tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-58877187022891076222024-03-18T06:44:51.148-07:00LuthervilleRSThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04306924462833594561noreply@blogger.comBlogger793125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5887718702289107622.post-55357136911316662662024-03-18T06:43:00.000-07:002024-03-18T06:44:12.436-07:00Sermon March 16-17, 2024Title: Christ came to serve sinners! <br />Text: Mark 10:35-45 <br /><br /> Facebook live: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/100064598803375/videos/1424800025111489" target="_blank">Christ came to serve sinners!</a><br /><br />43 But it shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, 44 and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all. 45 For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” <br /><br />Power in serving<br /> <br /> My friend is a man of means. He came up through a family dedicated to hard work. He was skilled, he had a plan, and he worked very hard every day to make his plan a reality. It has paid off in many ways for him. Many successes in his business and personal life followed. I can’t remember anyone so completely skilled and focused on the task needed to succeed, and succeeding at what he put his mind on.<br /> <br /> I also remember someone so completely generous with his time, talents and treasures. He was always willing to share and help. At times he worked more for the benefit of others then they did or would do for themselves. He served their needs but it also served the greater good of the company and his family a well … a real win-win situation … strength, power and service all in one package.<br /> <br /> Our reading for today deals with power and service but with different people and with different intentions.<br /> <br /> James and John, the so called “Sons of Thunder” by Jesus in Mark 3:17 show here why Jesus had given them that name designation.<br /> <br /> Seemingly as a spoiled child might ask for that which they know they don’t deserve or shouldn't expect to get we hear 35 …“Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.”<br /> <br /> This same James and John in another memorable gospel moment in Luke Chapter 9 had inquired of Jesus:<br /> <br /> “Lord, do you want us to call fire down from heaven to destroy them?”<br /> Luke 9:54<br /> <br /> This they did after the Samaritan village had not received Jesus and seeing that he was steadfast set to go to Jerusalem.<br /> <br /> The Lord’s, all knowing mind, seems to have given James and John a proper title – for they were these young followers and disciples of Jesus who had left their fathers boat and work to go and follow him.<br /> <br /> But here too we see where they are focused.<br /> <br /> 37 … “Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory.”<br /> <br /> Or, in Matthew’s gospel “in your Glory” is translated as “in your Kingdom”, spoken by their mother, Salome the wife of Zebedee who intercedes for her two boys - who quickly seconded her request.<br /> <br /> The disciples here didn't understand Christ’s mission, work or glory but were thinking in terms of an earthly kingdom and an earthy ruler and a place of honor for themselves.<br /> <br /> But our good news is that Christ came to save sinners!<br /> <br /> Humility and servant hood is hard for you and me as well. We too look for the choice seats, to be recognized and to be rewarded. <br /><br />But to be a true servant is to model Christ.<br /> <br /> 2 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. Heb. 2:1-2<br /> <br /> But can we run the race, can we remain faithful until the end, can we endure the trials in this life? For we too like James and John don’t know what we are asking.<br /> <br /> 38 … “Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or to be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?” Jesus said. <br /><br />Paul in his letter to the Philippians brings peace when he writes:<br /> <br /> 2 So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, 2 complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. 3 Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Phil 2:1-3<br /> <br /> As children who have been brought to the Lord by loving parents and as parents who love our children we bring those who are unable to bring themselves to the Lord.<br /> <br /> In humility we consider them more significant than ourselves, and with life given into our care, we look to their wellbeing more than our own - giving them to the Lord - and promising to be the ones who raise them in the faith and instruction of the Lord.<br /> <br /> We all fall short to be sure, but just as we wouldn't feed a child once and leave them to fend for themselves; faith also requires an active parental role to keep these precious gifts of God in their baptismal grace, so that they too might grow to know him, Jesus Christ both as Lord and Savior who<br /> <br /> “came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Mark 10:45<br /> <br /> James and John were looking for the earthly glory that a Kingdom of this world provides. They received much more then they or their mother had asked for. <br /><br />Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or to be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?” Jesus asks.<br /> <br /> 39 And they said to him, “We are able.”<br /> <br /> Herod had James put to death by the sword as the early church was persecuted. Acts 2:2<br /> <br /> His brother John would remain and live to an old age leaving his thunderous youth behind to become the apostle of love, writing his Gospel and letters in exile on the island of Patmos, and giving a glimpse of the end of the age from visions given in the book of Revelation.<br /> <br /> Heeding Christ's command:<br /> <br /> But whoever would be great among you must be your servant,<br /> <br /> My friend Jim had another side as well. When we were younger and working together, he took on another task. Through a contact with an acquaintance, he began visiting a disabled man who was Wheel Chair bound and in declining health he would go once a month and take him out to lunch.<br /> <br /> It wasn’t easy but each month Jim would say “I’ll be back in a while,” and go.<br /> <br /> I only found out the particulars down the road. He never talked much about it at the time. After a few years of this, the man couldn’t go out anymore and eventually passed away. <br /><br />He never talked about it but years later I asked him about it. I remember him saying,<br /> <br /> “I’ve been blessed so much it was just a way to give back … though it was hard.”<br /> <br /> Thank the Lord that God has not left us alone but has done everything needed for us and has given us – his word and sacraments - for us so that we might be brought to faith and given life in his name and in humility serve the needs of others.<br /> <br /> It is not always easy to give up ones seat at the table, or to allow another a place in line ahead of you.<br /> <br /> It is not always easy to see to it that the light of Christ shines forth into a dark world that gets darker every day.<br /> <br /> It is not always easy to stand firm when even the fabric of our own faith seems weak and unable to endure.<br /> <br /> But Christ, who is the one who will never leave you nor forsake you, has stood in your place and he has completed the course for you. In him you have everything that you could not earn because he humbled himself for you.<br /> <br /> 45 For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Mark 10:45<br /> <br />In the name of the Father, and of the Son + and of the Holy Spirit!<br /> <br /> Amen<div> <br /> </div>RSThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04306924462833594561noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5887718702289107622.post-23121656457316466322024-03-14T05:54:00.000-07:002024-03-14T05:55:55.681-07:00Sermon March 13, 2024 – Lent 5 - Pastor JohnsonTitle: The Story worth repeating – Christ the Judge – Intercession "The Lord our God is Just." Pastor Johnson Christ Milford <br />Text: Hebrews 4:14-5:10; Rev. 16:5-7<div><br /></div><div>Facebook live: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/100064598803375/videos/416680987544019" target="_blank">Christ the Judge – Intercession "The Lord our God is Just."</a></div><div><br /></div>RSThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04306924462833594561noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5887718702289107622.post-18986175261310352712024-03-11T09:23:00.000-07:002024-03-11T09:26:20.050-07:00Sermon March 9-10, 2024 Title: Jesus has been lifted up so that you too are raised!<br /> Text: Numbers 21:4-9; John 3:14; <br /><br />Facebook live: <a href="https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/5887718702289107622/1898617526131035271">Jesus has been lifted up so that you too are raised!</a><br /> <br />8 And the LORD said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent and set it on a pole, and everyone who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live.” 9 So Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on a pole. And if a serpent bit anyone, he would look at the bronze serpent and live. <br /><br />14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. <br /><br /> A number of years ago I interviewed a man for a job with the store I worked at and managed. He had been in the appliance business for about fifteen years in the Brighton area, working for a family run business, much like the family run business I worked at. <br /><br />Well, as he considered his situation, he looked at what he had and the prospect for advancement and being enticed he decided to leave his company for greener pastures at another company across town. As we talked, I told him of all the opportunities and benefits my company provided and I saw a look of real sadness come over his face.<br /> “Boy, he said, I really didn't know how good I had it. All the benefits you mentioned, I already had with my previous job and I was skilled and good at it. Now, I’m out of work and hoping I can find a job as good as the one I left.”<br /> <br /> The blessings we have often seem ordinary and mundane and we take them for granted or complain about them. God’s people, in our Old Testament lesson for today, saw their blessings as a curse and murmured against the one who was their provider, protector and sustainer.<br /> <br /> God had been the protector of Israel in the wilderness for 40 years. He had guarded them throughout all their trials and provided for them in the as they made their way to the Promised Land. He brought them through the waters of the Red sea on to dry ground and also provided manna from heaven to sustain them … and still they grumbled.<br /> <br /> 5 And the people spoke against God and against Moses, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we loathe this worthless food.”<br /> <br /> It was noted that this manna was rich in nutrients by one scholar as they were able to march through this wilderness and not have their feet swell so that they were not lacking anything. God’s provisions were complete, full and rich.<br /> <br /> Yet, they murmured eight times against God over these forty years. This, the final murmuring against the Lord had happened just after God had provided water from a rock and now he brought fiery serpents that up to this time had been plentiful in the area, but for some reason had left them alone.<br /> 6 Then the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people, so that many people of Israel died.<br /> <br /> These serpents, which it is believed received their name because of their color and the fact that their bite produced venom that caused great swelling and burning, bit the Israelites causing death to many. In their distress they once again turn to Moses in repentance to intercede for them and pray to the Lord to take the serpents away.<br /> <br /> So Moses prayed for the people.<br /> <br /> 8 And the LORD said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent and set it on a pole, and everyone who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live.” 9 So Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on a pole. And if a serpent bit anyone, he would look at the bronze serpent and live.<br /> <br /> We too find our blessings at time mundane and boring and grumble about what we don’t have instead of looking to all we do have. Something as simple to you and me as water … running water … hot and cold … in our house …<br /> <br /> We all can imagine how different our lives would be without this blessing but still we grumble … so too with our faith and our God.<br /> <br /> At times when we need to trust in Him for whatever our condition in life is, we fall back to our sinful ways. God gets blamed. “Why Lord, why?” We all might cry not knowing the mind of God and his plan for our life. Instead, he just might be taking us on our way around one battle toward a greater battle with better reward. Or, it might be his protection against certain doom.<br /> One gentleman I know, who had been a loyal member of a particular company for over 20 years and had a job offer from a competitive company. He really didn’t want to take it. He would have preferred to stay in his comfort zone where he was. As it happened to turn out, the company he was at closed a little over a year after he left. In our day-to-day existence we have no guarantee of continued blessings in fact one of God’s promises tell us:<br /> <br /> 33 I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” John16:33<br /> <br /> God's healing cure for the bite of the fiery serpents was faith in His word of promise. He directed Moses to make a serpent in the likeness of the ones that caused death. To make it out of bronze and to place it on a pole and when anyone looks at it they will be healed. Our text concludes with:<br /> <br /> 9 So Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on a pole. And if a serpent bit anyone, he would look at the bronze serpent and live.<br /> <br /> A simple act of faith in God’s word brings the cure.<br /> <br /> Luther had this to say about the cure:<br /> <br /> It might have been expected that the Jews who had been bitten by the serpents would shun this cure, for it is only natural for us to shy away from anything that has harmed us. Even to see a picture of it fills us with sadness and abhorrence.<br /> <br /> But Moses calmly proceeded, molded a serpent with the form and figure of the live fiery ones, and suspended it before their eyes.<br /> <br /> Thus those who are bitten by fiery serpents – that is to say, those who are cast into sin, death and eternal damnation by the devil – must look at this bronze serpent, that is belief in Christ; and they will be guaranteed righteousness, life, and salvation. Faith in Christ, the Son of God and true man, will do this.<br /> <br /> LW 22, pg. 341<br /> <br /> Jesus pointed to His being lifted up just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness. Just as the serpent Moses lifted up in the desert was not the one biting and causing death, so too our Lord Jesus Christ was not the sinner or cause of sin but became the sin-bearer that took the sins of the whole world upon Himself that He crucified sin in His body on the cross for you.<br /> <br /> This lifting of the serpent and trusting in God’s word of promise did bring about their healing. Just so all who trust in Christ also trust in God’s word and His promise that by faith in Christ’s sacrifice we too are freed from sin, death and the power of the Devil.<br /> <br /> 16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16<br /> <br /> God’s word of promise is for you and for all who will be brought to faith by the power of the Holy Spirit. <br /><br />It is said that the brazen image of the serpent was taken by the Israelites to Canaan, and preserved till the time of Hezekiah, who had it broken in pieces, because the idolatrous people had presented incense-offerings to this holy relic. 2 Kings 18:4<br /> <br /> God has given us His word of promise and the means of grace that in Baptism He creates faith by the power of the Holy Spirit connected to the water so that we believe. He has promised that in the bread and wine He is present and that by our eating and drinking we receive Him and our faith is strengthened. He has promised that when two or more are gathered in His name that He is there too.<br /> <br /> He has promised:<br /> <br /> 38 … that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:38-39<br /> <br /> Whatever your place in life is, whatever you are or hope to become, whatever your successes or failures are, know that God is with you. He will be there through the good and the bad with you and He will never leave you nor forsake you. He has suffered the scorn of the cross - for you - and has taken your sin upon Himself and has exchanged it with the royal robes of His righteousness – for you. <br /><br />In the name of the Father, and of the Son + and of the Holy Spirit! <br /><br />Amen<div>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><br /></p></div>RSThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04306924462833594561noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5887718702289107622.post-13050011772073087932024-03-11T09:19:00.000-07:002024-03-14T05:55:38.663-07:00Sermon March 6, 2024 - Lent 4 - Pastor TkacTitle: The Story worth repeating – Christ the savior – Deliverance and salvation<div>Text: Psalm 71:1-6 Hebrews 5:1-10</div><div><br />Facebook live: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/100064598803375/videos/363194353287209" target="_blank">The Story worth repeating – Christ the savior – Deliverance and salvation</a><br /><br />8 Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered. 9 And being made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him, 10 being designated by God a high priest after the order of Melchizedek.<br /><br />As we continue with the Story worth repeating in our Lenten sermon series, we’ve learned that stories connected to the Gospel can be powerful or funny, historic or personal, written down for the many or shared one-on-one with the few. It can be a story written, read, spoken or sung.<br /><br />Growing up a child of the 60’s gave me fond memories. Guitars, the Beatles, the Summer of Love, as well as the wisdom of Roger Miller.<br /><br />“King of the road”, “Dang Me”, “Chug-a-lug” and “You can’t roller skate in a Buffalo heard” were all etched into my young and impressionable memory.<br /><br />John Glenn’s first flight around the world, and the Apollo moon landing, took me to places I only dreamed about. I loved comedy and listened to the Smothers Brothers, Woody Allen, and Bill Cosby on long-playing Vinyl albums.<br /><br />I was the oldest of four children and another thing I remember all too well was:<br /><br />“Go to your room and think about what you did!”<div><br />That was how my dad would respond to me when my mom would let him know about something, I did wrong and needed correction.<br /><br />My dad followed it up with, “And wait for me.”<br /><br />That was usually not good news.<br /><br />Obedience and suffering … needed for this son.<br /><br />Obviously, my obedience had not been what it should have been and so the waiting began my suffering.<br /><br />How would it end?<br /><br />Waite for me.<br /><br />Jesus’ obedience was different than mine. He didn’t miss the mark. Me on the other hand, pretty much every day.<br /><br />My dad would come home from work and say to my mom if she had that look on her face,<br /><br />“Well, Line them up and tell me who I need to hit!”<br /><br />Now my dad wasn’t a mean man. In fact, he was a good man and I loved my dad, but I didn’t always obey my mom as I should. You see, my dad expected his children to obey and listen to my mom, so when we didn’t - there was a time of waiting and suffering.<br /><br />The children of Israel saw God as unapproachable.<br /><br />They needed a Mediator.<br /><br />The priest was seen as the means to approach God, to come to him for forgiveness and to have their sins atoned for.<br /><br />He was the mediator. The one between the sinner and the righteous judge.<br /><br />They could come to him as they did in the wilderness to Moses - God’s prophet – who spoke to the people all that God directed him to say and who pleaded to God for them.<br /><br />Also, Aaron, Moses’ brother, was called by God to be his priest and to make sacrifices for the sins of the people standing between God and man. The people brought their animal sacrifices to Aaron who presented their good and acceptable sacrifices to the Lord. One life for another.<br /><br />Sins continued and so did the sacrifices. Each day … week … month … and year … Being reconciled and having their sin atoned for.<br /><br />Jesus was sent by God the Father to bring forgiveness in a real and tangible way. Our sins needed to be reconciled, and Jesus – the word of God made flesh - came for that purpose. To stand in our place.