Sermon December 25, 2023 Christmas Day

Title: God’s son, our savior!

Text: Hebrews 1:1-6

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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.

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.

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.

After carefully thinking about this question I replied with the first 30 world of Hebrews 1.

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

In a grand way the letter to the Hebrews opens:

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.

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.

At other times, in this Son, we see his deepest humiliation, and then his highest triumph and exaltation.

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.

And that is not to say that he is bound to never do that again.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Popular Commentary of the Bible P.E Kretzmann NT Vol. II Pg 439

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.

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."

His fellow philosopher, atheist, and long-time live-in companion Simone de Beauvoir retorted: "How should one explain the senile act of a turncoat?"

HIS Magazine, April, 1983.

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?

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.

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.

This God, who in the beginning was the word, and this Word was with God, and was God.

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.

He upholds the universe because according to the word of God all things were made by and through him.
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.
After making purification for sins …

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,

6 … when he brings the firstborn into the world, he says,

“Let all God's angels worship him.”

This child, this Jesus, this God/man, this babe in the manger … came for you.

… 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.

In the name of the Father, + of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit

Amen

Sermon December. 24, 2023 Christmas Eve

Title: God’s love for you, is seen in Christ!
Text: 1 John 4:7-16

Readings - Isaiah 7:10-14, 1 John 4:7-16, Matthew 1:18-25 (ESV)

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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.

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.

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!

What child is this, who, laid to rest,
On Mary's lap is sleeping?
Whom angels greet with anthems sweet
While shepherds watch are keeping?
This, this is Christ the king,
Whom shepherds guard and angels sing;
Haste, haste to bring Him laud,
The babe, the son of Mary!

We hear this Good News in the words of our gospel tonight.

“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.”

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.

Why lies He in such mean estate
Where ox and ass are feeding?
Good Christian, fear; for sinners here
The silent Word is pleading.
Nails, spear shall pierce Him through,
The cross be borne for me, for you;
Hail, hail the Word made flesh,
The babe, the son of Mary!

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.

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)

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?

Your answer to this question determines quite literally life and death.

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.

So bring Him incense, gold, and myrrh;
Come, peasant, king, to own Him.
The King of kings salvation brings;
Let loving hearts enthrone Him.
Raise, raise the song on high,
The virgin sings her lullaby;
Joy, joy, for Christ is born,
The babe, the son of Mary!

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. …

This child would grow into the man Christ Jesus.

That God would become man shows the value of his life for you and your life in him.

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.

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.

John’s epistle confirms this when he writes:

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.

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.

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

The ascension for the Son into heaven is not the end.

The eternal victory is found in Christ’s glorious return to judge the living and the dead.

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.

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.

As my Professor Peter Scare writes:

Cain lives in every heart and each of us must die. Who then can raise the brother slain? Christ alone is Able.

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.

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.

As our epistle reading ends:

17 By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment,

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.
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.

But you are perfect in him … evermore and evermore!

In the name of the Father, and of the Son + and of the Holy Spirit!

Amen

Sermon Dec. 23, 2023 Advent 4

Title: God’s favor!

Text: Luke 1:26-38

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“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.”

Last week we talked about God’s redeemed people as witnesses to the truth.

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,

“What would you say if I told you I was 6’-4” though he was probably 5’7”.
They answered, “If you feel 6’-4” than who am I to question that.”

It got progressively worse until he finally said,
“What if I see myself as a 6’-4” Chinese woman?”
Finally, one exclaimed, “Oh, common!”

The truth can be at time hard to discern and at other time very obvious.

In our gospel we read of a young woman named Mary.

27 … a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David.

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.

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.

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.

The improbable and the impossible!

Both Mary and Elizabeth had the Lord’s favor but in different ways.

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.

Good news indeed for those who desire a child. But even better new from the mouth of Gabriel would come.

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.”

John would be a normal child for his mom and dad but with a special calling and anointing from God.

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.

For Mary, the angel does not come with answered prayers but with an announcement!

28 And he came to her and said, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!”
Mary received the Lord’s favor through the spoken word of God.

Though she was troubled by his visit as was Zachariah the word of God brought peace:

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.”

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.

Mary does not ask who, what, when, or where but asks simply how?

“How will this be, since I am a virgin?”

Nothing is impossible for God!

Not in the normal course of events the angel reveals the impossible working of God.

“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.”

The barren Elizabeth is now expecting a child!

That which seemed improbable is a reality.

The prayed for child is in the womb and the parents wait for his expected birth by the word of the Lord.

Mary’s simple humble reply:

“Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.

We see God’s work through the improbable birth of a son in John the Baptist destined to heralded God’s coming redemption.

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.

This is God’s work!
This is Good News!

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.
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!

With God’s favor, nothing is impossible for God!

In the name of the Father, and of the Son + and of the Holy Spirit!

Amen

Sermon December 20, 2023 3rd Advent Midweek Christ, Milford

Title: Love and Death!
Text: John 6:30-40 Psalm 126

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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.

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.


Jesus Christ: The Way, the truth and the life. Has been the theme that we have focused on over these
Advent midweek services.

Pastor Moyer focused on the Way and how the word and the Holy Spirit, like GPS gets us to our desired destination.

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.

Or, what the Way and the Truth bring us to.

Life and death.

It makes sense to us in a temporal human way.

We know it all too well and we live it all too often.

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.

So, rather than looking at life and death, I’d like to talk about Love. Love and death.

Love and Death is kind of a strange phrase.

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?

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.

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.

But, it’s not so odd of a phrase as we might think.

Love and death or death and love!

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:

6 … “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

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.

As Jesus said to Nicodemus who came, by cover of night, looking for answers from this teacher, come from God:

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.

The blessed John 3:16

Perish can mean, to die or pass away or even waste away and disappear
But dying or passing away does not bring eternal life.
And neither does to waste away or disappear? – not really.

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.

The remains, remain.
So, to parish mush have a fuller meaning.

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.

