tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8157910935747827022024-03-12T19:05:00.956-07:00Sermons of Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church, Kenai, AlaskaGrace Lutheran Church exists to proclaim Christ crucified and all the truths of God's Word in the Kenai-Soldotna area. Please feel free to contact Pastor Guenther for more information or some spiritual counsel from God's Word.
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In Him,
Pastor GuentherPastor Rob Guentherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02352798164314819498noreply@blogger.comBlogger425125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-815791093574782702.post-7778257311553907862018-06-15T17:33:00.000-07:002018-06-15T17:34:03.559-07:00Don’t Be Crazy! (A sermon based on Mark 3:20-25)<div dir="ltr"><div class="gmail_default"><font face="tahoma, sans-serif">"Don't be crazy!" You know what's really crazy? Calling Jesus out of his mind! Who would do that?! Actually, don't we tell Jesus he's crazy whenever we suggest that we know better than he does, that our thoughts are better than his thought, that our ways are better than his ways? But even though we side with satan when we do that, nevertheless, God's crazy love for you and me stopped at nothing to rescue us. He paid for our sin. He brought us into his family. As crazy as it sounds, it true! Read or listen to (<a href="http://www.gracelutherankenai.com/home/180007450/180007450/Audio/20180610_Mark_3v20-25.mp3">download</a>) this sermon based on Mark 3:20-25 and rejoice in his crazy love!</font><br clear="all"></div><div class="gmail_default"><font face="tahoma, sans-serif"><br></font></div><div class="gmail_default"><font face="tahoma, sans-serif"> <p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-align:center;line-height:normal;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><b style=""><font size="4">Don't Be Crazy!</font><span style="font-size:13pt"></span></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-align:center;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">A sermon based on Mark 3:20-25<span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-align:center;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Sunday, June 10<sup>th</sup>, 2018 – Pentecost 3B<span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-indent:0.25in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">"Did you see the game last night?! That was crazy!!" "There's this crazy sale happening at my favorite store today! You want to go?" "Oh, that guy? I love that guy! He's crazy!"<span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-indent:0.25in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Don't you think we maybe overuse the word "crazy" in our modern usage? It's no joke to actually be crazy. But do you know what's really crazy?! Daring to call Jesus, the Son of God, the Creator of the Universe, crazy! You've got to be out of your mind to do that. But that's exactly what Jesus' family did in our text for this morning, recorded for us in Mark 3:20-25…<span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-indent:0.25in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><b><i><sup><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">20 </span></sup></i></b><b><i><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">Then Jesus entered a house, and again a crowd gathered, so that he and his disciples were not even able to eat. <sup>21 </sup>When his family heard about this, they went to take charge of him, for they said, "He is out of his mind." <span></span></span></i></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-indent:0.25in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><b><i><sup><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">22 </span></sup></i></b><b><i><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">And the teachers of the law who came down from Jerusalem said, "He is possessed by Beelzebub! By the prince of demons he is driving out demons." <span></span></span></i></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-indent:0.25in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><b><i><sup><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">23 </span></sup></i></b><b><i><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">So Jesus called them and spoke to them in parables: </span></i></b><b><i><span style="color:maroon">"How can Satan drive out Satan? <sup>24 </sup>If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. <sup>25 </sup>If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand. <sup>26 </sup>And if Satan opposes himself and is divided, he cannot stand; his end has come. <sup>27 </sup>In fact, no one can enter a strong man's house and carry off his possessions unless he first ties up the strong man. Then he can rob his house. <sup>28 </sup>I tell you the truth, all the sins and blasphemies of men will be forgiven them. <sup>29 </sup>But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; he is guilty of an eternal sin." <span></span></span></i></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-indent:0.25in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><b><i><sup><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">30 </span></sup></i></b><b><i><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">He said this because they were saying, "He has an evil spirit." <span></span></span></i></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-indent:0.25in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><b><i><sup><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">31 </span></sup></i></b><b><i><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">Then Jesus' mother and brothers arrived. Standing outside, they sent someone in to call him. <sup>32 </sup>A crowd was sitting around him, and they told him, "Your mother and brothers are outside looking for you." <span></span></span></i></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-indent:0.25in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><b><i><sup><span style="color:maroon">33 </span></sup></i></b><b><i><span style="color:maroon">"Who are my mother and my brothers?"</span></i></b><b><i><span style="color:rgb(0,0,144)"> </span></i></b><b><i><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">he asked. <span></span></span></i></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><b><i><sup><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">34 </span></sup></i></b><b><i><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">Then he looked at those seated in a circle around him and said, </span></i></b><b><i><span style="color:maroon">"Here are my mother and my brothers! <sup>35 </sup>Whoever does God's will is my brother and sister and mother."</span></i></b><span><span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-indent:0.25in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Jesus' mother and brothers cared for him. There was no doubt about that. But they thought he was crazy. He wasn't taking very good care of himself, they thought. He was working himself to death and he couldn't sustain the pace! He was working so hard he didn't even have time to eat! They loved him so much they just had to stage an intervention. <b><i><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">They went to take charge of him, for they said, "He is out of his mind."</span></i></b><span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-indent:0.25in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">"Jesus, you're a work-a-holic. And you're acting crazy! You don't even have time to eat. If you really care about your disciples, if you care at all about yourself, you'll slow down. You need to stop this right now! And we'll force you to if you won't do it on your own. We love you too much to let you do this to yourself. Stop this madness."<span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-indent:0.25in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">But of course, thinking they knew better than Jesus was crazy! Had Mary forgotten who Jesus was? Did she forgotten that she was a virgin when Jesus was born—that he was no ordinary child, but the God-man? Had his brothers forgotten that he is the eternal God who created the heavens and the earth and all that is in them?! They must have! How else could <i>they</i> try to correct <i>him</i>? How else could they try to stage an intervention and stop him from doing what he thought was best? How else could they scold the God-Man and tell him that <i>they</i>, <i>not he</i>, knew best?!<span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-indent:0.25in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">It's crazy to tell Jesus what to do. And you've got to be out of your mind to tell the God man that he's out of his mind. But don't we do the same? Don't we often tell Jesus that he's crazy? I know, you may never have voiced it in those words—at least I hope not—but isn't that really what we imply anytime we suggest that we know better than Jesus? <span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-indent:0.25in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">"Jesus, do you really want us to rely on the simple proclamation of the Gospel to grow your church?! Don't you think we need some trick or gimmick to bait them? They won't listen to me! Your Word's not really <i>that</i> powerful. You must be nuts!" "Jesus, are you really saying that this water sprinkled on a baby's head can create faith and wash away sin? Are you seriously saying that this bread and wine is actually your body and blood?! You must be crazy!" "Jesus, are you seriously suggesting that I ought to forgive my ex? My parents? My enemy who hurt me? Did you see what he did? Did you hear what she said? And you still want me to forgive?! Jesus, that's insane!"<span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-indent:0.25in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Do you ever try to take charge of Jesus and tell him what to do? If we're honest we have to say, "Yes. Every time we sin, we really say to him, 'Listen, Jesus. I know best. And this is how it's going to be…'" as we ignore his Word and live for ourselves. And it's crazy! We side with satan every time we do! We know what we deserve for such behavior—hell, apart from God forever!—but we keep doing it! We must be out of our minds with selfishness and sin! <span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-indent:0.25in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Now Jesus' family thought he was crazy. But if they had their misgivings about Jesus' sanity, the teachers of the law were absolutely certain that Jesus wasn't right in the head. They thought that he wasn't just insane, but was actually demon possessed…<span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-indent:0.25in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">"Beelzebub!" they cried, "The Lord of the Flies!" that's who he's working for! Or "Beelzeboul" the Greek literally says, "He's possessed by the Lord of Dung!" He's not just crazy, insane! He's Possessed by the devil! <b><i><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">"By the prince of demons he is driving out demons." </span><span></span></i></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-indent:0.25in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">But Jesus loved his enemies and wouldn't let them leave with the wrong idea about him. He called them over to teach them the truth. <b><i><span style="color:rgb(56,86,35)">"A house divided cannot stand!"</span></i></b> Made famous by Abraham Lincoln in his plea to end the Civil War, it was really Jesus who said it first: <b><i><sup><span style="color:rgb(192,0,0)">"</span></sup><span style="color:rgb(192,0,0)">If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand." </span></i></b>"You guys are talking crazy talk," Jesus told them, "satan isn't so stupid as to fight against himself! If he did that he would never win!" <b><i><span style="color:rgb(192,0,0)">"And if Satan opposes himself and is divided, he cannot stand; his end has come."</span> </i></b>Jesus pointed out that he wasn't the one who was <i>crazy</i>, they were! "If you think I come from satan, that I'm driving out demons in his name, than you're nuts! That's not how a war is won! You're crazy!"<span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-indent:0.25in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">In fact, Jesus took it a step further: <b><i><span style="color:rgb(192,0,0)">"In fact, no one can enter a strong man's house and carry off his possessions unless he first ties up the strong man. Then he can rob his house."</span></i></b><span style="color:rgb(192,0,0)"> </span>In other words, Jesus said that he couldn't drive out demons if he weren't <i>more powerful</i> than the demons were. But he clearly had driven out demons. They had seen it! There was no denying the miracles! So Jesus is far more powerful than they are. He is far stronger than satan, far mightier than his demons, and he can tell them where to go and they <i>must</i> obey! <span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-indent:0.25in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Make no mistake! Jesus was not crazy. He was not from Beelzebub, or from satan! He is the God-man, who, by his victory on Calvary's cross, he has <b><i>defeated</i></b> satan once and for all! What comfort we find in that truth, because we know he has defeated satan <b><i>for us</i></b> and has brought us into his family… <span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-indent:0.25in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-indent:0.25in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">It was about 11 O'clock at night when my phone startled me awake. The woman on the other end was hysterical. She wouldn't give me her name, but she was certain that she was damned. She was disappointed with God and angry with him that he wouldn't give her what she'd asked for. And in her anger and frustration she had uttered words she knew to be blasphemous, words that slandered God. She told me that she had screamed in her room, "I curse you, God! I curse you, Jesus! I curse you, Holy Spirit!" Now, in a moment of deep regret she was convinced she could never be forgiven and would certainly spend an eternity in hell for what she said. For she had read verse 29: <b><i><span style="color:rgb(192,0,0)">"But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; he is guilty of an eternal sin."</span></i></b><span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-indent:0.25in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">But let's take a look at what that actually means. In the other Gospels, Jesus adds something. In Matthew he says, <b><i><span style="color:rgb(192,0,0)">"Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come."</span></i></b> So, did you ever wonder, how could one sin against the Son and not sin against the Spirit? After all, you cannot separate the Triune God. A sin against one person is a sin against the others. But the key to understanding this verse is understanding the <b><i>work</i></b> of each person of the Trinity.<span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-indent:0.25in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">We usually speak of the work of God the Father as creator and preserver of life, the work of God the Son as redeemer and savior from sin, and the work of God the Holy Spirit as the enlightener and sanctifier. Well, one could slander the Father in anger as Job did, suggesting that God was not caring for him the way he ought. That's not wise, but it's not an eternal sin of which one cannot be forgiven. One could slander the Son and suggest that he didn't know best as Mary and Jesus' brothers' did, as we often do. Again, that's not wise, but it's not an eternal sin of which one cannot be forgiven.<span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-indent:0.25in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">But if one slanders the Holy Spirit by refusing to believe in Jesus, if you sin against his office and reject the truth that he brings, then there can be no forgiveness, because you refuse the one and only way to find that forgiveness. It would be like severing the pipe that brings water into your house. You can no longer get water because you destroyed the means of bringing it to you.<span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-indent:0.25in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">So I comforted that hysterical woman with this truth and assured her that if she was concerned that she <i>might</i> have blasphemed the Holy Spirit, that she hadn't. She certainly sinned against God in her blasphemous words, but forgiveness was not out of reach—not yet. She was not <b><i><span style="color:rgb(192,0,0)">"guilty of an eternal sin,"</span></i></b><span style="color:rgb(192,0,0)"> </span>and <b><i><span style="color:rgb(192,0,0)">" [would] not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come."</span></i></b><span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-indent:0.25in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-indent:0.25in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">When we tell Jesus we think he's crazy and that we know better than he does—and that's really what we do any time we sin—we really side with satan who thought God should not be in charge, but that he should. But that doesn't mean that we are guilty of an eternal sin and will not be forgiven. It means we must repent of our foolish rebellion and our stupid sin. But we're not without hope. <span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-indent:0.25in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">You know what Jesus has done for you by the work of the Holy Spirit. You know how he has brought you into his family. Now, don't reject him and his work for you. <i>That</i> would be insane!<span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-indent:0.25in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">And what did he do for you? He lived a perfect life pleasing his Father in every way. Nevertheless, he was forsaken not just by his mother and his brothers, but his Father forsook him on the cross. Crazy, right? And as Jesus endured hell itself being forsaken by him, he paid for every sin you or I have ever committed—for every time we've told Jesus that he was crazy and that we would do things our own way. He defeated satan! He crushed the serpents head! And he made you and me a part of his family by the work of the Holy Spirit! What crazy love he has for you and me!!<span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-indent:0.25in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">John 1:12-13 says, <b><i><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">"Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God."</span> </i></b>Hebrews 2:11 says, <b><i><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">"Both the one who makes men holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them [that is, us] brothers [and sisters]." </span></i></b>God has brought us into his family! Sounds crazy, doesn't it? "After all we've done? You mean we're just forgiven! You must be out of your mind!" But it's absolutely true! 1 John 3:1 says, <b><i><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">"How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!"<span></span></span></i></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-indent:0.25in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">And now, we are eager to be a part of the family and join together with each other to listen to our Father! To rejoice in our awesome big Brother! To stop acting so crazy in telling Jesus we know better than he does! And to live for him and for each other! <span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-indent:0.25in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><b><i><span style="color:rgb(192,0,0)">"Who are my mother and my brothers?" </span><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">[Jesus] asked. <sup><span> </span></sup>Then he looked at those seated in a circle around him and said, </span><span style="color:rgb(192,0,0)">"Here are my mother and my brothers! <sup>35 </sup>Whoever does God's will is my brother and sister and mother."</span><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)"><span></span></span></i></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-indent:0.25in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">I know it sounds crazy, but you are forgiven of every sin you've ever committed, no matter how bad it seems! You are children of God the Father! You are Jesus' brother or sister! You know who Jesus is. He's not crazy like his natural family thought. He's not in league with satan like his enemies thought. He's your Savior. And through his work on the cross and the Holy Spirit's work in the Gospel, you are now a son or daughter of God. You are a brother or sister of Christ himself. You are adopted into his family. And you are an heir of eternal life. Crazy as it may seem, it's true: You are a part of God's family. In Jesus' name, dear friends, amen.<b><i><span></span></i></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span> </span></p> </font></div><div><div class="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div>In Him,<br></div><div>Pastor Rob Guenther</div><div><font color="#000099"><b><br></b></font></div><div><b><font color="#000099">Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church</font></b></div><div>47585 Ciechanski Road, Kenai, AK 99611</div><div><a href="http://www.gracelutherankenai.com/" target="_blank">www.GraceLutheranKenai.com</a></div><div><a href="mailto:pastorguenther@gmail.com" target="_blank">pastorguenther@gmail.com</a><br><span><span title="Call with Google Voice">(907) 690-1660</span></span></div><div><br></div><div><div style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"><font size="1">Read sermons online: <a href="http://www.gracelutherankenai.com/Sermons" style="color:rgb(17,85,204)" target="_blank">www.GraceLutheranKenai.com/Sermons</a></font></div><div style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"><font size="1">Listen to sermons online: <a href="http://www.gracelutherankenai.com/Podcast" style="color:rgb(17,85,204)" target="_blank">www.GraceLutheranKenai.com/Podcast</a></font></div><div style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"><font size="1">Watch services online: <a href="http://www.gracelutherankenai.com/Webcast" style="color:rgb(17,85,204)" target="_blank">www.GraceLutheranKenai.com/Webcast</a></font></div></div><div style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"><font size="1">Like us on Facebook: <a href="http://www.Facebook.com/GraceLutheranKenai" target="_blank">www.Facebook.com/GraceLutheranKenai</a> </font></div><div style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"><div style="font-size:12.8px"><font size="1"><br></font></div><div style="font-size:12.8px"><font size="1">Have you been blessed by our ministry at Grace? Consider supporting us with your generous gifts. Give securely online with a check or credit or debit card here: <a href="http://www.GraceLutheranKenai.com/Give" target="_blank">www.GraceLutheranKenai.com/Give</a></font></div><div><br><br></div></div></div></div></div></div> </div> Pastor Rob Guentherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02352798164314819498noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-815791093574782702.post-31088761134245782352018-06-04T16:13:00.000-07:002018-06-04T16:14:37.953-07:00Rest in Peace A sermon based on Mark 2:23-28<div dir="ltr"><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:tahoma,sans-serif;font-size:small">Do you get enough sleep each night? Wish you could get more rest? Is your life peaceful? Wish you could have more peace? There will be plenty of time sleep and rest in the grave. But perhaps you'd like a little more rest and peace right now. Well, Jesus has a solution for you. Read or listen to (<a href="http://www.gracelutherankenai.com/home/180007450/180007450/Audio/20180603_Mark_2v23-28.mp3">download</a>) this sermon based on Mark 2:23-28 and Rest in Peace...</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:tahoma,sans-serif;font-size:small"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:tahoma,sans-serif;font-size:small"> <p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:12pt;font-family:Cambria,serif"><b><span style="font-size:13pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif">Rest in Peace<span></span></span></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:12pt;font-family:Cambria,serif"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif">A sermon based on Mark 2:23-28<span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:12pt;font-family:Cambria,serif"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif">Sunday, June 3, 2018 – Pentecost 2B<span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:12pt;font-family:Cambria,serif"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(47,47,47);background:white"><span> </span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:12pt;font-family:Cambria,serif"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(47,47,47);background:white">So the Guenthers are getting closer and closer to what I'm pretty sure is going to be the longest road trip of our lives. And I'll admit that I'm a bit nervous. I hope we don't break down along the way. That would throw off my fastidious plan. I hope the boys don't fight in the back non-stop. That will drive me crazy. And I'm pretty sure that I'll be doing almost all of the driving on my own because, you see, my wife has this condition that I call, "Carcolepsy." It's like narcolepsy, but it only seems to hit her when she gets in the car. As soon as she hits that passenger seat she's out. <span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:12pt;font-family:Cambria,serif"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(47,47,47);background:white">But I get it. A lot of us aren't getting as much sleep as we need. 26% of Americans average only 6 hours of sleep each night. Another 14% get 5 hours or less. That's a lot less than the 8 to 10 hours recommended. At least 40% of Americans are weary, tired, worn out. Is that you sometimes? Wouldn't it be nice to get some rest? <span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:12pt;font-family:Cambria,serif"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(47,47,47);background:white">Of course, when it is Becky's turn to drive, I have a second problem. That's usually when the boys are wide awake. They're either talking and laughing or they're bickering and fighting and still can't get the sleep I need because I have no <i>peace</i>.<span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:12pt;font-family:Cambria,serif"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(47,47,47);background:white">One of my college professors had a brilliant solution to the problem of not getting enough rest and peace. If he ever noticed anyone yawn or their eyelids start to droop in class he would loudly remind us, "Boys, wake up! There's plenty of time to sleep in the grave." And so you see on every iconic tombstone: R.I.P. Rest in peace. <span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:12pt;font-family:Cambria,serif"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(47,47,47);background:white">I don't know about you, but I for one would like to rest in peace <i>before</i> I'm dead. And if you do too, then listen up because God has another solution for us. In the Old Testament he called it the Sabbath Day: a day off from work, a day to rest from your labor, a day to find peace in the Word of God and in the promises which it contains. <span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:12pt;font-family:Cambria,serif"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(47,47,47);background:white">But not everyone understood that rest. Not everyone wanted that peace. This morning, we hear of an encounter between some Pharisees and Jesus. And as we hear Jesus' response to their challenge, we rejoice that through him we can rest in peace. Our lesson is from Mark 2:23-28…<span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:12pt;font-family:Cambria,serif"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(47,47,47);background:white"><span> </span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify;text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:12pt;font-family:Cambria,serif"><b><i><sup><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,144)">23 </span></sup></i></b><b><i><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,144)">One Sabbath Jesus was going through the grainfields, and as his disciples walked along, they began to pick some heads of grain. <sup>24 </sup>The Pharisees said to him, "Look, why are they doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?" <span></span></span></i></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify;text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:12pt;font-family:Cambria,serif"><b><i><sup><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,144)">25 </span></sup></i></b><b><i><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,144)">He answered,</span></i></b><b><i><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:maroon"> "Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry and in need? <sup>26 </sup>In the days of Abiathar the high priest, he entered the house of God and ate the consecrated bread, which is lawful only for priests to eat. And he also gave some to his companions." <span></span></span></i></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify;text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:12pt;font-family:Cambria,serif"><b><i><sup><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,144)">27 </span></sup></i></b><b><i><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,144)">Then he said to them,</span></i></b><b><i><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:maroon"> "The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. <sup>28 </sup>So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath." <span></span></span></i></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:12pt;font-family:Cambria,serif"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif"><span> </span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:12pt;font-family:Cambria,serif"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif">Ever feel like you just can't get enough rest? No matter how late you sleep in on Saturday, it just isn't enough to make up for the late nights or early mornings of the week? It seems to be a problem for me especially in summer in Alaska. There's lots of light to go play, but still plenty of work to be done. Especially now that we're packing. <span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:12pt;font-family:Cambria,serif"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif">In fact, the time spent playing makes more work: to prepare for the party, to pack for the trip, to shop for the camping trip, to process the fish, to clean up when it's all done. There may be rest in the summer for Floridans, but it doesn't seem there's ever a chance to rest in the summer for Alaskans. Wouldn't it be nice to rest in peace?<span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:12pt;font-family:Cambria,serif"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif">But there's a much worse restlessness than the tiredness we feel in our bodies. There's a restlessness of the soul that can leave one entirely worn out. The guilt of sin and the shame of regret can leave one feeling pretty exhausted. So what do we do about it?<span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:12pt;font-family:Cambria,serif"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif">The Pharisees taught a theology of works. Work hard. Clean up your act. Improve your life. Follow the rules. Change your behavior. Be a better person. Then, when you have become all you were meant to be, you can have rest in knowing what a great person you are.<span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:12pt;font-family:Cambria,serif"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif">But there's a problem with that theology: It doesn't work. Working hard to be the person God wants you to be can never give you rest because you can never be perfect! And make no mistake, that's not just God's desire, but his demand: Be perfect! And so, without perfection, you cannot be at peace with God. The best you can do is water down the law and lower the bar to something you can keep. <span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:12pt;font-family:Cambria,serif"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif">That's what the Pharisees did. If they couldn't keep their thoughts pure, well, then they'd ignore <i>that</i> command and make up a new one: Don't take too many steps on Saturday. The Pharisees even turned even <i>rest</i> into <i>work</i>! The Sabbath Day, the day of rest, became a day of rules. They added rule upon rule and insisted these rules must be kept or people would be sinning. Prepare your meals for Saturday on Friday night. For it would be work to cook. Eat light on Friday and Saturday morning because you can only walk outside the city to the latrine once. More than that would be too many steps and too much work. And it's still the same way today…<span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:12pt;font-family:Cambria,serif"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif">When I went to visit Israel in 2008, one Saturday (the Sabbath Day), I got on the wrong elevator. I thought someone was playing a joke on me because on my way up to my room, the doors opened and closed on every single floor on the way up to my room on the 15<sup>th</sup> floor. I was on the Sabbath elevator. It did that so orthodox Jews who observed the Sabbath wouldn't have to work by hitting the button. No joke! When I learned that from my tour guide I asked him, what if a hotel doesn't have such an elevator, would they have to wait for a Gentile to push the button for them? Ironically, he was serious when he said, "Either that or take the stairs."<span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:12pt;font-family:Cambria,serif"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif">I once said to the rabbi down the street from the church I served in Raleigh, "I notice that when I come in on Saturday to run through the sermon or fold the bulletins, I'll often see you and your family <i>walking</i> to the synagogue. Why is that? I thought the Sabbath was a day of rest." His serious reply was, "We walk to give our cars a day of rest."<span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:12pt;font-family:Cambria,serif"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif">Do you see how ridiculous it is? How they turn the Sabbath on its head?! What God intended to be a day for his people to rest from their work to focus on the Word, they turned into a day of rules to be kept to work your way into heaven by earning God's favor. <span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:12pt;font-family:Cambria,serif"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif">So while God commanded his people not to harvest on the Sabbath, but to take a day off to focus on his grace, the Pharisees turned it into a command not to pick a snack while you walked along the road. When they saw Jesus' disciples picking some heads of grain, they challenged Jesus: </span><b><i><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,144)">"Look, why are they doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?"</span></i></b><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif"><span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:12pt;font-family:Cambria,serif"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif">But Jesus set them straight. </span><b><i><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:maroon">"Have you never read what David did… <span> </span>when he and his companions were hungry and in need… <span> </span>he entered the house of God and ate the consecrated bread, which is lawful only for priests to eat. And he also gave some to his companions."</span></i></b><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif"><span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:12pt;font-family:Cambria,serif"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif">They were surely familiar with the account we just read. David ate the consecrated bread that the law said was only for priests. Yet he was not sinning. In the case of necessity, <b><i>love</i></b> is the fulfillment of the Law, and no one ever thought of censuring David for his action. Jesus' point was clear—if David wasn't guilty of sin when he ate the bread in the tabernacle when he was hungry, Jesus' disciples weren't guilty either for picking heads of grain on the Sabbath when they were hungry.<span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:12pt;font-family:Cambria,serif"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif">The Pharisees got it all wrong. And so they stripped the Sabbath of its rest. They stripped the symbol of its peace. They did it to water down the law to become something they could keep to feel like they deserved God's love. But it didn't work. They still weren't perfect. They had no peace with God.<span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:12pt;font-family:Cambria,serif"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif">Now I know it's easy to look down on those shameful Pharisees, but before we do, consider this: Don't we sometimes do the exact same thing? Don't we sometimes think that we earn God's favor by toeing the line, by following the rules, by keeping God's commands, even by being here in church? What makes you a good Christian? If you've ever answered, "Because I go to church every week," or "Because I am an active member," well, you've just done the same thing that the Pharisees did! <span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:12pt;font-family:Cambria,serif"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif">Being in church no more makes you a Christian than being in a garage makes you a car! And your presence here this morning earns you no brownie points before God. Sitting on the couch after worship (instead of working) doesn't always bring him glory. And it isn't a sin to mow your lawn on Sunday afternoon.<span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:12pt;font-family:Cambria,serif"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif">Keeping God's laws do not get us closer to God. They never have. They cannot get us rest for our souls. They cannot bring us peace because we cannot keep them <i>perfectly, all</i> of the time, as God demands that we do.<span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:12pt;font-family:Cambria,serif"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif">It's easy to make up rules about elevators and steps walked. But it's not easy to keep our hearts free from arrogance and pride, from lust and greed, from sinful thoughts that look down on others who aren't "as good" as us. And each one of these thoughts reveals the Pharisee in each of us and earns us God's condemnation. We deserve to rest in pieces, obliterated by God's wrath. We deserve damnation in hell.<span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:12pt;font-family:Cambria,serif"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif">But Jesus is the Lord of the Sabbath. And the Sabbath Day was never really about rules for people to follow in order to earn God's favor. No! It was all to point ahead to Jesus: </span><b><i><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:maroon">"The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath."</span></i></b><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif"><span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:12pt;font-family:Cambria,serif"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif">The Sabbath was meant to <i>serve</i> people, not <i>enslave</i> them. Of course there's wisdom in taking a day off from work for the sake of one's physical and emotional health. But God had a more important purpose in mind for the Sabbath. He intended the Sabbath to be a special opportunity to worship, to study God's Word, and to better learn his plan of salvation—not through following legalistic requirements, but through faith in the Messiah to come, through faith in Jesus.<span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:12pt;font-family:Cambria,serif"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif">Remember what he said in Matthew 11(:28-29): <b><i><span style="color:maroon">"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you </span></i><u><span style="color:maroon">rest</span></u><i><span style="color:maroon">. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find </span></i><u><span style="color:maroon">rest</span></u><i><span style="color:maroon"> for your souls."<span></span></span></i></b></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:12pt;font-family:Cambria,serif"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif">The Old Testament Sabbath Day pointed ahead to the <b><i>rest</i></b> that our Savior would bring—the <b><i>rest</i></b> that we have in the forgiveness of sins. <b><i><span style="color:maroon">"Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ." </span></i></b>(Colossians 2:16-17)<span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:12pt;font-family:Cambria,serif"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif">The requirements haven't changed. We still must be perfect to find peace with God. But that's what the Gospel is all about: how Jesus took our sin—our arrogance and pride, our lust and greed, our sinful thoughts that look down on others, all of it—on himself. He did live a perfect life, always keeping every one of God's commands. And he gave that perfection to us. Now, through Jesus, you and I are perfect; sinless in every way.<span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:12pt;font-family:Cambria,serif"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif">And we don't have to do a thing to be right with God. He's done it all. There's no work for us to do to earn God's favor. We already have it. And so we can rest and be at peace because we know we have peace with God. We don't need to count our steps or select the right elevator. We don't need to follow ceremonial laws or even keep the moral law to get into heaven. Jesus gives us rest from our sin and he gives us rest from the law. We really can rest in peace.<span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:12pt;font-family:Cambria,serif"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif">But, ironically, we no longer <i>want</i> to just rest. Having peace with God through Jesus and rest from struggling to earn his favor, all we want to do is get to work for him to show him how thankful we are. We're eager to share the message of his grace that lets us rest in peace. We're eager to work hard to support the work of the Church that we might share the Lord of the Sabbath, our Lord of Rest, with others, that they, like us, can rest in peace as together we rest in his grace. <span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:12pt;font-family:Cambria,serif"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif">And, finally, we work hard now in thanks to Jesus knowing that one day soon when our bodies and souls separate, we will forever rest in perfect peace as we join our Savior forever in heaven. And they can mark each one of our graves with a big R.I.P. For we will rest in peace until he comes to wake us from the grave. What a restful sleep that will be. In Jesus' name, dear friends, rest in peace. Amen.<span></span></span></p> <br></div><div><div class="m_8437051192763035322gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div><br></div><div>In Him,</div><div>Pastor Rob Guenther</div><div><font color="#000099"><b><br></b></font></div><div><b><font color="#000099">Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church</font></b></div><div>47585 Ciechanski Road, Kenai, AK 99611</div><div><a href="http://www.gracelutherankenai.com/" target="_blank">www.GraceLutheranKenai.com</a></div><div><a href="mailto:pastorguenther@gmail.com" target="_blank">pastorguenther@gmail.com</a><br><span><span title="Call with Google Voice">(907) 690-1660</span></span></div><div><br></div><div><div style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"><font size="1">Read sermons online: <a href="http://www.gracelutherankenai.com/Sermons" style="color:rgb(17,85,204)" target="_blank">www.<wbr>GraceLutheranKenai.com/Sermons</a></font></div><div style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"><font size="1">Listen to sermons online: <a href="http://www.gracelutherankenai.com/Podcast" style="color:rgb(17,85,204)" target="_blank">www.<wbr>GraceLutheranKenai.com/Podcast</a></font></div><div style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"><font size="1">Watch services online: <a href="http://www.gracelutherankenai.com/Webcast" style="color:rgb(17,85,204)" target="_blank">www.<wbr>GraceLutheranKenai.com/Webcast</a></font></div></div><div style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"><font size="1">Like us on Facebook: <a href="http://www.Facebook.com/GraceLutheranKenai" target="_blank">www.Facebook.com/<wbr>GraceLutheranKenai</a> </font></div><div style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"><div style="font-size:12.8000001907349px"><font size="1"><br></font></div><div style="font-size:12.8000001907349px"><font size="1">Have you been blessed by our ministry at Grace? Consider supporting us with your generous gifts. Give securely online with a check or credit or debit card here: <a href="http://www.GraceLutheranKenai.com/Give" target="_blank">www.GraceLutheranKenai.com/<wbr>Give</a></font></div><div><br></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div> </div> Pastor Rob Guentherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02352798164314819498noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-815791093574782702.post-71643648493358829872018-05-31T23:17:00.001-07:002018-05-31T23:17:57.499-07:00Signed, Sealed, Delivered (A sermon based on John 3:1-17)<div dir="ltr"><div class="gmail_default"><font face="tahoma, sans-serif">God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit all love you so much that God would stop at nothing to secure your salvation. The Father sealed the plan of your salvation with his Son's own blood. The Son sealed your salvation by his sacrifice on the cross. The Spirit delivered your salvation through the Word and the faith he's given. Signed, sealed, and delivered, God is yours and you are God's. Read or listen to (<a href="http://www.gracelutherankenai.com/home/180007450/180007450/Audio/20180527_John_3v1-17.mp3">download</a>) this sermon based on John 3:1-17 and rejoice in the work of the Triune God for you... </font><br clear="all"></div><div class="gmail_default"><font face="tahoma, sans-serif"><br></font></div><div class="gmail_default"><font face="tahoma, sans-serif"> <p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><b style=""><font size="4">Signed, Sealed, Delivered</font><span style="font-size:13pt"></span></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">A sermon based on John 3:1-17<span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Sunday, May 27, 2018 – Trinity Sunday<span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">In a 1970's hit song, 20 year-old Stevie Wonder wrote of a man who had cheated on his girlfriend and now went back to plead for her mercy and forgiveness. Can you name that song? The young man mailed himself back to her, if you will, in "Signed, Sealed, Delivered. I'm Yours." <span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">In a sense, we could sing this song to God. We've cheated on him. And at times we might feel like singing the opening lines to him: <b><i><span style="color:rgb(56,86,35)">"Like a fool I went and stayed too long. Now I'm wondering if your love's still strong… Then that time I went and said goodbye… Now I'm back and not ashamed to cry."</span></i></b> We may plead with God as the young man of Stevie Wonder's song pled with his girl, throwing ourselves on his mercy: <b><i><span style="color:rgb(56,86,35)">"You got my future in your hands."</span></i></b><span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">But in another sense, it's God who could sing that refrain to us. <i>We</i> didn't go to<i> him</i>. <i>We</i> didn't seek <i>him</i> out. No. <i>He</i> came to <i>us</i>. He <i>sought</i> us. He delivered himself to us. And he says to us, <b><i><span style="color:rgb(56,86,35)">"Signed, sealed, delivered; I'm yours."</span></i></b> <span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">This Trinity Sunday we look at a familiar text, which includes perhaps the most famous Bible verse. And we see the role of each person of the Trinity in our salvation. Signed by the Father, sealed by the Son, and delivered by the Spirt, our relationship is restored. God is ours and we are his. Our text is found in John 3:1-17…<span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><b><i><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a member of the Jewish ruling council. <sup>2 </sup>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." <span></span></span></i></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><b><i><sup><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">3 </span></sup><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">In reply Jesus declared, </span><span style="color:rgb(192,0,0)">"I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again." <span></span></span></i></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><b><i><sup><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">4 </span></sup><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">"How can a man be born when he is old?" Nicodemus asked. "Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother's womb to be born!" <span></span></span></i></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><b><i><sup><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">5 </span></sup><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">Jesus answered, </span><span style="color:rgb(192,0,0)">"I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. <sup>6 </sup>Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. <sup>7 </sup>You should not be surprised at my saying, 'You must be born again.' <sup>8 </sup>The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit." </span><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)"><span></span></span></i></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><b><i><sup><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">9 </span></sup><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">"How can this be?" Nicodemus asked. <span></span></span></i></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><b><i><sup><span style="color:rgb(192,0,0)">10 </span></sup><span style="color:rgb(192,0,0)">"You are Israel's teacher," </span><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">said Jesus</span><span style="color:rgb(192,0,0)">, "and do you not understand these things? <sup>11 </sup>I tell you the truth, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony. <sup>12 </sup>I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things? <sup>13 </sup>No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven—the Son of Man. <sup>14 </sup>Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, <sup>15 </sup>that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.<span></span></span></i></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><b><i><sup><span style="color:rgb(192,0,0)">16 </span></sup><span style="color:rgb(192,0,0)">"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. <sup>17 </sup>For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him." <span></span></span></i></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Nicodemus came to Jesus at night, afraid of what his peers might think if they saw him visiting this homeless man who claimed to be the Messiah. But the miracles Jesus did were too convincing to not investigate more. Nickodemus had to know more about Jesus. <b><i><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">"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." </span></i></b>And so, even though it was the middle of the night, Jesus took the time to teach him. And thankfully John recorded it for us so we get to listen in. And Jesus' message to him was this: the triune God is active in every part of your Salvation. <span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Now I feel for Nicodemus. Like "Doubting Thomas," I think he gets a bum rap in his nickname: "The Night Disciple." After all, are we much different? Born to sinful parents, we inherit from them a sinful nature—a nature that reveals itself in the way we treat Jesus too. Have you ever been ashamed of Jesus? Afraid of what your friends or coworkers might think if they knew you followed him? Have you ever played the part of the chameleon—when the crowd is cool to Jesus, have you ever changed colors to fit in? <span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Imagine if your spouse, or your boyfriend or girlfriend, or your parents told you, "Hey when we go out in public, I'm going to pretend that I don't know you. It's nothing personal, but you're not exactly good for my reputation. So if it's cool with you, whenever we're with others, I'm not with you." Wouldn't that hurt? If they did that every time—if they repeatedly showed you that they were ashamed of you—wouldn't that maybe be enough to end the relationship?</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">That's exactly what we deserve for acting like Nicodemus, for being ashamed of Jesus (imagine how we hurt him!), for all of the times we've open rebelled against him or accidentally slipped up: We deserve to have God end the relationship with us. We deserve to be separated from him forever in hell. <span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">But God loved us too much to let the relationship end. Each person of the Triune God loved us so much that he acted in our rescue…<span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span> </span></p> <p class="gmail-MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.25in;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><b><span><span>I.<span style="font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;font-weight:normal;font-stretch:normal;font-size:7pt;line-height:normal;font-family:"Times New Roman""> </span></span></span></b><b>Signed by God the Father<span></span></b></p> <p class="gmail-MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.25in;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:6pt"><span> </span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">First, the Father came up with the plan and signed it with his Son's own blood. <b><i><span style="color:rgb(192,0,0)">"God so loved the world…" </span></i></b>Stop there. That alone is enough to marvel at! That God should love any one of us is almost too incredible to believe! In spite of our sin, in spite of our cheating, in spite of our rebellion he loved us. And not just us, but the entire world. If you were born on the moon, then I guess this verse might not apply to you. But even then it probably still would since the word translated "world" here is "cosmos" and is used for all of the created universe including the stars, the heavens, and all that's in them. The point is that what follows certainly applies to you.