December 27/28, 2009 Christmas 1
Pastor Paul G. Eckert
Sermon text - Hebrews 2:10-18
10 In bringing many sons to glory, it was fitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists, should make the author of their salvation perfect through suffering. 11 Both the one who makes men holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers. 12 He says, "I will declare your name to my brothers; in the presence of the congregation I will sing your praises." 13 And again, "I will put my trust in him." And again he says, "Here am I, and the children God has given me." 14 Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death - that is, the devil - 15 and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death. 16 For surely it is not angels he helps, but Abraham’s descendants. 17 For this reason he had to be made like his brothers in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people. 18 Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.
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Jacob became Esau. Or did he? Do you remember this Old Testament account starting with Genesis chapter 25? I’ll try to summarize it. You might want to read all of it in your Bible at home.
Jacob and Esau were the twin sons of Isaac and Rebekah. Abraham was Isaac’s father and their grandfather. Esau was the first of the two to be born. At that time special birthright benefits went with being the firstborn. But Esau despised that one day when he was older and hungry, and traded with his slightly younger brother the birthright for a special meal - what foolishness on his part.
But now the problem. How was Jacob going to get his father Isaac, who did not know about the trade, to give him the special birthright blessing? Isaac still would think of Esau first. Aha, here is where deception came in. For this deception, Jacob had the help of his mother Rebekah. They took advantage of the fact that father Isaac was old now and his eyesight was not good. So Jacob and his mother took various measures to trick the father into thinking that Jacob was Esau. In a way, then, we could say that Jacob became Esau, and in this way, by deception, Jacob received the blessing.
The results? For Jacob much trouble. His brother became his enemy. Jacob had to flee to get away from him. God, however, was in control and used what had happened for His good purposes, leading up to the birth in Bethlehem which we just celebrated.
Jacob became Esau? In a deceiving sense yes. But actually no. Now let’s look at the birth in Bethlehem and see something that was actual. What we have just celebrated in Christmas is no deception whatsoever. In a very real sense we can say:
THE SON OF GOD BECAME ONE OF US
I THE MIRACLE OF THIS (10,14a,17a)
1. God’s plan was for our glory (10a)
In bringing many sons to glory, ---.
a) what does sin call for, sin like deceiving, cheating, lying?
b) God wanted glory for us; but the wages of sin is not glory
2. For that someone had to suffer and die (10)
In bringing many sons to glory, it was fitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists, should make the author of their salvation perfect through suffering.
a) the wages of sin is suffering, not glory; death, not glory
b) the problem is that our suffering and dying cannot pay for sin,
our suffering and dying can do nothing but lead us to the
deserved penalty of hell; yet suffering and dying were prices
that had to be paid; if someone was going to author salvation,
write an account whose last chapter was glory, there would
have to be a suffering and death that could actually pay for sin
3. That is why God’s Son became incarnate (14a,17a)
Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity ---. For this reason he had to be made like his brothers in every way, ---.
a) could a person without a Green Bay Packers uniform on, go
into the game and be a valid substitute? No
b) so also if Jesus was going to substitute for a world of human
beings He had to have the flesh and blood uniform of a human
being, He had to be able to compete as one of us, He had to be
able to suffer and able to pay the wages of sin in our place
4. This incarnation we have just celebrated
a) no, Jacob did not really become Esau
b) but here is the miracle: Jesus did really become one of us;
Jesus was born of the virgin Mary and took on Himself our
flesh and blood, flesh and blood that could suffer and die
c) what have we just celebrated - an ordinary baby? by no
means; our Christmas observances celebrated the miracle of
God’s eternal Son becoming one of us to bring us to glory
II THE REASON FOR THIS (14-16,17b)
1. There was a terrible power over us (14)
Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death - that is, the devil ---.
a) God has not yet revealed to us all details about what happened
to His perfect creation; but we do know that God created
angels who also were perfect, that in their free will at that time
some rebelled against God, that they were rejected, that their
leader the devil then tried to get Adam and Eve to join him and
his crew, and that he succeeded in doing that
b) we also know that by the fall into sin all of the descendants of
Adam and Eve, by having the devil as their leader, have a
leader who has brought us all under the control of death and
removed any hope of glory by anything we could do
2. From this we needed freedom (14b-16)
--- so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death - that is, the devil - and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death. For surely it is not angels he helps, but Abraham’s descendants.
a) the good angels, confirmed in their bliss, did not need help
b) people like you and me, human beings, we needed the help
3. Jesus was able to help, to make atonement (17b)
--- that he might make atonement for the sins of the people.
a) how could Jesus do this when we say nobody else can?
b) it is because Jesus was and is God’s Son; while all you and I
could do would be to bring an IOU to God, He was able to
bring a perfect payment that could satisfy God’s justice
4. This is what we really have been celebrating
a) if all you saw in Christmas was parties and gifts and some time
off, then you didn’t see what a true Christmas celebrates
b) if all you saw in a manger was a baby who was an ordinary
baby, then you had no reason to rejoice over that baby
c) but when you in faith have seen the Son of God incarnate,
the Son of God who became one of us, then you did celebrate
Christmas with real meaning and with real joy
III THE RESULTS OF THIS (11-14,17-18)
1. Jesus’ atonement makes us holy (11a)
Both the one who makes men holy and those who are made holy are of the same family.
a) Jesus’ perfect life covers our imperfect lives, Jesus’ innocent
death canceled out our deserved eternal separation from God
b) marvel at this: what Jesus did makes us holy in God’s sight
2. Jesus wasn’t and isn’t ashamed of us (11-13)
Both the one who makes men holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers. He says, "I will declare your name to my brothers;
in the presence of the congregation I will sing your praises."
And again, "I will put my trust in him." And again he says,
"Here am I, and the children God has given me."
a) this is amazing! we still are sinners by nature, yet Jesus as our
brother sees us as members of His family
b) in our weakness we still fall into sins by omission and
commission, by word and deed and thought, and Jesus looks at
us and says He is not ashamed of us - amazing! what grace!
3. He continues to intercede for us and help us (17-18)
For this reason he had to be made like his brothers in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people. Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.
a) we are tempted; He was too; He can understand and help us
b) and when we fall into sin Jesus is there for us before God’s
throne, successfully pleading our case because He made
atonement for our sins, all of them - what mercy and grace!
4. Don’t put any of these truths away after Christmas
a) put away your trees, put away all of the Christmas
decorations, go back to your normal routine of life
b) but never stop marveling at the truth that THE SON OF
GOD BECAME ONE OF US to be our Savior
c) the results of this give joy and peace in our hearts every day,
and promise us the sure hope of glory in heaven one day
Jacob could not become Esau, though he tried. We cannot become holy people with our efforts or money, no matter how much we try.
But because THE SON OF GOD BECAME ONE OF US, because with His perfect life and innocent atoning death He paid for our sins to forgive us and victoriously defeated death to be our Resurrection and Life, because of all of this He has made us holy in God’s sight, members of His family. He, the author of our salvation, has written our names in the book of life, with the last chapter being glory for us with Him. That’s what we really celebrated in Christmas.
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　

