The Word Is True

Psalm 119:153-160 KJV; The Word is true. The word has not changed just because it's the 21st century.

Refrain From Slander!

Philippians 4:4-8 KJV; Refrain from speaking evil and focus on good reports so that you might rejoice as you live in peace.

What Are The True Riches?

Luke 16:10-15; The true riches are found in the Kingdom of God.

Rejoice And Focus On Good Things

The Promise; Our Inheritance

 In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;

Wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence;

Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself:

That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him:

In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:

That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.

In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,

Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory. 

                                                                            (Eph 1:7-14 KJV)

Forgiven and redeemed by the grace of God through the blood of Jesus the Christ; for what? According to St. Paul is it so that we might be gathered together as one in Christ and not just we but all things in heaven on earth. The inheritance; the purpose, is that we might be reconciled to one another; that we might be reconciled to God.

Thanks be to God through Jesus the Christ we have been redeemed to live united in peace. That is the promise. Although that promise has not yet fully come. Our hope is that in the dispensation of the fulness of time we will fully realize that unity; that peace. That hope gives us the ability to endure all things even today.

God grant us the hope to believe the promise of unity in Christ and to live as though that promise has already been fulfilled.

God's Peace - Pr. J.

Witness To The Light Of Christ

For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. (2 Cor 4:6 KJV)

There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.

The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe.

He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light.

                                                                                      (John 1:6-8 KJV)

John drew in the crowds but he didn't draw them in for his own glory. He drew them in to bear witness to the Light who is Jesus the Christ. He humbled himself and pointed to the one who was coming who was greater than he; greater than all of humankind.

As Christians we are also called and sent to bear witness to the Light who is Christ. But, do we? Is that our true purpose? Are we willing to humble ourselves so that God many get the glory?

The numbers in the flock that come to hear our witness are worthless if we are only bearing witness to ourselves. Our witness, if it is true, will always point to Jesus the Christ.

May God help us all to be faithful witnesses of what Christ has done for us.

God's Peace - Pr. J.

Set Free

And because he saw it pleased the Jews, he proceeded further to take Peter also. (Then were the days of unleavened bread.)

And when he had apprehended him, he put him in prison, and delivered him to four quaternions of soldiers to keep him; intending after Easter to bring him forth to the people.

Peter therefore was kept in prison: but prayer was made without ceasing of the church unto God for him.

And when Herod would have brought him forth, the same night Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains: and the keepers before the door kept the prison.

And, behold, the angel of the Lord came upon him, and a light shined in the prison: and he smote Peter on the side, and raised him up, saying, Arise up quickly. And his chains fell off from his hands.

And the angel said unto him, Gird thyself, and bind on thy sandals. And so he did. And he saith unto him, Cast thy garment about thee, and follow me.

And he went out, and followed him; and wist not that it was true which was done by the angel; but thought he saw a vision.

When they were past the first and the second ward, they came unto the iron gate that leadeth unto the city; which opened to them of his own accord: and they went out, and passed on through one street; and forthwith the angel departed from him.

And when Peter was come to himself, he said, Now I know of a surety, that the Lord hath sent his angel, and hath delivered me out of the hand of Herod, and from all the expectation of the people of the Jews. 

                                                                                      (Acts 12:3-11 KJV)

Peter could hardly believe it. He thought at first that he was dreaming. But, it was no dream or vision. An angel of the Lord released him from Herod's prison.

When Peter showed up at Mary's doorstep they could hardly believe it. Believe it! God can open the chains that bind us. He can unlock the doors that keep us locked up no matter whether those doors are physical or spiritual. "If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed." (John 8:36)

You will be free just as Peter was to go and tell the world what the Lord has done for you.

God's Peace - Pr. J

The Word Is True! Listen To Him!

O Lord, thou art my God; I will exalt thee, I will praise thy name; for thou hast done wonderful things; thy counsels of old are faithfulness and truth. (Isa 25:1 KJV)

Whatever God says, it happens. He spoke and all things were created. He promised Abraham that he would be the father of many nations. This, too, has happened. He told Moses to lift up his staff and the seas would be parted so that the children of Israel could escape. And, they did. 

