Grace Evangelical-Lutheran: June 2021

Friday, June 25, 2021

Luke 15,1-10 3621

3. Sonntag nach Trinitatis 048

Pudens, Senator, 2^nd c.

20. Juni 2021

1. O Lord God, Heavenly Father, we all like sheep have gone astray, having suffered ourselves to be led away from the right path by Satan and our own sinful flesh: We beseech You graciously to forgive us all our sins for the sake of Your Son, Jesus Christ; and quicken our hearts by Your Holy Spirit, so that we may abide in Your Word, and in true repentance and a steadfast faith continue in Your Church unto the end, and obtain eternal salvation. Amen. (Veit Dietrich)

2. »Now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to Jesus. And the Pharisees and scribes grumbled, saying: „This man receives sinners and eats with them.“«

3. In Luke 15 Jesus’ 3 parables teach the common theme of rejoicing together and table fellowship. Jesus told these parables in the presence of tax collectors, sinners, the scribes and Pharisees. Jesus wanted each group to hear these parables and see themselves in them, for the parables illustrate that the nature of the kingdom of God is joyous feasting with God (Just 587).

4. Throughout the Gospel according to Luke, the tax collectors and sinners have been drawing near to Jesus and it began when they were baptized by John in the Jordan: they were seeking repentance, forgiveness and acceptance. On the other hand, most of the scribes and Pharisees rejected John’s baptism of repentance, for they believed they were already righteous, and thus in rejecting John’s call to repent they were rejecting Jesus for whom John prepared the way.

5. At issue here is salvation, particularly, how is one saved? The scribes and Pharisees taught that one is saved by keeping the law, for in keeping all the tenants of the Mosaic covenant a person merits righteousness. The tax collectors and sinners do not keep the law, and in the pharisaic understanding of salvation such law-breakers are unrighteous and not saved. Jesus Himself acknowledge mankind’s unrighteousness, and He preached: Repent, for the reign of heaven is at hand (Matthew 4,17). Jesus exhorted the tax collectors, the sinners, and even the scribes and Pharisees to repent. When He preached in His Nazarene synagogue Jesus read from the Prophet Isaiah 61: »The Spirit of Yahweh is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to proclaim the gospel to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim release to the captives and restoration of sight to the blind, to send freedom to those who are being oppressed, to proclaim the year of Yahweh’s favor. Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing« (Isaiah 61,1-2; Luke 4,18-19.21). Jesus arrives to save those were lost and bring them home. He finds them, declares them righteous and rejoices.

6. „This shared joy of the community at the restoration of a lost sheep becomes the chief point of Jesus’ application of the parable, introduced by the important phrase ‘I say to you’ (15:7). The community of joy that Jesus has in mind is the earthly and now heavenly community that exists through him and the coming of his kingdom. The joy is over a sinner who repents. That is what his ministry has been about: calling tax collectors and sinners to repentance. Jesus stated this as the goal of his ministry at the very beginning, while at table with Levi the tax collector, when he said, ‘I have not come to call righteous, but sinners to repentance’ (5:32). And he will reiterate it at the end of his ministry, entering the home of Zacchaeus, the chief tax collector, when ‘the lost’ become the declared goal of his ministry: ‘For the Son of Man came in order to seek and to save the lost” (τό άπολωλός 19:10). Repentance here is not like that of the Pharisees or the rabbis at the time of Jesus but is the repentance that John the Baptist preached and Jesus continued to call for in his ministry“ (Just 590 ¶ 1).

7. We we share this joy over sinners to repent. Each week we confess that we are these very sinners repent and are absolved. „Restoration brings joy to the shepherd in finding the sheep, and joy to the village when the shepherd returns with the sheep. This is why joy is repeated twice around the center of restoration to the house where the community lives. Joy is generally shared by a community in first-century Palestine. And in that culture joy would be shared at a meal and fellowship around the table. The table fellowship context of this entire section strongly suggests that the hearers would envision a shepherd/woman inviting friends and neighbors into his/her home to rejoice over a meal“ (Just 589-90 ¶ 3). This church is a community and we share this joy around the table of the Lord’s Supper.

8. Those those who consider themselves righteous and therefore have no need of repentance must listen to the Prophet Isaiah: »We have all become unclean for our righteousness is a polluted rag« (Isaiah 64,6). To such who are unclean and unrighteous, Christ arrived to seek you out. Those who live on the fringe of society because they deviate from the religious or moral ideals of the elite, Christ arrived to bring you into fellowship. To those who endure social, economic or moral poverty, Christ calls you to His kingdom. Rejoice, for Christ searches for such as these who are lost and marginalized. Such were we, but Christ found us and created our faith in Him. The lost are found; the sinner is forgiven; the unclean is made righteous. Rejoice, for Christ has brought you into His presence. Amen.

