MIDWEEK ADVENT 3           December 17, 2025         Pastor Timothy J. Spaude

Text: Luke1:67-79 (EHV)

 

GIFTS FOR US TO BRING THE COMING SAVIOR:     A Praising Mouth

 

          “Do you pray with that mouth?” I hope I don’t in any way diminish your respect for the men who have served you as pastors here and elsewhere. As you already know, pastors are just people and like all people are sinners. And young men in college who are studying to become pastors aren’t necessarily spiritually mature when they start their 8 year journey. They come from various backgrounds and live in the same society you do. So, like happens with you, some of society’s sins become part of their lives too. That was true when I started college and I’m sure it is still true today. One of those bad sinful habits of our society that sometimes get picked up by God’s people is what I call a potty mouth. A mouth that spouts the four letter words. A mouth that uses the foulest and most vulgar words to describe body parts and body functions rather than the cleanest ones. And here is the big reveal, the shocker. Some boys hoping to become pastors but not yet pastors, use them too. When I was in school, we had a way of helping each other get better. If someone slipped and said “offensive to God words” someone else would say, “Hey, do you pray with that mouth?”

          That’s a good reminder for all of us. God listens to everything that comes out of our mouths and He cares what comes out of our mouths. He does not want the mouth that He has given us to eat food with enjoyment and to communicate with others used to spout profanities and vulgarities. And in fact, there is something we can do with our mouths that brings joy to Jesus. It can be another gift for us to bring for our Savior. In addition to the two we have already talked about, a trusting heart and a humble spirit, we can bring a praising mouth.

          To learn about that we turn to a veteran pastor, one who should have been spiritually mature but wasn’t. The priest Zechariah. He and his wife Elizabeth had prayed for a child but so far God had said, “Not yet.” One day when Zechariah was serving in the Temple the angel Gabriel appeared to him and said he and Elizabeth would have a child, a special child, the one we know as John the Baptist who would prepare the way for Jesus. Instead of saying, “Wow! Thank you! This is awesome news! I can’t wait to tell my wife,” Zechariah chose to doubt God’s messenger. He used his mouth to express that doubt. To help him learn to trust God, Gabriel told Zechariah he would not be able to speak until his son was born.

          Then, of course, everything happened just as God had announced and once his son was born and following the Lord’s command Zechariah named him John, Zechariah was able to speak again. What would he use his mouth for? To defend himself and his bad decision? To correct all the misunderstandings that had happened between him and Elizabeth up until this time? No, he used it instead, to praise.

 

^“ Blessed is the Lord, the God of Israel, because he has visited us and prepared redemption for his people. ⁶⁹ He has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David, ⁷⁰ just as he said long ago through the mouth of his holy prophets. ⁷¹ He raised up salvation from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us, ⁷  in order to show mercy to our fathers by remembering his holy covenant, ⁷³ the oath which he swore to Abraham our father, ⁷⁴ to grant deliverance to us from the hand of our enemies, so that we are able to serve him without fear, ⁷⁵ in holiness and righteousness before him all our days.

Two things jump out us. Why Zechariah praised and how he praised. Why did Zechariah praise? He knew he had received grace and mercy from God. Two words in the Bible that are very close in meaning but slightly different are mercy and grace. If you have to split them, grace is the love of God that moves Him to give us gifts we don’t deserve and cannot earn. Mercy is the compassion of God that moves Him to free us from the punishment we’ve earned for ourselves. God gave Zechariah mercy when he allowed him to talk again. God gave Zechariah grace by giving him and Elizabeth a child.

 

GIFTS FOR US TO BRING THE COMING SAVIOR:     A Praising Mouth

 

How did Zechariah praise? Praise tells others the great things God has done. Look at all the great things God has done that Zechariah highlights. He praises God for redemption. He praises God for salvation. He praises God for keeping His word. He praises God for His mercy. He praises God for allowing people to live without fear, rather serving God because they want to in righteousness and holiness. Zechariah’s gift to the Christchild? A praising mouth.

Like Zechariah we have received grace and mercy from God. God made Zechariah unable to speak when he used his mouth to doubt God. What has God done to you and me for the times words have come out that should not have? Did God give you your mouth to gossip, to tear others down? Did God give you your mouth so you could talk like and fit in with the unbelievers in our country? Do you pray with mouth? What God gave us is mercy. He has not given us the punishment we have earned. Instead we have received grace, the gift of a Savior and free forgiveness for all our mouth sins and every other one.

That puts us in the same position Zechariah found himself in, able to bring our Savior the gift that he wants. It seems to me that gift giving in our country has changed quite a bit. When you read the stories of what life was like in America in the 1900s, especially at the beginning of that century but still somewhat toward the end, a lot of gift giving was based on needs. Socks and undies were appreciated gifts. A warm coat or new dress also appreciated. We live in more affluent times so many people in our lives truly have everything they need and more. Gift giving shifts to giving something they want. What do you give to the Savior, Jesus, the King of kings and Lord of lords who has everything? Something only you can give. Your praising mouths. If we put our heart into it, every word we say or sing in every worship service is something Jesus wants. It’s coming from a praising mouth. Every “Thank you Jesus,” that we let slip when we recognize God’s help with anything in our lives is a gift from us Jesus wants. Every time we get a chance to tell others of the hope and help we have because of Jesus is a gift that Jesus wants and other people need. Do you praise with that mouth? Absolutely I do, and so do you! Amen.

