tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27668316254441536572024-03-18T08:24:47.410-05:00St. Jacobi Lutheran Church - SermonsPastor Waldschmidthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09431595815138865051noreply@blogger.comBlogger559125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2766831625444153657.post-71279226297950563542024-03-18T08:23:00.003-05:002024-03-18T08:23:53.505-05:00March 16-18, 2024 Pastor Timothy J. Spaude Text: John 12:20-33(EHV) “SUCH COMMITMENT!”<p> </p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">LENT
5<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">March
16-18, 2024<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Pastor
Timothy J. Spaude<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Text:
John 12:20-33(EHV)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: center;"><b><u><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">“SUCH COMMITMENT!”</span></u></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: 2.75in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">1.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">From
Jesus, for us.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: 2.75in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">2.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">From
us, for Jesus.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Commitment! More and more that seems to be
a hard thing to find. It used to be that commitment was one of those stereotypes
used as the world tried to pit men versus women instead of them being together
as God designed things. The man’s fear of commitment in a relationship was the
foil for many sitcom episodes. Now fear of commitment or lack of commitment is
popping up in other places. Recently whatever algorithm is watching my computer
browsing popped up this teaser. “Seventeen reasons people have stopped
attending church.” Now you can’t tease a pastor with that tidbit and not expect
him to click on it. So I did. There were many different reasons given. One was
that Christ’s teachings don’t seem relevant anymore. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But you can really boil most of the reasons
given down to this: commitment, or rather not wanting to commit. With the
hustle and bustle of family life they didn’t want to commit to being at in
person church. People wanted their church to be more accepting of sinful
lifestyles and did not want to commit to a church that expected people to
actually follow Jesus’ teaching. They also didn’t like to feel they had to make
a commitment to support a church through going, serving or giving. I guess it’s
not just guys that have commitment issues, is it? But Jesus doesn’t! He is fully
committed to you and to me. That’s what the Gospel lesson from John showed us.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">The events described there happened on
Tuesday of Holy Week. Jewish people from all over the world and converts to the
Jewish faith from all over the world were in Jerusalem to celebrate the
Passover. Some of those converts were from Greece. Somehow they had heard about
Jesus and they wanted to see Him. When Jesus’ disciple Andrew told Jesus this
He said, <i>“The time has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. <sup>24</sup>Amen,
Amen, I tell you: Unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it
continues to be one kernel. But if it dies, it produces much grain.”</i> Jesus
knows. He knows the time has come for Him to die. He knows the purpose. Like a
kernel of wheat must “die” to produce the wheat that will follow, He must die
so that others can follow Him to the Father. But this will be no ordinary
death. He will not just die physically but die spiritually as he will take on
Himself the filthy weight of the sins of all people. And how awful this is we
will never understand but it helps us understand Jesus when He says, <i>“Now my
soul is troubled.”<o:p></o:p></i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">And here is where the weak willed human
being would have the chance to back out, to demonstrate a lack of commitment.
“You know I really like you but… But Jesus is not weak willed. Such commitment!
<i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“And what shall I say? ‘Father, save
me from this hour’? No, this is the reason I came to this hour. <sup>28</sup>Father,
glorify your name!” A voice came from heaven: “I have glorified my name, and I
will glorify it again.” <sup>29</sup>The crowd standing there heard it and said
it thundered. Others said an angel talked to him. <sup>30</sup>Jesus
answered, “This voice was not for my sake but for yours. <sup>31</sup>“Now is
the judgment of this world. Now the ruler of this world will be thrown
out. <sup>32</sup>And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all
people to myself.” <sup>33</sup>He said this to indicate what kind of
death he was going to die.”</i> Jesus says, “Bring it on!” His Father voices
approval. Both tell us that Jesus’ commitment will result in glorifying God’s
name, His reputation. First by putting Satan, the God wannabe who thinks he is
the ruler of this world, in his place. By being lifted up on the cross Satan’s
damage would be undone. His hold on people and ability to accuse them of sin
would be taken away as Jesus took away the sins of the world. Satan is exposed
for the liar and fake that he is. Jesus’ commitment to us and all others did
not waver. Whatever the cost to Him, whatever the sacrifice needed, he would
make it. Such commitment by Jesus for us.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">And that commitment by Jesus would glorify
God in another way. It changes people and changes hearts. Jesus said His
commitment would draw all people to Him. What, you mean people would be
committed to Him? Yes! Absolutely. The information in the worship summary box
is 100% correct. The heart of Christianity is God’s devotion and commitment to
us. A commitment so strong it put God, Jesus, on the cross. It is not our
commitment to Christ that is at the center of Christianity but Christ’s
commitment to us. At the same time Christ’s commitment to us does something. It
draws people to Him. Those Greeks who asked Philip to see Jesus were drawn to
Him. The disciples of Jesus were drawn to Him. Yes, in a couple of days their
commitment to Him would prove shaky. Peter would deny. Others would run away.
And yet when Jesus rose from the dead proving He is the Christ and the Devil
had been defeated they responded with a commitment that showed as they went
away rejoicing when they were whipped for talking about Jesus, that saw then
traveling from Judea to Samaria to the ends of the earth to be His witnesses,
that saw all of the but John dying a martyr’s death rather than denying their
commitment to Jesus. John just died in exile. And millions, yes billions of
followers of Christ who have never had the privilege of seeing Jesus face to
face have shown commitment by striving to willingly follow His commands, by
gathering to glorify His name publicly and by working together to be His
witnesses to a world that needs Him as Savior whether they know it or not. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">This is no surprise. Jesus said, <i>“Anyone
who loves his life destroys it. And the one who hates his life in this world
will hold on to it for eternal life. <sup>26</sup>If anyone serves me, let
him follow me. And where I am, there my servant will be also. If anyone serves
me, the Father will honor him.”</i> Followers of Jesus are different. They
understand this life for what it is. Temporary. Filled with blessings but not
always pleasant. Imperfect in so many ways. So they don’t love it. They love
eternal life with Jesus. So they serve Him knowing the best is yet to come and
their service is expressed in commitment to Him. Yes, our commitment is
imperfect and shaky and sometimes in our own ways we deny or run away. But
Jesus keeps drawing us back to Himself with His unwavering love and commitment.
That’s why you schedule time to publicly worship Jesus when many of your fellow
Americans think that’s insane. That’s why, when able, you give your time and
abilities so that our ministry can be the best it can be, not to glorify
Jacobi’s name but Jesus’ name. That’s why you give your offerings so we and
many others may continue to be taught to obey everything He has commanded us
whether that’s popular or not. And to do that for Jesus is a privilege. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">I can’t help but think of one your St.
Jacobi brothers who is now a saint in heaven, Clarence Benz. By the time I got
here Clarence was no longer physically able to make it to church so we pastors
would visit him. He had some kind of throat condition or was taking some kind
of medicine with the result that his throat was constantly raw. I remember the
first several times I gave him communion and when he drank the wine we use he
would wince and his eyes water as it burned going down. I would ask if he was
OK. Finally one time I said, “Clarence, we can water that wine down. It does
not have to burn.” “No!” said Clarence very adamantly. “If my Lord Jesus can
take the burn of Hell for me the least I can do is take a little burn for Him.”
Kind of sounds like commitment, doesn’t it. Oh and that first reason some gave
for no longer attending church? That Christ’s teachings are no longer relevant.
Ask Pat Betram about that the next time you see him. Amen.<o:p></o:p></span></p>Pastor Spaudehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11010651324712293261noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2766831625444153657.post-25108451516206160172024-03-07T07:53:00.002-06:002024-03-07T07:53:27.984-06:00March 6, 2024 Pastor Timothy J. Spaude Text: Luke 23:1-12 (EHV) “GOD ON TRIAL: Misconceptions!<p> </p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><strong><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; font-weight: normal;">MIDWEEK
LENT 4<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>March 6, 2024<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Pastor Timothy J. Spaude<o:p></o:p></span></strong></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><strong><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; font-weight: normal;">Text:
<span style="color: red;">Luke 23:1-12 (EHV)</span><o:p></o:p></span></strong></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><strong><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; font-weight: normal;"><o:p> </o:p></span></strong></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: center;"><strong><u><span style="color: red; font-size: 14.0pt;">“GOD ON TRIAL:</span></u></strong><strong><span style="color: red; font-size: 14.0pt; font-weight: normal;"><o:p></o:p></span></strong></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: center;"><strong><span style="color: red; font-size: 14.0pt; font-weight: normal;">Misconceptions!<o:p></o:p></span></strong></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><strong><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; font-weight: normal;"><o:p> </o:p></span></strong></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><strong><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>We have been following the theme GOD
ON TRIAL for our special worship services. If you have watched any TV lawyer
shows like Perry Mason or Law and Order you know that there can be
misrepresentations of the truth and misconceptions about witnesses and defendants.
When God gets put on trial the same thing happens. Its roots go back to the
Garden of Eden. God created Adam and Eve in His image. Then the God wannabe,
Satan, tempted Adam and Eve to try to be more than they were, to be like God.
They fell for it. And they fell. And since that time sinful man has been trying
to create God in our image. So many ideas of what God should be like and God
should do. And as you heard when our Lord Jesus was put on trial the same
misconceptions are thrown around.<o:p></o:p></span></strong></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><strong><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Luke tells us a whole group of them
took Jesus to Pilate. This whole group was the chief priests, the experts in
the law, the members of the Sanhedrin. What were their misconceptions about
Jesus? </span></strong><i><span style="color: red; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">“We found this fellow misleading our nation, forbidding the payment
of taxes to Caesar, and saying that he himself is Christ, a king.”</span></i><span style="color: red; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">First
misconception. Jesus is misleading the nation. Why would they say that? Because
Jesus was leading the people away from the Pharisees and teachers of the law.
That was true. The whole assembly had been leading the nation away from the
God. They were the misleaders. They had replaced God’s truth and holy law which
revealed the need for a Savior with their teachings and a keepable law so they
needed no Savior. What Jesus was actually doing was correctly leading the
nation back to God and salvation. Second misconception. Jesus forbids paying
taxes to Caesar. I don’t even know what to do with that one. They had heard
Jesus say, “Give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar.” Third misconception. Jesus
claims to be Christ, a king. Partly true. He is Christ. But he is not <b>a</b>
king. He is <b>the</b> King and not of puny earthly kingdoms but of the entire
universe. But this group’s misconceptions about Jesus really started with
misconceptions about themselves. They thought they were righteous on their own.
They thought their good deeds were good enough. The didn’t think they were
sinners. And there is no worse misconception than thinking you are right with
God and can get to heaven on your own. That misconception is what led to their
other misconceptions about Jesus. They didn’t need a Messiah to save them from
their sins so Jesus couldn’t be the God sent Savior.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>But the whole assembly was not the
only ones who had misconceptions about Jesus. Pilate did too. <i><span style="color: red;">“Pilate asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” “It is as
you say,” Jesus replied. <b><sup>4 </sup></b>Pilate said to the chief
priests and the crowds, “I find no basis for a charge against this man.”</span></i>
Pilate’s misconception? Jesus is a nobody who will not affect anyone’s life. Jesus
correctly answered Pilate’s question. He is the King of the Jews and all
people. But Pilate could not get past what his eyes saw. A simple Jewish man,
despised and hated by his own people. A nobody. So Pilate wanted to let Jesus
go. But the whole assembly would not have it. They put more pressure on. <i><span style="color: red;">“But they kept insisting, “He stirs up the people, teaching
all through Judea, beginning from Galilee all the way here.”</span></i><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Pilate saw an out. If Jesus was from
Galilee he wasn’t Pilate’s problem. Herod the puppet king of Galilee could deal
with him! So Pilate shipped Jesus off to Herod. I wonder if this Herod had any
idea that his father, also named Herod, had tried to kill Jesus by murdering
all the baby boys in Bethlehem when Jesus was born. At any rate Luke tells us
that <i><span style="color: red;">“When Herod saw Jesus, he was very glad. For a
long time, he had wanted to see him, because he had heard many things about
him. He hoped to see some miracle performed by him.”</span></i><span style="color: red;"> </span>Herod’s view of Jesus? An entertainer, kind of like a
court jester only better. He could do miracles. Only he didn’t for Herod.
Silence, even when falsely accused. Disappointed Herod got what entertainment
value he could out of Jesus, having his soldiers mock and ridicule Jesus before
sending Him back.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>All these misconceptions about who
Jesus is what He should do. Sadly, they are still around today. Sometimes they
creep into our own hearts. Jesus, we like how you tell us to love all people
and be kind that’s a message everyone wants to hear and is popular. But that
only through you can people get to heaven, that any use of sexuality outside of
the one-man one-woman marriage is sin, that our bodies aren’t our own and we
can’t do whatever we want or kill another life growing inside of us? That makes
people mad at us. Are you misleading us, Jesus? Lord, I have prayed and prayed
to you and you still have not done what I asked/told you to do. Are you really
a king? Or are you a nobody? Jesus, there are so many cool things in our world.
I can stream movies and shows and play video games. They all entertain me.
Shouldn’t worship of you be really about entertaining me too? All
misconceptions. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>So many misconceptions of Jesus as God
was put on trial. I did hear one correct one in the word of God before us. The
whole assembly as they tried to pressure Pilate said, <span style="color: red;">“He
stirs up the people!” </span>He stirs up the hearts of His people. Brothers and
sisters, you are Jesus’ people! <i> </i>You know why He stays silent when
falsely accused and does not correct every misconception made about Him with
the force and power He commands as the Son of God. Here it’s because He wants
to go to the cross for you. He is willing to let it seem like people have power
over Him so He can show His great love for you by taking away the offense of
your sins through His sacrifice. He puts up with misconceptions that sometimes
creep into our minds, because He understands our weakness and the hurt living
in this sinful world brings. He allows people today to try to make Him in their
image, He refuses to entertain with miracles that demonstrate His power because
He wants people whose hearts are tied to Him through His word. That’s you.
People stirred up by His teaching. May the Holy Spirit bless us so that people
who watch us and listen to us will have no misconceptions about what we think
of Jesus. Our Lord and Savior. Amen.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Luke
23:1-12 (EHV) <i>“</i></span></b><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">The whole group of them got up and brought
him before Pilate. <b><sup>2 </sup></b>They began to accuse him,
saying, “We found this fellow misleading our nation, forbidding the payment of
taxes to Caesar, and saying that he himself is Christ, a king.” <b><sup>3 </sup></b>Pilate
asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” “It is as you say,” Jesus replied. <b><sup>4 </sup></b>Pilate
said to the chief priests and the crowds, “I find no basis for a charge against
this man.” <b><sup>5 </sup></b>But they kept insisting, “He stirs up the
people, teaching all through Judea, beginning from Galilee all the way here.” <b><sup>6 </sup></b>When
Pilate heard this, he asked if the man was a Galilean. <b><sup>7 </sup></b>When
he learned that he was under Herod’s jurisdiction, he sent him to Herod, who
was also in Jerusalem during those days. <b><sup>8 </sup></b>When Herod
saw Jesus, he was very glad. For a long time, he had wanted to see him, because
he had heard many things about him. He hoped to see some miracle performed by
him. <b><sup>9 </sup></b>He questioned him with many words, but Jesus
gave him no answer. <b><sup>10 </sup></b>The chief priests and the
experts in the law stood there, vehemently accusing him. <b><sup>11 </sup></b>Herod,
along with his soldiers, treated him with contempt and ridiculed him. Dressing
him in bright clothing, he sent him back to Pilate. <b><sup>12 </sup></b>Herod
and Pilate became friends with each other on that day. Before this they had
been enemies of each other.”<o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><strong><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; font-weight: normal;"><o:p> </o:p></span></strong></p>Pastor Spaudehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11010651324712293261noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2766831625444153657.post-51664394162915035872024-02-26T08:02:00.001-06:002024-02-26T08:02:05.447-06:00February 24-26, 2024 Pastor Timothy J. Spaude Text: Romans 5:1-8 “OH, THE JOY OF BEING A CHRISTIAN!”<p> </p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">LENT
2<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">February
24-26, 2024<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Pastor
Timothy J. Spaude<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Text:
Romans 5:1-8<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: center;"><b><u><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">“OH, THE JOY OF
BEING A CHRISTIAN!”</span></u></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: 1.75in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">1.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">We
get to rejoice in who we really are.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: 1.75in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">2.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">We
get to rejoice in our full access to God.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: 1.75in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">3.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">We
get to rejoice, even in suffering.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Can you imagine seeing a job
application that had some of these qualifications? Looking for people. Can be
any age. No special skills needed. Must be willing to put the company’s mission
ahead of personal likes. Suffering for belonging to the company is expected.
Now how many people do you think would apply for that job? How many of you
would? Actually, you all are a part of this company. You belong to Christ. That
made up job description comes from Jesus’ own words. He wants all nations to be
His disciples. To follow Him, you must deny yourself, that means put personal
likes second, take up a cross, suffering and follow Him. And that’s a good
thing.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The Lord Jesus had the Apostle Paul
make that abundantly clear to us in his letter to the Christians at Rome. Paul,
who suffered much as an apostle of Christ Jesus and who made many sacrifices to
proclaim Jesus, focuses our attention, not on what is given up for following
Christ, but what is gained. Joy.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>First there is the joy of owning up to
who we really are: ungodly sinners. That’s not something most people want to
own up to. The normal way of dealing with sin and ungodliness is making
excuses, hiding or justifying it. You know how people do that right. They sin
against you and say, “I’m sorry but…” and then say something to explain away
what they have done. Or “I know it’s wrong but…” and then follows some
justification for what was done. People will do that. Their sin, ungodliness
gets minimized so they don’t look so bad. And the stuff that everyone would call
bad, people try to hide. What are we saying? It’s not just other people who do
that. We do that too. But we don’t have to. We can actually rejoice in who we
are. Listen to what God had written. <i>“You see, at just the right time, when
we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. <sup>7</sup>Very rarely
will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might
possibly dare to die. <sup>8</sup>But God demonstrates His own love for us in
this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”</i> Did you hear that?
Did you hear what God did so we don’t have to lie about our sinfulness and
weaknesses? So we don’t have to justify them? And even if we try to hide them
from other people God still knows and that’s OK? Christ didn’t die for perfect
people. He didn’t come to save those who can save themselves. God shows His
love by having His Son die for the ungodly, the powerless, the sinners. That’s
me. That’s you. So rejoice! Jesus came for you and me just as we are.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>We also get the joy of having full
access to God. <i>“Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we
have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, <sup>2</sup>through whom we
have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand.”</i> Have
you ever gotten special access to something normally off limits? This holds no
appeal for me but girls, what if you got access to Taylor Swift’s private suite
to watch the Super Bowl? I’d rather have what newest Packer Fan Hall of Fame
member, Dan "Bogie" Bogenschuetz, received: sideline passes to a
Packer game. God has so much better for us. Since we are justified through
faith, that means declared innocent of our sins because of what Jesus has done,
we are at peace with God. He holds no anger against us for sinning against Him.
We have access by faith to God’s grace and undeserved love. That means that God
listens to your prayers always. You get to go straight to Him and pour out your
heart, give Him thanks and ask boldly for anything. So, pray, Christian, pray.
Unlike access to people some think are special, or events that are here and
gone, your full access is to the almighty God, maker of heaven and earthy, and
it never ends. Anytime. Anywhere. You get to pray directly to God as your dear
Father in heaven.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>And then there is joy even in an area
of our life where we would think there can be no joy: suffering.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i>“And we rejoice in the hope of the glory
of God. <sup>3</sup>Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because
we know that suffering produces perseverance; <sup>4</sup>perseverance,
character; and character, hope. <sup>5</sup>And hope does not disappoint us,
because God has poured out His love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom He
has given us.”</i> <i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></i>The word
translated suffering here really means afflictions or things in life that press
on you, stress you, take you down. It includes physical suffering from accidents
or disease and cancers in your body. It includes emotional suffering that comes
from family strife, a broken relationship, loneliness. The hurt of being left
out or manipulated. And it most certainly includes those crosses we carry as
followers of Christ, from ridicule of beliefs that are “old fashioned” to
things we miss out on because we put Christ’s mission first in our lives and
that takes a chunk out of our checks and our schedules. Notice it does not say
we rejoice because of the suffering. “I’ve got cancer. Yay!” It says in the
suffering. While we endure it.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>You see suffering without purpose is
meaningless. Worse, allowing suffering without purpose is cruel. God does not
do that. When He allows any kind of suffering He takes no joy in it anymore
than a loving parent takes joy in disciplining their child. No, when God allows
suffering there is not just some purpose but a good and loving purpose. We are
in the Church Year season of Lent and it shows us clearly that God’s allowance
of suffering has good and loving purpose. Fix your eyes on Jesus. We follow Him
in His passion. His suffering. Look at the good God had! Jesus suffers in our
place. Jesus pays for our sins. He does that because in His great love He did
not want us separated from God in Hell but with Him in heaven. Only one way to
punish sin and free the sinner. A perfect substitute. Suffering with meaning
and purpose. A loving purpose.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Brothers and sisters, this is why you
and I can rejoice when we are experiencing sufferings. They are normed by God’s
love and they have a good purpose. When we go through them clinging to God and
His mercy, trusting His plans for us, they produce perseverance in us, that’s
stubbornness used for good! You go through that a few times and it becomes a
part of your character so that no matter what the Devil or other people throw
at you, you are able to have peace, and patient enduring, know God will work it
for good. I heard a great story that illustrated that truth one time. It goes
like this. There was a young man who lived in a cabin in the woods at the foot
of a small hill. He earnestly wanted to serve the Lord and prayed every day to
know and understand his purpose in life. One day as he stood before a large
boulder at the foot of the hill he heard a voice from heaven say, “Push!”
Delighted to know a way to serve the Almighty the young man began to push the
boulder determined to get it to the top of the hill. All day he pushed.
Breaking only for meals. He pushed until nightfall. Nothing happened. The next
day he went at it again. From dusk to dawn he pushed. Days went by and then
weeks. Though he pushed with all his might the boulder would not move. Spring
turned to summer. Summer to fall. He pushed. But the boulder did not move.
Finally in despair and sadness the young man called out to God. And God
answered, “What do you want?” The man said, “I heard your voice telling me to
push and I have been pushing faithfully for days, weeks and months and nothing
has happened. It is no closer to the top of the hill than it was before. I am
tired. I want to give up.” But the Lord said to him, “What I told you to do was
push. I didn’t tell you to move it. I can do that myself. But now look at you.
Your arms and legs and back are strong! And now you are ready to be a blessing
to other people.” Suffering produces perseverance, perseverance, character. And
character hope. Patient waiting for God’s good solutions. So we can rejoice
even in suffering.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Oh and I forgot something in the
Christian job description I showed you. Yes, it’s true that there is nothing
special about the applicants. Yes, it’s true that some reprioritization and
sacrifices are part of being a Christian. But I forgot to tell you about the
benefits. Out of this world. And they last forever! Oh the joy of being a
Christian. Amen.<o:p></o:p></span></p>Pastor Spaudehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11010651324712293261noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2766831625444153657.post-4332551166301326562024-02-15T07:59:00.002-06:002024-02-15T07:59:25.069-06:00February 14, 2024 Pastor Timothy J. Spaude Text: Matthew 26:57-64 GOD ON TRIAL “ACCUSATIONS!”<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">ASH
WEDNESDAY<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">February
14, 2024<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Pastor
Timothy J. Spaude<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Text:
Matthew 26:57-64<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">GOD ON TRIAL<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: center;"><b><u><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">“ACCUSATIONS!”</span></u></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"> “From there He will come to judge the
living and the dead.” How many times do you think you personally have confessed
that truth the concludes what we call the 2<sup>nd</sup> Article of the
Apostles Creed? If you are in worship weekly it’s about 28 times a year if you
want to try doing the math. Those words have us looking forward to the end of
the world, Judgment Day. And the right order of things is this. All people will
stand before Jesus. They will be on trial. He will serve as Judge and pronounce
the verdict. That’s the right order of things. Our Lenten worship series this
year focus our attention on a time when the order was reversed, when God was
put on trial by people. During this journey we will find faith to forgive and to
love even our enemies. We will find strength to endure trial and to testify faithfully.
