Monday, November 30, 2009

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!

Saturday, November 28, 2009

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.

Saturday, November 21, 2009

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.

Thursday, November 19, 2009

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.

Saturday, November 7, 2009

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

Monday, November 2, 2009

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.