December 6-8, 2025 Pastor Timothy J. Spaude Text: Matthew 3:1-12 (EHV) “A TALE OF TWO…”

 

ADVENT 2

December 6-8, 2025

Pastor Timothy J. Spaude

Text: Matthew 3:1-12 (EHV)

 

“A TALE OF TWO…”

1.     Sinners.

2.     Servants.

 

Chances are that if you hear the name Charles Dickens this time of year your mind automatically jumps to his book made into musical and movie, “A Christmas Carol.” It probably does not think of another one of his famous books, “A Tale of Two Cities.” And that’s OK because neither of the those books has anything to do with what we need to talk about today other than his book title provides a framework for what we heard in the Gospel lesson from Matthew and what we need to focus on in our Advent worship. It is a tale, a true tale, of two types of sinners and two kinds of servants.

The Church Year season of Advent is designed to help Christians examine themselves to see that they are living their lives prepared for Jesus to Advent. Last week Pastor Langebartels reminded us that Advent comes from the Latin word Advenit meaning “He comes” or “He is coming!” Jesus is. Open your Bibles to the last chapter of the last book, Revelation, and you will see that as the final thought God leaves you with. Jesus is coming soon and what better way to prepare for Him to come the second time as King than to look at how God prepared people for Jesus to come the first time as Savior. And who better to teach us how to be ready than the one God Himself picked to prepare people the first time, John the Baptist. You heard about him in the Gospel lesson.

This was his message: “In those days, John the Baptist appeared, preaching in the wilderness of Judea and saying, 2“Repent, because the kingdom of heaven is near!” And this is who heard it: “Then Jerusalem, all of Judea, and all the region around the Jordan were going out to him. 6They were baptized by him in the Jordan River as they confessed their sins. 7But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for his baptism, he said to them, “You offspring of vipers, who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? 8Therefore produce fruit in keeping with repentance! 9Do not think of saying to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you that God is able to raise up children for Abraham from these stones. 10Already the ax is ready to strike the root of the trees. So every tree that does not produce good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”

There we see it, a tale, a true tale, of two types of sinners who came out to see John. There were sincerely sorrowful sinners and spiritually smug sinners. What were the sincerely sorrowful sinners like? They heard John’s message to repent and knew he was talking to them. Repenting is a peculiar to the Bible term these days. Literally translated it means to have a complete change of mind about sin and what to do with it. Practically speaking it means taking ownership of your sins without minimizing or excusing, feeling shame and remorse over sin, realizing only Jesus fixes sin through forgiveness and the striving to turn away from future sinning. That’s what the sincerely sorrowful sinners did. They confessed, owned their sin and received John’s baptism for the forgiveness of sins. In another Gospel account they asked John what they should do to show their repentance.

How about the spiritually smug? What were they like? John’s words exposed their hearts. They were coming for baptism but they didn’t think they needed forgiveness. They figured they were saved by who they were, offspring of Abraham. John revealed they were really offsping of a viper. A viper is a snake. With these words John revealed that the Pharisees and Sadducees were the offspring of Satan identified in Genesis 3 as those who would be hostile to the offspring of Eve, Jesus. Their repentance was fake, looked good on the outside but rotten on the inside. “We do our duty. We are good with God and God is lucky to have us sticking up for him.” Spiritually smug.

A tale of two sinners, the sincerely sorrowful or the spiritually smug. Which one are you? Now remember this is self-examination time, not think of somebody else time. People like me, who have had the blessing of growing up knowing the grace and goodness of God are at risk. We can become spiritually smug. Here’s the sign, look good on the outside, rotten on the inside. A professional church goer. Show up to do our duty but the rest of the week act like God does not exist. No word time. No prayer time. No thinking of God time. Sing God’s praises in worship, curse like a sailor and tear others down the rest of the week. Confess to being a poor miserable sinner in church but gritch and complain about any injustice we have to face like we deserve good and not punishment from God. And the sins that really bother us are other people’s sins. Not our own. “God I thank Thee that I am not like other people…” The Lord knows. The axe is at the roots. The fire is stoked.

How much better to be the sincerely sorrowful sinner! No prodding needed. The sincerely sorrowful already know. Might put up a bold face in front of others but already know God already knows. Baptism and worship and Communion are never for show. Needed and comforting Good News from God. “You are mine. I have forgiven you. Let’s work on getting you better.” Acts of contrition don’t need to be prescribed. They flow freely from heart that is desperate to show, “I’m thankful, Lord Jesus.” The Gospel lesson presents us with a tale of two sinners. Only one is ready for the Advent of Jesus. Which one am I?

But look again and we also see a tale of two servants. John the Baptist was one of the servants. What was he like? “Yes, this is he of whom this was spoken through the prophet Isaiah: A voice of one crying out in the wilderness, “Prepare the way of the Lord. Make his paths straight.” 4John wore clothing made of camel's hair, with a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey.” John didn’t care much about fitting in with his society. His different clothing, different diet and different place to live made it clear he was one of God’s prophets. He took the attention people gave Him and redirected it where it belonged, on Jesus! “I baptize you with water for repentance. But the one who comes after me is mightier than I. I am not worthy to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 12His winnowing shovel is in his hand, and he will thoroughly clean out his threshing floor. He will gather his wheat into the barn, but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.” Jesus is the second servant. He is the one who did not come to be served but to serve and to give His life as a ransom to pay for the sins of the world. Jesus served perfectly. He obeyed perfectly. He suffered for sin perfectly. He is the Servant.

Now, obviously as we try to see ourselves in God’s word, none of us can be Jesus, the Servant. We can however be like John the Baptist, a servant of the Servant. What jumps out at me about John is how he knew his place and he knew his purpose. John did not try to be more than he was. He did not make everything going on around him about him. It was about Jesus. John was the Forerunner, the preparer of the way. He was not the Way. He knew it and lived it. He knew his place. And he knew his purpose. Point to Jesus. Connect people to Jesus. Uphold Jesus.

