St. Jacobi Lutheran Church - Sermons

2012-01-24T07:38:00.001-06:00

EPIPHANY 3
January 22/23, 2012
Pastor Timothy J. Spaude
Text: Numbers 25:1-13

“ZEALOUS FOR THE HONOR OF THE LORD!”
1. Because there is sin among God’s people.
2. Because there is a Savior among God’s people.

Numbers 25:1-13 (NIV 1984) “While Israel was staying in Shittim, the men began to indulge in sexual immorality with Moabite women, 2 who invited them to the sacrifices to their gods. The people ate and bowed down before these gods. 3 So Israel joined in worshiping the Baal of Peor. And the LORD’s anger burned against them. 4 The LORD said to Moses, “Take all the leaders of these people, kill them and expose them in broad daylight before the LORD, so that the LORD’s fierce anger may turn away from Israel.” 5 So Moses said to Israel’s judges, “Each of you must put to death those of your men who have joined in worshiping the Baal of Peor.” 6 Then an Israelite man brought to his family a Midianite woman right before the eyes of Moses and the whole assembly of Israel while they were weeping at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. 7 When Phinehas son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, the priest, saw this, he left the assembly, took a spear in his hand 8 and followed the Israelite into the tent. He drove the spear through both of them—through the Israelite and into the woman’s body. Then the plague against the Israelites was stopped; 9 but those who died in the plague numbered 24,000.
10 The LORD said to Moses, 11 “Phinehas son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, the priest, has turned my anger away from the Israelites; for he was as zealous as I am for my honor among them, so that in my zeal I did not put an end to them. 12 Therefore tell him I am making my covenant of peace with him. 13 He and his descendants will have a covenant of a lasting priesthood, because he was zealous for the honor of his God and made atonement for the Israelites.”

This is not the most appealing portion of God’s Word to deal with, is it? It’s X rated content is sadly PG 13 today. We have mass fornication, deadly plague and a graphically described double death of the two caught in the act. Yuck! And yet even this word of God is covered by the Holy Spirit’s promise that all Scripture is God breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness. In the midst of the filth a man named Phineas, son of Eleazer, is called out by God as a light shining in a dark place, a man zealous for the honor of God. Let’s see how and why and what it means for us today.
We join what should be a spiritually matured people of God. This is after God rescued them from Egypt. After the giving of the law on Mt. Sinai, after water from the rock, 40 years of wandering and much more. These people have witnessed all kinds of demonstrations of God’s power and God’s mercy. They are now moving along the road to taking possession of the Promised Land. God gives their army victory after victory. The kings and kingdoms next in line are worried. The king of Moab had hired the mercenary prophet Balaam to curse God’s people but God would only let him bless. It seems that later Balaam must have given the Moabites an insider tip.”I can’t curse God’s people but they can curse themselves. Here’s what you do. Have your flirty women invite their men to a party. We’ll turn it into an idol worshipping fornicating party. That will get God’s attention.”
Boy did it ever! “So Israel joined in worshiping the Baal of Peor. And the LORD’s anger burned against them. 4 The LORD said to Moses, “Take all the leaders of these people, kill them and expose them in broad daylight before the LORD, so that the LORD’s fierce anger may turn away from Israel.” There was sin among God’s people, shameful sin as they did what everybody else was doing and followed their society’s immorality and idolatry. All Scripture is God breathed and is useful for teaching and this certainly teaches us that God gets angry over sin, so angry He invoked the death penalty. But it got worse. After Moses delivered God’s death decree to the judges to carry out, this happened. “Then an Israelite man brought to his family a Midianite woman right before the eyes of Moses and the whole assembly of Israel while they were weeping at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting.” Did he have no shame, flaunting this sin in front of God and His people? Soon he had no life for there was someone zealous for the honor of God. Phineas who took a spear and ended the offending of God. He was zealous for the honor of God because there was sin among God’s people.
That’s why there is still a need for someone to be zealous for the honor of God because there is still sin among God’s people today. We are the people of God. We don’t have exclusive right to that honor but we are the people of God. Wicked people like the Moabites surround us too, people who don’t have or want God’s morals. We can decry the porn industry and prostitution and drug dealing and political corruption and we should. But we must also admit that the Devil still sends seducers to try to get us to dishonor God’s name by joining ourselves to the idolatry and immorality of our society. Jesus lives in you. Your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit. What have you been making Jesus watch on your TV’s and computers? What words do you make Him listen to? Drug use, drunkenness and fornication is happening in “good” WELS families. Why should God ever have to settle for second place in your weekly planner? But He does. There is sin among God’s people and a need for someone to be zealous for the honor of God. I am certainly not suggesting that any of us ought to pull out a spear and go hunting sinners down. I am certainly saying that we need to use the spear of God’s law and let it pierce through our hearts to expose sins we need to be ashamed of that do not honor God. We need to kill those attitudes that say certain sins are acceptable to us. Sin is never acceptable to those who are zealous for the honor of God.
Phineas was zealous for the honor of God and it was noticed. “Then the plague against the Israelites was stopped; 9 but those who died in the plague numbered 24,000. 10 The LORD said to Moses, 11 “Phinehas son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, the priest, has turned my anger away from the Israelites; for he was as zealous as I am for my honor among them, so that in my zeal I did not put an end to them.” Israel’s sins had brought God’s righteous wrath. Thankfully there was a Savior among God’s people. In a certain sense Phineas was a savior. His refusal to tolerate gross sin among God’s people blunted God’s anger. And yet that anger of God could only be turned away because there was the real Savior among God’s people. Do you remember why the physical nation of Israel was so important to God? It wasn’t because they were such great obedient people. Their history shows they were just like everybody else. They were important because God had promised to send a Savior for everyone’s sins and in God’s wisdom that real Savior would be born an Israelite. They were literally carrying the Savior with them in the bodies of Jesus’ ancestors. God’s righteous anger over the sin of people then and now was taken out in full on Jesus. He was punished for fornication, idolatry, drug use, drunkenness, porn peeking, potty mouths, using God’s name in vain, selfishness, giving God leftovers instead of firstfruits in time and money,…Shall I go on and on?
For every sin among God’s people there is the Savior Jesus. The Scriptures tell us, “With (God) there is forgiveness, therefore you are feared (Psalm 130:4). Here is our reason to be zealous for the honor of God. We have Savior! Phineas was zealous for the honor of God. He cared about the reputation the Savior God had and he did something about it. Will you? Is there a Phineas amongst us? Could we possibly have a church full of Phineas’s or is that Phineai? It is our prayer that we do. In coordination with the Elders and other leaders of our congregation your pastors will be directing a program for our congregation. At this time we don’t have a building program of brick and mortar. Rather we will direct a program that seeks to build the honor for God among us. We are going to focus on our attitudes with the hope it will affect actions. For this first year we will be emphasizing honoring God with word and worship. We pray that all of you will join us as willing participants to examine our attitudes and use of God’s Word personally and corporately. We pray that this zealousness for the honor of God will be seen. We look for God to be pleased and to bless us.
Phineas was zealous for the honor of God in attitude and action and God was pleased. He said, “Therefore tell him I am making my covenant of peace with him. 13 He and his descendants will have a covenant of a lasting priesthood, because he was zealous for the honor of his God and made atonement for the Israelites.” Wow! What an honor Phineas received. Wouldn’t it be nice to be honored by God as well? Wouldn’t it be nice to hear God say, “St. Jacobi, now those are people who are zealous for the honor of God?” Will you be? Amen.

January 15th, 2012 Worship Service

2012-01-16T08:07:00.001-06:00

Pastor WaldschmidtGrace, mercy, and peace are yours from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.I Samuel 3:1-10In our the name of Jesus, our guide and shield, dear fellow redeemed; On this Packer weekend, Packer fans may think of Bart Starr. But the former Packer quarterback was not the first Bart. There was another Bart. His full name was Bartimaeus. You might remember him. This Bart could not pick out Max McGee for a touchdown pass. He was a blind man. He spent his days begging by the side of the road. One day Bartimaeus could hear a crowd of people coming down the road. He asked what the commotion was all about and he found out that Jesus of Nazareth was passing by. Bartimaeus must have heard of him because he called out, “Son of David, Have mercy on me!” Some people shushed him, but he only called out louder. Jesus stopped and called for him and Bartimaeus was told the good news. Some folks told him, “Cheer up! Get on your feet he is calling for you!” Today in God’s Word, we hear about another time when God called. Instead of calling a blind beggar, this time God wanted to talk to a young boy named Samuel. He was serving at the temple in Shiloh not far from Jericho where Bartimaeus lived. Shiloh was just down the road from Jericho on the ridge of hills that runs through central Israel. As we listen today to God calling in His word, may we hear also hear the Lord’s voicein His Word. The Lord wants to talk to you. His voice pierces the darkness. II. His voice gives direction to his servants. The Bible tells us that when Samuel served him, the High Priest Eli was growing old and could barely see. Eli had trouble seeing but he had two sons named Hophni and Phinehas who could see just fine. They could see just fine to do all kinds of wicked things. The Bible tells us that Hophni and Phinehas "were wicked men; they had no regard for the Lord.” Eli’s sons were in charge of much of the worship life of Israel. Hophni and Phinehas often robbed and cheated the people out of the offerings which they were bringing for the Lord. They would even sleep with the young women who served the Lord at the temple. Eli, the father of these boys and the high priest of Israel, did nothing about his sons' wickedness except to say, "Why do you do such things?" and "No, my sons, it is not a good report that I hear about you.” Perhaps Eli's laxity and the wickedness of his sons explains why God's word tells us, "In those days the word of the Lord was rare; there were not many visions." Israel had moved so far away from God and prayer was such a rare thing, that when Samuel's mother came to the temple to offer a true prayer to God for a son, the high priest Eli thought she was drunk. Even in that spiritual blindness gripping Israel God was working out His plan. God was preparing a young man named Samuel, who would serve as God's prophet to His people. God's Word says, "And the boy Samuel continued to grow in stature and in favor with the Lord and with men." This portion of God’s Word begins with talk of Samuel's service to the Lord, "The boy Samuel ministered before the Lord under Eli.” Soon the Lord’s voice would pierce through the darkness. There is no job description for Samuel but it would seem that he spent his day and some of his night helping Eli. One gets the impression that Samuel’s ears were tuned to listen for Eli calling for his help, even in the night. "One night Eli, whose eyes were becoming so weak that he could barely see, was lying down in his usual place." It was the still of the night probably just before dawn because the oil in the lamp in the temple is burning down. God’s voice pierced the darkness. Then the Lord called Samuel. Samuel answered, "Here I am." And he ran to Eli and said, "Here I am, you called me." But Eli said, "I did not call you; go back and lie down." So he went and lay down. Again the Lord called, "Samuel!" And Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, "Here I am; you called me." "My son," Eli said, "I did not call; go back and lie down." Samuel did not realize that the Lord wanted to talk to him when God’s voice pierced the darkness. He did not yet know what the Lord sounded like when he talked to His prophets like He did with Moses. "Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord: The word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him. The Lord called Samuel a third time, and Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, "Here I am, you called me." God’s voice pierced the spiritual darkness back in the Garden of Eden when Adam and Eve disobeyed the Lord. God called “Adam, where are you?” and went looking for Adam and Eve confronting them, “What is this you have done?” God’s voice pierced the darkness as he promised to send a Savior for Adam and Eve and for the world. Years later God sent angels whose voices who voices pierced the darkness and announced the birth of the Savior. God’s voice continues to pierce the darkness in the world we live in. For example, so many people-we-so often have a mixed up idea of what God’s gift of sex is all about. God’s word pierces the darkness, as we heard in the New Testament lesson, “Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a person commits are outside the body, but whoever sins sexually, sins against their own body. 19 Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; 20 you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.” If we have given ourselves the idea that we are getting away with some sin or that nobody else knows God’s Word pierces the darkness and says to us just like God said to our first parents, “What is this you have done?” God’s voice pierces the darkness as He talks with us about His grace and mercy too. God says, "There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” when we are troubled by our sins. Yes, God is talking to you when he says that Jesus has washed all your sins away! Jesus was pierced in darkness on Good Friday to pay for all the things we have done wrong. When bad things happen in our lives and it’s hard for us to see through dark days, God’s voice pierces the darkness. "In all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose," According to World Health Organization recommendations, noise in hospital rooms generally shouldn't get above 30 to 40 decibels. But a recent study found that the average noise level in patient rooms was close to 50 decibels, and sometimes spiked to as high as 80 decibels -- almost as loud as a chainsaw. So often the interruptions and the distractions or this world seem to be even louder than a chainsaw. Let’s take the time to quietly read and listen to our Lord’s word. In His Word the Lord gives direction to His servant. After Samuel had heard God's voice call him and after he had gone into Eli's room three different times, Eli realized what was happening. It took him a while but Eli finally figured out what was going on. To his credit, he recognized that God was calling Samuel. He didn't get his nose out of joint that God was calling the boy Samuel and not him, the high priest of Israel. "Then Eli realized that the Lord was calling the boy. So Eli told Samuel, "Go and lie down, and if he calls you, say, `Speak Lord, your servant is listening.' So Samuel went and lay down in his place. The Lord came and stood there, calling as at the other times,`Samuel, Samuel!' Then Samuel said, `Speak, for your servant is listening.' Did you hear that? He said, “Your servant.” Being a servant at the temple was probably not the most glamorous of jobs. Especially when you consider that Samuel was probably eating cold food after he had helped Eli eat his dinner while wicked Hophni and Phineas were eating high off the hog stealing food from the offerings of the people. Or think of Samuel getting up when Eli called at all hours of the night while wicked Hophni and Phineas were out at all hours of the night sinfully flirting and worse with the women who came up to the temple. Do you find yourself eating cold food at home after everyone has been fed? Are you taking care of the little details at work while it seems everybody is getting away with everything. The world might say, “Don’t put up with that garbage. Put yourself first!” God wants to talk to you. He gives directions to his servants. He says in his word, “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters.” As His servants, the Lord brings direction to our lives when it seems the world is in confusion, we can hear the voice of the one who says in His word, "Cast your cares on the Lord and he will sustain you." We’re servants of the King. What a comfort it is for us to hear God say in his Word, "God is our refuge and strength, an everpresent help in times of trouble. Therefore we will not fear though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea." God’s word reminds us who we serve, "God sits enthroned above the circle of the earth, and its people are like grasshoppers. He stretches out the heavens like a canopy, and spreads them out like a tent to live in.... The Lord is the everlasting God, the creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom." God gives direction through his word when he reminds us why we serve. “Christ’s love compels us….And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.” How great it is to look to God's word in our life and recognize the voice of our God and Savior talking! When there are so many things in the world and our lives to trouble us and worry us, how comforting it is to say “Speak Lord your servant is listening. We thrill to recognize our Savior say, "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. When we lay on our death beds, let's say speak Lord your servant is listening. How comforting it is to hear the voice of Jesus say,"I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies and whoever lives and believes in me will never die." Bartimaeus jumped up to go to see Jesus and be healed. Samuel jumped up to help Eli. May we perk up our ears to hear the Lord who wants to talk to us. Amen.

2012-01-10T08:03:00.000-06:00

EPIPHANY
January 8/9, 2012
Pastor Timothy J. Spaude
Text: Matthew 2:1-12

“LOOK WHAT ELSE GOD DID!”
1. He made sure others knew about their Savior.
2. He protected the Savior we need.
3. He provided for the needs of the Savior.

Matthew 2:1-12 (NIV 1984) “After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem 2 and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him.” 3 When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. 4 When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Christ was to be born. 5 “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written: 6 “‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you will come a ruler who will be the shepherd of my people Israel.’” 7 Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. 8 He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and make a careful search for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.” 9 After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen in the east went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. 10 When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. 11 On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh. 12 And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.”

This past summer for the first time since we have been here my family took in the lakefront fireworks on the 3rd of July. We don’t really like crowds. Don’t like getting stuck in traffic. Finally we decided to at least try. We are glad we did. The fireworks display was great. You kept wondering what would come next. It was exciting all the way to the grand finale. We find a similar thing happening as we follow along the history of God’s delivery of the Christmas gift of a Savior to the world. We hear the prophecies. Ooh, what’s next? Then the birth, the angels, the shepherds. What will God do next? Epiphany. That’s the festival we celebrate today. As the wise men come from the East we look at what else God did with our Savior.
First we see how God made sure others knew they had a Savior. Jesus, according to His human nature, was born a Jew. The news that the world’s Savior was born was given fittingly, first to Jewish people, the shepherds and all they told. But they weren’t the only ones to find out. “After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem 2 and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him. When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Christ was to be born. 5 “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written: 6 “‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you will come a ruler who will be the shepherd of my people Israel.” We will probably have more questions here than answers. We don’t know for sure who these magi, these wise men, were, or where east of Jerusalem that they came from. Our best guess based off their title and the Bible history we do know is that these were wise men from the area of Babylon. Remember how God’s people were carried off into captivity to Babylon? Remember how God worked it out that a Jewish believer named Daniel was raised to be the head of all the magi and had influence over two separate empires? Remember what God’s people take with them wherever they go? The word. The promise. A Savior. Whether our guess is right or not really makes no difference. What does make a difference is what else God did. He made sure non Jews knew that a Savior was born. He put people into different places so that non Jews would know they needed a Savior and He was coming. God broke the laws of nature using a special star to alert these diligent watchers and to lead them to Jerusalem where they found the Bible prophecy that would lead them to Bethlehem and their Savior. And then these people would go back to the East and take a message with them. The Savior is born!
But that’s not all, look what else God did! He protected the Savior we need. “When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. 7 Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. 8 He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and make a careful search for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.” Jesus had an enemy. No surprise. He has always had an enemy. The Devil who has been fighting God from the beginning. Ever since Jesus came into the world the attacks are against Him. We see it today. This whole Tim Tebow thing is so far out of proportion. Why is he such a lightning rod for criticism? He talks about Jesus. Herod was an enemy of Jesus. He did not understand that the newborn King had no desire for a puny earthly kingdom. He was after true treasure. He had come to win the hearts and souls of people. Herod couldn’t grasp that and so he made plans to kill Jesus. All Jerusalem was disturbed because they knew what Herod did when he felt threatened. Killings were coming. But look what else God did. He protected the Savior that we needed. If Jesus does not live a perfect life as our substitute and sacrifice Is life to pay for sin we are doomed to Hell. Salvation was at stake. God went into action. “ And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.” While Herod thought to use the wise men as unwitting spies, God used them as willing messengers. He warned them against Herod’s misuse. He protected the Savior we need.
But that’s not all. Look what else God did. He provided for the needs of the Savior. Joseph and Mary would have to flee from Bethlehem. They would have to live as ex-patriots in Egypt for a while. Herod in his rage would later kill all the baby boys of Bethlehem. Moving to a new country. Living in a new country. That’s going to take some money. Where would Mary and Joseph get that? After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen in the east went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. 10 When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. 11 On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh.” Gold, costly incense and myrrh. Joseph and Mary, no worries. God provided for the needs of the Savior.
Now of course you know that this is not where the story ends. For the same God who worked wisely and powerfully before Jesus completed His mission as Savior continues to work wisely and powerfully today. He still makes sure people know they have a Savior. Look at us. How is it that you know and I know we need Savior from our sins and Jesus is that Savior? God did that. It may not have been wise men or a miraculous star. It may have been mom, dad or both and the miracle of Baptism. But God made sure we knew we needed a Savior and He does that for others too. He still protects the Savior too. You know your Bible history and world history. You know how Satan has tried to stamp out the message of what Jesus has done. The Bible still is the most banned book in the world. You know how the Devil tried to corrupt the message through constant introduction of false teaching in the church. The anti-Christian sentiments we see in our country may be new to us but they are nothing new. And still the simple pure message of salvation in Jesus Christ continues. And the earthly needs of the Savior are provided for as well. He does not need food and clothing and shelter, but wise men and women and children who desire to make Christ known continue to bring Him gifts through the church. All this is God’s doing.
But did you notice something? Something really neat that involves you and me? God used people to do His work. You know there’s this phrase today. It might sound a little elitist. “I’ve got people for that.” Whether it’s the lawn or detailing the car. I’ve got people for that. Did you notice how God works? How He gives meaning to the lives of people. When it’s something important, He’s got people for that. He’s got you. When others need to know about the Savior, God has people for that. When the truth of the Savior are there. God has people for that. Whether you realize it or not God has been using you to tell others of the Savior they need. God has been using you to man the walls, stand in the breach of the Devil’s attacks against Jesus and His word. God has been using you to provide for the Savior’s earthly needs. There will be more opportunities in the future because God’s got people for that and we are His. You just have to wonder what God will do next for us and with us. Amen.

January 1, 2012 sermon by Pastor Paul G. Eckert on Luke 2:25-40

2012-01-03T09:25:00.001-06:00

January 1, 2012 - Christmas 1
Sermon by Pastor Paul G. Eckert
Sermon text - Luke 2:25-40
25 Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, who was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him.
26 It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord’s Christ.
27 Moved by the Spirit, he went into the temple courts. When the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the custom of the Law required,
28 Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying:
29 "Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you now dismiss your servant in peace.
30 For my eyes have seen your salvation,
31 which you have prepared in the sight of all people,
32 a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel."
33 The child’s father and mother marveled at what was said about him.
34 Then Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his mother: "This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against,
35 so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul too."
36 There was also a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was very old; she had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage,
37 and then was a widow until she was eighty-four. She never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying.
38 Coming up to them at that very moment, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem.
39 When Joseph and Mary had done everything required by the Law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee to their own town of Nazareth.
40 And the child grew and became strong; he was filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was upon him.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
We know that the year 2011 has ended and that 2012 is beginning. We know what we did see in 2011 and don’t know what we will see in 2012. That’s a bit like Wisconsin playing in the Rose Bowl. We know how Wisconsin did during its past season. But what about the Rose Bowl game this Monday? As of now we don’t know what will be.
But let’s move on to something far more important than a football game. Let’s make "DIDWEDOWEWILLWE?" the question we ask about something eternally important, namely peace.
PEACE - DIDWEDOWEWILLWE?
I DID WE SEE PEACE? (25-29)
1. Simeon said he saw it. (25-29)
Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, who was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. Moved by the Spirit, he went into the temple courts. When the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the custom of the Law required, Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying: "Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you now dismiss your servant in peace."
a) Simeon had been given a special revelation that he would not die until he had seen what would give Israel consolation, what would comfort it. And what was that? It was the fulfillment of God’s promise to send the offspring of a woman to be the world’s Savior.
b) When Simeon saw Jesus, he knew he was seeing God’s promise fulfilled. Here was the Anointed One, the Christ, the Prince of Peace, peace because of the forgiveness the Savior would win for him.
2. What did the world see in Christmas?
a) By the world I mean those who don’t yet know Jesus as God’s Son and the world’s Savior. If they heard the Christmas angels singing "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests." they might have said that the angels were wrong, that there are wars and rebellions around the world, that we have riots and violence in the United States, that there is no peace.
b) So, if not peace, what did the world see in Christmas? It saw
increased store hours, it saw gifts, it saw decorations, it saw parties, it
saw hecticness, it saw what often led to frustration and not to peace.
3. What did we see?
a) Children and others, I hope you saw gifts under the tree, could gather with your families, even enjoy shopping if you like that.
b) But if that was the emphasis of Christmas for us, then we did not see the peace of God that comes from knowing the Savior who has paid for our sins. And that makes us ask something.
4. Is it really possible to see peace? (29)
"Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you now dismiss your servant in peace."
a) Could there be peace on this earth? Jesus Himself said that to the end there will be wars and rumors of wars. Was Simeon wrong?
b) No. He was talking about peace needed when it comes to sin, to falling short of God’s holy will, to what we deserve because of sin.
c) Now when Simeon saw Jesus as his Savior from sin, he did see peace. And we did too if in our Christmas we saw Jesus as our Savior.
II DO WE HAVE PEACE? (29-35)
1. Simeon did. (29-32)
"Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you now dismiss your servant in peace. For my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the sight of all people, a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel."
a) Simeon was ready to die in peace, not afraid of what came after death. That was because w--hen he saw Jesus he saw God’s salvation. Salvation from what? Arthritis, cancer, old age? That too eventually. But first of all salvation from sins that could no longer condemn him because Jesus had come to pay for his sins for him.
b) And not just for him. What Jesus would do was planned through Israel for all people. Though many Israelites did not see that and rejected Jesus, the fact remains that Jesus is the true glory of Israel, a glory that is to be revealed to the Gentiles, to all nations. It is the glory of the forgiveness of our sins and the peace that brings.
2. Many would not have this peace. (33-35a)
The child’s father and mother marveled at what was said about him. Then Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his mother: "This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed."
a) Instead of believing and having peace, as Simeon did, many
would speak against Jesus. He was constantly attacked by the church
leaders of Israel. Many people would shout out, "Crucify Him."
b) And that hasn’t stopped. If we speak of Jesus as the only way of salvation, the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. They’ll say, "You can’t say that, be that bigoted. Jesus only? Bah, humbug."
3. We may not have outward peace. (35b)
" --- the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul too."
a) Can we even imagine how Mary must have felt when she saw the Son to whom she gave birth hanging tortured on a cross?
b) We don’t have to face that. But often health and family and other problems can easily deprive us of outward peace too.
4. But we do have true peace. (29-32)
"Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you now dismiss your servant in peace. For my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the sight of all people, a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel."
a) What happened on the cross is the reason. There Jesus took on Himself our sins. Because of taking our place, paying the wages of our sins, He could cry out, "Father, forgive them."
b) That forgiveness includes you and me and all. How sad that many speak against Jesus, don’t want to have Christ in Christmas at all, aren’t interested in the peace that the Christchild came to bring.
c) From the bottom of our hearts let us thank God the Holy Spirit for the gift of faith in Jesus that rejoices in forgiveness and has peace.
III WILL WE ENJOY PEACE? (36-40,27,29-32)
1. Anna also saw and had peace. (36-38)
There was also a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was very old; she had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, and then was a widow until she was eighty-four. She never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying. Coming up to them at that very moment, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem.
a) Like Simeon, Anna knew the truth and worshiped.
b) And as Simeon knew the truth was for all, not only the glory of Israel, so Anna spoke to others about the Savior, as we should too.
2. Both knew that death would not stop their peace. (27b,39-40)
a) Both Simeon and Anna were at an age when they could expect to die soon. But they had peace, knowing death would not end that peace nor lead to a deserved hell. Why? Because of Jesus. Listen.
When the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the custom of the Law required, --- When Joseph and Mary had done everything required by the Law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee to their own town of Nazareth. And the child grew and became strong; he was filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was upon him.
b) Jesus perfectly obeyed all of the laws of God without sinning. Had He failed, He could not have died an innocent death on the cross. But He did go to the cross as the spotless Lamb of God in the place of all of us guilty sinners. His sinless death paid the wages of our sins.
3. Let us enjoy peace now. (29-32)
"Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you now dismiss your servant in peace. For my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the sight of all people, a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel."
a) Be happy, enjoy the peace that forgiveness gives right now.
b) Like Simeon and Anna, come to church regularly and enjoy that peace proclaimed in God’s Word, in the Lord’s Supper when Jesus tells us that His sacrificed body and blood mean our forgiveness and peace, that we can move on with peace in our daily lives.
4. And know that we will enjoy peace eternally.
a) The Rose Bowl game - will we win? We don’t yet know.
b) But we do know for sure the answer to our theme question,
PEACE - DIDWEDOWEWILLWE? : DID WE SEE PEACE? -
the answer is yes. - DO WE HAVE PEACE? - the answer is yes. -
WILL WE ENJOY PEACE? - the answer is yes.
c) Like Simeon, hold Jesus tightly in your arms of faith. Like Anna do the same, and also be ready to share with others the news of Jesus’ redemption. Like both of them, know and have and enjoy peace, true peace that will never end the way 2011 did end.
In Christ our Savior, the source of our peace, we wish all a blessed new year of 2012, and hearts filled with true peace now and as we look forward to a glorious future.

December 18th, 2011 Worship

2012-01-02T14:59:00.001-06:00

CHRISTMAS DAY 2011

2012-01-02T14:57:00.001-06:00

2011-12-26T11:59:00.000-06:00

CHRISTMAS EVE
December 24, 2011
Pastor Timothy J. Spaude
Text: Luke 2:11

“THE BEST DEAL!”

Luke 2:11 (NIV 1984) “Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.”

It doesn’t happen often, in fact I can’t remember it happening any other time but on this particular morning I woke up mad. Let me tell you why. My alarm went off. Normally that’s not a problem. They are supposed to do that. It’s what I heard when my alarm went off. Some people have alarms that are bells. Some have buzzers. Some wake you up with your favorite music. Mine is set to a radio station. Light music. But when the alarm went off it was commercial time and this was the first thing I heard. “Everybody knows that that the holidays are all about getting the best deals.” I processed that and started fuming. Are you kidding me? This was before Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is not about getting a deal for yourself. It’s about being thankful! And Christmas. Christmas about getting a deal! It’s about Jesus birth! Then I stopped fuming as a lay there and I started thinking. Maybe there was some truth proclaimed in this commercial. Is it really wrong to think about Christmas as getting the best deal?
Bargain hunters will tell you that a good deal is when you pay the least amount of money for something you really need. Bargain hunters will tell you that a good deal is when both parties in the transaction walk away happy. My favorite bargain hunter is a man named Clark Howard. He’s a radio, TV and internet personality that bills himself as the world’s cheapest man. He’s always looking for the best deal. Do you know what his definition of a good deal is? Free!
Let’s return now to what the Christmas message proclaims to us. It is summarized in the angel’s message to the shepherds. “Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.” Let’s look at that truth from the standpoint of getting a good deal. One of the definitions of a “good deal” was that it was for something you really need. I don’t think I’m the only adult who watches some of the older shows from simpler days. Shows like “Little House on the Prairie.” Classics, like Dickens “A Christmas Carol.” You see how the people appreciated simple gifts that they needed. You flash forward to our abundantly blessed times when needed gifts like socks and shirts aren’t appreciated as much as wants like games and toys. We pray for more grateful hearts. And still the best deal is when you get it on something you need—like a car repair or a new furnace.
At Christmas we did receive the best deal because we received something we needed. We needed a Savior from sin. Sin is one of life’s little inconvenient truths, isn’t it? It’s not hard to talk about other people’s sins. It is easy to be appalled at the gross and flagrant sins we hear about in the news like murders, sex crimes, child abuse, theft and embezzlement. It’s harder when we have to talk about our own sins, like murdering people with words that hurt worse than sticks and stones and you have to own up to having said that. Or how about sex crimes against God and others through pornography or lusting. Then there is the child abuse of causing little ones to sin by using God’s name in vain so that they repeat it later. Or when we embezzle from our employers by wasting time on the clock. Those and many more are our sins. The inconvenient truth is that you can’t fix sin. What’s done is done. Saying, “I’m sorry,” is the right thing to do but it doesn’t undo the sin or fix the damage done. It doesn’t pay the debt owed to God or the person we sinned against. Jesus does, though. A Savior. A Rescuer. That’s who He is. That’s what we needed and received from God at Christmas. Good News! A Savior has been born. Whatever sins you remember tonight, the ghost of sins past that still haunt you, today a Savior has been born. Jesus rescues you from those sins and gives you the right to leave them behind and will be your help in dealing with any earthly consequences. That’s a great deal!
Another mark of a great deal is when both sides in the transaction walk away happy. You know how it goes. Maybe you stop at a rummage sale and you find something you want and it’s only $5. So you scoop it up before anyone else does and after you pay, you go to the car, call your friend or mom and crow about what a great deal you got. And the person holding the rummage sale is thinking or saying, “I can’t believe all these people are paying me to take away my junk! This is great! What a scam!” Everybody’s happy! Our Christmas deal is like that. People, God loves you to death, to the death of His Son. He knows that by having His Son born as one of us, born as God and man at the same time, that Jesus is going to be the only one who can fix sin and it will take His suffering and death. But God loves you. Just like imperfect parents often find joy in making sacrifices for their children our perfect Father in heaven is happy to give His Son for us. He’s pleased by the deal. We get to be happy too. You know, I don’t know what your life is like right now. I don’t know what you are going through. You do. God does. You have the right to be happy even if some temporary earthly things aren’t going so well for you. Relationships with spouse, family, friends. It will pass. Financial strain, job issues. It will pass. Health problems. One way or another, this too shall pass. Jesus. You have Him forever. Because of Christmas you have a Savior for now and forever. Both sides get to walk away happy.
And how about Clark Howard? I’ve been thinking about calling into his program some day. If I’m honest about what I am going to say I know I won’t get past his screeners. But I want to tell him about the best deal ever. One that is free! Real gifts are like that, aren’t they? They don’t cost the getter anything. They do cost the giver however. We know that by giving us Jesus as a Savior it would cost God the pain of forsaking His Son. We know that it would cost Jesus His suffering and death on the cross. But the cost to us is nothing. God’s gift is free. The shepherds didn’t have to pay to hear the Angels’ Concert even though the message they proclaimed is worth everything. Neither do you. God’s gift to you in Jesus is free. You have a Savior. Forgiveness is free. We got the best deal ever!
There are all kinds of things you can do when you get a great deal. You can tell your friends, maybe help them get that great deal too. But that’s for another time. What you can also do when you get a great deal, is enjoy it, feel good, be happy. Tonight, this week, do that. Enjoy for yourself what God has given to you. You have the best deal ever. For “Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.” Amen.

2011-12-15T08:10:00.000-06:00

MIDWEEK ADVENT 3
December 14, 2011
Pastor Timothy J. Spaude
Text: Psalm 71:1-18

“PSALM-THING TO THINK ABOUT: HOPE FOR FOREVER!”

Psalm 7:1-14 (NIV 1984) “In you, O LORD, I have taken refuge; let me never be put to shame. 2 Rescue me and deliver me in your righteousness; turn your ear to me and save me. 3 Be my rock of refuge, to which I can always go; give the command to save me, for you are my rock and my fortress. 4 Deliver me, O my God, from the hand of the wicked, from the grasp of evil and cruel men. 5 For you have been my hope, O Sovereign LORD, my confidence since my youth. 6 From birth I have relied on you; you brought me forth from my mother’s womb. I will ever praise you. 7 I have become like a portent to many, but you are my strong refuge. 8 My mouth is filled with your praise, declaring your splendor all day long.
9 Do not cast me away when I am old; do not forsake me when my strength is gone. 10 For my enemies speak against me; those who wait to kill me conspire together. 11 They say, “God has forsaken him; pursue him and seize him, for no one will rescue him.” 12 Be not far from me, O God; come quickly, O my God, to help me. 13 May my accusers perish in shame; may those who want to harm me be covered with scorn and disgrace. 14 But as for me, I will always have hope.”