Sermon for Sunday December 20th, 2009

Luke 1:39-45
Our Hearts Leap With Joy!
I. Jesus is in our midst
II. The Lord has done what he promised!
In the name of Jesus, our Savior and King, dear fellow redeemed children of God;
There is a picture hanging in our living room from the wedding we had in our family last summer. The pictures were taken by a fountain where the photographer encouraged everyone in the wedding party, which included all of our children, to jump up in the air all at once. The photographer did a great jump because she caught everyone right at the top of their leap- some even kicking up their heels. It was a happy day. When we look at that picture, while we might not do any of the “Toyota” leaps in the air, it does make our hearts leap for joy. Leaping for joy - that’s our theme for today as we gather on this Sunday before Christmas. Today in God’s Word we hear about a baby who jumped for joy in his mothers’ womb when Jesus came into the room still in Mary’s womb. Jesus and all he has done for us make our hearts leap for joy I. Because Jesus is in our midst and II. The Lord has done what he promised for us.
In the verses just before our text, the angel Gabriel had given the virgin Mary some very unexpected but happy news. The angel told Mary, “Don’t be afraid, you have found favor with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son and you are to give him the name Jesus.” The angel went on to Mary’s amazement, “He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High.” Mary was going to have a baby, even though she was a virgin, and the child she would bear would be the Son of God.
The angel assured Mary that nothing is impossible with God. The angel also added the astounding news that Mary’s relative Elizabeth was also pregnant even though she was no past the time when she would normally have children. Elizabeth of course was the mother of John the Baptist.
To all of this spectacular news Mary replies, “I am the Lord’s servant. May it be to me as you have said.” After the angel left Mary, the Bible tells us, “Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judah, where she entered Zechariah’s home and greeted Elizabeth.” Mary made the trip from Nazareth to the hill country of Judah to compare notes with Elizabeth who the angel had also said was going to give birth to miracle baby.
Mary wasn’t going to Elizabeth’s house to express doubt or skepticism like, “you know the strangest thing happened to me the other day.” No Mary went to the house of Elizabeth to share her joy and excitement that the Lord was going to fulfill the promises he made in the Old Testament- that he would sent the Messiah, the long awaited Savior. Mary stayed at the home of Elizabeth and Zechariah for about three months. During this time she may have cared for Elizabeth who was in the later stages of her pregnancy.
We’re told that “When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting the baby leaped in her womb and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. In a loud voice she exclaimed, “Blessed are you among woman and blessed is the child you will bear. But why am I so favored that the mother of my Lord should come to me?” We see the power of the Holy Spirit at work in both Elizabeth and the baby John the Baptist. By a miracle of the Holy Spirit, the unborn person John the Baptist leaps with joy when the God man, the Savior comes into the room still in his mother’s womb.
We can also see the power of the Holy Spirit at work in Elizabeth. God’s word tells us that she was filled with the Holy Spirit and the Bible says, “No one can say Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit.” The Holy Spirit enabled her to identify Mary as the mother of her Savior and to confess Jesus as the promised Messiah, even before Mary has a chance to explain what the angel had told her.
God’s word tells us that John the Baptist leaped for joy in the presence of Jesus. Jesus is present with us everywhere that we go. Do we always leap for joy in the presence of the Savior? When we’ve asked Jesus to come and be our guest at the dinner table do we ever sink to saying hurtful things to our family. When we’ve asked Jesus to walk with us have we even gotten down into the gutter of listening to or telling dirty jokes? Do we ask Jesus to ride along with us in the car and then listen casually to songs with lyrics that might peel the paint off the wall? These and all our many sins make us blush with shame and stain our pillows with tears of sorrow. We all must say with Paul, “What a wretched man I am.” We could all say with St. Peter, “Go away from me Lord for I am a sinful man.”
But that’s not what Jesus does. He came into this world as the Savior so that we could be with him in heaven. He became flesh to bless the whole world. Elizabeth tells Mary, “Blessed are you and blessed is the child you will bear.” Mary and the whole world would be blessed through the baby who was laid in Bethlehem’s manger. When Jesus died on the cross, the full and free forgiveness of sins was offered to everyone through faith in Christ Jesus. Jesus brings countless blessings to us through what he did on Christmas, Good Friday and Easter and all the days in between. Now this one who pours down blessings upon us directs our lives for us.
Our hearts can leap for joy because Jesus is with us as we sit down to eat and pray, “Come Lord Jesus be our guest….” Jesus is there with his blessings and shares the happy times with us and our families. Jesus is there as we feel hurt, frustrated and lonely. Yes, we have many reasons to leap for joy because Jesus is in our midst.
Elizabeth asked, “Why am I so favored that the mother of my Lord should come to me? “ Certainly we too when we look at everything the Lord has done for us have to ask, “Why am I so favored?” God’s undeserved love is the only answer to that question. In his grace God promised that he was going to send a Savior. By God’s grace he fulfilled all of these promises. This gives us our second reason to leap for joy. God has done what he promised.
“Blessed are you among women and blessed is she who has believed that what the Lord has said to her will be accomplished.” Here the Bible highlights for us the faith God had given to Mary. Here is a young girl, pregnant not by a human father but by the Holy Spirit. I am sure she faced many jeers from unbelieving neighbors and friends, not to mention what her fiancée Joseph might say. Human reason must have screamed in her ear, “This can’t be happening to me.” Still Mary put her faith in the simple words and promises of God. By faith Mary recognized that she would bear the Savior promised to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. “The mighty one has done great things for me. Holy is his name….He has helped his servant Israel remembering to be merciful to Abraham and his descendants forever, even as he said to our fathers.”
The words of Elizabeth, “Blessed is she who has believed that what the Lord has said to her will be accomplished” really apply to each one of us. All of us are certainly blessed when by the power of the Holy Spirit we believe the words and promises of God. We are blessed because Jesus has brought us peace with God and we can look forward to an eternity of peace with God. We are blessed when we believe the words of our Old testament lesson for today that out of Bethlehem- that little town- would come one will be ruler over Israel whose origins are from of old from ancient times who will stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the Lord.” We are blessed as we put our trust in the Good Shepherd who in all things works for the good of those who love him.
The other day I listened to a talk show about what not to get your spouse for Christmas. They offered some helpful advice like, “Husbands don’t get your wife a power washer or chain saw. Their hearts probably will not leap for joy. How do you think your loved ones will react when they open your gifts? As we look again at the pages of God’s word, how will you react when you open the gift the Savior brought for you? Let’s let our hearts leap for joy as we hear the good news. Let’s hurry like the shepherds to Bethlehem and see these things which the Lord has told us about. Then let us return from our Christmas services glorifying and praising God for all the things we have seen and heard which were just as they had been told.” Amen.

Third Wednesday in Advent
December 16, 2009
Pastor Paul G. Eckert
Text: Haggai 2:1-9
THE LORD BRINGS PEACE
THAT SHAKES THE HEAVENS AND EARTH
I THIS IS A PEACE THAT INVOLVED:
WAITING AND WORKING
II THIS IS A PEACE THAT INVOLVED:
SHAKING AND GATHERING
III THIS IS A PEACE THAT INVOLVED:
FULFILLMENT AND GLORY
Haggae 2:1-9
1 On the twenty-first day of the seventh month, the word of the LORD came through the prophet Haggai: 2 "Speak to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, to Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and to the remnant of the people. Ask them, 3 ‘Who of you is left who saw this house in its former glory? How does it look to you now? Does it not seem to you like nothing? 4 But now be strong, O Zerubbabel,’ declares the LORD. ‘Be strong, O Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest. Be strong, all you people of the land,’ declares the LORD, ‘and work. For I am with you,’ declares the LORD Almighty. 5 ‘This is what I covenanted with you when you came out of Egypt. And my Spirit remains among you. Do not fear.’
6 "This is what the LORD Almighty says: ‘In a little while I will once more shake the heavens and the earth, the sea and the dry land. 7 I will shake all nations, and the desired of all nations will come, and I will fill this house with glory,’ says the LORD Almighty. 8 ‘The silver is mine and the gold is mine,’ declares the LORD Almighty. 9 ‘The glory of this present house will be greater than the glory of the former house,’ says the LORD Almighty. ‘And in this place I will grant peace,’ declares the LORD Almighty."
　
I am going to read the sermon introduction I had planned to use last Wednesday, one week ago. This is it:
"I might not have been here to conduct this service. Could have died - am getting older. Or Judgment Day could have come - but then none of us would be here, would we. The actual reason is something unexpected that came up: I was called for jury duty this week Monday and Tuesday. That meant waiting to see if I would be finished yesterday or not. So wait I did. Thankfully Pastor Spaude said he would be ready to exchange with me and step in if my duty continued."
As it turned out Pastor Spaude and I had to exchange Wednesdays because my jury duty went beyond Monday and Tuesday of last week and extended through Monday of this week. Believe me when I say I am happy that it didn’t go still longer. So waiting obviously was involved.
We are now in the season of Advent. We had to wait for that to come too. And now our text also speaks of waiting, waiting for the Lord to accomplish and bring something. Our theme is
THE LORD BRINGS PEACE
THAT SHAKES THE HEAVENS AND EARTH
I THIS IS A PEACE THAT INVOLVED:
WAITING AND WORKING (1-4,8)
1. The historical setting (1-2)
On the twenty-first day of the seventh month, the word of the LORD came through the prophet Haggai: "Speak to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, to Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and to the remnant of the people."
a) Judah had been captured by the Babylonians, the temple was
destroyed, people taken into captivity in Babylon; perhaps you
remember from that time about Daniel in the lion’s den, the
three men in the fiery furnace, Queen Esther
b) after 70 years of captivity, as God foretold, Persia took over
Babylon and permitted a remnant of the Jewish people to
return to Israel to rebuild what had been destroyed
2. The temple
a) a new foundation had been put in, but that was all so far
b) encouragement was needed to keep on building, to restore
the temple, not just their houses as we heard last Wednesday
3. Here a comparison was brought up (2-3)
"Speak to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, to Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and to the remnant of the people. Ask them, ‘Who of you is left who saw this house in its former glory? How does it look to you now? Does it not seem to you like nothing?’"
a) Solomon’s temple was in the past; it had been glorious,
loaded with silver and gold and the best of everything
b) now back from captivity, how could anything they build come
even close to comparing with that original? - it couldn’t!
4. They, while waiting, were to work (4,8)
"‘But now be strong, O Zerubbabel,’ declares the LORD. ‘Be strong, O Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest. Be strong, all you people of the land,’ declares the LORD, ‘and work. For I am with you,’ declares the LORD Almighty.’"
a) don’t stop doing what the Lord wants you to accomplish, just
as you and I are not to stop doing the Lord’s will today
b) work, and the Lord promised to be with them and to provide
"‘The silver is mine and the gold is mine,’ declares the LORD Almighty.’"
c) He would enable them, be with them as they waited for the
real meaning behind all of this: the bringing of peace
II THIS IS A PEACE THAT INVOLVED:
SHAKING AND GATHERING (5-7)
1. Shaking - coming out of Egypt (5)
"‘This is what I covenanted with you when you came out of Egypt. And my Spirit remains among you. Do not fear.’"
a) remember all of the construction, shaking of the ground, for
the work on Forest Home Ave.?
b) can’t compare with the 10 plagues God threw at Egypt to
deliver His people, the crossing of the Red Sea, providing
for them for 40 years in the desert - all of this to keep His
promise of a Savior from the line of Abraham, a Savior who
would be born in a place called Bethlehem
2. Shaking through history (6-7a)
"This is what the LORD Almighty says: ‘In a little while I will once more shake the heavens and the earth, the sea and the dry land. I will shake all nations, ---.’"
a) God did that shaking through Greece (remember Alexander
the Great?) to bring a common language in which God would
record His New Testament Scriptures; God did that through
Rome, establishing a world peace that would speed the spread
of the Gospel everywhere
b) God continued to do that through Babylon and Persia; and He
still rules the world today for His good purposes
3. This was for gathering the desired of all nations (7ab)
"‘I will shake all nations, and the desired of all nations will come, ---.’"
a) was this "desired" Jesus? surely should be for us; but Jesus
was rejected by nations, not desired even by His own nation
b) rather "desired" (plural verb) refers to gathering of God’s
people, His desired from all nations, including us in Wisconsin
4. Here is glory (7)
"‘I will shake all nations, and the desired of all nations will come, and I will fill this house with glory,’ says the LORD Almighty.’" a) God had promised a Savior not for just one nation but for all
b) do you remember how Simeon recognized this when he held
the baby Jesus in His arms in the temple? - "My eyes have seen your salvation - a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel."
c) and think of the Wise men from the East who also saw God’s
promises fulfilled and brought their thank offerings of gold and
incense and myrrh to be put into the Savior’s service
III THIS IS A PEACE THAT INVOLVED:
FULFILLMENT AND GLORY (8-9)
1. The glory is not outwardness (8)
"‘The silver is mine and the gold is mine,’ declares the LORD Almighty.’"
a) Solomon’s temple had to be tremendous with gold and silver
b) here too God provided; but that was not the glory
2. There is a far greater glory (9a)
"‘The glory of this present house will be greater than the glory of the former house, ---’"
a) real glory of the temple was not seen in how it looked
b) even as our church’s real glory was not and is not found in
our old church, our school gym for services, or present church
3. It is in what comes out from there (9)
"‘The glory of this present house will be greater than the glory of the former house,’ says the LORD Almighty. ‘And in this place I will grant peace,’ declares the LORD Almighty."
a) what is beauty of our church? it is the message of God’s
promises fulfilled, the Gospel message of peace through Jesus
b) so it was with the real meaning of the temple where sacrifices
pointed to the Lamb of God, to Jesus’ fulfillment and peace
4. Rejoice in this message of peace (9)
"‘The glory of this present house will be greater than the glory of the former house,’ says the LORD Almighty. ‘And in this place I will grant peace,’ declares the LORD Almighty."
a) peace: Jesus came, lived, died, arose
b) peace to sinners: no condemnation, past forgiven and
forgotten by God, heaven’s door open; like Simeon we can
depart in peace
c) a person often hears of earth-shattering news, but here is
hell-shattering news: Jesus slammed shut hell’s door for all
believers and opened heaven’s door wide: Peace
God grant that this peace, this glory of God, will continue to shine brightly in this temple or church of ours this Advent and Christmas season and always as we celebrate Jesus who came to be our Savior. May the closing words of our text always apply here: "‘And in this place I will grant peace,’ declares the LORD Almighty."
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　

MIDWEEK ADVENT 3
December 9, 2009
Pastor Timothy J. Spaude
Text: Haggai 2:15-19

“THE LORD BRINGS UNDESERVED BLESSINGS.
1. Give careful thought to your past.
2. Give careful thought to your future.