9. Let us pray. O Merciful and Gracious Lord; be quick to find the lost, so that they may dwell among Your abounding 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.

3. Trinity

3. Trinity Divine Service IV

Friday, June 18, 2021

Luke 4,1-15 Bible study

Luke 4,1-15

1. Corinthians 14,1-12. 2. Trinity

1. Corinthians 14,1-12 3521

2. Trinitatis 047

Tobias, 722 bc

13. Juni 2021

1. O Lord God, Heavenly Father: we give thanks unto You, that through Your holy Word You have called us to Your great supper, and we beseech You: Quicken our hearts by Your Holy Spirit, so that we may not hear Your Word without fruit, but that we may prepare ourselves rightly for Your kingdom, and not suffer ourselves to be hindered by any worldly care. Amen. (Veit Dietrich)

2. »Pursue love, and earnestly desire the spiritual gifts, especially that you may prophesy. For one who speaks in a language speaks not to men but to God; for no one understands him, but he utters mysteries in the Spirit. On the other hand, the one who prophesies speaks to people for their upbuilding, encouragement and consolation.«

3. In his 1. Epistle to the Corinthians, the Apostle Paul expounds upon 2 particular spiritual gifts: prophecy (προφητευητε) and languages (γλωσση). Prophecy is less about foretelling of future events and more about proclaiming a specific action or word of the Lord. The Holy Scriptures, all 66 Books, are prophetic books: they teach and proclaim Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who became man, suffered, died and rose again. Languages or dialects refer to the languages spoken and written by people. In Paul’s day there were 3 prominent languages spoken throughout the Roman empire: Aramaic, Greek and Latin. The Old Testament had been translated from Hebrew into Greek 200 years earlier, and all the New Testament was written in Greek. If the gospel was preached in any of these 3 languages, almost anyone living in the Roman Empire could have a basic understanding of the message.

4. Love is Paul’s overriding concern in chapter 14: he encourages the Corinthian Christians to pursue love, and from love will flow a concern to edify the Church (Lockwood 476). Just as love builds up and edifies, so to proclamation of the gospel edifies, encourages and consoles. In another epistle, Paul rights: »All scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, reproof, correction and training in righteousness, so that the child of God may be complete and equipped for every good work« (2. Timothy 3,16-17). The Scriptures are inspired by God (SD IX,12); the Scriptures are clear, sufficient and effective (have the power) to produce faith in Jesus (Romans 1,16). The Scriptures are inerrant; they are not false and deceitful, but they are true and trustworthy (FC Epitome VII,13; LC IV,57; V,76). The Scriptures are the pure, infallible and unchangeable Word of God (Preface, Book of Concord, 10).

5. The Scriptures are ultimately about Christ. The Apostle John writes: »The Holy Scriptures, the Bible, are written so that we may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing we may have a life in His Name« (John 20,31). We trust the Scriptures because we first trust Jesus. He is the Cornerstone of our faith. He is the Word of God made flesh who dwells among us (John 3,14). Our faith is in Jesus who lived, died and rose again to redeem us back to God the Father. This is the gospel that is preached, and this is the prophecy of the Church: behold, the crucified and risen Christ Jesus! This is what Paul told the Corinthian Christians: »And I, when I came to you, brothers and sisters, did not arrive proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the first-fruits of those who have fallen asleep« (1. Corinthians 2,1-2; 15,20). As Jesus is the Word of God, so also is the Bible the Word of God that bears witness to Him.

6. All of Scripture stands or falls with Christ; if one has an errant view of Jesus, then eventually one will have an errant view of Scripture. If one only believes that Jesus is a man, then one is likewise going to view the Scriptures only as books written by men. If Jesus, as a mere man, is sinful like the rest of humanity, then the Scriptures will be judged to contain errors as well. An Early Church heretic who showcases this is Marcion of Sinope.