And that is friends where love comes in.
The Love of God, and the death of his son brings hope and this hope leads to eternal life!
The sacrificial love of God is the key.

As we watch, prepare, and rejoice in the coming of the incarnate son of God,
As we look to Christmas,
As we behold the joy of the Christ child, we need to prepare for Love and Death, as well.

Recognizing that life in the flesh broken by the fall - leads to death – As the Apostle Paul writes in Romans 6.

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

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.

We wrestle with:

Life in the flesh … vs life in the Spirit!
The former leading to death - the later - life eternal.

In the gospel reading for today those who had been following Jesus:

30 … said to him, “Then what sign do you do, that we may see and believe you? What work do you perform?

O holy Child of Bethlehem. Descend to us, we pray Cast out our sin, and enter in, be born in us today.

The wonderful Christmas hymn, O little town of Bethlehem brings to mind the Prophet Micha’s writing in Chapter 5 of his book.

2 But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah,
who are too little to be among the clans of Judah,
from you shall come forth for me
one who is to be ruler in Israel,
whose coming forth is from of old,
from ancient days.

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!

Born of women.
Born under the Law.

Yet without sin.

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.

He frees the world through his active obedience, being obedient to his father’s desire to redeem all.
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.

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.

36 But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe.

A comment has been made many times over the years.

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?

But here again Jesus says:

36 But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe.

That is the problem.
Sin blinds us to who Jesus is.

Sin causes us to find comfort in the things of the world that leads to death.
Sin gives us false hope in ourselves and in this life, for a moment.
Sin lulls us to a peace that the world and its promises give.

So, Jesus says in the parable of the rich fool in Luke 12:20

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

Love and death in a world that is in bondage to sin.

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.

For Jesus says:

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.

At my congregation, Peace, in Waterford, we have Advent banners and our final banner for Advent calls us to behold:

To Behold, the Christ of God, sent in the womb of the Virgin Mary, sent to bring Peace between God and man.

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.

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.”

In our Midweek theme text in John 14 Phillip askes Jesus:

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.”

Love and Death!

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!

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!

In the name of the Father and of the Son + and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen

Sermon Dec. 16-17, 2023 Advent 3

Title: A witness to the light of Christ!
Text: John 1:6-8

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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.

The Definition of a witness:

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.

S. Briscoe, Getting Into God, p. 76.

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.

I spent many years witnessing to a friend at work.

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!”

What a joy to hear and what a blessing it is to have an impact in the lives of friends, family, and loved ones.

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.

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,

“I’m going to thank God … for my musical gifts and blessings in front of the crowd tonight!”
I knew it was a stretch for Mark to do this but:
I looked at him I said, “That’s nice Mark … but God has a name.”

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.

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.

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:

“I also want to thank god … because I think she’s great!”

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

The witness of Christ thankfully is in you, so rejoice!

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:

“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?

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:

“I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’ as the prophet Isaiah said.”
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.

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.

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.

That is who John bore witness to.

We all fall short and fail to bear witness to the light of the world that is Jesus Christ – our Lord and Savior.

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.

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.

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.
22 So they said to him, “Who are you? We need to give an answer to those who sent us.

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.

He was approached once by a fan who asked him, "Are you Peter Sellers?" [To which he answered], "Not today," and walked on.

Today in the Word, July 24, 1993.

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.

We know we’ve missed the mark as, a witness to Christ in our life by are actions.

Do others see in us Christ … or the sinfulness we are bound to?

It’s probably both? But, if only we had known we were being watched, we might have acted in a more Christ like way.

Or, like the story of Peter Sellers, when someone sees us in our daily lives and wonders, “Are they a Christian?”

Would we answer by are actions or lack thereof … “Not today!”

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.”

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.

That by his birth, born of a Virgin and made man, that he might restore what had been broken by sin.

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.

And as Paul exhorts the Thessalonians in our epistle reading:

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.

I Thess. 5:16-18

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.

It is that peace and comfort that you have received and also proclaim to others.

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.

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.

The witness of Christ is in you, rejoice!

In the name of the Father, and of the Son + and of the Holy Spirit!
Amen

December 13, 2023 Advent Midweek 2 Faith, Highland

Pastor Andrew Johnson Preaching Advent 2 Midweek
Theme: Jesus Christ: The Way, the Truth, and the Life!

Live video: Advent 2 Midweek

Sermon December. 9-10, 2023 Advent 2

Title: You are found in Christ, Spotless!
Text: 2 Peter 3:8-14

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14 Therefore, beloved, since you are waiting for these, be diligent to be found by him without spot or blemish, and at peace.

"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."

Leonardo da Vinci.

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.

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;

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.

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.

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.

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.

We might ask: What has mastered you … or me?

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.

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?

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.

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 …

8… toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.

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.

As the gospel reading for the day attests:

2 as it is written in Isaiah the prophet:
“I will send my messenger ahead of you,
who will prepare your way” —
3 “a voice of one calling in the wilderness,
‘Prepare the way for the Lord,
make straight paths for him.’”

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.”

George Gallop wrote some 30 years ago:

“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.”

George H. Gallup, "Vital Signs," Leadership, Fall 1987, p. 17.

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."

Quoted by C. Swindoll, John The Baptizer, Bible Study Guide, p. 16.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

In the season of Advent, we know that Jesus is coming. But we also know that Jesus has come, and will come again!

In the name of the Father, and of the Son + and of the Holy Spirit!

Amen

Sermon December 6, 2023 Advent Midweek 1

Peace Waterford – Pastor Jonathan Moyer Preaching

Theme: Jesus Christ: The Way, the Truth, and the Life!
Text: Pastor Moyer

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Sermon December 2-3, 2023 Advent 1

Title: God, the potter, molds you in Christ!
Text: Isaiah 64:1-9

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6 We have all become like one who is unclean,
and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment.
We all fade like a leaf,
and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.