Haggai 2:15-19 (NIV) " 'Now give careful thought to this from this day on —consider how things were before one stone was laid on another in the LORD's temple. 16 When anyone came to a heap of twenty measures, there were only ten. When anyone went to a wine vat to draw fifty measures, there were only twenty. 17 I struck all the work of your hands with blight, mildew and hail, yet you did not turn to me,' declares the LORD. 18 'From this day on, from this twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, give careful thought to the day when the foundation of the LORD's temple was laid. Give careful thought: 19 Is there yet any seed left in the barn? Until now, the vine and the fig tree, the pomegranate and the olive tree have not borne fruit. " 'From this day on I will bless you.' "

This Advent season we have been following the theme of God’s Construction project on Forest Home. We have made comparisons between that road construction project and the works that God does in our hearts. We have followed the work God did in the hearts of His people at the time of the prophet Haggai to see parallels in our lives. Today those comparisons continue. Let’s go back to the road construction project on Forest Home Ave. Let’s think about what life was like before, during and after the project. Do you remember what it was like before the resurfacing project? Do you remember dodging the potholes, wondering why the county didn’t fix them sooner? Do you remember following the weave of traffic dodging those potholes and wincing when you hit one? Before the project life was not good travelling on Forest Home. How about during? That was uncomfortable, right? Which lane is open? Barrel dodging. Traffic back ups. Now how about after? Smooth sailing.
God’s construction projects on the hearts of His people are similar. The Word of God spoken by Haggai had the people of God looking at their life before during and after God’s construction project in their lives. We start with before. 'Now give careful thought to this from this day on —consider how things were before one stone was laid on another in the LORD's temple. 16 When anyone came to a heap of twenty measures, there were only ten. When anyone went to a wine vat to draw fifty measures, there were only twenty. 17 I struck all the work of your hands with blight, mildew and hail, yet you did not turn to me,' declares the LORD.” God’s people were urged to carefully think about life before God worked on their hearts. If you remember their spiritual apathy showed in their failure to follow through on God’s command to rebuild the Temple. They took care of themselves first or so they thought. They actually hurt themselves. Their crops dwindled. Their supplies didn’t last. They experienced what many must of thought was bad luck. They should have thought harder. There is no luck. There is God and He was not happy with their disobedience. Those consequences they were experiencing was God’s chastening hand calling them to repentance. They were like a road filled with potholes.
During God’s construction project on their hearts is sure sounds like life was uncomfortable. Doing all that work with nothing to show. Exasperation over events out of their control. Frustration that there was not enough money to go around.
But how about after? What would life be like after the people repented? 'From this day on, from this twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, give careful thought to the day when the foundation of the LORD's temple was laid. Give careful thought: 19 Is there yet any seed left in the barn? Until now, the vine and the fig tree, the pomegranate and the olive tree have not borne fruit. " 'From this day on I will bless you.' " See how God gave them hope and a future. Because of His great love He would not hold their past sins against them. They would not be labeled disobedient all their life. He would forgive them, wipe their sins away as far as the east is from the west. He would bless them again. Like a nice smooth road to drive on their lives were going to get smoother. God’s construction project on their hearts would work.
Now how about us? We can apply these words to our nation, our congregation, each one of us personally. When you hear how God chastened these people for their disobedience, their failure to treat God as God and put Him first you can’t help but wonder if the same God is acting the same way with the same kind of people. Purses with holes? No amount of money was enough. Events out of their control that made all their work for themselves really amount to nothing. We have retirement accounts that shriveled, jobs disappear, global markets affecting local markets. While only God Himself can say whether or not these are His chastening of us or our country you do have to stop and ask, “Lord, is it I?” Are you trying to wake me up? Have I been lethargic, apathetic toward you and don’t realize it? Am I being disobedient? There are many things God seems to put up with in the lives of His people but second place in our hearts is not one of them. Give careful thought to your ways, says the Lord. Give careful thought to your past. A life full of potholes may be a call to repentance.
And as was true during the construction project on Forest Home and during the work God did on the hearts of His people at the time of Haggai, so also for us. Undergoing God’s chastening is uncomfortable.
But the neat part is how God acts and His ultimate goal. It’s to bless us. He urges us to give careful thought to your future. The people at the time of Haggai did not deserve God’s blessing. They were defiled by their sin. Still God was willing to bless them, to treat them as if their shameful past had never happened. Same God. Same kind of people. No matter what your past, what skeletons are hiding in your closet with the Lord there is forgiveness. Give careful thought to your future and plan on it being a future with the Lord in it. Return to Him in repentance whenever you disobey and then strive to obey out of love and thankfulness to a God who is willing to bless people who are defiled by sin.
You know it is nice to have the construction project on Forest Home over or nearly so. It’s nice to have the smooth road to drive on. But we know that if the world lasts long enough, sooner or later, they’ll have to do it again. The man across the street from us has lived through 3 projects on Forest Home. You wish they could come up with a way to just be done for good. God’s construction project on our hearts is one that is ongoing. We need Him to keep us on the straight and narrow. But a time is coming when He will never have to do that again. It’s when Jesus comes for us personally at the time of our death or collectively at the end of the world. In the spirit of Advent then we say, “Come Lord Jesus. Amen.

ADVENT 2
December 6, 2009
Pastor Timothy J. Spaude
Text: Luke 3:1-6

REPENTANCE: IT DOES A BODY GOOD!"
1. Repentance gets us ready to celebrate Christmas.
2. Repentance gets us ready to enjoy eternal life.

Luke 3:1-6 "In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar--when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, Herod tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip tetrarch of Iturea and Traconitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene-- {2} during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the desert. {3} He went into all the country around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. {4} As is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet: "A voice of one calling in the desert, 'Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him. {5} Every valley shall be filled in, every mountain and hill made low. The crooked roads shall become straight, the rough ways smooth. {6} And all mankind will see God's salvation.'"

Over a hundred years ago a famous theologian wrote. "Take away the aroused conscience and you might as well turn churches into dance halls." What he meant was this: If people aren't aware or don't care about their failure to keep God's commands and if people don't understand that even one sin brings condemnation and makes a person deserving of the punishment of Hell then the message of Christian churches faithful to Jesus will no longer seem relevant. Christian churches will no longer be used and so you might as well turn them into something people will use like a dance hall.
What that theologian said many years ago about Christian churches we could also say about Christmas, couldn't we? Take away the aroused conscience and you might as well turn the celebration of Christmas into a beer bash. For if people aren't bothered by their failure to obey God perfectly and aren't troubled by the knowledge that sin brings God's punishment how can the birth of God's Son in Bethlehem have any significance? Jesus was born to save people from their sins, but if people no longer want saving from their sins the birth of Jesus is meaningless. What about you? How’s your Christmas shaping up? Are you getting excited to celebrate the birth of your Savior? Or do you just see a lot more work? There’s a way that we can be ready and stay excited for Christmas. While as Wisconsinites we know that milk does a body good, as Christians we know that repentance does a body good.
When God wanted to prepare His people to welcome Jesus the first time He came, He sent a man named John the Baptist. “He went into all the country around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.” John’s message was one of repentance. What does that word mean to you? I think even the youngest ones here know repentance is more than saying, “Sorry,” when you are forced to.
Luke quoted us from the prophet Isaiah who foretold John’s message of repentance. “A voice of one calling in the desert, 'Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him. {5} Every valley shall be filled in, every mountain and hill made low. The crooked roads shall become straight, the rough ways smooth. {6} And all mankind will see God's salvation.'" Isaiah pictured repentance like a road building project. Now we just happened to have one of those in front of Jacobi this summer. Most of you got to see it happen in bits and pieces. Because of where we live my family and I got to see a lot of it. Actually it was kind of an interesting process. First they used a machine that scraped up and chewed up the old asphalt throwing it into a dump truck to be taken away. Then a machine came and pounded the concrete underlay, smashing the bad parts that were then scooped up and taken away. Then those low parts were filled in with good concrete and finally the overlay of asphalt making everything smooth and level for our cars.
That’s a good picture of what repentance is like for believers. First comes the machine of God’s law. When we actually listen to it and apply it to ourselves instead of other people, it scrapes away sins we have become calloused to, sins that are acceptable to society but not to God. Sins like trashing God’s name with the phrase “Oh my…” Sins like murdering others with hurtful words. Sins like drunkenness and underage drinking. Sins like neglecting God’s word and worship. When those are scraped away God’s law pounds away at the real problem, our rotten hearts filled with that dominant attitude of “It’s all about me. What’s in it for me. I only care if it affects me.” When believers experience this they scoop all that bad away with contrition, that attitude of sorrow, humility and shame over disappointing our God…again. Then in comes the Gospel, God’s good news that fills in our hearts with God’s love and forgiveness and puts on us the overlay of Jesus’ righteousness. It turns us into people who want to do their best, look their best, talk their best for Jesus.
That’s what repentance is and it does a body good! It gets us ready to celebrate Christmas. If there is one overriding emotion that is supposed to mark the Christmas season it is joy, right? Think of the carols! “Joy to the World.” “Now Sing we now Rejoice.” Even the secular carols, “Tis the season to be jolly, fa la la la la la la la la.” Do you have joy looking forward to and preparing for Christmas? If not, why not? When God sent John the Baptist his job was to prepare people to greet their Savior. His message to those people was repent, to prepare the way for the Savior through repentance. This takes place in the heart. What’s your heart set on this Christmas? Looking good? Best dressed? Impressing the neighbors with your display? Fulfilling your children’s wants? Getting what you want? Staying out of debt? That’s a lot of work and a lot of stress. Repent. Prepare the way for your Lord in your heart. Admit to your sinfulness then focus your eyes on your Savior. We can pass along all the e-mails we want about keeping Christ in Christmas and saying Merry Christmas instead of Happy Holidays but that’s awfully meaningless if we the people of God don’t actually keep Christ in Christmas. And that won’t happen unless Christ is in our hearts. Then the activities we choose to do or not do, the plans we make, the priorities we establish will declare that Christmas is about Christ. Repent. Admit to the many times you willing went down the path of sin. See that if God really treated you as your sins deserve you would be jobless, penniless, homeless, and hopeless. Then see why that’s not true. See why you have physical blessings and hope for every problem in life. A Savior was born. Christ the Lord. Repentance it does a body good. It gets us ready to celebrate true Christmas.
And it gets us ready to enjoy eternity. Eternity is why we have a Christmas. God could not bear the thought of people, His beloved Creation, separated from Him in Hell so He sent a Savior. The work of the Savior was not to fix all the problems on earth but to provide the way to heaven. Jesus did that with His perfect live and His sacrifice to pay for sin. He did that for everyone. Those who believe in Jesus as their Savior receive the blessing of forgiveness applied to them. Now maybe we see why the Devil works so hard to get consciences calloused. Now we see why he doesn’t want people aware of their sins. If I have no sins, I need no Savior. If sin can be explained away as normal and no big deal, if I can earn my presents by being nice, not naughty, why do I need a Savior? Of what importance is Jesus to me?
Brothers and sisters, when we start to let sins that are acceptable and no big deal to society become acceptable and no big deal to us we are playing into the Devil’s hands. We need aroused consciences that are painfully aware of sin so we constantly see our need for Jesus as Savior and value Him. Repentance. It does a body good. So repentance is ongoing, we teach ourselves the 10 Commandments and their meaning so we can see our sin and need for a Savior. That order for personal preparation for Communion is another way to help us see our need for a Savior. Then Jesus means everything to us. We see He is our only way to heaven. We are ready to enjoy eternity. For whoever believes will be saved.
In our Children’s lesson I asked the kids about some things that were important enough to do daily. You heard their answers. Now add to theirs, God’s. Repentance for it does a body good. Practice it daily and you will be ready to celebrate Christ with Christ as the focus. Practice it daily and you’ll always be ready for heaven. Amen.

