St. Paul‘s Evangelical Lutheran, Howards Grove, WI - Dec. 5th, 2021

People tend to feel a lot of pressure this time of year. We want our houses to look good for out-of-town guests. We want to impress people with the thoughtfulness of our gifts. What a welcome relief, therefore, to hear what is required to meet the Lord: only repentance. You see, Jesus is not someone we need to impress with our good works. Indeed, repentance is the opposite of work. Repentance is the humble admission of our sin combined with the joyful trust that everything needed to bring us close to God has already been done by him. Our sermon today is based on Malachi 3.