On the Seventh Sunday after Pentecost, the people of Immanuel Lutheran Church in Joplin, Missouri gathered around one quiet, unstoppable promise: God’s Word is the seed that does the work. Pastor Christopher Ramstad preached the Old Testament reading from Isaiah 55, and from the opening hymn to the closing blessing the whole morning pointed to a God who keeps sowing His Word — and whose Word never comes back empty.
A note about this week’s recording: Our livestream ran into technical trouble on July 12, so a video and podcast recording are not available for this service. We’re grateful you can still read and reflect on the Word that was preached — and the promise itself stands whether or not the camera cooperates: it will not return empty. You can find our other services anytime in the Services and Sermons archive, including last week’s Sixth Sunday after Pentecost and the Fifth Sunday after Pentecost.
Pastor Ramstad’s Sermon on the Seventh Sunday after Pentecost: How God Speaks
Pastor Ramstad opened with a smile: Martin Luther School’s middle-school English teacher was sitting right in front of him, so — he joked — he wanted to be sure he got this one right. His angle was worth the care: God speaks His powerful, effective Word to us in ways we can relate to, in every kind of sentence we know.
Think back to grammar class and the four kinds of sentences. In declarative sentences, God declares to us who we are in Christ — forgiven, redeemed, His own. With interrogative sentences, He asks the questions that draw out what is really going on in our hearts. Through imperative sentences, He challenges and commands us for our good. And in exclamatory sentences, He exclaims His promises and His truth over us — all of it pointing us to the cross and the salvation His Son has won. However He chooses to speak, His Word is never idle chatter; it does something.
That is the promise anchored in Isaiah 55. The Word that goes out from God’s mouth does not return to Him empty-handed; it accomplishes exactly what He sends it to do. This is the heart of what we believe as confessional Lutherans: God’s Word is living and active, and it delivers what it says.
“For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.”
Isaiah 55:10–11 (ESV)
The Children’s Message: “The Sower Never Stops Planting”
For the children’s message, Mr. Jason Glaskey told the kids about his dad back home in Ironton, Missouri. Tom Glaskey can do almost anything well — he can fix things, build things, grow a garden, do most anything — except get grass to grow. He has been fighting his lawn for as long as anyone can remember. He scatters grass seed into hard, rocky clay, and the rain washes it right down the hill. What little takes root has nowhere to go deep, and when the summer sun rises it scorches it. (Sound like a parable you have heard?) So he tries again — straw, then soil, then fertilizer, waiting for exactly the right time to plant. Every year, it is a battle.
But here is the thing about his dad: he never stops throwing seed. Year after year, washing away and burning up, he goes back and gets more, because he believes the seed will eventually do what seed is supposed to do. Jesus tells a story just like that. A farmer scatters seed everywhere — on the path, on rocky ground, among thorns, and on good soil — and only some of it bears grain, a hundredfold, sixty, thirty.
God throws His Word just that generously — in worship, in Sunday School, in chapel at Martin Luther School, in Vacation Bible School, and at home whenever someone reads a Bible story around the kitchen table. He throws and throws and throws. But here is the difference between a dad’s grass seed and God’s Word: Tom’s scattered seeds sometimes come back empty; God’s Word never does. Not sometimes — never. The seed does the work. The Word does the work. Not us.
The Readings and Hymns for the Day
Our summer service of the Word followed the appointed readings for the day, and the sermon, the hymns, and the children’s message all gathered around the God who sows His Word and brings the harvest.
- Old Testament: Isaiah 55:10–13
- Epistle: Romans 8:12–17
- Holy Gospel: Matthew 13:1–9, 18–23 (the Parable of the Sower)
We sang the Hymn of the Day, Almighty God, Your Word Is Cast (LSB 577) — a prayer that the seed of the Word would take deep root in us — and closed with Lord, Keep Us Steadfast in Your Word (LSB 655).
“Almighty God, Your Word is cast / Like seed into the ground; / Now let the dew of heav’n descend / And righteous fruits abound.”
Lutheran Service Book 577, st. 1 — Almighty God, Your Word Is Cast
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Parable of the Sower about?
In Matthew 13, Jesus describes a farmer scattering seed on four kinds of ground — the path, rocky soil, thorns, and good soil. The seed is God’s Word; the soils picture the different ways people receive it. The comfort of the parable is not anxiety about what kind of soil you are, but confidence in the Sower, whose Word bears fruit a hundredfold.
What did the sermon on the Seventh Sunday after Pentecost focus on?
Pastor Christopher Ramstad preached on Isaiah 55, showing how God speaks His powerful Word in ways we can relate to — declaring, questioning, challenging, and exclaiming His promises over us, all pointing to the cross — and how that Word never returns to Him empty. Read more in our sermon archive.
What time are summer worship services at Immanuel Lutheran Church?
Through the summer we gather for one service at 9:00 a.m., with the Christian Education hour following at 10:15 a.m. Our fall schedule — services at 8:00 and 10:30 a.m. with Bible classes at 9:15 — resumes after Labor Day. New to Immanuel? Here is what to expect when you visit.
How can my family keep God’s Word growing at home?
The Word does its work in the home as well as the sanctuary. Our Children and Families ministry, Youth Ministry, and LifeLight Bible study all help plant Scripture deep in every generation.
About Immanuel Lutheran Church
Immanuel Lutheran Church is a confessional LCMS congregation in Joplin, Missouri, and the home of Martin Luther School (PK–8). We are part of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. Jesus brings life — meet Him here. Join us Sunday mornings at 2616 S Connecticut Ave, Joplin, MO 64804. Questions? Reach out through our contact card, or learn how you can give to support this ministry.
Summer Worship at Immanuel: One service each Sunday at 9:00 a.m., with the Christian Education hour at 10:15 a.m. We would love to have you join us this week.