<span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><b><i><span style="color:rgb(192,0,0)">"God so loved the world that he gave…" </span></i></b>God didn't just pine away for the world, longing to be with its inhabitants the way a boy pines for a girl with unrequited love. No. God acted. He did something—a big, grand <i>gesture</i> to <i>show</i> his love? No! Much more! A big, grand <i>gift</i> that <i>gave</i> his love. <span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><b><i><span style="color:rgb(192,0,0)">"God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son… God [sent] his Son into the world… to save the world through him." </span></i></b>What more precious and costly gift could anyone ever give than to sacrifice their own dearly loved child to save another? I can't think of any greater price. But so great was God's love for you, so determined was God to save you, that that's exactly what he did. Before the world was made, before time began, he planned your rescue and signed it with own Son's blood. <span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span> </span></p> <p class="gmail-MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.25in;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><b><span><span>II.<span style="font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;font-weight:normal;font-stretch:normal;font-size:7pt;line-height:normal;font-family:"Times New Roman""> </span></span></span></b><b>Sealed by God the Son<span></span></b></p> <p class="gmail-MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.25in;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:6pt"><span> </span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">And how great is the love of Jesus, God the Son, that he would seal your salvation by his sacrifice! Jesus said, <b><i><span style="color:rgb(192,0,0)">"Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life."</span></i></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">You remember the story from Numbers 21: The Israelites had been set free from their Egyptian slavery and were heading to land flowing with milk and honey that God had promised to give them. <b><i><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">"But the people grew impatient on the way,"</span></i></b> Moses tells us. <b><i><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">"They spoke against God and against Moses, and said, 'Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? There is no bread! There is no water! And we detest this miserable food!'"</span></i></b><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)"> <span> </span></span><b><i><span style="color:rgb(192,0,0)"><span></span></span></i></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">And as a consequence for their whining and griping, God sent venomous snakes. Their poison killed many people when they bit. And the discipline worked. The people repented and they came to Moses for help. And Moses, in turn, went to God for help. And this is what God said, <b><i><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">"Make a snake and put it up on a pole; anyone who is bitten can look at it and live."</span></i></b><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)"> </span>(v.8) <b><i><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">"So Moses made a bronze snake and put it up on a pole. Then when anyone was bitten by a snake and looked at the bronze snake, they lived."<span></span></span></i></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Now, humanly speaking, it's ridiculous to think that by just looking at a bronze statue poisonous venom would be removed from someone's blood stream. All they had to do was look up at it and they would live?! Yes! That's it! Just trust in God's promise attached to that snake and God would forgive and restore. <span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">And that's exactly the point that Jesus was making to Nicodemus. Though I doubt Nicodemus understood what Jesus was talking about that night, I'm sure this conversation came rushing back to him when he later heard how Jesus died. Just as the snake was lifted up on a pole, Jesus was lifted up on a cross. Just as, humanly speaking, it is ridiculous to think that looking at a statue could remove venom from your blood, so too, humanly speaking, it is ridiculous to think that looking to a man crucified almost 2,000 years ago in faith will remove your sin. But nevertheless, just as those who trusted the promise of the bronze snake looked and lived, so too, those who trust the promise of Jesus and look to him in faith have eternal life. <span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">We do nothing. Jesus did everything. He lived a perfect life in our place. He took our sin on himself. And he willingly sacrificed himself to suffer and die and endure God's wrath in our place on that cross. So that, <b><i><span style="color:rgb(192,0,0)">"everyone who believes in him may have eternal life…" </span></i></b>And just in case Nicodemus or we missed the point, Jesus said it again: <b><i><span style="color:rgb(192,0,0)">"whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." </span></i></b>What love God the Son has shown to us! He sealed our redemption by his sacrifice on the cross! <span></span></p> <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><br clear="all"> </span> <p class="gmail-MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.25in;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><b><span><span>III.<span style="font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;font-weight:normal;font-stretch:normal;font-size:7pt;line-height:normal;font-family:"Times New Roman""> </span></span></span></b><b>Delivered by God the Spirit<span></span></b></p> <p class="gmail-MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.25in;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:6pt"><span> </span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">But finally, we wouldn't know about any of this and we certainly wouldn't believe it, if not for the work of God the Spirit who has delivered these truths by the Word, who had delivered faith into our hearts. <span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Jesus told Nicodemus, <b><i><span style="color:rgb(192,0,0)">"I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. <sup>6 </sup>Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit."</span></i></b><span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">"How in the world can a person be born a second time?" Nicodemus wondered incredulously! And Jesus explained: by <b><i><span style="color:rgb(192,0,0)">"water and the Spirit… the Spirit gives birth to spirit."</span></i></b><span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Do you remember your birth? Do you remember choosing when to be born; on what day? Or choosing where you would be born; at which hospital? Do you remember picking out your parents or even deciding whether or not you would have parents? Of course not! <span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">And that's Jesus' point to Nicodemus here. Birth is not something you choose. It's something that happens to you. You are passive. Mom is doing the work the first time you're born. God the Holy Spirit is doing the work the second time. <span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Through Baptism (<b><i><span style="color:rgb(192,0,0)">"water and the Spirit"</span></i></b>), that water connected to the promise of God, your sins were washed away, you were born again into God's family, adopted by him as his own. And through the Word, the Spirit continues to strengthen your faith and deliver comfort, peace, and forgiveness right to your door. <span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:4pt"><span> </span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Yes, you and I have cheated on God. And we might want to sing with Stevie Wonder, <b><i><span style="color:rgb(56,86,35)">"Like a fool I went and stayed too long. Now I'm wondering if [God's] love's still strong… Then that time I went and said goodbye… Now I'm back and not ashamed to cry."</span></i></b><span style="color:rgb(56,86,35)"> </span>We do well to repent as the Israelites did in the wilderness and throw ourselves on God's mercy: <b><i><span style="color:rgb(56,86,35)">"You got my future in your hands."</span></i></b><span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">But God responds by revealing his love; the love of the Triune. He came to us. He sought us. He rescued us. He delivered himself to us. And he says to us, <b><i><span style="color:rgb(56,86,35)">"Signed, sealed, delivered; I'm yours."</span></i></b><span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">For our salvation was signed by the Father before the world began. It was sealed by the Son by his perfect life and innocent death. It was delivered by the Spirt by water and the Word. And so, our relationship with God is restored. God is ours and we are his. And we will be together forever. <b><i><span style="color:rgb(192,0,0)">"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."<span></span></span></i></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">In the name of our Triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.<span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span> </span></p></font></div><div><div class="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div>In Him,</div><div>Pastor Rob Guenther</div><div><font color="#000099"><b><br></b></font></div><div><b><font color="#000099">Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church</font></b></div><div>47585 Ciechanski Road, Kenai, AK 99611</div><div><a href="http://www.gracelutherankenai.com/" target="_blank">www.GraceLutheranKenai.com</a></div><div><a href="mailto:pastorguenther@gmail.com" target="_blank">pastorguenther@gmail.com</a><br><span><span title="Call with Google Voice">(907) 690-1660</span></span></div><div><br></div><div><div style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"><font size="1">Read sermons online: <a href="http://www.gracelutherankenai.com/Sermons" style="color:rgb(17,85,204)" target="_blank">www.GraceLutheranKenai.com/Sermons</a></font></div><div style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"><font size="1">Listen to sermons online: <a href="http://www.gracelutherankenai.com/Podcast" style="color:rgb(17,85,204)" target="_blank">www.GraceLutheranKenai.com/Podcast</a></font></div><div style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"><font size="1">Watch services online: <a href="http://www.gracelutherankenai.com/Webcast" style="color:rgb(17,85,204)" target="_blank">www.GraceLutheranKenai.com/Webcast</a></font></div></div><div style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"><font size="1">Like us on Facebook: <a href="http://www.Facebook.com/GraceLutheranKenai" target="_blank">www.Facebook.com/GraceLutheranKenai</a> </font></div><div style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"><div style="font-size:12.8px"><font size="1"><br></font></div><div style="font-size:12.8px"><font size="1">Have you been blessed by our ministry at Grace? Consider supporting us with your generous gifts. Give securely online with a check or credit or debit card here: <a href="http://www.GraceLutheranKenai.com/Give" target="_blank">www.GraceLutheranKenai.com/Give</a></font></div><div><br></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div> </div> Pastor Rob Guentherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02352798164314819498noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-815791093574782702.post-90859974512009245872018-05-22T14:04:00.001-07:002018-05-22T14:04:55.517-07:00Peace Through the Spirit (A sermon based on John 14:25-27)<div dir="ltr"><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:small">Does your life seem peaceful? Hardly, right? There are external problems that threaten our health, our finances, our relationships. Then there's the internal guilt and shame. These all come as a result of sin -- of disobedience to God. But the Holy Spirit has come to give us peace. Jesus promised it. On the Day of Pentecost he brought the disciples peace by giving them a right understanding of what Jesus had come to do and a right faith in the forgiveness he won. And he did this through the Word. He does the same for us. Read or listen to (<a href="http://www.gracelutherankenai.com/home/180007450/180007450/Audio/20180520_John_14v25-27.mp3">download</a>) this sermon based on John 14:25-27 and rejoice in the peace the Holy Spirit gives! </div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:small"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:small"> <p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-align:center;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><b><span style="font-size:14pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif">Peace Through the Spirit<span></span></span></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-align:center;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif">A sermon based on John 14:25-27<span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-align:center;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif">Sunday, May 20, 2018 – Pentecost B<span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif"><span> </span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-indent:0.25in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif">How much peace do you think the disciples had that night? Jesus was doing some unusual things, washing their feet, changing the Passover, praying alone in the garden. And what he was saying was even more odd: The bread was his body? The wine was his blood? He was going to depart and they couldn't come with him? I'll bet that night left them confused and without much peace.<span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-indent:0.25in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif">How much peace do you think the disciples had later that night? Jesus was arrested and he let himself be abused. He could have stopped it. They knew that. But he didn't. He chose to let them hurt him. Maybe he would let them hurt the disciples too. So they ran. Those who had so recently boldly declared they would never leave Jesus' side now ran away like terrified prey into the dark night. I'll bet that night left them scared and without much peace.<span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-indent:0.25in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif">How much peace do you think the disciples had later that night? Hiding behind locked doors, they feared that the authorities would come for them next. And I'm sure the shame of deserting Jesus—their teacher, their master, their friend—soon hit hard. I'll bet that night left them feeling quite guilty and without much peace.<span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-indent:0.25in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif">And yet, on that night, the night on which he was betrayed, Jesus promised his disciples peace. And it's a peace he promises to us too. It's a peace promised to be delivered by the Holy Spirit, a peace described for us in John 14:25-27…<span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-indent:0.25in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:7pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif"><span> </span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-indent:0.25in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><b><i><sup><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:maroon">25 </span></sup></i></b><b><i><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:maroon">"All this I have spoken while still with you. <sup>26 </sup>But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. <sup>27 </sup>Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.<span></span></span></i></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif"><span> </span></span></p> <b><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif"><br clear="all"> </span></b> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><b><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif">I. The Holy Spirit Brings Peace by Giving You Faith<span></span></span></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:7pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif"><span> </span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-indent:0.25in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif">The disciples were troubled and scared. They were worried and fearful—and understandably so! Their lives were in jeopardy. Their families in danger. Their friend was talking about capture and death. And soon their hopes in Jesus to be the Messiah who would rule the nations would lay in utter ruins. That night, after his arrest, things must have looked pretty hopeless to those disciples. I'm sure there wasn't much peace among them.<span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-indent:0.25in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif">We too are often robbed of peace in this sin-filled life, aren't we? Sin brings pain and disease, so we worry about our health. Sin brings disasters and crooks, so we worry about our finances. Sing brings selfishness and war on a big scale and a smaller personal scale so we worry about our jobs and about our kids and about our relationships. At times, it sure seems like there's not much peace in our lives. But then something worse robs us of peace…<span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-indent:0.25in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif">The external circumstances were certainly enough to rob the disciples of peace that night. But how much more the internal guilt and shame must have robbed them of peace. We know the remorse of Judas and of Peter who both broke down in shame at what they'd done. And it robbed them both of peace. <span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-indent:0.25in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif">And I think we can understand.<span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-indent:0.25in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif">In one of the verses right before our text, Jesus said, <b><i><span style="color:maroon">"If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. He who does not love me will not obey my teaching."</span></i></b> <span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-indent:0.25in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif">And how well have we obeyed his teaching? Not well enough. Too often we show that we love ourselves more than Jesus. We care more about our comfort than about speaking up for him, more about our fun than service to him, more about our friends than our Savior. <span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-indent:0.25in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif"><span> </span></span></p> <span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif"><br clear="all"> </span> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-indent:0.25in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif">And when we realize what we've done, how little we've loved him, then the guilt and shame of our sin can rob us of peace. Nagging, gnawing guilt, the shame and regret, sting our consciences like a piece of Devil's club stuck under the surface of the skin. Our consciences sting… unless, of course, they've become so calloused that we can no longer feel the sting. But even then the quiet night can often bring back the memories of our sin that haunt our souls with guilt and shame and rob us of peace.<span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-indent:0.25in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif">But Jesus sent his Spirit to bring us peace. And he does that by giving us a proper understanding and a right faith…<span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-indent:0.25in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif">The disciples had no peace because the lacked understanding. They didn't understand what the Messiah was all about. They didn't get why Jesus had come. They thought he had come to bring them peace in this life: peace from the Romans, peace from poverty, peace from suffering and pain.<span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-indent:0.25in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif">But that's not the kind of peace that Jesus had come to bring.<span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-indent:0.25in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif">In verse 27 Jesus explained that this wasn't the kind of peace the Holy Spirit would bring. He said, <b><i><span style="color:maroon">"Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do </span></i><u><span style="color:maroon">not</span></u><i><span style="color:maroon"> give to you as the world gives."</span></i></b><span style="color:maroon"> </span>He didn't come to just bring physical health and financial security or happy human relationships that fill our hearts. For all of those would ultimately leave us empty in the end. For <b><i><span style="color:maroon">"What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?"</span></i></b> (Mark 8:36)<span style="color:maroon"><span></span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-indent:0.25in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif">But Jesus brought a better peace. And the Holy Spirit gives us a proper understanding of what God came to do, just like he did for those disciples.<span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-indent:0.25in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif">When Jesus said, <b><i><span style="color:maroon">"While I am still with you,"</span></i></b> he alluded to his departure from this life. The next day he would die. He would be killed on a cross, tortured to death. Why? To win the battle for them--and for us! A battle that would bring us peace—to bring us peace <b><i>with God</i></b>. This is the peace of which Jesus spoke: a peace of heart and mind which comes from knowing our sins are all forgiveness through his perfect life and innocent death for us, a peace that was proved by his resurrection from the dead. It is a peace which passes all understanding. It is a peace which only God can give. <span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-indent:0.25in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif">And though the disciples didn't get it that Maundy Thursday, Jesus would send his Holy Spirit to comfort, counsel, help, and enlighten them. On the Day of Pentecost, the light came on for the disciples as the flames appeared above their head. For the first time they really understood what peace Jesus had brought them. He didn't give them a small, temporal, feeble peace that the world gives. He gave a different peace, a better peace, <b><i>his</i></b> peace. <span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-indent:0.25in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif">And they boldly proclaimed, <b><i><span style="color:rgb(0,0,144)">"Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call."</span> </i></b>(Acts 2:38-38) Now they understood. And so do we. We understand that, <b><i><span style="color:rgb(0,0,144)">"since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ."</span></i></b> (Romans 5:1) <span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-indent:0.25in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif">And we understand this—we believe this—because the Holy Spirit has worked this understanding—and this faith <i>in</i> this understanding—in our hearts. And he's done so and <i>continues</i> to do so through the Word.<span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-indent:0.25in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif"><span> </span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><b><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif">II. The Holy Spirit Brings Peace by Giving You His Word<span></span></span></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-indent:0.25in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:7pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif"><span> </span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-indent:0.25in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif">When Jesus said, <b><i><span style="color:maroon">"While I am still with you,"</span></i></b> he alluded to his departure from this life. But perhaps he also alluded to his ascension 43 days later. He would leave them bodily and physically. But he didn't leave them alone. While he was still with them he made them this promise: <b><i><span style="color:maroon">"The Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you." </span></i></b>Jesus left his disciples the Holy Spirit and the promise that he would leave them with the Word. <span></span></span></p> <span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif"><br clear="all"> </span> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-indent:0.25in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif">And Jesus has not left us alone either. He sends us his Holy Spirit who always operates through the Word. Do you want to be close to God? Do you want to know his heart and mind? Do you want to find peace in what he says to you? Then read his Word. It is not just an interesting book with good ideas about God. It's not just a record of the things the disciples could recall from their memories. It is the very Word of God written by him through the apostles he sent. Jesus promised this to his disciples: It is his Word. <b><i><span style="color:maroon">"The Holy Spirit… will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you."</span></i></b><span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-indent:0.25in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif">You've heard the argument and the illustration before, right? If we play that old game of telephone, where I whisper a message to one person who passes it on to the next and then to the next, the message is very likely to be garbled—sometimes in a ridiculous and humorous way by the time it gets to the last person because human memory doesn't always work that well. <span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-indent:0.25in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif">But that's not how the Scriptures work. Let people use their cell phones to record the message before they pass it on and the end result will be quite different. Or better still, let the last person talk to the first—the original message giver—and the end result will be flawless. <span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-indent:0.25in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif">The disciples didn't have a recording device. But they didn't need one. They had something better: A promise from Jesus that he would send the original message giver right to them. <b><i><span style="color:maroon">"The Holy Spirit… will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you."</span></i></b><span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-indent:0.25in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif">So we know that what they wrote of Jesus is the inspired, inerrant Word of God. What comfort that brings when our worries and fears try to rob us peace. We know that it's God himself, not just Matthew, who promises that he is with us always. (cf. Matthew 28:20) What comfort that brings when we face problems and pain that would rob us of peace. We know that it's God himself, not just Paul, who promises that he'll work all things for the good of those who love him. (cf. Romans 8:28) What comfort that brings when we face the thought of our own death that would rob us life and rob us of peace. We know that it's God himself, not just John, who promises that whoever believes in him will never die. (cf. John 11:26)<span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-indent:0.25in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif">So when problems or pain or troubles or terrors try to rob you of your peace, then go back to the Word. Read of God's grace to you in Christ. And find peace. Better still, read, mark, learn, and digest that Word of God <b><i>before</i></b> problems or pain or troubles or terrors try to rob you of your peace and they won't be able to. Then you will always rejoice that the Spirit has brought you peace by the understanding and the faith that he's given you and that the Spirit has brought you peace by the Word that he's given you. Read the Word. Read of his grace. And be at peace.<span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-indent:0.25in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif">And may the grace of our Lord, Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit give you peace at all times and in every way. Amen.<span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 8pt;line-height:107%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span> </span></p></div><div><div class="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div>In Him,</div><div>Pastor Rob Guenther</div><div><font color="#000099"><b><br></b></font></div><div><b><font color="#000099">Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church</font></b></div><div>47585 Ciechanski Road, Kenai, AK 99611</div><div><a href="http://www.gracelutherankenai.com/" target="_blank">www.GraceLutheranKenai.com</a></div><div><a href="mailto:pastorguenther@gmail.com" target="_blank">pastorguenther@gmail.com</a><br><span><span title="Call with Google Voice">(907) 690-1660</span></span></div><div><br></div><div><div style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"><font size="1">Read sermons online: <a href="http://www.gracelutherankenai.com/Sermons" style="color:rgb(17,85,204)" target="_blank">www.GraceLutheranKenai.com/Sermons</a></font></div><div style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"><font size="1">Listen to sermons online: <a href="http://www.gracelutherankenai.com/Podcast" style="color:rgb(17,85,204)" target="_blank">www.GraceLutheranKenai.com/Podcast</a></font></div><div style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"><font size="1">Watch services online: <a href="http://www.gracelutherankenai.com/Webcast" style="color:rgb(17,85,204)" target="_blank">www.GraceLutheranKenai.com/Webcast</a></font></div></div><div style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"><font size="1">Like us on Facebook: <a href="http://www.Facebook.com/GraceLutheranKenai" target="_blank">www.Facebook.com/GraceLutheranKenai</a> </font></div><div style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"><div style="font-size:12.8px"><font size="1"><br></font></div><div style="font-size:12.8px"><font size="1">Have you been blessed by our ministry at Grace? Consider supporting us with your generous gifts. Give securely online with a check or credit or debit card here: <a href="http://www.GraceLutheranKenai.com/Give" target="_blank">www.GraceLutheranKenai.com/Give</a></font></div><div><br></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div> </div> Pastor Rob Guentherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02352798164314819498noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-815791093574782702.post-21940649309997718742018-05-14T15:47:00.001-07:002018-05-14T15:47:43.582-07:00Alive No Matter What! (A sermon based on Romans 8:18-25, 31-38)<div dir="ltr"><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:small">What could ever separate you from God's love? Nothing! Even though we often try to separate ourselves as we run away from God like a toddler running from a parent in search independence, nevertheless, God loves us so much he chases after us. And by his grace, we are tethered to his love. Nothing will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is ours in Christ Jesus! Read or listen to (<a href="http://www.gracelutherankenai.com/home/180007450/180007450/Audio/20180513_Romans_8v18-25-31-38.mp3">download</a>) this sermon based on select verses of Romans 8 and rejoice in that amazing truth! </div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:small"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:small"> <p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><b><span style="font-size:14pt">Alive No Matter What!<span></span></span></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt">A sermon based on Romans 8:18-25, 31-38<span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt">Sunday, May 13, 2018 – Ascension/Mothers' Day<span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt"><span> </span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt">The fun and exciting vacation she hoped for wasn't turning out to be quite what Lex expected. Her grandpa invited her and her brother, Tim, to spend a week on his private island exploring, and adventuring, and especially seeing the dinosaurs grandpa's company had made. But now, the dinosaurs were running wild in Jurassic Park and at the first sign of the T-Rex the lawyer—who was supposed to be their protector—took off running scared only to be eaten. "He left us!" Lex cried in shock and dismay! "He left us!"<span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt">I imagine that's how Jesus' disciples must have felt after they saw his feet disappear behind the cloud. With shock and dismay they must have cried, "He left us! He left us!" Now what? Now that their mentor, their protector, their Savior left them, who would take care of them now? <span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt">But even though Jesus left this world physically, he didn't abandon his disciples. You remember his parting words before his ascension: <b><i><span style="color:red">"And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."<span> </span><span></span></span></i></b></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt">Today, we look at some familiar passages in the great comfort chapter of Romans 8. And we're reminded that though Jesus left earth, he didn't leave us. Though times here will be tough, Jesus is still with us always. And no matter what happens, we will live <i>through</i> him and <i>with</i> him. Nothing will ever be able to separate us from him and his inseparable love. Our text for this morning is select verses of Romans 8, beginning at verse 18…<span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt"><span> </span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><b><i><sup><span style="font-size:12pt;color:rgb(0,32,96)">18</span></sup></i></b><b><i><span style="font-size:12pt;color:rgb(0,32,96)"> I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. <sup>19</sup> The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. <sup>20</sup> For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope <sup>21</sup> that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God. <span></span></span></i></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><b><i><sup><span style="font-size:12pt;color:rgb(0,32,96)">22</span></sup></i></b><b><i><span style="font-size:12pt;color:rgb(0,32,96)"> We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. <sup>23</sup> Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. <sup>24</sup> For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? <sup>25</sup> But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently. <span></span></span></i></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><b><i><sup><span style="font-size:7pt;color:rgb(0,32,96)"><span> </span></span></sup></i></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><b><i><sup><span style="font-size:12pt;color:rgb(0,32,96)">31</span></sup></i></b><b><i><span style="font-size:12pt;color:rgb(0,32,96)"> What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? <sup>32</sup> 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? <sup>33</sup> Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. <sup>34</sup> 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. <sup>35</sup> Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? <sup>36</sup> As it is written: "For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered."<span></span></span></i></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><b><i><sup><span style="font-size:12pt;color:rgb(0,32,96)">37</span></sup></i></b><b><i><span style="font-size:12pt;color:rgb(0,32,96)"> No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. <sup>38</sup> For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, <sup>39</sup> 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. <span></span></span></i></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt"><span> </span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt">On Friday, Becky and I had quite the scare. Distracted by the garage sale, we suddenly noticed that Joel wasn't in the garage anymore. We searched the house calling his name. Not there. We looked around the property, checked the playground and the soccer field. Not there. I ran over to church. He wasn't in the big room. We started to get frantic. We started to fear the worst: that one of the garage sale shoppers picked up some bargains <i>and</i> a little boy.<span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt">(Don't worry. We did find him. He was in the lower grade classroom using his charm and powers of adorable to get the other kids to buy him toys from the teacher store. And as a consequence for running away from home, he had to give them all back.)<span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt">Moms, have you ever been there? Ever had that moment of panic when you thought there would be no future Mothers' Day celebration with this particular child because they were gone? They were there at your side holding on to the cart one minute and the next they just vanished? <span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt">That's got to be what God feels every time we run away from him. Like the toddler seeking independence, we wander away from our loving Father at great risk to ourselves. We try to separate ourselves from him by running away so we can do our own thing, live life on our terms, by our rules without him telling us what to do. We can never cry, "He left us! He left us!" because if we ever feel distant from God, we can be sure that it wasn't <i>God</i> who moved away, it was us.<span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt">And it should be no surprise that such independence never ends well. It was Adam's independence from God that brought about sin and its harmful effect from the beginning. That's why there's suffering. That's why there are problems. That's why there's pain. <b><i><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">"For the creation was subjected to frustration…" </span></i></b>It's in, <b><i><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">"bondage to decay…" </span></i></b>and <b><i><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">"has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time."</span></i></b><span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt">And sin doesn't just make a mess of the earth, it causes problems and pain for its inhabitants too: <b><i><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">"trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword…" </span></i></b>And what's worse, our trying to separate ourselves from God to do our own thing doesn't just make a mess of <i>this</i> life. For running away from God, we deserve a fate far worse than being hit by a car, or getting kidnapped, or even getting eaten by a dinosaur. We deserve death. And we deserve death to be the final separation that removes us from God and his love for eternity. We justly deserve God's condemnation.<span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt">But… God loves us too much to let us go. Even when we run away from him, he runs after us. Like a mother leaving the cart full of groceries (or a garage sale with a bag of cash sitting on the table) to go frantically searching for her wandering toddler before he gets abducted or hit by a car, so great is God's love for us that he chases after us before we become separated from him forever in hell.<span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt">And consider again what great lengths God's love led him to go to in order to rescue us! <b><i><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">"He… did not spare </span></i><u><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">his own Son</span></u><i><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">, but gave him up for us all!"<span></span></span></i></b></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><b><i><span style="font-size:12pt;color:rgb(0,32,96)"><span> </span></span></i></b><span style="font-size:12pt">Friends, listen; if the <b><i><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">"trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword…"</span></i></b> ever cause you to start doubting God's love for you, you only need to look at the cross again. He already rescued you from the most terrible trouble; from the hardship of hell! And he did so at the expense of <b><i>his own Son</i></b>! What love! How can you ever doubt his love for you! <span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt">Now you have the confidence that your every sin is forgiven! Every time you've wandered away from God or deliberately ran from him is erased. <b><i><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">"Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies." </span></i></b>God has declared you not guilty! Who's going to argue with him? <b><i><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">"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."</span></i></b> The judge of your soul is the very one who died to pay for your sin, who rose from the dead to guarantee it, who ascended into heaven to plead your case before the Father based on his work and merits. Who's going to argue with him against your case? Never doubt his love for you! It will never cease. It will never fail. It will never waver!<span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt">Mom was tired of losing her toddler every time she went out. So one day, she went online and bought a "child safety harness" (because "child safety harness" sounds much more dignified than "toddler leash"). And the next time she went shopping, she made sure her little one was safely tethered to her. She wouldn't lose her child this time. <span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt">And that, in a sense, is what God does for us, friends. His love for you is an even greater love than the most devoted mother could ever give her child. It's never selfish, it never needs a break and a glass of wine, it always does what's in your best interest, and it tethers you to God with an inseparable love. <span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><b><i><span style="font-size:12pt;color:rgb(0,32,96)">"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.'<span></span></span></i></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><b><i><span style="font-size:12pt;color:rgb(0,32,96)">"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." <span></span></span></i></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt">You see, the reason nothing can ever separate you from the love of Christ, is that it in no way depends on you. God doesn't love you because of how good you are, because of what you do, because you're so good looking, or charming, or adorable, or talented. He doesn't love you because you're loveable in any way. He loves you because that's who he is. He loves you for the sake of Jesus who lived for you, and died for you, and took your sin away, who lives for you still, interceding for you before his Father's throne.<span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt">So as you endure <b><i><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">"trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword…" </span></i></b>(and you <i>will; </i>that is to be assumed), even if you should, <b><i><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">"face death all day long; [and be] considered as sheep to be slaughtered,"</span></i></b> remember that you are <b><i><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">"more than conquerors through him who loved us." </span></i></b>Nothing will ever, <b><i><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">"be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord."</span></i></b><span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt">Rejoice in that truth. Even though Jesus left us physically when he ascended into heaven, though he isn't visible to our eyes, he is still with us, just as he promised. And though life may be hard, his love will never leave us. It will never cease. It will never fail. It will never waver! <span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt">God will always love us with an inseparable love until that day when we are untethered from this world and live with him in paradise. And he will continue love us for eternity there. <span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt">So wait patiently and hopefully, <b><i><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">"for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies." </span></i></b>Stay tethered to him. Stop running away looking for your independence. And live for him in thanks. For nothing will ever separate us from God's inseparable love. We are alive in Christ, no matter what. In Jesus' name, dear friends, amen.<span></span></span></p> </div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:small"><br></div><div><div class="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div>In Him,</div><div>Pastor Rob Guenther</div><div><font color="#000099"><b><br></b></font></div><div><b><font color="#000099">Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church</font></b></div><div>47585 Ciechanski Road, Kenai, AK 99611</div><div><a href="http://www.gracelutherankenai.com/" target="_blank">www.GraceLutheranKenai.com</a></div><div><a href="mailto:pastorguenther@gmail.com" target="_blank">pastorguenther@gmail.com</a><br><span><span title="Call with Google Voice">(907) 690-1660</span></span></div><div><br></div><div><div style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"><font size="1">Read sermons online: <a href="http://www.gracelutherankenai.com/Sermons" style="color:rgb(17,85,204)" target="_blank">www.GraceLutheranKenai.com/Sermons</a></font></div><div style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"><font size="1">Listen to sermons online: <a href="http://www.gracelutherankenai.com/Podcast" style="color:rgb(17,85,204)" target="_blank">www.GraceLutheranKenai.com/Podcast</a></font></div><div style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"><font size="1">Watch services online: <a href="http://www.gracelutherankenai.com/Webcast" style="color:rgb(17,85,204)" target="_blank">www.GraceLutheranKenai.com/Webcast</a></font></div></div><div style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"><font size="1">Like us on Facebook: <a href="http://www.Facebook.com/GraceLutheranKenai" target="_blank">www.Facebook.com/GraceLutheranKenai</a> </font></div><div style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"><div style="font-size:12.8px"><font size="1"><br></font></div><div style="font-size:12.8px"><font size="1">Have you been blessed by our ministry at Grace? Consider supporting us with your generous gifts. Give securely online with a check or credit or debit card here: <a href="http://www.GraceLutheranKenai.com/Give" target="_blank">www.GraceLutheranKenai.com/Give</a></font></div><div><br></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div> </div> Pastor Rob Guentherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02352798164314819498noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-815791093574782702.post-47341146924572091552018-05-07T22:02:00.000-07:002018-05-07T22:15:32.177-07:00Alive Together for the Lord! (A sermon based on Romans 14:1-9)<div dir="ltr">
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Would you ever drink a glass of wine in church? Would you ever smoke a marijuana joint?! Would such actions be wrong? They may not be wise, but would it be sinful? In today's sermon we consider the topic of adiaphora -- those things which God has neither commanded nor forbidden. But how should we treat such matters? Should we just do what we think is best? Thank God that he sent Jesus to do not what was best for him, but what was best for us. And his forgiving love for us moves us to live for him and to do whatever is in the best interest of our brother or sister in Christ. Read or listen to (<a href="http://www.gracelutherankenai.com/home/180007450/180007450/Audio/20180506_Romans_14v1-9.mp3">download</a>) this sermon based on Romans 14:1-9 and rejoice in God's grace to us in Christ! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Alive Together for the Lord!</span><span style="font-size: 11.5pt;"></span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11.5pt;">A sermon based on Romans 14:1-9</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11.5pt;">Sunday, May 6<sup>th</sup>, 2018 – Easter</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11.5pt;">[Pull out a box of wine, pour a little into a glass, swirl it, sniff it, take a sip, smile.] </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11.5pt;">"What in the world is Pastor Guenther doing?!" Is that what you thought just now? I mean, I know it's 5 o'clock somewhere. But a glass of wine in the pulpit?! That's over the top!</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11.5pt;">I agree. And I admit, I did this for shock value this morning to grab your attention at the start of the sermon in a way I hope you'll remember past today. But… can you say that drinking a glass of wine (even in the pulpit!) is sinful? We might agree that drinking alcohol in church (apart from the Lord's Supper, of course) is terribly <i>unwise</i>, but can we say it is sinful? No. Not really.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11.5pt;">That's our topic for discussion today: disputable matters, or what theologians call <i>adiaphora</i>. Literally that word means things not cut. Adiaphora are those things where God's word cuts no clean line between right and wrong. Adiaphora are things neither commanded nor forbidden in the Bible. Is it sinful to drink alcohol? Well, drunkenness is obviously sinful. God's Word is clear enough on that. Substance <i>abuse</i> clearly is wrong. But substance <i>use</i>, not necessarily. Now that it's legal, what about marijuana? We once had a lively discussion here on that topic for a midweek Bible Class. How about gambling for entertainment? Perhaps it could be done without sinning, even though greed and malcontent are certainly wrong. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11.5pt;">Or what about worship styles? Guitars and drums in church? New hymnals or varied liturgies? What if the pastor wears a clerical collar? Or what if he wears no vestments, but preaches in a suit and tie? What if he were to preach in jeans and a T-shirt? We could discuss wise or unwise, but the Bible neither forbids nor commands such things. They are adiaphora.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11.5pt;">For Paul's Roman audience it was about meat. In the Old Testament pork was forbidden. No bacon! No pork chops! So were shrimp and lobster forbidden. These were things the Gentiles ate, but a God-fearing Jew never would. But now that Christ had come to fulfill his mission, the ritual and ceremonial laws that kept his people separate from the nations around them until he came… well, they were now obsolete. But not everyone agreed with how best to proceed. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11.5pt;">So Paul set pen to paper to straighten a few things out in regard to adiaphora. And as part of the solution to the Romans' problems he pointed to the resurrection. Christ died and returned to life to become our Lord. And as a result we longer live to please ourselves, but we live together for the Lord. Our text for today is found in Romans 14:1-9…</span></div>
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<b><i><span style="color: rgb(0 , 32 , 96); font-size: 11.5pt;">Accept him whose faith is weak, without passing judgment on disputable matters. <sup>2 </sup>One man's faith allows him to eat everything, but another man, whose faith is weak, eats only vegetables. <sup>3 </sup>The man who eats everything must not look down on him who does not, and the man who does not eat everything must not condemn the man who does, for God has accepted him. <sup>4 </sup>Who are you to judge someone else's servant? To his own master he stands or falls. And he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand. </span></i></b></div>
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<b><i><sup><span style="color: rgb(0 , 32 , 96); font-size: 11.5pt;">5 </span></sup></i></b><b><i><span style="color: rgb(0 , 32 , 96); font-size: 11.5pt;">One man considers one day more sacred than another; another man considers every day alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. <sup>6 </sup>He who regards one day as special, does so to the Lord. He who eats meat, eats to the Lord, for he gives thanks to God; and he who abstains, does so to the Lord and gives thanks to God. <sup>7 </sup>For none of us lives to himself alone and none of us dies to himself alone. <sup>8 </sup>If we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord. </span></i></b></div>
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<b><i><sup><span style="color: rgb(0 , 32 , 96); font-size: 11.5pt;">9 </span></sup></i></b><b><i><span style="color: rgb(0 , 32 , 96); font-size: 11.5pt;">For this very reason, Christ died and returned to life so that he might be the Lord of both the dead and the living.</span></i></b></div>