You and I can serve this way too. Do you want to show thanks to the Savior who came the first time to win your forgiveness? Know your place. Know your purpose. When we know our place and stop acting or talking like everything is all about us, making ourselves the center of attention, the victim of any injustice, the innocent party in any fractured relationship, people will actually start to listen to us. Then with eyes and ears open we will find opportunities to redirect attention placed on us to put it on Jesus. Inquires about our health, a chance to say, I trust Jesus. Moral question. What do you believe about…? A chance to acknowledge we are a nation of sinners who need Jesus. Servants of the Servant. That’s what John teaches us to be. And as we, like him, keep our eyes on Jesus, not only will we be ready for Jesus to come for us, we’ll help others do the same. Happy Advent! Amen.

November 26-27, 2025 Pastor Timothy J. Spaude Text: Genesis 8:18-22 EHV “GOD’S THANKSGIVING PROCLAMATION: “I KEEP MY PROMISES!”

 

THANKSGIVING

November 26-27, 2025

Pastor Timothy J. Spaude

Text: Genesis 8:18-22 EHV

 

“GOD’S THANKSGIVING PROCLAMATION: “I KEEP MY PROMISES!”    

 

          So, how much of the bulletin do you actually read? There’s this old church saying that if you want to keep something secret, put it in the bulletin. Top secret? Put it in the newsletter! Now I’m not chiding you about your reading habits but I do want to suggest that when you have the chance that you do read this service’s bulletin in full, in in particular the different Thanksgiving proclamations made by our nation’s leaders in the past. The United States is a peculiar nation in many respects. Some good. Some bad. But among the good I would have to list how our early leaders, at least publicly, gave God his due. For instance, from the 1777 Thanksgiving Proclamation made by the Continental Congress:

 

For as much as it is the indispensable Duty of all Men to adore the superintending Providence of Almighty God; to acknowledge with Gratitude their Obligation to him for Benefits received, and to implore such farther Blessings as they stand in Need of:

 

Then from President George Washington in 1789:

 

Whereas it is the duty of all Nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly to implore his protection and favor,

 

And finally from President Abraham Lincoln in 1863:

 

No human counsel hath devised nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy.

 

To me those are some powerful Thanksgiving proclamations. They humbly acknowledge God dependence and every blessing an undeserved gift. But as powerful as those Thanksgiving proclamations are, today we focus on a more powerful, yes, the most powerful proclamation. The one made by God Himself. The one that makes our ongoing Thanksgvings possible. Not every country celebrates a national Thanksgiving Day. We do and its placement in our calendar is not by accident. It comes at a time when across the nation, harvest has happened.

And our harvests only happen because of God’s Thanksgiving Proclamation made many years ago after the great worldwide flood.

 

In the book of Genesis we are told that after Adam and Eve’s fall into sin the people of the world had gotten more and more wicked. So wicked that to preserve the promise of the Savior God did a reboot. A complete worldwide flood. People in the Milwaukee area learned the power of a little flood this past summer. This one was worldwide. All the creatures that needed land or a place to land and all the people of the world died except those on Noah’s ark. Noah and his family, 8 in all, endured the 40 days and 40 nights of downpouring rain (can you imagine?) and existed for a total of 370 days on the ark. Some people like cruises but that is ridiculous and it was no cruise. It was work. 370 days of bringing food to all the animals watching precious resources dwindle. 370 days of mucking out their pens so the smell didn’t get too bad. 370 days when certainly they doubted their own survival despite the promises of God. And then they settled on Mt. Ararat. And then the test birds didn’t come home. And then God said it was safe to come out. And then the first Thanksgiving Day happened!

          “Noah went out with his sons, his wife, and his sons’ wives along with him. ¹⁹Every animal, every creeping thing, every bird, and whatever swarms on the earth went out of the ship, species by species. ²⁰Noah built an altar to the Lord and took from every clean animal and every clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar. “ (Genesis 8:18-20) True or false? “Noah took just two of every animal on to the ark as God commanded.” FALSE! While God had Noah take two of must kinds of animals, He also had Noah take 7 of the “clean” animals, those that could be eaten and sacrificed. In thanksgiving to God Noah sacrificed only the clean animals. Can you imagine the consequences of an accidental sacrifice? “Shem, I said sacrifice the calf not the cat!” Be a different world we’d live in. No lions or tigers, but still Bears. Oh my!

          Noah’s sacrifice of thanksgiving was pleasing to the Lord. But as is always the case, more important than what people do for God is what God does for His people. ^“The Lord smelled the pleasant aroma. The Lord said in his heart, “I will never again curse the soil anymore because of man, for the thoughts he forms in his heart are evil from his youth. Neither will I ever again strike every living thing, as I have done. ²²While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.” (Genesis 8:21-22) Did you pick out God’s powerful proclamation? He made a promise. Until He ends the world on Judgement Day the normal cycles of weather will continue. Day and night. Summer and Winter. Planting and Harvesting Time. Sorry to disappoint all the sci fi and conspiracy fans. Global nuclear winter can’t happen. Deadly meteor strike that makes earth a dead planet. Nope. Not even a zombie apocalypse! Oi! All propositions run smack into the promise of God and fall flat. There is no mother nature or mother earth. There is God and God has made a promise. Planting and harvesting will continue. And God keeps His promises.

