Pastor Ike

Christmas 2- When God Calls Us into the Enemy’s Territory

What does faith look like when God leads us into danger instead of away from it? In this sermon, “When God Calls Us into the Enemy’s Territory,” we follow the aging patriarch Jacob as God calls him to leave the land of promise and journey down into Egypt—a place marked by fear, failure, and future suffering. From a human perspective, it feels like retreat. From God’s perspective, it is grace at work.
Drawing from Genesis 46, this sermon explores how God meets His people in weakness, not strength; in fear, not confidence. The Law exposes our sin and helplessness, while the Gospel proclaims the astonishing promise: “I myself will go down with you.” Ultimately, this is fulfilled in Christ, who enters the ultimate enemy territory - the cross - and brings His people out again through resurrection. This sermon proclaims the comfort that when God calls us into hard and frightening places, we never go alone.

The funeral of Gilbert Wohlk

The funeral sermon from the funeral service for Gilbert Wohlk.

Christmas Day

The true meaning of Christmas. The Eternal Word becomes flesh. This is one of the two greatest moments in human history.

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve rightly focuses on the birth of Christ. Mary runs a close second place. This year, we see how God uses Joseph and his faith to express how God works to bring us salvation.

Holy Innocents

Right after Jesus’ birth, King Herod orders the killing of Bethlehem’s boys under two. Rachel weeps. The world is violent, sinful, and hostile to God’s plan. This sermon confronts that reality—the Law exposing sin in the world and in our hearts—and points to the Gospel: God preserves His Son, and through Christ, even the innocent slain bring salvation to the guilty. Hear the Law. Receive the Gospel.

Advent 4 - Rorate Caeli - Rain down

How would you answer someone if they were to ask you, “who are you?” The religious leaders asked John the Baptist this same question. Wait until you hear how he answered them.

Advent 3 Gaudete Sunday - Rejoice

What happens to joy when life doesn’t turn out the way you expected?
In this sermon for Gaudete Sunday, we listen in on a surprising moment from the life of John the Baptist—a man who preached joy with confidence, who pointed unflinchingly to Jesus as the Lamb of God, and who now finds himself alone in a prison cell asking a painful question: “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?”
This message explores the difference between the fragile joy built on circumstances and the deep, enduring joy that Christ gives even in suffering. Jesus does not rebuke John’s question; instead, He answers with the Gospel—pointing to His saving work among the poor, the broken, and the forgotten.
Here we discover that true biblical joy is not the absence of hardship, but the presence of Christ within it. It is a joy grounded not in how life feels, but in what God has done—and is still doing—for us in Jesus.
Whether you are rejoicing or struggling, confident or questioning, this sermon proclaims the good news that the Lord is near, and that His joy endures even in the darkest places.
Rejoice.

Advent 2: Populus Zion

Populus Zion or the People of Zion. Zion is the name of the mountain on which the Temple was built. It was closely connected to the place where God came to be with His people. Eventually, it became the way that the Scriptures identified the people of God. The New Testament identifies the people of Zion as those redeemed by the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ.

Advent 1: Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus

Today’s sermon explores why the Church sings the Sanctus—“Holy, holy, holy Lord God of Sabaoth… Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord”—immediately before the Lord’s Supper. Drawn from Isaiah 6 and Matthew 21, the Sanctus joins the worship of heaven with the cries of Palm Sunday. It proclaims that the Holy God Isaiah saw on the throne is the same humble King riding into Jerusalem—and the same Christ who comes to His people in the Sacrament.
Far more than a liturgical ornament, the Sanctus is the Church’s bold confession that Christ Himself is truly present in the Sacrament: the crucified and risen King who still draws near in humility to save, forgive, and sustain His people.

The habit of Thanksgiving

The habit of Thanksgiving will change your life.