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<b style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-size: 11.5pt;">I. We Live to Ourselves</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11.5pt;">When the pastors of our circuit encounter a question of adiaphora we ask two important questions: First, we discuss whether a particular action or practice is sinful. We ask "Sin or no sin?" But if we determine that it's no sin, we don't end the discussion there. Then we need to ask a second question, "Wise or unwise?" "How will this particular practice impact those around me? What impressions will I give? Might I cause problems for a brother or sister in the faith?" And if a particular action or practice fails either question, we encourage one another not to do it. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11.5pt;">It would seem that the Romans weren't asking those questions though. They were doing their own thing—whatever suited each person best—then looking down on the other side, condemning those that did things differently from them. The weak in faith were those Jewish believers not comfortable eating pork or worshipping on any day but Saturday, those who followed the rites and rituals the way they'd always done. The strong were those Gentiles who knew that what went into someone's mouth didn't matter as much as what was in their heart, that the rest the Sabbath Day pointed to was the rest they had in Christ, and that there was freedom worship with new forms.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11.5pt;">But don't misunderstand. It's not just that the weak were the "bad guys" and the strong were the "good guys." No… the weak were those with sensitive consciences. But on the flip side, the strong were acting <b><i>in</i></b>sensitive, caring little what their eating was doing to the faith of others. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11.5pt;">Paul really scolds both sides when he says, <b><i><span style="color: rgb(0 , 32 , 96);">"The man who eats everything must not look down on him who does not, and the man who does not eat everything must not condemn the man who does, for God has accepted him."</span></i></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11.5pt;">The weak look down on the strong: "I can't believe he'd eat that! I can't believe he'd smoke that! I can't believe he'd watch a show like that!" and in doing so, they sin, judging others uncharitably in condescension and sinful pride. And the strong look down on the weak: "I can't believe he won't enjoy a drink, or smoke, or watch the shows I do. You'd think he'd know better; that in Christian freedom we can enjoy these things that God has not called sinful." And in doing so, <i>they</i> sin, judging others uncharitably in condescension and sinful pride. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11.5pt;">Friends, whether you consider yourself weak or sensitive in the faith or strong in the faith, does it really matter? Haven't we all been selfish? Haven't we all looked down on others because they didn't do things the way <b><i>we</i></b> thought they ought? Haven't we all been less than charitable in judging in things that God has neither commanded nor forbidden? If the answer to "Sin or no sin?" is "no sin," can we condemn those that we deem unwise in doing things differently that we would? And haven't we all lived to ourselves; that is, lived selfishly knowing that we were right and therefore caring nothing for the other person, their view, their faith? </span></div>
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<b><i><span style="color: rgb(0 , 32 , 96); font-size: 11.5pt;">"Who are you to judge someone else's servant?"</span></i></b><span style="font-size: 11.5pt;"> Paul says. <b><i><span style="color: rgb(0 , 32 , 96);">"To his own master he stands or falls." </span></i></b>In other words, don't worry about what the <i>other person</i> is doing. Focus on how well <b><i>you </i></b>are doing. Are <i>you</i> living entirely for God? Or do you sometimes—often?—live <i>for yourself</i>? Do you always seek what's in the best interest of others? Or do you do what's in your own best interest? Looking down on others as "not as good as me," or simply apathetic to the countless others we pass each day, so caught up in our own worlds, our own problems and pains, oblivious to the hurts and needs of others, shows how selfish and self-centered we all are. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11.5pt;">And so, living to ourselves and not to others, living to ourselves and not <i>to God</i>, we deserve to have God pass judgment on us, looking down on us, condemning us. We deserve to fall. And we deserve to die <i>apart</i> from the Lord, spending an eternity of self-righteous indignation full of ever-increasing self-absorption in the torment of hell.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11.5pt;">But… God loved us too much to let us get what we deserve…</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 11.5pt;">II. He Lived for Us</span></b></div>
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<b><i><span style="color: rgb(0 , 32 , 96); font-size: 11.5pt;">"For this very reason, Christ died and returned to life so that he might be the Lord of both the dead and the living."</span></i></b><span style="font-size: 11.5pt;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11.5pt;">Jesus lived a perfect life, never seeking what was in his own best interest. He always sought what was in the best interest of others. He always took the words and actions of others in the kindest possible way. He always loved, he always forgave. He never looked down on others (when he alone had every right to do so!). He never condemned others on the basis of adiaphora, personal preference, or prejudice. And </span><b><i><span style="color: rgb(0 , 32 , 96); font-size: 11.5pt;">"God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him."</span></i></b><span style="font-size: 11.5pt;"> (John 3:17)</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11.5pt;">And giving his perfect record of righteousness to you and to me, he took our sinful judging, condescension and condemnation, our bitter bickering about disputable matters, all on himself and took them to the cross. </span><span style="font-size: 11.5pt;">He never sought what was in his own best interest, but was so concerned for what was in <i>our</i> best interest, that he willingly endured hell on that cross to pay for ours sin. He died for us and then he returned to life for us that he might be our Lord. <b><i><span style="color: rgb(0 , 32 , 96);">"For this very reason, Christ died and returned to life so that he might be the Lord of both the dead and the living."</span></i></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11.5pt;">And so, <b><i><span style="color: rgb(0 , 32 , 96);">"If we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord." </span></i></b>We belong to the Lord. We are his. When we die, we will die to the Lord and be with him forever in the paradise of heaven. And for that glorious truth, we want to thank him! That means that right now we will live to the Lord, eager to do whatever pleases him…</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 11.5pt;">II. We Live to the Lord and to Each Other</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11.5pt;">The players on the varsity basketball team would do anything to make their coach happy. If he asked them to run the lines, they'd start sprinting right away. If he called a play, they'd get in formation. He had led them to several victories and they knew they had a real chance at the championship if they'd do what he told them. But one game, Coach was livid. He was running up and down the sidelines screaming, "Same team! Same team!" </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11.5pt;">You see, in their zeal to win the game, his players were boxing out—shoving others out of the way in order to be the first to get a rebound after a missed shot. But… they weren't paying attention to whom they were boxing out and some of the players were boxing out their own teammates. That's what prompted Coach to shout, "Same team! Same team!"</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11.5pt;">In our text for today that's what Coach Paul was shouting to the Romans. "You've all been bought by the blood of Christ. You've all been forgiven by his passion. You've all got peace with God and the paradise of heaven that awaits you. You're all same team! So start acting like it! Don't let these petty squabbles or who eats what or what day you worship on—things that God has neither commanded nor forbidden in his Word—separate you, divide you, and cause you to treat each other like the enemy. You all belong to the Lord! You're all 'Same team'!"</span></div>
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<b><i><span style="color: rgb(0 , 32 , 96); font-size: 11.5pt;">"For none of us lives to himself alone and none of us dies to himself alone. If we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord."</span></i></b><span style="font-size: 11.5pt;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11.5pt;">Stop critiquing each other. Stop bickering with each other. Stop living selfishly to get your own way. Instead, live to the Lord. Focus on the relationship between you and Jesus, not you and other or others and Jesus. If you find one day to be more special to your faith, celebrate it with thanks to God! If you want to eat or abstain from certain foods, do so with thanks to God! Focus on Jesus, your Savior, and not on others. Live to serve him and please him. Isn't that why you come here in the first place? To be with Jesus? And as you focus on him and others do to, there's room to disagree on wise or unwise. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11.5pt;">In a sense, we are a university. Literally that word means "unity in diversity." Even as we have different tastes, different hobbies, different ideas on how to best run the church, on to best use our finances, on what style of worship and music is best, on who we should call to be the next pastor… still, we have <b><i><span style="color: rgb(56 , 86 , 35);">"one Lord, one faith, one God of us all…"</span></i></b><span style="color: rgb(56 , 86 , 35);"> </span>We are, <b><i><span style="color: rgb(56 , 86 , 35);">"One in love, as family, Living with each other. Gladly we share each other's pain." </span></i></b>And we, </span><b><i><span style="color: rgb(0 , 32 , 96); font-size: 11.5pt;">"Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.<sup> </sup>There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all." </span></i></b><span style="font-size: 11.5pt;">(Ephesians 4:3-6) </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11.5pt;">In other words, we're "Same team!" We're all doing all we can to live for our Coach, our brother, our Savior, Jesus! We're all doing all we can to gain a few more wins for him. So we set aside our squabbles over disputable matters: over food or drink, what we wear or what we smoke, what songs we like to sing in worship or what movies we like to watch at home. We don't worry as much about how the church is run or the money is spent as we do about how each of us individually may better serve our Savior and serve his Kingdom and his cause. And as we do we will find a unity that will make our Savior smile and that will more and more victories for the Kingdom as we work together "Same team." May Jesus help us to do this always, in thanks to him, and to his glory. In his name, dear friends, amen. </span></div>
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In Him,</div>
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Pastor Rob Guenther</div>
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<b><span style="color: #000099;">Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church</span></b></div>
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47585 Ciechanski Road, Kenai, AK 99611</div>
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<a href="http://www.gracelutherankenai.com/" target="_blank">www.GraceLutheranKenai.com</a></div>
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<a href="mailto:pastorguenther@gmail.com" target="_blank">pastorguenther@gmail.com</a><br />
<span title="Call with Google Voice">(907) 690-1660</span></div>
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Pastor Rob Guentherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02352798164314819498noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-815791093574782702.post-81010669670236562732018-04-24T12:09:00.000-07:002018-04-24T12:10:11.570-07:00Alive and Free! (A sermon based on Romans 6:19b-23)<div dir="ltr"><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:small">What a blessing to have the freedoms that we enjoy in our nation! But sadly, we sometimes use our freedom to act like we're free from God. Our sinful nature enjoys a freedom from righteousness. But that "freedom" leads to real slavery and ultimately to death and hell. Thank God that he set us free -- truly free! -- from sin and satan, from death and hell. And he gives us a real life of freedom as we live to serve him! Read or listen to (<a href="http://www.gracelutherankenai.com/home/180007450/180007450/Audio/20180422_Romans_6v19b-23.mp3">download</a>) this sermon based on Romans 6:19b-23 and rejoice that in Christ we are alive and free!</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:small"><br clear="all"></div><div><div class="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:small"> <p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><b><span style="font-size:13pt">Alive and Free!<span></span></span></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">A sermon based on Romans 6:19b-23<span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Sunday, April 22, 2018 – Easter 4B<span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Crack! The whip snapped and hit hard across his back. It felt like a dagger stabbed between his shoulder blades. In fact, he did have a deep cut where the whip struck. He could feel the blood start to flow down his back, mixed with the sweat. The master screamed, "Pick up that shovel, boy! You get back to work!" And so, he picked up the shovel and got back to work, feeling a blister on his hand pop, he knew that that pain was less than another crack of the whip. <span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">At the end of a long, hard day, he was shoved into a cage with chain and lock preventing his escape. He was given a small blanket and a dish of some food that was hard to identify and a container of dirty water. Nearly starved he devoured the gruel in seconds and gulped the water to chase it down. This was a tough life—the life of a slave.<span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Thank God that slavery is now outlawed in our nation and that the idea of one man owning another as if he were only a possession and less than human now seems barbaric. Of course, that wasn't always the case, in this nation or in other countries. In fact, slavery is still alive and well in some parts of the world. Sex slaves are sold and trafficked in an underground market that leaves people feeling trapped and helpless in the abuse they daily endure. <span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">And it is this picture of slavery—one perhaps more familiar to the Romans of his day than it is to us in the land of the free—that the apostle uses to describe the new life we have in Christ. Though we were once slaves to sin, we've been set free! And now, as counter-intuitive as it may sound, we gladly offer ourselves to be slaves again!—not to sin, but to God. Our text for consideration this morning is found in Romans 6:19-23…<span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:6pt"><span> </span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><sup>1<b><i><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">9 </span></i></b></sup><b><i><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">Just as you used to offer yourselves as slaves to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness, so now offer yourselves as slaves to righteousness leading to holiness. <sup>20 </sup>When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness. <sup>21 </sup>What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death! <sup>22 </sup>But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. <sup>23 </sup>For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.<span></span></span></i></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:6pt"><span> </span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">If a slave were able to escape, to run away from the abuse and the pain, the humility and shame, if he could take his family with him and flee to the north on the Underground Railroad… well, as long as there was a reasonable chance of success, who wouldn't want to be free?<span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">But sadly, many view God as an abusive master, chaining us to boredom and cruelly punishing us whenever we disobey his arbitrary will. And so they try to run away from him. But the "freedom" they gain is no freedom at all. It's more like the teen who runs away from home to get the freedom she so longs for – the freedom from the rules that mom and dad so strictly impose. But once she's made it a few miles from home, she sees how great that freedom really is. No shelter, no warmth, no food, friends. <span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">That's how it is with each of us and God, isn't it? We act like spoiled brats! "God, don't tell me what to do! Don't impose your strict laws and commands on me! Who are you to tell me what I can and can't do?!" And so, we run away from home. <b><i><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">"We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way…"</span></i></b> (Isaiah 53:6) We choose our own morals, our own lifestyle, our own way. And we end up alone… and worse…<span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Imagine that that teen that ran away from home was then picked up by a gang of so-called friends, eager to help her out. But in reality they were eager to imprison her, to sell her body, to gain from her pain. What a terrible fate—to trade the benevolent "captivity" of mom and dad, for the malevolent captivity of such evil men. <span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">In such a way the supposed freedom from God always ends in genuine slavery. <b><i><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">"When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness." </span></i></b>But that freedom didn't end well. It ended in slavery to sin, death, hell. The whip of the law cracks! It cuts us open! "Do this! Do it perfectly! Work harder! Become better! Be more kind! Be more loving! And if you don't… well… there's hell to pay!" Freedom from righteousness means slavery to sin. And, as Paul so bluntly put it, <b><i><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">"Those things result in death!"</span></i></b><span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">What we deserve for running away from God is death—that is to be separated from him forever for separating ourselves from him in rebellion. We, who run away from God, deserve to be enslaved to satan and hell for all of eternity for offering ourselves, <b><i><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">"as slaves to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness…" </span></i></b>That's what we earn. That's what we deserve. That's what our compensation should be. <b><i><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">"For the wages of sin is death…"</span></i></b><span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">One night, after a long hard day of work, the slave shivered curled up under the thin blanket of his cell. But hearing a noise at the door of his cage he bolted upright. "Who's there?" he demanded. The stranger replied, "Shhhh! We don't want to get caught!" And with a crack as loud as the whip that struck his back, the lock broke in two. The stranger opened the door of the cage and helped the slave to his feet. "Come on! Follow me! We're getting you out of here! You're going to be a free man!"<span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">When we were enslaved to sin and satan, to death and hell, God sent his Son on a rescue mission. He took our place as he lived chained to the law for us. And try as it might, the whip of the law couldn't reach Jesus as he kept every one of its demands perfectly. But then, he who was totally free from sin and death, took our sin on himself and submitted to death. The Master of all, humbly became a slave. <b><i><span style="color:rgb(192,0,0)">"For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."</span></i></b><span style="color:rgb(192,0,0)"> </span>(Mark 10:45)<span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">And by his death, he broke chains of sin that held us captive. By his resurrection, he shattered the doors of death! <b><i><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">"Now… you have been set free from sin… and the result is eternal life." </span></i></b>And we did nothing to aid in our emancipation! God did it all and gave it to us as gift! Though we earn hell as the wages of our sin, eternal life is free gift from God! <b><i><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">"For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." <span></span></span></i></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Romans 6:23 is a verse well worth memorizing because it so succinctly captures the message of the entire Bible! We earn death—separation not just of the soul from the body, but separation from God—for all the times we've wanted to be free from him. But we don't get the death we've earned. Instead we get eternal life! <span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Romans 6:23 is a verse well worth memorizing because of the sweet comfort it offers. Salvation, emancipation, freedom, and ultimately eternal life is given to us as a gift from God. Now, if I tell you that I will give you a gift <b><i>if</i></b> you help me clean my garage first… well, that's no gift anymore, is it? If you have to <i>do</i> something (anything!) to get a gift it's a wage, not a gift. A gift has no strings attached. Ponder that for a moment and take joy in this truth: Eternal life is a gift. You don't have to clean up your act. You don't have work yourself up to the proper level of repentance. You don't have to have a "strong enough" faith. You don't have to do <i>anything</i>! It's all been done by Jesus. And eternal life is given to you as a gift, free of charge, no strings attached.<span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">But, because we <i>are</i> recipients of such an awesome gift, we <b><i>want</i></b> to clean up our act, practice daily repentance, and strengthen our faith. Because we are recipients of such an awesome everlasting gift, because we've been forgiven, because we've been set free, we willingly make ourselves slaves to God. And we will be blessed as we do.<span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Think of it this way: Who here has a pet at home? A dog? A cat? Where's the best place for that pet to be? Free? In the wild, scrounging for food, trying to keep warm in the winter, avoiding predators, and struggling to survive? Or in the confinement of your home where that pet is well-fed, warm, and loved? At the end of a leash that keeps it from running into traffic or going after the bear? Real freedom for a dog or cat is found in being a pet, enslaved, if you will, by a loving master who cares for it, feeds it, loves it, and yes, even puts it on a leash to protect it from getting lost or hit by a car. <span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">And real freedom for a human is found in being God's slave, cared for by him, fed by him, loved by him, and yes, even curbed by his law to protect us from losing our faith and falling away. So we gladly submit to God and to his law. And if we don't understand a law it's not because the law is arbitrary, the fault is in our understanding, not God's commanding. So trusting the one who set us free from slavery to sin and satan, to death and hell, we gladly submit to him and to his loving will. <b><i><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">"Now that [we] have been set free from sin," </span></i></b><span style="color:black">we willingly and gladly,</span><b><i><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)"> "become slaves of God." </span></i></b><span style="color:black">And,</span><b><i><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)"> "the benefit [we] reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life."<span></span></span></i></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">And God needs no whip to compel us, no chains to keep us in line, because the Gospel compels us, we gladly get in line to live for him who set us free. So, rejoice, dear friends, that you have been set free—from sin that controls, from satan who would forever lock us up, from death and its final effects, from the hell that we've earned as our wages of sin. Thank God that you are alive and free, that eternal life is your gift from God with no strings attached. And now, in thanks to him, become his slave, strive to be more holy until that awesome day that you fully realize the perfect life of freedom that is ours in heaven. In the name of Jesus, our Master, amen.<span></span></p> </div></div><div><br></div><div>In Him,</div><div>Pastor Rob Guenther</div><div><font color="#000099"><b><br></b></font></div><div><b><font color="#000099">Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church</font></b></div><div>47585 Ciechanski Road, Kenai, AK 99611</div><div><a href="http://www.gracelutherankenai.com/" target="_blank">www.GraceLutheranKenai.com</a></div><div><a href="mailto:pastorguenther@gmail.com" target="_blank">pastorguenther@gmail.com</a><br><span><span title="Call with Google Voice">(907) 690-1660</span></span></div><div><br></div><div><div style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"><font size="1">Read sermons online: <a href="http://www.gracelutherankenai.com/Sermons" style="color:rgb(17,85,204)" target="_blank">www.GraceLutheranKenai.com/Sermons</a></font></div><div style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"><font size="1">Listen to sermons online: <a href="http://www.gracelutherankenai.com/Podcast" style="color:rgb(17,85,204)" target="_blank">www.GraceLutheranKenai.com/Podcast</a></font></div><div style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"><font size="1">Watch services online: <a href="http://www.gracelutherankenai.com/Webcast" style="color:rgb(17,85,204)" target="_blank">www.GraceLutheranKenai.com/Webcast</a></font></div></div><div style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"><font size="1">Like us on Facebook: <a href="http://www.Facebook.com/GraceLutheranKenai" target="_blank">www.Facebook.com/GraceLutheranKenai</a> </font></div><div style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"><div style="font-size:12.8px"><font size="1"><br></font></div><div style="font-size:12.8px"><font size="1">Have you been blessed by our ministry at Grace? Consider supporting us with your generous gifts. Give securely online with a check or credit or debit card here: <a href="http://www.GraceLutheranKenai.com/Give" target="_blank">www.GraceLutheranKenai.com/Give</a></font></div><div><br></div></div></div></div></div></div> </div> Pastor Rob Guentherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02352798164314819498noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-815791093574782702.post-33945533788876334942018-04-18T15:22:00.000-07:002018-04-18T15:23:03.118-07:00Alive through Baptism! (A sermon based on Romans 6:1-4)<div dir="ltr"><div class="gmail_default"><font face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif">"It's just a little water. How can it possibly do anything?!" But it isn't just water. It's water connected to God's Word. And that Word makes all the difference! Because of God's promise connected to the water, it connects you and me to Jesus and his work for us. Through our baptisms we are dead to sin. We are alive in Christ, ready to weed our pet sins from our lives and to live for him in thanks! Read or listen to (<a href="http://www.gracelutherankenai.com/home/180007450/180007450/Audio/20180415_Romans_6v1-4.mp3">download</a>) this sermon based on Romans 6:1-4 and rejoice that we are alive through baptism! </font><br clear="all"></div><div class="gmail_default"><font face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><br></font></div><div class="gmail_default"><font face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif"> <p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-align:center;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><b><span style="font-size:14pt">Alive through Baptism!<span></span></span></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-align:center;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt">A sermon based on Romans 6:1-4<span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-align:center;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt">Sunday, April 15<sup>th</sup>, 2018 – Easter 3<span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt"><span> </span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-indent:13.5pt;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt;color:rgb(34,34,34)">Can it really work, something so simple? If you think about it, it's nothing but vibrations in the air caused by air passing over my throat, tongue, and lips and caught by your eardrum. Can something so simple as spoken words change lives! Of course the power of words, the thoughts and ideas they carry, changes lives! You know they can and have! But can they really save souls? The Word and the message its words contain can and do.<span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-indent:13.5pt;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt;color:rgb(34,34,34)">It seems so simple. Such a small little wafer. And only an ounce of wine. It's not enough to satisfy any physical hunger or quench physical thirst. Nevertheless, something so simple, connected to God's Word, actually gives Christ's very body and blood for us to eat and to drink. And it gives forgiveness of sins.<span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-indent:13.5pt;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt;color:rgb(34,34,34)">It seems so simple. It only takes a few seconds and a few drops of water. There are only a few, simple lines spoken. How could it be so powerful? But today we see how baptism, as simple as it is, connects us to Christ and his work in much the same way the Word and the Lord's Supper do.<span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-indent:13.5pt;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt;color:rgb(34,34,34)">It doesn't have to be elaborate or difficult. It doesn't have to be expensive or impressive. That's what Naaman thought. "Just water? That's it?" </span><b><i><span style="font-size:12pt;color:rgb(0,32,96)">"Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than any of the waters of Israel? Couldn't I wash in them and be cleansed?"</span></i></b><span style="font-size:12pt;color:rgb(34,34,34)"> (2 Kings 5:12). But it doesn't have to be fancy. All has to <b><i>be</i></b> is connected to God's promise. And that's what we have in baptism. Here's God's promise about baptism recorded for us in Romans 6:1-4…<span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-indent:0.25in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><b><i><span style="font-size:7pt;color:rgb(0,32,96)"><span> </span></span></i></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-indent:0.25in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><b><i><span style="font-size:12pt;color:rgb(0,32,96)">What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? <sup>2 </sup>By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? <sup>3 </sup>Or don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? <sup>4 </sup>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.<span></span></span></i></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt"><span> </span></span></p> <p class="gmail-MsoListParagraph" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.25in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><b><span style="font-size:12pt"><span>I.<span style="font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;font-weight:normal;font-stretch:normal;font-size:7pt;line-height:normal;font-family:"Times New Roman""> </span></span></span></b><b><span style="font-size:12pt">Rat Poison<span></span></span></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-indent:0.25in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:7pt"><span> </span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-indent:0.25in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt;color:rgb(34,34,34)">Imagine that you went to your fridge to get a snack, and when you open the door, much to your horror, you find an open bottle of rat poison. How would you respond? Would casually say, "Boy, that doesn't belong there! I'll have to remember to take that out sometime. Now… where are the pickles?" <span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-indent:0.25in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt;color:rgb(34,34,34)">More likely, you would take it seriously and forget about the snack for a more pressing matter at hand: get rid of the rat poison. You would likely not only take it out of the fridge, but would toss it in the garbage, you might even take the garbage out of the kitchen to the bin, or maybe even immediately drive it to the landfill. You would wisely want the deadly poison out of your house before it accidentally caused harm to you or your family.<span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-indent:0.25in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt;color:rgb(34,34,34)">That's the way Paul was encouraging the Romans to view sin. Last week we heard in the last verses of Romans 5, </span><b><i><span style="font-size:12pt;color:rgb(0,32,96)">"where sin increased, grace increased all the more."</span></i></b><span style="font-size:12pt;color:rgb(34,34,34)"> (Romans 5:20) But Paul was worried that some might hear that and say, "Great! So sin is no big deal! The more I sin, the more God will forgive. So I might as well sin all I want." </span><b><i><span style="font-size:12pt;color:rgb(0,32,96)">"By no means!" </span></i></b><span style="font-size:12pt;color:rgb(34,34,34)">Paul cries. Or literally, "May that never be!" </span><b><i><span style="font-size:12pt;color:rgb(0,32,96)">"We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?"<span></span></span></i></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-indent:0.25in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt;color:rgb(34,34,34)">What a terrible abuse of God's grace to keep sinning since, "God will forgive me for this anyway."! Such an attitude really reveals a lack of genuine faith that trusts in the forgiveness Jesus won and wants to live for him in thanks. <span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-indent:0.25in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt;color:rgb(34,34,34)">But do you have rat poison in your fridge? Do you have pet sins that you know are harmful to your faith, but you keep them around anyway, because… well… you like 'em? "I'm a believer, but I don't really need to go to church that often. I need my sleep." "I'm a believer, but I don't really need to give offerings. Others are already supporting the church I love just fine." "I'm a believer, but the grudge I'm holding on to… well, God will forgive me for refusing to forgive, right?" <span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-indent:0.25in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt;color:rgb(34,34,34)">"I'm a believer. So the coarse jokes, the lewd sites, the overindulgence, the disrespectful talk, the impatience with the kids, the laziness…" insert your own pet sin here, "Isn't really that big of a deal. God will forgive me later. So I might as well keep doing it."<span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-indent:0.25in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt;color:rgb(34,34,34)">May that never be, friends! Get rid of the rat poison in your soul! Never use God's grace as an excuse to sin! Never justify your sinful behavior with "Grace will increase the more I sin, so I might as well sin." No! </span><b><i><span style="font-size:12pt;color:rgb(0,32,96)">"We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?"</span></i></b><span style="font-size:12pt;color:rgb(34,34,34)"><span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-indent:0.25in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt;color:rgb(34,34,34)">And for the pet sins we feed and nourish instead of starve and remove and take to the dump, we deserve to be disposed of by God. We deserve to be starved and removed and sent to the dump of hell. <span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-indent:0.25in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt;color:rgb(34,34,34)">Thank God, then for his gift of baptism…<span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt"><span> </span></span></p> <p class="gmail-MsoListParagraph" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.25in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><b><span style="font-size:12pt"><span>II.<span style="font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;font-weight:normal;font-stretch:normal;font-size:7pt;line-height:normal;font-family:"Times New Roman""> </span></span></span></b><b><span style="font-size:12pt">Water<span></span></span></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-indent:0.25in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:7pt"><span> </span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-indent:0.25in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt;color:rgb(34,34,34)">Water saves. That's no surprise to you. That's true in so many ways. <span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-indent:0.25in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt;color:rgb(34,34,34)">The draught was long and the famer thought he would go under if he had no crop this year. He owed too much. And with nothing to sell, he would be bankrupt soon. But then came the rains. And a bumper crop followed. Water saved him.<span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-indent:0.25in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt;color:rgb(34,34,34)">The forest fire was blazing and growing ever closer to the cabin. If it reached them, all they had would be lost. They prayed for a miracle. Then the rain came. It fell in torrents and put out the fire. Water saved them.<span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-indent:0.25in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt;color:rgb(34,34,34)">The man was severely dehydrated. Lost in the desert for days, he'd had very little to drink. When he finally staggered onto a highway, some kind soul picked him up, gave him a drink, and took him to the hospital, where he got the hydration he needed. Water saved him. <span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-indent:0.25in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt;color:rgb(34,34,34)">Noah and his family were surrounded by a corrupt people. The ridicule and persecution intensified year after year. He didn't know how much longer he could take it. Then the rains fell. And they picked up Noah and his family above the evil that was scrubbed clean below. Water saved them. <span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-indent:0.25in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt;color:rgb(34,34,34)">And water saves <b><i>you</i></b>. Well, not <i>just</i> water. But water connected to the Word, connects you to Jesus.<span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-indent:0.25in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt;color:rgb(34,34,34)">It seems so simple. It only takes a few seconds and a few drops of water. There are only a few, simple lines spoken. So how could something as simple as Baptism be so powerful? How could it accomplish such great things? Because, by the power of the Word, it connects you to Jesus' work: his perfect life, his innocent death, his glorious resurrection. Paul says, </span><b><i><span style="font-size:12pt;color:rgb(0,32,96)">"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."<span></span></span></i></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-indent:0.25in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt;color:rgb(34,34,34)">Naamam thought, "What a waste of time! I traveled all this way to find some miraculous cure for my leprosy and I'm just told to go wash in water? That's it?! Just water from the Jordan River?!" But it wasn't just water, was it? It was water connected to the promise God had made. And that water connected to the Word of God had the power to cleanse his skin, to heal his disease, to make him healthy and whole again. <span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-indent:0.25in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt;color:rgb(34,34,34)">Likewise, in Baptism, </span><b><i><span style="font-size:12pt;color:rgb(0,51,0)">"It is certainly not the water that does such things, but God's Word which is in and with the water and faith which trusts this Word used with the water. For without God's Word the water is just plain water and not Baptism.<span> </span>But with this Word it is Baptism, that is, a gracious water of life and a washing of rebirth by the Holy Spirit."</span></i></b><span style="font-size:12pt;color:rgb(34,34,34)"><span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-indent:0.25in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt;color:rgb(34,34,34)">It connects us to Jesus work: his life, his death, his resurrection. Our sin is buried with him. The rat poison is at the bottom of the landfill. We are forgiven. We are sinless. We are pure. We are holy. It seems so simple: a little water and a few recited lines. But it's such a powerful thing because our gracious God promises it. Baptism forgives sin, washing us clean. It makes us children of God. It makes us alive in Christ…<span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt"><span> </span></span></p> <p class="gmail-MsoListParagraph" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.25in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><b><span style="font-size:12pt"><span>III.<span style="font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;font-weight:normal;font-stretch:normal;font-size:7pt;line-height:normal;font-family:"Times New Roman""> </span></span></span></b><b><span style="font-size:12pt">Seeds<span></span></span></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:7pt"><span> </span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-indent:0.25in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt;color:rgb(34,34,34)">Yesterday the thermometer read 51. The sun was out. The snow was melting. Jude and Joel reckoned it was warm enough for shorts even as they spent most of the day outside. Spring is in the air. Break up is here. Even if we get more snow, it won't last long now. And that means it's time to start planting seeds in the green house. Of course, you know that seeds need to get buried before they sprout. <span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-indent:0.25in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt;color:rgb(34,34,34)">Well, that's true with us too. </span><b><i><span style="font-size:12pt;color:rgb(0,32,96)">"We were… buried with [Jesus] 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." </span></i></b><span style="font-size:12pt;color:rgb(34,34,34)">Buried with Jesus, a new life springs up! A life of faith that grows and produces fruit. A life that looks for ways to live for Jesus. A life that full of as much energy and zeal and growth that Spring brings to the soil! <span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-indent:0.25in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt;color:rgb(34,34,34)">So take a personal inventory, friends, look deep into the "fridge" of your souls for the rat poison of sin that still lingers there. And weed it out that the new life of faith might grow stronger and healthier than ever before. Evaluate your <u>time</u> and look for ways to work Jesus into the schedule more and more. Evaluate your <u>budget</u> and look for ways to express your thanks to him with your generous gifts. Evaluate your <u>relationships</u> and your interactions and look for ways to show love and kindness to those around you in little ways and in big. In short, live the new life that is yours through the baptism that connects you to Jesus' life, death, and resurrection!<span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-indent:0.25in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt;color:rgb(34,34,34)">And of course, you know that you aren't done with the seeds that you plant in the greenhouse this Spring after you put them in the dirt. They need to be regularly watered. Likewise, your baptism isn't just some historic event that happened to you once upon a time, long, long ago. But as you daily remember your baptism and drown the sinful nature with daily sorrow and repentance, you'll be watering your faith that you might </span><b><i><span style="font-size:12pt;color:rgb(0,51,0)">"daily arise to live a before God in righteousness and purity forever."</span></i></b><span style="font-size:12pt;color:rgb(34,34,34)"><span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-indent:0.25in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt;color:rgb(34,34,34)">It seems so simple. It only takes a few seconds and a few drops of water. There are only a few, simple lines spoken. And yet, it is so powerful! Your baptism connects you Christ and his work for you: his perfect life, his innocent death, and his glorious resurrection! It makes you dead to sin, but alive to Christ! Now go live your new life for him! In Jesus' name, dear friends, amen. </span><span style="font-size:12pt"><span></span></span></p> <br></font></div><div><div class="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div><br></div><div>In Him,</div><div>Pastor Rob Guenther</div><div><font color="#000099"><b><br></b></font></div><div><b><font color="#000099">Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church</font></b></div><div>47585 Ciechanski Road, Kenai, AK 99611</div><div><a href="http://www.gracelutherankenai.com/" target="_blank">www.GraceLutheranKenai.com</a></div><div><a href="mailto:pastorguenther@gmail.com" target="_blank">pastorguenther@gmail.com</a><br><span><span title="Call with Google Voice">(907) 690-1660</span></span></div><div><br></div><div><div style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"><font size="1">Read sermons online: <a href="http://www.gracelutherankenai.com/Sermons" style="color:rgb(17,85,204)" target="_blank">www.GraceLutheranKenai.com/Sermons</a></font></div><div style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"><font size="1">Listen to sermons online: <a href="http://www.gracelutherankenai.com/Podcast" style="color:rgb(17,85,204)" target="_blank">www.GraceLutheranKenai.com/Podcast</a></font></div><div style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"><font size="1">Watch services online: <a href="http://www.gracelutherankenai.com/Webcast" style="color:rgb(17,85,204)" target="_blank">www.GraceLutheranKenai.com/Webcast</a></font></div></div><div style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"><font size="1">Like us on Facebook: <a href="http://www.Facebook.com/GraceLutheranKenai" target="_blank">www.Facebook.com/GraceLutheranKenai</a> </font></div><div style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"><div style="font-size:12.8px"><font size="1"><br></font></div><div style="font-size:12.8px"><font size="1">Have you been blessed by our ministry at Grace? Consider supporting us with your generous gifts. Give securely online with a check or credit or debit card here: <a href="http://www.GraceLutheranKenai.com/Give" target="_blank">www.GraceLutheranKenai.com/Give</a></font></div><div><br></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div> </div> Pastor Rob Guentherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02352798164314819498noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-815791093574782702.post-72466846504524716002018-04-10T18:08:00.000-07:002018-04-10T18:19:46.871-07:00Alive by Grace! (A sermon based on Romans 5:18-21)<div dir="ltr">
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">One man changed the world forever. Because of Adam's one act of rebellion, we have been infected with sin and nothing in this life has remained unaffected by it. But... One man changed the world forever. Because of Jesus' work for us our sin is forgiven. We will have eternal life with him. And this grace is for all people. Read or listen to (<a href="http://www.gracelutherankenai.com/home/180007450/180007450/Audio/20180408_Romans_5v18-21.mp3">download</a>) this sermon based on Romans 5:18-21 and rejoice that we are alive by grace! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Alive by Grace!</span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">A sermon based on Romans 5:18-21</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">Sunday, April 8<sup>th</sup>, 2018 – Easter 2</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">One man changed the world forever. I'm not talking about Alexander the Great, though the world has never been the same since his conquest. I'm not talking about Julius Caesar and his campaigns. I'm not talking about Muhammed and the rise of Islam. I'm not talking about Adolph Hitler or Winston Churchill. I'm not talking about Al Gore and his invention of the internet. </span><span style="font-family: "wingdings"; font-size: 12pt;">J</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> I'm not talking about Steve Jobs and the invention of the iPhone. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">While all of these men changed the world in their own way, I'm talking about one man who has had an incredible impact on every aspect of every life that has ever been on this planet. And I'm not talking about Jesus (at least not yet). I'm talking about Adam. One man changed the world forever.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">Just think of how his one sin has impacted everything in the world! It's brought pain, toil, tears, and death. But thank God that this one man who forever changed the world doesn't have the last word. Another one man changed the world forever. And now I <i>am</i> talking about Jesus. By his work for us, sin and death are undone. We have eternal life. By grace, we are alive in Christ! Our text for consideration this morning is found in Romans 5:18-21…</span></div>
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<b><i><sup><span style="color: rgb(0 , 32 , 96); font-size: 12pt;">18 </span></sup></i></b><b><i><span style="color: rgb(0 , 32 , 96); font-size: 12pt;">Consequently, just as the result of one trespass was condemnation for all men, so also the result of one act of righteousness was justification that brings life for all men. <sup>19 </sup>For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous. </span></i></b></div>
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<b><i><sup><span style="color: rgb(0 , 32 , 96); font-size: 12pt;">20 </span></sup></i></b><b><i><span style="color: rgb(0 , 32 , 96); font-size: 12pt;">The law was added so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more, <sup>21 </sup>so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. </span></i></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 12pt;">I.<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></b><b><span style="font-size: 12pt;">One Man Changed the World Forever: Adam</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">It was just a rubber gasket, really. But the O-rings hadn't been tested in extreme cold. So, on the morning of January 28<sup>th</sup>, 1986 those O-rings became stiff, failing to fully seal the joints in the rocket boosters of the Challenger Space Shuttle. The boosters exploded sending the shuttle another 3 miles into the air before it began its 12.3 mile freefall into the Atlantic Ocean, killing all 7 passengers. I was only 8 at the time, but I vividly remember watching the explosion on live TV in my mom's classroom. One little mistake—a faulty O-ring design—had huge, disastrous consequences. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">Of course, that's nothing compared to Adam. It was just one piece of fruit, but it had huge, disastrous consequences. Adam sat by and watched, saying nothing, doing nothing, abdicating his position of leadership, as he let his wife be the guinea pig in a deadly experiment. And when he saw that she didn't immediately keel over dead, he chose to side with her over and against God, and he too committed an act of open rebellion against God.</span></div>
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<b><i><span style="color: rgb(0 , 32 , 96); font-size: 12pt;">"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, </span></i></b><b><u><span style="color: rgb(0 , 32 , 96); font-size: 12pt;">who was with her</span></u></b><b><i><span style="color: rgb(0 , 32 , 96); font-size: 12pt;">, and he ate it."</span></i></b><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> (Genesis 3:6) And so, rightly Adam, not Eve, gets the blame for the first sin. Paul says it was </span><b><i><span style="color: rgb(0 , 32 , 96); font-size: 12pt;">"the disobedience of the one </span></i></b><b><u><span style="color: rgb(0 , 32 , 96); font-size: 12pt;">man</span></u></b><b><i><span style="color: rgb(0 , 32 , 96); font-size: 12pt;">" </span></i></b><span style="font-size: 12pt;">that brought about the ruin of the world.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">And the consequences weren't pretty: <b><i><sup><span style="color: rgb(0 , 32 , 96);">17 </span></sup><span style="color: rgb(0 , 32 , 96);">To Adam he said, "Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, 'You must not eat of it,' "Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. <sup>18 </sup>It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. <sup>19</sup> By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return." </span></i></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">And it immediately impacted the relationship between Adam and Eve. <b><i><span style="color: rgb(0 , 32 , 96);">"Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves."</span></i></b> (Genesis 3:7) What had changed? They'd always been naked! Prior to these fig leaf clothes, they knew nothing <i>but</i> naked. What changed was the way they now looked at each other. They now saw each other as objects to be used instead of people to be loved. And they must have seen that look in each other's' eyes because the first thing they both wanted was to hide their bodies from each other. One man changed the world forever.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">And, worse still, it immediately impacted the relationship between <b><i>God</i></b> and mankind. <b><i><span style="color: rgb(0 , 32 , 96);">"Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the <span style="font-variant: small-caps;">Lord</span> God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the <span style="font-variant: small-caps;">Lord</span> God among the trees of the garden." </span></i></b>(Genesis 3:8) What happened?! They, who once enjoyed such an intimate relationship with God that they walked with him in the garden, now run away from him. And how dumb can you get—trying to hide from an omnipotent God?! And mankind hasn't gotten any better or wiser since. Yes, one man changed the world forever. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">If you have ever experienced pain, frustration, heartache, toil, embarrassment, shame, or the death of a loved one, you have Adam to thank for it. He brought that all about in the garden that day. And he passed the infection of sin on to you. Just like a baby born to a heroin addict will himself be addicted to heroin, you and I, born to sinful parents, are born sinners. There is no question: One man changed the world forever.</span></div>