8 But now, O Lord, you are our Father;
we are the clay, and you are our potter;
we are all the work of your hand.
9 Be not so terribly angry, O Lord,
and remember not iniquity forever.
Behold, please look, we are all your people.

God’s people have always looked for a God of power. One who might move mountains, consume and purify with fire, and make nations tremble before him. They look for an awesome God who does awesome things.

He divided the waters that hindered escape so that his children could cross the Red Sea on dry ground and get safely to the other side.

He covered the Egyptians who pursue them with the same waters that were held back for a time, and their miraculous escape becomes a flood of death for Pharaoh.

He promised them a land flowing with milk and honey, but Moses died in Moab having only glimpsed the Promised Land from Mount Nebo before closing his eyes in the sleep of death.

Oh that you would rend the heavens and come down,
that the mountains might quake at your presence—
2 as when fire kindles brushwood
and the fire causes water to boil—
to make your name known to your adversaries,
and that the nations might tremble at your presence!
3 When you did awesome things that we did not look for,
you came down, the mountains quaked at your presence.

We too as God’s children want God’s power to fall on those in opposition to the word. We want God’s vengeance against those who torment us. We want God to consume those opposed to the word and to redeem those, worthy of eternal life, and we see those who are worthy as the same people looking back from our own reflection in our mirror.

God’s power is all consuming and in our own righteousness we too would be consumed.

On our own we can’t understand.
On our own we stand as God’s enemies.

On our own we must be consumed.

Sin must be judged and destroyed.

From of old no one has heard
or perceived by the ear,
no eye has seen a God besides you,
who acts for those who wait for him.
5 You meet him who joyfully works righteousness,
those who remember you in your ways.
Behold, you were angry, and we sinned;
in our sins we have been a long time, and shall we be saved?
6 We have all become like one who is unclean,
and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment.
We all fade like a leaf,

and our iniquities, [our sins] like the wind, take us away.

How do we know our sinful state?

Look in the mirror; look to our ailments and sickness, our brokenness is made clear.

Back ache, sciatic nerves, rotator cuff, Allergies, flu, sinus and cough are all but symptoms of the greater sickness. Monday another trip to the Doctor for what I hoped would be a minor cold and remedy.

In our own righteous we die.

It is a promise.

It is assured.

7 There is no one who calls upon your name,
who rouses himself to take hold of you;
for you have hidden your face from us,
and have made us melt in the hand of our iniquities.

Today we see a baby.

Today we see a rescue.

Today we have hope.


Today we see a son.

The one who was angry at sin sent his son who came in humility and human flesh too - though without sin.

The one who was angry at sin has become the sin bearer so the one polluted by sin might be washed and made clean.

What a marvelous rescue. From death to life!

The first Adam brought death

The second Adam - Jesus, brings life so that all born in Adam might be cleansed of sin and stand forever forgiven in the Lord’s presence.

8 But now, O Lord, you are our Father;
we are the clay, and you are our potter;
we are all the work of your hand.
9 Be not so terribly angry, O Lord,
and remember not iniquity forever.
Behold, please look, we are all your people.

This is the joy that we see in baptism!

Death to life and sin to salvation!

Celebrating the joy that all who are washed in the blood of the Lamb have received pardon.

God’s hidden face is now revealed in the loving eyes of Jesus who has said, yes to the work of redemption for you!

Your sins are mine, Jesus says, and my forgiveness is yours!

As the Advent season begins, we await this child, Jesus.

He has come to be the savior of all. He has taken the sins of the world upon himself and has given his sinless life so that all might find rest - not in a God of power, by in a God of comfort and peace.

Jesus, rode over the palms of forgiveness spread in a world of sin and death in his triumphal entry to Jerusalem on a humble colt. May that be the hope this year for you and me as we cry with shouts of joy:

“Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! 10 Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David! Hosanna in the highest!”

That is our Advent hope!

That is our Advent peace!

That is forgiveness for you and me!

In the name of the Father, and of the Son + and of the Holy Spirit!

Amen

 

 

Sermon November 25-26, 2023

Title: Come, inherit the Kingdom!
Text: Matthew 25:31-46

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31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. 34 Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.

"For all the promises of God in Him are yea, and in Him Amen, unto the glory of God by us" 2 Corinthians 1:20

The word "amen" is a most remarkable word. It was transliterated directly from the Hebrew into the Greek of the New Testament, then into Latin and into English and many other languages, so that it is practically a universal word. It has been called the best-known word in human speech. The word is directly related--in fact, almost identical--to the Hebrew word (aman), for "believe" or "faithful." Thus, it came to mean "sure" or truly," which is an expression of absolute trust and confidence. When one believes God, he indicates his faith by an "amen." When God makes a promise, the believer's response is "amen"--"yes, let it be so!" In the New Testament, it is often translated "verily" or "truly."

When we pray according to His Word and His will, we know God will answer, so we close with an "amen," and so also do we conclude a great hymn or anthem of praise and faith.

The word is even a title of Christ Himself. The last of His letters to the seven churches begins with a remarkable salutation by the glorified Lord:

"These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God" Revelation 3:14

We can be certain that the Word of God is always faithful and true, because He is none other than the Creator of all things, and thus He is our eternal "Amen."

As we come to the close of the church year it is, therefore, profoundly meaningful that the entire Bible closes with an "amen."

"The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen" Revelation 22:21, assuring everyone who reads these words that the whole Book is absolutely true and trustworthy. Amen!

Source Unknown.

And as a result of this truth we can all be joyful.

Come; inherit the kingdom prepared for you!

When the son of man comes in all his glory, there will be a gathering of all the nations. Ever man and woman will stand before the Lord and there will be a separating. Just like a shepherd who separates sheep from the goats, those destined for eternal life will inherit the Kingdom prepared – for you - from the foundation of the world, and those who will be cast out will depart into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angles.

Here, Jesus tells in prophetic detail, not parable, the return of the son of man, the second coming of Christ in judgment. He is the King who will judge the righteous, those who will inherit eternal life, were worthy, and those cast out will go away to eternal punishment.