Over the summer my family had a chance to visit the Holocaust Museum in Washington DC. It is a moving, heart wrenching display. Of the many things that made no sense in that horror was one that stood out to me, the reaction of many of the death camp prisoners. We saw videos where one hundred or more prisoners were guarded by just 5 soldiers who would march them to a ditch, line them all up and they simply stood there waiting to get shot. Why? Why not at least try to resist? It didn’t make sense. We heard eyewitness accounts of prison escapes where some would overpower their guards, get the gates open and run for freedom while the majority simply stayed where they were. Why? The gates were open! The guards unable to respond! Why just sit down? Hopelessness. That’s the reason given. They had lost all hope so they didn’t even try. Having no hope is a horrible place to be. In all probability none of us will have to endure the horrors of a death camp. And yet because we live in a sin messed world and we ourselves are sinners we are likely to face all kinds of difficult situations. At each one our ancient enemy the Devil is there trying to lead us to despair, despondency, giving up. His tool is hopelessness. How thankful we are for the word of God, the truth that defeats Satan’s lies. As we conclude our Advent focus of Psalm thing to think about Psalm 71 proclaims God’s truth that with Jesus we have hope for forever.
We don’t know for sure whom God used to write Psalm 71. Likely it was King David. The psalmist prayed “In you, O LORD, I have taken refuge; let me never be put to shame. 2 Rescue me and deliver me in your righteousness; turn your ear to me and save me. 3 Be my rock of refuge, to which I can always go; give the command to save me, for you are my rock and my fortress. 4 Deliver me, O my God, from the hand of the wicked, from the grasp of evil and cruel men. 5 For you have been my hope, O Sovereign LORD, my confidence since my youth. 6 From birth I have relied on you; you brought me forth from my mother’s womb. I will ever praise you.” Here we find a truth proclaimed. With the Lord there is hope for when you are young. Young people have problems. We can think of young David. Sounds like he was the runt of the litter, the forgotten child in the family. He could have been hopeless. Things will never change. He had to defend sheep from lions and bears. Pretty scary, a chance to feel hopeless. But he wasn’t . He had the Lord. The Lord would protect him and see him through. He had hope when he was young because he had the Lord.
We young people here today, we have problems we face. You young ones younger than I, have hard things to face. What is it that the Devil is trying to make you feel hopeless about? Is school work a struggle? Do you think it will never change, never end? Is it hard for you with the other kids? Having trouble fitting in? Are there problems at home? Do you have a broken heart that you feel will never end? It’s OK. This too will pass. You have Jesus. He is on your side. That means you have hope. Just wait and you will see how He rescues you for He will. Don’t give up. Don’t despair. With Jesus you have hope for when you are young.
But it’s not just us young people who to have hope. You old people do too! Listen to the Psalmist. “Do not cast me away when I am old; do not forsake me when my strength is gone. 10 For my enemies speak against me; those who wait to kill me conspire together. 11 They say, “God has forsaken him; pursue him and seize him, for no one will rescue him.” 12 Be not far from me, O God; come quickly, O my God, to help me. 13 May my accusers perish in shame; may those who want to harm me be covered with scorn and disgrace. 14 But as for me, I will always have hope; I will praise you more and more.” Young people problems can seem pretty big and they are for those at that age. As we get older problems get bigger. Now we are talking jobs and family income and expenses. Now we are talking marriage relationships. Now we are talking major medical and end of life issues as the plumbing and electrical start to degrade. Then there’s the kids and the grandkids too. What situation is the Devil trying to use to make you feel hopeless? But you are not hopeless. You have the Lord. Just like the Psalmist you can say, “As for me I will always have hope.” You can say that because you know and have seen how the Lord has worked your past. He does work all things for good. He does refine and chasten those He loves. He does come to that aid of His people when they cry to Him. He never has left you nor forsaken you and He never will. Jesus lives. He is ruling all things for your good. With the Lord we have hope for when we are young and for when we are old.
And forever. Let’s go back to the first verse of the Psalm. Often times with Psalms the first verse will be a summary of what you need to learn through the whole Psalm. Verse one says, “In you, O LORD, I have taken refuge; let me never be put to shame.” Never is a strong word. It is a controlling word. Never means not ever under any circumstance. The Psalmist prayed for no shame ever under any circumstances. Shame is an interesting word, isn’t it? Children who misbehave might hear their parents say, “Shame on you!” People who do or say things that go beyond what is commonly accepted as decent might here the phrase, “Have you no shame?” What if God gave me a camera where if I shined it on you all your thoughts about others would be revealed on a screen. What you thought about me, your pastors, your teachers, your students, your spouse, that actor or actress. Is there anyone who wouldn’t be ashamed?
And yet the Psalmist prayed for no shame. Because his trust was in the Lord. We will never be put to shame trusting in Jesus, that means regret it because with Jesus we have no shame. Instead with Jesus we have hope for forever. All those things you thought of when I talked about the camera revealing that would embarrass you to death. Those sins that we are ashamed of and shame on us for committing them, everyone gone because of Jesus. Washed away by His blood. No shame. Hope for forever. We have heaven to look forward to. We have Jesus. At the day of our death, on Judgment Day we will have no shame because with Jesus we have hope that lasts forever.
Hope for forever. Hopelessness can lead people to do things that are hard to understand. Like doing nothing. Like ending their own lives. Like giving up or pushing people away. If the Devil whispers in your ears that your situation is hopeless, resist him, rebuke him, tell him to go away. For you belong to Jesus and that means you have hope for forever. Amen.

December 11/12, 2011 Advent Song Service

2011-12-13T09:10:00.001-06:00

December 11/12, 2011 - Advent 3 - by Pastor Paul G. Eckert

December 11/12, 2011
SONG SERVICE
BASED ON PROPHETIC STATEMENTS
FROM THE BOOK OF ISAIAH
WELCOME
Hymn 30:1-3 (Sunday) --- “Rise, Arise”
Hymn 30:1-2 (Monday) --- “Rise, Arise”
P: Come, let us worship in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
C: ♫ Amen.
P: Prayer
C: ♫ Amen.
From the lips of children (Sunday)
Jr. Choir (8:15 service) - “Emmanuel Will Come”
Cherub Choir (10:45 service) - “Advent Canon”
Hymn 30:3 (Monday) --- “Crown Him King!”
1. Sing To The Lord A New Song, For He Has Done Glorious Things.
Isaiah 12:1-6 - In that day you will say: “I will praise you, O LORD. Although you were angry with me, your anger has turned away and you have comforted me. Surely God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid. The LORD, the LORD, is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation.” With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation. In that day you will say: “Give thanks to the LORD, call on his name; make known among the nations what he has done, and proclaim that his name is exalted. Sing to the LORD, for he has done glorious things; let this be known to all the world. Shout aloud and sing for joy, people of Zion, for great is the Holy One of Israel among you.”
Psalm 31, page 77 --- “Surely, it is God who saves me”
2. Acknowledge That We Have Done Other Things.
Isaiah 1:2-6 - Hear, O heavens! Listen, O earth! For the LORD has spoken: “I reared children and brought them up, but they have rebelled against me. The ox knows his master, the donkey his owner’s manger, but Israel does not know, my people do not understand.” Ah, sinful nation, a people loaded with guilt, a brood of evildoers, children given to corruption! They have forsaken the LORD; they have spurned the Holy One of Israel and turned their backs on him. Why should you be beaten anymore? Why do you persist in rebellion? Your whole head is injured, your whole heart afflicted. From the sole of your foot to the top of your head there is no soundness— only wounds and welts and open sores, not cleansed or bandaged or soothed with oil.
P: Confession
Hymn 27:1-3 --- “O Jesus, Lamb of God”
3. Marvel At God's Response To Our Sin.
Isaiah 1:18 - “Come now, let us reason together,” says the LORD. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.”
P: Absolution
Hymn 27:4 --- “Help me to change my ways, O Lord”
4. Marvel At The Future He Holds Before Us.
Isaiah 2:2-5 - This is what Isaiah son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem: In the last days the mountain of the LORD’s temple will be established as chief among the mountains; it will be raised above the hills, and all nations will stream to it. Many peoples will come and say, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his paths.” The law will go out from Zion, the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. He will judge between the nations and will settle disputes for many peoples. They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore. Come, O house of Jacob, let us walk in the light of the LORD.
Isaiah 25:6-8 - On this mountain the LORD Almighty will prepare a feast of rich food for all peoples, a banquet of aged wine— the best of meats and the finest of wines. On this mountain he will destroy the shroud that enfolds all peoples, the sheet that covers all nations; he will swallow up death forever. The Sovereign LORD will wipe away the tears from all faces; he will remove the disgrace of his people from all the earth. The LORD has spoken.
Ladies' Choir --- “Lift Up Your Heads”
5. Consider How Specific God's Promises Were.
Isaiah 7:14 - Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.
Isaiah 9:6-7 - For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the LORD Almighty will accomplish this.
Mixed Choir --- “He Shall Be Called”
Isaiah 4:2 - In that day the Branch of the LORD will be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the land will be the pride and glory of the survivors in Israel.
Isaiah 11:1-3 - A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit. The Spirit of the LORD will rest on him - the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of power, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD - and he will delight in the fear of the LORD.
Hymn 47:1-2 --- “Behold, a Branch Is Growing”
6. See How God Prepared The Way.
Isaiah 40:1-3 - Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her that her hard service has been completed, that her sin has been paid for, that she has received from the LORD’s hand double for all her sins. A voice of one calling: “In the desert prepare the way for the LORD; make straight in the wilderness a highway for our God.”
Mixed Choir --- “Prepare The Way”
P: Prayer
All: The Lord's Prayer
Hymn 43:1 and 4 --- “To Thee My Heart I Offer”
We Bring Our Offerings --- (during this time please fill in the Friendship Register)
7. Shudder And Rejoice At What Took Place.
Isaiah 53:1-7 - Who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed? He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.
Mixed Choir --- “You Are My All In All / Fairest Lord Jesus”
8. Now The Glory Of The Lord Still Rises Upon Us.
Isaiah 60:1-2 - “Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD rises upon you. See, darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples, but the LORD rises upon you and his glory appears over you.”
Ladies' Choir --- “O Come, O Come Emmanuel”
P: Closing Prayer and Blessing
C: ♫ Amen, Amen, Amen.
Hymn 21:1-4 --- “Hosanna to the Coming Lord”
>>>>>>><<<<<<<

2011-12-05T08:25:00.000-06:00

ADVENT 2
December 4/5, 2011
Pastor Timothy J. Spaude
Text: 2 Peter 3:8-14

WHAT GOD WANTS!
1. Everyone’s Repentance.
2. A New Heaven and a New Earth.
3. Our Every Effort.

2 Peter 3:8-14 (NIV 1984) “But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. 9 The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. 10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare. 11 Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives 12 as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming. That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. 13 But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness. 14 So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him.”

It was about 65 AD. The young Christian church was barely 30 years old. The people filling the pews those days were first generation Christians. The Apostles still walked the earth. They took the word of God, the promise that Jesus would come again very seriously. Some, many, were getting tired of waiting. They were getting discouraged. The Holy Spirit sent Peter into action. His second epistle encouraged waiting Christians. In the first part of chapter 3 Peter had talked about scoffers coming and saying “Where is this end of the world?” You wonder if Peter didn’t know that the biggest scoffer lives inside of each one of us too. We are waiting Christians. We know and believe Jesus’ promise to come again. Yet life goes on. We all have things to do and people to see. We easily settle into the routines of life celebrating the proper observances at the proper time. Today this word of God serves us by encouraging us to focus on what God wants in view of Jesus’ coming.
The first thing He wants is everyone’s repentance. “But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. 9 The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” OK. It’s three weeks, 21 days until Christmas. Is that a long time or a short time? Well that depends on your perspective right? Children you have to wait 21 days to open presents. That seems like forever doesn’t it? I remember when a week was like a year. Parents 21 days until Christmas and we say, “Oh no! Are you kidding? It’s already here! I’ll never get everything done.” The end of the world is like that. The people in Peter’s time thought it was taking so long. That was their perception of time. Maybe we do too, if we even think about it. But look what God has in mind. The perception of time is meaningless.
What God wants is not. He wants everyone to repent. That’s what He is waiting for. Everyone gets their chance. God is patient. He doesn’t want anyone to perish. He wants repentance. Now I can’t give Him everyone’s repentance. Neither can you. What can we do? Well we can get the word out. We can do that personally with those we know. We can give money to support those who proclaim God’s Word here and elsewhere. We can pray for the repentance of all people. But we can also give to God our own personal repentance. That’s what He wants. Does He have it from you? If Jesus came today is there something on your cell phone you wouldn’t want Him to see? Anything hiding on your computer, in your house? Sin comes to all of us but repentant Christians will strive to make sure that it never finds a home with us. How about the home of your heart? Are you letting bitterness and jealousy dwell rent free? Who or what sits on the throne of your heart? If it is anything or anyone but Jesus, repent. That’s what God wants.
What God wants is a new heaven and new earth. We can relate. It’s nice when clothes have worn out to get something new. The world we live in is wearing out. Ever since Adam and Eve sinned it’s been fighting against itself, never functioning exactly like it is supposed to. Species become extinct. Fault lines slip with ensuing destruction of earthquakes and tsunamis. Try as hard as we want to be green we continue to pollute. It is inevitable. The world is getting worn out. God wants a new heaven and a new earth and he’s going to get it! “But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare. 11 Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives 12 as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming. That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. 13 But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness.”
When the last day comes and it will this world as we know it will be destroyed. Some people like to argue back and forth over whether or not God will just create everything new or rework the refined created matter into a new heaven and new earth that is the way it was supposed to be in the beginning. Not me! I hear new heaven and new earth and my eyes light up. On the Price is Right when they win the brand new car they don’t look to see how many parts were made out of recycled material. They whoop and holler and jump and scream because it’s new. That’s the attitude we get to have to as we wait for the Day of the Lord. And it’s what motivates us as Paul said “to live holy and godly lives 12 as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming.”
That’s also what God wants. Our every effort in living as Christians.“So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him.” Spotless. Blameless. At peace with God. Brothers and sisters, these are not things that are going to happen by our doing. You and I know very well that our best efforts at holy living will fall short. We need to work hard at living holy and godly lives but guys even when we keep our computers clean they are still going to focus on the exposed cheerleaders during the football games. We will see that. And sisters you know very well how your heart or mouth is going to respond to some other woman’s words or actions. Probably not always taking them in the kindest possible way. Children when you look at why you are doing the things you are doing, how you act at school and at home there is a lot of selfishness there, isn’t there? Spotless. Blameless. How do we make every effort to be found that way?
By clinging to the only one who can and does make us spotless and blameless, Jesus Christ. That’s what God wants. Are you making every effort to do that? This past Thanksgiving after Thanksgiving worship my family traveled to La Crosse to be with family for Thanksgiving. Caused a little problem for me. See church gets over at about 10:30. Packer game starts at 11:30. WTMJ’s radio signal usually lasts until somewhere between Madison and the Dells. So I got online to find other stations that might broadcast. I asked phone people if there was a way to listen on the phone. I made every effort to hear that broadcast. Are you making every effort to hear the broadcast that tells you about Jesus? For the past few years your pastors have been concerned about worship attendance. We see a gradual decrease in our people coming to worship Jesus. Has that happened with you? Has every week changed into 3 out of 4? Has 3 out 4 then become every other? Now sure you can read the Bible on your own each day but are you? Are you practicing daily repentance, examining your heart and life so when you take the Lord’s Supper it is the blessing God intends and not the judgment that happens when one tires to play games with God who knows all and sees all. Is God getting your every effort? That’s what He wants as you wait.
Christmas is coming. We know that. We are waiting for it to happen. Will you get what you want? We’ll see. And why do you want those things? Probably for yourself. The Last Day, when Jesus returns, that’s coming too. Will God get what He wants? And did you notice that what He wants is for the good of others, not Himself? What He wants is everyone’s repentance, a new heaven and new earth for people to live in and our every effort to hold on to Jesus so we will be found spotless and blameless in that Day. Let’s strive to give it to Him. Amen.

November 30, 2011 Wednesday Advent sermon on Psalm 24 by Pastor Paul G. Eckert

2011-12-01T09:34:00.001-06:00

Wednesday Advent - November 30, 2011 - by Pastor Paul G. Eckert
Psalm 24
The earth is the LORD’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it; for he founded it upon the seas and established it upon the waters.
Who may ascend the hill of the LORD? Who may stand in his holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to an idol or swear by what is false. He will receive blessing from the LORD and vindication from God his Savior. Such is the generation of those who seek him, who seek your face, O God of Jacob.
Lift up your heads, O you gates; be lifted up, you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in. Who is this King of glory? The LORD strong and mighty, the LORD mighty in battle. Lift up your heads, O you gates; lift them up, you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in. Who is he, this King of glory? The LORD Almighty - he is the King of glory.
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Ancient Jerusalem was a walled city with a number of gates. The gates were there to keep out some people, soldiers, armies the city did not want. They were there to welcome others by opening them up. The reference in our Psalm to gates lifting up their heads is what we call an anthropomorphism. The gates are pictured to be like people who lift up their heads, look up with happiness when they see someone coming whom they like, who is important to them.
While I can tell you what an anthropomorphism is - applying human terms to something not human, I don’t think I can tell you exactly how they opened the gates of Jerusalem that had to be very heavy. But I do know something about opening garage doors. You see, I’ve had a number of experiences with garage door springs breaking. Those garage doors are heavy. Trying to lift them alone is asking for trouble for your back.
But let’s move now from the picture of opening a garage door for a car to come in to the picture in our Psalm of gates lifting up their heads, or opening up, to welcome the King of glory in. Let’s look at
THE GLORY OF A KING
I A KING WHO IS ALMIGHTY (1-2,8,10)
1. That almightiness is seen in creation. (1-2)
The earth is the LORD’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it; for he founded it upon the seas and established it upon the waters.
a) What a world we have! It has dry land and seas. It has vegetation - all kinds of trees, fruits, vegetables. It has the tiniest creatures that are so complex, and animals, from little to big, that roam the land. It has water life in the oceans and lakes, from minnows to the largest whales. It has birds of all sizes flying in the air. And it has people, male and female, to populate and manage the earth.
b) We know what the world says about this. It says that all of this came by itself, that the intricate designs of nature and creatures are by evolution from nothing, that there is no god, no supreme being. But we believe what God has revealed and what our Psalm says:
The earth is the LORD’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it; for he founded it upon the seas and established it upon the waters.
2. That almightiness is seen also in the Lord’s control. (8)
Who is this King of glory? The LORD strong and mighty, the LORD mighty in battle.
a) God has not stepped out of the world He created.
b) Whether people accept it or not or believe it or not, the fact is that history is under God’s control. We often may not understand why God controls the world as He does. Yet we believe He is strong and mighty and in control.
3. Could this apply to Jesus?
a) It’s Advent. We’re celebrating Jesus’ coming. When He came in Bethlehem He was seen as a helpless baby needing His mother’s attention. Lift a garage door? He couldn’t even walk yet.
b) Then how can we say He is the almighty King of glory? At Christmas time many see a baby. But do they lift their heads and see a King who is almighty to whom belongs the glory of creation?
4. Yes, Jesus is the King of glory. (1-2,10)
The earth is the LORD’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it; for he founded it upon the seas and established it upon the waters. --- Who is he, this King of glory? The LORD Almighty - he is the King of glory.
a) Does this describe Jesus? Is He the almighty Creator?
b) Listen to what John in the opening words of His Gospel says about Jesus, the Word made flesh for us: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made."
c), Yes, Jesus - with the Father and the Holy Spirit - is
the LORD Almighty - he is the King of glory.
II A KING TO BE WELCOMED (7-9)
1. He was welcomed on Palm Sunday. (7-8)
a) Psalm 24 is regularly used in our Palm Sunday services.
Lift up your heads, O you gates; be lifted up, you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in. Who is this King of glory? The LORD strong and mighty, the LORD mighty in battle.
b) You can easily see why, thinking of Jesus nearing the gates of Jerusalem, remembering the people lifting their heads in welcome.
2. But then what?
a) Yes, Jesus was acknowledged as coming in the Lord’s name.
b) But by the end of the week He was totally rejected.
3. Can we, like on Palm Sunday, welcome only outwardly?
a) Children, can you hear about Jesus, say that you believe in Him, but then forget about Him? Can you come to church but then pay no attention to His Word, not ask what you can learn about your Savior today - or maybe not even want to come to church at all?
b) All of us, can our church membership be outward only? Is it easy to call ourselves Christians, outwardly acknowledge Jesus, but find all kinds of reasons to open the gates or doors of our cars and drive elsewhere instead of opening the gates of our church to hear God’s Word and praise our Savior?
4. Please remember: the King of Glory is worth welcoming. (9)
Lift up your heads, O you gates; lift them up, you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in.
a) I wonder how many have had trouble lifting a garage door.
b) I hope not too many. But there is a problem we all have, and that is opening the gates of our hearts the way we should.
c) Remember that the King of Glory is a King to be welcomed.
III A KING WHO WELCOMES US (3-6,10)
1. Why would He welcome us? (3-4)
Who may ascend the hill of the LORD? Who may stand in his holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to an idol or swear by what is false.
a) Clean hands and a pure heart, not putting anything ahead of the true God - who of us qualifies for that? None of us.
b) Sinners that we are, why would the Lord welcome us? An accurate description of us would be that our heart springs are broken, that because of our sin we can’t and don’t lift up the garage doors of our hearts the way we should to let the King of Glory come in. Welcome us? We deserve to be rejected by the Lord.
2. But we are welcomed because He is our Savior. (5)
He will receive blessing from the LORD and vindication from God his Savior.
a) To welcome us the helpless Baby born in Bethlehem became our Savior. Our sins were like a garage door too heavy by far for us to lift. But Jesus lifted that load, lifted it up on the cross with Him.
b) And there, with His innocent death for us the guilty, He vindicated us, justified us, exonerated us, set us free from the punishment we deserve for our sin. That is the message of salvation the Holy Spirit uses to give us faith in the Lord of glory, our Savior.
3. What glory He thus gives us. (3-5)
Who may ascend the hill of the LORD? Who may stand in his holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to an idol or swear by what is false. He will receive blessing from the LORD and vindication from God his Savior.
a) Because we are vindicated, forgiven, we are clean and pure in the eyes of God.
b) Because of our Savior we receive blessings from our Lord.
4. May we always seek him. (6,10)
Such is the generation of those who seek him, who seek your face, O God of Jacob.
a) Seek Him who invites, "Come unto Me."
b) Fellow sinners, no matter how bad we are, how heavy our sins, there is a Savior who welcomes us, who came to this earth to lift our load of sins from us, to forgive us, to vindicate us.
Who is he, this King of glory? The LORD Almighty - he is the King of glory.
c) And that glory He welcomes us to share with Him.
As the first Christmas came, so the time of sharing glory with our Savior is daily drawing closer. Whenever our last hour or the last day comes, Jesus will not tell us to lift up our garage doors. But He will say what He said to His early disciples, "Lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near." Yes indeed, heed these words:
Lift up your heads, O you gates; lift them up, you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in. Who is he, this King of glory? The LORD Almighty - he is the King of glory.

2011-11-26T18:39:00.001-06:00

THANKSGIVING
November 23, 24, 2011
Pastor Timothy J. Spaude
Text: Daniel 4: 4-5, 24-25, 29-31, 33-37

“THANKSGIVING TIPS FROM NEBUCHADNEZZAR”
1. Don’t be a turkey.
2. Do thank the LORD for turkey.

Daniel 4:4-5, 24-25, 29-31, 33-37 (NIV1984) “I, Nebuchadnezzar, was at home in my palace, contented and prosperous. 5 I had a dream that made me afraid. As I was lying in my bed, the images and visions that passed through my mind terrified me. 24 “This is the interpretation, O king, and this is the decree the Most High has issued against my lord the king: 25 You will be driven away from people and will live with the wild animals; you will eat grass like cattle and be drenched with the dew of heaven. Seven times will pass by for you until you acknowledge that the Most High is sovereign over the kingdoms of men and gives them to anyone he wishes. 29 Twelve months later, as the king was walking on the roof of the royal palace of Babylon, 30 he said, “Is not this the great Babylon I have built as the royal residence, by my mighty power and for the glory of my majesty?” 31 The words were still on his lips when a voice came from heaven, “This is what is decreed for you, King Nebuchadnezzar: Your royal authority has been taken from you. 33 Immediately what had been said about Nebuchadnezzar was fulfilled. He was driven away from people and ate grass like cattle. His body was drenched with the dew of heaven until his hair grew like the feathers of an eagle and his nails like the claws of a bird. 34 At the end of that time, I, Nebuchadnezzar, raised my eyes toward heaven, and my sanity was restored. Then I praised the Most High; I honored and glorified him who lives forever. His dominion is an eternal dominion; his kingdom endures from generation to generation. 35 All the peoples of the earth are regarded as nothing. He does as he pleases with the powers of heaven and the peoples of the earth. No one can hold back his hand or say to him: “What have you done?” 36 At the same time that my sanity was restored, my honor and splendor were returned to me for the glory of my kingdom. My advisers and nobles sought me out, and I was restored to my throne and became even greater than before. 37 Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and exalt and glorify the King of heaven, because everything he does is right and all his ways are just. And those who walk in pride he is able to humble.”

Nobody knows it all. Everybody needs help. Those who are wise regularly listen to others to find better ways of doing things. That’s why you have longstanding newspaper columns like “Hints from Heloise.” If you run into trouble making that Thanksgiving Turkey or just want some ideas on how to make it the best you can call the Butterball Turkey Talk Line. How about Christians for thanksgiving? Who could we turn to for Thanksgiving tips? I’m sure there are several obvious ones you could think of but today we turn to a not so obvious tipster. King Nebuchadnezzar.
You probably know him as the Babylonian king who conquered Jerusalem around 600 BC. He’s the one who carried off the brightest and best of the Jewish people to Babylon. If you haven’t connected the dots yet he is also the one who built the 90 foot tall and 9 feet wide image of gold and commanded all the people in Babylon to bow down to it. He’s the one who then had Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego thrown into the fiery furnace. That’s all in Daniel chapters 1-3. Then you get to chapter 4. It reads like a signed confession from Nebuchadnezzar. He had had a dream, a very terrifying dream. No one could tell him what it meant. No one, that is, except the prophet Daniel who had also been carried off to Babylon. He said, “This is the interpretation, O king, and this is the decree the Most High has issued against my lord the king: 25 You will be driven away from people and will live with the wild animals; you will eat grass like cattle and be drenched with the dew of heaven. Seven times will pass by for you until you acknowledge that the Most High is sovereign over the kingdoms of men and gives them to anyone he wishes.”
Now why was this all going to happen? Well as it turns out Nebuchadnezzar was acting like a turkey. We have that phrase. If someone is being, well a jerk, proud, just kind of strutting around not thinking of anyone else, he’s a turkey. Here it was the Lord who had raised up Babylon and given the empire to Nebuchadnezzar for the purpose of chastening Judah and Jerusalem and Nebuchadnezzar was acting like he had done it all. He was proud and boastful, a turkey.
That leads to our first Thanksgiving tip from Nebuchadnezzar. Don’t be a turkey. On Thanksgiving Day, yes all year long, don’t be a turkey. Don’t become boastful and proud about your accomplishments, the things you have, the job you hold, your place in society. On Thanksgiving and always recognize God as the giver. Don’t be a turkey spiritually. We all have to fight that aspect of our sinful nature that really does think we are better than other people, that it’s just a little understandable why God would love and save people like us rather than other sinners. Don’t be a turkey.
Nebuchadnezzar was and so the Lord treated him that way. “Twelve months later, as the king was walking on the roof of the royal palace of Babylon, 30 he said, “Is not this the great Babylon I have built as the royal residence, by my mighty power and for the glory of my majesty?” 31 The words were still on his lips when a voice came from heaven, “This is what is decreed for you, King Nebuchadnezzar: Your royal authority has been taken from you. 33 Immediately what had been said about Nebuchadnezzar was fulfilled. He was driven away from people and ate grass like cattle. His body was drenched with the dew of heaven until his hair grew like the feathers of an eagle and his nails like the claws of a bird.” Hair like feathers? Nails like claws of a bird? The turkey looked like a turkey. God was humbling him.
Now listen to how Nebuchadnezzar responded. “At the end of that time, I, Nebuchadnezzar, raised my eyes toward heaven, and my sanity was restored. Then I praised the Most High; I honored and glorified him who lives forever. His dominion is an eternal dominion; his kingdom endures from generation to generation. 35 All the peoples of the earth are regarded as nothing. He does as he pleases with the powers of heaven and the peoples of the earth. No one can hold back his hand or say to him: “What have you done?” 36 At the same time that my sanity was restored, my honor and splendor were returned to me for the glory of my kingdom. My advisers and nobles sought me out, and I was restored to my throne and became even greater than before. 37 Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and exalt and glorify the King of heaven, because everything he does is right and all his ways are just. And those who walk in pride he is able to humble.” Nebuchadnezzar thanked the Lord for turkey, for humbling him.
That’s our second tip from him. On Thanksgiving Day and always thank the Lord for turkey. Obviously it is an easy and natural thing to thank the Lord for your Thanksgiving turkey just like it is an easy and natural thing to thank the Lord for other good things in life. It’s good for us to do that. If you have good health, more than you need, loving family and friends, good things happening in your life, thank the Lord for that. Those are blessings. They come from Him. But thank the Lord for turkey too.
Nebuchadnezzar’s kind of turkey. God’s humblings in life. We need them. Just like Nebuchadnezzar when God fills our lives with good things we can tend to take them for granted. We want to take credit for them or at least share the credit with God. If you read Abraham Lincoln’s Thanksgiving proclamation made during the Civil War you see that the nature of man has not changed. We don’t want to admit to our complete dependence on God. But we are completely dependent and need to live that way. Lincoln looked at the Civil War as a humbling chastisement from God. Nebuchadnezzar saw his turkey episode as a humbling chastisement from God. We can and should do the same. Thank the Lord for turkey, for any humblings. They are for our good. They keep us reliant on Him for our earthly needs. They keep us trusting in Jesus for our salvation. That’s the worst form of arrogance, isn’t it? When we think we merit heaven on our own or help Jesus in some way. So much better to be humbled by having our sins exposed by God’s righteous laws so we know how much we need Jesus, believe in Him and are saved eternally.
That becomes the bottom line. We have learned some Thanksgiving tips from an unlikely source. Nebuchadnezzar. What we don’t know is if we will see him again in heaven. His confession isn’t clear. Did he simply acknowledge God’s sovereignty or know Him as the Lord who showed mercy and would send a Savior? We don’t know. Don’t do that to the people who will follow you. Let them know by what you say and do that Jesus is your Savior and have a blessed Thanksgiving. Amen.

November 20/21, 2011

2011-11-23T16:16:00.001-06:00

November 20/21, 2011, Christ the King, sermon by Pastor Paul Eckert

Sermon text - Ezekiel 34:1-2, 10-26, 30-31

1 The word of the LORD came to me: 2 "Son of man, prophesy against theshepherds of Israel; prophesy and say to them: This is what the Sovereign LORDsays: Woe to the shepherds of Israel who only take care of themselves! Shouldnot shepherds take care of the flock?" 10 "This is what the SovereignLORD says: I am against the shepherds and will hold them accountable for myflock. I will remove them from tending the flock so that the shepherds can nolonger feed themselves. I will rescue my flock from their mouths, and it willno longer be food for them." 11 "For this is what the Sovereign LORDsays: I myself will search for my sheep and look after them. 12 As a shepherdlooks after his scattered flock when he is with them, so will I look after my sheep.I will rescue them from all the places where they were scattered on a day ofclouds and darkness. 13 I will bring them out from the nations and gather themfrom the countries, and I will bring them into their own land. I will pasturethem on the mountains of Israel, in the ravines and in all the settlements inthe land. 14 I will tend them in a good pasture, and the mountain heights ofIsrael will be their grazing land. There they will lie down in good grazingland, and there they will feed in a rich pasture on the mountains of Israel. 15I myself will tend my sheep and have them lie down, declares the SovereignLORD. 16 I will search for the lost and bring back the strays. I will bind upthe injured and strengthen the weak, but the sleek and the strong I will destroy.I will shepherd the flock with justice." 17 "As for you, my flock,this is what the Sovereign LORD says: I will judge between one sheep andanother, and between rams and goats. 18 Is it not enough for you to feed on thegood pasture? Must you also trample the rest of your pasture with your feet? Isit not enough for you to drink clear water? Must you also muddy the rest withyour feet? 19 Must my flock feed on what you have trampled and drink what youhave muddied with your feet?" 20 "Therefore this is what the Sovereign LORD says to them: See, Imyself will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep." 21 "Because you shove with flank and shoulder, butting all the weaksheep with your horns until you have driven them away, 22 I will save my flock,and they will no longer be plundered. I will judge between one sheep andanother." 23 "I will place over them one shepherd, my servant David,and he will tend them; he will tend them and be their shepherd. 24 I the LORDwill be their God, and my servant David will be prince among them. I the LORDhave spoken." 25 "I will make a covenant of peace with them and ridthe land of wild beasts so that they may live in the desert and sleep in theforests in safety. 26 I will bless them and the places surrounding my hill. Iwill send down showers in season; there will be showers of blessing." 30"Then they will know that I, the LORD their God, am with them and thatthey, the house of Israel, are my people, declares the Sovereign LORD. 31 Youmy sheep, the sheep of my pasture, are people, and I am your God, declares theSovereign LORD."

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Picture this. You are living in your comfortable home. Bad guys come, yankyou out of your home, march you to a location a long distance away. After beingthere for a while, a report comes to you that the bad guys went back to yourhome area, leveled to the ground St. Jacobi church, the church you used to goto, burned down and completely destroyed the house where you had lived and hadall your memories. But then you also hear that in the future your area and homewould be rebuilt, and that you would end up with what would be better thananything you ever had or could dream of.

Yes, picture that. If that were you, do you think you would have reason tobe thankful for that end result, and thankful not only one day, like a one dayThanksgiving Day this week? I think that I sure would be thankful. With that inmind let’s turn to our text and to our theme.

GIVE THANKS FOR OUR SHEPHERD KING

I THE NEED (1-2,10,17-22)

1. There were bad shepherds. (1-2)

The word of the LORD came to me: "Son of man, prophesy against theshepherds of Israel; prophesy and say to them: This is what the Sovereign LORDsays: Woe to the shepherds of Israel who only take care of themselves! Shouldnot shepherds take care of the flock?"

a) Picture Israel like a flock of sheep. Israel had shepherds, or leaders,that included judges and kings. Reading their history you have to conclude thatmost of their shepherding kings were bad guys.

b) The flock also had spiritual leaders. You know the good guys, like Isaiahand Jeremiah. But there also were bad spiritual shepherds who went along withthe paganism that was all around them.

