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we welcome as guest preacher today dr. james pingel
the executive director of sheyboygan lutheran high school
he is a graduate of concordia university wisconsin
and also has degrees from marquette
university and cardinal stritch university
we pray blessings on his ministry
and the students and staff sheboygan lutheran high school
we begin with the invocation and reading
as we stand as we worship
in the name of the father and of the son and of the holy spirit
the first reading is from
romans the fifth chapter
for while we were still weak at the right time christ died for the ungodly
for one will scarcely die
for a righteous person
though perhaps for a good person one
may dare even to die
but god shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners
christ died for us
this is the word of the Lord
and the second reading
for today is matthew six twenty-one
jesus said
for where your treasure is
there your heart will be also
this is the word of the Lord
greetings to you
in the name of our risen savior jesus christ
amen
billy graham once told a story about albert einstein
who was taking a train trip through a big city many many years ago
when the conductor came back to collect his ticket
this great thinker and scientist searched all his pockets and couldn't find his
ticket
by now the conductor realized who he was dealing with, he said "oh dr einstein
don't worry about it i know who you are
i trust you
you don't have to show me your ticket"
and then he continued making his rounds
a few minutes later the cononductor returned with his pouch full of tickets
and he noticed that einstein was now down on his hands and knees on the floor
looking for a his lost ticket
he leaned over and whispered "no please get up it's not a problem
we trust you you don't need to show me your ticket"
at that point einstein looked up
paused
and said young man this isn't a matter
of trust
but direction
i'm lookin for my ticket because i don't know where i am going
dear brothers and sisters of my
beloved alma mater
do you know where you're going
i'm here to tell you today that in lutheran schools all around the world
our kids not only know where they're going
they know who they belong to
and they know who they were created by
and i can assure you the imprint schools all around the world
are committed to christ
and his word
commitment
that's a word i wanna talk about a little bit today
people of a tough time with that word commitment
whether it's a marriage, a promise, a job, a relationship, a church, a
deadline,
a homework assignment, a financial pledge a club, or an organization
people just aren't committed to things like they
used to be or
they break their commitments too easily
i love the story of the japanese kamikaze pilot during world war two
this particular kamikaze pilot was interviewed by a newspaper reporter
after his fiftith
mission five oh
the reporter asked him if that was some kind of a contradiction in terms, i mean
how can someone be a kamikaze pilot
and still be alive after fifty missions he asked
well it's like this the pilot said
i was very involved
but not very committed
ladies and gentlemen I know you've heard this before but we know every morning
when you have, or like me, i'm privileged on saturday to have eggs and
bacon for breakfast
you know the chicken was involved but the pig was really committed
and i tell you this there was once a teacher who was applying for science position
down in texas at a small high school. he had been unemployed for many many months
he was desperate for work
and during the interview process they asked him to you'll believe the world is
flat
or around
the young teacher wanted this job really bad
so he answered the question
well i can teach it
both ways which do you want
contrast this lack of commitment and lack of conviction
to someone like joan of arc, our young great freedom french fighter who was
in the fifteenth century
defending her home land against the invading british army
and at the age of seventeen she led
three thousand
french knights into the battle
but on one occasion she told the general
i'll lead the charge
over the wall
the male chauvinistic general kind of laughed
not a man's gonna follow you
joan of arc turned back, glared at the general and said
i won't be looking back
to see if anyone
follows me
she was a leader
she was committed
two years later at the age of nineteen
she'd be burned at the stake
by the english for her refusal to recant her commitment to france and some of her
last words were these
everyone gives their life for what they believe
sadly sometimes people believe in little or nothing
and then they give their life
to little or nothing
to live without belief is more terrible than dying
even more terrible than dying young
ladies and gentlemen i'm here to tell you that even more horrific than dying
young is dying without knowing the saving grace
of jesus christ
thats why lutheran schools exist
that's why concordia exists
we have a mission to tell our young people and their families that they have
a savior whose absolutely committed to them
have you thought of it that way?
jesus christ is absolutely committed
to you
he died for you he was perfect and innocent and yet
he died to forgive us of our sins you heard the scripture passage
before for while we were still weak at the right time
God died for the ungodly that's you and me
while we were still sinners
christ died for us
you and i don't deserve this grace and mercy
we're selfish
we're wretched
depraved
and yet god loved us and invested in us up front
he was committed
to your solvation and to mine
since the fall of humankind
i over achieved in marriage
and thank goodness our two young children take after my wife
you know but there's nothing michelle and I want more
in this world
than to see joshua and josie
in heaven someday
sending them to a lutheran grade school and a
lutheran high school
is the best parental decision
we've ever made or will ever make
and there's tuition
the critics it costs a lot of money and it hasn't been an easy sacrifice making
sacrifices for that but you know what's really cool someday
when josh and josie start making their own paychecks
to bring home their money and take home and
they remember what
mom and dad paid to send them to a lutheran school
"wow they really did love us didn't they"
jesus said where your treasure is
your heart will be also
now of course i don't
want to suggest that to go to a lutheran school you're automatically guaranteed
heaven
if that were true i'd put on our website and every recruitment brochure we could produce
but jesus is the only way
they can get to have
and he's talked about
and his word is shared
daily
in lutheran schools
hourly
in every class
i have to tell you i'm more than gratified too that concordia has stayed
true
to the lord
and his word
so many colleges even with christian names in heritage
heritages have fallen away from scripture
they've gone from being devout to disinterested
religious to spiritual
from conviction to skepticism
they preach inclusiveness and tolerance yet disdain and ridicule
anyone who says or believes that jesus is the way the truth
and they life
and if you believe in the genesis account of creation
a flat earther
meanwhile souls are being deceived
and lost
you know the great theologian martin luther once said i'm afraid that schools
will prove to be the great gates of hell
unless they diligently labor in explaining the holy scripture
engraving them
the scripture in the hearts of the youth
you know in education circles today they talk a lot about twenty first century
skills
and by the way
that's why lutheran schools
have great academic records, they have to be
jesus didn't give mediocre blood on that cross
he gave his very very best
and our kids deserve
nothing less
but lutheran schools can do something that other schools can't
we teach twenty first century skills
and first-century skills too
to get in the word
to stay in the word
to spread the word
there are too many kids
too many people died
in our world without knowing jesus christ
as the lord and savior
what's more important than that
a job that
statistics say you'll change nine or ten times in your life
what's more important than
eternal salvation
you know in his first few weeks of coaching the packers vince lombardi was asked by
a reporter how receptive
the players would be to him and
this is a reasonable question because he already had
that reputation for aspiring temperment
i don't care what they think of me you can just picture him roaring right
they need to be concerned about what i think of them
dear friends of concordia
lutheran schools all-around the globe
are reminding young people
that God thinks most highly of them
concordia reminds you that too
he created you
in his image
he made only one of you in human history
he loves you
he gave his one of only innocent son for you
his commitment to you and your salvation is perfect complete
listen to what the bible says
for i am sure that neither death
nor life nor angels nor rulers nor things present nor things to come
nor powers nor height nor depth or anything else in all creation will be
able to separate us from the love of God
in christ jesus
our Lord
knowing what he did for you and i on that cross
my prayer is that each of you
will carry the love of christ for it in your own special God given way in
various vocations
i want to encourage you commit yourself to the Lord daily
have you ever met anyone
who has regretted
committing their lives
to the Lord
and let me reassure you lutheran schools all around the world
we're committed to
teaching and preaching jesus christ triumphant
sharing god's word with our young people
thank you for keeping lutheran schools today and everyday
in your prayers
the name of the father and of the son
and of the holy spirit