7. Marcion started out as a theologian and an evangelist, but he began mixing gnosticism and philosophy and eventually created an heretical sect. It began in ad 144 with his understanding of God. He said there are two gods: the god we find in the Old Testament and the god we find in the New Testament; these gods are incompatible. He called the god we see in the Old Testament the Demiurge who created the physical universe, who esteems a strict law and legal reciprocal justice, codified in Judaism and consequently punishes humans sin through suffering and death. He said that the god of the New Testament is radically different. This god, shown to us by Jesus, is a loving, compassionate god who showers humans with grace and mercy. He referred to the New Testament god as the heavenly father. He said Jesus is the son of this heavenly father, but that Jesus was not truly incarnate. Rather, Jesus only appeared (docetism) to have a human body, because the Demiurge created the physical realm. Jesus cannot have a real physical body because that would be at odds with the nature of the heavenly father. Since Jesus didn’t have a flesh and blood body, but only an appearance that imitated it, Marcion denied Jesus’ physical birth, His human nature, His death and resurrection. You can easily see how Marcion’s teachings are drastically opposed to what Jesus, the apostles and the Early Church believed, taught and confessed.

8. Marcion’s heretical views on Jesus carried over to his opinion of the Scriptures. In his day, there was no official canon called the Bible, but rather a collection of books, all of which we have in our modern Bible, with several additional books that were highly regarded. The full list varied from geographic location to geographic location, but the core of this collection was the 66 books that we have in our Bible today. Marcion set out to create a canon of Scripture in line with his heresy. Obviously, all 39 books of the Old Testament were rejected. He accepted only 1 Gospel, Luke, and he removed large portions of it, like chapters 1-3, much of chapter 4 and the end of 24: chapters where Luke emphasizes the birth and death of Jesus. Most of Paul’s epistles, because Marcion said of all the apostles only Paul got Jesus right, and so he included Galatians, 1. and 2. Corinthians, Romans (minus chapters 15-16), 1. and 2. Thessalonians, Ephesians, Colossians, Philemon and Philippians; notice that Martion omitted Paul’s 1. and 2. Timothy and Titus. – His collection of Scriptures consisted of only 11 of the 27 books we have in the Bible today. On the other hand, the Church in ad 170 began to formulate a proper canon that recognized all the 66 books in our Bible unanimously and without edit.

9. The apostolic faith is that Jesus is truly God and truly man, He suffered, died and rose. With this foundational confession, the Church teaches that the Holy Scripture is the Word of God, and the Word of God is the Holy Scripture. This Bible tells us about our salvation through Jesus Christ, the Word of God made flesh (John 3,14). We put our faith and hope in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus; we believe in Him because we have heard His gospel preached to us and read His gospel in the Bible. The Apostle John proclaims: »The Holy Scriptures, the Bible, are written so that we may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing we may have a life in His Name« (John 20,31). Thus Martin Luther exhorts us in his Small Catechism to: „not despise preaching and God’s Word, but hold it sacred and gladly hear and learn it“ (SC 3. Commandment). Through the preaching of the Word and by reading the Bible we are shown Christ; He is the Theme and Cornerstone of the Holy Scriptures. Let us boast in Christ and gladly receive Him and the blessings He promises as written in His Word. Let us humbly confess that we are poor, miserable sinners who deserve only God’s wrath, and proudly affirm that Christ is our Savior who gives us forgiveness. Amen.

11. Let us pray. O Lord You are our Strength, our Rock, our Fortress and our Deliverer; help us to gratefully receive Your gifts, so that our faith is strengthened and our good works flourish. Amen.

To God alone be the Glory

Gode ealdore sy se cyneþrymm

✠

2. Trinity Divine Service IV

2. Trinity

Wednesday, June 9, 2021

Luke 3,23-38 Bible study

Luke 3,23-38

Jonah 1,2-2,2.10. Trinity 1

Jonah 1,1-2,2.10 3421

1. Sonntag nach Trinitatis 046

Philip, Deacon, Acts 6

6. Juni 2021

1. O Lord God, Heavenly Father, we beseech You so to rule and govern our hearts by Your Holy Spirit, so that we may not, like the rich man, hear Your word in vain, and become so devoted to things temporal as to forget things eternal; but that we readily and according to our ability minister to such as are in need, and not defile ourselves with overindulgence and pride; in trial and misfortune keep us from despair, and grant us to put our trust wholly in Your Fatherly help and grace, so that in faith and Christian patience we may overcome all things. Amen. (Veit Dietrich)

2. »And the mariners said to one another: „Come, let us cast lots, so that we may know on whose account this evil has come upon us.“ So they cast lots, and the lot fell on Jonah. Then they said to him: „Tell us on whose account this evil has come upon us. What is your occupation? And where do you come from? What is your country? And of what people are you?“ And he answered them: „I am a Hebrew, and I fear the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land.“ Then the men were exceedingly afraid and said to him, „What is this that you have done!“ For the men knew that he was fleeing from the presence of the Lord, because he had told them.«