<br /><br />He came as the perfect prophet. Not as an imperfect man called to deliver God’s word but as the eternal word of God made flesh speaking directly to the people.<br /><br />He came as the perfect priest. The one to mediate and to intercede for the people to the father with whom he is well acquainted and, in his person, he reflects the image of God as one who has seen the Father and is intimately connected - as we see the Father in him.<br /><br />He came as the perfect sacrifice. Not as a continual sacrifice, daily brought to appease the wrath of God, but as the once and for all sacrifice for sin that is Holy and acceptable to the Father.<br /><br />The Jews in Jesus day shunned the cure and returned to Moses and the Law for the comfort of their reconciliation.<br /><br />They live in that reality still today.<br /><br />Today, the people in our day want a new mediator.<br /><br />They want a Jesus who sees sin, not defined by God’s word, but defined by the world.<br /><br />One who gets us, is okay with us, who requires nothing from us.<br /><br />They want to kill, where God has conceived and brought to life.<br /><br />They want to unite and expand, where God has placed limits.<br /><br />They want to change and redefine, what God has defined already.<br /><br />They want to eliminate the mediator, and mediate for themselves.<br /><br />If you’ve ever been in a court of law you might want to think twice before choosing to represent yourself. Even good Lawyers, it seems to me, hire a competent attorney to represent them!<br /><br />When the Law is placed before us in our world, we have three choices.<br /><br />Follow the Law<br /><br />Break the Law or<br /><br />Change the Law<br /><br />There are consequences for each.<br /><br />As we look to God’s word and his Law the choices remain the same. In court a good Lawyer might get us off for breaking the Law or a Government Legislature might change or amend a Law which then nullifies the offence, but not with God.<br /><br />His Law requires one answer which is perfect obedience. Not that we follow the Law, but that we break the Law continually and the Law, written in stone and on our hearts, can’t be changed.<br /><br />We need one to plead our case.<br /><br />We need a mediator.<br /><br />Jesus is the Perfect -Mediator! The God/man himself.<br /><br />He is appointed by God as the only way to reconcile his wayward children in his broken creation.<br /><br />5 So also Christ did not exalt himself to be made a high priest, but was appointed by him who said to him,<br /><br />“You are my Son,<br />today I have begotten you”;<br /><br />6 as he says also in another place,<br /><br />“You are a priest forever,<br />after the order of Melchizedek.”<br /><br />Not only the Prophet and Priest but also the perfect once for all sacrifice for sin that he might atone for the sins of the whole world once and for all.<br /><br />Jesus is perfect for our salvation!<br /><br />This prophet Jesus speaks God’s truth perfectly!<br /><br />This Priest Jesus is perfectly acceptable and able to stand before God for man because,<br /><br />This Jesus is the perfect sacrifice for sin to appease God’s wrath<br /><br />because his perfect obedience to God’s perfect Law fulfills the Law perfectly!<br /><br />7 In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to him who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence. 8 Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered.<br /><br />In a sense the Father saying, in response to Jesus’ prayers:<br /><br />Wait for me.<br /><br />Salvation for all because of Jesus’ obedience.<br /><br />This perfect Prophet, Priest and Sacrifice is also the Perfect King of Kings and Lord or Lords who by his just decree can give forgiveness and proclaim as the eternal judge the sentence of not Guilty on account of Christ’s merit to whom he wills.<br /><br />Jesus is everything we need!<br /><br />9 And being made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him, 10 being designated by God a high priest after the order of Melchizedek.<br /><br />Jesus is a priest superior to Aaron likened to that of Melchizedek whose name means king of righteousness, King of Salem, the [Shalom] of Salem [the prince of peace] being a type of Christ and high priest of God that predates the priesthood of Aaron and to whom Abraham pays a tithe.<br /><br />23 The former priests were many in number, because they were prevented by death from continuing in office, 24 but [Jesus] holds his priesthood permanently, because he continues forever. 25 Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.<br /><br />Do not look to earthly or false prophets to be your hope and salvation.<br /><br />Do not stand before God in unrighteous arrogance as a priest with sinful demands.<br /><br />Do not think your Gold, Silver or pleading an acceptable sacrifice.<br /><br />Do not demand a King’s ransom from a King that gives himself to you for free.<br /><br />Receive the word of God in humble reverence.<br /><br />Receive Jesus who stands in God’s presence for you.<br /><br />Receive his perfect sacrifice of Christ for your sin.<br /><br />Receive the Kingdom of God given and shed for you.<br /><br />Repentance and Forgiveness – the Gospel story worth repeating!<br /><br />“Now, go to your room and wait for me!”<br /><br />You know as a child in my room, I learned obedience and suffering.<br /><br />My dad though showed me mercy, forgiveness and love as a loving Christian father. He would come in, at times after a very long time of waiting, and ask,<br /><br />Did you think about what you did? Yes.<br /><br />Are you going to do it again? No.<br /><br />Okay. “You know I love you?” Yes dad.<br /><br />Jesus showed perfect obedience, suffering and love for you and me and all – broken in sin – but now has raised you to the newness of life in his perfection. Forgiving your sin and giving you everlasting life!<br /><br />In the name of the Father and of the Son + and of the Holy Spirit<br /><br />Amen</div></div>RSThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04306924462833594561noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5887718702289107622.post-25244935885880129032024-03-11T09:16:00.000-07:002024-03-11T09:16:41.416-07:00Sermon March 2-3, 2024Title: The Father’s love and zeal for you is in Jesus!<br />Text: John 2:13-22<br /><br />Facebook live: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/100064598803375/videos/282027188112065">The Father’s love and zeal for you is in Jesus!</a><div><div><br />17 His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for your house will consume me.”<br /><br />18 So the Jews said to him, “What sign do you show us for doing these things?” 19 Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.”<br /><br />Jerusalem is a hot bed for so much of the world’s religious as well as political turmoil but so is the Temple Mount.<br /><br />The second Temple was destroyed in 70 AD. For Jews today their activity is restricted on the Temple mount. The Dome on the Rock is there and is holy to Muslims and Jews are not allowed to pray there, though some do pray under their breath. For Jews in Jerusalem there is a growing need to rebuild the Temple, to resume the temple sacrifices and to wait for the coming of the messiah.<br /><br />In our gospel reading for today we move to the book of John. As we looked at our gospel lesson in Mark last week, Jesus explained that he must suffer, be rejected by the Elders, Chief priests and the scribes, be killed and after three days, rise from the dead. Mark 8:31<br /><br />Jesus was zealous both for his Father’s House in driving out those who had made it a house of trade selling oxen and sheep and pigeons, [along with] the money-changers [who were] sitting there, just as he was with Peter last week, rebuking him for “not setting his mind on the things of God.”<br /><br />The Jewish leaders now ask Jesus – what is the evidence that you can give us as to your authority for doing such things, by casting those out of the temple?<br /><br />22 For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, Paul tells the Corinthians in our epistle lesson for today. 1 Cor. 1:22<br /><br />So Jesus tells them,<br /><br />19 … “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.”<br /><br />As you can imagine, the Jews that Jesus is talking to believe he is talking about “The Temple” the building of the second Temple that had taken 46 years to build, where all the daily sacrifices had taken place.<br /><br />This is the place where God dwells … where sin is atoned for.<br /><br />You can see that not much has changed in the nearly 2000 years since the cross of our Lord. The Jews today are still rebuilding the Temple … and the cross as Paul says in our epistle is:<br /><br />23 … a stumbling block to Jews and folly [or foolishness] to Gentiles,<br /><br />But we who have been blessed to be brought to the foot of the cross see Jesus as our savior and trust in his work; where true temple worship is in his once and for all sacrifice for sin.<br /><br />Jews look to rebuild the Temple and resume the sacrifices while Gentiles see foolishness in belief of a saving God, especially one who has taken on flesh.<br /><br />Their wisdom tells them to trust in themselves.<br /><br />25 For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. 1 cor. 1:25<br /><br />But many fall short. For some, the stumbling … or the foolishness is just plain stubbornness.<br /><br />It remains a problem for many still today. For the Jews the Temple remains something to be rebuilt and stumble while others believe that the Cross of Christ remains [foolishness], or something to be seen as weakness and not the power of God.<br /><br />The cross is an offence, so much so that at times we shy away from it, especially in the midst of the world.<br /><br />Dietrich Bonhoeffer in his book: Life together writes,<br /><br />“Jesus Christ lived in the midst of his enemies. At the end all his disciples deserted him. On the Cross he was utterly alone, surrounded by evildoers and mockers. For this cause he had come, to bring peace to the enemies of God.<br /><br />So the Christian too, belongs not in the seclusion of a cloistered life but in the thick of foes.<br /><br />Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Life Together: The Classic Exploration of Faith in Community<br /><br />In the turmoil of the world the cross of Christ will be a stumbling block or foolishness.<br /><br />When I went back to college to get the required courses so that I might get qualified for going to the seminary I took a class on the Bible. It was a secular class that looked at the text and asked us to analyzed in our papers what we thought it said and what we believed it meant.<br /><br />Most people took the class to fulfill an elective requirement and thought it might be easy or as a class for non-credit but of interest and enrichment.<br /><br />I sat next to a nice Jewish man who turned to me during one of our classes and said,<br /><br />“When we get to the New Testament, you’re going to have to help me!”<br /><br />Not an unexpected response. It was not part of his understanding.<br /><br />My friend Mark had a different obstacle. I bought him a Bible during one of our many years of discussions and he had a problem – a stumbling block with just one page.<br /><br />It was the one page between Malachi and Matthew. It read The New Testament. Mark said to me,<br /><br />“I couldn’t get past it so I tore it out. Now, it’s one book.”<br /><br />The stumbling and foolishness of that one page was just too much for him. But, God by his Spirit gave him wisdom to see and overcome it. God has opened the eyes of his understanding and has brought him into his family of faith.<br /><br />For many though, Jesus’ life death and resurrection remain a stumbling block and foolishness.<br /><br />21 But [Jesus] was speaking about the temple of his body. 22 When therefore he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they believed the Scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken.<br /><br />In spite of our weakness and in spite of our failings God in Christ was focused on the cross for you. The Temple of his body that was destroyed for you is victory! It is victory because the full wrath of God was poured out on Jesus and as a result you have no fear of standing before our holy God.<br /><br />God in Christ has taken your sin and my sin upon himself and has given you and all who believe his righteousness in exchange for it – what wonderful good news – and as a result we are free of the bonds of sin, death, and the devil and are covered by Christ’s righteousness and made his child through faith by the power of the Holy Spirit<br /><br />19 Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.”<br /><br />Christ is consumed with his zeal for you and just as he has been raised … you too will rise!<br /><br />May our Lord and savior Jesus Christ, who has redeemed you, and called you through the power of the Holy Spirit to faith, complete this blessed good work in you now and forever!<br /><br />In the name of the Father, and of the Son + and of the Holy Spirit!<br /><br />Amen<br /></div></div>RSThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04306924462833594561noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5887718702289107622.post-80634694209755766142024-03-11T09:14:00.000-07:002024-03-14T05:55:27.432-07:00Sermon February 28, 2024 Lent 3 - Pastor MoyerTitle: The Story worth repeating! "Will Everything Sad Come Untrue?" Pastor Moyer, Faith, Highland <br />Text: Jeremiah 31;10-17, 31-34; Romans 8:18-25 <br /><br /> Facebook live: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/100064598803375/videos/292730896936141" target="_blank">"Will Everything Sad Come Untrue?"</a><div><div><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">
<!--[endif]--></span><span face=""Verdana",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></p></div></div>RSThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04306924462833594561noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5887718702289107622.post-17066928181077349822024-02-26T05:27:00.000-08:002024-03-11T09:27:26.761-07:00Sermon February 24-25, 2024<div>Title: Who do you say that I am? <br />Text: Mark 8:27-38</div><div><br /> Facebook live: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/100064598803375/videos/2651482718349979" target="_blank">Who do you say that I am?</a><br /><br />34 And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 35 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel's will save it. <br /><br />Jesus asks the disciples:<br /> <br /> “Who do people say that I am?” And then wants to know, “but who do you say that I am?”<br /> <br /> And we know that the disciples say that the people think that Jesus is “John the Baptist; [some] say, Elijah; and others, one of the prophets.”<br /> <br /> And this all climaxes with Peter speaking for the disciples when he says,<br /> <br />“You are the Christ.”<br /> <br /> Following this confession by Peter of who Jesus is we see Jesus begin to teach them everything he is now prepared to do.<br /> <br /> Jesus says that the Son of Man:<br /> <br /> Must suffer<br /> Must be rejected – by the elders, chief priests and scribes<br /> Must be killed<br /> And after three days must rise from the dead<br /> <br /> As the one who made confession for the disciples, Peter, didn't really understand Jesus and his work for the salvation of the world at this time as his rebuke of Jesus, as recorded in Matthew 16:22, makes clear:<br /> <br /> “Far be it from you, Lord! This shall never happen to you.”<br /> <br /> This is met by Jesus’ full rebuke, which is focused not on Peter the man – just as his confession of faith was not revealed by flesh and blood but revealed by the Father in Heaven so too Jesus’ rebuke is not focused on Peter the man - but on Satan - the deceiver and the father of lies.<br /> <br /> “Get behind me, Satan! For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.”<br /> <br /> To be opposed to Christ … is to be in harmony with the devil.<br /> <br /> To lose your life in Christ … is to save it!<br /> <br /> Jesus says …<br /><br /><div>“If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 35 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel's will save it.<br /> <br /> For many, though, this is not a cross they wish to bear. We hope to avoid trial and conflict. Following Jesus as example is good but suffering or being hated and despised on account of Christ … we all would like to take a pass.<br /> <br /> It is a common battle that pastors have to face too by remaining faithful to their call ... and this can be unpopular at times. It is hard, and not received well, to say to someone that which they don’t want to hear. You know it and I know it. We all want affirmation, to affirm that which we want to do.<br /> <br /> Jesus had given the disciples a summary of His work and he now gives a summary of the demands of true discipleship. <br /><br />He does not show here how one becomes a disciple - through the working of the Holy Spirit by faith in Christ and by the washing of regeneration in the word through baptism; but here, Jesus tells us how we show the evidence of this gift of faith in Christ by denying self; taking up the cross we must bear; and by following him.<br /> <br /> It can be summarized as this.<br /> <br /> “If anyone wants to save his life, have the full enjoyment of this life and all that it may offer in this world, he will lose the true life in Christ the Savior. But if anyone will regard this life, the world and all it has to offer, as nothing, give it all up for the sake of Jesus and His Gospel, he will find the true life, the true joy and [true] happiness in Him.”<br /> <br /> Popular commentary of the Bible P.E. Kretzmann NT Vol. 1 pg. 209<br /> <br /> To lose your life in Christ is to save it!<br /> <br /> Scott Hamilton’s tells of a story of trial when his brain tumor returned in 2016.<br /> <br /> [Hamilton said he would never forget what his wife, Tracie, said to him during a pep talk: “Joy is not the lack of suffering or fear, it’s how you choose to handle the suffering and fear.” <br /><br />It finally hit him that it was true. <br /><br /></div><div>So, when the tumor returned, Hamilton decided to react differently. There was no “why me?” anymore. <br /><br /></div><div>“I figured I needed to go through this with joy,” he said. “It was just a muscle I needed to build, like the muscles I built skating.” <br /><br />The tumor was still relatively small, so Hamilton didn’t need to rush into surgery. He tried to tackle the problem differently: He stopped eating sugar, red meat and other things he considered bad for his body. He started eating organic food and drinking only coffee or water with high pH. <br /><br />He hit the treadmill and the weight room. <br /><br />When Hamilton went back to the doctor several months later, he learned that his tumor hadn’t grown. During his next checkup, he heard even better news. <br /><br />The tumor had shrunk, by about half. Hamilton choked up when describing what happened next. <br /><br />“Have you ever had one shrink without treatment before?” he said he asked the doctor. “And the doctor said, ‘Nope, never.’” <br /><br />Hamilton asked, “So how can you explain this?” <br /><br />The doctor said, “God.”] <br /><br /><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/18/sports/olympics/figure-skating-nbc-scott-hamilton-.html"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/18/sports/olympics/figure-skating-nbc-scott-hamilton-.html</span></a> <br /><br />Life does not always give us the answers we want to hear, but in Christ we are always in the hands of our beloved savior. <br /><br />As we faithfully serve as God has called us and shine the light of Christ in our vocations, we lose our life for Christ’s sake and the gospel and ultimately save our lives for eternity.<br /> <br /> May our Lord and savior Jesus Christ, who has redeemed you, and called you through the power of the Holy Spirit to faith, complete this blessed good work in you now and forever! <br /><br />In the name of the Father, and of the Son + and of the Holy Spirit!<br /> <br /> Amen <br /><br /> </div></div>RSThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04306924462833594561noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5887718702289107622.post-23723117532402098492024-02-22T05:22:00.000-08:002024-02-22T05:22:00.367-08:00Sermon February 21, 2024 Lent 2 - Pastor JohnsonTitle: The Story worth repeating! – Christ the Reconciler– Marriage<div>"His Banner over me is Love." Pastor Johnson Christ Milford<div>Text: Eph. 5: Song 1:1-4, 2:1-4; Rev. 19:7-10<p></p></div><div>Facebook live: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/100064598803375/videos/1090757858636011" target="_blank">Christ the Reconciler– Marriage "His Banner over me is Love."