God is on trial and it starts with accusations.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"> <b>Matthew 26:57-64 (EHV)</b> <i>“Those
who had arrested Jesus led him away to Caiaphas, the high priest, where the
experts in the law and the elders were assembled. <b><sup>58 </sup></b>Peter
was following him at a distance and went as far as the courtyard of the high
priest. He went inside and sat down with the guards to see how it would turn
out. <b><sup>59 </sup></b>The chief priests and the whole Sanhedrin were
looking for false testimony against Jesus so that they could put him to
death. <b><sup>60 </sup></b>They found none, even though many false
witnesses came forward. Finally two came forward <b><sup>61 </sup></b>and
said, “This fellow said, ‘I am able to destroy the temple of God and rebuild it
in three days.’” <b><sup>62 </sup></b>The high priest stood up and said to
him, “Have you no answer? What is this that these men are testifying against
you?” <b><sup>63 </sup></b>But Jesus remained silent. Then the high
priest said to him, “I place you under oath by the living God: Tell us if you
are the Christ, the Son of God!” <b><sup>64 </sup></b>Jesus said to him,
“It is as you have said. But I tell you, soon you will see the Son of Man
sitting at the right hand of power and coming on the clouds of heaven.”</i><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"> We are joining Jesus after His arrest
in the Garden of Gethsemane. He is put on trial. Caiaphas, the High Priest, the
chief priests and experts in the law, the Jewish ruling council known as the
Sanhedrin will stand in judgment over Jesus. They need some evidence to convict
Jesus. Witnesses are procured. They accused Jesus falsely. Now we all know the
power of an accusation. Have you ever been accused of something you did not do?
It hurts. It’s not fair. Accusations have such power that, even if they aren’t true,
they can ruin reputations, and irreparably damage relationships. How many
people have lost jobs, or had to step down from positions of leadership simply
because they were falsely accused? It’s bad enough when people do that to other
people. Here they did it to God! <i>“The chief priests and the whole Sanhedrin
were looking for false testimony against Jesus so that they could put him to
death. <b><sup>60 </sup></b>They found none, even though many false
witnesses came forward.”</i><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"> We can’t help but get righteously
angry with them. And with ourselves. We too have falsely accused God. We have
done so in so many different ways. Why are you letting this happen to me God?
Accusation: You don’t love me. I know you said you won’t give us more than we
can bear, Lord, but this too? Accusation: you don’t really know what you are
doing. Lord, what did he do to deserve this? He’s such a good man. Accusation:
Lord, you are not fair. Lord your grand idea of grace stinks. Some of us
deserve better than others. We put God on trial. Now I want you to think of the
last time you were falsely accused? How did you feel? How did you respond?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"> How about Jesus? Silence. He takes no
umbrage. There is no complaining that this is not fair. No vigorous defense and
exposure of the false accusations. Finally though a true accusation. <i>Then
the high priest said to him, “I place you under oath by the living God: Tell us
if you are the Christ, the Son of God!” </i>Now remember what is going on here.
This is a kangaroo court, a sham trial with one purpose, to publicly get to
what has already been decided privately. Jesus must die! False witnesses who
can’t agree won’t get you to a verdict deserving of death. Even though we and
they knew that when Jesus talked about destroying the temple and raising it
again in three days, He was talking about His body, that wouldn’t cut it
either. What was needed was a provable charge of blasphemy, claiming to be God
or taking the glory of God for oneself. Out came the accusation. Are you the
Christ, the Son of God? <i>“Jesus said to him, “It is as you have said. But I
tell you, soon you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of power
and coming on the clouds of heaven.”</i> There you have it. As far as Caiaphas,
the chief priests, the experts in the law and the Sanhedrin were concerned they
had a confessed crime worthy of death. Blasphemy. Claiming to be the Son of God
and Savior of the world. One problem. It’s true. Jesus is the Christ, the Son
of God. It’s as though you would say to me, “Are you Tim Spaude, pastor at St.
Jacobi? And I said Yes. What Jesus confessed to is absolutely true. He is the
Son of God, the world’s Savior, so that means <u>our</u> Savior.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"> And that is what will make the
difference when the right trial is held, when Jesus comes back to judge the
living and the dead, when He comes back at the right hand of power coming on
the clouds of heaven. At that time all kinds of accusations will be made—by
Satan. In fact, that is what that name for him means, Accuser. Can you imagine
what it would be like to have to stand before God and all other people while
Satan starts going down the list of all the sins he and his fellow demons have seen
you commit? What do you do when he lists the words you said about other people
and how you really feel after you were so nice to their face? What if he brings
up all those things you did in secret because you knew they were wrong? Then as
you stand before the Lord, the Judge of all, all the times you put God second,
or third, or never thought about Him at all, until you were in trouble. Oh the
shame and embarrassment we will never feel! Because Jesus went on trial instead
of you and instead of me. Because when Jesus was falsely accused He kept silent
so the sham trial would continue. Because Jesus made sure to own the true
accusation that He is the Christ, the Son of God, so that the ones putting Him
on trial would become convinced that He must die.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">Because that is exactly what Jesus
came to do. And He did it so that when He comes to judge the living and the
dead He will shut Satan the Accuser down and so for you and me and every
believer in Him the only evidence brought will be the blood of the Lamb
cleansing us from every sin and the good deeds which are evidence of our faith
in Him. No shame. No embarrassment. Just the absolute joy of belonging to
Jesus. Today we have begun another Lenten journey. We will follow Jesus as He
walks to the cross. Often the tone of our worship will be somber. The tunes of
our worship will be sad. It’s the right response because we know Jesus is on
trial instead of me. But never forget, this is something He wanted to do.
Lent’s message is better than any valentine because it shows Jesus’ great love
for you. Amen.</span> </p>Pastor Spaudehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11010651324712293261noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2766831625444153657.post-87466659137058248272024-01-29T09:43:00.003-06:002024-01-29T09:43:58.622-06:00January 27-29, 2024 Pastor Timothy J. Spaude Text: 2 Corinthians 5: 14-21 (EHV) “WE ARE AMBASSADORS FOR CHRIST!”<p> </p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">EPIPHANY
3<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">January
27-29, 2024<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Pastor
Timothy J. Spaude<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Text:
2 Corinthians 5: 14-21 (EHV)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: center;"><b><u><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">“WE ARE
AMBASSADORS FOR CHRIST!”</span></u></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: 2.25in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">1.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Compelled
by the love of Christ.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: 2.25in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">2.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Changed
by His presence.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: 2.25in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">3.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Proclaiming
His message<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>I must tell you I am very honored to
be in the presence of such important people. I am not kidding nor stroking your
egos. You are very important people. Why? Each one of you has been appointed to
serve as an ambassador for Christ. From the moment the Holy Spirit brought you
to faith you received that appointment. So that you would know you have been
appointed, Jesus gave you your Baptism where you put on Christ. So from the
youngest baby to 104 year old Helen Tellier we are ambassadors for Christ and
that has some implications for each one us. The Apostle Paul helps us to see that
in his second letter to the church at Corinth. What he wrote about himself and
them is true for me and you. We are ambassadors for Christ.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>An ambassador’s job description can be
quite simple. You represent the real ruler of a country to other nations.
Motivation is important. For instance, for America, if you really don’t like
your President, it would be difficult to fairly represent that president. As
Christ’s ambassador we have the best motivation. <i>“For the love of Christ
compels us, because we came to this conclusion: One died for all;
therefore, all died. <b><sup>15 </sup></b>And he died for all, so
that those who live would no longer live for themselves but for him, who died
in their place and was raised again.”</i> The love of Christ. Linguistically
you have to make a decision. In both New Testament Greek and modern American.
Is Christ subjective or objective? In other words, when saying “The love of
Christ” does Paul mean that Christ’s love of us compel us or is our responsive
love for Him? The love of Christ compels. Subject or object? Isn’t the right
answer “Yes.” Both. Because Christ loves us, we love Him in return. That’ s why
we want to be His ambassadors first or foremost. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Let’s keep that in mind this election
year. In America the government wants informed and involved citizens. It
becomes our civic duty and our 4<sup>th</sup> Commandment Christian duty to
then be informed and involved citizens. So please do that as you see fit. However,
let’s make sure that our zeal to see one candidate or another in office does
not detract from our first love. Let’s make sure that our actions and words and
posts don’t disqualify us from being Christ’s ambassadors. I can’t spew hate
and venom and then expect people who know me to accept my invitation to know
Christ better. And don’t let your best ambassadorial skills be wasted on
someone who didn’t die for you, and in fact is not willing to give their life
for you. None of them will. Jesus did. We are Christ’s ambassadors, compelled
by His love.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Changed by his presence. <i>“As a
result, from now on, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we
knew Christ according to the flesh, we no longer know him that way. <b><sup>17 </sup></b>So
then, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away.
The new has come!”</i> <i> </i>Christ’s presence in our life changes how
we view people. In case you haven’t noticed, people are messy. Our sinful
natures haven’t just put a blotch on us we can cover with some makeup. We are
broken. All of us have weaknesses toward selfishness, lust, pride greed, one of
them, all of them and more. That’s what makes people messy. When we regard
people according to the flesh it means we look at them the way the world looks
at them. How is that? Friend or Foe. Us and them. It has always been that way
since sin came into the world. Think Cain and Abel. Hatred of my brother. For
much of our world’s history that hatred was based on culture. Greek vs Persian.
Jew vs Gentile or Samaritan. Rich vs poor. In our country it’s about color:
black vs brown vs white. If you look like me, talk like me, have the same
status as me you are friend, if not you are foe. If your sins and weaknesses
are the same as mine, you are normal, if they are something I would never do
you are the vilest of sinners. Us and them. When you look at people according
to the flesh, the way of the world.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>But Christ changes us. The old has
gone. The new has come. At a recent conference the presenter asked a thought
provoking question. Do you view yourself as an American who happens to be a
Lutheran Christian or a Lutheran Christian who happens to be American? That
order changes things, doesn’t it? Let me ask it a different way. Are you a
black person or white person or brown person who happens to be a Lutheran
Christian or are you a Lutheran Christian who happens to be gifted and tinted
just the way God wants you to be? What’s your first love, your first identity?
While sin divides it is Christ that unites. So we need to first see ourselves
as equally sinful and equally saved no matter our status or color and that the
presence of Christ is what is most important and has us cheering for the same
team and playing for the same team.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Then as Christ’s ambassadors we need
to view others in the same way. Other messy people. The list of initials and
genders and identities that our fellow Americans are using for themselves
continues to grow. You can’t keep up. When you look at people, messy people,
from a worldly point of view you may find yourselves doing anything from rolling
your eyes and shaking your head to muttering FREAK! Under your breath. But with
Christ in our lives we see others differently. People Jesus loves so much He
gave His life for them. Messy people just like us and the only difference
between us and them is we have Jesus in our lives and He cleaned us up. You
know the only people difference the Bible focuses on is believer and
unbeliever. And amongst those unbelievers some are Christ haters and they are
lost. But some are ignorant and some are victims of lies of the Devil and some
are following wrong ways because they instinctively know there is a God sized
hole in their heart that needs to be filled with something.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>That is where you and I come in. We
are ambassadors for Christ. An ambassador’s job is quite simple. Speak the
message the one you represent gives you. What is Christ’s message He wants us
to deliver? Reconciliation. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i>“And all
these things are from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave
us the ministry of reconciliation. <b><sup>19 </sup></b>That is, God
was in Christ reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses
against them. And he has entrusted to us the message of reconciliation. <b><sup>20 </sup></b>Therefore,
we are ambassadors for Christ, inasmuch as God is making an appeal through us.
We urge you, on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. <b><sup>21 </sup></b>God
made him, who did not know sin, to become sin for us, so that we might become
the righteousness of God in him.”</i> In these times that we live in where our
government leaders seek to divide us along political lines so they can stay in
power and our sinful natures try to divide over color or social status Jesus
comes in and seeks one thing for all people. Unity. With God. Reconciliation.
Two parties who are at odds coming together.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Sin divides. People from people.
People from God. Sin cannot be undone. You can’t make up for sin. Oftentimes
you can’t undo its earthly damage. Only one thing takes care of sin.
Forgiveness. Only one thing makes that possible. The blood of Jesus Christ,
God’s Son. We are His ambassadors. When you rub shoulders with those who like
to identify themselves with initials make sure they don’t get the impression
that what you really want to do is change their behaviors. You are an
ambassador for Christ. What I really want to do is change your relationship
with God. Jesus does that. He had no sin. Yet He became sin, the world’s one
and only sinner on the cross. For you. Heart first. Behaviors later. We are
ambassadors for Christ.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Which means you are very important
people. But maybe you don’t feel that way. Maybe you think you can’t influence
many people. In 2022 Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barret was appointed to be ambassador
to Luxembourg. Belgium. I remember my first reaction. Mmm. Why him? And
Luxembourg. Not very important. I wonder if the people in Belgium would agree.
There are actually smaller countries. Liechenstein, Tuvalu, Nauru and covering
a whopping .77 of a square mile, Monaco. The people there are all important. So
are the people God has you rubbing shoulders with whether many or few. Whenever
you do keep this truth in the forefront. We are Christ’s Ambassadors. Amen.<o:p></o:p></span></p>Pastor Spaudehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11010651324712293261noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2766831625444153657.post-67151649870605616582024-01-08T16:32:00.002-06:002024-01-08T16:32:36.736-06:00January 6-8. 2024 Pastor Timothy J. Spaude Text: Matthew 2:1-12 (EHV) “INSIGHTS FROM THE EPIPHANY”<p> </p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">EPIPHANY<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">January
6-8. 2024<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Pastor
Timothy J. Spaude<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Text:
Matthew 2:1-12 (EHV)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: center;"><b><u><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">“INSIGHTS FROM THE
EPIPHANY”</span></u></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: 1.25in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">1.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">God
does not care about the things that man cares about.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: 1.25in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">2.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Man
does not care about the things God cares about.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: 1.25in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">3.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">God’s
preplanning is absolutely astounding!<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Matthew
2:1-12 (EHV) </span></b><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">“After
Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, when Herod was king, Wise Men from the
east came to Jerusalem. They asked, <b><sup>2 </sup></b>“Where is he
who has been born King of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have
come to worship him.” <b><sup>3 </sup></b>When King Herod heard this,
he was alarmed, and all Jerusalem with him. <b><sup>4 </sup></b>He
gathered together all the people’s chief priests and experts in the law. He
asked them where the Christ was to be born. <b><sup>5 </sup></b>They
said to him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, because this was written through the
prophet:<o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><b><i><sup><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">6 </span></sup></i></b><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">You, Bethlehem, in the land of
Judah, are certainly not least among the rulers of Judah: because out of you
will come a ruler, who will shepherd my people, Israel.” <o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><b><i><sup><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">7 </span></sup></i></b><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Then Herod secretly summoned the
Wise Men and found out from them exactly when the star had appeared. <b><sup>8 </sup></b>He
sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the child. When
you find him, report to me, so that I may also go and worship him.” <b><sup>9 </sup></b>After
listening to the king, they went on their way. Then the star they had seen when
it rose went ahead of them, until it stood still over the place where the
child was. <b><sup>10 </sup></b>When they saw the star, they rejoiced
with overwhelming joy. <b><sup>11 </sup></b>After they went into the
house and saw the child with Mary, his mother, they bowed down and worshipped
him. Then they opened their treasures and offered him gifts: gold,
frankincense, and myrrh. <b><sup>12 </sup></b>Since they had been
warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they went back to their own country
by another route.”<o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>So there is Epiphany and there are
epiphanies. Very specifically Epiphany is referring to the time when God
revealed that the Messiah, Jesus, is Savior for all people, not just the Jews,
but for all people as well. The occasion is when the non Jewish Wise Men came
from the East. Today when people say they have had an epiphany they mean the
light bulb went off in their head as they gained some new insight or revelation
about something important. The Epiphany of Jesus serves as a source of some
other epiphanies for us too.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The first is that God does not care
about the things that man cares about. God gives us that insight as the Wise
Men come to visit. Where do they stop first? Jerusalem. Why? It’s the capital
city of Judea. They had seen the special star that told them the new King of
the Jews that had been born. Where would you expect to find the new crown
prince? In the capital city. In the palace with guards and servants and pomp
and circumstance. Those are things man cares about. But not God. His son is
born in the little town of Bethlehem, nowheresville. He was born in a stable,
not a palace. And while it is very unlikely that Mary and Joseph were still in
the stable when the Wise Men came, they were the only attendants of Jesus that
the Wise Men found. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>What else does man care about? Power.
Being in charge. Because you know the rest of Matthew chapter 2 you know
exactly why Herod said to the Wise Men, <i>“Go and search carefully for the
child. When you find him, report to me, so that I may also go and worship him.”</i>
Liar. Herod did not want to go worship Jesus. He wanted to kill him. Why? He
thought that Jesus was a threat to his power and his throne. And let’s make
sure we understand what Herod’s authority was. He was a puppet king. Rome
controlled Israel at this time. Rome allowed conquered nations to keep their
rulers as long as they behaved and paid their taxes. Herod valued temporary and
limited earthly power. God doesn’t. His Son was born to rule an eternal kingdom
with unlimited power of King of kings and Lord of Lord.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Now what can we learn from this
Epiphany insight? Check your values. Align them with your Lord’s. We have
tendencies to value the things of man over the things of God. Cars. Heirlooms.
Clothes. Epiphany! God does not care about those things. Prestige. Status.
Who’s in charge of temporary powers and limited authority. Epiphany! God does
not care about those things. He just uses them. So should we.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>For as God does not care about the
things man cares about, the reverse is also true. Man, sinful man, does not
care about the things that God cares about. What is it that God cares about?
People! Their salvation. Keeping His promises. Everything that happened leading
up to Epiphany was put into place because God cares about people. He loves
them. He wants them in heaven. So His Son becomes man to take the place of
sinful man, to be their substitute. To live the perfect life they could not and
die the sinner’s death so they don’t have to. The coming of the Savior into the
world was such a great event that God made sure Wise Men from the East went to
a whole lot of trouble, spent a lot of time and money to come and see that
Jesus was for them. But that was not the common reaction. King Herod? He
doesn’t care about his eternal salvation, only his earthly power. And what a
spiritual tragedy! When the Wise Men come it is the chief priests, the experts
in the law, the equivalent of the pastors and seminary professors of today, who
are consulted. And what do they do when they hear the long-awaited Messiah has
been born? Nothing. They didn’t care about the things God cares about.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Nothing new today. Sinful man pretends
to care about people but does not. You hear too often of how the United States
sends humanitarian aid to some third world country only to have its rulers turn
around and sell it for profit instead of giving it to its people. King Herod
didn’t care about the families of Bethlehem but would order the murder of every
baby boy 2 years old and younger because he didn’t care about what God cares
about. Those babies could potentially inconvenience him. In the same way some
of our government leaders don’t care that God cares about every human life. Instead,
our Vice President will be here in Wisconsin soon on a nationwide tour that
pretends to care about people, but not those who could potentially makes
someone’s life inconvenient. As I would not want to be Herod on the day of
Judgment I would also not want to be the abortionist. It is a terrible thing to
fall into the hand of an angry God. Sinful man does not care about the things
God cares about. One day too late, he will.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>But not everyone is messed up. There
are some who care about what God cares about and not what man cares about. Here
it is the Wise Men and that leads to our third Epiphany Insight. God’s
preplanning is absolutely astounding! Wise Men. From the East. Who are they?
How did they get there? God’s preplanning. We are not told but the only thing
that fits with the truth Scripture reveals is that they were exposed to Old
Testament prophecy. My guess is these are descendants for the wise men
influenced by Daniel of lions’ den fame. Over 500 years before it happened God
set the stage for these Wise Men to be believers in the Savior. He also
equipped them to serve. They were different from the rest of the people in
Matthew 2. They did not care about pomp, circumstance, earthly power or all the
other things man cares about. They had in mind the things of God. They looked
to the baby Jesus as their Savior. They treated Him as their Savior. They
served Him as their Savior. Gold. Frankincense. Myrrh. Costly items. Easily
transported. These Gentiles received the honor from God of providing for Mary,
Joseph and Jesus when they would flee to Egypt to escape the baby murdering
Herod. God preplanned all of it so the Wise Men would be in place and have the
opportunity and means to serve Jesus.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>God is doing that same thing today
with you! Read this passage with me if you don’t already have it memorized.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">“For
it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not
from yourselves, it is the gift of God— <b><sup>9 </sup></b>not by
works, so that no one can boast. <b><sup>10 </sup></b>For we are
God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good
works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"> (Ephesians
2:8-10)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Did
you catch that? Good works which God prepared in advance for us to do. His
preplanning is absolutely astounding. For each one of us God has preplanned a
part to play in His plan of salvation for you and others. We all get to be Wise
Men who don’t act like sinful man and do value what God values. Think. Look at
your life. What has God prepared you for? How has He gifted you, shaped you,
blessed you? There’s a method and meaning to all of it. God’s preplanning. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>As I said, there is Epiphany and there
are epiphanies. We thank God today for giving us Epiphany insights that lead us
to check our values and align them with God’s and to be aware of and be willing
participants in God’s preplanning. One final epiphany from the Epiphany: Here’s
a great motto for 2024: <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: 1.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">As with gladness men of old<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: 1.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Did the guiding star behold,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: 1.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">As with joy they hailed its light,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: 1.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Leading onward, beaming bright,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: 1.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">So, most gracious Lord, may we<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: 1.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Evermore be led to thee.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>Pastor Spaudehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11010651324712293261noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2766831625444153657.post-75326563652358348372023-12-14T09:53:00.002-06:002023-12-14T09:53:34.757-06:00December 13, 2023 Pastor Timothy J. Spaude Text: Zechariah 13:1-6 (EHV) “CHRIST’S ADVENT: AN END TO FALSE TEACHING!”<p> </p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">MIDWEEK
ADVENT 3<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">December
13, 2023<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Pastor
Timothy J. Spaude<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Text:
Zechariah 13:1-6 (EHV)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: center;"><b><u><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">“CHRIST’S ADVENT:
AN END TO FALSE TEACHING!”<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>We are in the time of the year that we
are looking forward to and waiting for something big, Christmas! What is it you
are most looking forward to? There can be many different answers. Some will say
things that have to do with worship: the music, the message that we have a
Savior and God keeps His promises, the children’s service, the star. Some will
say the cookies and treats and food. Students will say a vacation from
school…maybe a few others might say that too. Then there is seeing family and
the giving and getting of gifts. None of those answers are wrong. There are
many things that Christmas brings for us to look forward to. Christ’s Advent is
the same way. You can look forward to Christ’s coming at the end of the world
for a number of reasons. In our midweek Advent services Zechariah has been
helping us as he revealed what he was looking for. We’ve already heard how he
was looking forward to the Lord living with us. Last week we heard how he was
looking forward to being part of a holy kingdom. We related to that. No more
having to complain and chafe about what’s wrong with your country when you are
part of a holy nation with the perfect Lord Jesus as your leader. But wait,
there’s more that Zechariah was looking forward to and we can too.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Zechariah
13:1-6 (EHV) <i>“</i></span></b><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">On that day a fountain will be opened
for the house of David and for the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for sin and for
uncleanness. <b><sup>2 </sup></b>In that day, declares
the Lord of Armies, I will cut off the names of the idols from the
land, and they will no longer be remembered. I will also remove the prophets
and the impure spirit from the land. <b><sup>3 </sup></b>If anyone
still prophesies, his father and his mother who gave birth to him will tell
him, “You shall not live, because you have spoken lies in the name of
the Lord!” Then his father and his mother who gave birth to him will stab
him when he prophesies. <b><sup>4 </sup></b>In that day each of those
prophets will be ashamed of his vision. When he prophesies, he will not put on
a prophet’s garment made of hair in order to deceive. <b><sup>5 </sup></b>Instead
he will say, “I am not a prophet. I have been a tiller of the soil since my
youth, when a man bought me.” <b><sup>6 </sup></b>Someone will ask
him, “What are these wounds on your body?” He will reply, “I received
these wounds in the house of my friends.”</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>What was Zechariah looking forward to?
