tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24978991863850184052024-02-20T07:31:17.981-06:00Grace Lutheran Church Weekly SermonsWelcome to Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church's Weekly Sermon postings. We hope that these sermons will strengthen your faith and encourage you in Christian living. May the Lord continue to bless you with his richest blessings.Grace Evangelical Lutheran Churchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11819042462567501498noreply@blogger.comBlogger182125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2497899186385018405.post-79718078379516195232013-06-16T09:00:00.000-05:002013-06-16T09:00:00.680-05:00My Prayer for you (Colossians 1:1-14)<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";"><span></span></span></b><b><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";"></span></b></span><span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";"><span>Fourth Sunday after Pentecost</span></span></b><b><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";"> </span></b><b><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";"></span></b></span><span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";"><span> </span></span></b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";"><span>June 16, 2013</span></span></b><span></span></span>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span>Dear friends in Christ.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span>For nearly nine years now I’ve had the privilege of
sharing God’s Word with you each and every week.<span> </span>I’ve had the opportunity to encourage you in
your faith, comfort you in your sorrows, convict you of sin, and assure you of
the Lord’s forgiveness which is yours through Jesus Christ, your Lord and
Savior.<span> </span>But how do I say good bye to
you, whom I have known as a family for so many years now!<span> </span>I considered re-preaching the first sermon I preached
as Pastor here—a sermon that was designed to encourage each and every one of us
to fix our faith on Jesus, to cling to him and to rely on him for all that we
need.<span> </span>I considered preaching a sermon
that didn’t exactly follow the idea of a farewell sermon, but continued in our
catecatical series reminding us of how we receive the forgiveness of sins, and
assuring us that we have been forgiven through faith in our Savior who lived,
died, and rose again for each and every one of us.<span> </span>Yet, every time I thought about this day, my
thoughts kept coming back to Paul’s words in Colossians 1.<span> </span>So, this morning, I would like to invite you
to open your Bibles with me one more time.<span>
</span>I would like to invite you to open your Bibles with me to Colossians 1,
and we’ll take a look at the encouragement in faith, the assurance of
forgiveness, and the thanksgiving that the Apostle Paul proclaims to the
Colossians as he prays for them in our lesson today.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span>“Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of
God, and Timothy our brother, 2 To the holy and faithful brothers in Christ at
Colosse: Grace and peace to you from God our Father. 3 We always thank God, the
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, 4 because we have heard
of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all the saints— 5
the faith and love that spring from the hope that is stored up for you in
heaven and that you have already heard about in the word of truth, the gospel 6
that has come to you. All over the world this gospel is bearing fruit and
growing, just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and
understood God’s grace in all its truth. 7 You learned it from Epaphras, our
dear fellow servant, who is a faithful minister of Christ on our behalf, 8 and
who also told us of your love in the Spirit." (Colossians 1:1–8, NIV84)</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span>As Paul opens his letter, he greets the believers
with thanksgiving and prayer.<span>
</span>Thanksgiving because they had heard the Word of God and believed it;
prayer that they would continue to be built up and strengthened in their
faith.<span> </span>As he writes, he reminds them
that through their faith in Christ they were well known for the love that they
so openly displayed for all believers—love which sprung out of the hope that
they had in eternal life through Christ; love that just naturally flowed out
because they wanted to tell others about the hope of heaven that they had.<span> </span>But even as Paul wrote, troubles had begun to
spring up.<span> </span>False teachers had come into
the city and begun teaching the Colossians things that they had never heard
before.<span> </span>Teaching them that Jesus death
on the cross wasn’t complete and that the Colossians would have to live by
strict rules about the kinds of foods they could eat, and what they could drink.<span> </span>Other teachers came into town telling them
that they had to deny themselves of certain things.<span> </span>Still other teachers came telling them that
Jesus wasn’t the only spiritual being that deserved worship, but that the
angels deserved worship as well.<span> </span>So,
Paul writes to them, “For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we
have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge
of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding.”<span> </span>(Colossians 1:9).<span> </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span>Because of all the confusing ideas that were being
preached in Colosse, Paul prayed for them, asking that their faith would be
increased, that God would fill them with the knowledge of his will.<span> </span>Paul prayed for them so that they would be
able to discern between God’s Word and the false teachers.<span> </span>He prayed for them so that as they heard the
Word of God, their faith in Christ would increase and be strengthened so that
they would be able to withstand the attacks upon their faith from these false
teachers.<span> </span></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span>Well, dear friends, this is my prayer for you as
well.<span> </span>In the same way that Paul is
praying for the Colossian I pray that God would strengthen you in your faith
and fill you with the knowledge of his will.<span>
</span>I pray that you would continue to read and study your Bibles so that
your faith in him as your Lord and Savior would continue to grow and to
mature.<span> </span>I pray that you do not give up
meeting together, but regularly gather for worship so that you might encourage
and be encouraged by the presence of all your friends, relatives, neighbors,
and even those whom you do not know so well, each and every week; because this
world is still full of false teaches.<span>
</span>This world is still filled with people who lead a life of sincerity
wrapped in the garb of spirituality rather than that of faith in Christ.<span> </span>Take for example how so many churches in our
word preach a message of love and tolerance; a message that encourages us in
the knowledge that God is love and through which we can easily make love into a
god.<span> </span>Take for example the sincere love
between two men or two women who have lovingly dedicated themselves to each
other in marriage according to the laws of our State.<span> </span>Though they may be sincere in their love for
each other, and they may be sincere in their belief that a God who is love,
must love us for who we are, and want us to be happy in our love for another,
even another of the same sex; though they may be sincere in their belief, this
is still something that runs contrary to what the Lord teaches in his
Word.<span> </span>Though we all know couples who
sincerely believe that it is better for them to live together before marriage,
or instead of marriage, because they sincerely believe that it is better to
practice at commitment than it is to break a commitment, this is also a false
teaching that goes against what God teaches in his Word.<span> </span>Though we may even know people who are
convinced that it really doesn’t matter what they believe, as long as they
sincerely believe it, this too is a false teaching that is contrary to God’s
Word.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span>These are all false teachings that go against God’s
Word.<span> </span>Just because a person sincerely
believes something, the sincerity of their belief doesn’t necessarily make it
right or true.<span> </span>For example, a Buddhist
can sincerely believe in Buddha.<span> </span>A
Jehovah’s Witness can sincerely believe that the only God is God the Father or
Jehovah God. A Mormon can sincerely believe that by his actions he will one day
become a god.<span> </span>But if these do not
believe in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who died on the cross to take away the
sins of the world, they will never see heaven.<span>
</span>The same is true about those who sincerely believe that living together
is fine or that homosexual relationships are acceptable to God.<span> </span>Unless they heed God’s Word, change their
ways, and leave their lives of sin, they will be surprised how sincerely they
will feel eternal separation from God.</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span>Thus, I pray for each and every one of you that the
Lord would increase your faith so that you would seek to live for the Lord your
God.<span> </span>I pray that your spiritual lives
would resemble that of body builder Arnold Strong—better known by his stage
name, Arnold Schwarzenegger—rather than your spiritual lives resembling that of
Indian leader Mahatma Gandhi!<span> </span>For at the
peak of his physical fitness, Arnold Schwarzenegger lived a life of constant
body building, while at the peak of his political power, Mahatma Gandhi lived a
life of poverty, fasting, hunger strikes.<span>
</span>While Schwarzenegger increased, Gandhi decreased.<span> </span>While Schwarzenegger gained a trimmed and
toned physique along with strength and massive muscles, Gandhi gained a wasted
physique, a sickly appearance, atrophied muscles along with a great wealth of
physical weakness.<span> </span>This is why I pray
for you that you would live for the Lord—for when you live for the Lord, your faith
increases.<span> </span>When you live for the Lord,
your faith becomes part of your life.<span>
</span>When you live for the Lord reading and studying the Word becomes
something that you long to do.<span> </span>When you
live for the Lord, gathering for worship is one of your prime objectives.<span> </span>When you live for the Lord, your goal is to
serve him in whatever way is pleasing in his sight.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span>This is the point the Apostle Paul was trying to get
across to the Colossians when he wrote, “For this reason, since the day we
heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you
with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding.
10 And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and
may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge
of God, 11 being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so
that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully 12 giving thanks
to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints
in the kingdom of light. 13 For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness
and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, 14 in whom we have
redemption, the forgiveness of sins." (Colossians 1:9–14, NIV84)</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span>My friends, this is my prayer for you as well!<span> </span>I pray that you live a life worthy of the
Lord in all things.<span> </span>Not because I want
you to.<span> </span>Not because you feel like you
have to.<span> </span>I pray this for you because it
is the Lord who “qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the
kingdom of light.”<span> </span>I pray this for you
because it is the Lord who “rescued you from the dominion of darkness and
brought you into the kingdom of the Son he loves.”<span> </span>I pray this for you because it is the Lord
who have given you, “redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”<span> </span>I pray this for you because it is the Lord
Jesus Christ himself, God’s only begotten Son, our Lord gave up his glory in
heaven to come down to earth and live among us.<span>
</span>He, the sinless Son of God lived among us sinners for thirty some
years.<span> </span>He lived with us, ate with us and
taught us.<span> </span>He went to the cross for
us.<span> </span>The sinless for the sinner went to
suffer and die so that we sinners would be made sinless in the eyes of God.<span> </span>This is my prayer for you that you would
always live for Jesus Christ, your Lord and Savior, who died and rose again to
free you from all of your sins.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span>In other words, if you are trapped in any sin,
confess it to the Lord and receive his forgiveness.<span> </span>If you are living in a way that is contrary
to the teachings of God’s Word, change your ways and leave your life of
sin.<span> </span>If you think that sincerity of
belief is greater than belief in the things God has taught us, take time to
study his Word.<span> </span>If you have lived the
life of Gandhi, fasting and keeping yourself from the Word of the Lord and his
Worship, come and join the feast.<span> </span>Change
your life and live the life of Schwarzenegger, building yourself in your faith
as you begin a new your life for the Lord.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span>This is my prayer for you that as you live your
Christian lives, you present yourselves in such a way so that the world may
know you as a Christian.<span> </span>Thus, in this
way, you will find yourselves fixing your faith on Jesus, your Savior, clinging
to him and relying on him in every need.<span>
</span>In this way you will live in the forgiveness of sins that is yours
through faith in Jesus Christ who came to this world to live for us, die for us
and rise again from the dead so that we could live with him forever.<span> </span>In this way you will continue to grow your
faith and your knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ.<span> </span>This is my prayer for each and every one of
you.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span>Amen.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span>Pastor
David M. Shilling</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span><span><a href="http://www.grace-lesueur.org/">Grace EvangelicalLutheran Church</a>--Le Sueur, MN</span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 12pt;">
<br /></div>
Grace Evangelical Lutheran Churchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11819042462567501498noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2497899186385018405.post-87630142723536541802013-06-09T09:00:00.000-05:002013-06-09T09:00:02.700-05:00What Is a Good Work in God's Sight? <!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif";"><span>June 9, 2013</span></span></b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif";"></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">Dear friends in Christ.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">Did you know that if you examine
every religious teaching in the world, each and every teaching and each and
every religious group will fall into one of two categories?<span> </span>It’s true.<span>
</span>Either they will teach that you have to do something, no matter how
great or how small, you have to do something to aid in or to earn your
salvation; or they will teach that your salvation is given to you as a
gift.<span> </span>Now I know that this is something
that I’ve told you before and I know that every time I make this statement
there is always someone who doesn’t quite agree with me.<span> </span>But it really is true.<span> </span>Either you were taught that you had to do
something in order to aid in or earn your salvation, or you were taught that
your salvation was given to you as a gift by Jesus who died on the cross, rose
again from the dead, and lovingly instilled the very faith in your hearts
through his word; the very faith through which you receive his gift of
salvation.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">Now, because of that type of
thinking, there are also two ways that people think about good works.<span> </span>Because there are so many religious teachings
and philosophies that fall into the category of the need to do something to
earn salvation, there are millions, of not billions of people in the world who
believe that if they can be good and do enough good in this life, God will
welcome them into heaven as a good person.<span>
</span>However, the other side of that type of thinking is the biblical
teaching that good works are something that the Lord has prepared us to
do.<span> </span>They are something that he would
have us do, not because we have to and certainly not because they are
contingent on us earning our salvation; rather, according to God’s Word, good
works are things that Christians do, simply because good works naturally flow
out of our hearts in thankfulness to the Lord for all that he has done in
freeing us from our sins and blessing us with his salvation.<span> </span>In fact, this is the very thing that we will
be seeking to understand as we study the Word of God before us this
morning.<span> </span>For as we examine the passages
set before us, we will seek to answer the age-old question, “What is a good work
in God’s sight?”</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">To fully understand what, in
God’s sight, constitutes a good work we must first take a look at the attitude
of our hearts.<span> </span>This is something that
the writer to the Hebrews brings out very clearly chapter 11 as he speaks about
Enoch as one who pleased God. The writer tells us, “By faith Enoch was taken
from this life, so that he did not experience death; he could not be found,
because God had taken him away. For before he was taken, he was commended as
one who pleased God. 6 And without faith it is impossible to please God,
because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards
those who earnestly seek him." (Hebrews 11:5–6, NIV84)</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">In simplest terms, the Lord makes
it clear that the only way that we can possibly please him and can be pleasing
to him is through faith.<span> </span>It is only
through the very faith that he, himself, created in our hearts by sending the
Holy Spirit into our hearts through the Means of Grace (which we discussed a
few weeks ago is the Gospel in the Word and Sacraments) that we have been
called to faith in Jesus Christ our Savior, and now through that faith are
commended as people who please our God.<span>
</span>Through that very faith, we are able to do works that are pleasing to
God—good works that naturally flow out of our faith and our lives in
thankfulness to the Lord our God who called us to faith in him.<span> </span>This is something that the Apostle Paul
emphasizes as he writes his beautiful letter to the Ephesians.<span> </span>As he writes in chapter 2: “As for you, you were
dead in your transgressions and sins, 2 in which you used to live when you
followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the
spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. 3 All of us also lived
among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and
following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of
wrath. 4 But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5
made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by
grace you have been saved. 6 And God raised us up with Christ and seated us
with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 7 in order that in the coming
ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his
kindness to us in Christ Jesus. 8 For it is by grace you have been saved,
through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by
works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are God’s workmanship, created in
Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to
do." (Ephesians 2:1–10, NIV84)</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">In God’s sight, this is exactly
what good works are: they are acts of faith that he has prepared for us to
do.<span> </span>They are acts of faith that please
him because they spring out of our faith and our love for him.<span> </span>They are acts of faith that are motivated and
flow out of a heart that believes in the one who has called us to faith.<span> </span>They can be as simple as giving a drink of
water to a thirsty person, as important as helping another person through a
difficult crisis, even as complex as planning, organizing and building a
structure for God’s glory such as our church and fellowship hall!<span> </span>But the most amazing thing about the good
works that we do for the Lord is that most often we don’t even realize that we
are doing them.<span> </span>This is the point that
Jesus brings out in his parable of the sheep and the goats in Matthew 25, where
Jesus tells us, “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who
are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you
since the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me something
to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and
you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you
looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’ 37 “Then the
righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or
thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and
invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick
or in prison and go to visit you?’ 40 “The King will reply, ‘I tell you the
truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did
for me.’” (Matthew 25:34–40, NIV84)</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">As we know from the context, this
parable gives us a picture of the judgment on the Last Day.<span> </span>It shows us how easy it will be for Jesus to
separate the believers from the unbelievers, because, as we talked about last
week, the Lord knows our hearts and the Lord knows who believes in him.<span> </span>But the most amazing statement of this
beautiful section is the believer’s reaction to all that Jesus has just said to
them in verses 37-39, “‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or
thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and
invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick
or in prison and go to visit you?”<span> </span>Even
though there are times when we recognize the good works that the Lord has
prepared for us to do, and even though there are times when we might plan to do
a specific good work for the Lord, so often the good works that flow out of our
hearts and lives are things that we don’t even realize that we are doing.<span> </span>They are things that we simply don’t keep
track of because keeping track of them would only be a detriment to us as our
sinful human nature would naturally begin to feel pride in all that we are
doing for the Lord and would begin to focus on our good deeds rather than on
Jesus and how he freed us from our sins by his life, death, and resurrection.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">Now, as simple as it can be for
us to understand that a good work in<span>
</span>God’s sight is a work that flows out of our faith, the reason we
sometimes have difficulty with this concept is that there are many things that
people can do in this life that are thought of as good works.<span> </span>For example, Oscar Schindler was hailed and
remembered as a righteous person because he worked so hard to save so many Jews
from Nazi death camps.<span> </span>Bill and Melinda
Gates are often thought of as good people because they been able to do so much
good through the foundation that bears their name.<span> </span>Oprah Winfrey is often thought of as such a
good person because she has been able to help so many people through her Angel
Network and other networks that she has organized.<span> </span>And the truth is, based on the good things
that they have done and are continuing to do, we would call them good people
who are doing good things for the people of the world.<span> </span>However, even though these are works being
done for the good of the people of the world, they may not necessarily be good
works in the eyes of the Lord.<span> </span>I cannot
say one way or the other simply because I do not know if Oscar Shindlar was, or
if Oprah Winfrey or if Bill and Melinda gates are believers in the Lord Jesus
as their Savior.<span> </span>If they do not believe
in Jesus as their Lord and Savior, then even though the works they are doing
are good works in the eyes of the world, anything done outside of the context
of faith in Jesus Christ is not a good work in the eyes of the Lord.<span> </span>Just as Isaiah told us when he prayed, “All
of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like
filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us
away." (Isaiah 64:6, NIV84)<span> </span>And as
the writer to the Hebrews tells us, “without faith it is impossible to please
God.” (Hebrew 11:6, NIV 84)</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">Though there are times when this
concept can be difficult to understand, when we see it from the eyes of faith
it becomes all the more clear.<span> </span>When we
light our path according to God’s Word and when the faith to which the Holy
Spirit has called us transforms our hearts and our minds, we are able to test
and approve what God’s good and pleasing will truly is.<span> </span>We are able to judge our actions and our
works as good according to God’s standard just like manufactures products must
pass certain tests before they are put on the market.<span> </span>Rope has to meet a strength test.<span> </span>Automobiles must pass power and braking
tests.<span> </span>Baby cribs must pass safety
tests.<span> </span>Similarly, in order to know
whether what we do is a good work or not, we must test it according to God’s
Word.<span> </span>We can’t just follow a popular
opinion poll.<span> </span>Popular opinion might say
that because God is love I can live however I want, or it might say that it is
perfectly acceptable to cheat if you don’t get caught.<span> </span>But if God’s Word says that God forbids
something, then we will know that even if we are living in faith, doing that
thing that runs contrary to God’s Word is not only not a good work but it is a
sin.<span> </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">So what is a good work in God’s
sight?<span> </span>Quite simply it is something that
God has prepared in advance for us to do.<span>
</span>It is something that we have done out of faith and love for the Lord our
God.<span> </span>It is something that is pleasing to
the Lord our God because it is something done according to his Word and his
will.<span> </span>May the Lord continue to bless you
as you live in and grow in your faith in Jesus Christ who died and rose again
from the dead!<span> </span>May he continue to bless
you in your life of good works that naturally flow out of your hearts because
of the faith that he, himself has instilled in them, through the work of the
Holy Spirit in connection with the means of grace.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">Amen.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">Pastor David M. Shilling</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";"><span><a href="http://www.grace-lesueur.org/">GraceEvangelical Lutheran Church</a>--Le Sueur, MN</span></span><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";"></span></span></div>
Grace Evangelical Lutheran Churchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11819042462567501498noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2497899186385018405.post-42006687144774584682013-06-02T22:35:00.000-05:002013-06-03T22:36:31.117-05:00Rejoice that you are part of the Holy Christian Church<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<br />
<h1 align="center" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-weight: normal;"></span><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";"></span><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-weight: normal;"></span></span></h1>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif";"><span>Series:</span></span></b><b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif";"> </span></b><b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif";"><span>Growing Together in God's Grace</span></span></b><b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif";"></span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif";"></span></b><b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif";"></span></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif";"><span>June 2, 2013</span></span></b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif";"></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">Dear friends in Christ.</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">Have you ever noticed that the
title given to a group of individuals often tells us a great deal about the
group?<span> </span>Take for example one of the
groups in our congregation called Supper Club.<span>
</span>It’s pretty clear from the name that this is a group of people who get
together for the purpose of eating supper.<span>
</span>How about the Federal Bureau of Investigation; the FBI?<span> </span>Again, it is pretty clear from the title that
this is a group of people who are doing all sorts of investigating.<span> </span>What about the National Football League, or
National Basketball Association?<span> </span>Again
these are titles that tell you that the NFL is a league of football players
while the NBA is an association of basketball players.<span> </span>Though the list could go on and on, as we
study the Word of God today, we will see that in the same way that names of
groups often identify what the group is all about, so also when we confess that
we are part of the Holy Christian Church—the Communion of Saints, we are
revealing certain things about who we are and what we do.<span> </span>In fact, as we study the passages before us
this morning, we will find great reasons to rejoice that we are part of the
Holy Christian Church.</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">But before we can fully
understand why we have reason to rejoice that we are part of the Holy Christian
Church, we must first of all figure out what this Holy Christian Church is all
about.<span> </span>To answer that question we turn
our attention to the Account of Ananias and Sapphira in Acts 4:32-5:14, where
Luke tells us: “All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed
that any of his possessions was his own, but they shared everything they had.
33 With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of
the Lord Jesus, and much grace was upon them all. 34 There were no needy
persons among them. For from time to time those who owned lands or houses sold
them, brought the money from the sales 35 and put it at the apostles’ feet, and
it was distributed to anyone as he had need. 36 Joseph, a Levite from Cyprus,
whom the apostles called Barnabas (which means Son of Encouragement), 37 sold a
field he owned and brought the money and put it at the apostles’ feet. 5:1 Now
a man named Ananias, together with his wife Sapphira, also sold a piece of
property. 2 With his wife’s full knowledge he kept back part of the money for
himself, but brought the rest and put it at the apostles’ feet. 3 Then Peter
said, “Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have
lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received
for the land? 4 Didn’t it belong to you before it was sold? And after it was
sold, wasn’t the money at your disposal? What made you think of doing such a
thing? You have not lied to men but to God.” 5 When Ananias heard this, he fell
down and died. And great fear seized all who heard what had happened. 6 Then
the young men came forward, wrapped up his body, and carried him out and buried
him. 7 About three hours later his wife came in, not knowing what had happened.
8 Peter asked her, “Tell me, is this the price you and Ananias got for the
land?” “Yes,” she said, “that is the price.” 9 Peter said to her, “How could
you agree to test the Spirit of the Lord? Look! The feet of the men who buried
your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out also.” 10 At that
moment she fell down at his feet and died. Then the young men came in and,
finding her dead, carried her out and buried her beside her husband. 11 Great
fear seized the whole church and all who heard about these events. The apostles
performed many miraculous signs and wonders among the people. And all the
believers used to meet together in Solomon’s Colonnade. 13 No one else dared
join them, even though they were highly regarded by the people. 14
Nevertheless, more and more men and women believed in the Lord and were added
to their number.” (Acts 4:32–5:14, NIV84)</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">From these verses Luke makes it
very clear what the Holy Christian Church is.<span>
</span>Simply put, the Holy Christian Church is the gathering of all who
believe in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.<span> </span>Were Ananias and Sapphira part of the Holy
Christian Church?<span> </span>I don’t know.<span> </span>Only God knows.<span> </span>They tried to make their gift look better
than it was by lying, and by their actions it seems that they might have simply
been pretending to be Christians.<span>
</span>However, the other side is that they may well have been believers in
Jesus who fell into a sin of greed and in their weakness they lied.<span> </span>It is very possible that the Lord used their
death as an example to the other believers to show them how serious he is about
sin.<span> </span>It is also very possible that the
Lord called Ananias and Sapphira out of this life as forgiven believers so that
they would not have the opportunity to travel down a path that could lead them
away from their salvation forever.<span> </span>We
don’t know, only God knows.<span>
</span>Nevertheless, what becomes clear from this section of Scripture is that
the Holy Christian Church is known only to God, because it is made up of all
those who believe in Jesus as their Lord and Savior, not those who are merely
pretending to believe or simply going through the motions.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">Though we cannot see those who
have faith in their hearts, we can take comfort in the fact that each and every
one of us who believes in Jesus is part of the Holy Christian Church.<span> </span>And the thing that is even more comforting
and amazing is that this group is not limited to a specific location, because
there are believers in Jesus all over the world!<span> </span>There are Christians in China, Brazil, Egypt,
Norway, Africa, Russia and in just about every country in the world.<span> </span>And our joy and our reason for rejoicing is
that each and every person who believes in Jesus as Lord and Savior, regardless
of where they live, or when they lived or will live; each and every one who believes
in Jesus is part of the Holy Christian Church—the gathering of believers which
we have also called the Communion of Saints.</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">Now, as amazing as this fact
truly is, the next logical question which you are all probably ready to ask is,
“If we can’t see this church, how do we know where it is found?”<span> </span>This question is answered by the Apostle Paul
as he begins his first letter to the Corinthians.<span> </span>He writes, “Paul, called to be an apostle of
Christ Jesus by the will of God, and our brother Sosthenes, 2 To the church of
God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be holy,
together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus
Christ—their Lord and ours: 3 Grace and peace to you from God our Father and
the Lord Jesus Christ. 4 I always thank God for you because of his grace given
you in Christ Jesus. 5 For in him you have been enriched in every way—in all
your speaking and in all your knowledge— 6 because our testimony about Christ
was confirmed in you. 7 Therefore you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly
wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed. 8 He will keep you strong to the
end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 God,
who has called you into fellowship with his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, is
faithful." (1 Corinthians 1:1–9, NIV84)<span>
</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">Thus, Paul tells us that the Holy
Christian Church is found wherever believers in Jesus call on the name of
Jesus, or as we are more comfortable saying, where we gather to worship
Jesus.<span> </span>But Paul does not stop there!<span> </span>He also tells us in Chapter 15, “Now,
brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you
received and on which you have taken your stand. 2 By this gospel you are
saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have
believed in vain. 3 For what I received I passed on to you as of first
importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 that
he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,
5 and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve. 6 After that, he
appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of
whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. 7 Then he appeared to
James, then to all the apostles, 8 and last of all he appeared to me also, as
to one abnormally born. 9 For I am the least of the apostles and do not even
deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 10 But
by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect.