</a></div><div><br /></div></div>RSThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04306924462833594561noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5887718702289107622.post-49892846278646923852024-02-19T05:17:00.000-08:002024-02-19T05:17:04.503-08:00Sermon February 17-18, 2024<div>Title: You are made new in Christ! <br />Text: James 1:12-18</div><div><br /> Facebook live: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/100064598803375/videos/1101252171069541" target="_blank">You are made new in Christ!</a><br /><br />18 Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of first fruits of his creatures. <br /><br />Historian Shelby Foote tells of a soldier who was wounded at the battle of Shiloh during the American Civil War and was ordered to go to the rear. <br /><br />The fighting was fierce and within minutes he returned to his commanding officer. <br /><br />"Captain, give me a gun!" he shouted, "This fight ain't got any rear!" <br /><br /><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Daily Walk, July 10, 1993. </span><br /><br />That is what it is like with trial and temptation. <br /><br />It feels like there is no end. Day in and day out we daily are confronted with trials. How is your health; or finances? Does your car or home need repair? <br /><br />Are your children having issues and you’re faced with how to help, can you help - or will they let you help? <br /><br />Is life one trial after another?<br /> <br /> We are so blessed.<br /> <br /> James begins his epistle with these words. <br /><br />2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, James 1:2 NIV 1984<br /> <br /> Joy really? <br /><br />Trials are not fun. We all know the struggle that it can entail. Up, down, joy, sorrow, struggle, anger - sin most often is the result - but hopefully so is repentance.<br /> <br /> But here, in our epistle for today, James speaks of being blessed.<br /> <br /> 12 Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him. ESV<br /> <br /> Blessed and steadfast - the riches of God come by standing firm and through these trials God promises the crown of life.<br /> <br /> James here is echoing the words of Psalm 1<br /> <br /> 1 Blessed is the man<br /> who walks not in the counsel of the wicked,<br /> nor stands in the way of sinners,<br /> nor sits in the seat of scoffers;<br /> 2 but his delight is in the law of the LORD,<br /> and on his law he meditates day and night.<br /> <br /> We talked last week about the light of Christ in each one of us. <br /><br />The good deposit of faith that began at our baptism as God himself washed away our sins and marked us as his child. That child, you and me, needs to be fed. We need Spiritual food so that we can remain healthy, vibrant and grow in our lives so that we can stand firm and not sway during the tempting and testing that comes and will come.<br /> <br /> God is not the source of temptation.<br /> <br /> Though God temps no one he does allow temptation. Why? What possible good can come from temptation?<br /> <br /> In October of 2015 trial and temptation came for Monica and me. I had just finished the LWML rally at Holy Cross in Oxford and was getting ready for service that evening at Peace when I got a call that Monica had to go into the emergence room for a procedure. Ultimately that turned out to be cancer and that turned into two surgeries, a long healings process, doubts, concerns, worries, and you name it. <br /> <br /> And then in November of 2015 Thanksgiving evening to be sure I get a call from fellow member Sue Vogt that she is in the hospital having just been diagnosed with Leukemia. <br /><br />Chemo, blood draws and the like have gone on for her since. A broken foot and hip along the way but she is here each week thank God, looking optimistically at the future and continued healing. <br /><br />Trial and temptation.<br /> <br /> And there are so many others, health, finances, marriage issues, jobs and the tempting and trials never seem to end.<br /> <br /> 13 Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. James 1: 13<br /> <br /> It is easy to look and ask - why me? <br /><br /><div>But that is not what I heard from Monica or Sue and so many others. <br /><br />They were resigned to fight these illnesses and setbacks and though I’m sure concern and uncertainty came into play; the temptation is mediated by faith in Christ and this faith produces a steadfast resolve pointing outward to the hope that doesn’t fade and will not leave you nor forsake you.<br /> <br /> We take our eyes off of Christ.<br /> <br /> In life we lose sight of Jesus. <br /><br />It happens when things get bad or when things get good or too good.</div><div><br />At times we run from those that most love and want to help us to those who lead away from Jesus and destroy lives. The devil is the source and tempter who points to joys and blessings that are temporal, and because of sin we can all fall victim to this enticing.<br /> <br /> 14 But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. 15 Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death. James 1:14<br /> <br /> As my friend Dan a musician in Nashville once told me when I asked him about the faith of another musician, <br /><br />“Well, he’s not interested in God right now things are going too well for him.”<br /> <br /> If it is not trial and illness that point you to the brokenness of this world and a need for Christ, then it is in the sinful desires of a heart, content in the ways of the world who goes it alone or in a direction opposed to Christ.<br /> <br /> How far off course can we go before we are truly lost we might ask?<br /> How much sin is too much?<br /> What does true repentance consist of?<br /> Can we squander the gift of salvation?<br /> <br /> Unrepentance dear friends brings death.<br /> <br /> I was talking to a young man who was wrestling with the word of God as it is revealed as Law and Gospel in scripture. He said to me:<br /> <br /> “Pastor, I don’t know if I buy this Law and Gospel stuff. I mean when we sin we can just go to God and say I’m sorry? I know that we’re forgiven but it sounds so cheap. Oh yeah – I’m sorry God forgive me - and then we go right back to doing the same sin!”<br /> <br /> My response to his concern was do you think that God is fooled? <br /><br />I mean, do you really think God is fooled by false repentance? Maybe at times we think that? We’ve all probably said we were sorry for something we weren’t really sorry for but being sorry is only part of repentance.<br /> <br /> Repentance requires being sorry for sin and then it requires a turning away from sin and a turning back to God. It doesn’t mean that we will be successful in walking in the right way before God - but only that we desire to walk with God and away from sin.<br /> <br /> Theologian Louis Berkhof writes: <br /><br />“Moreover, true repentance never exists except in conjunction with faith, while on the other hand, wherever there is true faith, there is also real repentance. The two are but different aspects of the same turning - a turning away from sin in the direction of God. The two cannot be separated; they are simply complementary parts of the same process. “ <br /><br /><span style="font-size: xx-small;">L Berkhof, Systematic Theology, p. 487. </span><br /><br />So, repentance requires faith.<br /> <br /> 16 Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers. 17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. James 1:16-17<br /> <br /> When thoughts words and deeds lead to sin, God by his Spirit comforts us with forgiveness. Through his gift of faith he turns you and me in repentance and comforts us with his forgiveness.<br /> <br /> 18 Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of first fruits of his creatures.<br /> <br /> All things work together for good.<br /> <br /> By God’s work he keeps us connected to him by faith.<br /> <br /> By his work he turns us to see our failings and also to see our savior. <br /><br />By his work we keep our eyes upon Jesus so that no matter the trial and temptation we can turn in faith to repent of our sins and receive the gift of God’s love and forgiveness in Jesus Christ our Lord!<br /> <br /> By his work we are forgiven and made new in Christ!<br /> <br /> In the name of the Father, and of the Son + and of the Holy Spirit!<br /> <br /> Amen</div></div>RSThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04306924462833594561noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5887718702289107622.post-35362360525532748982024-02-19T05:12:00.000-08:002024-02-19T05:17:54.276-08:00Sermon February 14, 2024Title: The Story worth repeating: Christ the Redeemer – The Road to Redemption! <br />Text: Galatians 5:1; 13-25; John 10:27-30<div> <br />5 For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery. <br /><br /> Facebook live: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/100064598803375/videos/1070168714064934" target="_blank">The Story worth repeating: Christ the Redeemer – The Road to Redemption!</a><br /><br />The African American Spiritual, “Steal away to Jesus” begins: <br /><br />Steal away, steal away, steal away to Jesus!<br /> Steal away, steal away home, I ain't got long to stay here. <br /><br />“I was born, June 15, 1789, in Charles County, Maryland, on a farm belonging to Mr. Francis N., about a mile from Port Tobacco. My mother was the property of Dr. Josiah, but was hired by Mr. N., to whom my father belonged.” – Josiah Henson <br /><br />The story of slavery is a story hard to comprehend. Through books, movies and songs we get a bit of a picture. The longing for freedom drove many slaves to seek their freedom and many, opposed to slavery, did what they could to help – and for some all they could do, and it cost them their lives. <br /><br />William Seward – long before the Civil War and service in the Lincoln administration took a trip with his wife to the south. The pictures of slaves chained together and slave owners and the cruelty they saw left them a picture etched in their minds that would drive them in service to see it eradicated. – they did all they could do! <br /><br />How free are you? <br /><br />Most of us certainly would answer that we are not slaves and have never been a slave to anyone, or endured the hardships that slaves endured. <br /><br />The beating of slaves, malnourishment, the splitting up of families, the lack of education or schooling – and death as the only hope of escape - was the day-to-day existence for most. <br /><br />Adult or child? It didn’t matter and made no difference. <br /><br />Again, how free are you? <br /><br />Most of us would agree, that we are free. <br /><br />But, if you work, can you just not go to work without any consequence, and expect to get paid? <br /><br />Does your family expect things of you? <br /><br /><div>If you are of school age, can you stop going without consequence? <br /><br />If you stop paying taxes does the government smile and look the other way? <br /><br />No, in this life we have freedom, but that freedom is bound in a life broken by sin and the sinful flesh in this world we inhabit. <br /><br />The Apostle Paul pits freedom against slavery in our text today and in a world where slavery is very, very real, tells his hearers that: <br /><br />Christ has set us free <br /><br />The story of slaves in bondage before the Civil War found many kept in bondage by their owners and masters, through power –the power of ownership, the power of intimidation, the power of education and the power of retribution. <br /><br />“My brothers and sisters were bid off one by one, while my mother, holding my hand, looked on in an agony of grief, the cause of which I but ill understood at first, but which dawned on my mind, with dreadful clearness, as the sale proceeded. My mother was then separated from me, and put up in her turn. She was bought by a man named Isaac R., residing in Montgomery County, and then I was offered to the assembled purchasers.” – Josiah Henson <br /><br />Knowledge is power and slavery has no power, no future, no hope, and no life. <br /><br />In Christ you are given another power as the Apostle Paul says … Love. <br /><br />13 For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. <br /><br />Josiah continues: <br /><br />“There was a person living at Georgetown, a few miles only from R.’s plantation, whose business was that of a baker, and whose character was that of an upright, benevolent, Christian man.” <br /><br />“When I arrived at the place of meeting, the services were so far advanced that the speaker was just beginning his discourse, from the text, Hebrews ii. 9; [Heb 2:9] … <br /><br />9 But we see him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone. Heb 2:9 <br /><br />This was the first text of the Bible to which I had ever listened, knowing it to be such.” – Josiah Henson <br /><br />“He said the death of Christ was not designed for the benefit of a select few only, but for the salvation of the world, for the bond as well as the free; and he dwelt on the glad tidings of the Gospel to the poor, the persecuted, and the distressed, its deliverance to the captive, and the liberty wherewith Christ has made us free, till my heart burned within me, and I was in a state of the greatest excitement at the thought that such a being as Jesus Christ had been described should have died for me—for me among the rest, a poor, despised, abused slave, who was thought by his fellow creatures fit for nothing but unrequited toil and ignorance, for mental and bodily degradation.” – Josiah Henson <br /><br />The Apostle Paul continues: <br /><br />13 For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. 14 For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: <br /><br />“You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” <br /><br />The word of love lived out in a sinful world fulfills the Law. Because Christ was obedient unto death, he has fulfilled the Law for you and me so that in him we might love our neighbor as we love ourselves. <br /><br />Through love serve one another. <br /><br />“When I was about twenty-two years of age, I married a very efficient, and, for a slave, a very well-taught girl, belonging to a neighboring family, reputed to be pious and kind, whom I first met at the chapel I attended; and during nearly forty years that have since elapsed, I have had no reason to regret the connection, but many, to rejoice in it, and be grateful for it. She has borne me twelve children, eight of whom survive, and promise to be the comfort of my declining years.” – Josiah Henson <br /><br />Saint and sinner, flesh and Spirit, death and life, slave and free are in tension in this life constantly pushing and pulling against each other with you and me in the middle. Paul writes: <br /><br />17 For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. Gal 5:17 <br /><br />“My post of superintendent gave me some advantages, too, of which I did not fail to avail myself, particularly with regard to those religious privileges, which, since I first heard of Christ and Christianity, had greatly occupied my mind.” – Josiah Henson <br /><br />As a slave Josiah too wrestled with the Spirit and the flesh. As he was being taken to the deep South to be sold, he thought to kill his master’s son and escape to the North, maybe even to Canada. <br /><br />As they traveled down the river Josiah writes: <br /><br />“I resolved to kill my four companions, take what money there was in the boat, then to scuttle the craft, and escape to the north.” – Josiah Henson <br /><br />19 Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, 21 envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. Gal.5:19-21 <br /><br />“I was alone on the deck; Mr. Amos and the hands were all asleep below, and I crept down noiselessly, got hold of an axe, entered the cabin, and looking by the aid of the dim light there for my victims, my eye fell upon Master Amos, who was nearest to me; my hand slid along the axe-handle, I raised it to strike the fatal blow, —when suddenly the thought came to me, <br /><br />“What! commit murder! and you a Christian?” <br /><br />“I had not called it murder before. It was self-defense,—it was preventing others from murdering me,—it was justifiable, it was even praiseworthy. But now, all at once, the truth burst upon me that it was a crime.” <br /><br />“I shrunk back, laid down the axe, crept up on deck again, and thanked God, as I have done every day since, that I had not committed murder.” – Josiah Henson <br /><br />22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. 24 And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. <br /><br />Josiah Henson’s story has many twists and turns as he made his way North and eventually reached freedom on October 28, 1830 in Canada after crossing the Ohio River and making his way through Buffalo after 41 years as a slave. <br /><br />He settled in what is now Ontario and built a new life for he and his family in the freedom of Canada. and continued to preach, as a Methodist minister, the truth of freedom and salvation in Christ saying: <br /><br />“… I am persuaded that, speaking from the fulness of a heart deeply impressed with its own sinfulness and imperfection, and with the mercy of God, in Christ Jesus, my humble ministrations have not been entirely useless to those who have had less opportunity than myself to reflect upon these all-important subjects.” – Josiah Henson <br /><br />There is much more to Josiah Henson’s story as there is more to all stories of lives bound in sin, death and the devil. For we who remain, it is our story to learn and tell as well. <br /><br />To tell the story of Jesus who has taken the sin of the world upon himself and set us free from the bonds of sin and death and the yoke of slavery, bound to sin in this life, so that in him, we might all walk in the light of Christ and his salvation won for us at the cross. <br /><br />It is the Apostle Paul’s final words in our lesson for today that gives us all hope, as we continue to live in this sin broken world: <br /><br />25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit. <br /><br />The Rev. Josiah Henson entered eternal rest and reward on May 5, 1883 in his 94th year as the New York Times reported, and Harriet Beecher Stow used his story and autobiography from 1849 as her basis and inspiration for the book, Uncle Tom’s Cabin. <br /><br />One of the hymns sung at his funeral was the spiritual that began this message: Steal away to Jesus. - Wallace Willis <br /><br />Steal away, steal away, steal away to Jesus!<br /> Steal away, steal away home, I ain't got long to stay here. <br /><br />My Lord, He calls me, He calls me by the thunder;<br /> The trumpet sounds within my soul; I ain't got long to stay here. [Refrain]<br /> <br />Green trees are bending, Poor sinners stand a trembling;<br /> The trumpet sounds within my soul; I ain't got long to stay here. [Refrain] <br /><br />I ain't got long to stay here. [Refrain] <br /><br />Dear friends, <br /><br />[We] ain't got long to stay here. [Refrain] <br /><br />Bound in sin you have gloriously been set free - through the thunder and lightning of God’s Word and Spirit - and by his calling, you too can Steel Away Home, and rest in the Good News of the forgiveness, truth and grace that Christ offers – for you! <br /><br />In the name of the Father and of the Son + and of the Holy Spirit. <br /><br />Amen <br /><br />And the peace of God, which surpasses all human understanding, guard your hearts and your minds in and through Christ Jesus our Lord and Savior now and forever. Amen <br /><br /><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Quotations taken from THE LIFE OF JOSIAH HENSON, FORMERLY A SLAVE, NOW AN INHABITANT OF CANADA, AS NARRATED BY HIMSELF. BOSTON: ARTHUR D. PHELPS.1849. <br /><br />https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/53609/pg53609-images.html</span>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p></div></div>RSThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04306924462833594561noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5887718702289107622.post-34423651600222242532024-02-12T05:27:00.000-08:002024-02-12T05:27:39.884-08:00Sermon February 10-11, 2024 – TransfigurationTitle: Jesus transforms you! <br />Text: 2 Cor. 3:12-13; 4:1-6 <br /><br /> Facebook live: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/100064598803375/videos/893535545839620" target="_blank">Jesus transforms you!</a><br /><br />6 For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. <br /><br />Maybe you remember the old joke:<br /> <br /> How many Lutherans does it take to change a light bulb?<br /> <br /> CHANGE! We don’t like change!<br /> <br /> The truth is Lutheran’s love change but it has to be the right change. Change for change’s sake is not good. Change for the wrong reasons is not. Change in compromising the truth is not good. Change just to be different or new is not good. Change because of the world, opposed to the word, is not good.