It is interesting that the two groups, the sheep and goats are both under the Lordship of Jesus, who comes to judge and both hear similar but opposite statements.

35 For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, 36 I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’

Contrasted with:

42 For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.

Both the sheep and the goats reply, “When did we see you” and do this for you or not do this for you? And you and I might ask ourselves the same question.

To this the Lord replies that when you did it, or did not do it, to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’

Who has been the least of these that the Lord is speaking of the least of these my brothers?

Matthew Chapter 10 can give us a clue.

At the sending of the disciples Jesus warns those who would be Apostles,

7 And proclaim as you go, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ 8 Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, cast out demons.

9 Acquire no gold or silver or copper for your belts, 10 no bag for your journey, or two tunics or sandals or a staff, for the laborer deserves his food.

Jesus warns of the persecution to come saying:

17 Beware of men, for they will deliver you over to courts and flog you in their synagogues, 18 and you will be dragged before governors and kings for my sake, to bear witness before them and the Gentiles.

28 And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul.
Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.

But also comforting,

40 “Whoever receives you receives me, and whoever receives me receives him who sent me.

Those who receive the message of the gospel receive the messenger and him whom he has sent, our Lord and savior Jesus Christ himself. It is the work of all who have given testimony to the word of God and the saving work found only in Christ Jesus our Lord, which are those who are the least who are hungry and fed, thirsty and given drink, a stranger that is welcomed, naked that is clothed, sick and visited and even comforted in prison.

It is also those, who being in need, are brought the comforting good news of the gospel so that the working of the Holy Spirit can bring to faith those who also will go forth to share this same good news with their neighbor.

Good news was proclaimed last Sunday at the baptism of Liam James Forrest.

At 10 years old I forget that our Baptismal right is written in a sometime difficult way.

As we address the candidate. The rite askes “How are you named?”

Knowing this might be confusing I asked Liam to please state your name.

Liam James Forrest! was the bold response.

When we got to the questions that are asked of the candidate, I had prepared to give the proper response for them, “Then answer, yes with the help of God” and so on.

The first question was: Liam do you renounce the devil?

Quickly I hear, No!

I say, Liam, the correct response is Yes, I renounce him.

No! and then he says, I don’t know what the word renounce means!

So, we quickly get him up to speed with the word renounce. Now, I get to the good responses for the Apostles Creed questions.

Do you believe in God the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth?

And as soon as I say, do you believe in God, I hear Yes! And as I continue maker … Yes! And then another Yes!

Friends, that is the Holy Trinity of Yeses!

Liam, do you desire to be baptized? Yes!

God the Holy Spirit enlivened the word of the Gospel that had been preached and taught to Liam so that he could not wait to have God claim him as his own.

Those who receive the Kingdom, to them Jesus says:

‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.

Come; inherit the kingdom prepared for you!

Even though it is not your work of mine, not what you have done but what he, Jesus Christ has done, it a fruit of your faith.

Receiving the word of truth, the gift of God and those who are sent to proclaim that truth is a gift of our heavenly Father and by the working of the Holy Spirit - you believe, you feed, you welcome, you clothe, you visit, you comfort and you are blessed.

To this Jesus says to you:

35 For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, 36 I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’

Come; inherit the kingdom prepared for you!

In the name of the Father, and of the Son + and of the Holy Spirit!
Amen

 

 

Sermon November 18-19, 2023

Title: Enter into the joy of your master!

Text: Matthew 25:14-30

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21 His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant.

You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’

As we prepare for Thanksgiving there is much to be thankful for. For me personally this past year has brought great joy with the birth of my grandson, Jackson. Seeing him grow and celebrating his first birthday last weekend was truly a joy! Also, Monica's good reports for continued healing has been a great blessing of which I am especially grateful.

For many though the Thanksgiving holiday is passed over and we are already in the Christmas season and all that come with it in giving and receiving gifts. The Hallmark Channel is going full tilt and if one wasn’t enough there are two for your viewing enjoyment. The shopping network is ready with deal on many of the needed items and – no use waiting for black Friday – it’s here, having died the death of bargain prices earlier and earlier in the season. Christmas has been commercialized but that happened a long time ago. Christmas is on full display yet we haven’t celebrated Thanksgiving, the end of days, or Advent, but gifts are being bought and thoughts of joy and the Christmas season are on our minds.

Giving is a wonderful thing but what if the gift is neglected or wasted? It certainly wouldn’t be looked upon as a good thing. We have all been gifted according to our own ability and God also wants to see that gift used in proportion to that ability. Whatever your gift is and whatever you have been given you have the joy of serving Christ because of his gift to you and his mission to reach the lost with the saving gospel.

With these last two weeks in the church year we hear the really good news that all believers long to hear:

Enter into the joy of your master and inherit the Kingdom prepared for you!

Both of these sayings are really good news for those who are prepared, with lamps full of oil just like the wise virgins from last week’s lesson. But just like last week, there too are those who are foolish and who are ill prepared for the coming of the master, and who also when Christ returns, will find themselves hearing words of rejection, terror and judgment.

Jesus in preparation for his passion and the time of his departing tells a parable about a man going on a journey. Who called his servants and entrusted to them his property. And then he gives them a portion of his property to manage according to their ability.

15 To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away.
According to New Nave's Topical Bible, one who possessed five talents of gold or silver was a multimillionaire by today's standards. Some calculate the talent in the parables to be equivalent to 20 years of wages for the common worker. Other scholars estimate more conservatively, valuing the New Testament talent somewhere between $5,000 to $30,000 dollars today.

None the less it represented a large sum of money to be entrusted with.

We also see that the one, who had been given the most, went at once and traded with them, and he made five talents more. He took what he had been given and with the ability given him went and doubled the master’s investment. He used what had been gifted to him in ability to grow his master’s kingdom.

The one who was given the two talents, made two talents more. He too did with what he had been given in ability to grow the master’s kingdom.