No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was
with me. 11 Whether, then, it was I or they, this is what we preach, and this
is what you believed." (1 Corinthians 15:1–11, NIV84)</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">As Paul continues in his letter,
he tells us very clearly that the Holy Christian Church can only be found where
the Word of God, the Gospel of Jesus Christ our Savior, is preached and
believed.<span> </span>And, as we read, this is a
very specific Gospel message.<span> </span>It is the
message of Jesus Christ who was crucified, died, buried, and raised from the
dead so that through the grace lavished upon us through faith in him we have
received the forgiveness of sins; and we now believe the message of salvation
that is ours through the Gospel that has been revealed to us.<span> </span>This is the gospel message through which we
have been called to faith in Jesus Christ our Savior.<span> </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">But Paul doesn’t even stop with
his letter to the Corinthians.<span> </span>He
continues telling us about where the Holy Christian Church is found as he
writes to a young Pastor named Timothy.<span>
</span>He tells Timothy, “In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will
judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I
give you this charge: 2 Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of
season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful
instruction. 3 For the time will come when men will not put up with sound
doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a
great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. 4 They
will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. 5 But you,
keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an
evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry." (2 Timothy 4:1–5,
NIV84)</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">In short, as Paul calls on
Timothy to preach the Word, to be prepared, to correct, rebuke and encourage,
he is reminding Timothy of the simple truth that the Holy Christian Church can
only be found where the Gospel is faithfully preach and proclaimed—the message
of salvation that is ours through faith in Jesus Christ our Savior.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">So what does this mean for the
churches in Le Sueur?<span> </span>It means that
where the gospel is being proclaimed; where the message of salvation through
faith in Jesus Christ is being preached and taught, there you will find members
of the Holy Christian Church.<span> </span>Though
some churches do not hold as solidly to the Scriptures as others, through some
churches interpret and understand the Scriptures differently than others,
though some churches add things to the Scriptures and others subtract things,
we can take comfort that wherever the Gospel message of salvation is proclaimed
we will find people who believe in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.<span> </span>And those who believe in Jesus Christ as
their Lord and Savior are the ones make up the Holy Christian Church—the
Communion of Saints, of which we also are a part.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">Now, please understand what I’m
saying!<span> </span>I’m not advocating that we go
out and claim that we believe and teach exactly the same thing as every other
church in town.<span> </span>I’m not advocating that
at all, because it is very clear that we do not believe and teach exactly the
same thing as every other church in town.<span>
</span>In fact, all one has to do is a little research into each church and
that person will very quickly come to an understanding of the basic differences
between each church’s teachings.<span> </span>Please
also understand that I am not saying that because a person belongs to a church
that person automatically belongs to the Holy Christian Church.<span> </span>I cannot say that, because the Holy Christian
Church is made up of all those people, everywhere, who believe in Jesus Christ
as their Savior who delivered them from their sins by his life, death, and
resurrection from the dead.<span> </span>Not everyone
who belongs to a church believes that.<span>
</span>How can say that?<span> </span>Because it is
true!<span> </span>How can I possibly know?<span> </span>Because Jesus very clearly says, “By their
fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs
from thistles? 17 Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree
bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot
bear good fruit.” (Matthew 7:16–18, NIV84)</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">Though in the context Jesus is
speaking about being wary of false prophets, the message of how we can tell
those who belong to the Holy Christian Church is clear.<span> </span>We will know them by the fruits of their
faith. We will know them by their actions.<span>
</span>Take for example our own congregation.<span>
</span>If you say that you believe in Jesus as your Lord and Savior, but come
up with all sorts of reasons and excuses why you don’t need to gather for
worship to grow in your faith or partake of Holy Communion for the assurance of
forgiveness, doesn’t your life show that you don’t really believe in
Jesus?<span> </span>If you say that you believe in
Jesus but feel very comfortable living in a specific sin, perhaps living with
your boyfriend, your girlfriend, or your fiancée, fully knowing that this is
against everything that the Lord has taught us, doesn’t your life show that you
don’t really believe in Jesus as your Savior?<span>
</span>If you say that you believe in Jesus as your Savior but you are
constantly pouring out lies, or spreading gossip, or continually talking about
people behind their backs is your life actually showing that you believe in
Jesus as your Savior?<span> </span>Though it is true
that we will be recognized by our fruits, this is not 100% accurate, just as we
saw with Ananias and Sapphira.<span> </span>Only God
knows if their eternal fate.<span> </span>Yet, our
actions and our lives are almost always a very clear indication of the faith in
our hearts.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">Though belonging to a church does
not guarantee that we are members of the Holy Christian Church, each and every
one of us can rejoice today, because today we have again heard the Gospel
message of salvation proclaimed to us.<span>
</span>We have been built up in our faith in Jesus Christ who came to live for
us, die for us, and rise again from the dead to free us from our sins.<span> </span>We have been moved by the Holy Spirit who
lives in our hearts, to live our lives in reflection of our faith even as we grow
in God’s Word.<span> </span>Thus, today, as we have
gathered here, we have found every reason to rejoice that we are part of the
Holy Christian Church—the Communion of Saints—the gathering of all believers
everywhere who call on the name of Jesus, their Lord and Savior.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">Amen.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">Pastor David M. Shilling</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";"><span><a href="http://www.grace-lesueur.org/">GraceEvangelical Lutheran Church</a>--Le Sueur, MN</span></span><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";"></span></span></div>
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Grace Evangelical Lutheran Churchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11819042462567501498noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2497899186385018405.post-30875717467596932402013-05-20T11:36:00.000-05:002013-05-20T11:36:09.235-05:00Abraham: Following God's Promise (Complete Church Curriculum)<span style="color: blue; font-size: x-large;">A Truly Incredible Resource!</span><br />
<br />
We just concluded our Study of <a href="http://www.logos.com/product/20888/abraham-following-gods-promise-complete-church-curriculum-for-leaders-and-pastors">Abraham: Following God's Promise</a>, and I cannot say enough good about it! Designed as a 8 weeks Bible Study and sermon series, there was more than enough information to teach each lesson for 2 - 3 weeks. I cannot thank Logos enough for all the work that went into planning and publishing such an amazing resource.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: blue; font-size: x-large;">Sermon Resources</span><br />
<br />
Though I did not use the sermon resources in connection with our Bible Study on Abraham, I look forward to using them as a review of what we learned. I'm currently planning an 8 week series on Abraham in September and October this fall. This will be a great review for those who attended the Bible Study and give them additional insights as the lessons are driven deeper into their hearts and their lives. It will also be a great time to connect with everyone else who was not able to attend the weekly Bible Study and help them grow in their faith and their faith and appreciation of God's Grace and God's working in their lives.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: blue; font-size: x-large;">A whole lot of information!</span><br />
<br />
Wow!!! The authors of this series have put so much work and effort into these lessons that if I taught them as is I would have been able to lead a 1.5 hour - 2 hour Bible Class and still need more time! Thank you for all the work!<br />
<br />
Each week I started on Monday and read through the resources in preparation for what I was teaching on Sunday. So often I spent my time deciding what was best to emphasize in the lesson and what I would have to leave out. Interestingly, I was often able to briefly reference some of the items that I had decided to set aside because of time constraints. How wonderful it was to be that prepared.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: blue; font-size: x-large;">Member Comments</span><br />
<br />
"Wonderfully laid out! I love the welcoming color scheme and the open and inviting fonts."<br />
<br />
"The maps were very interesting and the graphics were extremely helpful in understanding the concepts that we were learning."<br />
<br />
"The first couple of weeks Pastor seemed overwhelmed by the material and that caused me to feel the same way. I think that he had too much explanation and we didn't dive into the text enough or study it enough before he asked some of the questions. But by the third and forth week he seemed to get a handle on it and we spent more time in the text, discussing it with applicable questions, and then we were ready for the questions that applied what we had learned to our lives."<br />
<br />Grace Evangelical Lutheran Churchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11819042462567501498noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2497899186385018405.post-15275807183016394132013-04-28T10:00:00.000-05:002013-04-28T10:00:08.815-05:00Why is the Work of the Holy Spirit so Important?<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif";"><span>Fifth Sunday
of Easter</span></span></b><b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif";"> </span></b><b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif";"></span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif";"><span>April 28, 2013</span></span></b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif";"></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">Dear friends in Christ.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">Whenever you watch a sporting
event like basketball or football, baseball or even NASCAR, it is very seldom
that you get a glimpse of the people operating the cameras.<span> </span>Oh, sure, from time to time the network might
give you a wide angle shot of the stadium crowd or maybe an unusual angle of
home plate, and in that shot you will see one or maybe two different cameras
with their operators.<span> </span>But on most
occasions we never see them.<span> </span>Even though
they have the very important job of following the ball as it arcs toward the
outfield wall, and capturing all the action of the game so that we feel like we
are right there in the stadium we hardly ever see them.<span> </span>We know they are there because we are being
blessed by the important work that they are doing, but in all reality they are
the ones who work behind the scenes, as it were. <span> </span>Well, in many ways this is how the Holy Spirit
works in God’s kingdom.<span> </span>He works behind
the scenes.<span> </span>He works quietly and often
times subtly as he does his most important work of calling people to faith in
Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.<span>
</span>Though we can often tell where he is and even sometimes see what he is
doing through the work that he has accomplishes, like most camera operators, we
never see him.<span> </span>This is why we want to
take a few minutes today to take a look at the important work that the Holy
Spirit does so that we might learn why it is so very important for us as
Christians.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">Well, as Christians, we already
know why the work of the Holy Spirit is so very important!<span> </span>We know that the work of the Holy Spirit is
so important because he is the one who calls people to faith through the Word
of God.<span> </span>He is the one who causes faith
in Jesus to spring up in a person’s heart so that through that faith they might
have eternal life, just as Jesus promised us when he said, “For God so loved
the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall
not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16, NIV84)<span> </span>And again, “Whoever believes and is baptized
will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.” (Mark 16:16,
NIV84)</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">Now, if I were to stand up here
this morning and tell you that I had a gift of $10.00 for each and every person
who came to church today, that would automatically mean that no one would be
excluded from that gift.<span> </span>Each person
would be given a $10.00 bill as they left church today.<span> </span>So, even if you were the last one ushered out
of church today, you would have no worries because you trusted me when I said
that I had a $10.00 bill for each and every person.<span> </span>In essence this is the same promise that
Jesus made when he went to the cross.<span> </span>He
proclaimed and promised that the benefits of his death and resurrection were
for all people.<span> </span>He ransomed everyone and
no one was left out.<span> </span>But, let me extend
that illustration just a little bit more.<span>
</span>What if, as you were leaving church today, I did offer you a $10.00
bill, but for whatever reason instead of taking it and being blessed by an
extra $10.00, you simply walked by and didn’t take it.<span> </span>Even though the money was yours and you would
have been blessed by it, you refused to take it and now you are not receiving
those blessings.<span> </span>Not only are you not
receiving the blessings, it is your own fault that you did not take the gift
that was offered you.<span> </span>The same is true
in God’s kingdom.<span> </span>It is the Holy Spirit
who works in our hearts to call us to faith so that we might receive the
blessings that Jesus offers us.<span> </span>However,
if someone resists or refuses to believe all the blame lies on the person who
refuses to believe in Jesus.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">Sadly, this is our natural
spiritual condition and this is why the work of the Holy Spirit is so
important!<span> </span>As Paul tells us in
Ephesians, “As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2 in
which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the
ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are
disobedient. 3 All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the
cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the
rest, we were by nature objects of wrath." (Ephesians 2:1–3, NIV84)</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">By nature, we were nothing more
than spiritually dead and blind enemies of God.<span>
</span>We did not naturally come to faith in Jesus as our Savior nor did we,
one day, out of the blue, simply decide that we were going to become Christians
and follow Jesus for the rest of our life.<span>
</span>No; because by nature we were no different than a corpse lying in a
coffin!<span> </span>Though a well meaning pastor
might have promised us a gift of $10.00, we would not have been able to take
it.<span> </span>Even if he had come to our coffin
and placed the bill in our hand so that we took it to our grave, it would have
done us no good, because we were dead and blind enemies of God.<span> </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">But now, everything has changed
because of the important work that the Holy Spirit has been about in our
hearts!<span> </span>The Apostle Paul says it this
way, “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with
God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have gained access by
faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the
glory of God. 3 Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we
know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and
character, hope. 5 And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out
his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us. 6 You see,
at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the
ungodly. 7 Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good
man someone might possibly dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates his own love for
us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Since we have
now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath
through him! 10 For if, when we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him
through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we
be saved through his life! 11 Not only is this so, but we also rejoice in God
through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received
reconciliation." (Romans 5:1–11, NIV84)</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">We are at peace with God through
our Lord Jesus Christ who died for us while we were still sinners only because
the Lord himself poured out upon us, the promised Holy Spirit.<span> </span>It is through the work of the Holy Spirit
that we have been called to faith by the Gospel.<span> </span>It is through the work of the Holy Spirit
calling us to faith, in most cases through the water connected with the Word in
baptism, that we now believe in Jesus as our Savior.<span> </span>It is through the work of the Holy Spirit
that we have been gathered together as believers and enlightened with his
gifts, sanctified—made holy—and kept in the one true faith in Jesus Christ, our
Lord and Savior.<span> </span>It is the Holy Spirit
who works through the Gospel in the Word and in the Sacraments to call us to
faith and strengthen our faith in Jesus who has freed us from our sins by his
death and resurrection.<span> </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">This is the work that the Holy
Spirit is continually doing, and this is the work in which we participate every
time we take the Word of God with us.<span>
</span>Though we have no power to call someone to faith, we have many, many
opportunities to plant the seeds of God’s Word in a person’s heart by humbly
and confidently sharing our faith.<span> </span>We
have many opportunities to tell others about Jesus, their Savior, who died on
the cross and rose again from the dead, so that through these beautiful words
of the Gospel the Holy Spirit might have the opportunity to work in another
person’s heart and cause the seeds of faith to grow.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">What greater, more important work
could there be than the work that the Holy Spirit does!<span> </span>Though we might expect to find the Holy
Spirit right in the middle of the picture, like the reporters who cover the
sports action, he is the one who works behind the scenes, like the camera
operators.<span> </span>Though we have never seen
him, we know that he is at work.<span> </span>He is
at work in our hearts today, strengthening our faith in Jesus Christ as our
Savior.<span> </span>Yet, he is also at work in every
part of the World.<span> </span>He is working even
now, every place that the Word of God is being shared and taught.<span> </span>He is working through that word, calling
people to faith in Jesus Christ their Savior, strengthening their faith,
enlightening them with his gifts, sanctifying them and keeping them in the one
true faith, in Jesus their Lord and Savior.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">Amen.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">Pastor David M. Shilling</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";"><span><a href="http://www.grace-lesueur.org/">GraceEvangelical Lutheran Church</a>--Le Sueur, MN</span></span><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";"></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
Grace Evangelical Lutheran Churchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11819042462567501498noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2497899186385018405.post-64953724239897224622013-04-14T10:00:00.000-05:002013-04-14T10:00:01.655-05:00Why is Jesus' Exaltation in heaven so meaningful for us?<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<h1 align="center" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-weight: normal;"></span><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";"></span><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-weight: normal;"></span></span></h1>
<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif";">Series:</span></b><b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif";"> </span></b><b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif";">Growing Together in God's Grace</span></b><b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif";"></span></b></span><span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif";"> </span></b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif";">Third Sunday
of Easter</span></b><b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif";"> </span></b><b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif";"></span></b></span><span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif";"> </span></b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif";">April 1</span></b></span><span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif";">4, 2013</span></b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif";"></span></span>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">Dear friends in Christ.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
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<br /></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">In just a few weeks, on May 5 to
be exact, we will be celebrating the Ascension of our Lord and Savior.<span> </span>On that day we will review the account of
Jesus’ ascension and how he sent his disciples into all the world to proclaim
the gospel to all nations.<span> </span>However,
today, we are getting a sneak preview!<span>
</span>Today we are reminding ourselves of how Jesus died in our place, how he
rose again from the dead, how he redeemed us and bought us back from our enemy
the devil, making us his own through faith!<span>
</span>But most importantly today we are reminding ourselves of Jesus’
exaltation in heaven and what it means for each and every one of us as his
children. <span> </span>So as we worship this morning,
we will focus ourselves on the task of answering the question before us: Why is
Jesus’ exaltation so meaningful to us?</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">Why is Jesus’ exaltation in
heaven so meaningful to us?<span> </span>Well, the
Apostle Paul answers that question so very clearly and completely as he writes
to the Christians living in Ephesus.<span>
</span>Paul writes, “As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a
life worthy of the calling you have received. 2 Be completely humble and
gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. 3 Make every effort to
keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. 4 There is one body and
one Spirit— just as you were called to one hope when you were called— 5 one
Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and
through all and in all. 7 But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ
apportioned it. 8 This is why it says: “When he ascended on high, he led
captives in his train and gave gifts to men.” 9 (What does “he ascended” mean
except that he also descended to the lower, earthly regions? 10 He who
descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens, in order to
fill the whole universe.) 11 It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be
prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, 12 to
prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be
built up 13 until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the
Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of
Christ.” (Ephesians 4:1–13, NIV84)</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">In these thirteen verses Paul
does indeed tell us many, many reasons why Jesus’ exaltation is so very
important to us as Christians, however, the key to what Paul is saying here is
to remember Jesus’ words on the cross.<span>
</span>One of the very last things that Jesus cried out was simply, “It is
finished!”<span> </span>Only moments before he gave
up his life, Jesus declared that his saving work was completed.<span> </span>Then, he gave up his life to complete the
saving work that he had just declared had been completed.<span> </span>His followers took his lifeless body and
quickly, yet lovingly, buried it in the tomb, thinking that this was the end of
Jesus.<span> </span>However, on the Third Day, Jesus
rose again from the dead and began appearing to his disciples to assure them
that he was alive and to assure them that his work of salvation had been
completed.<span> </span>Forty days later, Jesus
returned to his heavenly home, ascending to heaven to assure each and every one
of us that his saving work has been completely completed.<span> </span>Now, because he has completed his saving
work, he has returned to heaven and has been exalted there, ascending higher
than all the heavens, as Paul tells us, to fill the whole Universe.<span> </span>Because Jesus has been exalted to the highest
place that heaven affords, we are certain that as Christians, we have been
unified by the Spirit of Christ whom he pours out on us through his Word and
his Sacrament.<span> </span>We are certain that we
have all been baptized into Jesus’ death by the baptism we received as either
children or adults, through which the Holy Spirit came into our hearts,
creating, strengthening and sustaining our faith, applying the forgiveness of
sins to us.<span> </span>Because Jesus is exalted in
heaven, we know that he is the one who has given “some to be apostles, some to
be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, 12 to
prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be
built up 13 until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the
Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of
Christ." (Ephesians 4:11-13, NIV 84)</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">This is why Jesus’ exaltation is
so important to us!<span> </span>It is so important
to us, because now that Christ our Savior has been exalted in heaven, we are
confident that he led us, as captives, out of the captivity of our sins.<span> </span>He called us to faith through the work of the
Holy Spirit and made us his own, washing us clean with his blood.<span> </span>He has called us to serve him with our lives,
patiently bearing with one another in love, just as he loved us.<span> </span>He has called us to serve him in his kingdom
in so many different ways, helping in Church, evangelizing, talking to others
about Jesus, building up the fellowship of believers.<span> </span>Because Jesus has been exalted in heaven, we
know that his work of redemption is complete, and we know that we are the ones
who are to spread that message of salvation to those who do not yet know
through our words, and actions, so that many others might know that Jesus is their
Savior who is lovingly preparing a place for them in his heavenly kingdom.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">This too is why Jesus’ exaltation
is so important to us!<span> </span>Not only does it
give us the comfort of knowing all that our Savior did for us to free us from
our sins and make us his own, but we also have the comfort of knowing that
because our Savior has returned home to his heavenly kingdom, he is right now
preparing the very place where we will dwell when he calls us from this life to
his exalted side forever in heaven.<span>
</span>This, in fact, is the very thing that Jesus promised his disciples on
the night that he was betrayed.<span> </span>On that
night, only a couple of months before he would be exalted he told them, ““Do
not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. 2 In my Father’s
house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going
there to prepare a place for you. 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I
will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I
am." (John 14:1–3, NIV84)</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">This is the day to which each and
every one of us is looking forward!<span> </span>We
are all looking forward to the day when our Savior will finally call us out of
this veil of tears to his exalted side in his glorious kingdom forever.<span> </span>We are looking forward to that day because we
know that we belong to our Savior.<span> </span>We
are looking forward to that day because we know that our Savior who returned to
heaven will one day come back from heaven to take us to be with him so that we can
be where he is.<span> </span>We know that because he
has returned to his heavenly home, he is right now sitting at the right hand of
God the Father almighty.<span> </span>Now, because he
has been exalted to the right hand of God the Father, almighty, we take comfort
in knowing that not only is he preparing a place for us, but he is even
interceding for us, just as Paul tells us in his letter to the Romans, “Christ
Jesus, who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of
God and is also interceding for us." (Romans 8:34, NIV84)<span> </span>And as John tells us in his first letter, “My
dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody
does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense—Jesus Christ, the
Righteous One." (1 John 2:1, NIV84)<span>
</span>And as Paul again reiterates to a young pastor named Timothy, “This is
good, and pleases God our Savior, 4 who wants all men to be saved and to come
to a knowledge of the truth. 5 For there is one God and one mediator between
God and men, the man Christ Jesus, 6 who gave himself as a ransom for all
men—the testimony given in its proper time." (1 Timothy 2:3–6, NIV84)</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">Because Jesus has been exalted to
the right hand of our heavenly Father, we know that he is interceding on our
behalf.<span> </span>We know that he is watching over
us and ruling everything for the good of his church, working all things for the
good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.<span> </span>We know that we belong to our Savior, and we
know that when the time is right, he will return to judge the world and take us
to be with him forever, just as the writer to the Hebrews reminds us, “Just as
man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, 28 so Christ was
sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and he will appear a
second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting
for him." (Hebrews 9:27–28, NIV84)</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">Though we don’t know the time, we
are ready.<span> </span>Though we don’t know the
date, we are ready.<span> </span>We are ready because
Jesus has made us ready by calling us to faith.<span>
</span>Jesus has made us ready and assures us that we are ready through his
exaltation in heaven.<span> </span>This is our
comfort and our assurance.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">This is the comfort and the
assurance that we find in Jesus’ exaltation and this is why his exaltation is
so important to us.<span> </span>Though we still have
a few weeks until we celebrate our Savior’s ascension to his heavenly home and
remember his glorious exaltation, today we have received a sneak peak.<span> </span>We have set the stage for May 5, when we
celebrate our Savior’s ascension, and we have been reminded, just why Jesus’
exaltation is so important to each and every one of us.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">Amen.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">Pastor David M. Shilling</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";"><a href="http://www.grace-lesueur.org/">GraceEvangelical Lutheran Church</a>--Le Sueur, MN</span><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";"></span></span></div>
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Grace Evangelical Lutheran Churchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11819042462567501498noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2497899186385018405.post-33150876682307271582013-04-07T10:00:00.000-05:002013-04-07T10:00:01.682-05:00We Thank Jesus for Redeeming Us!<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<br />
<h1 align="center" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-weight: normal;"></span><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";"></span><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-weight: normal;"></span></span></h1>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif";"><span></span></span></b><b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif";"></span></b></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif";"><span>Series:</span></span></b><b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif";"> </span></b><b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif";"><span>Growing Together in God's Grace</span></span></b><b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif";"></span></b></span><span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif";"><span> </span></span></b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif";"><span>Second Sunday
of Easter</span></span></b><b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif";"> </span></b><b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif";"></span></b></span><span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif";"><span> </span></span></b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif";"><span>April 7, 2013</span></span></b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif";"></span></span>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">Dear friends in Christ.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">What would you do if you were
suddenly jolted awake by the screaming of the smoke alarms ringing all through
the house?<span> </span>What would you do if you
found yourself coughing from the acrid smoke pouring in through the door?<span> </span>The billowing black clouds growing thicker
and thicker forcing you to the floor to find clear air to breath!<span> </span>Trying to find your way to the door, you find
yourself lost in your own bedroom, your house suddenly becoming a traitor to
your safety as you are unable to make the simple 10 foot trip to your
children’s bedrooms!<span> </span>You grow weaker and
weaker as you worry about your family, you begin to lose consciousness and
realize that death is only moments away for you and your children.<span> </span>A tear carves a trail through the soot that
has accumulated on your face as you come face to face with your own inability
to do anything to save yourself or your children.<span> </span>But then, just as all hope is lost you hear
the sound of breaking glass.<span> </span>You feel
someone lift you off the floor and carry you outside into the cool, crisp,
clean, breathable air.<span> </span>Later, as you
begin to recover, you move your head from side to side and see your entire
family is there!<span> </span>They are safe and
sound, recovering just as you are.<span> </span>How
would you feel?<span> </span>What thoughts would be
on your mind?<span> </span>How would you react when
you met the person who risked his life to save your family from perishing in
that terrible fire?</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">In so many ways, this is exactly
what Jesus, our Savior, did for us!<span> </span>At
the beginning of Lent, way back on Ash Wednesday, we heard the screaming of the
smoke alarms waking us up from our slumber.<span>
</span>We saw the billowing clouds of our own sins surrounding us, and very
quickly it became very clear that there was nothing we could ever do to make
ourselves right before our God.<span> </span>We knew
that eternal death was the only thing in our future, until Jesus ran to the
cross and gave his life in our place; until Jesus suffered the punishment that
we deserved and died the death that should have been ours.<span> </span>Though we knew that eternal death was in our
future, when Jesus died on that cross and rose again on the third day, he
rescued us!<span> </span>He ransomed us from the
Devil!<span> </span>He redeemed us!<span> </span>He paid the price of our sins with his own
blood so that we could be his own and live to serve him!<span> </span>This is why we have gathered in worship
today!<span> </span>We have come to give thanks to
the Lord Jesus who redeemed us!</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">On this Second Sunday of Easter,
we have gathered, just as we did last week, to give thanks to the Lord Jesus
who redeemed us by making us his own through the blood he shed for us!<span> </span>This, in fact, is the very thing of which the
Apostle Paul reminds us when he writes in Colossians, “When you were dead in
your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive
with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, 14 having canceled the written code,
with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took
it away, nailing it to the cross. 15 And having disarmed the powers and
authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the
cross." (Colossians 2:13–15, NIV84)<span>
</span>And again in 1 Corinthians, “Do you not know that your body is a temple
of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not
your own; 20 you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your
body." (1 Corinthians 6:19–20, NIV84)</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">If you’ve ever owned a pet, then
you know the bond of loyalty that forms between that animal and its
master.<span> </span>Regardless of what type of
animal it is, dog, cat, bird, fish, etc, that animal belongs to you because you
bought it.<span> </span>You are the master and you
are the provider.<span> </span>Your pet relies on you
to care for it and provide for it.<span> </span>In
many ways this is a picture of what Paul is telling us in the passages we just
read.<span> </span>We are no longer our own, we have
been bought at a price.<span> </span>Because Jesus
redeemed us by his death and resurrection, we now belong to him, and we rely on
him to provide for us, which is exactly what he does.<span> </span>He provides for us by forgiving our sins, by
standing by our sides and even carrying us through our troubles.<span> </span>He blesses us with everything that we need
for our bodies and our lives, and gives us even more than we could ever use or
need.<span> </span>Because Jesus redeemed us, we do
belong to him in the same way that children belong to their parents.<span> </span>In the same way that parents teach their
children to honor their family through their words and actions, so also Paul
calls on us to honor our God in all that we say and do.<span> </span>Just as he writes in 2 Corinthians, “Christ’s
love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore
all died. 15 And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for
themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again." (2
Corinthians 5:14–15, NIV84)</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">How would you react if as you
began to recover from that fire, you move your head from side to side and see
your entire family is there!<span> </span>They are
safe and sound, recovering just as you are, even as the night is illuminated by
the blaze that is consuming your house.<span>
</span>How would you feel?<span> </span>What thoughts
would be on your mind?<span> </span>How would you
react when you met the person who risked his life to save your family from
perishing in that terrible fire?<span> </span>What
would be the first words out of your mouth?<span>
</span>Would you try to spring up from where you laid with tears streaming down
your face profusely thanking the person who rescued you?<span> </span>Wouldn’t you want to do something for that
person?<span> </span>Can’t you just see yourself
grasping the person’s hand, not ever wanting to let go, as you hear yourself
saying, “How can I ever repay you?”<span>
</span>Though so often rescuers humbly decline any type of compensation, how
would you react if your rescuer suddenly said, “I just love strawberries, and
if you every have any extra ones…”<span>
</span>Wouldn’t you immediately try to run off and collect every single
strawberry you could to give to the person who saved your life?<span> </span>Wouldn’t you take his name and address so
that you could deliver strawberries to him to say thank you?<span> </span>Might you even make sure to bless him with
strawberries every year, on the anniversary of the fire, for the rest of your
life?</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">As Christians, this is how we
seek to live, since Jesus redeemed us through his death and resurrection.<span> </span>We seek to live our lives for our Savior
because we understand that our lives no longer belong to us!<span> </span>They belong to the one who redeemed us and
delivered us to be his children.<span> </span>We seek
to live our lives according to our God’s commands and our Savior’s will not
because we have to, but out of love and thankfulness to the one who redeemed
us, and made us his own by washing us clean with his blood.<span> </span>Because Jesus has redeemed us we cry out with
Isaiah, “I delight greatly in the LORD; my soul rejoices in my God. For he has
clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of
righteousness, " (Isaiah 61:10, NIV84)<span>
</span>Because our Savior has redeemed us and made us his own we praise him as
the Psalmist did when he said, “How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter
than honey to my mouth! 104 I gain understanding from your precepts; therefore
I hate every wrong path. 105 Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my
path." (Psalm 119:103–105, NIV84)</span></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">In recent years the “Above the
Influence” campaign has challenged and encouraged young children, teens, and
even adults to live above the influence of drugs.<span> </span>Through a simple series of commercials of
kids speaking about how they live above those influences, thousands if not
millions have been inspired to do the same.<span>
</span>As Christians who have been redeemed by Jesus, our Savior, we seek to do
the same.<span> </span>We seek to live above the
influence of sin by delighting in the Lord and his word.<span> </span>We seek to live lives of thankfulness to the
Lord by living lives that lovingly reveal the robes of righteous that the Lord
has bestowed upon us.<span> </span>We seek to indulge
in the honey of God’s word so that we might gain wisdom and understanding from
his precepts so that we, too, might turn away from every evil path.<span> </span>This, in fact, is the very thing that Paul
encourages us to do as he writes in his letter to the Ephesians, when he says,
“You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old
self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; 23 to be made new in
the attitude of your minds; 24 and to put on the new self, created to be like
God in true righteousness and holiness." (Ephesians 4:22–24, NIV84)</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">Since we have been redeemed by
Jesus, who covered us with his blood and made us his own through his death and
resurrection, we seek to do this very thing for him.<span> </span>In the same way that we daily change from our
work clothes and put on our night clothes, so also we seek to put off our old
self as we turn to the Lord in repentance, and then put on the new self, the
robes of righteousness as we seek to live for him.<span> </span>This is what we do out of love and
thankfulness for the one who redeemed us!<span>
</span>For in the same way that we would be eternally grateful and thankful to
the one who saved our lives by pulling us out of our burning homes, so also we
are eternally grateful and thankful to the Lord Jesus, who as redeemed us by
his death and resurrection.</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">Though we did hear the screaming
alarm of Lent seeking to wake us from our slumber as the billowing clouds of
our own sins surrounded us and made it very clear that there was nothing we
could ever do to make ourselves right before our God.<span> </span>On Easter we heard the good news of salvation
that is ours through Jesus Christ our Savior.<span>
</span>Though we knew that eternal death was the only thing in our future, we
have seen the salvation that Jesus won for us when he went to the cross and
gave his life in our place, paying the punishment that we deserved and died the
death that should have been ours.<span> </span>Though
we knew that eternal death was in our future, we also know that when Jesus died
on that cross and rose again on the third day, he rescued us!<span> </span>He ransomed us from the Devil!<span> </span>He redeemed us!<span> </span>He paid the price of our sins with his own
blood so that we could be his own and live to serve him!<span> </span>This is why we have gathered in worship
today!<span> </span>We have gathered to give our
thanks and our praise to Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior; Jesus, our Savior,
who has redeemed us!</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">Amen.</span></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">Pastor David M. Shilling</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";"><span><a href="http://www.grace-lesueur.org/">GraceEvangelical Lutheran Church</a>--Le Sueur, MN</span></span><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";"></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
Grace Evangelical Lutheran Churchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11819042462567501498noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2497899186385018405.post-49543362862598952142013-03-31T09:00:00.000-05:002013-03-31T09:00:00.634-05:00Jesus Is Our Light! (John 20:1,2,11-18)<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">Series:</span></b><b><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";"> </span></b><b><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">Names of Wondrous Love</span></b><b><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";"></span></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">The Resurrection of our Lord</span></b><b><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";"> </span></b><b><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">Easter Day</span></b><b><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";"></span></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">March 31, 2013</span></b></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;">Dear friends in Christ.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: small;">While I was serving as a Pastor in South Dakota, I had
the opportunity to ride on the George S. Mickelson trail. Now, if you are not familiar with it, The
George S. Mickelson Trail is a converted rail road route situated in the heart
of the beautiful black hills. It runs
for 109 miles from Deadwood down to Edgemont and it contains more than 100
converted railroad bridges and 4 rock tunnels.
