Grace Evangelical-Lutheran: August 2021

Saturday, August 28, 2021

Monday, August 23, 2021

Mark 7,31-37. 12. Trinity

Mark 7,31-37 4521

12. Trinitatis 057

Symphorian of Autun, Martyr appr. 178

22. August 2021

1. O Almighty and Everlasting God, who has created all things: We thank You that You have given us sound bodies, and have graciously preserved our tongues and other members from the power of the Adversary: We beseech You, grant us Your grace, so that we may rightly use our ears and tongues; help us to hear Your Word diligently and devoutly, and with our tongues so to praise and magnify Your grace, so that no one shall be offended by our words, but that all may be edified thereby, through Your beloved Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen. (Veit Dietrich)

2. »Then Jesus returned from the region of Tyre and went through Sidon to the Sea of Galilee, in the region of the Decapolis. And they brought to Him a man who was deaf and had a speech impediment, and they begged Him to lay His hand on him. And taking him aside from the crowd privately, He put His fingers into his ears, and after spitting touched his tongue. And looking up to heaven, He sighed and said to him: „Ephphatha,“ that is: „Be opened.“ And his ears were opened, his tongue was released and he spoke plainly. And Jesuscharged them to tell no one. But the more He charged them, the more zealously they proclaimed it. And they were astonished beyond measure, saying: „He has done all things well. He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.“«

3. Throughout the Holy Gospels, the Four Evangelists write about the numerous miracles Christ performed during His 3½ years of public ministry. The Gospel according to Mark is renowned more for Jesus’ miracles rather than lengthy teaching pericopes that are recorded by the other Gospels. Jesus’ miracles span over several realms: the physical-natural ream, bodily infirmity/sickness, the spiritual realm and even over death itself. In this morning’s Gospel pericope, Jesus exercises His Divine authority over the realm of infirmity as He heals a man born deaf and mute.

4. In 21. century America, being both deaf and mute is not a horrible existence. The deaf can learn ASL, go to school, even attend the deaf university, Gallaudet, in Washington, D.C. and earn any number of academic degrees. The deaf can work in most major vocational fields including acting (Marlee Matlin won an Academy Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role for her 1986 performance in Children of a Lesser God) or even be crowned Miss America (Heather Whitestone in 1995). The deaf can even attend the seminary, be ordained and preach using sign language. Such, however, was not the case in 1. century Judea. There was no Jewish sign language. The deaf and mute did not normally hold a career. Often they were cared for by family members or begged for alms on the street. Furthermore, they were often stigmatized as groß sinners, since being born deaf must be the result of some great sin either on their behalf or their parents to merit such wrath from Yahweh. Remember how Jesus’ disciples said the same of the man born blind in John 9.

5. Spiritually, we were like this deaf and mute man in Mark 7. Our fallen human nature will easily curse, swear and lie, even using God’s Name to convince people that our duplicitous words are truthful words. Our sinful nature is content to rely on itself and not call upon God in prayer for help nor to sing praise to and thank Him. Our original sinfulness despises preaching and God’s Word. Spiritually we were deaf and mute to God.

6. But Christ has come into our midst bringing the reign of heaven with Him. In Mark 7 Jesus had gone to the Decapolis – 10 Greek cities that were east of Galilee. This is Gentile territory. There is a very good chance that the man Jesus healed was a Greek or Roman Gentile. Jesus shows us that the gospel is for the Gentiles too. Jesus brought the reign of heaven into their midst by preaching and healing.

7. The gospel is that Jesus comes to rescue sinners, and He takes him aside and heals him. This man’s deafness and muteness are manifestations of the curse that afflicts all sinners, just as our lesser physical or mental afflictions are manifestations of the curse that effects you and me. In the perfection of Eden there was no infirmity of deafness or muteness nor any other handicap. Such infirmities result from Adam’s fall into sin. As such, these infirmities are the result of the curse that God has imposed upon fallen humanity, a fall that had been caused by the Devil who seduced Adam into rebellion against God. Yet Yahweh promised Eve that He would redeem fallen humanity from its now corrupted and cursed nature. A major aspect of Jesus’ ministry was that He healed people so as to restore individual fallen people back to the pristine created order of things, thus He gives this man restored hearing and speech.

8. Now healed, this Gentile man is able to hear Jesus proclaim and teach the Word of God. He is able to respond with thanksgiving and praise. The gospel and salvation is for him too. Jesus is the Savior and the Christ of the Jews and Gentiles. Jesus likewise opens our lips and ears so that we can praise Him and hear His word. Jesus puts His hand upon us and makes our creation new.