Finally the one who was given one talent, did with it what the master had not expected, 18 But he … went and dug in the ground and hid his master's money.

He took what had been entrusted to him and buried it.

In this parable we have to look at it on the surface and also at what greater biblical meaning is Jesus pointing at. First, the money given to the first two servants brought a return. In money matters this is always good. As my boss told me many years ago when I was first hired to work in his business, “When you work on commission you have to prepare for the times when you will have a bad month. You must first produce, then save and then invest.” His point was that once you receive your pay check you must invest some of it so that it produces a return that is greater than the investment you began with. Servant three didn't understand that, it wasn't even invested, so that it brought some interest on the investment from the bankers for the master. It was buried and brought no return.

20 And he who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five talents more, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me five talents; here I have made five talents more.’ 21 His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’

Remember we already said that 5 talents were a very large sum of money, but the master here refers to it as being faithful over a little and promises to set him over much. This too happens for servant two in much the same way.

In our Biblical understanding we all are made sons of our heavenly father and of the word himself, Jesus Christ. We have been given the gift of faith and made partakers of the Kingdom of God. We have all been gifted richly by our loving God through the working of the Holy Spirit and at the end times and upon Christ’s return will give an accounting of what we did with the gift of God in Christ Jesus that had been given to us.

Did we believe or did we reject?

For some it is using our gifts within the church for others it is in the world and for some it is in both places reaching the fullest return with what you have been gifted.

Now don’t get me wrong, the parable is not about money, it’s not about giving but it is about the word of God Jesus Christ which is the gift of God and what ultimately is done with it.

Upon Christ’s return you will either receive the joy of the master by his gift and his work alone, or you will shut the door of faith with unbelief, burying the word of God, which by the Spirit work brings that faith, and then, just like the servant who buried the master’s gift, there will be those who blame God for their own rejection of his free gift.

29 For to everyone who has will more be given, and he will have an abundance. But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. 30 And cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

Those who believe that the gospel is hard fear the Lord’s return.

Those who think that a loving God would not judge those who reject the gift of grace and faith are also those who themselves reject the means of receiving eternal life, which is given by faith in Christ through word and sacrament.

27 For the Son of Man is going to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay each person according to what he has done.

Christ welcomes all who by faith trust his work and believe. He has gifted each one of us with the blessed gift of faith and by his working through the Holy Spirit we believe and serve our Lord Christ in blessedness and holiness.

We all have been gifted to serve the Lord and his kingdom. May we all find joy in his use of each one of us for his greater purpose so that you will:

Enter into the joy of your master!

In the name of the Father, and of the Son + and of the Holy Spirit!

Amen

Sermon November 11-12, 2023

Title: In the word and in Christ you are prepared!
Text: Matt. 25:1-13

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10 And while they were going to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the marriage feast, and the door was shut. 11 Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, ‘Lord, lord, open to us.’ 12 But he answered, ‘Truly, I say to you, I do not know you.’ 13 Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.

I’m reading a book on a little know plot to kill Abraham Lincoln before he took office after having been elected President. It’s called The Lincoln Conspiracy and follows the plot to kill Lincoln that was foiled by Allen Pinkerton and his Detective Agency – and the signs of the times as they became known and the preparations and actions taken to keep the President-elect safe.

As we look to this gospel text and parable today let us begin with a few verses that precede this reading today from chapter 24. Here Jesus, is speaking with his disciples and says:

42 Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming.

And:

44 Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.

And finally:

50 the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know

So the text today speaks of the end times and being prepared.

25 “Then the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom.

In the parables that we have studied previously, the kingdom of heaven and the joy that awaits those who believe had been described as a Wedding feast. There were those closed with wedding garments and those who were not. There was also a casting out and a weeping and gnashing of teeth.

And now the word continues, for the disciples and our benefit, with the foolish and wise virgins who took their lamps and while the wise had oil in their lamps and the foolish did not and while the bridegroom was a long time in coming, they were unprepared for the time of his arrival.

Being unprepared is not a good thing.

Michigan weather is unpredictable. At times in fall, it gets really cold and windy. Leaves get blown down all around. We even had snow on Halloween! It is a reminder of what’s around the corner … winter!

It would be easy to forget and be unprepared.

Thankfully we’ve made arrangements with our plow service here at church and hopefully as the weather turns cold and the snow flies, we will be prepared for what winter brings. Also, I’m very thankful for Ron Brewer who gets the job done for us!

Being prepared is a good thing but not all prepare for what is coming.

For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them,

How much good is a lamp that has no oil in it? Not much, if it’s an oil lamp!

We know about oil here at church and at times the candles that have had no oil in them. They may have a dry wick and no fuel from which to draw. Thankfully Erika Hoffman keeps our candle oil in stock so we might relate to the wise who …

4 … took flasks of oil with their lamps.

As we know lamps with oil bring with them light and light the way. Or, in church, the candles light our service and symbolize God’s light and presence among us.

But in our parable the oil signifies something more. It signifies the work of God by the working of his Holy Spirit that brings faith … the gift of God for we who believe.

The Altar Guild fills the candles each week. I don’t think much about it. I just expect that they will do the work and we’ll have oil in the candles in church to light the service. But, one candle didn’t cooperate and the base broke. Not a big problem and it will be soon rectified.

During the first few months during the pandemic, it was my responsibility. I would do it during the week and then check it on the weekend to make sure that I did it and didn’t forget. I wouldn’t want to look foolish and have to hear,

“Pastor, the candles won’t light. Didn’t you fill them?”

Not that forgetting the candles is an unpardonable sin here at church.

But in the parable what did the foolish lose? They lost focus on the bridegroom’s coming. They lost focus on Jesus.

The faith of God in Christ by the Holy Spirit had dimmed to the point of flickering and had gone out.

What does this say to you and to me and to all who have been given this gift of faith? Should we ignore it or should we do all we can to make sure it is robust and full? Surly, it is God’s gift he brings us to faith and through that same word keeps us in the faith.