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<b><i><span style="color: rgb(0 , 32 , 96); font-size: 12pt;">"The result of one trespass was condemnation for all men… through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners…"</span></i></b><span style="font-size: 12pt;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">Well, you have Adam to blame, sort of… To be honest, if Adam hadn't rebelled against God and neither did Eve… even if Cain and Abel and Seth and all of their descendants until now had resisted the temptation to eat from the one tree that God banned… I'm pretty sure <b><u>I</u></b> would have done it. Or maybe <i><u>you</u></i> would have beat me to it. And even though Adam brought all of the suffering and misery we see into the world, you and I aren't free from blame.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">Paul hold us accountable too when he says, </span><b><i><span style="color: rgb(0 , 32 , 96); font-size: 12pt;">"The law was added so that the trespass might increase." </span></i></b><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Of course, the law doesn't make sin more sinful and it certainly doesn't encourage it. But it does expose sin for the sin that it is. Do you think you're any better than Adam? Then let's take a quick stroll, not in the Garden of Eden, but at the foot of Mount Sinai:</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">1)<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Have you always loved God with all of heart, soul, strength, and mind? Have you feared, loved, and trusted in him above everything else (your wisdom, your money, your friends, and your family) putting him first in your life? Me either. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">2)<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Have you always loved God's name (that is, his reputation and all he's revealed about himself)? Have you always prayed to him, shared his name, used his name to praise him and give thanks? Me neither. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">3)<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Have you always loved his Word giving it a place of top priority in your life? Me neither.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">4)<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Have you always shown respect to those God has put in a position of authority over you—parents, teachers, pastors, police, governors, senators, congressmen, and presidents? Me neither.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">5)<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">- 10) Have you always respected God's gift of life (including your own, taking care of your body), his gift of marriage and sexuality (keeping even your thoughts pure), his gifts of possession and reputation (managing your own well and protecting that of others)? Have you always remained content in every circumstance of life? Me either.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">So you see, we too have been just as rebellious as Adam. We too are just as deserving of damnation as he was. And we too will suffer the same death that Adam suffered unless Jesus returns first. But… thank God that we will never realize the eternal death that we deserve to suffer because… One man changed the world forever…</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 12pt;">II.<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></b><b><span style="font-size: 12pt;">One Man Changed the World Forever: Jesus</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">Thank God that the story doesn't end with Adam. If it did, how hopeless would life be? But there's another man in our story. This one man changed <b><i>eternity</i></b> forever. And now, of course, I <i>am</i> talking about Jesus. </span></div>
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<b><i><span style="color: rgb(0 , 32 , 96); font-size: 12pt;">Just as the result of one trespass was condemnation for all men, so also the result of one act of righteousness was justification that brings life for all men… just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous. </span></i></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">Stanislav Yevgrafovich Petrov is a Russian man with a pretty cool nickname: "The man who saved the world." On September 26, 1983 Petrov was at work monitoring a nuclear early-warning system when the alarm sounded indicating that the United States had launched a nuclear missile toward Russia. He was supposed to alert the Soviet military so they could launch counter measures and fire a missile of their own. But Petrov disobeyed his orders. He knew his report could launch a large scale nuclear war that would take thousands, even millions of lives. So he kept quiet. Later, it was discovered that Soviet satellite warning system had malfunctioned causing a false alarm. And Petrov became a hero who, by his disobedience, single-handedly saved the world from nuclear war.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">Of course, Petrov has nothing on Jesus. Petrov saved lived by his disobedience. But Jesus saved lives by his obedience. </span><b><i><span style="color: rgb(0 , 32 , 96); font-size: 12pt;">"…through the obedience of the one man…" </span></i></b><span style="font-size: 12pt;">We could go back through the list of the Ten Commandments again to see how well Jesus kept them and we'd find that he never broke a single one. He loved the Word. He obeyed his parents. He always respected authority (even when they were trying to kill him). He always helped and healed people and never hurt them. He never lusted, but cared for people. He never lied, but taught the truth. He always remained content even though he owned little more than the clothes on his back. And he did it all because he always loved God and his name more than anything else. Jesus, and Jesus alone, had perfect obedience to all of God's laws. And what's more, as Paul says in Philippians 2(:8), <b><i><span style="color: rgb(0 , 32 , 96);">"He humbled himself and became obedient to death—even death on a cross!"</span></i></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">So Petrov saved lives by doing nothing (literally). Jesus saved lives by doing something terrible. </span><b><i><span style="color: rgb(0 , 32 , 96); font-size: 12pt;">"…one act of righteousness…" </span></i></b><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Jesus knew exactly what was going to happen to him. He knew the torture of the cross. He knew the pain he would endure. He knew that far worse would be the torment of having God the Father forsake him on the cross as he endure the punishment and pain of hell that our sin brought about. But he also knew the wonderful results of his work. So he endured it all anyway. And those results?</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">Well, Petrov saved lives by <i>preventing</i> something terrible: nuclear war. But Jesus saved lives by <i>undoing</i> all of the terrible things we've done: every sin! It's all gone! </span><b><i><span style="color: rgb(0 , 32 , 96); font-size: 12pt;">"The result of one act of righteousness was justification that brings life for all men… through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous." </span></i></b><span style="font-size: 12pt;">That could be translated, "the result of one <i>justifying act</i> was justification that brings life for all men." By his death on the cross, by that one obedient act, Jesus undid what Adam did by his one act of rebellion. Every sin is gone! The law still exposes and magnifies our sin, </span><b><i><span style="color: rgb(0 , 32 , 96); font-size: 12pt;">"But where sin increased, grace increased all the more!" </span></i></b><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Thank God! And thank God it's for you!</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">Petrov saved many lives to be sure. But Jesus work was for <b><i>all</i></b> people! </span><b><i><span style="color: rgb(0 , 32 , 96); font-size: 12pt;">"The result of one act of righteousness was justification that brings life for </span></i></b><b><u><span style="color: rgb(0 , 32 , 96); font-size: 12pt;">all men</span></u></b><b><i><span style="color: rgb(0 , 32 , 96); font-size: 12pt;">…" </span></i></b><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Or as Paul put it in 2 Corinthians 5:19, <b><i><span style="color: rgb(0 , 32 , 96);">"God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them." </span></i></b>So if it's for all men, for the whole world, you can be sure it's for you too! <i>No one</i> is left out.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">And finally, Petrov saved lives… for a while. But the people he saved from nuclear war will still eventually die. But Jesus saves lives for eternity. </span><b><i><span style="color: rgb(0 , 32 , 96); font-size: 12pt;">"…Grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." </span></i></b><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Yes, you will still die physically (unless Jesus returns first). But you will live on (after death!) in heaven forever with the Lord! And how awesome that will be!</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">So… nothing against Stanislav Yevgrafovich Petrov, but I think Jesus deserves the nickname "The man who saved the world" a whole lot more. One man changed the world forever. This one man changed <i>eternity</i> forever. This one man changed eternity for <b><i>us</i></b>. And it's all by grace! We do nothing to earn or deserve it. Jesus did it all. We are alive by grace! And grace will continue to reign until Jesus brings us home to eternal life. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">Yes, Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar, Muhammed, Hitler and Churchill, Al Gore and Steve Jobs have all changed the world in their own way. But no two men have had a bigger impact on your life than these two men: Adam—who brought sin, suffering, pain and death into the world—and Jesus—who brought forgiveness, grace, peace and life, who will take you <i>out</i> of this world into eternal life with him. In his name, dear friends, amen. </span></div>
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In Him,</div>
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Pastor Rob Guenther</div>
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<b><span style="color: #000099;">Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church</span></b></div>
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47585 Ciechanski Road, Kenai, AK 99611</div>
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<a href="http://www.gracelutherankenai.com/" target="_blank">www.GraceLutheranKenai.com</a></div>
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<a href="mailto:pastorguenther@gmail.com" target="_blank">pastorguenther@gmail.com</a><br />
<span title="Call with Google Voice">(907) 690-1660</span></div>
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Pastor Rob Guentherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02352798164314819498noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-815791093574782702.post-62624585347700195052018-04-04T10:47:00.001-07:002018-04-04T10:47:54.922-07:00Alive in Christ! (A sermon based on Romans 1:1-7)<div dir="ltr"><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:small">Happy Easter! Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! This Easter season we're staring a new series taking a look at the resurrection theme the Apostle Paul wove throughout his letter to the Romans. In this sermon, introducing the series, we rejoice that "Christ has indeed been raised from the dead!" Christ is alive! And as a result, we are alive in Christ! Read or listen to (<a href="http://www.gracelutherankenai.com/home/180007450/180007450/Audio/20180401_Romans_1v1-7.mp3">download</a>) this sermon based on Romans 1:1-7 and rejoice in the resurrection! </div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:small"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:small"> <p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><b><span style="font-size:14pt">Alive in Christ!<span></span></span></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt">A sermon based on Romans 1:1-7<span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt">Sunday, April 1<sup>st</sup>, 2018 – Easter Day<span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt"><span> </span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt">"How come atheists don't get an annual holiday when Christians get so many?" an atheist asked his Christian friend.<span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt">"You <b><i>do</i></b> get an annual holiday!" his friend replied. "Every April 1<sup>st</sup>! You get April fool's day!" And he quoted Psalm 14:1, <b><i><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">"The fool says in his heart, 'There is no God.'"</span></i></b><span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt">It doesn't happen too often that Easter coincides with April fool's day. And today, the unbelievers of the world would have us think that we're fools for believing that a man died and came back to life nearly 2,000 years ago and that it means anything at all for us today. <span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt">And if Jesus is still dead, they're right. The apostle Paul admits as much in 1 Corinthians 15:13-14: <b><i><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">"If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. <sup><span> </span></sup>And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith."<span></span></span></i></b></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><b><i><span style="font-size:12pt;color:rgb(0,32,96)">"But,"</span></i></b><span style="font-size:12pt"> Paul continues, <b><i><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">"Christ has indeed been raised from the dead!"</span></i></b><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)"> </span>And Paul would echo Psalm 14 and tell us that the real fool is the one who denies God and what he's done. <span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt">This Easter season we're going to be looking at the resurrection theme that the apostle wove into his letter to the Romans. We'll see that, <b><i><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">"Christ has indeed been raised from the dead!"</span></i></b><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)"> </span>and we'll see what that means for eternity someday and for each day of our lives right now. Today, we begin with the introduction to the letter found in Romans 1:1-7 and we rejoice that Christ is alive! And we rejoice that we are alive in Christ. Romans 1:1-7…<span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:7pt"><span> </span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><b><i><span style="font-size:12pt;color:rgb(0,32,96)">Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God— <sup>2 </sup>the gospel he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures <sup>3 </sup>regarding his Son, who as to his human nature was a descendant of David, <sup>4 </sup>and who through the Spirit of holiness was declared with power to be the Son of God by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord. <sup>5 </sup>Through him and for his name's sake, we received grace and apostleship to call people from among all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith. <sup>6 </sup>And you also are among those who are called to belong to Jesus Christ. <span></span></span></i></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><b><i><sup><span style="font-size:12pt;color:rgb(0,32,96)">7 </span></sup></i></b><b><i><span style="font-size:12pt;color:rgb(0,32,96)">To all in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints: <span></span></span></i></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><b><i><span style="font-size:12pt;color:rgb(0,32,96)">Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. <span></span></span></i></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt"><span> </span></span></p> <p class="gmail-MsoListParagraph" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.25in;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><b><span style="font-size:12pt"><span>I.<span style="font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;font-weight:normal;font-stretch:normal;font-size:7pt;line-height:normal;font-family:"Times New Roman""> </span></span></span></b><b><span style="font-size:12pt">Christ Is Alive!<span></span></span></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:7pt"><span> </span></span></p> <p class="gmail-MsoListParagraph" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.5in;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><b><span style="font-size:12pt"><span>A.<span style="font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;font-weight:normal;font-stretch:normal;font-size:7pt;line-height:normal;font-family:"Times New Roman""> </span></span></span></b><b><span style="font-size:12pt">The Prophecies Predicted It<span></span></span></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:7pt"><span> </span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt">Christ is alive! And there are lots of proofs of that fact. Two big ones show up in our text this morning. The first Paul highlights in verse two: <b><i><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">"…the gospel he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures…" </span></i></b>thousands of years before they took place, the events that we've celebrated this weekend, even the resurrection itself, were predicted. <span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt">The prophets described with 100% accuracy where Jesus would be born (and to a virgin!), where he would do most of his ministry, the miracles that he would perform, the unconventional way that he would die, that no bones would be broken, and countless other details of Jesus' life and death. <span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt">Psalm 22 describes how Jesus would be forsaken by God, insulted by men (almost quoting how the rulers taunted Jesus on the cross), how his tongue would stick to his mouth and he would thirst, how his hands and feet would be pierced, and how his clothes gambled over.<span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt">Isaiah 53 describes the way that Jesus would remain silent when on trial, how he would be pierced (not stoned), how he would somehow be assigned a grave with the wicked <i>and</i> the rich. <span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt">But the prophecies go on. They predict the resurrection too! Isaiah 53 goes how to explain that <b><i><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">"though the Lord makes his life a guilt offering, he will see his offspring and prolong his days."</span></i></b> (v. 10) <span> </span>Psalm 16 predicted that God would not <b><i><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">"abandon [the Messiah] to the grave nor… let [his] Holy One see decay."</span></i></b> (V.10) <span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt">And even Jesus himself predicted his own resurrection! <span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt">In Mark 8(:31), </span><b><i><span style="font-size:12pt;color:rgb(0,32,96)">"He then began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and after three days rise again." </span></i></b><span style="font-size:12pt">He told the Pharisees that if they wanted a sign proving his divinity, he'd give them the sign of Jonah: <b><i><span style="color:rgb(192,0,0)">"For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth." </span></i></b>(Matthew 12:40) And to prove his authority, he told the Jews, <b><i><span style="color:rgb(192,0,0)">"Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days." </span></i></b>(John 2:19) <span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt">And guess what? Surprise, surprise! Every prophecy written by the Old Testament prophets, every prediction spoken by our Savior, Jesus… they all came true! Every one of them! John 2:21-22 say, <b><i><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">"But the temple [Jesus] had spoken of was his body. After he was raised from the dead, his disciples recalled what he had said. Then they believed the Scripture and the words that Jesus had spoken."</span></i></b> <span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt">Prophecy and fulfillment leave a mountain of evidence for the authenticity of Jesus' resurrection from the dead and the authority of the Scriptures. But that's not the only proof we find in Romans 1.<span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt"><span> </span></span></p> <p class="gmail-MsoListParagraph" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.5in;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><b><span style="font-size:12pt"><span>B.<span style="font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;font-weight:normal;font-stretch:normal;font-size:7pt;line-height:normal;font-family:"Times New Roman""> </span></span></span></b><b><span style="font-size:12pt">The Apostles Confirmed It<span></span></span></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:7pt"><span> </span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt">The next proof of Jesus' resurrection is found in the very existence of the book of Romans itself. That Paul, once called Saul, once persecuting Christians, doing all he could to eradicate this sect—now writes to defend the faith is nothing short of a miracle. Nothing can explain his conversion better than an appearance of the risen Savior to Saul on the Road to Damascus.<span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt">Saul was an important guy from an important family in an important city. He studied at the feet of one of the most highly-regarded rabbis in the history of Judaism, on his way to becoming a prominent religious leader who enjoyed Sabbath, walks on the beach, and overseeing the detainment, imprisonment, and occasional killing of the pesky new Jesus-people for their awful blasphemies. Saul had everything a guy at that time and place could've wanted. <span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt">Then, suddenly, he decided to change his name to Paul, join his enemies, throw away his reputation, authority, wealth, social standing, and every other thing he had worked for his entire life, in favor of traveling thousands of brutal miles and willingly subjecting himself to lashings, beatings to the brink of death, to stonings, shipwrecks, starvation, dehydration, and years of imprisonment… all so he could tell people that Jesus is the risen Son of God and Savior of the world. <span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt">And he did all this because he was bored with his super-nice life. <b><i>OR…</i></b> He did it because, as he told everyone who would listen to him until the moment that his head was lopped off for doing so, that he met the resurrected Jesus.<span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt">Paul and all the other apostles were willing to die for this truth. With the exception of one (John), all of the other disciples had similar fates (according to tradition): James: Executed by Sword; Thomas: Speared to Death; Matthew: Speared to Death; Philip: Tortured, Crucified Upside-Down; Bartholomew: Skinned Alive, Crucified Upside-Down; Andrew: Crucified; James: Crucified; Thaddeus: Crucified; Simon: Crucified; Paul: Beheaded in Rome.<span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt">All of these men claimed to have interacted with the bodily-risen Jesus, after his death. Would all of these men (without one, single exception!) fearlessly proclaim this, all the way to their unimaginable deaths, knowing it was actually just something they made up as some fun April Fool's joke?!<span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt">No way! There was no motive for lying. They didn't get rich for this. They didn't get powerful for this. What they got was tortured to death for this. And who dies for a lie?<span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt">No, the proof is there. It's undeniable! <b><i><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">"Christ has indeed been raised from the dead!"</span></i></b><span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt"><span> </span></span></p> <p class="gmail-MsoListParagraph" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.5in;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><b><span style="font-size:12pt"><span>C.<span style="font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;font-weight:normal;font-stretch:normal;font-size:7pt;line-height:normal;font-family:"Times New Roman""> </span></span></span></b><b><span style="font-size:12pt">Thank God for It<span></span></span></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:7pt"><span> </span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt">And thank God that it is true! Because, <b><i><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">"If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. <sup><span> </span></sup>And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith." </span></i></b>And Jesus didn't really rise from the dead, there is no Christianity.<span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt">But if he really did rise from the dead, the implications for you and me are mind-blowing and more important than anything else in this life! If he really did rise from the dead, the resurrection is a proof in and of itself. If he really did rise from the dead, then it's proof that Jesus is who he claimed to be: God. <span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt">Paul says, <b><i><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">"Through the Spirit of holiness [Jesus] was declared with power to be the Son of God by his resurrection from the dead." </span></i></b>One commentary puts it this way: <b><i><span style="color:rgb(56,86,35)">"Of the many miracles the God-man did while here on earth, the crowning miracle was his resurrection after he had died as our substitute."</span></i></b> (The People's Bible, Romans 1) <span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt">You see, if Jesus is true God which all the miracles prove, and his resurrection proves best, then he can pay for our sins. As true man (<b><i><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">"who as to his human nature was a descendant of David"</span></i></b>) he could die. But that death on the cross could only pay for mankind's sin as true God. <span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt">And make no mistake: That's what our sin demands: Death. Fools that we are, we rebel against God time and time again. We think we're wiser than God and choose to do things our way instead of his. We gossip and lie. We're lazy and unambitious. We're lustful and proud and arrogant. We do things we know are wrong and think we can get away with them. <b><i><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">"The fool says in his heart, 'There is no God.'" </span></i></b>(Psalm 14:1) But isn't it a bigger fool who says there <i>is</i> a God, but thinks, "He can't see what I'm doing. He doesn't care. I'll get away with my sin."?! <span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt">Fools that we are, we deserve death. And not just physical death—the separation of body and soul—but spiritual, eternal death—the separation from God and his love (that is, hell) for all of eternity. <b><i><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">"But… Christ has indeed been raised from the dead!"</span></i></b> And this is the proof that our sins are forgiven and that we have received grace…<span></span></span></p> <p class="gmail-MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.75in;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt"><span> </span></span></p> <p class="gmail-MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.5in;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><b><span style="font-size:12pt"><span>II.<span style="font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;font-weight:normal;font-stretch:normal;font-size:7pt;line-height:normal;font-family:"Times New Roman""> </span></span></span></b><b><span style="font-size:12pt">We Are Alive in Christ!<span></span></span></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:7pt"><span> </span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:13.5pt;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt">After touching on some of the proofs of Jesus' bodily resurrection, the apostle Paul goes on to explain what this means for us: <b><i><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">"Through him and for his name's sake, we received grace and apostleship to call people from among all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith. <sup>6 </sup>And you also are among those who are called to belong to Jesus Christ. <sup>7 </sup>To all in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints: Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ." <span></span></span></i></b></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:13.5pt;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt">We're going to explore what Jesus' resurrection means for our daily lives in more detail over the next 6 weeks. But for now, let's just touch on a few of them mentioned here: <span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:13.5pt;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt">First, we have received grace. That is we have God's unconditional love in spite of our foolish rebellion and sin because Jesus' sacrifice—his perfect life, his innocent death, his powerful resurrection—has removed our every sin. We are forgiven. It's all forgotten. And you and I are called to be saints: sinless and holy in God's sight.<span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:13.5pt;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt">Second, as a result of that grace and forgiveness, we have peace. We have peace with God, knowing that we are restored in our relationship to him. Or as Paul puts it, "we belong." <b><i><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">"You also are among those who are called to belong to Jesus Christ." </span></i></b>And so, in the very next verse he calls God, <b><i><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">"our Father."</span></i></b> God is our Father. Jesus is our brother. We are a part of God's family, <b><i><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">"loved by God" </span></i></b>and cared for by him. No matter what we go though in life, we know he is there by our side, keeping us in his care.<span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:13.5pt;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt">And finally, we have a job to do. Paul called himself, <b><i><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">"a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle,"</span></i></b> but he also said of the Romans (and, really, of every Christian), <b><i><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">"</span></i><u><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">we</span></u><i><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)"> received… apostleship to call people from among all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith." </span></i></b>An apostle is literally one who is sent out on a task on behalf of someone else, an ambassador, here, namely, God is the one who sent Paul out. And God sends us out too. To do what? <b><i><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">"To call people… to the obedience [of] faith." </span></i></b>That is, to share our faith in Jesus' life, death, and resurrection from the dead with others that they too might see the evidence, come to faith, and find grace and peace in Jesus, that they too might live lives of obedience to him in thanks for what he's done for them. <span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt">Join us over the next couple of weeks as we explore some of these themes further and see what Jesus' resurrection means for us every day of our lives. And in the meantime, rejoice that we're not the fools. We are incredibly blessed to know the truth that, <b><i><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">"Christ has indeed been raised from the dead!" </span></i></b><span style="color:black">Christ is alive! We've seen the proofs. We've seen the importance. We are alive in Christ! We've received grace. We've been forgiven. We're loved by God. We belong. And we have a job to do that we're eager to do in thanks to him. For, "Christ is risen!" ["He is risen indeed!"] In his name, dear friends, amen. </span><span></span></span></p> </div><div><div class="gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div><br></div><div>In Him,</div><div>Pastor Rob Guenther</div><div><font color="#000099"><b><br></b></font></div><div><b><font color="#000099">Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church</font></b></div><div>47585 Ciechanski Road, Kenai, AK 99611</div><div><a href="http://www.gracelutherankenai.com/" target="_blank">www.GraceLutheranKenai.com</a></div><div><a href="mailto:pastorguenther@gmail.com" target="_blank">pastorguenther@gmail.com</a><br><span><span title="Call with Google Voice">(907) 690-1660</span></span></div><div><br></div><div><div style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"><font size="1">Read sermons online: <a href="http://www.gracelutherankenai.com/Sermons" style="color:rgb(17,85,204)" target="_blank">www.GraceLutheranKenai.com/Sermons</a></font></div><div style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"><font size="1">Listen to sermons online: <a href="http://www.gracelutherankenai.com/Podcast" style="color:rgb(17,85,204)" target="_blank">www.GraceLutheranKenai.com/Podcast</a></font></div><div style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"><font size="1">Watch services online: <a href="http://www.gracelutherankenai.com/Webcast" style="color:rgb(17,85,204)" target="_blank">www.GraceLutheranKenai.com/Webcast</a></font></div></div><div style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"><font size="1">Like us on Facebook: <a href="http://www.Facebook.com/GraceLutheranKenai" target="_blank">www.Facebook.com/GraceLutheranKenai</a> </font></div><div style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"><div style="font-size:12.8000001907349px"><font size="1"><br></font></div><div style="font-size:12.8000001907349px"><font size="1">Have you been blessed by our ministry at Grace? Consider supporting us with your generous gifts. Give securely online with a check or credit or debit card here: <a href="http://www.GraceLutheranKenai.com/Give" target="_blank">www.GraceLutheranKenai.com/Give</a></font></div><div><br></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div> </div> Pastor Rob Guentherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02352798164314819498noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-815791093574782702.post-19362406093546860292018-03-27T11:44:00.001-07:002018-03-27T11:44:51.346-07:00The Dying Word (A sermon based on Luke 23:46)<div dir="ltr"><div class="gmail_default"><font face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif">How committed are you? To your job? To your family? To your God? Sadly we break our commitments to God all the time. And we ought to be committed in another sense for our crazy rebellion; we ought to be committed to hell. But because our Savior was so committed to rescuing us he went to hell on a cross for us. And having completed his mission, he committed his soul into his Father's hands. Now, thanks to Jesus, we can commit our souls to God too. And we commit our lives to him in thanks right now. Read or listen to (<a href="http://www.gracelutherankenai.com/home/180007450/180007450/Audio/20180325_Luke_23v46.mp3">download</a>) this sermon based on Luke 23:46, hear our Savior's dying word and his commitment to you, then be encouraged to recommit yourself to him. </font></div><div><div class="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:small"> <p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><b><span style="font-size:14pt">The Dying Word<span></span></span></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span>A sermon based on Luke 23:46<span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span>Sunday, March 25, 2018 – Palm Sunday<span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span><span> </span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span>"He should be committed." That phrase can have pretty different meanings, depending on the context, can't it? "He should be committed to the job. He loves the work and it pays well." "He should be committed to the team and spend less time with his girlfriend." "That guy's a few cards short of a full deck. I think he's lost his marbles and should be committed… to an asylum." "That guy belongs in a straightjacket. He should be committed to a padded cell."<span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span>Today we talk about commitment. We should be committed to serving a God who's done nothing but love us. But we're so crazy that we rebel against him to our own harm again and again. And we should be committed to a cell for eternity. <span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span>But… Jesus was committed. We see that again this Palm Sunday as he willingly rode in to Jerusalem on the back of a donkey to carry out the mission that he was committed to fulfilling. And once he did fulfill that mission, he committed his spirit to the Father, knowing everything was complete. That's the sixth word or phrase that Jesus spoke from the cross and our text for this morning found in Luke 23:46…<span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:7pt"><span> </span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><b><i><sup><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">46 </span></sup></i></b><b><i><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">Jesus called out with a loud voice, </span></i></b><b><i><span style="color:rgb(192,0,0)">"Father, into your hands I commit my spirit." </span></i></b><b><i><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">When he had said this, he breathed his last.<span></span></span></i></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:7pt"><span> </span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span>We should be committed to God. But we're not. And it's crazy how often we rebel. <span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span>A wife ought to be committed to a rich and good looking husband that's done nothing but love and serve her. She would be crazy to cheat on him! A husband ought to be committed to a rich and good looking wife that's done nothing but love and serve him. He would be crazy to cheat on her!<span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span>And what has our God done for us? He humbled himself. He <b><i><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">"</span></i></b></span><b><i><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. <sup>8 </sup>And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death—even death on a cross!"</span></i></b><span> (Philippians 2:7-8) <span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span>Why did he do it? <b><i><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">"For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich." </span></i></b>(2 Corinthians 8:9)<span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span>Jesus has done nothing but love us, serve us, make us rich! And we should be totally committed to him in return. But we're not. We cheat on him… again… and again. We're not committed to him. We don't commit our spirits to God in obedience. We don't humble ourselves to serve him and others. We don't commit our lives to him. We don't commit our time to him. We don't commit our souls to him, fearing, loving, <b><i>trusting</i></b> him above all things.<span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span>We're like a cheating spouse. And it's not a one-time thing. It's habitual. We're not in our right mind, but driven by our mad sinful nature. And for our lack of commitment, for our crazy infidelity, we ought to be committed... not to a cell, but to hell, not to an asylum, but to the abyss. <span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span>But… in spite of our lack of commitment to God, we aren't forsaken by him, but held in his loving hands. How? Through Jesus. Jesus was committed to his mission. In Isaiah 50(:6-7) a prophecy about Jesus has him say, <b><i><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">"I offered my back to those who beat me, my cheeks to those who pulled out my beard; I did not hide my face from mocking and spitting. Because the Sovereign Lord helps me, I will not be disgraced. Therefore have I set my face like flint, and I know I will not be put to shame."</span> </i></b>And that's what Jesus did: He set his face like flint. Like stone, he could not be moved from his mission, no matter what the cost.<span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span>So he rode in Jerusalem on the back of a borrowed burro knowing full well what would happen on Thursday and Friday. He willingly rode to his death, that he could carried our sins on his back just as the donkey carried him. He offered his back to be beaten, his face to be mocked and spit in. He willingly endured the torture and crucifixion, the agony of the asylum of hell, separated from the Father. What committed love he showed to you and me! It almost seems crazy!<span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span>Nevertheless, he was that committed that he would go through hell to rescue us. And even though he was forsaken by the Father, he knew it would end in a wonderful reunion. So his dying word was, <b><i><span style="color:rgb(192,0,0)">"Father, into your hands I commit my spirit."</span></i></b><span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span>This is a quote from Psalm 31. One commentary said that this Psalm was frequently used as a Jewish bedtime prayer. I immediately thought of <b><i><span style="color:rgb(0,51,0)">"Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep"</span></i></b> where we commit our souls to the Lord: <b><i><span style="color:rgb(0,51,0)">"I pray the Lord my soul to keep. If I should die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take."</span></i></b><span style="color:rgb(0,51,0)"> </span><span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span>That's, essence, what Jesus prayed as his last word on the cross: <b><i><span style="color:rgb(192,0,0)">"Father, into your hands I commit my spirit." </span></i></b>And how fitting Psalm 31 was in that case. Here's a little more of that Psalm: <span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><b><i><sup><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">10 </span></sup></i></b><b><i><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">My life is consumed by anguish and my years by groaning; my strength fails because of my affliction, and my bones grow weak. <sup>11 </sup>Because of all my enemies, I am the utter contempt of my neighbors and an object of dread to my closest friends—those who see me on the street flee from me. <sup>12 </sup>I am forgotten as though I were dead; I have become like broken pottery. <sup>13 </sup>For I hear many whispering, "Terror on every side!" They conspire against me and plot to take my life. <span></span></span></i></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><b><i><sup><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">14 </span></sup></i></b><b><i><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">But I trust in you, Lord; I say, "You are my God." <sup>15 </sup>My times are in your hands; deliver me from the hands of my enemies, from those who pursue me…<span></span></span></i></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><b><i><sup><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">22 </span></sup></i></b><b><i><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">In my alarm I said, "I am cut off from your sight!" Yet you heard my cry for mercy when I called to you for help. <span></span></span></i></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><b><i><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)"><span> </span></span></i></b><span>Though Jesus was forsaken by the Father and cut off from him in that hell on the cross that won our forgiveness, now, with his mission complete, he was rescued. Now, with his mission complete, he could commit his spirit to his Father's loving hands once more. He could pray the Lord his soul to take. Now, with his mission complete, we are forgiven. And we won't be committed to the hell that we deserve. <span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span>And because we're not committed to hell, we can pray <b><i><span style="color:rgb(0,51,0)">"Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep"</span></i></b> with confidence and commit our souls to him, in our sleep, even in our death. The confidence Jesus displayed on the cross in this word is the same confidence we have in his work completed for us. And so we can boldly say, <b><i><span></span></i></b></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><b><i><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">"Into your hands I commit my spirit; deliver me, Lord, my faithful God…</span></i></b><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)"> <b><i>My times are in your hands; deliver me from the hands of my enemies, from those who pursue me…" </i></b></span><span>(Psalm 31:5,15) We can pray that boldly, confident that he will keep us in his care, no matter what we're going through, no matter what enemies pursue us, no matter what challenges we face. <b><i><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">"Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death…" </span></i></b>(Psalm 23) I can pray with confidence, <b><i><span style="color:rgb(0,51,0)">"I pray the Lord my soul to keep. If I should die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take."</span></i></b><span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span>And because we're not committed to hell and can commit our souls to him, just as Jesus committed his spirit to the Father, we are committed to Jesus. One version of <b><i><span style="color:rgb(0,51,0)">"Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep"</span></i></b> adds the line, <b><i><span style="color:rgb(0,51,0)">"If I should live for many days, I pray the Lord would guide my ways." </span></i></b>And so we commit our <i>souls</i> to Jesus, but we also commit our <b><i>lives</i></b> to him in thanks for all he's done for us.<span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span>Like a devoted spouse, we long most to please him. And we recommit ourselves to him. We commit our time to him. We commit our energy to him. We commit our gifts and abilities to his service. We commit our money to him—not just some of it, but using it all to his glory. We commit our bodies to him, just as he's committed his body to us in the Lord's Supper. We commit our lives to serve his cause, in thanks for the truth that we can commit our souls to his eternal care. <span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span>And as we do, well… forget Allstate! You're in good hands in <i>God's</i> hands because you know <b><i><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">"that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose."</span></i></b><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)"> </span>(Romans 8:28) And should you ever doubt it, just look to the cross again. And see how committed he was to the cause of rescuing us from being committed to hell. Then recommit your souls to him, and recommit your lives to him who gave his life for you. In Jesus' name, dear friends, amen. <span></span></span></p> </div></div><div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:small"></div><br></div><div>In Him,</div><div>Pastor Rob Guenther</div><div><font color="#000099"><b><br></b></font></div><div><b><font color="#000099">Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church</font></b></div><div>47585 Ciechanski Road, Kenai, AK 99611</div><div><a href="http://www.gracelutherankenai.com/" target="_blank">www.GraceLutheranKenai.com</a></div><div><a href="mailto:pastorguenther@gmail.com" target="_blank">pastorguenther@gmail.com</a><br><span><span title="Call with Google Voice">(907) 690-1660</span></span></div><div><br></div><div><div style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"><font size="1">Read sermons online: <a href="http://www.gracelutherankenai.com/Sermons" style="color:rgb(17,85,204)" target="_blank">www.GraceLutheranKenai.com/Sermons</a></font></div><div style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"><font size="1">Listen to sermons online: <a href="http://www.gracelutherankenai.com/Podcast" style="color:rgb(17,85,204)" target="_blank">www.GraceLutheranKenai.com/Podcast</a></font></div><div style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"><font size="1">Watch services online: <a href="http://www.gracelutherankenai.com/Webcast" style="color:rgb(17,85,204)" target="_blank">www.GraceLutheranKenai.com/Webcast</a></font></div></div><div style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"><font size="1">Like us on Facebook: <a href="http://www.Facebook.com/GraceLutheranKenai" target="_blank">www.Facebook.com/GraceLutheranKenai</a> </font></div><div style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"><div style="font-size:12.8px"><font size="1"><br></font></div><div style="font-size:12.8px"><font size="1">Have you been blessed by our ministry at Grace? Consider supporting us with your generous gifts. Give securely online with a check or credit or debit card here: <a href="http://www.GraceLutheranKenai.com/Give" target="_blank">www.GraceLutheranKenai.com/Give</a></font></div><div><br></div></div></div></div></div></div> </div> Pastor Rob Guentherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02352798164314819498noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-815791093574782702.post-44838334706427339882018-03-19T16:10:00.000-07:002018-03-19T16:11:20.112-07:00The Suffering Word (A sermon based on John 19:28-29)<div dir="ltr"><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:small">Thirsty? Go get something to drink! Unfortunately, Jesus didn't have that option as he hung on the cross. Ironically, the one who is the Living Water was dehydrated and thirsty as he hung there dying. But he was thirsty for us. He was thirsty so he could quench our thirst for righteousness. He was thirsty so we could be with him in heaven where there will be no more hunger or thirst. Read or listen to (<a href="http://www.gracelutherankenai.com/home/180007450/180007450/Audio/20180318_John_19v28-29.docx">download</a>) this sermon based on John 19:28-29 and rejoice in the suffering word...</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:small"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:small"> <p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><b><span style="font-size:13.5pt">The Suffering Word<span></span></span></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:11.5pt">A sermon based on John 19:28-29<span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:11.5pt">Sunday, February 18, 2018 – Lent 5B<span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:11.5pt"><span> </span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:11.5pt">Okay, we're going to start this morning with a pop quiz: You know that in the Gospel of John, Jesus repeated says, "I am," followed by a title that describes who he is and what he's come to do. They are popularly called the "7 I Am Statements" (much like the 7 Words of the Cross). So here's the quiz. Work together as a team and see how many of the 7 you can get. Shout it out when you've got one. I'll check it off here when you get it. Go…<span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:11.5pt"><span> </span></span></p> <p class="gmail-MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.75in;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:11.5pt"><span>1.<span style="font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;font-weight:normal;font-stretch:normal;font-size:7pt;line-height:normal;font-family:"Times New Roman""> </span></span></span><span style="font-size:11.5pt">I am the Bread of Life / the Bread that came down from Heaven (John 6:35,48,51)<span></span></span></p> <p class="gmail-MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.75in;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:11.5pt"><span>2.<span style="font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;font-weight:normal;font-stretch:normal;font-size:7pt;line-height:normal;font-family:"Times New Roman""> </span></span></span><span style="font-size:11.5pt">I am the Light of the World (John 8:12, 9:5)<span></span></span></p> <p class="gmail-MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.75in;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:11.5pt"><span>3.<span style="font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;font-weight:normal;font-stretch:normal;font-size:7pt;line-height:normal;font-family:"Times New Roman""> </span></span></span><span style="font-size:11.5pt">I am the Gate (for the Sheep) (John 10:7,9)<span></span></span></p> <p class="gmail-MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.75in;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:11.5pt"><span>4.<span style="font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;font-weight:normal;font-stretch:normal;font-size:7pt;line-height:normal;font-family:"Times New Roman""> </span></span></span><span style="font-size:11.5pt">I am the Good Shepherd (John 10:11, 14)<span></span></span></p> <p class="gmail-MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.75in;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:11.5pt"><span>5.<span style="font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;font-weight:normal;font-stretch:normal;font-size:7pt;line-height:normal;font-family:"Times New Roman""> </span></span></span><span style="font-size:11.5pt">I am the Resurrection and the Life (John 11:25)<span></span></span></p> <p class="gmail-MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.75in;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:11.5pt"><span>6.<span style="font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;font-weight:normal;font-stretch:normal;font-size:7pt;line-height:normal;font-family:"Times New Roman""> </span></span></span><span style="font-size:11.5pt">I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life (John 14:6) (And that only counts as 1 statement.) </span><span style="font-size:11.5pt;font-family:Wingdings"><span>J</span></span><span style="font-size:11.5pt"><span></span></span></p> <p class="gmail-MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.75in;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:11.5pt"><span>7.