The Wisdom of God

1 Corinthians 1:18-31 KJV 3rd Sunday of Lent; The wisdom of the world is foolishness to those who believe. Those who believe trust in the wisdom of God; that is Christ crucified for you.

Love Does No Harm

Romans 13:9-10 KJV: Love does no harm. If we believe that why do we keep silent as others promote it. What are we teaching our children?

Jesus Proclaimed The Kingdom Of God

Mark 1:9-15 KJV; 1st Sunday of Lent; The Good News that Jesus proclaimed was the Kingdom of God.

Called To Share The Good News

John 1:43-51 KJV; 2nd Sunday of Epiphany; Philip called Nathanael to get to know Jesus. Whom will you invite to do the same?

Jesus Is The Light Of The World

Genesis 1:1-5 KJV; In the beginning light was created by the Word. And now we celebrate that the Word of God who is Jesus the Christ is the light of the world.

Go With Haste To Hear The Promise

Luke 2:16-20 KJV: Go with haste to hear the promise fulfilled by that baby born in a manger.

We Wither Even As the Grass Withers

1 Peter 1:24-25 KJV; We will wither and die. Yet, even as the grass comes back to life in the spring; so shall all who believe in Jesus the Christ.

Let Not Your Heart Be Troubled

John 14:1-14 KJV; Let not your heart be troubled. Believe that whatever you ask in the name of Jesus will be given you.

Thanksgiving Day; Eat Of The Bread Of Life!

John 6:25-35 KJV; There is more to life than the physical bread; the physical things that we strive after. Eat of the bread of life, who is Jesus the Christ, and live life!

The Word Made Flesh

Reading from the Gospel of John 1:12-14 KJV All who believe in the Word made flesh, who is Jesus the Christ, are given the power to become the children of God!

As The Psalmist Prays

Psalm 27:7-14 KJV - As the psalmist prays so shall we pray trusting in the goodness of God to deliver us.

God Is Our Refuge And Fortress

Reading from Psalm 91 KJV. Do not fear; only believe for God is our refuge and fortress.

The LIght Is Jesus The Christ

John 3:16-21 KJV

Peace Be With You

John: 20:19-31 KJV

The LIght And The Truth

Help My Unbelief!

And... that is a gift from God
Eph 2:8-9

And they brought him unto him: and when he saw him, straightway the spirit tare him; and he fell on the ground, and wallowed foaming.

And he asked his father, How long is it ago since this came unto him? And he said, Of a child.

And ofttimes it hath cast him into the fire, and into the waters, to destroy him: but if thou canst do any thing, have compassion on us, and help us.

Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.

And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief. 

                                                                                  (Mark 9:20-24 KJV)

A father cries out:  "I believe; help thou mine unbelief."  This father has begged Jesus to heal his son even as he asks Jesus to heal him of his lack of faith. He knows that he cannot come to faith except by the grace of God. Faith is a gift from God. Paul wrote to the Ephesians:

"For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast." (Eph 2:8-9)

We cannot come to faith; we cannot be saved by anything that we do. Our faith is not our own work. It is a gift from God. Our salvation is not by our own works. If we could save ourselves then Christ's death would have been in vain. Salvation is a gift from God. 

As Lutherans we affirm that faith is a gift from God in the third article of the Apostle's Creed and what it means to us as can be found in the Small Catechism in the Book of Concord:

"Of Sanctification.

I believe in the Holy Ghost; one holy Christian Church, the communion of saints; the forgiveness of sins; the resurrection of the body; and the life everlasting. Amen.

What does this mean? — Answer.

I believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or come to Him; but the Holy Ghost has called me by the Gospel, enlightened me with His gifts, sanctified and kept me in the true faith; even as He calls, gathers, enlightens, and sanctifies the whole Christian Church on earth, and keeps it with Jesus Christ in the one true faith; in which Christian Church He forgives daily and richly all sins to me and all believers, and at the last day will raise up me and all the dead, and will give to me and to all believers in Christ everlasting life. This is most certainly true."

Let us pray even as the father who brought his son to Jesus to have the evil spirit removed:  "I believe; help my unbelief!"

God's Peace - Pr. J.

Ashamed of the Gospel?

 

For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. (Rom 1:16 KJV)

I am not ashamed to say that I believe that I have been reconciled to God by the Good News of the Kingdom through Jesus my Savior and Lord. I do not always display that reality for which I am most sorry for. There are times that I slip. There are times that we all slip and don't represent Jesus as we could.

In one of my small recovery groups that I led for teen-age boys who had been convicted of felonies, one of the young men, who professed to be a Christian, shared a story about how he ended up fighting with someone following a worship service at his home church. He had worn the colors of his gang to the church service. In other words, he represented someone other than Jesus when he entered that building and it irritated (to put it mildly) a rival gang member who was also there.

It is one thing to profess that we are Christians. It is much more difficult to be representatives of Christ. False gods abound and the majority of us can be led astray; deceived, by them to some extent. 

God help us to recognize these false gods. Help us to be of good courage so that we might share the Good News of the one died on the cross for the salvation of all who would believe in him.