2. There was a problem also with bad sheep. (17-19)

"As for you, my flock, this is what the Sovereign LORD says: I willjudge between one sheep and another, and between rams and goats. Is it notenough for you to feed on the good pasture? Must you also trample the rest ofyour pasture with your feet? Is it not enough for you to drink clear water?Must you also muddy the rest with your feet? Must my flock feed on what youhave trampled and drink what you have muddied with your feet?"

a) Definitely yes, there were good sheep, true followers of the true God.The clear water of the truth was there.

b) But that clear water of truth was muddied up, mixed with false teaching.Some sheep liked that more than they liked God’s truth.

3. God would not overlook this. (20, 10a)

"Therefore this is what the Sovereign LORD says to them: See, I myselfwill judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep."

a) God would judge between the true and the false sheep.

b) And He would also judge the false shepherds who were more interested inserving themselves than in serving the sheep.

"This is what the Sovereign LORD says: I am against the shepherds andwill hold them accountable for my flock. I will remove them from tending theflock so that the shepherds can no longer feed themselves."

4. And God would not forget His true flock. (21-22,10b)

"Because you shove with flank and shoulder, butting all the weak sheepwith your horns until you have driven them away, I will save my flock, and theywill no longer be plundered. I will judge between one sheep and another."

a) There weren’t only human sheep and shepherds. There also was theover-Shepherd, God, who saw everything that was happening.

b) He knew His flock then as He knows His true believers today.

"I will rescue my flock from their mouths, and it will no longer befood for them."

c) Yes, the good Shepherd would take care of His flock in its difficulties.That was His promise then as it is His Promise today.

II THE PROMISE (11-16)

1. God had made a promise about the land of Israel.

a) All of history started with Adam and Eve. That was in the area where theProphet Ezekiel now was, Babylon, or present day Iraq.

b) But the Prophet Micah pin-pointed a spot way east of there, nearJerusalem, where something of importance for the whole world would happen. Heprophesied: "But you, Bethlehem Ephratha, though you are small among theclans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel,whose origins are from of old, from ancient times."

2. At Ezekiel’s time that promise seemed to have failed.

a) The church he had gone to, the temple in Jerusalem, had been destroyed.His house he would never see again.

b) You see, Ezekiel had been carried away into exile by the bad guys, andthe nation of Israel no longer had any authority or power.

3. But God reminded him that God was still in charge. (11-16a)

"For this is what the Sovereign LORD says: I myself will search for mysheep and look after them. As a shepherd looks after his scattered flock whenhe is with them, so will I look after my sheep. I will rescue them from all theplaces where they were scattered on a day of clouds and darkness. I will bringthem out from the nations and gather them from the countries, and I will bringthem into their own land. I will pasture them on the mountains of Israel, inthe ravines and in all the settlements in the land. I will tend them in a goodpasture, and the mountain heights of Israel will be their grazing land. Therethey will lie down in good grazing land, and there they will feed in a richpasture on the mountains of Israel. I myself will tend my sheep and have themlie down, declares the Sovereign LORD. I will search for the lost and bringback the strays."

a) Do you know what? This happened! God brought Israel back from theBabylonian exile to the land where Bethlehem was. b) But why? Could thispicture have anything to do with God’s promise of a birth in Bethlehem, of anearthly descendant of the great King David, of a ruler who would be Immanuel?

4. Could God be pointing to the Shepherd King? (16b)

"I will bind up the injured and strengthen the weak, but the sleek andthe strong I will destroy. I will shepherd the flock with justice."

a) There were so many bad kings and shepherds in the past.

b) Would there really be a good Shepherd King for God’s flock?

c) That question God answered with fulfillment.

III THE FULFILLMENT (23-26, 30-31)

1. Was David the fulfillment? (23-24)

"I will place over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he willtend them; he will tend them and be their shepherd. I the LORD will be theirGod, and my servant David will be prince among them. I the LORD havespoken."

a) David was a shepherd king. But that was way back, many years ago. Davidhad been dead about 400 years already.

b) Then who is pictured here by David? Listen to what the Apostle Peter oncesaid, "I can tell you confidently that the patriarch David died and wasburied, and his tomb is here to this day. But he was a prophet and knew thatGod had promised him on oath that he would place one of his descendants on histhrone. Seeing what was ahead, he spoke of the resurrection of the Christ---." (Acts 2:29-31)

2. Yes, God’s Son, Jesus, is the promised Shepherd King.

a) David stayed dead and buried; Jesus, his descendant, did not.

b) Scripture records David’s family line that headed straight to Bethlehem,to the one who would be acknowledged as the Son of David, the one who was tosit on a throne that would be eternal, as an angel had announced to Mary aboutJesus, saying, "He will be great and will be called the Son of the MostHigh. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he willreign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end."

3. From this Shepherd King come showers of blessing. (25-26)

"I will make a covenant of peace with them and rid the land of wildbeasts so that they may live in the desert and sleep in the forests in safety.I will bless them and the places surrounding my hill. I will send down showersin season; there will be showers of blessing."

a) Think of how the blessing of the forgiveness of our sins was showered onus with the waters of Baptism. Think of how, when we so easily fall into sin,our Good Shepherd comes to His penitent people and showers on us in His Wordand in the Lord’s Supper His forgiving peace that transcends all understanding.Think of how at our last hour He will assure us that we can depart in peace,showered with His forgiveness and grace, knowing heaven is our home.

b) That is what Ezekiel pictures for us when in our text he speaks ofshowers of blessings in a perfect land, even as John also did in the last bookof the Bible when he pictured Jerusalem the Golden as the fulfillment of God’spromise when showers of blessings will be eternal.

4. All of this is because of our Shepherd King. (30-31)

"Then they will know that I, the LORD their God, am with them and thatthey, the house of Israel, are my people, declares the Sovereign LORD. You mysheep, the sheep of my pasture, are people, and I am your God, declares theSovereign LORD."

a) Israel would experience that God would do what He promised.

b) Jesus, Immanuel, the Son of God and Son of David, our Shepherd King,would carry out His mission. He said, "I am the good shepherd. The goodshepherd lays down his life for the sheep." Jesus did that. He died forus. He arose for us. He lives for us. He showers His blessings of grace andforgiveness on us every day.

c) And one day He will take us from the exile of our earthly existence andshower blessings eternal on us in the real promised land of glory with Him.

Picture this? Yes! Enjoy the picture. It will be a reality. On ThanksgivingDay, and every day, don’t forget to GIVE THANKS FOR OUR SHEPHERD KING. Becauseof Him we will dwell in the house of the Lord forever!

November, 13, 2011

2011-11-23T16:11:00.001-06:00

DanielWaldschmidt

1Thessalonians 4:13-18
St.Jacobi Lutheran Church
11/9/2011

¹³Brothers,we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grievelike the rest of men, who have no hope. ¹⁴We believe that Jesusdied and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those whohave fallen asleep in him. ¹⁵According to the Lord’s own word, wetell you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord,will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. ¹⁶For theLord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice ofthe archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ willrise first. ¹⁷After that, we who are still alive and are left willbe caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Andso we will be with the Lord forever. ¹⁸Therefore encourage eachother with these words.

Graceand peace to you from the God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Lastweek, we heard Pastor Spaude say that Judgment Day will be one of the happiestdays in a believer’s life. The Christians in Thessalonica would have definitelyconcurred with that. “How awesome will it be,” they thought “to see Jesus appearin glorious majesty!” They were so looking forward to the Last Day. But theyhad a problem. Something was bothering them. “What about believers who diebefore Jesus comes back? Does that mean that they will miss out on the happyevents of the Last Day?”
Theapostle Paul heard about this problem and wrote to them, “Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fallasleep” (4:13). They had apparently taken a “snooze, you lose” mentalitytoward death. They were afraid that if you didn’t make it until the Last Daythat you would miss out on the party.
That’sa thought that has probably never bothered you. But what does bother you about those who fall asleep? Maybe what bothers youis not that they will miss out on the Last Day, but that they are missing outon weddings, birthday parties, graduations. Are they missing out? Is it truethat if you snooze, you lose?
Sometimesit bothers us that believers who die very young miss out on what could have beenthe best years of their life. College, hanging out with friends, gettingmarried, having children, aren’t they missing out on all those things? Don’tbelievers who die at 40 or 50 miss out on the chance to enjoy the things thatthey have worked so hard for? You establish a home for yourself, you build up abank account and you finally work your way out of debt, and you die before youcan enjoy the fruits of your labor. Or believers who die right after they’ve retired. You work your whole life and youdon’t get the chance to enjoy the golf courses of America. Isn’t it true thatif you snooze you lose?
Worstof all (if we dare to think any further about this), you miss out on familyevents: weddings, birthday parties, graduations. The Thessalonians struggled withthe thought, “This person that died was persecuted for his faith in Jesus. Heendured it. He kept strong in the faith looking forward to that Last Day, butthen the Lord took him away before he could see the Last Day!” We arestruggling with the thought, “A man has such a promising future. He has so manygood things left to experience in this life but then the Lord takes him away!”
Butwhere does the Lord take him to? Wehave been looking at this all wrong! We have been thinking about all the thingsthat those who have fallen asleep in Christ miss out on. What we should bethinking about is what they are experiencing. Today is Saint’s TriumphantSunday. This is the Sunday when we remember that those who have fallen asleepin Christ are right now enjoying eternal glory, bliss and happiness in heaven!A bliss won for them by Jesus: “Webelieve that Jesus died and rose again” (4:14). Jesus wanted so badly forus to experience heaven forever with him that he came down as man andexperienced death in our place. He took all of our sins on himself and paid forthem all with his death. But he didn’t stay dead. He rose to life three dayslater to guarantee that everyone who believes in him would have life too. Andwhen you fall asleep Jesus will take you to enjoy the bliss that he has won foryou.
It’sstill very sad and tragic when a person dies before they have lived a good longlife, I don’t want to minimize that at all. But the fact is those who havefallen asleep in Christ, no matter what age they were, are not feeling sorryfor themselves. They are not thinking about all the rounds of golf that theynever got to play or the money they never got to spend or the sights they nevergot to see. They are thinking about the beauty of Christ, because they see hisface. Paul said “I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better byfar.”

Sothen why do Christians grieve? It’s a perfectly legitimate thing to do. Jesuswept at the death of Lazarus. Abraham grieved for Sarah. King David grieved forhis best friend Jonathan. Christians cry at funerals and many go through a deepgrieving process. They know that their loved one is in heaven. They don’t “grieve as those who have no hope” butthey still grieve. Why? You tell them that their loved one is in heaven andthat helps but it doesn’t take all the sadness away. Why? Because even thoughthey know that their loved one is in heaven. They are still missing them. As wethink about it we discover that those who have fallen asleep are not the oneswho are missing out. We are. We are missing them.

Allthe more reason to look forward to the Last Day; and ask Jesus to come quickly.“We believe that Jesus died and roseagain, and we also believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallenasleep in him” (4:14). When Jesus comes back he is not coming alone. He isbringing our loved ones back with him. The Thessalonians didn’t need to beafraid that their loved ones would miss the Last Day. Paul says, “They’ll bethere; they’ll just be on the other side.”
Andthen Jesus will raise their bodies to life. “According to the Lord’s own word, we tell you that we whoare still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly notprecede those who have fallen asleep” (4:15). It’s hard to tell exactly what Paul means when he says thosewho are still alive will not precedethose who have fallen asleep. It could mean that Jesus is not going to come andtake us to heaven with him and leave their bodies in the ground. Or it couldsimply mean that there is no advantage to being alive on the Last Day. Jesus isgoing to bring dead believers back with him and he is going to raise them fromthe dead.
Paul describes what will happen onthe Last Day, “For the Lord himself willcome down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel andwith the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first” (4:16). Maybewhen your loved one died, you pleaded with the Lord to give her back to you. Ormaybe if you didn’t say those exact words it was certainly the desire of yourheart. You wanted your child back. You wanted your mother back. On the Last DayJesus is going to answer that prayer with an emphatic “Yes.” You will have yourloved one back. Fully alive.
Maybe your believing-loved one whodied had a battle with Alzheimer’s. And at the end he just wasn’t himself. WhenJesus raises him up at the Last Day his mind will be fully restored in aglorified resurrection body.
One reason the Last Day will be sucha happy day is because it will be a great reunion with all the believers whowent before us. “After that, we who arestill alive and are left will be caught up togetherwith them in the clouds” (4:17). But the focal point of this reunionwill not be ourselves. It will be Jesus. “Caughtup together with them in the clouds tomeet the Lord in the air” (4:17). No matter what your family didn’t getto experience together in this life because you were separated by busyschedules or geography or even death, one thing that you will for sure get toexperience together is this meeting with the Lord in the air.
And remember from last week this iswhen Jesus will say, “I was hungry and you fed me. I was thirsty and you gaveme something to drink.” Ifyour grandfather did not get to hear your name called at graduation, he willget to hear Jesus call your name and say, “well done, good and faithfulservant,” and your grandfather will say “that’s my girl!”
“And so we will be with the Lord forever” (4:17). The story of theChristian life is the only one that is truly happily ever after. When I servedas a vicar last year there was a shut-in in our congregation whom I would visitregularly. Even though she was in a lot of pain because of neuropathy and ahost of other things, she was one of the most joyful people I had ever met. Andwhat really made her light up was thinking about Jesus coming back on the LastDay. Whenever someone mentioned Jesus coming back she would exclaim, “Won’tthat just be wonderful! I just can’t wait to see him.” It will be a happy daywhen Jesus comes back. You will be reunited with your fellow believers and wewill all be with Jesus in life never-ending.
“Thereforecomfort each other with these words” (4:18). You might want to mark this section of Scripture as a greatone to turn to when you are with someone who has just experienced a loss. Ofcourse, we want to be careful not to run roughshod over their grief. We want tomourn with those who mourn even as Jesus wept at the grave of Lazarus. But atthe appropriate time we do have real hope to offer them. The sure hope thattheir loved ones are enjoying bliss with Jesus and that when Jesus comes backhe will bring their loved ones back with him and they will be reunited and theywill enjoy the Lord’s presence together forever. And so we joyfully pray come quicklyLord Jesus, and bring our loved ones with you. Amen.

November 6th, 2011

2011-11-13T06:36:00.000-06:00

LAST JUDGMENT
November 6/7, 2011
Pastor Timothy J. Spaude
Text: Matthew 25:31-46

“JUDGMENT DAY!”
1. What you do matters.
2. Why you did it matters.
3. Jesus matters!

Matthew 25:31-46 (NIV1984) “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. 32 All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. 34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’ 37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’ 40 “The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’ 41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’ 44 “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’ 45 “He will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’ 46 “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”

For some people it doesn’t even exist. It’s not on their radar screen. They don’t believe it will ever even happen. For other’s it’s kind of like the boogey man. Something that parents or fear mongering pastors can use to manipulate the behavior of their children or people. I’m talking about Judgment Day. But unlike the boogey man, Judgment Day is real. What do you think about when you hear about Judgment Day? Is it something scary? Something to look forward to? What do you think it will be like for you? Let’s revisit the words of Jesus and find out.
The first thing we notice is on Judgment Day there are only two eternal futures for all people. “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. 32 All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.” Jesus draws our attention to the glory of Judgment Day. He comes in glory. All the angels are with Him. Then there is a separation. Like a shepherd separates sheep and goats, Jesus separates the people. No matter what people believe about the afterlife there are only two types of people, those who go to heaven and those who go to Hell. What’s the basis?
Here Jesus points to the things people have done or not done. “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.” To those on His right Jesus gives the welcome into heaven. He points to things they did. Apparently on Judgment Day what you do matters. What things? Well, kind of normal things. There’s no mention of martyrdom or building of huge church bodies. No, instead it’s normal things that take care of needs like feeding the hungry, giving a drink to someone who is thirsty, clothing to those in need, kindness to strangers, taking care of the sick or visiting someone in prison.
It’s a different story for those on the left. “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.” There is no welcome into heaven. There is only hell, eternal fire, for these people. Why? Jesus points to things they didn’t do for him and they’re just the same as what the ones on the right did do, normal almost every day tasks.
Now some of you might be thinking, “Hey, wait a minute, pastor. You are going to turn me into some kind of Lutheran lunatic. Last week we reemphasized the truths of the Lutheran Reformation that we are saved by grace alone, through faith alone. This week you’re telling me it’s what I do that matters. What gives?” Jesus gives. Did you notice how both those on the right and those on the left were basically clueless as to what Jesus meant? The ones on the right couldn’t think of times when they did these nice things for Jesus. The ones on the left couldn’t think of times when they had failed to. That brings us to the second point of Judgment Day. Why you do things matters. The key phrase that Jesus the judge repeats is “for me.” “The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.” And again, “He will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.” Who is it that lives their lives for Jesus? Who is it that does not? Now it becomes clear. Now it all fits together. We are not Lutheran lunatics after all. On Judgment Day Jesus will point to fruits of faith or the lack of them. Only believers in Jesus can and will do things for Him. Only those who belong to Him deliberately live their lives striving to follow God’s holy will for Him. Only those who know they have received forgiveness want to thank Jesus for their forgiveness. And all the things that unbelievers do that look the same as believers, feeding the hungry, providing clothes to those in need, the difference is they can’t be done for Jesus. Why you do things matters.
But really the bottom line is on Judgment Day, Jesus matters. Look at the ones Jesus welcomed into heaven. Jesus calls them “the righteous.” He calls them the blessed and says they are receiving an inheritance. That’s something you don’t work for. And did you notice what was missing as Jesus talked with them? Their sins were missing. God is not lying when He says that His forgiveness means that He removes our sins from us as far as the east is from the west. Jesus made that happen. He paid for those sins. He took them all away, nailed to the cross, buried in the grave. Whatever picture you want to use, God assures you that there will be no scandal sheet read, no public unveiling of all you secret sins. Jesus matters. Oh the joy of believing in Him! You don’t have to worry about whether you’ve done enough. As we’ll sing about later it’s Jesus righteousness that covers us. Instead our jaws will drop as Jesus praises us for things we can’t even remember that we did for Him. You see, it’s not fear of Judgment Day that is to motivate Christian living but the joy of seeing Jesus instead.
Maybe that’s why one pastor described Judgment Day as one of the happiest days in a believer’s life. Think about it. You get to see Jesus in all His glory. All His enemies are banished to Hell forever. Your faith in Him is publicly vindicated. You are about to enter, body and soul, eternal glory, and if that were not enough Jesus, Jesus is going to praise you. I don’t want to spoil the surprise for you but do you want to think a little bit about what He might say to you? Children, “I was crying on the playground and you put your arm around me. I was feeling left out and you invited me to come along. I was being teased and you didn’t laugh, you spoke up for me.” Adults, fellow members of St. Jacobi. “I needed to learn about my Savior and you taught me. You made sure money wouldn’t keep me from learning about Jesus in school. You provided safe water for me in my homeland of India and then I learned about the water of life. You gave me a food basket at just the right time, a food card from your almoner’s fund, a warm coat. You encouraged me at work when everyone else wanted me gone. You saw me straying from my salvation and you came after me. You helped me praise God through music. I was a helpless baby and you cared for me. I needed a good neighbor and you were there for me.” I could go on and on. I think it’s going to be like Christmas with absolutely no idea about what you are going to get.
It’s kind of neat to think about, isn’t it? And maybe it helps our waiting time pass a little more nicely. Because I belong to Jesus, the things I do matter. The things you do matter too. They may look like nothing special in the eyes of other people. They might not seem all that special to you. But they are because of Jesus. So have fun doing them. Amen.

October 23rd, 20111

2011-11-03T07:52:00.000-05:00

PENTECOST 19
October 23/24, 2011
Pastor Timothy J. Spaude
Text: Ezekiel 18:1-4, 25-32

“REPENT AND LIVE!”
1. Repentance is necessary.
2. Repentance is possible.
3. Repentance is living!

Ezekiel 18: 1-4, 25-32 (NIV 1984) “The word of the LORD came to me: 2 “What do you people mean by quoting this proverb about the land of Israel: “‘The fathers eat sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge’? 3 “As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign LORD, you will no longer quote this proverb in Israel. 4 For every living soul belongs to me, the father as well as the son—both alike belong to me. The soul who sins is the one who will die. 25 “Yet you say, ‘The way of the Lord is not just.’ Hear, O house of Israel: Is my way unjust? Is it not your ways that are unjust? 26 If a righteous man turns from his righteousness and commits sin, he will die for it; because of the sin he has committed he will die. 27 But if a wicked man turns away from the wickedness he has committed and does what is just and right, he will save his life. 28 Because he considers all the offenses he has committed and turns away from them, he will surely live; he will not die. 29 Yet the house of Israel says, ‘The way of the Lord is not just.’ Are my ways unjust, O house of Israel? Is it not your ways that are unjust? 30 “Therefore, O house of Israel, I will judge you, each one according to his ways, declares the Sovereign LORD. Repent! Turn away from all your offenses; then sin will not be your downfall. 31 Rid yourselves of all the offenses you have committed, and get a new heart and a new spirit. Why will you die, O house of Israel? 32 For I take no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Sovereign LORD. Repent and live!”

Can you empathize a little bit with the House of Israel? At the time this word of God was written, the people the prophet Ezekiel was serving were living far from their homeland. They were in Babylon, modern day Iraq. What were they doing there? How did they get there? Their parents, their fathers, had sinned. Despite all of God’s warnings through other prophets they had chased after the idols, the fake gods of the people around them. Why? Worshipping them was more fun. They had drinking parties and orgies in their church services. To chasten them God let the Babylonians conquer Jerusalem and carry the people into exiles. So the parents had worshipped idols and now the children were living in exile. Does that help you understand the proverb the people were quoting about the land of Israel? “‘The fathers eat sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge’? Normally if someone eats something that tastes bad, like sour grapes, they experience the bad taste in their mouths. But the Israelite people felt like their parents had done wrong and they were paying for it. And you know, you know what comes next. That’s right, the age old complaint, “That’s not fair.” Children you can empathize for every time the teacher has given a classroom punishment. Maybe the talking got to be too much and it was the last straw and everyone stays in for recess and you feel if not say, “That’s not fair.” Or maybe adults you live in a city that foolishly combined the sanitation and stormwater sewer lines and now you have to pay for new laterals from your house and you surely think and feel “That’s not fair.”
And so we can empathize with the Israelites stuck in Babylon seemingly for the sins of the parents. But now listen, listen to God’s response. “As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign LORD, you will no longer quote this proverb in Israel. 4 For every living soul belongs to me, the father as well as the son—both alike belong to me. The soul who sins is the one who will die. 25 “Yet you say, ‘The way of the Lord is not just.’ Hear, O house of Israel: Is my way unjust? Is it not your ways that are unjust?” And again a little later, “Therefore, O house of Israel, I will judge you, each one according to his ways, declares the Sovereign LORD. Repent! Turn away from all your offenses; then sin will not be your downfall.” The first thing we can learn from this word of God, brothers and sisters, is that repentance is necessary for everyone. The people of Israel felt God was being unfair. They felt they were being punished for their parents’ idolatry. But they ignored their own sins. It’s just like it is in class, kids, when the classroom punishment happens and you think it’s unfair because you weren’t talking—that time. What about all the other times you were and there was no punishment? God points out that all people are accountable to Him. And sin deserves punishment. The soul that sins is the one that should die. And remember the death of sin is separation from God. And so repentance is necessary. The house of Israel in Babylon needed to repent for their sins against God and so do we. If anyone claims to be without sin he deceives himself and the truth is not in him. You know your hearts. You know your lives. You know what you are hiding that you don’t want anyone to know about. God knows it too. “That’s not fair,” needs to be replaced with “I have sinned.” Repentance is necessary.
Thankfully repentance is possible. “If a righteous man turns from his righteousness and commits sin, he will die for it; because of the sin he has committed he will die. 27 But if a wicked man turns away from the wickedness he has committed and does what is just and right, he will save his life. 28 Because he considers all the offenses he has committed and turns away from them, he will surely live; he will not die.” Like the parable Jesus told of the two sons the Lord presents two people who changed. One is someone who turns away from righteousness to wickedness and dies in rejection and so dies forever in Hell. Another lived a life of wickedness but later repents, turns from that wickedness and lives, lives into eternity. The point is the same. We have a God who looks at the heart. He does not judge people by their past but by their present. He does not judge them by their parents but by themselves. He gives to every sinner a hope and a future and says as long as you have the breath of life on this earth repentance is possible. God can say that because He did everything to make repentance possible. He promised and sent Jesus. Jesus lived the perfect life ready to be credited to all who believe. He suffered and paid for all sins so forgiveness is granted through faith. Repentance is a possible.
It’s there for everyone. It’s there for you and me and how happy we can be because repentance is living. It is real life. “Rid yourselves of all the offenses you have committed, and get a new heart and a new spirit. Why will you die, O house of Israel? 32 For I take no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Sovereign LORD. Repent and live!” Here we get a look at the heart of our Savior God. He wants the best for all people. Enforcing the consequences of sin on people was never God’s first choice. It’s not what He wants. That’s why His first choice was to punish Jesus. And now repentance is real living while we wait to go to heaven. God knows that each one of us finds it easier to get upset about other people’s sins than our own. He knows that’s a trick of the Devil to distract us and keep us miserably mired in a life of resentment and bitterness toward God and others because “That’s not fair!” He also knows that sin is like illegal drugs. It promises happiness but does not deliver. Instead it likes to hide in your body, making you crave more and more until just like a drug junkie isn’t herself anymore, doesn’t realize how ugly she’s become and has alienated those who love her most, the unrepentant sinner is dragged down further and further into uglier and uglier sins and pushes away the One who loves them most, the Father in heaven. That’s no life.
There is a better way! Repentance. Real living. What is this repentance? It’s taking ownership for your own sins. Being bothered more about your own sinful nature and sins than those of others. I have done it. It’s being repulsed and ashamed of those sins, regretting how dirty they have made you. It’s turning to Jesus for forgiveness and away from those sins we’ve confessed. The result is real living. God promises to give a new heart and a new spirit. Think of it. How would you like to live with no past? Now you can’t do that with people. They remember. But God doesn’t. Because Jesus paid for those sins God forgets! That’s what His forgiveness is like. He remembers your sins no more. There is no adultery there to regret. No lies to haunt you. Know stealing to be uncovered. Instead a new heart and a new spirit. A fresh start every day.
Repentance is living. Perhaps that is why Martin Luther in the first of the 95 Theses he posted on the church door wrote, “When our Lord and Master Jesus Christ said “Repent!” He willed the entire life of a believer to be one of repentance. See repentance is not something you do in order to become a believer as too many Christians have been misled into believing these days. Nor is it a one time action over a certain sin. Rather repentance is a way of living every day for those who already believe. It’s necessary because daily we fall into sin. It’s possible because God is a God of mercy and Jesus has already been punished. It’s real living. For only when we are peace with God, in unity with Him, without our sins standing in the way, only then does life make sense and have peace and joy regardless of outward circumstances. Now God brought you here today. There was something He wanted you to hear. When our Lord and Master Jesus Christ said, “Repent!” He willed the entire life of a believer to be one of repentance. If that doesn’t describe the state of your heart today, listen to God who says, “Repent and Live!” Amen.

2011-10-18T10:00:00.001-05:00

PENTECOST 18
October 16/17, 2011
Seminarian Nathan Buchner
Text: Jonah 4:5-11

There are times in this life that are worth dreading. No one ever wants to fire workers at a job. No one wants to tell the bad news of an injury or even a death. We may not want to do things like this, but they still need to get done. My friends, serving God is not one of those instances that we should dread. The problem is that you and I are still stubborn sinners, and we at times we fail to see the fantastic opportunity before us. You see, serving God is a gracious gift, not a chore. In our stubbornness, God remains concerned. And in the end, God even uses us to reach other stubborn sinners.
In order to understand our section of Jonah, it is first necessary to understand what happened to him before. The story of Jonah started with God commanding Jonah to preach to Nineveh. But, in his stubbornness, Jonah decided not to do what God was commanding. Instead of making his way to Nineveh, which is close to present Iraq, he decided that he would sail straight to Tarshish, which is around Portugal or Spain! But, as he was doing this, a huge storm popped up. Because of this, Jonah had to confess his sin to the others on the boat, and suggested that they throw him into the sea. Then the storm stopped, and Jonah was swallowed up by a great fish. The thing is though, that this fish did not see Jonah as fish food. Instead, God used this fish for three days and nights to carry Jonah to dry land. Once this happened, Jonah went to Nineveh and preached repentance. Finally, the people turned to God and believed.
Although it would be a “happily ever after” ending for the story to stop here, it does not. Jonah actually faced a much more miserable ending in his book. Once Jonah noticed that the people had repented and turned to God, he said to the LORD, “I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity. Now, O Lord, take away my life, for it is better for me to die than to live.”
Nowhere in the rest of Scripture is the fact that God is slow to anger and abounding in love considered a bad thing. Only here in Jonah is it this way. After having talked with God, Jonah is so upset that he leaves the city to which he had just preached.
Now, if you’re thinking that this reaction seems odd for a man who just had the single greatest missionary experience of all time, you wouldn’t be alone. I mean, God used Jonah, a stubborn sinner and, through him, converted an entire city! The normal action after this would be to go and live it up with the brothers and sisters. But this wasn’t what Jonah did.
Jonah instead left Nineveh behind. He did this because he saw God’s gift of gospel ministry as a chore. Eventually, he sat down to the east of the Nineveh, and waited to see if the city would be destroyed. Again, Jonah went directly against God’s wishes, just as he did when he sailed the opposite way of Nineveh.
Now, if I were God, I would’ve probably ended Jonah right there. But look at God and his concern, “Then the Lord God provided a vine and made it grow up over Jonah to give shade for his head to ease his discomfort, and Jonah was very happy about the vine.” He remained patient and provided. God’s first provision was a vine which gave Jonah comfort and shade. And for the first time, Jonah was happy.
But, his happiness was short lived. For, God had something bigger in mind for Jonah. This time when God provided, Jonah experienced discomfort, “But at dawn the next day God provided a worm, which chewed the vine so that it withered. When the sun rose, God provided a scorching east wind, and the sun blazed on Jonah’s head so that he grew faint.”
Without the vine, Jonah was completely susceptible to the elements. He faced brutal winds and heat, and then grew faint. And because of his pain and his stubborn nature, Jonah again said, “It would be better for me to die than live.”
And, once again, God steps in. Here God appears to be like a father listening patiently to his son expressing his feelings. He allowed Jonah to speak, but only to lead him to see that he was wrong in this matter. Even with all of God’s patience, all Jonah could muster was that he had the right to be angry. In fact, Jonah said, “I am angry enough to die.”
If we take a look at the rest of the book, we can get at the heart of Jonah’s anger. In reality, Jonah never wanted to preach to the Ninevites because he felt they didn’t deserve the Gospel because of their actions. These people weren’t like the Jews. No, these were the barbarians that tortured their captives, who showed off their savage deeds by hanging mutilated corpses on their city walls. And the Jews never did this. In reality, the Jews seemed quite tame compared to those Ninevites. The problem though is that the hearts of Jonah and the Jews were just as evil as the hearts of the Ninevites.
However, you and I continue to make the same mistake Jonah made. We judge ourselves and others based off of actions, not hearts. And once we do this, we may be lead to think that God’s grace doesn’t have to stretch so far for us. We let ourselves believe that we’re really not that bad. The problem is that we are judging only actions, not hearts. And when we do this, we think others are below us because of their evil deeds.
It doesn’t take much self-inspection to know that we really have nothing to be proud of. Our hearts are just as black as Jonah’s, and we must confess, like Paul, that we are the chief of sinners. Then once we do this, we must confess that we are no better than the Ninevites or Jonah.
But yet, God remains concerned. He sees your condition and how black your hearts are. And then he responds with his love. Yes my friends, the Lord who was concerned with Jonah is the same Lord who was concerned with the Israelites from our Gospel lesson. We saw how those Israelites who were hired first complained when they were getting paid. They felt they had done more, and for this deserved more. They didn’t understand that the work they were doing was a gift from the generous landowner, not a chore. Just as that landowner, who in reality is God, had the right to be generous with the workers, so he had the right to be concerned about the Ninevites, and even has the right to remain concerned for us. For, it was because of his grace that he shows this concern. Grace that led this very Lord Jesus to the cross to pay for all of their sins, and also for all of yours.
So, my friends, know this. God has granted us the full measure of his love. He does this because of his patience and his concern for stubborn sinners.
In our own lives, we are constantly reminded of his patience. In fact, he is so patient, that he uses us to reach other stubborn sinners. And, as we go about this work which he has given us, we know that serving God is a gracious gift, not a chore.
The reason that it is not a chore is because of the love we know we have in God. God, in verse 11, puts on his full spectacle of love when he says, “Nineveh has more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left, and many cattle as well. Should I not be concerned about that great city?”
The point that God is making here is that if Jonah was concerned with his vine, although he did not make it, why shouldn’t God be concerned about animals and especially people? Now there are a number of ways to take the phrase 120,000 who can’t tell their left hand from their right. The first way is to say that this phrase is referring to children who are so young they don’t know their left hand from their right. Now if the youngest children make up 10% of the population, this would mean the overall population of Nineveh is 1,200,000 people! The second way would be take this expression as a figure of speech. Since the fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, they were completely lost. In their spiritual darkness, they wouldn’t have even been able to distinguish their spiritual left hand from their right. If the phrase is taken this way, there would have been 120,000 people in the city. Think about this then: 120,000 people is more than a quarter of the WELS! Either way you take this phrase, this is a lot of people that we’re dealing with here.
And just like that, the book ends with a question. If you’re thinking to yourself that it seems to end abruptly, you’re not alone. Many have wondered, “Well what happened to Jonah?” Did he ever realize the opportunity that God had given him? Did he ever see that God gave him the gracious gift of reaching other stubborn sinners? But in all honesty, we don’t know. The only thing we do know is that Jonah ended up writing this book, thus he could have turned back to God and this would then be his confession. However, this is not the point. The book is about God in his love, trying to show Jonah the awesome opportunity he had: that he was the one called on to preach repentance to an entire city!
In the end, we reach a glorious truth. Just as God used Jonah to preach, so he uses us to reach other stubborn sinners. Jonah, in his book, never seemed to learn this awesome truth. But you and I can see Jonah, and learn from his mistakes. We can learn that being God’s spokespeople is a gracious gift, not a chore.
There are times in this life that are worthy of dreading. But thanks be to God, that preaching his word should not be one of those chores that we go about grudgingly. This is true because God has shown his concern for us, people who were as lost as those Ninevites. We have seen how far his love has stretched for us, and we want to tell others of this great love also. For us, serving God is a gracious gift, not a chore.