<span style="font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;font-weight:normal;font-stretch:normal;font-size:7pt;line-height:normal;font-family:"Times New Roman""> </span></span></span><span style="font-size:11.5pt">I am the Vine / the True Vine (John 15:1,5)<span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:11.5pt"><span> </span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:11.5pt">Those are the "7 I Am Statements of Jesus." (And if you didn't catch them all, no worries. You can look at this sermon again when I email it out later this week or catch it on Facebook. Review again those seven statements and ponder the message Jesus conveys in each.) <span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:11.5pt">But of course, there are lots of other times Jesus says, "I am," in the Gospel of John. To the woman at the well he said, "I am he" that is, the Messiah. (John 4:26). When he walked on the water spooking his disciples, his words of comfort are literally, "I am; fear not." (John 6:20) And I believe the culmination of John's theme is found in John 18 when Jesus asked his captors who they were there to arrest. They said "Jesus of Nazareth," to which Jesus replied, "I AM." And as soon as he said, "I AM," they were all knocked to the ground by some unseen force.<span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:11.5pt">In all of the "I am statements" Jesus powerfully declares who he is and what he came to do. But today we get another "I am" statement (at least in the English translation it's "I am…"), that is so different from all the rest. It's not a bold proclamation of what Jesus came to do, but it's a word of suffering spoken in the midst of agony and pain. Nevertheless, it is an important "I am," that does proclaim who Jesus is and what he came to do: to fulfill all of the prophecies about him and to bear our burden on the cross. The fifth word or phrase that Jesus spoke from the cross is found in John 19:28-29…<span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:11.5pt"><span> </span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><b><i><sup><span style="font-size:11.5pt;color:rgb(0,32,96)">28 </span></sup></i></b><b><i><span style="font-size:11.5pt;color:rgb(0,32,96)">Later, knowing that all was now completed, and so that the Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, </span></i></b><b><i><span style="font-size:11.5pt;color:rgb(192,0,0)">"I am thirsty."</span></i></b><b><i><span style="font-size:11.5pt;color:rgb(0,32,96)"> <sup>29 </sup>A jar of wine vinegar was there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put the sponge on a stalk of the hyssop plant, and lifted it to Jesus' lips.</span></i></b><b><i><span style="font-size:11.5pt;color:rgb(0,32,96)"><span></span></span></i></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:11.5pt"><span> </span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:11.5pt">How ironic, isn't it, that the One who is the Living Water was himself thirsty? How ironic that the one who made water come out of a rock in the wilderness, was now dehydrated. How ironic that he who said, </span><b><i><span style="font-size:11.5pt;color:red">"Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink…"</span></i></b><span style="font-size:11.5pt"> (John 7:37) now relies on pagan soldiers to offer <i>him</i> a drink. </span><span style="font-size:11.5pt">How ironic that he who turned water into the best wine to refresh some thirsty wedding guests, now got soured wine to quench his thirst. How ironic that he who created the streams and rivers and lakes and oceans and seas by the power of his Word, now speaks this word: </span><b><i><span style="font-size:11.5pt;color:rgb(192,0,0)">"I am thirsty."</span></i></b><span style="font-size:11.5pt"><span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:11.5pt">Why? Why did he who made the waters of the earth become thirsty? Why was his mouth dried up like an old broken piece of pottery? Why did his tongue stick to the roof of his mouth? (cf. Psalm 22:15) Well, we confess it so often and we'll say it again in a few minutes: </span><b><i><span style="font-size:11.5pt;color:rgb(0,51,0)">"For us and for our salvation, he came down from heaven, was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the virgin Mary, and became fully human. For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate. He suffered death and was buried."</span></i></b><b><i><span style="font-size:11.5pt;color:rgb(0,32,96)"> </span></i></b><span style="font-size:11.5pt">(Nicene Creed, 2<sup>nd</sup> Article)<span></span></span></p> <span style="font-size:11.5pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><br clear="all"> </span> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:11.5pt">He became man—so very human that he was thirsty—in order to rescue us from our thirst. "What thirst?" you ask. The thirst to be right with God. All of us are born with a conscience that clearly testifies to each of us that we have sinned against our Maker. We all inherently know that we deserve punishment from him. We know we deserve to be laid in the dust of death and that we deserve to be eternally parched in the dusty, dry torment of hell. <span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:11.5pt">This thirst for righteousness is in every person's soul. It's the guilt that gnaws at us for what we've done. It's the shame that keeps us awake at night. It's the cause of the terror people have at the thought of death. <span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:11.5pt">Now, there are only one of two ways we can deal with that thirst. We can try to suppress it and pretend that it's not there, ironically, using drink (or drug or hobby or TV or work—anything that will distract and numb the pain and suppress the terror) to try to quiet the conscience and silence the guilt. <span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:11.5pt">That's why, I suspect, the soldiers had the sour wine with them. They didn't have anything top shelf. They weren't sipping to savor the flavor. They just wanted something strong to dull the pain—the pain of humanity that required executions, the pain of torturing another human to death, perhaps even the pain of a guilty conscience in torturing an innocent man to death. <span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:11.5pt">Of course, it doesn't work. It never does. It can't. No drink or drug or any other distraction can silence the haunting conscience. It can't silence the innate knowledge that we deserve hell. So, we'd better try the other way of dealing with that thirst: Let's admit it. Let's openly confess that we are all, <b><i><span style="color:rgb(0,51,0)">"by nature sinful, and that [we] have disobeyed [God] in [our] thoughts, words, and actions. [We] have done what is evil and failed to do what is good."</span></i> </b><span>Let's honestly admit that,<b> <i><span style="color:rgb(0,51,0)">"For this [we] deserve [God's] punishment both now and in eternity."</span></i><span></span></b></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:11.5pt">But let's not stop there. Let's also admit that <b><i><span style="color:rgb(0,51,0)">"[We are] truly sorry for [our] sins,"</span></i> </b></span><span style="font-size:11.5pt">and turn to God for help: </span><b><i><span style="font-size:11.5pt;color:rgb(0,51,0)">"Trusting in [our] Savior Jesus Christ, [Let's] pray: Lord, have mercy on [us], [poor] sinner[s]."<span></span></span></i></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:11.5pt">And that's exactly why the Living Water was thirsty: to have mercy on us, poor sinners. <b><i>For us</i></b> the one who made water come out of a rock in the wilderness, was now dehydrated. <b><i>For us</i></b> he who said, </span><b><i><span style="font-size:11.5pt;color:red">"Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink…"</span></i></b><span style="font-size:11.5pt"> (John 7:37) relied on pagan soldiers to offer <i>him</i> a drink. </span><b><i><span style="font-size:11.5pt">For us</span></i></b><span style="font-size:11.5pt"> he who turned water into the best wine to refresh some thirsty wedding guests, now got soured wine to quench his thirst. <b><i>For us</i></b> he who created the streams and rivers and lakes and oceans and seas by the power of his Word, said, </span><b><i><span style="font-size:11.5pt;color:rgb(192,0,0)">"I am thirsty." </span></i></b><span style="font-size:11.5pt">And <b><i>for us</i></b> Jesus drank the cup of suffering that his Father gave him to drink. (cf. Luke 22:42) <span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><b><i><span style="font-size:11.5pt">For us</span></i></b><span style="font-size:11.5pt"> he lived a perfect life. <b><i>For us</i></b> he suffered the shame of the cross. <b><i>For us</i></b> he endured the agony of hell. And <b><i>for us</i></b> his life was poured out as a drink offering. (Cf. Philippians 2:7)<span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:11.5pt">And the result? Our thirst is quenched just as Jesus promised, <b><i><span style="color:rgb(192,0,0)">"Blessed are those who hunger and </span></i><u><span style="color:rgb(192,0,0)">thirst for righteousness</span></u><i><span style="color:rgb(192,0,0)">, for they will be filled."</span> </i></b>(Matthew 5:6) <b><i><span style="color:rgb(192,0,0)">"Whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life." </span></i></b>(John 4:14) And our thirst will be eternally quenched as he promised through John: <b><i><span style="color:rgb(192,0,0)">"Never again will they hunger; never again will they thirst. The sun will not beat down on them, nor any scorching heat. For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd; he will lead them to springs of living water. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes." </span></i></b>(Revelation 7:16-17)<span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:11.5pt">And our response to the Living Water? We will gladly give a cup of cold water to a thirsty believer to show our thanks to him. (Cf. Matthew 10:42) We will gladly give a thirsty enemy something to drink, regardless of how they respond, just to show our Savior's love. (Cf. Romans 12:20) We will gladly set the table, even if it's not "my turn," we'll pour the milk and clear the dishes too. We'll gladly serve our family and take our spouse a cup of coffee in the morning. We'll serve our neighbor, refreshing them with a literal cup of water or with a smile and a kind word. And we'll look for every opportunity to refresh them with the Living Water. Invite your friends, your neighbors, your co-workers to worship with us this Easter. Let them be refreshed by the Living Water who thirsted for them and promised that they who drink of him will thirst no more. <span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:11.5pt">And one day soon the King will say to you and to me: <b><i><span style="color:rgb(192,0,0)">"Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For… I was thirsty and you gave </span></i><u><span style="color:rgb(192,0,0)">me</span></u><i><span style="color:rgb(192,0,0)"> something to drink… I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me."</span></i></b> (Matthew 25:34-35,40) In his name, dear friends, amen. <span></span></span></p> </div><div><div class="gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div><br></div><div>In Him,</div><div>Pastor Rob Guenther</div><div><font color="#000099"><b><br></b></font></div><div><b><font color="#000099">Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church</font></b></div><div>47585 Ciechanski Road, Kenai, AK 99611</div><div><a href="http://www.gracelutherankenai.com/" target="_blank">www.GraceLutheranKenai.com</a></div><div><a href="mailto:pastorguenther@gmail.com" target="_blank">pastorguenther@gmail.com</a><br><span><span title="Call with Google Voice">(907) 690-1660</span></span></div><div><br></div><div><div style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"><font size="1">Read sermons online: <a href="http://www.gracelutherankenai.com/Sermons" style="color:rgb(17,85,204)" target="_blank">www.GraceLutheranKenai.com/Sermons</a></font></div><div style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"><font size="1">Listen to sermons online: <a href="http://www.gracelutherankenai.com/Podcast" style="color:rgb(17,85,204)" target="_blank">www.GraceLutheranKenai.com/Podcast</a></font></div><div style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"><font size="1">Watch services online: <a href="http://www.gracelutherankenai.com/Webcast" style="color:rgb(17,85,204)" target="_blank">www.GraceLutheranKenai.com/Webcast</a></font></div></div><div style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"><font size="1">Like us on Facebook: <a href="http://www.Facebook.com/GraceLutheranKenai" target="_blank">www.Facebook.com/GraceLutheranKenai</a> </font></div><div style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"><div style="font-size:12.8000001907349px"><font size="1"><br></font></div><div style="font-size:12.8000001907349px"><font size="1">Have you been blessed by our ministry at Grace? Consider supporting us with your generous gifts. Give securely online with a check or credit or debit card here: <a href="http://www.GraceLutheranKenai.com/Give" target="_blank">www.GraceLutheranKenai.com/Give</a></font></div><div><br></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div> </div> Pastor Rob Guentherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02352798164314819498noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-815791093574782702.post-75161386102565493402018-03-12T13:19:00.001-07:002018-03-12T13:19:51.621-07:00The Compassionate Word (A sermon based on John 19:26-27)<div dir="ltr"><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:small">It's not fun to be separated from those we love. But that's often the case, not just literally, when business or travel causes us to part ways, but we're figuratively separated when sin drives a wedge between us. Sometimes death separates us from those we love. Mary was separated from her son, Jesus, and John was separated from his best friend because of sin and death. But by his death on the cross, Jesus removed the sin that drives a wedge between us and God and he put us into a new family. Read or listen to (<a href="http://www.gracelutherankenai.com/home/180007450/180007450/Audio/20180311_John_19v26-27.mp3">download</a>) this sermon based on John 19:26-27 and thank God for his compassionate word...</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:small"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:small"> <p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:12pt;font-family:"New York",serif"><b><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The Compassionate Word<span></span></span></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:12pt;font-family:"New York",serif"><span style="font-size:11.5pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">A sermon based on John 19:26-27<span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:12pt;font-family:"New York",serif"><span style="font-size:11.5pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Sunday, March 11, 2018 – Lent 4<span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:12pt;font-family:"New York",serif"><span style="font-size:11.5pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span> </span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:12pt;font-family:"New York",serif"><span style="font-size:11.5pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Can you imagine the pain of suddenly losing someone that you love, who is so close to you that that person's death would be nothing short of devastating? Maybe that person is a parent, a child, a sibling? Maybe it's a best friend, a spouse, someone you can open up to and share your heart with, knowing they'll really listen without judging or condemning you? What would you do if you lost that person, that friend, that family?<span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:12pt;font-family:"New York",serif"><span style="font-size:11.5pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Today, as we examine the fourth word or phrase that our dying Savior spoke from the cross, we hear a word of compassion spoken to his family—a word spoken to his mother, a word spoken to his best friend. And in that word of compassion our Savior made a <i>new</i> family when their loved one (Jesus) was being taken away from them. And he does the same for us still. When we were separated from God and from his family, Jesus brought us into his family by his sacrifice for us. When we were separated from each other because of our sin, he brought us together at the foot of the cross. Our text for consideration today is found in John 19:26-27…<span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:12pt;font-family:"New York",serif"><span style="font-size:11.5pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span> </span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:12pt;font-family:"New York",serif"><b><i><sup><span style="font-size:11.5pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,32,96)">26 </span></sup></i></b><b><i><span style="font-size:11.5pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,32,96)">When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, </span></i></b><b><i><span style="font-size:11.5pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:rgb(192,0,0)">"Dear woman, here is your son,"</span></i></b><b><i><span style="font-size:11.5pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,32,96)"> <sup>27 </sup>and to the disciple, </span></i></b><b><i><span style="font-size:11.5pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:rgb(192,0,0)">"Here is your mother."</span></i></b><b><i><span style="font-size:11.5pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,32,96)"> From that time on, this disciple took her into his home.<span></span></span></i></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:12pt;font-family:"New York",serif"><span style="font-size:11.5pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span> </span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:12pt;font-family:"New York",serif"><span style="font-size:11.5pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Close your eyes for a second. I want you picture Jesus dying on the cross in your mind's eye. Can you see the nails? The crown of thorns? The blood dripping down the back of the cross from where Jesus' back had been shredded from the scourge. It's hard to look at, isn't it?<span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:12pt;font-family:"New York",serif"><span style="font-size:11.5pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Now, I'm going to ask you to do something even harder. Parents, in your mind's eye, can you replace Jesus with your own child? Can you picture watching your son or daughter be tortured to death the way Jesus was? Then you might begin to see Jesus' crucifixion through Mary's eyes. Can you picture your spouse, your parent, or your best friend (whoever that might be) being tortured to death on a cross? Then you might begin to see Jesus' crucifixion through John's eyes. His mother, his best friend in the world, were watching the one they loved—their closest family, die in a most excruciating way. <span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:12pt;font-family:"New York",serif"><span style="font-size:11.5pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Jesus once told Mary, <b><i><span style="color:rgb(192,0,0)">"Dear woman, why do you involve me?"… "My time has not yet come," </span></i></b>when she came to him about a problem with some wine. (John 2:4) But now his time <b><i>had</i></b> come, as he prayed the night before his death, <b><i><span style="color:rgb(192,0,0)">"Father, the time has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you."</span></i></b> (John 17:1)<b><i><span style="color:rgb(192,0,0)"><span></span></span></i></b></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:12pt;font-family:"New York",serif"><span style="font-size:11.5pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">And what pain must have torn through Mary as the prophecy spoken over her baby boy came true. When Jesus was only eight days old Simeon told Mary, <b><i><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">"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. </span></i><u><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">And a sword will pierce your own soul too</span></u><i><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">." </span></i></b>And how that sword must have stung! <span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:12pt;font-family:"New York",serif"><span style="font-size:11.5pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">And John… the youngest of disciples, the one who was in that inner circle of disciples, who was more than just a disciple, but Jesus' closest human friend, the one who sat next to him at the Passover, who leaned against him to ask a question he didn't want the others to hear… what pain he must have felt to see his Lord, his Master, his closest Friend, be tortured to death! <span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:12pt;font-family:"New York",serif"><span style="font-size:11.5pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">What pain Mary and John must have felt to know that death would soon separate them from the one they loved most. But… that's what sin does. It separates. <span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:12pt;font-family:"New York",serif"><span style="font-size:11.5pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Last fall I tried to prep for our Bible studies around the campfire this summer by preparing enough firewood. I already told you how I manned up by operating a chainsaw for the first time. But the chainsaw only put the tree into rounds. I have a hydraulic splitter that I've used, but I also like using the maul and splitting wedge. That exercise helps me to "man up" too. But isn't it amazing to think how that little piece of metal, when placed just right and hit with—I'll admit it—minimal force, can rip that round in half like a hot knife through butter. That's what sin does too…<span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:12pt;font-family:"New York",serif"><span style="font-size:11.5pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Sin separated Jesus from his mother. Sin separated John from his best friend. Make no mistake: It wasn't Jesus' sin that caused the separation, but it was sin that put him there on the cross. That's what sin does. It separates.<span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:12pt;font-family:"New York",serif"><span style="font-size:11.5pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Sin separates us from each other, when our arguments and fights lead to withdrawals and silent treatments, when our sin ends marriages and divides families, when our own selfishness ruins the blessings of family that God intends for us to enjoy! Sin breaks up our human families. And worse still… sin separates us from <i>God's</i> family.<span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:12pt;font-family:"New York",serif"><span style="font-size:11.5pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">If your kids, or parents, or friends always acted embarrassed of you, ashamed that they knew you, it would hurt. It would drive a wedge into your relationship. The same happens when we act ashamed of God, embarrassed of him, pretending we don't know him. If your kids or parents or friends only wanted a relationship with you because of the things they got out of you, or the things they could get you to do for them… we'll, isn't that often how we treat God? If your loved ones made it clear that they loved another more than you, some other kids, another person—and isn't that what we do when we put a child, a spouse, a friend ahead of God?—that could end the relationship, couldn't it?<span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:12pt;font-family:"New York",serif"><span style="font-size:11.5pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Sin always drives a wedge. Sin always separates. Sin always hurts relationships—with other people and with God. And sin, ends in the ultimate separator: Death. Many of you have lost someone very dear to you to death. Like Mary, some of you have had to watch a child die. Like John, some of you have lost a best friend. And there's no amends for a separation so final. No, "I'm sorry," can undo that separation and bring them back. And death would have separated us all from God, for all of eternity, for all of our many sins.<span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:12pt;font-family:"New York",serif"><span style="font-size:11.5pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span> </span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:12pt;font-family:"New York",serif"><span style="font-size:11.5pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">When death was about to separate Jesus from Mary and Jesus from John, Jesus did something to show his love, his care, his compassion for both. He gave them to each other and made a <b><i>new</i></b> family. He gave Mary to John and he gave John to Mary. As Mary had cared for Jesus in his youth, he now asked her to care for John in his adulthood. As Jesus was a surrogate for the world in his death, he asked John to be a surrogate son for him. And so he eased the pain and the loneliness each would feel at Jesus' death by making this new family.<span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:12pt;font-family:"New York",serif"><span style="font-size:11.5pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">And, in a sense, Jesus does the same for us. His death—his separation of body and soul, and worse! his separation from God the Father in the hell he endured on the cross–is the death of our separation. With our sin removed, the wedge that separated us from God is removed. With his resurrection, the death that would separate us from God is overcome! We will rise to be with God! By Jesus death and resurrection we are brought into God's family. And by being brought into God's family gives us a new family here on earth. <span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:12pt;font-family:"New York",serif"><span style="font-size:11.5pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">For some of you, this is your family, here at church. You're closer to one another here than you are to siblings, parents, or even children. And that's okay. That's the way it's meant to be! Jesus once warned, <b><i><span style="color:rgb(192,0,0)">"Do you think I came to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but division. From now on there will be five in one family divided against each other, three against two and two against three. They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law."</span></i></b> (Luke 12:51-53)<span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:12pt;font-family:"New York",serif"><span style="font-size:11.5pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Sin will still divide families. But at the same time, Jesus promised a new family. In Luke 8(:19-21) we're told that, </span><b><i><span style="font-size:11.5pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,32,96)">"Jesus' mother and brothers came to see him, but they were not able to get near him because of the crowd. Someone told him, 'Your mother and brothers are standing outside, wanting to see you.' [Jesus] replied, </span></i></b><b><i><span style="font-size:11.5pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:rgb(192,0,0)">'My mother and brothers are those who hear God's word and put it into practice.'</span></i></b><b><i><span style="font-size:11.5pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,32,96)">"</span></i></b><b><i><span style="font-size:11.5pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:rgb(192,0,0)"> </span></i></b><span style="font-size:11.5pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">(Luke 8:19-21)<span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:12pt;font-family:"New York",serif"><span style="font-size:11.5pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">We are a part of Jesus' family. God is our Father. Jesus is our brother. And nothing can ever drive a wedge between us! </span><b><i><span style="font-size:11.5pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,32,96)">"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." </span></i></b><span style="font-size:11.5pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">(Romans 8:38-39)<span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:12pt;font-family:"New York",serif"><span style="font-size:11.5pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">And because we are united with him, we are also, of necessity then, united to each other. They say that blood runs thicker than water. And it's true that family ties are strong. But baptismal water runs even thicker than blood, for it binds us together as one in the Body of Christ, a communion that goes on forever. Because God is our Father… because Jesus is our brother… we are all really BFF's. Or at least we will be. We will literally be the best of friends forever in heaven! Because not even death—that ultimate separator—can separate us for very long! <span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:12pt;font-family:"New York",serif"><span style="font-size:11.5pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">And now, in thanks to God, we want to do away with the sin and the selfishness that drives a wedge between us and God, that drives a wedge between each other. Instead we want to show love—love in action as we serve God and as we serve each other. That's really what family is all about.<span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:12pt;font-family:"New York",serif"><span style="font-size:11.5pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Years later, the same John who once stood literally at the foot of the cross and was told to take care of Mary, wrote about the love that we now share at the figurative foot of the cross. He wrote, <span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:12pt;font-family:"New York",serif"><b><i><sup><span style="font-size:11.5pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,32,96)">7</span></sup></i></b><b><i><span style="font-size:11.5pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,32,96)"> Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. <sup>8</sup> Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. <sup>9</sup> This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. <sup>10</sup> This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. <sup>11</sup> Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. <sup>12</sup> No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us. <span></span></span></i></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:12pt;font-family:"New York",serif"><span style="font-size:11.5pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Dear friends, here [gesturing to the cross] is your Savior. Dear friends, here [gesturing to the congregation] are your mother, and son, your brother and daughter, your father, your sister. Here [gesturing to the congregation] is your family, united in your Savior. <span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:12pt;font-family:"New York",serif"><span style="font-size:11.5pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">And, <b><i><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">"Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another." </span></i></b>So love one another… from the heart. Offer a kind word to a spouse when you see that he or she needs it. Offer a patient word of instruction or praise to a child as you teach them to follow Jesus. Offer a word of thanks to a parent or a teacher, a word of appreciation to an employer or employee or one who has shown love to us.<span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:12pt;font-family:"New York",serif"><span style="font-size:11.5pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">And love one another, not just in words, but in action. Do some chore that needs to be done, without seeking recognition for it. Do some chore that's "not mine to do." Do it anyway just to ease the burden of another and show your love. Do some act of volunteerism here that helps us spread the gospel to others. <span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:12pt;font-family:"New York",serif"><span style="font-size:11.5pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Show such love, not to get something in return, but because that's what family does for each other. We love because he first loved us. He brought us into <b><i>his</i></b> family. He brought us together into a <b><i>new</i></b> family. One day soon he will take us all to be one <b><i>happy</i></b> family together in the paradise he's prepared for us. So let's live in love toward each other to show our love for him for his compassionate word. In Jesus' name, dear friends, amen.</span></p></div><div><div class="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div><br></div><div>In Him,</div><div>Pastor Rob Guenther</div><div><font color="#000099"><b><br></b></font></div><div><b><font color="#000099">Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church</font></b></div><div>47585 Ciechanski Road, Kenai, AK 99611</div><div><a href="http://www.gracelutherankenai.com/" target="_blank">www.GraceLutheranKenai.com</a></div><div><a href="mailto:pastorguenther@gmail.com" target="_blank">pastorguenther@gmail.com</a><br><span><span title="Call with Google Voice">(907) 690-1660</span></span></div><div><br></div><div><div style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"><font size="1">Read sermons online: <a href="http://www.gracelutherankenai.com/Sermons" style="color:rgb(17,85,204)" target="_blank">www.GraceLutheranKenai.com/Sermons</a></font></div><div style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"><font size="1">Listen to sermons online: <a href="http://www.gracelutherankenai.com/Podcast" style="color:rgb(17,85,204)" target="_blank">www.GraceLutheranKenai.com/Podcast</a></font></div><div style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"><font size="1">Watch services online: <a href="http://www.gracelutherankenai.com/Webcast" style="color:rgb(17,85,204)" target="_blank">www.GraceLutheranKenai.com/Webcast</a></font></div></div><div style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"><font size="1">Like us on Facebook: <a href="http://www.Facebook.com/GraceLutheranKenai" target="_blank">www.Facebook.com/GraceLutheranKenai</a> </font></div><div style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"><div style="font-size:12.8px"><font size="1"><br></font></div><div style="font-size:12.8px"><font size="1">Have you been blessed by our ministry at Grace? Consider supporting us with your generous gifts. Give securely online with a check or credit or debit card here: <a href="http://www.GraceLutheranKenai.com/Give" target="_blank">www.GraceLutheranKenai.com/Give</a></font></div><div><br></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div> </div> Pastor Rob Guentherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02352798164314819498noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-815791093574782702.post-25102768913289950142018-03-06T22:12:00.000-08:002018-03-06T22:13:52.987-08:00The Faithful Word (A sermon based on Matthew 27:45-46)<div dir="ltr"><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:small">Ever feel like you've been totally forsaken? Ever feel like you've been totally forsaken by God? Well, the truth is, we're the ones who have forsaken God, not the other way around. And because of the way we've forsaken him, we deserve to be forsaken by him. Nevertheless, in his great love for us, he forsook his own Son that we might never be forsaken. Read or listen to (<a href="http://www.gracelutherankenai.com/home/180007450/180007450/Audio/20180304_Matthew_27v45-46.mp3">download</a>) this sermon based on Matthew 27:45-46 and rejoice that we will never be forsaken by God. </div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:small"><br clear="all"></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:small"> <p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-align:center;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><b><span style="font-size:14pt">The Faithful Word<span></span></span></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-align:center;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span>A sermon based on Matthew 27:45-46<span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-align:center;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span>Sunday, March 4th, 2018 – Lent 3<span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span><span> </span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-indent:0.25in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span>His car broke down in a not so nice part of town. To make matters worse, his cell battery was dead. So he figured he had no other option than to walk. Well, before long, his worst fear came true. Half a dozen men surrounded him and demanded that he give them his wallet, his phone, and his shoes. And even though he didn't resist and gave them all he asked, they proceeded to beat on him mercilessly. When he fell to the ground, they kicked and stomped the man until he was broken and bleeding on the sidewalk. And there the gang left him, struggling to even call for help.<span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-indent:0.25in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span>Before long a local pastor drove past. He saw the young man, struggling to raise his hand as a silent plea for help. But the pastor didn't want to get involved. He didn't know where the gang was. He didn't want to get hurt himself. So he drove on, justifying his failure to help by reminding himself of the important meeting he was going to. <span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-indent:0.25in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span>It wasn't long after that that the principal of the local church school also drove past. He thought to himself, "It is unfortunate what has become of our neighborhood." And he started thinking of a way to teach his students about compassion, and helping our fellow man. But he too drove on, doing nothing to help the man.<span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-indent:0.25in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span>And there he lay, the broken and bleeding man, in misery and pain, feeling all alone, feeling totally <b><i>forsaken</i></b>.<span> </span><span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-indent:0.25in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span>The third word or phrase that Jesus spoke from the cross is entirely different from all the rest. It's a prayer that God the Son prayed to God the Father… but it was a prayer that went unheard! Because God the Father had forsaken God the Son, even though he was faithful in all he did. Nevertheless, Jesus was forsaken by the Father and spoke this faithful word, so that you and I might never be forsaken. Our text for consideration is taken from Matthew 227:45-46… <span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-indent:0.25in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><sup><span style="font-size:6pt"><span> </span></span></sup></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-indent:0.25in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><b><i><sup><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">45 </span></sup><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">From the sixth hour until the ninth hour darkness came over all the land. <sup>46 </sup>About the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, </span><span style="color:rgb(192,0,0)">"Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?"</span><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">—which means, </span><span style="color:rgb(192,0,0)">"My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"</span></i></b><b><i><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)"><span></span></span></i></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-indent:0.25in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span><span> </span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-indent:0.25in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span>Forsaken. Completely and utterly forsaken. Have you ever felt that way? No one understands what you're going through… No one gets the pain you feel… No one steps in to help… all alone, completely forsaken? Ever felt such lonely darkness? <span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-indent:0.25in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span>Well, before we focus on the pain you and I may have <i>felt</i>, let's pause to consider the pain that you and I have <i>caused</i>. Sometimes we cry out to God, </span><b><i><span style="color:rgb(192,0,0)">"God, why have you forsaken me?"</span></i></b><span> but the truth of the matter is that <b><i>we</i></b> have forsaken <b><i>God</i></b>. We have turned from him. We have gone astray.<span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-indent:0.25in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span>Completely and utterly forsaken. That's how we've left God. "Take a bold stand for me! Don't be ashamed of me. Don't pretend you don't know me," God requests of us. But when the topic of religion comes up at work, we clam up. We don't say a word. And we forsake him. <span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-indent:0.25in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span>"Use some—not <i>all</i>, just <i>some</i>—of the wealth I rain down on you, to show the world what I mean to you, to advance the spread of the gospel, to educate the next generation to know me better," God pleads with us. But when we take an honest look at our budgets, we see that far too <i>much</i> was spent on ourselves, on our selfish interests, on our entertainment… and far too <i>little</i> spent on things that will last for eternity. And we forsake him.<span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-indent:0.25in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span>"Fight against the temptations that come to you. Don't embrace them. Struggle. Grow. And win more battles for me," God asks, begging us to put him first in our lives. But we say, "No thanks, God. This temptation is too strong. This struggle is too hard. I'd rather just give in." And we forsake him. <span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-indent:0.25in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span>Of course, you know what we deserve for forsaking God every time things get tough, every time it looks like we might have to make a sacrifice, every time we're threatened with persecution, or pain, or just mild inconvenience… we deserve to be forsaken by him. And that's what we call "hell," being completely forsaken by God, abandoned by him and his love. We deserve eternal darkness.<span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-indent:0.25in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span>Thank God, then, for our faithful Savior. Who left his heavenly home to be forsaken by God. When Jesus cried out, </span><b><i><span style="color:rgb(192,0,0)">"My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"</span></i></b><span> his original audience would have recognize the opening verse of Psalm 22. And many would have recalled other parts of that Psalm that vividly portray the Messiah's crucifixion (even before crucifixions were invented): <span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-indent:0.25in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><b><i><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">"I am a worm and not a man, scorned by men and despised by the people. All who see me mock me; they hurl insults, shaking their heads: "He trusts in the Lord; let the Lord rescue him. Let him deliver him, since he delights in him."</span></i></b><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)"> </span><span>(Psalm 22:6-8) <b><i><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">"My strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth; you lay me in the dust of death. Dogs have surrounded me; a band of evil men has encircled me, they have pierced my hands and my feet. I can count all my bones; people stare and gloat over me. They divide my garments among them and cast lots for my clothing."</span></i></b><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)"> </span>(Psalm 22:15-18)<span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-indent:0.25in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span><span> </span>With his cry of abandonment, Jesus underscored the prophetic nature of His death. This was no accident, no simple miscarriage of justice, no quirk of history. His death in the darkness was written into every book of the Old Testament. And for those familiar with the Old Testament prophets, it was easily misunderstood. Those who heard Jesus misheard him and thought he was calling out for Elijah to save Him. So they offered Jesus a drink of sour wine and waited to see if Elijah would come. <span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-indent:0.25in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span>But no Elijah came. <b><i>No one</i></b> came to help Jesus. He was all alone in the darkness. And really, his cry wasn't a cry for <i>help</i>, but a cry of anguish out of the depths of hell itself, from the agony of being abandoned by God the Father, completely forsaken. This is the hell—the total abandonment—that he endured for us. He suffered our abandonment, our darkness, our sin, our death, our hell…<span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-indent:0.25in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span>He became the sinner, damned under God's wrath, cursed on the tree. He is the adulterer, the thief, the murderer, the idolater. He is you. He is me. </span><b><i><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">"God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." </span></i></b><span>(2 Corinthians 5:21).<span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-indent:0.25in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span>And as he was forsaken by God on the cross… as he endured that hell… he put himself into our killing fields, into our death camps and concentration camps… he put himself into our abortion clinics, our prisons… our <i>homes</i>. He went into all the "God-forsaken" places where humans have cried out in despair, "Where are you, God? Why have you forsaken us?" And he actually was forsaken by God to win forgiveness for the depths of mankind's depravity, for the vilest of evil we've done, for the heartless words and deeds you and I have spoken and done. <span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-indent:0.25in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span>And he took it all away. By his perfect life, he gives us perfection. He trusted the Father, even from the cross, to trust for us. He prayed for us. He cried out for us. He suffered for us. He died for us. And now, he embraces us and gives us the promise that he will never leave us. He will never forsake us. Hebrews 13:5-6 says, <b><i><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">"God has said, 'Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.' So we say with confidence, 'The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?'"<span></span></span></i></b></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-indent:0.25in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span>Maybe you caught on that my introduction to this sermon was just a modern retelling of Jesus' parable of the Good Samaritan. Then you know how the story really ended. The priest (or pastor in my story) and the Levite (or principal) both passed by the man that must have felt totally forsaken and completely alone. But there was one who came to help. He picked up the broken and bleeding man. He helped him get to the hospital. He paid every expense for his healing.<span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-indent:0.25in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span>That's what Jesus has done for us. We may have <b><i>felt</i></b> forsaken in the darker days we've faced, but we never <b><i>were</i></b>. He's always been with us, fighting for us, helping us grow, helping us put our trust in him. And he was actually forsaken by God the Father on the darkest of days when the sun itself stopped shining. He was forsaken for us so that we never will be. <span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-indent:0.25in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span>Now, in thanks to Jesus, we're eager to be that Good Samaritan to others. When you see others who seem to be all alone, who are clearly going through some dark days, who seem to have been forsaken by everyone else, go befriend them. Pull over to the side of the road and pick up the bruised and bleeding. Go over to the other side of the breakroom and offer a word of encouragement. Cross over to the other side of the street and invite them to hear of the one who spoke that faithful word and was forsaken for them so that they will never be forsaken by him.<span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-indent:0.25in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span>Even though we've forsaken God, he's never forsaken us. In fact, because we've forsaken God, he forsook his Son. Jesus was forsaken for us to pay for our sins, so that we will never be forsaken by him. Now, forsake your sin. Forsake God no more! And live for him who died for you. <span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-indent:0.25in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span>I'll end with the words of the hymn writer:<span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-indent:0.25in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span><span> </span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.25in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><b><i><span style="color:rgb(56,86,35)">"Tell me, as you hear him groaning, Was there ever grief like his?<br> Friends through fear his cause disowning, Foes insulting his distress,<br> Many hands were raised to wound him, None would intervene to save,<br> But the deepest stroke that pierced him Was the stroke that justice gave." </span></i></b><span style="color:black">And now, as a result…<br> <br> </span><span style="font-size:6pt;color:black"><span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.25in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><b><i><span style="color:rgb(56,86,35)">"Here we have a firm foundation, Here the refuge of the lost;<br> Christ's the rock of our salvation, His the name of which we boast.<br> Lamb of God, for sinners wounded, Sacrifice to cancel guilt – <br> None shall ever be confounded Who on him their hope have built." </span></i></b><span style="color:black">(CW #127, v.2,4)</span><span><span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span><span> </span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span>In Jesus' name, dear friends. Amen. <span></span></span></p> </div><div><div class="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div><br></div><div>In Him,</div><div>Pastor Rob Guenther</div><div><font color="#000099"><b><br></b></font></div><div><b><font color="#000099">Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church</font></b></div><div>47585 Ciechanski Road, Kenai, AK 99611</div><div><a href="http://www.gracelutherankenai.com/" target="_blank">www.GraceLutheranKenai.com</a></div><div><a href="mailto:pastorguenther@gmail.com" target="_blank">pastorguenther@gmail.com</a><br><span><span title="Call with Google Voice">(907) 690-1660</span></span></div><div><br></div><div><div style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"><font size="1">Read sermons online: <a href="http://www.gracelutherankenai.com/Sermons" style="color:rgb(17,85,204)" target="_blank">www.GraceLutheranKenai.com/Sermons</a></font></div><div style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"><font size="1">Listen to sermons online: <a href="http://www.gracelutherankenai.com/Podcast" style="color:rgb(17,85,204)" target="_blank">www.GraceLutheranKenai.com/Podcast</a></font></div><div style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"><font size="1">Watch services online: <a href="http://www.gracelutherankenai.com/Webcast" style="color:rgb(17,85,204)" target="_blank">www.GraceLutheranKenai.com/Webcast</a></font></div></div><div style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"><font size="1">Like us on Facebook: <a href="http://www.Facebook.com/GraceLutheranKenai" target="_blank">www.Facebook.com/GraceLutheranKenai</a> </font></div><div style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"><div style="font-size:12.8px"><font size="1"><br></font></div><div style="font-size:12.8px"><font size="1">Have you been blessed by our ministry at Grace? Consider supporting us with your generous gifts. Give securely online with a check or credit or debit card here: <a href="http://www.GraceLutheranKenai.com/Give" target="_blank">www.GraceLutheranKenai.com/Give</a></font></div><div><br></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div> </div> Pastor Rob Guentherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02352798164314819498noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-815791093574782702.post-43180552007003305792018-02-27T11:48:00.000-08:002018-02-27T11:49:16.738-08:00The Promising Word (A sermon based on Luke 23:39-43)<div dir="ltr"><div class="gmail_default"><font face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif">Do you want to be remembered? What for? The thief crucified next to Jesus isn't remembered for his crimes. He's remembered for Jesus' gracious promise to him. We, who deserve the same sentence as the thief, get the same gracious promise given to us by our Savior. He tells us that we will be with him in paradise. Read or listen to (<a href="http://www.gracelutherankenai.com/home/180007450/180007450/Audio/20180225_Luke_23v39-43.mp3">download</a>) this sermon based on Luke 23:39-43 and rejoice in our Savior's promising Word! </font><br clear="all"></div><div class="gmail_default"><font face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><br></font></div><div class="gmail_default"><font face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif"> <p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-align:center;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><b><span style="font-size:15pt">The Promising Word<span></span></span></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-align:center;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt">A sermon based on Luke 23:39-43<span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-align:center;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt">Sunday, February 25, 2018 – Lent 2<span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:7pt"><span> </span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-indent:0.25in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt">Do you think you will remember me, ten years from now? Do you think you'll remember me five years from now? Will you remember me one year from now? Will you remember me tomorrow? <span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-indent:0.25in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt">Alright, I've got a joke for you: Knock, knock. [Who's there?] What?! You already forgot me? That hurts.