9. „A new creation takes place when the water of Holy Baptism flows over our head, creating a new human being who participates in a world where, in the end, there will finally be no more diseases, no more limitations, no more disabilities. A new creation takes place when a hand is placed on us in Holy Confession, creating a new reality that we are now righteous and justified before God, even when we do not deserve it. A new creation takes place every time Christ with His holy body and blood takes up residence in us, lives and works in us. We are thereby made new people who can believe, because Christ Himself works this faith by transgressing these boundaries in us and thereby speaks His redeeming, saving word“ (Martens ¶ 11).

10. Jesus has purchased and won us from all sins, from death and from the power of the Devil with His holy, precious blood and with His innocent suffering and death, so that we may be His own and live under Him in His kingdom and serve Him in everlasting righteousness, innocence and blessedness (Small Catechism). Our Holy Baptism indicates that the Old Adam in us should by daily contrition and repentance be drowned and die with all sins and evil desires, and that a New Adam should daily emerge and arise to live before God in righteousness and purity forever (Small Catechism). In Holy Absolution when the called ministers absolve those who repent of their sins and want to do better, this is just as valid and certain, even in heaven, as if Christ our dear Lord dealt with us Himself (Small Catechism). The benefit of eating and drinking the Lord’s Supper is that in this Sacrament forgiveness of sins, life and salvation are given us through these words (Small Catechism).

11. The gospel brings consolation and forgiveness not only in one way, but through the Word and Sacraments, and the like, as we will hear afterward in order that there is overflowing redemption with the Lord, as Psalm 130,7 says, against the dreadful captivity of sin: O Israel, hope in Yahweh! For with Yahweh there is steadfast love, and with Him is plentiful redemption (Schmalkald Articles III,7). Thus Jesus brought the gospel to the Gentiles in the Decapolis, thus He brings the gospel to us each and every week as we gather for the Divine Service and thus He brings the gospel to us every time we read His Holy Scriptures. Amen.

12. Let us pray. O Lord, our God, who deserves endless glory from us; may Your praise continually be in our mouths and Your Word in our ears, so that we are daily edified and blessed by Your gifts. 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.

Martens, Gottfried. A sermon preached on 30. August 2009 (12. Trinitatis) in Berlin-Zehlendorf, Germany on Mark 7,31-37. Copyright © 2009 St. Mary Church in Berlin-Zehlendorf (SELK). All rights reserved. The Rev. Peter A. Bauernfeind, Tr. © 2021.

12. Trinity Divine Service III

12. Trinity

Friday, August 20, 2021

Luke 5,33f Bible study

Luke 5,33f

1. corinthians 15,1-10. 11. Trinity

1. Corinthians 15,1-10 4421

11. Trinitatis 056

Dormition (falling asleep) of Mary the mother of Jesus, Theotokos, ✠

15. August 2021

1. O Lord God, Heavenly Father, we beseech You so to guide and direct us by Your Holy Spirit, so that we may not forget our sins and be filled with pride, but continue in daily repentance and renewal, seeking our comfort only in the blessed knowledge that You will be merciful unto us, forgive us our sins and grant us eternal life. Amen. (Veit Dietrich)

2. » Now I remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you have stood, and by which is saving you, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the Twelve. Then He appeared to more than 500 brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. Then He appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one untimely born, He appeared also to me. For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the Church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me.«

3. What is the gospel the Paul preached, and that pastors continue to preach? The gospel preached by the apostles and pastors consist of two points:

A. Christ crucified, and

B. Christ risen.

Paul states these two points in his 1. Epistle to the Corinthians: »When I arrived in your midst, I didn’t arrive preaching to you the mystery of God with lofty words of wisdom. For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and Him having been crucified« (1. Corinthians 2,1-2). »For I delivered to you as a first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that He was buried, but He was raised on the 3. day in accordance with the Scriptures and that He appeared to Peter, then to the Twelve. Last of all … He appeared also to me.«

4. Our Lutheran Confessions, particularly the Solid Declaration, more fully explains this gospel: The gospel of Christ crucified teaches us what we should believe, namely, that we receive from God the forgiveness of sins; that is, that the Son of God, our Lord Jesus Christ, has taken upon Himself the curse of the law and borne it, atoned and paid for all our sins; so that through Him alone we are restored to God’s grace, obtain the forgiveness of sins through faith, are delivered from death and all the punishments of our sins and are saved eternally (BKS 958,18-28 - SD 5,20).