<br /> <br /> When there is a baptism, we see change in a good way. <br /><br />Going from being God’s enemy to God’s beloved child is a wonderful change. <br /><br />Going from darkness to light. Going from death to life … from separation from God to an eternity with God.<br /> <br /> You who have been Baptized have been changed, You have been was transfigured.<br /> <br /> Paul writes to the Corinthian church: <br /><br />EVEN IF OUR GOSPEL IS VEILED<br /> <br /> 12 Since we have such a hope, we are very bold, 13 not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face so that the Israelites might not gaze at the outcome of what was being brought to an end. 2 Cor. 3:12-13<br /> <br /> Paul comes to the Corinthians in this letter with the Good News that change has come. Grace has fulfilled the Law in Christ. Moses’ veiling of the glory of God reflected in his face, is now shining forth in the faces and lives of the children of God, and that was made known in the Jesus, the word made flesh for you.<br /> <br /> 3 And you show that you are a letter from Christ delivered by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts. 2 Cor. 3:3<br /> <br /> What an image of God working through word and Spirit! <br /><br />You are a testimony of God’s work through his bringing you to life by the Gospel. <br /><br />You are his work just as by the finger of God he wrote on the tablets of stone he has written the word of life upon you. <br /><br /><br /> WE PREACH CHRIST JESUS AS LORD<br /> <br /> Paul contrasts the ministry of death to the ministry of life. The Law kills but the Spirit gives life. <br /><br />In his previous letter Paul had to deal with the false Apostles that had infiltrated the church at Corinth, causing division and puffing up some within the church, calling those at Corinth Rich, and Kings while contrasting himself and the other Apostles as poor and fools for Christ’s sake. <br /><br />But Paul here points to the change that has come as a result of the gospel of God in Christ Jesus. This ministry is through the mercy of God and because of that – he and the other apostles don’t lose heart. <br /><br />3 And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. 4 In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.<br /> <br /> The god of this world that Paul is speaking of is not Jesus but Satan. <br /><br />The devil is also called the prince of the air. <br /><br />You may remember some years back the Martin Luther DVD series we watched, John Nunes who was President of Concordia University New York, spoke of the difference between Lutheranism and a Calvinistic understanding of the scriptures. <br /><br />A key point in the understanding of salvation would include – the perseverance of the saints. <br /><br />Can you squander the gift of grace and lose your salvation? Lutheran’s would say yes.<br /> <br /> The devil will do everything in his power to point you away from Christ and our loved ones, and fellow members who self-exclude themselves are in danger as the text from Hebrews makes clear:<br /> <br /> 25 not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.<br /> <br /> The word of God and work of the Holy Spirit are the only means to come to faith and to remain in the faith. It is all of God and for some reason we in our sinfulness can and do reject the work of the Holy Spirit. It is you and it is me that need to be that encouragement to stir up one another.<br /> <br /> 5 For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake.<br /> <br /> For 61 years Peace has had six pastors. <br /><br />Under shepherds and servants of the word but we all who serve in so many ways are servants. Some serve the body of Christ here at Peace in clear view in defined roles. Some serve in the corners and out of view. <br /><br />Darkness will cover or make every attempt to cover the light of the gospel. So, it is up to you and it is up to me as Christians to make every attempt to shine that light of Christ in a very dark world. <br /><br />LIGHT WILL SHINE OUT OF DARKNESS<br /> <br /> 6 For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.<br /> <br /> In the Transfiguration the light of Christ Jesus shines out of darkness.<br /> <br /> And he was transfigured before them, 3 and his clothes became radiant, intensely white, as no one on earth could bleach them. 4 And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses, and they were talking with Jesus.<br /> <br /> The Law and the Prophets all point to Jesus and are fulfilled in him.<br /> <br /> Jesus Christ, has to remove the cover of His humanity to reveal the true glory that is His and his alone … and has now been veiled for a time from the eyes of the world. Though Jesus is fully God and fully man he reveals this truth through means to you and me his disciples.<br /> <br /> We all fail to recognize the true glory of Jesus, at times seeing only a good man who can be an example for us to follow. But many play the fool, trusting in themselves, or listening to the ways of the world that lead away from the glory of Jesus and his gift of faith and life in him which is promised for all by faith.<br /> <br /> 7 And a cloud overshadowed them, and a voice came out of the cloud, “This is my beloved Son; listen to him.” 8 And suddenly, looking around, they no longer saw anyone with them but Jesus only.<br /> <br /> “It is good that we are here.” <br /><br />It is truly good, that through Jesus only and his suffering and death at the Cross and glorious resurrection on the third day that we can be made sons and daughters of our heavenly Father by faith in him. <br /><br /><div>The light of Christ shines in you and me as we shine that light of Christ in a dark world. Share and shine that light of forgiveness and peace and the eternal hope in the Son who takes away the sin of the world.<br /> <br /> In the name of the Father, and of the Son + and of the Holy Spirit!<br /> <br /> Amen</div>RSThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04306924462833594561noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5887718702289107622.post-92070892228169426402024-02-05T05:28:00.000-08:002024-02-05T05:29:31.291-08:00Sermon February 3-4, 2024Title: Healed, forgiven, forever!<br />Text: Mark 1:29-39<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">Facebook live: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/100064598803375/videos/1139946620504636" target="_blank">Healed, forgiven, forever!</a><br /><br />30 Now Simon's mother-in-law lay ill with a fever, and immediately they told him about her. 31 And he came and took her by the hand and lifted her up, and the fever left her, and she began to serve them.<br /> 34 And he healed many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons.<br /> 37 and they found him and said to him, “Everyone is looking for you.” 38 And he said to them, “Let us go on to the next towns that I may preach there also, for that is why I came out.” <br /><br />The great writer Mark Twain became morose, sad and even weary of life.<br /> <br /> Shortly before his death, he wrote, "A myriad of men are born; they labor and sweat and struggle...they squabble and scold and fight; they scramble for little mean advantages over each other; age creeps upon them; infirmities follow; ...those they love are taken from them, and the joy of life is turned to aching grief. When (the release to death) comes at last … the only un-poisoned gift earth ever had for them … and they vanish from a world where they were of no consequence ... the world will lament them a day and forget them forever." <span style="font-size: xx-small;">Mark Twain.</span><br /> <br /> This is a very sad lament for one who is of the world.<br /> <br /> But for we who name the name of Christ and in Him place our trust, the world is not our eternity!<br /> <br /> We read today about Jesus in our Gospel lesson. Here Jesus is leaving the synagogue with His disciples Simon, Andrew, James and John.<br /> <br /> As it was in their life as it is in ours, they were concerned for a loved one. Simon’s mother-n-law lay ill with a fever. Simon who would be given the name Peter by our Lord and who would rise to be a pillar of the faith - his mother-n-law – now lays sick with a fever. <br /><br />…and immediately they told him about her. 31 And Jesus came and took her by the hand and lifted her up, and the fever left her, and she began to serve them. Mark 1:30b-31<br /> <br /> The sickness that caused her condition, by the touch of Jesus left her. The touch of our Lord healed her and she was able to immediately serve them.<br /> <br /> We too get sick. We know this all too well!<br /> <br /> It is a condition of sin that we are bound to in this life. As a result of sin we too will eventually die. Sin will have its way with us. We will get sick and we take medication and at times we recover and get better. It is the reality of life and death we see every day in our lives and in the lives of those we love.<br /> Some are blessed with a long productive life while others are taken in their youth. Many of us can look in the mirror and see the lines of life etched on our faces and for those too young to notice … just wait … you too will have this experience.<br /> <br /> I met Jack and Carolyn Herford at a Lake Orion outreach music program I was leading and Evola Music was providing for active retirees. Jack was 65 years old when he began the program and a more active senior you couldn’t find. He had had a long career as a manufactures rep. retired to play golf, learn some new things and enjoy a long healthy retirement. He was a wonderful and happy guy.<br /> <br /> Jack came to the Bloomfield Hills store to continue his lessons and one day he began complaining of headaches and dizziness and spoke of an upcoming visit to a specialist. As it turned out he had a brain tumor. He had surgery and made a wonderful recovery … for a time. Jack lived about two and a half years after the first detection of the tumor. Eventually he died a slow, deteriorating death. He was 70 years old.<br /> <br /> Jack had told me when the prognosis he received gave him little hope for a recovery.<br /> <br /> “Well, this isn’t how I planned my retirement thankfully my Lord has a better retirement plan for me in eternity!” <br /><br />32 That evening at sundown they brought to him all who were sick or oppressed by demons.33 and the whole city was gathered together at the door. 34 And he healed many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons. <br /><br />Christ has conquered sin, death and the devil. His atoning work at the cross saves us, not only from earthly death, but it promises life eternal in Him.<br /> <br /> Isaiah 53 says this about Jesus:<br /> <br /> 3 He was despised and rejected by men;<br /> a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief;<br /> and as one from whom men hide their faces<br /> he was despised, and we esteemed him not.<br /> 4 Surely he has borne our griefs<br /> and carried our sorrows;<br /> yet we esteemed him stricken,<br /> smitten by God, and afflicted.<br /> 5 But he was pierced for our transgressions;<br /> he was crushed for our iniquities;<br /> upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,<br /> and with his wounds we are healed.<br /> <br /> Healed, forgiven, forever!<br /> <br /> Christ has healed you from the sickness that leads to death. He has promised life eternal in His name for all brought to faith in him. By His sinless life, death in your place at the cross and glorious resurrection you too are secure in Him for your resurrection and life in eternity with him.<br /> The Gospel today concludes with:<br /> <br /> 36 And Simon and those who were with him searched for him, 37 and they found him and said to him, “Everyone is looking for you.”<br /> <br /> The people in Christ’s day knew that His touch brought healing and for that they all were looking for Him. We too know that His healing is more than just healing for our worldly sickness, Covid, brain tumors, cancer and the like but that in Him we have the cure for eternal life.<br /> <br /> 38 And he said to them, “Let us go on to the next towns that I may preach there also, for that is why I came out.” 39 And he went throughout all Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and casting out demons.<br /> <br /> Christ came for you. His healing brings comfort that even with the prospect of physical death you are saved and will live for eternity in Him. My friend Jack knew that comfort and I look to the day when I will see him in heaven and rejoice together in the presence of our Lord and savior Jesus Christ.<br /> <br /> May the preaching of Christ bring all who need to hear the blessed comfort that in Jesus Christ death has no power over them and eternity is theirs by faith in His saving work.<br /> <br /> Christ heals the sick, so that you will live forever in Him and by the power of the Holy Spirit in us God will see us to eternity now and forever. <br /><br />In the name of the Father and of the Son + and of the Holy Spirit <br /><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">Amen <br /><br /> </p>RSThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04306924462833594561noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5887718702289107622.post-40096723531093490152024-01-29T05:32:00.000-08:002024-01-29T05:32:19.492-08:00Sermon January 27-28, 2024Title: God’s Steward’s: Singular yet Plural!<div>Text: Romans 12:1–8; 1 Peter 4:8–11; John 17:14–24 <br /><br /> Facebook live: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/100064598803375/videos/3698938447056556" target="_blank">God’s Steward’s: Singular yet Plural!</a><br /><br />“each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace” 1 Pet 4:10 <br /><br />Today as we hear God’s Word regarding the fourth stewardship principle in our series, we want to keep in our hearts and minds the three principles we’ve already covered. <br /><br />The first is “God’s stewards are God’s stewards,” <br />The second is “God’s stewards are managers, not owners,” <br />The third, is “God’s stewards are saints and sinners. <br /><br />And that brings us to our fourth stewardship principle: <br /><br />God’s Stewards Are Uniquely Singular, yet Profoundly Plural <br /><br /></div><div>“God’s stewards recognize that their lives are not solo performances but are personal responses to God, lived out within the community of faith to benefit the whole world.” <br /><br /></div><div>We’ve all heard the Church called a family. And we’re all aware that the Bible speaks of us as God’s children, and therefore as brothers and sisters in Christ. <br /><br />Even though the family analogy is a good and helpful one, God also describes our unique relationship in terms of each of us being a member of one Body (the Body of Christ). <br /><br />Can you imagine if members of, say, Pistons, the Tigers, the Lions, or the Red Wings didn’t work purposefully, using their individual, unique skills and talents for common goals … well the Lions, Wings and Tigers seem to get it but not so much the Pistons! <br /><br />We thank the Lions for this great season and their work and look forward to this game today!<br /> <br />But the body of Christ needs is a bit different. <br /><br />It’s the creation of God. It’s the Holy Christian Church—the communion of saints as we confess in the Apostles’ Creed. And according to Scripture, the Church, which is the sum of all believers, is the Body of Christ, and the Lord Jesus is its Head. <br /><br />As humans are composed of body and soul together, our bodies are made up of different members, and each has special characteristics, different looks, and unique functions that are all cohesively part of one body. Each of our body parts is valuable. <br /><br />So, it is with us as individual members of the Body of Christ. <br /><br />By the power of his Spirit, through his Gospel Word and Baptism, God creates the members of his Body—the Church—and he gifts each of those members with special talents and privileges to use with the other members. That’s so that that the whole Body may function as God has designed it to do, so the Body will be healthy and able to carry out its individual and collective purposes. <br /><br />Last Sunday when we explored the third stewardship principle, God’s stewards are saints and sinners, and learned that our flesh is still completely infected by sin, that its nature is self-serving, and because of this we naturally wish to operate more autonomously. That’s why many people think that stewardship is really a personal matter between themselves and the Lord that concerns no one else. However, that understanding is not from God. <br /><br />In our first reading this morning, the apostle Paul writes, “so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another” (Rom 12:5). <br /><br />There is no doubt that we are individuals, each gifted in special and unique ways, and that stewardship a very personal response to God’s grace and love. Yet at the same time, stewardship serves the community—the common unity—the one Body, of which we are members. <br /><br />In Romans 14, Paul explains, <br /><br />“For none of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself. For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s” Rom 14:7–8 <br /><br />And in 1 Corinthians 6, Paul teaches further with a question: <br /><br />“Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price” 1 Cor 6:19–20 <br /><br />Your own body is one unit even though it’s made up of many parts. <br /><br />That’s the way it is with Christ’s Body, the Church. Paul reminds us that we were all baptized by one Spirit (the Holy Spirit) into one body—whether Jew or Gentile, whether we’re black, white, Latino, or Asian, <br /><br />“each has received a gift, to use and to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace” 1 Pet 4:10 <br /><br />God has gifted each of you individually. <br /><br />Not so that we can keep them to ourselves, and use them exclusively for our own benefit. Rather, we have those gifts so they would be responsibly used to God’s glory. God has gifted you with time, talents, and treasure so you may serve yourself, your family, your community and the needs of our common society. <br /><br />But he’s also gifted you so you may serve the Body of Christ Jesus. <br /><br />And the Body of which he made you a member [the church] is eternal, so that it will go on living, functioning, and serving after all the other things you serve with your time, talents, and treasure have passed away. <br /><br />In 2 Corinthians 8, St. Paul teaches that part of the idea of giving and serving the Body of Christ is so everyone will get along well. <br /><br />At some time, you may be the one who is physically or spiritually in need, and those who are healthy or who have more of life’s resources at the time should provide for your needs. <br /><br />Then, when you’re healthy or your resources are more, you can be of help to someone else in the Body of Christ. <br /><br />All members and their contributions of time, talents, and treasure are important, especially the things that aren’t so visible or those that appear less important. And all functions of the body are important, whether Sunday School, VBS, Bible studies, the youth, Parish and Altar Guild, Trustees, or volunteer service of any kind as a disciple and follower of Jesus. <br /><br />Your very presence in church and in Bible study is of spiritual help and encouragement to others; just being there is important. <br /><br />We don’t do what we do as Christians, as brothers and sisters in Christ, as members of the Body of Christ, to earn God’s favor or to achieve his being pleased with us, do we? <br /><br />No. Because God is already perfectly pleased with us on account of Christ Jesus’ obedient life, sacrificial death to sin, and new life, which are ours through faith. <br /><br />We love because he first loved us. <br />Because his love is in us. <br /><br />In addition to serving this Body in ways like those I’ve just mentioned, the Body of Christ also turns its attention to the lost and dying of this world so they, too, may know the Good News of God’s grace in Christ Jesus and be saved. <br /><br />The Body of Christ consists of eyes, ears, and all its members … and you are each one of those members. <br /><br />“God’s stewards are uniquely singular, yet profoundly plural.” Again, that means that “God’s stewards recognize that their lives are not solo performances but are personal responses to God, lived out within the community of faith to benefit the whole world.” <br /><br />And just like all the stewardship principles we’ve learned so far are, this one is quite profound when you consider it carefully. We are each fearfully and wonderfully made by God as unique and valuable people individually, but we have also been given a new life in Christ that isn’t a solo performance. <br /><br />Rather, it’s part of an ever-living and everlasting Body—a Body whose members will benefit from God’s love and grace together, forever. <br /><br />In the name of the Father and of the Son + and of the Holy Spirit <br /><br />Amen<br /><br /><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Sermon Rev. Rexford E. Umbenhaur III, pastor, Our Savior Lutheran Church, Los Angeles, California Modified <br /></span><br /> </div>RSThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04306924462833594561noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5887718702289107622.post-47799599443412577582024-01-22T06:49:00.000-08:002024-01-22T06:49:49.138-08:00Sermon January 20-21, 2024 Title: God’s Stewards: Saints and Sinners! <br />Text: Ephesians 4:17–24; Romans 7:21–25; Luke 18:9–14 <br /><br /> Facebook live: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/100064598803375/videos/1935485046845733" target="_blank">God’s Stewards: Saints and Sinners!