An end to false teaching. That’s what this prophecy is about, an end to
idolatry and false teaching, they go hand in hand. Idolatry blatantly puts
something in the place of God and false teaching does it secretly. “This is
what God says,” the false teaching prophet said, but God did not say it. Every
false prophet and false teacher is a false God putting themselves in the place
of God. In Zechariah’s time the false prophets tried to discourage God’s people
who had come back to Israel from continuing their faithful service to God. Following
his time the false prophets perverted the Old Testament ceremonial worship that
was to point to Christ and made it into the work righteous religions proclaimed
by the chief priests and Pharisees of Jesus’ time. Zechariah looked forward to
the time when Christ would come because the false teachers would be exposed for
what they were so that their parents would turn on them. They would lie about
themselves because they would be ashamed of their false teaching.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>To a certain extent that happened when
Christ came the first time. How often don’t the Gospel writers record that the
people were amazed at Jesus’ teaching because He taught as one with
authority—not like the chief priests and teachers of the law? How often didn’t
it happen that the Pharisees tried to trap or trick Jesus using Scripture and
Jesus made them look like fools? For that time when Jesus walked the earth
physically He dealt with false teaching.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>But He did not put an end to it. That
waits until Christ’s second Advent. If you want, read the epistles in their
historical order and see how quickly they switch from mainly teaching to
correcting false teaching. Lovers of church history will have no shortage of
false teaching fodder as you see the Nicene Creed developed to straighten out
false teaching. Same with the Athanasian Creed. And the Lutheran Reformation
would not have had to happen if the visible church kept its teachings straight.
But it didn’t. False teaching was prevalent before, during, after and now. I’ve
watched Joel Osteen to try to figure out what the draw is. He’s not the most
charismatic speaker I’ve seen. But his lies in God’s name are shameful. I
wonder how many people have been led to believe God does not love them because
they are not getting their best life now. Jesus told us that our best life
comes in heaven with Him and because of Him. Jesus told us that if we follow
Him faithfully we can expect to take up crosses not get whatever we want. Jehovah’s
Witnesses and the Mormons are zealous to get their false messages with no Jesus
as Savior into as many homes as they can, preying on lonely people and leading
to spiritual depression when people realize they can’t keep all the rules. I’ve
not seen it myself, but enough people have asked me that it must be out there.
Some commercial tooting the so called Rapture and what to do if Jesus’ leaves
you behind for a second chance. That’s false teaching. Scripture is clear that
Jesus will return only once. That will be the end of the world. It will be
followed by the public Judgement Day with no second chances and the only
rapture Scripture speaks about is our great joy when all believers are caught
up with the Lord in our eternal existence we call heaven which is why the
Apostles’ Creed so clearly confesses, “…he ascended into heaven. He is seated
at the right hand of God the Father almighty from there he will come to judge
the living and the dead.” Period. Stop. No rapture.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Now all these false teachings are and
can be confusing for many people but what really bothers me is the people cost.
The worst is when people are led to believe that their relationship with God
depends on their good works as though Jesus was not good enough. Some of the
people caught in those false teaching churches still hold on to Jesus for mercy
but live their lives in fear and with guilt instead of the peace and joy they
could have if their false teaching pastors would give them the truth. False
teaching harms so many personal relationships. It splits and divides families.
Can plague marriages. And there is a reason people are warned against bringing
up religion and politics at the family reunion or in a bar conversation. False
teaching divides.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>But not when Christ comes again. He
will put an end to false teaching and all the divisions that it causes. He will
make His church whole again and there will be one flock and one shepherd. No
wonder Zechariah looked forward to Christ’s coming. No wonder we do too. Come
Lord Jesus. Amen!<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>Pastor Spaudehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11010651324712293261noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2766831625444153657.post-24866242709490152262023-12-04T10:17:00.002-06:002023-12-04T10:17:36.216-06:00December 2-4, 2023 Pastor Timothy J. Spaude Text: Isaiah 64:1-9 “WE ARE ALL GOD’S PEOPLE!”<p> </p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">ADVENT
1<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">December
2-4, 2023<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Pastor
Timothy J. Spaude<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Text:
Isaiah 64:1-9<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: center;"><b><u><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">“WE ARE ALL GOD’S
PEOPLE!”</span></u></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: 2.75in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">1.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">A
waiting people.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: 2.75in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">2.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">A
messy people.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: 2.75in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">3.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">A
useful people.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="tab-stops: .5in; text-indent: 31.5pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Happy New Year!
New Church year, that is. The regular calendar’s transition to a new year is often
used to look back and look ahead and the word of God before us from Isaiah 64
helps us to do that spiritually as we begin the Church year with Advent. It
proclaims the truth that whether we are talking about believers in the past or
present we are all God’s people who have things in common.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="tab-stops: .5in; text-indent: 31.5pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">First, we are a
waiting people. The prophet Isaiah served God’s people around 700 years before
Jesus was born. While the people Isaiah served were experiencing relative
prosperity, the nation as a whole was in spiritual decline. Some good God
fearing kings, more evil, idol worshippers. The believers were chafing because
they could see and feel their nation turning away from God. They had seen their
cousins in the northern nation of Israel conquered by the Assyrians. They had
heard the announcement from Isaiah that their own turn was coming at the hands
of the Babylonians. Isaiah expressed their angst well! “<i>Oh, that you would
rip open the heavens and come down. Mountains then would quake because of your
presence. 2As fire ignites stubble and as fire makes water boil, make your name
known to your adversaries. Then nations would quake in your presence. 3You did
amazing things that we did not expect. You came down. Mountains quaked because
of your presence. 4From ancient times no one has heard. No ear has understood.
No eye has seen any god except you, who goes into action for the one who waits
for him. 5You meet anyone who joyfully practices righteousness, who remembers
you by walking in your ways! But you were angry because we sinned. We have
remained in our sins for a long time. Can we still be saved?” </i>Can we still
be saved? God’s people were a waiting people.<i> </i>They were waiting for God
to save them from their evil rulers. Save their nation from its own evil. Save
them from their enemies.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="tab-stops: .5in; text-indent: 31.5pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">We too are a
waiting people. Can you relate to believers living in angst as they watch their
nation go into spiritual decline? Can you relate to believers who are disgusted
that their government leaders do not lead to God but reject and oppose God in
so many ways? Can you relate to believers concerned about what this means for
our nation’s future? You know you can. The church year season of Advent reminds
us that we are waiting people. Waiting for Jesus to come the second time. But
there are mini waitings happening all the time. Have you noticed that? You wait
for Thanksgiving and its mini break only to so quickly be waiting for
Christmas. Life seems to be one mini crisis after another. A sickness, a
surgery, a family issue, a problem with the kids. We are waiting for them to be
done. But what we are really waiting for is Jesus to come help us. Whether it
is a health issue, financial issue, state of the nation issue or people issue.
We are a waiting people who need Jesus to come and save us.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="tab-stops: .5in; text-indent: 31.5pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">What we really
need is Jesus to save us from ourselves because just like the rest of God’s
people, we are a messy people. Isaiah admitted it for his time. <i>“All of us
have become like something unclean, and all our righteous acts are like a
filthy cloth. All of us have withered like a leaf, and our guilt carries us
away like the wind. 7There is no one who calls on your name, who rouses himself
to take hold of you. So you hid your face from us. You made us melt by the
power of our guilt.”</i> <i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></i>God has
made it clear. Our sinful natures are not a minor boo boo that you can control
with a band aid. Sinful ways of thinking and motivations drive people more than
anyone wants to admit. There is a term for it. Total depravity. Think of what
comes to mind if you describe a person as depraved. Total depravity. That is
the effect of sin living inside a person even when we are talking about the
people of God. So Isaiah owned up for himself and God’s people back then. They
had followed the people of their nation in selfish living. They had neglected
the priorities God set for them. Even their righteous acts were filthy, tainted
by sinful pride and selfish motivations. They were a messy people.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="tab-stops: .5in; text-indent: 31.5pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">And so are we. Just
like the rest of God’s people we tend to follow the sins of our society just a
few steps behind. The blatant 2<sup>nd</sup> Commandment sin of misusing God’s
name in the phrase “O my” God’s name comes off our lips and we may not even
realize it. Affluence and wealth which God gives so we can be generous instead makes
us cold to the needs of others. We waste our money through unchecked spending
on wants, not needs, and blame God for not providing for us. I hate it when
pagans are better at righteous living than the people of God. “Assume positive
intent” is a phrase many businesses strive to incorporate into their workplace
culture. Before getting upset at what someone did or said assume positive
intent. You know what that is? The 8<sup>th</sup> Commandment. Take their word
and actions in the kindest possible way! Are we doing that? Or instead have we become
experts in the law, at least applying it to others and assuming negative intent
behind what they say and do? While many things have changed the big ones have
not. We are all God’s people and we are a messy people because of our sin.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="tab-stops: .5in; text-indent: 31.5pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">But that is no
reason to despair or give up. The Savior Isaiah and his people were waiting for
came. He lived the perfect life that messy people of God have not. He paid the
sin debt owed by all people through His death on the cross. He cleaned us up so
God does not cast His people away. He makes use of them. Isaiah knew that. <i>“But
now, Lord, you are our father. We are the clay, and you are our potter. All of
us are the work of your hand. 9Do not be angry, Lord, without limit. Do not
remember our guilt forever. Please look closely. All of us are your people.”</i>
It was a beautiful picture for God’s people in Isaiah’s day. They were worried
and concerned about the future for themselves, their children, their
grandchildren. Because their fellow citizens had turned from God they would get
caught up in the consequence of captivity. Lions and tigers and bears O my! No
worries. God was like a potter and his people the clay. He would shape them and
use them for glorious salvation purposes. Some of those people had names like Haddasah,
Belteshazzar, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah. You know them better as Esther,
Daniel, Shadrach, Meshak and Abednego. Useful people that God used to advance
His salvation plan.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="tab-stops: .5in; text-indent: 31.5pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Just like you, the
people of God are useful too. God is the potter. You are the clay. Ponder this
for a second. God has shaped you your whole life to be what He knows you should
be to be useful in His kingdom. It began in your mother’s womb where you, the
unborn child, were fearfully and wonderfully made with the physical framework
He wanted you to have. I’ve always said I never asked to be a perfect heighted
5’7’’--neither abnormally tall or short. God made me that way. He made you your
perfect height as well. He gave you your characteristics and abilities, those
things you are drawn to and good at. You and I have gotten to honor God by
taking those traits and characteristics and running with them. Honing them.
Using them. Accepting opportunities when formally asked or when God just drops
a person in your life to be a blessing to, God’s blessing to. Helping them in
time of need. Being their connection to Jesus the only one who saves. Don’t let
the Devil tell you otherwise or make you feel otherwise. We are a useful people
in the hands of the Almighty God.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>So again I say, “Happy New Church
Year!” As we once again follow the life of our Savior and learn to serve Him
rejoice that you are a part of that select group who gets to be called the
people of God! A waiting people, a messy people, but because we have been
cleansed by the blood of the Lamb and a people useful to God. Amen.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>Pastor Spaudehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11010651324712293261noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2766831625444153657.post-43838475789711464882023-11-26T11:25:00.002-06:002023-11-26T11:25:35.004-06:00THANKSGIVING November 22/23, 2023 Pastor Timothy J. Spaude Text: Job 1:21 Thank the Lord!<p> </p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">THANKSGIVING<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">November
22/23, 2023<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Pastor
Timothy J. Spaude<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Text:
Job 1:21<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: center;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Thank the Lord!</span></u></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: 2.75in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">1.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">For giving.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: 2.75in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">2.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">For taking
away.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Job 1:21<i>“The Lord gave and
the Lord has taken away. May the name of the Lord be praised.”</i><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>An
attitude of gratitude. A spirit of thanksgiving. Everybody on the planet knows
that this should exist in the heart of mankind. It’s part of the natural
knowledge of God that He places in people’s hearts from birth. When others give
to you or serve you the right response is thanksgiving. You haven’t noticed
anyone trying to get rid of, hide or ban secular thanksgiving items like they
are with Christmas have you? Everyone knows thanksgiving should be there. But
you also cannot force it. Sure you can make your kids say “Thank you.” “Thank
you for the socks and undies Grandma.” You can write a thank you but to
actually be thankful is a different matter entirely. Either you are thankful or
you are not. You are. That is why you are here. You recognize that your
blessings come from God and His grace and you desire to thank him so you are
taking the time and making the time to do so. My goal for all of us here is
that our gratitude to God will grow from the easy and shallow to a deeper
appreciation and thanks to God for all He has done for us.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>For
that we turn to a brother in faith named Job. His words that I read to you are
probably the most well known words from Job even though his resurrection
confession, “I know that my Redeemer lives,” probably should be. These words
are well known because<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>of when they are
often read, at funerals and at gravesides. <i>“The Lord gave and
the Lord has taken away. May the name of the Lord be praised.”</i>
May they guide our thanksgiving as we focus on thanking the Lord for giving.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Job
certainly knew how to do that. The Lord gave Job a wife, 7 sons and three
daughters. That’s a lot of blessings. And if that were not enough from the
Bible’s description, they all got along. That’s rare. The Lord also gave Job
7,000 sheep, think wool and mutton and garment production, 3,000 camels, think owning
an international shipping and trucking company, 500 yoke of oxen so that means
1,000 oxen, the equivalent of large tractors and excavators in our time and 500
donkeys, female donkeys, prized for their nice ride, milk and ability to
reproduce, Cadillacs if you will. Add to them all the servants needed to take
care of all these animals and you realize that God gave Job a lot. People have
a hard time trying to gauge modern day equivalents in US dollars. I saw
everything from $250 million to $2 trillion. Take your pick. The Lord gave to
Job. He recognized and was thankful.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>You
and I can do similar thanking of God, can’t we? Like the hymn we just sang
reminded us we have 10,000 reasons and more to thank the Lord. He has given to us,
richly and daily. Just like with Job God has placed people into our lives.
Friends, Family. Church family. Just like with Job God has provided a means of
income, Social Security, investments and pensions, the different jobs we have.
God has chosen to place us in a wealthy country at a wealthy time with more
food and clothing than we need each day and not just a shack in the woods but
comfortable shelter. It is still true that the poorest Americans are among the world’s
wealthy. And with the wealth God has given us the ability to experience the joy
of generosity in helping people in our community, family members who are in
need, our church and its ministry. These all are obvious blessings that lead us
believers to say, “Thank the Lord!” Thank the Lord for giving. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>In
the account of Job Satan realized that thankfulness for obvious blessings can
be a sign of shallow faith. Here is what he said to God about Job, <i>“Satan
answered the Lord, “Is it without cause that Job fears God? <b><sup>10 </sup></b>You
have put a protective hedge around him and his household and everything that
belongs to him, haven’t you? You have blessed the work of his hands. His
livestock has spread throughout the land. <b><sup>11 </sup></b>But
just stretch out your hand and strike everything that is his, and he will
certainly curse you to your face!” </i>(Job 1:9-11 EHV) Those of you familiar
with Job’s history know what happened next. On one single day raiders stole
Job’s oxen, donkeys and camels and killed his servants, a firestorm destroyed
his sheep and something like a tornado killed all his children as they were
having a family get together. That’s when Job uttered his famous words that are
most often used now at funerals and committals. <i>“The Lord gave and
the Lord has taken away. May the name of the Lord be praised.”
</i>Thank the Lord for taking away. His people, his things, his means of
income. Still Job thanked the Lord.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>You
can too. Let’s start with our things. It’s easy to thank the Lord when He gives
us nice things, a house, a car, new clothes. Can we thank Him when He takes
them away? Sure! Sometimes we love our things more than we should so when our
loving God takes them away He is helping us value what He values. How about a
job or means of income. You pray for one and get it. Thank the Lord. And then
it gets taken away. Thank the Lord again. God knows your future. You don’t. He
knows where you should be and where you should not be. It could be that the job
you were in was going to be dangerous for your faith or your well being. Thank
the Lord for taking away. I am reminded of a prisoner I visited many years ago
as a pastor in Texas. His nickname was Thumper. Like the rabbit. He got it when
he was in the juvenile detention system in Texas. Why? He was good at running
away from the juvenile detention centers, so good that when he became of age
they locked him up in a maximum security prison. I visited him because at that
prison he reconnected with the faith of his youth as a member of one of our
sister churches in El Paso. I still remember him telling me how thankful he was
that the Lord had taken away his freedom through the Texas court system because
by doing so God gave him back his faith which gave him freedom in Christ. In a
similar way we can say thank the Lord when He takes away our physical health
because it helps us detach from this sinful world and long for heaven as we
should. We can say thank the Lord when He takes away our ability to be self
righteous by letting us continue to struggle with those pet sins and
temptations because they keep us dependent on Jesus. We can thank the Lord when
He takes away our self reliance by giving us problems we can’t fix because they
help us have a more fervent prayer life. And what about people? Can we really
thank the Lord when through death He takes away parents, friends, children,
spouses? Yes, through our tears, we can, as we recognize the reason we miss
these people is that they were blessings to make our earthly lives more
tolerable for at time.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>And
some of God’s take aways are easy. Thank the Lord for taking away our sins.
Through Jesus we have full forgiveness of all our sins and so we thank the Lord
for taking away our shame and guilt. None of us has to live haunted by our
past. Even if people remember, God does not and we will get to stand before Him
on the last day with heads held high because of Jesus. Thank the Lord that by
taking away He has given us the gift of eternal life in heaven. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Now
if you would choose to thank the Lord this week by reading all about this man
Job I’ve been talking about in the Bible book that bears his name you will
likely come to the same conclusion I do every time I read it and come to the
point where Job exclaims, <i>“The Lord gave and
the Lord has taken away. May the name of the Lord be praised.”</i>
Who does that? In the moment how could he say that? Maybe if you have been at
funeral or committal recently and the pastor read those words they kind of
stuck in your ears at the time. It’s hard to be thankful when our hearts are
hurting. But Job did. So can you. Not just one day a year but everyday. You and
I know Job’s God, who works all things for the good enabling us to say in all
circumstances, “Thank the Lord for giving <u>and</u> for taking away!” Amen.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>Pastor Spaudehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11010651324712293261noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2766831625444153657.post-70947722779611256982023-10-16T07:55:00.003-05:002023-10-16T07:55:58.949-05:00October 13-15, 2023 Pastor Timothy J. Spaude Text: Matthew 22:1-14 (EHV) “ AN OFFER WE CAN BUT BETTER NOT REFUSE!”<p> </p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">PENTECOST
20<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">October
13-15, 2023<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Pastor
Timothy J. Spaude<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Text:
Matthew 22:1-14 (EHV)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: center;"><b><u><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">“ AN OFFER WE CAN
BUT BETTER NOT REFUSE!”<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: 2.75in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">1.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Free
Banquet!<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: 2.75in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">2.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Free
Clothes!<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">If you have been reading the little Theme
of the Day summaries provided in the service folder (and I hope you have been!)
you saw the summary of this parable of Jesus as ‘A story of insane rejection.’
I know what the writer means but I personally would like a little more
accuracy. We have this way of talking. You see some social media dare or
challenge like the superhot One Chip Challenge and you say, “That’s insane!” Or
someone tells you they are going to jump out of a perfectly good flying
airplane to go skydiving and you say, “You’re crazy!” Probably time to change
our speech. Mental health issues are real, just as real as physical health
issues. Certain mental health issues can’t be dealt with unless there is proper
medical treatment just like certain physical problems won’t just go away
without treatment, so if you need help, get it. But my point is this. Someone
who truly is crazy or insane and is not treated can’t be responsible for their
actions any more than someone who breaks their leg and is not treated is
responsible for not <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>being able to run.
I’d say a better title for the theme of the day is ‘A story of idiotic
rejection.’ You see, our word idiot comes from the Greek word idios which means
‘one’s own.’ In Biblical context an idiot would be someone who chooses their
own way instead of what God gives freely through Jesus. Now listen to Jesus’
story of idiotic rejection!<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Matthew
22:1-14 (EHV) </span></b><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">“Jesus spoke to them again in parables. He said, <b><sup>2 </sup></b>“The
kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who prepared a wedding banquet for his
son. <b><sup>3 </sup></b>He sent out his servants to summon those who
were invited to the wedding banquet, but they did not want to come. <b><sup>4 </sup></b>“Then
he sent out other servants and said, ‘Tell those who are invited: Look, I have
prepared my dinner. My oxen and my fattened cattle have been butchered, and
everything is ready. Come to the wedding banquet!’<b><sup>5 </sup></b>“But
those who were invited paid no attention and went off, one to his own farm,
another to his business. <b><sup>6 </sup></b>The rest seized the
king’s servants, mistreated them, and killed them. <b><sup>7 </sup></b>As
a result, the king was very angry. He sent his army and killed those murderers
and burned their town.<b><sup>8 </sup></b>“Then he said to his servants,
‘The wedding banquet is ready, but those who were invited were not
worthy. <b><sup>9 </sup></b>So go to the main crossroads and invite
as many as you find to the wedding banquet.’ <b><sup>10 </sup></b>Those
servants went out to the roads and gathered together everyone they found, both
good and bad, and the wedding hall was filled with guests. <b><sup>11 </sup></b>But
when the king came in to see the guests, he saw a man there who was not wearing
wedding clothes. <b><sup>12 </sup></b>He said to him, ‘Friend, how
did you get in here without wearing wedding clothes?’ The man was
speechless. <b><sup>13 </sup></b>Then the king told the servants,
‘Tie him hand and foot and throw him into the outer darkness where there will
be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ <b><sup>14 </sup></b>For many are
called, but few are chosen.”<o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Jesus’ picture story is easy. A king
has invited people to come to the wedding banquet for his son. Now, I am not
into royals. I like to remind those who go gaga over British royalty, “You know
we beat them, right?” And yet an invitation to a royal wedding. The best of
food and drink and pomp and circumstance. All free. You’d have to be an idiot
to refuse that. And you got my attention when you said it was free. And yet there
were a bunch of idiots. These were the important people in the eyes of the
world. Successful business owners. Minor nobles. The movers and shakers and
celebrities of the time. They rejected free food. They had other priorities,
work or recreation. Some took it a step further. Others mistreated and killed
the messengers. They rejected the generosity of their king and went their own
way. What a bunch of idiots. What did they think the king would do?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Remember, earthly story, spiritual
meaning. Jesus told this parable right after His triumphal entry into
Jerusalem. The Pharisees and chief priests were there with the people. Jesus
was reaching out to them in love to try to help them see that rejecting God’s
Son and their Savior was idiotic. Refusing to be a member of God’s kingdom on
earth is idiotic. Refusing an eternity of joy in heaven is idiotic. And what do
you think the King of Heaven will do to those who mistreated and killed his
prophets and rejected His Son? Sadly, history tells us most of these people
remained true idiots and chose their own way to try to get to heaven and failed
miserably because they lacked their own righteousness and now suffer in Hell.
Idiots. But we can still be sad for them.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Jesus’ parable went on. The gracious
King extended the invitation to this most sumptuous and glorious banquet to
others, the “little” people of the time. The average day worker, the poor,
those considered good for society and those considered bad. All were invited.
All were given wedding clothes to wear. Coming in from the highways and byways
their own would not be good enough. Everyone gets brand new wedding clothes,
for free. You’d have to be an idiot to refuse that and once again you had me at
Free! But in the parable someone rejected the free clothes. He chose his own
dirty shabby clothes over brand new clothes from the king. As a result he was
uninvited from the wedding banquet. What an idiot?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Again earthly story, spiritual
meaning. The Bible makes frequent use of the picture of your clothes or robe as
what you look like to God. People on their own have filthy robes because of our
sin. And we are filthy. Any of you young people want to disagree with me give
me your phone unlocked after service. By the way mom and dad, when is the last
time you checked your child’s phone? If you are choosing to provide them with a
tool that is dangerous and has been used by Satan for so much wrong and harm,
it is your responsibility to check and monitor. The robe or clothes provided by
Jesus is His righteousness like we sang in the beautiful hymn. “Jesus your
blood and righteousness my beauty are, my glorious dress.” My daughter’s used
to call my pastor robe a dress. Daddy’s dress. It’s not a dress. It’s a robe.
