
Father Hollywood
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I'm a Lutheran pastor (Missouri Synod) in the New Orleans area.
Father Hollywood
3w ago
28 Jan 2025
Text: Rom 16:17-27
In the name of + Jesus. Amen.
St. Paul concludes his letter to the Christians in Rome with a warning: “Watch out.” He bids Christians to be on alert for “those who cause divisions and create obstacles.” They do this “contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught.” Paul is referring to the doctrine that he has taught in his preaching, teaching, and letters – which are recorded for us in the New Testament. This doctrine is the apostolic doctrine. And as for those who defy the apostolic doctrine, the apostle says: “Avoid the ..read more
Father Hollywood
1M ago
21 Jan 2025
Text: Rom 10:1-21
In the name of + Jesus. Amen.
St. Paul laments that most of his countrymen rejected Jesus as the Messiah. And he analyzes why this is. Following mainly the lead of the Pharisees, those who rejected Jesus, did so because they rejected the Gospel: which is “the righteousness based on faith.” Instead, they sought “the righteousness that is based on the law.” In other words, this is the distinction between justification by grace – which is received by faith – (Eph 2:8-9) vs. the justification that one can earn by perfectly obeying the La ..read more
Father Hollywood
1M ago
14 Jan 2025
Text: Rom 5:1-21
In the name of + Jesus. Amen.
“We rejoice in our sufferings,” says St. Paul. And the apostle goes on to say that suffering leads to endurance, to character, and to hope. Some Christians in history took this verse out of context and intentionally inflicted suffering upon themselves. Suffering became a kind of sacrament to some people, even to the point of beating themselves bloody.
Suffering is part of what it means to live in a fallen world. God told Eve that “in pain” she would “bring forth children.” God told Adam that ..read more
Father Hollywood
1M ago
5 January 2025
Text: Matt 2:1-12
In the name of + Jesus. Amen.
“Behold, the Lord, the Ruler has come, and the kingdom and the power and the glory are in His hand.”
Today we are observing the Feast of the Epiphany – closing out the Christmas season, and moving on to the next phase of our Lord’s life. The coming of the wise men is so associated with Christmas that we include the “wise men from the east” in our artwork depicting the nativity of our Lord.
And since art has to depict them somehow, we usually show three of them, wearing crowns, and they are often illustrate ..read more
Father Hollywood
2M ago
10 Dec 2024
Text: 1 John 4:1-21
In the name of + Jesus. Amen.
St. John writes, “Every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already.” The apostle clarified what it means to “confess Jesus” – and that is to confess “that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh.” In other words, the spirit of antichrist denies the Incarnation of Jesus, that Jesus of Nazareth is the Christ, refusing to believe, as John wrote in his Gospel, that “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.”  ..read more
Father Hollywood
2M ago
3 Dec 2024
Text: 1 Pet 5:1-14
In the name of + Jesus. Amen.
St. Peter closes his first epistle by appealing to the “elders,” that is, the men who hold the pastoral office. And Peter claims the authority to “exhort the elders” among his readers not only because Peter is himself a “fellow elder,” but also a “witness of the sufferings of Christ.” Peter has apostolic authority, and is not shy in reminding us of it. The elders are to “shepherd the flock of God.” The word “pastor” is Latin for “shepherd,” and emphasizes the way that the elder leads. He has author ..read more
Father Hollywood
2M ago
27 November 2024
Text: Luke 17:11-19
In the name of + Jesus. Amen.
Ten men were suffering from a horrible disease called “leprosy.” There was no cure, and it was eventually fatal. It is a cruel disease in which your body dies bit by bit. It is disfiguring, and also highly contagious. And in Jewish law, it made a person unclean. Therefore, someone suffering from leprosy – a leper – had to survive on his own or as part of a colony of others with leprosy.
Even though there was no cure for leprosy, the Law provided a way to be declared clean if some kind of mi ..read more
Father Hollywood
3M ago
12 Nov 2024
Text: Matt 26:1-19
In the name of + Jesus. Amen.
As we approach the end of Matthew’s account of the life of our Lord, we are rapidly moving to the passion, death, and resurrection of Jesus. Things are coming together quickly, and in two days time, the world will be changed forever. At this point, the only one who knows this is our Lord: “After two days the Passover is coming, and the Son of Man will be delivered up to be crucified.” And as our Lord is saying this, “the chief priests and the elders… plotted together” along with Caiaphas, the corrupt high pri ..read more
Father Hollywood
3M ago
5 Nov 2024
Text: Matt 23:1-12
In the name of + Jesus. Amen.
The scribes and the Pharisees were the social elites of the day. They were not the rulers of the government (though they were represented in the Jewish council). They were not the priests of the temple (though they were considered to be the religious experts). Their real power was in the way ordinary people looked up to them, and trusted them. Their opinions became public opinions, as they held sway over all those who admired them – much like our celebrity class today.
But their motivation wasn’t the tru ..read more
Father Hollywood
4M ago
22 Oct 2024
Text: Matt 16:1-12
In the name of + Jesus. Amen.
The Pharisees and the Sadducees had the Word of God, the Old Testament: the Law and the Prophets and the Psalms that spoke of the Christ to come. And they also had the Christ right in front of them: the Word of God made flesh (John 1:14). His life and His preaching conformed to the pattern of prophecy, and confirmed His Messiahship. And just to make sure there was no ambiguity, Jesus did perform signs by the thousands. His miracles were public and unexplainable by ordinary means. They were impossi ..read more