3. The Psalmist proclaims: »Yahweh redeems the life of His servants; none of those who take refuge in Him will be condemned« (Psalm 34,22). The Prophet Jonah himself acknowledges this and personally experienced Yahweh’s redemption. We know the story: Yahweh sent Jonah to Nineveh to call them to repent of their evil. Jonah rebelled and chose to flee from Yahweh will. He wound up cast overboard and eaten by a great sea monster. Jonah prayed to Yahweh: »I cry aloud in my distress to Yahweh my God, and He listened to me; from the belly/hades/Sheol I shrieked and You heard my voice.«

4. Jonah is a prime example of one who knows Yahweh’s will, but rebels against it anyway. He fled from Yahweh, his prophetic duty and the people of Nineveh. Jonah is willing to let the people of Nineveh perish from Yahweh’s wrath rather than preach to them to repent and live. Likewise the rich man saw suffering Lazarus day after day, but did nothing to ease his suffering. We likewise are tempted to live rebellious lives, fleeing from God, caring not if others suffer or blindly live day after day unaware of God’s impending wrath. Yahweh’s message to Jonah is His message to us in the 21. century: call out against the people, for their evils have ascended before Me. Before the Flood we read: »Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight, and the earth was filled with violence. And God saw the earth, and behold, it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth. And God said to Noah: „I have determined to make an end of all flesh, for the earth is filled with violence through them. Behold, I will destroy them with the earth“« (Genesis 6,11-13. Before Yahweh judged Sodom and Gomorrah we read: » Yahweh said: „Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do.“ ... Then Yahweh said: „Because the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great and their sin is very grave, I will go down to see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry that has come to Me. And if not, I will know“« (Genesis 18,17.20-21). Thus the Prophet Ezekiel proclaims: »The soul that sins shall die« (Ezekiel 18, 20).

5. Mattias Loy writes it this way in his hymns: „The Law is good; but since the fall Its holiness condemns us all; It dooms us for sin to die And has no pow’r to justify. The Gospel shows the Father’s grace, Who sent His Son to save our race, Proclaims how Jesus lived and died That we might thus be justified“ (LSB 579,5; 580,1).

6. We read in Jonah 3: »“When God saw what the people of Nineveh did, how they turned from their evil way, God relented of the disaster that He had said He would do to them, and He did not do it. And Jonah prayed to Yahweh and said: „O Yahweh, is not this what I said when I was yet in my country? That is why I made haste to flee to Tarshish; for I knew that You are gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in mercy, and relenting from maliciousness« (Jonah 3,10; 4,2). Throughout Jonah we see that Yahweh is a merciful and gracious God who will go to great lengths to relent of His wrath and judgment. This is the very heart of the gospel: God desires to spare everyone, so much so that He sent the one person who can accomplish this, His Only-begotten Son to be our Savior and Redeemer. »For God so loved the world, that he gave His Only Son, so that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through Him. Whoever believes in Him is not condemned« (John 3,16-18a).

7. And a final comment from Luther: „In Matthew 12:39-14 Christ Himself drew an analogy between Himself and Jonah. This is not a complete allegory but just an illustrative comparison. For Christ refers only to Jonah’s sojourn in the sea monster, saying that He Himself will lie in the bowels of the earth as Jonah did in the sea monster. He calls it the sign of the Prophet Jonah; that means, it is a sign which bears resemblance to an experience of Jonah. He does not assign a spiritual significance to those 3 days, as is proper in spiritual interpretations. Therefore this is a comparison rather than an allegory. … Well, there is not much to be said about this, since it is common knowledge throughout the world that Christ died and rose again and that this was the miraculous sign given to the unbelieving Jews, yes, proclaimed to the entire world through the gospel to inform all how they are redeemed by the same miraculous sign and eminent Divine work and that they must adhere to this in true faith“ (Luther 102).

8. Yahweh calls us to repentance in His Scriptures through His prophets and pastors. Jesus has redeemed us from all sins and delivers that gospel of forgiveness through the Word and Sacraments. We hear and receive the salvation of Yahweh. Amen.