The main reason we wear it is to cover us and to signify we are in the role of
a spokesman for God. Believers in Jesus are covered with His perfect life of a
obedience. A robe of righteousness that presents us as perfect people in the
eyes of God. You would have to be an idiot to hold up your life next to Jesus and
say, “I’m good enough.” Sadly, as Jesus’ parable points out and our fellow
Americans demonstrate, there are a lot of idiots out there.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>That’s kind of fun, isn’t it? Calling
other people idiots. Try it with me. Idiots. But God’s word has not been given
to us so we can look down on and despise other people. It’s to warn and
encourage us. First, don’t be an idiot! It’s unlikely that anyone here is going
to blatantly say to Jesus, “I’m better than you” or “I think I’m good enough to
get to heaven on my own.” And yet we have in us this “I want to do it my way”
sinful nature that the Devil wants to cultivate so eventually we do. And here’s
how we fall into his trap. Jesus offers us His very body and blood for the
forgiveness of sins in the Lord’s Supper and yet, Jacobi members, how often
have we responded with a No? “I’ve got business to attend to. Sports things to
get my kids to.” Free banquet. Nah. Idiotic, don’t you think?. “Cast your
burdens on the Lord” we are encouraged and yet too often prayer is the last resort,
‘all we can do now’ as though we are so important. We have an idiotic tendency
in all of us. My way. This parable provides a warning we need.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>And an encouragement. Someone in your
life making you feel like you are not good enough? Got your own mom guilt going
on? Life’s struggles make you think about your sins and why you should be
suffering? Free clothes. You are covered by Jesus. There is nothing you have to
do or can do to make the King love you anymore than He already does. He treats
you on the basis of grace no matter how you feel or what anyone else says. God
invites you to regularly receive comfort, strength, peace, help in His word and
Sacraments and through the gift of prayer. It’s an offer we can but better not
refuse. And why would we? It’s all free and by God’s grace we are no idiots.
Amen.<o:p></o:p></span></p>Pastor Spaudehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11010651324712293261noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2766831625444153657.post-7459393817560740352023-09-25T08:29:00.002-05:002023-09-25T08:29:19.484-05:00September 23-25, 2023 Pastor Timothy J. Spaude Text: Matthew 20:1-16 (EHV) “GOD’S WORK, GOD’S WAY!<p> </p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">PENTECOST
17<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">September
23-25, 2023<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Pastor
Timothy J. Spaude<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Text:
Matthew 20:1-16 (EHV)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: center;"><b><u><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">“GOD’S WORK, GOD’S
WAY!<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Last week and for the next few weeks
in the Gospel lessons from Matthew Jesus teaches us things using stories.
Important things we need to know about life as citizens in God’s kingdom. Last
week he made clear the importance of ongoing forgiveness of others as we need
ongoing forgiveness from God. This week’s story focuses our attention on work
in God’s kingdom. You will notice that the workers and the owner have decidedly
different perspectives. See if you can pick them out. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><a name="_Hlk115686794"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Matthew 20:1-16 (EHV)</span></b></a><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"> </span></b><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">“Indeed the
kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire
workers for his vineyard. <sup>2</sup>After agreeing to pay the workers a
denarius for the day, he sent them into his vineyard. <sup>3</sup>He also
went out about the third hour and saw others standing unemployed in the
marketplace. <sup>4</sup>To these he said, ‘You also go into the vineyard,
and I will give you whatever is right.’ So they went. <sup>5</sup>Again he
went out about the sixth and the ninth hour and did the same thing. <sup>6</sup>When
he went out about the eleventh hour, he found others standing unemployed. He
said to them, ‘Why have you stood here all day unemployed?’ <sup>7</sup>“They
said to him, ‘Because no one hired us.’ “He told them, ‘You also go into the
vineyard.’ <sup>8</sup>When it was evening, the owner of the vineyard said
to his foreman, ‘Call the workers and pay them their wages, starting with the
last group and ending with the first.’ <sup>9</sup>“When those who were hired
around the eleventh hour came, they each received a denarius. <sup>10</sup>When
those who were hired first came, they thought they would receive more. But they
each received a denarius too. <sup>11</sup>After they received it, they began
to grumble against the landowner: <sup>12</sup>‘Those who were last worked
one hour, and you made them equal to us who have endured the burden of the day
and the scorching heat!’ <sup>13</sup>“But he answered one of them, ‘Friend, I
am doing you no wrong. Did you not make an agreement with me for a
denarius? <sup>14</sup>Take what is yours and go. I want to give to the
last one hired the same as I also gave to you. <sup>15</sup>Can’t I do
what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?’ <sup>16</sup>In
the same way, the last will be first, and the first, last.”<o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Like most of Jesus’ stories called
parables, this one is not hard to picture as it relates to real life. First
there is the workers’ perspective. We have all probably been at a point some
time in life, or will be, where there is a job you really want to have. You
hope for it. You pray for it. You go for it. You get it! You are filled with a
sense of joy, pride, happiness and satisfaction. You understand the privilege
of getting this job. Day laborers in Jesus’ time had that times 10. Each
workday they left home and kissed their wife on the cheek. “Pray for me, honey.”
It was an important prayer. His goal for the day would be to earn enough to buy
food for his family for the next day. No job. No food. They waited in the
marketplace where the landowners who had work would look for day laborers. “Pick
me! Pick me! Please!” went the silent prayers. “You, come with me.” Privilege!
Relief. A denarius. Food for my family.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>But they weren’t all that different
from us. The joy and privilege of being chosen for a job can wear off when you
start looking at your fellow workers. They don’t work as hard as I do. They are
so incompetent. Why are people always asking me to do more? There are 15 other
people in this department. I bet she gets paid more than I do. We’ve all thought
it and/or said it many times so say it with me. “That’s not fair!” Here’s how
that came out in the parable. <i>“When those who were hired first came, they
thought they would receive more. But they each received a denarius too. <sup>11</sup>After
they received it, they began to grumble against the landowner: <sup>12</sup>‘Those
who were last worked one hour, and you made them equal to us who have endured
the burden of the day and the scorching heat!’”</i> The workers’ perspective is
very normal. It is the common way of thinking and works in the workplace. I put
more time in, I do more, I am more competent, I deserve to be paid more. That’s
what’s fair.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The owner in Jesus’ parable takes a
decidedly different approach. He picks workers at the beginning of the workday,
3 hours in, 6 hours in, 9 hours in and with only one left to go! And for all of
us whiners and complainers who actually think we work hard and long I hope you
noticed this is a 12 hour workday, 6 days a week. We soft American need to
replace our whining and complaining with thankfulness to God that we get to
live when we do. But I digress. It comes to the end of the day. Back then you
did not wait two weeks for a paycheck. You got paid at the end of each day
because you needed that money just to stay alive for the next. The owner hands
out the pay beginning with those whose workday was shortest to those whose
workday is the longest. Everybody got the same! A denarius. Join me in speaking
for the 12 hour workers. “That’s not fair!” “Hold on,” says the owner. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><i>“But he answered one of them,
‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not make an agreement with me for a
denarius? <sup>14</sup>Take what is yours and go. I want to give to the
last one hired the same as I also gave to you. <sup>15</sup>Can’t I do
what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?”</i> Ooh!
Now the truth comes out. The complaining workers got exactly what they had
agreed to work for. That’s fair. The owner of the money is the one who gets to
decide where it goes. That’s fair. Now remember the times. When Joseph and
Judah and Joachim left their homes that morning their prayer was to earn enough
to provide food for their families. One hour, three hours, half a day’s work
won’t get very much. The owner was being kind and while these first hired
workers hid their hearts behind their own concept of fairness, they showed they
did not have love for others. They weren’t thinking about the other workers who
would now be able to feed their families. They were only thinking of
themselves.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Now Jesus is not trying to change the
way companies and businesses do their hiring practices or how they pay their
workers. Remember this is a parable, an earthly story that has a spiritual
meaning, meant to teach believers what life is like as a citizen of the kingdom
of God. So, what’s the point? God’s work, God’s way. Two main points. First is
that being a part of the kingdom of God and getting to “work” for Jesus is a
privilege. Did you notice the reason the owner hired the workers? They were
standing unemployed. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There is no, “he
needed more workers so…” He had mercy on them. They needed Him. He did not need
them. But He did love them and care for them and so He chose them. So too is
your place in the kingdom of God and my place in the kingdom of God. He doesn’t
need us. We need Him. In fact, if we want to play the fair game with God, what
must He give us? What we’ve earned of course! And the wages of sin is death. I
was reminded of that a few weeks ago when we sang “Rock of Ages, Cleft for me.”
Let me remind you of verse 3. “Nothing in my hand I bring, simply to thy cross
I cling; naked, come to thee for dress, helpless, look to thee for grace; foul,
I to the fountain fly; wash me, Savior, or I die.” Do you believe that? That we
are members of the kingdom of God is a privilege. It flows from God’s love and
is possible only because of the life and death of our Savior Jesus. God’s work,
God’s way is the way of grace and mercy.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>That takes us to the second main
point. That we get “paid” is an astounding display of God’s grace. Jesus’ story
is about being a member of God’s kingdom. We get to work for God now by being
witnesses for our Lord Jesus. We get to work for God now by carefully striving
to live our lives for God’s glory. Our “pay” is heaven. An eternity in the
glorious presence of God where there is joy evermore and we will be co-heirs
with Christ whatever that means however that can be true. Joy. Happiness. Love.
Unity with each other, all believers and the Lord. A brand new heaven and brand
new earth. It is impossible for us to earn or deserve that so God gives it us
freely by grace through Jesus. And that is why we are just as happy that our
generous God gives that gift to people like the thief on the cross as we are
for those who have lived their whole lives with that truth. God’s work, God’s
way highlights the beauty of God’s grace where we who know we are last because
of our sins are put first in the kingdom of God while those who think they are
first because of all they do become last. It’s God’s Work, so it’s God’s way!
Amen.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Brian, you are among the very few
believers in Christ who not only get “paid” in eternity but also are getting
paid right now. You are a called worker which means that for the past 25 years
people have paid you to do what most other believers are expected to do without
pay: be in God’s word daily, proclaim, teach it, be a witness. So for the past
25 years you have had extra reasons to rejoice that it is God’s work, God’s way
because you understand the extra privilege you have. By God’s grace you were
chosen for God’s family. By God’s grace you get to be a full time worker in one
of His churches. By God’s grace you will get “paid.” Jesus said, “Store up for
yourselves treasures in heaven.” Those treasures are people who believe in
Jesus. For the past 25 years you’ve had the chance to proclaim Christ to lots
of students. That’s a lot of treasure. 25 more? Amen.<o:p></o:p></span></p>Pastor Spaudehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11010651324712293261noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2766831625444153657.post-24330078454060751552023-09-05T08:07:00.003-05:002023-09-05T08:07:51.529-05:00September 2-4, 2023 Pastor Timothy J. Spaude Text: Romans 8:18-25 (EHV) “IT’S ALL WORTH IT!”<p> </p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">PENTECOST<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">September
2-4, 2023<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Pastor
Timothy J. Spaude<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Text:
Romans 8:18-25 (EHV)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: center;"><b><u><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">“IT’S ALL WORTH
IT!”</span></u></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: 2.75in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">1.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Suffering<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: 2.75in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">2.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Groaning<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: 2.75in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">3.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Waiting<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Is it worth it? Sometimes the answer
is yes. On a recent vacation my daughter and I were hiking to see some waterfalls.
The hike was getting long. No waterfalls. We met some people coming back. “Is
it worth it?” we asked. “Oh yes, you will not be disappointed,” was the
response. And we were not. The beautiful falls God created were worth the sore
feet and temporary shortness of breath. Sometimes the answer is No. Is it worth
it? One more drink and a drunk driving ticket. No, that’s not worth it. The
word of God we are looking at comes from Romans chapter 8. I hope all of you
have that bookmarked in your Bibles. It is filled with comfort and
encouragement for all seasons of life. This section hits head on the truth that
life is not always easy for followers of Christ. We experience suffering,
groaning, waiting. So, is it worth it? Is it worth to pick up your cross and
follow Christ?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Is the suffering worth it? The Apostle
Paul wrote this. <i>“For I conclude that our sufferings at the present time are
not worth comparing with the glory that is going to be revealed to us. <sup>19</sup>In
fact, creation is waiting with eager longing for the sons of God to be
revealed. <sup>20</sup>For creation was subjected to futility, not by its
own will, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in the hope <sup>21</sup>that
even creation itself will be set free from slavery to corruption, in order to
share in the glorious freedom of the children of God.”</i> For the followers of
Christ life is filled with sufferings. We have the hurts, heartaches and
problems common to all people living in the sin filled world. Following Christ
does not give you immunity to cancer, Alzheimer’s and Parkinsons. It does not
give you a get out of sickness free card or guarantee no broken bones, or
broken relationships. Our world is ruined by sin. Our bodies are ruined by sin.
We will have those sufferings and the extra suffering that comes with the hurt
when we don’t understand why God allows certain things. Following Christ does
not divorce proof your marriage or make your kids act like angels. It does not
protect you from mean girls in high school. We are sinners living with sinners and
some sins other people do hurt us, deeply, and the hurt can hurt more as you
understand God could end those hurts, but He doesn’t. Deliberately following
Christ in your life brings more suffering. We get extra when the society you
live in is not Christian In case you have not noticed our society is turning
more and more anti-Christian. Every sin is to be welcomed and tolerated but
calling something God says is wrong sinful, well now, we can’t tolerate that. Watch
the way the media treats churches, schools, individuals who make moral stand
based on what God says. Sufferings are coming. Followers of Christ also feel
the angst of the personal struggles against our own sin. Guilt and shame are
not fun. The unbeliever does not have that. We do. Suffering. Is it worth it?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Groaning. Is it worth it? <i>“For we
know that all of creation is groaning with birth pains right up to the present
time. <sup>23</sup>And not only creation, but also we ourselves, who have
the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly while we eagerly await our
adoption as sons, the redemption of our body.”</i> Here and in the previous
section Paul reminded us we are not alone in suffering, groaning and waiting.
He pictured the rest of Creation like a person. Creation suffers because it
does not work like it’s supposed to. God’s original plan for creation was never
to let it be destructive with winds whipping fires and hurricanes and viruses
making people sick. Just like we don’t like the sin that comes from us,
Creation doesn’t like being destructive. And it groans. “No, not again! This is
not what God created me to do! When will it end?” We groan too. Now there are
different kinds of groaning we do. “All right students, tomorrow we will have
test.” Groan! “Yes, you can play your video game, after you clean your room.”
Groan! If you’ve ever heard a Mr. Kasten dad joke. Groan! That’s not the
groaning we have to do as believers. Kids on bikes in hit and run accidents.
Another senseless shooting. Dirty politicians getting away with it. Another hit
to the family finances. Loved ones dying too soon. People who want to go to
heaven hanging on. Another drug overdose. God blasphemed and kicked out of our
nation and God does nothing about it. We groan. How long O Lord? Is it worth
it?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>And then there is the waiting. <i> “Indeed,
it was for this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is not hope, because
who hopes for what he already sees? <sup>25</sup>But if we hope for
something we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with patient endurance.”</i> “The
waiting is the hardest part,” an old rocker crooned in a song that probably is
not about something good. But in many ways, he’s right. Waiting is hard. You
wait when something is out of your control. You wait when there is nothing that
you can do to change the situation. Think of waiting for Christmas when you are
kid, a medical test result for an adult. It’s all out of your hands meaning it
is in God’s hands which we know is a good thing but…there’s a little Veruca
Salt from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory in all of us. “I want it and I
want it now!” But God says wait. There will be justice. When? Wait. Those who
make your lives miserable for following me will pay. When? Wait. Your broken
heart will stop hurting. I will give you peace. When? Wait. Your body will work
the way it’s supposed to. When? Wait. Satan won’t get away with it. Evil will
not triumph. Every knee will bow and every tongue will confess Jesus Christ as
Lord. When? Wait. All of this waiting for what we do not have and do not see.
Is it worth it?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Snowflakes. Might seem an odd thing to
mention in the midst of a hot sunny weekend and on the heels or a hotter more
humid one. But I’m not talking about the snowflakes that fall from the sky and
we want at least for Christmas! In modern usage calling someone a snowflake
means they are overly sensitive and will melt when the heat is on. Satan wants
you to be a spiritual snowflake. He wants you to look at your sufferings that
God could take away and does not melt your love for God. Satan wants you to let
your groaning at the unfairness of it all and your community and country turning
its back on God and you and God does nothing about it, to melt in your faith,
to give up, be hopeless and ultimately turn against your God who loves you. But
God’s Good News for you is you are no snowflake. You are not going to give up
because you know the suffering, the groaning, the waiting, it’s all worth it! <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">How do we know? We keep our eyes on Jesus.
In the book of Hebrews we are told to keep our eyes fixed on Jesus who <i>“…for
the joy set before him endured the cross scorning its shame.”</i> (Hebrews
12:2) Suffering. Groaning. Waiting. That’s Jesus on the cross paying for our
sin. If ever someone would be justified in giving up, giving in to the Devil’s
temptation to take the easy way out. But He didn’t. It was worth it to Him. Joy
was set before Him, the joy of winning us for God, the joy of having us with
Him in heaven. It was all worth it to Him to have you. And that’s why we
consider our suffering and groaning and waiting worth it. Glory is coming! <i>“For
I conclude that our sufferings at the present time are not worth comparing with
the glory that is going to be revealed to us.” </i>Creation is looking <i> “to
share in the glorious freedom of the children of God.”</i> Twice Paul reminded
us we are <i>“eagerly waiting.”</i> Heaven. It’s better than a waterfall. It’s
better than a baby. It’s better than we can imagine. Just take the happiest you
have felt, the best you have physically felt, the closest to God you have ever
felt multiply it times a billion and you are far short of how great it will be.
The Lord Jesus will make everything new. A new heaven and a new earth. New
relationships and new bodies. And the Devil thinks were going to snowflake on
that? No. Whatever we have to put up with to faithfully follow Christ, it’s all
worth it! Because He is. Amen.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>Pastor Spaudehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11010651324712293261noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2766831625444153657.post-16225696066005127902023-08-15T14:12:00.001-05:002023-08-15T14:12:12.450-05:00August 12-14, 2023 Pastor Timothy J. Spaude Text: 1 Kings 19:9-18 “ONWARD!”<p> </p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">PENTECOST
11<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">August
12-14, 2023<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Pastor
Timothy J. Spaude<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Text:
1 Kings 19:9-18<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: center;"><b><u><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">“ONWARD!”</span></u></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: 2.25in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">1.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">We
have God’s power.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: 2.25in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">2.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">We
have a mission.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: 2.25in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">3.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">We
have each other.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>There are these times in you’re your
life when you just feel like giving up. Sometimes it’s because of our own sin
and the mess we have made of our lives. Sometimes you can do everything right
and it still turns out wrong. You feel defeated, like giving up. As you heard
earlier in the reading from 1 Kings, God’s prophet Elijah found himself at one
of those moments. If you don’t like our nation’s leaders do a little Bible
reading on Ahab and Jezebel. Wicked. Evil. Conniving. Lying. Only looking out
for themselves. Enemies of God who tried to wipe out all believers. God stepped
in. There was this great showdown between the prophet Elijah representing the
one true God and 450 prophets of the idol Baal. You have to read it for
yourself in 1 Kings 18! God and Elijah made fools of the prophets of Baal and
God revealed Himself to all the people there as the one true God so that all
the people turned to God, rose up and killed all the prophets of Baal. “Ah!”
thought Elijah. “This will be the turning point. The nation will return to God.
But they didn’t. Soon after wicked Queen Jezebel heard what happened Elijah was
running for his life. He fled Israel and ran to where the nation of Israel
began, Mt. Sinai. That’s where the Old Testament lesson began. Elijah, down and
discouraged, hiding in a cave. He was done.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>But as you heard, God did not leave
him there. God came to Elijah in the cave and asked, <i>“Why are you here,
Elijah?”</i> That’s a good question, that we will come back to. Elijah
responded. <i>“I have been very zealous for the Lord, the God of Armies, but
the people of Israel have abandoned your covenant. They have torn down your
altars and killed your prophets with the sword. I alone am left, and they are
seeking to take my life.”<sup><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></sup></i>Elijah
was done. He couldn’t go on. Or so he thought. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Elijah wasn’t done. He needed to go onward. So
God picked him up. He had Elijah stand at the mouth of the cave. First came a
powerful gale force wind and if you have ever seen the aftermath of a tornado,
hurricane or straight line wind you know it’s power. Then came an earthquake.
Again, been in one or seen the aftermath, power. Was the fire that God used
next like the fire He used to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah? Again power. But not
God’s real power to build up or tear down. That came next. A soft whispering
voice, the power of God He has placed in His word. It would accomplish the
destruction of God’s enemies and the saving of His people. Elijah was not done.
He had God’s power in His word. Elijah would use that word to accomplish the
work God gave him. <i>“Then the Lord said to him, “Go back the way you came and
go to the Wilderness of Damascus. When you get there, you are to anoint Hazael
as king over Aram. <sup>16</sup>You will also anoint Jehu son of Nimshi as
king over Israel and Elisha son of Shaphat from Abel Meholah as prophet in your
place. <sup>17</sup>Whoever escapes the sword of Hazael, Jehu will kill,
and whoever escapes the sword of Jehu, Elisha will kill.”</i> If we go back to
our map you can see God told Elijah to go back the way he came and then some.
All the way to Aram or Syria. Why? He had work to do. Two kings and one prophet
to anoint or set aside for service to God. They would bring God’s punishment on
the people who needed it. Elijah couldn’t be done. He had a mission. He needed
to go onward. And despite how he felt, Elijah was not alone. <i> “But I
have preserved in Israel seven thousand whose knees have not bent to Baal and
whose lips have not kissed him.”</i> It’s a classic mistake, judging by what
you see with your eyes rather than what God says. Elijah felt alone. But he was
never alone. God was with him and God had provided others. Elijah’s eyes saw no
one. In fact there were over 7000 faithful believers just like Elijah. Elijah
needed to go onward because he had God’s power, he had a mission and he had
other workers and people to help him. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>And the same thing is true for you and
me. Can you relate to how the prophet Elijah felt? If not now, at some time in
your past? Lord. I’ve done my best. I’ve tried to save my marriage, I did all I
could to raise my children to love you. I worked hard for this company. As a
church we’ve stayed faithful to your word. But…the marriage has failed, the
kids don’t care, I’m the one let go, the nation’s gone to pot. I’m done. I’m
done fighting. I’m done dealing with it. I’m done. I’m going to crawl into that
cave I call my home, mind my own business and whatever happens, happens. I’m
done. I’m done trying, I’m done being the only one working at it. Feelings like
that are normal for sinful human beings who whose eyes are on themselves
instead of their God. Because we are weak that happens. And it actually is true
that by ourselves we are helpless, helpless to save ourselves for sure and
honestly helpless to change people around us. But we are not by ourselves. As
God graciously came to Elijah in the cave He comes to us today in His word.
“Buck up little trooper! With whatever I have asked you to deal with, Onward!
Keep going.” Why?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>We have God’s power. Our earthly eyes
and a part of our frustrated self wants God to show His power in destructive
force that everyone can see. Send some fire and brimstone on Washington DC!
Clean up that mess. Drown the drug dealers in the depths of Lake Michigan. God
has the power to do that and more. His real power He has placed in His word.
This is the power to save souls eternally and to destroy them. This is the only
source of the message of free salvation through Jesus Christ to all who
believe. It powerfully cleanses away sins and snatches souls from the Devil and
saves them for an eternal life of joy and happiness with Jesus. This is the
power to destroy. Drowning in Lake Michigan or death by brimstone is nothing
compared to what happens to those who persistently reject and despise Jesus as
Savior. We have God’s power. We can’t give up on our families, our community,
our nation. Onward.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Onward because we have a mission. “Why
are you here, Elijah?” Remember that question? God asked it twice to help him
think. Why are you hunkered down in this cave when I have work for you to do?
“Why am I here?” is a good question for each of us to ask ourselves. Right now,
the answer is to praise God and be strengthened and encouraged by His word. But
there’s a bigger answer. Why did God choose you for His kingdom? Why does He
have you living here and now? Why are you retired or doing the job you are? It
goes to the important question of meaning and purpose in life. We have a
mission, from Christ Jesus Himself. It’s to be His witnesses. Go into all the
world and preach the Gospel to everyone is the marching orders for all of
Christ’s church. Onward with the Gospel in the greater Greenfield community is
the specific one for you and me. The reason you are in your job you are at or
retired is to be a blessing to the people God brings into your life. Help them.
Do good. Do your job well and then be ready when they ask you for the hope that
you have. The purpose of St. Jacobi church is not to be a cave for us to crawl
in once a week to lick our wounds because our society is not going the way we
want to, it’s a gathering together of people zealous for Christ knowing we can
do a lot better job of proclaiming Christ together than alone. The reason we
have our school is not so that our kids don’t have to go to a school with
transgender bathrooms and litter boxes for the furries but so we can teach
children who are so precious to Jesus just how much He loves them so they
believe and are saved. And the Devil wants us to give up? Crawl in a hole?