          That leads us up to our Thanksgiving. In our country Thanksgiving was carefully planned in an agrarian society to give people a chance, when the hard work was done, to thank God for His provision. For us the people of God in America then each harvest and subsequent Thanksgiving stand as proof. God keeps His promises! Every time harvest happens again, as it does every year, hear the voice of the Lord. “I keep my promises!” Every Thanksgiving we get to celebrate after another harvest, hear God’s voice. “I keep my promises!” Read a little further of the Noah saga and you will find out that every rainbow in the sky you see is another loud visible sign from God “I keep my promises!”

          And how good it is to know this. The Flood happened, the saving of Noah and his family happened because God was keeping His greatest promise, the promise of a Savior from sin. The Savior was promised first in the Garden of Eden and that promise was repeated over and over again in the Old Testament. And then when the time was right God kept that promise. Jesus our Savior was born. Starting next week we will prepare ourselves to celebrate the birth of our Savior Jesus with the Advent season. We will have a Christmas focused on Christ because we have a God who keeps His promises. And because He kept that most important promise of a Savior we have more promises that Thanksgiving proclaims our God will keep. Look outside, the trees look dead, not quite yet, but soon with the cold, the grass will be dead. But then as the seasons endure as God promised He will bring them back to life. All of us have had loved ones die, their earthly life end. We will miss them at our Thanksgiving table. But God keeps His promises. They live, even though they have physically died. We will too and we will be with them again enjoying the heavenly feast that will make our Thanksgiving feasts and gatherings seem pitiful in comparison. How do we know? God keeps His promises.

          Which brings us full circle to our founding fathers and our own Thanksgiving. Enjoy your turkey or whatever you like to eat. These are blessings from God. Watch some football or take a nap if that is what you like to do. But in all things give thanks to God and let this Thanksgiving and all others fill you with confidence and peace for your future because you belong to the God whose Thanksgiving proclamation declares, “I keep my promises!” Amen.

 

November 8-10, 2025 Pastor Timothy J. Spaude Text: Revelation 21:1-6 “HAS GOD GOT A DEAL FOR YOU!”

 

SAINTS TRIUMPHANY

November 8-10, 2025

Pastor Timothy J. Spaude

Text: Revelation 21:1-6

 

“HAS GOD GOT A DEAL FOR YOU!”

 

          Some of you may know I really like getting a good deal. BOGO! Buy One, Get One. Half price apps. Happy hour. 50% off. That’s the kind of language I like to see. Some who get stuck along with me in my desire to get a good deal might think it borders on obsessive but for me it’s pretty simple. It’s a matter of time and money. I am willing to spend extra time researching or traveling if it will save me some money. Oh, and I prefer the label frugal to cheap! I’m pretty sure part of the reason I am this way is my competitive spirit. With no outlet for competitive sports getting a deal feels like a win. Part of it also flows from my desire to please God. I understand very clearly that everything in my care is God’s. He’s letting me use it, manage it, for Him, and so for me it also becomes a matter of Christian stewardship. God deserves to get the best deal on whatever I buy. God should pay only what is necessary for quality items. I also wonder though if the Lord has trained me to be this way. Think about it. From the very beginning to the very end God gives us a deal, a great deal.

          The Bible verses before us today from the end of Revelation proclaim Has God got a deal for you! The book of Revelation is written in a style called apocalyptic. That means the Holy Spirit had the writer make heavy use of visions and symbols to communicate God’s truths. The main truth of Revelation is Jesus wins! No matter what the Devil or the unbelieving world try, Jesus always wins. That means that those with faith in Jesus win too. They triumph. Which is why a reading from Revelation is very fitting for Saints Triumphant Sunday. Saints are people that are declared holy, innocent of their sins because Jesus has taken away their sins. Saints come in two varieties, still fighting saints and triumphant saints. Still fighting saints are those believers who are still stuck living in the sinful world. Triumphant saints are those granted the privilege of life with God in heaven. I, for instance, am a fighting saint. Saint Timothy. Pleased to meet you! You are fighting saints too.  

          Our reading today draws our attention to both kinds of saints. “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, because the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. And the sea no longer Existed. ²And I saw the Holy City, the New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. ³And from the throne I heard a loud voice that said, “Look! God’s dwelling is with people. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them, and he will be their God. ⁴He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain, because the former things have passed away.” The Apostle John draws our attention to the end of the ruined world and the beginning of eternal life in its fullest sense. There is a brand new place for people to live physically, spiritually, emotionally. Jerusalem is used figuratively like it often is in the rest of Scripture. It’s the Church, all believers, the Bride of Christ. Heavenly life is described in two ways. The presence of something and the absence of something.

          We’ll get to the presence part in a bit but for now let’s focus on what is absent from heaven. Tears. Sorrow. Crying. Pain. These are the things of the world we live in. Did you notice the stark difference between the first Scripture lesson from Revelation and the next two? The Hebrews lesson first pointed to some temporary triumphs experienced by Saint Gideon and Saint Samson and Saint David and Saint Samuel. Then it went on. Other saints experience mocking, lashes, chains, sawed in tow, needy, afflicted, mistreated. Jesus, in the Gospel lesson. You are blessed when you are in want, weeping, hated, excluded, insulted and rejected because of your faith in Jesus. I don’t know about you, but that doesn’t sound like a good deal. But the problem is not God. It is sin. Our sin. Other people’s sin. This world is ruined because of it. And so if you are a believer in Jesus still stuck in the sin filled world you will be a still fighting saint. Now I know this can be hard but let’s strive not whine about it, complain about it, or feel sorry for ourselves. Embrace the fight! It’s a sign you are a saint! Saints fight against their sinful nature and its desires. Saints fight against the inroads, the corruption our society is putting into our minds and our children’s minds where God’s rights about sexuality and gender and marriage are called wrong and God’s wrongs are called right. Saints embrace the insult and the exclusion. Saints fight the sinful reaction to retaliate when someone, especially someone you love or who should love you, hurts you. Saints fight the loneliness of your loved ones gone and the hurt of people who don’t value you for you. Let every tear, every sorrow, every crying and every pain be a testimony to you that you are one of God’s saints, a still fighting saint. But then get your chin up. Because the sin broken world won’t last. This life is temporary.