God's Peace - Pr. J.

What Hinders Baptism?

Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same scripture, and preached unto him Jesus.

And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water: and the eunuch said, See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized?

And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.

And he commanded the chariot to stand still: and they went down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized him.

And when they were come up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip, that the eunuch saw him no more: and he went on his way rejoicing.

But Philip was found at Azotus: and passing through he preached in all the cities, till he came to Caesarea. 

                                                                                     (Acts 8:35-40 KJV)

I remember a very awesome neighbor of a congregation I served years ago. He has long since been gone from this world. 

As I was sitting in my office in this very remote church building, I heard a 4-wheel ATV pull into the parking lot. I went out to greet this man whom I had never met as he had never attended worship there and had recently moved into the neighborhood. He said he wanted to reaffirm his baptism and become a member of that congregation. By listening to him, I found out that a couple of our council members had been evangelizing in the local tavern and he was anxious to commit to serving God as a member of our congregation.

I asked him when he wanted to do this. He said this Sunday. I smiled and let him know that it wouldn't happen that fast. I had to get council approval. Then there was the service and bulletin to be prepared with the secretary.  

What about this eunuch? Why didn't he have to wait to be baptized? Where were all the constitutional administrative rules and regulations then?

There were none. Nothing hindered the eunuch's baptism. Philip shared the Good News of Jesus the Christ. The eunuch professed his faith in Jesus the Christ and he was baptized. That was it!

It only took a couple of weeks to jump through the hoops before he reaffirmed his faith in the presence of the congregation. He did indeed faithfully serve the congregation and community until his death as he said he would.

For someone to believe and to receive the Sacrament of Baptism or affirm their faith if they were baptized as a youngster not fully realizing what it meant to be a member of the Body of Christ they must hear the Good News of Jesus. This Good News comes not just from the pastors lips; but, from the lips of every believing member of the Body of Christ. It is shared every where we go. On the side of the road as Philip did and even in taverns as my council members did.

And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.

Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:

Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen. 

                                                                                (Matt 28:18-20 KJV)

God's Peace - Pr. J.

What Hinders Baptism?

Dave's Memorial
Service at the Falls
we had visited on
4-wheelers as
a congregation

Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same scripture, and preached unto him Jesus.

And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water: and the eunuch said, See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized?

And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.

And he commanded the chariot to stand still: and they went down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized him.

And when they were come up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip, that the eunuch saw him no more: and he went on his way rejoicing.

But Philip was found at Azotus: and passing through he preached in all the cities, till he came to Caesarea. 

                                                                                     (Acts 8:35-40 KJV)

I remember a very awesome neighbor of a congregation I served years ago. He has long since been gone from this world. 

As I was sitting in my office in this very remote church building, I heard a 4-wheel ATV pull into the parking lot. I went out to greet this man whom I had never met as he had never attended worship there and had recently moved into the neighborhood. He said he wanted to reaffirm his baptism and become a member of that congregation. By listening to him, I found out that a couple of our council members had been evangelizing in the local tavern and he was anxious to commit to serving God as a member of our congregation.

I asked him when he wanted to do this. He said this Sunday. I smiled and let him know that it wouldn't happen that fast. I had to get council approval. Then there was the service and bulletin to be prepared with the secretary.  

What about this eunuch? Why didn't he have to wait to be baptized? Where were all the constitutional administrative rules and regulations then?

There were none. Nothing hindered the eunuch's baptism. Philip shared the Good News of Jesus the Christ. The eunuch professed his faith in Jesus the Christ and he was baptized. That was it!

It only took a couple of weeks to jump through the hoops before he reaffirmed his faith in the presence of the congregation. He did indeed faithfully serve the congregation and community until his death as he said he would.

For someone to believe and to receive the Sacrament of Baptism or affirm their faith if they were baptized as a youngster not fully realizing what it meant to be a member of the Body of Christ they must hear the Good News of Jesus. This Good News comes not just from the pastors lips; but, from the lips of every believing member of the Body of Christ. It is shared every where we go. On the side of the road as Philip did and even in taverns as my council members did.

And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.

Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:

Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen. 

                                                                                (Matt 28:18-20 KJV)

God's Peace - Pr. J.

You Are Forgiven

But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.

For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. 

                                (Rom 5:8-10 KJV)

We all sin. We sin everyday in so many ways against God. Many of our sins are unknown to us simply because humankind is so bent on having everything their our own way that we cannot always even recognize our own sins. 

Isaiah reminds us that our sins have separated us from God. "Behold, the Lord's hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear: But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear." (Isa 59:1-2)

Isaiah reminds us that our sins have separated us from God. But, that does not mean that we can't be reconciled to Him. Although, we are sinners unable to save ourselves from those sins; unable to reconcile ourselves to God by anything that we do, God can and has reconciled to Himself all who believe that Jesus died for their sins.

Sinners we are; yet, justified by the blood of Jesus and reconciled to God our Father.  We have been saved by his life!

Your sins are forgiven! 

God's Peace - Pr. J.