Author: Pastor Page 6 of 13
Desire gives birth to sin. Sin, when it is full grown, gives birth to death (James 1:15). We live as descendants of this family tree. In the weakness of original sin that we have inherited, we cannot help but fall: into sin, and down in sickness and death. Our Lord Jesus sees us in our weakness and sin, dying. He gets close to us and speaks Words which make us clean, that make us live. We pray that our eyes would be turned so as to always be on Him–turned away from things that harm us, and toward the things He gives that lead us to salvation.
We are back open, still following the advice and guidelines of the health department, doing our best to help keep each other healthy. If you aren’t feeling well, or if you’ve been advised to stay home for now, make sure you still catch the livestream on Facebook.
If you are following at home, here is the bulletin:
2020-09-13.Trinity-14-pdf
God’s Word of Law crushes out hearts. He is really serious when He commands us to love Him with our whole heart, soul, strength, and mind AND your neighbor as yourself. We can negotiate it down in our conscience, and yet the demand remains, with eternal life at stake. If we would be honest with God and with ourselves, we must confess that we have not loved God with our whole heart, soul, strength, and mind, nor our neighbor as ourselves. So God sends His Son in compassion and mercy to rescue us from our bodies of death. He binds up our wounds. He carries us on His shoulders. He pays whatever it costs for our healing. He makes us strong so that we might be able to begin to love as He loves us.
We are back open, still following the advice and guidelines of the health department, doing our best to help keep each other healthy. If you aren’t feeling well, if you are in one of the at-risk groups, or if you still feel safer at home, make sure you still catch the livestream on Facebook.
If you are following at home, here is the bulletin:
2020-09-05.Trinity-13
Our Lord Jesus reaches out to us through His Sacraments, the waters of Baptism, and His Body and Blood truly given in the Sacrament of the Altar. He speaks to us through His life-giving Word. Our Lord draws near and opens our ears to truly hear, first from Him, and then from our neighbors. He loosens the cords that bind our tongues so that we can sing His praises and speak in truth and love to one another.
We are back open, still following the advice and guidelines of the health department, doing our best to help keep each other healthy. If you aren’t feeling well, if you are in one of the at-risk groups, or if you still feel safer at home, make sure you still catch the livestream on Facebook.
If you are following at home, here is the bulletin:
2020-08-30-Trinity-12This week we began our study of the Revelation of St. John. The first thing we learned is that “Apocalypse” is a Greek word that means an unveiling, or uncovering. Jesus shows to John and John shows to us the Spiritual realities of the earthly things that have taken and will take place from the creation until the inauguration of the new heavens and earth. This history centers on Jesus death and resurrection.
This vision shows us the spiritual and eternal battle happening behind the surface of our world: the Valiant One, Jesus Christ, standing by our side upon the plain and felling the old evil foe who means us deadly woe, attacking us with deep guile and great might. This book helps us to “live by faith and not by sight” (2 Corinthians 5:7), to see that we are a royal priesthood, a people belonging to God, even in the midst of a world full of evil, sin, and suffering.
We also sketched a brief biography of St. John. Who is the man who was entrusted with the Revelation of Jesus Christ, to bear witness to the Word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw?
John was an eyewitness to the ministry of Jesus and the birth of the Christian Church. He writes, by the Holy Spirit, of what he has seen and heard and touched, in order that we may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing we may have life in His name. (John 20:30-31). He wrote the Gospel that is known by his name, 1, 2, and 3 John, as well as Revelation.
He was a disciple of John the Baptist, who introduced John to Jesus (he is probably the unnamed one of the two disciples in John 1:35)
John and his brother James were sons of a man named Zebedee. Jesus called them away from their lives as fishermen to be fishers of men (Mark 1:19-20)
He was one of the “inner circle, with Peter And James. He got to witness the raising of Jairus’ daughter (Mark 5:37), Jesus’ transfiguration (Mark 9:2), Jesus’ suffering in Gethsemane (Mark 14:33), and most, if not all of Jesus’ miracles and teaching.
