Faith Comes By Hearing

Romans 10:5-17 KJV; Faith comes by hearing. Will you share the Good News of Jesus Christ that they too may come to faith and salvation?

Preaching Jesus In Spite Of Persecution

Acts 5:29-42 KJV; 1st Sunday after Easter; The apostles continued to preach the Good News of Jesus Christ even as they were persecuted and faced death. Will you?

Give God The Glory

Revelation 14:6-7 KJV; Reformation Sunday; Give God the glory for He is the one true God; the creator of heaven and earth.

Following Jesus Is Not Easy

Reading from Gospel of Luke 9:51-62 KJV. Seek first the Kingdom of God. Do not look back; rather follow in the footsteps of Jesus.

Paul and Lydia; You and Me Acts 16

Acts 16: 9-15 KJV

Give God The Glory!

And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people,

Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters. 

                                   (Rev 14:6-7 KJV)

Immediately following John's vision of a Lamb standing on Mt. Sion he sees an angel who carries the gospel to be brought to all people declaring that we are to give God the glory. Indeed, all glory belongs to God for giving the Lamb, His only begotten Son, as the sacrifice for our sins that we might receive forgiveness of sins and be reconciled to God and one another.   

To God belongs all glory for all the marvelous things He has created and  not just for creating us in the first place but for loving us enough to recreate us in the image of His Son. Our baptisms into Christ brings about the death of the old man that resides in us and gives us a new life in Christ. 

We do not have this new life because of anything we have done. It is a gift from God who deserves all glory and honor! God help us to live life more fully in Christ!

God's Peace - Pr. J. 

The Spirit Of Power

 

"For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner: but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God;" (2 Tim 1:7-8 KJV)

Paul exhorts Timothy and ultimately us to be brave in proclaiming the Gospel. Do not be afraid that others might persecute you because of your testimony about the Lord. Do not be afraid or ashamed to proclaim the Good News of the Kingdom through Jesus the Christ. 

Paul was not afraid. He suffered much for testifying to what he had seen and heard. He knew that in the end he would die for the Gospel of Jesus. But, none of that mattered. God had given him the spirit of power and love and of a sound mind. In Christ he had the courage and strength to do the will of our Father and follow in the footsteps of Jesus.

"So, as much as in me is, I am ready to preach the gospel to you that are at Rome also. 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. For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith." (Rom 1:15-17)

Be not afraid... Share the love of our God in Christ Jesus with all who need to hear the Good News. And... we all need to hear Good News.

God's Peace - Pr. J.

Take Up Your Cross And Follow

"And they answered, John the Baptist; but some say, Elias; and others, One of the prophets.

And he saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? And Peter answereth and saith unto him, Thou art the Christ.

And he charged them that they should tell no man of him.

And he began to teach them, that the Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders, and of the chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again.

And he spake that saying openly. And Peter took him, and began to rebuke him.

But when he had turned about and looked on his disciples, he rebuked Peter, saying, Get thee behind me, Satan: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but the things that be of men.

And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.

For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel's, the same shall save it.

For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?"

                                                                            (Mark 8:28-36 KJV)

No... no... no... We cannot and should not have to endure death. We should have to endure trials. We should not have to struggle! 

Yet, we do. We do and we will. God's will for Jesus was not to have a life of ease. He was destined for death; to die so that we might live. Life is a struggle and if you think that it should not or will not be one then you probably are following a false god down a very wrong path. 

These false gods would have us strive to gain the worldly things and in the process we may, as Jesus said, lose our souls.

Life is not easy so you may as well take up your cross and follow Jesus and when you do know that the Christ is with you on the journey. That road, although it may feel like death is drawing near leads to life everlasting. That is the will of God for you. 

As St. Paul drew closely to his own earthly death he wrote these words to his fellow missionary and evangelist Timothy:

"I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom;

Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long suffering and doctrine.

For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;

And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.

But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry.

For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand.

I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith:"

                                                                                        (2 Tim 1-7)

St. Paul took up his cross and followed Jesus. He endured afflictions even as he continued the work of an evangelist. He finished his course when he was executed for his faith in Christ. 