Throw ourselves a pity party? No way! Onward. We have mission from the Lord
Jesus Himself. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>And we have each other. Poor Elijah
had to just trust God’s word there were 7000 fellow believers left. We don’t
have to do that. We can look around. If in person worship is your regular
weekly practice, keep it up. It’s good to see and be seen. If it’s not it needs
to be if at all physically possible. God has given us to each other to
encourage one another. I wish all of you could be aware like we pastors are of
how much is getting done by all of us working together. Your prayers, your
presence, your gifts, your time, your sweat. (Today we also are happy to
welcome new called workers God has given us, people who will use the power of
God’s Word for the mission of Christ with us. None of you are new to the congregation,
Mandy, thanks for accepting additional duties, Katrina and family, pardon the
interruption of your regularly scheduled programming. We appreciate the
sacrifice. TJ, the last time you were here was as student teacher, so overwhelmed
and nervous you were hoping you wouldn’t wet you pants. Now you are here as
veteran teacher so you shouldn’t have to worry about that anymore. Like Elijah
anointed Hazael, Jehu and Elisha, the Holy Spirit has anointed you three to
come help us. You are a part of the “each other” of Jacobi so that you can be a
blessing to us and we can be a blessing to you.) Give up? Stay silent about our
Savior? Stop reaching out? Close our school? No way! Onward, with God’s power,
carrying out His mission with each other. Amen!<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>Pastor Spaudehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11010651324712293261noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2766831625444153657.post-73505354643556999052023-07-24T15:20:00.001-05:002023-07-24T15:20:07.551-05:00July 22-24, 2023 Pastor Timothy J. Spaude Text: Matthew 13:24-30. 36-43 (EHV) “WHAT DO YOU DO WITH ALL THE WEEDS?”<p> </p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">PENECOST
8<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">July
22-24, 2023<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Pastor
Timothy J. Spaude<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Text:
Matthew 13:24-30. 36-43 (EHV)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: center;"><b><u><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">“WHAT DO YOU DO
WITH ALL THE WEEDS?”<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: 2.25in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">1.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Live
with them.<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: 2.25in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">2.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Live
differently than them.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: 2.25in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">3.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Live
without them.<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>It’s a familiar problem for
Wisconsinites. Weeds. You know how it goes. You plant your garden or put your
flowers in after Mother’s Day so you are safe from frost. Everything is nice
and neat. You tend the garden early on and then get the chance go on vacation.
You come back. Weeds! Everywhere. You didn’t plant them. You do want them gone.
Options. Pull them by hand. A lot of work. Spray Roundup or use a homemade
flamethrower. Effective but collateral damage. What do you do with the weeds?
Jesus uses that all too common picture to teach us some lessons we need for our
spiritual life. We are in a section of the Gospel of Matthew where Jesus tells
7 parables to teach about life as a believer. Three deal with the growth of
God’s kingdom in a believer’s heart. Four deal with how God’s kingdom works in
the world. This is one of those.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Matthew 13:24-30,
36-43 <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">(EHV)</span></span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"> <i>“He presented
another parable to them: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good
seed in his field. <sup>25</sup>But while people were sleeping, his enemy came
and sowed weeds among the wheat and went away. <sup>26</sup>When the plants
sprouted and produced heads of grain, the weeds also appeared. <sup>27</sup>The
servants of the owner came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in
your field? Where did the weeds come from?’ <sup>28</sup>He said to them, ‘An
enemy did this.’ The servants asked him, ‘Do you want us to go and gather up
the weeds?’ <sup>29</sup>‘No,’ he answered, ‘because when you gather up the
weeds, you might pull up the wheat along with them. <sup>30</sup>Let both grow
together until the harvest, and at harvest time I will tell the reapers,
“First, gather up the weeds, bind them in bundles, and burn them. Then, gather
the wheat into my barn….<sup>36</sup>Then Jesus sent the people away and went
into the house. His disciples came to him and said, “Explain to us the parable
of the weeds in the field.” <sup>37</sup>He answered them, “The one who sows
the good seed is the Son of Man. <sup>38</sup>The field is the world. The good
seeds are the sons of the kingdom. The weeds are the sons of the Evil One. <sup>39</sup>The
enemy who sowed them is the Devil. The harvest is the end of the world. The
reapers are angels. <a name="_Hlk140675315"><sup>40</sup>Therefore, just as the
weeds are gathered up and burned with fire, so it will be at the end of the
world. <sup>41</sup>The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will pull
out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and those who continue to break
the law. <sup>42</sup>The angels will throw them into the fiery furnace where
there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. <sup>43</sup>Then the righteous
will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Whoever has ears to
hear, let him hear.”<b> <o:p></o:p></b></a></i></span></p>
<span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk140675315;"></span>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>This parable is not hard to understand
since Jesus plainly explains it to us. Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross has
sprinkled this world with believers, the sons of the kingdom. His enemy and
ours, the Devil, has worked very hard to fill this world with unbelievers. It
is important to take note that if you are not a believer in Jesus then you are
a son of the Evil one for the worst form of evil is to reject the kindness and
love of God in punishing His Son for sins instead of the sinners. There is no
middle ground. There are weeds and wheat. At the same time it is not always
easy to tell a believer apart from an unbeliever. Here is a picture of what
Jesus’ disciples thought of listening to the parable. Very hard to tell apart
until they start bearing fruit. Sometimes weeds can look like wheat. And
sometimes wheat can look like weeds. Sometimes believers can look and act like
unbelievers and unbelievers can look and act like believers. Weeds and wheat.
What do you do with all the weeds?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Three things Jesus’ parable teaches
us. One. Live with them. Jesus’ parable exposes the idolatry that lives in our
hearts. We really have a hard time letting God be God. We inwardly give our approval
when He does things the way we want and when He doesn’t? We chafe. We question.
We feel disappointment. Specifically this parable exposes how our impatience
with God’s timing is idolatry. “God, didn’t you want a perfect world, or at
least just one with all believers in it? Look at all the weeds. Why do you put
up with them? They make our life more difficult. When are you going to do
something about them? Or maybe we should.” At least the angel harvesters had
the divine decency to ask permission of God. Should we go pull them up? Should
we get rid of all the unbelievers? But why does God want us living with the
unbelievers? Why does He let them remain? Why is He so patient with them? He
doesn’t want to lose anyone who will be saved. Some people are weeds and will
remain weeds. They have confirmed themselves in their evil rejection of God.
Some people who look like weeds now, maybe choosing lifestyles that are
detestable to God, will repent and be saved. God doesn’t want to lose them. Not
too long ago I was having a conversation with someone you connected me to by
handing out one of my pastor trading cards. This person asked a question that
has really had me thinking. “When we get to heaven do you think we will be more
surprised about who is there that we thought would not be or who isn’t there
that we thought would be?” At Jesus’ time everyone thought the Pharisees and
the teachers of the law would be in heaven but they are not. They thought the
tax collectors and ‘sinners” were beyond redemption but they weren’t. Some
believed and were saved. Makes you think. What do we do with the weeds? Live
with them. It is the Father’s will.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Live differently from them. That too
is our Father’s will. After all we are wheat and not weeds. When a man sows
good seed he does so with the expectation there will be a harvest. When God
grants the gift of faith He expects there will be fruits of faith. While on the
outside you may not be able to tell a believer and an unbeliever apart just by
looking at them they are different. Faith in Christ brings repentance along
with it. Repentance is a change of heart on the inside that brings changes on
the outside. Believers want what Jesus wants. Believers want to please Him in
their thoughts words and actions. So as we continue to live with the weeds we
can’t just be upset by them and complain about what they are doing. We have to
check ourselves. Are we living differently than the weeds? God has us right
where He wants us so that by actions and then words we can draw unbelievers to
Him. For that to happen our way of talking, handling problems, dealing with
people needs to be markedly different than the unbelievers. What do you do with
all the weeds? Live differently than them.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>And then finally live without them.
Listen again to the end of Jesus’ explanation. <i><sup>40</sup>Therefore, just
as the weeds are gathered up and burned with fire, so it will be at the end of
the world. <sup>41</sup>The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will
pull out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and those who continue to
break the law. <sup>42</sup>The angels will throw them into the fiery furnace
where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. <sup>43</sup>Then the
righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Whoever has
ears to hear, let him hear.”<b> </b></i>Despite the way that many Americans
like to try to create God in their own image and so paint God as some smiling
senile doting grandfather who never gets upset or punishes anyone God is a God
of justice as well as grace and mercy. He has decreed that those who reject Him
as the one true God and specifically these days, those who reject His Son Jesus
as Savior, there is one eternal fate. Hell. Described here as a fiery furnace
where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth. This is Good News! Why? It’s
there to help us with our impatience. It’s there to keep us from vengeful
thoughts. It’s there to stop us from trying to step into God’s shoes. Let the
weeds be weeds until God says it’s time to take care of them. And He will take
care of them. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>A world without weeds! Can you imagine
coming home from a vacation and finding no weeds in your gardens? Nothing
messing up your pretty rows? Nothing choking out your pretty flowers? That day
is coming. There are no weeds of any kind in heaven. Until that time it is best
for the wheat to be more concerned about how we are doing our job, than how God
is doing His. Amen.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>Pastor Spaudehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11010651324712293261noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2766831625444153657.post-5878140134163032782023-07-10T11:03:00.000-05:002023-07-10T11:03:52.952-05:00July 8-10, 2023 Pastor Timothy J. Spaude Text: Matthew 11:25-30 (EHV) “JESUS MAKES IT EASY!”<p> </p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">PENTECOST
6<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">July
8-10, 2023<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Pastor
Timothy J. Spaude<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Text:
Matthew 11:25-30 (EHV)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: center;"><b><u><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">“JESUS MAKES IT
EASY!”</span></u></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: 2.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">1.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">To
know the truth.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: 2.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">2.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">To
bear life’s burdens.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Some people make it look easy. Like
taking off from the top of the key to dunk a basketball. Giannis makes it look
easy, but it is not easy. I’ve tried it. Doesn’t work. Not easy. Or
accomplished musicians. Watch an accomplished pianist work the ivories, hand
over hand, so fast you get lost in the motion, beautiful music. They make it
look easy. But it’s not easy. Then there are some folks who actually make it
easy. Try to do a home or auto fix. You try what makes sense. Impossible. But
ask a DIYer or auto mechanic who knows the tricks, go to youtube and watch
someone do the fix the right way and hey, that was easy. Our Lord Jesus comes
to us today in His word and makes some difficult things easy for us.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Like knowing the truth. People
struggle with that. At this time in history when so much information can easily
be spread so quickly and so far whether it is true or not, that’s a problem.
There’s news, fake news, real news with a spin. Everybody seems to have an
agenda. How do you know what’s true? It spills over into what’s really
important, God’s truth. So many different world religions, how do you know your
religion is the right one? So many different Christian churches, how do you
know your church’s teaching are correct? This is not new. At Jesus’ time there
were all kinds of religions. At Jesus’ time the Jewish pastors were teaching many
different things. So Jesus made it easy.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><i>“At that time, Jesus continued, “I
praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things
from clever and learned people and have revealed them to little children. <b><sup>26 </sup></b>Yes,
Father, because this was pleasing to you. <b><sup>27 </sup></b>Everything
has been entrusted to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father,
and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son wants to
reveal him.”</i> Did you hear that? Jesus makes it easy to know the truth.
Refuse to act like clever and learned people and be like a child. He’s talking
about what God has revealed in the Bible. Specifically the truth that Jesus is
the way the truth and the life and no one, no one comes to the Father except
through Him. The clever and learned Pharisees read their Bibles and got so full
of their own smarts that they could not see the simple message of sinners in
need of a Savior . They didn’t know that truth when they were staring at Him!
But Simeon, Anna, Zechariah, Elizabeth, Mary, Joseph, Zacchaeus, Mary
Magdalene, Mary and Martha and Lazarus did know they truth. They were childlike
in their faith and to them God reveals the truth. Not to the wise and learned.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Nothing new under the sun, friends.
The Devil can’t undo what Jesus has done for all so he tries to confuse people
on the truth. He works through people. So many mainline Christian denominations
have their wise and learned pastors reading their Bibles and saying Jesus is
one of many ways to heaven, not the only way, despite what the Bible plainly
says. And I’ve had all I can stand and I can’t stand no more of the fake
Lutheran church body, the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America. I am not
saying this is true of all their people but the church body is not Lutheran. It
is fake Lutheran. It does not hold to the Lutheran pillars of grace alone,
faith alone and Scripture alone. Don’t do this before you eat or after you eat
or you will lose your appetite or your lunch but look up the Sparkle Creed used
in a fake Lutheran church in Minnesota, you will see what I mean. So clever and
learned and blasphemous. Be on your guard when you hear people say, “We have
better scholarship now, the words don’t mean what they say. Marriage isn’t just
between a man and a woman. The sin of Sodom and Gomorrah was not same sex sex
but a lack of hospitality toward strangers. Abortion is not specifically
prohibited so it is permitted. We are wiser, more clever and more learned, let
us tell you what God meant to say or should have said.” Blasphemy. Arrogance. As
though only 21<sup>st</sup> century Americans are the<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>ones smart enough to really know what God has
revealed and all the rest of the people for the past 2000 years our holy loving
God let down. Brothers and sisters, you must reject every inroad of that kind
of thinking. It is Satan trying to obscure Bible truth so he can hide the Truth
of Jesus as only Savior. You young people here today, be strong. I know you are
getting bombarded by social media and pressured by your peers but you are the
ones people in our country need. You will keep proclaiming God’s truth so that
people can be saved and so you can continue to do that Jesus has made it easy
for you. Don’t listen to all the wise and clever Bible twisting arguments. Be a
child when you read and listen to Scripture. God says what He means and means
what He says. That’s easy. Jesus did that for you.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Jesus also makes it easy to bear
life’s burdens. And life has burdens. There are the burdens of sickness, disease
and body parts wearing down. The burdens of broken family relationships. The
burdens of deaths of our loved ones, especially when they are too young by our
standards. The burdens of hopes unfulfilled. The burdens of disappointments
that may last a lifetime. The burdens of real or perceived economic or
workplace unfairness. Everyone has those. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And for those who know the truth there come
more burdens. For followers of Christ who take His words seriously and want to
live, talk, breathe in a way that honors Him there are the burdens of sin, the
frustrating inability to get it right no matter how hard you try that Paul
verbalized, the guilt, the shame. For followers of Christ who know God is all
powerful and in control there is the burden of impatience and perceived
unfairness from the hand of God. How long O Lord until you make things right?
How long until evil is revealed for what it is? How long until the desire of my
heart is fulfilled? Why do you let the wicked thrive and your people languish? Burdens!
Our Lord Jesus knows, cares and makes our burden bearing easy.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i>“Come
to me all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. <b><sup>29 </sup></b>Take
my yoke upon you and learn from me, because I am gentle and humble in heart,
and you will find rest for your souls. <b><sup>30 </sup></b>For my
yoke is easy and my burden is light.”</i> Now, don’t misunderstand me. The
burdens we carry in a sinful world are burdens. And Jesus makes no promise to
take them away. He promises to make bearing them easy by giving us His strength
to carry them. “Come to me,” says your Lord Jesus. This is an invitation to
bear burdens His way. “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me.” For all of us
non ranchers, the yoke is a device that connects two animals. Normally one
strong and experienced with a younger weaker animal. By yoking them together
the younger, smaller learns from the older stronger and is often carried along
by the older’s strength. “Be yoked with me,” offers Jesus. “You don’t have to
fix these burdens, I will. You rest. I know you can’t get it right. I did that
for you. You have my righteousness and I’ve already taken your sin. You have
the Father’s unconditional love.” Look at me!” says Jesus. “There were times
the Father let me struggle, there were times, He made me wait, there was that
time at the end when He said No to what I asked. But everything had a plan and
a good purpose. And in the end the Father makes it right. So rest and wait,
you’ll see. Yes, I know your body hurts right now. I know it does not work
right. Just wait until you have your resurrection body! Come to me daily with
those problems and my strength will carry you. Let go of having it your way and
trust mine and those burdens will feel lighter and lighter until they are gone.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">And they will be gone. All of them. Jesus’
words not only provide needed hope for this life but also have us looking
forward to that day when we will have perfect rest from every burden and every
struggle. Sin will be gone for good. We will not chafe because we don’t
understand God’s wise whys of dealing with us or others. Jesus will make
everything new! He keeps our eyes on our heavenly goal. And there again Jesus
makes something that is so difficult, it is impossible for people, easy. For when
it comes to getting to heaven it all depends on Him. His life, His death, His
resurrection, for you. Amen.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>Pastor Spaudehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11010651324712293261noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2766831625444153657.post-87875370635793091412023-06-19T10:12:00.002-05:002023-06-19T10:12:30.265-05:00June 17-19, 2023 Pastor Timothy J. Spaude Text: Matthew 9:35-38 “LOOK!!”<p> </p><p class="MsoNormal">PENTECOST 3<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">June 17-19, 2023<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Pastor Timothy J. Spaude<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Text: Matthew 9:35-38<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u>“LOOK!!”</u></b><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 2.75in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 2.75in; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">1.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span><!--[endif]-->Look
around!<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 2.75in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 2.75in; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">2.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span><!--[endif]-->Look
up!<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 2.75in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 2.75in; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">3.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span><!--[endif]-->Look
out!<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">Matthew 9:35-38
(EHV) </span></b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“Jesus traveled through
all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel
of the kingdom, and healing every disease and every sickness. <sup>36</sup>When
he saw the crowds, he was moved with compassion for them, because they were
troubled and downcast, like sheep without a shepherd. <sup>37</sup>Then he said
to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. <sup>38</sup>Therefore
pray that the Lord of the harvest will send out workers into his harvest.” <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><o:p></o:p></u></b></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>What do an
officer from the Southern California Humane Society, Jesus and St. Jacobi
members have in common? More than you might think! According to a newspaper
report a while back officer Tori Matthews of the Southern California Humane
Society got an emergency call one day. A boy’s pet iguana had been chased up a
tree by a neighbor’s dog. It had then fallen from the tree into a swimming pool
where it sank like a brick. Officer Matthews came with net in hand, dove into
the pool and seconds later emerged with the iguana’s limp body. She promptly
began mouth to mouth resuscitation. As she later told the reporter, “I thought,
well, you do CPR on a person and a dog, why not an iguana? Now that I look back
on it,” she said, “it was a pretty disgusting animal to be kissing but the last
thing I wanted to do was go back to that little boy and tell him his pet had
died.” <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>You see when
Tori Matthews looked at that iguana she didn’t see a water logged lizard, she
saw a little boy’s beloved pet. She did what she had to do to keep it from
dying. That’s what Tori Matthews has in common with Jesus. You heard from
Matthew’s Gospel how when Jesus looked around He didn’t see a bunch of
disgusting sinners. He saw people who were loved by God and that moved Him to
do what He needed to do to keep them from dying eternally in Hell. And that’s
also what you and I have in common with Jesus. When we look at the people
around us, we also see human beings who are loved by God. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Now with the
way our country is going that is getting harder and harder to do, isn’t it?
Let’s look to Jesus for help. Jesus was in the part of Israel known as Galilee.
Matthew tell us, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="layout-grid-mode: line;">"</span></i> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="layout-grid-mode: line;">Jesus traveled through all the towns and
villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom,
and healing every disease and every sickness.”</span></i> Jesus saw people who
needed Him. That’s who He had come for and that’s who He ministered to. But
what did Jesus see when He saw people?<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Even though
we aren’t specifically told we know what He would have seen because nothing has
really changed in this world we live in, at least when you are talking about
people. Jesus would have seen people whose lives were a mess because of sin’s
presence in their world and their own sinfulness. He would have seen people who
abused alcohol, who sold themselves as prostitutes or to prostitutes. He would
have seen people who abused their spouses and neglected their children. He
would have seen people whose greed, pride and hatred spilled from their mouths
and showed in their actions. He would have seen people who did these things
even though they knew better. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>As the
sinless Son of God, the One whom the Father has appointed to be the Judge of
all people you would think His holy blood must have boiled when He looked
around at those people who were living in rebellion against God. You could just
imagine Jesus with his hands over the red destruction button ready to put an
end to the sin with His righteous Judgement. You would think He would look
around at those people and say, “If you want to live separate from God then so
be it, forever, in Hell.” That is what they deserved.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>But what did
Jesus see when He looked around? <i>“When he saw the crowds, he was moved with
compassion for them, because they were troubled and downcast, like sheep
without a shepherd.<span style="layout-grid-mode: line;">” </span></i><span style="layout-grid-mode: line;">Jesus didn’t just see sinners. He saw sinners who
needed a Savior. He didn’t just see people who were running away from God. He
saw people who needed to be led to God. He didn’t see enemies of God but
victims of God’s Enemy, the Devil. He didn’t see creatures that were disgusting
to Him, He saw creatures dearly loved by the Father and the last thing He
wanted to do was to tell His Father they were dead. Jesus had compassion on
them.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="layout-grid-mode: line;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>What do you see when you look around? I’m not talking about
the people here. I’m talking about the people you work with, that you see on
the news. What do you see when you look around? It’s not hard to see people who
don’t know God or even care. It’s not hard to see disgusting people you really
don’t want anything to do with. This is to be expected. This is what the Bible
prophesied about our times. (2 Timothy 3:2-5 EHV)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">"For
people will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant,
blasphemous, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, <b><sup>3 </sup></b>unloving,
not able to reconcile with others, slanderous, without self-control, savage,
haters of what is good, <b><sup>4 </sup></b>treacherous, reckless,
puffed up with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, <b><sup>5 </sup></b>holding
to an outward form of godliness but denying its power."</i><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="layout-grid-mode: line;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>It’s not hard to see people like that when you look around,
is it? It is hard to see them the way Jesus saw them. There is a remedy for
that though. Before you look around at others, look at yourself. In the mirror.
Not the mirror hanging in your bathroom. Try the mirror of God’s law. If you
take a good hard honest look, you will see a person “who loves him or herself,
loves money, is proud and abusive, has been disobedient to parents, ungrateful,
unloving and unforgiving.” And still Jesus had compassion on us. Compassion
that led Him to do not to something simple like kissing an iguana, but to
something most unimaginable and least desirable—death on the cross with the
full burden of everyone’s sins on Him.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="layout-grid-mode: line;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The compassion that Jesus had moved Him to action. Knowing
full well what He would do for the sins of the world Jesus turned toward His
disciples and said,<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> "The harvest is
plentiful but the workers are few.”</i> In other words, “I’ve paid for the sins
of all people. How few there are that are willing to tell them!” Imagine being
one of the 12 disciples called to be witnesses for Jesus looking at all those
people. 12 disciples for an estimated world population of 300 million at the
time. Kind of like 1200 souls at St. Jacobi for an estimated world population
of 8 billion right now.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="layout-grid-mode: line;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>What a daunting task for them and us, to tell that many
people! It’s no wonder Jesus told these men to look the only place they could
find help. Up. “Look up!” Jesus said to those who would be His witnesses. <i>“Therefore
pray that the Lord of the harvest will send out workers into his harvest.”</i> Pray.
It can be intimidating<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>to look at all
people and see them as troubled and downcast sheep rather than ugly iguanas you
want gone. It can be intimidating to look at all the people who need to know
Jesus save them. What a monumental task! How can we do it? It starts with
prayer. We can’t do it on our own. God can. Prayer works. Pray for people to be
witnesses.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="layout-grid-mode: line;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Do you think God will answer that prayer? Will He really
provide the workers needed for such a great harvest? Immediately after telling
the disciples to pray, do you know what Jesus did? He sent the prayers out.
These 12 men were the answers to their own prayers. They were the workers they
asked for. That’s why I say to you look out! Look out because you also are the
answer to your own prayer for God to provide workers for His harvest. You are
His witnesses. Some of you boys need to seriously think about becoming WELS
pastors and some of you boys and girls need to think seriously about becoming
WELS teachers. However, the privilege and responsibility for telling others
that only Jesus saves is not reserved for workers called into the public
ministry. It belongs to everyone who has experienced God’s grace and
compassion. It belongs to everyone who received God’s grace in Baptism. It
belongs to everyone who knows and appreciates what it means that God says you
are forgiven for the sake of His Son Jesus. Look out when you pray for more
witnesses for you are the answer.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="layout-grid-mode: line;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Brothers and sisters, I suspect that if present trends
continue we will find ourselves wishing that it was iguanas that God placed
before us instead of people. People are messy and getting messier. Some are following
lifestyles and ways of dressing that make us sick to our stomachs rather than
filled with compassion. But remember, the real enemy does not have skin on.