</a><br /><br />22 to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, 23 and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, 24 and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. Eph. 4:22-24 <br /><br />You’ve all heard the story of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. <br /><br />It’s the story of a man who is really two people: an ingenious scientist and a menacing monster that constantly lurks inside. <br /><br />At one moment, the world sees the good doctor; the next, the murderer. As the plot thickens, Jekyll becomes more and more desperate in his struggle to suppress the wicked Hyde. But the point of the story is that the one man is truly both men—at the same time good and evil. It’s not the chemicals that cause the evil; it’s the man’s very nature. <br /><br />Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde might be a graphic way of representing the third stewardship principle of our series, which we explore today: <br /><br />God’s Stewards: Are Saints and Sinners. <br /><br />Our synod’s stewardship task force elaborates on this principle like this: <br /><br />“God’s stewards rejoice in and live out what God has declared them to be through the cross. At the same time, his stewards recognize they are sinners who fight sin and its consequences each day.” <br /><br />When Adam and Eve first sinned, an integral part of them died immediately; that is, they died spiritually to God. And that death left them with a very different nature. Ever since, all their descendants are born no longer in the likeness of God—the likeness in which Adam and Eve were originally created—but rather in the likeness of Adam and Eve after their sin and spiritual transformation. <br /><br />That’s death to God and his ways. And not only are all of Adam and Eve’s descendants conceived in sin and born with that nature infecting then spiritually, but it also lives in their bodies. All of this includes you and me. <br /><br />That’s the problem Jesus revealed to a Pharisee named Nicodemus when he once came to Jesus under the cover of darkness: <br /><br /><div>“Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” And “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the [Holy] Spirit is spirit” <br /><br />John 3:3, 5–6 <br /><br />The truth is, man’s situation is impossible for him to change—or even influence in any real manner. How can any creature change its inborn character or its flesh by itself? That’s why Jesus told his disciples, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible” Mt 19:26 <br /><br />God did do the impossible when he became one of us. Not only the miracle of the incarnation but God actually dying—on a cross. And perhaps those “impossible” seem less unlikely than the fact that he would do this for his sinful creatures—we who had so squandered the blessedness he’d given us. <br /><br />We know from the Book of Genesis that God spoke creation into existence from nothing. Ps 33:9 says, “For he spoke, and it came to be; he commanded, and it stood firm.” <br /><br />Paul wrote to the Christians in Rome, saying, “God . . . gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist” Rom 4:17 <br /><br />Through the prophet Isaiah, God said, “my word . . . 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” Is 55:11 <br /><br />Through those means, people are given faith that apprehends God in Jesus. <br /><br />Paul wrote, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come” 2 Cor 5:17 <br /><br />And the new spiritually reborn person, which includes you and me, is re-created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. <br /><br />But while God regenerates us spiritually through Baptism and his Gospel Word, our flesh remains utterly infected with sin. We are saint and sinner simultaneously. <br /><br />St. Paul writes again, “For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh” Rom 7:18 <br /><br />And in our second reading this morning, Paul goes on to say, “So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin” Rom 7:21–25 <br /><br />You and I and all Christians are saints and sinners simultaneously. <br /><br />We are both bound in sin and forgiven in Christ. <br /><br />That’s why Paul exhorts us “to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness” Eph 4:22–24 <br /><br />As Christians, we live a daily life of struggle and warfare, just as Paul says of himself in the seventh chapter of his Letter to the Romans. <br /><br />[Do, do Verses] <br /><br />It’s our flesh that’s selfish and self-centered. <br /><br />The Spirit fights against that. <br /><br />Thanks be to God, then, that we are fully and completely forgiven in Christ Jesus. Christ and the Holy Spirit working through God’s Law and Gospel do that for us. Fortunately, we aren’t alone in this struggle. In Galatians chap. 5, Paul speaks to us as stewards of God saying: <br /><br />Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, [and] self-control; against such things there is no law. Gal 5:19–23 <br /><br />The fact that you experience a constant struggle between your two natures doesn’t indicate that you’ve fallen from grace, but rather the opposite, for it is proof that you’re living in a state of grace. <br /><br />If you desire to live a more Godly life that is proof that God is working in you! <br /><br />It’s crucial that we continue to fight this battle, putting to death the desires of our sinful flesh, for to stop, to no longer care or feel the struggle, means we’re sliding down a slippery slope back toward spiritual death. <br /><br />Fortunately, we don’t face our life as God’s stewards alone, by our own power. For God’s Gospel Word, his Holy Absolution, and the Sacraments strengthen our faith and assure us that the victory Jesus won by his cross. <br /><br />For Jesus says, “Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing” <br /><br />John 15:4–5 <br /><br />Similarly, in the sixth chapter of Ephesians, Paul encourages us by writing, <br /><br />“In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication” Eph 6:16–18 <br /><br />And in the eighth chapter of Romans, the apostle assures us: <br /><br />“No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 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, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” Rom 8:37–39 <br /><br />Christian stewardship includes our whole life as saints who are simultaneously sinners. <br /><br />It means being in God’s Word regularly through church and Bible study attendance so that you can be equipped to meet your day’s challenges. <br /><br />It means walking according to the Holy Spirit with the truth in your mind, in your heart, and on your lips as Jesus did when in battle with Satan in the desert. <br /><br />And good stewardship means having an active and prayer life. <br /><br />As St. Paul says, “We do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day” 2 Cor 4:16 <br /><br />“God’s stewards are saints and sinners,” At the same time, his stewards recognize they are sinners who fight sin and its consequences each day.” <br /><br />“Thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” 1 Cor 15:57 <br /><br />In the name of the Father and of the Son + and of the Holy Spirit <br /><br />Amen <br /><br /><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Sermon Rev. Rexford E. Umbenhaur III, pastor, Our Savior Lutheran Church, Los Angeles, California Modified <br /></span><br /> <br /><br /> </div>RSThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04306924462833594561noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5887718702289107622.post-15737521457079889722024-01-15T06:01:00.000-08:002024-01-15T06:08:05.074-08:00Sermon January 13-14, 2024 Title: God’s Stewards: Managers, Not Owners!<div>Text: 1 Chronicles 29:1–3, 6, 9–18; 2 Corinthians 8:1–7; 9:7–8; Luke 12:41–48</div><div><br />Facebook live: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/100064598803375/videos/808454674383685" target="_blank">Stewardship 2</a><br /><br />“Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required, and from him to whom they entrusted much, they will demand the more” Luke 12:48 <br /><br />This morning’s message is the second in our overall stewardship series. The important principle we’re exploring today is: <br /><br />God’s Stewards Are Managers, Not Owners. <br /><br />This means, as our synod has said, that “God’s stewards have been entrusted by God with life and life’s resources and given the privilege of responsibly and joyfully managing them for him.” <br /><br />When the word stewardship is mentioned among Christians, many of us immediately turn our thoughts toward the subject of money. However, that’s only one aspect or one piece of the topic, and we are the poorer if we think of stewardship only in terms of money. <br /><br />As I mentioned in our sermon last week, St. Francis of Assisi astutely said, <br /><br />“Stewardship is everything I do after, ‘I believe.’” <br /><br />That is, we have been made God’s own not simply by means of our fleshly birth but also through our rebirth by his Word and Baptism, and as his stewards, each of us has been: <br /><br />“Entrusted by God with life and life’s resources and given the privilege and responsibly of joyfully managing them for him.” <br /><br />Have you ever given much thought to the truth that God has entrusted you with very precious things? To begin, you have been entrusted with life. Not only are you alive today but Jesus’ death on the cross has given you, life in heaven that will never end. In other words, you have been blessed with infinite resources and blessings beyond your wildest imagination. <br /><br />Then, have you ever thought that our house, car, furniture, appliances, clothes, computers, televisions - all of our wealth - really aren’t ours but rather belong to God, who has entrusted all of them and more to you and me? <br /><br />For most of us, that’s a totally foreign concept because in our sinful nature we naturally think that all we have is ours, or, for some, yours and your spouse’s. We believe we’re the owners. After all, we bought it, made it, or were given all we have. For much of it, we did do the labor to earn the money. We saved, invested, took risks, worried, sweated, and sacrificed for all we have. So even to entertain the idea that it all was just entrusted to us as stewards is something many don’t want to believe. <br /><br />We can understand; accepting that it’s all been entrusted to us would mean there are implications. <br /><br />It would mean a drastic change in our viewpoint on many things. <br /><br />It would mean a change in the perspective from which we operate our life and use our resources. <br /><br />And yet as much as it goes against our self-centered natures, the truth is that all we have or will have has been entrusted to us. It’s been given over to us for our care, our protection, our use, our performance with, and our enjoyment, and that includes our life and all of life’s resources. <br /><br />We are managers, accountable to God, who is the Creator-owner. <br /><br />If you think carefully about all that you have and trace it back, you really can see how everything goes back to its Creator-owner, God. <br /><br />Ps 24:1 states this truth beautifully: <br /><br />“The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein.” <br /><br />In the meaning of our second stewardship principle, “God’s stewards are managers, not owners,” we learn not only that we’ve been “entrusted by God with life and life’s resources,” but that we’ve also been given the “privilege of responsibly and joyfully managing them for him.” <br /><br />I’ve noticed that in today’s culture the word privilege seems to have been overcome by the word right. <br /><br />Perhaps that’s due to an increase in entitlement thinking. It seems the word privilege may be fading into antiquity. But no matter how entitled our cultural thinking becomes, there are still those who are more privileged and those who are less privileged. <br /><br />You don’t have to travel to Latin America or Africa to find people who are poor or don’t have much food or enough money to pay rent or other bills. In our own community, in our own neighborhoods, or even travel to St. Paul’s in Pontiac, to see that there are those who aren’t as privileged as others. <br /><br />In our Gospel, we heard Jesus saying, <br /><br />“Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required, and from him to whom they entrusted much, they will demand the more” Luke 12:48 <br /><br />We all have been entrusted and privileged with a differing variety of tangible and intangible items in life - life’s resources , and we each will have to give an account to the Lord of how we managed the things he’s entrusted to us, as the apostle Paul writes in his letter to the Christians in Rome: <br /><br />“For none of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself. For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s” Rom 14:7–8 <br /><br />And St. Paul further writes, <br /><br />“So then each of us will give an account of himself to God” 14:12 <br /><br />We have been richly privileged by God in many and diverse ways. But who are we or what have we done to be so blessed? Again, Paul writes, <br /><br />“Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! ‘For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor?’ ‘Or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid?’” Rom 11:33–35 <br /><br />God graciously entrusts and privileges us with all we have—including our intellect, education, talents, and experiences—in order that we may joyfully manage those resources for him. And even though we manage life and life’s resources for the owner, we are also beneficiaries of them. <br /><br />Even though all our money is the Lord’s, yet a portion of it is for us—for our needs, such as food, clothing, shelter, and the other necessities of life. <br /><br />Additionally, the Lord privileges us with luxuries—all the things through or with which we experience joy and that we could otherwise live without. It’s part of the privilege God’s given us, and it’s a witness of our stewardship. <br /><br />But the Lord does also expect us to manage the money and other resources he has entrusted to us to help the truly needy in our midst—those who can’t work, those who do work but get paid so little they can’t afford the necessities of life, and those who fall into a crisis period that puts them under great financial stress. All these we should be prepared and ready to help. <br /><br />Additionally, the Lord blesses us with more than our needs require so that we can support his ministry and mission, which are really to our benefit as well as to our neighbor’s. <br /><br />The reason this building is here, the reason we have the pavilion and all the land our church sits on is to use them and their contents to carry out Christ’s ministry in this place and in this neighborhood. The building, pavilion and property are working facilities, not monuments, and the Lord has privileged each of us in such a way that we can joyfully support all of this. If we aren’t managing what the Lord entrusts to us and blesses us with personally and collectively then no one will. <br /><br />In our country, there are many programs to help people get money, get fed, have a place to sleep, and get medical help—inadequate and abused as those programs are—but there is no one to build and support Christ’s ministry and mission except the Lord’s children. <br /><br />What’s more, our work here is but one small part of Christ’s ministry. An important reason our church body, The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod, exists is to pool a portion of the resources the Lord provides to each of us so we can do much more mission and ministry work together than we can on our own as an individual congregation. <br /><br />The Old Testament Reading this morning was written and preserved for us, the Church, by the Lord and serves as a witness and example for us. In it, we heard about how Israel provided for the building of the temple. Everyone made his or her freewill offering gladly and abundantly, including the king. Literally hundreds of tons of gold and silver were given, along with bronze, iron, wood, stones, marble, colored stones, and precious stones. <br /><br />The text says they willingly and freely offered it to the Lord. And in v 14, after the Lord was praised by David and everyone, King David put what happened into proper perspective, pointing out that his people were only giving back a portion of what had come to them from the Lord, saying, <br /><br />“But who am I, and what is my people, that we should be able thus to offer willingly? For all things come from you, and of your own have we given you” 1 Chr 29:14 <br /><br />Our Epistle from 2 Corinthians speaks of the marvelous example of faith and gratitude that the Macedonian Christians were. The text points out that they were in extreme poverty, yet out of the abundance of joy they had on account of their being saved by God’s grace through Christ, their poverty overflowed into a wealth of generosity. They actually begged Paul and Titus to let them support the relief efforts for the saints in Jerusalem, and they joyfully gave beyond their means. <br /><br />Remember the old widow who put a penny in the temple offering box? Remember what Jesus said when he saw what she did? He said, <br /><br />“Truly, I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all of them. For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on” (Luke 21:3–4) <br /><br />In faith and gratitude, there are those who strive to give to the church while still giving to charity, and then there are people and families who are happy to give much more. We have been “entrusted by God with life and life’s resources and given the privilege of responsibly and joyfully managing them for him,” <br /><br />And here’s an important something else to remember: you are the object and beneficiary of God’s love! He will only ask, command, or encourage you to do and to think in ways that will bless you and your neighbor and that will enhance both of your lives. You know that with absolute certainty because on the cross Jesus has already graciously taken and suffered all of our punishment and in exchange has given us everlasting life and the promised hope of benefiting from his love forever. <br /><br />In the name of the Father and of the Son + and of the Holy Spirit <br /><br />Amen</div><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><br /><br />Sermon Rev. Rexford E. Umbenhaur III, pastor, Our Savior Lutheran Church, Los Angeles, California Modified</span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .25in; margin-right: -45.0pt; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in -45pt 0in 0.25in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: right 15.0pt left .25in; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span face=""Verdana",sans-serif" style="font-size: 8pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; mso-font-kerning: .5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><div><br /> </div>RSThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04306924462833594561noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5887718702289107622.post-78876206217569452952024-01-15T05:53:00.000-08:002024-01-15T05:53:21.940-08:00Sermon January 7, 2024 Title: God’s Stewards: God’s Stewards! <br />Text: Isaiah 43:1–3a; 2 Corinthians 5:14–21; Luke 19:1–10 <br /><br /> Facebook live: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/100064598803375/videos/1805776269860844" target="_blank">Stewardship 1</a><br /><br />17Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come” 2 Cor. 5:17 <br /><br /> This morning is the beginning of a series of Sundays that will focus on the important topic of Christian stewardship. It’s a subject that is little understood, misunderstood, or not understood by many, and yet stewardship is part of the very fabric of our lives as people, especially as people of God, as people who’ve been reborn by the power of the Holy Spirit though Water and the Word (our Baptism) and given a new life to live, a new life that’s lived with purpose, to the glory of God. <br /><br />The support, care, and management