If God, through the means of parents and our family puts a plate full of food in front of us but we ignore it and don’t feed on it, we remain hungry and the gift and blessing gets wasted.

So to, if we ignore God’s word and don’t hear, read, or feed on it. Our faith in Christ dims and is replaced by other things of the world that cause us to focus on everything other than Jesus the bridegroom of the Wedding Feast.

To lose focus on Jesus can cause us all to fall away and to see our oil run dry. If we have no fuel for the wick of faith to draw and to see the light of Christ, it can flicker and go out.

But God has promised that where his word is, there the Holy Spirit is, to give faith in the gift of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

It is only possible to believe in Christ by the gift of faith through the power by the Holy Spirit. The oil of God in your lamp is God in you and given you as a gift working faith to believe and to live as beacons of hope.

Over the next year many will place their hope in those who will be elected for various offices in the State and Country. National, State and local politics are important and dominate our lives but also our hopes. Someone is always let down.

One learned politician once wrote:

The learned fool writes his nonsense in better language than the unlearned, but still 'tis nonsense.

B. Franklin.
At times we who have lamps are fools.

We fool ourselves into believing that we have measured up, that we are acceptable in the eyes of God, and that we will all stand before him in righteous acceptance.

While we,

Deny his word,
Deny his gifts,
Live contrary to his word

But by God’s working, Christ has made a way to give you a full lamp.
Christ has filled you with His Spirit who points you to him.
Christ has promised he would never leave you or forsake you.
Christ continues to feed you on word and sacrament so that the gift of faith continues to fill your lamp for you who trust in Him.

You too who have been filled by God’s blessed faith are wise and prepared and ready for the coming of him, who was and is and is to come, Jesus Christ our Lord!

Because of Jesus and God’s gift of faith you who believe are ready!

In the name of the Father, and of the Son + and of the Holy Spirit!

Amen

Sermon November 5-6, 2023 - All Saints Day

Title: From Tribulation to Triumph in Christ!

Text: 1 John 3:1-3 Facebook live:

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2 Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.

Behold a host, arrayed in white,

Like thousand snow-clad mountains bright!
With palms they stand;
Who is this band
Before the throne of light?

All Saints Day brings to mind the dearly beloved saints who’ve finished their course in this life and rest in the arms of their loving savior. Jesuses promised eternity with him is fulfilled in those who’ve received this grace and faith as a gift and having believed, depart this life for that promised eternity.

3 See what kind of love the Father has given to us that we should be called children of God; and so, we.

As we think about the love of God, this love it is made known to us in the God man Christ Jesus our Lord, the perfect son, begotten of the Father from eternity. But it is not in the incarnation that our hope is found, though God becoming man put into history the perfection of God’s redemptive plan to restore all that had been lost and broken by the fall into sin.

Paul in writing to the church in Corinth laments:

22 For as in Adam all die, 

1 Cor. 15:22a

The world and all people are brought forth in Adam. We are all brought forth in sin and death awaits us all. The life we live for good or bad gives us only what this life in Adam gives – life - for a time.

So, the time over the last year has given us grief in the loss of so many dear saints here at Peace and in our extended family.

At times in life there is joy, and at times there is sorrow, and at times our hopes and dreams in this life culminate only in a death and separation from those we love and hold dear.

Those are the saints of glorious fame,
Who from the great affliction came
And in the flood
Of Jesus' blood
Are cleansed from guilt and shame.

In the last year fellow members: Charles Fox, John Carlson, Rose Skinner, Bill Rappuhn, Jean Pilot, Eleanor Brown, and Marilynn Wendt all join the heavenly throng! But Paul doesn’t leave his hearers or us in despair for he concludes this verse with these comforting words:

… so also in Christ shall all be made alive. 

1 Cor. 15:22b

We are made alive in Christ, not in Adam.

In Adam the sin of the fall clings to us from birth. We live in Adam and see it throughout our lives. We die, not to receive heaven, but because –

… the wages of sin is death. 

Romans 6:23a

Paul loves to proclaim the life eternal because it is what we are all guaranteed.
In Adam though that guarantee is an eternal life separated from a loving God.

This is NOT good news!

To die apart from Christ means that you will never see or hear the great multitude, crying out with a loud voice,

Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” 

Rev. 7:10

But in Christ, Paul comforts the burdened heart saying:

But the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 6:23b

That life eternal begins not upon our death - but upon our rebirth at our Baptism when we are born again from above!

In Baptism we are marked as God’s child and put on Christ through the washing of water and the word. Titus 3:5

By the working of the Holy Spirit in Baptism we believe in Jesus and our life in Adam is changed forever.

We are no longer dead in sin but are made alive in Christ!

As the Apostle John writes in our epistle for today:

2Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when [Jesus] appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.

We shall see him - this Jesus - not as a terrible and wrathful judge ready to condemn us for our sin, but as the only begotten son of the Father who sees us in Christ and is well pleased. The favor of God on account of Christ is yours – not because you have lived a good life, but because Christ Jesus has lived, suffered, died, and rose again from the dead – for you and me and for all who hold to this blessed hope.

All Saints Day brings to mind loss as well:

Dear friends and family from the distant and recent past.

We don’t have to look very far to see an empty space when a beloved member of Peace once sat. In life we are all destined to die and in death those who have gone before us leave a void in our own lives where they had been present.

I don’t need to remind you of that.

We also think of our loving friends and family members who have departed this life for eternity, returning to their resting place as we wait together for the Lord’s return.

In Adam we all die and we will all rise at the coming of the Lord but only in Christ are we to be with the Lord forever.

55 “O death, where is your victory?
O death, where is your sting?”

56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

1 Cor. 15 55b-56

While we mourn the passing of our beloved friends and family members, we also joy that their promised eternity is in Christ!

We live to die

They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

and die to live.

They now serve God both day and night;
They sing their songs in endless light.
Their anthems ring
As they all sing
With angels shining bright.