5. However, the gospel is a stumbling block to some and foolishness to others. Christ arrived to save the world, redeemed it and reconciled it back to God the Father (Walther 234 ¶ 1). Many hear and know this gospel but refuse to acknowledge Christ as their Savior or insist on being their own redeemer and reconciler before God (Walther 234 ¶ 1), or they search for a path other than Christ upon which they look for salvation. God in Christ has redeemed the world, but many hear this gospel and reject it. „God wants all people to be saved, since He draws near to all with the word of salvation, and the fault is in the person’s will, which does not grant him admittance“ (WA 18,686,6).

6. This gospel of Christ crucified is so precious that Paul zealously defended its preaching. He will not allow anyone to preach the gospel of salvation other than Christ crucified and risen. Paul will not allow the works of the law to be mixed in with this gospel. He will not allow human wisdom or lofty speech to be added to this gospel. Paul knows that everything else kills (2. Corinthians 3,6), but only the gospel of Christ crucified and risen is the power of God for salvation to everyone who has faith (Romans 1,16). Paul is so zealous about the gospel of Christ crucified and risen that he declares if anyone preaches a different gospel for salvation other than Christ crucified and risen, then let that person be anathema (damned to hell).

7. The Church must take this seriously. If she is preaching something other than Christ crucified and risen, then she is preaching a „gospel“ that is different and contrary to the gospel preached by Paul and all the apostles. If we are trusting in God but then call for trusting anything other than the crucified and risen Christ, then we are relying on a „gospel“ that is condemned by Paul. This different „gospel“ promotes a faith plus obedience that isn’t faith alone; it isn’t Christ alone (Nagel 160).

8. Let us repent of any stumbling block or foolishness we might have in regards to the gospel. Let us seek to trust in only the gospel of Christ crucified and risen for our salvation, and receive this gospel which assures us that Christ has forgiven our sins. God the Father’s wrath had to be appeased, and His wrath was appeased only through Christ (WA 40 I,295,4). Christ appears as the Mediator (mediator) who by His death makes peace between God and man, or as a Propitiator (propitiator), His work as appeasement (placatio), namely, of the God who has been offended by us, or as reconciliation (reconciliatio), insofar as that greatest discord (maxima discordia) had to be overcome (Elert 2627). Christ makes peace and gives us access to His grace in faith (eyen tzugang tzu seyner gnaden ym glauben) (Elert 2634). The gospel heals the corruption of nature by means of justification (WA 8,106,1).

9. Christ crucified and risen is the pure gospel that merits our justification. The Apostle Paul spoke of it this way: the gospel is the power of salvation to everyone who believes. For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed beginning and ending in faith, as it has been written, the righteous will live by faith (Romans 1,16-17; Habakkuk 2,4). Amen.

10. Let us pray. O Lord Jesus Christ, the Begotten Son of Lord; ensure and bless the preaching of Your gospel among the peoples of this Earth, so that thanks be given unto You and they all upon Your Name! Amen.

To God alone be the Glory

Gode ealdore sy se cyneþrymm

✠

Luther, Martin. Weimar Ausgabe.

11. Trinity Divine Service IV

11. Trinity

Monday, August 9, 2021

Exodus 19,1-6. 10. Trinity

Exodus 19,1-6 4321

10. Trinitatis 053

Cyriacus, Largus and Smaragdus, Martyrs, 303

8. August 2021

1. O Almighty and Everlasting God, who by Your Holy Spirit hast revealed unto us the gospel of Your Son, Jesus Christ: We beseech You so to quicken our hearts so that we may sincerely receive Your Word, and not make light of it, or hear it without fruit, but that we may fear You and daily grow in faith in Your mercy, and finally obtain eternal salvation. Amen. (Veit Dietrich)

2. »On the third new moon [Three months] after the sons of Israel had gone out of the land of Egypt, on that day they came into the wilderness of Sinai. They set out from Rephidim and came into the wilderness of Sinai, and they encamped in the wilderness. There Israel encamped before the mountain, while Moses went up to God. Yahweh called to him out of the mountain, saying: „Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob, and tell the sons of Israel: ‘You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. Now therefore, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, you shall be My treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is Mine; and you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you shall speak to the people of Israel.“«

3. In Genesis 15, Yahweh chose Abraham and promised him that his descendants would be His chosen people. This promise was taught to each succeeding generation from Abraham to Moses. In Exodus 19, Yahweh Himself speaks to Israel and tells them: I am your God, and you are My people. He recounts for them the great act of deliverance from Egypt that He had 3 months earlier performed with mighty deeds. He gives them His covenant: You, O Israel, are My treasured possession among all peoples. Yahweh unfolds this covenant in greater detail in the pages of Exodus, Leviticus and Deuteronomy.