<span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-indent:0.25in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt">This morning as we examine the second word or phrase that Jesus spoke from the cross, we hear a man make a simple request of Jesus. He doesn't ask for rescue from his pain. He doesn't ask for healing. He doesn't even ask that his sins might be forgiven. He simply asks to be <b><i>remembered</i></b>. <span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-indent:0.25in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt">But Jesus gave him so much more. In our Savior's response, we hear a word of promise—a word of promise for a dying thief… and a word of promise for <i>all</i> of us. Our text for consideration this morning is found in Luke 23:39-43…<span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-indent:0.25in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><b><i><sup><span style="font-size:12pt;color:rgb(0,32,96)">39 </span></sup></i></b><b><i><span style="font-size:12pt;color:rgb(0,32,96)">One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: "Aren't you the Christ? Save yourself and us!" <span></span></span></i></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-indent:0.25in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><b><i><sup><span style="font-size:12pt;color:rgb(0,32,96)">40 </span></sup></i></b><b><i><span style="font-size:12pt;color:rgb(0,32,96)">But the other criminal rebuked him. "Don't you fear God," he said, "since you are under the same sentence? <sup>41 </sup>We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong." <span></span></span></i></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-indent:0.25in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><b><i><sup><span style="font-size:12pt;color:rgb(0,32,96)">42 </span></sup></i></b><b><i><span style="font-size:12pt;color:rgb(0,32,96)">Then he said, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom." <span></span></span></i></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-indent:0.25in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><b><i><sup><span style="font-size:12pt;color:rgb(0,32,96)">43 </span></sup></i></b><b><i><span style="font-size:12pt;color:rgb(0,32,96)">Jesus answered him, </span></i></b><b><i><span style="font-size:12pt;color:rgb(192,0,0)">"I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise." </span></i></b><b><i><span style="font-size:12pt;color:rgb(0,32,96)"><span></span></span></i></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-indent:0.25in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt">This is the Gospel of our Lord. <span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-indent:0.25in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt">The second word from Jesus' dying lips is a word of promise and salvation: <b><i><span style="color:rgb(192,0,0)">"I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise." </span></i></b>But pay attention to whom these words were spoken: not to a religious man, to a fine, upstanding citizen, or to one of his disciples, but to a convict, guilty not just of some misdemeanor, but of some serious capital crime, punishable by execution by crucifixion.<span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-indent:0.25in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt">We don't know exactly what he or the man on the other side of Jesus did, but it must have been bad for the Romans to insist on the death penalty. "Criminals" and "thieves" they're called. But we might call them "terrorists" today as they posed a threat to Roman security so that their public crucifixion was intended to be a deterrent to other would be criminals.<span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-indent:0.25in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt">And so they were each nailed to their own cross to be tortured to death to pay their debt to society. And there Jesus hung between them. One was on Jesus' right, and one was on Jesus' left, as Jesus came into his kingdom—ironically, a privilege the disciples fought over, even though they had no idea what they were asking.<span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-indent:0.25in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt">But let's look at the response of each man to Jesus. The first, mocks Jesus along with the crowd, joining in the taunts of the religious leaders, <b><i><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">"Aren't you the Christ? Save yourself and us!" </span></i></b>It's strange, isn't it, that this man's rejection of Jesus comes in the form of a prayer to Jesus: <b><i><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">"Save yourself and us!" </span></i></b>It's obviously not a prayer of faith, but one of derision: "What kind of Christ are you? What kind of Savior are you supposed to be?! If you can't keep <i>yourself</i> from getting killed, how are you supposed to save the rest of us?!" <span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-indent:0.25in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt">This thief is the spokesman for the unbelieving world. His mocking "prayer" comes in the form of a demand: "If Jesus really loved people he would save them from pain, and heartbreak, and poverty, and cancer. He would save them from persecution, from sorrow, from anything unpleasant. He would make us happy, and wealthy, and entertained. But if he doesn't do those things? If he doesn't save us from boredom? What kind of Savior is he, anyway? Who needs him?"<span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-indent:0.25in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt">Well… <b><i>we</i></b> do to put it bluntly. <b><i>We</i></b>, who so often care more about salvation from too much government control or not enough government aid than we do about salvation from sin and God's eternal Kingdom… <b><i>we</i></b>, who so often care more about salvation from sickness and pain than we do about salvation from the cancer of sin and the eternal death it should bring… <b><i>we</i></b> who so often care about salvation from boredom or poverty or heartache than we do about salvation from our sin that breaks God's heart and ought to bring eternal poverty and torment in hell… <b><i>we</i></b> need Jesus as our Savior—not from pain or torture or a cross, but from sin, death, and hell. <span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-indent:0.25in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt">And the thief on the other side of Jesus might just as well rebuke us: <b><i><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">"Don't you fear God," he said, "since you are under the same sentence? We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong." <span></span></span></i></b></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-indent:0.25in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><b><i><span style="font-size:12pt;color:rgb(56,86,35)">"We should fear, love, and trust in God above all things." </span></i></b><span style="font-size:12pt">But we don't. So let's start by humbly confessing with this second thief, that should we be tortured to death—and worse! …should we be tortured for all of eternity in hell!—we would still be <b><i><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">"punished justly,"</span></i></b> getting only <b><i><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">"what our deeds deserve."</span></i></b><span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-indent:0.25in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt">But let's not stop there. For that would only lead to despair. Then, having confessed our sin to God, let's look to Jesus as this second thief did too. He boldly confessed, <b><i><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">"This man has done nothing wrong."</span></i></b><span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-indent:0.25in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt">Just how much did this thief understand in his confession? Did he understand that dying next to him was the sinless Son of God, the Lamb of God who had come to take away the sin of the world? Or did he just mean that Jesus didn't deserve to be executed for crimes against the state like they did?<span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-indent:0.25in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt">The truth is, we can't know for sure. But we do get a glimpse of what he knew and believed in his dying prayer: <b><i><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">Then he said, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom." </span></i></b>This was not a prayer of derision, but a simple prayer of faith. <span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-indent:0.25in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt">He saw the broken, bleeding, dying man next to him and yet, took the sign over his head literally. He was a King… with a Kingdom and he would keep that Kingdom even after his death. <span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-indent:0.25in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt">All this criminal asked was to be remembered. Not to be spared the agonies of death, not rescued from the pain—simply remembered. And this tiny little mustard-seed-sized faith was acknowledged by Jesus and credited to the thief as righteousness. And he was given so much more than what he asked:<span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-indent:0.25in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><b><i><span style="font-size:12pt;color:rgb(0,32,96)">Jesus answered him, </span></i></b><b><i><span style="font-size:12pt;color:rgb(192,0,0)">"I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise." </span></i></b><span style="font-size:12pt">What grace! What undeserved love! What a beautiful promise for a con! <span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-indent:0.25in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt">What sort of Christ is this who promises Paradise to a dying thief who admits the guilt of crime and that he crucifixion is a just punishment for what he did?! What sort of justice is this that speaks pardon to the unpardonable, that forgives the unforgivable, that acquits the guilty, that saves those society deems unsalvageable and worthy of the cruelest form of death?! <span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-indent:0.25in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt">This is just the kind of Christ that <b><i>we need</i></b>. This is the just the kind of Savior that we <b><i>have</i></b>. This is <b><i>our</i></b> Savior.<span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-indent:0.25in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt">This is the Savior of the world, the Redeemer of fallen mankind, the One who reconciles the enemy as enemy and justifies the sinner as sinner. As Paul wrote in Romans 5:8, <b><i><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">"While we were still sinners, Christ died for us."</span></i></b><span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-indent:0.25in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt">This is the Savior that we have: The one who promises not just to a convict, but to you… to me… <b><i><span style="color:rgb(192,0,0)">"I tell you the truth… </span></i><u><span style="color:rgb(192,0,0)">you</span></u><i><span style="color:rgb(192,0,0)"> will be with me in paradise." <span style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;font-size:16px;font-style:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;text-align:start;text-indent:24px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;word-spacing:0px;background-color:rgb(255,255,255);text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-color:initial;float:none;display:inline">This is the Savior that we have: The one who lived a perfect life and died an innocent death to make it true. </span><span></span></span></i></b></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-indent:0.25in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt">Hear that word of promise our Savior makes to you. <b><i>Believe</i></b> that word of promise our Savior makes to you. Hear it now, and at the hour of your death. Believe it now, and never stop believing it until the hour of your death, when he says to you, <b><i><span style="color:rgb(192,0,0)">"I tell you the truth, </span></i><u><span style="color:rgb(192,0,0)">today</span></u><i><span style="color:rgb(192,0,0)"> you will be with me in paradise." <span style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;font-size:16px;font-style:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;text-align:start;text-indent:24px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;word-spacing:0px;background-color:rgb(255,255,255);text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-color:initial;float:none;display:inline">And he will remember you. He will not forget you or his promise.</span></span></i></b><span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-indent:0.25in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt">So finally, between now and that hour, serve our Savior in thanks for his gracious promises. Defend him before others who would mock him. Remind them that we ought to be <b><i><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">"punished justly,"</span></i></b> and get <b><i><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">"what our deeds deserve."</span></i></b><span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-indent:0.25in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt">Remind them that Jesus makes the promise to them too, that because of his work for them on the cross, the truth is that they too can be with him in paradise anyway.<span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-indent:0.25in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt">Thank Jesus for his word of promise, for the paradise that will be ours, for opening his Kingdom even to sinners and rebels condemned to die as the just wages of our sin. Give thanks to our living Savior for his promising word and go live for him. In his name, dear friends, amen.<span></span></span></p> <br></font></div><div><div class="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div>In Him,<br></div><div>Pastor Rob Guenther</div><div><font color="#000099"><b><br></b></font></div><div><b><font color="#000099">Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church</font></b></div><div>47585 Ciechanski Road, Kenai, AK 99611</div><div><a href="http://www.gracelutherankenai.com/" target="_blank">www.GraceLutheranKenai.com</a></div><div><a href="mailto:pastorguenther@gmail.com" target="_blank">pastorguenther@gmail.com</a><br><span><span title="Call with Google Voice">(907) 690-1660</span></span></div><div><br></div><div><div style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"><font size="1">Read sermons online: <a href="http://www.gracelutherankenai.com/Sermons" style="color:rgb(17,85,204)" target="_blank">www.GraceLutheranKenai.com/Sermons</a></font></div><div style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"><font size="1">Listen to sermons online: <a href="http://www.gracelutherankenai.com/Podcast" style="color:rgb(17,85,204)" target="_blank">www.GraceLutheranKenai.com/Podcast</a></font></div><div style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"><font size="1">Watch services online: <a href="http://www.gracelutherankenai.com/Webcast" style="color:rgb(17,85,204)" target="_blank">www.GraceLutheranKenai.com/Webcast</a></font></div></div><div style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"><font size="1">Like us on Facebook: <a href="http://www.Facebook.com/GraceLutheranKenai" target="_blank">www.Facebook.com/GraceLutheranKenai</a> </font></div><div style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"><div style="font-size:12.8px"><font size="1"><br></font></div><div style="font-size:12.8px"><font size="1">Have you been blessed by our ministry at Grace? Consider supporting us with your generous gifts. Give securely online with a check or credit or debit card here: <a href="http://www.GraceLutheranKenai.com/Give" target="_blank">www.GraceLutheranKenai.com/Give</a></font></div><div><br><br></div></div></div></div></div></div> </div> Pastor Rob Guentherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02352798164314819498noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-815791093574782702.post-24765410016441663912018-02-20T12:14:00.000-08:002018-02-20T12:15:31.473-08:00The Pardoning Word (A sermon based on Luke 23:34)<div dir="ltr"><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:small">They're such wonderful words to hear. And they're such difficult words to say. But they are the most powerful, life-changing words ever spoken. "I forgive you." What enables us to say those words? Hearing them spoken by Jesus first. The forgiveness we have in him, moves us to gladly forgive others. Read or listen to (<a href="http://www.gracelutherankenai.com/home/180007450/180007450/Audio/20180218_Matthew_23v34.mp3">download</a>) this sermon based on Luke 23:34...</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:small"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"> <p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-align:center;line-height:normal;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><b style=""><font size="4">The Pardoning Word</font></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="font-size:11pt;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-align:center;line-height:normal;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span>A sermon based on Luke 23:34<span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="font-size:11pt;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-align:center;line-height:normal;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span>Sunday, February 18<sup>th</sup>, 2018 – Lent 1<span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size:11pt;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-indent:0.25in;line-height:normal;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span><span> </span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size:11pt;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-indent:0.25in;line-height:normal;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span>What are the most powerful, life changing words in the world? "Ready. Aim. Fire!" or "Do it. Drop the bomb."? Maybe "You're hired!" or "You're fired!" Or maybe, "I love you" or "Will you marry me?" or "I do." Maybe the most life changing words are, "Congratulations. It's a boy!" or "It's a girl!" Or "I'm sorry to give you these results," from the doctor. Those are all powerful, life-changing words. But I would argue that there are words even more powerful and even more life changing: "I forgive you." What power those words carry, especially when they're spoken by God.<span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size:11pt;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-indent:0.25in;line-height:normal;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span>On Sunday mornings of this Lenten season we're going to examine the seven powerful, life-changing phrases that Jesus spoke from the cross. The first phrase heard from Jesus' dying lips is a pardoning word in the form of a prayer to God, recorded for us in Luke 23:34. Here's verse 33 too for the immediate context: <span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size:11pt;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-indent:0.25in;line-height:normal;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span><span> </span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size:11pt;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-indent:0.25in;line-height:normal;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><b><i><sup><span style="color:rgb(192,0,0)">33 </span></sup><span style="color:rgb(192,0,0)">When they came to the place called the Skull, there they crucified him, along with the criminals—one on his right, the other on his left. <sup>34 </sup>Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing."<span></span></span></i></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size:11pt;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-indent:0.25in;line-height:normal;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span><span> </span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size:11pt;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-indent:0.25in;line-height:normal;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span>What's the hardest thing you've ever had to forgive? Some harsh words spoken against you by a parent or spouse in a moment of frustration? Some thoughtless action that left you with a greater burden to carry? Some cruel joke that hurt your feelings and left you feeling wounded? Some public humiliation that ruined your reputation and left you feeling ashamed and alone? Some betrayal of trust, a broken vow, an illicit affair? The death of one you loved, the murder of someone you would have gladly given your life for? (This week as I heard of another mass shooting in a school in Florida, I wondered if I could ever forgive someone if they came into our school and shot and killed one of my sons.) <span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size:11pt;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-indent:0.25in;line-height:normal;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span>But no matter what you've been asked to forgive someone else of, I can promise you that it's <i>nothing</i> compared to what Jesus forgave…<span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size:11pt;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-indent:0.25in;line-height:normal;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span>As the nails were jutting out of his wrists and his feet, as his back, shredded from the scourging that he already endured, was rubbing against the rough wood of the cross, as the agonizing pain—the <i>excruciating</i> pain—was hitting every nerve of his body, what was Jesus thinking?<span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size:11pt;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-indent:0.25in;line-height:normal;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><b><i><span style="color:rgb(192,0,0)"><span> </span>"Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing."</span></i></b><span><span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size:11pt;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-indent:0.25in;line-height:normal;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span>What is the antecedent of the pronoun, "them"? Was it the Roman soldiers who were executing him? "Father, forgive them for the scourging, for the torture, for the agonizing pain they're inflicting in this crucifixion!"<span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size:11pt;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-indent:0.25in;line-height:normal;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span>Was it the Jewish leaders – those Pharisees and teachers of the law who worked so hard to have him sentenced to death? "Father, forgive <i>them</i> for the ridicule, for the mockery, for the rejection, for their misunderstanding and ignorance that caused it all!"<span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size:11pt;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-indent:0.25in;line-height:normal;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span>Was it the disciples who abandoned him in his hour of greatest need? "Father, forgive <i>them</i> for their cowardice, for their betrayal, for their betrayal when I needed them the most!"<span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size:11pt;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-indent:0.25in;line-height:normal;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span>Nevertheless, when he was in the greatest pain a human could ever suffer, when he was absolutely alone, abandoned by his family, his friends, his own Father, when he was about to endure the agony of hell itself… it wasn't himself he was thinking about. It was them: the Roman soldiers, the Jewish leaders, his own disciples. <span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size:11pt;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-indent:0.25in;line-height:normal;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><b><i><span style="color:rgb(192,0,0)">"Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing."</span></i></b><span><span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size:11pt;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-indent:0.25in;line-height:normal;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span>And he went on to give his life—and his very soul—as the once-for-all sacrifice that won forgiveness for every sin.<span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size:11pt;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-indent:0.25in;line-height:normal;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span><span> </span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size:11pt;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-indent:0.25in;line-height:normal;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span>What's the hardest thing you've ever had to forgive? I know what it is for <i>some</i> of you. And I know it's something much bigger than anything <i>I've</i> <i>ever</i> had to forgive. I don't have a clue what it is for others of you. I can only imagine the sins and hurts that God asks you to forgive. And those aren't small things. I get that. At least, sort of, even though I haven't experience all that you have. But… how well do <i>you</i> forgive? <span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size:11pt;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-indent:0.25in;line-height:normal;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span>Peter once asked Jesus, </span><b><i><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">"Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?"</span></i></b> (Matthew 18:21) (And he thought he was probably being pretty generous in forgiving someone not just "three strikes and you're out," but <b><i>seven</i></b> times!) But Peter wanted to set a <i>limit</i> to forgiveness. <span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size:11pt;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-indent:0.25in;line-height:normal;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">And don't we sometimes want to do the same? <b><i><span style="color:rgb(56,86,35)">"Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me." </span></i></b>Don't we sometimes want to say "three strikes and you're out," not just in the legal process of our justice system, but in our personal lives? Don't we sometimes want to hold a grudge, keep a record, make the other person hurt the same way that they made <b><i>us</i></b> hurt?<span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size:11pt;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-indent:0.25in;line-height:normal;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">But Jesus upped the ante for Peter. <b><i><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">Jesus answered, </span><span style="color:rgb(192,0,0)">"I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times."</span></i></b> <span> </span>(Matthew 18:22) You see, Jesus wanted Peter to realize that placing a limit on forgiveness was a failure to see one's own need for forgiveness from God. <span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size:11pt;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-indent:0.25in;line-height:normal;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">I know that some of you have experience much bigger hurts that need to be forgiven than I ever have. But, still, as a faithful pastor I need to blunt with you: To say that the sins that others have committed against you (no matter <i>how big</i> that they are) should <b><i>not</i></b> be forgiven, is, in essence, to say <span>"They don't deserve forgiveness the way <i>I do</i>," which is to say, "I don't <i>need</i> forgiveness the way <b><i>they</i></b> do," which is to say, "I don't really <i>want <b>your</b></i> forgiveness, Jesus." Our failure to forgive others is really a plea to God that he should not forgive us. After all, don't we daily pray, <b><i><span style="color:rgb(56,86,35)">"Forgive us our sins </span></i><u><span style="color:rgb(56,86,35)">as</span></u><i><span style="color:rgb(56,86,35)"> we forgive those who sin against us."</span></i></b>?<span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size:11pt;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-indent:0.25in;line-height:normal;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span>We don't deserve God's forgiveness any more than those who have sinned against us deserve <i>ours</i>. We don't deserve God's forgiveness for the countless ways that we have sinned against him. We don't deserve God's forgiveness for the way we've failed to forgive those who have sinned against us. But what we <b><i>do</i></b> deserve, is God's wrath, God's punishment, God's banishment to an eternity without him forever in hell…<span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size:11pt;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-indent:0.25in;line-height:normal;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span><span> </span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size:11pt;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-indent:0.25in;line-height:normal;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span>What is the antecedent of the pronoun, "them"? Is it the Roman soldiers who crucified him? Is it the Jewish leaders who rejected him? Is it the disciples who abandoned him? I think it's all of those… and more. I think the "them" of Jesus' prayer, </span><b><i><span style="color:rgb(192,0,0)">"Father, forgive them," </span></i></b><span>is all of mankind. <span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size:11pt;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-indent:0.25in;line-height:normal;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><b><i><span>We</span></i></b><span> don't know what we're doing as we sin against God again and again, as we knowingly rebel against his will, as we refuse to forgive others who have sinned against us. But nevertheless, Jesus said of us, </span><b><i><span style="color:rgb(192,0,0)">"Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing."</span></i></b><span><span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size:11pt;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-indent:0.25in;line-height:normal;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span>And unlike our prayers, "Father, take away mom's cancer." "Father, heal my broken relationship." "Father, help me keep my job so I can provide for my family…" where God <i>might</i> answer, "No, that wouldn't be for the eternal good of souls," when Jesus—God's own son!—prays to his Father, we know that what he prays is in perfect accord with the Father's will. And so God will hear and he will answer—<b><i>in the affirmative!</i></b>—whatever Jesus prays!<span> </span>So you know, without any doubt, that you are forgiven; for your rebellion against God, for your selfish thoughts, words, and actions, for your failure to forgive those who have sinned against you, for your every sin! <span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size:11pt;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-indent:0.25in;line-height:normal;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span>You are perfect, sinless, and holy, because Jesus not only <i>prayed</i>, </span><b><i><span style="color:rgb(192,0,0)">"Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing,"</span></i></b><span> but he also lived a perfect, sinless life in your place to give you credit for his moral perfection. He willingly chose the cross, the nails, the injustice, the agonizing pain, the separation from his Father, the hell that he endured… He went on to give his life—and his very soul—as the once-for-all sacrifice that won forgiveness for every sin—for yours; for mine. <span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size:11pt;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-indent:0.25in;line-height:normal;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span>The Father has forgiven us for the sins we committed when we didn't know what we were doing… <b><i>and</i></b> for those we committed when we <b><i>did</i></b> know better. He has forgiven us for <b><i>every</i></b> sin for the sake of Jesus, who lived for us, who died for us, who prayed for us, </span><b><i><span style="color:rgb(192,0,0)">"Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing."<span></span></span></i></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size:11pt;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-indent:0.25in;line-height:normal;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><b><i><span style="color:rgb(192,0,0)"><span> </span></span></i></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size:11pt;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-indent:0.25in;line-height:normal;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span>So what's our response? There is no other response than to say, <b><i><span style="color:rgb(56,86,35)">"Forgive us our sins </span></i><u><span style="color:rgb(56,86,35)">as</span></u><i><span style="color:rgb(56,86,35)"> we forgive those who sin against us." </span></i></b>Or as Luther put it in his explanation to the 5<sup>th</sup> Petition of the Lord's Prayer, <b><i><span style="color:rgb(56,86,35)">"So we too will forgive from the heart and gladly do good to those who sin against us."<span></span></span></i></b></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size:11pt;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-indent:0.25in;line-height:normal;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span>I don't know what the hardest thing is that you've ever had to forgive. I may know what it is for <i>some</i> of you. And for most of you, it's probably something much bigger than anything <i>I've</i> <i>ever</i> had to forgive. I can only imagine the sins and hurts that God asks you to forgive. But I do know that in Christ, who prayed <b><i>from</i></b> the cross, </span><b><i><span style="color:rgb(192,0,0)">"Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing,"</span></i></b><span> who <b><i>on</i></b> the cross won that forgiveness <i>for you</i>, who says to you, those most powerful, life changing words, "I forgive you." …through him you can do the very thing that you so often pray to God for help doing and forgive those who sin against you, just as God has forgiven you. And what powerful, life-changing words those will be, when you say to others, "I forgive you." In Jesus' name, by his forgiveness, and for his sake, dear friends, amen.</span></p></div><div><div class="m_-1393669974133464114gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div><br></div><div>In Him,</div><div>Pastor Rob Guenther</div><div><font color="#000099"><b><br></b></font></div><div><b><font color="#000099">Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church</font></b></div><div>47585 Ciechanski Road, Kenai, AK 99611</div><div><a href="http://www.gracelutherankenai.com/" target="_blank">www.GraceLutheranKenai.com</a></div><div><a href="mailto:pastorguenther@gmail.com" target="_blank">pastorguenther@gmail.com</a><br><span><span title="Call with Google Voice"><a href="tel:(907)%20690-1660" value="+19076901660" target="_blank">(907) 690-1660</a></span></span></div><div><br></div><div><div style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"><font size="1">Read sermons online: <a href="http://www.gracelutherankenai.com/Sermons" style="color:rgb(17,85,204)" target="_blank">www.<wbr>GraceLutheranKenai.com/Sermons</a></font></div><div style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"><font size="1">Listen to sermons online: <a href="http://www.gracelutherankenai.com/Podcast" style="color:rgb(17,85,204)" target="_blank">www.<wbr>GraceLutheranKenai.com/Podcast</a></font></div><div style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"><font size="1">Watch services online: <a href="http://www.gracelutherankenai.com/Webcast" style="color:rgb(17,85,204)" target="_blank">www.<wbr>GraceLutheranKenai.com/Webcast</a></font></div></div><div style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"><font size="1">Like us on Facebook: <a href="http://www.Facebook.com/GraceLutheranKenai" target="_blank">www.Facebook.com/<wbr>GraceLutheranKenai</a> </font></div><div style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"><div style="font-size:12.8000001907349px"><font size="1"><br></font></div><div style="font-size:12.8000001907349px"><font size="1">Have you been blessed by our ministry at Grace? Consider supporting us with your generous gifts. Give securely online with a check or credit or debit card here: <a href="http://www.GraceLutheranKenai.com/Give" target="_blank">www.GraceLutheranKenai.com/<wbr>Give</a></font></div><div><br></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div> </div> Pastor Rob Guentherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02352798164314819498noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-815791093574782702.post-71358307837626674622018-02-12T17:30:00.001-08:002018-02-12T17:30:45.419-08:00Unveiled (A sermon based on 2 Corinthians 4:3-6)<div dir="ltr"><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><span style="text-align:left;color:rgb(0,0,0);text-transform:none;text-indent:0px;letter-spacing:normal;font-family:Verdana;word-spacing:0px;display:inline;white-space:normal;float:none;background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"><span style="text-align:left;color:rgb(0,0,0);text-transform:none;text-indent:0px;letter-spacing:normal;font-family:Verdana;font-style:normal;font-weight:400;word-spacing:0px;display:inline;white-space:normal;float:none;background-color:rgb(255,255,255)">The veil has been lifted. The blindfold has been removed. You have seen Jesus and the glory of his cross. You know who he is and what he came to do: to rescue you and all people from sin, death, and hell. Now, we have the privilege of doing all we can to lift the veil from the eyes of others and take the blindfold off of them so they too can see who Jesus is and what he's done for them. Read or listen to (<a href="http://www.gracelutherankenai.com/home/180007450/180007450/Audio/20180211_2_Corinthians_4v3-6.mp3">download</a>) this sermon based on </span><a class="gmail-rtBibleRef" style="text-align:left;color:blue;text-transform:none;text-indent:0px;letter-spacing:normal;font-family:Verdana;font-style:normal;font-weight:400;text-decoration:none;word-spacing:0px;white-space:normal;background-color:rgb(255,255,255)" href="https://biblia.com/bible/niv/2%20Cor%204.3-6" target="_blank">2 Corinthians 4:3-6</a><span style="text-align:left;color:rgb(0,0,0);text-transform:none;text-indent:0px;letter-spacing:normal;font-family:Verdana;font-style:normal;font-weight:400;word-spacing:0px;display:inline;white-space:normal;float:none;background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"> and rejoice in what you see and be renewed in your zeal to help others see it too. </span></span><strike><br></strike></div><div><div class="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:small"><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman" size="3"> </font><p align="center" style="margin:0px;text-align:center;text-indent:0.25in"><b><span style="margin:0px"><font color="#000000" face="Calibri" size="4">Unveiled</font></span></b></p> <p align="center" style="margin:0px;text-align:center;text-indent:0.25in"><span style="margin:0px"><font color="#000000" face="Calibri">A sermon based on 2 Corinthians 4:3-6</font></span></p> <p align="center" style="margin:0px;text-align:center;text-indent:0.25in"><span style="margin:0px"><font color="#000000" face="Calibri">Sunday, February 11, 2018 – Transfiguration B</font></span></p> <p style="margin:0px;text-indent:0.25in"><span style="margin:0px"><font color="#000000" face="Calibri"> </font></span></p> <p style="margin:0px;text-indent:0.25in"><span style="margin:0px"><font color="#000000" face="Calibri">Jake was ready for the big day. It had been a long engagement, but his wedding day was finally here. And he was so excited! The ceremony was beautiful and went off without a hitch. The celebration to follow was amazing with so many family and friends. And the wedding night… well, let's just say that it was pretty special too. It was a perfect day and Jake went to sleep counting his many blessings. </font></span></p> <p style="margin:0px;text-indent:0.25in"><span style="margin:0px"><font color="#000000" face="Calibri">But, when he woke up the next morning… Gah!!! The woman next to him wasn't the woman he'd been dating for the last seven years! It wasn't the woman he proposed to! It wasn't the woman he thought he married the day before! It was, of all people… her sister! </font></span></p> <p style="margin:0px;text-indent:0.25in"><span style="margin:0px"><font color="#000000" face="Calibri">Do you ever wonder how Jacob could have not noticed that he was marrying Leah instead of her sister Rachel, the woman he'd been engaged to for seven years! How did he not know that he wasn't marrying the woman he was so in love with that those seven years seemed like only a few days to him?! How did he take her home into his tent and consummate the marriage without knowing who she really was?!</font></span></p> <p style="margin:0px;text-indent:0.25in"><span style="margin:0px"><font color="#000000" face="Calibri">Some have speculated that Leah was in on the deception, spoke softly so Jacob wouldn't hear her voice, and wore a thick veil so he couldn't see her face. I suspect the amount of beer or wine Jacob drank in the celebration had something to do with it as well. But here, normally intelligent Jacob, who was duping others to get his way, was now himself duped. And all of the drama, the heartache, the pain he brought into his family was because of a veil and maybe some beer goggles. (Read Genesis 26:15-30 for the full account).</font></span></p> <p style="margin:0px;text-indent:0.25in"><span style="margin:0px"><font color="#000000" face="Calibri">Well, friends, Jacob isn't alone in his blunder. How often don't we make the same mistakes? No… I'm not suggesting that any of you accidentally married the wrong spouse. (If that's where you were going with that thought, let's talk after the service. I offer free marriage counseling.) But how often haven't we been blinded to the truth by satan who promises blessings if we do things our own way (his way) rather than God's? How often don't we fall into sin because we don't think clearly or don't see things clearly with sober judgment? </font></span></p> <p style="margin:0px;text-indent:0.25in"><span style="margin:0px"><font color="#000000" face="Calibri">And just as Jacob, kind of deserved the deception for all the deceiving he'd been doing, so too, we justly deserve the consequences of our sin. We deserve hell. And on our own, we were too blind to see God's solution. We couldn't see the light of the gospel. But, God, in his great grace to us has lifted the veil. He's turned on the lights, so to speak, so we can see clearly. We can see clearly the truth about ourselves—that we are sinners who deserve to perish apart from God. We can see clearly the truth about Jesus—that he came to rescue us from our sin and bring us to glory. </font></span></p> <p style="margin:0px;text-indent:0.25in"><span style="margin:0px"><font color="#000000" face="Calibri">Let God lift the veil for you again today as we see those truths. Our text for consideration this morning is recorded for us in 1 Corinthians 4:3-6…</font></span></p> <p style="margin:0px;text-indent:0.25in"><span style="margin:0px"><font color="#000000" face="Calibri"> </font></span></p> <p style="margin:0px;text-indent:0.25in"><b><i><sup><span style="margin:0px;color:rgb(0,32,96)">3 </span></sup></i></b><b><i><span style="margin:0px;color:rgb(0,32,96)">And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. <sup>4 </sup>The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. <sup>5 </sup>For we do not preach ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake. <sup>6 </sup>For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.</span></i></b></p> <p style="margin:0px"><span style="margin:0px"><font color="#000000" face="Calibri"> </font></span></p> <p style="margin:0px 0px 0px 24px"><font color="#000000"><b><span style="margin:0px"><span style="margin:0px"><font face="Calibri">I.</font><span style="margin:0px;line-height:normal;font-family:"Times New Roman";font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;font-weight:normal;font-size-adjust:none;font-stretch:normal"> </span></span></span></b><b><span style="margin:0px"><font face="Calibri">God's Glory is Unveiled for Us</font></span></b></font></p> <p style="margin:0px"><span style="margin:0px"><font color="#000000" face="Calibri"> </font></span></p> <p style="margin:0px;text-indent:22.5pt"><span style="margin:0px"><font color="#000000" face="Calibri">It's a fun game children play at birthday parties: One child is blindfolded so he can't see a thing, then he's spun around a number of times so he gets dizzy and disoriented, then he tries to pin a tail on a donkey or beat the snot out of his favorite cartoon hero hung in effigy and stuffed with candy. (I've never understood that part, by the way. Why do we want to beat Spiderman or Dora the Explorer to pulp? Are we teaching kids the right thing with piñatas?)</font></span></p> <p style="margin:0px;text-indent:0.25in"><span style="margin:0px"><font color="#000000" face="Calibri">But what's meant to be a fun game for kids at a party, is no way of going thought life. Can you imagine if you had to steer the boat blindfolded? What if you had to drive to Anchorage with your eyes covered? What if you just had to get something from the garage without being able to see? </font></span></p> <p style="margin:0px;text-indent:0.25in"><span style="margin:0px"><font color="#000000" face="Calibri">But that's the way God's word describes us all by nature: spiritually blindfolded. A veil before our eyes obscured more than just our fiancé; it obscured the gospel. </font><b><i><span style="margin:0px;color:rgb(0,32,96)">"The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ…"</span></i></b></span></p> <p style="margin:0px;text-indent:0.25in"><span style="margin:0px"><font color="#000000" face="Calibri">Some people read the Bible and never understand it. Some think that Jesus was a great teacher who taught us how to live to earn favor with God. Others read of Jesus' resurrection and say that he lives on, but only in our thoughts and in our and hearts. Others read Jesus' saying, "This is my body," and "This is my blood," and respond, "This cannot be." Some read the Bible and see great literature, but miss the plan of salvation. Some read the Bible and see myths and fairy tales. Others see a self-help manual with directions on how to make this life better. Everyone, on their own, thinks that they can or must do something to earn God's favor. They all read the same Bible, but without the Holy Spirit, they're in the dark. They just don't get it. It's like trying to drive a car with a blindfold on. And you know how well that would end—in death.</font></span></p> <p style="margin:0px;text-indent:0.25in"><span style="margin:0px"><font color="#000000" face="Calibri">But that's not the way we are anymore. </font><b><i><span style="margin:0px;color:rgb(0,32,96)">"For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ." </span></i></b><font color="#000000" face="Calibri">When he brought us to faith, God flipped on the light switch! He pulled off the blindfold! He revealed himself and what he's done so we can see clearly! </font></span></p> <p style="margin:0px;text-indent:0.25in"><span style="margin:0px"><font color="#000000" face="Calibri">You and I have seen the full glory of the Lord! Not just the glory of his miracles, for those were only temporary. The people he miraculously fed were hungry again. The people he raised to life died again. We have seen the full glory of the Lord! Not just the glory of transfiguration when he shined like the sun on the mountain. For that glory soon faded. And his disciples still didn't get it, soon arguing who was the greatest among them, who would get the greatest glory. </font></span></p> <p style="margin:0px;text-indent:0.25in"><span style="margin:0px"><font color="#000000" face="Calibri">But we have seen his full glory—the glory of the cross! We have seen how he lived a perfect life in our place! We have seen how he suffered hell on the cross to pay for our sin! We have seen that God's greatest power is found his apparent defeat. We have seen how he rose again to give us the proof that we are right with God! We have seen that the real glory comes not in this life, but after the suffering, after the cross, after death, in the life to come! The veil has been lifted for us! The blindfold has been removed! We have seen the full glory of God! </font></span></p> <p style="margin:0px;text-indent:0.25in"><span style="margin:0px"><font color="#000000" face="Calibri">You know, our nation no longer faces the problem we once did with a large percentage of our citizens being illiterate. Now, through our education system, that problem has been solved and almost everyone knows how to read. But we have another problem—a high percentage of <b><i><u>a</u></i></b>lliterate people. That is, people aren't <b><i><u>il</u></i></b>literate. They know <b><i>how</i></b> to read, they just don't! Very few Americans read more than five books a year. I hope that you're not in that category. You have had the blindfold removed. You know what the Bible is all about. You know that it's all about Jesus. But that knowledge doesn't do you much good if you don't read the Bible regularly. </font></span></p> <p style="margin:0px;text-indent:0.25in"><span style="margin:0px"><font color="#000000" face="Calibri">Can you imagine if the blind man whose sight Jesus miraculously restored, were to say to Jesus, "Thanks, Jesus. I really appreciate what you did, but… you know what? All this 'seeing business' is pretty crazy. I think I'm just going to go back to not seeing and walk around with a blindfold on all the time. Thanks though for the thought. I appreciate it." </font></span></p> <p style="margin:0px;text-indent:0.25in"><span style="margin:0px"><font color="#000000" face="Calibri">Don't be like that! God has given you spiritual sight to see how all of your sins are forgiven by Jesus! He has given you eyes to see how you are at peace with God! But if the gospel that was once veiled, but now is revealed, still has no place in your life… what a waste! Use your spiritual sight to keep looking at all the wonderful things God has done for you! Enjoy your spiritual sight as you look into his Word and find Jesus in every book of the Bible! The blindfold has been lifted. The veil has been removed! </font></span></p> <p style="margin:0px;text-indent:0.25in"><span style="margin:0px"><font color="#000000" face="Calibri">Keep looking into his Word where you see how you've been forgiven even for neglecting your spiritual sight! And look into his Word through which the Holy Spirit will continue to work in you as you unveil the gospel to others! </font><b></b></span></p> <p style="margin:0px;text-indent:0.25in"><span style="margin:0px"><font color="#000000" face="Calibri"> </font></span></p> <p style="margin:0px 0px 0px 24px"><font color="#000000"><b><span style="margin:0px"><span style="margin:0px"><font face="Calibri">II.</font><span style="margin:0px;line-height:normal;font-family:"Times New Roman";font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;font-weight:normal;font-size-adjust:none;font-stretch:normal"> </span></span></span></b><b><span style="margin:0px"><font face="Calibri">God's Glory is Unveiled through Us</font></span></b></font></p> <p style="margin:0px"><span style="margin:0px"><font color="#000000" face="Calibri"> </font></span></p> <p style="margin:0px;text-indent:0.25in"><span style="margin:0px"><font color="#000000" face="Calibri">"What's behind door number two?" the game show host cries, and the door is open to show a wonderful prize. "Vanna, show her what she's won!" and the game show hostess pulls off the drop cloth to reveal the shiny, new sportscar beneath it. That's sort of what we get to do too… </font></span></p> <p style="margin:0px;text-indent:0.25in"><span style="margin:0px"><font color="#000000" face="Calibri">Think of what Paul went through before he wrote these words. On the road to Damascus he saw the glory of the Lord! Jesus himself stood before Paul shining so brilliantly that it caused Paul to go blind. (Talk about transfiguration!) When he got up, he opened his eyes, but could see nothing, totally blinded. Three days later, after he was instructed, baptized, filled with the Holy Spirit, something like scales fell from his eyes and he could see! He could see physically again. And he could see spiritually for the first time! (Read Acts 9, 22, and 26 for the account of Paul's conversion.) </font></span></p> <p style="margin:0px;text-indent:0.25in"><span style="margin:0px"><font color="#000000" face="Calibri">And God not only gave Paul sight, but he gave Paul a mission: In Acts 26:17-18, Paul reported what Jesus said to him on the road to Damascus: </font><b><i><span style="margin:0px;color:rgb(192,0,0)">"I am sending you to [the Gentiles] to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me." </span></i></b><font color="#000000" face="Calibri">And here Paul wrote to the Corinthians, </font><b><i><span style="margin:0px;color:rgb(0,32,96)">"We do not preach ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake."</span></i></b></span></p> <p style="margin:0px;text-indent:0.25in"><span style="margin:0px"><font color="#000000" face="Calibri">In a sense, Paul was like a glow-in-the-dark star. When he saw the glory of God, he sort of absorbed it a bit. And it was his job then to reflect some of that glory, proclaiming the truth that lifted the veil from his eyes to lift the veil from others too. </font></span></p> <p style="margin:0px;text-indent:0.25in"><span style="margin:0px"><font color="#000000" face="Calibri">And that's exactly what it's like for us. We, who have seen the glory of God in Christ—in the forgiveness that he won for us, get to be like the game show host who reveals the prize to others. We get to be like Paul as </font><b><i><span style="margin:0px;color:rgb(0,32,96)">"We do not preach ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as [others'] servants for Jesus' sake."