THANKSGIVING
November 25/26, 2009
Pastor Timothy J. Spaude
Text: Hebrews 13:15-16

“NOW THANK WE ALL OUR GOD!”
1. With hearts.
2. With hands.
3. With voices.

Hebrews 13:15-16 (NIV) “Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that confess his name. 16And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.”

“Now Thank We All Our God” has been a Thanksgiving favorite and standard in Christian churches for almost 500 years. There are conflicting stories, however, as to its origin, when it was composed and sung and under what circumstances. We do know it was composed by Martin Rinkart who was a pastor in the German city of Eilenberg. One story is that it was composed and sung during the Thirty Years War. Now that war was Europe wide. It lasted from 1618-1648 and included conflicts between countries or Europe, ruling houses of Europe and the religions of Europe. Eilenberg, Germany was particularly hard hit. It was in the midst of a German civil war and at the same time invaded by the Swedes and Austrians. Besides all the deaths from war a horrible plague hit the city in that time. So we have war, plague and poverty and a hymn, “Now Thank We All Our God.” The other story about the origin of this hymn is that it was composed and sung when the terms of the Peace of Westphalia were announced. The Peace of Westphalia marked the end of the Thirty Years War. No more war. The plague was over and better times were on the horizon and so a hymn, “Now Thank We All Our God.” That kind of sums it up, doesn’t it? For Christians, whether things are outward good or outwardly bad, we all get to thank our God. So how has your year been? What’s the future looking like? Outwardly good or outwardly bad? Still we get to thank our God.
Why would we do that? I believe some words of the Psalm we used today will help us. You probably recognized them from the “Thank You” prayer many Christians use at meal times. We say, “Oh give thanks unto the Lord (this is the why part) for He is good and His mercy endures forever.” Here brothers and sisters, is why we always get to thank the Lord. We know He is good! Whether our circumstances seem to be good or bad, hard or easy, we know God is being good to us. Even if we can’t see it He is working for our good. But it goes beyond that. His mercy endures forever. God’s mercy is that “I can’t help but love you love and don’t want to treat you as your sins deserve so I give you my Son Jesus,” love. It endures or lasts forever. Not only do we live this lifetime in a constant state of not being treated as our sins deserve but we will live forever that way in heaven. So we give thanks to the Lord.
How? Well the hymn and our text tell us. With hearts and hands and voices. Let’s spend a few minutes now coming up with some practical ways to do just that. How do with thank God with our hearts? In the concluding verses of the Letter to the Hebrews the writer wrote, “Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that confess his name. 16And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.” At the time the letter to the Hebrews was written Jewish Christians were experiencing difficult times, much hard than Jews who had rejected Jesus did. They were tempted to return to life without Jesus, with ongoing Old Testament worship. One of the themes of Hebrews was helping the Christians back then see how Jesus was superior High Priest to any Old Testament High Priest. The High Priest’s job was to serve as a go between for God and His people for when they brought prayers and sacrifices. Here the writer encourages the Christians to bring the kind of sacrifices God wanted through Jesus.
And that helps us see how to thank God with our hearts. The writer encourages us to bring them. He doesn’t force us. You see to thank God with our hearts we need hearts that are willing. Probably every parent has experienced the uncomfortable and all too common occurrence when someone gives a gift to your child and there is no response and you have to say, “Now say, “Thank you.” That’s uncomfortable because it had to be compelled, cajoled, out of the child. So too God does not want empty and forced thank you’s. Like every parent He is delighted by a willing heart. What if I don’t have a willing heart? What if I’m not getting what I want? Then, brothers and sisters, repentance is in order. Give thanks to the Lord for He is good. Rebuke your own heart. Humble yourself before God. He will lift you up so you can thank Him with a heart that is willing.
Then thank God with hands that are busy. ”And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.” All of us can thank our God with hands that are busy doing good and sharing with others. Have you actually ever stopped to think about ways to do that? Maybe when you are showering or riding in the car you can think about ways to do good. Kids, what good can you do? Has your life devolved into simply being served? Have you thought about your parents who make sacrifices to taxi you to all the places you want to go? Can you thank God with your hands by using them to help your parents to make their lives a little easier? Can you think of some ways to serve other people? Could your hands do good by holding the door for a senior? Could they wave to someone who looks sad? Could they be folded while you pray for someone else? Adults, you know we are not shy about looking for hands to thank God by doing good here. We provide all kinds of volunteer opportunities. Are there some other ways you can think of? Do you have a neighbor you could help out? Is someone at work struggling and you could mentor them a little bit? Is there a volunteer opportunity in the community that might also give you a chance to share the Savior with someone who has no church? Share with others. That’s what our food drive, Almoners Fund, coats for St. Peters are for. Sharing. There are many others, too, away from church. These are all ways to thank God with hands that are busy. And don’t forget the most obvious. The most meaningful way to thank the Lord is willing obedience to His commands. Daily, humble, willing obedience to God’s commands. With such sacrifices God is pleased. Now thank we all our God with hearts, with hands.
And with voices. Back to Hebrews. “Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that confess his name.” With voices we can all thank our God. Obviously that’s why you came today, right? So you can thank God by singing to Him with your voice, by praying to Him with your voice. Let’s continue the thanksgiving with our voices when we leave here in the way the writer to the Hebrews encourages with lips that confess His name. In our school when there are pep rallies a class cheer that helps determine which class gets the Spirit award goes like this: the leader asks “Are you proud to be a Raider?” And then the class yells back “Yes we are!” Can we do a similar thing? Could we come up with a way of declaring we are proud to be Christians? Yes, we can. When we publicly worship the Lord it is a way of telling others we are proud to be Christians. When we hold on to our faith and declare our commitment to trust the Lord even or especially when the going gets tough in our lives we are telling others we are proud to be Christians. It’s a sacrifice of praise when we deliberately give credit to the Lord for blessings in our lives. Now thank we all our God with hearts, with hands and voices.
Let’s try to put all of those together now as we rise and sing again the last verse of 610, holding our hymnals in our hands, singing the words with our voices, letting it come from our hearts!

November 29/30, 2009 sermon on Luke 21:20-36

First Sunday in Advent
November 29/30, 2009
Pastor Paul G. Eckert
Text: Luke 21:20-36
COMING COMING COMING
I Coming - A Reminder Of The Past
II Coming - A Pointer To The Future
III Coming - A Warning For The Present
Luke 21:20-36
20 "When you see Jerusalem being surrounded by armies, you will know that its desolation is near. 21 Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, let those in the city get out, and let those in the country not enter the city. 22 For this is the time of punishment in fulfillment of all that has been written. 23 How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers! There will be great distress in the land and wrath against this people. 24 They will fall by the sword and will be taken as prisoners to all the nations. Jerusalem will be trampled on by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.
25 "There will be signs in the sun, moon and stars. On the earth, nations will be in anguish and perplexity at the roaring and tossing of the sea. 26 Men will faint from terror, apprehensive of what is coming on the world, for the heavenly bodies will be shaken. 27 At that time they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. 28 When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near."
29 He told them this parable: "Look at the fig tree and all the trees. 30 When they sprout leaves, you can see for yourselves and know that summer is near. 31 Even so, when you see these things happening, you know that the kingdom of God is near.
32 "I tell you the truth, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened. 33 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.
34 "Be careful, or your hearts will be weighed down with dissipation, drunkenness and the anxieties of life, and that day will close on you unexpectedly like a trap. 35 For it will come upon all those who live on the face of the whole earth. 36 Be always on the watch, and pray that you may be able to escape all that is about to happen, and that you may be able to stand before the Son of Man."