I can still remember what it was like to ride that day. I can still remember the sound of the crushed
limestone crackling under my tires as I rode.
I remember the smooth 4% grade that I climbed for a number of miles and
then coasted for a number of other miles.
But the thing I remember the most was riding through the tunnel. I remember the excitement as I approached the
tunnel, a yawning black mouth in an otherwise impassible rock face. I remember the way the darkness began to
envelope me, as I moved deeper into the throat of the mountain. The light from the outside quickly
disappeared and my pace slowed as I removed my sunglasses so that I could
better see in the new found darkness.
Though the darkness around me was never complete, it was very difficult
to navigate until I reached the slight bend in the tunnel and could once again
see the bright daylight pouring in, allowing me to navigate more confidently
through the remainder of the tunnel.
Though the tunnel was only a few hundred feet long it wasn’t long until
the darkness of the tunnel made it difficult to navigate. However, when I made the bend and saw the
light streaming in at the end of the tunnel I knew the darkness would soon come
to an end and I would once again enjoy my journey riding in the full light of
day.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Well, in many ways, the season of Lent is something
like that tunnel experience. The hours
we’ve spent with Jesus in these past weeks have been rather somber, solemn, and
serious. Even as we’ve focused our
attention on our Savior’s wondrous names of love, our attention has been on our
sins and we’ve been reminded of God’s forceful anger over them. We’ve traveled the path that Jesus took; the
path that lead him to his death to pay for our sins; the path that made us
deeply aware that of everything we deserved from a holy and righteous God,
which is everything that Christ, our Savior, suffered in our place. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">However, as we worship this morning, everything is
different. Our time spent traveling through the dark tunnel of Lent comes to an
end as we emerge into the full and glorious light of another Easter. We emerge into the joy and the comfort of our
Savior’s resurrection from the dead, and we bask in the full light of our
Savior’s love and forgiveness; our Savior who himself has assured us, “I am the
light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will
have the light of life.”" (John 8:12, NIV84) </span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Though today is truly a day of joy as we bask in the
Light of Jesus, our Savior, for most of Jesus followers, that First Easter did
not start off with joy and celebration.
Rather, it started out in darkness and confusion. In fact, John tells us, “Early on the first
day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and
saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. 2 So she came running to
Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, “They have
taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put
him!”" (John 20:1–2, NIV84)</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">In so many ways these words not only describe the
condition of the early morning when Mary set out for the tomb, but in reality
they describe the condition of her sorrow-filled heart as well. Her heart must have been overflowing with
grief, sorrow, and perhaps even despair because the light of Jesus’ life had
been snuffed out in death. Her Lord and
Savior who had cast seven demons out of her (Luke 8:2) was lying in the tomb
where he had been hastily buried before the Sabbath began. The one whom she had followed, serving him
with the full devotion of a heart filled with faith, trusting that he was truly
the promised Savior from sin; he was dead and she would not have the
opportunity to see him again. For May,
not only had the sky over Calvary been pitch black as she stood beneath his
cross, so was her heart. Not only was
the tomb, in which they had hurriedly placed his lifeless body devoid of light,
so was her spirit. How her heart must have
broken when the laid him in the tomb.
How her faith must have been shaken as she returned home for the Sabbath
on that Friday afternoon. But how her heart must have simply burst when she saw
the open tomb and come running to Peter and John crying out, “They have taken
the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!” (John
20:2, NIV84)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: small;">It was as if Mary was in a tunnel without any light,
without even an exit, as she stood beside the open tomb, weeping. Not only did she think that her Savior was
dead, but it also seemed that someone had gone to great lengths to steal his
body, thus dishonoring him all the more by taking away his right as an
Israelite to receive a proper and honorable burial. Yet in the same way that light does eventually
begin to shine into a tunnel as one comes to the end of it, so also the Light
of Jesus resurrection began to shine in Mary’s heart. For not long after Peter and John had
returned from the tomb, we find Mary back where everything had started that morning,
as John tells us, “but Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she
bent over to look into the tomb 12 and saw two angels in white, seated where
Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot. 13 They asked
her, “Woman, why are you crying?” “They have taken my Lord away,” she said,
“and I don’t know where they have put him.” 14 At this, she turned around and
saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus. 15
“Woman,” he said, “why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?” Thinking
he was the gardener, she said, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me
where you have put him, and I will get him.” 16 Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She
turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means Teacher).
17 Jesus said, “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet returned to the
Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am returning to my Father
and your Father, to my God and your God.’ ” 18 Mary Magdalene went to the
disciples with the news: “I have seen the Lord!” And she told them that he had
said these things to her." (John 20:11–18, NIV84)</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">While it was still dark, Mary had seen the stone
rolled away and run back to report her fears.
Later, in the daylight, she had returned to the tomb to weep and tell
the angels the same story she told the disciples. Then it happened! As she wept, she turned and noticed a man
standing behind her. Through tear-dimmed
eyes she didn’t recognize him. But when he said, “Mary,” her heart turned
over. “Master,” she cried out in
amazement. This was her lord. She was not in error. She had seen them lay his body in the grave,
and she recognized him now. With amazing
suddenness her tears were dried for her and the weight was lifted from her
heart. All past sorrows were gone. Darkness had vanished. Now she knew that her Savior was living! She had finally left the tunnel of sorrow and
now stood in the bright light of Jesus Easter victory!</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">What a day that had to be for Mary and the others,
and what a day it is for you and me! For
as we have gathered in worship this morning, we, too, have left the dark tunnel
of Lent and are basking in the light of Jesus, our Savior. We are basking in the joy of Jesus
resurrection. For we know that because
Jesus was delivered over to death and raised to life once again, we have been
justified before our God! We have been
acquitted of all our sins! We have been
declared not guilty and are once again at peace with the Lord our God! No longer can the guilt of our sins prevail
against us, because Jesus’ resurrection assures us that his death has
completely washed away even the guilt of our sins. No longer can satan bedevil us, because
Christ’s victory on Calvary has crushed the serpent’s head. Not even death can hold us any longer because
we know that just as Christ, our Savior, passed through death only to take back
his own life and rise again, so also, Christ our Savior will lead us through
death to our life forever by his side in our heavenly kingdom.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">This is Jesus, who is the light of our
Salvation. This is Jesus, who is the
Light of the World. He is the one who
gave his life and took it back again so that we might live in his light forever. Though there may be times in this world when
we pass through dark tunnels of sorrow and uncertainty, our Savior is always
there, lighting our path with his presence.
Our Savior is there assuring us that by his resurrection we are at peace
with God. Our Savior is there, assuring
us that no matter what we face in this life, he is with us and leading us on to
his heavenly kingdom. Even when we enter
the dark tunnel of death, we will have nothing to fear. We will have nothing to fear because we know
that Jesus himself will lead us through that tunnel to the wondrous light of
eternal life by his side, forever in heaven.
What a day that will be when we can join with Mary and all the others
singing the praises of our Savior’s wondrous love for us. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Amen.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;">Pastor
David M. Shilling</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;">Grace Evangelical
Lutheran Church--Le Sueur, MN</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 12pt;">
<br /></div>
Grace Evangelical Lutheran Churchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11819042462567501498noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2497899186385018405.post-44002531694723992612013-03-29T19:00:00.000-05:002013-03-29T19:00:08.110-05:00Savior (John 19:30)<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">Series:</span></b><b><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";"> </span></b><b><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">Names of Wondrous Love</span></b><b><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";"></span></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">Good Friday</span></b><b><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";"> </span></b><b><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";"></span></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">March 29, 2013</span></b></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Dear friends in Christ.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Scarcely had the sponge soaked with sour wine
moistened our Savior’s parched lips when we hear him cry out with a loud voice,
“Tetelestai!” Which means, “It is finished!”
Although a single, four syllable word in the Greek language, these three
English words, “It is finished!” are incredibly significant for each and every
person of the world. In fact, we would
not be exaggerating if we should call them the most important words in the
history of the world! For when Jesus
said, “It is finished,” he didn’t speak in a weak whisper, or even so quietly
that you would have had to lean in close to be able to hear what he was
saying. Rather, he cried out in a loud
voice so that all the world would hear.
Our Savior cried out these words as his proclamation of victory in the
midst of the darkness of Calvary. These
words were not the words of a man who was surrendering to death, but the words
of a soldier who has conquered in the battle, and won the victory over sin and
death forever. These words are the words
of our Savior whose mission has been completed.
These words are words of wondrous love, whose wondrous name of love we
know as, Savior.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Could there be any greater love than the love that
our Savior reveals to us as he willingly goes to the cross? In his great love for us, he allowed himself
to be pierced for our transgressions and crushed for our iniquity. In his great love for us, he endured the
punishment that would bring us peace so that by his wounds we could be
healed. In his great love for us he
endured even the pain of hell itself as he was rejected by his own Father. But now that has all come to an end, for as
we look closely at his face, we see his love as he cries out his declaration of
victory for us. With these words our
loving Savior was telling all who would listen, “I have won. My work of salvation is done. I have opened wide the gates of heaven for
mankind. I have kept all the law
perfectly for every person. I have paid
the price demanded for each and every sin.
Not one sin is left! I have
suffered the agonies of hell and damnation—agonies that were reserved for
sinners. I have endured the full
punishment and anger of my Father over sin.
I have shed my precious blood to redeem all mankind. And now my work of salvation is complete and
finished and done.” </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">What wondrous love our Savior conveys as he cries
out, “Tetelestai! It is finished!” For
this single word was the very word that the ancient Greeks would inscribe on
tax bills to show that they were completely paid in full. Thus, with these words Jesus took the crimson
ink of his blood and wrote “Paid In Full” across the bill of sins that we had
run up before God. Nothing more needed
to be added because Jesus blood had completely washed away our sins. Nothing more needed to be done because on the
cross, as our Savior cried out, Jesus declared that he had completed the work of
our salvation! “With that, he bowed his
head and gave up his spirit." (John 19:30, NIV84) </span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Could any other words demonstrate our Savior’s
wondrous love for sinners? When our
Savior had completed our Salvation, he willingly bowed his head and gave up his
spirit. Though death stood near the
scene on Calvary that day, death did not dare to approach our Savior until he
allowed it. How different his death was
from ours! We die because death is the
consequence of sin that our first parents brought to all people. We die because our lives are snatched away
from us. We die, because the Lord
chooses to separate our souls from our body.
There is nothing that we can do to prolong our lives in any way. But when Jesus died, he died at the moment he
chose. Not until he had completed our
salvation did he allow death to come near to him. Only when he had procured our Salvation did
our Savior pray, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” (Luke 23:46) and
“with that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.” (John 19:30)</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">It is never easy to be reminded of our Savior’s
death, because we know the death he died was the death we deserve. Yet, as we stand at the foot of our Savior’s
cross today, we find comfort in the fact that his death has removed the sting
of death forever. Because our Savior
willingly gave his life over to death, death is nothing more than a lion whose
claws and teeth have been removed.
Though death still growls for us, it can no longer harm us! Because our Savior paid the price our sins deserved,
we no longer need to be afraid! Rather
we can confidently fall asleep in Jesus’ wounds, knowing that the last beating
of our hearts will be a soft knocking at heaven’s door. When it opens, we will
be home with Jesus, our Savior from sin, our Savior from death, our deliverer
to eternal life.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: small;">All this is wrapped up in the simple name,
Savior! For included in that name of
wondrous love, is all that Jesus, our Savior did to free us from our sins, and
make us his own. Though we use this name
so easily and so often, it truly is a comfort to us, for it is our Savior who
has saved us and made us his through his blood!
In the same way that a life guard will save drowning swimmers by pulling
them out of the water and brining them to the safety of dry land, our Savior
saved us from drowning in our sins. By
his death, we have been declared righteous before the Lord our God. All this is wrapped up in the lovingly
wondrous name of Savior, as John tells us, “This is love: not that we loved
God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our
sins." (1 John 4:10, NIV84) </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Amen.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;">Pastor
David M. Shilling</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;">Grace Evangelical
Lutheran Church--Le Sueur, MN</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 12pt;">
<br /></div>
Grace Evangelical Lutheran Churchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11819042462567501498noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2497899186385018405.post-67776854823639936322013-03-28T19:00:00.000-05:002013-03-28T19:00:06.048-05:00The Lamb (Revelation 5:6-10)<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">Series:</span></b><b><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";"> </span></b><b><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">Names of Wondrous Love</span></b><b><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";"></span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">Maundy Thursday</span></b><b><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";"> </span></b><b><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";"></span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">March 28, 2013</span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Dear friends in Christ.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Why is it that little children are so attracted to
little lambs? Though many of them may
not have every had the opportunity to see one in real life or stroke its soft
fleece, yet in their beds, so many little children clutch a facsimile close to
their hearts as they fall asleep. Even
after they have out grown their child’s bed, so often that lamb might still
occupy an important position on their dressers, bookshelves, or even display
shelves. What is it that makes lambs so
attractive to little children? I don’t
know for sure, but I do know exactly what makes The Lamb attractive to us who
are God’s little ones, and children of our heavenly Father. It is the wondrous love that the Lord reveals
to us through his Son—the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the Word—that
make Jesus, the Lamb so important for us.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">This, in fact, is exactly what the Apostle John
reveals to us in our lesson today. For
as he writes he describes Jesus as a Lamb, “looking as if it had been slain,
standing in the center of the throne, encircled by the four living creatures and
the elders. He had seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of
God sent out into all the earth. 7 He came and took the scroll from the right
hand of him who sat on the throne. 8 And when he had taken it, the four living
creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a
harp and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers
of the saints. 9 And they sang a new song: “You are worthy to take the scroll
and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased
men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation. 10 You have
made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign on
the earth.”" (Revelation 5:6–10, NIV84)</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">In the book of Revelation, the Apostle John calls
Jesus “the Lamb” some 20 different times, and for John. Here, John described Jesus as looking like a
Lamb that had been slain, and for John, this was a term packed with
meaning. In fact, this was something
that took him back nearly 70 years to the day when he was at the Jordan River
with his teach, John the Baptist, and John had pointed to Jesus and proclaimed,
“Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29, NIV 84) </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">The Apostle John knew what those words meant. He knew how the angel of the Lord had swept
through Egypt on the First Passover so many years before. He knew how the angel had struck down the
firstborn in every home but passed over these homes with the blood of the
sacrificial lamb smeared on the doorposts.
John also knew the meaning of the blood of all those lambs, hundreds of
them, thousands of them, sacrificed on all of the Passover celebrations since
the first one in Egypt. He knew how the
blood of all those lambs pointed to the blood of the real Lamb, Jesus Christ—God’s
own Lamb, sent from heaven. His blood
would be so precious that it would cancel all sin. His blood would be so precious that those
covered by the blood of God’s Lamb would be spared when God’s eternal judgment
passed over.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">This is what the Lamb of God meant to the Apostle
John, but what does it mean to you that Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away
the sin of the world? In answer we look
especially at the blessed meal the Lord places before us today. In his Holy
Supper, the Lamb himself is present to serve us. In it he offers the very body
that he gave and the very blood that he poured out for our sins on Calvary’s
cross. With his body and blood, he wants to assure us of the blessed truth that
he was indeed slain for us. As we come to his altar, he puts his hand on our
shoulders, looks into our eyes, and reassures us individually that he was slain
for us. “Here,” he says, “my body, given for you. Here, my blood, shed for you.
Your sins are forgiven. Go home in
peace.” In this blessed way, he reassures us of his forgiveness and strengthens
our trust in him as our Lamb. Now we can look forward to the day when we have
to appear before the judgment seat of a holy God. We can take that step with
confidence and joy. Only because of the Lamb who was slain for us. The Father
in his grace has washed our robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
The Father in his wondrous love has made us his little ones through faith in
his Lamb. How we look forward to singing eternal praises to such a loving Father
and to the Lamb slain for us!</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">In our lesson John describes those praises as golden
bowls full of incense, as he writes, “they were holding golden bowls full of
incense, which are the prayers of the saints. 9 And they sang a new song: “You
are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain,
and with your blood you purchased men for God from every tribe and language and
people and nation. 10 You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve
our God, and they will reign on the earth.”" (Revelation 5:8–10, NIV84) </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Tonight we join in praising the Lamb of God for his
wondrous acts of love for us. We praise
him for the forgiveness of sins that he won for us through his death and
resurrection. We praise him that he made
us a kingdom of priest who are able to share the message of salvation with all
those around us. We praise him by living
our lives in such a way that our words and actions clearly reveal that we
belong to the Lamb who was slain for us.
