Grace Evangelical-Lutheran: September 2019

Monday, September 23, 2019

Genesis 28,10-19. 14. Trinity

✠ One Message: Christ crucified and risen for you ✠

The Word of the Lord Endures Forever

se cwide þæs béaggiefan ábireþ ferhþ

Genesis 28,10-19 4919

14. Sn. n. Trinitatis 059

Jonah

Emmeran, Bishop, Apostle in Bavaria, Martyr 652

22. September 2019

1. O Christ Jesus, our Great Physician; may the Holy Spirit always instilled in us a faithful gratitude toward You, so that we do not take for granted Your Providence but daily thank and praise You for the blessings You bestow upon us. Amen. (Luke 17,15-19)

2. »Jacob left Beersheba and went toward Haran. And he arrived at a certain place and stayed there that night, because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones of the place, he put it under his head and lay down in that place to sleep. And he dreamed, and behold, there was a ladderset up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven. And behold, the angels of God were ascending and descending on it! And behold, the Lord stood above itand said: „I am the Lord, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac. The land on which you lie I will give to you and to your Offspring. Your Offspring will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south, and in you and your offspring all the families of the earth will be blessed. Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land. For I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.“ Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said: „Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it.“ And he was afraid and said: „How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.“ So early in the morning Jacob took the stone that he had put under his head and set it up for a pillar and poured oil on the top of it. He called the name of that place Bethel (which means, „house of God“), but the name of the city was originally Luz (which means, „almond tree“). Then Jacob made a vow, saying: „If God will be with me and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat and clothing to wear, so that I come again to my father’s house in peace, then the Lord shall be my God, and this stone, which I have set up for a pillar, shall be God’s house. And of all that You give me I will give a full tenth to You.“«

3. The context of Jacob’s dream is that he is leaving his homeland of Beersheba, Canaan. He had twice tricked his brother, Esau, out of the blessing to the first born. Esau was angry about losing his birthright to his younger brother. Isaac then sent Jacob away so that he would be out of sight to Esau and also so he could take a wife from among his kinsfolk. Jacob is sent to Paddanaram where his maternal uncle, Laban, lives

4. Along the way, Jacob has a dream wherein the Lord spoke to him the same promises he had spoken to his father Isaac and his grandfather Abraham: 1. I am the Lord, the God of Abraham and Isaac; 2. the land upon which you now sleep, I will give to you; 3. your offspring will be like the dust of the earth; 4. all the families of the earth will be blessed by your Offspring; and 5. I am with you and will provide for you. The Lord spoke encouraging words to a young man setting out to fulfill his future.

5. Let us not gloss over Jacob’s actions. He was a shrewd man, and he lived up to his name which means deceiver. The Lord had promised the blessing to Jacob rather than Esau, and Jacob took measures upon himself to ensure he receive this blessing. He convinced Esau to sell it away to him, and then, disguised as Esau, he deceived his father to bless him. He would soon match wits with his Uncle Laban, another masterful schemer, and the two would spend years trying to one up the other to gain the best deal from the other. Here in Genesis 28 we see a more humble Jacob, who vows to worship the Lord as his God if the Lord fulfills the grandiose promises He had made to him. Jacob, like his father and grandfather before him, is a man of his word.

6. Again we hear that promise, first given to Abraham, repeated to Jacob: »In you and your Offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed.« The Apostle Paul tells us that this Offspring who blesses is Christ Jesus (Galatians 3,16).

7. Jacob declares that where he dreamed and the Lord spoke to him to be the house of God (Bethel) and the gate of heaven. God dwells where His house is, and Jacob proclaims that God is dwelling in his midst. Jacob already feels that he is and lives in God’s house (Luther 5,245). Jesus, the Offspring of Jacob, promises us: »Where two or three gather in My Name, there I am among them« (Matthew 18,20). Here He fulfills with a greater glory what Jacob had experienced, for Jesus establishes His Church wherever two are gathered to worship Him. For where God dwells, there the Church is; for the Church is God’s house and the gate of heaven, where the entrance to eternal life and departure from the earthly to the heavenly life are opened (Luther 5,245). In His house, His Church, Christ speaks with us, deals with us, feeds us and cares for us (Luther 5,249). Thus God ministered to Jacob. So when anyone reads and meditates on the Holy Scriptures, then be assured that God is present there with the angels (Luther 5,251).