+ + + + + + +

An auctioneer might say, "Going once, Going twice, Going three times - Gone." With regard to Thanksgiving Day last Thursday we can say "Gone." But now we have come into the season of the church year called Advent which means coming. So, instead of three times saying "Going, Going, Going" like an auctioneer, let us - thinking of the past, the future, and the present - say:

COMING, COMING, COMING
I COMING - A REMINDER OF THE PAST (20-24)
1. Jesus spoke of Jerusalem’s coming judgment (20-21)
"When you see Jerusalem being surrounded by armies, you will know that its desolation is near. Th en let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, let those in the city get out, and let those in the country not enter the city."
a) the Jewish people had been waiting for a political ruler, one
who would kick out Rome and make Jerusalem again a leading
capital city of their nation as a great power
b) instead Jesus foretold that something quite different was
coming for Jerusalem: a destruction so terrible that Jesus
warned people to get away and stay away when they saw that
armies were surrounding Jerusalem
2. The coming of the true Messiah also had been foretold
a) OT Scripture in the past said that the Savior would come to
proclaim the kingdom of God and to bring peace; but that was
not a political peace, not a restoration of Jerusalem and the
nation of Israel to be a leading and glorious nation in the world
b) instead it was a peace that was established between God and
all sinners because God was in Christ, the Messiah, to reconcile
the world to Himself; a peace because of Jesus’ innocent death
that paid for the sins of the world, because of His resurrection
victory to be the resurrection and life of all who believe in Him
3. For Jerusalem the foretold coming was fulfilled (22-24)
"For this is the time of punishment in fulfillment of all that has been written. How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers! There will be great distress in the land and wrath against this people. They will fall by the sword and will be taken as prisoners to all the nations. Jerusalem will be trampled on by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled."
a) what Jesus here foretold was coming did come less than
40 years after Jesus spoke these terrible warning words
b) I said terrible: Roman armies besieged the city and conditions
inside became more than terrible, as also Flavius Josephus, a
historian of the time, wrote in his lengthy history book entitled
"The Great Roman-Jewish War: A.D. 66-70"; 1,100,000 Jews
were killed and 97,000 were carried away as captive slaves; the
temple was desecrated and destroyed, and after a siege of 134
days the whole city was leveled, a destruction of Jerusalem that
Jesus had foretold as coming, a destruction that did come
4. The coming of the Messiah also was fulfilled
a) all of God’s Word is truth; Jerusalem isn’t the only proof b) Christ did come, exactly as foretold; Christ did die because
God so loved the world that He wanted us forgiven; Christ
did arise so that we might live in the heavenly Jerusalem
which will never be besieged or taken away from us
c) in this Advent or coming season leading up to Christmas, let us celebrate again Christ’s first coming with grateful hearts
II COMING - A POINTER TO THE FUTURE (25-28,32-33)
1. The coming end of more than a city was foretold (25-26a) "There will be signs in the sun, moon and stars. On the earth, nations will be in anguish and perplexity at the roaring and tossing of the sea. Men will faint from terror, apprehensive of what is coming on the world, ---."
a) God foretold a universal flood and gave 120 years of warning
b) here Jesus foretold not an end with a restart of this earth, as
at the flood, but a final end, when Judgment Day will arrive
2. Here there would be signs (26b-27)
a) at the time of Noah and the flood the sign was the construction
of a massive ark and animals gathering; at the time of
Jerusalem’s destruction in the year 70 A.D. the sign was seeing
the Roman armies massing to besiege the city
b) for the coming of the final day there will be signs in the
heavens just before Jesus returns, as Jesus says, " --- for the heavenly bodies will be shaken. At that time they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory."; and
before that there will be increasing wars and rumors of wars
and famines and earthquakes and religious deception and
delusions getting worse and worse - you can read more about
that in Matthew 24 and the book of Revelation
3. Let there be no doubt about this (32-33)
"I tell you the truth, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away."
a) the flood came, the Christ came, Jerusalem was destroyed
b) in the same way everything else God foretells will take place,
including the continuation of the Jewish race, heaven and earth
passing away, judgment coming, because God’s Word is truth
4. That means also no doubt about redemption (28)
"When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near."
a) what fear there will be for those who have rejected Jesus
b) in Advent we believers celebrate the Jesus who removes fear
c) the future is coming; we’ll see Jesus; look forward to hearing
Him say, "Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take
your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the
creation of the world."
III COMING - A WARNING FOR THE PRESENT (29-31,34-36)
1. What is coming brings also a warning for now (29-31)
He told them this parable: "Look at the fig tree and all the trees. When they sprout leaves, you can see for yourselves and know that summer is near. Even so, when you see these things happening, you know that the kingdom of God is near."
a) seasonal changes warn you that right now winter is coming
b) so be warned by world conditions that the end is coming; will
you prepare for winter but not be prepared for that?
2. Remember that you can stand before Jesus (36)
"Be always on the watch, and pray that you may be able to escape all that is about to happen, and that you may be able to stand before the Son of Man."
a) while you can be prepared for winter with a winter jacket, you
can’t be prepared and stand before Jesus with your own feeble
efforts to cover you, with your own ideas of how to be saved
b) the only way is what Jesus did, clothing us with His blood and
righteousness to cover our sinfulness and to give us peace
3. Don’t lose out on this (34-35)
"Be careful, or your hearts will be weighed down with dissipation, drunkenness and the anxieties of life, and that day will close on you unexpectedly like a trap. For it will come upon all those who live on the face of the whole earth."
a) what is the trap, like a spider web, that is waiting for us,
hoping to catch us so that we will have terror in our hearts
instead of joy on Judgment Day?
b) is it dissipation - not being temperate or self-controlled, but
wrongfully indulging in sinful things; is it drunkenness - again
not making proper use of God’s gifts but abusing them, putting
what we want ahead of what God wants; is it the anxieties of
life - so many things to worry about instead of seeking first the
kingdom of God and trusting that He will keep His promises to
His people? - any and all of these can be our spider webs to
trap us, to keep us from eternal joy
4. Instead be able to give thanks (36)
"Be always on the watch, and pray that you may be able to escape all that is about to happen, and that you may be able to stand before the Son of Man."
a) watch - don’t be lazy, stay away from hearing God’s Word,
neglect the Lord’s invitation to His Supper, have time for
everything except for your Savior God who wants you in
heaven one day; pray - stay in contact with God with the
wonderful privilege of prayer, asking for His guidance and help
b) He has given us the way to escape; it is deliverance from devil,
sin, and death, so that we can stand not fall, on Judgment Day
c) for that let our thanks not be one day, like Thanksgiving Day
last week, but daily thanks to the God of our salvation
Now let’s sum up our three "Comings." Some coming we talked about is a part of the past already, namely the first coming of Jesus and the destruction of Jerusalem. Another coming will be in the future, and that will be Judgment Day. And for the present God’s warnings are still coming to us so that we do not turn away from our Savior.
May we never hear "Going, going, going - gone" when it comes to God’s gift of salvation. Instead remember: Coming, Coming, Coming is our Savior’s promised glory.