He was willing to give up a life of luxury in this world and reside as a prisoner of the government so that he could proclaim the Gospel according to the will of God. He was willing to give up his body. But, he was not willing to give up his soul as he entrusted it to the love of God in Christ Jesus.

God help us to endure all afflictions and fight the good fight of truth found in Jesus the Christ.

God's Peace - Pr. J.

Jonah Did Not Want To Warn Them

And the word of the Lord came unto Jonah the second time, saying,

Arise, go unto Nineveh, that great city, and preach unto it the preaching that I bid thee.

So Jonah arose, and went unto Nineveh, according to the word of the Lord. Now Nineveh was an exceeding great city of three days' journey.

And Jonah began to enter into the city a day's journey, and he cried, and said, Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown.

So the people of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them.

And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, that he had said that he would do unto them; and he did it not.

                                                                             (Jonah 3:1-5,10 KJV)

The story of Jonah is quite a story! The end result of finally doing God's will and going to Nineveh to prophecy their impending doom if they did not repent was that they repented!

Way too often in today's world those who are sent by God to warn others of the disaster that will fall upon them if they do not change their ways do not warn anyone. They would rather pretend that there is no sin where there is sin just so they can be liked by everyone; to get along with everyone. 

At first, Jonah didn't want to speak up. He did not want to go and warn the people. When the Lord told him to go he tried to run away from God, as if that were even possible. "But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the Lord, and went down to Joppa; and he found a ship going to Tarshish: so he paid the fare thereof, and went down into it, to go with them unto Tarshish from the presence of the Lord." (Jonah 1:3)

Jonah ended up with much hardship himself for not obeying the word of the Lord. He ended up in a major storm on the sea; thrown into the sea to save others; saved from drowning by being swallowed by a big fish. When Jonah finally repented of not doing God's will; God had the fish vomit him out onto land where Jonah finished the mission to Nineveh. 

The story of Jonah's call to prophesy to Nineveh is prophetic in itself. It is a warning to all who are called to share the word of God to actually share the word of God. It is a warning to those who are called to proclaim the truth of God's word. We are not called to come up with another gospel that pleases itching ears. We are not called to water it down. We are not called to hide from the truth or hide the truth from others; but, to proclaim it. Jesus told the truth shall make you free.

If the truth, which is the Word of God, is not proclaimed; how will anyone know that they are on a path to destruction. If we truly love our neighbors we will let them know that no matter what they have done God loves them so much that he sent His only begotten Son to die for their sins. And... that is the crux of the matter. We must be able to recognize and call a sin for what it is: a sin. "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us." (1 John 1:8)

Because Jonah had finally warned the people of Ninevah they repented and God forgave them.

Jesus told the disciples "the truth shall make you free." (8:32) The truth is that we are all sinners in need of forgiveness. We are all in need of being reminded of that from time to time. Let us not hide the truth or hide from it; but, share it with all in need of forgiveness and that would be all of us. We are all in need of God's grace and His mercy.

God's Peace - Pr. J. 

Endure The Truth

Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long suffering and doctrine.

For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;

And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables. 

                                                    (2 Tim 4:2-4 KJV)

The time has come when people will not endure sound doctrine. They will not endure sound anything. Lies are preferred over truth as long as those lies promise them what they think might make them  happy in this world. In other words, if the promises, whether promised with integrity or not, give them hope in worldly things then they will follow after those who give them false hope. 

May God open the ears and eyes and hearts of all people to know the truth and strive for the kingdom for all people rather than what will appease their own lusts.

God's Peace - Pr. J.

Jesus Preached

And when it was day, he departed and went into a desert place: and the people sought him, and came unto him, and stayed him, that he should not depart from them.

And he said unto them, I must preach the kingdom of God to other cities also: for therefore am I sent.

And he preached in the synagogues of Galilee. 

                                                                            (Luke 4:42-44 KJV)

We have received so many gifts from God that we cannot even begin to count them. We give thanks to God for all of these gifts; known and unknown.

We, who were separated by our sins from God, are now reconciled to God in His Kingdom through the sacrifice that Jesus made on the cross for us. 