8. The Apostle Paul reminds us: »But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us« (Romans 5,8). Jacob was a sinner when God gave him the blessing; he did not fully comprehend all the specifics of this Messianic blessing; God would mold and shape him, much like a sculptor does clay, throughout most of his life to get Jacob where He wanted him. God likewise uses us as He finds us, bestows upon us His mercy and forgiveness, then begins to mold and shape us into His Image and Likeness. It will take a lifetime, but God is patient and persistent. His mercy and goodness overflows (Psalm 23,5-6).

9. Esau did not receive the Messianic blessing, but God still blessed him richly: he had children, land, possessions and 400 men who would fight under his banner. The Lord would make his descendants a mighty nation known as Edom. It had been 20 years since Jacob had deceived Esau and obtained his birthright and blessing. Was Esau harboring a grudge and still waiting for the opportunity to repay his younger brother, or had time and God’s blessings healed old wounds? Moses tells us: »Esau ran to meet Jacob and embraced him, fell on his neck, kissed him and they wept« (Genesis 33,4). The Lord reconciled the estranged brothers, and richly blessed them both and had chosen Jacob to be the forebears of the Messiah.

10. This act of reconciliation is what Jacob’s Offspring, Jesus, did for us. Jesus has reconciled us back to His Heavenly Father. His vicarious sacrifice has redeemed us back to our Father; He has paid the price for our sins and we are forgiven. We, our Father’s prodigal sons and daughters, have been brought home. Jesus desires to also reconcile all who are estranged: friend from friend, sibling from a sibling and parent from child. God reconciled Jacob and Esau; God works to reconcile our relationships, too. We rejoice in our reconciliation with God, and we pray for Him to reconcile those who are estranged. „If we pray seriously and perseveringly, the only result can be that a friend is made out of an enemy. Let us cry out and place our hope … on the goodness and mercy of God. Then God most certainly hears us„ (Luther 6,166). Amen.

11. Let us pray. O Heavenly Father, who shows compassion to His children; pour out Your compassion upon us, so that we daily receive and trust in Your loving-kindness. Amen.

To God alone be the Glory

Gode ealdore sy se cyneþrymm

✠

All Scriptural quotations are translations done by The Rev. Peter A. Bauernfeind using the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia, 4. Edition © 1990 by the Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart, and the Novum Testamentum Graece, Nestle-Aland 28. Revised Edition © 2012 by Deutsch Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart.

Löhe, Wilhelm. Seed-Grains of Prayer: A Manual for Evangelical Christians. Wartburg Publishing House, Chicago circa 1912. Concordia Publishing House; Concordia on Demand.

Monday, September 16, 2019

Mark 3,31-37. 13. Trinity

✠ One Message: Christ crucified and risen for you ✠

The Word of the Lord Endures Forever

Verbum Domini Manet in Aeternum

Mark 3,31-35 4819

13. Sn. n. Trinitatis 058

Nicetas, Martyr 372

15. September 2019

1. O Lord, Jesus Christ, Your Heavenly Father’s last and greatest Prophet; send to us the Holy Spirit to teach us to understand what we read and hear in Your Holy Scriptures, so that in them we discern You and are blessed with Christian faith. Amen. (Mark 3,35)

2. »Then His mother and His brothers arrived. While they were standing outside, they sent word to Jesus, calling for Him. A crowd was sitting around Him. They began to tell Him: „Look, Your mother and Your brothers are outside looking for You.“ He replied: „Who are My mother and My brothers?“ He looked at those who sat around Him in a circle and He said: „Behold, My mother and My brothers! For whoever does the will of God is My brother, sister and mother.“«