October 9th, 2011 Mission Festival

2011-10-15T21:35:00.002-05:00

October 2nd, 2011

2011-10-04T08:55:00.001-05:00

Sermon - October 2/3, 2011, by Pastor Paul Eckert - Pentecost 16
Sermon text - Romans 13:1-14
WHAT DO WE OWE - -
I - TO THOSE ABOVE US?
II - TO THOSE AROUND US?
III - AND ALSO TO OURSELVES?
13:1 Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God.
2 Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves.
3 For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and he will commend you.
4 For he is God’s servant to do you good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword for nothing. He is God’s servant, an agent of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer.
5 Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also because of conscience.
6 This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s servants, who give their full time to governing.
7 Give everyone what you owe him: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor.
8 Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for he who loves his fellowman has fulfilled the law.
9 The commandments, "Do not commit adultery," "Do not murder," "Do not steal," "Do not covet," and whatever other commandment there may be, are summed up in this one rule: "Love your neighbor as yourself."
10 Love does no harm to its neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.
11 And do this, understanding the present time. The hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed.
12 The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light.
13 Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy.
14 Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
What do we owe? Mortgage payments, property taxes, car payments, credit card debts, student loans, sales taxes - and that is by no means the end of the list. Such debts are owed to governments, businesses, creditors, and so on. Our sermon text also makes us ask
WHAT DO WE OWE - -
I - TO THOSE ABOVE US? (1-7)
l. It is God who established authority. (1-2a)
a) In His 4th Commandment God established the closest
authority above us, the authority of parents. "Honor your
father and your mother" is God’s will.
b) God also has established the biggest "above us" authority , the
government. That is clear in these words of our text:
Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, ---.
2. God has also authorized enforcement of authority. (2-4)
a) Parents have authority from God to discipline their children.
That is not to abuse them, but to control them for their good.
b) In the same way God has authorized government authorities to
control and to punish for the good of the people. That includes
the government’s use of the sword or military weapons, or
police use of pistols and swat guns or capital punishment if
such are deemed appropriate to protect people and punish the
guilty. This authority is clear from these words of our text:
He who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and he will commend you. For he is God’s servant to do you good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword for nothing. He is God’s servant, an agent of wrath to bring punishment on the
wrongdoer.
3. And God also tells us what we owe to those above us. (6-7)
a) Here we think of those who are above us as authorities to do
good. If authorities are not good - for example you have bad
parents or bad governments, then there can be special problems
about how we as Christians deal with that. But for authorities
working for the people’s good, God’s will is clear. We read:
This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s servants, who give their full time to governing. Give everyone what you owe him: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor.
b) You may not enjoy paying taxes, but be honest and pay them.
You may not always agree with parents and others in authority,
but respect their positions and give them the honor due them.
4. What do we deserve? (5)
Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also because of conscience.
a) A Christian should submit to proper authority not only because
he wants to avoid a fine or jail, but above all because of his
conscience, because he wants to glorify his Savior God by
striving to follow God’s will with regard to authority.
b) Do we do that if we ignore traffic laws, cheat on our taxes,
don’t respect parents. teachers, police, or others in authority?
c) And when we don’t give those above us what we owe them,
then what do we deserve? It is the wages of our sin. And you
know what that is. And that’s not good. But before going into
that more, let’s next ask, "What do we owe -"
II - TO THOSE AROUND US? (8-10)
1. God’s will applies also on the horizontal level. (8)
Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for he who loves his fellowman has fulfilled the law.
a) We’ve talked about the vertical level, authority above us.
b) "One another" puts us on the horizontal level. As we owe
respect to those above us, so we owe or have a debt to love
one another, those around us.
2. That means we do not owe a lack of love. (9a)
The commandments, "Do not commit adultery," "Do not
murder," "Do not steal," "Do not covet," and whatever other
commandment there may be, ---.
a) Take any of these commandments, and what do they have in
common? It is a lack of love. Just think of all of the hurt done
when there is unfaithfulness in marriage or the misuse of sex
outside of marriage. Murder, physically hurt someone in anger
- that’s not showing love. The shoplifter thinks he isn’t hurting
anyone; but is it love for others who have to pay more to cover
his costs? Coveting what someone else has, that can lead to
many problems that certainly do not show love.
b) These are just some examples of a lack of love.
3. What we do owe to those around us is love. (9-10)
The commandments, "Do not commit adultery," "Do not murder," "Do not steal," "Do not covet," and whatever other commandment there may be, are summed up in this one rule: "Love your neighbor as yourself." Love does no harm to its neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.
a) Do you want someone to kill you, steal from you, and so on?
b) Of course not! What we want for ourselves, love, is what we
owe to those around us. "Love your neighbor as yourself."
4. What do we deserve? (10)
Love does no harm to its neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.
a) Are we always unselfish? No. Do we perfectly keep God’s
commandments? No, even though we try. Do we always treat
those around us the way God wants us to? No.
b) So what do we deserve? You know. It is the wages of sin. It
is to be rejected by God who demands perfection.
c) That is why we should ask what we owe to those above us and
to those around us, and then go on to ask, -
III - AND ALSO TO OURSELVES? (11-14)
1. Remember who we are. (11c,14a)
a) Verse 11 in our text refers to "our salvation." That’s the
salvation won for us because God so loved this world, the
salvation that is ours by faith in Jesus who paid for our sins
with His innocent life and perfect death as our substitute, our
Savior who is our salvation. Then verse 14 tells us:
--- clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ,---.
b) We are Christians, believers in our Lord Jesus Christ. But do
we always look like and behave like Christians? Or the way we
act and talk at times would you think we have the devil’s suit
on instead of being clothed with the Lord Jesus Christ? Let’s
be what God has made us! Let’s remember who we are!
2. Recognize what is coming. (11-12a)
And do this, understanding the present time. The hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. The night is nearly over; the day is almost here.
a) The older we get the nearer we come to God’s promise of
heaven for all who are clothed with the Lord Jesus Christ.
b) Recognize that. There is an end point to this life.
3. Live accordingly. (12-14)
The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy. Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature.
a) How should I live if I believe in Jesus as my Savior from sin?
b) It is not by willfully sinning, joining the world in any of its
sinful behavior. Rather it is by fighting against sin, letting the
world see by our behavior who we are by God’s marvelous
grace.
4. What do we deserve? (11)
And do this, understanding the present time. The hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed.
a) When it comes to our lives, we know what we deserve.
b) When it comes to Jesus’ life for us, we know what we have
been given. It is salvation. It is to be where sin will be no
more, nor any tears or crying or pain.
c) Praise God for the forgiveness of sins now, and praise Him for
our salvation which is drawing nearer with each passing hour.
Summing up now: WHAT DO WE OWE - To Those Above Us,
- To Those Around Us, - And Also To Ourselves? The answers
really all point to what we owe to God who says to us, "Submit to the
authorities -- love one another -- clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ." By giving To Those Above Us, To Those Around Us, And Also To Ourselves what God wants us to do, we are actually praising God by following His will.
Strengthened by the Holy Spirit may we strive to do that always
better. Clothed with Jesus’ righteousness to cover our sins and weaknesses, let us pay what we owe, let us live lives that glorify God for His gift of salvation!
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　

September 25th, 2011 Worship Service

2011-10-03T10:10:00.001-05:00

September 18th, 2011 Worship Service

2011-09-26T10:18:00.000-05:00

September 11th, 2011 Worship Service

2011-09-26T10:16:00.000-05:00

September 4th Worship Service Pastor Spaude

2011-09-24T19:51:00.000-05:00

2011-09-19T07:58:00.001-05:00

PENTECOST 14
September 18/19, 2011
Pastor Timothy J. Spaude
Text: Romans 11:33-36

“WHEN YOU DON’T UNDERSTAND GOD, PRAISE HIM!
1. For His Wisdom.
2. For His Grace.
3. For His glory.

Romans 11:33-36 (NIV1984) “Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out! 34 “Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor? 35 “Who has ever given to God, that God should repay him?” 36 For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever! Amen.”

God is God and I am not. That is a phrase that has stuck in my head. I heard it first from a pastor friend of mine who would say it whenever we were talking about things we didn’t understand. God is God and I am not. He even wrote a paper on that topic. God is God and I am not! The Holy Spirit had the Apostle Paul write on that topic as well. His words that I read to you moments ago follow some pretty hard to understand teachings of Scripture. He had revealed teachings like Election also known as Predestination where God in His mercy and to highlight His grace chose those to be saved before the Creation of the world. That’s hard to understand. He had explained some truths that were very hard for the Jewish Christians to understand like the fact that Gentile believers were also part of God’s chosen Israel. He pointed to the hard truth that those who had Jewish blood but rejected Jesus as their Messiah in spite of all of God’s warnings and pleadings would not be saved. And then right before our text the Holy Spirit focused his and our attention on the fact that in God’s plans, man’s constant disobedience is really an opportunity for God to show mercy. We don’t think like that. These aren’t our ways of working. But they are God’s and so when Paul found himself grappling to understand God’s ways he simply burst into a song of praise. That gives us a good way to respond as well. When you don’t understand God, praise Him. Paul helps us to see what we can praise Him for.
First when you don’t understand God praise Him for His wisdom. Paul’s praise went like this: “Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out! 34 “Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor?” Paul’s words make me chuckle. When was the last time you got a phone call that went like this: “Hi. It’s the Lord. I’m having a problem and I need your advice.” That’s ridiculous! God doesn’t need advice. He doesn’t need a counselor. But isn’t that exactly what we try to do some time in prayer? Lord I have this problem and this is what I want you to do about it, taking this wonderful gift of prayer and using it like a leash as though we can yank God around. That’s the offense of “name it, claim it” theology of prayer where if you believe enough in what you ask for God has to do it. Well, I’ve got news for those folks. The almighty does not have to do anything. Nor does He take advice from creatures He created.
Or how about those other hard areas to deal with? Forgive me if I cause anyone here any pain. Why does the Christian couple who want so badly to serve the Lord by serving souls in the form of children go childless and those who neglect their kids get one after another to abuse? Why does a child die before the parents? Why do the wicked seem to get away with it? Why doesn’t God just wipe out the terrorists, the murders, the rapists? Why? Why? These questions and so many more can plague us as we strive to put to together the absolute power of God, His knowledge of all things, and square it with life in a world which seems so unfair. Brothers and sisters when you can’t understand God, stand under Him. God is God and I am not. Praise Him, like Paul did. Acknowledge that His wisdom and knowledge are so much greater. His judgments always wise and His ways beyond our ability to comprehend. Trying to figure out the wisdom of God is like staring into the depths of the ocean from the surface, seeing some fish swim by 20 feet down and thinking you’ve got. Oh no, there is some much more to the ocean depths than that and there is so much more to the wisdom of God than we can even begin to guess at. If you want just a tiny taste from just a human perspective try playing chess against someone who is much better than you. I just started playing with a friend and I watch some moves and say, “Why is he doing that?” and then make my smart move only to find 3 or 4 moves later I’m left with only bad choices for moves. I say, “How did he do that?” That is nothing compared to the wisdom and knowledge of God and His ways of working.
And for all those times you want to question His ways, if you want to see how the power of God and the wisdom of God work together look at the cross. See Jesus there. Who would ever have thought of that? Who would think of putting the power of the Son of God in man making Him vulnerable to death and then using that death to make payment for the sins of all people. Brilliant! When you can’t understand God, praise Him. Praise Him for His wisdom.
Praise Him for His grace. “Who has ever given to God, that God should repay him?” That’s another one of those makes me chuckle question. Someone coming to God to collect on an IOU. Ridiculous! And yet there we go again in the wickedness of our hearts. I obeyed you Lord, (that one time, never mind the 99 times today I didn’t!) Now you owe me something good. My prayer should get answered. Or looking at the offerings we bring as an obligation, a must, instead of a privilege to have our pieces of paper and metal actually accepted by God as something pleasing to Him. These pay St. Jacobi’s bills, not God’s. He doesn’t have any bills. He owes no one.
And yet He still gives. God’s gifts and blessings are not payback but pay forward. He forgives not because we deserve it but because He loves us and so we will be motivated to love in return. The physical blessings we have in homes and skills and family and things, all flow from God who gives because He gives. It’s grace. God acting out of undeserved love. Remember that the next time you are tempted to cry “Not fair, God” when someone you think is less than you gets blessings you want to have. Let your whining “Why me” in the midst of adversity become a wondering “Why me?” that revels in God’s grace. Why are you so good to me Lord when I have sinned against you so greatly?
You know the Apostle Paul thought that. He didn’t have a problem with God’s dealing with the world because he had been wowed by God’s grace. As Saul he had been the Christian killer and Christ hater. He had done more harm to more brothers and sisters in the early Christian church than anyone of his former colleagues. And still Jesus had chosen him to be saved and to serve. Remembering that helped Paul when he didn’t understand how God was dealing with other people. So he praised God for his grace.
And for His glory. “For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever! Amen.” Behold the glory of God. All the universe flows from His power and wisdom. Only though Him are all things sustained. And to Him, for Him do all things exist. God is God. He is not some sort of superhuman. He’s not one of his with X Men power. Many times when you and I are having trouble with things God has allowed in our lives or the lives of others it’s because we are trying to make God in our own image as though our ways of thinking and acting are the best and so God should be like that. But God is not the image of man. He is God and we need to acknowledge that and humble ourselves beneath Him and praise Him for His glory.
God is God and I am not. That is what my pastor friend and I would say when something didn’t make sense. We gradually added another line to it. God is God. I am not and I wouldn’t want it any other way! Oh we would laugh. What if God was like us. We’d all be in trouble. But He’s not like us and we are not in trouble. We are saved according to His wisdom and His grace and this is for His glory. Remember that when you can’t understand God. Then praise Him. Amen.

2011-09-05T13:33:00.000-05:00

PENTECOST 12
September 4/5, 2011
Pastor Timothy J. Spaude
Text: Matthew 14:22-33

“WHEN YOU’RE WALKING ON WATER…”
1. Remember to keep your eyes on Jesus.
2. Remember that Jesus will never let you down!

Matthew 14:22-33 (NIV 1984) “Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd. 23 After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, 24 but the boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it. 25 During the fourth watch of the night Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. 26 When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear. 27 But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.” 28 “Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.” 29 “Come,” he said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. 30 But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!”
31 Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?” 32 And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down. 33 Then those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”

I’m sure many of you have seen the commercials where through computer graphics or special effects technology it appears that a car is driving on water or a person walking on it. Perhaps you can think of people who command such respect it is said of them that they “walk on water.” In reality the commercials are fake and there is no living person who walks on water. But Jesus did. Jesus is the Son of God and for Him to walk on water is a little thing, something as simple as the rest of us walking on a nicely paved parking lot. But what many people forget is that someone else walked on water. Peter did!
At the time of our text Jesus’ disciples had been following Him for about two years, learning more and more about the true kingdom of God and purpose of the Messiah. They had seen many astounding miracles. Not too long before this John the Baptist had been beheaded by spineless King Herod. Jesus had just finished the miraculous feeding of the 5000. Jesus needed some of the restful time we all need, time spent with His Father and in prayer and so we are told, “Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd. 23 After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray.”
So while Jesus prayed the disciples, many of whom were experienced fishermen, crossed from the northeast side of the Sea of Galilee to the northwest. It sounds like it was a rough trip. The wind was against them. The waves were buffeting or the boat. But that’s not what scared them. Jesus did. He came to them walking on the water. They had never seen such a thing before so they made the only conclusion they could. It was a ghost!
But of course it wasn’t a ghost. It was Jesus and Jesus did what Jesus always does. He comforted and encouraged them. “But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.” And then Peter did what he always does and spoke up boldly. I don’t think Peter will mind us describing him as someone who often spoke first without thinking through the consequences of what he was saying. “Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.” Well it was Jesus, and He said, “Come,” Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus.” Peter was walking on water! He took the Lord Jesus at His word and he walked on water. Can you imagine what that must have been like? That first tentative step. It holds! Then step after step, straight toward Jesus, eyes fixed on the Savior.
Brothers and sisters, it is highly unlikely that Jesus will come to us on this earth and invite or command us to walk on water. However there will come to each of us situations where we will need to do something that seems just as impossible, just as scary. Your walking on water might be following Jesus’ command to love others, actually care about where they spend their eternity, so that you have to confront a believer who is caught in the Devil’s trap of unrepentant sin. It might be plunging ahead into a spiritual conversation with that person at work who’s been confused by wrong religion overload. He might ask you to walk on the water of job loss, death of a loved one, recently diagnosed disease or cancer. It might be to walk on the water of dealing with a difficult person. Whatever it may be when you find yourself walking on water remember to keep your eyes on Jesus. You can do it just like Peter did for whatever the Lord commands and invites you to do He will give you what you need to do it. Peter successfully walked on water by simply following the command of the Savior and walking toward Him. So too for you. Keep your eyes on Jesus. What is His command to you? What are His promises for you? I will be with you and give you the words to say. I will never leave you nor forsake you. My Father will provide your need. You will never be given more than you can handle. You can do all things with my strength. When you’re walking on water remember to keep your eyes on Jesus.
And remember He will never let you down. Peter didn’t keep walking on water. Peter started to sink. What happened? “ But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!” Peter let Jesus down. Instead of focusing on Jesus Peter looked around at all the possible scary things that could happen. He saw the effects of the wind, blowing the water, riling the waves. No doubt He felt the spray on his face. He got scared looking at all those scary possibilities. Fear became his master instead of Jesus. Even though Jesus had given him everything he needed to walk on water, Peter began to sink. He let Jesus down.
But Jesus did not let Peter down. “Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?” Jesus question was not a chiding but a statement of fact. Peter doubted. He had a lapse of faith. But you notice Jesus did not cop the attitude we find it so easy to do with others who struggle or fall into sin. You know what I’m talking about because you think it with others. “You made your bed now lie in it. Now you’re going to have to swim Peter. It’s the only way you’ll learn.” Instead, immediately, immediately, (see your Savior’s heart) Jesus reached out His hand and safely caught Peter before he could sink down. Jesus didn’t let Peter down.
When you find yourself walking on water remember that Jesus won’t let you down either. We all would hope to stay trusting Jesus in time of trial or when in His wisdom He commands or invites us to do something hard. We are all given everything we need to successfully walk on water, handle whatever seemingly impossible challenge that comes our way. The simple truth is we are weak willed sinners whose best doesn’t cut it. Our faith is never strong enough because if any of us had faith even the size of a tiny mustard seed we would be moving mountains and I haven’t done that and neither have you. How great to have Jesus who, when we doubt and break down and cry and feel like giving up, will never let us down. How great to know that Jesus, though disappointed in the weakness of our faith, will still be there to grab a hold of us before we sink into despair.
Remember that when you let Jesus down. The Devil will try to get you to push Jesus away, to feel like there is no redemption for you. If your fall is into sin He will try to make you think your sins are unforgiveable. But they are not. Jesus has paid for them in full. He is Son of God and Savior.
That’s the conclusion the disciples came to. At the end of this lesson we are told, “And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down. 33 Then those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.” This is the conclusion we must come to as well and are happy to. Jesus, our Savior, is the Son of God. When we leave here by word and action, let’s continue to worship Him. Amen.

August 28/29, 2011 Sermon by Pastor Paul G. Eckert on Romans 8:31-39

2011-08-30T10:23:00.001-05:00

August 28/29, 2011 sermon by Pastor Paul G. Eckert - Pentecost 11
Sermon text - Romans 8:31-39
31 What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all - how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? 33 Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. 34 Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died - more than that, who was raised to life - is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? 36 As it is written: "For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered." 37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
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Parents here, what is your response to your children? You do a lot for them, don’t you. And what about us as a congregation? I’d like to think that we do a lot for our congregation’s children too. We have a Sunday School and its staff for weekly training in the Word of God. For daily training we have an expensive school. Its large staff now includes three who are being installed this Sunday: Mrs. Denise Bloomquist, Mrs. LaRae Fromm, and Mrs. Samantha List. We welcome them to our church family of workers here.
Now as individuals what is our response to what our congregation is doing for our children? Hopefully it will be supporting all of our staff, supporting all of the work we are doing here for our children, as well as supporting the wider work of our congregation and our synod.
But why would that be our response? Looking now at our sermon text, let’s make our sermon theme:
OUR RESPONSE TO GOD BEING FOR US
I MARVEL AT WHAT GOD HAS DONE (31-34)
1. We start with an "if" statement. (31)
What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us?
a) Is God all-powerful? If so, then certainly nobody could
possibly be successful against us.
b) But that is true only if God actually is for us. Is He? With all
of the problems we can have, is God really for us?
2. Consider some proof for that statement. (32-33)
He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all - how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies.
a) God was willing to sacrifice His only begotten Son for us,
miserable sinners that we are. What proof of His love for us!
b) God chose us, we did not choose Him. And He justified us,
tells us we are not held guilty of sin because Jesus paid for our
sins. What tremendous proof for the fact that God is for us!
3. Look closer at His Son’s involvement in this. (34)
Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died - more than
that, who was raised to life - is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.
a) Jesus’ death is proof God is for us. But Jesus not only died.
He also arose, proof of the victory He claimed on the cross.
b) And He now stands in eternity’s court, interceding for us when
the devil tries to claim us. When I die I won’t stand alone
before God’s judgment throne. Jesus will be there, pointing
out that I a sinner have been justified by what He did for me.
4. What can we say in response to this? (31)
What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us?
a) Our response? Let us marvel. Let our hearts be filled with
thankfulness for God’s grace shown us in His Son.
b) And let that marveling and thankfulness be not only in our
hearts. Let us show it in our daily Christian living, in our
worship, in our willing service to our God.
c) And let us keep on showing it in our Christian education
efforts for our children in our homes and in our school. We
want our children to know and believe how wonderfully God is
for them. We want them, with us, to marvel at what God has
done for us. But as we marvel, we also need to
II RECOGNIZE MUCH CAN BE AGAINST US (31,33a,34a,
1. About God there is no "if". (31) \35-36)
What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us?
a) While there is no "if" about God being for us, there also is no
"if" about things being against us.
b) It is a fact and not an "if" that problems and difficulties and
sickness, struggling to find a job and to meet expenses, plus
many other things, can oppose us, really hurt, be very painful.
2. The "who" of opposition is caused by sin. (31b,33a,34a)
Who can be against us? -- Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? -- Who is he that condemns?
a) The "who" is our own sinful nature, the devil, the sinful world
around us, all of which oppose our Christian nature and try to
lead us into sin. Because of that sin the devil could quickly try
to charge us, to condemn us, to say we belong to him.
b) That applies not only to us as adults, but equally to our
children who are not exempt from temptations simply because
they are being educated within the walls of our own school.
3. There can be other separating influences. (35-36)
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: "For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered."
a) The devil will use any hardships or troubles of various types to
shake our faith. How many special troubles are facing some in
our congregation right now? We may not realize how many
sitting near us are hurting. If we are older we may not fully
realize the persecution our young people face if they openly
stand up for Jesus in their behavior and with their language.
b) By many of such things the devil will try to separate us from
the love of Christ by telling us it doesn’t pay to be a Christian.
4. What can we say in response to this? (31)
What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us?
a) Our school is one of our responses. Its purpose is not to
isolate our children from the world (that isn’t possible today),
but to strengthen them in faith and knowledge so that with
God’s Word they can better deal with the world around them.
b) For all of us let our response be faithful worship, our religion
an open part of our family and daily life, a trust in God that in
hardships makes us ready to say, "Your will be done."
c) Then we can change the question "Who can be against us?"
to a joy that says, "God is for us!"
III REJOICE THAT GOD GIVES US THE VICTORY (31-32,
1. God has proved He is for us. (31-32) \35a,37-39)
What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all - how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?
a) "All things" does not mean all that we want, like giving
orders to God and expecting Him to deliver whatever we want.
b) That would be like parents giving their children all things they
want. Certainly you parents are smarter than that. And surely
God is smarter than we are and has promised that He in all
things will work only for the good of those who love Him.
2. That is because He doesn’t want us to be lost. (35a)
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?
a) God paid a tremendous price for us!
b) He wants no separation from Christ and heaven. That is
why He wants us now to remain strong in our faith in Him. 3. That means through Him we are the victors. (37-39)
No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
a) This listing can be summed up with the word "nothing."
Nothing is greater than God and His love for us in Christ.
b) That means we are not losers with God on our side. Instead
God in Christ has made all who believe in Him conquerors, yes
more than conquerors. Not death or anything else we have to
go through in this life can take from us the final victory.
4. What can we say in response to this? (31)
What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us?
a) Let it be that we stay in the Word of God, stay in the faith.
b) Let it be bringing up our own and our congregation’s children
in the true faith. Parents, keep in your prayers the teachers
you are asking to assist you in this.
c) And rejoice that, no matter what the world can throw against
us, God makes His people to be more than conquerors, makes
them heirs of heaven’s glory.
What about a closing caution here? Do you remember what Jesus said once to one of His disciples, to Judas? Judas had had rich opportunities to be with Jesus, to learn from Him, to experience His love. And what was Judas’s response? Jesus said to him, "Judas, are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss?" What a sad response!
What is OUR RESPONSE TO GOD BEING FOR US? Marvel
at His tremendous love in Christ. Stay in God’s Word, train up your
children in His Word, don’t let anything in this life separate us from Him. And rejoice, rejoice that eternity will show that "we are more than conquerors through him who loved us."
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　

2011-08-01T15:35:00.001-05:00

PENTECOST 7
July 31/August 1, 2011
Pastor Timothy J. Spaude
Text: Romans 7:15-25

“HELP!”
1. We are in a fix.
2. That we can’t fix.
3. But Jesus is the fix.

Romans 7:15-25a (NIV 1984) “I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. 16 And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. 17 As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. 18 I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. 19 For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. 20 Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it. 21 So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. 22 For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; 23 but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. 24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? 25 Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!”

If you have been following along in the readings from Romans each Sunday in July you noticed a distinct progression in how the Holy Spirit had Paul write that letter. Romans 4: We are justified by faith alone. Perfect obedience is credited to us. Romans 5: This is all because of God’s great love for sinners and accomplished by the God/man Jesus Christ. Romans 6: Last week. Our response to free forgiveness. Keeping sinning? No way! Look at what being connect to Jesus through Baptism has done. We get to live for Him. Now, Romans 7. This word of God speaks to the heart of Christians who get all of that, who want to live their lives for Jesus and still struggle with sin. It speaks to our angst and shame of believers who feel bad about sin, who are disappointed in themselves that they can’t do a better job living for Jesus, who perhaps are fighting sins that have addictive characteristics like sins involving drug or alcohol abuse or sexual sinning. It speaks to believers feel shame over weakness, who know and love Jesus and want to give Him the perfect obedience He deserves. Hopefully then this word of God speaks to all of us here and has some wonderful news. But just in case it doesn’t, I need to say, this word of God does not speak to those who are better at seeing the sins of other people than their own. It does not speak to those who are OK with sin in their lives or are coddling some sinful habit or deliberately living in a sinful situation. It that describes you I have a different message from God today. Wake up! You are in great danger. You are either spiritually asleep heading to the death of Hell that knows no end. Or, if you are better at seeing other people’s sins than you own and more bothered about what they do, you are well on your way to becoming the Pharisee that no longer needs a Savior and will find yourself without one. If you don’t care about sin in your life and are OK living that way you are slaying the Holy Spirit who lives in you and He may already be dead to you. Repent while you can!
Hopefully no one here needed to hear that. Hopefully we all belong to that first group that hates sin and loves Jesus so let’s turn our attention back to the word of God before us that could be summarized with the one word Help! “Help!” we cry out to God because we are in a fix. God had the Apostle Paul write these words. If our historians are correct Paul had been a Christian for about twenty years by this time. If you remember, early in his life as Saul he had been an eminent Pharisee who worked very hard at outwardly obeying the law. Now the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the good news of a Savior, forgiveness granted freely through faith in Christ Jesus, had been working in Paul’s heart for a long time. He understood he was saved by grace through faith and he wanted to live his life to show love for Jesus. And yet listen again to his struggle. “I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. 16 And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. 17 As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. 18 I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. 19 For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing.” “Help!” cries Paul. He was in a fix. Sin lived in him and corrupted him, warring against his desire to please Jesus. Weakness was a part of him and so he fell into sin even though he knew better.
Paul was in a fix, the same kind you and I are in. When I teach the Bible Information Class I tell the people that the longer I know Jesus, the better I know Him, the more I love Him, the more sinful I become. Now don’t worry. This is no made for Jerry Springer pastor confessional. Hopefully if you followed me around all day you would not hear me say any sinful words. Hopefully if you followed me around all day you would not see me do any sinful actions. That doesn’t mean there is no sin. It lives in me just like it lives in you and the more you know and love Jesus the more you know the holiness and perfection He deserves and desires and the more you realize how far short you fall from the glory of God. We are the people of God. We know God’s will better than probably 99% of Americans and we still keep sinning. Help! We are in a fix.
Naturally when you are in a fix you try to fix it. We do that with all sorts of things. If you are a piano player and you keep hitting a sour note you practice until you get it right. A basketball player who keeps missing free throws tries again and shoots more to get it right. If you get a bad performance review at work you need to work harder. Naturally that’s what we try with the problem of sin. Our first instinct is to try harder or expect others to worker harder. So if you are struggling with a certain sin you try harder to stop that sin. Let’s say you’ve got a potty mouth that says words that offend God so you try to control your language and you do. It works! But have you noticed that just when you seem to get one sin kicked another one pops up. It’s like playing the arcade whack a mole game. Just when you smack one down another mole pops only it’s not a game and it’s sin, not fake moles. Even trying to run away from sin doesn’t always work. In the late 300’s AD there was a monk known as Simon Stylites. He started a practice known as pole-sitting. This meant living on a small platform atop a pole, all by yourself. The idea was that if you isolated yourself from all the temptations present living with other people you could fix the problem of sin. Of course it didn’t work because no matter where Simon lived sin lived in him. So it is with you and me. Paul explains it further. “Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it. 21 So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. 22 For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; 23 but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members.”
We are in a fix that we can’t fix. We feel like the Apostle Paul, “What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death”?
Jesus will! “Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!” Just because we are in a fix that we can’t fix doesn’t mean there is no fix. Help we cry to the Lord and before we called He already answered! God sent Jesus to rescue us from sin. He is the fix for sin. For every heart that feels horrible over sin hear God’s Good News for you. He forgives you. Each and every one of your sins. Even the ones you aren’t aware of. God did not despise you in your weakness like we so often despise others who struggle with sins we don’t. Instead He loved you and had Jesus come. Jesus took every one of your sins on Himself. He was fully punished on the cross. He is the fix for your sin. Your struggles with sin will not last forever. At the time of your death or Jesus’ return on Judgment Day God will kill your old Adam, your sinful nature for good. It will no longer be a part of you. Jesus is your fix. He has taken care of your sin problem even though it is not always evident in your life. It’s what will motivate you to keep trying hard to cut sin out of your life.
You noticed what that moved Paul to do. Thanks be to God. Thanks. It’s thankfulness in our hearts that motivates us to continue to struggle against sin. Even though we know we cannot attain perfection this side of heaven. Even though we know we are in a whack a sin game where when one is beaten down another will come to tempt and vex us, even though we know we can’t fix ourselves, we strive to fight sin because it says Thank you to Jesus. It says, “Jesus I value so much what you have done for me that I will fight that sin you paid for with every bit of strength you provide.” And you know what else? Jesus is your fix there too. He lives in you. Turn to Him in repentance and see that you don’t’ have to go on sinning. Even those sins with addictive qualities or characteristics must bow before the King of kings and Lord of Lords. So sin is not your master. Jesus is. With His help you win. So what else is there to say but, “Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!” Amen.