Though it is easy to sing God’s praise here, the Lord wants us to praise
him in every aspect of our lives. So let
us do just that! Let us carry the Lamb
of God, our Savior, with us wherever we go, like a child carrying that
cherished toy animal. Let us carry the
Lamb of God with us as we enter our workplaces, where unbelieving employees
sneer at our words and scoff at our actions. Let us carrying him close to our
hearts in the high school hallways and college classrooms, where so many try to
scratch through the varnish of our protected childhood religion. Let us carry
the Lamb with us on the hospital bed, where reality never takes a nap, in our
families, where visually and verbally the love of God’s Lamb needs to be
conveyed, in our congregations, where there’s always so much to be done and so
few, it seems, to do it, and in our synodical fellowship, where we, as fellow
priests in God’s kingdom, join hands to take the gospel to every nation and to
train workers to go in our place. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">In the same way that little children are so often
attracted to little lambs, so also we, as God’s children are attracted to the
Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. What great love he has revealed in our lives
by making us his own through faith. Not
only have we been made his own, but we have the opportunity to carry the Lamb
of God with us wherever we go. God grant
that we never leave him on the dresser top of our lives, but always hold him
close to our hearts, ready to share him with everyone who needs to learn about
this special Lamb of God, our Savior. Amen.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Pastor
David M. Shilling</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.grace-lesueur.org/">Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church</a>--Le Sueur, MN</span></div>
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Grace Evangelical Lutheran Churchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11819042462567501498noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2497899186385018405.post-71308715961023384062013-03-24T16:12:00.000-05:002013-03-25T16:12:52.200-05:00The Hour Has Come for the Son of Man to Be Glorified! (John 12:23)<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";"><span>Sixth Sunday in Lent</span></span></b><b><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";"> </span></b><b><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";"><span>Palm Sunday</span></span></b><b><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";"></span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";"><span>March 24, 2013</span></span></b><span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span>Dear friends in Christ.</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span>Imagine with me, for a moment, what it must have
been like to be one of Jesus’ disciples.<span>
</span>Imagine what it must have been like to have Jesus come to you and
personally call you to follow him; personally choosing you as a disciple.<span> </span>For the past 2 ½ - 3 years you’ve been
following him, listening to him preach and teach, watching him as he performed
miraculous signs and wonders, being amazed as he drove out demons and brought
the dead back to life.<span> </span>For the past 2 ½
- 3 years you’ve been learning from him as he’s taught you about the kingdom of
heaven and about himself, the Son of God—the Messiah for whom you had been
waiting all your life.<span> </span>Every day that
you followed him you learned more and more about the kingdom of heaven.<span> </span>Every day that you followed him you grew
stronger and stronger in your faith.<span>
</span>Every day that you followed him you were prepared all the better to take
the message of salvation to those who needed to hear it the most.<span> </span>Then, suddenly, Jesus pairs you up with a
partner and the two of you go out preaching and teaching the message about
Jesus in the towns and villages where he was about to go.<span> </span>You are given the authority to heal the sick
and drive out demons.<span> </span>You taste the
success of sharing the message of salvation with your fellow countrymen, and
you can’t wait to come back and tell Jesus all the experiences that you’ve had
preaching and teaching in his name.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span>But lately something has been different.<span> </span>Jesus has been traveling more and more as of
late, and it is clear that he is making his way back to Jerusalem.<span> </span>Even though the Chief Priests and the
teachers of the Law have made it their mission to do away with Jesus, it is
clear that you will make it back to Jerusalem for the Passover.<span> </span>On Friday, you passed through Jericho, where
Jesus suddenly stopped to tell a man named Zacchaeus that he had to stay and
Zacchaeus’ house that day.<span> </span>On Saturday
you celebrated the Sabbath with your Savior, and later that evening you were
part of a banquet given in Jesus’ honor.<span>
</span>It was a banquet at the house of Simon the Leper.<span> </span>It was a banquet that Lazarus was at, the
same Lazarus whom you had seen raised from the dead by Jesus.<span> </span>It was a banquet that Martha served, and it
was a banquet where Mary brought a bottle of expensive perfume and used it to
anoint Jesus’ head and feet, drying her feet with her hair.<span> </span>Though you grew indignant with Judas who
thought that it was such a waste, you quickly changed your thoughts as Jesus’
rebuke echoed through the room, ““Leave her alone,” Jesus replied. “It was
intended that she should save this perfume for the day of my burial.” (John
12:7, NIV84)</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span>On Sunday, you were part of the great procession of
people traveling from Bethany to Jerusalem for the upcoming Passover.<span> </span>As you approached Bethphage, you were one of
the two disciples to whom Jesus turned and said, “Go to the village ahead of
you, and as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no one has
ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. 31 If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you
untying it?’ tell him, ‘The Lord needs it.’ (Luke 19:30-31, NIV84)<span> </span>When you went, you found everything just as
Jesus had described it.<span> </span>You said what he
told you to say, and they let you take the animals with you.<span> </span>When you came back to Jesus, you placed your
cloak on the donkey for Jesus to sit on and you went along with him, amazed by
the celebration of the crowds with you.<span>
</span>Amazed at the people taking off their cloaks and laying them and palm
branches in the road for him to ride over.<span>
</span>Amazed at the people shouting out, “Hosanna to the Son of David!”<span> </span>“Blessed is He<span> </span>who comes in the Name of the Lord!”<span> </span>Amazed as you suddenly began to remember the
words of the Prophet Zechariah “Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion! Shout,
Daughter of Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and having
salvation, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a
donkey." (Zechariah 9:9, NIV84)</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span>On Monday, you were with Jesus when he went to look
for fruit on a fig tree, found none and cursed it.<span> </span>You were with Jesus as he entered the temple
area “and began driving out those who were buying and selling there. He
overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling
doves, 16 and would not allow anyone to carry merchandise through the temple
courts. 17 And as he taught them, he said, “Is it not written: “‘My house will
be called a house of prayer for all nations’? But you have made it ‘a den of
robbers.’” (Mark 11:15–17, NIV84) </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span>Now it was Tuesday, and you saw the tree that Jesus
had cursed, the tree that had shriveled because Jesus had simply said, “May you
never bear fruit again.”<span> </span>It was Tuesday
and you had been in the temple with Jesus all day.<span> </span>You heard him teaching and preaching to the
people there.<span> </span>You heard him answer all
the questions and challenges that the religious leaders brought to him either
directly or indirectly.<span> </span>You heard Jesus
delivering warnings against the Scribes and proclaiming woes upon the
Pharisees, look directly at them and say, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill
the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather
your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you
were not willing. 38 Look, your house is left to you desolate. 39 For I tell
you, you will not see me again until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the
name of the Lord.’”" (Matthew 23:37–39, NIV84)</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span>You went with him as he left the temple one last
time, when suddenly Andrew and Philip came to Jesus and told him about some
Greeks who were asking for the opportunity to meet with Jesus, see him and
learn from him.<span> </span>To which Jesus replied,
“The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. 24 I tell you the truth,
unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single
seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. 25 The man who loves his life
will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for
eternal life. 26 Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant
also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me. 27 “Now my heart is
troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it was
for this very reason I came to this hour. 28 Father, glorify your name!” Then a
voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it, and will glorify it again.” 29
The crowd that was there and heard it said it had thundered; others said an
angel had spoken to him. 30 Jesus said, “This voice was for your benefit, not
mine. 31 Now is the time for judgment on this world; now the prince of this
world will be driven out. 32 But I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will
draw all men to myself.” 33 He said this to show the kind of death he was going
to die." (John 12:23–33, NIV84)</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span>How many times hadn’t you heard Jesus speak about
his coming sufferings and death?<span> </span>How
many times hadn’t you heard him talk about it and not wanted to believe
it?<span> </span>How many times hadn’t you heard him
talk about his impending sufferings only to hear him say, that the hour was not
yet upon him?<span> </span>But now, this time, Jesus
says that the hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified!</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span>Though you did not know it, the hour of his glory
was closer at hand than you would have realized.<span> </span>Yet, if we take a moment to look at it we can
see how Jesus was indeed glorified throughout his life, even as he humbled
himself to keep God’s Law for us.<span> </span>Yet,
now, as Jesus speaks, he is looking forward to the glory of his suffering, the
glory of his crucifixion, the glory, even of his death.<span> </span>Though for us these may not seem like very
glorious events, each one of these events meant that Jesus was fulfilling God’s
plan of our salvation and bringing an end to satan’s power over us.<span> </span>This was the glory that Jesus revealed in the
Garden of Gethsemane as he clearly showed the soldiers that he was the one in
charge.<span> </span>This was the glory that Jesus
revealed in his trials as he answered very few questions moving the trials
along so that he would be found guilty and be put to death.<span> </span>This is the glory that Jesus revealed before
Pilate as it became very clear to him that Jesus had done nothing deserving of
death.<span> </span>This is the glory that Jesus
revealed on the cross as he prayed for those who crucified him, as he fulfilled
the scriptures, as he cried out for all the world to hear, “It is finished!”,
and as he willingly bowed his head and gave up his life. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span>This is the glory that Jesus revealed in his
resurrection from the dead to assure us that we have been set free from all our
sins.<span> </span>This is the glory that Jesus
revealed to the women on Easter morning, to the disciples locked together in
their room, to the disciples on the road to Emmaus, and to all those to whom he
revealed himself in those 40 days after his resurrection.<span> </span>This is also the glory that the Lord
continues to reveal each time his word is proclaimed.<span> </span>For whenever the word of God is taught and we
are convicted of our sins and moved to turn to our Savior for forgiveness,
Jesus is glorified.<span> </span>Whenever the Word is
taught and people are called to faith in Jesus as Savior, Jesus is
glorified.<span> </span>Whenever we share our faith
with those around us and tell others about the confidence that we have, our
Savior is glorified.<span> </span>Even today, as our
children brought palm branches to the front of our church and laid them on the
altar, Jesus, our Savior was glorified.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span>Though Jesus did willingly humble himself for us so
that he might live in our place and keep God’s law perfectly for us, by his
death and resurrection, he has indeed been glorified forever.<span> </span>Let us give thanks to the Lord our Savior by
growing in our faith through worship and the Word.<span> </span>Though we must leave this joyful day and walk
through the dark and sorrowful days of Maundy Thursday and Good Friday, we do
so, looking forward to the joy of Easter.<span>
</span>We do so, knowing that through everything our Savior did for us, the
hour has truly come for the Son of Man to be glorified.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span>Amen.</span></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span>Pastor
David M. Shilling</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span><span><a href="http://www.grace-lesueur.org/">Grace EvangelicalLutheran Church</a>--Le Sueur, MN</span></span></span></div>
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Grace Evangelical Lutheran Churchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11819042462567501498noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2497899186385018405.post-91209629842897930612013-03-17T09:30:00.000-05:002013-03-21T16:54:30.932-05:00What is Jesus' Humiliation and Exaltation all about?<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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</xml><![endif]--><span style="font-size: small;"></span><span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif";">Series:</span></b><b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif";"> </span></b><b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif";">Growing Together in God's Grace</span></b><b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif";"></span></b></span><span style="font-size: small;"></span><span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif";"> </span></b></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif";">Fifth Sunday
in Lent</span></b><b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif";"> </span></b><b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif";"></span></b></span><span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif";"> </span></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif";">March 17, 2013</span></b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif";"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">Dear friends in Christ.</span></span><span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
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<br /></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">It was back in 1881 when Mark
Twain’s first attempt at historical fiction was published.<span> </span>Published first in Canada in 1881 and then in
the US in 1882, <i>The Prince and the Pauper</i>,
was a story that Twain set wrote about two young boys who are identical in appearance.<span> </span>One is a pauper, a very poor boy, who lives
with and abusive father.<span> </span>The other is
Prince Edward, Son of King Henry VIII and heir to the throne of England.<span> </span>In the course of the story the two boys meet
and wind up trading clothes and changing places.<span> </span>Thus the young pauper finds himself elevated
to the status of prince, while the prince finds himself humiliated to the
position of a peasant.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">In many ways this is a picture of
what Jesus, our Savior did for us.<span> </span>It
wasn’t that he traded places with someone who looked exactly like him.<span> </span>Instead, he humbled himself and made himself
just like we are so that he could free us from our sins.<span> </span>He humbled himself to free us from our sins,
and then when his work on earth was complete, he was once again exalted to the
highest place in heaven by his heavenly Father.<span>
</span>But what does all of this mean?<span>
</span>What does the Bible tell us about Jesus humiliation and his
exaltation?<span> </span></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">To answer that question, we need
to start at the beginning.<span> </span>We need to
start with what the Bible has to tell us about Jesus humbling himself, which is
what the Apostle Paul explains in his letter to the Philippians, where Paul
writes, “Christ Jesus: who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality
with God something to be used to his own advantage; (grasped, NIV84) 7 rather,
he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in
human likeness. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by
becoming obedient to death— even death on a cross!" (Philippians 2:6–8,
NIV)</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">Essentially what Paul is telling
us is that even though Jesus’ very nature is true God, he did not consider that
he had to hang onto his equality with God the Father at all costs.<span> </span>Instead, he willingly humbled himself; he
took on human flesh and blood, and made himself just like one of us.<span> </span>In doing this, Jesus set aside his divine
authority and power and did not make full use of it while he was here on the
earth.<span> </span>Take for example Jesus in the
Garden of Gethsemane.<span> </span>He was there with
his disciples and he knew everything that was going to happen that night so he
went out and met the mob at the entrance.<span>
</span>When Jesus told them that he was the one they were looking for, they all
fell over, backward.<span> </span>But that was all he
did.<span> </span>Had he wanted to he could have had
more than six legions of angels at his disposal, but all he did was knock the
soldiers backward to show them that he was allowing them to arrest him.<span> </span>Once they got back to their feet, he allowed
them to take him as a prisoner to the High Priest, and in this way Jesus set in
motion the events that would lead to our salvation, just as Paul tells us again
in 2 Corinthians, “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though
he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty
might become rich." (2 Corinthians 8:9, NIV84) </span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">During the past weeks of this
season of Lent, we have been reminding ourselves of how Jesus did, indeed,
become poor for us so that we might become rich by his poverty.<span> </span>We have been reminding ourselves of how Jesus
did, indeed, humble himself so that he might save us from our sins.<span> </span>But when it comes right down to it, Jesus’ humiliation
is not something we save only for the season of Lent.<span> </span>Rather it is something that we remember each
time we confess our faith.<span> </span>In fact, in
just a few minutes, as we take time to confess our faith together according to
the Apostle’s Creed, we will confess the very steps of Jesus humiliation here
on earth.<span> </span>We will confess how Jesus
humbled himself by being conceived by the Holy Spirit in the womb of the virgin
Mary.<span> </span>He humbled himself by being born
in the same way that babies have been born since the beginning of time.<span> </span>There was nothing special or miraculous about
his birth<span> </span>Though it was miraculous that
this baby was true God, born as the Savior of the world, he was also born true
man—a helpless baby born in a very lowly way—born in a stable and laid in a
manger.<span> </span>Though we don’t confess it in
the creed, we also know about Jesus humble life, how he was tempted in every
way that we are, but was without sin.<span> </span>We
know how he suffered under Pontius Pilate where he was mocked and whipped and
ridiculed and beaten.<span> </span>He was crucified
like a criminal.<span> </span>He died!<span> </span>Our true God, who cannot die, humbled himself
and became obedient even to death on the cross so that he could free us from
our sins.<span> </span>Then, when he had died, he was
buried in the ground.<span> </span>Just as we bury
those who have died, so also Jesus was buried, just like we will all be buried,
one day.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">It was in this way that Jesus
humbled himself for us.<span> </span>He came to earth
lived as a human being.<span> </span>He proclaimed
the Word of God, taking the message of salvation wherever he went.<span> </span>He moved purposefully, moving always forward,
moving ever closer to the moment of giving his life on the cross.<span> </span>Yet, while on earth he never made full use of
his divine glory, power, or authority.<span>
</span>It was not until after his death that he was exalted once again, and
began making full use of his heavenly power and glory.<span> </span>As the writer to the Hebrews tells us, “But
we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, now crowned with
glory and honor because he suffered death, so that by the grace of God he might
taste death for everyone." (Hebrews 2:9, NIV84) Or as Paul tells us,
“Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is
above every name, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven
and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ
is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." (Philippians 2:9–11, NIV84)<span> </span>Or as Peter tells us, “But [David] was a
prophet and knew that God had promised him on oath that he would place one of
his descendants on his throne. 31 Seeing what was ahead, he spoke of the
resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to the grave, nor did his
body see decay. 32 God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses
of the fact. 33 Exalted to the right hand of God, he has received from the
Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear…
36 “Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom
you crucified, both Lord and Christ.”" (Acts 2:30–36, NIV84)<span> </span>And again Peter tells us, “God exalted him to
his own right hand as Prince and Savior that he might give repentance and
forgiveness of sins to Israel." (Acts 5:31, NIV84)</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">In Twain’s story of <i>The Prince and the Pauper</i>, the prince
became a pauper only for a time.<span> </span>After
that he went back to being a prince again.<span>
</span>Now, if you’ve ever read the story it took a bit of doing for the prince
to finally return to his rightful position of leadership as the heir to the
throne of England.<span> </span>However, for Jesus it
didn’t take all that to do.<span> </span>Rather, when
the time came Jesus began making full use of his divine power and authority,
just as we confess in the Apostle’s Creed, “He descended into hell<span> </span>The third day he rose again from the
dead.<span> </span>He ascended into heaven and is
seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty.<span> </span>From there he will come to judge the living
and the dead.”</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">Now, I don’t know about you, but
when I was younger I thought Jesus descended into hell to suffer there for our sins.<span> </span>But that is not the case because as we learn
from Colossians, “When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of
your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins,
14 having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us
and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross. 15 And
having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them,
triumphing over them by the cross. (Colossians 2:13–15, NIV84)</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">In other words, it was on the
cross where Jesus removed our sins and destroyed the power of the devil.<span> </span>When he cried out, “It is Finished,” we knew
his work of salvation had been completed.<span>
</span>Though Jesus died and his body was placed in the grave, the Lord did not
allow his body to see decay.<span> </span>Then, on
the third day, Jesus was raised to life by the power of God the Father, and, as
Peter tells us, “Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the
unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made
alive by the Spirit, 19 through whom also he went and preached to the spirits
in prison 20 who disobeyed long ago when God waited patiently in the days of
Noah while the ark was being built. In it only a few people, eight in all, were
saved through water, 21 and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you
also—not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a good conscience
toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ, 22 who has gone
into heaven and is at God’s right hand—with angels, authorities and powers in
submission to him." (1 Peter 3:15–22, NIV84)</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">This was Jesus victory
parade!<span> </span>In the same way that we throw
victory parades for Super Bowl champions, World Series winners, and so many
others, so also the Bible pictures Jesus’ descent into hell as his victory
parade.<span> </span>He had won the victory over the
devil and his evil angels, and now he marched right down the “main street” of
hell, so to speak, proclaiming his victory over the devil and all who refused
to believe in him.<span> </span>This, together with
the fact that Jesus was raised to life by the power of the Holy Spirit, was the
beginning of his exaltation.<span> </span>This was
the beginning of Jesus once again making full use of his divine power and
authority. This is our assurance that our Jesus has freed us from our sins.
This is our assurance that our salvation is complete in him.<span> </span>This is our assurance that just as Jesus was
raised from the dead, so also will Jesus raise us from the dead, as Paul
reminds us, “For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. 23
But each in his own turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those
who belong to him." (1 Corinthians 15:22–23, NIV84)</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">What a comfort it is to know that
Jesus our Savior who willingly humbled himself to free us from our sins, has
now been exalted to the highest place that heaven offers and has been given the
name that is above every name.<span> </span>What a
comfort it is for us to know that Jesus, the God-man is exalted forever in his
heavenly kingdom where he once again is making full use of his divine authority
and power so that he might work in our lives as he leads us on our journey home
to heaven.<span> </span>What a comfort it is to know
that in the same way the prince in <i>The
Prince and the Pauper</i> did regain his rightful place as King of England, so
also our Savior has returned to his throne of Glory.<span> </span>Though he willingly humbled himself, he did
it to redeem us.<span> </span>When his work of redemption
was completed, he was once again exalted to his former glory, demonstrating
that he fulfilled his work and that we have salvation through faith in
him.<span> </span>This is what Jesus humiliation and
exaltation are all about.<span> </span>Amen.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">Pastor David M. Shilling</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";"><span>Grace
Evangelical Lutheran Church--Le Sueur, MN</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span></div>
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<![endif]-->Grace Evangelical Lutheran Churchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11819042462567501498noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2497899186385018405.post-42991112901027458802013-02-24T18:01:00.000-06:002013-02-24T18:01:42.280-06:00What does the Bible mean when it says that Jesus redeemed us?<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif";"><span>Series:</span></span></b><b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif";"> </span></b><b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif";"><span>Growing Together in God's Grace</span></span></b><b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif";"></span></b></span>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif";"><span>February 24,
2013</span></span></b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif";"></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">Dear friends in Christ.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">I’d like to begin this morning by
telling you a story that you might recognize, because this is a story that I
have used on a number of occasions.<span> </span>I
know I used it in a sermon when I was in South Dakota.<span> </span>I know that I’ve used it in confirmation
classes, but I cannot remember if I’ve ever used in a sermon since I’ve been
here.<span> </span>So, if you’ve heard it before,
hopefully you’ll enjoy it as much as you did the first time you heard it.<span> </span>It is a story about a little boy named Tom
who carried his new boat to the edge of the river.<span> </span>“He carefully placed it in the water and
slowly let out the string. How smoothly the boat sailed! Tom sat in the warm
sunshine, admiring the little boat that he had built. Suddenly a strong current
caught the boat. Tom tried to pull it back to shore, but the string broke. The
little boat raced downstream.<span> </span>Tom ran
along the sandy shore as fast as he could. But his little boat soon slipped out
of sight. All afternoon he searched for the boat. Finally, when it was too dark
to look any longer, Tom sadly went home.<span>
</span>A few days later, on the way home from school, Tom spotted a boat just
like his in a store window. When he got closer, he could see -- sure enough --
it was his! Tom hurried to the store manager: "Sir, that's my boat in your
window! I made it!" "Sorry, son, but someone else brought it in this
morning. If you want it, you'll have to buy it for one dollar." Tom ran
home and counted all his money. Exactly one dollar! When he reached the store,
he rushed to the counter. "Here's the money for my boat." As he left
the store, Tom hugged his boat and said, "Now you're twice mine. First, I
made you and now I bought you.”<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2497899186385018405#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">[1]</span></span></span></span></a> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";"><span> </span>Well, in the same way that Tom made his boat
and then later redeemed his boat when he bought it back from the store clerk,
so also Jesus, our Savior redeemed us from our lives of slavery to sin and
death.<span> </span>For the truth is, that is what we
were before we came to faith in Jesus as our Savior.<span> </span>Just as Jesus tells us himself when he says,
“I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. 35 Now a slave has
no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. 36 So if the
Son sets you free, you will be free indeed." (John 8:34–36, NIV84) and as
Paul tells us, “Just as sin entered the world through one man, and death
through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned—"
(Romans 5:12, NIV84).<span> </span>Though the Lord
had made us, just as Tom had made his boat, we were lost to the Lord when we
fell into sin.<span> </span>For when we fell in to
sin, we became slaves of sin, worthy only of death, and subservient only to our
master, the devil.<span> </span>Only about 150 years
ago, this was the norm for so many people of color in our nation.<span> </span>They were slaves who were subservient to
their masters.<span> </span>If they disobeyed their
masters, they could be beaten.<span> </span>If there
master was in a bad mood, they could be beaten.<span>
</span>If there master was cruel, vindictive, or simply wanted to show off,
they could be beaten.<span> </span>In so many cases
the live of a slave was a miserable existence.<span>
</span>This is why Christ came to redeem us.<span>
</span>He came to redeem us, to buy us back, and set us free from our slavery
to sin, death, and satan.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">In the publication, Our Daily
Bread, Paul Lee Tan illustrated the meaning of redemption with this story,
“When A.J. Gordon was pastor of a church in Boston, he met a young boy in front
of the sanctuary carrying a rusty cage in which several birds fluttered nervously.
Gordon inquired, "Son, where did you get those birds?" The boy
replied, "I trapped them out in the field." "What are you going
to do with them?" "I'm going to play with them, and then I guess I'll
just feed them to an old cat we have at home." When Gordon offered to buy
them, the lad exclaimed, "Mister, you don't want them, they're just little
old wild birds and can't sing very well." Gordon replied, "I'll give
you $2 for the cage and the birds." "Okay, it's a deal, but you're making
a bad bargain." The exchange was made and the boy went away whistling,
happy with his shiny coins. Gordon walked around to the back of the church
property, opened the door of the small wire coop, and let the struggling
creatures soar into the blue.”<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2497899186385018405#_ftn2" name="_ftnref2" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">[2]</span></span></span></span></a><span> </span>Before Christ redeemed us, we were like
those struggling creatures.<span> </span>We couldn’t
free ourselves from our slavery to sin, so Christ set us free from our sins by
shedding his precious blood in our place.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">In the Old Testament, God said
that when an animal (such as a sheep or bull) was sacrificed, it was the blood
of the animal that paid for the people’s sins.<span>
</span>(see Leviticus 17:10-14)<span> </span>The life
of the animal was in its blood.<span> </span>When the
blood was drained from the animal, its life was God.<span> </span>This was the price that had to be paid for the
people to have forgiveness, and this was the price that Jesus paid to ransom
us, or redeem us from our slavery to sin.<span>
</span>This is the very truth of which Paul assures us in his letter to the
Romans:<span> </span>“But now a righteousness from
God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets
testify. 22 This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to
all who believe. There is no difference, 23 for all have sinned and fall short
of the glory of God, 24 and are justified freely by his grace through the
redemption that came by Christ Jesus. 25 God presented him as a sacrifice of
atonement, through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice,
because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished—
26 he did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just
and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus." (Romans 3:21–26,
NIV84)</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">In an online Bible Study Robert
Davis paints a very vivid picture of the price that Jesus paid to redeem
us!<span> </span>Using the name Yahweh to refer to
God the Father, and the name Adonai to refer to Jesus, Robert Davis says,
“Yahweh The Father laid His hand on the head of the Son Adonai and crushed Him
with the full force of His wrath to pay for the sin debt for all
mankind....Adonai was slaughtered across His back with a cat of nine
tails...beaten and whipped....spikes nailed through His hands and feet so
Adonai couldn't get off the altar [of the cross]....and when His job was
complete...all sin had been paid for...He cries out it is finished and slumped
over on the alter....and they speared Adonai to drain the blood…onto the altar
for man and for God....and on the third day Adonai rose from the
dead...Hallelujah!!!!! <a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2497899186385018405#_ftn3" name="_ftnref3" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">[3]</span></span></span></span></a></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">There was no price other than the
blood of Jesus that could set us free from our sins, as the Sons of Korah tell
us in Psalm 49: “No man can redeem the life of another or give to God a ransom
for him— 8 the ransom for a life is costly, no payment is ever enough—"
(Psalm 49:7–8, NIV84) and as Peter tells us, “For you know that it was not with
perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty
way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, 19 but with the precious
blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. 20 He was chosen before the
creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake. 21
Through him you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and glorified him,
and so your faith and hope are in God." (1 Peter 1:18–21, NIV84)</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">Not all the money in the world
could ever be enough to pay for the sin of even just one person!<span> </span>But Jesus’ blood did what all the world’s
money could never do.<span> </span>It paid the ransom
to free us from our slavery to sin, death, and the devil.<span> </span>It was able to pay the ransom because it was
God who made his Son, who had no sin, to be sin for us, so that we might be the
righteousness of God.<span> </span>It was God, the
Father, who laid on his Son the iniquity of us all, allowing him to be pierced
for our transgressions and crushed for our iniquities so that by his wounds we
might have peace.<span> </span>In short, God the
Father made his Son the Scapegoat who bore our sins in our place. (see
Leviticus 16:20-22) You see, each year, on the Day of Atonement, a live goat
would be brought to the temple so that the High Priest might place his hands on
its head and confess all the sins of the People of Israel.<span> </span>In this way the High Priest would place the
sins of the people on the scapegoat.<span>
</span>Then the goat would be led out into the desert to be left to die, thus
picturing the sins of the people going away with the goat.<span> </span>Though the goat hadn’t sinned, he died
because all the sins of the people had been placed on him.<span> </span>So it was with Jesus.<span> </span>Even though he hadn’t sinned, he died because
all the sins of the world had been placed upon his innocent head.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">He died in our place to free us
from our sins, and he rose again from the dead to assure us that we have been
redeemed.<span> </span>Though he was the one who made
us, he was also the one to redeem us by his death and resurrection from the
dead.<span> </span>Now, through faith in him, we know
the forgiveness that is ours.<span> </span>Out of
thanks for the one who made us and redeemed us, we now seek to live our lives
to serve him.<span> </span>Through faith in the one
who loved us so much that he gave his life in our place, we now look forward to
the day when he will take us to be with him forever in his heavenly
kingdom.<span> </span>As John say, “How great is the
love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!
And that is what we are!” (1 John 3:1, NIV84)</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">Give thanks to the Lord your God
that he has redeemed us through the precious blood of his Son, Jesus Christ,
Our Savior.</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">Amen.</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">Pastor David M. Shilling</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";"><span><a href="http://www.grace-lesueur.org/">GraceEvangelical Lutheran Church</a>--Le Sueur, MN</span></span><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";"></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><br clear="all" /></span>
<hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" />
<div id="ftn1">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2497899186385018405#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Gentium;">[1]</span></span></span></span></a> Copied
from: <a href="http://www.sermonillustrations.com/a-z/r/redemption.htm">http://www.sermonillustrations.com/a-z/r/redemption.htm</a>
accessed on February 23, 2013, Originally published by Good News Publishers,
Westchester, IL.</span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn2">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2497899186385018405#_ftnref2" name="_ftn2" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Gentium;">[2]</span></span></span></span></a> Copied
from: <a href="http://www.sermonillustrations.com/a-z/r/redemption.htm">http://www.sermonillustrations.com/a-z/r/redemption.htm</a>
accessed on February 23, 2013, Originally published in Our Daily Bread.</span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn3">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2497899186385018405#_ftnref3" name="_ftn3" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Gentium;">[3]</span></span></span></span></a> Copied
from: https://faithlife.com/notes/16055<span>
</span>accessed February 23, 2013.</span></div>
</div>
</div>
Grace Evangelical Lutheran Churchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11819042462567501498noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2497899186385018405.post-72808687961914636912013-02-17T09:30:00.000-06:002013-02-17T09:30:01.604-06:00Jesus is our Prophet, Priest, and King<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif";"><span>Series:</span></span></b><b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif";"> </span></b><b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif";"><span>Growing Together in God's Grace</span></span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif";"><span></span></span></b><b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif";"></span></b></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif";"><span>First Sunday
in Lent</span></span></b><b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif";"> </span></b><b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif";"></span></b></span><span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif";"><span>February 17,
2013</span></span></b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif";"></span></span>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">Dear friends in Christ.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">When I was a kid, one of my
favorite things about Saturday morning cartoons was <i>School House Rock</i>. If you are not familiar with it or simply don’t
remember it, <i>School House Rock</i>, was a
series of animated musical and educational short films that aired from
1973-1979, airing on ABC during Saturday morning cartoons.<span> </span>Each video was roughly 3 minutes long and
they were designed to teach children on a number of different subjects.<span> </span>There were videos that dealt with math,
grammar, science, and even our Government.<span>
</span>From the familiar <i>Conjunction
Junction, What’s Your Function?</i> to <i>I’m
Just a Bill</i>, these videos inspired many of the children of my generation
and even instilled some of these concepts that would later be expanded teachers
in our Schools.<span> </span>Case in point, one of
these vides from this series was designed to teach children about the three
offices or branches of our federal government.<span>
</span>Using the concept of a three ring circus they showed that in the same
way that a single circus can have three different rings so also our government
has three branches.<span> </span>Each of those
branches has a specific purpose and each branch was designed to be a check and
a balance for the other branches so that our government would run smoothly and
be a benefit to our nation.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">Well, just as our government has
three branches to it, our Savior also holds three different offices, or jobs,
you could say.<span> </span>As we know from our days
in Sunday school and Confirmation class, we know that the three offices our
Savior holds are, Prophet, Priest, and King.<span>
</span>We know that these offices were given to him by his heavenly Father so
that he might be a benefit and a blessing to us, making us his own through his
life, his death, and his resurrection.<span>
</span>This is what Jesus did for us while on earth serving as our Prophet, our
Priest, and our King.<span> </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">“But why,” you might be asking,
“why did Jesus serve in these three offices?”<span>
</span>What was the point of them?<span> </span>What
was the point of him serving as our Prophet, our Priest, and our King?<span> </span>Well, as we know, everything that was written
about the coming Savior was written to teach us and instruct us, and just about
everything in the Old Testament was designed to foreshadow what the Savior
would do when he came.<span> </span>Take for example
the office of prophet.<span> </span>We know from the
Old Testament Scriptures that the job of the prophet was to go and tell people
the word of God.<span> </span>All you have to do is
page through the Old Testament and you see example after example of prophets
proclaiming to the people all the things that the Lord wanted them to say.<span> </span>This is exactly what prophets like Isaiah and
Jeremiah did.<span> </span>This is exactly what Elijah
and Elisha did.<span> </span>This is exactly what
Nathan did when he came to King David, and this is what Moses did as he led the
people of Israel from Egypt to the Promised Land.<span> </span>In fact, it was Moses who prophesied that
Jesus would serve as a Prophet of the Lord, when Moses proclaimed, “The LORD
your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own brothers.