Until you know that a person is a willing servant to the Devil it is better to
view them as troubled and downcast and spiritually abused. Someone you don’t
want to tell the Father he has lost. So be nice. Be respectful. If God has
placed them before you, He may have picked you to be an answer to prayer. So
look. Look around, look up, look out and always, always, look at Jesus. Amen.<o:p></o:p></span></p>Pastor Spaudehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11010651324712293261noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2766831625444153657.post-38504878162841128862023-05-29T14:43:00.001-05:002023-05-29T14:43:05.052-05:00PENTECOST May 27-29, 2023 Pastor Timothy J. Spaude Text: 1 Corinthians 12:3-11 “THANK THE SPIRIT!<p> </p><h1>PENTECOST<o:p></o:p></h1>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">May
27-29, 2023<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Pastor
Timothy J. Spaude<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Text:
1 Corinthians 12:3-11<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b><u><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">“THANK THE SPIRIT!<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 2.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 2.5in; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">1.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">For giving us faith.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 2.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 2.5in; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">2.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">For giving us gifts to live
our faith.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 3.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 3.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Thank the Lord!
Thank God! I think you can all recognize those phrases. Maybe you have heard
them. Maybe you have said them. Hopefully, always as a prayer. Those phrases
developed in human language at a time when people were much more mindful of
their reliance on God’s blessings than they are today. People said, “Thank the
Lord!” or “Thank God!” and meant it. Gradually over time those phrases became
too common and did not flow from faith. Oftentimes today they really just serve
as exclamation points, but not from us. You and I do know how totally dependent
on God’s goodness we are so we can rightfully say, “Thank the Lord!” and “Thank
God!” to all kinds of recognized blessings. You know what I’ve never heard
people say? Thank the Spirit! Today we celebrate the Church Festival of
Pentecost. In the reading from Acts you heard how the promised and needed
blessing of the Holy Spirit was given to the Apostles in a special way giving
them needed gifts. And He is still with us and blessing us with needed gifts.
But just like the 3<sup>rd</sup> important celebration of Jesus’ ministry,
Ascension, tends to go forgotten by God’s people, so too the 3<sup>rd</sup>
person of the Triune God, the Holy Spirit, tends to be forgotten as well. We
change that today as God’s words for us lead us to make, “Thank the Spirit!” a
regular and meaningful prayer.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 3.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Thank the Spirit
for giving us faith. <i>“<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Therefore I am
informing you that no one speaking by God’s Spirit says, “A curse be upon
Jesus,” and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit.” </span></i><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">At the time Paul wrote his first letter to
the Christians at Corinth</span> the church at Corinth was a sick church in a
sick city. Corinth was that time’s sin city. If you think America is bad, we
have a long way to go to sink to the depths of sexual depravity of Corinth. And
they were proud of their sexual filth. The church at Corinth was sick in a
different way. It was marred by a lack of unity. There were factions and cliques
in the congregation. They were immature spiritually. Some were puffed up with
their own importance and looked down on those in the congregation with
different gifts than they had. Some thought they were more gifted because they
deserved to be. They needed a God’s eye view of who they were and how they got
there. They needed to thank the Spirit for his gifts to them.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 3.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Most important
among those gifts is the ability to believe in Jesus as Savior. The Corinthian
Christians had been idol worshipers. But now they were believers in Jesus. How
did that happen? The Holy Spirit went to work in their hearts. When the good
news that they had a Savior from sin was proclaimed to them the Spirit opened
their hearts to believe. They made the confession of faith, “Jesus is Lord.” Why?
The Holy Spirit. There is nothing hard to understand about this word of God. No
one can say Jesus is their Lord and Savior unless the Holy Spirit enables them.
None of the Corinthian Christians were better than the others. None could take
credit for being a believer. All need to say, “Thank the Spirit! Thanks for the
gift of faith.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 3.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">You and I can say that too. If you were brought to faith in
Christ as a baby through Baptism you likely cannot remember a time when you
weren’t saying Jesus is Lord. Those of you brought to faith in Christ later in
life can probably remember a time when Jesus meant nothing to you. You may even
have used his name as a curse. But not any more. Now you say, “Jesus is Lord,”
thanks to the Holy Spirit. What a blessing that is! When is the last time you
just pondered the fact that the Holy Spirit’s work in you pulled you out of
Hell so that you breathed a sigh of relief at what the Spirit did for you? Or
do you like me have to sadly confess that you probably felt more relief that
the officer you passed going 10 mph over didn’t pull out after you? Thank the
Spirit! Thank the Spirit for giving us faith.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 3.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">And thank the Spirit for giving us gifts to live our faith.
<i>“<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">There are various kinds of gifts,
but the same Spirit. <sup>5</sup> There are different kinds of ministries, and
yet the same Lord. <sup>6</sup> There are various kinds of activity, but the
same God, who produces all of them in everyone.”</span> </i>You noticed the
clever connection between different and same. The Spirit gives different gifts.
There are different ways of serving the Lord. God works differently in
different people. Yet it’s the same God, the Triune God, who is behind it all.
He has a single purpose. <i>“<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Each
person is given a manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.</span>”</i>
The purpose is the common good. When the Spirit gives spiritual gifts it’s so
that everyone may benefit. That the common good of doing the Lord’s work may
get done. Did you notice something very encouraging in that verse? “<u>Each
person is given”</u> the manifestation of the Spirit. Have you ever felt
worthless, wondering why God left you here on this earth? Do you feel like you
don’t have anything to contribute? Yes you do. God says so. He has given you
value and worth. Each one of you have been given gifts so you can live your
faith.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 3.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>What might some of
those gifts be? <i>“<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">To one person a
message of wisdom is given by the Spirit; to another, a message of knowledge,
as the same Spirit provides it; <sup>9</sup> by the same Spirit, faith is given
to someone else; and to another, the same Spirit gives healing gifts. <sup>10</sup>Another
is given powers to do miracles; another, the gift of prophecy; another, the
evaluating of spirits; someone else, different kinds of tongues; and another,
the interpretation of tongues. <sup>11</sup>One and the same Spirit produces
all of these, distributing them to each one individually as he desires.</span>”</i>
This list is by no means exhaustive. Wisdom: spiritual wisdom, the ability to
apply God’s Word in a Godly way. Knowledge: having a storehouse ready of what
God has said. Faith: the ability to remain calmly trusting in trying times.
Healing and miracles: think of the Apostles ability to cure disease and do
miracles as a way of authenticating their preaching before the Bible was
complete. Prophecy: the boldness to proclaim clearly what God has clearly said.
Speaking in tongues and interpreting tongues: how nice to be able to tell
people in their own language the great things God has done for them. Remember
how the Apostles were given that ability without even studying those languages!
We could add others mentioned in Scripture, encouraging, generosity,
leadership, administration, witnessing and many, many more. All kinds of gifts
given as the Holy Spirit determines for the common good. Thank the Spirit you
are using those gifts here at St. Jacobi for the common good of worshipping our
Lord, praying for others, of making sure we stay faithful to God’s Word and on
task with the mission our Lord Jesus entrusted to us, helping in so many ways
for our common proclaiming of God’s word to continue and grow.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 3.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">But these gifts from the Spirit
aren’t just use them at church gifts. They are gifts to use regularly in your
homes as you pray daily and devote to God’s word, as you Jesus’ name regularly,
but not in vain. As you model and teach those in your sphere of influence,
children, grandchildren, nieces and nephews, friends what a faith in Jesus life
looks like. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As you do that and use the
gifts the Spirit has given you, you will get opportunities to be the one God
will use to connect people to the Holy Spirit so they can say Jesus is Lord and
join us in the mansions of heaven some day. Thank the Spirit! Thank the Spirit
for all His gifts.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 3.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">Gift giving can be a little
tricky. This weekend I have my daughter’s birthday and with June comes Chris’
birthday month. Yes, you heard right. That’s how she rolls. A birthday month.
I’m going to be giving some gifts and that can be a little tricky. You know
when you’ve chosen well when the gift is appreciated and you can tell it’s
appreciated when it is used. The Holy Spirit has given us the gift of faith
which is the golden ticket to heaven. He’s also given each one of us exactly
what we need to live our faith so we can fulfill God’s purposes for us and be a
blessing to others. He has given us the Word and Sacraments to strengthen and
cultivate that faith and those gifts. Best way to thank the Spirit? Use them. Amen.<o:p></o:p></span></p>Pastor Spaudehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11010651324712293261noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2766831625444153657.post-3910433497261158332023-05-29T14:42:00.003-05:002023-05-29T14:42:25.409-05:00May 13-15, 2023 Pastor Timothy J. Spaude Text: Acts 17:22-31 “CONNECT THE DOTS!<p> </p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">EASTER<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">May
13-15, 2023<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Pastor
Timothy J. Spaude<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Text:
Acts 17:22-31<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: center;"><b><u><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">“CONNECT THE DOTS!<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>At one point or another we’ve all done
them. Dot to dot or connect the dot puzzles. Both in school and at home
children of all ages have enjoyed connecting the dots to see what picture was
revealed. Sometimes our children’s worship bulletins have them too. Today in
God’s words for us we have a verbal dot to dot presented to us by the Apostle
Paul. He was on what is known as his Second Missionary Journey. (PICTURE of
missionary journey) After he was invited to leave Berea by the Jews who
rejected Jesus Paul went to Athens and waited for his missionary companions,
Silas and Timothy, to join him there. After visiting the Jewish synagogues in
Athens to proclaim Jesus as the Messiah Paul did some sightseeing. Though not
as prominent as it had been when Greece controlled the Mediterranean area
Athens was still an important city in the Roman Empire. It was considered a
center both for worldly wisdom and philosophy and at the same time pagan idol
worship. One historian quipped that there were more gods than people in the
city of Athens. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Paul saw this and was distressed. As
we ought to be too. Idol worshipping people go to Hell. Paul found a way to
talk with these people about what was important. <i>“Men of Athens, I see that
you are very religious in every way. <sup>23</sup>For as I was walking around
and carefully observing your objects of worship, I even found an altar on which
had been inscribed, ‘To an unknown god.’”</i> Paul found some common ground,
their natural knowledge of God. “You are religious people. That is a good thing.
You are even covering your bases just in case there is a god you missed. Well,
there is one, the only one. Let me tell you about Him.” <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;"><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">“Now what you worship as unknown—this is
what I am going to proclaim to you. <sup>24</sup>“The God who made the world
and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in
temples made with hands. <sup>25</sup>Neither is he served by human hands, as
if he needed anything, since he himself gives all people life and breath and
everything they have. <sup>26</sup>From one man, he made every nation of
mankind to live over the entire face of the earth. He determined the appointed
times and the boundaries where they would live. <sup>27</sup>He did this so
they would seek God and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is
not far from each one of us.”</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"> “The God you didn’t know about before
this is the Creator. He doesn’t need our worship, but He wants us with Him. No
coincidences. God determined when and where you should live so you will know
Him. That’s why I’m here.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;"><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">“For in him we live and move and have our
being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘Indeed, we are also his
offspring.’ <sup>29</sup>“Therefore, since we are God’s offspring, we should
not think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone, an image
formed by human skill and planning. <sup>30</sup>Although God overlooked the
times of ignorance, he is now commanding all people everywhere to repent, <sup>31</sup>because
he has set a day on which he is going to judge the world in righteousness by
the man he appointed. He provided proof of this to everyone by raising him from
the dead.”</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">
No more excuses. You aren’t stuck any more with just the natural knowledge of
God that tells you there is some god. Think it through, a god you have to make
is no god at all. Let me reveal the true God. Jesus. The proof. God raised Him
from the dead.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Here Paul begins to connect the dots. The
first one is resurrection, Jesus’ resurrection. Because He is true God who will
come to judge the living and dead, repent. Connect the dots. Jesus’
resurrection is the reason for repentance. Turn from the false gods to the only
one who saves. Looking religious isn’t good enough. Worshipping some god isn’t
good enough. Only Jesus saves. Turn to him and you will be saved. You will get
new life. Connect the dots. Jesus’ resurrection leads to repentance and your
own resurrection.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Now Paul knew exactly what he was talking
about. He lived it. Paul died that day when he was on the road to Damascus when
he was converted to faith in Jesus. Back then he was known as Saul. He looked
more religious than most of his fellow Jewish people. He zealously served the
god he had made up in his own mind and so he tried to wipe out everyone who
believed that Jesus was God. Can you imagine the fear, the shame, the “what
have I done?” feeling when he saw the blinding light from heaven and heard the
voice of God declare, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting!” All his zeal, all
his religious efforts were not only wasted but worse, a direct attack on the
only one who could save him. Saul, who would be Paul, died that day. He died to
his sinful way of making God in his image when he realized Jesus lives. He had
a complete change of mind, repented, and was given a new life as a follower of
Christ. All his zeal was now put into service for Jesus. Connect the dots.
Resurrection. Repentance. Resurrection. Having lived that he called the men of
Athens to do the same.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">And his words call us to do the same. If
Paul walked around our community what comments might he make? I see you are a
very religious people, or maybe used to be. Look at all the fine churches you
have built. In some places of your city there is one on every block! Look at
your money. “In God we trust” it proclaims. But do you? Too many of those
churches are empty waiting to become artists’ workshops, unique apartment and
air Bnbs. Your claim on your money appears to be empty too. Your trust is not
in God. You give the glory He is due as Creator to your own dreamed up
cockamamie lie called Evolution. Your money should say In Science we trust or
In ourselves we trust. You offer rainbow and unicorn prayers as your
legislators meet to pass laws to legally protect mothers and doctors who murder
babies and slowly erode the rights of your citizens who want to worship the
true God. Connect the dots. Resurrection. Jesus Christ is risen from the dead.
He will be judging. So Repent. Have a complete change of mind so that you can
honestly say “In Jesus we trust.” And then live a new life that shows it.
Resurrection.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">That’s what Paul might say if he walked
around our communities. But what if he visited our homes? I can see, people of
Jacobi, that you are a religious people. You all have a Bible or two in your
homes. Some of you have a cross and a picture of the Lord Jesus. You make a
point of actually warming a pew in church, at least when it is convenient and
does not interfere with other family items, or when mom asks you to for
Mother’s Day, but I don’t hear a lot of talking to Jesus in your home. Why does
that Bible have dust on it? From your calendar and budget books it looks like
your Triune God is actually, recreation, entertainment and personal comforts.
Worshipping God only when and how it is convenient for you is not worshipping
God but self. And having a one hour a week relationship with God is not
acceptable to Him. In the past He did not overlook that among His people but
gave them over to be conquered by foreign nations. Do you think it will be
different for you? Connect the dots. Resurrection. Jesus lives! Do you
understand the privilege you have to be chosen by God to know and believe in
Jesus as Savior? He lives and loves you. His death paid the price for all of
your sins. He rose to prove it. Connect the dots. So repent. Have a complete
change of mind about just going through the motions of having faith. You need
to die a little each day. Die to sin so you are alive for Jesus. Connect the
dots. Resurrection. Jesus died for you so that you should no longer live for
yourselves but for Him who loves you and freed you from your sin by His blood.
New life. Resurrection.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Look with me please at a portion of the
worship summary in your bulletin. It reads in part, <i>“True love involves
obedience. Jesus did not simply say he loved his heavenly Father. He proved it
by obeying his Father, even when that obedience meant dying on a cross for our
sake. Love for God who lives in us leads us to a life of obedience. The God who
lives in us calls us to live for him. It is as simple as that. Love for our
risen Lord means obedience to his commands.”</i> On this Mother’s Day every mom
here knows this. Children, it is your willing obedience that shows love for
mom. That’s a gift she will cherish every day. Jesus is much greater than mom.
He deserves far greater obedience. Connect the dots!<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">I’ve done many dot to dot or connect the
dots puzzles in my life. The real joy in a dot to dot is seeing what the
picture finally looks like. Paul has connected the dots for us between Jesus’
resurrection, our need for daily repentance, and our own resurrection. This is
what the final picture looks like. (Welcome into heaven).<o:p></o:p></span></p>Pastor Spaudehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11010651324712293261noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2766831625444153657.post-70594000523861729842023-04-10T10:15:00.001-05:002023-04-10T10:15:25.889-05:00April 9, 2023 Pastor Timothy J. Spaude Text: John 20:1-18 (EHV) HE LIVES! What Easter Means to Me:<p> </p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black; layout-grid-mode: line;">EASTER!<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black; layout-grid-mode: line;">April 9,
2023<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black; layout-grid-mode: line;">Pastor
Timothy J. Spaude<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black; layout-grid-mode: line;">Text: John
20:1-18 (EHV)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black; layout-grid-mode: line;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b><u><span style="color: black; layout-grid-mode: line;">HE LIVES!<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b><u><span style="color: black; layout-grid-mode: line;">What Easter Means to Me:<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 2.0in;"><span style="color: black; layout-grid-mode: line;">1. John: I am free from my doubts.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 2.0in;"><span style="color: black; layout-grid-mode: line;">2. Peter: I am free from my guilt.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 2.0in;"><span style="color: black; layout-grid-mode: line;">3. Mary: I am free from my grief.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black; layout-grid-mode: line;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="color: black; layout-grid-mode: line;">Christ is risen! A blessed Easter to all. Do you have
everything ready? House clean? Got all the food? Goodies for the kids? If you
forget something that will be a problem. Even if you have it all ready, there
may still be problems. I was reminded a week ago of the infamous Krutz Easter
when the dog grabbed the ham off the counter and made a run for it. That’s a problem.
But as inconvenient as forgetting something or a doggy dash may be, there are
bigger problems we face, aren’t there? It’s easy to believe in the goodness of
God when things go well in your life but what happens when there are troubles
and problems?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Is God for real? Am I
maybe being punished for something? Maybe you are dealing with grief over a
major disappointment or a first Easter without a loved one. Come along with me
today and see what it means that Jesus lives. Let’s join others who also dealt
with doubt, guilt and grief.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><i><span style="color: black; layout-grid-mode: line;">“Early on the first day of the week, while it was still
dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb. She saw that the stone had been taken
away from the tomb. <b><sup>2 </sup></b>So she left and ran to Simon
Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved. “They have taken the Lord
out of the tomb,” she told them, “and we don’t know where they put him!” <b><sup>3 </sup></b>So
Peter and the other disciple went out, heading for the tomb. <b><sup>4 </sup></b>The
two were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and got to the
tomb first. <b><sup>5 </sup></b>Bending over, he saw the linen cloths
lying there, yet he did not go in. <b><sup>6 </sup></b>Then Simon Peter,
who was following him, arrived and went into the tomb. He saw the linen cloths lying
there. <b><sup>7 </sup></b>The cloth that had been on Jesus’ head was
not lying with the linen cloths, but was folded up in a separate place by
itself. <b><sup>8 </sup></b>Then the other disciple, who arrived at
the tomb first, also entered. He saw and believed. <b><sup>9 </sup></b>(They
still did not yet understand the Scripture that he must rise from the dead.)<b><sup>10 </sup></b>Then
the disciples went back to their homes.”<o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="color: black; layout-grid-mode: line;">The Gospel of John’s Easter account draws our attention
to three people. Mary Magdalene, Peter and John, the Gospel writer who calls
himself “the other disciple.” All of them had problems, big problems that the
Easter message, “He is risen!” solved. John’s problem was doubt. Can we blame
him? Given that fact that he would live around 70 years after Jesus rose and
ascended he was likely a very young man at this time. He was one of the three
that Jesus allowed to see His glory at the Transfiguration. With the idealism
of youth, I’m certain he gladly saw Jesus as the promised Messiah and put his
faith in Him. And then the Garden of Gethsemane happened. Jesus arrested. The
disciples running away in fear. Then Good Friday happened. Jesus crucified.
Jesus dead! How can this be? To be fair, Jesus had told his disciples multiple
times that he was going to Jerusalem where he would be handed over to the chief
priests, where he would suffer and die and after three days rise again. But is
that something you could believe without seeing? If I told you that tomorrow I
would fly like Superman around the moon and back would you believe me? I could
tell you that plainly twenty times and you would not believe until I did it.
John had his doubts. Until he ran to the empty tomb and found that Jesus is
risen. While he did not understand yet all the why about what happened he tells
us he believed. Ask John what Easter means and he would tell you “I am free
from my doubts.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="color: black; layout-grid-mode: line;">What about Peter? Maybe the reason John got to the tomb
before Peter was that he was faster. Or maybe Peter wasn’t all that eager to
really go to the tomb of Jesus. After all, the last time Jesus had seen Peter, Peter
had been cursing up a blue streak to try to get people to believe that he didn’t
know Jesus. That night in the high priest’s courtyard, Peter cursed and swore
and said, "I don't know this Jesus you're talking about. I've never met
him." Then Jesus walked by and looked at him. Peter had a guilty
conscience. He wept bitterly. All that Friday, while he watched Jesus die,
Peter had to remember that look on Jesus’ face. All day Saturday, while the
disciples sat in stunned silence, Peter recalled Jesus’ face. Peter would never
forget that look. His last act for Jesus was to deny Him.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="color: black; layout-grid-mode: line;">Unless Jesus lived. Unless He was exactly who He said he
was. Unless Jesus’ death was done purposefully to pay for sin. Unless Jesus
would forgive him. The Bible tells us that after the events of Easter morning
Jesus appeared to the disciples as a group. He was alive. Before that though Jesus
came to Peter alone. Can you understand why? Peter’s guilt. Don’t you wish you
could have been there to hear Peter blurt out, "Lord, I'm sorry! I didn't mean
those words"? Did Jesus wipe away the tears of sorrow from Peter’s eyes
and look into his face and say, "Peter, I forgive you"? The Bible
doesn’t tell us exactly what happened between Jesus and Peter that day, but we
do know that Jesus forgave Peter and Peter’s last act was not to deny Jesus but
gladly tell people everywhere about wonderful forgiveness provided by Jesus.
Ask Peter what Easter means, what it means that Jesus lives and he will say, “I
am free from my guilt!”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="color: black; layout-grid-mode: line;">On to Mary Magdalene. <i>“But Mary stood outside facing
the tomb, weeping. As she wept, she bent over, looking into the tomb. <b><sup>12 </sup></b>She
saw two angels in white clothes sitting where the body of Jesus had been lying,
one at the head and one at the feet. <b><sup>13 </sup></b>They asked
her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She told them, “Because they have taken away
my Lord, and I don’t know where they have laid him.” <b><sup>14 </sup></b>After
she said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, though she did
not know it was Jesus. <b><sup>15 </sup></b>Jesus said to her, “Woman, why
are you weeping? Who are you looking for?” Supposing he was the gardener, she
replied, “Sir, if you carried him off, tell me where you laid him, and I will
get him.” <b><sup>16 </sup></b>Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned and
replied in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means, “Teacher”). <b><sup>17 </sup></b>Jesus
told her, “Do not continue to cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to my
Father. But go to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and
your Father—to my God and your God.’” <b><sup>18 </sup></b>Mary Magdalene
went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord!” She also told them
the things he said to her.”<o:p></o:p></i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="color: black; layout-grid-mode: line;">Mary was overcome with grief. Jesus had driven seven
evil spirits from her. Her gratefulness led her and several other women to followed
Jesus and support his ministry out of their own means. She must have loved
Jesus deeply. That’s why she was among the first to come to the tomb that
morning to cover his dead body with spices. When she discovered Jesus was gone,
she ran back in distress and confusion to tell the other disciples that someone
had stolen his body. When she returned she just stood outside the tomb crying. She
had lost more than a friend. The One in whom she believed was dead. How could
she follow a dead Savior? But He wasn’t dead. He lives! Jesus appeared to her
and her grief turned to joy. “I have seen the Lord!” Ask Mary what Easter means
and she will tell you “I am free from my grief.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="color: black; layout-grid-mode: line;">So what does Easter mean for you? He lives. Do you struggle
with doubts? All of us do at some time. Our belief and trust in God is easy for
us when things go our way. But then tragedy strikes. The diagnosis is not good.