3. The Holy Scriptures make the point time and again that the family of God is not determined by genealogy but by grace. The Lord told Abraham: »In your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed« (Genesis 22,18). The Apostle Paul teaches on this, saying: »Understand then that those who believe are the children of Abraham. Foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles/nations by faith, Scripture proclaimed the gospel in advance to Abraham, saying: All the nations of the Earth will be blessed in You. So then those who have faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith. The promises God spoke referred to Abraham and to his Offspring. It does not say: „And to his offsprings,« as if it were referring to many, but as referring to one: And to your Offspring, who is Christ. God graciously gave the inheritance to Abraham by a promise« (Galatians 3,7-9.16.18).

4. Jesus is the Offspring promised to Abraham throughout Genesis. In Mark 3, Jesus explains how significant this is. When His mother and brothers arrived looking for Him, He replied that those gathered around to hear Him are His mother, brothers and sisters. This is not to say that Jesus was forsaking his familial bonds with Mary, James, Joseph (Joses), Jude(as) and Simon, but that Jesus’ close family is expanding to include Jews and Gentiles who do the will of God. Jesus taught His disciples: »I also have other sheep who are not of this sheepfold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to My Voice. Then there will be one flock and one Shepherd« (John 10,16).

5. Jesus begins to explain what the will of God is with the Parable of the Sower that He immediately tells. It is a parable about the gospel being proclaimed to all people, but only some bear fruit with faith. It is the will of God that all men and women be saved, but God also knows that only some will hear this gospel and believe. To such who have faith in Christ, the harvest they produce is 30, 60 and even 100 times more than was sown. A life of faith is a life full of good works. Faith and works are two sides of the same coin; they go together. Faith produces works. The apostles exhort us in their epistles to remain steadfast in our Christian faith and to be diligent in our works, such as to be kind, loving and charitable to our neighbors.

6. In the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus taught us to pray for the will of God to be done. In this petition we ask God to give us the Holy Spirit so that we believe His Word and lead Godly lives as children in His kingdom of grace. We ask here that we live with the certainty that God’s kingdom is now here upon the earth and that God is in control of every great and small event in our lives and in the history of humanity. Jesus also tells us what God’s will is: »My Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in Him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day« (John 6,40). Thus God’s will is done in our lives when He hinders the plan of the Devil, the world and our sinful flesh which all attempt to destroy our faith in Jesus and walk a path that is against God’s commandments and His grace. Thus, we are certain that God’s kingdom arrives and that His will is done on earth, for God Himself guarantees that His means of grace establish and sustain His kingdom and will. The Prophet Isaiah records what God had said to him: »My Word will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it« (Isaiah 55,11).

7. Jesus Himself is our brother. He calls us into His family, went to the cross to save us and gives us the good works of His teachings and miracles. He brings the will of God into our midst and in doing so He blesses us. By faith we receive Jesus as our brother and embark on the path of doing His will; it is a lifelong path of faith in Him and of service to our neighbors. To do the will of God begins with believing in the one whom God sent to save us, that is, to believe in Jesus Christ who is the Way, the Truth and the Life (John 14,6). This faith puts us in Jesus’ family and makes us Christian brothers and sisters of one another. The New Testament epistles usually begin and conclude by drawing attention to our familial relationship, and so »The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brothers and sisters« (Galatians 6,18). Amen.

8. Let us pray. O Lord, God of our salvation; bless us now and forever more, so that we live in the grace and mercy that You give us as Your children. Amen.

To God alone be the Glory

Soli Deo Gloria

✠

Löhe, Wilhelm. Seed-Grains of Prayer: A Manual for Evangelical Christians. Wartburg Publishing House, Chicago circa 1912. Concordia Publishing House; Concordia on Demand.