November 22/23, 2009

Pastor Richard Waldschmidt
John 18:33-37
"JESUS IS THE KING IT’S ALL ABOUT!"
I. The King Handed Over By His Own People.
II. The King Who Came To Testify To The Truth.
In the name of Jesus, the King of Love, dear fellow redeemed,
Remember the song Hokey Pokey? “You put your right hand in, you put your right hand out you put your right hand in and you shake it all about. You do the hokey-pokey and you turn yourself about. That’s what it’s all about!” I saw a bumper sticker this week that asked the question, “What if the hokey pokey is what it is all about?” That’s a silly question about a silly song. But some people live their lives as though meaningless stuff is what life is all about. Do you remember the words of Solomon as he talked about life without God? “Meaningless, meaningless,” says the teacher.”
Today in God’s Word we get a look into the courtroom where the one who gives life meaning is on trial. Many didn’t see him as the king that day but by faith you see the king who gives life meaning there. As we have gone through the church year we’ve seen him on the pages of Scripture. He was born just as God promised in Bethlehem. We saw him nailed to a cross and buried in a tomb. We thrilled to hear the news of Easter that he did not stay dead but rose again. We heard about his ascension into heaven and his promise to return. We’ve had a chance to review his promises. On this Christ the King Sunday we wrap up the church year reminding ourselves that Jesus really is the King it is all about! I. The King Handed Over By His Own People. II. The King Who Came To Testify To The Truth.
If you had been come upon the scene in front of Pilate’s palace that morning, it would have been very difficult to see the king. Even Pilate, the one who was supposed to be judging the situation, was confused. "Pilate then went back inside the palace, summoned Jesus and asked him, "Are you the king of the Jews?" Jesus wasn’t sitting on a throne. He was bloody and beaten. He was bound and standing where prisoners stand. But that is because Jesus “did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing taking the very nature of a servant and became obedient to death even death on a cross.” Jesus is the King it is all about!
Jesus was always extending invitations for people to know about Him and put their faith in Him. Jesus’ returned Pilate’s question with another question. Jesus’ question was an invitation to learn more about the true King. “Is that your own idea," Jesus asked, "or did others talk to you about me?" In his response Pilate marvels that Jesus was turned over by his own people and he scoffs at the idea that Jesus could mean anything to him. "Am I a Jew?" Pilate replied. "It was your people and your chief priests who handed you over to me. What is it you have done?" Pilate seems to have known that Jesus was no threat to Roman national security. He most likely had seen the horror on the faces of the people when their own people were stretched out on a cross on that hill outside of town. It seems he couldn’t resist asking this Jewish rabbi what he had done to make his countrymen so anger that they handed him over with the demand that he be tortured to death on a cross.
Yesterday morning while the deer hunters were out in the north country, it seems the deer were in my back yard eating apples. They felt safe there. If you have seen them in wild you know how cautious they are- carefully watching before they take every step. Pilate is a little cautious like that on Good Friday morning. Standing before him were the Jewish religious leaders pretending to be a great friend to Caesar when they really could not stand the Roman government. Even though Jesus had made clear on many occasions that he had no interest in setting up a kingdom here on earth, they accused him of being a rebel, a threat to Caesar’s throne. Pilate seemed to know something wasn’t quite right as he pokes around a little.
Jesus the King is not afraid to say the wrong thing. He makes clear that what He is about is bigger than Pilate or even the Roman empire. The fact that some of the leaders of his own people handed him over to Pilate instead of making him an earthly kingdom did not signal the end of God’s plan. Jesus had told his disciples before what God’s plan was. “We are going up to Jerusalem and the son of man will be betrayed to the chief priests and teachers of the law. They will turn him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified. On the third day he will be raised to life!” Jesus knew that God had woven the sinful actions of these so called religious leaders into his plan.
Jesus said, "My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jews. But now my kingdom is from another place." "You are a king, then!" said Pilate. Pilate was right Jesus was a king! But fighting people to establish a kingdom here on earth was not what he had in mind. Remember he said, “I lay down my life of my own accord. No one takes it from me.” Jesus was not interested in setting up or keeping an earthly kingdom. If He were, as Jesus pointed out, you would have seen legions of angels flashing through the night sky in Gethsemane to guard Jesus and keep Him from being arrested.
Jesus wasn’t against the Romans or the Pharisees that day but he was fighting a battle-a battle for the most part hidden from Pilate’s human eyes. It was not a revolt or coup or land grab with forces building up on both sides. There were no soldiers lining up to defend the honor of their king, rather here was the King fighting for His people. Here was a battle for hearts and souls as Jesus the King went into battle against the devil.
It was true in more than one way that Jesus’ own people turned him over to be crucified. Judas betrayed him. The chief priests and teachers of the law turned him over to Pilate. Many people in the crowd shouted for Jesus to be killed. They all turned him over but we did too.
This king died to pay for the sins of his own people. God punished him for the things we did wrong. The Bible says, “He was crushed for our iniquities and by his wounds we are healed.” Satan tricked us into betraying Jesus. In our sinful foolishness we listened to the devil time and time again. We turned him over. But Jesus the King turned the tables on the devil. He redeemed sinners. He saved His people. He saved you and me. Jesus is the king it’s all about.
A mechanic has his tools, a baseball player his ball and bat. What kind of tools does a king use? Well, I quess would be he would use a sword in battle. But Jesus told Peter to put his sword away. He would use another kind of weapon to set up His Kingdom. "Jesus answered, "You are right in saying I am a king. In fact, for this reason I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me." Jesus, the King of all, uses truth as His weapon. The truth says that without Jesus we are all doomed to suffer eternal punishment in hell without Jesus. "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." That by the way is a truth that people in our world do not want to hear. The truth says that Jesus paid for the sins of the whole world on the cross. "He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world." The truth says that it is by God given faith that Jesus’ payment benefits you and me and makes us children of God and servants in God’s Kingdom. "It is by grace you have been saved through faith and this not from yourselves it is a gift of God, not by works so that no one can boast." The truth says that because of Jesus we are going to live in the mansions of our King in heaven when we die that are "out of this world." Yes, Jesus is the King it’s all about.
How can we show that in our lives? Well, this week while we spend a whole bunch of time and energy racing around this week to feed our ourselves and our families, (which in and of itself is not a bad thing) let’s put some time and energy into looking through God’s Word to feed our faith. When we hit the stores for shopping let’s remember the reason we give gifts in the first place. Remember what the King gave to us. In this world of pain and sadness, let’s try not to worry, because our King says that he loves us and protects us like a shepherd watches over his sheep. Since Jesus is what it is all about when it comes to heaven and hell, let’s talk about Jesus. If we know someone who is putting their hope and dreams in silly stuff, let’s point people to Jesus as the way to heaven. Let’s comfort souls who are afraid of hell with the good news of what our king has done for them.
As Americans it is hard for us to imagine having a king. We might even think of a king as a bad thing. There was quite a bit of backlash last week when President Obama bowed to the emperor of Japan. Some said, "we Americans never bow." But Jesus is a good king. While we might rightly say we don't bow to an earthly king, we gladly bow to Jesus. He loves us. Remember the passage, "therefore God exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow...." Jesus is the King it’s all about. Amen.

SAINTS TRIUMPHANT
November 15/16, 2009
Pastor Timothy J. Spaude
Text: John 5:25-29

“TRIUMPHANT SAINTS…”
1. Hear and live.
2. Live and LIVE!

John 5:25-29 (NIV) “I tell you the truth, a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live. 26For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son to have life in himself. 27And he has given him authority to judge because he is the Son of Man.
28"Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice 29and come out—those who have done good will rise to live, and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned.”

If you start a little ways north on Forest Home Avenue, around 68th St., you will see a church. It’s called St. Johns. As you come south on Forest Home you will see us, St. Jacobi, the German name for St. James. If you keep going on Forest Home and shift on to Janesville Rd and go about a mile you will go past another WELS church, St. Pauls. All of these churches remind you of a time when Christians named their churches after the saints. Perhaps as you sang hymn 552, our opening hymn, your eyes caught the names of other saints in the 25 verses we didn’t sing. Those are just few of them. Did you know there are many more? There is, for instance, a St. Paul serving us on the organ bench today. St. Richard served us with our Bible readings. You see a saint, is not just a name for a believer who has died. Saints are those whom God has made holy, declared holy, through the blood of His Son Jesus Christ. Today as we celebrate Saints Triumphant God’s Word helps us see that through faith in Jesus we are Triumphant saints.
Now it didn’t look like Jesus was triumphing when He spoke the words of our text. Jesus had healed a man on the Sabbath Day and the Pharisees were opposing Him. They were questioning His authority to do anything. Jesus told them His authority came from God the Father. Jesus pointed out He had the authority to do a whole lot more than heal a man. Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live. 26For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son to have life in himself. 27And he has given him authority to judge because he is the Son of Man.”
What does Jesus mean? While we know Jesus had the power to raise the physically dead to life and used it, that’s not what He meant. Jesus was talking about His power to bring the spiritually dead to live. His power lay in His voice, His word. Surrounding Jesus were spiritually dead people, trapped by their sin, trapped by their inability to please God with righteous living. Jesus gave them life. He removed despair by forgiving sins and they lived. People who thought they had no hope with God lived and lived for God. They were triumphant saints. Maybe you think of St. Matthew who heard Jesus’ voice and left tax collecting to follow Jesus. Or St. Zacchaeus who heard Jesus’ voice and lived by paying back more than he had stolen. Maybe you think of the other sainted tax collectors or women who were trapped in prostitution or caught in adultery who heard Jesus’ voice and lived. He forgave them their sins and gave them both motivation and power to live for God instead of against Him. And they did. They triumphed.
And the neat thing is this is still happening today. Jesus’ voice is producing triumphant saints who hear His voice and live real lives. You are such people. At some point you were spiritually dead but then Jesus found you. You heard His voice at your Baptism. He marked you as a redeemed child of God and you live. “But,” you may say, “I am no triumphant saint. I still sin. I worry too much. I can’t control my mouth, or my drinking, or my thinking, or my…” you fill in the blank. Listen, your Lord Jesus knows your heart. He knows your heartache over sin and He forgives you. Your past does not define who you are or what you will be. Today is a brand new day! Keep practicing daily repentance. Keep listening to Jesus’ voice. There are plenty of folks sitting here today who can tell you how Jesus helped them defeat alcohol abuse, selfishness, adultery and many other damaging sins. Because Jesus says so you are triumphant saints. If appropriate for you to come to Lord’s Supper, do so. Listen for Jesus’ voice announcing your forgiveness and go knowing you have His power to live a life that is real life, living for Him.
Now that’s great news but there is more. Jesus went on to say, "Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice 29and come out—those who have done good will rise to live, and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned.” It may be cliché, but it’s true. The best is yet to come. That’s why Jesus directed our attention to more amazing things than spiritually dead people coming to life on earth. On earth is not where it’s at. Heaven is. Jesus points to a time when triumphant saints who have heard Jesus voice and lived on earth will live in heaven. And don’t stumble over the doing good and doing evil part. We’re still saved by grace alone through faith alone. Those who believe in Jesus will do good. They have fruits of faith, obedience to God’s commands that flow from faith.
Those without faith cannot please God. Even their most righteous looking acts are done for the wrong reasons and rejected by the Lord and remember there is no greater evil than rejecting God’s Son Jesus Christ as Savior. The Bible compares rejecting Jesus as Savior to trampling Him underneath your feet. Yes, those who reject have done evil. On the last day they will rise. They will hear the voice of the one they rejected. Their bodies will be reunited with their souls and they will be condemned to the horrible eternity in Hell that was supposed to be for the Devil and demons. If you want to try to imagine how bad that is take the worse pain you can think of, the most forsaken, forgotten, rejected, hopeless you have felt, the guiltiest you have felt, multiply that times a billion and that’s a teeny, tiny taste of the horrors of hell that go on forever for those who reject Jesus.
Not so for the saints triumphant. On the Last Day they too will hear Jesus’ voice. Only it will be the commanding voice of their Savior. Their bodies will be reunited with their souls and they will rise to live, really live. Live body and soul with Jesus with no sin, no sinful natures, no weaknesses, no pain no disease only joy. If you want an idea of what that will be like think of your happiest moment, the best you’ve ever felt physically, the closest you’ve felt toward God. Multiply that times a billion and that’s a teeny tiny taste of what it will be like every day in heaven. Triumphant saints who have lived as believers will LIVE forever with the Lord. Now that’s something to look forward to.
Some saints aren’t looking forward to this. They have it. This past year we got to celebrate the times when some of the triumphant saints of our congregation who heard and lived got to go live with the Lord Jesus in the glories of heaven. Gilbert Manske, Irene Phalen, Peggi Scharf, Delores Schonack, Wilma Kulbe, Warren Hagen, Irene Martin, Bob Dallmann, Elda Kopitzke, Bernice Kangas. Perhaps you think now of other loved ones, not members or our congregation, who died in the Lord this past year. They too join the ranks of the triumphant saints who lived and LIVE. Oh we may miss them. Thinking of them may bring a tear of longing to our eyes but make no mistake about it, they have no tears. Because of Jesus they have triumphed and LIVE!
Hold on to your faith in Jesus and you will too. Jesus said it’s those who hear His voice who live. His voice is in His word. Listen and live. It’s that simple. Amen.