Through Isaiah was heard the promise: "Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel." (Isa 7:14) 

The Gospel according to St. Luke testifies to that same promise of old:

And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth,

To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary.

And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God.

And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name Jesus.

Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?

And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God. 

                                                                          (Luke 1:26-27, 30-35)

It was promised. It was done. At both the baptism of Jesus and later on the mountain where he was transfigured we hear these words from out of no where or everywhere: "This is my beloved Son."

The Word of God is true. It would behoove us to listen to Him!

God's Peace - Pr. J.

This Too Shall Pass

But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. (1 Cor 2:9 KJV)

Recently, my granddaughter reminded me that when she was still living at home, that I often told her "This too shall pass." I don't remember that; but, it is probably true as she had a lot of turmoil in her life.

Unfortunately, life does not always feel wonderful. Depression can often set in and when it does it is difficult to see any of the goodness that God has planned for those that love Him. 

It is difficult to grasp the future goodness God has planned when we're in the midst of turmoil; but, His promise is true.

"And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose." (Rom 8:28)

These words are for you. Whatever you are going through, know that the Lord has a great plan for you and this time and probably many more trying times shall pass and in the end you will be rejoicing in the goodness of God. You will find peace in His presence.

God's Peace - Pr. J.

Think On The One Worthy To Be Praised

"Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things." (Phil 4:8 KJV)

If our minds stay in the gutter; we will end up living our lives in the gutter. If our minds stay focused on the Lord, who is worthy to be praised, then we will live in His Kingdom. The work of our hands and every step that we take will naturally gravitate toward the things that we are focused on.

Whatever or whomever it is that we trust; that we put our faith in, that is our god. Will it be the things of this world or the one who loves us so much; the one who wants us to live in His presence so much, that He was willing to die that we might be forgiven our lustful and sinful ways and be reconciled to Him?

Jesus said, "For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also." (Matt 6:20)

By the inspiration of the Holy Spirit may God help us to treasure the one who is most worthy of praise, Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.

God's Peace - Pr. J

A Good Plan

For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. (Jer 29:11 KJV)

Life can be pretty rough. We all go through hard times. But, for some people it seems as though the rough times never end and nothing good will ever come to them. But, the Lord has better plans for you than you can even begin to imagine. It begins with His love for you. It continues with your faith that His promises are true.

Trust Him. Listen to Him. Follow in the way that He has shown you through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

God's Peace - Pr. J.

Faithful Promise

Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.

Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;)

                                                                                 (Heb 10:22-23 KJV)

We have been given a beautiful world to live in; friends; family. We have received many gifts in this world. Sometimes; though, things can get a bit dreary. Sometimes, things can get really rough. There can be a lot of challenges and a lot of trials in this world. Sin, sometimes, takes a stronger hold of our lives than we'd like.

But, we are not without hope. All is not lost. In Christ we have received forgiveness of sin. In Christ, we have had our hearts sprinkled from evil consciences. In Christ, we have been redeemed. We have been reconciled to God our Father and have been made whole. We have received the fruit of God's promise though Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

God's Peace - Pr. J 

Dead to Sin; Live Life!

So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore, do not let sin exercise dominion in your mortal bodies, to make you obey their passions. No longer present your members to sin as instruments of wickedness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and present your members to God as instruments of righteousness. For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace. 

                                                                            (Rom 6:11-14 NRSV)

Just cut it out! 

The reality is that we are all sinners. We will continue to sin in many ways and way too much of the time. But, our sinful natures are not excuses for us to purposely live in sin. There are times when we have way more than enough time to say no to sin. We do not have to follow in every which way the world would have us go.

Know this, the One True God is not a far away god. He is with you now. He is with you no matter where you go. He knows exactly what you do minute by minute. Imagine that God is standing or sitting there next to you because He is. No matter what you are doing; He is all seeing, all knowing and He knows when you are ignoring or disrespecting Him. He also knows when He is being worshipped and praised. 