July 17th, 2011

2011-07-31T12:07:00.001-05:00

July 24/25, 2011 Sermon on Romans 6:1-14 by Pastor Paul Eckert

2011-07-26T09:19:00.002-05:00

Sermon by Pastor Paul Eckert - July 24/25, 2011 - Pentecost 6
Sermon text - Romans 6:1-14
　
Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Libya, politics, our economy, taxes - does anybody here have the answers to all of these and other problems that face us as citizens of our country? I don’t think so.
What about answers to questions that face us as citizens of God’s kingdom, citizens who are waiting for the inheritance of heaven where there will be no problems? Here there are answers, answers that come from God’s throne in His revealed Word. Let’s get the questions and the answers from our sermon text, starting out with a theme question:
WHAT SHALL WE SAY, THEN?
I SHOULD GRACE MAKE US SIN? (1-2)
What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase?
1. Grace is God’s undeserved love in His Son.
a) How greatly God’s grace of forgiveness in Jesus is needed!
b) How wonderfully God proclaims His grace in Scripture!
2. There is more grace than there is sin, as Romans 5:20 clearly
states: "Where sin increased, grace increased all the more."
3. But if there is plenty of grace available, then it makes no
difference how much I sin, right? (1)
What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase?
a) So if I know getting drunk is a sin, then I can go on getting
drunk and there is forgiveness, right? If I steal, harm, slander
my neighbor, cheat on my spouse, there is more grace, right?
That means I can go to church and hear the public
pronouncement of forgiveness, or come to the Lord’s Table
and receive that message of forgiveness in the Lord’s Supper,
and then I can go out and start sinning all over again, right?
b) That is what our sinful nature only too easily wants to think.
4. But what do we as God’s children say to that? (1-2)
a) Should grace make us sin? Listen to Scripture’s answer:
By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?
b) Scripture’s plain answer is "No!" Hear it again:
What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?
c) But now, what does it mean when it says "We died to sin"?
Let’s go on to ask our second question.
II DOES OUR BAPTISM MEAN ANYTHING? (3-4)
1. First, do you remember your Baptism? (3a)
Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized ---?
a) If you had Christian parents who brought you, be thankful. b) But if that was as a baby, you don’t remember that, do you.
2. Next, how often do you think of your Baptism?
a) The Lord’s Supper, we are often reminded of that Sacrament
because it is regularly scheduled in our church services.
b) But do we think of our Baptism much less because we are
reminded of it only occasionally whenever the Sacrament of
Baptism is used in one of our church services?
3. But why should we think of our Baptisms? (3-4)
Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.
a) Why think of our Baptisms? As the Lord’s Supper tells us
something is ours because Jesus gave His body and shed His
blood for us, because He died, so Baptism also tells us
something is ours because by Baptism we are connected with,
baptized into, Jesus’ death.
b) Jesus’ death and resurrection, transcendently amazing
historical facts, also picture for us that Baptism, like the
Lord’s Supper, in a similar way means death and life for us.
4. What shall we say, then? (3-4)
a) Baptism does mean something, something wonderful.
b) It is not just a ceremony without any real value beyond that.
c) It means we are and should be new people. Listen again:
Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.
III DID JESUS’ DEATH DO ANYTHING FOR US? (5-7)
1. A terrific claim is made here. (5)
If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection.
a) We are going to live, be united with Jesus who now lives.
b) But how is that possible? If the wages of sin is death, an
eternal separation from God in a place that isn’t life but a living
hell, how can we be united with Jesus in His resurrection life?
2. This claim is based on our death with Jesus. (6a)
For we know that our old self was crucified with him ---.
a) When Jesus was on the cross as our Substitute, loaded down
with all of our sins, we were there! Yes, you and I were there!
b) When Jesus died, we died, we were crucified with Jesus; the
wages of our sins were taken care of by our perfect Substitute.
3. That has tremendous meaning for us. (6)
For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin - .
a) By Christ’s atoning death, sin has been overcome, is now
powerless, cannot condemn God’s baptized, believing people.
b) And surely God’s people then do not want to be slaves to sin,
don’t want to sin deliberately or take orders from sin anymore.
4. What shall we then say to this? (6b-7)
--- we should no longer be slaves to sin - because anyone who has died has been freed from sin.
a) In Baptism Jesus’ death became ours, we died, we are free!
b) That means that sin’s damning power has been overcome, that
the devil no longer has the power of a slavemaster over us.
c) Listen again to what Jesus’ death did and means for us:
If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection. For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin - because anyone who has died has been freed from sin.
IV DOES JESUS’ LIFE MEAN ANYTHING FOR US? (8-11)
1. Jesus’ life means we will live. (8-9)
Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with
him. For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he
cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him.
a) Jesus died once, to save us - but never again.
b) We all will die once - unless Judgment Day comes first. But
then we too will live, will be united with Jesus in resurrection
glory, and death will no longer have power over us either.
2. Our text repeats that astounding truth. (10)
The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God.
a) Once Jesus died, once He did it for all of us.
b) Then He returned to the right hand of eternal glory where He
now reigns and awaits receiving you and me into glory.
3. This is how to look at life and death and life. (11)
In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.
a) You don’t want the death we deserve because of sin.
b) Believing in Christ Jesus, now already count yourselves to be
alive to God, serving Him and not the sin that leads to death.
4. What shall we say, then? (8-11)
a) Had Jesus stayed dead, we would be lost forever.
b) But Jesus lives - and we shall too!
c) Listen again:
Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God. In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.
V DOES HOW WE NOW LIVE MAKE ANY DIFFERENCE? (12-14)
1. Obviously it should make a difference. (14)
For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace.
a) The law can’t condemn us when we are under God’s grace.
b) So don’t live letting sin and the law be master in your life.
2. Instead make it obvious you do not serve sin. (12-13a)
Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you
obey its evil desires. Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as
instruments of wickedness, ---.
a) Use my mouth to speak filth or to slander someone, use my
hands to steal, use the sexual parts of my body which God has
given for use between husband and wife and use them instead
outside of marriage on a date or an affair, use my feet to go
where temptations will make me want to go along with sin, use
my eyes to enjoy pornography? - And so on and on.
b) Surely a Christian does not want that to be his response to
God’s will that says, "Do not offer the parts of your body to
sin, as instruments of wickedness ---"!
3. Rather show by your lives that you belong to God. (13b)
--- but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness.
a) We have been brought from death to life, from condemnation
for sin to forgiveness of sins, from a deserved hell to a
promised heaven.
b) May our thank offering be lives and bodies that glorify God, as
we hear also in 1 Cor. 6:19-20: "Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body."
4. What shall we now say? (12-14)
a) Let us say "Thank You" to God for His Son and our salvation.
b) Let us ask His Spirit’s strengthening to show that thankfulness
by honoring God with our bodies, with our lives.
c) And now, in closing, let’s hear again the opening and ending
words of our sermon text.
What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! --- Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness. For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace.
　
　
　

July 10th, 2011 Worship Service

2011-07-16T23:15:00.003-05:00

July 3rd, 2011 Worship

2011-07-16T23:15:00.001-05:00

June 26th, 2011 Worship Service

2011-07-16T23:14:00.000-05:00

June 19th, 2011 Worship Service

2011-07-16T23:13:00.000-05:00

2011-07-11T11:15:00.001-05:00

PENTECOST 4
July 10/11, 2011
Pastor Timothy J. Spaude
Text: Exodus 19:2-8a

“GOD CARRIES YOU ON EAGLES’ WINGS!
1. Remember this as you consider His commands.
2. Remember this when you are falling.

Exodus 19:2-8a (NIV 1984) “After they set out from Rephidim, they entered the Desert of Sinai, and Israel camped there in the desert in front of the mountain. 3 Then Moses went up to God, and the LORD called to him from the mountain and said, “This is what you are to say to the house of Jacob and what you are to tell the people of Israel: 4 ‘You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt, and how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. 5 Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, 6 you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words you are to speak to the Israelites.” 7 So Moses went back and summoned the elders of the people and set before them all the words the LORD had commanded him to speak. 8 The people all responded together, “We will do everything the LORD has said.”
In March my family and I visited the LaCrosse area. We hit it just right for eagle watching. The eagle population along the Mississippi River has really made a resurgence so we drove along the river and did we see the eagles. They were soaring through the skies. They were sitting in their nests. They were swooping and grabbing fish. They were sitting on the remaining ice floes eating their catch. We saw a lot. What we didn’t see though were any mother eagles teaching their young to fly. Have you? Apparently what they do is when mom determines that her eaglets are strong enough to fly she pushes them out of the nest so they have to flap and flutter as they learn. All the while though those eaglets stay safe because mom is right there to swoop under them and carry them on her wings safely back to the nest to try it all again. That’s the picture of eagles’ wings. A powerful being. A loving being, taking care of its young.
And that’s the picture God uses to help his people. Imagine you are with the children of Israel. Many of you have the scars from the slave masters whips. It’s been a couple of months since God rescued you from slavery in Egypt. God’s power in the plagues is fresh on your mind as is His destruction of Pharaoh and his army in the Red Sea. Now it’s time for God to set you up into the special nation, the chosen nation, that will write down and safeguard the Old Testament of God’s Word and carry along and protect the Savior’s birthlines until it was time for Him to be born. God brought you to Mt. Sinai and something very special was about to happen. God would give you His commandments.
Now there’s something we need to remember about God’s commandments. They are His laws. It does not matter what laws nations pass that allow or protect immorality. It does not matter when church bodies pass resolutions changing, modifying or laying aside God’s commandments. They are His. They are absolute rights and wrongs and God expects them to be obeyed. By everyone. When it comes to obedience there are really two reasons people obey any authority: because they have to or because they want. People obey because they have to when they are afraid of punishment. When people obey because they want to it’s sometimes just thinly disguised selfishness. They are looking for a reward or praise or more money. Sometimes people obey because they want to simply to please their authority. Can you guess which of those God wants when it comes to His commandments? Actually you don’t have to guess at all. You know. Jesus said, “If you love me obey my commandments.” And so Christians, those in whom the Holy Spirit dwells, they know that willing obedience is the most meaningful way to show love to God. Let me repeat. Willing obedience is the most meaningful way to show love to God.
That helps you understand why God said what He did before He gave His commandments. Instead of threatening and laying out His divine right to perfect obedience God told Moses this: “This is what you are to say to the house of Jacob and what you are to tell the people of Israel: 4 ‘You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt, and how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. 5 Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, 6 you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words you are to speak to the Israelites.” God reminded them of His loving protection. He had carried them on eagles’ wings. God pointed to honor and privilege. Of all the people on earth they would get to be the kingdom of priests and a holy nation. God carried them on eagles’ wings.
God has carried you on eagles’ wings. Even though we are Christians we all still have our sinful natures. Even though we know the most meaningful way to show love to God is through willing obedience we still have that part of us that only wants to obey out of fear or hope for gain or reward. Brothers and sisters, rebuke that part of you with me today. Reject it. For it doesn’t work and it isn’t God-pleasing. We can’t just be told, “Be more loving! Be more generous! Love God first!” and it happens. The law can’t produce those characteristics in us. But the Gospel can. Look what God has done for you! God has carried you on eagles’ wings. He rescued you from the slavery of sin by sending Jesus for you. He has provided for you to this very day. He is just and righteous and powerful but He loves you and wants the best for you. The first people who heard these words forgot that. They lost the privilege of being a kingdom of priests for God. But we haven’t. Listen to what God tells us in 1 Peter 2:9. “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.” Remember that when you consider God’s commandments so they won’t be a chore, a burden, a have to but a privilege. Of all the people in the world we get to serve God the way He wants. Why wouldn’t we? He’s carried us on eagles’ wings.
And He will continue to. When a mother eagle wants to teach her young to fly she has to kick them out of the nest. Why do you suppose that is? Well let’s see. Eaglets get to sit there while mom brings them their food and keeps them safe. That’s a pretty good life it would seem. It must be easy for eaglets to get lazy. But mom knows best and knows that real life for them is soaring through the skies using the abilities the Creator has given them to fly and hunt and feed themselves. So she kicks them out. That must be scary the first time until they realize that mom will catch them on hear eagles’ wings.
You know it’s pretty easy for us to get lazy to. We can easily grow comfortable in going through the motions of our relationship with our Savior God. While it’s good to have a habit of worshipping God publicly every week it’s bad when it’s just routine. We may think we are God trusting, Jesus loving people but we’re not when our life is on auto-pilot with no zealous efforts to grow spiritually. Sometimes we can get lazy with sin, comfortable with it or around it. Yet God knows that real life for us is when we know Him as our God of love, trust only in Jesus for salvation and zealously strive to keep His commandments as our most meaningful way of showing Him love. What do you think a loving God should do? Kick us out of the nest. Let us fall. Anyone who’s ever jumped off the high dive for the first time knows that falling is scary. The job ends or falls through. Scary! Major health problem comes along. Scary. Maybe an authority, a boss, a parent, the police start snooping around that sin you’ve been coddling. You might get caught. Scary. You are falling.
God carries you on eagles’ wings. God chastens those He loves and He saves them from falling. There will be times in life that are scary. There will be times in life when you will fall because the ultimate powerful loving and wise being, the Triune God, knows that it is best. When you are in those times and it seems like the challenge will overwhelm you, think of God carrying you on eagles’ wings, swooping underneath to catch you before you really get hurt. That’s the God you are privileged to serve.
The people who would become the nation of Israel realized this, at least at first. When Moses told them what God had said, when they recognized the truth of eagles’ wings they responded by saying, “We will do everything the LORD has said.” We know however, that their commitment didn’t last. Brothers and sisters, let’s be different. Let’s daily recognize how God carries us on eagles’ wings, remember how He has rescued us when falling, rejoice that He will continue to and go from here saying, “We will do everything the LORD has said.” And mean it! Amen.

2011-06-27T09:18:00.001-05:00

MRS. HAUER RETIREMENT
June 26/27, 2011
Pastor Timothy J. Spaude
Text: Hebrews 13:5

“GOD’S TIME AND GOD’S TIMING”
1. Never.
2. Forever.

Hebrews 13:5 (NIV) “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”

In the city of Watertown where I grew up there is an odd shaped house sitting on a hill overlooking the Rock River. It’s known as the Octagon House because of its unique eight-sided construction. We never paid too much attention to it as kids because what was next to it was more important, the absolute best sledding hill in all of Watertown. It was rollercoaster fast with built in jumps and hills you could almost skim from the top of one to the other. It has ,of course, since my time, been deemed too dangerous for these days children and so no more sledding take place there. Now on the other side of the Octagon House in Watertown is another point of interest that is safe for children. It’s the building that housed America’s first kindergarten. It’s true, right there in little Watertown the very first kindergarten in America was started and I got to see it. Since that time I’ve also been privileged to see the best kindergarten. It’s the best because of the person in it. And as we gather today to observe the retirement of Mrs. Leona Hauer you know that I am of course talking about Jesus Christ.
Mrs. Hauer, for 36 of your 37 years in the teaching ministry of the Gospel you were privileged to serve in that kindergarten and you served faithfully. I don’t know if you always did this but my favorite time visiting your class was what you called God’s Time. Any of you who ever had a chance to see or be a part of that knows that God’s Time in Mrs. Hauer’s kindergarten was the most special time of the day and for me as an adult it was a wonderfully uplifting, encouraging spiritual experience. It was obvious the best was there. Jesus was there.
Jesus is here. Today our sermon time is yet one more God’s Time where we will look at God’s Timing based on your favorite Bible passage, Hebrews 13:5 (NIV) “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” We will see that God’s timing is at the same time never and forever.
In the last chapter of the book of Hebrews the writer reminded all readers of a promise of God. God’s promise to His people is “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” Never! God says. Are you serious? Really? Never will I leave you, never will I forsake you. Would you make a promise like that? Oh people try. At their Confirmations they promise they will never leave Jesus or forsake His teachings but when a higher paying job or a more fun activity or a seemingly special person comes along that never is revealed to be the qualified “kind of” that it really is as Jesus or part of His truth is forsaken for an easier earthly life. “Never will I leave you!” is the promise husbands and wives make to each other but with a Wisconsin divorce rate of 1 divorce for every 1.5 marriages these days you can tell that promises is also conditional as some sins break those marriages and some are sinfully broken. “Never will I deny you,” bold Peter said and we all know how that turned out. Never is an awfully strong word that usually needs some qualifications attached. How about God’s “Never?”
“Never!” God says to a people He knows will sin against Him. “Never!” God says though He knows we don’t have the strength to keep our responsive promises to Him. Think, brothers and sisters of all the reasons you have given God in your life to leave you and forsake you. How many times have you come to the Communion rail with a repentant heart, truly sorry for sin, grateful for your forgiveness, promising never to do that again only to have the promise broken within the week? How often have you begged your God for forgiveness and then barely gotten out of church before the gossip and tearing down of others began all over again. Think of how easily we leave the 15% tip when we go out to eat or leave 20% for drinks at a bar and then have the gall to think we’re honoring God with a measly 2% or 3% of our income in offerings. To such people the holy almighty and merciful God promises Never? God says, “Never will I leave you, never will I forsake you”—when we give Him reason after reason after reason?
Yes. Never. Because God’s promise is a one sided promise and an unconditional one. It is not based on our performance but on God’s great love for us and it is powered and sealed by the one we talked about earlier. Jesus Christ. Your favorite Bible passage, Leona, comes at the end of a Bible book that shows in myriad ways why Jesus is the best—the best holy being, better than angels. The best one to speak God’s Word to you, better than any of the prophets. The best one to rule, better than any earthly king, the best one to intercede for you and sacrifice for you, better than any high priest. It’s because of Jesus that our heavenly Father says and means never. All our unfaithfulness, all our weakness, all our selfishness was taken by Jesus on to Himself and painfully paid for when He gave His life on the cross. So God doesn’t see our sin, our weakness, our broken promises and our valuing of so many luxuries as more important than Him. He sees Jesus. He sees perfectly obedient children that He loves and He will never leave them nor forsake them.
You know that Leona. Your life has not always been easy. I’m sure you can think of more than a few times where you found yourself saying, “Oh brother, how am I going to get through this one?” Yet when you look back, you did. How? “Never!” God said. Never, will I leave you, never will I forsake you.” And He didn’t. And that’s a truth you got to pass on to other of God’s children. Love for Jesus has motivated you to faithfully serve Him in Gospel ministry teaching His lambs. You did not serve perfectly. Only Jesus did that. You did however serve faithfully. No one could go through your class and not learn that Jesus is the most important, the only Savior. No one could come out unless they slept the whole time and not know how much Jesus loved them. You simply passed on what you learned by experience that God never left you and never forsook you.
And He won’t either. You see there’s something really neat about the word never. Its logical flip side is forever. When God says He will never leave and never forsake that means He will stick with us forever. In God’s time and God’s timing never becomes forever.
Forever with God includes right now. Your service to God in the public ministry of the Gospel has now come to an end. Your service to God will continue. So what are you going to do? How many times have you heard that question? Do you still like blue convertibles like you did in high school? Will you try to get one? Is it still a goal to fly around the world? What are you going to do with all the time on your hands? Everyone here who is retired is kind of snickering right now because they know that when you retire you don’t get all this extra time. You just do all kinds of things without getting paid. The Lord will put all kinds of opportunities before you of good things you can do in serving family or other people. He will place before you opportunities to worship Him by enjoying the world He created for His people and we can still enjoy it in its sin ruined state. You will have to make choices but for every one God will be there. He will be there forever for He will never leave you nor forsake you.
And God’s forever continues to the real forever. Heaven! How many questions weren’t you asked about heaven from those little ones you served? Some God may have allowed you to answer because He told you in His word, some not. But the best thing about heaven is that we will be with Jesus. We will see Him face to face. We will be reunited with all our loved ones who died with faith in Christ. We will meet all kinds of Christian brothers and sisters we never knew about before. We will be with them forever.
Look forward to that. In His wisdom God knows that sometimes we need hard things in our lives to keep us close to Him. When those hard things, death of a loved one, serious illness, heart wrenching relationship problems happen we can feel like God has forsaken us. We can feel like God has left us and the great enemy the Devil will do his best to get us to believe that lie so that we forsake Jesus. We’ll reject that lie because God has made a promise. It’s so clear even kindergarten children and their teacher can remember. For God has said, “Never, will I leave you, never will I forsake you.” Amen.

Worship Service June 12th, 2011

2011-06-24T08:58:00.000-05:00

June 19/20, 2011 sermon by Pastor Paul G. Eckert

2011-06-21T08:49:00.000-05:00

June 19/20, 2011 Sermon by Pastor Paul G. Eckert
Trinity - Sermon based on various texts
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Last month I said that Mother’s Day was not a church festival, and I say the same thing now about Father’s Day. But let us tie both days together by saying that God compares Himself with both a mother and a father. In Isaiah 66:13 God says: "As a mother comforts her child, so will I comfort you." And in Psalm 103:13 He says: "As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him." What a comparison!
We can, however, go beyond a comparison and speak of God actually being God the Father. And that brings us to a mystery about our God that goes beyond our understanding. This Sunday, while it is used for Father’s Day thinking of earthly fathers, in the church year is called Trinity Sunday thinking of our heavenly Father who, with His Son and the Holy Spirit, is the one true God.
Now as we on Mother’s Day, with a little different format, talked about JESUS AND MOTHERS, so in a similar way this Father’s Day let us, keeping in mind the Trinity - Father, Son, and Spirit - talk about
JESUS AND FATHERS
1. JESUS AND HIS ETERNAL FATHER
Matthew 28:19 Jesus said, "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ---."
1. Notice the singular name (in the name of) and not names, and
then three persons mentioned: Father and Son and Holy Spirit.
Genesis 2:26 Then God said, "Let us make man ---."
2. Notice the plural us. One God, yet He says, "Let us."
Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.
3. So God was there and the Spirit was there in the beginning. But
was the Son also there with the Father and the Spirit?
John 1:14, 1-3 Referring to Jesus we are told: The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.... In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.
4. The Son was there too, wasn’t He!
5. But why was God’s Son sent, why did He become flesh? Listen!
John 3:16-17 "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him."
6. And what made this necessary for Father, Son, and Holy Spirit?
2. JESUS AND THE FIRST FATHER
1. The first mother, Eve, sinned; but Adam was right there.
Genesis 3:6 When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.
2. Sin came. And now Adam, the first father, with Eve, the first
mother, passed on to all people something besides body parts.
Romans 5:12 Sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned ---.
3. That is why God so loved the world, loved it enough to send
His Son to do something about mankind’s eternal problem.
1 Corinthians 15:22 As in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive.
2 Corinthians 5:21 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
4. How wonderfully this grace is summed up in Romans 3.
Romans 3:22-24 This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.
5. What a God we have, the one and only true God, Father and Son
and Holy Spirit! To Him be praise and glory forever!
6. But now let us move on more rapidly with our sermon points.
3. JESUS AND ANCESTOR FATHERS
1. The first ancestor I’ll pick out of Jesus’ family tree is Abraham John 8:56-58 Here Jesus said about Abraham, "Your father Abraham rejoiced at the thought of seeing my day; he saw it and
was glad." "You are not yet fifty years old," the Jews said to
him, "and you have seen Abraham!" "I tell you the truth," Jesus
answered, "before Abraham was born, I am!"
2. Yes, Jesus is the eternal Son of God who became flesh for us.
3. Another well known ancestor in Jesus’ family line is King David.
Luke 1:31-33 "[Mary] will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end."
4. Jesus, the Son of the Most High, would be our victorious eternal King. But now let’s go back to Jesus’ birth and to His youth.
4. JESUS AND HIS GUARDIAN FATHER
1. This was Joseph, a good and an honorable man
Matthew 1:18-19, 24-25 This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly....
2. Then God sent an angel to Joseph with this result.
[Joseph] did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. But he had no union with her until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.
3. To this guardian father Jesus gave honor and respect, like when
He was found after being left behind at age 12 in the temple.
Luke 2:51 Then [Jesus] went down to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them.
4. Children, Jesus obeyed the 4th commandment perfectly for us.
Ask God’s help to do the same, and not just on Father’s Day.
5. JESUS AND PRAYER TO OUR FATHER
1. We might think of Jesus’ long prayer to His Father in John 17, or
His prayer in Gethsemane that His Father’s will be done. But we
might think especially of the prayer Jesus taught us to pray.
Matthew 6:9-13 "This, then, is how you should pray: ‘Our Father
in heaven, ---.’"
2. Marvel at the Lord’s Prayer our Lord gave us, at the fact that He
encourages us to pray "Our Father." Did you catch that
"Our"? Jesus says that we should call His Father our Father.
Only Jesus has made that possible. Only through faith in Jesus
are we members of God’s family and can call His Father our
Father. The next time you pray the Lord’s Prayer think a bit
more of those opening two words: Our Father.
6. JESUS AND A FATHER’S SON
1. A father’s son could apply to many.
2. I here am thinking of a son named Rufus. Sound familiar?
3. His father, Simon, had helped carry Jesus’ cross to Golgotha.
Mark 15:21 A certain man from Cyrene, Simon, the father of Alexander and Rufus, was passing by on his way in from the country, and they forced him to carry the cross.
4. It seems clear that his son followed in his footsteps, because the
Apostle Paul in his Romans letter refers to a man named Rufus.
Romans 16:13 Greet Rufus, chosen in the Lord ---.
5. May God help us to take up our crosses and follow in the same
footsteps, ready to confess Jesus in a world that will deny Him.
Luke 9:23 Jesus says this to us: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me."
7. JESUS AND HIS FORSAKING FATHER
1. Marvel at this!
Mark 15:34 And at the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?" - which means, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"
2. Why? You and I and the whole world - we are the answer.
3. The wages of sin had to be paid; with His innocent death for us
the guilty, Jesus paid, Jesus endured the hell we deserved.
4. Now we are forgiven not forsaken! Now we have eternal
assurance that God will never forsake us.
Hebrews 13:5 God has said, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you."
8. JESUS AND HIS RECEIVING FATHER
1. The price for our salvation having been paid, Jesus proclaimed
His victory in a loud voice.
John 19:30 Jesus said, "It is finished."
2. Jesus’ resurrection was God’s proof positive that Jesus’ mission
was successfully finished, completed, that Jesus was no longer
forsaken, but that He had been received as the victorious Savior.
Acts 17:31 "For [God] has set a day when he will judge the world
with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of
this to all men by raising him from the dead."
3. Listen also to these words.
Philippians 2:8-11 Being found in appearance as a man, [Jesus] humbled himself and became obedient to death - even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
9. JESUS AND HIS FATHER’S HOUSE
1. Jesus was received, He returned to His eternal glory.
2. Now that glory will welcome us too. Listen to Jesus referring to
His Father and then to His promise about His Father’s House.
John 14:6, 2-3 "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. --- In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am."
3. What a promise! We’ll be home! With Jesus! And then we "will dwell in the house of the Lord forever."
Praise God the Father for sending His Son to be our Savior. Praise God the Son for being willing to be forsaken in our place so that we need not be forsaken. Praise God the Holy Spirit for bringing that message into our hearts by Word and Sacraments, for working faith in our hearts by the Gospel message of salvation in Jesus.
Truly knowing God revealed in His Son and brought to us by the Spirit, that makes every day for us children of God a special Father’s Day.
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　

June 12th, 2011 Pentecost

2011-06-12T20:25:00.002-05:00

“HOW IS THIS ANY BETTER?”
Sermon based on the Gospel of John, chapter 16, verses 5-11:
Seminary Graduate James Saatkamp
5 “Now I am going to him who sent me, yet none of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ 6 Because I have said these things, you are filled with grief. 7 But I tell you the truth: It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. 8 When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment: 9 in regard to sin, because men do not believe in me; 10 in regard to righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; 11 and in regard to judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, held in the protecting hand of the Savior who loves us with an everlasting love,
How do you know that you are in protecting hand of the Savior? I can't see Jesus' hand hovering over you. I can't see his hand under you as you're sitting in the pew. If I were to ask you where Jesus is right now, you'd probably say everywhere. But I can't see him; is he really there if I can't see him? Yes, he certainly is here with us right now, just not physically. A short ten days ago we celebrated Jesus ascending back to heaven. As he told his disciples, they would see him no more, though he said and is with us always.
But have you thought about what life would be like if Jesus were still here physically? How would you feel if you turned to your left and saw Jesus sitting in the pew next to you? Imagine if you got to shake the hand of the almighty Son of God after church today. Sitting with Jesus, talking with Jesus, hearing the voice of the Lord of Lords--what an amazing opportunity I think that would be! If Jesus were still here physically, I think my whole life, not just Sunday mornings, would be different. I'm sure I'd try to enter every fishing tournament possible with Jesus as my partner, and I'd never have to worry about bad weather postponing the tournament. I would never have to worry about finding a snack to eat late at night, because Jesus would be there to hand me as many fish and loaves of bread as I wanted. I'm guessing I wouldn't have to go to the chiropractor anymore--Jesus knows how to fix a bad back. For that matter, with Jesus as my earthly physician, I'd never have to worry about getting sick. Doesn't think sound like a blessed life? Wouldn't it be better if Jesus were still here physically?
If you say yes, the disciples would agree with you. It is incredible, nearly unbelievable, for us to even imagine seeing such miracles of Jesus, but the disciples actually saw the incredible. They witnessed the unbelievable. They were there to walk and talk with Jesus, to very literally sit at his feet and hear the voice of the Son of God. And it was not as if they were watching their hero from afar. No—they were Jesus’ closest friends. They loved him. They were used to hearing his voice, seeing him, watching Jesus rescue them from storms, providing whatever they needed. Here we read today’s Gospel text from John 16. We find Jesus and the disciples during Holy Week, and Jesus says this to his closest friends who had come to know life with Jesus over the last three years, “Now I am going to him who sent me, yet none of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ Because I have said these things, you are filled with grief.“ Jesus tells his friends, “I am leaving,” but they don’t want to hear it. They don’t want to talk about it. They want to ignore this giant elephant in the room. They don’t even ask Jesus where he is going. Why? They thought life was good with Jesus with them physically. And they were right, life was good. They were blessed.
But now things were going to change. Jesus told them so. Jesus was leaving. They would not hear his voice as they traveled from town to town. They could not tap him on the shoulder to ask him a question. There were still storms to be stilled, sick to be healed, hungry to be fed, dead to be raised, and people to be preached to. How was Jesus leaving going to make their situation any better? How were they going to get along without their almighty and loving friend?
There’s a show on tv in the afternoons right now with a female star. She is one of the most powerful women on tv today. The ratings for her show are easily more than the ratings for any other daytime tv show, and she’s won the ratings crown for a few years now. Oprah? No—Judge Judy. One of Judge Judy’s favorite lines to say to a plaintiff or defendant who’s been making up a story is “That doesn’t make sense, and if it doesn’t make sense, it isn’t true.” Jesus left, and now things are supposed to be better? Does that make sense? If it doesn’t make sense, is it true? If Jesus were around today, he could touch me and heal my broken back. He could be the perfect mediator for settling the war between Israel and Palestine. He would do a better job of ending world hunger than the World Hunger Association ever could, because he is the almighty Son of God. And what is there now that Jesus is not here physically? Sickness, hunger, war. How is this any better?
When we celebrated Ascension only a few days ago, we stood with the disciples and gazed in awe at our Lord ascending back to heaven. Our hearts were filled, hearing that we could trust Jesus and that we have a home waiting for us in heaven. But now that some time has passed, do we still feel the same way. It’s easy for that peace and joy to fade in our hearts and minds. And we begin to ask ourselves, “Sure, I felt good on Ascension, but now I don’t feel the same way. Am I sure that Jesus ascending is better than Jesus staying here physically?”
Let’s go to the words of our Savior in verse 7: “But I tell you the truth: It is for your good that I am going away.” In the original text, Jesus emphasizes that not only is it for our good, but it will be better for us. Jesus’ disciples were so distraught that he was leaving, Jesus answers their depression with this soft word of truth: “It will be better for you.” Now there’s an understatement! It won’t just be good, or better, IT WILL BE BETTER! It will be better than what they could have hoped or dreamed, and it will be exactly what they need.
But how exactly is it better? Again, we go to the words of our Savior to answer this question on our minds and hearts: “Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you.” Jesus did return to the Father, and he did send the Counselor. We see that fulfillment today as we celebrate the Holy Spirit coming on the disciples at Pentecost. “When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.” The Holy Spirit worked on the hearts of the disciples, strengthened their faith, gave them boldness to preach God’s Word, and powered them to spread the message of Jesus, the Savior from sin, throughout Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and throughout the world.
Jesus describes the work of the Counselor, the Holy Spirit in verses 8-11. “When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment: in regard to sin, because men do not believe in me; in regard to righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; and in regard to judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned.“ What exactly does it mean that the Holy Spirit convicts the world? The Holy Spirit judges through the preaching of God’s Word. He convicts sinners of sin when he says, “See Jesus, the Savior of the world. You reject Jesus? This is sin, unbelief, and the door to heaven remains shut for you because you reject Jesus, the only way to heaven.” He convicts the world in regard to righteousness when he creates faith in the heart, faith which trusts and knows Jesus as Savior and Jesus righteousness as his own. And he convicts the world in regard to judgment, because through the preaching of the Gospel he says, “See, Satan? You are defeated! Jesus has won the victory over you, over sin, over death.”
See the blessing of the Holy Spirit poured out on the people at Pentecost! This blessing is poured out on us today too. No, we don’t have tongues of fire on our heads today. Would we want that? It probably would be pretty incredible to experience what the disciples experienced on Pentecost—the Holy Spirit resting on us like tongues of fire, speaking the praises of God in different languages effortlessly. At times, my sinful nature looks on what the disciples were blessed to experience with a bit of jealousy. Why doesn’t that happen to me? And we begin to feel that our Lord hasn’t given us what we need. We didn’t get to walk with Jesus. We didn’t get to see the risen Lord. We didn’t watch him ascend. We didn’t even get tongues of fire and the gift of speaking in tongues. We become sad, or even angry with our Lord.
And Jesus comes to us again and again through his Word and tells us, “My grace is sufficient for you. What I have given you is exactly what you need.” No, we may not have seen what the disciples saw or experienced what they did. Hear again the word of the Lord: “What you have now—it is better.” We have a Savior who was born among us, who walked with us, who died for us, who rose to show us that the victory is ours, and who ascended to complete God’s plan of saving us. And Jesus has poured out the gift of the Holy Spirit on us, his church. This is how Dr. Martin Luther explains the work of the Holy Spirit among us in his explanation to the third article of the Apostles’ Creed: “The Holy Ghost has called me by the Gospel, enlightened me with his gifts, sanctified and kept me in the true faith; even as he calls, gathers, enlightens, and sanctifies the whole Christian Church on earth, and keeps it with Jesus Christ in the one true faith; in which Christian church he forgives daily and richly all sins to me and all believers.” What a blessing! What miraculous work the Holy Spirit does among us!
And not only among us, but also through us! As the Holy Spirit worked through Peter’s Pentecost sermon, so the Holy Spirit works through us when we tell others about the good news of Jesus’ victory over sin and death and the place in heaven waiting for us.
Maybe to you—and maybe sometimes to me—the season of the church year we call Pentecost may seem like a bit of a downer. There are no major festivals like Easter coming up for a while. There are no federal holidays like Christmas. Not that there is anything wrong with the season of Pentecost, but sometimes this season may seem less exciting by comparison to Advent through Ascension. If that thought starts creeping into your head during the season of Pentecost, remember that Jesus did just as he said he would and sent the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. Remember that the Holy Spirit does his work among us in our hearts even today. If you ever feel like something else could be better, remember the words of Jesus: “Trust me—this is better for you!” Amen!

June 5th, 2011 Worship Service

2011-06-12T20:19:00.001-05:00

2011-06-05T08:40:00.002-05:00

GRADUATION
June 3, 2011
Pastor Timothy J. Spaude
Text: Jeremiah 29:11

“GOD HAS GOT GREAT PLANS FOR YOU!”

Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV) “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

So what are your summer plans? Are you doing anything special? Where are you planning on going to school next year? Have you heard any questions like that recently? I’m sure you have. It seems that much of our life involves making plans and carrying them out. Most of the time those plans are more general rather than detailed like “I’m going up north” or “I’m going to get a job.” I’ve got some plans here I want to show you. They are the plans that were used to build this church building. You and I might look at this building and simple see a nice place to worship with brick walls and a wooden ceiling but there’s a whole lot more to it than that. Look at these plans! They are detailed. They include specifics like the type of wiring to use, wiring you can’t even see. The plans make sure the materials used will support the weight of the roof but not add too much weight and that the furnace will be big enough to heat the building. All these things that you don’t see or even think about someone planned for you so you could have this place to worship.
But you know what? As detailed as these plans are they are nothing compared to the plans your wonderful Lord made for you before you were even born. The passage you chose as your theme passage and motto for your class is from Jeremiah 29:11. Let me read it to you again. “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” There are three parts of this planning passage I want you to focus on tonight and take with you when you go. They are LORD, prosper and not harm, and hope and a future.
As you think about your theme passage focus on the word LORD. They tell you who is making plans for you. So far in your life many have made plans for you. Teachers planned what they were going to teach you and tests they would give. Parents planned meals for you. Those are all good. In the future upperclassmen in high school may make some plans for you to welcome the freshmen that are also known as fresh meat! Those might not be so good. But when God uses the name LORD in the Bible He reminds you that He is your Savior God who always has your best interests in mind. So when you leave here take with you the LORD as the one who has plans for you.
Focus also on the type of plans, plans that will prosper you and not harm you. Do any of you remember from your study of the Old Testament the times when these words were written by Jeremiah? It was written to God’s people when they were in exile. Do you remember that? Do you remember how so many people were carried off to Babylon because of their idol worship? Can you imagine how the believers felt? Strangers in a strange land. Can you imagine how hard it would be to have your entire family uprooted and have to start over from scratch? What was God thinking? What kind of plans were these? Plans to prosper and not to harm. God had their good in mind. His people would be cleansed of their idol worship. They would learn again to trust God and His promises. They would be brought back to their Promised Land so the Savior could be born. Plans to prosper and not to harm you.
Remember that as God unfolds His plans in your lives. If you are like all the rest of us you will find yourself in some uncomfortable places in life. Things will not work out as you want. Things will not always go your way. You may fall into sin and bring some consequences on your lives. Other people may sin against you and you will have to deal with that. You may make some great plans for your own lives and despite your best efforts they will not come to pass. You will feel disappointment. At those times remember, plans to prosper not to harm says the Lord. God always has your best interests in mind and if you are praying fervently for something to happen and working your hardest to make it happen and it does not then realize that it is not in your best interest. Your plans will harm you and not prosper you and they are then in conflict with the Lord’s plan to prosper and not to harm you. God’s got great plans for you.
Our third focus is that God’s great plans are to give you hope and a future. This is the God you serve and why you want to stay close to Him through His word all your life. Hope. Hope is the confidence of a brighter tomorrow. It’s the peace that when my plans are falling apart God’s are moving right along. God’s great plans for you give you hope in all situations. And a future. You may hear from high school guidance counselors as they try to steer you to a good career and away from a foolish one, they may say, ”There’s no future in that.” What they mean is it won’t lead you anywhere good. How different is the LORD. A future. It means great things to come. I don’t know how that will play out in your earthly life but if you stay in the faith in Jesus Christ that has been given to you it means heaven. It means glory. It means joy. It means happiness. It is forever. God’s got great plans for you! He will stick with you so you need to stick with Him. Have you made your plans for that? Amen.