4. To keep Yahweh’s covenant is to ground oneself upon the 10 Commandments. „Especially to fend off suspicions of Old Testament “legalism,” it is of utmost importance to underscore the fact that grammatically the Decalogue is in indicative, not imperative form. (The negative is lo’, not ’al). These are statements of what the believer who has experienced God’s grace will voluntarily do, not commands of what he must do to deserve or earn God’s love. They represent the parameters or boundaries of God’s kingship, beyond which the believer will not stray, but within which he is essentially free to respond joyfully and voluntarily, as illustrated by the rest of the “laws” or “codes” of the Old Testament“ (Hummel 74 ¶ 3). Yahweh’s covenant is meant to shape Israel’s life in the Promised Land.

5. Of these Commandments, the 1. Commandment is always first and foremost (Raabe 63). For Israel, Yahweh is the God who brought them out of slavery and gave them Canaan. For Christians, Yahweh is the God who was crucified and risen for them to open up the kingdom of heaven. God will never break His covenant, but there was always the possibility that Israel could and would walk away from Yahweh. The history of the Old Testament shows how often and how easily Israel broke covenant with Yahweh; and there were consequences: famine across the land, idolatrous overlords and even exile from the land. When Jesus called His people to receive Him as the Messiah and the Son of Man, the chief priests, scribes and principal men refused His plea. So the Lord sent the Romans to conquer Jerusalem and scatter the people once again, and Jesus exhorts His Church to repent, lest He likewise come against her like a thief (Revelation 3,3). He also reminds us: »Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent« (Revelation 3,19).

6. Just as the 10 Commandments were also indicative statements of how Israel who had experienced Yahweh’s grace in the Exodus will voluntarily do those Commandments, so also are these Commandments indicative statements of how Christians who have experience Christ’s grace shown to us on the cross and given to us in the Word and Sacraments will voluntarily do those same Commandments. The Holy Spirit uses the gospel to help us keep the 10 Commandments (Raabe 179). These Commandments teach us God’s holy will, which Christians delight in and want to keep, and they reveal our sin (Raabe 184). They do both at the same time, never one without the other (Raabe 184).

7. The Ten Commandments, therefore, deserve our full-time attention. As God’s holy people we fear, love, and trust in God above all things. We treat His Name with respect and worship Him on Sunday mornings. We honor, obey and love our parents, teachers, civil rulers and every one who has authority over us in the world. We help our neighbors in time of need. We treat our neighbor’s spouse with respect. We help our neighbors improve and protect their property and possessions. We speak kindly and lovingly to and about our neighbors. We are of help to our neighbors when they need assistance with their property and possessions.

8. We remember that Jesus is God with us. He is our redeemer from sin, death and the Devil. He is our Exodus from the bondage of our trespasses. He is God’s Eternal Covenant with us. God has promised to forgive the sins of the world through Christ. We believe that in Christ God has personally forgiven all of our sins. In Christian faith we say: For God so loved me that He gave His Only Son so that believing in Him I shall not perish but I have eternal life. Christ is our Savior not only for our justification by faith so that our sins are forgiven, but flowing from that justification we are made holy as His people. Christ’s merits are applied to us. As He is Faithful Israel, so we are faithful Israel solely on account of Christ. We are transformed by the Holy Spirit to be little christs. And when Christ returns we will no longer be His faithful Israel by faith, but we will be faithful Israel by sight, for Christ will make us that in both body and soul, forever and ever. Amen.

9. Let us pray. O Lord, our God; we cry out day and night to send us the Holy Spirit, so that we are repentant of our sinfulness and rejoicing in Christ mercy upon us. Amen.

