. All this He does by the Gospel, making us willing and able to serve God and our fellowman. All this He does while preserving us in the true faith until our last day on this earth.

Therefore, to get this Word of the Gospel to the world, God calls pastors and missionaries, sending them into midst of men to preach, to proclaim the Gospel of the forgiveness of sins in the name of Jesus. This is what St. Paul did for the people of Thessalonica and many other communities throughout the Mediterranean area, he built Model Mission Congregations through the preaching of the Gospel.

St. Paul was very proud of the congregation at Thessalonica, speaking of it as his hope, his joy, and his crown of boasting. (1 Thess. 2:19) Furthermore, he remembered with great fondness, their, “work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Thessalonians 1:3, ESV) And in his letter he says to them, “you became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you received the word in much affliction, with the joy of the Holy Spirit,” (1 Thessalonians 1:6, ESV)

They became imitators of what St. Paul preached, and this is the first mark of A Model Mission Congregation; members receiving and embracing the Word of God. In Thessalonica St. Paul, as he did everywhere, preached Christ and Him crucified for the life of the world. This was the heart and core of his teaching and his preaching. Without mincing words St. Paul held up the Law as a mirror before the eyes of the people so they could clearly see their sin and guilt and their great need of a Savior. Having shown them their sin, St. Paul would at that moment, in the most eloquent terms, proclaim the story of the Cross, the story of the Gospel. Thus, the Gospel became the people’s comfort, it became their peace, and their assurance of forgiveness when the thought of past sins would linger in their minds, or when their accusing conscience would condemn them. It was at time such as these that they would look to Jesus, seeing Him only, seeing Him on the Altar of the Cross beaten, bruised, and bloodied; atoning for their sin. They saw Him dying for them that they might live for all eternity. Being convinced of their full and complete forgiveness of sins, their full reconciliation with God the Father, convinced of their justification before God for the sake of His beloved Son, Jesus Christ, they rejoiced greatly as they saw Jesus only. Seeing their Savior from sin, death, and the devil, they rejoiced with exceeding joy knowing He had earned life eternal for them.

This great congregation in Thessalonica is a model congregation for us and for the church throughout the world. St. Paul confirms this when he writes that the Thessalonians, “became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia.” (1 Thessalonians 1:7, ESV) This indeed is a high compliment. Their lives were exemplary, therefore they attracted attention, and before long their reputation traveled far and wide to other provinces. They were faithful in word and deed.

As a congregation, called by Christ to proclaim the Gospel to others, we at St. Paul Evangelical Lutheran Church cannot pass over the importance of being examples of Christ to others, for souls are at stake. Many are the so-called Christian who by their haughtiness have driven needy, sin-wrecked souls looking for redemption, from the Church. Driving them out of the light into the darkness. 

The congregation at Thessalonica was A Model Mission Congregation because it bore a living witness to the power of the Gospel. Before the missionary St. Paul arrived, they had been dead in their trespasses and sins; but now they were alive unto good works. They had been enemies of God, but now they were reconciled to God by His beloved Son, and they, “turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God,” (1 Thessalonians 1:9, ESV) They turned from worshiping the self, of being their own self-made idol, and turned and worshiped God. This is the hope, the desire, and the effort of every pastor and every missionary.

As a called child of God, each of you, members of the church, are included in the term, missionary. However, your mission is local, bringing the message of the Gospel to those in your community, those who do not know Christ, who do not know of the forgiveness of sins. Your mission is to bring them to the church that they may hear the life-saving message of the Gospel. As disciples of Christ, you are to share the Word of God with others; with your family, your friends, your co-workers, your neighbors in town and in other towns as you take the message of the Gospel to adjoining communities. For the Church is both local and universal, called to go forward proclaiming the Gospel at home and in foreign lands. However, foreign missions, as the name implies; require the support of the local church, the church at home.

Today we have the privilege to say Farewell and Godspeed to one such foreign church worker; to a budding missionary, our own Evy. Tomorrow she’ll be leaving for indoctrination and training for her final posting in Lima, Peru. There she will support the church as a coordinator, Sunday school teacher, and English as a second language teacher. It is our heart-felt prayer that the Holy Spirit will support her efforts and the efforts of her fellow foreign mission workers and pastors as they earnestly proclaim the Gospel in Lima and its surrounding communities, building Christ’s church in that place, building it into A Model Mission Congregation, that, like St. Paul in Thessalonica, many in Peru may be saved. And we pray that we here at St. Paul Evangelical Lutheran Church will not only be a supporting congregation for foreign missions, but, like the Church at Thessalonica, we, too, will become an example to other believers, an example of seeing Jesus Only. In the name of Jesus. Amen

May the peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.