2011-06-05T08:40:00.001-05:00

ASCENSION DAY
June 2, 2011
Pastor Timothy J. Spaude
Text: John 14:1-6

“WE CELEBRATE JESUS’ ASCENSION…”
1. Because we can trust Him.
2. Because He’s coming back for us.
3. Because He is the Way!

John 14:1-6 (NIV 1984) “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. 2 In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. 4 You know the way to the place where I am going.” 5 Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?”
6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

Ascension seems to be another one of those paradox church festivals. You know, like Good Friday. On Good Friday the Church gathers to celebrate the death of God’s Son. It’s called Good but the church year colors are black. The tunes and tones of many of the Good Friday hymns are dark and doleful but the message is thrilling as Jesus cries “It is finished!” and we know all our sins are paid for. At Ascension we seem to have another paradox. The church gathers to celebrate a good-bye. It rejoices that Jesus leaves in a visible way and does not grace us anymore with His visible walking around presence. And the tunes and tone is triumphant and rejoicing. What gives? God does to us in His word.
Tonight we look at some words Jesus spoke to His disciples before His death to prepare them for His death, resurrection and ascension. In them God gives to us reasons for celebrating Jesus Ascension.
The first reason is because we can trust Jesus. He says, “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me.” Oh, Lord Jesus, if only it were that easy. “Do not let your hearts be troubled,” He says. But we live in such troubling times. You go to the doctor and get the bad news about yourself or a loved one and how can the heart not be troubled? The whispers around the workplace speak of another downsizing and how can the heart not be troubled? Once again monthly income does not meet monthly expenses how can the heart not be troubled? But Jesus still says, “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me.” He was talking to men who also lived in troubling times. Their leader, their friend, says He will be arrested and killed. But He will rise. Then they won’t see Him. How could their hearts not be troubled? “Trust Me!” Jesus says.
If Pastor Waldschmidt would say, “Hey Pastor Spaude, why don’t you jump off the church roof and I’ll catch you, just trust me,” you could understand if I was a little skeptical. If he would say, “Why don’t you let the skunk out of that trap, it won’t spray you, trust me,” you would not blame me if I hesitated. Jesus says, “Trust me,” with our troubled hearts and we can. He has given us the proof. Even though the disciples did not understand all the whys and whats that Jesus was telling them it all went exactly as Jesus said and turned out great. Jesus was arrested. He did die. He did rise. And He did ascend. Everything went according to plan.
What’s troubling your heart tonight? Health issues, finances, family problems, trouble with friends, issues in government? Celebrate the Ascension with me. It proves we can trust Jesus in everything. God has a plan.
Celebrate Jesus’ Ascension with me because it means He will come back for us. “In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.” When hearts are troubled Jesus directs our attention heavenward. He reminds us that there is room for all. He promises that if He goes He will come back and take His followers with Him. Here’s a reason to celebrate Jesus’ Ascension. In order to come back He needed to go! What comfort Jesus’ disciples found in this truth later. Even though their hearts didn’t need to be troubled their lives often were troubled because they followed Jesus. They endured whippings and imprisonment, stoning, beating, rejection. In all this they did not deny or turn away. Jesus who had ascended before their eyes had promised to come back for them. At just the right time for each of them Jesus did.
And He will for you too. You may look at your life right now and when you add up the things that make you happy against the things that make you sad there is a negative balance. You may wonder what good you are. You may compare your life to others and feel you have the short end of the stick. If you aren’t enjoying the time God has given you on this earth, come and celebrate the Ascension with me. Jesus is coming back. For you! It won’t be at the time false prophets predict it, but personally at your death or collectively on Judgment Day Jesus will come back and you will be freed from this life that has way too many tears and begin the one that only has joys.
And you can be sure of this because Jesus is the way there! Jesus said, “You know the way to the place where I am going.” 5 Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?” 6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” If you were to die tonight, are you sure you would be in heaven? I am and you have every right to be sure as well. When Jesus talked about going to heaven to prepare things and to come back, Thomas said he didn’t know the way there. He found out he was staring at the way in the face. “Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
Sadly so many people today are like Thomas. They don’t know the way to heaven even though they should. Jesus is before them. God’s gotten His word everywhere. They need to believe in Jesus because no one comes to the Father except through Him. Regardless of the faith state of other people tonight we can look at ourselves and rejoice because we know the way, Jesus! How happy that makes us. Something that should trouble our hearts but sadly often does not is our sin. Guilt and shame are a believer’s right initial response to their sin. Our hearts at first need to be troubled over sin. Then they need to rejoice because Jesus is the way to heaven and His Ascension proves it. One of the Epistle lessons often read for Ascension comes from Philippians chapter two. You will recognize it when I read it.

Philippians 2:5-11 (NIV1984) “ Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: 6 Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, 7 but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death— even death on a cross! 9 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

If Jesus had not humbled Himself He would not have been exalted. If He had not finished His work, if He had failed in His mission, He would have been left on this earth—in the grave. But He didn’t. He was obedient to death on the cross. He paid for every sin and so God raised him to the highest place, gave Him that name that is above every name. He is exalted. He is the way.
And so we celebrate Jesus’ Ascension. There really is no paradox. We are glad to see Him go. It’s like when a small town boy makes it big and the town that stays behind rejoices when he goes to the big leagues or the big city or the big whatever it is, on a grander scale we rejoice that Jesus ascended because we can trust Him, He’s coming back for us and He is our way to heaven. Amen.

May 29th, 2011 Worship Service

2011-06-05T05:42:00.000-05:00

June 5th, 2011

2011-06-04T21:22:00.001-05:00

I Peter 4:12-17, 5:6-11 Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you. 13 But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed. 14 If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you. 15 If you suffer, it should not be as a murderer or thief or any other kind of criminal, or even as a meddler. 16 However, if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name. 17 For it is time for judgment to begin with the family of God; and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God?

Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings. And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. To him be the power for ever and ever. Amen.
Don’t Be Surprised!
I. By Trials
II. By The Devil
In the name of Jesus, our crucified, risen and ascended Savior, dear redeemed children of God,
The other morning I was out for my morning jog and I had something happen that never happened to me before. I was running in the parkway and I saw a deer. The deer watched me closely as I approached. I tried not to look right at the deer as I passed because I thought she would surely bolt away if I stared right at her. But instead of bolting away, the deer came running right at me. I slowed and then the deer stopped and stared at me from the edge of the road. (Later I wondered if there were a fawn around that I didn’t see.) I continued on my way as the deer stayed there by the side of the road. Up the road I met a motorcycle, I waved and pointed because I wanted to give him a “heads up” that the deer was there. I don’t think he understood because he just smiled and waved and continued on. Although I think he understood my “heads up” a little better when he got up the road and saw the deer because he slowed way down. In God’s Word today, Peter gives all of us a “heads up” about what we can expect as followers of Jesus. Don’t Be Surprised. Don’t be surprised by trials. Don’t be surprised by the devil.
Maybe you have a trip to Six Flags planned this summer. I would imagine that their three years had been a roller coaster for Jesus’ disciples. They had followed their Lord as he preached forgiveness and told of the Kingdom of God. They had seen him heal the sick and feed thousands of hungry people with a few scraps of food. They had seen Jesus raise people who were dead. They watched their Lord arrested and put to death. Three days later Jesus came back to life. That must have fed into the idea still rolling around in their minds that Jesus was going to set up an earthly kingdom. Just before Jesus ascended into heaven, the disciples asked him, “Lord are you at this time going to restore the Kingdom to Israel?” Remember what Jesus said, “It is not for you to know the times or the dates the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth.” Now their Lord Jesus ascended into heaven with the promise that they will be his witnesses. But does he send them out into the world right away with swords and flashing light sabers? No, Jesus sent them back to Jerusalem to wait for the Holy Spirit. There would be some surprises for Jesus’ followers. Everything would not go the way that they expected.
Then after Pentecost, when the Lord made things clear to the disciples, it might come as a surprise to us that they did not travel on roads paved with feather pillows. Instead the disciples’ road would be paved with tears and blood. First the disciples would be thrown in prison and beaten up. Then Stephen would be killed for being Jesus’ witness. Soon after that, Herod beheaded James to try to win favor with the Jewish people. Paul and Silas would later be whipped and thrown in prison for casting an evil spirit out of a young girl. The Roman rulers would soon get into the act and persecute and kill kind and gentle Christians. History tells us that they once burned an 86 year old bishop at the stake as he sang a hymn to the Triune God.
We might be surprised that God allowed this to happen, but it was all part of his plan. The more the world tried to stomp out the message, the more the message spread. The Lord uses one of those men who walked back to Jerusalem on Ascension Day to give us a heads up so that we would not be surprised by the trials that come our way as Jesus’ followers. “Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you.” At first, those might seem like strange words coming from Peter because Peter was the one who was quick to criticize Jesus for talking about suffering and dying. But the Lord had taught Peter something. When we suffer we look more and more like our Savior Jesus. “But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed. If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you. If you suffer, it should not be as a murderer or thief or any other kind of criminal, or even as a meddler. However, if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name.” With the wedding last week I’m sure the children heard plenty of “Oh you look just like your dad” or “you look just like your mom.” When you and I are persecuted for our faith we look more and more like Jesus. The world makes fun of us and hates us because our actions bear a family resemblance to our brother Jesus.
I read recently that although the persecution of Christians usually gets most of the historical attention. More people were killed for their faith in the 20th Century than in all of the centuries since Christ combined. Thousands and thousands of Christians died in Russia and in China in the last century. By God’s grace we’ve been shielded from that kind of persecution. It may well come yet for us. There are people and governments that don’t like Christians very much who are gaining more and more influence in the world. If that day comes the Lord will keep us in His care. But we should not be surprised even now by trials that come to us because we act like our Savior. Problems might come our way even when we have done everything right.
How you ever thought that the unbeliever done the street has everything just perfect and my life is a mess? God points out that we should not be thinking that the wicked are getting away with everything while the believers suffer. “For it is time for judgment to begin with the family of God; and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God?” If God’s people go through all kinds of suffering in this sin filled world, imagine how awful things will be for those who reject Christ when the Lord comes again.

“Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.” Don’t be surprised when trials come your way because you trust in Christ. But when trials come your way more and more put your trust in Christ.
A few weeks ago police officers in Missouri responded to a call about a large alligator lurking on the embankment of a pond. An officer called a state conservation agent, who advised him to shoot the alligator because there was little that conservation officials could do at that time. As instructed an officer shot the alligator, not once but twice, but both times the bullets bounced off- because the alligator was made of cement. That gator could not harm anyone unless he was dropped on their foot. The property owner told police later that he placed the ornamental gator by the pond to keep children away. The devil would like us to think that he is really just a harmless cement alligator. Not able to hurt anyone. But don’t be surprised by the devil.
“Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” So often the devil masquerades as our friend. He is trying to take our eyes off of Jesus so that He can kill our faith. So often we fall into his trap. We believe him when he tells us the drinking too much will take away our pain. We believe him when he says that it’s OK to sit down and watch a filthy movie. Rather than acting more and more like our Lord Jesus we have acted more and more like the devil. We’ve said things that were not true and thoughts things that the devil would think. But we have a Savior Jesus. Out of pure grace he took our place. He took the punishment we deserved. Now we want to thank him
“Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings.” Because we have a God who loves us and forgives us, Peter launches into a song of praise. “And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. To him be the power forever and ever. Amen.”
This week’s Meditations had an illustration of a Sunday School girl who was drawing a picture of Jesus. The teacher reminded the little girl that we don’t have any pictures of Jesus. We don’t know what he looked like. The little girl responded, “they will when I get through with my drawing.” Let’s ask ourselves, “What kind of a picture am I drawing of my Savior Jesus with my life? As we out of love reflect the Savior’s love let’s not be surprised by trials, let’s not be surprised by the devil. Amen.

May 22nd, 2011

2011-06-04T21:18:00.001-05:00

Text: John 10:1-10
Jesus Is Our Good Shepherd
I. The Sheep Recognize The Shepherd’s Voice.
II. The Shepherd Opens The Gate To Life
In the name of Jesus, the Good Shepherd, dear fellow redeemed children of God,
Well, we’re still here. If we are still here, then yesterday was not the end of the world, nor was it the supposed “snatching up” of believers that some misguided spiritual guides say will usher in the end of the world. Some of you might know that a man by the name of Harold Camping had said that he had figured out by studying the Bible that the world was going to end yesterday. Mr. Camping now joins a long list of false teachers, some Christian, others non Christian, who have said that they knew something that God in His wisdom has hidden from our eyes. Still Harold Camping was right about one thing, this wicked world is going to end. On that day and as we wait for that day to come, sheep like us will need a Good Shepherd to guide us and protect us. Jesus is the Good Shepherd. I The Sheep recognize the Shepherd’s voice. II. The Shepherd opens the gate to life.
Did you ever find yourself locked out of your own house? Maybe you had to boost yourself or one of the kids through a window. Even though it is your own house, it feels kind of funny doesn’t it? You try to do it quickly so that the neighbors or a policeman driving by won’t see. The owner of a house usually comes in through the door and not through a window. Those who come through the window are usually not the legitimate owners. In Jesus’ day there were spiritual leaders who were trying to take some the sheep belonged to the Good Shepherd. Imagine coming home and finding someone crawling through your window to steal what belonged to you. That’s what Jesus the Good Shepherd found. There were so called spiritual leaders who were passing themselves off as the Good Shepherd. Yet they were not coming to the sheep the way that matched what God’s Word says. They were climbing over the fence. AI tell you the truth, the man who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way is a thief and a robber.”
“The man who enters by the gate is the Shepherd of the Sheep.” Jesus came the way God’s Word said he would. He fit all of the prophecies. God’s Word’s said, “A virgin shall conceive and give birth to a son and will call his name Immanuel.” Jesus was born of a virgin girl in Bethlehem just like the prophets said. God gave a job description of the Good Shepherd through Isaiah, “The Lord has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted and to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners.” Jesus fit that description to a T. Jesus spoke of God’s forgiveness and love to the brokenhearted. He helped and healed the outcasts.
The Good Shepherd was there. But there were also the bad shepherds climbing over the gate them as wolves to steal souls away from their true Shepherd. In John chapter 9, Jesus had just healed a blind man. Near the end of that chapter we see that the man=s spiritual sight had also been restored. When Jesus asked, ADo you believe in the Son of man?@ The man who was healed replied, ALord, I believe.@ Yet the false shepherds came charging in, AThis man is not from God.@ After arguing with the man who had been healed they threw him out of the synagogue and accused him of being spiritually blind. Finally when these false shepherds confronted the Good Shepherd, Jesus told them plainly that they were the ones who were spiritually blind. The Pharisees of Jesus= day tried to steal the people by fear and intimidation. They robbed the people of the sure hope of forgiveness by piling many, many manmade commandments on them. Jesus said that many of their forefathers did the same thing, “All who ever came before me were thieves and robbers.”

On some days, it seems like Satan has an army of false shepherds, snapping at the heals of his sheep. Today those false shepherds might urge us to Ado what feels good.@ No matter what the Aold dusty book@ called the Bible says about it. There have been times when we have listened to and followed these false shepherds that we see in our world everywhere from beer commercials to books. What foolish and sinful sheep we are. But Jesus is our Good Shepherd. Fellow sheep, let’s to the voice of the shepherd.
AThe watchman opens the gate for the shepherd and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.@ When I was a little boy and our family went to the County Fair, I used to like to go through the cattle barns to look at all the cows. Each stall in the cattle barn had the animals name written on a sign. But the owners of those animals didn’t have to look at those signs. They knew each one of their animals. The farmer knew that this one was “Daisy@ and that she gets scared by thunder. They knew that that one over there was AClover@ and that she was so sick last month they had to call the vet. Just as the farmers know each one of their animals by name so our Good Shepherd calls each one of his sheep by name. Even with so many people in this world, you are not just a number to the Jesus. He knows your name. He knows if you were sick last month. He knows the things that are frightening you. He knows the temptations you are struggling with. His voice brings peace and comfort to our ears and to our hearts. Jesus is our Good shepherd and the sheep recognize Jesus’ voice. When we are tired out, His voice says, “Come to me all ye that labor and are heavy ladened and I will give to rest.”
When past sins torment us, the voice of the Shepherd calms us, “Take heart, your sins are forgiven.”
For safety=s sake, the shepherds would meet and bring all of the sheep together into one pen for the night. Then in the morning they would separate get their own sheep back by walking to the gate and calling out names. The sheep all knew the voice of their shepherd and when they heard their name called they would follow the shepherd out into the pasture for the day. AWhen he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger=s voice.@
It was interesting to hear the radio dj’s talk about Harold Camping’s prediction of the end of the world. Sadly many mocked not only Harold Camping but also mocked God and joked about heaven and hell Two voices stick in my mind. One said, “If it’s Saturday, I don’t have enough time to make up for all the bad things I’ve done.” Another said, “I’m in pretty good shape, I’ve been pretty good, but my dog is in trouble.” Did you notice that? Their admission to heaven centered on what they had done. If our getting into heaven depends on what we have done we are in bad trouble. “All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God,” But there is a gate to life. It is Jesus the Good Shepherd. He leads the sheep to life.
The Good Shepherd may not have chalkdust or a smart board clicker in His hand but this shepherd has a teacher’s heart. AJesus used this figure of speech, but they did not understand.@ Many of the people Jesus was talking to did not understand what he was saying. So Jesus changed His picture from the Shepherd to the “gate.” ATherefore Jesus said again, AI tell you the truth, I am the gate for the sheep.@ Jesus is the way to heaven. Jesus said, AI am the way the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father, except through me.@

“I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. He will come in and go out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.@ Jesus left his throne in heaven to give us life by his keeping the commandments in our place and laying down his life again in our place on the cross. What a wonderful picture of the shepherd being the gate to life for His sheep.
Have you found yourself wishing more and more that Camping was right and that the end of the world was today? Are there days when you feel pretty defeated or lifeless? Are there days when you wonder where your Good Shepherd is? Are you feeling that way today? Know that you Good Shepherd has not left you. He is there leading you through life. Just like a shepherd he is there in front of you clearly out the thorn branches and fallen trees of life out of your way. I would imagine that the sheep never knew what how scraped up the shepherds hands and feet got as he cleared the way for them. You and I might never know all the dangers and problems our Good Shepherd has cleared out of our path. Yet we know what are on his hands and feet- nail holes from the cross. The timing of the end of the world is in his hands too. He’ll do it all right at just the right time. After all, Jesus is our Good Shepherd. Amen.

May 15th, 2011 Worship Service

2011-06-04T21:16:00.000-05:00

2011-05-31T08:31:00.000-05:00

May 29/30, 2011
Nate Buchner
Matthew 16:21-26

On Maundy Thursday, I had the opportunity to listen to a pastor preach in Mequon. In his sermon he talked about a lady he had just met who asked him about Maundy Thursday. She did this because she really had no idea what it is. When she did this, the pastor then asked her what she thought Maundy Thursday was. She said that it was the night when Jesus got together with all of his friends and told them that it had all gone bad and that he was going to die soon. You see, many people don’t understand what Jesus’ death was all about. They don’t understand why he had to go to the cross to die. However, our lesson before us clearly tells us what the cross is all about. We have a cross-eyed view of Christianity. We see that Christ has born his cross. And we carry our cross and follow Christ.
Our lesson for today picks up in the middle of the year when Jesus was crucified. At this time Jesus was undergoing heavy persecution from those who denied his message. Because of this, he needed to prepare his disciples more fully for the events that were about to happen. Previously he had prepared his disciples by asking them who they thought he was. In response to his question, Peter confessed, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
And although Jesus’ disciples had grown in their understanding of who he was, they did not yet fully understand Jesus’ mission. For this reason, Jesus prepared his disciples using obvious words by saying that “he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.” These words not only show the suffering Jesus had to undergo, but they also showed the glorious ending. But the shock of these words was too much for Peter. He could not grasp that his friend was going to die. Because he got caught up with Jesus’ death, he was unable to see the magnificent ending Jesus had just foretold.
Because of this, “Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. ‘Never, Lord!’ he said. ‘This shall never happen to you!’” Imagine Peter taking his Rabbi aside and you can almost hear what was going on in his head, “What? My friend’s going to die? Why would he ever have to do that? I better tell him that he’s wrong.” The emotion that Peter was feeling is made all too clear by his words, “Never, Lord! This shall never happen to you!”
But Jesus in his ultimate knowledge and compassion did not fall into this trap that Peter unwittingly placed before him. Without pause, Jesus turned and commanded Peter, “Get behind me Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men."
After hearing Jesus’ rebuke of Peter you may be thinking, these are some strong words! But when we understand the meaning behind Peter’s words, it becomes apparent why Jesus responds so intensely. First of all, the all-knowing God was the one dealing with Peter. And since he is God, there is no need to doubt that Jesus understood why Peter said these things. Peter had this view because he didn’t understand why his friend would have to die, and also because he did not understand his own sins. On top of this all, Peter was not looking at what Jesus’ death would mean for all men. Instead he acted as an instrument of Satan by caring only for the things of men.
Now you may be wondering, what are these things of men? By Jesus’ words, “you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men,” he is telling us that the things of God and the things of men are opposites. The things of God include his plan for salvation, something unattainable for men without the death and resurrection of his Son. But in opposition to this, Peter was thinking about things like the loss of a friend. At the same time he could’ve also been thinking, “If Jesus sticks around, I’m going be to an important man with a powerful friend. Perhaps if he stays I’ll even receive honor, praise, and wealth.” With such thoughts, Peter was trying to make Christianity into a cross-less religion.
And if you still are wondering why Jesus used such strong words, just look at what could’ve happened if Jesus would’ve followed Peter’s rebuke. If Peter would have succeeded in his rebuke, it would have meant that Jesus would never have died. He never would have risen. And ultimately, everyone who trusts in him as Savior would have had a faith that’s futile and would still be in their sins.
Also don’t doubt that this wasn’t a real temptation for Jesus. Remember that he was still true man. Can you think of a man who actually wants to go through suffering and absolute hell? That is what Jesus was facing. Again, this example reinforces why Jesus used such strong language and even called him Satan.
Take a step back and compare yourselves with Peter here. Aren’t we similar? Now, obviously, we never rebuked Jesus and then were told, “Get behind me Satan!” But yet, we have all been guilty of having in mind the things of men, instead of the things of God. Haven’t we all acted bitterly towards God because something wasn’t done our way? Haven’t we all been more concerned with things like riches, honor, and glory, than we were with God and serving him? This happens because we all like Peter have had in mind the things of men, and not of God. And also like Peter, we at times even doubt the seriousness of our sins.
And because of this, we all deserve death and hell. However, Jesus did have in mind the things of his Father, and not the things of men. For this reason, he sent his Son to, “suffer many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law,” and then “be killed and on the third day be raised to life.” Because of our sins, it was necessary that Jesus do this all. It was necessary that he refuse to be trapped by Peter. It was necessary that he walk head on into the suffering of hell for us. For our sake he did this, because he knew that we could not do it on our own. In his grace, Jesus bore his cross in our place. And now through faith, we have a cross-eyed vision of Christianity. Thanks be to God that Jesus had a cross-eyed view, that he had in mind the things of his Father and not of men. He was more concerned with our well being and our salvation, than what he knew would happen to him.
When we hear of the great things Christ has done for us, we can do nothing other than give thanks. And we can express that thanksgiving by following the words of Christ. For Jesus explains not only to his disciples but also to us how to give thanks to God. In thanksgiving, we keep on with our cross-eyed vision and we do this by bearing our own cross.
Jesus says in verse 24, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.” Now you may be wondering, but what does this mean? What is Jesus asking by saying deny yourselves, take up your cross, and follow me? When Jesus asks us to deny ourselves, he’s asking that we put to death our sinful ambitions. This is no easy thing to do. For each of us, we have been waging war to deny ourselves since the day God gave us faith. However, even today we still wake up and wage that same war. Part of us sees what Jesus has asked us to do and we want to do it so that we may show our love for him. But, another part of us wishes that we lay down our arms and give up on the fight. Because of this, we must fight and wage that war, keeping in mind the things of God, and not the things of men.
Jesus also asks us to take up our cross. When we take up our cross, we stand out from the world. We endure the persecution of those who mock us for keeping our minds on the things of God. And we all know that at times the cross can feel like a boulder upon our backs. That boulder forms because our sinful self is right there with us, egging us on to put down our cross and follow the thoughts of man. Because of that sinful self, the way of our cross is a fight until the bitter end. However, we are not alone in this fight. We have a general. One who leads us into battle and shows us the way.
For this reason our general, Jesus Christ, asks us to follow him. And in reality who better to lead us? He has already born his cross. He knows all the temptations that face us along the way, especially the temptation to simply quit and to lay that cross down. And he knows that we do not follow his same exact path. So what is Christ saying when he asks us to follow him? He’s asking us to see him, to have a cross-eyed view of what he did and to live our lives giving glory to him. We fight to keep our focus on the cross, to maintain a cross-eyed vision, not giving into the things of men.
But if these tasks seem too daunting, Jesus shows what happens when a person is more concerned about the things of man and wants to save his life. Jesus states, “For whoever wants to save his life will lose it.” If a man wishes to save his own life, that means he is only concerned about the here and now, about the things of men like riches and success. And although he may keep his earthly life longer by focusing on the things of men, he ultimately loses his spiritual life. The only thing this person has to look forward to is hell, a place of eternal pain and death.
On the other hand, “whoever loses his life will find it.” What Jesus is saying here is that this person does not have in mind the things of men, like his earthly life. Instead, he places his eyes onto the things of God, and through faith finds eternal life. We are this person. We focus our eyes on the things of God, doing so with a cross eyed vision. We through faith take up our cross and follow Christ, because we know that even if we lose our life here, we will have an eternal life awaiting us with Jesus.
We do this because the gift we have been given is worth it. Jesus shows us why in verse 26 when he says, “What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?” Not even all the riches of the world compare to the glories lying before us in heaven. The world only offers temporary things, but what God has given us is for all eternity. On top of this all, earth can only offer things tainted by sin, while God offers gifts of perfection. Not only this, but the world’s riches can’t even compare with the spiritual riches we possess now through faith. Because of this, we take up our cross and follow Christ.
Brothers and sisters, many people believe that the cross was the end for Christ. However, as Jesus foretold, the cross was not his end. He did rise from the dead. And because of this, our faith is not futile. We have a cross-eyed view of Christianity. He has born his cross, and for this we bear ours too.

May 8th, 2011

2011-05-21T10:10:00.001-05:00

May8, 2011 from Richard Waldschmidt on Vimeo.

May 8/9, 2011 sermon by Pastor Paul G. Eckert

2011-05-10T08:57:00.000-05:00

May 8/9, 2011 - Easter 3 - Sermon by Pastor Paul G. Eckert
Various texts - they are printed in the body of the sermon
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Mother’s Day does not have a place on the church year calendar like Christmas or Good Friday or Easter or Ascension or Pentecost, church festivals that emphasize the greatness of what God has done for us. But that does not mean that we cannot in church talk about mothers on Mother’s Day. After all, God’s Word has plenty to say about them.
For our sermon today then, instead of using just one main text I have chosen to use a number of Scripture texts, texts that have something to do with mothers, texts that also show a connection with our Savior. So in a little different format today let us talk about JESUS AND MOTHERS and consider 12 subjects, starting out with
1. JESUS AND THE FIRST MOTHER
Genesis 3:20 Adam named his wife Eve, because she would become the mother of all the living.
1. We did not come from the foolishness of evolution. We all go back to a common mother who had no mother, who was created to be the first mother by God’s amazing wisdom and power.
Genesis 3:6 When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.
2. This first mother did not stay perfect as God had created her with her husband. Eve with Adam chose to disobey God, and sin was now a part of their nature, and with sin dying came into the picture.
3. That sinful nature has been passed on, also to us. That is why death is a part of our lives, and why hell is what we all deserve.
2. JESUS AND A PROMISED MOTHER
Genesis 3:15 "And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel."
1. God’s love took over right away. He would conquer the devil by using the offspring of a woman, of a mother who would give birth to the promised Savior. He would get struck in the heel, get hurt terribly on the cross. But He would end up crushing our old evil foe.
Isaiah 7:14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.
2. God in advance revealed much about this promised offspring of a
mother, including the fact that He would come by a virgin birth.
3. JESUS AND ANCESTRESS MOTHERS
Matthew 1:1, 5-6 A record of the genealogy of Jesus Christ the son of David, the son of Abraham: --- Salmon the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab, Boaz the father of Obed, whose mother was Ruth, Obed the father of Jesse, and Jesse the father of King David.
1. Here is more detail about the promised Savior’s genealogy.
2. Notice the inclusion of Rahab, a sinful woman from Canaan, and of Ruth who also was a foreign woman, from Moab.
3. Do you see what this tells us? Jesus is not ashamed to have a public sinner in His genealogy, or women who were not from Israel.
4. And what does that tell us sinners and Americans or whatever background our nationality is? - Jesus is not ashamed of us either.
4. JESUS AND HIS FORERUNNER’S MOTHER
Luke 1:39-41,45 At that time Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea, where she entered Zechariah’s home and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. --- "Blessed is she who has believed that what the Lord has said to her will be accomplished!"
1. God had also foretold a forerunner, John the Baptist.
2. Elizabeth, his mother, knew about that, and spoke to Mary about that, Mary who believed God when He told her about her role.
5. JESUS AND HIS BIRTH MOTHER
Matthew 1:18, 22-23 This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about. His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. --- All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: "The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel" - which means, "God with us."
1. Remember the promised offspring, the virgin birth foretold?
2. It happened, and Mary became Jesus’ promised birth mother
6. JESUS AND MOTHERS BRINGING CHILDREN
Luke 18:15-17 People were also bringing babies to Jesus to have
him touch them. When the disciples saw this, they rebuked them.
But Jesus called the children to him and said, "Let the little
children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of
God belongs to such as these. I tell you the truth, anyone who will
not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter
it."
1. There are people, there are mothers who, like these disciples, don’t see the importance of bringing their children to Jesus, the Savior, mothers who sad to say at times may not be the best mothers.
2. Mothers here, don’t ever be like that. Don’t concern yourself about the best of everything for your children but neglect bringing them to the Savior in Baptism and bringing them up in His Word.
3. Instead may all of us be "like a little child" when it comes to believing, for adult-like thinking that rejects Jesus means eternal loss.
7. JESUS AND A PRAYING MOTHER
Mark 7:24-30 Jesus left that place and went to the vicinity of Tyre. He entered a house and did not want anyone to know it; yet he could not keep his presence secret. In fact, as soon as she heard about him, a woman whose little daughter was possessed by an evil spirit came and fell at his feet. The woman was a Greek, born in Syrian Phoenicia. She begged Jesus to drive the demon out of her daughter. "First let the children eat all they want," he told her, "for it is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to their dogs." "Yes, Lord," she replied, "but even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs." Then he told her, "For such a reply, you may go; the demon has left your daughter." She went home and found her child lying on the bed, and the demon gone.
1. Mothers, be persistent in your prayers for your children.
2. If at first answers you want don’t come, maybe Jesus is giving you, like this woman, a chance to exercise your faith. Remember, He loves us and will give only the answer to prayer that He knows is best.
8. JESUS AND A GRIEVING MOTHER
Luke 7:11-15 Soon afterward, Jesus went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a large crowd went along with him. As he approached the town gate, a dead person was being carried out - the only son of his mother, and she was a widow. And a large crowd from the town was with her. When the Lord saw her, his heart went out to her and he said, "Don’t cry." Then he went up and touched the coffin, and those carrying it stood still. He said,
"Young man, I say to you, get up!" The dead man sat up and
began to talk, and Jesus gave him back to his mother.
1. Grief comes into mothers’ lives today too, even death.
2. Here Jesus showed a mother His power in a special way, a power that will be evident for all believing children on resurrection day.
9. JESUS AND MOTHERS WHO WEPT
Luke 23:27-28 A large number of people followed him, including women who mourned and wailed for him. Jesus turned and said to them, "Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me; weep for yourselves and for your children."
Mt. 27:55-56 Many women were there, watching from a distance. They had followed Jesus from Galilee to care for his needs. Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Joses, and the mother of Zebedee’s sons.
John 19:25 Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother, his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene.
Mark 15:47 Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses saw where he was laid.
1. Here are examples of mothers who wept at Jesus’ crucifixion.
2. Mothers today have to do a lot of weeping for other things.
3. But weep because of the crucifixion, because of the fact that Jesus atoned for our sins with His perfect life and innocent death? Certainly not for that! For His victory, His forgiveness, we rejoice!
10. JESUS AND ALL WHO REJOICE
Mark 16:1-6 When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might go to anoint Jesus’ body. Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they were on their way to the tomb and they asked each other, "Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?" But when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away. As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed. "Don’t be alarmed," he said. "You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him."
Matthew 28:8-9 So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples. Suddenly Jesus met them. "Greetings," he said.
1. They came in sorrow, but heard a message of victory, of a living
Savior, of someone who had accomplished all He had promised.
2. I don’t think it took long at all for them to wipe any tears from
their eyes, to have a smile of wondering, and finally when they later
saw the risen Jesus to give each other some high fives.
11. JESUS AND CHILDREN OF MOTHERS
Ephesians 6:2-3 "Honor your father and mother" - which is the first commandment with a promise - "that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth."
1. We have looked mainly so far at mothers, mothers who were somehow connected with Jesus, our Savior.
2. Now let’s look at children, at God’s will for children of mothers.
3. That will of God is that children give their mothers honor and respect - and not just on Mother’s Day.
4. Not doing that, sin of any type, will lose God’s blessings.
5. But for doing that, God even promises special blessings
.12. JESUS AND ALL OF HIS FAMILY
Matthew 12:46-50 While Jesus was still talking to the crowd, his mother and brothers stood outside, wanting to speak to him. Someone told him, "Your mother and brothers are standing outside, wanting to speak to you." He replied to him, "Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?" Pointing to his disciples, he said, "Here are my mother and my brothers. For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother."
1. Today we may think in a special way of mothers.
2. But whether a mother or a father, a son or a daughter, a brother or a sister, the important thing is to be a part of our Savior’s family, family members who give evidence of that in their lives.
3. And that is by faith in our Savior who alone is our forgiveness, our daily source of strength, and our sure hope of eternal glory.
4. And so, to stay in that family, let’s keep doing what the early Christians did.
Acts 1:14 They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.
To all mothers here today, "Happy Mother’s Day!" To all of us, may God keep us united as members of Jesus’ family!
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　

Worship Service May 1st, 2011

2011-05-09T14:07:00.000-05:00

May 1, 2011 from Richard Waldschmidt on Vimeo.