Jesus said that he was sent to preach the Kingdom of God. That is the Good News that he was sent to deliver to us. The Good News is that he not only preached it; he made it a reality for all who believe. 

Do not be deceived. This Kingdom is not just for after we die physical deaths. Life in this Kingdom, reconciled to God, is for today as well. That is the Good News! That is the Gospel of our Lord, Jesus the Christ!

The kingdom of God has come and we, by faith, in our Lord, Jesus the Christ, are residents of that kingdom. Yes, we live in this world; but, all who believe also live in the Kingdom and under the gracious rule of God our Father, the Lord Jesus the Christ, by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Let us live life reconciled to God and in communion with all of our brothers and sisters in Christ now and for all of eternity! Let us share this Good News so that all might live in his presence and peace!

God's Peace - Pr. J.

Man or God Pleasers?

I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel:

Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ.

But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.

As we said before, so say I now again, if any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.

For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ.

                                                                                     (Gal 1:6-10 KJV)

Since retirement last spring I have been church shopping in Florida since  it is not appropriate for Lutheran clergy to stay within the congregation that they served at. Yes, we might very well interfere. 

I have not found that looking for a new congregation to worship with to be an easy thing. I have attended a few and I am saddened to say that I was pretty uncomfortable in most. In some, I have heard only the law. In others I heard a  whole lot of forgiveness without any call to repentance. I have witnessed some pretty heretical things going on and being said during worship. The Word and the explanation of the Sacraments get watered down to make it more comfortable for the people in the pews. 

Regarding what we believe, Article VII (Of the Church) of the Augsburg Confession states: "Also they teach that one holy Church is to continue forever. The Church is the congregation of saints, in which the Gospel is rightly taught and the Sacraments are rightly administered."

I am well aware that there are more than a few who would not wish to see me in their congregations. At the same time I am still looking for a congregation where worship is about pleasing God and not man.

God help us to be servants of Christ!

God's Peace - Pr. J

The Cross Is Foolisness To Those Who Are Perishing

"For the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God."  (1 Cor 1:18 NRSV)

For awhile; before I went to bed each night, I would listen to different sermons on YouTube. I gave that up awhile ago. I found that way too many YouTube (as well as television) preachers neglected to preach the message of the cross. Many preachers (not all) are not seen (or heard) for what they are: wolves in sheep's clothing.

They would preach about prosperity while they get rich on your offerings. Some preach a message of fear; of hell if you don't do everything exactly right. Others preach that the Good News is all about love and if you love enough that will be counted toward your good works and you will earn your way into heaven. After all; don't all good people go to heaven? They preach about doing good works so that we can manipulate God into getting what we want out of life; again, that is usually about prosperity, sometimes fame. They neglect to preach that the Good News is the Kingdom of God purchased for you by the blood of Christ shed for you on the cross.

The message of the cross is foolishness to false prophets and to those with itching ears who listen to them. You will not hear about suffering from these wolves in sheep's clothing. You will only hear about how God wants to give us everything we want in this world. He wants to bless us with riches (gold and silver) today! But, the truth is that God has already given us the greatest gift. He has given us forgiveness through the sacrifice of His only begotten Son. He has made us His children through the sacrifice of Jesus the Christ. We have been made us heirs of His Eternal Kingdom! We have been saved by the power of the cross of Christ. That is the Good News. It's not about money. The Good News is not about personal fame or notoriety or personal power. And, the Good News is not about what we can do for God! It is about what God has already done for us!

Thanks be to God! It is finished! It was finished on the cross. There is no good work that we can add to the sacrifice that Jesus made on the cross for us that will save us from ourselves! Jesus did it all on the cross. But, this message about the cross of Christ will continue to be foolishness to those who look only to themselves. 

Consider the cross of Christ. Through Christ alone you have been saved. There is nothing more that you can do to earn your place in the Kingdom.

One more thing to consider. If you hear a sermon and never hear the name of Jesus in that sermon then it's probably time to find another preacher to listen to really quick.

God's Peace - Pr. J.