We do not have to live according to the hate filled chaos of the world around us. That is not living. That is death. But, by the blood of Christ you have been brought from death to life. By the grace of God, we can live knowing His loving presence every minute of every day even now. Walk with Him. Live with Him, now! Live life!  

God's grace and peace be with you all!
Pr. J

True Man; Unblemished Lamb

But when the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, in order to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as children. (Gal 4:4-5 NRSV)

Bullying has been around for a very long time. When I was a child, it was common when we were called names to respond: "It takes one to know one." 

Jesus is definitely not a bully; but, it "takes one to know one" is applicable to him. In order to redeem humankind he had to be human. He was born in to the world the same way all humans are. He was tempted as all humans are. He had to become one of us. He had to be like us in order to save us.

He was like us in; but, in one area he was greatly different.  He was able to resist temptation. He was able to resist sin. He was able to redeem us because he was a truly unblemished human who was able to resist temptation and sin. The devil had no sway over him.

The sacrifice of this sinless man, this unblemished lamb of God, has made it possible for us to be reconciled to God our Father. We who were not his children are now his children.

Gods' Peace - Pr. J.

Kingdom of God; Our True Home

Jesus said, “My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jewish leaders. But now my kingdom is from another place.” (John 18:36 NIV)

We fight to keep the places that we feel that we deserve in this world. We want what we want and we're going to get it. The only thing Jesus wanted was for us to be reconciled to his Father, our Father, in heaven and to one another. He was willing to die so that might happen. He did not even want his followers to fight for his life here on earth. 

So, if the Kingdom that is our true home is not of this world, why are we so often fighting for our places in this world? Why do we fight over something that we will lose when we leave this place; something we cannot take with us when we go to the home that Jesus has prepared for us? 

God provides us with the things in this world that are necessary for us to be able to live and to serve the Lord. But, there are also things that will only distract us from following Jesus and living the kingdom where he reigns. There are things which will keep us from following Jesus and living with him. There are things worth fighting for and there are things that are not. May God give us the wisdom to discern the difference.

And, may God help us to place as a priority being reconciled to him and one another even as we live in this world today.  

God's Peace - Pr. J

Promises

When God made his promise to Abraham, since there was no one greater for him to swear by, he swore by himself, saying, “I will surely bless you and give you many descendants.” And so after waiting patiently, Abraham received what was promised. (Hebrews 6:13-15 NIV)

There are times when we feel like we stuck a whirlwind of chaos. We may wonder if there is any real purpose to anything; if we'll ever see the sunlight again; if there is any good for us in the future. But, God has promised us an awesome life in His presence for all eternity. There are days when we may not feel like He's any where around. But, God keeps His promises. It took some time for Abraham to see the fulfillment of the promise of descendants. But, he waited patiently and received the promise.

Trust in the Lord. He promises "that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." (Romans 8:28) Have patience and wait on the Lord and you will see all His promises fulfilled.

God's Peace - Pr. J

Help My Unbelief!

".... but if you are able to do anything, have pity on us and help us.” Jesus said to him, “If you are able!—All things can be done for the one who believes.” Immediately the father of the child cried out, “I believe; help my unbelief!” Mark 9:22-24

 

Can you imagine telling Jesus, "if you can." There's is no "if" to it. He can do all things! He is true God. We know this; yet, we don't know it. Our faith is lacking.

 

Because we are not able to do something in this world, our faith or lack of faith does not allow us to believe that Jesus can do it. It may well be that our faith is lacking because our view of him is only of a man who walked this earth 2000 years ago.

 

Jesus, as true God, can do all things. But, that does not mean he will do all things. He serves according to the will of our Father in heaven; just as we should. Pray then for all things to come about according to God's will. Trust that God has had pity on us, has helped us and will help us according to His good will.

 

Let us not pray, "If you can." Let us pray that God would help us to believe and trust Him even in our unbelief and that His will is done on earth as it is in heaven.

 

God's Peace - Pr. J

Merry Christmas!