John was the only disciple to witness Jesus’ entire passion. He watched the trial at the Jewish court with Peter (John 18:15-16). then when Peter denied Jesus the third time and went out and wept bitterly (Matthew 26:75), only John remained for the trials of Pilate and Herod and the road to Golgotha. He stood at the foot of the cross where Jesus entrusted the care of His mother, Mary, to His disciple, John (John 19:26-27). There he witnessed Jesus’ shameful treatment and death.
Three days later, John outran Peter to the empty tomb, seeing and believing that Jesus was risen (John 20:8).
John was a witness to Jesus’ Ascension into heaven and His promise that He would return to judge the living and the dead (Acts 1:6-11). He received the fulfillment of Jesus’ promise to send the Holy Spirit at Pentecost.
John was one of the leaders at the church in Jerusalem (Acts 12:17; Galatians 2:9). Sometime before 70 AD he became pastor and bishop at Ephesus, a church that had been founded by Paul (Acts 18:24-19:1). He was bishop in Ephesus for many years and despite persecution, he witnessed the spread of the Church through the Roman empire. And some point he was exiled to the island of Patmos for his witness to Christ. We know from the writings of Clement, bishop of Rome, that John was still alive in at least 95 AD.
John was alive through the whole process of the writing and the circulation of the books that make up the New Testament, and was able to testify to the truth and faithfulness of what was written (John 19:35). Nothing new is added to the canon after John’s death.
The Almighty God pours down His mercy through the love of Jesus Christ His Son. Before Him, it makes no sense to boast of our accomplishments. There is nothing we have that we have not received. Instead we pray, “Lord, have mercy on me, a sinner.” By faith in what has been won by Jesus’ death and merit, and in His power to forgive, He lets us depart in peace, going home justified, declared righteous, ready to live in the joy of all His good gifts.
We are back open, still following the advice and guidelines of the health department, doing our best to help keep each other healthy. If you aren’t feeling well, if you are in one of the at-risk groups, or if you still feel safer at home, make sure you still catch the livestream on Facebook.
If you are following at home, here is the bulletin:
2020-08-23-Trinity-11
Jesus visits us today. He is a conquering King come to take back His Father’s Kingdom and ransom His people. He sets before us the things that make for peace: His Word, His Holy Body, His Precious Blood. As we gather in the Lord’s house, let us recognize the hour of His visitation as He drives sin away from us, and cleanses our hearts for His own habitation.
We are back open, still following the advice and guidelines of the health department, doing our best to help keep each other healthy. If you aren’t feeling well, if you are in one of the at-risk groups, or if you still feel safer at home, make sure you still catch the livestream on Facebook.
If you are following at home, here is the bulletin:
2020-08-16-Trinity-10
How we use the gifts of creation reflects what we believe about the Creator. Our Creator is so good towards us that He has given His Son to pay our debt of sin. We live trusting in this mercy. This frees us to forgive freely as we are forgiven, and to bless our neighbor out of the gifts our God has given to us.
We are back open, still following the advice and guidelines of the health department, doing our best to help keep each other healthy. If you aren’t feeling well, if you are in one of the at-risk groups, or if you still feel safer at home, make sure you still catch the livestream on Facebook.
If you are following at home, here is the bulletin:
2020-08-09-Trinity-9
The Lord warns us not to follow those who fill us with nothing but vain hopes. Vain hopes are those which pass away like dust in the wind. Instead we follow Him who leads the way to the eternal city. Let us be found faithfully walking in His Way, bearing good fruit in faith, doing the works which He has prepared. We trust that even if the road is dark, our Lord is leading us to His glory which never ends.
We are back open, still following the advice and guidelines of the health department, doing our best to help keep each other healthy. If you aren’t feeling well, if you are in one of the at-risk groups, or if you still feel safer at home, make sure you still catch the livestream on Facebook.
If you are following at home, here is the bulletin:
2020-08-02-Trinity-8