Acceptable to the Lord

Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer. (Psalm 19:14 NRSV)

If you have ever heard me preach then you have most likely heard Psalm 19:14 in some translation or version. It is the verse, that we pray, before the sermon at any and almost all of the Worship services that I lead, whether it is Sunday Worship, a funeral, a wedding, or whatever the occasion.

I begin every sermon with this prayer and I end it with a prayer, as well.  You see, I need God's help.  In fact, I need God to speak through me, because I really don't know what it is that He would have me say to all of you.  I don't need to use a lot of words. A lot of words would most probably come out of my own ego and would not be helpful to too many people. But, God can touch each of us with a whole lot less words.   

Just prior to the beginning of each service; I also usually pray something to the effect of:  "Send your Holy Spirit that your people might hear your Word, your will for them, and not mine." I depend upon the Spirit of God to open the ears of each of the hearers so that everyone one might hear God's word, his will for them. His word, his will and not mine.

One of the rules I try to follow in sermon writing is to never talk politics. I cannot even begin to imagine myself endorsing a candidate from the pulpit! I have been asked about this by a few people as there are  some who seem to think that this is the preacher's job.  However, the pulpit is for preaching the Good News of the Kingdom of God.  It is not for promoting a partisan view of the kingdom of this world. In regards to preaching politics, I am confident that it would definitely be my political views that would be expressed and not God's. 

Sharing the Good News of the Kingdom through Jesus Christ is not about pleasing man.  It is about pleasing God. In fact; often, people will not be pleased with the message that pleases the person sitting in the pew next to them.  Sometimes the very same sermon that will bring comfort to one hearer, will bring conviction to another.  That, my friend, is the work of the Holy Spirit.  God knows who is going to be at Worship on any given Sunday and He knows what they need to hear.  And, if they have ears to hear, they will hear just what He wants them to hear.  Thanks be to God!

It always amazes me when people tell me after the sermon that they were so moved when I talked about..... (whatever it was they heard).  I don't tell them that I didn't actually say what they heard. If that's what the Spirit wanted to say to them, if that's what they needed to hear, then so be it.  And... the glory belongs to God!

Help us LORD!  May the words of our mouths and the meditations of our hearts and minds always be pleasing in your sight, O' Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer.

God's Peace - Pastor J.

Be Careful What You Teach

 Not many of you should become teachers, my fellow believers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly. (James 3:1 NIV)

I listen to a lot of other preachers; mostly on the internet before I go to sleep at night. Some of them have been serious reminders that we need to make sure that what we are teaching and preaching can be supported by scripture and I don't mean by cherry-picking which verses we will use because and which ones we're going to ignore.

It is way too easy to wrap our own agendas up with our favorite scriptures that support our own agendas. For instance, love your neighbor as yourself does not mean that we should ignore sin and thereby promote it. Love for your neighbor will call you to share the truth, with gentleness and patience, so that they might repent; turn to God, and be saved. 

There are also those preachers and teachers who are not unlike many of our politicians. They say whatever it is that will profit themselves the most. Begone with the truth if it will make you a buck or buy you a mansion or a new airplane! 

The truth is that we will be held accountable for what we teach and preach. Be careful to diligently study the word so that you might know the truth and not be swayed by the falsehoods of those who pretend to know the word; of those who pretend to love you as their neighbor; but, look only after themselves. 

All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. (2 Tim 3:16-17) 

Scripture is God-breathed. Listen to it! Teach it!

God's Peace - Pr. J

Preach The Word In All Seasons

Monastery at Valaam, Russia

Paul is anticipating his death and so closes this letter to Timothy encouraging him to come quickly to even while he gives Timothy instruction on ministry. "Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage with great patience and careful instruction," he writes. (2 Timothy 4:2 NIV) 

Just as the many deserted Jesus in his last hours, Paul found that many had also deserted him. He warns Timothy to especially watch out for Alexander who did him great harm. There were those and are those today who have and who will turn their ears away from truth and turn aside to myths. They will listen only to what will please their itching ears. They will come up against you for proclaiming the truth. Keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all duties of your ministry. (2 Tim 4:3-4)

It is not easy as one might think to proclaim the message of God in Christ Jesus. There will be many who will want you out of their lives, even dead. They do not want to hear the truth. The Word of God, is after all, a two-edged sword: one edge to stab the conscience; the other to heal the wounded soul. Be aware of those who would attack you for the truth. But, do not worry unduly about them for God is with you and for you. With patience, continue to proclaim the good news to all who would hear.