The country and state you love moves further and further away from God’s good
and gracious will. Doubts can creep. Are you real God? If so where are you? He
is real. Jesus lives! He is in control even when it looks like everything is
going wrong. For this time or any time when you struggle with doubts run to the
open tomb. Jesus lives and will keep every promise to you. Or maybe guilt is
your bigger problem. If not now it will be there at some point. When the bad
things happen in life and the mind says “I know why. It’s because I did …”
Listen. You can’t take back sin. You can’t undo it as badly as you would like
to. Sin can only be forgiven. But that’s why Jesus died and rose. The very
reason Jesus gave up His life was to pay for sin in full. Your sin in full.
Everything, no matter how bad. The reason Jesus rose from the dead specifically
so we would know today we stand forgiven, declared not guilty for every sin. One
the price was paid Jesus came back to life. He lives! Or is grief what weighs
on your heart? Some disappointment where something did not go the way you
thought, hoped or prayed for or is someone missing from this year’s gathering? Just
like with Peter John and Mary God might have you wait a bit to see the wonderful
way He will work it out so while you wait go with Mary to Jesus’ empty tomb. He
lives and because He lives we will too. Death is not the ending but the beginning.
Jesus proves it. Jesus knows your grief and because He lives a day is coming
when every tear will be wiped from your eyes.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="color: black; layout-grid-mode: line;">Jesus lives. That’s the message of Easter. Now it may be
that your life is so perfect you don’t need a living Jesus, eggs and bunnies
will do, but I doubt it. Into every life comes doubts, guilt and grief and so
for everyone comes Jesus. He lives. So what does Easter mean to me? I’m free,
free to give up doubts about God when they come, free to let go the guilt of
forgiven sin and free to let any grief turn to joy in Jesus, all because He lives.
I pray the Spirit give you that meaning too! Amen.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black; layout-grid-mode: line;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>Pastor Spaudehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11010651324712293261noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2766831625444153657.post-29069317632861772572023-04-07T08:34:00.003-05:002023-04-07T08:34:45.543-05:00April 6, 2023 Pastor Timothy J. Spaude Text: Mark 14:12-26 (EHV) His Final Steps Led to the Upper Room<p> </p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">MAUNDY
THURSDAY<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">April
6, 2023<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Pastor
Timothy J. Spaude<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Text:
Mark 14:12-26 (EHV)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: center;"><b><u><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">His Final Steps
Led to the Upper Room</span></u></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: 1.0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">1. Where a lamb that had died was
carefully prepared.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: 1.0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">2. Where the Lamb that would die carefully
prepared.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: 1.0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">3. So that His lambs who would die
were also prepared.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Ask any Jewish person and they will
tell you, it’s takes a lot of preparation. I am of course talking about the
Passover meal. If you like, you can do a google search on how to celebrate a
Passover meal and you will find mostly uniform instructions and you will see
it’s going to take a lot of work, so many preparations. The true removal of all
yeast from the home, certified by a spring cleaning most of us would never want
to do. All the right foods. Sections of Old Testament Scripture to be read at
the proper time. So many preparations. Ask any Jewish person and they will also
tell you it’s all about the lamb, the specially chosen Passover lamb, what it
signified and how everything in the meal changes once the lamb is present. We
see those truths combine tonight as our journey with Jesus continues as Jesus
final steps lead him to an upper room where a lamb that had died was carefully
prepared.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><i><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">“</span>On the first day of the Festival of Unleavened Bread, when the
Passover lamb is sacrificed, his disciples asked him, “Where do you want us to
go and prepare for you to eat the Passover?” <b><sup>13 </sup></b>He
sent two of his disciples and said to them, “Go into the city, and there a man
carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him. <b><sup>14 </sup></b>Wherever
he enters, tell the owner of the house that the Teacher says, ‘Where is my
guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?’ <b><sup>15 </sup></b>He
will show you a large upper room, furnished and ready. Make preparations for us
there.” <b><sup>16 </sup></b>His disciples left and went into the city and
found things just as he had told them; and they prepared the Passover.”</i> The
celebration of the Passover is part of the Old Testament Ceremonial law that
God gave the Old Testament church. One of its purposes was to help them
remember how God had rescued their ancestors from slavery in Egypt and chosen
them to be a special nation on earth. The way God had done that was by sending
progressively worse plagues on the nation of Egypt to incentivize the Pharaoh
to let God’s people go. The worst plague was the final plague where God sent
the angel of death to kill the firstborn son in every household in the land of
Egypt unless the blood of a lamb had been painted on its doorframe. When the
angel saw the blood on the doorframe he passed over that household. It was
spared from death. And so the name Passover. At Jesus’ time hundreds of
thousands of people would be visiting Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover near
the Temple. Thousands of lambs that had died were prepared. Jesus and his
disciples got one of them.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>That preparation of the lamb by itself
was no small deal. That’s because, for the Jews who were looking for the
Biblical Messiah to come, the Passover was a whole lot more than their version
of the 4<sup>th</sup> of July. The whole Passover was designed by God to keep
the people’s eyes on their need for a Savior. They could not save themselves.
They were doomed to die eternally. Only the Messiah could save them. Like the
lamb of the Passover, he would die in their place. So the Passover lamb could
not be just any lamb but a perfect year old male lamb now carefully prepared.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>With New Testament hindsight we know
that the Old Testament Passover lamb pictured Jesus. The real slavery of all
people is the slavery to sin and the Devil. The only way for freedom was a the
sacrifice of the perfect Lamb of God, Jesus Christ. So his footsteps led him to
the Upper Room where he carefully prepared to do what He came for, to die. <i>“When
it was evening, he arrived with the Twelve. <b><sup>18 </sup></b>While
they were reclining and eating, Jesus said, “Amen I tell you: One of you will
betray me, one who is eating with me.”<b><sup>19 </sup></b>They began to
be sorrowful and said to him one by one, “Surely not I?”<b><sup>20 </sup></b>He
said to them, “It is one of the Twelve, one who is dipping bread with me in the
dish. <b><sup>21 </sup></b>Indeed, the Son of Man is going to go just
as it has been written about him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is
betrayed! It would have been better for that man if he had not been born.”<o:p></o:p></i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>We talked about this when our Lenten
journey started. What do you do, what do you focus on when your time with
someone is short? Important things. As Jesus, the Lamb of God sent to take away
the sins of the world prepared to die he stayed on mission. God did not send
His Son into the world to condemn people but rather to save people. While those
who refuse to believe in Him condemn themselves everyone who believes is saved.
One was there at the Passover meal whose love for money had crowded out faith
in Jesus as his Messiah. Judas, the Betrayer. What does Jesus do? In love
reaches out to him yet again. What do you suppose happened when Jesus said, “One
of you who is eating with me will betray me?” Did his face flush? Or was his
control that good that he should have been playing on some world poker tour? We
don’t know what Judas did other than join the others in saying, “Surely not I?”
But Judas is not important here. Jesus is. He knew exactly what would happen
and so He carefully prepared to die. And if you want to hear more of what Jesus
said when His time with his disciples grew short you can read about it in the
Gospel of John chapters 13-17.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>A lot of time was spent by our Lord in
the upper room where Jesus made sure his lambs who would die were also
prepared. John’s Gospel gives us for instance these super comforting words spoken
by Jesus in the Upper Room<i>. “Do not let your heart be troubled. Believe in
God; believe also in me. <b><sup>2 </sup></b>In my Father’s house are
many mansions. If it were not so, I would have told you. I am going to
prepare a place for you. <b><sup>3 </sup></b>And if I go and prepare
a place for you, I will come again and take you to be with me, so that you may
also be where I am.”</i> See how Jesus prepared His lambs for death, His
and theirs. Don’t be troubled. Heaven has mansions prepared just for you.
That’s where I will be going to and then when the time is right I will come
back for you and take you with me. That’s all physical death will be. How kind
and thoughtful Jesus is for His lambs. Of all those sitting around that table
only the Apostle John would live to see old age. All the rest died young.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>And Jesus did more to prepare His
lambs for their death. He provided a faith building and faith proclaiming meal.
<i>“While they were eating, Jesus took bread. When he had blessed it, he broke
it and gave it to them, saying, “Take it. This is my body.” <b><sup>23 </sup></b>Then
he took the cup, gave thanks, and gave it to them. They all drank from
it. <b><sup>24 </sup></b>He said to them, “This is my blood of the
new testament, which is poured out for many. <b><sup>25 </sup></b>Amen
I tell you: I will certainly not drink again of the fruit of the vine until
that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.” <b><sup>26 </sup></b>After
they sang a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.”</i> The Lord’s Supper.
You know what it is. Jesus tells you exactly. He took bread. “This is my
body.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not a representation, symbol or
picture. Is means is. A miracle. He took the cup filled with grape wine. “This
is my blood.” Not a representation, symbol or picture. Is means is. But wait
there’s more. It is the blood of the new testament or covenant. This is the
covenant God has made with us, to forgive us our sin and remember them no more.
Jesus is preparing us, His lambs. Your sins are forgiven. You can live that way
right now. No guilt in life. And no fear in death. With sins you forgiven
heaven is your home. But wait there’s more. Jesus said He would not drink of
the cup until that day when he drinks again in the kingdom of God. Look ahead
lambs of Christ. Feasting is coming. Banqueting, with Jesus. Not only does
Jesus prepare us to look at the ending of earthly life without fear but even
with longing. Jesus, our Savior, face to face!<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>That’s why Jesus’ steps led Him to an
Upper room. Preparation. And lambs. Jesus carefully prepared to finish His work
as Savior so that we and all His lambs are prepared. Soon the Passover
replacement meal will be celebrated in this service. It has been carefully
prepared for you. As you watch or participate as appropriate, remember, it’s
all about the Lamb who has taken away the sins of the world. That means you
too! Amen.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>Pastor Spaudehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11010651324712293261noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2766831625444153657.post-42468770324941924342023-03-27T07:51:00.002-05:002023-03-27T07:51:33.733-05:00March 25-27, 2023 Pastor Timothy J. Spaude Text: Mark 10:35-43 “SERVING: A SIGN OF GREATNESS!”<p> </p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">LENT
5 (150<sup>th</sup> Service Sunday)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">March
25-27, 2023<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Pastor
Timothy J. Spaude<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Text:
Mark 10:35-43<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: center;"><b><u><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">“SERVING: A SIGN
OF GREATNESS!”</span></u></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>It doesn’t sound right at first.
People want to be called the G.O.A.T. You wouldn’t think people would want that
until you understand that G.O.A.T. is an acronym for Greatest Of All Time.
Aaron Rodgers believes he is the G.O.A.T. Packer quarterback. Debatable. Many
consider Tom Brady to be the G.O.A.T. for all NFL quarterbacks. Major league
baseball has pitchers and hitters and the NBA has ballers that all want to be
the G.O.A.T. Muhammed Ali made the claim. But it’s not only athletes who want
to be considered great, musicians do too. They have come up with several awards
invented by musicians for musicians. The Grammys. CMA. But it’s not limited to
musicians either. Actors have made awards for actors. The Emmys, the Oscars.
This past go round I saw a report that the stunt people were miffed that there
was no Oscar for stunt actors. One quipped, “It’s not like were the Teamsters
who just drive the trucks around.” MMM. And if there were no teamsters driving
their trucks…? Noting this trend of groups of people wanting and creating
awards for themselves I, in the past, have suggested to Pastor Waldschmidt and
some other pastors that we should create an award for ourselves. We could call
it “The Pastors!” I can see it now holding up the golden Luther statue. “First
I want to thank my wife and children and my mom and dad and the ghostwriters
for my sermons…” Okay, I guess that does sound a little silly. No wonder none
of the other guys have jumped on my bandwagon.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>But it’s not just people in the
entertainment industry who want to be considered the greatest, Jesus’ own
disciples did too. <i>“James and John, the sons of Zebedee, approached him and
said, “Teacher, we wish that you would do for us whatever we ask.” <b><sup>36 </sup></b>He
said to them, “What do you want me to do for you?” <b><sup>37 </sup></b>They
said to him, “Promise that we may sit, one at your right and one at your left,
in your glory.”</i> Hey, Jesus, we want to be the greatest. Give us those
positions in heaven that we think have the most prestige. Jesus’ reply to them
exposed how foolish it was to think of heaven in earthly terms. Glory comes
from suffering for the kingdom. That’s what Jesus meant by the cup he would
drink and the baptism he would undergo. That’s when the rest of Jesus’
disciples got in on the act. <b><i><sup> “</sup></i></b><i>When the ten
heard this, they were angry with James and John.”</i> Now why do you think the
other 10 were angry? You know. They wanted to be the considered the greatest themselves!<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Foolish athletes. Foolish musicians.
Foolish actors. Foolish disciples. So concerned with their own greatness. Good
thing we don’t do that. Or do we? In almost every area of life our sinful
nature prompts us to desire recognition and honor from other people. It can
happen when kids misbehave or pull pranks in school so other students will
think they are the greatest in the class. Or where high school students’ days
are made or lost by how many likes or followers or shares or retweets they get
or don’t get. It goes on to the workplace where in subtle or blatant ways we
portray ourselves as the smartest one in the room. Hey you dummies. Listen to
me! I am the greatest. It is in our family life. Pay attention to me. Do what I
want. Do it my way. Validate me!<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>How good it is to have a Savior who
forgives us and sets us straight. <b><i><sup> “</sup></i></b><i>Jesus
called them together and said, “You know that those who are considered rulers
over the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority
over them. <b><sup>43 </sup></b>But that is not the way it is to be
among you. Instead, whoever wants to be great among you will be your
servant, <b><sup>44 </sup></b>and whoever wants to be first among you
will be a slave of all. <b><sup>45 </sup></b>For even the Son of Man
did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for
many.” </i>I hope you noticed that Jesus did not rebuke His disciples for
wanting to be the greatest. People were created to do things to the best of
their ability and desire approval. The question is, whose approval are we
looking for and whose standard of greatness are we using. If our primary desire
is the approval of people we show ourselves to be idolators and if the standard
of greatness we seek to attain is the world’s we will never be great. But it’s
not, is it? The one whose approval we crave is Jesus. He really is the Greatest
of All Time. He is the greatest preacher, the greatest teacher, the greatest to
ever where human flesh. And yet he was not allowed to walk red carpet but
rather the dusty ground stained red by his blood. He lifted up no golden statue
but instead was Himself lifted up on a rough wooden cross. He received no
cheers and applause but only the jeers and taunting of those He came to save.
This world is not worthy of Him. And yet just like James and John and the other
10 Jesus has chosen us of all people to follow Him.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>He has shown us the path to greatness.
It does not come from demanding attention and the respect of others. It’s not
gauged by likes and retweets. It is not measured by how many other people share
our opinions on matters important only to us. It comes through serving others
as our Savior served us. He took care of our needs. Friends when Jesus came to
earth as the Holy Son of God it was not because He was bored with the glory and
perfection of heaven and the perfect praise provided by the angels. He came
because we needed Him to provide us with the perfect obedience we lack. And so Jesus
came to serve. To do the job no one else would want to do and no one else could
do. He came to the sinful cesspool called earth and let himself be surrounded
by sin and sinners so He could undo what Adam and Eve had done and continually
resist every temptation Satan threw at Him. And when He allowed Himself to be
lifted up and that shame filled Roman cross it was not because it was something
He liked doing and He was gravitating toward his strengths rather He was
covering our weaknesses, our sins that condiment us to the Hell we have earned.
So as disgusting as it was Jesus took off my shoulders and your shoulders every
shameful lust and every bit of selfishness and all our filthy words and every
bit of drunkenness and drug abuse and became every sin for us. Because we
needed Him to give His life as a ransom for many. Serving is the sign of
greatness.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>And Jesus wants you to be great. For
the past 150 years the ministry of St. Jacobi has been blessed with members who
serve, who do what needs doing whether they like it or not, who take their God
given gifts, their professional skills, their abilities learned at home or in
the workplace and placed them into the service of the Savior so that this
congregation could survive and thrive at its mission: knowing Christ and making
Christ known to as many as we can. That has happened because for the past 150
years Jesus is Lord here and people have valued the ransom He paid for us as the
priceless treasure it is. Look on page 17 of your bulletin and you will be able
to put in your name or the name of a loved one in several of those categories.
Marvel with me at how much serving is done by volunteers. It is my estimation
that if we had to pay market value for all of this work that is being done we
would easily have to double our Operating budget from $1.7 million dollars to
3.5 or more. God has not given us that money but He has given us you. You who
respond to appeals for help, not just doing what is fun or easy for you but
what needs to be done. Never have I heard anyone say, “Hey, look at me.
Recognize me.” You are not looking for the approval of people but the approval
of Christ. That is a sign of greatness.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>And it goes further to your homes.
Where you are serving faithfully in your roles as parents and children, good
neighbors, reliable and trustworthy citizens. Praying grandparents and aunts
and uncles. I seriously doubt that there will be an Oscar for best laundry doer
or an award for most diapers changed in a single year. Nor will there be one
for best supporting taker outer of the elderly neighbor’s garbage or most kind
and encouraging note writer of the year. But I know a day is coming when the
Lord Jesus will separate believers and unbelievers before him like sheep and
goats and sadly those many who have rejected Him and desired to be an earthly
G.O.A.T will find that lifestyle has led them to become and eternal goat while
those who followed the Savior who did not come to be served but to serve and to
give His life as a ransom for them will hear Him say the words that ought to
have us racing to be the first ones to scrub the toilets. “Well done, good and
faithful servant. Come and share your master’s happiness.” Happy serving. It’s
the sign of greatness. So says Jesus. So say we. Amen.<o:p></o:p></span></p>Pastor Spaudehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11010651324712293261noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2766831625444153657.post-79587219746846180912023-03-06T07:51:00.000-06:002023-03-06T07:51:10.616-06:00March 4-6, 2023 Pastor Timothy J. Spaude Text: John 3:1-18 (EHV) “IT’S GOD’S WAY OR NO WAY!”<p> </p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">LENT
2<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">March
4-6, 2023<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Pastor
Timothy J. Spaude<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Text:
John 3:1-18 (EHV)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: center;"><b><u><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">“IT’S GOD’S WAY OR
NO WAY!”<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">It just does not stop. The foolishness and
arrogance of man to take what God provides and exchange it with lies provided
by Satan. God provides the gift of marriage and when lived God’s way it is a
wonderful blessing. What does man do but exchange it with free love, living
together instead of getting married, same sex and hook ups. God provides the
blessing of male and female deliberately designed to be different so as to
complement one another in service to God. Man replaces it with transgender, non
binary, genderless and furries. Every defiance of God is sin and comes from the
Evil One but the worst and most damning of all centers on what matters most,
God’s salvation plan. God provides His Son and man has found a thousand
different ways to say, “No thanks, God! I can do it myself.” The words of God
we dig into contain probably the most well-known passage of Scripture. There
are likely 10,000 different sermons in these 18 verses. Don’t worry I will not
try to preach them all to you today but rather focus on one main important
point. It’s God’s way or no way.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;"><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">“There was a man of the Pharisees named
Nicodemus, a member of the Jewish ruling council. <b><sup>2 </sup></b>He
came to Jesus at night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher
who has come from God, for no one can do these miraculous signs you are doing
unless God is with him.” <b><sup>3 </sup></b>Jesus replied, “Amen, Amen, I
tell you: Unless someone is born from above, he cannot see the kingdom of
God.” <b><sup>4 </sup></b>Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born
when he is old? He cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be
born, can he?” <b><sup>5 </sup></b>Jesus answered, “Amen, Amen, I tell
you: Unless someone is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the
kingdom of God! <b><sup>6 </sup></b>Whatever is born of the flesh is
flesh. Whatever is born of the Spirit is spirit. <b><sup>7 </sup></b>Do
not be surprised when I tell you that you must be born from above. <b><sup>8 </sup></b>The
wind blows where it pleases. You hear its sound, but you do not know where it
comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone who is born of the
Spirit.”</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Nicodemus is so typical of man. He was a
Pharisee, a religious group who had exchanged the truth of God for lies of the
Devil. It did not make sense to rely on God saving them. They believed and
taught that your status and blessing from God depended on what you did. But
like typical man, deep down he knew, his good wasn’t good enough. So he asks Jesus.
Jesus made it clear to him. You want to be a part of God’s kingdom then it’s
God’s way. Born from above. Born of water and the Spirit. If you want to be
saved it’s God’s way. His doing. And don’t be foolish, Nick. You acknowledge
the power of the unseen wind. Give glory to the greater power of the Holy
Spirit.<i> </i><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">“I hear what you’re saying, but…Yes, but…”
Polite and impolite ways of telling someone you disagree. Nicodemus does that
to God! <b><i><sup> </sup></i></b><i>“How can these things be?” asked
Nicodemus.</i> “How can this be?” asks the created peon to the one who created
the entire universe with a breath. <b><i><sup> </sup></i></b><i>“You are
the teacher of Israel,” Jesus answered, “and you do not know these
things? <b><sup>11 </sup></b>Amen, Amen, I tell you: We speak what we
know, and we testify about what we have seen. But you people do not accept our
testimony. <b><sup>12 </sup></b>If I have told you earthly things and
you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things? <b><sup>13 </sup></b>No
one has ascended into heaven, except the one who descended from heaven, the Son
of Man, who is in heaven.”</i> <b><i><sup>14 </sup></i></b><i>“Just as
Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted
up, <b><sup>15 </sup></b>so that everyone who believes in him shall
not perish but have eternal life.”</i> Nicodemus, it’s God’s way or no
way. You are teaching God’s people in Israel. What else is the entire Old
Testament but one example after another that if people are going to be saved
God has to do it because people always fail their part. Remember the bronze
snake? When the Israelites were wandering in the wilderness for 40 years He
provided free food for them. Manna in the morning, quail at night. They were
just about to enter the Promised Land but got impatient with God and complained
against Him. To chastise them God sent poisonous snakes into their camp. People
were dying. You know what they did. They tried to fix it themselves. Try this
herb. No, this one. Stand on your head, hop on one foot, cut an X and suck the
poison out. By the way that only works in Westerns. People kept dying. Finally,
they called out to God. God told Moses to make a bronze snake and put it on the
pole. He was to tell the people to look at the bronze snake and they would
live. Those who believed did and lived. Those who rejected God’s way died. So
simple. It’s God’s way or no way. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">The same for the kingdom of God and
eternal life. And what is God’s way? Jesus. Nothing has changed from Old
Testament times. Man’s good is not good enough.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>If salvation depends on man in any way, it will fail. So God swoops in
with the way that depends only on His great mercy and love. A way that is 100%
the work of God from first to last. God sends Jesus. That brings us to that most
famous passage of Scripture. <i>“For God so loved the world that he gave his
only-begotten Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish, but have
eternal life.” </i>This is personal with God. How many of you are giving even
one out of every ten dollars God places in your care so that someone else can
hear the Gospel and be saved? And He gives you many dollars. But God has only
one only begotten Son and that is what He have given for you, for me and all
the other wicked people of this world. And what did God give Jesus to? The
cross. To be lifted up like the snake in the wilderness so that whoever looks
to Him is saved. Our Lenten journey leads there. God does not send His Son on a
tropical vacation but to suffer the torments of Hell, to be punished for our
ongoing selfishness, our foolish choosing of sinful pleasure over Savior
serving, our half hearted belief, our truth twisting to make ourselves look
better and others worse, the ease in which we tear each other apart behind
their backs and the umbrage we take if someone dare do that to us. Friends,
it’s not that Jesus gets us. It’s that He <u>got </u>us--out of the Hell we
have earned. That’s God’s way of saving. We can’t do it ourselves so He did it
for us. And let there be no, “I hear what you are saying God, but… or Yes,
but…or How can this be?” from created peons to their Creator. Instead let there
be awe and appreciation for how great the Father’s love for us is. It’s God’s
way or no way.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">How many Israelites died physically and
then eternally because they refused God’s way of looking at the snake because
it seemed too easy or didn’t make sense? How many people we know will do the
same because looking to Jesus seems too easy or doesn’t make sense? But
remember, we don’t gather to listen to God’s word for other people but for
ourselves. The Muslims are not giving up their allegiance to the false god
Allah. Mormons are not changing their teachings to be more palatable to a God
rejecting society, nor are the Jehovah’s Witnesses getting tired of being
different. It’s the Christians in our country. God forbid that include us! You
Senior Saints. It really must feel like you are strangers living in a strange
land. Each day the news in our country brings something more to shake your head
about. What we have today is not what the greatest generation sacrificed for.