17 For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd,
and he will guide them to springs of living water,
and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”

In the name of the Father and of the Son + and of the Holy Spirit.

Amen

Sermon October 28-29, 2023

Title: Our sin brings death but God gift is life!

Text: Romans 3:19-28

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23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith.

Fredrick Douglas once said, “Those who profess to favor freedom and yet [deplore] agitation are men who want rain without thunder and lightning.”

Frederick Douglas

Martin Luther certainly felt the thunder and lightning that he did not expect when he nailed his 95 theses to the Wittenberg castle church door on October 31, 1517. What he intended for theological debate and discussion caused turmoil, divided the Christian church, and marked the beginning of what we know today as the Lutheran Reformation. The freedom that we who name the name of Christ received is in the Son and because of His wonderful work you are free in Christ!

Today we remember and celebrate the Reformation of the Church, began by the former Roman Catholic Priest and Augustinian Monk, Martin Luther. We also celebrate the joy that we who today benefit from this blessed freedom found in the Gospel message, will continue together with the whole church to reach the lost with this same gospel message.

19 Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law … 20 For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.

This was the crux of Luther’s struggle. How could a sinful man stand before a holy God? He would ask himself, “Must God condemn sin? Yes. Am I a sinner? Yes. Must God condemn me? Yes!”

This struggle and torment tore at Luther as he tried to understand the depth of the fall into sin and the rescue that was enacted on our behalf in the person and work of Jesus Christ. As one myself who came to Lutheranism as an adult, and also as one who struggled to find peace with God, I came to identify a great deal with Luther. One book that was important in my transition to Lutheranism was Heiko Oberman’s, Luther: Man between God and the Devil. It was not only a history of Luther and the reformation but it also was a perfect picture of where Luther stood … between God and the Devil. On the one hand judged and condemned as a sinner by God and on the other hand tempted and taunted by the Devil. Luther thought, “Where can peace be found in this life let alone the life to come?”

[Interestingly LCMS President Rev. Dr. Matt Harrison once posted on his Facebook page that 1/3 of all LCMS members are adult converts.]

For there is no distinction:

23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, Rom. 3:22b-24

While verse 24 says pretty much the same thing it was Chapter 5 and verse 1 that gave Luther what he was looking for … peace.

5 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Rom. 5:1

Grace was God’s gift but the means, that Luther now understood, was through the instrument of faith. This gift of Grace and Faith gave Luther hope and peace in a God, not of wrath, but of love.

25 whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith.

[The word propitiation carries the basic idea of appeasement or satisfaction, specifically toward God. Propitiation is a two-part act that involves appeasing the wrath of an offended person and being reconciled to him.]

http://www.gotquestions.org/propitiation.html

So not only is God no longer angry with you, because Jesus has accepted all of God’s wrathful anger in a once and for all sacrifice at the cross, but in Christ by faith you receive what Christ received … God’s favor … on account of that same sacrifice.

Luther was free and the Roman Catholic Church wouldn’t be the same.

Not that Luther was trying to topple or rebel against the Roman Church but just to reform its errors. It’s a little like a student finding an error that the teacher wrote on the blackboard. The student points out the error not to show up the teacher but to show that he was paying so close attention that this error jumped out at him. The proper response from the teacher is to thank the student and move on. That’s what Luther thought would happen, that his propositions in his 95 theses posted on the door of the Castle Church would bring theological debate and he felt confident that he could prove that his thinking was right by the word of God.

I was born on April 18, 1955 and baptized in May of that year. My first remembrance of Church was at Holy Trinity Catholic Church, in McKeesport Pennsylvania. The services were in Latin … and I didn’t understand a word. Not much different for the Church members in Luther’s day. Remember the only thing they knew about God was what the Church told them. The Bible was in Latin and they, if they didn’t read Latin, were in the dark.

One movie that I enjoyed is a film called Martin Luther Heretic.

The title says a lot about how the church viewed Luther … as one who taught falsehood. One scene that is especially poignant has Luther teaching his students the difference between the scripture in Latin and what he found in the ancient Greek. He points out that in the Latin it reads, do penance but in the Greek is reads, change heart. Luther saw that the Latin was a mistranslation of change heart.

The changing of our heart from being God’s enemies to being at peace with God - is all God’s work.

This set Luther free to preach the freedom of the Christian who at birth is bound to sin, just like you and me, but who is freed from sin, death and the power of the Devil by God’s gift of Grace through faith and this is not of your doing, not a result of works (doing penance) so that no one can boast. Eph 2:8-9

This led Luther to the Diet of Worms, in Germany to hear the charges of heresy, in front of the Emperor Charles the V, which were brought against him and to give a defense for what he believed, taught and confessed. This happened on April 18, 1521, 434 years to the day of my own birth, so I felt a certain kinship with Luther as I wrestled with my own religious upbringing.

We can thank [papal legate] Aleander, that we have this eyewitness account of Luther’s arrival in Worms:

I had already concluded my letter when I gathered from various reports as well as the hasty running of the people that the great master of heretics was making his entrance. I sent one of my people out, and he told me that about a hundred mounted soldiers, probably the Sickingens, had escorted him to the gate of the city; sitting in a coach with three comrades, he entered the city [at ten in the morning], surrounded by some eight horsemen and found lodgings near his Saxon prince. When he left the coach, a priest embraced him and touched his habit three times, and shouted with joy, as if he had a relic of the greatest saint in his hands. I suspect that he will soon be said to work miracles. This Luther, as he climbed from the coach, looked around in the circle of his demonic eyes and said: “God will be with me.” Then he stepped into an inn, where he was visited by many men, ten or twelve of which he ate with, and after the meal, all the world ran there to see him.

Oberman, Heiko A. Luther Man between God and the Devil, Yale University 1989 Pg. 198-99

To those inside and outside the church the Lutheran liturgy and Roman Catholic liturgy look similar.

We have many of the same elements, invocation, confession of sins, the creeds, and even the readings for the day are the same coming from the historic lectionary. We baptize infants, instruct our youth, have confirmation and receive the Lord’s body and blood in the sacrament of the Altar.