"The Lord be with your spirit. Grace be with you all." (2 Tim 4:22)

God's Peace - Pr. J

Listen and Learn!

For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope—the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good. Titus 2:11-14

Okay! So, since the grace of God teaches us to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, when are we going to learn? Do not get me wrong. I know a tremendous number of Christians who are truly passionate about live for Jesus. Unfortunately, I also know a tremendous number of people who are more passionate about worldly things and endeavors than about doing what is good and right in and for the Kingdom of God.

Pastors can preach and preach about the grace of God; about the glory of our great God and Savior; but, it does a person no good if they are not willing to listen and learn. It takes more than just sitting in a pew to have a relationship with our Lord and Savior. Our attention needs to be on the Word, who is Jesus the Christ, so that we can get to know him; so that we can truly understand how much our God loves us. He loves us enough to die to redeem us from all wickedness creating in us hearts that are eager to do our Father's will.

The grace of God and the hope of the appearing of his glory should be enough to instill in us a desire to follow in the footsteps of Jesus; offering ourselves for the sake of others. Do not let worldly desires pull you away from experiencing the great grace and love that God has for you.

God's Peace - Pr. J.

Lift The Veil!

And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. For what we preach is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. 2 Cor 4:3-5 NIV

It is sad thing when loved ones cannot see the light of Jesus the Christ; when they cannot catch a glimpse of his glory. I am often asked, "why?" Why can they not hear? Why can they not see? If only they could know the joy that comes with knowing our Lord and Savior! We yearn for our loved ones to know the love of God through Jesus the Christ. Yet, it does not happen. The god of this age; the world, itself, seems to have blinded their minds and we hope and we pray that God would open their eyes, their ears, their hearts, and their minds.

Be persistent in prayer for those who live in darkness and proclaim the gospel that reveals the glory of Christ. I have heard way too many sermons that preach about the preacher's life. That is not to say we cannot talk about the journey that God has brought us on. But, our proclamation can never be about us. It must be about what God has done for us and for you. When we preach about our own works we hide the work of Christ with a veil so that others cannot see the true light who is Jesus the Christ. When we proclaim our own good works; others will see only our egos, which only enshrouds the truth with darkness.

We are not the light; although, the light (hopefully) shines through us as we are the servants of God. Jesus Christ is the light and it is him alone whom we are to proclaim. No one can go to the light if they do not see it. Pray for those who live in darkness and do not hesitate to proclaim the Kingdom of God through Jesus the Christ that the veil might be lifted and all might live in the light and the glory of God.

God's Peace - Pr. J

Smooth Talk And Itching Ears

I urge you, brothers and sisters, to watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned. Keep away from them. For such people are not serving our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. By smooth talk and flattery they deceive the minds of naive people. Everyone has heard about your obedience, so I rejoice because of you; but I want you to be wise about what is good, and innocent about what is evil. Rom 16:17-19 NIV

We've all heard them; those who, with smooth talk, teach and preach a false gospel. It is not any different today than in what it was in St. Paul's day. There is one way to tell if something proclaimed to you is the truth; know the scriptures: read them, study them, and hear them. The message proclaimed to us through the prophets is found in them. The fulfillment is found in them. Do not let your itching ears lead you to believe smooth talkers whose aim is not to glorify God; but their own egos. It is neither wise nor safe to accept any doctrine that cannot be supported by scripture; scripture supports scripture.

Read your Bibles daily and have a blessed day; a blessed life in Christ Jesus.

God's Peace - Pr. J.

P.S. Join us as we hear the Word at worship at Christ Lutheran every Sunday morning at 10 a.m.. However, we do begin our day at 8:45 for Adult Sunday School. We are presently studying the book of Romans. You are welcome to join us!