of God’s ministry here in this place, as well as the care and management of all the other aspects of our lives, is the outward expression of our being children of God. <br /><br />Our church body after much study and discussion defines Christian stewardship as “the free and joyous activity of the child of God and God’s family, the church, in managing all of life and life’s resources for God’s purposes.” <br /><br />Today we speak about: <br /><br />1. God’s Stewards: Are God’s Stewards. <br /><br />This sounds a bit repetitive. But this foundational principle makes an important point. And that is: that we are the Lord’s, since he is the Creator of all things. <br /><br />We are his creation, originally formed out of the very substance of this earth, knit together by him in our mother’s womb, as Psalm 139 informs us. <br /><br />And not only that, but as believers, as baptized people, we are a new creation, people personally redeemed by God, people given a new life to live. <br /><br />And so, stewardship is, as St. Francis of Assisi said long ago: <br /><br />“Everything I do after I say, I believe.” <br /><br />Because of our inherited sinful nature, most often the characteristic we naturally display is self-centeredness. <br /><br />Martin Luther called it “the heart turned in on itself.” <br /><br />St. Augustine, an Early Church Father, called sin being curved in on oneself, which is really quite descriptive because that is the most prevalent characteristic of sin. [The looking inward] <br /><br />All people, including you and me, naturally think of our bodies, our lives, this world, our personal resources, and the resources of this world in relation to us at the center. Even what we do or don’t do for others is covered or affected by sin. <br /><br />We’re like a husband working in his garage, where his hands are soiled with dirt and grease from his project, who’s told by his wife that she’s going out shopping for a while. He gets the idea to do something nice for her while she’s away. So, he goes inside the house and straightens up the lamp shades, the pillows on the couch, folds some laundry, and replaces the towels in the bathroom. When his wife comes home, she’s astounded, and she’s angry. For you see, he didn’t wash his hands. They were soiled, and all his loving work, everything he’d touched, was tainted with dirt and grease. <br /><br />Sin touches everything we do. <br /><br />And so, it’s true more often than we realize, our old nature doesn’t think or operate in terms of being in an intimate, dependent relationship with God, let alone as being God’s very own stewards, trustees, or caretakers. <br /><br />Gen 1:1, reminds us, “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth,” <br /><br />This helps us put ourselves, our lives, and this whole world into the proper perspective, underscoring the basic truth that God created all things and therefore he’s the rightful owner of all things. <br /><br />For without this truth providing the right perspective and foundation to our faith and lives, the only thing left is the idea that all the things we surround ourselves with are ours to use or abuse as we please, as if it all hasn’t been put into our care, or entrusted to us by God. <br /><br />The Old Testament Reading this morning supports and confirms God’s love for us and his relationship to us as Creator and Redeemer as he spoke through the prophet Isaiah: <br /><br />“But now thus says the Lord, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: ‘Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine … For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior’ ” (Is 43:1, 3). <br /><br />And the apostle Paul confirms this truth, writing to the Christians in Corinth, saying, <br /><br />“Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body” (1 Cor 6:19–20). <br /><br />God through Christ, in his grace and mercy, by Jesus’ death on the cross, saved us from the eternal condemnation of our self-centered, self-fulfilling ways, and so St. Paul in the sixth chapter of Romans enlightens us, saying, <br /><br />“We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life” (Rom 6:4). <br /><br />That is, having been given a new life, we live that new life with a different perspective on the whole of our life and on all the things of this life. <br /><br />And in our Epistle this morning from 2 Corinthians, Paul informs us, <br /><br />“the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised. . . . Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come” (2 Cor 5:14–15, 17). <br /><br />Everyone is seeking fulfillment and purpose in their lives, and they pursue those in any number of ways, but the truth is, we are the Lord’s. <br /><br />We are his creatures, the offspring of the one man he formed from the very dust of the ground. <br /><br />So, when we live as if we aren’t his and aren’t stewards of his, when we don’t live in accord with all that that means, life is out of sync, and life will then, on the larger scale, seem meaningless, purposeless, and unfulfilled. <br /><br />Paul says in the second chapter of Ephesians: <br /><br />“For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them” (Eph 2:8–10). <br /><br />Due to God’s undeserved kindness and love, you and I are saved from the just condemnation and eternal punishment our inherited sin and actual sin deserves, and we can and should rejoice in that reality, always expressing our gratitude. <br /><br />See, the Lord didn’t save us so we would continue living as if we aren’t in a restored intimate relationship with him. Rather, he became one of us, who then willingly suffered, was crucified, and rose again to save each of us for his good pleasure and a life filled with purpose—the purpose of doing good works, which God has prepared for us to do. <br /><br />This means, that we get to managing all of life for God’s good purpose. <br /><br />So, whether you’re in church, at work, at school, at home with your family, out in the community, or traveling about, whatever you’re doing and wherever you are, remember, God’s stewards are God’s stewards, and you are to be so to his glory, according to his revealed will as we find it in Holy Scripture and as explained in the catechism. <br /><br />In other words, it’s a witness to the truth of who you really are through Baptism and faith: a redeemed child of God, a steward of the one and only God. <br /><br />In the name of the Father and of the Son + and of the Holy Spirit <br /><br />Amen<div><br /></div><div><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Sermon Rev. Rexford E. Umbenhaur III, pastor, Our Savior Lutheran Church, Los Angeles, California - Modified</span></div><div><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .25in; margin-right: -45.0pt; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in -45pt 0in 0.25in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: right 15.0pt left .25in; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span face=""Verdana",sans-serif" style="font-size: 8pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; mso-font-kerning: .5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><br /> </div>RSThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04306924462833594561noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5887718702289107622.post-79820793593006757432024-01-15T05:43:00.000-08:002024-01-15T06:07:04.741-08:00Sermon January 6 2024 Circuit Epiphany Service Christ Milford<p>Circuit Epiphany Service Christ Milford</p><p>President Davis Preaching</p><p>Rev. Tkac, Rev. Moyer, Rev. Dr.. Johnson, President Rev. Davis, Rev. Moldenhauer</p><p><a href="https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=pfbid02agcxVk5FBgWJ5Lg6G4NS8tma3iGgYnRE5vCEJvcK9AewYhynGaXdKGYPZaD2QGdCl&id=100064598803375" target="_blank">Circuit Epiphany Service</a><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://scontent.fdet1-2.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t39.30808-6/416631674_767071018789518_243519398496577189_n.jpg?stp=dst-jpg_s720x720&_nc_cat=104&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=dd5e9f&_nc_ohc=c9OGhZhYagkAX-BkHHg&_nc_ht=scontent.fdet1-2.fna&oh=00_AfD9ifIdOxJyfzyopIsTA7IuOSz42-5L_mPf8DOtMqRvtg&oe=65A95E8D" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="536" data-original-width="720" height="536" src="https://scontent.fdet1-2.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t39.30808-6/416631674_767071018789518_243519398496577189_n.jpg?stp=dst-jpg_s720x720&_nc_cat=104&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=dd5e9f&_nc_ohc=c9OGhZhYagkAX-BkHHg&_nc_ht=scontent.fdet1-2.fna&oh=00_AfD9ifIdOxJyfzyopIsTA7IuOSz42-5L_mPf8DOtMqRvtg&oe=65A95E8D" width="720" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p>RSThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04306924462833594561noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5887718702289107622.post-24693203570333155622024-01-02T10:30:00.000-08:002024-01-15T05:44:35.997-08:00Sermon December 30-31, 2023Title: Christ, fulfills all things! <br />Text: Luke 2:22-40 <br /><br /> Facebook live: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/100064598803375/videos/224386387414216" target="_blank">Christ, fulfills all things!</a><br /><br />29 “Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace,<br /> according to your word;<br /> 30 for my eyes have seen your salvation<br /> 31 that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples,<br /> 32 a light for revelation to the Gentiles,<br /> and for glory to your people Israel.” <br /><br />“This past year, this year of years, how shall it tell upon my whole life! All has gone well in a worldly point of view, how is it in a spiritual? My God how? I fear I have lost ground. I fear I have had less of the spirit of piety this year than during the last; yet God’s goodness has been given more than usually to me this year. How ungrateful! What a poor return!<br /> <br /> One year ago I had myself under a tolerable discipline [and yet] the many secret determinations to pursue a straightforward course of industry, diligence, virtue … how few of them have I kept. I am almost weary of making resolutions and feel more like giving myself to circumstances.” <br /><br />Those words written on December 31, 1843 are excerpted from the book, Forgotten Valor – the Memoirs, Journals, & Civil War Letters of Orlando B. Willcox, which was edited by my friend and fellow classmate Rev. Bob Scott.<br /> <br /> While General Willcox’s sentiments still sound very contemporary for a journal entry written 180 years ago; the tone seems to reflect the wisdom of a veteran of many New Year’s Eves rather than the 20 year old officer fresh out of West Pointe, that Willcox was at the time of the writing.<br /> <br /> His thoughts and his concerns mirror our own as we enter a New Year, with new resolutions and new uncertainty in the times we live.<br /> <br /> Mary and Joseph had their own uncertainty.<br /> <br /> 22 And when the time came for their purification according to the Law of Moses, [Mary and Joseph] brought [Jesus] up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord<br /> <br /> So Mary and Joseph bring Jesus to the temple to make a sacrifice to the Lord of “a pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons.” And while there, to do as the Law required, they run into a man named Simeon who we are told was righteous and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel, or the comfort and peace of God and the Holy Spirit was upon him. 26 And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ.<br /> You may get a feel for this as we here at Peace do when a baby is brought into the Lord’s house and all the people come and gather around wanting to hold the baby with smiles of joy on their faces. But this brings a bit of a different reaction: <br /><br />27 And he came in the Spirit into the temple, and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him according to the custom of the Law, 28 he took him up in his arms and blessed God and said,<br /> <br /> 29 “Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace,<br /> according to your word;<br /> 30 for my eyes have seen your salvation<br /> 31 that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples,<br /> 32 a light for revelation to the Gentiles,<br /> and for glory to your people Israel.”<br /> <br /> The joy of seeing this child, this Jesus, brought to fulfillment for Simeon what the Lord by the Holy Spirit had promised, that he would not die until he had seen the Christ.<br /> <br /> The joy in Simeon’s song is, and will be once again sung by this congregation following the reception of the Lord’s Supper, as we too will sing in joy with Simeon what the Lord has given for the forgiveness of the sins of the world. The forgiveness we receive is the forgiveness Simeon held!<br /> <br /> New Year’s Eve is a day of both joy and dread for most of us. You know we joy in the celebrating of the end of the old year and all its failings with the hope for the New Year to come, and with it, a better outcome for our lives in all that we say and do. <br /><br />I look to this New Year, like you, with the added hope of continuing my new life’s work and all that the Lord has called me to do, here at Peace as I celebrate 5 years as Pastor here on January 6th and the joys and trials that await me in this New Year. <br /><br />In Forgotten Valor, General Willcox continues:<br /> <br /> “Oh how can I but feel that God has been with me! How can I but determine again & again that I will begin the New Year with a renewed heart, and lead a new and better life. But how weak am I, how incapable of carrying out such plans! Help, oh Thou who hast hitherto sustained me, that I may make a good improvement of the New Year. Not by living entirely to myself, but by preparing both mind & body for serving Thee as circumstances require.”<br /> <br /> The truth is resolutions we make are resolutions we break. It seems that no matter how many or how few we always fall short. So also with our spiritual life as the Law is concerned; our ability is unable to keep the Law and it continues to point to that reality. And too, just like you, I will fall short of the mark I set for myself with this year, this ministry, and this church. But, I am blessed to serve and rejoice in the Lord’s calling.<br /> <br /> Our Old Testament lesson sings the same praise:<br /> <br /> 10 I will greatly rejoice in the LORD;<br /> my soul shall exult in my God,<br /> for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation;<br /> he has covered me with the robe of righteousness,<br /> as a bridegroom decks himself like a priest with a beautiful headdress,<br /> and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. Isaiah 61:10<br /> <br /> Sin and its brokenness, brings death.<br /> That is what sin does.<br /> We who are born in sin will die.<br /> <br /> It is at that time when many of us get older that we contemplate our life. Things we’ve done and things we wish we would have done; and we look at our finite lives and the eternity that continues after death wondering what will be.<br /> <br /> If you think about measuring up and being good enough, how good will you need to be?<br /> <br /> But, it’s bigger than that. It’s who we are. As those born in sin we come to this life separated from God. Hard as it may seem to us we are born God’s enemies and apart from God’s work we are condemned.<br /> <br /> Simeon had, 26 [it] revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ.<br /> <br /> He had great joy in the Good News that a savior – this baby - would be the reconciliation and the peace of Israel. But this child would be Simeon’s peace and het is your peace and my peace too. We too can joy in the child that Simeon held because he has brought peace between God and man.<br /> <br /> Christ has given you peace and life eternal!<br /> <br /> Death’s sting has been swallowed up in victory by Jesus Christ and we can all have comfort in His blessed work and this blessed Good News. As we lose loved ones and think about this frail broken existence we inhabit here in this world - we can have peace. Not on our feelings … but on God’s word of promise. <br /><br />Luther in his poem, The Unchanging word says:<br /> <br /> “Feelings come and feelings go,<br /> And feelings are deceiving;<br /> My warrant is the Word of God–<br /> Naught else is worth believing.<br /> Though all my heart should feel condemned<br /> For want of some sweet token,<br /> There is One greater than my heart<br /> Whose Word cannot be broken.<br /> I’ll trust in God’s unchanging Word<br /> Till soul and body sever,<br /> For, though all things shall pass away,<br /> HIS WORD SHALL STAND FOREVER!”<br /> <br /><span style="font-size: xx-small;"> ― Martin Luther</span><br /> <br /> Comfort and peace is in Christ, the Word of God, who has come to rescue you. Comfort and peace, knows the joy of Christ Jesus in your life. Comfort and peace is being called to follow Christ by God’s Holy Spirit who indwells all believers and is called the comforter by Jesus himself, <br /><br />“[Who is] the way, and the truth, and the life as our Advent midweek theme proclaimed. <br /><br />No one comes to the Father except through [him]. <br /><br />Dear friends, you have access to the father through Christ Jesus our Lord who came to live, suffer, die and rise again for each one of you and will give you true peace - perfect peace - found only in His saving arms that were outstretched upon the cross as He gave His life for you.<br /> <br /> That child, that babe that brought Simeon great joy is your joy as well. In him true peace is found. <br /><br />In the name of the Father and of the Son + and of the Holy Spirit. <br /><br />Amen
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<p> </p>RSThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04306924462833594561noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5887718702289107622.post-82180636438635769962023-12-26T06:29:00.000-08:002023-12-26T08:14:33.513-08:00Sermon December 25, 2023 Christmas DayTitle: God’s son, our savior!<div>Text: Hebrews 1:1-6 <br /><br />Facebook live: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/100064598803375/videos/700989455138578">God’s son, our savior!</a></div><div>