April 24th, 2011 Worship Service

2011-05-02T06:19:00.000-05:00

April 24, 2011 Easter from Richard Waldschmidt on Vimeo.

Worship Service April 17th, 2011

2011-04-27T14:16:00.001-05:00

April 17, 2011 from Richard Waldschmidt on Vimeo.

2011-04-25T10:34:00.001-05:00

EASTER
April 24/25, 2011
Pastor Timothy J. Spaude
Text: Job 19:25-27

“I KNOW THAT MY REDEEMER LIVES!”
1. What comfort this sweet sentence gives.
2. He lives to bless me with His love.
3. He lives to silence all my fears.
4. He lives and I shall conquer death.

Job 19:25-27 (NIV) “I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand upon the earth. 26 And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God; 27 I myself will see him with my own eyes—I, and not another. How my heart yearns within me!”

The Old Testament Book of Job is a wonderful gift from God. We don’t know when Job lived but we can all relate to what Job went through, just not to his extreme. Job was a believer in the one true Savior God of the Bible. He had been given many physical blessings, great wealth in property and herds and servants. He had been blessed with a large family. But then the Devil put him through some trials and hardships. He lost his wealth. All his children were killed in a storm. His health went bad. He endured the finger pointing from some of his best friends who questioned what sin he had done to be punished so. What was he hiding? Job endured the spiritual rollercoaster of confident trust in God, to clinging to Him for dear life, to hurt, anger and questioning of God’s love and goodness, fairness and justice.
What was it that gave Job hope through his trials? Jesus did. His Redeemer. Listen to his words again. “I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand upon the earth. 26 And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God; 27 I myself will see him with my own eyes—I, and not another. How my heart yearns within me!” In the midst of loss, hurt, lack of understanding, sorrow, anger, guilt that the Lord Jesus lives provided hope and confidence.
And it still does today. Job’s Holy Spirit inspired words served as inspiration for a hymn writer named Samuel Medley to write in the late 1700’s what has become a favorite Easter hymn aptly named “I know that my Redeemer lives.” In every line of each verse, every line but two, the word “lives” appears. Jesus Lives! Today we’ll use this favorite hymn to guide our celebration of Jesus’ resurrection and the confidence and hope for whatever we are going through in life it gives us. Let’s sing the first two verses as printed.

What comfort this sweet sentence gives.

I know that my Redeemer lives
What comfort this sweet sentence gives.
He lives, He lives, who once was dead;
He lives, my ever-living Head.

He lives triumphant from the grave;
He lives eternally to save.
He lives all-glorious in the sky;
He lives exalted there on high.

Have you ever heard the term “comfort foods?” Do you have one? Comfort foods is a term used to describe a favorite food that provides some kind of emotional boost. It might be your mom’s homemade chicken noodle soup, or meatloaf, even something as simple as a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. That fact that there are even such things as comfort foods stands as testimony that people need comforting. What is that you need comforting from? Are you lonely? Hurt? Feel rejected? Jesus lives. You heard in our Scripture readings about some women who needed comforting. The last time they saw Jesus he was dead. And if you can think about the last time you were at a funeral you know that there is something very final about death. But not with Jesus. The women came to the tomb and found that Jesus wasn’t dead anymore. He lives. God let Job see that too when he needed comforting. The hymn writer points out some reasons why this is so comforting. He uses these words to describe the living Jesus: triumphant, all-glorious and exalted. He reminds us that Jesus is in control. He knows what you need comfort for. He is there for you. What is it that you need comfort for? What is bothering you? Tsunamis and earthquakes? World unrest and fighting in Libya and elsewhere? Political divisiveness? Something more personal? Jesus lives. Go to Him and know that He is there for you. Let’s now sing the next two verses of our hymn.

Part 2: He lives to bless me with His Love.

He lives to bless me with His love.
He lives to plead for me above.
He lives my hungry soul to feed.
He lives to help in time of need.

He lives to grant me rich supply;
He lives to guide me with His eye.
He lives to comfort me when faint;
He lives to hear my soul’s complaint.

He lives to bless me with His love. When Job went through his trials he experienced loss of blessings. He lost camels and sheep and oxen. His children died before he did. He lost his good health. Would it ever get any better? Would his hurt go away? I know that my Redeemer lives. Resurrection faith. Faith that clings to a living Jesus who does live to bless us because He loves us. Our hymn writer reminded us of just some areas. He pleads for us above. Oh what a blessing that is. Can you imagine being treated as your sins deserve? But you aren’t. Why not? Only because of Jesus. As the one who was punished for your sins and my sins He pleads for us. He points to His payment for sin in our place so no punishment is necessary. He feeds our hungry souls with His word giving us hope for our hurts. He helps us in time of need. He listens and cares when no one else does. All these and many more. You can list some of them if you want but let’s go on now with the next two verses.

List some blessings Jesus gives you.

Part 3: He lives to silence all my fears.

He lives to silence all my fears.
He lives to wipe away my tears,
He lives to calm my troubled heart.
He lives all blessings to impart.

He lives, my kind wise heav’nly friend;
He lives and loves me to the end.
He lives, and while He lives I’ll sing;
He lives my Prophet, Priest, and King.

Fears and tears. They are a part of life living in a sin messed up world. Job experienced them. As messenger after messenger came to him with bad news of what had happened to this flock and what had happened to this herd he must have been afraid of what the next one would say. And when the next one came with the news that his sons and daughters had all perished, then the tears. We face situations like that. What will the doctor say, what will the tests reveal? I’m sure you’ve had one of those runs in life where you find yourself thinking, “Now what? What next? In a society that has no respect for authority police officers must fear what kind of reception they will get when they come to help. Their spouses can hate answering the phone when they are off to work. Fears and tears. But I know that my Redeemer lives. He silences my fears because He is ruling things for me and He will only allow in His wisdom what He can easily prevent with His power. Let me say that again, He will only allow in His wisdom what He can easily prevent in His power. He wipes away my tears with His gentle assurance that He is in control. He calms our troubled heart by letting us see that by His death and resurrection that God really does know what He is doing and He will keep His promise to work all things for good. The love our kind and wise heavenly friend has for us will not end. Is there something that is causing you to be sad or afraid today? Take it to Jesus who lives for you. Let’s sing now the last two verses of this great Easter Hymn.
What makes you sad or afraid?

Part 4: He lives and I shall conquer death.

He lives and grants me daily breath
He lives and I shall conquer death.
He lives my mansion to prepare.
He lives to bring me safely there.
He lives, all glory to his name! He lives, my Jesus, still the same.
Oh, the sweet joy this sentence gives, “I know that my Redeemer lives!”

Did you hear about it in the news yesterday? Buried treasure. It seems a man was turning over dirt in his backyard in Austria and uncovered a treasure trove of rings and necklaces and other valuable jewelry from over 600 years ago. That’s quite a find. Buried treasure. Did you know that that’s what we could call the bones, the remains of every believer in Jesus Christ who has died? It doesn’t matter if those remains were buried in a casket or cremated or if the body was never found. It’s buried treasure. How you ask? I’ll let brother Job answer that again. “I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand upon the earth. 26 And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God; 27 I myself will see him with my own eyes—I, and not another. How my heart yearns within me!” Job knew his Redeemer Jesus lived and that the day would come when Jesus will stand on the earth. He identifies it as the end. We usually call it Judgment Day. Job looked ahead to that time and the Holy Spirit let him know that he too would be standing there to see his God with his own eyes. Even after his body had been decayed. How could this be? Buried treasure. It started with Jesus. Jesus died on the cross because He wants people with Him forever. He wants them living with Him body and soul in joy and happiness. Sin made that impossible. It is impossible for sinful people to live with God. Sin causes death. So Jesus died to pay for sin. Yours and mine and everybody’s! When Jesus was buried He was the treasure because of what happened that first Easter. Jesus rose again. Death couldn’t hold Him. He defeated death by being punished for all sins. He didn’t just beat death for Himself. He did it for everybody. And God has declared that everyone who believes in this Jesus will be saved. That means that just like Jesus rose from the dead to live again, every believer in Jesus will rise to live again too. They will nto go to the Hell they deserve but to a perfect and happy life with Jesus. They will see Him with their own eyes. So when Job died his body became buried treasure. When I die my body will become buried treasure. If there is one less person at your Easter feast today because he or she died and he or she was a believer in Jesus you have buried treasure. You will see them again with your own eyes because of Jesus. We will conquer death.
All because He lives. Samuel Medley the hymn writer stopped at 8 verses. Obviously he could have kept going. My Redeemer lives. If there is anyone here who doesn’t know Jesus as My Redeemer, please speak with me after the service. I’d love to tell you more. For “I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand upon the earth. 26 And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God; 27 I myself will see him with my own eyes—I, and not another. How my heart yearns within me!” Yours can too. Amen!

Maundy Thursday, April 21, 2011 sermon

2011-04-22T09:52:00.001-05:00

Maundy Thursday, April 21, 2011 - sermon by Pastor Paul G. Eckert
John 13:1-7, 12-17
1 It was just before the Passover Feast. Jesus knew that the time had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he now showed them the full extent of his love.
2 The evening meal was being served, and the devil had already prompted Judas Iscariot, son of Simon, to betray Jesus. 3 Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; 4 so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. 5 After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him.
6 He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, "Lord, are you going to wash my feet?"
7 Jesus replied, "You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand."
12 When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. "Do you understand what I have done for you?" he asked them. 13 "You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. 14 Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. 15 I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you.
Luke 22:14-24
14 When the hour came, Jesus and his apostles reclined at the table. 15 And he said to them, "I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. 16 For I tell you, I will not eat it again until it finds fulfillment in the kingdom of God."
17 After taking the cup, he gave thanks and said, "Take this and divide it among you. 18 For I tell you I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes."
19 And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, "This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me."
20 In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you. 21 But the hand of him who is going to betray me is with mine on the table. 22 The Son of Man will go as it has been decreed, but woe to that man who betrays him." 23 They began to question among themselves which of them it might be who would do this.
24 Also a dispute arose among them as to which of them was considered to be greatest.
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"Do you understand?" Jesus asked that after washing the feet of His disciples. We could ask that same question with regard to one of them, Judas. Do we understand exactly when he left the Passover meal to betray Jesus? We know it was Thursday evening at the Passover meal that Jesus singled Judas out as the betrayer and he then left the group of the apostles. But exactly what time was that? Was it before the end of that meal? That seems to be the case, that Judas left before Jesus instituted the Lord’s Supper.
But here our logical minds might want to know exactly what time that was, like was it 6:30 or maybe 8:00. Then we have to remember that 2000 years ago they didn’t carry sundials on their wrists the way we have watches on our wrists and clocks on our phones and almost everywhere. Suffice it to say that the Holy Spirit obviously felt it wasn’t important for us to understand the precise time Judas left.
But there is something Jesus clearly wants His apostles and us to understand precisely, and that is the full extent of His saving love for us. So on the basis of our texts from John and Luke, our theme is:
THE FULL EXTENT OF JESUS’ LOVE!
DID THE APOSTLES, DO WE UNDERSTAND?
I CONSIDER THE PRESENT SETTING (13:1)
1. It was Passover time (1a)
It was just before the Passover Feast.
a) we heard the history behind this in the OT reading, how the
blood of a lamb was involved in the deliverance from Egypt
b) now Jesus, God’s real promised Lamb of deliverance from
sin, had arranged with His disciples to commemorate this
history for what would actually be the last required time
2. Jesus knew it was fulfillment time (1ab)
It was just before the Passover Feast. Jesus knew that the time had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father.
a) He had come to this world, taken on Himself our human
flesh and blood, so that He could die as our Substitute
b) now, 33 years later, Jesus knew sacrifice time had come
3. He wants us to know His total love (1abc)
It was just before the Passover Feast. Jesus knew that the time had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he now showed them the full extent of his love.
a) for Himself Jesus would never have had to face this
b) for us He humbled Himself, for us He contended against sin
c) and for us He would in His love take the next step, pay the
price for the world’s sins, and return to the Father victorious
II NOTE THE REFERENCE TO THE FUTURE (22:14-18)
1. He spoke of the immediate future (14-15)
When the hour came, Jesus and his apostles reclined at the table. And he said to them, "I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer."
a) the table was set, they were ready to eat together
b) then after that would come suffering, Jesus’ terrible suffering
2. And He spoke also of the heavenly future (16)
"For I tell you, I will not eat it again until it finds fulfillment in the kingdom of God."
a) they were at a meal celebrating a past deliverance
b) now Jesus pointed also to being at heaven’s eternal banquet
3. And He tells us something about both meals (17-18)
"After taking the cup, he gave thanks and said, "Take this and divide it among you. For I tell you I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes."
a) this was one of the last cups of their Passover meal
b) the Lord’s Supper would use bread and wine from that meal
c) but now, with this Supper, Jesus would proclaim fulfillment of
what the Passover pictured: the real Lamb of God sacrificed
III BE WARNED BY JUDAS’ BETRAYAL (22:21-23; 13:2)
1. Judas came as a betrayer (13:2; 22:21)
The evening meal was being served, and the devil had already prompted Judas Iscariot, son of Simon, to betray Jesus.
a) he had previously agreed to trade Jesus for 30 pieces of silver
b) now he was at the table as a hypocrite, but not to Jesus
"But the hand of him who is going to betray me is with mine on the table."
2. This would have an impact (22:22)
"The Son of Man will go as it has been decreed, but woe to that man who betrays him."
a) it would not stop Jesus from going on to victory
b) but for Judas it meant an eternal catastrophe, eternal loss
3. What a warning for us (23)
They began to question among themselves which of them it might be who would do this.
a) the other 11 apostles could not understand this happening
after three years with Jesus; and might we not think the same?
b) but how many years have we been with Jesus? how many
years have we learned from Him in our school and in church?
c) are we tempted to put money ahead of Jesus, to think the
world’s temptations would never put us and our faith at risk;
do we fail to realize that setting Jesus aside leads to eternal
loss as happened with Judas? - fellow believers, be warned!
IV LEARN FROM JESUS’ EXAMPLE (22:24; 13:3-7,12-15)
1. How easy it is to have wrong thinking (22:24)
Also a dispute arose among them as to which of them was considered to be greatest.
a) love of money, as with Judas, was not the only temptation
b) here pride, love of importance also reared their ugly heads
2. Jesus gave a personal example (13:3-7)
Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him. He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, "Lord, are you going to wash my feet?" Jesus replied, "You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand."
a) by this visible personal example Jesus wanted to show them
what He previously told them, that He, Jesus, had come not to
be served but to serve and to give His life for our salvation
b) but Peter, and probably all of them, did not yet understand
that they also were to be ready to serve, not to be served
3. He wanted them to understand this (13:12-15)
When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes
and returned to his place. "Do you understand what I have done
for you?" he asked them. "You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’
and rightly so, for that is what I am. Now that I, your Lord and
Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you."
a) this did not teach them how to save themselves
b) this was a lesson showing them what a saved apostle, a saved
Christian should want to do as a result of being saved
c) in our day, washing feet may not be a need; but you know as
well as I do that in our families and all around us there are
genuine needs that we according to ability should want to do
something about because we are Christians, following the
example of Jesus who is far more than an example, who is
above all our Savior, our Savior who has even given us sinners
a special meal that proclaims to us His saving love
V RECEIVE HIS MEAL’S ASSURANCE (22:19-20)
1. It is a simple meal
a) simple does not mean it is for all; Jesus gave it to His disciples
who had been instructed; today too we welcome to the Lord’s
Table with us those who are instructed and can examine
themselves, those who are one in confession and faith with us
b) its simplicity is in the bread and the wine and the wonderful
message Jesus proclaims by means of this meal
2. Listen to this meal’s message (22:19-20)
And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, "This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me." In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you."
a) after the Passover supper, Jesus instituted His N.T. meal
b) here the Passover Lamb is Jesus Himself, Jesus who on the
cross satisfied God’s justice by paying for our sins, who tells
us personally in this meal, as we receive with the bread and
wine His body and blood, that His body given and blood shed
mean that our sins are forgiven by God
3. Use this meal in remembrance
a) don’t come to the Lord’s Table just to come, not thinking
b) Jesus said, "Do this in remembrance of me."
c) come then as penitent sinners, remembering what Jesus did,
and rejoicing in the full extent of Jesus’ forgiving love
The Full Extent Of Jesus’ Love! Did The Apostles, Do We Understand? God help us by our Christian lives following Jesus’ example to show that we understand and believe, to show that we want to live Christian lives because of the full extent of Jesus’ love: that He gave Himself for us, that He is our Savior from all of our sins for time and for a glorious eternity.

Maundy Thursday, April 21, 2011 sermon

2011-04-22T09:51:00.001-05:00

2011-04-19T08:01:00.001-05:00

PALM SUNDAY
April 17/18, 2011
Pastor Timothy J. Spaude
Text: Zechariah 9:9-10

“KEEP WORKING!”
1. Your Palm Sunday King has come.
2. Your Palm Sunday King will come again.

Zechariah 9:9-10 (NIV) “Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion! Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and having salvation, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. 10 I will take away the chariots from Ephraim and the war-horses from Jerusalem, and the battle bow will be broken. He will proclaim peace to the nations. His rule will extend from sea to sea and from the River to the ends of the earth.”

When things don’t go well people can get discouraged. Even God’s people, who have the right , and the reasons, to be the happiest and most optimistic people on the planet, even they can get discouraged. And if you were one of God’s people who lived at the time of the prophet Zechariah you were discouraged. This is why. First you probably lived through the tail end of the Babylonian Captivity. You remember how the people living in the southern kingdom of Judah had been captured by the Babylonians and carried away. It was God’s chastening of the people because of their idol worship. You saw the improbable and, what must have seemed like the impossible, happen as the Jews were allowed to return to their homeland. They were provided safe passage and even money and provisions to begin rebuilding the Temple. That was the work God gave them to do. Rebuild the Temple. It must have seemed like a dream. Back in the Promised Land! We can rebuild the Temple and then maybe Messiah will come! How exciting!
But there were setbacks, obstacles, bumps in the road and misplaced priorities. The Samaritans didn’t like you coming back. They didn’t want you building the Temple. They schemed and connived and the Temple work was halted. Well, of course you had other work to do while you waited to get back to Temple building. There were your own homes to build. Fields to plant. Food to find. Eventually the Samaritan threat went away. You would think they would have gotten busy again with the work of rebuilding the Temple but they didn’t. Many of God’s people had become complacent. They didn’t want their average home they wanted a bigger nicer home. They weren’t content to have enough food to live on. They wanted bigger fields and crops. Some understood the importance of rebuilding the Temple. They became discouraged. God sent the prophet Zechariah. He rebuked the complacent for their messed up priorities of putting God’s work second. He encouraged the discouraged by pointing them to their Palm Sunday king. “Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion! Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you.”
Why? What was so great about that? Let’s see. “See, your king comes to you, righteous and having salvation, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.” The coming of the Palm Sunday King was a reason to rejoice and keep working because of the type of King He is. Gentle. Riding on a donkey. He is not ostentatious. He is not overbearing. He is gentle. Of course our thoughts jump to the Palm Sunday events described in Matthew’s Gospel. How ironic that the King of kings looks so lowly. How wonderful to know He is gentle. I’m sure you all know people that are not. Bullies in school. Bullies in the workplace. Bullies in families. They get their way by walking all over people, intimidating them to do what the bully wants, manipulating and scheming behind the scenes to get their way. Our Palm Sunday King is the opposite. He is gentle. Even though He is the all powerful King of Kings with thousands upon thousands of angels to do His bidding, even thought He has the right and power to force our obedience, look at how He motivates us to obey God’s commandments. He gives His life for us. He loves us. He sees our weakness and He comes to help us. When Jesus came the first time He was gentle.
He also brought salvation. On Palm Sunday I wonder if the people really knew what they were saying with their “Hosannas” and the “Son of Davids.” Whether or not they knew the Holy Spirit did. They were identifying Jesus as the Savior. These truths were motivation for the people at Zechariah’s time to keep working. They needed to get that Temple built for their king who would come.
That’s the perspective that makes sense for us who live after Palm Sunday. Jesus did come as foretold. Matthew carefully recorded the details and connected the dots of prophecy. Zechariah’s prophecy looks further than Palm Sunday though. It points to a Palm Sunday King who will come again. “I will take away the chariots from Ephraim and the war-horses from Jerusalem, and the battle bow will be broken. He will proclaim peace to the nations. His rule will extend from sea to sea and from the River to the ends of the earth.” The Lord through Zechariah proclaims a time of peace and a world wide rule. This is not talking about physical peace between nations and an earthly kingdom ruled by Jesus. It is talking about a spiritual peace between God and men and the worldwide nature of Christ’s kingdom. He has His believers scattered throughout the world at this time.
But it’s not always going to be that way and the best is yet to come. When? When our Palm Sunday King comes again. And He will. On Judgment Day. Then He will not come riding on a donkey. He will not come in lowliness. He will come in glory with all His angels with Him. He will come to judge all people. Those who have rejected Him will be cast in the fires of Hell prepared for the Devil and his followers. Those who believe will be ushered into the glorious kingdom of peace that lasts forever. Our Palm Sunday King will come again.
Which is a good reason for us to keep working. Remember these words were given to God’s people to help them stay at the tasks the Lord had given them to do even though they were feeling discouraged. They serve us in the same way. Let’s think for a moment of the work God has given each of us to do. I want you to think personally for yourself first. Think or write down a description of the roles God has given to you. I’ll give some examples. You have family roles. Mother, father, wife, husband, child, grandparent, aunt or uncle, friend. You have vocational roles. You might then also be a stay at home mom, a working mom, a student, teacher, employee, boss, unemployed, retiree. These are all examples of roles God gives and each one has work to do—be faithful and serve as though the Lord is your boss or your child or your student. In each one you might get discouraged. There may be obstacles, roadblocks or ever opposition to the work the Lord wants you to do. For example, others don’t appreciate the work you are doing. The love you are showing is not returned. You’ve done your best parenting but your child is now straying. You work faithfully but are passed over for promotion. Someone at work is undermining your work or position. You give great Christian advice to a friend but they don’t take it. You work your hardest studying but still do poorly on the test. You see no results. You feel discouraged. What’s the use? Your Palm Sunday King has come and He will come again. Don’t let outward results or other people’s responses determine what you do. Let your Palm Sunday King. He loves you. Serve Him. Let what you do be done for Him. Simply ask what He would want you to do, look at the work He has given you to do and do it. He will not fail you.
He won’t fail us as a congregation either. When you think of the work the Lord gave the returning exiles, to rebuild the Temple, you can’t help but think of the work the Lord has given to us, to build His Church by being His witnesses. But just like with Israel we can let opposition, obstacles and misplaced priorities discourage us. For the times when we have let misplaced priorities, fun and games rank higher on our list financially and time wise than doing the Lord’s work, God rebukes us. Look at your Palm Sunday King! Is that really what He deserves? For the times when we work and don’t get the results we want or face opposition or obstacles, God encourages us. Look at your Palm Sunday King. He’s ruling right now and He will come again. So for Him, keep working, brothers and sisters, keep working for Him! Amen.

Worship Service April 10th, 2011

2011-04-18T15:25:00.000-05:00

April 10, 2011 from Richard Waldschmidt on Vimeo.

2011-04-14T08:06:00.001-05:00

MIDWEEK LENT 6
April 13, 2011
Pastor Timothy J. Spaude
Text: Matthew 27:15-18, 20-23

“ONE OF THE CROWD”
1. Jesus was condemned by the crowd.
2. Jesus was condemned for the crowd.

Matthew 27:15-18, 20-23 (NIV) “ Now it was the governor’s custom at the Feast to release a prisoner chosen by the crowd. 16 At that time they had a notorious prisoner, called Barabbas. 17 So when the crowd had gathered, Pilate asked them, “Which one do you want me to release to you: Barabbas, or Jesus who is called Christ?” 18 For he knew it was out of envy that they had handed Jesus over to him. 20 But the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowd to ask for Barabbas and to have Jesus executed. 21 “Which of the two do you want me to release to you?” asked the governor. “Barabbas,” they answered. 22 “What shall I do, then, with Jesus who is called Christ?” Pilate asked. They all answered, “Crucify him!” 23 “Why? What crime has he committed?” asked Pilate. But they shouted all the louder, “Crucify him!”

Where’s Waldo? Do any of you remember playing that game? It was often a book really. The pages were full of faces, all kinds of faces. The challenge was to find Waldo. You wouldn’t think it would be that hard, but it was. It’s hard to pick out a single face in the crowd. In the video portion of the Passion History we just watched we saw a crowd of people. Did you pick out any face in the crowd? If not, you need to for the last person of the Passion we look at for our Midweek Lenten services is just another face in the crowd, one of the mob.
Just what was this crowd doing there anyway? Matthew tells us. “ Now it was the governor’s custom at the Feast to release a prisoner chosen by the crowd.” If you recall the events, Jesus’ great sacrifice took place during the Feast of the Passover. At that time the normal population of Jerusalem of around 50,000 would swell with a 200,000 or more visitors planning on celebrating the Passover in Jerusalem. The Roman governor, Pontius Pilate, the thinker stinker, has already been revealed as someone who tied to please people. He had a custom. During the festivities surrounding the Passover he would release a prisoner chosen by the crowd. You could see how this could happen. Roman justice was brutal and swift. It could easily happen that a fairly innocent Jewish man could get arrested and imprisoned with the really bad guys. Pilate was a people pleaser. Rome’s justice would be served with the arrest. But the people would be placated by having someone to pick to be released.
This year Pilate offered them two choices. “At that time they had a notorious prisoner, called Barabbas. 17 So when the crowd had gathered, Pilate asked them, “Which one do you want me to release to you: Barabbas, or Jesus who is called Christ?” 18 For he knew it was out of envy that they had handed Jesus over to him.” Their choices were simple: Jesus or Barabbas. Let’s look a little more closely at them from the perspective of the crowd. What did they know about Jesus? Well, He had a reputation as a miracle worker. He was the one that many previous crowds had been amazed at His teaching saying, “We have never heard anyone speak like Him before.” Certainly they had heard about the recent raising of Lazarus from the dead. Were any in this crowd also part of the crowd that had the Sunday before hailed Jesus as the Son of David, Messiah, casting palms and cloaks before Him singing their Hosannas? That’s one choice.
The other choice was Barabbas. What do we know of Barabbas? What did the crowd likely know? Scripture tells us that Barabbas was notorious, well-known, but not in a good way. He is identified as a rebel, someone who was revolting against Rome. That would make him popular with the people you would think, but Scripture further reveals that Barabbas was a murderer and a robber. Apparently to fund his rebellion or in the process of it he had robbed from his people and murdered some of them. Not a nice guy. Not someone you’d want back on the streets if you lived in those days.
The choice was easy and obvious. Choose Jesus, an all around nice guy that some are whispering about may be the Messiah or Barabbas, a notorious robbing, murdering rebel who would probably do more of the same if he was released. Of course they chose Barabbas. Barabbas! Are you kidding me? That made no sense. How could it happen?” But the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowd to ask for Barabbas and to have Jesus executed. 21 “Which of the two do you want me to release to you?” asked the governor. “Barabbas,” they answered.” It seems that the mob mentality took over. They went against common sense and natural morality and condemned Jesus.
Have you ever wondered how you would have done in that situation? It’s really not that hard to figure out. What did you do that last time you were with a crowd and the mob mentality set in. Kids, the last time a classmate or friend was being picked on did you join in or say nothing? Then you know. You would have condemned Jesus. Young people, the last time you were at a party and realized illegal drinking was taking place, did you join it or just keep quiet and stayed there? You would have condemned Jesus. How about the last time you were in with a crowd of gossipers, potty mouths, people getting drunk, what did you do? Join in? Nothing? You would have condemned Jesus. It would seem that if we are going to pick out a face in the crowd that condemned Jesus the easiest one to pick is your own.
But friends, let’s not lose sight of the big picture. While the crowd condemned Jesus, Jesus was condemned for the crowd. In fact we could say that Jesus condemned Jesus. Jesus condemned Jesus because it was His own great love for people that compelled Him to choose the cross. It was His complete trust in the good will of His heavenly Father that moved Jesus to obediently submit to death, even death on the cross. Jesus was condemned for, on behalf of the crowd. He would take their sins on Himself. Which means He has taken your sins and mine too. What is it that bothers you about yourself? What sinfulness makes you ashamed for disappointing the Lord? Is it selfishness and how it affects your relationships with other people? Is it weakness, the inability to stand up and do the right thing or say the right thing when you are in the midst of sin? Get your chin up. Jesus was condemned for you. He does not look down on your or despise you. He comes to help you with weakness. He forgives you and He considered it a joy to be condemned for you and to suffer and die on the cross for you.
So you see you’re not just another face in the crowd. We might not be able to pick out faces very well. But Jesus can and does. As He is on the cross He can look for and find Waldo and you and you and you and you too. Jesus was condemned for me! And now as we leave let’s remember this people watching we have been doing during Lent. As we have been watching the people of the Passion we need to understand that other people are watching us to see what we do and why we do it. Let’s do all we can to let them see people who love Jesus. Amen.

April 10th, 2011 Sermon

2011-04-10T13:17:00.001-05:00

The Fifth Sunday in Lent
April 10th, 2011

Text: John 11:17-27, 38-45
JESUS HAS POWER!
I. Power to raise the dead.
II. Power to give his life for all.

In the name of Jesus, the resurrection and the life, dear fellow redeemed children of God,
Years ago our Waldschmidt family reunion summertime picnic would end with a tug of war. It wasn’t a tug of war over the last brownie or last little glass bottle of soda at the bottom of the ice water filled tub even though I seem to remember some battling going on for those items. No, this was the tug of war event between the branches of the family. The most important person on the tug of war team would be the anchor. You would look for someone so big and so strong that they could not be moved. Our side of the family didn’t always win. But no matter which side of the family won or lost, the Lord blessed us with another kind of anchor in our lives. He has blessed you with that same powerful anchor- our Savior Jesus. We see His power in God’s Word today. Just like we sing in the children’s song, “we are weak but he is strong”, we put our trust in Him Jesus has power. I. Power to raise the dead. II. Power to give his life for all.
Have you ever been watching a movie or reading a book and all of a sudden something happens that makes it clear to you how it was going to end. English teachers call that foreshadowing. In God’s Word today, we see Jesus give his disciples and us a powerful hint about how the story of our salvation was going to end. Jesus is just about ready to go to the cross. Yes, Jesus would suffer and die, but there would be a twist in the story. Just as he had shown with the young man outside of Nain, or with Jairus’ daughter, Jesus shows that he is much more powerful than death. He gives us a foreshadowing of Easter. Jesus has power - power to raise the dead.
Jesus had received an urgent message from the town of Bethany. His friend Lazarus was sick. His sisters asked that Jesus come right away. Humanly speaking Bethany seemed like it would be a dangerous place for Jesus to be. The disciples pointed tried to point that out to Jesus when he said he “was going to wake Lazarus up.” They said that the chief priests had tried to stone him last time he was near Jerusalem. But Jesus’ love took Him there. As they left for Jerusalem, Thomas tells us how dangerous it really was for Jesus as he tells the other disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.”
Judging from the “four days” mentioned later it seems likely that Lazarus died just after the messengers left Bethany to take the urgent message to Jesus. Jesus’ love brought him to Bethany but His love and wisdom also led him to delay two days before he made the day’s journey to Bethany. There is an indictment and a comfort here for all who have wondered about God’s timing. Have we ever waited for the Lord to help us with something and foolishly said, “What is He doing? Why isn’t he helping me? What’s taking Him so long?” With our little brains and our limited sight we have questioned the ways of the Lord God, “who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.” How foolish! But the One who holds all of this power and knowledge in His hands loves us. When Jesus delays he has a blessing in mind, even though like with Mary and Martha, it might be hard to see those blessings. His timing is always just right.
That’s where we pick up the story in God’s Word, “On his arrival, Jesus found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days.” It would seem ridiculous to take a dead body to the doctor 4 days after death. It would seem pretty obvious that it would be too late for medical treatment to help. But not for Jesus. Jesus has power- power over death.
“Bethany was less than two miles from Jerusalem, and many Jews had come to Martha and Mary to comfort them in the loss of their brother.” Notice all the details. This wasn’t a “once upon a time” kind of thing. Jesus showing His care and power would be seen by many people. “When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet him, but Mary stayed at home.” This time it is Martha who hurries to sit at Jesus’ feet. “Lord,” Martha said to Jesus, “if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask.” Martha hints at the power that Jesus has-power even over death. She pours out what’s in her heart. She was disappointed that the Lord was not there while Lazarus was still alive. But she also now humbly says that she knows that somehow someway Jesus was going to work it all out in the way He knew was best. Isn’t that something we can say to Jesus when we don’t understand something that happens in our lives. I don’t understand this Lord but I know you can work something good out of it. At times we pour out our disappointment to the Lord that this or that didn’t happen but then rest in Jesus’ love and power knowing that somehow someway he’ll work it all out. Jesus’ power was not just something off in the future. Jesus power over death was real then and there. “ Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life.”
We pick up the story at the cemetery where Jesus’ friend Lazarus had been buried four days earlier. “Jesus, once more deeply moved, came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance.” The Bible describes Jesus as a “man of sorrows, familiar with suffering.” We see that there at the tomb as he mourns with the family. There is also sometimes a feeling of helplessness that we have around someone who has lost a loved one. We would like to help but we can’t. Jesus can! “Take away the stone,” he said.” Right away Martha objects thinking that Jesus’ grief and compassion have overcome his good sense. “But Lord,” said Martha, the sister of the dead man. “By this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days.” If you have smelled the odor of a dead animal, the odor of a body that has been dead for 4 days in a warm climate is far worse. It is a reminder that things have been messed up in God’s perfect world. It is a stark reminder of part of the foul smelling payment for sin- my sin, your sin.
“Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?” Sometimes we forget that the Bible says that “Jesus is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine.” So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, “Father I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me.” When he had said this, Jesus called out in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen and a cloth around his face. Jesus said to them, “Take off the grave clothes and let him go.” My confirmation pastor, Pastor Janke had a very powerful voice. It seemed like he could sing as loud as the whole congregation could, all by himself. You always knew when he was in the room. But look at the power in Jesus’ voice! With a prayer and a few simple words, Jesus calls Lazarus back to life on this side of the door of death. Without lifting a finger, Jesus brings a man who has been dead for four days back to life. What power! The one who holds that power is the one who is on the receiving end of our prayers. No matter what enemies face us every day- sickness, financial problems, unbelieving co-workers who harass us- Jesus is with us,
That powerful voice belongs to the one who in great love let his voice go silent in death. Believers would see the glory of God even clearer in the days to come on Calvary and at the tomb. They would see that Jesus has power-power to lay down his life for all.
Jesus told Martha, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die.” Jesus would make our living forever possible by laying down His life on the cross. Jesus’ miracle of raising Lazarus moved things in the direction of the cross. From that point on the Pharisees plotted in earnest to kill Jesus.
Unlike the Pharisees, by faith we see that Jesus’ raising of Lazarus was really more something really cool that Jesus could do. It reinforced for everyone again that Jesus was the one Martha had talked about earlier. Remember? Jesus asked her, “Do you believe this?” “Yes, Lord,” she told him, “I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who was to come into the world.”
Jesus’ miracle in the cemetery that day brought others to see that He had power- power to give up His life for us all “Therefore many of the Jews who had come to visit Mary and had seen what Jesus did, put their faith in him.”
A number of folks have said that this winter sure has seemed long. Do you feel like your batteries are empty? God has something to pick you up. In the weeks we’ll see him in the upper Room, in Gethsemane, we’ll see him whipped and crowned with thorns in Pilate’s Palace, we’ll see his chest heaving in agony on Golgotha. See there your Savior’s love. As we see him helpless and dying let’s remember what happened in the cemetery outside of Bethany. Let’s remember His power. Our powerful Savior goes with us everyday. Amen.