          The next is triumphant. Absent are tears, sorrow, crying and pain. Present is the Lord! ^“And from the throne I heard a loud voice that said, “Look! God’s dwelling is with people. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them, and he will be their God.” This is what God intended all along! Boy, did Adam and Eve get a great deal in the beginning! They lived physically, spiritually emotionally, in a perfect world. A perfect garden where their relationship to each other was perfect. Where they were in complete harmony with the created world, all the plants and animals, where they had meaning and purpose as they enjoyed and carefully tended their perfect place to live we call the Garden of Eden. And best of all, best of all, God was present. He lived with them and they had no guilt, no shame, only love, joy, peace!

          While they lost that true “heaven on earth” through sin, our Lord Jesus has won back our relationship with God by taking our sins away. He has destroyed the power of the Devil so there will be no fear of snakes in the Triumphant life, no chance to fall and reject God’s gracious deal. Our relationship with everyone there will be perfect, no strife, no resentment, no hurt. Does that sound good? In the new heavens and new earth there will be perfect harmony with nature. Those of you who have found joy in pets here, you ain’t seen nothing yet. Meaning and purpose to everything we do whether God has us tending a garden or the mansion he has prepared for us or enthralled in rapture listening to the angel choirs. And God will be there in fullness. We will be with Him! No fear, shame, guilt, doubt to mar our relationship Him. Seeing Jesus face to face. I could go on and on with what it means to be fully in the presence of God trying to paint my best picture which will fall far short of the real glory God has prepared for us.

          Some of us who used to have to wonder exactly what that would be like are not wondering any more. Some of ours who were still fighting saints are having to fight no more, for they have joined the Saints Triumphant.

 

Clarence Osten, Richard Solazo, Melanie Schmidt, Frederic Eckert, James Sabrowsky, Helmuth Rogalla, Kaye Eckert, Maycel Plautz, Helen Tellier, Pearl Holsen, Ralph Engelhardt, and Melvin Schmidt. And one more as we remember those of your loved ones not our members who also fought the good fight of faith and received from Jesus the Crown of life. Theirs is the glory, the joy, the peace, the understanding. They live with God and God with them. And they are waiting for you.

 

          Because God has a deal for you too! “The one who was seated on the throne said to me, “Look, I am making everything new!” He also said, “Write, for these words are trustworthy and true.” ⁶And he said to me: It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To anyone who is thirsty, I will give freely from the spring of the water of life.” Jesus on His throne makes the command that changes everything. It’s all brand new. Jesus, the Alpha and Omega, the A to Z the be all and end all offers a deal. Picture language. Are you thirsty? Do you long for the better life, eternal life? It’s yours. For free! God’s talking my language. Yours too. Has God got a deal for you! Amen.

September 20-22, 2025 Pastor Timothy J. Spaude Text: 1 Timothy 6:6-10, 17-19 “GOD WANTS YOU TO BE RICH!”

 

PENTECOST 15

September 20-22, 2025

Pastor Timothy J. Spaude

Text: 1 Timothy 6:6-10, 17-19

 

“GOD WANTS YOU TO BE RICH!”

 

As part of the second lesson you heard Paul warn, “Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and many foolish and harmful desires, which plunge them into complete destruction and utter ruin.” and so perhaps it surprised you to see the title for today’s sermon, “God wants you to be rich!” Maybe you wondered if I got converted by the prosperity Gospel preachers. If you are unfamiliar with that term prosperity Gospel preachers are false prophets who say that if you live the right way and if you give a full tenth of all your income to God (through the prosperity preacher) then God has to make you wealthy by American standards. You will be rolling in the dough. Now, of course, if that does not happen, it is your fault. You have not given your heart fully to the Lord, shame on you. Next time give me more and God will respond! Shameful false teaching. All of us know plenty of people who are quite wealthy by American standards who live in open defiance of God. All of us know plenty of humble Christians who give even beyond their means and are not wealthy by American standards. As I said, false teaching.

          So how can I look you in the eye and tell you God wants you to be rich? Because it’s true--as long as we are talking the right kind of riches. Let’s start with what does not have to be, but can be, the wrong riches. “But godliness with contentment is great gain. ⁷ For we brought nothing into the world, and we certainly cannot take anything out. ⁸ But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be satisfied.” Some strong words when you live in a country like America. Do you think you could be satisfied if all you had was food and clothing? Pretty tough with what we are used to. Now let’s talk money. Not looking for a show of hands but how many of you bought a lottery ticket when it was up to $1.8 billion? Do you think the two winners were disappointed when they found out they had to share? True confession. I thought about buying one. In my mind I thought about how much good I could do if God put me in charge of that much of His money. I could fund more missionaries in countries where the door to the Gospel appears to be open. I could help all our schools update their campuses. I could help the truly poor and needy. I could support all the wonderful veterans groups. I could buy K 9 officers for every department that wanted one. So much good I could do. Just thinking about that gives me joy again. But then I read about what has happened to most big lottery winners. Most often their lives became no fun. Divorces happened. I don’t want that. You get targeted by scammers. Some have had home invasions. Others have had their children or grandchildren targeted. People come out of the woodwork looking for a reason to sue you. Could I still serve as your pastor? Or would you think I could not relate? Would my money be more important to you than the words of God I point you to? Would you be able to find joy like you do now in generously supporting St. Jacobi’s ministry or would you be led to think, “Let billionaire boy take care it.” Helps us understand the Apostle Paul’s warning. “Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and many foolish and harmful desires, which plunge them into complete destruction and utter ruin. ¹⁰ For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evils. By striving for money, some have wandered away from the faith and have pierced themselves with many pains.” No, there is nothing wrong with money itself. And if the Lord has blessed you with money riches, thank Him for that, because money is not the problem, love of money is. All of us need to watch out for that.