9. Let us pray. O Lord, Your testimonies are righteous forever; give us understanding so that we may live. Amen.

To God alone be the Glory

Gode ealdore sy se cyneþrymm

✠

Trinity 1 Divine Service III

Trinity 1

Saturday, June 5, 2021

Luke Bible study

Luke 3,1-21

John 3,1-8. Holy Trinity

John 3,1-8 3321

Trinitatis 045

Felix, Bishop of Rome, Martyr 274

30. Mai 2021

1. O Lord God, Heavenly Father: We poor sinners confess that in our flesh dwelleth no good thing, and that, left to ourselves, we die and perish in sin, since that which is born of the flesh is flesh and cannot see the kingdom of God. But we beseech Thee: Grant us Thy grace and mercy, and for the sake of Thy Son, Jesus Christ, send Thy Holy Spirit into our hearts, that being regenerate, we may firmly believe the forgiveness of sins, according to Thy promise in baptism; and that we may daily increase in brotherly love, and in other good works, until we at last obtain eternal salvation. Amen. (Veit Dietrich)

2. »Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man went to Jesusby night and said to Him: „Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher sent from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.“ Jesus answered him: „Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born againhe cannot see the reign of God.“ Nicodemus said to Him: „How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?“ Jesus answered: „Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the reign of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.Do not marvel that I said to you: ‘You must be born again.’ The windblows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it is sent from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.“«

3. The Trinitarian nature of God is found throughout the Scriptures. In John 1 the apostle talks about 2 people: the Word and God the Father, and it is clear that this Word is also God. In chapter 3, the apostle records a discussion Jesus had with the Pharisee Nicodemus where He mentions God the Father and the Spirit, and it is clear here as well that the Spirit is also God Nicodemus does not correct Jesus when He says this, for there is a Trinitarian-likeunderstanding of God in 1. century Judaism.

4. In Genesis 1, at Creation, there is God the Father and the Spirit of God. Throughout the Old Testament Yahweh, the Angel of Yahweh and the Spirit of Yahweh appear; each is a distinct person of God and each our worship as God. It is clear that Yahweh is the Father, the Angel of Yahweh is the Son and the Spirit of Yahweh is the Holy Spirit. Luther writes in his commentary on Genesis 35,7: „The [Patriarchs] had the knowledge and faith concerning the Deity which we teach today. It is foolish to object that the doctrine of the Trinity was nowhere promulgated in the Old Testament, when it is manifest from so many passages that the Godly men at that time also concluded that there was a plurality of Persons in the Godhead“ (Luther 250).

5. „Thus the Old Testament unmistakably teaches the divine personality of the Son and the Spirit by ascribing to each of them divine names, properties and works. It is therefore only natural to regard also those passages as a reference to the Trinity a) in which God speaks of Himself in the plural (Genesis 1,26; 3,22; 11,7), and b) in which God is worshipped in a threefold hymn of petition of praise, e. g., the Aaronic blessing [Yahweh bless you and keep you; Yahweh make His face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; Yahweh lift up His countenance upon you and give you peace.] (Numbers 6,24-26), which significantly is followed by the explanation: ‘They shall put my name upon Israel’ (v. 27), and the Trisagion [Holy, holy, holy is Yahweh of hosts; the whole earth is full of His glory!] (Isaiah 6,3) (Pieper 395).

6. The word „trinity“ does not occur in the Scriptures, but the doctrine of the Trinity is there. Tertullian (ad 155-220) is credited with being the first theologian to use this term, trinity, to describe the God of the Bible, and he did based on the nature of God revealed in the Great Commission: »Jesus said: „Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age“« (Matthew 28,19-20). The earliest Church Fathers confessed the Scriptural doctrine of the Trinity. There is the aforementioned Tertullian. Ignatius (ad 30-107): Since, also, there is but one unbegotten being, God, even the Father; the one only begotten Son, God, the Word and man; and one Comforter, the Spirit of Truth; and also one preaching, and one faith, and one Baptism (Epistle of Ignatius to the Philadelphians, Chapter 4). Justin Martyr (ad 110-65): For, in the Name of God, the Father and Lord of the universe, and of our Savior Jesus Christ, and of the Holy Spirit, they then receive the washing with water (The First Apology, Chapter 61). Irenaeus (ad 120-202): The Church, though dispersed throughout the whole world, even to the ends of the earth, has received from the apostles and their disciples this faith: in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and the sea, and all things that are in them; and in one Christ Jesus, the Son of God, who became incarnate for our salvation; and in the Holy Spirit, who proclaimed through the Prophets the dispensations of God, and the advents, and the birth from a virgin, and the Passion, and the resurrection from the dead, and the ascension into heaven in the flesh of the beloved Christ Jesus, our Lord, and His manifestation from heaven in the glory of the Father to gather all things in one (Against Heresies I,10).