November 8th/9th, 2009

Pastor Waldschmidt
Malachi 4:1,2a
The Day Of The Lord Is Coming!
I. With Judgment.
II. With Healing.

In the name of Jesus, the Sun of Righteousness, dear fellow redeemed children of God;
I’m told that in the old St. Jacobi church during the winter the temperature would not get above the comfortable mark on many winter days. Pastor Eckert has said he usually wore his suit coat under his robe when he was preaching. Some of you might remember carrying buckets of coal to the classrooms for heat in the old St. Jacobi School. Some tell of winter weddings where the temperature was awful cold in church. By God’s grace through those years when heat was sometimes hard to come by, the members of St. Jacobi have learned about the heat God’s Word talks about today- the heat coming on Judgment Day. God’s Word speaks of two kinds of heat that will be felt on Judgment Day-the heat of God’s justice and the warmth of God’s love. In this world some might scoff and say that Judgment Day is not coming or at least is a long way off. But the day of the Lord is coming. I. It is coming with judgment. II. It is coming with healing.
Over the years many people have claimed to know the date of judgment day. As soon as they say that they have it figured out, you know that they are a false prophet because Jesus said, “No one knows that day or hour.” But while the Lord does not give us the date foe judgment day he did not want his people to be without information about the Day of the Lord. He wrote these words through the prophet Malachi. Malachi means “my messenger.” “Surely the day is coming, it will burn like a furnace. All the arrogant and every evil doer will be stubble and that day that is coming will set them on fire,” says the Lord Almighty. Not a root or a branch will be left to them.” We tend to look around the world and think that the deeds of people in the world are getting worse and worse. This week in the headlines there were two mass shootings. But did you hear the Lord say that he is concerned about both the attitude (arrogant) and the actions of the evildoer? Arrogance has reared its ugly head many times in human history. Think of Cain snapping back at God, “Am I my brother’s keeper?” Or think of Pharaoh asking “Who is the Lord that I should obey him? I don’t know the Lord and I will not let Israel go” Or the temple guards blindfolding Jesus and punching him in the face and demanding, “Prophesy! Who hit you?” We see this arrogance in our world too. I read the words of a so called history scholar on a website about end of the world prediction. He said that Jesus “thought that the end of the world would come during his life time and he was wrong.” Talk about arrogance! Here was a human telling the King of Kings and Lord of Lords that he was wrong. But let’s check our nostrils for the flare of arrogance. How about when we think that we can do a better job of directing our lives than God? We think God should have given us different skills or more possessions. The fires of God’s judgment could rightly burn against us.
No one should think that God will just let the sin of arrogance and all other sins pass by. “All the arrogant and every evil doer will be stubble.” Surely the day of the Lord is coming! It will burn like a furnace. When I think of stubble I think of razor stubble, but the people Malachi was talking too thought of stubble as the chaff or husks and hulls of the grain after the good part has been separated out. That chaff is thrown into the fire and it makes the fire flare up. John the Baptist talks about Jesus having “his winnowing fork in his hand and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering the wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”
The world tends to think of the devil as a wearing a nice Halloween costume and hell as a party place. Everyday people who reject Jesus are finding out when they die that the picture of hell as a party place is not true. On Judgment Day the whole world will see that hell is an awful place where those who arrogantly reject the Savior God sent will be confined forever. “Remember Jesus’ words, “Depart from me you who are cursed into eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.” It would seem the worst part about hell is not the roaring flames but the loneliness of being separated from God. Remember on the cross when Jesus was suffering hell he didn’t talk about the pain in his arms or legs, instead he called out, “My God, My God why have you forsaken me?”
We deserve to have it burn like a furnace on us too. But God now changes the picture for His people from the consuming fire of God’s judgment to the warm sunshine of His love shining in His Son Jesus. My little sister ruined my older sister’s birthday party. My older sister was all set for a wonderful birthday party complete with the gift of cowboy boots and suddenly mom had to go to the hospital to give birth to my younger sister. My sisters share the same birthday, July 2nd, 5 years apart. We don’t choose the day of our birth. God is the one who decides that. That’s OK. He loves us. He knows best. We also don’t get to choose the day of our death. God decides that. That’s OK. He loves us. He knows best. We also don’t know the Day when the Lord Jesus will return. That’s OK. He loves us. He knows best. That’s why the day of the Lord is not scary for us. The day of the Lord is coming with healing.
“But for you who revere my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings.” One of the promises in Malachi has to do with John the Baptist. His dad, Zechariah, helps us to see that this Sun of righteousness is Jesus. Remember how Zechariah looked at his new son and his “unstuck tongue” said clearly “You my son will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for Him...because of the tender mercy of our God by which the rising Sun will come to us from heaven to shine on those living in darkness and in the shadow of death to guide our feet into the path of peace.” Though we have been far from righteous, Jesus the Sun of righteousness has been righteous for us, keeping God’s commands in our place. On the cross Jesus took the fiery blasts of the furnace of God’s judgment on himself so that we would not be burned up by God’s judgment.
Jesus comes with healing in His wings. When Jesus comes again on Judgment Day, there won’t be any more wheel chairs or glasses. There won’t be anymore chemotherapy or insulin. Jesus will provide the healing. There won’t be any more sin sick souls. Jesus provides the healing.
Now that Sunshine of Jesus warms our lives too! We want to live for Him who comes with healing in His wings. The Bible says, “Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And He died for all that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for Him who died for them and was raised again.” Until the Lord burst through the clouds let’s be about the work he gives us.
As we wait there is a nice hymn to make our prayer… “ Thy holy wings, dear Savior, spread gently over me, And through the long night watches I'll rest secure in Thee. Whatever may betide me, be Thou my hiding place, And let me live and labor each day Lord, by Thy grace.” Amen

REFORMATION
November 1/2, 2009
Pastor Timothy J. Spaude
Text: 2 Kings 23:1-3

“THE NEED FOR REFORMATION”
1. Man is weak, lazy, selfish, ungrateful,
short-sighted, self-centered, prone to apathy.
2. God’s Word gives life!

2 Kings 23:1-3 (NIV) “Then the king called together all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem. 2 He went up to the temple of the LORD with the men of Judah, the people of Jerusalem, the priests and the prophets—all the people from the least to the greatest. He read in their hearing all the words of the Book of the Covenant, which had been found in the temple of the LORD. 3 The king stood by the pillar and renewed the covenant in the presence of the LORD -to follow the LORD and keep his commands, regulations and decrees with all his heart and all his soul, thus confirming the words of the covenant written in this book. Then all the people pledged themselves to the covenant.”

Lutherans were known as people of the word, people who knew God’s Word very well and held on to that word. I can remember the farmer I worked for, Wally Ebert, being so upset when his church, my church, St. Mark’s, switched from following a one year series of readings for each Sunday to a three year repeating cycle. Why? He had the one year memorized so if a birthing cow kept him from church he still knew what his congregation was hearing. I can remember when my brother Dave and I would sneak downstairs earlier than allowed to catch some cartoons, having to pull up short, busted, because my mom was already up reading her Bible at the kitchen table. Lutherans, people of the word.
This was not always so. Before they were called Lutherans those who would be called Lutherans didn’t even have the word. Why not? Their church kept it from them. The leaders of the Roman Catholic church said people could not be trusted with the word, should not read the word. The only available Bible was written in Latin which most people could not read. A reformation, a change for the better was needed. God provided what was needed, blessing the work of Martin Luther who stood up with courage to the false teachings and threats of the Pope and provided God’s people with the word written in their own language. Lutherans, those who agreed with grace alone, faith alone, Scripture alone became known as people of the word.
But you know as you read the word and study the history of the world you soon discover that there were other times reformations were needed. Our text tells the end result of a reformation. Let me fill in the details. The king who was mentioned is named Josiah. His father was Amon. His grandfather Manasseh and his great-grandfather was Hezekiah. That name you probably know because he was one of the few God fearing kings of Judah. He taught his people to fear and love the Lord, to worship Him and the hear God’s word. They were people of the word. Manasseh was not. When he became king he worshipped idols not God. He neglected the word. His son, Amon, Josiah’s father, was like his daddy, an idolater, a wicked man who neglected God’s word so by the time he handed off the kingdom to Josiah the word was lost. Think about this, in just three generations, a period of about 60 years, God’s word was lost! Reformation was needed. Josiah was 8 years old when he became king. At age 26 a discovery was made in the Temple. Someone found God’s Word. They brought it to King Josiah. He read it. God’s Word. It couldn’t stay lost. His people needed to hear it. Reformation was needed so once again the people of God could be known as people of the word.
And so we are told, “Then the king called together all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem. 2 He went up to the temple of the LORD with the men of Judah, the people of Jerusalem, the priests and the prophets—all the people from the least to the greatest. He read in their hearing all the words of the Book of the Covenant, which had been found in the temple of the LORD. 3 The king stood by the pillar and renewed the covenant in the presence of the LORD -to follow the LORD and keep his commands, regulations and decrees with all his heart and all his soul, thus confirming the words of the covenant written in this book. Then all the people pledged themselves to the covenant.” A reformation was needed and took place.
Now we flash forward to 2009. Lutherans are in the news. Lutherans of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America, the largest Lutheran church body go on record approving the sin of homosexuality in their people and their clergy. I have a question for you. Do you think that the grandpas and grandmas of these people sat down one day and said, “You know, we’d like to have a church that doesn’t follow God’s Word, that is filled with heresy. We’d like our pastors to shake their fists in God’s face and say, “Let me tell you what you should have said.” I don’t think so. What happened? These Lutherans became pseudo-Lutherans, no longer people of the Word.
Now let’s look in the mirror. We’ve talked about Josiah’s Jews, Luther’s Germans, slammed the ELCA. What about Jacobi’s Lutherans? Are we people of the word? Never before in history has the word of God been so easily and readily available to God’s people. Bibles are cheap for reading available in pocketsize to large print. The Bible is on tape, (kids ask your parents what that means) CD, MP3. You can download it to your Blackberry or Kindle device. It’s there for you available every day. When is the last time you read it outside of this building? Look, look at the front of our bulletin. As a quippy mission statement we call ourselves men, women and children who know Christ and desire to make Christ known. Is that really us? Do we know Christ and His word, all the teachings we are to teach them to obey? How can we make Him known if we don’t know Him? Lutherans, people of the word, are ones who at the same time hold on to the word and hold that word out to other who need it just as desperately as we do. But if you don’t know that word, if you don’t hold on to it you will soon find that what you are holding out is nothing, the same kind of loveless love the ELCA has to offer.
Reformation is needed. Why? Man by nature is weak, lazy, selfish, ungrateful, short-sighted, self-centered, prone to apathy. Now if you aren’t regularly hearing, seeing or reading God’s Word, which one of those is your reason? Are you just weak, want to but don’t? Lazy? Selfish wanting your own ease and entertainment rather that what will make you a blessing to others, short-sighted, actually thinking that earthly things are more important than eternal, self-centered being your own god, or just apathetic, I just don’t care. For whatever reason if you cannot be labeled “a person of the word” reformation is needed. It comes in the form of repentance. Please Lord, do not hold our sins against us. Do not take your word from us as we deserve. In your mercy forgive your servants and give us another chance to be people of the word. Hear God’s good news. For every heart crushed by the knowledge of a shabby treatment of God’s Word, lip service to the will of God, He forgives you. Where reformation is needed, where there is repentance God will bless with His life giving word. Before flopping on the couch for football you can flip through the pages of Scripture. Before Facebook time you can go face to face with God in His word.
He’ll bless that. Some of you are already experiencing that. You are a man of the word, a woman of the word, a child of the word and that’s great. Keep it up. It honors God and will be a blessing for you just as Jesus promised. God’s Word gives life. That word which is sharper than a two edged sword will keep you on the straight and narrow path to heaven. It will give you strength and comfort to face whatever challenges God knows are best for you. Here children is where you will find direction and strength to be true to your God, true to yourself and who God made you to be in the confusing years of high school. Here, parents, husbands, wives, you will find mercy and forgiveness when you look at the messes you’ve made in life. Here you will find peace, strength, comfort and encouragement when you face job loss, health issues and the loss of a loved one. Here you will find food for your faith that will last into eternity. Here you will find courage and strength to stand tall as a Christian soldier in the Lord’s army as Satan works in our country to undermine what God has said. Here you find the need for reformation and the solution: the power of the Holy Spirit in the word.
At the time of King Josiah, reformation was needed. The history of the Bible is written. It tells us the people responded and pledged themselves to the word. Again at Luther’s time reformation was needed. The history books are written. They tell us the people responded and ate up the word. Once again reformation is needed. But the history books have not yet been written for the Jacobians. I wonder what they will say. Amen.