          And still it is true, God does want you to be rich, just rich in the more important blessings. “Instruct those who are rich in this present age not to be arrogant or to put their hope in the uncertainty of riches, but rather in God, who richly supplies us with all things for our enjoyment.” If you visit my wife, Chris’ room over at our school you will find it filled with frogs. Not live ones. Despite growing up on a farm she has become fully citified, which of course, is my fault. She no longer enjoys slimy squirmy creepy crawling things. No, the frogs are inanimate, in all shapes and sizes and in different mediums. Pictures, clay, stuffed, you name it. A good challenge for you students is to see if you can find and count all of them. Not while she’s teaching you though! You might wonder why she has a room full of frogs. It’s what they stand for. Years ago when she had something to deal with a kind soul gave her a frog and told her what it meant. Fully Rely On God. F.R.O.G Every time you look at a frog remember you can always fully rely on God. This is what we want to be rich in. Rich in faith. Rich in trust in God. Living in wealthy country when standards of living are high it is so easy to do the opposite that Paul warned us about. We can become arrogant that our self sufficiency is our own doing. We can gladly proclaim trust in God but really have it in the fact that we have no debt or we have a full savings account. That’s not what we want. What we want is the be rich in faith like Job was when he said, “The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away, may the name of the Lord be praised. And later when he said about the Lord “Though he slay me, yet will I trust in Him!” God wants you to be rich in that kind of faith and He has given us what we need to have it. His word. Faith comes from hearing the message and the message is heard through the word of Christ. There is no limit in how often you can visit the gold mine of God’s word! Go often. Daily devotion and Bible reading. Weekly worship. Rack up the riches of faith.

          Because when our faith account is fully funded so we can get rich in another way. “Instruct them to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and willing to share.”  God wants you to be rich, rich in good works. This is why the riches of faith are so important. When someone has no faith in Jesus nothing he does is pleasing to God. It might be pleasing to people. It may accomplish a lot of earthly good but God has clearly spoken, “Without faith it is impossible to please God.” That means people like us, with faith, can. So let’s get rich, rich in good deeds. Good works are those things God has told us are pleasing to Him. Things we do out of love and thankfulness for what He has done for us. Things like being kind and compassionate. Things like helping those in need, like an elderly neighbor, someone needing a ride. Things like being a friend to all the kids at school. Things like being a faithful dependable worker. Things like being generous and willing to share. Parents, you have enormous influence on helping your kids get rich. You know how? By the questions you ask you are teaching what is important. So if after a game you ask how many points they scored you are teaching them that is what matters and what you care about and what you want to be rich in. If you ask them were they a good sport, did they help the team, listen to the coach, got your homework done, were you nice to someone today, that is what they will want to be rich in. And that is what God wants all of us to be rich in, good deeds.

          See, it is true, God wants you to be rich. He wants me to be rich, but not just for now. Look at what He tells us happens for those who are rich in faith and good deeds. “In this way they are storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life.” Being rich in faith and good deeds is followed by being rich I heaven. What that means exactly God has reserved for Himself. We will have to wait to find out. So, as we’re waiting, might as well spend our time getting rich in the ways that matter to God. Amen.

September 13-15, 2025 Pastor Timothy J. Spaude Text: Luke 15:1-10 (EHV) “JOY TO THE LORD!”

 

PENTECOST 14

September 13-15, 2025

Pastor Timothy J. Spaude

Text: Luke 15:1-10 (EHV)

 

“JOY TO THE LORD!”

1.     This happens when sinners repent.

2.     This happens when I repent.

 

School years have started all over the nation. One concern on the minds of both students and their parents is friends. Students want to have friends. Parents want their children to have good friends. A piece of advice to those who want to have good friends. Be one. Be a good, loyal friend to others and you will attract good friends to yourself. The same thing can be said for joy. Joy is something all people want to have. When it is missing from your life, you know and probably everyone around you does as well. How can I get more joy? Be a joy giver. And today in God’s Word the Lord Jesus reveals to us an astounding truth. People can be a source of joy for the Lord and the holy angels.

          Let’s see how. “Joy to the World” is a Christmas favorite for many Christians. Sometimes we can get so caught up in our joyful singing of it that we forget the words. They tell us there are reasons for all people to rejoice. Verse 1, the Lord is come. Verse 2, the Savior reigns. What are the reasons that bring joy to the Lord? We don’t have to guess. He tells us.