Thursday, September 12, 2019

Acts 3,1-10. 12. Trinity

✠ One Message: Christ crucified and risen for you ✠

The Word of the Lord Endures Forever

se cwide þæs béaggiefan ábireþ ferhþ

Acts 3,1-10 4719

12. Sn. n. Trinitatis 057

Nativity of Mary

Corbinian, Bishop of Freising, Bavaria, Apostle to Bavaria, ✠ 730

8. September 2019

1. O Christ Jesus, the Great Physician; open our ears to understand Your Word and open our lips to sing Your praises, so that in hearing Your Word we are blessed and in worshiping You we acknowledge You to be our Savior. Amen. (Mark7,37)

2. »Peter said to the lame man: „Silver and gold I do not have, but what I have I will give you. In the Name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, get up and walk!“ Peter took him by the right hand and raised him up, and immediately the man’s feet and ankles were made strong. Jumping up, he stood and began to walk. He entered the temple courtyard with them, walking, jumping and praising God.«

3. Today’s Gospel pericope concludes with the perception of the crowd in regards to Jesus is healing the sick and cripple: »And the crowd was astonished beyond measure, saying: „He has done all things well. He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.“« (Mark 7,37). Jesus had just a chapter earlier sent out the apostles with this same power and authority: »And He called the 12 and began to send them out 2 x 2, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits. So they went out and proclaimed that people should repent. And they cast out many demons and anointed with oil many who were sick and healed them« (Mark 6,7.12-13). Acts 3 tells us that the apostle still healed with Jesus is authority: this time it was a man who had been born lame.

4. The Apostle Peter used this opportunity to preach to the crowds at the temple. »Men of Israel, why do you wonder at this as though by our own power or piety we have made him walk? The God of our fathers glorified His servant Jesus, whom you delivered over and denied in the presence of Pilate. And Jesus’ name – by faith in His name – has made this man strong, and the faith that is through Jesus has given the man this perfect health in the presence of y’all. Repent, therefore, and turn back, so that your sins may be wiped away, so that times of refreshing may arrive from the presence of the Lord, and that He may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus. He is the prophet Moses said the Lord God will raise up for you after him. God, having raised up His servant, sent Him to you first, to bless you by turning everyone of you from your wickedness“« (Acts 3,12-13.16.19-20.22.26).

5. Jesus is in the business of forgiving sins. The apostles speak about Jesus wiping away sins (Acts 3,19). Luther’s Baptismal prayer uses similar imagery. He mentions the Flood and pharaoh at the Reed Sea where water wiped away the wicked. Likewise, Holy Baptism wipes away all sin, yes, sin drowns and dies at a Baptism. Today, Katherine has received God’s favor; she is baptized and has had her sins wiped away. The Triune God has made a public and formal declaration today: Katherine is My child, a daughter of God. Jesus has placed her in the ark of the Church where she is preserved, kept safe and unto eternal life. The Apostle Paul describes Holy Baptism this way in his Epistle to Titus: »God our Savior saved us through the washing of rebirth and the renewal by the Holy Spirit whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by His grace, we may become heirs in keeping with the hope of eternal life« (Titus 3,4-7). And the Apostle Peter describes Holy Baptism this way in his first epistle: »In Noah’s ark 8 lives were saved through water, and corresponding to that, Baptism now saves you, not as the removal of dirt from the body but the guarantee/assurance/appeal of a good conscience before God, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ« (1. Peter 3,20-21).

6. God richly blesses us in our Baptism and we have these blessings throughout our lives. Let us remember that we are a child of God. He has wiped away all our sins. We have the inheritance of eternal life. We have been buried with Christ through our Baptism into death in order that just as Christ was raised from the dead, so too will we be raised up to new life (Romans 6,4). Our Baptism unites us to Christ; what is His is ours. As Christ’s, we are His disciples who through daily contrition and repentance strive to follow His will and Commandments, living before Him helping our neighbors with service and charity.

7. Holy Baptism proclaims God’s favor upon all people. The Apostle Paul tells us: »You are all sons and daughters of God through faith in Christ Jesus. Indeed, as many of you were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew or Greek, slave or free, male or female, for you are all one and the same in Christ Jesus. And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s descendants and heirs according to the promise« (Galatians 3,26-29). The Apostles Peter and John gave the lame man Christ, and he was healed. Holy Baptism gives us Christ, and we are saved. The apostolic healing in Acts 3 leads to faith in Christ; our Holy Baptism leads to faith in Christ. Katherine has been baptized into the Church and her faith; she believes in Christ and thus refreshing times arrive to her from the presence of the Lord. In this we rejoice with her and for her, likewise remembering that we also receive the refreshing times of the Lord in our Baptism, today and always. Amen.