You must listen to him.” (Deuteronomy 18:15, NIV84)</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">Isn’t this exactly what Jesus did
when he was here on the earth?<span> </span>All we
have to do is read the gospels and we learn that in the short three years of
his earthly ministry Jesus was constantly traveling.<span> </span>He was moving from place to place so that he
might continually proclaim to all the Israelites the message of the Lord’s
salvation through faith in him.<span> </span>For in
the same way that the Old Testament Prophets proclaimed the Word of God and
pointed people toward the coming Savior, Jesus continually proclaimed the Word
of God and pointed people to himself, the Savior of the World.<span> </span>In fact, if you ever have the opportunity to
see a map of all the places that Jesus traveled, you will quickly realize that
he traveled throughout all of the territory that had once been held by the
twelve tribe of Israel.<span> </span>He preached
God’s Law, convicting the people of their sins, and he preached the gospel message
of God’s forgiveness—forgiveness that would be completely and fully won for us
when he sacrificed himself on the cross for our sins.<span> </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">In this way the Lord Jesus served
as our prophet while he lived here on earth, yet, this is an office that our
Savior still holds today.<span> </span>For after he
rose from the dead and returned to his Father in heaven, he sent his apostles
out to proclaim the message of salvation.<span>
</span>They went out and proclaimed all that Jesus said and did and the message
of salvation continued to spread from generation to generation. <span> </span>Even today as the Lord sends us out to
proclaim the message of salvation, we proclaim the very words that he spoke
while he was here on earth.<span> </span>We read and
study the very message of salvation that he proclaimed, and through his word he
continues to proclaim to us the message that he once proclaimed to his
people.<span> </span>But the office of prophet is not
the only office Jesus held, for in the same way that our government is more
than just the office of the President, not only did our Savior hold the office
of Prophet, he also held the office of Priest.<span>
</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">Now, when the Lord established
the Tabernacle in the wilderness, and later the Temple in Jerusalem, the whole
system of worship was designed to show how they had been separated from their
God by sin, and that they needed someone to intercede on their behalf.<span> </span>This was another Old Testament picture of
what the coming Savior would do for them, and this picture was vividly revealed
in the office of the Priests.<span> </span>You see,
in Moses day, and until the need for the daily sacrifice was done away with by
Jesus’ death and resurrection, the priests served as the intermediaries between
God and the People.<span> </span>So, if you had been
living in those days and you became so angry with a person that you initiated a
fist fight with him, the Law of Moses said that you had to make a very specific
sacrifice to receive forgiveness for that sin.<span>
</span>But the thing was, you couldn’t do it yourself.<span> </span>You would have to go to the priest at the
Tabernacle or at the Temple with your offering.<span>
</span>The priest would make the sacrifice on your behalf and then tell you
that your sin had been forgiven because the sacrifice to God had been made on
your behalf.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">As our High Priest, Jesus
represented us before the Lord when he, as our Priest, sacrificed himself as
the offering of atonement to pay for our sins.<span>
</span>In fact, the writer to the Hebrews tells us, “For Christ did not enter a
man-made sanctuary that was only a copy of the true one; he entered heaven
itself, now to appear for us in God’s presence. 25 Nor did he enter heaven to
offer himself again and again, the way the high priest enters the Most Holy
Place every year with blood that is not his own. 26 Then Christ would have had
to suffer many times since the creation of the world. But now he has appeared
once for all at the end of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of
himself. 27 Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face
judgment, 28 so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many
people; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring
salvation to those who are waiting for him." (Hebrews 9:24–28, NIV84)<span> </span>And as John tells us, “My dear children, I
write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have
one who speaks to the Father in our defense—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. 2
He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for
the sins of the whole world." (1 John 2:1–2, NIV84)</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">Though countless animals were
offered day after day at the Temple in the Old Testament times, not one of
those was able to completely take away sins, because each one of those
sacrifices was a picture of the complete atonement that Jesus would make as our
High Priest.<span> </span>When people brought sheep
and watched the priest burn their offerings on the altar for their sins, they
were viewing a vivid picture of how the coming Savior was pay for all their
sins.<span> </span>All sins would be put on him and
he, rather than they, or rather than we, would be put to death for that
sin.<span> </span>That is the amazing thing! <span> </span>Jesus was not only the priest who offered the
sacrifice on behalf of sins of the world, he was also the sacrifice that paid
the price our sins deserved.<span> </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">Yet, this was not the end of
Jesus’ roll as our priest, for still today he serves as our intercessor in
heaven.<span> </span>As we heard from John only a
moment ago, “we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense—Jesus Christ,
the Righteous One.” (1 John 2:1, NIV 84)<span>
</span>Or as Paul tells us, “For there is one God and one mediator between God
and men, the man Christ Jesus, 6 who gave himself as a ransom for all men—the
testimony given in its proper time." (1 Timothy 2:5–6, NIV84)<span> </span>As our Priest it is Jesus who continually
intercedes for us before his Father’s throne in heaven.<span> </span>He is the one who speaks to the Father in our
defense, who reminds our Father that we are now innocent because he has washed
us clean of every spot and stain of sin, and he is the one who carries our
prayers to our Father’s throne as well.<span>
</span>No longer do we need a human priest to intercede for us before our God,
because we can approach our God with full confidence, through Jesus who is our
High Priest in heaven.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">Yet, there is one final office of
our Savior at which we want to look today, and that is the office of King.<span> </span>We know that Jesus is our King because he
himself declared it to be so, when Pilate asked him if he was a king.<span> </span>Now, in the days of the Old Testament, the
king was kind of like the president of the country.<span> </span>He wasn’t elected by the people rather he was
elected, or chosen by God.<span> </span>As the king,
two of his main duties were to make decisions that were beneficial to the
welfare of the people, as well as to take the lead in defending the nation when
an enemy attacks.<span> </span>This is exactly what
Jesus did as our King while he was here on earth, he fought the battle against
sin and death and won the victory for us, as the writer to the Hebrews tells
us, “Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity
so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death—that is,
the devil—" (Hebrews 2:14, NIV84)<span>
</span>and as Paul tells us, “The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin
is the law. 57 But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord
Jesus Christ." (1 Corinthians 15:56–57, NIV84)</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">Before the Super Bowl was played
this year, both teams received all sorts of press and praise in the news
papers.<span> </span>But since the Ravens were
victorious, they are the ones who are receiving all the praise and accolades of
victory.<span> </span>Both teams worked hard
throughout the season.<span> </span>They battled
ferociously on the field in the final game, and when it was all said and done
it was the Ravens who had won it for themselves and for their fans.<span> </span>As our King Jesus deserves all our praise
because he is the one who fought the battle against sin and satan and won the
victory over death for each and every one of us.<span> </span>Now, because of his victory, we know that he
lives and reigns in our hearts.<span> </span>He still
fights for us and cares for us our King who is still leading us through this
life on our way to the life that is to come, where we will live by his side,
forever, in his heavenly kingdom.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">How amazing it is that Jesus, our
redeemer, served these three offices while he was here on earth and still
continues to serve them from heaven.<span>
</span>What a blessing that we are blessed so completely by his willing
obedience.<span> </span>As our Prophet, Priest, and
King, Jesus has freed us from our sins, made us his own by faith, and continues
to lead us on the path to heaven.<span> </span>May we
always live as his children, praising him that we are his own, that he has
forgiven us, and that we will one day live with him forever.<span> </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">Amen.</span></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">Pastor David M. Shilling</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";"><span><a href="http://www.grace-lesueur.org/">GraceEvangelical Lutheran Church</a>--Le Sueur, MN</span></span><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";"></span></span></div>
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Grace Evangelical Lutheran Churchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11819042462567501498noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2497899186385018405.post-65357035588594692432013-02-13T19:00:00.000-06:002013-03-28T11:50:37.216-05:00Immanuel (John 18:3-12)<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";"><span>Series:</span></span></b><b><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";"> </span></b><b><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";"><span>Names of Wondrous Love</span></span></b><b><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";"></span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";"><span>Ash Wednesday</span></span></b><b><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";"> </span></b><b><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";"></span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";"><span>February 13, 2013</span></span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span> </span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span>Dear friends in Christ.</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span>Imagine with me, for a moment, a scene that took
place back in eternity.<span> </span>A scene that
took place even before the Lord created the heavens and the earth.<span> </span>Imagine with me, the Father speaking to his
beloved Son and saying, “Son, the only way to free mankind from sin’s curse is
for you to take on human flesh and put yourself in mankind’s place; to become a
speck of cells in a woman’s womb and to be born as a helpless child; to become
a man so that you can be the perfect substitute for mankind, not only under the
law, but also on the cross so that every lawbreaking sinner deserves.”<span> </span>Though we really don’t know how the dialogue
went back in eternity when the Lord God was planning for the salvation of the
human race, even before he had created us, we do know the Son’s response.<span> </span>It was willing obedience to his Father’s plan
and wondrous love for unlovable sinners, love far beyond our comprehension.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span>So, when the time came and Christ, who is God from
all eternity became true man, he didn’t give up his deity.<span> </span>Rather, he added our humanity to his
person.<span> </span>He became the God-man, one
person with both a divine nature and a human nature.<span> </span>This was the miracle behind the divine plan
of salvation.<span> </span>As God, it was Christ who
gave the laws.<span> </span>As man, he was subject to
them.<span> </span>As the God-man, his perfect
keeping of the law was applied to you and me.<span>
</span>As God, he could not die.<span> </span>As man
he was mortal.<span> </span>As the God man he did
die, and with his holly, precious blood, he made the full payment that was
demanded for our sins.</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span>Nearly seven hundred years before his birth, God
used his prophet to put a name on this miracle when Isaiah foretold, The virgin
will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him
Immanuel." (Isaiah 7:14, NIV84)<span>
</span>Roughly nine months before Jesus’ birth, the angel repeated these same
words to Joseph.<span> </span>The baby would be
Immanuel, the name that very simply means, “God with us.”</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span>When Jesus was on earth not many recognized him as
Immanuel, because he had put aside the use of his divine powers.<span> </span>He still had them, but he only made use of
them occasionally so that he could walk the road to Calvary.<span> </span>But on that night at the Garden of
Gethsemane, we get a glimpse of God with us.<span>
</span>I wonder what Malchus, the high priest’s servant would tell us about
Jesus? <span> </span>Fingering his ear that had been
sliced off by the rash swoop of Peter’s sward and then sealed back on by Jesus’
loving hand I can only imagine Malchus wondering, “Who is this Jesus anyway?”</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span>When the soldiers who came forward to bind Jesus’
hands and lead him away they must have been wondering about Jesus as well.<span> </span>How different this arrest was!<span> </span>They had come with their lanterns to comb
through the shadows of the garden to find a dangerous criminal, only to have
him walk out to meet them.<span> </span>They had come
ready to fight off his followers only to hear him tell his followers to put
their weapons away.<span> </span>But strangest of all
was how they had been knocked to the ground when they heard Jesus say, “I am
he.”<span> </span>How they must have stepped forward
somewhat hesitantly to slap the handcuffs on him. While they ended up arresting
him, they could hardly say they had overpowered him. It was more as if he was
letting them arrest him.<span> </span>It was more
like he was going with them willingly. If they had been students of the Old
Testament, they might have recalled the words of Isaiah chapter 53, “He was led
like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so
he did not open his mouth” (v. 7). No, this was no ordinary man whom they were
arresting. This was Immanuel, the God-man in wondrous love going silently,
willingly to the slaughter.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span>What about the One who was arrested? What would he
say? He could hardly say, “I didn’t know where it would all lead to.” In verse
4 of our text, we are told, “Jesus, knowing all that was going to happen to
him, went out and asked them, ‘Who is it you want?’” The God-man knew what was
coming. He knew about the cruel punches that would bruise his face. The sharp
thorns that would rip his scalp. The sadistic whip that would chew up his back.
The cruel nails that would puncture his flesh. The fires of hell that would
sear his soul. He knew all this, and yet he willingly let them tie his hands.
Nor could he say, “I couldn’t do anything else.” This was the almighty Lord,
who with one snap of his fingers could have had more than 72,000 angels there
to surround him and who with one sentence had already placed his would-be
captors on the ground.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span>We really don’t have to ask what Jesus would have
said that night in the garden. He had already said it earlier. In John 10:17,18
he declared, “The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life—only to
take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord.
I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again.” Jesus would
speak to us of willingness, of willing love for sinners that tied his hands
tighter than any rope, of willing love for sinners that compelled him to carry
out the Father’s plan of salvation.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span>This is Jesus, our Savior.<span> </span>This is Immanuel, God with us.<span> </span>He is not a God who is far off in the
heavens, glancing at us from time to time across the miles. Rather He is our
God who is here with us to free us from our sins.<span> </span>He is our God who stands before us in his
Word with those comforting words: “Go in peace, your sins are forgiven.” He’s
there in his Holy Supper, giving us the very body and blood that he used to pay
for our sins. Our Immanuel has promised never to leave us or forsake us, but to
surround us with his forgiveness.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span>He’s “God with us” also in our troubles. He is the
one who knows what they are like because he suffered many of them himself. Is
it grief caused by the loss of a loved one? He knows, having wept at the grave
of his friend Lazarus. Is it temptation that never seems to leave us alone? He
knows, as one who faced Satan’s relentless attacks from the beginning to the
end of his earthly ministry. Is it loneliness brought on by unfaithful friends?
He knows, having experienced the betrayal of a Judas and the denial of a Peter.
Not only does he know but he can do something about our troubles as the God-man
who can do anything.</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span>He’s “God with us” also in our feeble attempts at
serving him. When it’s two steps forward and three steps backward on the path
of sanctified living, he knows. When it’s our old sinful nature getting once
again the upper hand in daily battle with our new man, he knows. He’s there to
whisper in our ears, “Don’t give up. Remember, I have already paid for your
sins, and I remember your failings no more. Remember that I’m here to
strengthen you through Word and sacrament so that you can walk more closely
with me. Remember I am Immanuel—‘God with you.’”</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span>And he will be “God with us” when our last moment
comes. We know not when that time will be. But we do know who will be there at
our side when it comes. When the walk through the valley of the shadows faces
us, what comfort to be able to say, “I will fear no evil, for you are with me.”
What comfort to know that he’s well acquainted with the valley of death because
he has walked it before us. What comfort to know that though the shadows may
threaten us, they can’t harm us because he has paid for sin and conquered
death. What comfort to know our walk will end in heaven at his side where we
can say to him whose love has brought us there, “Now I am always with you.”</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span>We can’t leave the Garden of Gethsemane without one
more look at our Immanuel. Listen to what he’s telling us in his wondrous love.
“Don’t you see,” he tells us, “I let them tie me that I might untie you.” “Don’t
you see,” he says, “with the crimson scissors of my blood I’ve cut through the
cords of sin that bound you hand and foot for Satan’s service and for hell’s
confinement.” “Don’t you see,” he says, “you’re free—free from sin, free from
Satan, free from death, free to live for me on earth, and free to live with me
in heaven.”</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span>Lord, help us never to lose sight of our Immanuel
and of his wondrous love. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span>Amen.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span>Pastor
David M. Shilling</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span><span>Grace Evangelical Lutheran
Church--Le Sueur, MN</span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 12pt;">
<br /></div>
Grace Evangelical Lutheran Churchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11819042462567501498noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2497899186385018405.post-54448981187675236782013-02-10T09:30:00.000-06:002013-02-10T09:30:00.186-06:00Why is it important to know that Jesus is both God and Man?<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-weight: normal;"></span><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";"></span><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-weight: normal;"></span></span></h1>
<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif";"><span>Series:</span></span></b><b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif";"> </span></b><b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif";"><span>Growing Together in God's Grace</span></span></b><b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif";"></span></b></span>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif";"><span></span></span></b><b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif";"><span></span></span></b><b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif";"></span></b></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif";"><span>February 10,
2013</span></span></b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif";"></span></span>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">Dear friends in Christ.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">Even though we are in the middle
of winter right now, let’s fast forward in our thinking to the summer time and
baseball season.<span> </span>Imagine with me that
today is the state championship game.<span> </span>It
is the bottom of the 9th inning, the bases are loaded, there are two outs.<span> </span>Le Sueur is just one hit away from winning
the title and the team’s weakest hitter is up.<span>
</span>The team’s best hitter is on the bench because he injured his ankle and
can’t play shortstop as he usually does.<span>
</span>But he has his uniform on so he can pinch-hit if he is needed.<span> </span>What would you do if this was your situation
and you were the coach?<span> </span>Without even
having to think about it, you would have your best hitter pinch-hit so that the
team would have a better chance at winning the title and going home
victorious.<span> </span>In a similar way, we have a
“pinch hitter” who stepped in and won salvation for all of us.<span> </span>We could never win salvation for ourselves,
so Jesus became our substitute and did that for us.<span> </span>In fact, as we study the lesson before us
this morning, we will take a close look at what the Bible tells us about Jesus
himself, how he was both God and man.<span> </span>As
we do this, we will seek to answer for ourselves the question, “Why is it
important for us to know that Jesus is both God and Man?”</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">To answer this question, we want
to take a look at the Scriptures and see why Jesus is God and man.<span> </span>We look first at 1 John 5:20 where we read,
“We know also that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so
that we may know him who is true. And we are in him who is true—even in his Son
Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life." (1 John 5:20, NIV84)
and next we read 1 Timothy 2:5 where Paul tells us, “There is one God and one
mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,” (1 Timothy 2:5,
NIV84).<span> </span>Though there are many other
passages that we could include here today, from these two passages alone it is
clear to us why we know that Jesus is both God and man.<span> </span>Simply put, we know that it is true because
that is what the Bible teaches!<span> </span>Here and
in other passages we learn that Jesus is the Son of God who is both true God
and true man!<span> </span></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">In our world we have special
electronic devices that are programmable and that can store, retrieve, and
process data. <span> </span>We call these special
devices computers.<span> </span>We call them
computers simply because this is the name that we have given to the devices
that we use to store, retrieve, access and process data and information in our
world today.<span> </span>Likewise, when the Bible
calls Jesus God, id does so because that is what Jesus is, and when the Bible
calls Jesus man, it does so because that is what Jesus is.<span> </span>As we confess in the creed, Jesus is both
true God and true man, and we know this not only because the Bible calls Jesus
both God and man, but because the Bible also reveals that Jesus has attributes
and actions of both God and man.<span> </span></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">Take for example Matthew
8:23-27.<span> </span>This is the account of Jesus
stilling the storm on the Sea of Galilee.<span>
</span>You remember how he was tired when he got into the boat with his
disciples and how he fell asleep.<span> </span>When
the storm came up and the disciples were terrified that they would drown, they
actually had to wake Jesus up.<span> </span>But when
they woke him up, he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves and the storm
completely calmed down.<span> </span>Or again, John
11:38-44: you will undoubtedly remember how Jesus arrived at the home of Mary
and Martha four days after Lazarus had died.<span>
</span>When he went out to the tomb, Jesus was deeply moved and troubled in his
spirit, and even he broke down and wept at the place where Lazarus was
buried.<span> </span>Yet that wasn’t the end of it,
because it was there that Jesus gave the order to open the tomb.<span> </span>It was there that Jesus called in a loud
voice, “Lazarus, come out!”<span> </span>It was there
that Lazarus came forth from the tomb, because Jesus had raised him from the
dead and given his life back to him.</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">These are but a couple examples
of Jesus’ actions and attributes that show him to be both God and man, and
there are so many more in the Scriptures that reveal the same thing.<span> </span>These are but a few examples, yet these
examples show that Jesus is, indeed both God and man in one person; for in the
same way that we don’t call just any device a computer, we don’t call just any
person both God and man. When it comes to computers, they must have the
characteristics of a computer, such as a screen, a keyboard or keypad, some
form of internal memory storage and so on. They must also perform the actions
of a computer, such as being able to process the data entered into it, perform
mathematical calculations, perform word processing tasks, and in this day and
age, connect one to the internet.<span> </span>Well,
in the same way that all these actions and characteristics demonstrate what a
computer is, so also Jesus actions and attributes reveal him to be both God and
man, just as the Bible tells us.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">But how did it happen that Jesus
became true God and true man in one person?<span>
</span>For us, this is a very easy question to answer because we know the
Scriptures so well and we hold their truth so closely in our hearts.<span> </span>We know and believe what the angel revealed
to Joseph in his dream when the angel said, “Joseph son of David, do not be
afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from
the Holy Spirit. 21 She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the
name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” 22 All this took
place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: 23 “The virgin
will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him
Immanuel”—which means, “God with us.”" (Matthew 1:20–23, NIV84)<span> </span>We know the account of Luke 1 where Gabriel
says to Mary, “You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to
give him the name Jesus." He will be great and will be called the Son of
the Most High…The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most
High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of
God." (Luke 1:31,32,35, NIV84) </span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">We know this and believe this and
even cherish this in our hearts.<span> </span>Though
there are more and more people today, even Christians, who scoff at the idea
that this miracle could even happen, we know that it did, because the Lord
reveals it to us in his Word.<span> </span>We know
and believe and confess that it was through the power of the Holy Spirit that
Jesus was conceived in the womb of the virgin Mary so that he could be born as
both true man and true God so that by his life, by his death, and by his
resurrection he could free us from our sins, make us his own by faith, and
deliver us finally to his heavenly kingdom forever.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">This is why Jesus needed to be
both God and man in one body.<span> </span>It wasn’t
that he was like an actor who was playing two different rolls in a movie, he
was and is both God and man at the same time in one body.<span> </span>He had to be both God and man at the same
time so that he might be subject to God’s laws just as Paul tells us in
Galatians 4: “But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a
woman, born under law, 5 to redeem those under law, that we might receive the
full rights of sons." (Galatians 4:4–5, NIV84)<span> </span>As the God-man, Jesus was able to do what we
could not, as the writer to the Hebrews tells us, “For we do not have a high
priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has
been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin." (Hebrews
4:15, NIV84)<span> </span>Though Jesus is the Son of
God who established the Law for his people, when he was born as a human being,
he was subjected to God’s Law just like we have been all our lives, however,
because Jesus was without sin, he was able to do what we could not do.<span> </span>He was able to live a perfect, holy, sinless
life in our place.<span> </span>He was able to
completely keep God’s law, which is something that we have always failed to do,
and because he was able to keep God’s Law perfectly for us, he was also able to
apply that perfection and righteousness to us as our substitute, as Paul
assures us in Romans 5, “For just as through the disobedience of the one man
the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many
will be made righteous." (Romans 5:19, NIV84) </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">What a comfort it is to know that
because Jesus was both God and man, he was able to keep perfectly all of God’s
laws.<span> </span>Because Jesus was both God and man
he was able to be our substitute as the writer to the Hebrews reminds us,
“Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so
that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death—that is,
the devil—" (Hebrews 2:14, NIV84).<span>
</span>Had Jesus not been human, he could not have died, because God is eternal
and therefore does not die.<span> </span>To us,
becoming a man just so that he could die might not seem like the best reason,
but Jesus knew what he was doing, and in his great love for us, he did what
otherwise would have made no sense at all.<span>
</span>He became human so that he could die on the cross to pay the price of
our sins, and he was God almighty so that by his perfect and innocent death he
could bestow his righteousness upon us.<span>
</span>Just as john the Baptist reminded us when he said, “Look, the Lamb of
God, who takes away the sin of the world!" (John 1:29, NIV84) </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">Because Jesus is both God and
man, he was able to step in and accomplish what we could not.<span> </span>He was able to win the victory for us by his
perfect life, his innocent sufferings and death, and by his resurrection from the
dead.<span> </span>If he had not been our substitute
we would still be lost in our trespasses and sins.<span> </span>But thanks be to God that Jesus stepped in as
our “pinch hitter” winning the victory for us, so that through faith in him we
would have eternal life.</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">Amen.</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">Pastor David M. Shilling</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";"><span><a href="http://www.grace-lesueur.org/">GraceEvangelical Lutheran Church</a>--Le Sueur, MN</span></span><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";"></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 12pt;">
<br /></div>
Grace Evangelical Lutheran Churchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11819042462567501498noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2497899186385018405.post-43614577792547454302013-01-27T09:30:00.000-06:002013-01-27T09:30:02.529-06:00How did the devil ruin God's creation?<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-weight: normal;"></span><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";"></span><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-weight: normal;"></span></span></h1>
<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif";"><span>Series:</span></span></b><b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif";"> </span></b><b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif";"><span>Growing Together in God's Grace</span></span></b><b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif";"></span></b></span>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif";"></span></b><b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif";"></span></b></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif";"><span>January 27,
2013</span></span></b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif";"></span></span>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";"><br /></span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">Dear friends in Christ.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">Have you ever broken something or
ruined something that was valuable to another person?<span> </span>Sadly, I think it’s safe to say that at one
time or another in our lives, we have done this very thing; we have ruined or
broken something that belonged to someone else.<span>
</span>For me, the thing that sticks out most clearly in my mind today is a
matchbox car that belonged to my sister.<span>
</span>It was a simple blue hatch back with an orange plastic trunk that
actually opened.<span> </span>I remember receiving
her permission to take it with me to school and play with it there.<span> </span>I remember playing with it at recess, and I
remember the trunk being broken.<span> </span>To this
day I don’t know how it broke, though I’m sure I’m the one who broke it, because
I was the only person playing with it.<span>
</span>To this day I can still remember the feelings of horror and sorrow,
guilt and shame that washed over me because I knew I had let my sister
down.<span> </span>I had broken her favorite and only
matchbox car.<span> </span>I remember wishing I could
take it back and do it over; wishing that I had a second chance to get it
right.<span> </span>But it was broken, there was no
second chance.<span> </span>There wasn’t even the
opportunity to buy a new one because that model of matchbox car simply could no
longer be found.<span> </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">Well, in many ways this is a
picture of what happened with God’s creation!<span>
</span>Though it was perfect when God was finished with all his creating work,
as we know, the entirety of God’s creation was ruined by one simple action; one
simple mistake, by one single sin.<span> </span>And,
of course, we know exactly who was behind it all, orchestrating the ruin of
God’s creation.<span> </span>We know that it was our
enemy, the devil.<span> </span>Though in the last two
weeks we’ve looked at the importance of God’s creation and how he provides for
us through his creation, this morning we want to take a closer look at how the
devil ruined God’s creation.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">So, to understand more fully how
the devil ruined God’s creation, we want to take a look at the Scriptures and
learn exactly who the devil really is.<span>
</span>We look first of all at Matthew 25:41 where Jesus say, “‘Depart from me,
you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his
angels." (Matthew 25:41, NIV84)</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">As I’m sure you remember these
words were spoken by Jesus in answer to the disciple’s question of what it will
be like on the Last Day and what will be the signs of his return.<span> </span>Jesus answered them with many parables and
finally he spoke to them with the parable of the sheep and the goats.<span> </span>When Jesus comes to judge the world he will
separate believers from unbelievers as easily as a shepherd separates sheep
from goats.<span> </span>Those who believed in him
would be given the inheritance of eternal life, but those who did not believe
in Jesus would be condemned.<span> </span>They would
be told to depart from Jesus.<span> </span>They would
be sent to the eternal fire which was prepared for the devil and all his evil
angels who sinned against the Lord after and who are being held for the day of
God’s judgment, as Peter tells us, “God did not spare angels when they sinned,
but sent them to hell, putting them into gloomy dungeons to be held for
judgment;" (2 Peter 2:4, NIV84)</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">Though the devil was one of God’s
angels, created in perfect holiness so that he might serve the Lord and care
for his creation, satan sinned against the Lord by seeking to overthrow the
Lord and set himself up in God’s place.<span>
</span>But not only did he sin by seeking to take over heaven, he also sinned
by convincing a number of angels to rebel with him.<span> </span>Though he raised his mutiny, he was defeated and
cast out of heaven, and now he, an evil angel and ruler of a finite number of
evil angels seeks to destroy all that God has created and all who believe in
him.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">This is what our enemy, the
devil, really is!<span> </span>He is a very powerful,
evil angel, who is also the ruler of many other evil angels.<span> </span>Yet, how often doesn’t it happen that he is
portrayed as a benign powerless force in the world.<span> </span>How often isn’t he portrayed as cute, or
innocent, or even cool rather than what he truly is, as Peter tells us, “Be
self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring
lion looking for someone to devour." (1 Peter 5:8, NIV84) or as Jesus
tells us, “[The devil] was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the
truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native
language, for he is a liar and the father of lies." (John 8:44, NIV84) or
as John tells us, “The great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called
the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the
earth, and his angels with him." (Revelation 12:9, NIV84)</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">This is who our enemy, the devil,
truly is and this is how he accomplishes his evil work today!<span> </span>He is not a cute, or innocent, or cool, or
benign force in the world.<span> </span>He is a
roaring lion who is prowling around, looking to devour us by leading us into
sin.<span> </span>He is an ancient serpent, a great
dragon who seeks to lead us astray with his lies.<span> </span>He is a liar and a murder who seeks to murder
us by separating us form God’s truth through his lies; who seeks to destroy us
and God’s creation through his lies still today, just as he did with Adam and
Eve.<span> </span>For the truth is, satan is still
destroying God’s creation today with the very first lies he spoke to Adam and
Eve: “Did God really say?”<span> </span>“You will not
die!<span> </span>You will be like God!”<span> </span>These are the very lies that our enemy, the
devil, continues to use today!<span> </span>These are
the very lies that he uses to eat away at our faith in God’s creation of the
heavens and the earth.<span> </span>These are the
very lies that lead people to the seemingly glorious truths of the theory of
evolution, because in the theory of Evolution what God really said is replaced
by what we really say, and what God really is, is replaced by who we really are
as we seek to take his place and be like God ruling over heaven and earth by
our declaration of God’s non existence through the “proof” of scientific fact.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">In so many subtle ways, our
enemy, the devil, does his evil work among us as he seeks to destroy us with
his lies and deceits, just as he did with Adam and Eve, as Moses tells us, “Now
the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made.
