Sermon for the Last Sunday of the Church Year, 2025

Wake, awake, Beloved; the Bridegroom comes, awake! Would that you had the urgency of heart and mind to be ready for your heavenly Bridegroom, the Lord Christ Jesus, that you have in the pursuing of all the things that you think are so important in this life. Would that you so eagerly awaited the Lord’s return with the same energy and zeal that you store up for earthly festivities. Wake, awake; the Bridegroom comes, awake! Beloved, this is no time to be fooling around with how much oil is in your lamp and if you have enough. Nor is it the time to wonder whether you can sneak off to get some oil and still make it to the wedding feast. Why? Because when the Bridegroom does arrive, the door is shut. And while those who are outside may have been invited to the wedding, once the door has been shut, they are unknown to the Bridegroom. Dear virgins, pure and spotless children of the Lord, repent this day of thinking that a certain amount of faith in Jesus is “enough”. Turn from such thinking, and thereby running the risk of missing the Bridegroom’s arrival. 

Readings:

• Old Testament: Isaiah 65:17-25

• Epistle: 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11

• Holy Gospel: Matthew 25:1-13

  
  

Sermon:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZH0LiP7lmYo