Christ Lutheran Choir

photo by: Al Blanks

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.  Isaiah 9:6 NIV

Today, we celebrate God incarnate! Today, we celebrate that the Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince Peace has come to us, born into this world as a baby in a barn.

As you celebrate the birth of our Savior, remember that he is the only reason for the celebration. All that we are and all that we have are only thanks to the God who loves us so much that He would humble himself enough to walk with us, live with us, and not just for those years that he lived on earth as true man; but, eternally as our one and only true God.

Today we celebrate the Lord our God as we should every day!

Merry Christmas and may the peace of the Lord be with you always!

Pr. J

Where's The Cave?

"While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them." Luke 2:6-7

It has been snowing in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. It appears they are getting lots of snow for Christmas. Will I be missing the white Christmas? No! I just had a cup of coffee in the Florida room and am wearing a sun dress. I do not miss the cold. What I do miss is some of the symbolism that is to be found in the older Lutheran Churches. I am especially missing the cave!

Christ Lutheran, Bunnell, FL is a relatively new congregation; a little more than ten years old. We have a lovely sanctuary not quite as old as the congregation is. It was designed to give more space as most of the new church spaces are created to provide space to move around in. But, I miss the cave. You know, the cave; the arched doorway that stands before the altar in many of the older churches. This arched entrance may have many meanings to many people. It may simply be beautiful architecture to some. But, for me this doorway has always been a symbol of how Jesus came into the world. As true man, it has been suggested that, he was born in a cave used as barn. It has also been a symbol of how Jesus left this world as true man. He was buried in a cave that was used as a tomb. His body was laid on a shelf. His sacrificial body was laid on that altar. Yet, he did not stay there. The cave could not hold him. He lives! That is Good News! I am missing those symbols that remind me of that Good News this Advent Season.

The Christmas tree is lovely. There are some awesome chrismons that remind us of who Christ was and what he did for us on the tree in Christ Lutheran's sanctuary. But, most trees in the community, are quite secular in nature and just don't have the essence of what Christmas really is celebrated for. There are blow-up Santas and reindeer in yards. They really don't add to the meaning of Christmas for me. I have to dig really hard to find any Christmas cards that even refer to Christ. Christmas is about Christ. It is not about us so much as it is about what Christ has done for us. God was willing to come into this world in humble fashion to live as one of us and then to die for us. Christmas is not about glitz and glitter, tinsel and toys. It is about the greatest gift given to humankind, Jesus the Christ. His mother did not have a private room in a private hospital. His mother had the floor of a barn. In humble fashion Jesus came into this world as true man and in even more humility he left it.

We have a beautiful sanctuary. But, I confess that every now and then I miss the comforting humility of the cave, knowing that the light of Christ shines brightly in that darkness. Where did the cave go and why is it gone?

God's Peace - Pr. J

Pray of Tears

Psalm 126:4-6 NIV
Restore our fortunes, Lord,
    like streams in the Negev.
Those who sow with tears
    will reap with songs of joy.
Those who go out weeping,
    carrying seed to sow,
will return with songs of joy,
    carrying sheaves with them.

The pray of tears is the center of discussion at our book study today. We are reading "Prayer: Finding the Heart's True Home" written by Richard J. Foster.

What is the prayer of tears? It is simply this: acknowledging that our sinful natures have separated us from God our Father and our Lord, Jesus the Christ. It is the understanding that we have turned our backs on the one who was willing to die for us. The prayer of tears brings us to repentance and is a part of repentance. Saying we are sorry does not mean much unless the sorrow over our sins is genuine. Genuine sorrow usually brings tears; whether those tears are visible from the outside or whether our spirit weeps inwardly.

But, with the sorrow also comes much joy as we realize that Jesus truly loves us so much that he was willing to bear the consequences of our sins on the cross for us. In this humble act of unconditional love, we rejoice. Our sorrow turns to joy.

The prayer of tears is both a sorrow in that we have not loved as we have been loved and a joy in that God, Himself, would love us so immensely, reconciling us, in spite of all that we have done to separate ourselves from Him.

May God help us all to turn and return to Him that we might be restored in His Kingdom.

God's Peace - Pr. J