 

Gospel: Luke 15:1-10 (EHV) “All the tax collectors and sinners were coming to Jesus to hear him. ²But the Pharisees and the experts in the law were complaining, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.” ³He told them this parable: ⁴“Which one of you, if you had one hundred sheep and lost one of them, would not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the one that was lost until he finds it? ⁵And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders ⁶and goes home. Then he calls together his friends and his neighbors, telling them, ‘Rejoice with me, because I have found my lost sheep!’ ⁷I tell you, in the same way there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous people who do not need to repent. ⁸“Or what woman who has ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, would not light a lamp, sweep the house, and search carefully until she finds it? ⁹And when she finds it, she calls together her friends and neighbors and says, ‘Rejoice with me, because I have found the lost coin.’ ¹⁰In the same way, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”

 

          Five times joy or a form of it is written in these words of God. But not everyone was joyful and happy. There were some grumpy, angry people, joy stealers that Luke writes about. The Pharisees and experts in the law. What was making them so grumpy? Jesus welcomed repentant sinners. That needs some explanation. What they were really saying is Jesus welcomed people the Pharisees and experts in the law had decided were sinners who should never be forgiven. Likely the targets of their anger were Jewish men who worked at collecting taxes for the Roman government to support their families and perhaps used that position to extort money. No matter how badly they felt about what they had done, the Pharisees said there was no return. Likely this also included mothers who, in order to feed their children, in weakness or desperation, had offered their bodies in prostitution to earn some food money. But once that was found out, there was no coming back. No return to respectability. Until Jesus came along. He turned the false teaching of the Pharisees and teachers of the law on their head. He told God’s truth that He was sent to be Savior for all people, to pay the sins for all people, and that all people who believe in Him, no matter who they have been or what they have done, receive forgiveness for sins in Him. Whoever believes is not condemned. The Pharisees and experts in the law didn’t think God should be happy about that.

          Jesus set them straight with the two parables that everyone could easily relate to. If you own 100 sheep and find one is missing you leave the 99 who are safe where they are and look for the lost one and if you find it, if you get it back, you rejoice. In the same way if you have 10 coins and realize you have lost one you try to find it and if you do, you rejoice! Now it’s not like you stop valuing the ones you have. I still remember wise Dave Hackmann saying when he was still active as principal, “You know a mother is only as happy as her saddest child.” Wise words to guide teachers who need to talk with a Mama Bear and every mama is a mama bear. It’s not that moms don’t care about all their children. Her heart hurts for the hurting one. In the same way the Lord has ongoing joy for every believer who is quietly living their life with faith in Jesus, going to bed every night sadly aware of where they have let their Lord down and waking up every morning happy that His mercy is new, it’s a brand new day with no past and no guilt.

          At the same time when any soul that He died for repents, recognizes their need for a Savior and looks to Him for mercy there is great joy. It brings joy to the Lord when sinners repent. It brings Him no joy when sinners defy Him, say His rights are wrong and His wrongs are right. It brings Him no joy when people march for their right to sin or when our country passes laws that allow sin like it has done with abortion and same sex marriage. It gives him no joy when people think they don’t need Him as Savior. It brings joy to the Lord when sinners repent. That is why Jesus became man, to live perfectly in place of sinners who cannot and to pay the Hell all sinners deserve so that sinners would see His kindness and be enabled to repent. It brought joy to the Lord to do this. It brings joy to the Lord when people see His kindness and repent.

          Does it bring joy to you? Every part of Scripture we turn our hearts toward with the humble prayer to the Holy Spirit to teach us, demands that we see ourselves in the text. The Pharisees were grumpy, angry that forgiveness was granted so freely to tax collectors and prostitutes who were ashamed of their sin and wanted that better way only Jesus could give them. It’s very easy to think that we are not that way. That we will accept every repentant sinner. And we are probably pretty good at that until it hits too close to home. When someone has hurt us or worse, hurt our child, Mama bear? “And they are going to communion?” How easy it is, brothers and sisters, to think that some of us are more deserving of the Lord’s forgiveness than others. How easy we find it to be joyful that someone caught in drug addiction or alcohol abuse or some sexual sin that can grab a hold of your life like tax collecting and prostitution repents…as long as I don’t have to deal with them, forgetting how we would want to be treated if it were us! This does not bring joy to the Lord. Repentance does.

          And not just other people’s repentance. Our repentance. That’s thing about repentance. It’s personal, isn’t it? I can’t repent for you, and you can’t repent for me and just so we are clear what this means here are four signs that I am repentant the way God proclaims repentance. 1. I own my sin without making excuses. “I have sinned against you O Lord.” 2. I am ashamed of my sin. No laughing. No minimizing offending our holy God. 3. Knowing God is merciful and gracious I trust the forgiveness Jesus won for me. “Thank you, Jesus!” 4. And in thankfulness to Jesus, I want to do better. I want to be done with whatever sin I got caught up in. This is why Jesus lived for us. This is why Jesus died for us. This is why Jesus lives for us. So we can live each day a life of repentance. And it does not matter what you have done. In every age and every society there will be sins that some people say make you irredeemable, tax collectors, prostitutes, certain sexual sins, the drug addict or alcoholic. And it may be true that some of those ongoing sins irretrievably ruin relationships with people. They don’t with God. Jesus makes that so. No matter how far we have fallen or whatever we have gotten caught up in we can always run back to God and find forgiveness. This brings joy to the Lord! Amen.

 

August 23-25, 2025 Pastor Timothy J. Spaude Text: Luke 13:22-30 “JESUS GIVES AN URGENT WARNING TO WATCH YOUR WAIT!”

 

PENTECOST

August 23-25, 2025

Pastor Timothy J. Spaude

Text: Luke 13:22-30

 

“JESUS GIVES AN URGENT WARNING TO WATCH YOUR WAIT!”

 

          There are many things that people find uncomfortable about an annual visit to the doctor for a check up. Most I would prefer not to mention. There is one that we can that is common for many people. It’s when the nurse asks you to step on the scale. You see the scales don’t lie. And you know how it goes. You step on. You watch the numbers. They go up 80, 85, 86. Hey! I’d doing pretty good. Until the nurse announces 86 kilograms. Would you like to see that in pounds? Nope. I’m going to hear it. A reminder to watch my weight.