He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in
the garden’?” 2 The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees
in the garden, 3 but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is
in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’ ” 4
“You will not surely die,” the serpent said to the woman. 5 “For God knows that
when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing
good and evil.” 6 When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for
food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took
some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he
ate it." (Genesis 3:1–6, NIV84)</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">One little lie!<span> </span>That’s all it took to get Adam and Eve to forget
all about God’s goodness in creating them and giving them a perfect place to
live in the Garden of Eden.<span> </span>But before
we criticize Adam and Eve for being so foolish, think of how easily satan gets
us to lie, to speak angry words, or to covet some little thing that another
person has.<span> </span>Why do we do these
things?<span> </span>Only because Satan’s lies tempt
us to think that it’s better or easier or more profitable to do these things
than to follow God’s will.<span> </span>But when we
do these things, all we wind up doing is bringing more frustration and hardship
and even suffering into our lives, just as Adam and Eve brought these things
into the world when their sin ruined God’s creation.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">When Adam and Eve listened to
satan instead of the Lord, they ruined God’s creation through their sin.<span> </span>They brought sin and death into this world
together with pain and suffering.<span> </span>For
these were the very consequences bestowed upon them and all creation because of
their sin, as Moses tells us in Genesis 3, “To the woman [the Lord] said, “I
will greatly increase your pains in childbearing; with pain you will give birth
to children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.”
17 To Adam he said, “Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree
about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat of it,’ “Cursed is the ground
because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your
life. 18 It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the
plants of the field. 19 By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until
you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to
dust you will return.” (Genesis 3:16–19, NIV84)</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">Because of that one sin, we are
now sinful.<span> </span>Because of that one sin,
creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth until this present
time (Romans 8:22) Because of that one sin we face suffering in this life;
suffering that comes to us through sicknesses inflicted upon us or our loved
ones.<span> </span>Suffering that comes to us through
the frustrations of weakening limbs, joints, hearing, abilities, eyesight, or
other physical ways.<span> </span>Suffering that
comes to us through family and friends who turn away from us or turn against
us.<span> </span>Suffering that comes from financial
issues.<span> </span>Suffering that comes to us because
of the curse of death.<span> </span>Though God
created this world and everything in it to be perfect, satan successfully
ruined God’s creation when he tempted Adam and Eve into sin and brought sin and
death, pain and suffering into the world for us and for all who follow after
us.<span> </span>But even though satan was so
successful at so thoroughly ruining God’s creation, our God enacted his
solution only a short time after Adam and Eve became his enemies.<span> </span>For it was on that very day in the cool of
the evening when the Lord spoke to them and said, “I will put enmity between
[satan] and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your
head, and you will strike his heel.” (Genesis 3:15, NIV84)</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">In that moment the Lord enacted
his solution of salvation by promising to send his Son to be the Savior.<span> </span>From that time forward the Lord continued to
reiterate his promise that the Savior would come to free his people from their
sins.<span> </span>All who put their faith in the
Savior who was to come found that their sins had been forgiven, lived in a
right relationship with the Lord their God, and looked forward to the
inheritance of eternal life by their Savior’s side forever in heaven.<span> </span>Though satan had ruined God’s creation, in
his love the Lord God provided all people with a second chance to once again be
made perfect through faith in Jesus Christ as their Savior.<span> </span>In his great love, the Lord our God sent his
Son to be the sacrifice of atonement to make us righteous in his sight so that through
faith in Jesus, we too can look forward to the gift of eternal life.<span> </span>Though we will still face frustration and
hardship, pain and suffering in this life, because we know Jesus, our Savior,
we can see these things as blessings from the Lord, designed to help us keep
our eyes focused on him and our faith securely founded in him.<span> </span>Though we will face difficulties in this
life, these are also things that are designed to make us lean on the Lord all
the more for help in this life.<span> </span>Though
we will see friends and family suffer with sickness and hardships and even face
the death of family and loved ones, we have our Savior’s promise that whoever
is faithful to him, even to the point of death, each one will receive the crown
of life in his heavenly kingdom (Revelation 2:10) when he calls us home to the
place that he, himself, has prepared for us. (John 14:2-3)</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">What an incredible solution that
the Lord bestows upon us.<span> </span>Even though
our enemy, the devil sought to ruin God’s creation and murder our first parents
by enticing them into sin, the Lord saved them and us through Jesus our
Savior.<span> </span>Though our enemy, the devil,
still prowls around like a roaring lion seeking to devour us, it is our Savior
who defends us, protects us, and forgives us, because he has made us his own
through faith.<span> </span>Though the devil ruined
God’s creation by using his lives to bring sin, death and suffering into the
world, in his great grace the Lord has given us a second chance through faith
in Jesus.<span> </span>He has given us the promise
that he will be with us in this life as well as the promise that he will take
us to be with him forever.<span> </span>For all of
this let us thank and praise the Lord our God!<span>
</span>Let us serve him and obey him.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">Amen.</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">Pastor David M. Shilling</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";"><span><a href="http://www.grace-lesueur.org/">GraceEvangelical Lutheran Church</a>--Le Sueur, MN</span></span><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";"></span></span></div>
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Grace Evangelical Lutheran Churchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11819042462567501498noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2497899186385018405.post-6889359610103493842013-01-20T08:33:00.000-06:002013-01-27T08:34:18.980-06:00How does our heavenly Father provide for us?<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif";"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif";"><span>Series:</span></span></b><b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif";"> </span></b><b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif";"><span>Growing Together in God's Grace</span></span></b><b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif";"></span></b></span><span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif";"> </span></b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif";"></span></b></span><span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif";"><span>January 20,
2013</span></span></b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif";"></span></span>
<br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">Dear friends in Christ.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">It has often been said, and
rightly so, I think, that parents are our first providers.<span> </span>After all, it is our parents who care for us,
who nurture us, and who provide for our needs in this life from the time that
we are born until the time that we are able to be on our own.<span> </span>They are the ones who provided for us by
feeding us when we were too young to feed ourselves, by clothing us and bathing
us before we could do it ourselves.<span> </span>They
were the ones who watched over us and kept us safe, who attended to our
injuries and showered us with their love, and in many ways the care with which
our parents provided us was a picture of the way that the Lord, God our
heavenly Father provides for us each and every day.<span> </span>Though the way our heavenly Father provides
for us may not always be as clear as the way our parents provide for us, we
know that he is at work in our lives, caring for us and providing all that we
need.<span> </span>This is why, as we study the word
of God before us, we want to take a closer look at the question, How does our heavenly
Father Take care of us?</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">So, how does our heavenly Father
take care of us?<span> </span>What does he do to
provide for us?<span> </span>Well, to find out we
want to take a look at Matthew 6:25-27, where Jesus tells us, “Therefore I tell
you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your
body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body
more important than clothes? 26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow
or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are
you not much more valuable than they? 27 Who of you by worrying can add a
single hour to his life? 28 “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the
lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29 Yet I tell you that not
even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30 If that is
how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is
thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little
faith?" (Matthew 6:25–30, NIV84)</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">Now, as Jesus spoke these words,
he was essentially in the middle of his famous Sermon on the Mount.<span> </span>He had been sitting on a hillside preaching
and teaching all the people who had been following him; a large group of people
who had come to faith in him as the Messiah—the Savior of the world.<span> </span>As he speaks, Jesus makes it very clear how
our heavenly Father provides for us and how he cares for us.<span> </span>For in the same way that our heavenly Father
provides food and drink to the birds of the air who do not sow or reap, our
heavenly Father provides food and drink for each and every one of us.<span> </span>In the same way that our heavenly Father
dresses up the lilies of the field even though they do not labor or spin, so
our heavenly Father provides us with clothing and shoes, food and drink,
property and home, spouse and children, land, cattle and all that we own.<span> </span>It is the Lord our God, our heavenly Father,
who provides us with all these things for our bodies and lives.<span> </span>It is our heavenly Father who always provides
us with exactly what we need, as the Apostle Paul reminds us, “God is able to
make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all
that you need, you will abound in every good work." (2 Corinthians 9:8,
NIV84)</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">Just think about it!<span> </span>Have you ever gone without food for a whole
day or even longer because your cupboards were completely bare and you had no
funds with which to purchase groceries?<span>
</span>Have you ever been homeless?<span> </span>Have
you ever found yourself sleeping out on the street because you didn’t have a
place to stay?<span> </span>Have you ever found
yourselves wearing the same clothes day after day because your closets were
empty and you only had the one set of clothes to your name?<span> </span>These are but a few of the ways that our
heavenly Father provides for us.<span> </span>Each
and every day we live in the blessings of food and clothing, house and home,
family and loved ones, because our heavenly Father has provided these things
too us.<span> </span>Though we have all stood,
staring into refrigerators filled with food and claiming there was nothing to
eat simply because there was nothing in the fridge that we wanted to eat;
though we have all stood in front of closets filled with clothing and shoes
claiming that we had nothing to wear simply because there was nothing in our
closets that we wanted to wear, we have had the privilege of living in the
Lord’s great blessings.<span> </span>For it is the
Lord, our heavenly Father, who continually blesses us by providing for all our
needs as well as lovingly, giving us even more than that!</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">Yet, how is it that the Lord our
God provides for us?<span> </span>Well, in Psalm 104
we read: “He makes grass grow for the cattle, and plants for man to cultivate—
bringing forth food from the earth:" (Psalm 104:14, NIV84) So often the Lord
provides for us by simply making things grow!<span>
</span>Just think about the many different kinds of plants that grow throughout
our world.<span> </span>There are the grains (wheat,
oats, rice etc.) that feed both us and the animals.<span> </span>There are fruits and vegetables that fill our
supermarket shelves because they were grown either locally or internationally
and they were shipped to us for our convenience.<span> </span>Think of the cotton and the rubber plants,
soy beans and corn that provide us with clothing and a whole assortment of
other products.<span> </span>Think of the birds,
fish, and animals that multiply and provide us with many different kinds of
meat.<span> </span>None of these things grow by
chance.<span> </span>God makes them grow and provides
us with all that we need.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">Yet, the Lord doesn’t only
provide for us through these natural means that we see in nature each and every
day!<span> </span>There are also times when our
heavenly Father provides for us through his miraculous power, like he did in
John 6. “Then Jesus went up on a mountainside and sat down with his disciples.
4 The Jewish Passover Feast was near. 5 When Jesus looked up and saw a great
crowd coming toward him, he said to Philip, “Where shall we buy bread for these
people to eat?” 6 He asked this only to test him, for he already had in mind
what he was going to do. 7 Philip answered him, “Eight months’ wages would not
buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!” 8 Another of his disciples,
Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, spoke up, 9 “Here is a boy with five small barley
loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?” 10 Jesus
said, “Have the people sit down.” There was plenty of grass in that place, and
the men sat down, about five thousand of them. 11 Jesus then took the loaves,
gave thanks, and distributed to those who were seated as much as they wanted.
He did the same with the fish. 12 When they had all had enough to eat, he said
to his disciples, “Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be
wasted.” 13 So they gathered them and filled twelve baskets with the pieces of
the five barley loaves left over by those who had eaten." (John 6:3–13,
NIV84)</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">In a miraculous way, Jesus
provided food for 5,000 men plus women and children who were there.<span> </span>In a miraculous way, Jesus provided food for
more people than the population of Le Sueur.<span>
</span>In a miraculous way, Jesus provided food for more than 5,000 people
maybe as many as 10,000 maybe even more than that.<span> </span>In a miraculous way Jesus provided food for
all these people and then after the meal was done, the disciples filled 12
pick-nick baskets with leftovers!<span> </span>Though
Jesus doesn’t miraculously make food appear on our tables, how often doesn’t he
work miraculously in our lives?<span> </span>How many
stories can you tell about close calls?<span>
</span>How many times haven’t you found yourself delayed, frustrated because
you simply couldn’t get out the door when you wanted to, only to discover that
the frustrating delay saved your life, or kept you from being involved in a car
accident that occurred exactly when you would have been in that spot had you
not been delayed?<span> </span>How many times haven’t
delays allowed you to run across someone that you needed to talk to but simply
could not get a hold of?<span> </span>How many times
haven’t deer or other animals appeared in your headlights, appeared so close
that there seemed to be no possible way to avoid them, yet somehow you didn’t
hit them?<span> </span>How often haven’t you found
yourselves remaining healthy while others around you are dealing with colds?<span> </span>These are but a few of the ways that our
heavenly Father has miraculously provided for us in our lives, and if we went
around the room today, I’m sure that each and every one of you could tell many,
many different stories of how your heavenly Father has miraculously provided
for you or protected you in one way or another.<span>
</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">Yet, before we forget the most
important way that our heavenly Father has provided for us, let us remember how
he sent his Son to be our Savior.<span> </span>While
we were still his enemies, lost in sin and dead in our transgressions, our
heavenly Father provided for our salvation by sending Jesus to take our
place!<span> </span>In his great love for us, he
provides us with forgiveness, life, and salvation through faith in Jesus
Christ, our Savior.<span> </span>Because of his great
love we have Jesus’ own promise that he is right now preparing a place for us
in his heavenly kingdom.<span> </span>Now, because of
this we join with Isaiah in proclaiming, “Give thanks to the LORD, call on his
name; make known among the nations what he has done, and proclaim that his name
is exalted. 5 Sing to the LORD, for he has done glorious things; let this be
known to all the world. 6 Shout aloud and sing for joy, people of Zion, for
great is the Holy One of Israel among you.”" (Isaiah 12:4–6, NIV84)</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">For all of our heavenly Father’s
providence and for all that he provides us with through natural means and
through miraculous means, we give him all our thanks and praise.<span> </span>Because he is the one who has provided for
our salvation through his Son, we seek to show our love for him by serving him
and obeying him with our lives.<span> </span>In the
same way that we would show our earthly parents appreciation for a special gift
that they have given us, so also we show our thanks and our praise to our
heavenly Father for all that he has done for us by seeking to live according to
his will.</span></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">What greater gift could our
heavenly father give us than his gift of providence!<span> </span>He is the one who cares for us and showers us
with his love.<span> </span>He is the one who
provides us with all that we need in this life, and even more than that.<span> </span>He is the one who has already provided for
our salvation by sending his Son to be our Savior.<span> </span>He is the one who protects us by keeping
danger away from us and even working things out for our good.<span> </span>He provides us with food and drink, house and
home, spouse and children, land, cattle, and all that we own.<span> </span>He is the one who directs our lives and leads
us in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.<span> </span>For all of these things, he gives us the
opportunity to thank him and praise him, to serve him and obey him.<span> </span>This is how our heavenly Father provides for
us each and every day.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">Amen.</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">Pastor David M. Shilling</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";"><span><a href="http://www.grace-lesueur.org/">GraceEvangelical Lutheran Church</a>--Le Sueur, MN</span></span><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";"></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
Grace Evangelical Lutheran Churchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11819042462567501498noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2497899186385018405.post-72251875680628922212013-01-13T08:35:00.000-06:002013-01-27T08:36:16.263-06:00Why Is Creation so Important?<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif";">Series:</span></b><b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif";">
<span>Growing Together in God's Grace</span></span></b></span>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif";"></span></b><b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif";"><span></span></span></b></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif";">January 13, 2013</span></b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif";"></span></span>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">Dear friends in Christ.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">A couple of weeks ago, we took a
look at who the true God is and how the God of the Bible in whom we believe is
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, 3 persons, yet only one God.<span> </span>Last week we learned that believing in God the
Father, Almighty, means that we know who he is because he has revealed himself
to us in the Bible, which we accept is his Word, and through which we have come
to trust that all his promises are true.<span>
</span>Now, today, as we dive deeper into his word, we take a look at the very
beginning of all things.<span> </span>We take a look
at the foundation of all creation and the foundation of everything that we
believe and teach!<span> </span>We take a look at the
account of creation in Genesis 1 and as we do, we will learn, once again, “Why
the account of Creation is so very important!”<span>
</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">So, as we begin, I invite you to
open your Bibles to Genesis 1, which can be found on page 1 of your
Bibles.<span> </span>Now, as you turn to Genesis
Chapter 1, what I would normally do is give you a brief introduction of the context,
but today there really isn’t any introduction or context that I can give you
because before creation, there was only God.<span>
</span>Time and history as we know it did not begin until the Lord our God
began his creating work.<span> </span>Take a look
with me at Genesis 1:1, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the
earth." (Genesis 1:1, NIV84)</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">If these aren’t some very
familiar words!<span> </span>After all, these are
words that we have known by heart since we were little children.<span> </span>These are words that made our parents smile
when we first learned them in Sunday School or Christian Day School.<span> </span>These are words that we have cherished as
we’ve grown from Children to Teens and from Teens to Adults.<span> </span>But sadly, these are also words that have
sometimes been drown out by the cacophony of worldly ideas that bombard us on a
daily basis.<span> </span>Since we were little
children Television has been assuring us that the world in which we live is
billions of years old and that life evolved from the simplest organisms to the
complex organisms that we are today.<span> </span>Not
only that, but since the mid 1960’s our public school system has taught more
and more boldly and more and more factually that according to science all life
began when the first amino acids formed the first proteins in a puddle of
primordial soup somewhere around 3.5 billion years ago.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">Yet, while science teaches us
that life spontaneously came into being around 3.5 billion years ago, if we
compare the timeline of world history with the timeline of the Bible, we find:
that Jesus was born on this earth roughly 2,000 years ago, that the flood took
place roughly 2,500 years before Jesus was born, and that roughly 1,500 years
before the flood our God created the heavens and the earth.<span> </span>In short, according to the timeline of the
Bible, it was roughly 6,000 years ago that the Lord our God called everything
into existence by his almighty word.<span> </span>As
Genesis 1:1 tells us in the Hebrew, (spelled Phonetically) “beraysheet barah
Elohim”.<span> </span>Now, this is something I taught
you a little more than a year ago when we went through the Stained Glass Window
Series.<span> </span>Beraysheet means “beginning” or
as we translate, “in the beginning.” (In Latin it would be translated as
Genesis, which is why the name of the first book of the Bible is, Genesis.)<span> </span>Barah means, “he created” with an emphasis on
calling something into existence out of nothing. “Elohim, which is the subject
of this sentence, means “God”.<span> </span>So, in
three short words Moses establishes the fact that until Elohim (God) created
(barah) the heavens and the earth, there was no time, no space, no matter; in
fact, there was nothing in existence except for the Lord our God, Father, Son,
and Holy Spirit!<span> </span>There was nothing but
God until the very beginning of time (Beraysheet) when he, Elohim, Barah(ed)
began his creating work, creating time and space, light and dark, matter and
energy out of nothing; calling it all into existence as a formless and empty
lump of clay, so to speak, from which he would spend the next five, literal,
twenty-four hour days, forming the universe and all things.<span> </span>Just as Moses tells us in verse 3-5 “And God
said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. 4 God saw that the light was
good, and he separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light
“day,” and the darkness he called “night.” And there was evening, and there was
morning—the first day." (Genesis 1:3–5, NIV84)</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">That was the first day!<span> </span>From there the Lord went on to separate the
waters on the earth from the waters in the sky.<span>
</span>He called forth the dry ground and produced vegetation on it—never
planting seeds, but simply calling it forth by his almighty word.<span> </span>He set the sun, moon, and stars in the
heavens for the purpose of giving us light and helping us to tell time in
weeks, months, and years.<span> </span>He filled the
skies with birds and the waters with fish.<span>
</span>Then, finally, on day six, after creating all the land animals, he
formed Adam from the dust of the ground, breathed into his nostrils the breath
of life, and later that day formed Eve from one of Adam’s ribs.<span> </span>This is the work that the Lord God did in
creating the world and all that exists.<span>
</span>In six days, six, literal, twenty-four hour days the Lord created all
that exists, creating living creatures as well as the human race.<span> </span>He created a perfect world in which for us to
live and work and thrive, but sadly, as you know, our first parents ruined
God’s creation when they fell into sin.<span>
</span>Yet, even then the Lord promised to send his Son to be our Savior.<span> </span>We know how Jesus came to the earth, how he
was born, how he lived, and how he died in our place to free us from our sins
and to give us the gift eternal life by his side, in heaven, forever.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">It is because of all of these
things that creation is so important!<span>
</span>For the truth is the account of creation is the foundation of our faith
in God.<span> </span>It is the foundation of our knowledge
of who the true God really is.<span> </span>It is the
foundation of our acceptance of his Word—the Bible.<span> </span>It is the foundation of our trust in his
promises.<span> </span>Yes!<span> </span>Creation is that important!<span> </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">The problem is that our world is
filled with the ideas and the concepts that flow out from the Theory of
Evolution; a theory that works very quietly and at the same time very blatantly
at undermining the truths of Creation and the Bible.<span> </span>Just think about how the teachings of
evolution have been at work in our lives.<span>
</span>How many times haven’t we been tempted to try to harmonize our God’s
work of Creation with Science’s ideas of Evolution?<span> </span>How many times haven’t your children come
home from school openly questioning the truth of creation and favoring the
“facts” of evolution because it is “scientific”?<span> </span>How many times haven’t you found yourself in
a conversation with someone who says that they believe the Bible and call
themselves a Christian yet, they simply can’t accept that the six days of
creation were actually six, literal, twenty-four hour days?<span> </span>How many times haven’t you heard someone talk
about the creation account in Genesis as God setting creation into motion and
then allowing it to evolve over time so that when things had evolved
sufficiently, God would step in on the next “day” and spark the next step in
creation which he would allow to evolve again until the time was right for him
to step in again?<span> </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">These are but a few of the
evolutionary termites, so to speak, that seek to burrow in and seek to destroy
the foundation of our faith in the Lord by destroying the founding doctrine of
the Bible—creation.<span> </span>For if we begin to
doubt creation, we begin to doubt the Lord our God.<span> </span>If we begin to doubt that our God has the
power to create all that exists, out of nothing, by the power of his word
alone, then we begin to doubt who our God really is.<span> </span>If we begin to doubt that the six days of
creation are six literal twenty-four hour days, then we begin to doubt his
word.<span> </span>If we begin to doubt God’s Word,
then we begin to doubt his promises.<span> </span>If
we begin to doubt his promises, then we begin to doubt anything that our God
tells us in his word.<span> </span>If we begin to
doubt anything that God tells us in his word, before we know it, we have set
creation aside as a myth, Adam and Eve as a make believe story about our struggles
to delay our gratification and seek to work for the common good of humanity,
the promise of the Savior as a story to be reserved for Christmas, as long as
it doesn’t get in the way of santa clause, and the doctrine of heaven and hell
as nothing more than something to scare children into being good. For the truth
is, if we doubt that our God created the heavens and the earth and all that
exists by his almighty power, through his word, then it won’t be long before we
doubt our own sinfulness, our need for a Savior, the miracle of the Savior’s
birth, or the gift of salvation that is ours through faith in Jesus
Christ.<span> </span>In short we will begin to
believe that there can’t possibly be a hell, because a loving God would never
send anyone to hell.<span> </span>Nor would a loving
God keep anyone out of heaven because a loving God would accept everyone just
as they are, and that should be good enough to get into heaven.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">This is why creation is so
important.<span> </span>It is so important because it
is the foundation of everything that we know and believe about the Lord our God.<span> </span>It is the beginning of his word which was
written for our salvation, and it sets the stage and the purpose for the Lord’s
activity in our life.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">Now, even though I am seeking to
clearly emphasize how important the teachings of creation are for us as Christians,
please understand that I am not seeking to set Creation and Science as
enemies!<span> </span>For the truth is, in so many
ways, science is really about trying to understand God’s creation.<span> </span>Science is about using all the gifts that the
Lord has given us in our intellect and creativity to seek to utilize his
creation in a way that is beneficial for God’s people.<span> </span>In our world there are scientists who are
Christians, who approach science from a God fearing point of view rather than
an evolutionary point of view.<span> </span>There are
chemists, biologists, doctors, nurses, pharmacists, vets, and all sorts of
others who work in any of the scientific fields in our world, who are
Christians and who believe the Bible is God’s Word.<span> </span>The problem, however, stems from the fact that
in so many of the world’s colleges and universities, science is taught from an
evolutionary point of view.<span> </span>So often
science teaches the theory of evolution as a fact and ridicules the faith of
those who believe in a God who created the world in six, twenty-four hour
days.<span> </span>Because of this young Christians
in college can feel very isolated, and made to feel that they must choose
between their faith and their grade or even their future career.<span> </span>Because of this, young Christians can begin
to doubt their faith, doubt their God, and wonder if God can even exist,
because science has basically proven the non-existence of God by not being able
to prove that he exists.<span> </span>(Interestingly
enough, it seems that the theory of evolution has basically been proven by the fact
that it can’t be disproven.<span> </span>I’m sure it
goes deeper than that but that is how it seems on the surface.)</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">This is why creation is so
important!<span> </span>It is so important because it
is the foundation of everything else that we believe.<span> </span>Just like the sturdiness of any building
becomes questionable when the foundation becomes weak or even crumbles, so also
when the foundation of our faith begins to crumble, our faith quickly weakens
and is in danger of collapsing.<span> </span>So, as
we close, dear friends, let me encourage you to make use of the tools that God
has given you so that you can continue to grow in your faith and your trust in
him.<span> </span>Make use of all of the
opportunities you have to worship the Lord.<span>
</span>Strengthen your faith by reading and studying his Word on your own and
with other Christians.<span> </span>Take advantage of
things like the Meditations devotions and the Forward in Christ magazine;
devotions designed to help strengthen your faith, and the magazine designed to
offer encouragement, strategies, and to let you know others are going through
the same struggles.<span> </span>But on top of that
let me give you one incredibly valuable resource to help answer your questions
and prepare your children.<span> </span>That resource
is Answers in Genesis.<span> </span>This is the group
that runs the creation museum in Petersburg, KY.<span> </span>They are an independent organization and they
are not affiliated with our synod.<span> </span>They
are an independent organization and they are an amazing resource of biblical
truth and scientific knowledge, especially when it comes down to questions that
deal with creation, science, and many, many other issues.<span> </span>The easiest way to find them is through their
website, which is the same as their name, AnswersInGenesis.org.<span> </span>If you don’t use the internet and would like
more information about them, I would be happy to provide it to you.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">This is how important creation
truly is!<span> </span>How amazing and how humbling
that the Lord begins our faith with such a solid foundation of fact!<span> </span>“Beraysheet barah Elohim, ate ha shamaim, ve
ate ha aretz.” In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.<span> </span><span> </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">Amen.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">Pastor David M. Shilling</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";"><a href="http://www.grace-lesueur.org/">Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church</a>--Le Sueur, MN</span><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";"></span></span></div>
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Grace Evangelical Lutheran Churchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11819042462567501498noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2497899186385018405.post-50498408272793711562013-01-06T08:37:00.000-06:002013-01-27T08:38:49.348-06:00We Believe in God the Father<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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</xml><![endif]--><span style="font-size: small;"></span><span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif";"><span>Series:</span></span></b><b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif";"> </span></b><b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif";"><span>Growing Together in God's Grace</span></span></b><b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif";"></span></b></span><span style="font-size: small;"></span><span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif";"><span> </span></span></b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif";"><span>January 6,
2013</span></span></b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif";"></span></span><span style="font-size: small;">
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">Dear friends in Christ.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">Every week, as we join together
in confessing our faith in the Lord our God, we begin our confession by stating
that we believe in God, the Father, Almighty.<span>
</span>Now, as you know, depending on which creed we use, we either say, “I
believe,” or “We believe.”<span> </span>The reason
for this is that the Apostles Creed, which we use on non-Communion Sundays, was
designed as a creed to be used and spoken by those who were confessing their
faith as they entered into the membership of the church.<span> </span>Thus the member to be would stand before the
congregation—much like our Confirmands stand before the congregation today—and
that member to be would confess before the entire congregation, “I believe in
God, the Father, Almighty…”<span> </span>The Nicene
Creed, which we use on Communion Sundays because it speaks more fully about
Jesus and the work that he did here as our Savior, was designed to be a
corporate creed—a creed used by the congregation of believers to confess their
collective faith in “God, the Father, Almighty…”<span> </span>But now comes the logical question!<span> </span>What do we mean when we confess that we
believe in God, the Father, Almighty?<span>
</span>Though we speak these words each and every week and even though we hold
them in our hearts as our confession of faith, the question still remains,
“What do we mean when we confess that we believe in God, the Father,
Almighty?<span> </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">Well, to answer this question, we
want to turn to the Scriptures to better understand what we mean when we say,
“We Believe in God, the Father, Almighty!<span>
</span>First, we turn to John 17:1-3 where John writes, “After Jesus said this,
he looked toward heaven and prayed: “Father, the time has come. Glorify your
Son, that your Son may glorify you. 2 For you granted him authority over all
people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him. 3 Now
this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus
Christ, whom you have sent." (John 17:1–3, NIV84)</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">In such beautifully simple way,
Jesus reveals that belief in God is knowing who the true God is through Jesus
Christ our Savior.<span> </span>Just as we talked
about last week!<span> </span>We believe in God the
Father Almighty because we know who he is through Jesus Christ, his Son.<span> </span>We know that the Father is one of the persons
of the Trinity.<span> </span>We know that he is not
the Son or the Holy Spirit and yet he is at the same time our true God.<span> </span>Now, the interesting thing about belief is
that people in all parts of the world believe in all kinds of Gods.<span> </span>Some gods are idols made up of wood or
stone.<span> </span>Some are gods made up by men who
said they had a dream or a vision.<span>
</span>Though these may well be people who sincerely believe in their gods,
they do not believe in God, the Father, because they do not know him, or Jesus
Christ whom he sent.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">Yet believing in God includes
even more than knowing who the true God is!<span>
</span>Take a look at 1 Thessalonians 2:13, “And we also thank God continually
because, when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you
accepted it not as the word of men, but as it actually is, the word of God,
which is at work in you who believe." (1 Thessalonians 2:13, NIV84)</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">When we come to faith in the Lord
our God, we come to know who the true God is and what he has done for us.<span> </span>We come to know this from the lessons and the
accounts that our Lord recorded for us in his Word, and from this we accept
that the Bible is God’s Word.<span> </span>We accept
that the Bible is the only source of our Salvation and that the Bible is the
only place where the Lord has recorded his word for us.<span> </span>This is what believing in God, the Father,
Almighty, is all about!<span> </span>It is about
knowing who the Lord our God is, and accepting that the Bible is his word!</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">Now, having said this, let me
address the question that always comes up every single time that I teach this
lesson.<span> </span>“Pastor, how can you know this
for sure?”<span> </span>Well, the simple answer is, I
can’t know for sure.<span> </span>I can only accept
that the Bible is God’s Word through faith in God the Father, and because I
have come to know who God the Father is through the Bible I accept that the
Bible is God’s Word.<span> </span>Now, I can’t prove
that the Bible is God’s Word.<span> </span>There is
no scientific proof to demonstrate this as a fact.<span> </span>However, when I compare the message of the
Bible to every other religious book in our world, the message of the Bible is
always different.<span> </span>No matter how
motivational, encouraging, uplifting, or instructional all the other religious
books of our world might be, it is only the Bible that teaches; that we are by
nature lost in sin and enemies of our God; that our God loved us so much that
he sent his one and only son to take our place and bear the punishment that we
deserved; that through faith in Jesus Christ our Savior all that we did wrong
has been forgiven, we are at peace with God, our Father, through Jesus Christ,
his Son,<span> </span>and now moved by that knowledge
we seek to live for our God out of love for him.<span> </span>Every other religious book and religious
teaching in this world teaches that in order to find forgiveness or salvation
we have to take part in the work and contribute something (even just the
slightest thing) in order for forgiveness or salvation to be applied to
us.<span> </span>This is the difference between the
Bible and every other book and teaching in the world.<span> </span>This is the difference between the way the
Lord our God reveals himself to the human race, and how the human race
perceives and seeks to understand who God really is.</span></span></div>
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</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">As Christians who believe in God,
the Father, Almighty, we know who the true God is, because he has revealed
himself to us in his Word—the Bible—and because he has revealed himself to us
in the Bible, we trust that all his promises are true just as the Centurion
did.<span> </span>Matthew tells us about him in
chapter 8, beginning with verse 5: “When Jesus had entered Capernaum, a
centurion came to him, asking for help. 6 “Lord,” he said, “my servant lies at
home paralyzed and in terrible suffering.” 7 Jesus said to him, “I will go and
heal him.” 8 The centurion replied, “Lord, I do not deserve to have you come
under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed. 9 For I
myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’
and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do
this,’ and he does it.” 10 When Jesus heard this, he was astonished and said to
those following him, “I tell you the truth, I have not found anyone in Israel
with such great faith. 11 I say to you that many will come from the east and
the west, and will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob
in the kingdom of heaven. 12 But the subjects of the kingdom will be thrown
outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
13 Then Jesus said to the centurion, “Go! It will be done just as you believed
it would.” And his servant was healed at that very hour." (Matthew 8:5–13,
NIV84)</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">In faith, the Centurion trusted
that if Jesus simply said the word, his servant would be healed.<span> </span>He trusted that Jesus’ words were a bond, a
promise of what would happen, and it did.<span>
</span>His servant was healed at the very moment that Jesus spoke the
Words.<span> </span>The Centurion trusted Jesus’
promises in the same way that Abraham trusted the Lord’s promise that one day
he would have a Son.<span> </span>Though Abraham had
to wait 25 years until Isaac was born, though he listened to his wife’s plan to
have a son through her slave Haggar, and even though by the time the promise
would be fulfilled their bodies were to the point that they were no longer able
to have children, Abraham trusted the Lord’s promise that he would have a Son,
and when he was 100 years old, the Lord fulfilled the promise and gave him a
Son.<span> </span></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">This is what believing in God,
the Father, Almighty, is all about.<span> </span>It
is about knowing who the true God is; the true God who has revealed himself
through the Bible which we accept as his Word.<span>
</span>It is about trusting the promises that the Lord has give to us through
his word—promises that the Savior has come; that the appearing of the
Gentile<span> </span>Wise Men is assurance that Jesus
came even for the Gentiles like us; that through Jesus death and resurrection
all our sins have been forgiven and we are at peace with our heavenly Father;
that through faith in Jesus he will take us to be with him forever when he
calls us from this life to our life by our Father’s side forever in his
heavenly kingdom.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">What a comfort it is to know that
God, the Father, Almighty, is also our Father.<span>
</span>Though we have all had earthly Fathers who have affected our lives in
one way or another, it is God, our heavenly father, in whom we believe, who
longs to father us, nurture us, and help us through this life.<span> </span>No matter what type of earthly father we may
have had, we believe in God, the Father, Almighty, who is our heavenly Father,
because, as we know from the prophet Malachi, he is the one who created us!