April 3rd, 2011 Worship Service

2011-04-10T13:15:00.002-05:00

April 3, 2011 from Richard Waldschmidt on Vimeo.

March 27th, 2011 Worship Service

2011-04-09T18:51:00.000-05:00

March 27,2011 from Richard Waldschmidt on Vimeo.

April 6, 2011 - 5th Wednesday Lent Service by Pastor Paul G. Eckert, based on Matthew 27:11-4 and John 19:11-16

2011-04-07T09:44:00.001-05:00

April 6, 2011, 5th Wednesday Lent Service - by Pastor Paul G. Eckert Sermon texts - Matthew 27:11-24 and John 19:11-16 Matthew 27:11-24 11 Meanwhile Jesus stood before the governor, and the governor asked him, "Are you the king of the Jews?" "Yes, it is as you say," Jesus replied. 12 When he was accused by the chief priests and the elders, he gave no answer. 13 Then Pilate asked him, "Don’t you hear the testimony they are bringing against you?" 14 But Jesus made no reply, not even to a single charge—to the great amazement of the governor. 15 Now it was the governor’s custom at the Feast to release a prisoner chosen by the crowd. 16 At that time they had a notorious prisoner, called Barabbas. 17 So when the crowd had gathered, Pilate asked them, "Which one do you want me to release to you: Barabbas, or Jesus who is called Christ?" 18 For he knew it was out of envy that they had handed Jesus over to him. 19 While Pilate was sitting on the judge’s seat, his wife sent him this message: "Don’t have anything to do with that innocent man, for I have suffered a great deal today in a dream because of him." 20 But the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowd to ask for Barabbas and to have Jesus executed. 21 "Which of the two do you want me to release to you?" asked the governor. "Barabbas," they answered. 22 "What shall I do, then, with Jesus who is called Christ?" Pilate asked. They all answered, "Crucify him!" 23 "Why? What crime has he committed?" asked Pilate. But they shouted all the louder, "Crucify him!" 24 When Pilate saw that he was getting nowhere, but that instead an uproar was starting, he took water and washed his hands in front of the crowd. "I am innocent of this man’s blood," he said. "It is your responsibility!" John 19:11-16 11 Jesus answered, "You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above. Therefore the one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin." 12 From then on, Pilate tried to set Jesus free, but the Jews kept shouting, "If you let this man go, you are no friend of Caesar. Anyone who claims to be a king opposes Caesar." 13 When Pilate heard this, he brought Jesus out and sat down on the judge’s seat at a place known as the Stone Pavement (which in Aramaic is Gabbatha). 14 It was the day of Preparation of Passover Week, about the sixth hour. "Here is your king," Pilate said to the Jews. 15 But they shouted, "Take him away! Take him away! Crucify him!" "Shall I crucify your king?" Pilate asked. "We have no king but Caesar," the chief priests answered. 16 Finally Pilate handed him over to them to be crucified. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ What do we know about Pontius Pilate? We know that his name is mentioned in history books and over 60 times in God’s book the Bible. He is mentioned in both the Apostles’ and the Nicene Creeds which we regularly speak together in our Sunday/Monday services. Just about all of the references to Pilate deal with Jesus’ trial. Another reference, in Luke 13:1, tells us of a time when Pilate mixed the blood of some Galileans with their sacrifices. In other words he definitely made use of his position as an official of the Roman government to use killing force. What else do we know? Pilate later apparently was recalled to Rome. We don’t know for sure what happened to him after that, but some tradition says that he ended up committing suicide. Now let’s get to our sermon title: PILATE, THE THINKER. That makes me think of what is known as one of the world’s best known sculptures, dating back to 1902, called "the Thinker statue." I have a picture of that here. Perhaps you’ll recall it when I describe it. It shows a man sitting on a rock, leaning forward with his left arm on his left leg and his right elbow on his right leg and his arm up with his chin on his hand. It sure looks like that man is thinking. About what, that we don’t know. But the statue made me think of our theme and Pontius Pilate. What was Pilate thinking? Looking at how he dealt with Jesus’ trial, I could come up with a theme other than PILATE, THE THINKER. If you permit me to say it, I could make the theme PILATE, THE STINKER. But maybe I better stick with PILATE, THE THINKER and make the full theme: PILATE, THE THINKER - WHAT WAS HE THINKING? I ABOUT WHO JESUS WAS (Mt. 27:11-14) 1. He received input from Jesus (11) Meanwhile Jesus stood before the governor, and the governor asked him, "Are you the king of the Jews?" "Yes, it is as you say," Jesus replied. a) Pilate was stationed in Caesarea, was in Jerusalem at this time and must have heard much that made him ask this question b) without hesitation Jesus told him who He was: He was indeed the promised descendant of King David, the descendant who had come not for an earthly kingdom but as the promised eternal King with a heavenly kingdom to win for His people 2. Pilate had also heard from the people (12-13) When he was accused by the chief priests and the elders, he gave no answer. Then Pilate asked him, "Don’t you hear the testimony they are bringing against you?" a) many false and invalid charges had been brought against Jesus at an earlier church trial b) here too Pilate no doubt heard many false charges 3. What did Pilate think, what do we think? (14) But Jesus made no reply, not even to a single charge—to the great amazement of the governor. a) Jesus did not answer to false charges b) what did Pilate think? - he was amazed, but not convinced c) what do we think? - thank God that we know, that we can be amazed because of the amazing grace found in Jesus II ABOUT HIS OWN RESPONSIBILITY (15-18,20-22) 1. Pilate tried to avoid his responsibility (15-18) Now it was the governor’s custom at the Feast to release a prisoner chosen by the crowd. At that time they had a notorious prisoner, called Barabbas. So when the crowd had gathered, Pilate asked them, "Which one do you want me to release to you: Barabbas, or Jesus who is called Christ?" For he knew it was out of envy that they had handed Jesus over to him. a) Pilate knew the charges against Jesus were not valid b) instead of acting on that, he clearly tried to shift responsibility 2. And then he caved in completely (20-21) But the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowd to ask for Barabbas and to have Jesus executed. "Which of the two do you want me to release to you?" asked the governor. "Barabbas," they answered. a) maybe he thought he could avoid an unpopular decision by trying to make the people responsible for setting Jesus free b) but it backfired; they chose an obviously dangerous criminal 3. What did Pilate think, what do we think? (22) "What shall I do, then, with Jesus who is called Christ?" Pilate asked. They all answered, "Crucify him!" a) Pilate did not think enough to choose to do what was right b) what is the Barabbas in our lives that we are tempted to choose ahead of Jesus? - is it money, pleasure, the world’s sinful lifestyle - and do we set Jesus aside for that? c) if that is how we think, then we are stinkers too III ABOUT INPUT FROM HIS WIFE (19) 1. Pilate heard from his wife (19) While Pilate was sitting on the judge’s seat, his wife sent him this message: "Don’t have anything to do with that innocent man, for I have suffered a great deal today in a dream because of him." a) she must have heard much about Jesus b) now she had a dream and gave her advice to her husband 2. What did he think about that? a) while basing something on a dream may not be wise b) yet here is a husband who should have listened to his wife 3. What do we think about advice? a) it can be good or bad, and dreams are questionable b) but what about advice that clearly comes from God’s will, like parents telling their children to be careful about the company they keep, the movies and TV they watch, the temptations to treat sex like a safe toy to have fun with, to think there is nothing wrong with the abuse of alcohol and drugs? c) God help us, husbands and wives and children, to follow good advice, to accept God-pleasing input IV ABOUT HIS ACCOUNTABILITY (23-24) 1. Pilate abdicated his accountability (23-24a) "Why? What crime has he committed?" asked Pilate. But they shouted all the louder, "Crucify him!" When Pilate saw that he was getting nowhere, but that instead an uproar was starting, ---. a) Pilate had concluded that Jesus clearly was not guilty b) but he gave in like a coward and abdicated his accountability 2. He tried to shift not only accountability but also blame (24) When Pilate saw that he was getting nowhere, but that instead an uproar was starting, he took water and washed his hands in front of the crowd. "I am innocent of this man’s blood," he said. "It is your responsibility!" a) he may have thought that this would make an impression b) but water could neither excuse nor wash away what he did 3. What did Pilate think, what do we think? a) Pilate and we could scrub our hands raw b) but our rubbing, our washing, our efforts of any type, cannot remove any guilty stain c) yet how often do we try to excuse ourselves for doing wrong of some type or another, try to justify ourselves? V ABOUT POSSIBLE REPERCUSSIONS (24a and 19:ll-12) 1. Pilate was concerned about the people (24a, 19:12) When Pilate saw that he was getting nowhere, but that instead an uproar was starting, ---. From then on, Pilate tried to set Jesus free, but the Jews kept shouting, "If you let this man go, you are no friend of Caesar. Anyone who claims to be a king opposes Caesar." a) he didn’t want a riot starting that would hurt him b) he didn’t want repercussions from Rome because of trouble 2. He should have been concerned about God (19:11) Jesus answered, "You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above. Therefore the one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin." a) Jesus here reminded Pilate that God was really in control b) also when there was more than enough sin to go around 3. What do we think of repercussions? a) are we concerned about doing what is right in God’s eyes? b) or, if we do what is wrong, is our concern mainly to avoid any repercussions, to avoid getting caught, to be able to get away with it and not get into trouble? c) and if we do get away with it with people, what about God? VI ABOUT WHAT TO DO ABOUT JESUS (13-16) 1. The decision about Jesus was reached (13-15) When Pilate heard this, he brought Jesus out and sat down on the judge’s seat at a place known as the Stone Pavement (which in Aramaic is Gabbatha). It was the day of Preparation of Passover Week, about the sixth hour. "Here is your king," Pilate said to the Jews. But they shouted, "Take him away! Take him away! Crucify him!" "Shall I crucify your king?" Pilate asked. "We have no king but Caesar," the chief priests answered. a) in a court of justice gross injustice took place b) but God was greater; the evil of the people would be forced to serve God’s saving purpose: the Passover Lamb of God would be killed, sacrificed to take away the sins of the world 2. And now Pilate the thinker handed Jesus over (16) Finally Pilate handed him over to them to be crucified. a) Pilate had a major role in this, together with many others b) do we, our thinking, our sin, have a role in this? definitely! 3. What did Pilate think, what do we think? a) I don’t know for sure what Pilate thought or felt now b) I do know that we Christians don’t think of Pilate favorably c) but I also do know that in faith we Christians know what to do with Jesus: Pilate handed Him over, but we’ll hand over to Jesus our sins, the sins for which Jesus was crucified, the sins for which He paid with His innocent death so that you and I might be forgiven, God’s justice satisfied, heaven our home Concluding this sermon now, do you think we could call Pilate the stinker instead of the thinker? If so, don’t forget that God could look at you and me and because of our sins very often could say to us, "You stinkers, you." Earlier I said some tradition refers to Pilate committing suicide. Some also says he became a believer. I hope the latter is true, that Pilate eventually saw Jesus, whom he had sentenced to crucifixion, as his Savior from all of his sins. If that would be the case, how great that would be to see Pilate the thinker-stinker in heaven with all of us stinkers who have been made clean of our sins not by washing our hands with water, but by being washed clean by the precious blood of our Savior. 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　

2011-04-04T10:37:00.001-05:00

LENT 4
April 3/4, 2011
Pastor Timothy J. Spaude
Text: Hosea 5:15-6:3

“COME, LET US RETURN TO THE LORD!”
1. The Lord who chastens with love.
2. The Lord who is faithful with mercy.

Hosea 5:15-6:3 (NIV) “Then I will go back to my place until they admit their guilt. And they will seek my face; in their misery they will earnestly seek me.” 1 “Come, let us return to the LORD. He has torn us to pieces but he will heal us; he has injured us but he will bind up our wounds. 2 After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will restore us, that we may live in his presence. 3 Let us acknowledge the LORD; let us press on to acknowledge him. As surely as the sun rises, he will appear; he will come to us like the winter rains, like the spring rains that water the earth.”

It seems to be one of those things that comes standard issue with the sinful nature all are born with. I’m talking about the innate ability that all people have to take blessings God has provided for a long time for granted. Americans with their freedom. Children with food. Christians and their privileged relationship with God. Old Testament Israel was no different. Hosea served as a prophet of God in the northern nation of Israel around 750 BC. The people he served were privileged. They were the people of God. They hadn’t done anything to deserve it. They were born into it. Israel the chosen of God! They took this blessing for granted. They forgot that what God really wanted was their hearts. They gave outward obedience to God’s commands instead of willing obedience, if they even gave obedience at all. Their worship became a going through the motions. Their offerings were the leftovers of their flocks instead of firstfruits. It became acceptable for God’s people to join the pagan partying as part of their idol worship.
Trouble came. The powerful Assyrian army was swooping through the region, threatening to capture Israel, to absorb and deport the people. Why would God allow such a thing? Thankfully we don’t have to guess. We know because through Hosea God tells us. “Then I will go back to my place until they admit their guilt. And they will seek my face; in their misery they will earnestly seek me.” God was acting out of love! He was chastening His people. Often times when bad things happen to people they think God is punishing them. In truth God has the right to do bad things to punish people when they do wrong. With His people though, God chastens. And while chastening and punishing may often look and feel the same to the one chastened or punished, they have a far different purpose. Punishment makes someone pay for what they have done. Chastening is designed to help people get better. Parents try to do that with their children. God does it perfectly with His. He chastens with love. His affliction of the people of Israel with the Assyrians was designed to help them see their need for God so they would come back to Him. And the people of Israel got it. They said, “Come, let us return to the LORD.”
Come let us return to the Lord. Does God still chasten His people in love today? Certainly! It is in His Heavenly Father nature. Can we always know what those chastenings are? Not unless He tells us like He did here. But when hard and difficult things happen, the question is worth asking. Is an earthquake and tsunami and nuclear problems God’s chastening of people He loves whom He wants to turn to Him? Is economic recession God’s chastening for a nation that has taken Him and His blessing for granted? Is ongoing political unrest God’s chastening of a state that has taken Him for granted? All those questions are worth asking about the world, the nation, the state, but the more important ones are the ones we can ask ourselves. Do we need God’s chastening? Have we been taking our privileged status as the children of God for granted? Is that why our weekly member attendance has been shrinking with no discernable reason why? Have we decided it is OK to put God in second place in our weekly scheduling or maybe even lower, that it is OK to worship Him when it is convenient for us rather than by making sacrifices to put Him first because we love Him with all our heart and all our soul and all our mind? Is our struggle to meet our church budget because we set the sights too high, because God has not given us enough to live on, or because we think it is acceptable to offer our God leftovers instead of firstfruits, a pittance of our income, not even as much as we spend on entertaining ourselves? In your own life do you really believe it is only be grace alone that you get to be called a child of God is He pretty lucky to have you? Have we let society’s sins, pagan partying become acceptable among the people of God today? Is he getting outward obedience from us instead of willing, or no obedience at all? I don’t have the answers to those questions except for myself. You have them for you. If we have followed the sinful nature pull to take our God for granted, if we have lapsed into apathy, come, let us return to the Lord. Return to the Lord who only chastens in love. He knows we cannot attain real happiness unless our relationship with Him is right.
I can’t help but think of the practice some Christian have of giving up something for Lent. That can be done with the wrong motive of trying to make up for sin or the right motive of showing love for Jesus. Some choose to break a habit or give up a luxury. But what God wants us to give up is our reliance on ourselves and our ways rather than on Him, our nasty habits of taking Him for granted or valuing entertainment more than the Gospel. Come, let us return to the Lord!
Let us return to the Lord who is faithful with mercy. Listen to the people’s response. “Come, let us return to the LORD. He has torn us to pieces but he will heal us; he has injured us but he will bind up our wounds. 2 After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will restore us, that we may live in his presence. 3 Let us acknowledge the LORD; let us press on to acknowledge him. As surely as the sun rises, he will appear; he will come to us like the winter rains, like the spring rains that water the earth.” The people of Israel recognized God’s chastening. They knew they had been forsaking God. They knew they needed to return. And God made it easy for them. Do you see how? They knew God would be merciful. Follow their word pictures. He has torn us but he will heal us. He has injured but he will bind our wounds. He will revive us so that we may live. Just like we can count on the sun rising and the spring rains we can count on God’s mercy. In spite of their unfaithfulness God still got His message through. Repentant sinners always find mercy. They knew God would be merciful.
We know it too. We live in times when the proof they were waiting for has come. We know Messiah is Jesus Christ. As He announced in the Gospel lesson Jesus went to Jerusalem to serve by giving His life as a ransom for sinners. That’s why Paul could so firmly assert, “There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” God is rich in mercy and faithful with it. When the Lord calls us to repentance He makes it easy for us to return to Him because we know what He will say every time. “I love you. I forgive you. Now serve me in love.” Isn’t that the message that is received and proclaimed every time we celebrate the Lord’s Supper? With the miracle of body and blood in bread and wine God says, “I love you. I forgive you. Go to serve.” The Lord is faithful with mercy. No matter what you have done or how far you have strayed God will welcome you back with open arms. Jesus is your proof. He is faithful with mercy.
We need to be faithful in repentance. If you happen to read this part of Scripture in your Bible you will see that verses 1-3 or our text have the heading “Unrepentant Israel.” That might surprise you because they sure sounded repentant. They sounded like they were going to return to the Lord, but they didn’t. Words were as far as it went. They didn’t follow through. And follow through is very important. Watch the shooters during the NCAA championships. If you like basketball and you watch the players who really can shoot, they all have great follow through. We need to spiritually as well so we don’t end up like Old Testament Israel. Our commitment to God, our repentance for sin cannot be word only. There must be the follow through of actions and truth. Changed behaviors. Changed scheduling habits. Changed money management. And we can do that because of the LORD. He makes it easy because He only chastens us out of love and is always faithful with mercy. Come, let us return to the LORD! Amen.

March 27/28, 2011 sermon by Pastor Paul G. Eckert on John 9:1-7,13-17.34-39

2011-03-29T09:45:00.000-05:00

March 27/28, 2011 - Lent 3 - sermon by Pastor Paul G. Eckert Sermon text - John 9:1-7, 13-17, 34-39 1 As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. 2 His disciples asked him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?" 3 "Neither this man nor his parents sinned," said Jesus, "but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life. 4 As long as it is day, we must do the work of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work. 5 While I am in the world, I am the light of the world." 6 Having said this, he spit on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, and put it on the man’s eyes. 7 "Go," he told him, "wash in the Pool of Siloam" (this word means Sent). So the man went and washed, and came home seeing. 13 They brought to the Pharisees the man who had been blind. 14 Now the day on which Jesus had made the mud and opened the man’s eyes was a Sabbath. 15 Therefore the Pharisees also asked him how he had received his sight. "He put mud on my eyes," the man replied, "and I washed, and now I see." 16 Some of the Pharisees said, "This man is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath." But others asked, "How can a sinner do such miraculous signs?" So they were divided. 17 Finally they turned again to the blind man, "What have you to say about him? It was your eyes he opened." The man replied, "He is a prophet." 34 To this they replied, "You were steeped in sin at birth; how dare you lecture us!" And they threw him out. 35 Jesus heard that they had thrown him out, and when he found him, he said, "Do you believe in the Son of Man?" 36 "Who is he, sir?" the man asked. "Tell me so that I may believe in him." 37 Jesus said, "You have now seen him; in fact, he is the one speaking with you." 38 Then the man said, "Lord, I believe," and he worshiped him. 39 Jesus said, "For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind." ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Moses - we should know him well. He led the nation of Israel out of their slavery in Egypt and on a 40 year journey up to the promised land. There Moses died, and we are told of him in Deuteronomy 34, "Moses was a hundred and twenty years old when he died, yet his eyes were not weak nor his strength gone." Since our sermon text today speaks of blindness, what strikes me about Moses is that at age 120 "his eyes were not weak." In our day people don’t reach 120 years anymore. I also think it is safe to say that way before 120 years our eyes become weak. Why do we here in church make available large print pew Bibles and copies of our orders of service and hymns? At what age do we start holding a book farther from our eyes because we can’t see decently anymore? At what age do we get contact lenses or glasses? At what age do we think of improving our eyesight with some kind of laser or cataract surgery? All of this is because our eyesight can be weak instead of strong. Recognizing this, what we want to do is improve our vision. And the vision I am talking about especially now is our spiritual vision. So let’s talk first about No Vision, then about Partial Vision, and finally about Perfect Vision, as we consider the theme: IS YOUR VISION IMPROVING? I NO VISION (1-7) 1. The man in our text had no physical vision (1) As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. a) what medical help was available for him 2000 years ago? b) certainly not what we have today; he had never been able to see anything around him; his eyes did not work at all 2. Here "why" questions can easily come up (2-3) His disciples asked him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?" "Neither this man nor his parents sinned," said Jesus, "but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life." a) why am I sick and others are not; why do I get cancer and others don’t; why can’t I make a decent living and others can; why are some people good looking and popular and I am not? b) sometimes we have a part in this; but if there are things not under our control, as with the blind man in our text, let’s accept Jesus’ answer: God has a purpose that will serve God’s loving plans for us, a purpose we often may not understand, as the blind man in our text most likely up to this point did not 3. But there is other blindness a) there is blindness to sin; this affected Israel, as we heard God faulting Israel in the Old Testament reading (Is. 42:18-20) "Look, you blind, and see! Who is blind but my servant, and deaf like the messenger I send? Who is blind like the one committed to me, blind like the servant of the LORD? You have seen many things, but have paid no attention." - Could God say the same thing to us? "You have heard my Word; you children have learned it in St. Jacobi School; you have all been reminded of it in church services. But are you blind? Do you do things wrong because you don’t see sin as sin anymore? You are influenced by the language and behavior of the world around you and on TV and you see it as okay. You go along with it. After learning so much, are you as blind as Israel was?" b) and then there is a blindness to the Savior, joining the world’s thinking that there are many ways to heaven and surely Jesus is not the only way; thinking there can be many truths - pick what you like best - and Jesus is not the only way and truth and life 4. Jesus is the only real answer (4-7) "As long as it is day, we must do the work of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work. While I am in the world, I am the light of the world." Having said this, he spit on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, and put it on the man’s eyes. "Go," he told him, "wash in the Pool of Siloam" (this word means Sent). So the man went and washed, and came home seeing. a) clearly Jesus was the answer here for physical blindness b) in a similar way truly seeing Jesus, His truth, His saving work, is the answer to spiritual blindness c) what grace that He does not forsake us sinners, as He did not forsake Israel but carried out His plan to be our Savior; listen to the promise He gave in our OT reading (Is. 42:16) "I will lead the blind by ways they have not known, along unfamiliar paths I will guide them; I will turn the darkness into light before them and make the rough places smooth. These are the things I will do; I will not forsake them." II PARTIAL VISION (13-17) 1. Some still did not see (13-16a) They brought to the Pharisees the man who had been blind. Now the day on which Jesus had made the mud and opened the man’s eyes was a Sabbath. Therefore the Pharisees also asked him how he had received his sight. "He put mud on my eyes," the man replied, "and I washed, and now I see." Some of the Pharisees said, "This man is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath." a) the blind man was totally healed and no longer physically blind b) but opposition to Jesus did not change; while the Pharisees could see the fact of the miracle, they didn’t have even partial spiritual vision but were still in spiritual blindness 2. Others began to see (16b) But others asked, "How can a sinner do such miraculous signs?" So they were divided. a) some at least recognized and saw this was something special b) it still was only partial seeing, but at least it was not rejecting 3. The healed man also began to really see (17) Finally they turned again to the blind man, "What have you to say about him? It was your eyes he opened." The man replied, "He is a prophet." a) here we might think of two other incidents of vision gradually improving: in one case Jesus physically healed a blind man in stages so that first with partial vision he saw people looking like trees, and then he was given 20/20 vision; the other case is that of a spiritually blind Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well who, before she saw Jesus as the Savior, gradually recognized that Jesus had to be at least a great prophet b) so in our text, a physically healed man at least had partial spiritual vision and recognized Jesus as a prophet from God 4. Is our vision only partial? (17b) The man replied, "He is a prophet." a) many people will recognize Jesus to be a great teacher, or a good example to follow as to behavior, or as an important person and influence in history; but if that is all, they have only partial vision, like seeing Jesus only as a prophet b) what does our treatment of Jesus say about our vision if we think He is important, but not enough to worship Him in church regularly; not enough to serve Him with our lives and offerings when we have many other things we can do with our time and money; not enough to know that He weeps over our sins and has done something about that for us? c) if so, do we have only partial vision, or are we totally blind? III PERFECT VISION (34-39) 1. Some continue to choose blindness (34,39) To this they replied, "You were steeped in sin at birth; how dare you lecture us!" And they threw him out. a) the Pharisees rejected the healed man’s words which gave glory to Jesus; they chose to stay blind to the truth b) we can easily understand what Jesus said about that here Jesus said, "For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind." 2. Jesus continues to reach out (35-37) Jesus heard that they had thrown him out, and when he found him, he said, "Do you believe in the Son of Man?" "Who is he, sir?" the man asked. "Tell me so that I may believe in him." Jesus said, "You have now seen him; in fact, he is the one speaking with you." a) Jesus reached out so that partial vision could become perfect b) "Tell me" the man said, and Jesus told Him: He was the Son of God who had humbled Himself to become the Son of Man, fully human yet without sin, so that on the cross He could be the innocent sacrifice that would atone for the sins of the world 3. Now the blind man could really see (38) Then the man said, "Lord, I believe," and he worshiped him. a) this man went from partial to perfect vision when he, like the woman at Jacob’s well, saw Jesus not only as a prophet or important person, but as God’s Promised Savior b) and do you notice what he did? - he worshiped his Savior, as surely as you and I should want to worship Him regularly too 4. Into what category do we fit? (39) Jesus said, "For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind." a) trust in your own vision, your thinking, your brains, and though you think you see, instead you are spiritually blind b) what about partial vision? - don’t let it stay partial without improving; don’t stay away from regular worship, from using God’s Means of Grace in Word and Sacraments c) instead trust in Jesus, see Him as the Son of God and Son of Man, rejoice in Him as your Savior from sin and sure hope of true life Is Our Vision Improving? Let’s be like Moses when it comes to our eyes of faith. Of him it was said that "his eyes were not weak." May God’s Holy Spirit keep our eyes of faith strong as we continue to worship our Savior, as we grow in knowledge and in strength of faith and spiritual sight. Then we can joyfully sing, "I once was lost but now am found, Was blind but now I see." And then, even if we would be totally physically blind, when we see Jesus we have perfect vision and will surely see the glories of heaven. 　　　　　　

March 20, 2011 Worship Service

2011-03-27T06:20:00.001-05:00

March 20, 2011 from Richard Waldschmidt on Vimeo.

2011-03-24T12:23:00.001-05:00

Midweek Lent 2
March 23, 2011
Pastor Timothy J. Spaude
Text: John 19:38-42

“NICODEMUS”

John 19:38-42 (NIV) “Later, Joseph of Arimathea asked Pilate for the body of Jesus. Now Joseph was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly because he feared the Jews. With Pilate’s permission, he came and took the body away. 39 He was accompanied by Nicodemus, the man who earlier had visited Jesus at night. Nicodemus brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds. 40 Taking Jesus’ body, the two of them wrapped it, with the spices, in strips of linen. This was in accordance with Jewish burial customs. 41 At the place where Jesus was crucified, there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb, in which no one had ever been laid. 42 Because it was the Jewish day of Preparation and since the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there.”

People watching. That’s what we’ve been doing for our Wednesday services in Lent. We’ve been watching the people who played a part in the Passion History of our Lord. Today’s person is Nicodemus. As you heard in the reading, the part he played came at the end of Jesus’ passion when it came time for Jesus’ body to be buried. In truth the story of Nicodemus began well before the day of Jesus’ death. If you recall, Jesus began His public ministry as Savior at age 30 and then for 3 years preached and taught and did miracles and ministered as He prepared to lay down His life on the cross. At some point early on in this public ministry of Jesus we are told this in John 3.
“Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a member of the Jewish ruling council. 2 He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the miraculous signs you are doing if God were not with him.” This is why Nicodemus was called the “Night Disciple.” He was a Pharisee and not just any Pharisee. He was a member of the Jewish ruling council called the Sanhedrin. His words are very revealing and I believe will be used as testimony on the Last Day against the Pharisees and teachers of the law who continued to reject Jesus. He said, “We know you are a teacher who has come from God.” We know. That makes the rejection willful. It’s a horrible thing to fall into the hands of an angry God whose Son you have rejected. Woe to them!
Back to Nicodemus. The Night Disciple came to Jesus at night. Can you guess why? He was afraid. Perhaps he was afraid that his buddies on the Sanhedrin would see him and treat him differently or mock him for going to Jesus. Perhaps he was afraid that the people would see him going to Jesus and give credit then to Jesus’ words. Clearly he did not want to be seen with Jesus. But he did want to hear what Jesus had to say about how to enter the kingdom of God. Jesus told him. And the night disciple sneaked away, back to his regular life.
The word of God Jesus spoke was not without effect. The next time we see Nicodemus is perhaps a couple of years later. Jesus has been preaching and teaching as only the true Messiah can. He was doing the miracles only the Son of God can do. The Pharisees and teachers of the law who know, who know, that Jesus has come from God, are getting more and more upset with Jesus and His popularity with the people. They have heard the people are actually thinking Jesus must be the Messiah. They send temple soldiers to arrest Him. The soldiers come back empty handed. When questioned as to why they respond they have never heard anyone like Jesus before. As expected the chief priests and teachers of the law are very upset. They mock the soldiers. “Have you become his followers too?” Nicodemus speaks up.
“Nicodemus, who had gone to Jesus earlier and who was one of their own number, asked, 51 “Does our law condemn anyone without first hearing him to find out what he is doing?” 52 They replied, “Are you from Galilee, too? Look into it, and you will find that a prophet does not come out of Galilee.” Point of order. Nicodemus did not exactly give Jesus a ringing endorsement does he? He seizes on protocol, constitution, the law as a way to defend Jesus without defending Jesus. But at least he spoke up, kind of. And what did he get for it? Mockery too!
Scripture is silent about Nicodemus until the words of our text. Jesus has died. Who will bury Him? Bold Peter who will never deny? James and John who want to sit at Jesus right and left in His glory? No, it’s Nicodemus. The one who comes to Jesus at night. The one who’s not quite strong enough to stand up, stand up for Jesus.
Now, what can we learn from this? Can you relate to Nicodemus at all? Do you think of times when sin has been happening but you sat in its midst and kept quiet? Then later you think about it and kick yourself, ashamed that you didn’t have the guts to speak up. Or maybe it’s that conversation about religion and everyone is talking about God and how there’s only one God and all religions are just different ways to get to that God and you couldn’t quite get yourself to confess Jesus, Jesus, only Jesus as the way to heaven. If that’s you, take heart. Look at what the Lord did in time with Nicodemus. He built him up and strengthened him to be a bold disciple. He’ll do it with you too. Keep listening to Jesus in His word. Be patient. Cheer up. There will be more opportunities for you to speak up in service to your Savior.
And remember as we are looking at the people of the Passion we must remember to keep our focus on the Person of the Passion, to keep our eyes fixed on Him on Jesus. What a beautiful Savior. That bruised reed, that weak disciple He does not despise. In fact it is to Nicodemus that Jesus spoke probably the most famous passage of Scripture. You know it. It’s the Gospel in a nutshell. John 3:16. Say it with me. “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.” Nicodemus heard that Gospel. It took root in his heart. God loved him. God gave Jesus for him. He would have eternal life. He would serve that Savior.
God loves you too. He gave Jesus for you too. You believe. You will have eternal life. You get to serve that Savior. Whether you feel more like the weak silent Nicodemus or the bold burying Nicodemus who gave to serve you too are included in God’s Gospel promise. And so are your brothers and sisters. You see, we don’t just do people watching with the people of the Passion. We watch each other too. When you see a brother or a sister who seems to be a night disciple, one who exhibits weakness in one area of sanctification or another, let’s not despise them or mock them or look down on them but as Jesus did, give ‘em the Gospel. The Gospel is God’s power to save and God’s power to change us. It reminds me of a t-shirt I have seen several times. It pleads, “Be patient with me. God’s not finished with me yet!” How true. Amen.

March 13th, 2011 Worship Service

2011-03-19T17:20:00.001-05:00

March 13, 2011 from Richard Waldschmidt on Vimeo.