</span></i></b><font color="#000000" face="Calibri"> </font></span></p> <p style="margin:0px;text-indent:0.25in"><span style="margin:0px"><font color="#000000" face="Calibri">God simply spoke. And with the words, </font><b><i><span style="margin:0px;color:rgb(0,32,96)">"Let there be light… Let there be lights in the vault of the sky…"</span></i></b><font color="#000000" face="Calibri"> (Genesis 1:3,14) he made light and the sun and the moon. God simply spoke. And with the Word he brought you to faith and made you the moon to his Son. </font><b><i><span style="margin:0px;color:rgb(0,32,96)">"For God, who said, 'Let light shine out of darkness,' made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ."</span></i></b></span></p> <p style="margin:0px;text-indent:0.25in"><span style="margin:0px"><font color="#000000" face="Calibri">And now we really are like the moon in several ways. As the light doesn't really belong to the moon but is only a reflection of the sun, so the glory isn't ours. It's his. But we reflect it in our lives to others. As the moon gives light to the earth when you can't see the sun, so too when others can't see the Son of God because their hearts and minds are veiled, they can still see us as we reflect his love and remove the veil for others! </font></span></p> <p style="margin:0px;text-indent:0.25in"><span style="margin:0px"><font color="#000000" face="Calibri">Jesus put it this way in Matthew 5:14-16, </font><b><i><span style="margin:0px;color:rgb(192,0,0)">"You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven."</span></i></b></span></p> <p style="margin:0px;text-indent:0.25in"><span style="margin:0px"><font color="#000000" face="Calibri">So let your light shine, dear brothers and sisters! Actively look for ways to serve others. Look for opportunities to serve your family, your neighbors, your coworkers, and your friends. Do not just what's expected of you in your position, but surprise others by your willingness to go above and beyond. Surprise your spouse. Surprise your kids. Surprise your parents. Surprise your boss. Surprise your employees. Surprise the stranger you meet at the store by how thoughtful and loving and kind you are! And as you do, you'll be reflecting the glory of Jesus. You'll shine brighter and brighter with his love. </font></span></p> <p style="margin:0px;text-indent:0.25in"><span style="margin:0px"><font color="#000000" face="Calibri">And as you do <i>that</i>, you'll find more opportunities to share the story of Jesus' love and the full glory of his redemption won at the cross with others. You'll be able to pull off the blindfold and lift off the veil for them. You'll be able to </font><b><i><span style="margin:0px;color:rgb(0,32,96)">"preach… Jesus Christ as Lord… [that] his light [might] shine in [their] hearts to give [them] the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ."</span></i></b><font color="#000000" face="Calibri">For Jesus sends us, </font><b><i><span style="margin:0px;color:rgb(192,0,0)">"to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in [him]."</span></i></b></span></p> <p style="margin:0px;text-indent:0.25in"><span style="margin:0px"><font color="#000000" face="Calibri">The blind fold has been removed from our eyes. Jesus has been unveiled to us. Now, Jesus is unveiled <i>through</i> us as we let our light shine before others that they may see our good works, that we might share the message of his love and his grace. So go unveil the gospel to others, for Jesus sake. In his name, dear friends, amen. </font></span></p></div></div><div><div><br></div><div>In Him,</div><div>Pastor Rob Guenther</div><div><font color="#000099"><b><br></b></font></div><div><b><font color="#000099">Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church</font></b></div><div>47585 Ciechanski Road, Kenai, AK 99611</div><div><a href="http://www.gracelutherankenai.com/" target="_blank">www.GraceLutheranKenai.com</a></div><div><a href="mailto:pastorguenther@gmail.com" target="_blank">pastorguenther@gmail.com</a><br><span title="Call with Google Voice">(907) 690-1660</span></div><div><br></div><div><div style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"><font size="1">Read sermons online: <a style="color:rgb(17,85,204)" href="http://www.gracelutherankenai.com/Sermons" target="_blank">www.GraceLutheranKenai.com/Sermons</a></font></div><div style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"><font size="1">Listen to sermons online: <a style="color:rgb(17,85,204)" href="http://www.gracelutherankenai.com/Podcast" target="_blank">www.GraceLutheranKenai.com/Podcast</a></font></div><div style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"><font size="1">Watch services online: <a style="color:rgb(17,85,204)" href="http://www.gracelutherankenai.com/Webcast" target="_blank">www.GraceLutheranKenai.com/Webcast</a></font></div></div><div style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"><font size="1">Like us on Facebook: <a href="http://www.Facebook.com/GraceLutheranKenai" target="_blank">www.Facebook.com/GraceLutheranKenai</a> </font></div><div style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"><div style="font-size:12.8px"><font size="1"><br></font></div><div style="font-size:12.8px"><font size="1">Have you been blessed by our ministry at Grace? Consider supporting us with your generous gifts. Give securely online with a check or credit or debit card here: <a href="http://www.GraceLutheranKenai.com/Give" target="_blank">www.GraceLutheranKenai.com/Give</a></font></div><div><br></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div> </div> Pastor Rob Guentherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02352798164314819498noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-815791093574782702.post-59961436480724860272018-02-08T12:02:00.000-08:002018-02-08T12:03:30.495-08:00Sent Out by the Holy Spirit (A sermon based on Acts 13:1-5)<div dir="ltr"><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:small">You've got a mission to do: you're sent out by your spouse or by your parents to go get a few groceries from the store. How well do you do? Do you get the right items? The right sizes? Do you get other things not on the list? You've got another mission to do and this one's far more important: You're sent out by God to share the good news of what he's done for all people by Jesus' perfect life and innocent death on the cross. Do you get the job done? Do you do it well? Thank God he did send Jesus out to carry out his mission to rescue us from our failure to accomplish ours. Read or listen to (<a href="http://www.gracelutherankenai.com/home/180007450/180007450/Audio/20180128_Acts_13v1-5.mp3">download</a>) this sermon based on Acts 13:1-5 and rejoice in Jesus' forgiveness and be renewed in your zeal and commitment to carry out the mission God has given to you...</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:small"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:small"> <p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><b><span style="font-size:13pt">Sent Out by the Holy Spirit<span></span></span></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">A sermon based on Acts 13:1-5<span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Sunday, January 28, 2018 – Epiphany 3B (Confirmation)<span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Sometimes I'm sent out by my wife to run some errands or to do some shopping. Sometimes I get it right. More often I get it wrong. "What?! These <b><i>are</i></b> tomatoes. You never said they couldn't be in a can. The list didn't say '<b><i>fresh</i></b> tomatoes.'" Or, "The list just said, 'cream of mushroom soup.' You never specified 'family size.'" Or, "Cuties, satsumas, clementines… what's the difference? They're all little baby oranges." Usually it's not that big of a deal, but sometimes I get sent back to the store. <span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Now Becky's not the only who sends me out to carry out tasks for her. God has sent me out too. I've been called by the Holy Spirit through this congregation to carry out the task of preaching and teaching the truth of God's Word, of administering the sacraments, of using law and gospel to confront and then comfort sinners. <span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">And I'm not the only one here who's been called by God and sent out by the Holy Spirit. You too, confirmands, are called by God to go out now with the knowledge you've gained from the Word of God and to share it with others. You too, members, have been called by God to carry out the mission work of this church. You too, Christians, have been called by God to share the good news of his salvation with your friends and family, your neighbors and co-workers. This is the task we've <b><i>all</i></b> been given by God. Do we sometimes do that errand wrong? Do we sometimes leave it undone altogether?<span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Now, when I goof up the task for Becky, it's usually not <i>that</i> big of a deal. But when we goof up the task for God, it's <b><i>always</i></b> a big deal. So today we thank God that he sent out Jesus to carry out his mission for us. We thank God that he sent out missionaries to carry the message of his mission complete to us. And we joyfully recommit ourselves to carry out the work that he has sent us out to do. Our text for consideration is from Acts 13:1-5…<span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:6pt"><span> </span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><b><i><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">In the church at Antioch there were prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen (who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch) and Saul. <sup>2 </sup>While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, "Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them." <sup>3 </sup>So after they had fasted and prayed, they placed their hands on them and sent them off. <span></span></span></i></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><b><i><sup><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">4 </span></sup><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">The two of them, sent on their way by the Holy Spirit, went down to Seleucia and sailed from there to Cyprus. <sup>5 </sup>When they arrived at Salamis, they proclaimed the word of God in the Jewish synagogues. John was with them as their helper. <span></span></span></i></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:6pt"><span> </span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Wouldn't it be nice to have God whisper in your ear exactly what he wanted you to do? Wouldn't it be nice if we were called the same way Paul and Barnabas were, with explicit directions? Wouldn't it be nice to be called like the disciples were with clear instruction from Jesus himself every day?<span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Friends, Jesus <i>has</i> given us that that direction… in his Word. There God has given us the errands we are to run for him. He's made us his ambassadors. We are called to love, called to serve, called to use our gifts and abilities for something eternal, called to proclaim the word of God to those who need to hear it. God has no Plan B. You and I are his only plan to get the message out. It's our job. And it's our <i>primary</i> job in this life. Wherever else you work is your secondary mission that helps support you in the only work that will last for eternity. <span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">But how well do we do the job entrusted to us? Outside of these walls, how many people have you talked to about your faith in the last month? How much have you given to support the spread of the gospel this year and how much have you spent on entertainment? How earnestly have you prayed for the lost souls in your neighborhood or in your family?<span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The challenge with carrying out our mission is that it almost always demands sacrifice. <span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">For the church in Antioch, they had to give up two of their five pastors. "Well, they already had five pastors," you say, "How many more did they need? Why shouldn't some leave to go somewhere with zero pastors?" But Antioch had half a million residents. That's one pastor to 100,000 people. And even if the work load might easily be covered by the other three pastors, it may still have been hard for the members of the church to give up Paul and Barnabas, <b><i>their</i></b> beloved pastors and their friends. <span> </span><span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">And when it says, <b><i><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">"they placed their hands on them and </span></i><u><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">sent them off</span></u><i><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">,"</span></i></b> it likely means more than just booting them out the door. They probably supplied Paul and Barnabas with the funds needed for travel, for lodging, for their food. So, while we often call them "<i>Paul's</i> missionary journeys," we might just as well call them "<i>Antioch's</i> missionary journeys," as the Christians there we funding the trips Paul took. <span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">And think what Paul and Barnabas gave up. They gave up the comfort of the known to go on a mission full of unknowns. They gave up their homes and their beds to travel across the globe. They gave up their friends and church family to make new friends for Jesus. They made big sacrifices for the Kingdom because they were sent out by the Holy Spirit.<span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">What have you sacrificed for the Kingdom lately? Have you risked ridicule, forfeited finances, lost loved ones to share your faith? The truth is, we don't like to give up our friends, our homes, our pastors for the sake of the gospel. We don't like to give up our money or our time to help the Kingdom of God expand. We don't even like to give up our comfort or our convenience. And so, even though we've been sent by God to carry out his vial mission, we too often don't. In our selfishness, we simply refuse to do the work that God has called us to do. <span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">It usually isn't that big of a deal if I'm sent out by Becky to get some item and come back with the wrong thing. But when we're sent out by God to run an errand for him and don't do it, it is a big deal. An ambassador who refused to do what he was sent to do would not only lose his job, but could be fined or even jailed. And for refusing to do the job that God has entrusted to us, we deserve to be jailed for eternity in a hellish prison separated from God with no chance of parole.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">But friends, I've been called by God, appointed by the Holy Spirit, set apart by the laying on of hands to share a message from God to you: "You are forgiven for the way you've failed to do the tasks that he has given you. You are forgiven because he sent off his Son to come to earth." And that gospel message didn't originate with me. <span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">By God's grace, that message has come here by missionaries. Missionaries from Jerusalem took the message to Turkey. Missionaries from Turkey took the message to Greece. Missionaries from Greece took the message to Rome. Missionaries from Rome took the message to the rest of Europe. Missionaries from Germany brought the message to the American Midwest. Missionaries from the Midwest brought the message to the Pacific Northwest. Missionaries from the Pacific Northwest brought the message to Anchorage. And missionaries from Anchorage brought the message here. <span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Through that long chain of witnesses (or one much like it), the gospel has been handed down to you so that you know what God has done for you in Christ: That he sent his one and only Son on a mission of his own. <b><i><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">"But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under law…"</span></i></b> (Galatians 4:4-5) And, <b><i><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">"This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins." </span></i></b>(1 John 4:10) And Jesus never turned aside from his mission, but did everything needed to bring it to completion: he lived a perfect life, he died an innocent death, he rose again to prove: "Mission Accomplished!" <span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">By God's grace the gospel has been handed down to you through that long chain of missionaries. But a chain is only as strong as its weakest link. So don't break the chain! Just as that gospel message didn't <i>originate</i> with us, let's not let it <i>end</i> with us either!<span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Josiah, Ayden, and Hailey, in a minute I'm going to lay my hand on you (or at least do my "holy hover") as you are confirmed. But to be clear, your confirmation is not graduation from the Word. You're not done. You don't know all you need to know yet; not even close. But on the contrary, already now, you <i>are</i> <i>equipped</i> to go on your way, sent out from here, sent on your way by the Holy Spirit, to proclaim the Word of God. And your mission is to your high school classmates and your high school <i>teachers</i>, then perhaps to your college classmates and teachers, or maybe to you co-workers and to your future spouse and kids.<span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">And, of course, this mission isn't just for Hailey, Josiah, and Ayden. It's for all of us. You all are <b><i><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">"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." </span></i></b>(1 Peter 2:9-10) You all are a part of the chain. So go share that message! Proclaim it boldly!<span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">"But wait," you protest. "I'm not pastor. I can't preach." Maybe not. But you are a part of the mission nevertheless. Look again at that last sentence of our text: <b><i><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">"John was with them as their helper."</span></i></b><span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">This isn't the John who wrote the gospel, three epistles, and the book of Revelation. This isn't the John who baptized Jesus in the Jordan River either. In Acts 12(:12) we learn that his full name was John Mark. He was Barnabas' cousin (Colossians 4:10) and would later write the gospel of Mark. (Maybe he went by Mark so he wouldn't be confused with the "other John.") <span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">But he wasn't a preacher. He was a helper. He was an assistant. That was his role. Some think he taught the children wherever Paul and Barnabas taught the adults. Others think he may have been their travel agent, helping them get to where they were going and to find adequate food and lodging along the way so <i>they</i> could focus on preaching and teaching. But whatever his role as helper was, he was vitally important to the mission. Paul and Barnabas wouldn't have been nearly as efficient in their job if not for the work of John Mark.<span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The point? You can carry out the mission entrusted to you in a number of ways. First, pray. As the old maxim goes, "If you want a better pastor, pray for the one you have." The same could be true if you want a better neighborhood, workplace, church, school, or synod. Second, serve. Cleaning church isn't a menial task. It's vitally important to our mission, giving a good first impression to our guests. So is smiling and warmly greeting them when you see those guests enter. Teaching the children, organizing events on a committee, operating a camera for a webcast, or clicking through PowerPoint slides, all help carry out our important task of passing the message along in that long chain of missionaries. <span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">You don't need to have a call into public ministry to have a call. God has called you to be a part of our ministry here at Grace. You are sent on your way by the Holy Spirit. And he's called you to your own private ministry too as you serve your family, your co-workers, your neighbors, and your community. Use your gifts to serve him. You are a vitally important part of the mission. <span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Do it all in thanks to God for the mission he carried out for you. And do it with the strength that he gives. <span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Ever wonder why the Book of Acts is named that? What "acts" is it talking about? Well many Bible versions call the Book of Acts, "The Acts of the Apostles." And the book certainly does describe the apostles' actions as they spread the message around the Roman empire. But I prefer the title other Bibles give it: "The Acts of the Holy Spirit," as it was really he who was acting in and through the apostles. And it is he who is acting in and through you too.<span> </span><span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">So put your trust in him. Trust in the Holy Spirit who's not only sent you out, but has also promised to help, just as Jesus said, <b><i><span style="color:red">"You will bear testimony to me. But make up your mind not to worry beforehand how you will defend yourselves. For I will give you words and wisdom that none of your adversaries will be able to resist or contradict." </span></i></b>(Luke 21:13-15)<span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">And as we put our trust in him and go out to carry out our mission, not only called, but also empowered, by the Holy Spirit, we <b><i>will</i></b> keep the chain intact. And passing the gospel message to others, the Kingdom will expand. The fire will spread. As you go out, sent on your way by the Holy Spirt, and tell others, they, in turn will go out and tell more still. And on and on it will go until the last person hears, and Jesus returns, and we are sent off to heaven. So go, sent out by the Holy Spirit to tell the story of Jesus and his forgiving love. In his name, dear friends, amen. <span></span></p> </div><div><div class="gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div><br></div><div>In Him,</div><div>Pastor Rob Guenther</div><div><font color="#000099"><b><br></b></font></div><div><b><font color="#000099">Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church</font></b></div><div>47585 Ciechanski Road, Kenai, AK 99611</div><div><a href="http://www.gracelutherankenai.com/" target="_blank">www.GraceLutheranKenai.com</a></div><div><a href="mailto:pastorguenther@gmail.com" target="_blank">pastorguenther@gmail.com</a><br><span><span title="Call with Google Voice">(907) 690-1660</span></span></div><div><br></div><div><div style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"><font size="1">Read sermons online: <a href="http://www.gracelutherankenai.com/Sermons" style="color:rgb(17,85,204)" target="_blank">www.GraceLutheranKenai.com/Sermons</a></font></div><div style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"><font size="1">Listen to sermons online: <a href="http://www.gracelutherankenai.com/Podcast" style="color:rgb(17,85,204)" target="_blank">www.GraceLutheranKenai.com/Podcast</a></font></div><div style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"><font size="1">Watch services online: <a href="http://www.gracelutherankenai.com/Webcast" style="color:rgb(17,85,204)" target="_blank">www.GraceLutheranKenai.com/Webcast</a></font></div></div><div style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"><font size="1">Like us on Facebook: <a href="http://www.Facebook.com/GraceLutheranKenai" target="_blank">www.Facebook.com/GraceLutheranKenai</a> </font></div><div style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"><div style="font-size:12.8000001907349px"><font size="1"><br></font></div><div style="font-size:12.8000001907349px"><font size="1">Have you been blessed by our ministry at Grace? Consider supporting us with your generous gifts. Give securely online with a check or credit or debit card here: <a href="http://www.GraceLutheranKenai.com/Give" target="_blank">www.GraceLutheranKenai.com/Give</a></font></div><div><br></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div> </div> Pastor Rob Guentherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02352798164314819498noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-815791093574782702.post-44230301085712292222018-01-23T15:16:00.000-08:002018-01-23T15:17:28.944-08:00Chosen for Glory (A sermon based on 2 Thessalonians 2:13-17)<div dir="ltr"><div class="gmail_default"><font face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif">You have a choice to make. Actually, you have a lot of choices to make every day. Sadly, our choices aren't always the best. They are often selfish and self-serving. And for such poor choices, we deserve God to make the natural choice to send us away from him. But in his inexplicable grace God chose us -- before the world was made, before time began! -- to be his own. And he did everything to make it happen. Jesus chose the cross. The Holy Spirit chose to bring us to faith. Now read or listen to (<a href="http://www.gracelutherankenai.com/home/180007450/180007450/Audio/20180121_2_Thessalonians_2v13-17.mp3">download</a>) this sermon based on 2 Thessalonians 2:13-17 and be encouraged to make better choices in thanks to God for choosing you. </font><br clear="all"></div><div><div class="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div><br></div><div><div class="gmail_default" style="text-align:center;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><font size="4"><b style="text-align:center;font-family:arial,sans-serif">Chosen for Glory</b></font></div> <p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center">A sermon based on 2 Thessalonians 2:13-17<span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center">Sunday, January 21, 2018 – </p><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:small;display:inline">Epiphany </div>2B<span></span><p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in">When I was a kid, they were one of my favorite genre of books. Now, I can hardly seem to find them for my kids. They were called, <i>Choose Your Own Adventure</i>. If you're not familiar with the series, they'd work like this: You'd read a few pages into the story until you got to a spot that directed you to make a choice. Would you get on the boat? Then turn to page 42. Or would you try to take the plane? Then turn to page 56. Would you fight the guard? Turn to page 105. Or would you try to sneak in through a window? Then turn to page 114. And based on the choices you made the story would unfold in a very different manner. <span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in">Choose your own adventure. That's how life works too, doesn't it? Take the prize or trade it in for whatever's behind door number two? Should I get a PC or a Mac? A truck or a minivan? Can I hit the snooze button or do I have to get up now? What should I eat for breakfast? Should I watch Netflix or read a book? Should I read my Bible today? And, of course, based on the choices made, the story can turn out very different in the end. <span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in">Every moment of every day is full of choices. From what we eat to what we do, from how we spend our money, to how we spend our time, we have choice after choice to make every single day. And, of course, many of those choices are moral ones: Will I snap back when someone hurts me? Or will I forgive as I've been forgiven? Will I choose to be kind and compassionate? Or bitter and angry? Will I choose to confess my mistakes and my sins? Or will I try to cover them up to shift the blame to someone else.<span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in">And, sadly, we don't always make the best choices. Instead we selfishly choose to seek glory for ourselves. And by our sin, we really choose hell over God. But thank God that he made a wonderful choice—a choice that wasn't driven by logic, or self-interest, but entirely by love. A choice that seems to make no sense at all: He chose me, he chose you, to be his own. He <i>called</i> us to be his own. And he chose us to share in his glory. Our text for consideration this morning describes God's wonderful choice and is taken from 2 Thessalonians 2:13-17…<span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in"><b><sup><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">13 </span></sup></b><b><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">But we ought always to thank God for you, brothers loved by the Lord, because from the beginning God chose you to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth. <sup>14 </sup>He called you to this through our gospel, that you might share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. <sup>15 </sup>So then, brothers, stand firm and hold to the teachings we passed on to you, whether by word of mouth or by letter. <span></span></span></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in"><b><sup><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">16 </span></sup></b><b><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, <sup>17 </sup>encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word. <span></span></span></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in">"Why did I eat that? Now I feel uncomfortably full and bloated." "Why did I say that? I can tell my comment really stung. But I can't take it back or unsay it now." "I really wish I hadn't spent my money on that. What a waste it was! But there's no way I'm getting my money back on <i>that</i> deal." <span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in">I find that there are plenty of choices in my life where only a little bit of hindsight reveals them to be the wrong choice. And I sometimes wonder what would have happened if I had chosen to do or say something different. <span></span></p> <span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><br clear="all"> </span> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in">And I'm sure you can relate. Some choices we make are good and work out in the end. Other choices aren't so good and we suffer the consequences for them as we each choose our own adventure. <span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in">But do you ever stop to think why we make the choices that we do? Well, if we're honest with ourselves, don't we usually make our choices based on what's in our own best interest? Sure, you may make better choices about food and exercise than I do, but is the reason for those choices that you want to have more energy to serve your Savior? Or is because you feel in control of your health and your life? Or maybe you make the wise chose to save your money instead of spend it all at once. But do you find your security and sense of well-being in what you've saved rather than in God? Do you choose to forgive and show kindness at home because you love your Savior and your family? Or because you just want to get along and you know they'll leave you alone if you're nice. You're more likely to get what you want if, every now and then, you give them what they want.<span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in">You see, our choices are more than just the things we say, and do. Our choices are driven by our beliefs and by our attitudes. And our choices are often selfish, seeking to get glory for ourselves. When given the choice between serving selflessly or demanding that we get our rights, we choose our rights. When given the choice between showing love and getting our way, we choose our way. When given the choice between humility or glory, we choose glory. <span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in">And when we make such poor choices, we choose to ignore God, to rebel against him, to live to serve ourselves with no thought of him. And for choosing the glory of self over humble service to God… well… you know where that so-called adventure leads. <span></span></p> <span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><br clear="all"> </span> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in">You know, unlike most stories, my <i>Choose Your Own Adventure</i> books didn't always have a happy ending. If you chose to sneak past the gorilla on the shortcut instead of taking the long way around, you could get killed by the gorilla when it awakes. Or, if you tried to play it safe and take the longer route through the grassy field, you might be bit by a venomous snake. Sometimes it seemed like whatever choice you made, didn't matter. You would still end up getting yourself killed.<span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in">Well isn't it that way in life too? If you choose to live in open rebellion to God and his will (seeking adventure and glory for yourself), sinning openly and brazenly, it will most certainly lead to death—eternal death. But if you choose to live as morally as you can, striving to be well-behaved in all you do (seeking your glory in a moral superiority compared to others)… well, you still won't be perfect. And <i>that</i> choice will still lead to death. (And it might ironically fill you with a pride that tells you don't really need much forgiveness anyway, leading you to be caught off guard when that judgment comes.) <span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in">And honestly, if left to your own choices, it wouldn't matter. You'd be damned if you do, damned if you don't, because unlike my <i>Choose Your Own Adventure</i> books, there is no right choice we can make to survive. We were all dead in our sin and transgression incapable of choosing to serve God and incapable of acting on it even if we could choose. All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. And the wages of sin is death—eternal death in hell.<span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in"><span> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in">But, in spite of our bad choices, we won't get the hell we deserve. Paul explains why…<span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in"><b><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">But we ought always to thank God for you, brothers loved by the Lord, because from the beginning God chose you to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth. </span></b> <span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in">Why won't be suffer the eternal consequences of our bad choices? Because of gracious choices God made concerning us. God chose you. Before the world was made, before time began, God chose you to be his adopted children and live with him forever in heaven! God chose to send his Son on a rescue mission to recover your soul. <span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in">Jesus chose to give up his glory, to leave heaven behind to live on this earth instead. Jesus chose to never do anything selfish, but always chose to do what was loving and kind. He always chose to obey his Father. Jesus chose to go to Calvary. He chose the cross. He chose the nails. He chose the torture. He chose the hell. He chose to give you credit for his perfect life. He chose to take your sin away.<span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in">God chose to send his Spirit to bring you to faith—to believe the truth—by his sanctifying work in the Word and in Baptism. He chose to strengthen your faith by that Word and by his Son's body and blood. He chose to keep you in the faith, <b><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">"that you might share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ"</span></b> that he has prepared for you in heaven.<span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in">As Luther put it so clearly, <b><i><span style="color:rgb(56,86,35)">"I believe that I cannot by my own thinking or </span></i><u><span style="color:rgb(56,86,35)">choosing</span></u><i><span style="color:rgb(56,86,35)"> believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or come to him. But the Holy Spirit has called me by the gospel, enlightened me with his gifts, sanctified and kept me in the true faith. In the same way he calls, gathers, enlightens, and sanctifies the whole Christian church on earth, and keeps it with Jesus Christ in the one true faith."</span></i></b> <span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in">When we choose to do all we can to get an earthly glory for ourselves, and in so doing choose the path to hell, God, in his grace chose us <b><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">"to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth. He called [us] to this through [the] gospel, that [we] might share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ." </span></b>We call this "the doctrine of election," that God chose us, by grace, to be his own. Thank God for that choice! Thank God that our lives aren't a <i>Choose Your Own Adventure</i> story, but that he chose to make us a part of his story to bring us to the eternal adventure of heaven! <span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in">And now, while we wait for that great adventure to begin, Paul has some advice for us in the meantime: <span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in"><b><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">So then, brothers, stand firm and hold to the teachings we passed on to you, whether by word of mouth or by letter… May our Lord Jesus Christ… encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word." <span></span></span></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in">Now, in thanks to God for his gracious choice, and by the encouragement and strength that he gives, you can make good choices. Choose to stand firm in the Word. Choose to read your Bible before you reach for the remote. Choose a devotion over a few more minutes of sleep. Choose to cling to these truths in Jesus and never let go because you know that in these truths we find our salvation! <span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in">Then choose to serve God and bring glory to him instead of serving yourself as you reach for self-glory. Choose to serve others before you serve yourself. Choose kind words instead of the snappy comeback. Choose to confess your sins to God and to each other. Choose to change your bad habits, replacing them with something good. Choose to use your money, your time, your food, your body, your mind, and all that you have to bring glory to God.<span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in">And with his encouragement and with the strength that he gives, you can do it! <b><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">"May our Lord Jesus Christ… encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word."</span></b><span></span></p> <div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><span style="text-indent:0.25in;font-family:arial,sans-serif">And as you continue to make good choices, you will stand firm to the end and you will share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. You don't need to choose your own adventure hoping your choices don't lead to death. God already chose you to share in his heaven. And he did everything to make it happen. Now choose to live for him in thanks with every choice you make each day. To God be the glory in thanks for the glory he called you to share! In Jesus' name, dear friends, amen.</span></div></div><div><br></div><div>In Him,</div><div>Pastor Rob Guenther</div><div><font color="#000099"><b><br></b></font></div><div><b><font color="#000099">Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church</font></b></div><div>47585 Ciechanski Road, Kenai, AK 99611</div><div><a href="http://www.gracelutherankenai.com/" target="_blank">www.GraceLutheranKenai.com</a></div><div><a href="mailto:pastorguenther@gmail.com" target="_blank">pastorguenther@gmail.com</a><br><span><span title="Call with Google Voice">(907) 690-1660</span></span></div><div><br></div><div><div style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"><font size="1">Read sermons online: <a href="http://www.gracelutherankenai.com/Sermons" style="color:rgb(17,85,204)" target="_blank">www.GraceLutheranKenai.com/Sermons</a></font></div><div style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"><font size="1">Listen to sermons online: <a href="http://www.gracelutherankenai.com/Podcast" style="color:rgb(17,85,204)" target="_blank">www.GraceLutheranKenai.com/Podcast</a></font></div><div style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"><font size="1">Watch services online: <a href="http://www.gracelutherankenai.com/Webcast" style="color:rgb(17,85,204)" target="_blank">www.GraceLutheranKenai.com/Webcast</a></font></div></div><div style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"><font size="1">Like us on Facebook: <a href="http://www.Facebook.com/GraceLutheranKenai" target="_blank">www.Facebook.com/GraceLutheranKenai</a> </font></div><div style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"><div style="font-size:12.8px"><font size="1"><br></font></div><div style="font-size:12.8px"><font size="1">Have you been blessed by our ministry at Grace? Consider supporting us with your generous gifts. Give securely online with a check or credit or debit card here: <a href="http://www.GraceLutheranKenai.com/Give" target="_blank">www.GraceLutheranKenai.com/Give</a></font></div><div><br><br></div></div></div></div></div></div> </div> Pastor Rob Guentherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02352798164314819498noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-815791093574782702.post-67345102080179216302018-01-16T18:46:00.001-08:002018-01-16T18:46:47.289-08:00When Foundations Are Shaken… (A sermon based on Acts 16:25-34)<div dir="ltr"><div class="gmail_default"><font face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif">What do you do when your world is shaken to its core and your world starts crumbling beneath your feet? Do you thank God anyway? Do you sing your hymns of praise to him? Too often we whine and complain against God as if he owed us something better. Thank God that he rescued us from our self-absorption and our sin. Now, as we praise him for his saving Grace even in our trial and pain, others will notice, and it may provide us with an opportunity to share our faith with them when their world is shaken to it's core. Read or listen to (<a href="http://www.gracelutherankenai.com/home/180007450/180007450/Audio/20180114_Acts_16v25-34.mp3">download</a>) this sermon based on Acts 16:25-34 and rejoice that in the waters of Baptism you find your firmest footing. </font><br clear="all"></div><div class="gmail_default"><font face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><br></font></div><div class="gmail_default"><p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center"><b><span style="font-size:13pt">When Foundations Are Shaken…<span></span></span></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center">A sermon based on Acts 16:25-34<span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center">Sunday, January 14, 2018 – Epiphany 2B<span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:13.5pt">He slept so soundly that it seemed like nothing could wake him but his alarm. And it didn't take the other guys at the seminary very long to figure out what a deep sleeper he was. One morning he woke up on his mattress to find that it had been moved from his bed, outside, and placed on top of his car. Thankfully he didn't roll off. But he was late for class. Another morning he woke up with his mattress at an incline… on the steps going up to the library. Good thing it didn't rain. And one morning as he was getting dressed his roommate asked what was all over his back. He ran to the mirror to see all the messages his friends wrote on him while he was asleep, thankful they wrote on his back and not on his face. <span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:13.5pt">Some people are deep sleepers. They could seemingly sleep through almost anything. They're not the ones to help when you hear a strange bump in the night. They won't get up to when the baby is crying. They need the alarm to sound or they're sure to be late. <span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:13.5pt">Some people are deep sleepers… spiritually speaking. It takes a lot to wake them up. It takes a crisis. It takes hitting rock bottom. It takes the ground to drop out beneath their feet before they wake up. But God loves them too much to let them sleep unaware of their eternal doom. So he does all he can to shake things up to wake things up. Listen to how he did that to a jailer in the city of Philippi, using a midnight earthquake to wake up from his sleep, both literally, and spiritually. And learn how God can do the same <i>for</i> you and <i>through</i> you. Our text for consideration is taken from Acts 16:25-34… <span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in"><b><i><sup><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">25 </span></sup><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. <sup>26 </sup>Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everybody's chains came loose. <sup>27 </sup>The jailer woke up, and when he saw the prison doors open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself because he thought the prisoners had escaped. <sup>28 </sup>But Paul shouted, "Don't harm yourself! We are all here!" <span></span></span></i></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in"><b><i><sup><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">29 </span></sup><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">The jailer called for lights, rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas. <sup>30 </sup>He then brought them out and asked, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" <span></span></span></i></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in"><b><i><sup><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">31 </span></sup><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">They replied, "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household." <sup>32 </sup>Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all the others in his house. <sup>33 </sup>At that hour of the night the jailer took them and washed their wounds; then immediately he and all his family were baptized. <sup>34 </sup>The jailer brought them into his house and set a meal before them; he was filled with joy because he had come to believe in God—he and his whole family. <span></span></span></i></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in">You've heard the expression, "No good deed goes unpunished." Well, that's probably how Paul and Silas felt. They had helped a little girl who had a rough life. Not only was she a slave to masters who used her for their own profit, but she was possessed by a demon. They drove the demon out in the name of Jesus when she kept following them and shouting a them. And for their kindness, her owners pressed charges. <span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in">Paul and Silas were publicly stripped, then severely beaten with rods, flogged, and finally thrown into prison where their feet were locked tight in the stocks. And suffering this injustice of being condemned without a trial, humiliated in public, abused, and injured, now bleeding and stiff-legged and cramped on the cold floor of the jail cell… they whined and complained and shouted their angry cries of outrage. <span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in">Actually, no. That's what <b><i>I</i></b> might have done. But not Paul and Silas. They were praying and singing hymns of praise to God. And they kept at it all night, still singing at midnight. <span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in">It may have been that their jailer fell asleep to the sound of those soothing hymns. But he didn't get to sleep long. Suddenly, he was shaken awake by a violent earthquake! The foundations of the prison floor were rolling, perhaps splitting beneath his feet! And if that weren't frightening enough, it got worse when he realized the earthquake was throwing all the prison doors wide open. And he must have known that this was not a natural event because no earthquake would make the chains and shackles on fall off the wrists and ankles of the prisoners. No! He knew this was from the gods, likely from the god or gods of Paul and Silas. <span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in">And that's when the real terror struck. Roman law demanded that if a jailer let his prisoners go, he would have to suffer the fate of each and every prisoner there. If some were scheduled to be flogged and others executed, he would first be flogged, then executed himself. So the best option he could think of was to take his own life. <b><i><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">"He drew his sword and was about to kill himself because he thought the prisoners had escaped." </span></i></b>Yes, he would selfishly leave his wife to become a widow and his kids to grow up fatherless. But it was better than what he knew was coming him to him. When the ground dropped out of his life, suicide seemed the best option.<span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in">Have you ever been there? Ever had the ground crumble beneath your feet? Ever been shaken up so badly that you saw no solution, no way out? Have you ever had it bad at work, at home, in your marriage, with the kids, that you felt utterly miserable? How did you respond?<span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in">Maybe you went out of your way to help someone and were chastised for it. Maybe you feel like you've put in great effort to make the relationship good, but your parents, spouse, or kids keep ignoring your efforts, blaming you, and abusing you again and again. How do you respond? <span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in">Did you pray? Were those prayers just asking God for help? Or did you praise God for his goodness in spite of what you were going through? Did you sing? Were those songs "woe-is-me" songs fit only for a pity party? Or did you sing hymns of praise to God for his never-ending grace to you like Paul and Silas did?<span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in">I'll bet no one here has been publicly stripped and humiliated, beaten with rods, and mercilessly flogged because you've tried to help someone out. And yet, for much smaller offenses, don't we often whine and complain and shout our angry cries of outrage to anyone who will listen… even to God as if he owed us something better?<span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in">Or flip it. Maybe it's not you who's suffering, but a friend, a spouse, a neighbor. Maybe you've never considered suicide. (Or maybe you have.) But I can almost guarantee that someone you know has considered it. There are people in your life who have no hope. They find life so sad, and miserable, and lonely, with no hope for a way out, that they have considered taking their own life. They may have even attempted it. Some may have even succeeded in that attempt.<span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in">Now, to be clear, for those who did succeed in ending their own life, that decision was their own. They chose to be selfish and take what seemed to them to be the easy way out in direct violation of God's will that we shall not murder (self-murder included). It was their choice, not yours. <span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in">But for those who have attempted suicide, for those who have considered it, for those who are <i>now</i> considering it but have told no one… did they find a friend in you? Did they find a sympathetic ear? Did they find one who held out hope? Did they know you to be one who sings songs of praise to God even when in pain? Or did they even know you were a Christian? Did they assume that you didn't care either, because you never showed any concern, too absorbed in your own life and your own problems and pain that you did nothing to reach out to help them in theirs?<span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in">You see then that whether it's our response to our own injustices, problems, and pain that we face by whining and complaining instead of praying and singing praise to God, or it's our response to the problems and pain of others as we uncaringly ignore it to focus on ourselves, we deserve far greater problems and pain than anything we've ever faced in this life. <span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in">And that crushing news can rock your world. That realization can break up the ground beneath your feet. It can shake you up to your very core and make the foundations of your life crumble. And… that's what it's <i>supposed</i> to do. It's meant to wake you up from your spiritual slumber and see your great need for help—your great need for a Savior.<span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in">That's exactly what it did for the jailer.<span style="text-indent:0.25in"> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in">When Paul stopped him from taking his own life, <b><i><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">"Don't harm yourself! We are all here!" </span></i></b>he threw that jailer a lifeline of hope. Clearly, these men had a powerful god or powerful gods on their side. That must have been the source of this supernatural quake. So he asked them a very important, yet very flawed question: <b><i><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">The jailer called for lights, rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas. He then brought them out and asked, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?"</span></i></b><span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in">It's very important because everyone asks this question at some point in their life and eternity depends on having the right answer to it. But I say that it's a flawed question because even though, by nature, we all assume there is something we must do to make things right with God, that's not the case. I hope you all know and believe the answer to this man's question already, but just to be clear the answer is, "Do nothing. Jesus did everything." <b><i><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">"Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved…"<span></span></span></i></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in">You see, for life's biggest questions, God often has the simplest answers.<span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in">Paul and Silas made it clear that there was nothing for the jailer to do because Jesus had already done it all. He lived a perfect life in the jailer's place. He died an innocent death in the jailer's place. He rose from the dead to prove to the jailer and to everyone that the debt every sinner owed to God has been pain in full. It's done. It is finished.<span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in">And as the jailer took them home and washed their wounds, Paul and Silas led him and his family though a Bible study to explain it all. And then there were two washings that night. After the jailer washed the wounds of Paul and Silas, Paul and Silas washed the jailer and his family in the waters of Baptism. And by that water they were connected to Jesus' work for them on the cross, they were washed of their sin, they were adopted by God as his own children. And why shouldn't they be? They were a part of all nations. And the promise was for them and for their children. And, so, the jailer <b><i><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">"was filled with joy because he had come to believe in God—he and his whole family."