8. Let us pray. O God, Thou our Strength; may Your praise continually be on our lips, so that we give thanks to You for Your many rich blessings. Amen.

To God alone be the Glory

Gode ealdore sy se cyneþrymm

✠

Löhe, Wilhelm. Seed-Grains of Prayer: A Manual for Evangelical Christians. Wartburg Publishing House, Chicago circa 1912. Concordia Publishing House; Concordia on Demand.

Friday, September 6, 2019

Let us study the Word of God

Let us study the Word of God.

How blessed are those whose delight is in the Torah of the LORD, and mediate on His Torah day and night. They are like a tree planted beside streams of water, which yields its fruit in season, and its leaves do not wither. Everything they do prospers (Psalm 1,2-3).

Thus the Psalmist begins Psalm 1, a psalm exhorting us to study God's Holy Scriptures. He uses the word Torah which translates as teaching; the Torah also referred to the 5 Books of Moses - Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy - and to the Hebrew Scriptures as a whole, what we refer to as the Old Testament; thus the Torah is the law and gospel spoken by the LORD. The 39 books that comprise the Old Testament contain history, laws and grace, poetry and prophetic writings.

God's Word is very diverse and speaks of many different themes, but what the words of the Bible are grounded upon is Christ Jesus the Cornerstone of the Holy Scriptures. The Scriptures speak of Him and what His ministry is as the Christ and Messiah.

The Old Testament pointed toward Him, and the New Testament points back to Him. Thus when we read and study Scripture, we do so acknowledging that the Scriptures speak of Christ. When we read and study the Bible with this premise, then we begin to see the rich tapestry in all its beauty and glory.

Wednesday, September 4, 2019

Studying God's Word

Let us study

the Word of the God.

Tuesday, September 3, 2019

11 A.M. Divine Service

We return to our 11 A.M. worship service this Sunday,

September 8.

We hope to see you there

to worship with us.

Job 23. 11. Trinity

✠ One Message: Christ crucified and risen for you ✠

The Word of the Lord Endures Forever

Verbum Domini Manet in Aeternum

Job 23 4619

11. Sn. n. Trinitatis 056

Joshua

Aegidius, Abbot, appr. ✠ 715

Aegidius, monk ✠ 1203

1. September 2019

1. O Lord, who humbles the exalted and exalts the humble; give us the humility to approach You, as the tax collector did, confessing our sins, so that in such repentance we trust in Your mercy and forgiveness. Amen. (Luke 18,14)

2. The speech in Job 23 may have been running through the mind of the tax collector from Luke 18. Job laments: »For God will complete what He appoints for me, and many such things are in His mind. Therefore I am terrified at His presence; when I consider, I am in dread of Him. God has made my heart faint; the Almighty has terrified me; yet I am not silenced because of the darkness, nor because thick darkness covers my face.«

3. Job gives voice to every conscience guilty of sin: we are terrified before God and hide from Him. This was the response from Adam and Eve after they had sinned; they hid from God when they heard Him in the Garden. Sinners fear an angry God; Jonathan Edwards famously preached on this topic in 1741. He writes: „There is nothing that keeps wicked Men at any one Moment, out of Hell, but the meer Pleasure of GOD. By the Meer Pleasure of God, I mean His sovereign Pleasure, His arbitrary Will, restrained by no Obligation, hinder’d by no manner of Difficulty, anymore than if nothing else but God’s meer Will had in the least Degree, or in any Respect whatsoever, any Hand in the Preservation of wicked Men one Moment“ (Edwards 5,4). That right there is some good ole’ American Evangelical preaching.