To God alone be the Glory

Gode ealdore sy se cyneþrymm

✠

10. Trinity. Divine Service IV

10. Trinity

Wednesday, August 4, 2021

Luke 5,17-26 Bible study

Luke 5,17-26

Monday, August 2, 2021

Matthew 7,24-27. 9. Trinity

Matthew 7,24-27 4221

9. Sonntag nach Trinitatis 054

St. Peter’s Chains Acts 12,6-19

1. August 2021

1. O Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, who has bountifully given us Your blessing and our daily bread: We beseech You, preserve us from covetousness, and so quicken our hearts so that we willingly share Your blessed gifts with our needy brethren; so that we may be found faithful stewards of Your gifts, and abide in Your grace when we shall be removed from our stewardship, and shall come before Your judgment. Amen. (Veit Dietrich)

2. »Everyone then who hears these words of Mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.«

3. One of the words Jesus said was: »Lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also« (Matthew 6,20-21). As sinful men and women we often focus on earthly treasures and are tempted to neglect the heavenly treasures. It is easy to do with all the pressure and stress of the responsibilities and the cares of the world that weigh down upon our shoulders. The Scriptures exhort us to tend to the things of heaven for they are weighty matters of salvation. Many a person gained the world but forfeited their soul (Mark 8,26).

4. Jesus exhorts us to realize that God gives us the treasures of heaven: forgiveness, salvation, fellowship with Him and a resurrected body. We cannot obtain or merit these treasure; they are gifts that God graciously gives to us through His Son Jesus Christ.

5. A wise man, a wise woman, has their foundation on Jesus. The Apostle Paul says: »We are built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, of which Christ Jesus Himself is the Cornerstone« (Ephesians 2,20). Jesus Himself is the Rock upon which we are built. He bears the winds and waves of life that surge upon us. Not even the ravages of sin and death can overwhelm Jesus.

6. Yahweh boasts that His servant Job is a blameless and upright man, who fears Me and turns away from evil (Job 1,8). Job had built his life upon Yahweh, and was thus able to withstand tumult that crashed against him. Satan threw every storm against Job: he lost his wealth, his children and his health. In all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrong (Job 1,22). What Job endured would have broken someone who did not wholeheartedly trust Yahweh. Even three of Job’s friends could not comprehend his steadfastness. Job even makes a statement that has been remembered to this day: »I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last He will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will God« (Job 19,25-26). Job’s Redeemer he looked forward to is the Messiah who stood upon the earth as Jesus. Job’s life and faith was built upon Jesus.

7. The Apostle Paul beautifully comments on Jesus being our Foundational Rock: »Likewise the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose. And those whom He predestined He also called, and those whom He called He also justified, and those whom He justified He also glorified. What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, then who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son but gave Him up for us all, how will He not also with him graciously give us all things? Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger or sword? No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord« (Romans 8,26.28.30-35.37-39).

8. Throughout history Jesus’ disciples have faced tribulation and persecution. All of the apostles were persecuted, and all save John, were martyred. Christians around the world are persecuted on account their faith. The daily trials and struggles of this life weigh heavily upon us. At times they may be daunting and insurmountable as we experienced last year with the pandemic. The Apostle Paul reminds us: »No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and He will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation He will also provide the way of escape, so that you may be able to endure it« (1. Corinthians 10,13). Jesus promises us: »Draw unto to Me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light« (Matthew 11,28-30).

9. When Simon Peter confessed to Jesus: »„You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God.“ Jesus said: „ On this rock I will build My Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against her“« (Matthew 16,16.18). The rock, the foundation, is the confession that Jesus is the Christ. Our Christian faith is founded upon Christ. Because we are built upon Him we cannot fall. Amen.

10. Let us pray. O Lord, Your Name is Great; may all who seek You rejoice and be glad in You; so that they may love Your salvation. Amen.

To God alone be the Glory

Gode ealdore sy se cyneþrymm

✠

9. Trinity Divine Service III

9. Trinity

Grace Evangelical-Lutheran

Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church

Saturday, August 28, 2021

Luke 6,1 Bible study

Monday, August 23, 2021

Mark 7,31-37. 12. Trinity

12. Trinity Divine Service III

Friday, August 20, 2021

Luke 5,33f Bible study

1. corinthians 15,1-10. 11. Trinity

11. Trinity Divine Service IV

Monday, August 9, 2021

Exodus 19,1-6. 10. Trinity

10. Trinity. Divine Service IV

Wednesday, August 4, 2021

Luke 5,17-26 Bible study

Monday, August 2, 2021

Matthew 7,24-27. 9. Trinity

9. Trinity Divine Service III