<br />1 Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. 3 He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. <br /><br />Many years ago, the question was posed in an email to me and other church members who were engaged in a bible study at a small church I attended.<br /> <br /> It simple read: “Are there Prophets today?” The question was asked in regards to discussions that had arisen during the study. Some believed and had wondered if God still gave special revelation to people today – speaking to them directly – or in the same way that he had in the past? Many answered the email with thoughts, opinions and speculation.<br /> <br /> After carefully thinking about this question I replied with the first 30 world of Hebrews 1. <br /><br />1 Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son. NIV<br /> <br /> In a grand way the letter to the Hebrews opens: <br /><br />In many and various ways God long ago, spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but at the end of these days spoke also to us in His Son.<br /> <br /> He did not give the revelation of the salvation to come at one time and in its entirety, but bit by bit showing one fact concerning the coming Messiah and now another, revealing first the fact that He would be born of a woman, then that He would be of the seed of Abraham, then that Judah was to be His linage, and then that He was to be a son of David.<br /> <br /> At other times, in this Son, we see his deepest humiliation, and then his highest triumph and exaltation.<br /> <br /> In many ways God spoke of old: through institutions, or sacrifice, sometimes by parable, or psalm and sometimes in a dream or vision. Thus God spoke in the times of long ago. But that was not His final speech or his revelation. <br /><br />And that is not to say that he is bound to never do that again.<br /> <br /> But, he is bound to truth so that those who claim to be speaking for God better be darn sure that they are speaking truth … whether heard by dream, vision or audible voice or speaking forth what God has already said in his word, and it better be in accord with the truths of scripture.<br /> <br /> The son is his appointed heir. But as Luther states: Everything that is said of Christ’s humiliation and exaltation must be ascribed to Christ the man, for the divine nature can be neither humiliated nor exalted. <br /><br />Jesus Christ, God’s son according to His humanity has been appointed Heir of all things. According to this humanity and God’s will, he should be Lord over all things created and the universe should be in subjection to Him.<br /> <br /> He is the rightful Heir of the eternal God and all that is his. The worlds and all things were created through Him and everything as we know it came to be through His almighty power.<br /> <br /> Jesus Christ, in his humility and in his divinity, the second person of the Trinity, distinct from the Father and Holy Spirit as to persons, is nevertheless one in essence with Father and Spirit, and Himself the Creator of the world.<br /> <br /> Popular Commentary of the Bible P.E Kretzmann NT Vol. II Pg 439<br /> <br /> Like many I took philosophy in college and had to read many philosophers at the seminary. To say it got a bit tedious would be an understatement. If I never had to read Immanuel Kant or René Descartes again would be too soon. I apologize if you are a fan … though looking for meaning in self and what is known … leads many Philosophers to unbelief and atheism.<br /> <br /> One such Philosopher, Jean-Paul Sartre, and being near the end of his life told Pierre Victor: "I do not feel that I am the product of chance, a speck of dust in the universe, but someone who was expected, prepared, prefigured. In short, a being whom only a Creator could put here; and this idea of a creating hand refers to God."<br /> <br /> His fellow philosopher, atheist, and long-time live-in companion Simone de Beauvoir retorted: "How should one explain the senile act of a turncoat?"<br /> <br /> HIS Magazine, April, 1983.<br /> <br /> Certainly, we who have been brought to faith in Christ by the working of the Holy Spirit know and understand the work of God in the sinner and an eternity that awaits you and me who believe. I hope to meet Jean-Paul Sartre in heaven and maybe, just maybe he will be able to enlighten me to the benefits and value of philosophy?<br /> <br /> At Christmas the coming of the Christ child reveals what God had long ago and in various ways spoken by the prophets. Through God’s revelation in these last days, we see the flesh and blood of his means to conquer sin, death and the devil born to a virgin in a lowly stable. What had been spoken of … is now here to see in a tangible way as God’s word reveals it to us.<br /> <br /> 3 He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power.<br /> <br /> This God, who in the beginning was the word, and this Word was with God, and was God. <br /><br />2 He was in the beginning with God [and] 3 All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.<br /> <br /> He upholds the universe because according to the word of God all things were made by and through him.<br /> But it is not in his deity and in his power that he restores all things but in coming as a child, for you, and being what we are that he finishes and fulfills all that was spoken of him in times of old and by the profits.<br /> After making purification for sins …<br /> <br /> This child, this Jesus came to be the once and for all sacrifice for sin. He came to restore the relationship between God and man. He came to die in your place and rise for your justification; which means he came to be what you and I couldn’t be. God’s son, begotten of the Father, <br /><br /> 6 … when he brings the firstborn into the world, he says,<br /><br /> “Let all God's angels worship him.”<br /> <br /> This child, this Jesus, this God/man, this babe in the manger … came for you.<br /> <br /> … and he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, 4 having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs.<br /> <br /> In the name of the Father, + of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit<br /><br /><div>Amen </div><div><br /></div></div>RSThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04306924462833594561noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5887718702289107622.post-28372792971461833442023-12-26T06:26:00.000-08:002023-12-26T06:26:06.271-08:00Sermon December. 24, 2023 Christmas EveTitle: God’s love for you, is seen in Christ!<br />Text: 1 John 4:7-16<div>Readings - Isaiah 7:10-14, 1 John 4:7-16, Matthew 1:18-25 (ESV)</div><div><br /> Facebook live: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/100064598803375/videos/1982586385445589" target="_blank">God’s love for you, is seen in Christ!</a><br /><br />9 In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. 10 In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. <br /><br />The Father’s love is made known to us – you and me - in the sending of his son Jesus the promised incarnate son of God from eternity past the Alpha and Omega the first and the last.<br /> <br /> In the beginning when God spoke all things came to be. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the word was God. God’s Christ – begotten of the father – born of a Virgin for you!<br /> <br /> What child is this, who, laid to rest,<br /> On Mary's lap is sleeping?<br /> Whom angels greet with anthems sweet<br /> While shepherds watch are keeping?<br /> This, this is Christ the king,<br /> Whom shepherds guard and angels sing;<br /> Haste, haste to bring Him laud,<br /> The babe, the son of Mary! <br /><br />We hear this Good News in the words of our gospel tonight.<br /> <br /> “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”<br /> <br /> The fall into sin brought death. All are born in death and live a life of death. You and I apart from Jesus and faith created by the Holy Spirit - have no hope. But that is the Good News of a savior who saves, redeems and calls from death to life. It is Good news tonight; it is good News tomorrow; it is good News because it is redemption, restoration and resurrection from death to life eternal.<br /> <br /> Why lies He in such mean estate<br /> Where ox and ass are feeding?<br /> Good Christian, fear; for sinners here<br /> The silent Word is pleading.<br /> Nails, spear shall pierce Him through,<br /> The cross be borne for me, for you;<br /> Hail, hail the Word made flesh,<br /> The babe, the son of Mary! <br /><br />In the past God spoke through the prophets of old as the writer to the Hebrews says but in these last days he has spoken through his Son.<br /> <br /> 14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. (God with us)<br /> <br /> God’s word made flesh, Jesus Christ, was spoken of, was prophesized and foretold, that the plan of redemption would come in God’s time and in God’s way. But who is this Jesus … and more importantly … as Jesus asked his disciples … who do you say that I am?<br /> <br /> Your answer to this question determines quite literally life and death. <br /><br />This humble child that now lies in a manger is truly the King of Kings and Lord of Lords whether he is your King and your Lord depends on faith in him, this Jesus who created the heavens and the Earth, lived, suffered, died, and rose again from the dead for you … to bring peace to this broken world.<br /> <br /> So bring Him incense, gold, and myrrh;<br /> Come, peasant, king, to own Him.<br /> The King of kings salvation brings;<br /> Let loving hearts enthrone Him.<br /> Raise, raise the song on high,<br /> The virgin sings her lullaby;<br /> Joy, joy, for Christ is born,<br /> The babe, the son of Mary! <br /><br />Dear friends we speak of incense, gold and myrrh for the king of Kings, and loving hearts enthrone him with song and voice. It is impossible to imagine the joy of heaven but we can get a glimpse … in this child, the babe the son of Mary! The Perfection of God’s only begotten son - Jesus Christ - sent down from Heaven and wrapped in swaddling clothes. … <br /><br />This child would grow into the man Christ Jesus.<br /> <br /> That God would become man shows the value of his life for you and your life in him.<br /> <br /> Since the incarnation when God, born of a virgin, became man - no longer is God separate from you on a mountain, or speaking to a prophet for you. <br /><br />Now in his flesh he has come to unite his death, with your death, and his life, with your life, so that in him we are made righteous by the power of the Holy Spirit by faith.<br /> <br /> John’s epistle confirms this when he writes:<br /> <br /> 13 By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. 14 And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. 15 Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God.<br /> <br /> God remains hidden. He reveals himself by his Spirit through the word. If you wish to know him don’t look into the heavens as the angles told the disciples as they looked up as he ascended before them.<br /> <br /> 11b …This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.” Acts 1:11b<br /> <br /> The ascension for the Son into heaven is not the end.<br /> <br /> The eternal victory is found in Christ’s glorious return to judge the living and the dead. <br /><br />Death is no escape. All will be judged. Some will depart to be with the Lord and others cast into … a hell of their own choosing.<br /> <br /> The good news though is that the Lord is on his throne and he still calls those who have ears to hear. Listen, come, and drink the living water for the river of life that is Jesus.<br /> <br /> As my Professor Peter Scare writes:<br /> <br /> Cain lives in every heart and each of us must die. Who then can raise the brother slain? Christ alone is Able.<br /> <br /> He is Able in the real sense and in the figurative sense. Unjustly killed Christ overcomes sin, death, and the devil for you. He is able to raise you up by the power of the simple things … water and word, bread and wine … for you and he continues through his church to make disciples.<br /> <br /> Let the little children come to me he calls and as a little child born in a manger, he came to be the savior of the world. And as the God/man in death he fulfilled all righteousness for you so that you too might be righteous.<br /> <br /> As our epistle reading ends:<br /> <br /> 17 By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment,<br /> <br /> Have no fear for in Christ you are forgiven and he has a place of everlasting comfort for you that awaits all who believe and trust in Christ.<br /> Because as [Jesus] is so also are we in this world. 18 There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love.<br /> <br /> But you are perfect in him … evermore and evermore!<br /> <br /> In the name of the Father, and of the Son + and of the Holy Spirit!<br /> <br /> Amen<div><br /> </div></div>RSThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04306924462833594561noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5887718702289107622.post-27685916999904597872023-12-26T06:21:00.000-08:002023-12-26T06:21:57.934-08:00Sermon Dec. 23, 2023 Advent 4Title: God’s favor!<div>Text: Luke 1:26-38</div><div><br /> Facebook live: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/100064598803375/videos/1968574730181928" target="_blank">God’s favor!</a><br /><br />“Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31 And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” <br /><br />Last week we talked about God’s redeemed people as witnesses to the truth. <br /><br />At times being the one to tell the truth is hard in the face of so much that is not truth it seems at times okay to just say nothing. I saw a video once where a man went to a college campus and talked to students as they walked to class asking, <br /><br />“What would you say if I told you I was 6’-4” though he was probably 5’7”. <br />They answered, “If you feel 6’-4” than who am I to question that.”</div><div>It got progressively worse until he finally said, <br />“What if I see myself as a 6’-4” Chinese woman?” <br />Finally, one exclaimed, “Oh, common!” <br /><br />The truth can be at time hard to discern and at other time very obvious. <br /><br />In our gospel we read of a young woman named Mary. <br /><br />27 … a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David.<br /> <br /> Certainly, this seems plausible as she was old enough to be betrothed to be married and the text does not give an age for Mary, but many conclude that she was young, probable in her mid-teens, possible around 15. This may seem young to us but in that day was not out of the ordinary.<br /> <br /> Mary at her age may have been more typical that not, just another young woman waiting to be married. What was unusual is the visit of God’s messenger, the angel Gabriel – in the sixth month of her cousin, Elizabeth’s pregnancy.<br /> <br /> If Mary at 15 was not too young to conceive and bear a child than her cousin Elizabeth was probably not too old, but I’m sure was probably much younger than we might associate with the phrase old age.<br /> <br /> The improbable and the impossible! <br /><br />Both Mary and Elizabeth had the Lord’s favor but in different ways. <br /><br />For Elizabeth the Angel Gabriel visited her husband Zachariah as he served in the temple with the good news that their prayers had been heard. With the angel’s visit it was now been answered, that through the usual course of events or as we might say – the birds and bees – Zachariah and Elizabeth would have a son and call his name John.<br /> <br /> Good news indeed for those who desire a child. But even better new from the mouth of Gabriel would come.<br /> <br /> 15 … and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother's womb. 16 And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God, 17 and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared.”<br /> <br /> John would be a normal child for his mom and dad but with a special calling and anointing from God.<br /> <br /> Conceived in the normal way, born in the normal way, though blessed with the Holy Spirit even in the womb of his mother, John was destined to be used by God for great things according to the Lord’s word.<br /> <br />For Mary, the angel does not come with answered prayers but with an announcement!<br /> <br /> 28 And he came to her and said, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!”<br /> Mary received the Lord’s favor through the spoken word of God.<br /> <br /> Though she was troubled by his visit as was Zachariah the word of God brought peace:<br /> <br /> 30 … “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31 And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most-High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”<br /> <br /> Certainly these were difficult words to hear for a seasoned mature woman let alone one of Mary’s age who was young and a virgin but old enough to understand the role of a man in conceiving a child.<br /> <br /> Mary does not ask who, what, when, or where but asks simply how?<br /> <br /> “How will this be, since I am a virgin?”<br /> <br /> Nothing is impossible for God!<br /> <br /> Not in the normal course of events the angel reveals the impossible working of God.<br /> <br /> “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God. 36 And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. 37 For nothing will be impossible with God.”<br /> <br /> The barren Elizabeth is now expecting a child!<br /> <br /> That which seemed improbable is a reality. <br /><br />The prayed for child is in the womb and the parents wait for his expected birth by the word of the Lord.<br /> <br /> Mary’s simple humble reply:<br /> <br /> “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.<br /> <br /> We see God’s work through the improbable birth of a son in John the Baptist destined to heralded God’s coming redemption.<br /> <br /> We also see God’s work through the impossible birth of his Son Jesus, conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit though without sin, and born for the redemption of fallen mankind.<br /> <br /> This is God’s work!<br />This is Good News! <br /><br />Just as the Ark carried Noah and his family - 8 persons in all - through the death of sin punished in the flood to the new life that emerged in God’s creation on the Mountains of Ararat, so too this humble young woman Mary, carried by God’s word and Spirit, the God man himself Jesus Christ in the Ark of her womb until his birth in Bethlehem.<br /> It recalls the Ark of God’s dwelling with the children of Israel and their escape from Egypt, through the wilderness of 40 years, to the fulfilling entrance through the Jordan River into God’s blessed Promised Land!<br /> <br /> With God’s favor, nothing is impossible for God!<br /> <br /> In the name of the Father, and of the Son + and of the Holy Spirit!<br /> <br /> Amen</div>RSThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04306924462833594561noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5887718702289107622.post-62538025799642196952023-12-26T06:16:00.000-08:002023-12-26T06:16:40.876-08:00Sermon December 20, 2023 3rd Advent Midweek Christ, MilfordTitle: Love and Death! <br />Text: John 6:30-40 Psalm 126 <br /><br /> Facebook live: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/ChristLutheranMilford/videos/328511579998447" target="_blank">Love and Death!</a><br /><br />35 Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. <br /><br />Life is good and death is bad, or at least that’s what we believe and understand from the perspective of this life - in the flesh that we live.
<br /><br /><br />Jesus Christ: The Way, the truth and the life. Has been the theme that we have focused on over these<br />Advent midweek services.<br /> <br />Pastor Moyer focused on the Way and how the word and the Holy Spirit, like GPS gets us to our desired destination. <br /><br />Pastor Johnson through eloquent speech and a few 10-dollar words thrown in as well, brought the Truth, pitted against a lie, as it pertains to the temporal and the eternal; and now I get to … as old J. Vernon McGree use to say on the radio, “Keep the cookies on the bottom shelf so the kiddies can get them.” I’m going to talk about Life, in a sense contrasting the life we lead now with the life eternal promised in Christ. <br /><br />Or, what the Way and the Truth bring us to. <br /><br />Life and death. <br /><br />It makes sense to us in a temporal human way. <br /><br />We know it all too well and we live it all too often. <br /><br />For pastors, we measure time to a degree, from funeral to funeral and we see those in our minds-eye that have been so important to us in so many ways in ministry, whether by the things they’ve done, or the things they’ve said, or as pastors, if we are honest with ourselves, at times the things they didn’t say – choosing to be kind rather than right. <br /><br />So, rather than looking at life and death, I’d like to talk about Love. Love and death. <br /><br />Love and Death is kind of a strange phrase. <br /> <br /> We might think life and death, as words that compare and contrast each other; but love and death seems odd to me, and maybe to you as well? <br /> <br /> Going back to my 20’s, I remember a movie of Woody Allen’s that came out in 1975 with that same title, Love and Death. <br /> <br /> It was a comedic period piece, set in Czarist Russia in the early 1800s, with the story of Boris played by Woody Allen who marries the beautiful Sonia played by Diane Keaton and together they set out to impersonate Spanish nobility with the end result to assassinate Napoleon, – thus the title Love and Death.<br /> <br /> But, it’s not so odd of a phrase as we might think. <br /> <br /> Love and death or death and love!<br /> <br /> The theme for our midweek Advent services proclaims as Jesus says to Thomas in John 14:6 - that there is one way to the Father and that way is only through him, saying: <br /> <br /> 6 … “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. <br /> <br /> So friends, if Jesus is - the way, the truth, and the Life, then it stands to reason that if he is speaking the truth then all other ways - not through him - lead to death. <br /><br />As Jesus said to Nicodemus who came, by cover of night, looking for answers from this teacher, come from God:<br /> <br /> 16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. <br /><br />The blessed John 3:16 <br /><br />Perish can mean, to die or pass away or even waste away and disappear <br />But dying or passing away does not bring eternal life. <br />And neither does to waste away or disappear? – not really. <br /><br />In a recent story this year, the remains of U.S. Army 2nd Lt. Gene F. Walker of Richmond, Indiana who killed in Germany during World War II, were identified by military scientists after nearly 79 years. <br /><br />The remains, remain. <br />So, to parish mush have a fuller meaning. <br /><br />16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish – should not be destroyed fully and without hope - but have eternal life. <br /><br />And that is friends where love comes in. <br />The Love of God, and the death of his son brings hope and this hope leads to eternal life! <br />The sacrificial love of God is the key.<br /> <br /> As we watch, prepare, and rejoice in the coming of the incarnate son of God, <br />As we look to Christmas, <br />As we behold the joy of the Christ child, we need to prepare for Love and Death, as well. <br /> <br /> Recognizing that life in the flesh broken by the fall - leads to death – As the Apostle Paul writes in Romans 6.