Pastor Chris Brademeyer’s Podcast

3P1S Special Episode: Who is God's Israel?

In this special episode of the Three Padres and a Shepherd Podcast, we step into the theological deep end and ask a bold question with special guest Rev. Harrison Goodman: Who is God’s Israel? Is the modern nation of Israel the fulfillment of God’s promises? Are Christians obligated to support the reinstatement of Old Testament sacrifices in Jerusalem? And how do we rightly understand God's ancient people - the Jewish people—especially in light of Romans 11?

3P1S Episode 20: The Theology We Sing! Discerning Good Christian Music

In this episode, we are diving into "The Theology We Sing! Discerning Good Christian Music." Not every song is created equal. Some proclaim Christ, others... well, not so much. And so, why do we sing, and how do we discern good Christian music from bad and shallow music? How do we analyze the true from the trendy? Does it matter what we put on our lips in worship?

The Kingdom Ours Remaineth

Five hundred eight years ago, a monk with a troubled conscience took a hammer, a piece of paper, a deep conviction that the Word of God must not be silenced and nailed a list of  95 theses on the church door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany. Martin Luther didn’t set out to start a movement or to divide the Church. He simply wanted clarity. He wanted the pure Gospel. He wanted the certainty that sinners are justified by faith alone in Christ alone apart from works, apart from indulgences, apart from human merit.
And what followed was not the peace and comfort that one would expect from the pure proclamation of the Gospel, but conflict and turmoil. The Reformation may have been intended as  a polite academic debate, but it led to a period of violent upheaval, both spiritually and politically. The Gospel was restored to its proper place in  a world that had long been held captive by human traditions and self-righteousness.
This should have come as no surprise. Hostility to the Gospel on the part of the world was nothing new. We might think the Reformation is behind us, that such battles belong to history books. The Reformation wasn’t just a 16th-century event. It is the daily reality of every Christian. The same Gospel that set Luther free is still under attack today. And this is precisely what our Lord Jesus describes here in Matthew chapter eleven.
Find out more in this sermon from St. John's Lutheran Church of Oakes, ND!

Love Commanded, Love Given

It was the last week of Jesus’ earthly ministry and the tension in Jerusalem was thick. The Pharisees and Sadducees were desperate to trap Him, that is, they wanted to catch Him saying something that would discredit Him before the people or give the authorities grounds to arrest Him.
They had already tried to politically entrap Him by asking “Is it right to pay the imperial tax to Caesar or not?” Jesus’ answer silenced them.
Then the Sadducees had tried to entrap Him theologically by asking about marriage and the resurrection. Jesus refuted them too, saying, “You are wrong, because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God.” In today’s reading from Matthew,  a lawyer, a professional in the Law of Moses, steps forward with what might at first glance seem an innocent question: “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?”
Find out more in this sermon from St. John's Lutheran Church of Oakes, ND!

Let Not Your Hearts be Troubled: The Funeral of Irene Meyer

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, family, and friends of Irene Meyer: there are moments in life when words seem small and our hearts are heavy. The death of a mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, sister, and friend brings such a moment. Even when we know death will come, it still feels like an intrusion, a reminder that this world is not as God intended it to be. And yet, into such moments, our Lord Jesus speaks the words we need most: “Let not your hearts be troubled.”
Find out more in this sermon for the funeral of Irene Meyer from St. John's Lutheran Church of Oakes, ND!

Humility and Healing

There are few situations in which self-exaltation and self-aggrandizing are considered acceptable. Indeed, it is almost always seen as being in bad form. You know the type. The person who talks a little too much about himself, who always manages to turn the conversation back to his own accomplishments, who wants to make sure you know how important he is. Such people quickly prove themselves insufferable.
And even if others play nice to keep face or because the self-important have social or business power, deep down, people do not enjoy being witness to this sort of arrogance.
More to the point, Jesus does not care for self-importance. He, who of all people has the greatest claim to honor and glory, did not conduct Himself in that way during His ministry. Instead, He chose the way of humility, simplicity, and service, even unto death for us sinners.
Find out more in this sermon from St. John's Lutheran Church of Oakes, ND!

The Lord of Life Draws Near

Every one of our funerals begin with the same words: “In Holy Baptism [Name] was clothed with the robe of Christ’s righteousness that covered all his sin. St. Paul says, ‘Do you not know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might live a new life.’”
Those words set the tone: we do not face death alone. We face it as those joined to Christ’s own death and resurrection by holy Baptism. Our Gospel reading today gives us a picture of that truth. In Luke chapter seven, death is on parade. A widow walks behind the bier carrying her only son. She has had no husband for a certain amount of time. Now she doesn’t have a son. In his place she is left with only grief. But into this funeral procession enters Jesus, the Lord of Life. When He draws near, death retreats. Indeed, it can do nothing else.
Find out more in this funeral from St. John's Lutheran Church of Oakes, ND!

Two Masters?

Every one of us has a relationship with money and possessions. Some of us have a lot, some of us have a little. Some are comfortable, others feel pressed on every side. But no matter our position, Scripture repeatedly reminds us: wealth is both a gift of God and a dangerous temptation. It can provide food for the hungry, or it can become a false god that robs us of faith in Christ. It can give great blessings, or it can lead to great anxiety. Today’s readings teach us how to manage wealth properly, that is,  as something to be received in trust, to be used in love, and to be kept from becoming an idol.
Find out more in this sermon from St. John's Lutheran Church of Oakes, ND!
 

3P1S Episode 19: Digital Addiction? Examining Christian Discipline in a Digital World

When the world is obsessed with screens, speed, and virtual presence, does the church have anything else to say? Does the Christian have any reason not to live with his head buried in a screen? What discipline is needed by today's Christians to live soberly in this often screen-fatigued world?
 
For more episodes go to www.3p1s.com

Fellowship in the Light

When our Lord Jesus prayed on the night before His death that “they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you,”He was not speaking figuratively. This was not a clever metaphor or a mere turn of phrase. It is the will of our Lord Jesus that Christians, those who bear His name, should be one.
And what is meant by this unity? Nothing less than that they share in all things. That is, that they would have very things of Christ without division, without rivalry, without conflict. His prayer is for a unity among Christians that reflects the eternal unity between the Father and the Son.
But as we all know, this is certainly not the case at present. The Church seems fractured. There are divisions between the East and the West, Romans and Protestants, Lutherans and the Reformed, liberals and conservatives, confessionals and missionals, the Missouri Synod; the Wisconsin Synod; and the myriad of other Confessional synods. Christ’s Church seems broken into irreconcilable pieces.
And yet the Scriptures remind us that unity is not optional. Christian fellowship is necessary. It is the very will of Christ that His people be one.
Find out more in this sermon preached at the 2025 Calov Conference from St. John's Lutheran Church of Oakes, ND!