(see Malachi 2:10)<span> </span>We know that God is
our Father because he is the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who was sent to
the earth by God, our Father, when the time was right.<span> </span>He sent Jesus to the earth to be born under
the Law so that he might redeem we, who were under the Law, that we might
receive the full rights of sons and daughters of God, our heavenly Father. (See
Gal 3:26 – 4:7).<span> </span>Now, that we have been
called to faith God our heavenly Father, by the working of the Holy Spirit
through the Word of God, we have come to know Jesus, our Savior and our
Brother, who has made known to us our heavenly Father.<span> </span>Now that we have come to believe in God, the
Father, Almighty, we find comfort and assurance that God our heavenly Father
loves us, cares for us, strengthens us, disciplines us, teaches us, encourages
us, and calls us his own.<span> </span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">Now, if you would like to
understand this concept of our heavenly Father’s fathering activity in your
life, I have two books that I can suggest which can help you.<span> </span>Now, you know that I don’t do this all that
often. In fact, this is only the 2nd time I’ve suggested outside reading to you.<span> </span>You also know that these are books that I
have read and found to be a blessing to me and my family.<span> </span>The first book is:<span> </span><i>Wild at
Heart</i>, by John Eldridge.<span> </span>This is a
book written primarily for men, but it can also be a benefit for women to
read.<span> </span>It is a book that helps men better
understand the wild heart that the Lord placed inside them, and how the Lord
longs to father the heart of that son.<span>
</span>The second book is: <i>You are
Captivating</i>, by Stasi Eldredge.<span> </span>This
book is written primarily for women, but an also be a benefit for men to
read.<span> </span>It is a book that helps women
better understand their feminine hearts and the amazing strength with which the
Lord has blessed them.<span> </span>It is a book that
helps women better understand how the Lord loves them and longs to father his
beloved daughter.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">Now, these books are by no means,
Scripture.<span> </span>They simply are written from
a Christian and biblical point of view to help people better understand how
God, the heavenly Father, works in their lives.<span>
</span>I recommend them to you because I have read them and they have helped me
better understand my heavenly Father all the better.<span> </span>They have taken me back to the Scriptures and
made me study up on my heavenly Father and how he reveals himself in his
Word.<span> </span>They have even helped me foster a
greater appreciation for all that my heavenly father has done for me in my
life.<span> </span>Thus, in reading these books, my
faith in God the Father has been strengthened because they drove me back to
God’s Word, and caused me to study it all the more.<span> </span>I share them with you today so that you might
do the same.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
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<br /></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">But regardless of what you do,
you leave here today with a stronger belief in God, the Father, Almighty!<span> </span>You leave here with a stronger faith in your
heavenly Father.<span> </span>You leave here, knowing
all the more who the true God is because you know how he has revealed himself
to you in the pages of the Scriptures which you have accepted is his Word.<span> </span>You leave here with a greater trust and
assurance that all the promise the Lord has ever made are true and have either
been fulfilled in the past, or they will be fulfilled when Jesus comes
again.<span> </span>You leave here knowing that God,
the Father, Almighty, is your heavenly father who longs to be a father to you,
and help you to grow in his grace.<span> </span>You
leave here knowing that the God in whom you believe is the Father of your Lord
Jesus who freed you from your sins so that you might live with your heavenly
father forever.<span> </span>Though today we won’t be
confessing, “We believe in God, the Father, Almighty” in the Apostles Creed, we
will be confessing that very faith as we join together to sing our faith in
Hymn 270 on page 7 of your service folders.<span>
</span>Please stand and we will join together in singing our believe in our
triune God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">Amen.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
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<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">Pastor David M. Shilling</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";"><span><a href="http://www.grace-lesueur.org/">GraceEvangelical Lutheran Church</a>--Le Sueur, MN</span></span><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";"></span></span></div>
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<![endif]-->Grace Evangelical Lutheran Churchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11819042462567501498noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2497899186385018405.post-22483575786301065342012-12-31T08:40:00.000-06:002013-01-27T08:40:58.887-06:00Jesus Is Our Unchanging Savior! (Hebrews 13:8)<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";"><span>New Year's Eve</span></span></b><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";"></span><span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";"><span> </span></span></b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";"><span>December 31, 2012</span></span></b></span>
<br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span></span></b></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span>Dear friends in Christ.</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span>If there is one thing that we can count on in this
life, its change.<span> </span>For the truth is,
change is all around us.<span> </span>We see it
outside as we watch spring changing into summer, summer to fall, and fall to
winter, winter back into spring once again.<span>
</span>We see it in the weather as sunny days change to cloudy days, warm days
turn cold, and rain changes into snow.<span>
</span>We see it in our living rooms as we flip through the channels of our
TV’s looking for something to watch.<span> </span>We
see it in our children and grandchildren as we watch them grow from infant to
toddler, toddler to child, child to teenager, and teenager to adult.<span> </span>And we see it in ourselves.<span> </span>For each time we look in the mirror we see a
reflection that has changed in some way since the last time we looked at
it.<span> </span>Even though the change may be so
small that we don’t see it right away, given a few days, weeks, or even years,
we can see just how our faces, our hair, and even our eyes have changed.<span> </span>But even though change is something that we
deal with in every aspect of our earthly lives, when it comes to our religious
lives we know that Jesus is our unchanging Savior.<span> </span>So tonight, as we celebrate the changing of
the years, we will place our trust and confidence in Jesus our unchanging
Savior.<span> </span></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span>What a comfort it is for us to know that Jesus is
our unchanging Savior!<span> </span>What a comfort it
is to know that no matter what changes in this life, Jesus will never change,
for as the writer to the Hebrews tells us: “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday
and today and forever.” (Hebrews 13:8).<span>
</span>This truth, that Jesus is our unchanging Savior has been our comfort and
assurance throughout our lives.<span> </span>He was
our comfort twelve years ago as we faced the prospect of stepping from 1999
into the year 2000.<span> </span>He was our comfort a
little more than twelve days ago when people wondered if the Mayan Calendar
would be right and we would see the end of the world in December.<span> </span>He has been our comfort every time people
have predicted the end of the world.<span> </span>He
has been our comfort through the past years as we’ve faced layoffs, closures,
and even the searching for a new job.<span>
</span>He’s been our comfort as we’ve enjoyed health and prosperity, as we’ve
endured sickness and injury, and even as we’ve faced fear and death.<span> </span>But most incredibly, he has stood buy us even
through our sins.<span> </span>For even though we have
been unfaithful to him on many occasions, even though we have turned our backs
on him and run away, even though we have thrown ourselves head first into our
sins, our Savior never left our side.<span> </span>He
stood by us even when we wanted nothing to do with him, and he led us from our
sins so that we might fall at his feet in repentance.<span> </span>Then, as we’ve laid at his feet with tears
running down our cheeks, he extends his hand, lifts us up, and assures us of
his forgiveness.<span> </span>He reminds us that he
used his own blood to wash way every scarlet stain of those sins, cleansing our
hearts until they were whiter than the freshly fallen snow we normally see in
the winter.<span> </span></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span>Now, tonight, as we sit here in worship, Jesus is
the one who is building us up.<span> </span>He is the
one assuring us that our sins have been forgiven.<span> </span>He is reminding us that he is our
unchangeable Savior who will never leave us nor forsake us.<span> </span>Though the world might change around us,
Jesus will never change.<span> </span>Though our
father and mother forsake us, though friends should turn their backs on us and
hate us, Jesus will never leave us.<span> </span>No
matter what changes the New Year might hold for us, no matter what unforeseen
triumphs or tragedies we might face, Jesus will be there with us.<span> </span>So now, as we look forward to the beginning
of a New Year we look forward with confidence.<span>
</span>We look forward with confidence because we know that our Savior goes
with us, just as he has in the past.<span> </span>For
Jesus Christ is our unchanging Savior.<span>
</span>He is the same today as he was yesterday, and he will be the same
tomorrow and forever!<span> </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span>Amen.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span>Pastor
David M. Shilling</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span><span><a href="http://www.grace-lesueur.org/">Grace EvangelicalLutheran Church</a>--Le Sueur, MN</span></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
Grace Evangelical Lutheran Churchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11819042462567501498noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2497899186385018405.post-42215818587482972872012-12-30T08:41:00.000-06:002013-01-27T08:42:53.670-06:00What is our God Like?<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<![endif]--><span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif";"><span>Series:</span></span></b><b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif";"> </span></b><b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif";"><span>Growing Together in God's Grace</span></span></b><b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif";"></span></b></span>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif";"></span></b><b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif";"></span></b></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif";"><span>December 30,
2012</span></span></b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif";"></span></span>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">Dear friends in Christ.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">It has been said that what you
know about a person usually affects the way that you feel about a person, and
in most cases that seems to be true.<span>
</span>Take, for example, Abraham Lincoln.<span>
</span>He was the 16th president of the United States.<span> </span>He was the President in Office during the Civil
War.<span> </span>He was the one who was determined
that the United States of America should remain together as a single
nation.<span> </span>He was the one who signed the
Emancipation Proclamation, freeing those who were salves from their forced
servitude, and putting into motion the events that led to the 13th amendment to
the US Constitution, which finally Abolished Slavery in the United States.<span> </span>He was the one who was assassinated at Ford’s
Theater a mere 5 days after the Civil War came to an end.<span> </span>Because of this knowledge, there are many who
love Lincoln and hail him as one of the greatest Presidents our Nation has ever
seen.<span> </span>Though he was continually
ridiculed and spoken against in his time, because of what we know about him
from history, we are able to form our own opinion about him, and our own
personal feelings about him have been affected in many ways by what we
know.<span> </span>Well the same thing is true about
the Lord our God, our opinion of him is very much affected by what we know about
him.<span> </span>Thus, as we study the Scriptures
before us today we will seek to learn about our God and answer the question,
“What is our God like?”</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">To answer this question, we want
to take a look at what the Bible has to say about God’s Characteristics and
learn two basic ways that God’s nature is different than ours.<span> </span>So, I invite you to grab your Bibles and turn
to Matthew 28:19 which can be found on page 989.<span> </span>As you are looking it up, let me give you the
context of this passage.<span> </span>It had been 40
days since Jesus rose from the dead, and Jesus and his disciples were standing
on the Mount of Olives, where Jesus was giving them his final instructions and
blessings before he would ascend into heaven.<span>
</span>While he was speaking to them he told them, (and we’ll read Matthew
28:19 together): “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing
them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,” (Matthew
28:19, NIV)</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">Just as Jesus began his ministry
with the Father’s blessing and the Holy Spirit’s descending upon him, so also
Jesus returns to heaven instituting the Sacrament of Baptism, proclaiming that
all of his disciples should baptize people in the name of the Triune God, the
Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.<span>
</span>Thus, Jesus reveals that our God is three distinct and separate persons,
Father, Son and Holy Spirit.<span> </span>Thus, when
we look at our God we know that the Father is not the Son.<span> </span>We know that the Son is not the Holy Spirit,
and we know that the Holy Spirit is not the Father.<span> </span>Yet, even as we worship our God in three
separate and distinct persons, we know that we do not worship three separate
Gods but we worship only one God, as Moses tells us in Deuteronomy 6:4.<span> </span>Turn with me, if you would, to Deuteronomy
6:4, which can be found on page 178 of your Bibles, and we’ll read this passage
together also.<span> </span>Again, as you look up the
passage, let me set the context.<span> </span>The
Israelites have completed their 40 years of wandering in the desert and they
are preparing to cross the Jordan and take the land of Canaan.<span> </span>As they prepare, Moses is reminding them of
all that the Lord has done for them.<span> </span>In
Chapter 5 Moses reviewed the Ten Commandments and now, in verses 4 of Chapter
6, Moses speaks about the Lord whom we serve as we follow his commandments.<span> </span>And we read together: “Hear, O Israel: The
LORD our God, the LORD is one.” (Deuteronomy 6:4, NIV)</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">With these words, the Lord God
reveals a very specific distinction between his nature and our nature.<span> </span>He is one!<span>
</span>Though, He is three separate and distinct persons these three separate
and distinct persons make up one individual God.<span> </span>How this can be, we do not know we simply
believe it and accept it by faith, because God himself has told us that he is
the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, three persons yet one God.<span> </span>So, if we should ever take the Father out of
the picture, would we still believe in the true God proclaimed by the
Bible?<span> </span>No, because we would only have
the Son and the Holy Spirit and not all three.<span>
</span>What if we took the Son out of the picture and believed only in the
Father and the Holy Spirit?<span> </span>The same
thing would be true.<span> </span>We would not have
the True God spoken of in the Bible.<span>
</span>What if we took the Holy Spirit out of the picture and only believed in
the Father and the Son, would we still have the true God proclaimed by the
Bible?<span> </span>Again, the answer is no.<span> </span>even though the Bible never uses the word
Triune to describe our God, the Bible makes it clear that the God we worship is
three persons (tri) yet one God (une), which gives us our Triune God 3 person
in one God, just as Jesus tells us in the<span>
</span>Gospel of John: “But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide
you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he
hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. He will bring glory to me by
taking from what is mine and making it known to you. All that belongs to the
Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will take from what is mine and
make it known to you. ” (John 16:13–15, NIV)</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">From all of these passages, we
can clearly see the two basic ways that our God’s nature is different than our
own.<span> </span>Not only is the Lord our God
Triune—Three Persons yet, One God—but also, as we have been taught since we
were little Children, the Lord our God is spirit.<span> </span>Because the Lord is Spirit, he does not have
a physical body.<span> </span>Even though Jesus came
to the earth and took on our human flesh and blood, when he ascended into
heaven, he returned to his spirit form.<span>
</span>Yet, the Lord our God is not some distant force sailing around the
galaxy, he is a real personal being who hears our prayers and understands our
needs.<span> </span>He desires and even demands the
most important place in our hearts and our lives.<span> </span>He calls on us to worship him, praise him,
and thank him for all that he has done for us.<span>
</span>He forgives us each and every time we fall in to temptation and sin
against him, and he has chosen to reveal himself to us through the pages of the
Scriptures so that we might gain a better understanding of who he is through
the many characteristics that he reveals to us in his Word.<span> </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">So, let’s take another look at
the Scriptures to see if we might discover all that the Lord our God wants us
to learn about himself.<span> </span>To do this, we
will turn to Psalm 139 which can be found on page 618, and as you are looking
up Psalm 139 on page 618, let me give you just a little bit of an
introduction.<span> </span>Psalm 139 is one of the
many Psalms that King David wrote by the inspiration of the Lord.<span> </span>It was given to the director of music for use
as a song for worship in the temple.<span> </span>It
has even been called the Psalm of the All knowing and Ever Present God, and the
reason for this will become clear as I read.<span>
</span>In fact, due to the length of the Psalm I invite you to follow along
with me as I read:<span> </span>“O LORD, you have
searched me and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive
my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are
familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue you know it
completely, O LORD. You hem me in—behind and before; you have laid your hand
upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain.
Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go
up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are
there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the
sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. If
I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,”
even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day,
for darkness is as light to you. For you created my inmost being; you knit me
together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and
wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was
not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven
together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the
days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.
How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! Were
I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand. When I awake, I am
still with you. If only you would slay the wicked, O God! Away from me, you
bloodthirsty men! They speak of you with evil intent; your adversaries misuse
your name. Do I not hate those who hate you, O LORD, and abhor those who rise
up against you? I have nothing but hatred for them; I count them my enemies.
Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See
if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. ”
(Psalm 139:1–24, NIV)</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">In such a beautiful way the Lord
so clearly reveals that he is omniscient—all knowing—and omnipresent—present
everywhere.<span> </span>He reminds us that not only
does he know everything that we say and do, he also knows us better than our
friends, our family, even our own fathers and mothers.<span> </span>He knows what we need when we need it, and he
is always present with us, watching over us, protecting us, helping us, and
ready to comfort us.<span> </span>He is also the
all-powerful God who created our inmost beings, who knit us together in our
mothers’ wombs.<span> </span>He is the God who can
and will use his unlimited power to punish those who do not believe in him in
the fires of eternal damnation, and he is the God who can and will use his
unlimited power to bring those who believe in him to the halls of eternal life
where we will live with him forever.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">What more beautiful and
comforting words could the Lord give to us as he reveals himself to us through
his Word!<span> </span>Yet, there are so many more
passages we could chose today to teach us more about the Characteristics of our
God.<span> </span>The problem is, we are running out
of time this morning, that is, if we feel we must keep our service as close to
an hour as possible.<span> </span>However, since that
is our custom, perhaps just one final passage.<span>
</span>Turn with me to Exodus 34:5-7 on page 88.<span> </span>Again, let me give you the background for
these verses: Moses had been with the Lord on the Mountain for 40 days and 40
nights, during which time the people persuaded Aaron to make a golden calf for
them to worship.<span> </span>When Moses came down
and saw what they were doing, he broke the tablets, burned it in the fire,
ground it to powder, sprinkled it on the water and made the Israelites drink
it.<span> </span>Now, he had returned to the mountain
with two new tablets of stone for the Lord’s commands where he had also asked
the Lord to show him his glory, which is where we pick up as we read together:
“Then the LORD came down in the cloud and stood there with him and proclaimed
his name, the LORD. And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">“The LORD, the LORD, the
compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and
faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion
and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children
and their children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth
generation.” (Exodus 34:5–7, NIV)</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">In such a beautiful way, the Lord
our God reveals to us some of his most incredible characteristics.<span> </span>We know of his compassion for us in his
sending Jesus to be our Savior.<span> </span>We know
of his Graciousness that he does not treat us as our sins deserve, but he shows
his love and his patience for us by giving us this time of grace in which to
come to faith.<span> </span>He shows his love and his
faithfulness by continually protecting us from all harm and danger, and
forgiving all our sins for Jesus’ sake.<span>
</span>Though the Lord will not leave the guilty unpunished, through faith in
him, we live in his love and faithfulness.<span>
</span>We see the Lord our God as the loving, caring, and gracious God he
is.<span> </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">Thus, today, in the same way we
have learned about Abraham Lincoln from history, we have learned what the Lord
our God is like.<span> </span>For from the pages of
Scripture, we have come to know that our all powerful Triune God is a Spirit
who reveals himself to us in the Scriptures.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">Amen.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">Pastor David M. Shilling</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";"><span><a href="http://www.grace-lesueur.org/">GraceEvangelical Lutheran Church</a>--Le Sueur, MN</span></span><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";"></span></span></div>
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Grace Evangelical Lutheran Churchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11819042462567501498noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2497899186385018405.post-6171928299961771682012-12-23T13:09:00.000-06:002012-12-23T13:09:07.155-06:00Persevere in Your Faith! (Hebrews 10:1-39)<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-weight: normal;"></span><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-weight: normal;"></span></span></h1>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";"><span>Series:</span></span></b><b><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";"> </span></b><b><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";"><span>Growing Together in God's Grace</span></span></b><b><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";"></span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";"><span>Fourth Sunday in Advent</span></span></b><b><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";"> </span></b><b><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";"></span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";"><span>December 23, 2012</span></span></b><span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span>Dear friends in Christ.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span>Three weeks ago, we began a series of Catechatical
sermons—sermons which are based on the lessons that our Confirmation students
study in their Confirmation classes.<span>
</span>These are lessons that most of you learned a number of years ago as you
sat at the feet of the particular pastor who taught you to delve deeply into
the truths of the Bible.<span> </span>Today, we are
using this series of sermons to help us “Grow together in God’s Grace,” so that
we might be built up as his children and so that we might continue to persevere
in the faith which the Lord has established in our hearts.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span>So far in this series, we’ve learned how the Lord
has revealed himself to us through his creation, through our conscience and
especially through his Word; the Bible.<span>
</span>We learned that the Bible is such an important book to us, because it is
the only source through which we can become wise for salvation.<span> </span>We learned that it is through the Bible that
we learn the difference between God’s Law and God’s Gospel—that the only thing
that the Law can ever do for us is to show us our sins and our need for a
Savior.<span> </span>Yet, it is in the Gospel that we
learn about God’s plan for our salvation—how he sent Jesus to be our Savior.<span> </span>Now, moved through the Gospel we seek to live
according to God’s word and follow his Law, out of love for our God who loved
us so much that he saved us even though we could never save ourselves.<span> </span>Now, as we continue to Grow together in God’s
Grace, we will hear the writer to the Hebrews applying to our lives all that
we’ve learned so far.<span> </span>We will hear him
speak to us of the purpose of God’s Law.<span>
</span>We will hear him reveal the great Gospel message of God’s salvation, and
we will hear him warn us with the Law and encourage us with the Gospel as he
call on us to Persevere in Our Faith!</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span>So, with that introduction, I invite you to turn
with me to Hebrews 10, found on page 1190, and we will dive in, together, and
see how the writer to the Hebrews calls on us to persevere in our faith.<span> </span>Now, as you are turning to Hebrews 10, let me
remind you of the purpose of the Book of Hebrews.<span> </span>Even though we don’t know who wrote the book,
we do know that when it was written Christianity was being persecuted.<span> </span>Jewish Christians, especially, were feeling
the pressure to give up Christianity and go back to their former way of life in
Judaism.<span> </span>In this way, they would once
again fit in with all those around them and they would be able to avoid
persecution. It was because of this that the writer wrote in Chapter 10
beginning with verse 1: “The law is only a shadow of the good things that are
coming—not the realities themselves. For this reason it can never, by the same
sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near
to worship. 2 If it could, would they not have stopped being offered? For the
worshipers would have been cleansed once for all, and would no longer have felt
guilty for their sins. 3 But those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins, 4
because it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. 5
Therefore, when Christ came into the world, he said: “Sacrifice and offering
you did not desire, but a body you prepared for me; 6 with burnt offerings and
sin offerings you were not pleased. 7 Then I said, ‘Here I am—it is written
about me in the scroll— I have come to do your will, O God.’ ” 8 First he said,
“Sacrifices and offerings, burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not
desire, nor were you pleased with them” (although the law required them to be
made). 9 Then he said, “Here I am, I have come to do your will.” He sets aside
the first to establish the second. 10 And by that will, we have been made holy
through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all." (Hebrews
10:1–10, NIV84)</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span>As he wrote, he called on them to persevere in their
faith, because if they went back to their former way of life in Judaism they
would miss out on the one who came to do the will of the Lord.<span> </span>They would miss out on their salvation all
together, because they would be binding themselves to a set of rules and
regulations that no longer served its former purpose because the reality had
been found in Christ.<span> </span>This is the very
point the writer makes as he continues on in the next verses: “Day after day
every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he
offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. 12 But when this
priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the
right hand of God. 13 Since that time he waits for his enemies to be made his
footstool, 14 because by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who
are being made holy. 15 The Holy Spirit also testifies to us about this. First
he says: 16 “This is the covenant I will make with them after that time, says
the Lord. I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their
minds.” 17 Then he adds: “Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more.”