You carry your concerns for your children and grandchildren. You know. It’s
God’s way or no way. Got it? Just hang on. It’ll be over soon. For us who fit
into the midlife crisis manager slot. It’s on us now. What will we hand off to
our children? The reason we cannot give up on any moral issue is that it leads
to capitulation on the major issue, salvation through faith in Christ alone. It’s
God’s way or no way. Got it? Hold the line. For you young people, I’m sorry. In
our desire to make life better for you and easier for you I fear we have
inadvertently let too many of you become soft. By example and permission we
have taught that if it’s not easy, you don’t have to do it or go through it.
You can’t be that way with faith in Jesus. It’s God’s way or no way. I’m 55.
I’ve done well over half my time. God willing He will let me lay down my sword
before you. You are up next. The next line of Christians soldiers who get to
proclaim the true Christian faith. It’s God’s way or no way. Got it?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Sadly, those who follow their own ways and
think they are climbing the stairway to heaven are in fact on the highway to
hell. Here is the second half of the most famous passage in Scripture. <b><i><sup> “</sup></i></b><i>For
God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the
world through him. <b><sup>18 </sup></b>The one who believes in him
is not condemned, but the one who does not believe is condemned already,
because he has not believed in the name of the only-begotten Son of God.” </i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s God’s way or no way. Got it? Amen.<o:p></o:p></span></p>Pastor Spaudehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11010651324712293261noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2766831625444153657.post-12179082119119095952023-02-05T16:33:00.002-06:002023-02-05T16:33:23.780-06:00February 4-6, 2023 Pastor Timothy J. Spaude Text: Matthew 5:13-20 “YOU ARE SUCH A GREAT BLESSING!”<p> </p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">EPIPHANY
5<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">February
4-6, 2023<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Pastor
Timothy J. Spaude<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Text:
Matthew 5:13-20<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: center;"><b><u><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">“YOU ARE SUCH A
GREAT BLESSING!”<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: 2.0in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">1.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">As
you live your lives as salt.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: 2.0in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">2.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">As
you live your lives as light.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: 2.0in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">3.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">As
you live your lives as teachers.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“You are such a blessing!” Have you
ever heard or said that? Maybe you helped push someone’s car when they were
stuck in the snow. Maybe someone shoveled all that plow slush from the end of
your driveway. Maybe you are the primary caregiver for an aging parent. “You
are such a blessing to me!” How did that make you feel? Good, right? You know
why? Because it is good and godly to a blessing to other people and we feel
good because it is good and that’s why God’s word for us today is such good
news. Too often we get tricked into thinking that we need to do something great
to have purpose or having meaning or be relevant but no less than the Lord
Jesus Himself comes to us through His word, looks at you, looks at me and says,
“You are such a great blessing!” simply for being who He made us to be. Let’s
see why and how.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>We are in a part of Jesus’ famous
Sermon on the Mount. His words are for all people to hear but especially
directed at those following Him, His disciples. He corrects the bad teaching of
the Pharisees and teachers of the law who taught you were not acceptable to God
unless you lived like they did. Jesus taught that you were acceptable to God
only through the forgiveness He provided. That changes everyone who believes in
Jesus.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><i>“You are the salt of the earth.”</i>
When we think of salt we mostly think of its use to flavor food, or, this time
of year, to melt snow and ice. The people of Jesus’ time knew its value for
flavoring but likely they thought of another important use, a preservative. Before
there was refrigeration meat was preserved by soaking it in barrels of salt
water. The salt that the meat absorbed prevented it from becoming rotten. This
is why you are such a great blessing. Simply be being you. At your Baptism you
were brought into the family of God. You are believers in Jesus. Your presence
as believers in this community and country are preserving it. Throughout history
when God has had enough of blatant immorality and disregard for His will, He
destroys. The world before the Flood. Sodom and Gomorrah. Rome. When that
happens God ends people's time of grace. There is no longer a chance to repent.
Souls are lost to Hell. As Christians we prevent that from happening. For the
sake of ten God fearing souls, Sodom and Gomorrah would have been spared. So
don’t get discouraged if everybody does not jump on our Jesus loving bandwagon.
You are a reason this community and this country still enjoys God’s grace. You
are still such a great blessing, as long as you maintain faith in Jesus. <i>“But
if salt has lost its flavor, how will it become salty again? Then it is no good
for anything except to be thrown out and trampled on by people.”<o:p></o:p></i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>You are also such a great blessing as
you live your lives as light. <i>“You are the light of the world. A city
located on a hill cannot be hidden. <sup>15</sup>People do not light a lamp and
put it under a basket. No, they put it on a stand, and it gives light to all
who are in the house. <sup>16</sup>In the same way let your light shine in
people’s presence, so that they may see your good works and glorify your Father
who is in heaven.”</i> Now some of you may be remembering that Jesus said, “I
am the light of the world.” It’s one of His great I AM statements. Here he says
we are. What gives? A good illustration often used is as the sun is to the
moon, so Jesus is to us. He is the light of the world. He has chased away the
darkness of sin death and the devil. He brought us from the darkness of
unbelief to the light of faith. He has revealed what God’s good and holy will
is. We are reflectors as the sun is to the moon. Now I don’t want anyone going
away from here saying, “Pastor told us to moon people.” I didn’t. What I’m
saying is reflect Jesus. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>As Jesus has loved you, love others.
Not just the easy ones but especially those difficult for you. And know this,
it is no easy task for Jesus to love people like you and me. As Jesus has
forgiven you, forgive others. Freely. Fully. As Jesus served you, serve others.
He cared about people’s physical and emotional needs but was never content with
that. So you and I can care about other people, help them as we have
opportunity, praying that we can build a relationship to the point we can talk
to them about what they really need, the same Savior we need. As Jesus
prioritized the work of His Father, we prioritize the work of our Father in
heaven. Another thought. Jesus said, “<i>Let your light shine in people’s
presence, so that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is
in heaven.”</i> Shine in people’s presence. I am so glad the pandemic pushed us
to offer online worship. It was a blessing for shutdown time. It has been a
blessing for shut ins, people who are sick, when jobs have interfered. It has
been a blessing for those who have moved to where there is no faithful to
Christ church, people in the military, and our off to college students. For all
our online worshippers we are glad to have you and if you need a pastor call
us. For all those whose only way to worship is online keep it up. But for the
rest of I’d like you to think about something. How are people going to see your
good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven if you keep staying at
home? You don’t light a lamp and put it under a basket, do you? You are such a
great blessing as you live your life that can be seen, not hidden.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>And you are such a great blessing as
you live you lives as teachers. <i>“Do not think that I came to destroy the Law
or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy them but to fulfill them. <sup>18</sup>Amen
I tell you: Until heaven and earth pass away, not even the smallest letter, or
even part of a letter, will in any way pass away from the Law until everything
is fulfilled. <sup>19</sup>So whoever breaks one of the least of these
commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the
kingdom of heaven. But whoever practices and teaches them will be called great
in the kingdom of heaven.”</i> There it is. Great. Jesus says you are a great
blessing as you teach others to obey God’s commandments. Some portray Jesus as
coming to proclaim a moral free for all. They misuse His forgiveness and mercy
to set aside God’s holy will. Jesus does not. He came to uphold God’s will and
keep it in our place. We are a blessing, a great blessing when we teach others
God’s commandments as well. And no this is not just for pastors and teachers
using Luther’s catechism. Some of you have been attending our Christian
parenting class. We have been focusing on providing our children with the tools
they need to thrive as Christians in a non Christian society with the goal of
having them with us in heaven some day. For each of the tools the number one
way for parents to teach is modeling. And this is how you are such a great
blessing not by doing big things that make a splash but your quiet every day
living for Christ. The way you talk and words you refuse to use. Your
faithfulness at your job. Your kindness and your caring. The way you strive to
live each day as a Christian is how you teach. You are such a great blessing.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Jesus concluded this part of His
sermon with some words that at first might sound scary. <i>“Indeed I tell you
that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and experts in
the law, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”</i> The people hearing
this must have gone, “Oh, no!” because outwardly the Pharisees lived pretty
good lives. For us it would be like He said, “Unless you are nicer than Pastor
Waldschmidt, you’re not going to heaven!” Guess I’m out. But I’m not. Neither
are you. As believers in Jesus we are covered by His righteousness which is
perfect. He’s the greatest blessing to us. Which is why we want to be a
blessing to others. For about 150 years now, the people of St. Jacobi have
understood the importance of their presence as salt, light and teachers. Not
because of themselves but because they are connectors to Jesus. May God in His
grace give us many more years of being such great blessings! Amen.<o:p></o:p></span></p>Pastor Spaudehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11010651324712293261noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2766831625444153657.post-11946446042817003122023-01-16T07:54:00.003-06:002023-01-16T07:54:48.132-06:00January 14-16, 2023 Pastor Timothy J. Spaude Text: John 1:29-41 (EHV) “LOOK! THE LAMB OF GOD!”<p> </p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">EPIPHANY
2<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">January
14-16, 2023<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Pastor
Timothy J. Spaude<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Text:
John 1:29-41 (EHV)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: center;"><b><u><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">“LOOK! THE LAMB OF
GOD!”<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: 2.25in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">1.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">He
is exactly what we need.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: 2.25in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">2.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">He
is exactly what everyone else needs.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">John 1:29-41 <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">(EHV) </span></span></b><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">“The next day,
John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look! The Lamb of God, who takes
away the sin of the world! <sup>30</sup>This is the one I was talking about
when I said, ‘The one coming after me outranks me because he existed before
me.’ <sup>31</sup>I myself did not know who he was, but I came baptizing with
water so that he would be revealed to Israel.” <sup>32</sup>John also
testified, “I saw the Spirit descend like a dove from heaven and remain on him.
<sup>33</sup>I myself did not recognize him, but the one who sent me to baptize
with water said to me, ‘The one on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain,
he is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’ <sup>34</sup>I saw this
myself and have testified that this is the Son of God.” <sup>35</sup>The next
day, John was standing there again with two of his disciples. <sup>36</sup>When
John saw Jesus passing by, he said, “Look! The Lamb of God!” <sup>37</sup>The
two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. <sup>38</sup>When
Jesus turned around and saw them following him, he asked, “What are you looking
for?” They said to him, “Rabbi” (which means “Teacher”), “where are you
staying?” <sup>39</sup>He told them, “Come, and you will see.” So they came and
saw where he was staying. They stayed with him that day. It was about the tenth
hour. <sup>40</sup>Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of the two who heard
John and followed Jesus. <sup>41</sup>The first thing Andrew did was to find
his own brother Simon and say to him, “We have found the Messiah!” (which is
translated “the Christ”).<o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>If you had been there and had been
raised in a Jewish home you would have understood exactly what John the Baptist
was saying when he exclaimed, “<i>“Look! The Lamb of God, who takes away the
sin of the world!”</i> But we weren’t there. And to the best of my knowledge
none of us were raised in Jewish homes so at first hearing we might miss
everything John wanted us to hear so today let’s take a closer look at Jesus as
the Lamb of God.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Christmas might still be on some of
our minds. Did any of you say or hear, “Thank you! That is exactly what I
needed!” as a present was opened and mean it? We live in affluent times. Probably
that did not happen. We all have what we need and more. Sometimes I see a movie
or read a story of a Christmas past when people didn’t have much and that new
shirt or pair of pants was really appreciated because people had need. Do we
recognize our need?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The Lamb of God shows us. If we had
all grown up in Jewish homes back at the time of Jesus and John the Baptist
pointed to someone as the Lamb of God the first thing we would have thought of
was the Passover lamb. We would have been used to every year watching Father
select a perfect lamb. Maybe he took us with him as he went to the priest who
slit the lamb’s throat and drained its blood into a bowl. We would have sat
around the table as once again we were told the story of the Passover. How God
rescued our ancestors from slavery in Egypt. We would hear again of the
powerful plagues God sent so the Pharaoh would let them go. Special attention
was paid to the 10<sup>th</sup> plague, that of the firstborn, where the
firstborn son of every family living in the land of Egypt died that night
unless the home had the blood of a perfect lamb painted on its doorframe. And
while our little hearts felt so bad for the lamb that was slain we also felt
great relief that no one in our home had died. That was the Lamb’s purpose, to
be a substitute. Someone was going to die. A person or the Lamb.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>And if we were blessed enough to grow
up in a believing family, Father would have told us that the Lamb was a picture
of Messiah. He would have reminded us that our real slavery was to the sin we
can’t stop doing and the Devil who had the right to accuse us and to death that
would take us to the Devil’s prison called Hell. He would have told us that
Messiah was coming and when He came He would be the Lamb for us all. He would
be punished for our sins. His blood would be shed just like the Passover Lamb
but since He was the Lamb of God His once and for all sacrifice would set us
free. You see, sin was so bad someone had to be punished either the Lamb or…That
was the purpose of the Christ. To be our substitute, to be sacrificed. And so
when John the Baptist saw Jesus he did not exclaim, “Look the Dr who will heal
all your diseases!” for even though Jesus could have done that it was not His
purpose. Nor did He exclaim, “Look the Financial Adviser” for although Jesus
can make all people physically rich that is not His purpose. Nor did John
exclaim, “Look the Life Coach” or “Look, the Teacher” for even though Jesus can
and has taught us exactly how to live and we are blessed when we do so that’s
not what we needed. We needed someone who could be punished so we are not and
so John exclaimed, “<i>“Look! The Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the
world!”</i> He’s exactly what we need.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>May the Holy Spirit help us to
appreciate and value what we have in Jesus and not be disappointed. “Thank you
for the shirt, Grandma, (what I really wanted was an Xbox.) We may want our
diseases or a loved one’s disease healed but it may be that having that problem
is what’s best. We may want more money but maybe learning to live within our
means is what’s best. We may want to be more popular or less lonely but maybe
having those struggles is what’s best. We may want some pet sin or hurt or
guilt to be gone but maybe a continued reminder of our need for a Savior is
better for us. What we need is forgiveness, our sins taken a way so we can live
in the glory of heaven. Only Jesus does that. Look the Lamb of God. He is
exactly what we need.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>And exactly what everyone else needs.
This word of God shows how those in the know tried to help others know too.
First there was John the Baptist. He attracted a crowd. Dressed funny. Camel’s
hair cloak. Ate funny. Locusts and wild honey. No fermented drink. Probably had
never cut his hair. Spoke way too bluntly. Called people snakes to their face!
But when Jesus came by he made sure the people gathered around knew Jesus was
the one they needed, not John. <i>“The next day, John saw Jesus coming toward
him and said, “Look! The Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! <sup>30</sup>This
is the one I was talking about when I said, ‘The one coming after me outranks
me because he existed before me.’ <sup>31</sup>I myself did not know who he
was, but I came baptizing with water so that he would be revealed to Israel.” </i>John
also had friends, disciples, people who were attracted to him, not offended by
him. He made sure they knew who they really needed. <i><sup>35</sup>The next
day, John was standing there again with two of his disciples. <sup>36</sup>When
John saw Jesus passing by, he said, “Look! The Lamb of God!” </i>Andrew, the
brother of Simon Peter, was one of those disciples John the Baptist pointed to
Jesus. And what does he do? <i><sup>41</sup>The first thing Andrew did was to
find his own brother Simon and say to him, “We have found the Messiah!” (which
is translated “the Christ”).<o:p></o:p></i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>And here brothers and sisters we see
one of the important reasons God still has you on this planet, to point others
to Jesus the Lamb of God that everyone needs. Those regular jobs you do to make
other people’s earthly lives are important too. God wants homes built well and
maintained, children cared for, cars running and finances in order. He wants
people fed and clothed. But ultimately what He really wants is people with Him
in heaven. He sent His Son Jesus to be the Lamb of God who took away the sin of
the world. None of us can do that. So He lets us do what we can, point people
to Jesus.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Some of you, like John the Baptist
attract people to you, not because you dress and eat funny. Because you are
nice, caring, helpful, dependable. There is a reason God gave you those gifts.
You will build relationships with people. They will like you and trust you.
When they time is right, when that right opportunity comes, just like it did
for John the Baptist, seize it. Point them to the one they need. Not you.
Jesus, the Lamb of God. Pray that the Lord help you recognize those right
times. Some of you attract no crowd of people. But you have family. You have
friends. They are going to have troubles and problems in life. They may come to
you for help. You may have to tell them. “I can’t fix that. Maybe nobody can.
But can I tell why I can continue to go on with my problems? I have Jesus.” <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">I heard of a real story recently. A woman
was in hospice care. Her death was coming. Her pastor visited her. She had her
faith. She knew heaven was coming. Her husband was an atheist. One day he
called the pastor. He said, “My wife is fine. I am not. Tell me why.” You know
what happened next. Look the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the word.
Exactly what everyone needs. Amen.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>Pastor Spaudehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11010651324712293261noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2766831625444153657.post-26877452528100587352022-12-26T14:38:00.002-06:002022-12-26T14:38:15.248-06:00December 25, 2022 Pastor Timothy J. Spaude Text: John 1:1-14 “A REAL HUMAN INTEREST STORY”<p> </p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">CHRISTMAS
DAY<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">December
25, 2022<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Pastor
Timothy J. Spaude<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Text:
John 1:1-14<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: center;"><b><u><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">“A REAL HUMAN
INTEREST STORY”</span></u></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: 2.0in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">1.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">God
had every reason not to care.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: 2.0in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">2.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">He
cared enough to come himself.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">We all love ‘em. All across the world
people can even be suckers for ‘em. A good old human interest story. We love
the ones that tug at our hearts. The neglected child shuffled around in the
foster care system until finally she finds the loving home. The street kid
doing so much wrong, doing time and then finally getting out and becoming a
useful contributing member of society. A family who has experienced the tragic
loss of a child due to drug overdose using their pain to force legislation to
try to prevent the hurt of others. People even love canine interest stories.
There will in fact be more tears shed in our country with a well done expose of
the abuses in a puppy mill than the factual publishing of the number of babies
killed at abortion clinics. You see, whether you realize it or not many human
interest stories are not really about the humans, they are about raising
emotion, awareness and money for a cause. That’s why so many pop up around
Christmas time. Here’s an excerpt from an article on how to write a human
interest story. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">“A
good human interest story will spark anger, empathy, compassion, sympathy,
motivation, laughter, fear and love. Not in equal measure, but if a journalist
can tick all these boxes in some way, the story is bound to be a success and
likely be shared and highly engaged with. The fundamental objective is to move
someone with a story.”</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">I don’t mean to put down the good and
proper use of human interest stories but the sad truth is that the best and
most real human interest story is being largely ignored by many of our fellow
Americans today. The story of the Christ, the only reason there is CHRISTmas.
We have to admit that we can devalue Christ too and it might in fact be true
that some of your younger ones are here because mom or dad said so and not
because you want to. No matter. We’re here so let’s listen to a real human
interest story.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">John 1:1-14 <i>(EHV)</i></span></b><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> “</span></i><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">In
the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. <sup>2</sup>He
was with God in the beginning. <sup>3</sup>Through him everything was made, and
without him not one thing was made that has been made. <sup>4</sup>In him was
life, and the life was the light of mankind. <sup>5</sup>The light is shining
in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. <sup>6</sup>There was a
man, sent from God, whose name was John. <sup>7</sup>He came as an eyewitness
to testify about the light so that everyone would believe through him. <sup>8</sup>He
was not the light, but he came to testify about the light. <sup>9</sup>The real
light that shines on everyone was coming into the world. <sup>10</sup>He was in
the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not recognize
him. <sup>11</sup>He came to what was his own, yet his own people did not
accept him. <sup>12</sup>But to all who did receive him, to those who believe
in his name, he gave the right to become children of God. <sup>13</sup>They
were born, not of blood, or of the desire of the flesh, or of a husband’s will,
but born of God. <sup>14</sup>The Word became flesh and dwelled among us. We
have seen his glory, the glory he has as the only-begotten from the Father,
full of grace and truth.”</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">John’s account of the first Christmas is
not anything like Luke’s that we are so happily familiar with, not like
Matthew’s much shorter but still heart warming version. There’s no baby, no
manger, no shepherds, no angel. But it’s full of grace and truth. John’s
Christmas account is meat and potatoes. Heavy chewing, yet put there by God
with purpose, so we can grow and mature in our faith. John abruptly and bluntly
helps us see that the greatest human interest story should never have happened.
Why not? Because God has no reason to care. Or to put it in a more accurate
way, we and all other people have not given God a reason to care. It goes back
to the beginning when God was there. As true God Jesus was there with God when
all was created and put into place. He was there when the breath of life was
breathed into Adam and the keys to Creation were handed over to Adam and Eve, a
most beautiful and stunning world that was designed on purpose by God with one
surprising purpose: to bring joy and happiness to people. Oh the love of God!
And how did they respond? They chose to reject the love and words of God and
listen to God’s enemy instead. They chose to doom paradise to becoming a pig
sty of corruption and sin and everything vile and gross. God had no reason to
care. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Now to move you to anger and empathy I
could tell a human interest story of a father who worked overtime, gave up
sleep and free time to get extra money to take his family on a special vacation
only to have the kids ruin it by spending all their time on their phones
wishing they were with their friends instead. I could tell a human interest
story of a mother working hard to make that Christmas meal special for the
whole family only to have it ruined because dad came home drunk. Instead I’ll
tell a real one. <i>“He was in the world, and the world was made through him,
yet the world did not recognize him. <sup>11</sup>He came to what was his own,
yet his own people did not accept him.”</i> He is Jesus, the Word who was with
God in the beginning. The Word who was God and through whom all things were
made. He came to the world He created, the people that were His and they did
not accept Him. King Herod tried to kill Him. So did the recognized religious
people of His day. And many of the regular people who at first delighted in
Jesus left Him in droves when He would not fulfill their immediate desire for
free food. Has anything changed? Most of our politicians today do not seem to
act, talk or legislate like they recognize Jesus and accept Him as their ruler.
So many of the religious people of our day will not stand up for Jesus as the
only Savior. So many who claim to know Jesus choose not to follow Him because
He’s not doing things the way they would. Even we, who know better, understand
our own struggles to treat Jesus as Lord of our lives. He is forgotten,
marginalized, kept in a box until we feel we really need him. God has no reason
to care. We’ve given Him no reason to care.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">But remember this is a real human interest
story. In spite of the unbelieving world’s blatant rejection, and in spite of
the believing world’s often half hearted acceptance God still cares! That’s
what the Christmas story teaches us. He cares so much for people that He comes
Himself to be our Savior. He will not sacrifice the cattle on a thousand hills.
He will not throw thousands upon thousands of Christian soldiers into battle to
be cannon fodder in front of Him, He will not leave the job of saving up to the
holy angels. He comes Himself.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;"><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">“The Word became flesh and dwelled among
us. We have seen his glory, the glory he has as the only-begotten from the
Father, full of grace and truth.”</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"> The Word became flesh. True God became
true man. Why this impossibility that makes us marvel? It is the glory of God.
When John says “we have seen his glory” we may think of how he saw the many
miracles of Jesus and they were glorious! We may think of how he and Peter and
James saw Jesus transfigured, just a tiny glimpse of His majesty as God, so
great they did not want to leave. Or perhaps John is emphasizing more the glory
of the only begotten Son of the Father as His arms were stretched out on wooden
cross. Who stayed there even though He had been given no reason to care by Adam
and Eve in the beginning, nor by Cain as he slew Abel, nor by the masses who
had made the world so bad God had to destroy it in a flood, nor by the babbling
idiots who tried to make a tower for their own glory, nor by the too long of
lines of infidel kings of His people, nor by the Herods, Pharisees and
Sadducees, not even by His own disciples who so quickly ran away to save their
own skins in the Garden of Gethsemane, nor by Peter who denied rather than
accept guilt by association with Jesus, nor by us who are too often too busy
enjoying the blessings of living in a wealthy country that just don’t have the
time and energy for Him. And still He came Himself. And still He stayed the
course of the cross because it is to the glory of God to give Himself for His
people.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">See, this is a real human interest story.
It is not designed to get your anger or your money but to show you grace and
truth. God’s interest is in you. You are what mattered that first Christmas.
You are what matters now. And when our Christmas is over He will not take you
down like you are cheap decorations. He will not throw you away like the ripped
and torn paper everyone throws away. He will keep you where He always keeps
you. Close to His heart. <i>“But to all who did receive him, to those who
believe in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.” </i>Now that
is what you are! Merry Christmas! Amen.<o:p></o:p></span></p>Pastor Spaudehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11010651324712293261noreply@blogger.com0