Mark 10:17-27

Pentecost 21
October 25th, 2009
Pastor Waldschmidt
Grace mercy and peace are yours from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
Mark 10:17-27
The Great Teacher’s Lesson About Eternal Life
I. You need a Savior.
II. You have a Savior.
Mark 10:17-27 As Jesus started on his way, a man ran up to him and fell on his knees before him. "Good teacher," he asked, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?"
“Why do you call me good?" Jesus answered. "No one is good—except God alone. 19You know the commandments: 'Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, do not defraud, honor your father and mother.'
"Teacher," he declared, "all these I have kept since I was a boy."
Jesus looked at him and loved him. "One thing you lack," he said. "Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me." At this the man's face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth.
Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, "How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!"
The disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said again, "Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God."
The disciples were even more amazed, and said to each other, "Who then can be saved?"
Jesus looked at them and said, "With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God."


In the name of Jesus, our Savior, dear fellow redeemed Children of God,
Imagine that you received a letter from Jesus asking you to have a rummage sale. Now at first you might think “Well good! This would be a great opportunity to get rid of all that stuff I don’t want anymore. But then you read on a little more and realize that Jesus is asking you to a really big rummage sale with all of your stuff and then to give the proceeds to the poor. “Oh” “All of my stuff Lord???” “Then give the money away?” I guessing that might make us hesitate a little bit and ask what Jesus is trying to teach us with this letter anyway? In God’s Word today, Jesus tells a man to do just that-have a big rummage sale, sell all his stuff and give the money to the poor. In his request of this wealthy young man, we see the master teacher at work. He had a lesson for this wealthy young man and he has a lesson for you and me. So let’s take a look at the Great Teacher’s Lesson About Eternal Life. I. We need a Savior. II. We have a Savior.
This week the Journal Sentinel began running teaser headlines to generate interest in a series of articles to run this week in the paper about how we deal with death. One doctor was quoted as saying, “In our culture, we have some work to do in coming to terms with death." In our sermon text last week, we heard Jesus say that those who enter God’s Kingdom have a simple child like faith in Jesus as the Savior. A child like faith in Jesus prays, “Now I lay me down to sleep I pray the Lord my soul to keep. If I should die before I wake I pray the Lord my soul to take and this I ask for Jesus’ sake. Amen.” That issue of eternal life was still on the mind of a wealthy young man who seemed to have everything except for peace about what happens after this life is over. “As Jesus started on his way, a man ran up to him and fell on his knees before him. "Good teacher," he asked, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?"
This young man who called Jesus a good teacher had had some bad teachers along the way. Notice the words, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” The emphasis on what a person must do to inherit heaven reflects the attitude which prevailed among the religious leaders of Jesus’ day. It shows how far they had strayed from the only way of salvation offered by the true God. God had given the Children of Israel their civil and ceremonial laws to keep them as a special people from whom the Savior of the world would come-to point their eyes of faith to the coming Messiah and the sacrifice he would make on the cross. However instead of clinging to the Savior which the ceremonies pointed to, many teachers put their faith in themselves and pointed to how well they had kept the law. When Jesus came the people flocked to hear him because “he taught as one who had authority and not as their teachers of the law.”
“Why do you call me good?" Jesus answered. "No one is good—except God alone.” Jesus, the master teacher stoops down to this man’s level. In effect saying, “OK, if you think that you can enter eternal life by doing something, then let’s set the standard.” Jesus wasn’t saying that he was not holy and perfect but he was trying to set the man straight by making clear that you do not earn eternal life by saying the right things to the right people. The young man as a ruler in the synagogue had given this answer to many people. “You know the commandments: 'Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, do not defraud, honor your father and mother.' If someone wants to enter life on their own, Jesus makes clear that he must keep all of the commandments- all of the time.
"Teacher," he declared, "all these I have kept since I was a boy." This young man no longer felt the sting of the law in the Old Testament passages he knew so well. Many thought that by outwardly observing the laws they had kept their hearts pure before the Lord, but God tells us in Proverbs, “Who can say, I have kept my heart pure; I am clean and without sin”? Isaiah rejected any thought of anyone working themselves into God’s favor when he says ,”All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf and our sins sweep us away.” Indeed passages in the law should have made this young man feel foolish to ask the silly and conceited question, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?”
“Jesus looked at him and loved him. "One thing you lack," he said. "Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me." Notice that Jesus the one whose eyes blaze like fire does not let the lightning of his burning wrath break out against this young man. Instead Jesus looks at him with compassion. The great teacher comes again with a lesson about how badly we need a Savior. He doesn’t use the Law as a club but instead tries to get the young man to see that he had not kept even the first commandment. By his command of selling everything, Jesus was trying to get the young man to see that money had a higher place in his heart than God did. The young man wanted to stay on the path of earning his way into God’s favor. He didn’t want to admit that he needed a Savior. “At this the man's face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth. “
Let’s take a look in our hearts. The Bible says that all of our possessions come from God, but sin has messed up our thinking. When we are little children one of the first things we learn to say if something is taken from us is “Hey that’s mine.” We don’t say “Hey that’s God’s. “ If money is not an idol, why is it that it is such a touchy item in our lives? Why is it that often inheritances meant to be a blessing end up being a sore subject within a family? What would we do if Jesus asked us to sell everything and follow him? Would we gladly give up any hint of an idol in our lives? Or would we scratch and claw to hold on? Or would we walk away with a fallen face? Let’s recognize that we have walked away just like this rich man. We need a Savior. That’s the lesson Jesus was trying to teach this young man.
Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, "How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!" Look at how easy it is for us to have been amazingly blessed to live in the country we live in to be distracted by the things of this world. “The disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said again, "Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God." The disciples were even more amazed, and said to each other, "Who then can be saved?" The disciples recognized that lesson. They felt the pinch of the law. They liked their money too. Sometimes they liked it more than they liked God. God’s law drives us to see that we need a Savior.
As I get older my eyes are getting bad. I have to hold the hymn book way out here. The other day, Sue had left for work and I needed a button sewed on. So I pulled out the sewing box. I tried to thread a needle to sew on a button and trying to fit that thread through the eye of that needle was like trying to get a camel through the eye of a needle. It was impossible. Can we sinful human beings who are so easily pulled by possessions ever enter the kingdom of heaven? No, it is impossible with man. But just when you think that something is impossible God has a way of doing the impossible. We need a Savior. We have a Savior.
That’s the second lesson Jesus the great teacher taught his disciples. Jesus looked at them and said, "With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God." Do you remember the other place where the Bible says, “With God all things are possible?” Those were the words of the angel talking to Mary about the birth of Jesus. God did the impossible. God took on flesh and blood and lived among his creatures. The devil tempted him with all the possessions in the world. Remember the devil’s offer that Jesus could have it all if he would just bow down and worship him. Jesus fought off that temptation and finished his life here on earth with a perfect record. Wonder of wonders God gave Jesus’ perfect record to you and me. In a great miracle of love God punished Jesus on a cross so that we would not feel the wrath of God come down on us. He gave his life so that we could have far more than the trinkets of gold and silver this world offers. He gave his life to give us eternal life.
Now that changes the way we look at our possessions in this life. They are gifts from God. They are blessings for us to take care of as stewards. But they stay here when this life is over. “We brought nothing into this world and it is certain we can carry nothing out.” I’ll repeat a statement I heard years ago. “You’ll never see a U haul being pulled behind a hearse.” When possessions come and go we can say with Job, “the Lord gave and the Lord has taken away, may the name of the Lord be praised.”
I have the feeling the rich man would look at all we have and be convinced that we are far wealthier than he could ever dream of being. Whether you have a lot or a little, Jesus has given you treasure in heaven. Don’t let go of your true treasure, Jesus. You need a Savior. You have a Savior. Amen.


October 25th, 2009
Pastor Waldschmidt