          Our Lord Jesus does not care so much how about how many pounds we weigh, or kilograms for that matter. But He does want us to watch our wait, our wait for His return at the end of our earthly lives or at the end of the world. That came out very clearly in the Gospel lesson from Luke chapter 13 that was read a few minutes ago. Jesus was about His work as Savior. At this time that meant teaching as many as he could. Along the way as Jesus traveled to Jerusalem, this happened. “Someone said to him, “Lord, are only a few going to be saved?” As our country has secularized, religious conversations don’t happen organically as often as they used to. When they do, they are normally the same. I call it majoring in the minors. They are discussions about morality. If it gets to the afterlife the discussions often revolve around questions out there. What will heaven be like? What age will we be? What will we look like? Will we recognize everyone? This man who questioned Jesus was no different. He wanted to talk about other people. How many would be in heaven?

          Jesus made it personal. “Strive to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able.” I had a foreman I worked for who if you asked him what time it was would always answer. “Ten to.” “Ten to what?” someone would normally say. “Tend to your business,” was the put you in your place response. Don’t worry about when the work day ended. Do your work. Jesus answer to the man who asked him is much the same. Don’t concern yourself with how many will be saved, concern yourself over whether you will be saved. And here we need to pause because Jesus’ answer may confuse some. The Bible clearly says that we are saved through faith in Jesus because of God’s grace and it does not have anything to do with our works. Jesus tells us to strive, that is work, to enter the door to heaven. Another translation of this passage says, “Make every effort to enter through the narrow door.” Sure sounds to me like we are doing the work.

          This is something I can better show you than tell you. (I will pick a child from the congregation. I will give them a $10. I will then ask whether this child earned that money. I will point out that I picked the child and I gave the money. Then I will tell the child to hold on tightly to that money. I will make the comparison that saving faith is the same thing. God chose us. God gave us the gift. Jesus is saying hold on tightly to that gift. That is something we can do.)

          Now it makes sense. Jesus is urgently reminding us to watch our wait. To do what He has given us the power to do and hold on to our faith in Him. Elsewhere Jesus told us He and only He is the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Him. He told us He is the gate to heaven. Any who try to enter any other way will find the gates to heaven shut. “Once the master of the house gets up and shuts the door, you will begin to stand outside and knock on the door, saying, ‘Lord, open for us!’ He will tell you in reply, ‘I don’t know you or where you come from.’ ²⁶Then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets.’ ²⁷And he will say, ‘I don’t know where you come from. Depart from me, all you evildoers.’ ²⁸There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth when you see Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but you yourselves thrown outside.”

          Many who were in the crowds that Jesus was teaching had the wrong idea about how they were going to get to heaven. Some thought it would be by their race. If they had the blood of Abraham, Isaac or Jacob in them they would go to heaven. In another similar teaching Jesus told the people that they would say, “Lord in your name we prophesied and cast out demons and did miracles.” But to them Jesus would say, “Away from me. I never knew you.” Why? They were trusting what they had done for Jesus rather than what Jesus had done for them.

          What is it that people can trust in today? Similar things to in Jesus’ time. It’s not quite the same as salvation by race but similar. My parents were religious. I belong to a church. I know who Jesus is. Many today think their good deeds will get them to heaven. Good deeds without faith in Jesus are meaningless. Without faith it is impossible to please God. For those who rely on themselves instead of Jesus will hear “I don’t know you or where you come from.”

          But that takes us full circle to Jesus’ answer to the man who wanted to talk about heaven in generalities. He said, “Strive to enter through the narrow door.” Jesus is the narrow door. Faith in Jesus is what matters. God so loved the world that He have is only begotten Son that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life. The question needs to be personal. Jesus reminds us to watch our wait for Him to come back and the question that matters is, “Am I striving, am I making every effort to hold on to my God given faith in Jesus?

          The man who asked the question of Jesus had to look Jesus in the eye when he answered. This word of God forces the issue. Can I look Jesus in the eye and honestly say I am striving, I am making every effort to hold on to the faith the Holy Spirit gave me? Faith comes from hearing the message and the message is heard through the word of Christ. My doctor concerned about my weight is going to talk about diet, what I’m eating. As a pastor I am a doctor of souls. To be faithful to my Lord Jesus I have to be concerned about your wait. So let’s talk diet. How often is your faith eating? The bare minimum is weekly worship. Best is weekly worship combined with daily devotion or Bible reading. Let’s talk minimums. I was gone from public worship for vacation 3 times this summer. Had to settle for online. Did some of you really have two and half months of vacation? Are you watching your wait? Can you look Jesus in the eye and say you are striving? When Jesus said,” Some are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last.” He was talking about people who received the gift of faith and did not take care of it and so lost it. The first became last. While some who received the gift of faith later but cherished it would die with faith and become first. Now don’t misunderstand me. It’s not the going to church that gets you to heaven. Jesus does. But feeding your faith through word and sacrament keeps your connection to Jesus strong and vibrant, enabling you to endure life’s storms and trials, joys and disappointments with God’s strength. It makes the wait easier, more enjoyable.

          Are you watching your wait? Recently a sister and brother entered through the narrow gate. Helen Tellier. Weekly worship as long as she possibly could for 106 years. She kept coming even when she could not hear, following along with the printed word. That’s striving. That’s making every effort. Ralph Engelhardt. Weekly worship and serving you the people of St. Jacobi as an officer, Sandy faithfully bring him to the Trustees and Council meeting just a week before he entered through that narrow door of Jesus. Those are good examples for the rest of us. And, if we could talk to them right now you know what they would tell us? The wait is worth it. Amen.