<br /> <br /> 23 For the wages of sin is death, but [also joyfully reminds us that] the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord Rom. 6:23<br /> <br /> And this is the love of God, shown forth in the coming of his son Jesus, in the flesh, for you and me and for all who call on the name of our Lord. And that is the love of God shown forth in the coming of his son Jesus. For you and me and for all who call on the name of the Lord.<br /> <br />We wrestle with: <br /><br />Life in the flesh … vs life in the Spirit!<br /> The former leading to death - the later - life eternal.<br /><br />In the gospel reading for today those who had been following Jesus: <br /> <br /> 30 … said to him, “Then what sign do you do, that we may see and believe you? What work do you perform? <br /> <br /> O holy Child of Bethlehem. Descend to us, we pray Cast out our sin, and enter in, be born in us today. <br /><br />The wonderful Christmas hymn, O little town of Bethlehem brings to mind the Prophet Micha’s writing in Chapter 5 of his book.<br /> <br /> 2 But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah,<br /> who are too little to be among the clans of Judah,<br /> from you shall come forth for me<br /> one who is to be ruler in Israel,<br /> whose coming forth is from of old,<br /> from ancient days. <br /><br />This Bethlehem Ephrathah, this house of bread as it is called, will bring forth the true bread of life, the Messiah, the King of Kings and Lord of Lord’s - this Jesus the Christ Our Lord! <br /><br />Born of women.<br /> Born under the Law. <br /><br />Yet without sin.<br /> <br /> This bread of life, this food for the soul, is the God/man himself – Jesus Christ, the way, the truth and the life, who in love - is the one sent to be the savior of the world. <br /><br />He frees the world through his active obedience, being obedient to his father’s desire to redeem all. <br /> He releases those that are bound in sin and death - in this life - to the joy of life eternal in him through the work of his Spirit.<br /> <br /> 35 Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. <br /><br />36 But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe. <br /><br />A comment has been made many times over the years. <br /><br />Wouldn’t it have been great to have lived at the time of Jesus, to see him and his work! To walk and talk with him? To be in his presence? <br /><br />But here again Jesus says: <br /><br /><div>36 But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe. <br /><br />That is the problem. <br />Sin blinds us to who Jesus is. <br /><br />Sin causes us to find comfort in the things of the world that leads to death.<br /> Sin gives us false hope in ourselves and in this life, for a moment.<br /> Sin lulls us to a peace that the world and its promises give. <br /><br />So, Jesus says in the parable of the rich fool in Luke 12:20 <br /><br />20 But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ Luke 12:20 <br /><br />Love and death in a world that is in bondage to sin.<br /> <br /> So, you and I dear friends, rest in the work, not of ourselves but of God through the work of the the Holy Spirit in his son for our redemption. <br /> <br /> For Jesus says:<br /> <br /> 37 All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. 38 For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me.<br /> <br /> At my congregation, Peace, in Waterford, we have Advent banners and our final banner for Advent calls us to behold: <br /><br />To Behold, the Christ of God, sent in the womb of the Virgin Mary, sent to bring Peace between God and man. <br /><br />To see the Love of God sent forth in his Son given in love unto death, so that all who believe in him might live. <br /><br />39 And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. 40 For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.” <br /><br />In our Midweek theme text in John 14 Phillip askes Jesus: <br /><br />8 … “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.” 9 Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.” <br /><br />Love and Death! <br /><br />It all points to the Son of God coming down to redeem the world from sin and death; and that by this Love of God - we will not parish but have life eternal in his name! <br /><br />May God’s blessings, may God’s comfort, may God’s peace, in the Christ child, the babe of Bethlehem, be yours now and always! <br /><br /> In the name of the Father and of the Son + and of the Holy Spirit.<br />Amen</div>RSThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04306924462833594561noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5887718702289107622.post-91930587142886116602023-12-26T06:07:00.000-08:002023-12-26T06:07:17.366-08:00Sermon Dec. 16-17, 2023 Advent 3Title: A witness to the light of Christ!<br />Text: John 1:6-8<div><br /> Facebook live: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/100064598803375/videos/897703915412501" target="_blank">A witness to the light that is Jesus!</a></div><div><br />6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7 He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him. 8 He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light. <br /><br />The Definition of a witness: <br /><br />A witness is someone who by explanation and demonstration gives audible and visible evidence of what he or she has seen, and heard … without being deterred by the consequences of their actions. <br /><br /><span style="font-size: xx-small;">S. Briscoe, Getting Into God, p. 76. </span><br /><br />Being a witness of the Love of God in your life can be difficult for some. It is hard to articulate, at times, what God has done for you and me – in Christ. Sharing your faith joyfully can be a challenge, in the world opposed to Jesus and in the lives we lead.<br /> <br /> I spent many years witnessing to a friend at work. <br /><br />It must have been 10 years before he came to me one morning with a smile on his face and said: “Russ … yesterday I got on my knees and asked Jesus to forgive my sins and I received him as my Lord and savior!” <br /><br />What a joy to hear and what a blessing it is to have an impact in the lives of friends, family, and loved ones.<br /> <br /> My friend Mark is a gifted musician and composer as well as a skilled woodworker and before he made that revelation about his own faith in Jesus, he was putting on a concert of his music with a number of very skilled musicians. He had a packed house at the Unitarian church – of all places - in Birmingham, where the concert was being held.<br /> <br /> I had been witnessing to him at that time for a number of years and just before the concert he came up to me with a smile on his face and said, <br /><br />“I’m going to thank God … for my musical gifts and blessings in front of the crowd tonight!”<br />I knew it was a stretch for Mark to do this but:<br />I looked at him I said, “That’s nice Mark … but God has a name.” <br /><br />For him, it was enough, he thought, to thank the generic God, but for those gathered who may trust in other gods, all gods, or no god, having a distinction is important.<br /> <br /> At the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremonies 26 years ago Richie Furay a member of the Buffalo Springfield, and a pastor since 1974 was inducted and in his speech, thanked his wife of 30 years at the time, family, friends, and band members … but then he said his thanks … “to his Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!” It was bold - and there was no mistaking whom he worshiped.<br /> <br /> A bit later in the program, Graham Nash who was also being inducted as a member of Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young in mocking sarcasm, as only someone being led by a different spirit said:<br /> <br /> “I also want to thank god … because I think she’s great!”<br /> <br /> It is only in the name of Jesus that we indeed find salvation, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” Acts 4:12<br /> <br /> The witness of Christ thankfully is in you, so rejoice!<br /> <br /> Last week we looked at John the Baptist, who was the messenger sent to prepare the way for Jesus. Today, in the gospel reading, John is a witness to the priests and Levites sent from the Jews who asked him:<br /> <br /> “Who are you?” The religious elite wanted to know who he was, why is he was baptizing, and even if he’s is a prophet? <br /><br />John confesses the truth that he is, “Not the Christ,” not Elijah, and not even one of the prophets but he does confess to who he is:<br /> <br /> “I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’ as the prophet Isaiah said.”<br /> He is the one prophesied and spoken of in Isaiah, who would herald and proclaim the one who would follow him, but who would also be greater than he and whose sandals, John says … he’s not even worthy to untie.<br /> <br /> The Jews expected a Messiah of power and John in his interrogation - tells the truth and nothing but the truth, so help me God - when he says that he is not the one they expect, but is the one who is, making straight the way of the Lord.<br /> <br /> He calls all to repentance, so that they might turn from their sin and place their trust in the one coming after him, who he calls the light of the world. <br /><br />That is who John bore witness to.<br /> <br /> We all fall short and fail to bear witness to the light of the world that is Jesus Christ – our Lord and Savior.<br /> <br /> This (coming) Sunday we (will have) had our Christmas program. The children (will bear) bore witness in a real, and cute way, to the truth of the biblical story. <br /><br />That this child born in a manger, is human and born of Mary, but also that this child is something more … that this child is “Christ the Lord” the savior of the world. <br /><br />Bearing witness in the years to come, in the public square might become more difficult as the focus of religious freedom and those who oppose it will try to limit our freedom to speak the truth to no farther than the door of the church building you exit.<br /> 22 So they said to him, “Who are you? We need to give an answer to those who sent us.<br /> <br /> In “The Mask Behind the Mask”, [author and] biographer Peter Evans says that actor Peter Sellers played so many roles … he sometimes was not sure of his own identity. <br /><br />He was approached once by a fan who asked him, "Are you Peter Sellers?" [To which he answered], "Not today," and walked on. <br /><br /><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Today in the Word, July 24, 1993.</span><br /> <br /> As we struggle daily as both redeemed saints and sinners, born again and born in sin, we might wrestle with that distinction at times – and see our Christian witness falls short.<br /> <br /> We know we’ve missed the mark as, a witness to Christ in our life by are actions. <br /><br />Do others see in us Christ … or the sinfulness we are bound to? <br /><br />It’s probably both? But, if only we had known we were being watched, we might have acted in a more Christ like way.<br /> <br /> Or, like the story of Peter Sellers, when someone sees us in our daily lives and wonders, “Are they a Christian?” <br /><br />Would we answer by are actions or lack thereof … “Not today!”<br /> <br /> John the Baptist came as a witness to call to repentance those who like you and me are born sinful and unclean. He came to prepare the way for the one who would “Make straight the way of the Lord.” <br /><br />Jesus, is this one who came, begotten of the Father, begotten before all worlds, who would take on human flesh at the incarnation, so that all separation from God, whether mountains or valleys would be made smooth. <br /><br />That by his birth, born of a Virgin and made man, that he might restore what had been broken by sin.<br /> <br /> So too you and me, who have been brought to faith by that same light of the world, Jesus Christ, having received the gift of the Holy Spirit and by faith, we believe. <br /><br />And as Paul exhorts the Thessalonians in our epistle reading:<br /> <br /> 16 Rejoice always, 17 pray without ceasing, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. <br /><br />I Thess. 5:16-18<br /> <br /> It is that witness, and light, that shines forth in you, as you joyfully bring God’s word to those who need to hear, both public and private. <br /><br />It is that peace and comfort that you have received and also proclaim to others. <br /><br />It is that witness of Christ that as Isaiah proclaims binds up those broken by sin, releases those who are captive, and brings good news to the poor.<br /> <br /> As we joy in Christ’s first coming and rejoice at this babe born in a manger, we too wait … for his second coming when he will gather all his children, and all who are brought to faith to himself, waiting for his glorious appearing.<br /> <br /> The witness of Christ is in you, rejoice! <br /><br />In the name of the Father, and of the Son + and of the Holy Spirit!<br /> Amen <br /><br /> </div>RSThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04306924462833594561noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5887718702289107622.post-75862555173013251662023-12-26T05:59:00.000-08:002023-12-26T05:59:40.793-08:00December 13, 2023 Advent Midweek 2 Faith, HighlandPastor Andrew Johnson Preaching Advent 2 Midweek<br />Theme: Jesus Christ: The Way, the Truth, and the Life!<div><br /></div><div>Live video: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gNdsP5Kx0Xw" target="_blank">Advent 2 Midweek</a></div>RSThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04306924462833594561noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5887718702289107622.post-77196672952553421322023-12-26T05:56:00.000-08:002023-12-26T05:56:21.226-08:00Sermon December. 9-10, 2023 Advent 2Title: You are found in Christ, Spotless!<br />Text: 2 Peter 3:8-14<br /> <br />Facebook live: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/100064598803375/videos/338150942257163" target="_blank"> You are found in Christ, Spotless!</a><br /><br />14 Therefore, beloved, since you are waiting for these, be diligent to be found by him without spot or blemish, and at peace. <br /><br />"Patience serves as a protection against wrongs as clothes do against cold. For if you put on more clothes as the cold increases, it will have no power to hurt you. So in like manner you must grow in patience when you meet with great wrongs, and they will then be powerless to vex your mind." <br /><br /><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Leonardo da Vinci. </span><br /><br />My dog Abby is a big girl. She is a Rottweiler and close to 100 lbs. Patience is not something she thinks about or is interested much in. when I go to put her out in the backyard she waits, just long enough for the door to open before bolting out to play. She understands wait but is not much interested in it. And while we tell her to wait … she does so … but just enough to show that she hears us and is listening. But in reality she is ready to bolt at the slightest hint of Okay.<br /> <br /> In his second epistle the Apostle Peter writes to fellow believers to be patient, to make ones calling and election sure by living Godly lives;<br /> <br /> 5 For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, 6 and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, 7 and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. 8 For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. <br /><br />He assures his readers that he and those whom God called to be prophets and Apostles were not following cleverly invented stores but were eye witnesses of Christ’s majesty and by the Holy Spirit they spoke as God directed them.<br /> <br /> He warns of false prophets who teach falsely and will bring destructive heresies that lead many away into blackest darkness which is the realm of the devil.<br /> <br /> 18 For they mouth empty, boastful words and, by appealing to the lustful desires of sinful human nature, they entice people who are just escaping from those who live in error. 19 They promise them freedom, while they themselves are slaves of depravity—for a man is a slave to whatever has mastered him.<br /> <br /> We might ask: What has mastered you … or me? <br /><br />And certainly, we see this leading astray in our day as false teachers, in the church and in the world, support lifestyles and choices contrary to scripture - twisting the word of God to champion abortion rights, Euthanasia and the homosexual lifestyle in all its forms.<br /> <br /> 3 Above all, you must understand Saint Peter continues that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. 4 They will say, “Where is this ‘coming’ he promised?<br /> <br /> And certainly many over the last 2000 years have asked this same question causing some to predict when Christ would return contrary to the teachings of Holy Scripture.<br /> <br /> The doubting of the word of God had occurred in Peter’s day - and has been occurring since sin came into the world - and we see it today and live it daily in our lives – for though forgiven we still sin daily. Peter’s hope in his epistle is to leave an enduring hope in Christ through his writing to his readers … and to you and me. That hope is still a blessed hope because it is in Christ, the word made flesh, that he was an eyewitness to. His word is not made up from stories but is real and foundational and shows that the Lord is not slow but patient …<br /> <br /> 8… toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.<br /> <br /> The Advent season lets us all watch and wait for the blessed gift that is the child Christ Jesus – God with us – whom Peter saw and heard and was called into following and made an Apostle so that by the call of Christ he might feed the Lord’s sheep. It is the call of every pastor also to lead and feed the sheep given under his care and as under shepherds of the Lord’s flock to also bring the truth of God’s word to each and every hearer so that all might come to repentance.<br /> <br /> As the gospel reading for the day attests:<br /> <br /> 2 as it is written in Isaiah the prophet:<br /> “I will send my messenger ahead of you,<br /> who will prepare your way” —<br /> 3 “a voice of one calling in the wilderness,<br /> ‘Prepare the way for the Lord,<br /> make straight paths for him.’”<br /> <br /> It was John who came out of the wilderness to prepare the way, to bring a baptism of repentance that would find its fullness in the words of our Lord Jesus to go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”<br /> <br /> George Gallop wrote some 30 years ago: <br /><br />“There's little difference in ethical behavior between the churched and the unchurched. There's as much [stealing] and dishonesty among the churched as the unchurched. And I'm afraid that applies pretty much across the board: religion, per se, is not really life changing. People cite it as important, for instance, in overcoming depression--but it doesn't have primacy in determining behavior.” <br /><br /><span style="font-size: xx-small;">George H. Gallup, "Vital Signs," Leadership, Fall 1987, p. 17. </span><br /><br />In his book I Surrender, Patrick Morley writes that the church's integrity problem is in the misconception "that we can add Christ to our lives, but not subtract sin. It is a change in belief without a change in behavior." He goes on to say, "It is revival without reformation, without repentance." <br /><br /><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Quoted by C. Swindoll, John The Baptizer, Bible Study Guide, p. 16. </span><br /><br />We as Lutherans understand the Saint / Sinner distinction that though forgiven we sill sin and by God’s Spirit we desire to be more holy and sanctified by God’s work in us. Though we daily fall short we remember also daily that we are baptized and marked as God’s child and return to God’s house to hear the blessed absolution each week in the divine service. <br /><br />During Advent we wait and we watch but we too are seen and heard. We are called to repentance by God’s Holy Spirit and are also call to faith by that same Spirit so that Goodness, Godliness, self-control and love as St. Peter says should be evident in our lives.<br /> <br /> 8 For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.<br /> <br /> As you wait and watch - and hear and receive – God will increase in you the blessed hope that is Jesus, and bring you to true repentance and joy, so that in him you receive the assurance of God’s love and forgiveness in Christ.<br /> <br /> By his work you have been baptized with the Holy Spirit and with that blessed hope wait and watch for a new heaven and new earth that are promised and will be brought to bear by our loving God no matter how long it takes – just as he has brought you into the loving arms of the savior and has forgiven you all your sins. <br /><br />In the season of Advent, we know that Jesus is coming. But we also know that Jesus has come, and will come again!<br /> <br /> In the name of the Father, and of the Son + and of the Holy Spirit!<br /> <br /> AmenRSThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04306924462833594561noreply@blogger.com0