18 And where these have been forgiven, there is no longer any sacrifice for
sin." (Hebrews 10:11–18, NIV84)</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span>In essence the writer to the Hebrews was calling on
each and every person to persevere in faith, because the faith which had been
created in their hearts, faith that trusted in Jesus Christ as their Savior,
this was the only source of salvation they had.<span>
</span>If they went back to observing the law, they would be lost, because they
could not keep the law perfectly as God demands.<span> </span>If they went back to the law they would be
lost because they would be looking forward to the salvation that was coming,
and by looking forward to the coming Savior, they would be ignoring the actual
Savior, and they would be living outside of God’s Kingdom, because they had set
aside their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Savior of the
World.<span> </span>Even though they were facing
persecution, the writer to the Hebrews was calling on them to persevere in
their faith because Jesus was and is their High Priest who had made his
sacrifice for sins once for all.<span> </span>Then,
after he had made his sacrifice, he had gone and sat down at the right hand of
God the Father.<span> </span>Jesus had forgiven their
sins by his sacrifice and thus, done away with the need for any other
sacrifice.<span> </span>Jesus had given them the
assurance that through faith in him, he would be with them even in the face of
trouble. <span> </span>He would be with them and
deliver them in life, and finally he would deliver them to his side in heaven.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span>Just as the writer to the Hebrews called on them to
persevere in their faith, so also the writer to the Hebrews is calling on each
and every one of us to persevere in our faith.<span>
</span>He is calling on us to persevere in our faith, because the truth is, we
face the very same temptations that the Jewish Christians did.<span> </span>Though we may not be facing an all out active
persecution as they faced, how often haven’t we felt the sting of persecution
in our lives?<span> </span>How often haven’t we felt
the pressure to hide our faith or to simply keep our faith quiet so that we can
fit in and be part of the group either at work or at school?<span> </span>How often haven’t we received the question,
“Why do you belong to that Church?<span> </span>They
don’t allow this…<span> </span>They don’t allow
that…<span> </span>Why do you belong to that church
when it is clear that they don’t really fit in or understand the ways of the
world?<span> </span>Why do you belong to a church
that is backwards in its thinking?<span> </span>Why
do you belong to a church that sponsored hate by posting vote yes signs?<span> </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span>Though there are times when even we begin to wonder
why we believe what we believe, and though there are times that even we feel
like throwing in the towel and giving up what we believe, as the writer to the
Hebrews continues, he calls on us all the more fervently to persevere in our
faith.<span> </span>Take a look at vss. 19 and
following, “Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most
Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, 20 by a new and living way opened for us
through the curtain, that is, his body, 21 and since we have a great priest
over the house of God, 22 let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full
assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty
conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold unswervingly
to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider
how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. 25 Let us not give
up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage
one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching. 26 If we
deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth,
no sacrifice for sins is left, 27 but only a fearful expectation of judgment
and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God. 28 Anyone who rejected
the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses.
29 How much more severely do you think a man deserves to be punished who has
trampled the Son of God under foot, who has treated as an unholy thing the
blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and who has insulted the Spirit of
grace? 30 For we know him who said, “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” and
again, “The Lord will judge his people.” 31 It is a dreadful thing to fall into
the hands of the living God." (Hebrews 10:19–31, NIV84)</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span>What greater encouragement could there be for us to
persevere in our faith, than the encouragement that comes from knowing that we
now have access to the Lord our God in the Most Holy place through the Blood of
Jesus!<span> </span>For you see, in the Temple, it
was only the High Priest who was able to enter the Most Holy Place and minister
before the Lord.<span> </span>But, he was only
allowed to enter once each year, on the Day of Atonement.<span> </span>However, he could not enter the presence of
the Lord behind the curtain without the blood of the sacrifice.<span> </span>If he entered on the wrong day or entered
without blood, then his life would be forfeit!<span>
</span>Yet, as we know, when Jesus died his blood was the atoning sacrifice for
all our sins.<span> </span>When Jesus died the
curtain of the Temple was torn in two from top to bottom, thus, assuring us
that the sins that separated us from our God have been forgiven.<span> </span>They have been completely removed, and now we
are free to approach our God with confidence because through faith in Jesus our
Savior, we are children of our heavenly Father.<span>
</span>Now, moved by the forgiveness that Jesus won for us, the writer calls on
us to persevere on our faith so that we do not become lazy in this life and
miss out on the salvation that is ours!<span>
</span>For if we should become lazy in our faith, if we should grow weary of
meeting together to grow in God’s grace, if we should give into persecution and
try to fit in as one of the gang rather than live out our faith, if we should
grow comfortable with any one of our sins and begin to live in our sins rather
than live in the Lord’s forgiveness, then there will be nothing left for us but
God’s wrath and punishment.<span> </span>This is the
point that the writer makes in verse 26 and 27, “If we deliberately keep on
sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for
sins is left, 27 but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire
that will consume the enemies of God." (Hebrews 10:26–27, NIV84)</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span>These are difficult words to hear, but they are
true, nonetheless!<span> </span>If we deliberately
keep on sinning by hiding our faith, by keeping ourselves away from the word of
God, by appeasing our conscience with the thoughts that our pet sin is not
nearly as bad as another’s pet sin, or even by living our lives in any manner
that is contrary to what the Lord has to say; if we deliberately keep on
sinning then all we are doing is spitting in the face of God’s
forgiveness.<span> </span>All we are doing is
trampling under our feet the salvation that God has given us.<span> </span>All we are doing is throwing away our
confidence in Jesus Christ, our Savior, which is the exact opposite of what he
calls on us to do in verse 35 and following: “So do not throw away your
confidence; it will be richly rewarded. 36 You need to persevere so that when
you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. 37 For in
just a very little while, “He who is coming will come and will not delay. 38
But my righteous one will live by faith. And if he shrinks back, I will not be
pleased with him.” 39 But we are not of those who shrink back and are
destroyed, but of those who believe and are saved." (Hebrews 10:35–39,
NIV84)</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span>Persevere in your faith!<span> </span>Continue to grow in your faith through
worship here and your own personal Bible reading.<span> </span>Remember all that Jesus did for you and how
he freed you from all your sins by his death and resurrection.<span> </span>Be assured that the Lord Jesus lives in your
heart and helps you in every situation in your life. Continue to live your life
out of love for the Lord Jesus turning to the Lord in repentance, receiving his
forgiveness, and seeking to live according to his will.<span> </span>As the writer to the Hebrews tells us in
verses 22-25: “let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance
of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience
and having our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold unswervingly to
the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider
how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. 25 Let us not give
up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage
one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching." (Hebrews
10:22–25, NIV84)</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span>Amen.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span>Pastor
David M. Shilling</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span><span><a href="http://www.grace-lesueur.org/">Grace EvangelicalLutheran Church</a>--Le Sueur, MN</span></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
Grace Evangelical Lutheran Churchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11819042462567501498noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2497899186385018405.post-67093237937814240402012-12-19T17:42:00.000-06:002012-12-19T17:42:57.436-06:00How Do We Know You Are the Christ? (Matthew 11:2-11)<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">Third Wednesday in Advent</span></b><b><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";"> </span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">December 19, 2012</span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span>Dear friends in Christ.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span>How many of you have ever wondered to yourself, “Did
I really do the right thing?”<span> </span>How many
of you have ever wished that you could take back something you’ve said, or go
back in time and fix something you did?<span>
</span>How many of you have ever seized one of those perfect opportunities that
come your way only once every few years, and then doubted the choice you
made?<span> </span>Has it ever happened that as you
sat alone, playing and replaying the event in your mind, you still wondered if
you had made the right choice—even when all the evidence shows that you made
the right decision.<span> </span>Has it ever happened
to you that you still doubted your actions, even after talking with friends who
assured you that it was the right thing to do?<span>
</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span>Well, if anything like this has ever happened to
you, then you are not alone, because this is the very thing that happened to
John, the forerunner of the Christ!<span> </span>As
he sat in prison, locked away because he had boldly confronted Herod, the ruler
of those lands, accusing Herod of sin because he had enticed his sister-in-law
away from his brother Philip and she had become Herod’s wife; as John sat in
prison, he had plenty of time to wonder if he had done the right thing.<span> </span>He had plenty of time to wonder if he had
backed the right horse so to speak, which is why he sent his disciples to ask
Jesus if he was the one who was to come or if they should be looking for
someone else.<span> </span>Essentially John was
asking Jesus, “How do we know that you are the Christ?”</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span>As Matthew tells us: “When John heard in prison what
Christ was doing, he sent his disciples 3 to ask him, “Are you the one who was
to come, or should we expect someone else?” 4 Jesus replied, “Go back and
report to John what you hear and see: 5 The blind receive sight, the lame walk,
those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the
good news is preached to the poor. 6 Blessed is the man who does not fall away
on account of me.” 7 As John’s disciples were leaving, Jesus began to speak to
the crowd about John: “What did you go out into the desert to see? A reed
swayed by the wind? 8 If not, what did you go out to see? A man dressed in fine
clothes? No, those who wear fine clothes are in kings’ palaces. 9 Then what did
you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. 10 This
is the one about whom it is written: “ ‘I will send my messenger ahead of you,
who will prepare your way before you.’ 11 I tell you the truth: Among those
born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist; yet he
who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he." (Matthew
11:2–11, NIV84)</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span>How do we know that you are the Christ?<span> </span>This was a question that was weighing heavily
on John’s mind as he sat in prison.<span> </span>This
was a doubt that satan most likely introduced into his mind as he had all the
time in the world to review his ministry, his preaching, and all his activity
in the name of the Christ of whom he was the forerunner.<span> </span>This was a doubt that marked John as who he
truly was, a child of God who needed the Lord’s strength and encouragement;
just as Elijah did when he ran away from Jezebel and traveled to Mt. Sinai
where he received strength and encouragement from the Lord; just we need
strength and encouragement in our lives when doubts come creeping in and cause
us to wonder about what we’ve been taught.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span>How do we know that you are the Christ?<span> </span>When John’s disciples asked this question of
Jesus, Jesus knew the encouragement that John needed.<span> </span>For Jesus simply answers, “Go back and report
to John what you hear and see: 5 The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those
who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good
news is preached to the poor. 6 Blessed is the man who does not fall away on
account of me.” (Matthew 11:4-6, NIV84)<span>
</span>Essentially what Jesus is saying is, “Judge for yourself, based on what
you have heard and seen.” “Judge for yourself, based on the things I am doing;
the very things which Isaiah said I would do.”<span>
</span>“Judge for yourself and you will see that there is no doubt that I am
the one who was to come!<span> </span>You do not need
to be looking forward to someone else!<span>
</span>This is how you can be certain that I am the Christ.”</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span>What a comfort these words must have been to John as
he sat in prison!<span> </span>What a great assurance
for him to hear his cousin and his Savior assure him not only that he, Jesus,
was, indeed, the Christ, the one who was to come into the world as the Messiah,
but that he, John, the forerunner, had done his job of preparing the way for
the Lord, extremely well.<span> </span>This, in fact
was the very thing Jesus was telling the crowd, as John’s disciples were
departing to go back to John with Jesus’ answer.<span> </span>Matthew tells us, “As John’s disciples were
leaving, Jesus began to speak to the crowd about John: “What did you go out
into the desert to see? A reed swayed by the wind? 8 If not, what did you go
out to see? A man dressed in fine clothes? No, those who wear fine clothes are
in kings’ palaces. 9 Then what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell
you, and more than a prophet. 10 This is the one about whom it is written: “ ‘I
will send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way before you.’ 11
I tell you the truth: Among those born of women there has not risen anyone
greater than John the Baptist; yet he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is
greater than he." (Matthew 11:7–11, NIV84)</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span>As Jesus stood before the crowd of people there, he
told them, in no uncertain terms, that even though John was currently sitting
in prison, he had done his job to prepare the way for the Savior!<span> </span>John was the messenger whom the Lord God had
revealed ahead of the Savior to prepare his way.<span> </span>John was the one who pointed Jesus out as the
Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the Word.<span>
</span>John was the one who had so eloquently proclaimed the Law of God,
cutting the people to the heart, moving them to repentances, and thus preparing
them to receive Jesus as their Savior.<span>
</span>Thus, in pointing to his actions as the Messiah, and pointing to John’s
actions as the forerunner to the Messiah, Jesus reveals two witnesses that
proclaim him as the Christ who was to come to be the Savior of the world!<span> </span>He is the Christ not simply because he said
so, but because he was the one who accomplished what the Scriptures said the
Christ would do.<span> </span>He was the Christ not
simply because he said so, but because John, the forerunner whom the Scriptures
foretold, prepared the way before him and proclaimed him to be the Christ, the
one who was to come to be the Savior of the world.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span>Today we can have the same confidence that the Lord
bestowed upon John while he sat in prison.<span>
</span>For today, as we look forward to the celebration of our Savior’s birth,
we can be absolutely certain that he is indeed the Christ.<span> </span>We can be absolutely certain that he came as
the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.<span> </span>He is the one who came into the world to live
a perfect life under the requirements of his own law; a perfect life that he
has lovingly applied to you and me through faith.<span> </span>He is the one who came into this world to
give his life as the Lamb of Atonement, so that his payment for our sins might
wipe God’s slate clean.<span> </span>He is the one
who came into this world to preach the Gospel so that his Word might be carried
to every nation, tribe, people, and language; that they might believe in
him.<span> </span>He is the one who came into the
world so that you and I might be made his own and live under him in his
kingdom.<span> </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span>What a comfort it is to have our Savior’s assurance
that we don’t need to look for anyone else!<span>
</span>By his words, by his actions, by his fulfillment of all the prophecies,
we know that he is the Christ, the one who was to come into the world!<span> </span>What a comfort it is to know that this great
assurance is there, written down for us so that we can look at it again and
again.<span> </span>Though we may still face
decisions in our lives that cause us to wonder if we did the right thing, when
it comes to our Savior, we never need to wonder.<span> </span>Though we will face times when we will doubt
our actions, or wish we could go back and do them over, when it comes to our
salvation, we can always be confident, because we know: Jesus is the Christ who
came into the world to free us from our sins so that we could be his own and
live under him in his kingdom.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span>Amen.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span>Pastor
David M. Shilling</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span>Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church--Le Sueur, MN</span></span></div>
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Grace Evangelical Lutheran Churchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11819042462567501498noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2497899186385018405.post-82930291142658735442012-12-16T08:44:00.000-06:002012-12-16T08:44:14.786-06:00Why Do We Need to Know the Difference between Law and Gospel?<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<h1 align="center" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-weight: normal;"></span><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";"></span><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-weight: normal;"></span></span></h1>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif";"> </span></span>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif";"><span>Series:</span></span></b><b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif";"> </span></b><b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif";"><span>Growing Together in God's Grace</span></span></b><b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif";"></span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif";"><span>Third Sunday
in Advent</span></span></b><b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif";"> </span></b><b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif";"></span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif";"><span>December 16,
2012</span></span></b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif";"></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">Dear friends in Christ.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">When Dr. Carl Ferdinand Wilhelm
Walther was a Professor at Concordia Seminary in St. Louis, MO, he had the
practice of gathering the entire student body of the seminary, together with
visiting clergymen and laymen, for a weekly Friday evening lecture.<span> </span>Now, from what I understand, Walther loved
these lectures because it allowed him to speak to the gathered assembly in a
more or less informal manner.<span> </span>He could
talk to them about different doctrinal subjects and present those subjects to
aspiring pastors and others from a practical standpoint.<span> </span>This is exactly what Dr. Walther did during
the school year of 1884 and part of 1885.<span>
</span>He talked to the student body and presented them with 39 evening
lectures on the topic of Law and Gospel.<span>
</span>In these lectures, which were recorded by students and finally compiled
into a book, Walther talked at great length and with great passion why it is so
important for pastors, in particular, teachers, and all Christians to be able
to properly distinguish the differences between God’s Law and God’s Gospel and
then properly apply them to the situation at hand.<span> </span>Though we haven’t set aside 39 evenings, 39
hours, or even 39 minutes to learn more about this subject, as we Grow Together
in God’s Grace this morning, we do want to discover exactly why we need to know
the difference between the Law and the Gospel.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">Why do we need to know the
difference between the Law and the Gospel?<span>
</span>Well, the simple answer to that is that we need to know the difference
between them because the Law and the Gospel are two different doctrines of the
Bible.<span> </span>They are two different teachings
of the Bible, which are designed to have two different effects on the person
who hears them, because they both were given by God for a specific
purpose.<span> </span>Take, for example, the events
that took place when God gave the 10 commandments to the people of Israel.<span> </span>Turn with me to Exodus 20,(page 73) and we’ll
take a look at the events that took place there.<span> </span>Now, as you remember, the Lord had led the
people out of Egypt.<span> </span>He had led them
through the wilderness.<span> </span>They were
trapped between the waters of the Red Sea (which is the Gulf of Aqaba today),
the desert and the Egyptian Army.<span> </span>The
Lord had divided the sea for the Israelites.<span>
</span>The Egyptians were drowned.<span> </span>The
Israelites rejoiced in the Lord, and then, three months to the day after they
left Egypt, they came to Mt. Sinai and there, the Lord gave them his Law: “And
God spoke all these words: 2 “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of
Egypt, out of the land of slavery. 3 “You shall have no other gods before me. 4
“You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven
above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. 5 You shall not bow down
to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing
the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of
those who hate me, 6 but showing love to a thousand generations of those who
love me and keep my commandments. 7 “You shall not misuse the name of the LORD
your God, for the LORD will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name. 8
“Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do
all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a sabbath to the LORD your God. On it
you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male
or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns.
11 For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all
that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed
the Sabbath day and made it holy. 12 “Honor your father and your mother, so
that you may live long in the land the LORD your God is giving you. 13 “You
shall not murder. 14 “You shall not commit adultery. 15 “You shall not steal.
16 “You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor. 17 “You shall not
covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his
male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your
neighbor.” 18 When the people saw the thunder and lightning and heard the
trumpet and saw the mountain in smoke, they trembled with fear. They stayed at
a distance 19 and said to Moses, “Speak to us yourself and we will listen. But
do not have God speak to us or we will die.” 20 Moses said to the people, “Do
not be afraid. God has come to test you, so that the fear of God will be with
you to keep you from sinning.” 21 The people remained at a distance, while
Moses approached the thick darkness where God was." (Exodus 20:1–21, NIV)</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">In no uncertain terms, as God
gave the Law to his people, he showed them everything that they had to do
perfectly in order to attain eternal life.<span>
</span>When they heard what God demanded of them, they were frightened and they
trembled with fear, because as God gave this law, they clearly recognized that
they could not keep it perfectly.<span> </span>They
recognized that they were sinful people who had broken each and every one of
these commandments.<span> </span>They had failed to
follow what God says, and as would later remind them, “Cursed is the man who
does not uphold the words of this law by carrying them out.” (Deuteronomy
27:26, NIV84)</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">This is what God’s law was
designed to do!<span> </span>It was designed to show
us our sins.<span> </span>It was designed to
demonstrate that there is no possible way that we have ever or can ever appease
our God by keeping his holy and righteous law perfectly.<span> </span>As James tells us, “Whoever keeps the whole
law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.” (James
2:10, NIV84) And how often hasn’t the Law done exactly that in our own
lives?<span> </span>For in the same way that a mirror
is designed to show us our reflection, so the Law of God has been designed to
show us our sins.<span> </span>How often haven’t we
looked intently into God’s perfect Law only to see our sins clinging to us like
leaches that we just cannot get rid of?<span>
</span>How often haven’t we simply glanced in the direction of God’s Law and
felt our heart sink as we felt the full weight of God’s judgment against our
own failure to keep God’s law perfectly?<span>
</span>How often haven’t we suddenly and unexpectedly been convicted to our
core as the acid of God’s law burns through the hardened layer of our sins and
we realize even the sins with which we’ve become comfortable are working to
separate us from the Lord our God?<span> </span>How
often hasn’t God’s law worked exactly how it was designed to work, calling each
and every one of us sinners, convicting us and leading us to repentance?<span> </span>This is why God gave his Law.<span> </span>He gave it to show us what we must do and
what we must not do.<span> </span>He gave it to make
us realize that we can, in no way do what our God demands of us.<span> </span>He gave his law to leads us to realize that
we need someone who can do it for us.<span> </span>He
gave his law to us to prepare us for the Gospel message; the message that teaches
us what our God has done to save us.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">Could there be a greater message
than the message of the Gospel!<span> </span>Could
there be a greater message than the message of all that our Lord has done to
free us from our sins!<span> </span>Could there be a
simpler message of the Gospel than the Gospel in a nutshell as Jesus, himself,
reveals to us when he said:<span> </span>“For God so
loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him
shall not perish but have eternal life." (John 3:16, NIV84)<span> </span>Such great comfort from our God who assures
us that he loved us so much that he willingly sacrificed his Son in our place
to free us from our sins!<span> </span>Or as Paul
tells us in Colossians chapter 2, turn there with me, if you would, Colossians
2 found on page 1166.<span> </span>Now, as Paul wrote
these words to the Colossians, he was writing to remind them of the all
surpassing greatness of Christ Jesus and how through faith in Jesus they had
been set free from the requirements of the Law and free to live for Christ.<span> </span>Paul writes, “For in Christ all the fullness
of the Deity lives in bodily form, 10 and you have been given fullness in
Christ, who is the head over every power and authority. 11 In him you were also
circumcised, in the putting off of the sinful nature, not with a circumcision done
by the hands of men but with the circumcision done by Christ, 12 having been
buried with him in baptism and raised with him through your faith in the power
of God, who raised him from the dead. 13 When you were dead in your sins and in
the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He
forgave us all our sins, 14 having canceled the written code, with its
regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away,
nailing it to the cross. 15 And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he
made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross."
(Colossians 2:9–15, NIV84)</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">This is the comfort that we all
share!<span> </span>No matter what sins we have
committed, through faith in Jesus, they are forgiven.<span> </span>This is the message of salvation only
recorded in the pages of the Scriptures.<span>
</span>This is the message of salvation that assures us that no matter what we
may have done wrong, no matter how we may have crossed the line, no matter how
we may have failed to keep God’s law, we are forgiven through faith in Jesus
Christ our Savior.<span> </span>Not only are we forgiven,
but even the guilt associated with those sins has been expunged.<span> </span>Our guilt has been removed, our slate is
clean, and our God has completely forgotten all the things we had done wrong
because through faith in Jesus, everything that Jesus did right has been
applied to us, and when our God looks in our hearts he sees that we are his
children, because through faith our Savior has taken up residence in our
hearts.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">Though God has written his law on
our hearts and in his word, it is only in the pages of the Scriptures that he
has written his Gospel.<span> </span>It is only
through the Word of God that we learn the Gospel message of how he accomplished
his plan for our salvation.<span> </span>It is only
through the pages of the Old Testament that we see the promise of the Savior
being proclaimed from generation to generation and it is only in the pages of
the New Testament that we see how all those prophecies and promises were
fulfilled.<span> </span>Now, because we know the love
of the Lord Jesus Christ our Savior, we are compelled by that great love, as
Paul tells us in his second letter to the Corinthians: “For Christ’s love
compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all
died. 15 And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for
themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again." (2
Corinthians 5:14–15, NIV84).</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">Now, if you’ve never slid into
the ditch in the middle of winter you are truly blessed.<span> </span>Personally, I’ve slid into the ditch on a
number of different occasions.<span> </span>The most
recent was about two years ago coming home from Mankato at night.<span> </span>Our tires were well worn, I saw some deer
coming up on the road, I tapped the breaks, and my back wheels decided they
wanted to be in front, and we spun out into the ditch.<span> </span>When we came to a stop and found out that we
were all fine, we simply called 911, the tow truck came, towed us out and we
went home.<span> </span>Oh, sure, we were thankful
for him towing us out, but my thankfulness only goes so far because towing me
out was his job, for which I paid him.<span>
</span>On the other hand, there are two people for whom I still thank the Lord,
because they stopped and towed me out of the ditch out of the goodness of their
own hearts.<span> </span>One was a man named Mike who
was a volunteer fire-fighter form Timber Lake, SD.<span> </span>The other was a semi driver (I never learned his
name) who pulled me out of the ditch when I was a teenager.<span> </span>Neither man would take anything for helping
me out.<span> </span>Both simply stopped to help out
of the goodness of their own hearts, and both still occupy my thoughts and my
prayers of thanks whenever the winter roads become icy and slippery.<span> </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">Well in the same way that I am
compelled to thankfulness by these two men, so also as Christians, it is
Christ’s love that compels us to live for him.<span>
</span>It is Christ’s love for us that moved him to lay down his life for us
that now moves us to live our lives for him.<span>
</span>It is Christ’s love for us that moves us to take a new and different
look at the Law that God has written down for us.<span> </span>For you see, now that we know that we cannot
possibly keep God’s Law, ever, and now that we know that Christ has done it for
us, as Christians, we seek to live our lives according to God’s Law.<span> </span>We seek to live our lives according to God’s
Law not because we have to and by no means because we think we can ever earn
God’s favor for it!<span> </span>Absolutely not!<span> </span>We know that we have God’s favor because he
loves us and because he has freed us from our sins by the blood of his
son.<span> </span>Rather, we seek to live according
to God’s Law because we are compelled by Christ’s love for us to live our lives
out of love for him, and we show our love for him by seeking to live according
to his will.<span> </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">This is why we need to know the
difference between the Law and the Gospel.<span>
</span>We need to know that the only thing that the Law, which is written on
our hearts and in the Bible, can only condemn us and show us our sins.<span> </span>We need to know that the Gospel, which is
only written in the Bible, is the only thing that can comfort us and assure us
of our God’s love for us and how he forgave all our sins through Jesus Christ,
his Son, our Savior.<span> </span>It is only the
gospel message of God’s love for us that now moves us to live our lives
according to the will of the Lord our God out of love for him and for all that
he has done for us.<span> </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">Amen.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">Pastor David M. Shilling</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";"><span>Grace
Evangelical Lutheran Church--Le Sueur, MN</span></span><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";"></span></span></div>
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Grace Evangelical Lutheran Churchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11819042462567501498noreply@blogger.com