So why was there this battle in 1521 and why does it still rage today? In a word … it’s the gospel.

Lutherans believe that we are saved by grace alone, through Faith alone, in Christ alone, and that we know this by the means of Scripture alone. No works, no penance, no merit Luther knew as those bound in sin from birth that, “the only thing we contribute to our salvation … is sin.”

Martin Luther brought the thunder and lightning but not to be a agitator - but to restore the Gospel. To give the peace of God to we who are bound in sin. To bring true freedom to those bound by the Devils lies … that we can do anything to merit forgiveness.

Let it be proclaimed!

8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

You are free dear friends, in Christ!

In the name of the Father, and of the Son + and of the Holy Spirit!

Amen

Sermon October 21-22, 2023

Title: The Lord knows your name and calls you his in Christ!
Text: Isaiah 45:1-7

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45 Thus says the Lord to his anointed, to Cyrus,
whose right hand I have grasped,

Anointed

1. consecrated or made sacred; dedicated to God, often in a ceremony that includes dabbing or sprinkling with holy oil: In the Bible, the anointed High Priest was chosen from among the descendants of Aaron.

2. chosen by or as if by divine authority; chosen for a sacred, high, or special vocation or purpose:

David was anointed by Samuel to be King.
Mary was anointed by God to bear his Son.
Jesus anointed his disciples by calling them to “Follow me!” and they left their nets and followed him.
Saul was anointed by God to be his instrument to the Gentiles.
You were anointed by God to be his child by the working of the Holy Spirit and Baptism.

All of these were a special anointing and calling by God, to those chosen for his purpose.

And Cyrus too, - a Persian King - was called by God for this purpose:

Thus says the Lord to his anointed, to Cyrus,

We as Lutherans understand that God works in the church and in the world. We call it the two kingdoms, the Kingdom of Grace and the Kingdom of the world. He works through word and sacrament in church and through those who rule, lead, or govern in the world. We as Christians live in both.

In the Old Testament reading for today in Isaiah 45:1-7 God calls the Persian King Cyrus – his anointed saying,

whose right hand I have grasped,
to subdue nations before him
and to loose the belts of kings,
to open doors before him
that gates may not be closed:

The Lord says –

2 “I will go before you
and level the exalted places,
I will break in pieces the doors of bronze
and cut through the bars of iron,
3 I will give you the treasures of darkness
and the hoards in secret places,
that you may know that it is I, the Lord,
the God of Israel, who call you by your name.

God calls Cyrus for his purpose and we read in Ezra 1:

1 In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom and also put it in writing:

2 “Thus says Cyrus king of Persia: The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he has charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. 3 Whoever is among you of all his people, may his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and rebuild the house of the Lord, the God of Israel—he is the God who is in Jerusalem.”

God used Cyrus to rebuild Jerusalem and to free the captives in Babylon.

Just as God Cyrus he also called Pharaoh to serve his needs in the Exodus from Egypt telling Moses in Exodus 7:

2 You shall speak all that I command you, and your brother Aaron shall tell Pharaoh to let the people of Israel go out of his land. 3 But I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and though I multiply my signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, 4 Pharaoh will not listen to you. Then I will lay my hand on Egypt and bring my hosts, my people the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by great acts of judgment. 5 The Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I stretch out my hand against Egypt and bring out the people of Israel from among them.” Exodus 7:2-5

God works in the church through his means of grace, and in the world through those he wills, both good and bad, for his ultimate purpose. We might remember Jesus’ response to Pontus Pilate in John 19:10-11

10 So Pilate said to him, “You will not speak to me? Do you not know that I have authority to release you and authority to crucify you?” 11 Jesus answered him, “You would have no authority over me at all unless it had been given you from above.”

The authority God has he gives in both the left and right Kingdoms for his good purpose.

He anoints Judges and those who govern though at times it seems in opposition to good order, and then we see only through hindsight how God’s purpose has been revealed. As in the story of Joseph:

20 As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.

Gen. 50:12

We see in the hand of God’s ministers how the work of God continues through the church as he retains and forgives sins, proclaims his word, and unites bread and wine to be his body and blood given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.

We see God work as he anoints you to be salt and light in the world shining the light of the gospel in a dark world, and by his anointing work through the Holy Spirit, faith is bestowed and eternal life received.

When I visit at homes, care facilities and hospitals, I anoint those whom God has call to be his - with an anointing balm. This balm is simply a visible reminder of what has and continues to do in the lives of his children.

Those who are suffering - I anoint in the sign of the Holy Cross upon their forehead - as a reminder that God has marked them in Baptism as his beloved child and this is a reminder to them and to us of God’s presence with us, never leave us nor forsake us.

4 For the sake of my servant Jacob,
and Israel my chosen,
I call you by your name,

It is for God’s purpose.

I name you, though you do not know me.

All, even those who do not know or believe in the one true God can be used by him for his purpose.

5 I am the Lord, and there is no other,
besides me there is no God;
I equip you, though you do not know me,

So, if God can use those who do not know him, how much more those who do!

God has anointed you in the waters of Holy Baptism to be his, and he has equipped you with the Holy Spirit so that the gospel of peace that you proclaim goes forth from your mouth and will not come back void. It will do God’s purpose to change the hearts and minds of those opposed to the gospel, pointing to his Jesus the Christ – the anointed one of God who takes away the sins of the world!

6 that people may know, from the rising of the sun
and from the west, that there is none besides me;
I am the Lord, and there is no other.
7 I form light and create darkness;
I make well-being and create calamity;
I am the Lord, who does all these things.

Whether, Cyrus or Caesar, church or state, male or female, slave of free God works by his Spirit to make the way of salvation known! Jesus Christ the way the truth and the life is the one who came to bind up the broken hearted and to redeem those bound in sin with the peace of God that passes all understanding.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son + and of the Holy Spirit!

Amen