7. Tertullian writes: As if in this way also one were not All, in that All are of One, by unity (that is) of substance; while the mystery of the dispensation is still guarded, which distributes the Unity into a Trinity, placing in their order the three Persons—the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost: three, however, not in condition, but in degree; not in substance, but in form; not in power, but in aspect; yet of one substance, and of one condition, and of one power, inasmuch as He is one God, from whom these degrees and forms and aspects are reckoned, under the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. How they are susceptible of number without division, will be shown as our treatise proceeds (Against Praxeas Chapter 2). And again: For the very Church herself is, properly and principally, the Spirit Himself, in whom is the Trinity of the One Divinity—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. (The Spirit) combines that Church which the Lord has made to consist in „three.“ (On Modesty Chapter 21). We see how the Athanasian Creed speaks about the Trinity and develops Tertullian‘s wording/description.

8. [Trinity] expresses the Church’s faith as well as can be done in human language, for the word Trinity conveys the Christian knowledge of God, namely, that the Divine Majesty is three distinct Persons in one divine essence. (St. Louis XII:628 f.) ... The term person is employed ... for it clearly sets forth that in the one God there are three individual personal agents („Ich“), or self-subsisting subjects („Selbstaendige“) (Pieper 408-09).

9. Johann Gerhard (1582-1637), an early 17. century Lutheran theologian, once preached: We believe, teach and confess that God is 3 distinct Persons and 1 indivisible Essence. This one true God is merciful, all wise, all powerful and just (Gerhard 15-16). „This was the inexpressible will of God, to send His only Son into the world to redeem us. We were villains, but nonetheless He sent Christ His Son for the sake of such villains. We were enemies of God, yet He sent Christ, His most precious possession, for the sake of such enemies. We had gone astray and were unaware of our great affliction, and even less in search of help; but God came to our aid without our desiring it. We had fled from Him, but He has called us back. This must, indeed, be great love. His beloved Son came into the world, suffered death for our sins, gave His Father perfect obedience, was lifted onto the wooden cross like the brass serpent, and thereby obtained the forgiveness of sins, the grace of God, righteousness and eternal bliss. And thus the lost treasure has been restored“ (Gerhard 19).

10. The true, Christian Church worships the Trinity: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. We worship this Triune God because this Triune God has worked out our redemption from all sin and brought us eternal life and salvation. God the Father sent His Son Jesus Christ into this fallen world. The Son of God merited the world’s salvation by suffering, dying and rising again. The Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son, speaking through the Prophetic and Apostolic Scriptures, and through those Scriptures reminds us of all that Christ has done and said. In the Baptismal font the Triune God saved us by washing away our sins. This is the work of God of Father, Son and Holy Spirit. At that Baptismal font each of us first confessed the Triune nature of God, and thus we confess that very essence of the Trinity today in our Divine Service, in remembering our Baptism, and in the Athanasian Creed, all of which affirm and teach that we are saved by the work and power of the Triune God: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. „There are Three who bear witness in heaven, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, and these Three are One“ (Löhe 356 §12) and they bear witness to the one way and means of salvation: through the vicarious sacrifice of the Son who was sent by the Father and who is testified by the Spirit as the world’s savior (der Welt Heiland). Amen.

11. Let us pray. Blessed are You, O Lord God of our fathers, and greatly to be praised and glorified forever. For in Your infinite majesty and wisdom You did show grace and favor upon Your fallen human creation, redeemed us, and sanctified us; may we ever worship You thus, for in worshipping we believe and in believing we hold fast to the gospel that proclaims that we are restored in everlasting fellowship with You, God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit: 3 Persons yet1 God. Amen.

To God alone be the Glory

Gode ealdore sy se cyneþrymm

✠

Holy Trinity Divine Service I

Holy Trinity

Grace Evangelical-Lutheran

Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church

Friday, June 25, 2021

Luke 4,16-30 Bible study

Luke 15,1-10. 3. Trinity

3. Trinity

Friday, June 18, 2021

Luke 4,1-15 Bible study

1. Corinthians 14,1-12. 2. Trinity

2. Trinity Divine Service IV

Wednesday, June 9, 2021

Luke 3,23-38 Bible study

Jonah 1,2-2,2.10. Trinity 1

Trinity 1 Divine Service III

Saturday, June 5, 2021

Luke Bible study

John 3,1-8. Holy Trinity

Holy Trinity Divine Service I