4. Another Jon, the Baptizer, proclaimed: »Produce fruit in keeping with repentance! Already the ax is ready to strike the root of the trees. So every tree that does not produce good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire« (Matthew 3,8.10). God’s law is meant to awaken in us the knowledge of sin and to fear His wrath and punishment. His law makes our hearts faint; God terrifies us. So sinners hide, we bargain and we shift our blame all in an attempt to appease God’s justified wrath upon us and our sins. Our conscience also affirms God’s indictment upon us: we deserve eternal separation from Him in hell. Edwards unloads with the law for 23 pages before he gets to the gospel, such that it is, which is roughly 2 brief paragraphs at the end, and the only comfort he gives to the sinner is a generic flee from God’s wrath and draw near to his Door of Mercy (Edwards 23,25). Job too leaves us a bit high and dry, simply affirming that: God has terrified me, yet I am not silenced because of the darkness that covers my face.

5. What Job and Edwards leave hidden about God, Jesus reveals with bright, illuminating light as He throws open the Door of Mercy: »I tell you, this tax collector went down to his house justified« (Luke 18,14). The tax collector fell before God and petitioned Him for propitiation (Luke 18,13). To propitiate is to bring forgiveness and to have mercy. Although God hates sin and the rebellious sinner, and in His holy justice must punish sin and condemn sinners, God is a God of love who does not want to damn His creation to perdition. God, however, in His holiness and righteousness cannot just overlook mankind’s iniquity. Sin must be atoned for and the sinner must be punished. A propitiator is one who appeases God through a sacrifice, and one who atones for our sins by sacrificing Himself. John proclaims that Jesus Christ is the Propitiation for all sinners, yes for the entire world. Therefore, God sent His Son to atone for sin, Himself being the sacrifice to bear all sin’s awful load. Jesus became the Chief Sinner on the cross, and by becoming the Sinner who bears the sin of the world, He bore our just punishment and condemnation in our place. Jesus has atoned for sin, paid the ransom price and has merited the forgiveness of sin.

6. Job was not silenced by the darkness because he trusted in God’s mercy; Edwards Door of Mercy is Christ. In John’s Gospel Jesus proclaimed: »I am the Door; whoever enters through Me will be saved« (John 10,9). The journey to the Door of Mercy begins at the cross; there Christ was crucified for sinners and in being crucified He paid our ransom price. Next we pass the tomb and discover that the tomb is open; Jesus is God and has risen to new life. Finally we draw near to the door of heaven where we see God the Father standing there and looking out. While we were still far away, He sees us, and filled with compassion, He runs, hugs us and kisses us. His prodigal sinner has returned! He calls for a great feast, He dresses us in fine clothes and put the ring on our finger to let everyone know: this man, this woman, is My child. Then the celebration begins, and it will never end in heaven (Luke 15,20-24).

7. Let us look upon the Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper as the foretaste of this great heavenly feast. Here Christ gives us His body and blood for the forgiveness of our sins. Here God is revealed: He is loving and merciful to sinners.

8. As we walk the path of our life, let as always remember that Christ is with us. »O Lord, You have investigated me. You know when I sit down and when I get up. You understand my thoughts from afar off. You keep track of when I travel and when I stay; You are familiar with all my ways. Before there is a word on my tongue, You already know it completely. You put a fence behind me and in front of me; You have placed Your hand on me« says the Psalmist (Psalm 139,1-5). „Afoot and lighthearted, we take to the open road, Healthy, free, the world before us; the long brown path before us“ (Whitman I,1-3). The light of Christ guides our way, the Door of Mercy open before us. Amen.

9. Let us pray. O Jesus, our Dwelling Place; let Your deeds always be proclaimed among us, so that we hear Your voice and follow You to the pastures of heaven. Amen.

To God alone be the Glory

Soli Deo Gloria

✠

Edwards, Jonathan. Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God. https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1053&context=etas

Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church

Monday, September 23, 2019

Monday, September 16, 2019

Thursday, September 12, 2019

Friday, September 6, 2019

Wednesday, September 4, 2019

Tuesday, September 3, 2019