<span></span></span></i></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in">Ironically, the one who's job it was to keep the prisoners locked up, was, for the first time, truly free himself. He found freedom from sin and guilt, from shame and death, from satan and hell. And, ironically, when the foundations of his world were shaken to the core, that jailer found his firmest footing on water—on the water of Baptism that connected him to Jesus.<span style="text-indent:0.25in"> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in">And that's where we find our firmest footing when our foundations are shaken too.<span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in">For our sin and self-absorption, for our whining and complaining when life isn't fair or just a bit uncomfortable, for our calloused heartlessness in the face others' pain, we deserve hell. So what do we do to be saved? Nothing at all. The answer is still the same: Do nothing. <b><i><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">"Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved…"</span></i></b><span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in">In 2011 a woman named Jenni Lake had a rough year. Terrible headaches led her to see a doctor to figure out what was causing them. It didn't take long to reveal three tumors on her spine…. And three more on her brain. She immediately started aggressive radiation and chemotherapy treatments. But just before Thanksgiving Jenni died. She died because she quit her treatments back in March. "Why in the world would she do that?" you ask. In March of that year, Jenni discovered that she was pregnant. So she stopped the radiation and chemotherapy treatments that would harm her unborn son. And on November 9<sup>th</sup>, 2011 Jenni gave birth to a healthy baby boy. And 12 days later, Jenni died with her son in her arms.<span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in">Now, what did that little boy do to be saved? Nothing. Mom did it all. Mom gave her life for her son that he might live. And do you think that that 6 year old boy ever doubts that mommy loved him? Of course not! She gave her life for him.<span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in">Of course, you know where this illustration is going. God loves you. He loves you even when your world is shaken to the core, then the foundations that you thought would always be there are rocked. He loves you so much that he gave his Son that you might live. Jesus loves you. Jesus cares for you as you go through the problems and the trials of this life. Jesus loves you so much that he took the cancer of your sin and it's terminal illness on himself. He endured the hell that you and I deserve on another day when the ground shook—so hard that the rocks split!—on Good Friday (cf. Matthew 27:51). And he did it all so that we might live forever with him. <span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in">And God graciously delivers the blessings of what he won for the whole world to each individual through his gift of Baptism, that means by which he delivers his grace to you. And so you never need to doubt that God loves you. He gave his Son for you. He gave his life for you.<span style="text-indent:0.25in"> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in">And for that reason you can pray to God thanking him for his love for you, even when you're hurting and feeling all alone. You can sing hymns of praise to God for his never-ending grace to you like Paul and Silas did… even if you should someday be publicly stripped and humiliated, beaten with rods, and mercilessly flogged because you've tried to help someone out. <span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in">And as you praise God even in your suffering and pain, others will take notice. They'll notice that you're made of different stuff than other people. They'll see your quiet confidence in the face of pain, they'll hear your songs of praise even when the foundations of your world are shaken, and they'll come to know you as one who can handle the big challenges of life. <span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in">And when <i>their</i> world is shaken to the core, when they hear the doctor's diagnosis, when crime comes to their home, when they lose their job and with it a part of their identity, when they lose a parent, a spouse, or a child to death, when they don't know where else to turn… they may wake up. And when they do, they may turn to you. And ask you how you stay so calm when these things rock your world. They may ask, in their own way, "What must I do to have what you have? What must I do to find such peace?" <b><i><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">"[Friend], what must I do to be saved?" </span></i></b>And you can answer them with the truth that you've come to know and love: "Do nothing. Jesus has done it all." <b><i><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">"Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved."</span></i></b><span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in">Your foundations may be shaken. Your world may be rocked to its core. In fact, some big earth-shaking tragedy is <b><i>likely</i></b> to happen to you at some point in this sin-filled world. But find your firm footing and solid ground in water—the water of your Baptism. Know that even if you're beaten, flogged, and imprisoned, nothing can ever rob you of the freedom you have in Jesus; the freedom from sin and guilt, from shame and death, from satan and hell. And then praise God for it in all you do—in good times, and in bad.<span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in">And when others' foundations are shaken, and they, knowing you to be one who always praises God, come to you for help, share with them this simple truth: "Do nothing… Jesus has done it all…" <b><i><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">"Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved." </span></i></b>In his name, dear friends, amen. <span></span></p></div><div><div class="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div><br></div><div>In Him,</div><div>Pastor Rob Guenther</div><div><font color="#000099"><b><br></b></font></div><div><b><font color="#000099">Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church</font></b></div><div>47585 Ciechanski Road, Kenai, AK 99611</div><div><a href="http://www.gracelutherankenai.com/" target="_blank">www.GraceLutheranKenai.com</a></div><div><a href="mailto:pastorguenther@gmail.com" target="_blank">pastorguenther@gmail.com</a><br><span><span title="Call with Google Voice">(907) 690-1660</span></span></div><div><br></div><div><div style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"><font size="1">Read sermons online: <a href="http://www.gracelutherankenai.com/Sermons" style="color:rgb(17,85,204)" target="_blank">www.GraceLutheranKenai.com/Sermons</a></font></div><div style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"><font size="1">Listen to sermons online: <a href="http://www.gracelutherankenai.com/Podcast" style="color:rgb(17,85,204)" target="_blank">www.GraceLutheranKenai.com/Podcast</a></font></div><div style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"><font size="1">Watch services online: <a href="http://www.gracelutherankenai.com/Webcast" style="color:rgb(17,85,204)" target="_blank">www.GraceLutheranKenai.com/Webcast</a></font></div></div><div style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"><font size="1">Like us on Facebook: <a href="http://www.Facebook.com/GraceLutheranKenai" target="_blank">www.Facebook.com/GraceLutheranKenai</a> </font></div><div style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"><div style="font-size:12.8px"><font size="1"><br></font></div><div style="font-size:12.8px"><font size="1">Have you been blessed by our ministry at Grace? Consider supporting us with your generous gifts. Give securely online with a check or credit or debit card here: <a href="http://www.GraceLutheranKenai.com/Give" target="_blank">www.GraceLutheranKenai.com/Give</a></font></div><div><br></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div> </div> Pastor Rob Guentherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02352798164314819498noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-815791093574782702.post-85290930924699667602018-01-08T13:20:00.000-08:002018-01-08T13:21:24.520-08:00The Mystery Revealed (A sermon based on Ephesians 3:2-12)<div dir="ltr"><div class="gmail_default"><font face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif">Do you like mysteries? There's one mystery we could never solve on our own: The mystery of how to be right with God. But God, in his grace, revealed the solution to that mystery to us. In Christ, we are right with God. And this salvation isn't just for a few, it's for all. Now, we work to solve the mysteries of how to share this news with others. Read or listen to (<a href="http://www.gracelutherankenai.com/home/180007450/180007450/Audio/20180107_Ephesians_3v2-12.mp3">download</a>) this sermon based on Ephesians 3:2-12 and rejoice in the mystery revealed! </font><br clear="all"></div><div><div class="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div><br></div><div><div class="gmail_default" style="text-align:center;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><font size="4"><b style="text-align:center;font-family:arial,sans-serif">The Mystery Revealed</b></font></div> <p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center">A sermon based on Ephesians 3:2-12<span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center">Sunday, January 7, 2018 – Epiphany 1B<span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in">When I was a kid, I loved watching Scooby Doo on TV. As the gang got in the Mystery Machine and drove to their destination, they were sure to see some creepy monsters with some diabolical plot. But Fred and Daphne, Velma and Shaggy, with the help of his dog, Scooby Dooby Doo, would follow the clues, pull the mask off the villain in the final scenes, and solve the mystery.<span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in">Then, as I got older, I loved reading books by Sir Arthur Conan Dolye and Agatha Christie. There was always at least one murder, often many. And I, as the reader, got to try to figure out along with Sherlock Holmes or Hercule Poirot who the culprit was while there were still victims left. I loved trying to solve the mystery.<span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in">Today, I still like playing <i>Clue</i> with my boys or <i>Mind Trap</i>, a game of brain teaser riddles. Or now we have <i>Escape Room</i>, where you race against the clock to figure out the clues (with creepy dramatic music if you download the app), and, if you're good, you solve the mystery and escape the imaginary room before you die. <span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in">In short, I love a good mystery. And I hope you do too, because, well, today, friends, we've got a mystery on our hands. And the solution to this mystery is more important than any other mystery real or imagined. Whether we follow the clues to solve this mystery or not has consequences that are far greater than life or death. We must solve it or else! So, come, dear Watsons, come! The game is afoot! Our text for consideration this morning is found in Ephesians 3:2-12…<span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in"><b><i><sup><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">2 </span></sup></i></b><b><i><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">Surely you have heard about the administration of God's grace that was given to me for you, <sup>3 </sup>that is, the mystery made known to me by revelation, as I have already written briefly. <sup>4 </sup>In reading this, then, you will be able to understand my insight into the mystery of Christ, <sup>5 </sup>which was not made known to men in other generations as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to God's holy apostles and prophets. <sup>6 </sup>This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus. <span></span></span></i></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in"><b><i><sup><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">7 </span></sup></i></b><b><i><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">I became a servant of this gospel by the gift of God's grace given me through the working of his power. <sup>8 </sup>Although I am less than the least of all God's people, this grace was given me: to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, <sup>9 </sup>and to make plain to everyone the administration of this mystery, which for ages past was kept hidden in God, who created all things. <sup>10 </sup>His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms, <sup>11 </sup>according to his eternal purpose which he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord. <sup>12 </sup>In him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence. <span></span></span></i></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in">Wait. What?! So <i>that's</i> the mystery? "Jesus died to pay for our sins"?! Well, that wasn't much fun. We all knew the answer already. So… now what am I supposed to talk about for another 10 minutes? Should I just say, "Amen," and sit down? Some of you may wish for that. But no. <span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in">I think we've heard the solution to this mystery so often, that at times we can really take it for granted like that, just like I used to take for granted that Scooby and the gang would solve the mystery within 30 minutes (commercial breaks included) and the good guys would win in the end. So to really appreciate this mystery, maybe we need to back up a bit…<span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in">The mystery before us is really a murder mystery. And it's not just one we watch or read. It's one we're a part of. We're living in the mystery. (And at one point we were totally unaware.) The villain, the murderer, isn't just out to take human life, but to kill souls. That's what satan and his demons do: they try to kill souls—separate them from God and his love for eternity. And this isn't just some horror movie. This is real life—the life in which we live. <span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in">The murderer was on the loose and seemed to be winning. He still does, doesn't he? Not only does he take countless souls every day, but he's also succeeded to get us to join his side. He sure had Paul on his side. That's why Paul admitted that he was, <b><i><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">"less than the least of all God's people,"</span></i></b> once arresting and murdering any who sided with Jesus. <span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in">And you and I have sided with satan too. How many times haven't we stood in the way of the gospel instead of sharing it with others? How many times haven't we ignored the clues that God has dropped into our lives nudging us to do his will? How many times haven't we acted more like Herod than the Magi, opposing Jesus and his will instead of worshiping him with our lives, our time, and our gifts? <span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in">And why do we do it? Why do we act that way? Every good mystery needs a motive, right? Well, our motive was simple enough: like satan we didn't want anyone to tell us what to do. We wanted to be in control of our lives. We wanted to be in charge. And so our selfishness led us to sin against God and side with his enemy. <span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in">And you know what we deserve for siding with the enemy. We deserve to have God abandon us to him. And we deserve to be eternally tortured and killed by satan—but without ever actually dying—forever in hell. <span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in"><span> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in">So the mystery that we all once faced was this: "How can I be right with God?" We had the clues of his justice and his righteousness written on our hearts, revealed by our consciences, but we could never figure a way to make things right. We could never solve the mystery on our own. The best guess we could come up with was to earn his love by attempting to do more good than bad. But it didn't work. It never could. For starters, we could never do more good than bad because the bad we do is so great. But secondly, even if we could do more good than bad tomorrow it wouldn't undo the bad we've done today or yesterday or last year… <span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in">So we were stuck with this unsolvable mystery and it looked like the murderer would strike again with us! It looked like he would get away with another murder or billions. Things were hopeless. <span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in">Now, I love a good mystery and a good puzzle. I love hunting for the solution, exploring every angle, searching for the clues. But I admit that I get frustrated when I can't figure it out. But the truth is that no one can figure out the truth about salvation by their super sleuthing no matter how good they are. It's an unsolvable mystery. Unless… God chooses to reveal the answer. And thank God he has. And thank God he's revealed the answer to you… <span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in"><span> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in">Throughout the centuries God's people searched the Scriptures—the writings of Moses and the Prophets—looking for the clues to see how things could be made right. For they knew that God had left many clues there for them to see. But it wasn't until Christmas that the solution began to be seen clearly. And there, God, the author of the greatest mystery story ever, stepped into the story and, breaking the fourth wall, revealed the solution to the mystery. He revealed it to Mary, and Joseph, to the shepherds, to the apostles, to Paul, and through all of them to you and to me. <span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in"><b><i><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">Surely you have heard about the administration of God's grace… for you, that is, the mystery made known… by revelation… the mystery of Christ… as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to God's holy apostles and prophets. <span></span></span></i></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in">You know—thank God!—the solution to that mystery of how to be right with him. You know how the God-man, Jesus, had come to make things right. You know how God took on flesh so he could live a perfect life in our place and die an innocent death in our place. You know, <b><i><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">"the unsearchable riches of Christ…" </span></i></b>You know the peace of forgiveness because the mystery has been revealed to you. <span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in">And why did God do it? Every good mystery needs a motive right? Well, God's motive was nothing in us, nothing we did or would do. God's motive was his great love for us! His love moved him to act and rescue mankind from sin, death, satan, and hell.<span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in"><span> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in">But there was another mystery for God's people to solve in Paul's day—another mystery we so often take for granted. And it was this: "Who is this salvation for?" And while some thought it was only for God's specially chosen people, the Jews, Paul acted like Sherlock Holmes and, by the revelation of the Holy Spirit, he solved the mystery so many others could never solve: <b><i><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">"This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus… This grace was given me:" </span></i></b>Paul said, <b><i><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">"to preach to the Gentiles…"</span></i></b><span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in">Mystery solved! God's grace isn't just for the Jews. And in hindsight (just like reading a mystery novel) the clues were all there: God's grace was given to Ruth, from Moab not from Israel. It was given to Magi from the East, given the clue of the star to follow. That's why Epiphany is called the Gentile Christmas! But now, through the apostle Paul, it couldn't be spelled out more clearly: God's grace is for Gentiles! God's grace is for non-Jews! God's grace is for you, dear friends! Jesus died for you! You are forgiven! The murderer of souls can't hurt you! You belong to God, Gentile that you are!<span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in">Thank God that he has revealed the solution to these mysteries to you! These mysteries are solved! The problem of sin: solved! The problem of death: solved! The problem of hell: solved! The problem of who this is all for: solved! It's for you! <span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in"><span> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in">But it's not <i>just</i> for you. It's for the whole world. And there's no way that others can figure out the solution on their own. They need someone to reveal the mystery to them. <b><i><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">"Through the church," </span></i></b>Paul said, <b><i><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">"the manifold wisdom of God should be made known…" </span></i></b>That is to say, through you and me. <span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in">So that leaves us with a few new mysteries to solve—mysteries that haven't yet been revealed. And in these mysteries lies all the fun: How can I advance the Kingdom? What can I do to further the cause of the Gospel? How can I help others see the solution to the great mystery—the mystery that's already been revealed to me? How can I share God's grace with my neighbor, my co-worker, or friend? Where are they hurting? What needs do they feel that God's Word addresses? How can I use those to build a bridge for Jesus to cross over from my heart into theirs? <span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in">Talk to them. Ask them questions. And listen for the clues they give. And listen to God as he speaks to you in his Word. For these mysteries, while yet unknown, can be solved with a little effort, with the help of a pastor or friend, with the Word of God, and above all, with God's help. So ask him for it. <b><i><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">"In him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence." </span></i></b>And you know he'll give you the help you need. <span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in">Go solve those mysteries, super sleuths, to bring glory to God for the mystery he's revealed to you: That in Christ, and by his work for you, your sin is forgiven! The enemy can't kill you! You will join God in his paradise! That this salvation isn't just for a few, or just for the Jew. It's for Gentiles too. It's for you and me. It's for everyone. So, go reveal the mystery to them, so they too can say, "Mystery solved!" In Jesus' name, dear friends, amen.<span style="font-size:12pt"></span></p> <div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:small"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:arial,sans-serif"> </span></div></div><div>In Him,</div><div>Pastor Rob Guenther</div><div><font color="#000099"><b><br></b></font></div><div><b><font color="#000099">Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church</font></b></div><div>47585 Ciechanski Road, Kenai, AK 99611</div><div><a href="http://www.gracelutherankenai.com/" target="_blank">www.GraceLutheranKenai.com</a></div><div><a href="mailto:pastorguenther@gmail.com" target="_blank">pastorguenther@gmail.com</a><br><span><span title="Call with Google Voice">(907) 690-1660</span></span></div><div><br></div><div><div style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"><font size="1">Read sermons online: <a href="http://www.gracelutherankenai.com/Sermons" style="color:rgb(17,85,204)" target="_blank">www.GraceLutheranKenai.com/Sermons</a></font></div><div style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"><font size="1">Listen to sermons online: <a href="http://www.gracelutherankenai.com/Podcast" style="color:rgb(17,85,204)" target="_blank">www.GraceLutheranKenai.com/Podcast</a></font></div><div style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"><font size="1">Watch services online: <a href="http://www.gracelutherankenai.com/Webcast" style="color:rgb(17,85,204)" target="_blank">www.GraceLutheranKenai.com/Webcast</a></font></div></div><div style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"><font size="1">Like us on Facebook: <a href="http://www.Facebook.com/GraceLutheranKenai" target="_blank">www.Facebook.com/GraceLutheranKenai</a> </font></div><div style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"><div style="font-size:12.8px"><font size="1"><br></font></div><div style="font-size:12.8px"><font size="1">Have you been blessed by our ministry at Grace? Consider supporting us with your generous gifts. Give securely online with a check or credit or debit card here: <a href="http://www.GraceLutheranKenai.com/Give" target="_blank">www.GraceLutheranKenai.com/Give</a></font></div><div><br><br></div></div></div></div></div></div> </div> Pastor Rob Guentherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02352798164314819498noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-815791093574782702.post-25653542924664798682018-01-01T20:47:00.000-08:002018-01-01T20:48:16.937-08:00Thank God, You Know the Future (A sermon based on James 4:13-17)<div dir="ltr"><div class="gmail_default"><font face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif">Wouldn't it be nice to know all that 2018 would bring? Wouldn't it be great to know what stocks would do well and which would fail, which team would win the Superbowl, and what would happen to you, your health, your family, your job? Maybe. Maybe not. But God has revealed the future to you. Through his Word, he has shown you what your eternal future holds. Thanks to Jesus' perfect life, innocent death, and resurrection, you will live with him forever in heaven. Read or listen to (<a href="http://www.gracelutherankenai.com/home/180007450/180007450/Audio/20171231_James_4v13-17.mp3">download</a>) this sermon based on James 4:13-17 and thank God that you know the future! </font><br clear="all"></div><div class="gmail_default"><font face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><br></font></div><div class="gmail_default"><p class="gmail-MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center"><span style="font-size:13.5pt"><b>Thank God, You Know the Future</b></span><span style="font-size:18px"><b><br></b></span><span style="font-size:11.5pt">A sermon based on James 4:13-17<br></span><span style="font-size:11.5pt">Sunday, December 31, 2017 – New Year's Eve</span><span style="font-size:11.5pt"> </span></p> <p class="gmail-MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in"><span style="font-size:11.5pt">A few weeks ago we were talking about the prophets in Catechism class. We were discussing how God told them about the future, how he would someday send a Savior from sin for all of mankind. And that prompted questions about fortune telling and future predictions from one of the students: "What about Nostradamus?" she asked, "Was he a prophet? He claimed to see the future. And he made all kinds of prophecies." <span></span></span></p> <p class="gmail-MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in"><span style="font-size:11.5pt">"Sure," I replied, "He was a prophet. Just… he was a really, really terrible one. There's such a small percentage of things he got right compared to all the things he got wrong. But, you know the saying, 'Even a stopped clock is right twice a day.'" (I then had to explain the expression, "Even a stopped clock is right twice a day.") :) <span></span></span></p> <p class="gmail-MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in"><span style="font-size:11.5pt">But then another student chimed in, "Plus, aren't his predictions a lot like the horoscope?"<span></span></span></p> <p class="gmail-MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in"><span style="font-size:11.5pt">"Good! But tell us, what you mean." I said.<span></span></span></p> <p class="gmail-MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in"><span style="font-size:11.5pt">"Well," the student said, "I mean… aren't the predictions so vague that it's hard to get them wrong? Like, 'Tomorrow, something good will happen to you, but also something bad.' Anyone could find a way to 'prove' those predictions 'true.'" And I was happy. My students get it.</span><span style="font-size:11.5pt;text-indent:0.25in"> </span></p> <p class="gmail-MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in"><span style="font-size:11.5pt">It's that time of year again when so-called psychics make their predictions for the future. But given their accuracy, should they be trusted? Should they even be given the time of day? Fine, once in a while a bit of common sense, knowledge of current events, and some good guessing means they hit their target (or at least get close and claim credit anyway). But they're definitely wrong far more often than they're right. "Even a stopped clock is right twice a day."<span></span></span></p> <p class="gmail-MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in"><span style="font-size:11.5pt">But this is an area where God likes to show off. A lot. God's track record with future predictions boasts a 100% accuracy rate. Just page through the New Testament sometime and skim the footnotes. See all those Old Testament references? They're there to show how God predicted how this would happen exactly this way. It's God politely saying, "See? I told you it would happen." <span></span></span></p> <p class="gmail-MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in"><span style="font-size:11.5pt">So this morning, as well look back over another year now past, and look ahead, perhaps with some apprehension of what the future may bring, we can rejoice that, because of what God has revealed to us in his Word, we do know the future. At least we know all that we need to know. But first, a warning from God, found in James 4:13-17…</span><span style="font-size:11.5pt"> </span></p> <p class="gmail-MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in"><b><i><sup><span style="font-size:11.5pt;color:rgb(0,32,96)">13</span></sup></i></b><b><i><span style="font-size:11.5pt;color:rgb(0,32,96)"> Now listen, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money." <sup>14</sup> Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. <sup>15</sup> Instead, you ought to say, "If it is the Lord's will, we will live and do this or that." <sup>16</sup> As it is, you boast and brag. All such boasting is evil. <sup>17</sup> Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn't do it, sins.</span></i></b><span style="font-size:11.5pt"> </span></p> <p class="gmail-MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in"><span style="font-size:11.5pt">Wouldn't it be nice to know the future? Wouldn't it be nice to know what tomorrow brings? Wouldn't it be nice to know which stocks would soar and which would tank, which team would win the Superbowl (so you could put a bet or two on the game), if the LNG plant reopening were a sure thing and when, if the lump was benign and not cancerous? Wouldn't it be nice to know what day would be your last on this earth? Maybe. Maybe not.<span></span></span></p> <p class="gmail-MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in"><span style="font-size:11.5pt">But either way, we <i>don't </i>know those things. We don't know what will happen tomorrow. We don't even know if there will <b><i>be </i></b>a tomorrow... for us or for anyone. For we are, <b><i><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">"mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes."</span></i></b><span></span></span></p> <p class="gmail-MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in"><span style="font-size:11.5pt">So what hubris and arrogance to act under the presumption that we do. Boasting and bragging about this or that thing that we will do… when the bills are paid, when we retire, when the weekend comes. Sure, with a bit of common sense, knowledge of current events, and some good guessing you might hit your target (or at least get close and claim credit anyway). But doesn't our track record show that our predictions are much like those of the so-called psychics: definitely wrong far more often than they're right. You and I don't know what our future here has to hold.<span></span></span></p> <p class="gmail-MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in"><span style="font-size:11.5pt">Now, don't get me wrong. Planning isn't sinful. God tells us to count the cost of following him. In Luke 14(:28-33) he warns, <span></span></span></p> <p class="gmail-MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in"><b><i><sup><span style="font-size:11.5pt;color:rgb(192,0,0)">28 </span></sup></i></b><b><i><span style="font-size:11.5pt;color:rgb(192,0,0)">"Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Will he not first sit down and estimate the cost to see if he has enough money to complete it? <sup>29 </sup>For if he lays the foundation and is not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule him, <sup>30 </sup>saying, 'This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.' <span></span></span></i></b></p> <p class="gmail-MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in"><b><i><sup><span style="font-size:11.5pt;color:rgb(192,0,0)">31 </span></sup></i></b><b><i><span style="font-size:11.5pt;color:rgb(192,0,0)">"Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Will he not first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand? <sup>32 </sup>If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace. <sup>33 </sup>In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple. <span></span></span></i></b></p> <p class="gmail-MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in"><span style="font-size:11.5pt"> So the problem isn't in planning, it's in planning without God, in supposing that we know what future holds, in acting in a way that suggests we do: <span></span></span></p> <p class="gmail-MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in"><span style="font-size:11.5pt">"I'll recklessly spend today what I don't have and pay for it later when I have more. Someday, when I've paid for all I've purchased, then I'll be generous toward God." <span></span></span></p> <p class="gmail-MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in"><span style="font-size:11.5pt">"I'll snap at my family. But I know they'll forgive me. They always do. They have to. We're family."<span></span></span></p> <p class="gmail-MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in"><span style="font-size:11.5pt">Or, "I'll eat whatever I want. I'll drink as much as I want. I'm here to enjoy today. Who cares if it takes years off my life someday?" even justifying it with a false piety, "I'll go when God wants me to go. There's nothing to prevent that."<span></span></span></p> <p class="gmail-MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in"><span style="font-size:11.5pt">But we don't know the future. We don't know that another paycheck will come or a new job will follow. We don't know that we'll have another day with that parent, sibling, spouse, or child. Tonight might be their last. We don't know what health problems we'll face down the road for the choices that we make today. But we act like we know the future, like we are in charge, like we're here to serve ourselves, and we forget about God.<span></span></span></p> <p class="gmail-MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in"><span style="font-size:11.5pt">And for presuming we know the future, for acting like we do, you know what our future ought to hold for every one of us: It ought be a grim and bleak future, a horrible future of despair, an eternal future away from God and his love.</span><span style="font-size:11.5pt;text-indent:0.25in"> </span></p> <p class="gmail-MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in"><span style="font-size:11.5pt">You and I don't know all the future has to hold. But we do know the past. And that's something to boast about. While James reminds us, <b><i><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">"As it is, you boast and brag. All such boasting is evil,"</span></i></b> the Apostle Paul wrote in Galatians 6:14, <b><i><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">"May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world."<span></span></span></i></b></span></p> <p class="gmail-MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in"><span style="font-size:11.5pt">You and I don't know all the future has to hold. But we do know the past. We know God's love for us what so great that he willingly sent his Son as an infant in a manger. We know Jesus' great love for us that made him choose taking on human flesh and leaving his heavenly home. We know what Jesus did as he walked this earth. We know how he never boasted in himself, though he alone had every right to! We know how he always entrusted his future to God the Father, even when that future meant torture and hell on a cross. <span></span></span></p> <p class="gmail-MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in"><span style="font-size:11.5pt">We know he did it all for us, that he might take our sin, our arrogance, our doubt, all on himself and give us his perfect record of obedience. And we know he did it all because he knew the future—the long-term future of what awaited him on the other side of the cross and what awaits us. The author to the Hebrews put it this way in Hebrews 12(:2), <b><i><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">"Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God."<span></span></span></i></b></span></p> <p class="gmail-MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in"><span style="font-size:11.5pt">And so, because of all God has done for us in the past, in a certain sense, we <b><i>do</i></b> know the future too. We know that no matter what 2018, or 2019, or 2020 all bring… no matter what we go through we know for certain…</span><span style="font-size:11.5pt;text-indent:0.25in"> </span></p> <p class="gmail-MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style=""><span style="font-size:11.5pt;font-family:Symbol">·<span style="font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-stretch:normal;font-size:7pt;line-height:normal;font-family:"Times New Roman""> </span></span><span style="font-size:11.5pt">That God will work all things for our eternal good—even the suffering and the pain we endure. (Rom. 8.28)<span></span></span></p> <p class="gmail-MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style=""><span style="font-size:11.5pt;font-family:Symbol">·<span style="font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-stretch:normal;font-size:7pt;line-height:normal;font-family:"Times New Roman""> </span></span><span style="font-size:11.5pt">We know that our current sufferings are light and temporary when compared to the glory to come. (2 Cor. 4:17-18)<span></span></span></p> <p class="gmail-MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style=""><span style="font-size:11.5pt;font-family:Symbol">·<span style="font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-stretch:normal;font-size:7pt;line-height:normal;font-family:"Times New Roman""> </span></span><span style="font-size:11.5pt">We know that nothing can ever separate us from God's love. (Rom. 8:35-39)<span></span></span></p> <p class="gmail-MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style=""><span style="font-size:11.5pt;font-family:Symbol">·<span style="font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-stretch:normal;font-size:7pt;line-height:normal;font-family:"Times New Roman""> </span></span><span style="font-size:11.5pt">We know that his mercies are new to us every morning. He will never stop forgiving us. (Lam. 3:21-23)<span></span></span></p> <p class="gmail-MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style=""><span style="font-size:11.5pt;font-family:Symbol">·<span style="font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-stretch:normal;font-size:7pt;line-height:normal;font-family:"Times New Roman""> </span></span><span style="font-size:11.5pt">We know that he will send his Spirit to fill us with joy, peace, and hope in the toughest of circumstances. (Rom. 15:13)<span></span></span></p> <p class="gmail-MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style=""><span style="font-size:11.5pt;font-family:Symbol">·<span style="font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-stretch:normal;font-size:7pt;line-height:normal;font-family:"Times New Roman""> </span></span><span style="font-size:11.5pt">We know that he has left us his thoughts in the Bible which will give us instruction, encouragement, and hope. (Rom. 15:4)<span></span></span></p> <p class="gmail-MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style=""><span style="font-size:11.5pt;font-family:Symbol">·<span style="font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-stretch:normal;font-size:7pt;line-height:normal;font-family:"Times New Roman""> </span></span><span style="font-size:11.5pt">We know that we have an eternal inheritance that can never spoil or fade. (1 Pet. 1:3-4)<span></span></span></p> <p class="gmail-MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style=""><span style="font-size:11.5pt;font-family:Symbol">·<span style="font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-stretch:normal;font-size:7pt;line-height:normal;font-family:"Times New Roman""> </span></span><span style="font-size:11.5pt">We know that he will most definitely come again soon to bring us that inheritance and take us to be with him forever in heaven. (Titus 2:13, Rev. 22:12)<span></span></span></p> <p class="gmail-MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style=""><span style="font-size:11.5pt;font-family:Symbol">·<span style="font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-stretch:normal;font-size:7pt;line-height:normal;font-family:"Times New Roman""> </span></span><span style="font-size:11.5pt">We know that in glory, we will have glorified bodies with perfect healing. (1 Cor. 15:51-53)<span></span></span></p> <p class="gmail-MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style=""><span style="font-size:11.5pt;font-family:Symbol">·<span style="font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-stretch:normal;font-size:7pt;line-height:normal;font-family:"Times New Roman""> </span></span><span style="font-size:11.5pt">We know that in glory, we will soar, run, and walk without growing weary or faint. (Is. 40:31)<span></span></span></p> <p class="gmail-MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style=""><span style="font-size:11.5pt;font-family:Symbol">·<span style="font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-stretch:normal;font-size:7pt;line-height:normal;font-family:"Times New Roman""> </span></span><span style="font-size:11.5pt">We know that in glory, we will never experience hunger of thirst or sorrow or pain, ever again. (Rev. 7:16-17, 21:4)</span><span style="font-size:11.5pt;text-indent:0.25in"> </span></p> <p class="gmail-MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in"><span style="font-size:11.5pt">Talk about knowing the future! And these predictions aren't just guesses. They're not like the predictions of the so-called psychics or the predictions of the weather man. God's track record with future predictions <b><i>still</i></b> boasts a 100% accuracy rate. So these promises are as good as done. You know they will all come true. <span></span></span></p> <p class="gmail-MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in"><span style="font-size:11.5pt">And now, in thanks to him for all he's done for us in the past, for the great promises he's given about the future, we eagerly live for him in the present. So live in the present to his glory. Make your plans for tomorrow. That's okay. Plan how you can serve him next week, next month, and next year. That's a godly thing to do <b><i>if</i></b> you're sure to add, <b><i><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">"If it is the Lord's will, we will live and do this or that." </span></i></b>But don't wait for tomorrow to start living for him. Live for him today.<span></span></span></p> <p class="gmail-MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in"><span style="font-size:11.5pt">Then, finally, whether that volcano erupts in 2018, or there's political turmoil (like that one's hard to predict), a celebrity couple splits up, or a Kardashian has another baby, who cares? Even if you lose your job, lose your health, or lose someone you love in 2018, it's not the end of the world. In fact, even the end of the world isn't "the end of the world." Because you know the future. At least, you know all of the future that you need to know. You know that God's mercy will be new every morning. Whenever you repent, he will forgive. He will strengthen your faith. He will keep you close to him. And one day soon he will take you to be with him in glory. And no matter what 2018 brings (and no one but God really knows), you can live for him today, and tomorrow (if there <i>is </i>a tomorrow), and every day until he comes. In Jesus' name, dear friends, thank God that you know the future! Amen.</span></p></div><div><div class="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div>In Him,</div><div>Pastor Rob Guenther</div><div><font color="#000099"><b><br></b></font></div><div><b><font color="#000099">Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church</font></b></div><div>47585 Ciechanski Road, Kenai, AK 99611</div><div><a href="http://www.gracelutherankenai.com/" target="_blank">www.GraceLutheranKenai.com</a></div><div><a href="mailto:pastorguenther@gmail.com" target="_blank">pastorguenther@gmail.com</a><br><span><span title="Call with Google Voice">(907) 690-1660</span></span></div><div><br></div><div><div style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"><font size="1">Read sermons online: <a href="http://www.gracelutherankenai.com/Sermons" style="color:rgb(17,85,204)" target="_blank">www.GraceLutheranKenai.com/Sermons</a></font></div><div style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"><font size="1">Listen to sermons online: <a href="http://www.gracelutherankenai.com/Podcast" style="color:rgb(17,85,204)" target="_blank">www.GraceLutheranKenai.com/Podcast</a></font></div><div style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"><font size="1">Watch services online: <a href="http://www.gracelutherankenai.com/Webcast" style="color:rgb(17,85,204)" target="_blank">www.GraceLutheranKenai.com/Webcast</a></font></div></div><div style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"><font size="1">Like us on Facebook: <a href="http://www.Facebook.com/GraceLutheranKenai" target="_blank">www.Facebook.com/GraceLutheranKenai</a> </font></div><div style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"><div style="font-size:12.8px"><font size="1"><br></font></div><div style="font-size:12.8px"><font size="1">Have you been blessed by our ministry at Grace? Consider supporting us with your generous gifts. Give securely online with a check or credit or debit card here: <a href="http://www.GraceLutheranKenai.com/Give" target="_blank">www.GraceLutheranKenai.com/Give</a></font></div><div><br></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div> </div> Pastor Rob Guentherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02352798164314819498noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-815791093574782702.post-88884013414653164882017-12-29T21:18:00.001-08:002017-12-29T21:18:52.024-08:00Beautiful Feet (A sermon based on Isaiah 52:7-10)<div dir="ltr"><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:small">Do you like feet? I think they're gross (especially my own). But that's probably nothing compared to what God must think of our feet considering where we've walked with them. But nevertheless because God became man that first Christmas and took on human feet that carried him to the cross, that were nailed to that cross, our feet will be made perfect in the glory of heaven. Now we who carry the message of the gospel to others have beautiful feet, not because they're clean and so well groomed, but because of that message they carry. Read this sermon based on Isaiah 52:7-10 (sorry, no audio of this sermon was recorded) and rejoice in those beautiful feet! </div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:small"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><p class="gmail-MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center"><span style="font-size:13pt"><b>Beautiful Feet</b></span><span style="font-size:17.3333px"><b><br></b></span>A sermon based on Isaiah 52:7-10<br>Monday, December 25, 2017 – Christmas Day </p> <p class="gmail-MsoNormal" style="font-size:small;text-indent:0.25in">I've got a confession to make. It's mildly embarrassing and a bit disturbing. And it's this: My feet are gross. As pretty as the rest of me is, they're surprisingly unattractive. :) With black church socks, I get fuzz between my toes. My toenails are fungal. They're yellow and look like they're turning into talons. My heels are dried and cracked. And a podiatrist once told me that there's not really much I can do about it unless I want to put lots of expensive creams on my feet several times a day or take an internal medication that would cause more damage to my liver than healing for my feet. So, I haven't done anything about it. I just have gross feet. <span></span></p> <p class="gmail-MsoNormal" style="font-size:small;text-indent:0.25in">In fact, I think that feet are gross in general. Not too many people have pretty feet. Not too many people have sweet smelling feet. But today, this Christmas Day, we're going to talk about… of all things… feet. <span></span></p> <p class="gmail-MsoNormal" style="font-size:small;text-indent:0.25in">In the text that we'll consider this morning, the prophet Isaiah wrote about feet. He wrote about <i>beautiful</i> feet. But they weren't beautiful because they were fungus free with well-trimmed nails or because they were clean and sweet-smelling. But they were beautiful feet because they carried the messenger who brought good news. And this Christmas morning, we rejoice in the beautiful feet in our lives. Our text is found in Isaiah 52:7-10…<span style="font-size:6pt;text-indent:0.25in"> </span></p> <p class="gmail-MsoNormal" style="font-size:small;text-indent:0.25in"><b><i><sup><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">7 </span></sup><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion, "Your God reigns!" <sup>8 </sup>Listen! Your watchmen lift up their voices; together they shout for joy. When the Lord returns to Zion, they will see it with their own eyes. <sup>9 </sup>Burst into songs of joy together, you ruins of Jerusalem, for the Lord has comforted his people, he has redeemed Jerusalem. <sup>10 </sup>The Lord will lay bare his holy arm in the sight of all the nations, and all the ends of the earth will see the salvation of our God.</span></i></b> </p> <p class="gmail-MsoNormal" style="font-size:small;text-indent:13.5pt">Feet are gross. They're often smelly and dirty, calloused and cracked, fungal and foul. I was going to do a PowerPoint slideshow here to prove my point, but then thought, "I don't want to ruin everyone's Christmas." But if you agree with me and think feet are gross, can you imagine how disgusting they must be to God, when you consider all the places our feet have taken us? <span></span></p> <p class="gmail-MsoNormal" style="font-size:small;text-indent:13.5pt">Even if you haven't used your feet to kick the dog or punt the cat, to stomp on a rival gang member, or walk out of a bank you've just robbed… Still, your feet have walked right into conversations that you knew would be full of gossip and slander. They've stormed out of the room after you've selfishly screamed at a family member. You've used your feet to run into trouble and to shuffle off quietly into the background when someone needed to stand up for the truth. Your feet have tripped up as you fall into sin again and again. And they've staggered around in your sinful folly. <span></span></p> <p class="gmail-MsoNormal" style="font-size:small;text-indent:13.5pt">And as a dad it all reminds me of the country song by Billy Currington, <i>Walk A Little Straighter Daddy</i>, which says in the refrain: <b><i><span style="color:rgb(56,86,35)">"Walk a little straighter, daddy, you're swaying side to side. You're footsteps make me dizzy and no matter how I try I keep tripping and stumbling. If you'd look down here, you'd see. Walk a little straighter daddy. You're leading me."</span></i></b><span></span></p> <p class="gmail-MsoNormal" style="font-size:small;text-indent:13.5pt">How gross our feet must be to God. Gross enough that we deserve to hear him say, "Keep those filthy feet out of my house!" We deserve to be forever excluded from his heaven and expelled from his presence. <span></span></p> <p class="gmail-MsoNormal" style="font-size:small;text-indent:13.5pt">Now, I don't know what Isaiah's feet looked like, but I imagine that walking around in a mostly dusty, sometimes muddy Middle East land with open toed sandals, left his feet looking a lot like mine. Nevertheless, his feet were beautiful. Likewise, those shepherds that had probably stepped in some sheep droppings, then ran off to see Jesus in the manger, and ran off again to tell people what they heard and saw… well, I'll bet their feet were pretty sweaty and gross. But their feet were beautiful too. Their feet weren't beautiful because they just had a pedicure. But the feet of Isaiah, of those shepherds, my gross feet, are beautiful because of the message they bring.<span></span></p> <p class="gmail-MsoNormal" style="font-size:small;text-indent:13.5pt">Imagine this: You're in a dark, dank prison cell. Tomorrow you will either be executed, in which case the jailer with his big, black, steel-toed boots will come to get you and take you to your death, or you will be set free, in which case your pastor will alert you and escort you out of the prison. Now imagine there's no window in your cell, but there's a small gap under the door. So in the morning, you hear footsteps approaching and you can't help it, you just have to know who's coming, so you drop to the floor and peer under the door to see if it's those big, black boots. And instead of black boots, you see my fungal toenails in flipflops approaching your prison cell. My feet, as gross as they are, would be beautiful to you, wouldn't they? See how your perspective of feet would change based on the news that they bring?<span></span></p> <p class="gmail-MsoNormal" style="font-size:small;text-indent:13.5pt">Isaiah's feet brought him to the Israelites to proclaim the law, yes, but especially the gospel message of the rescue God would bring about for his people. The shepherds' feet brought them to anyone in Bethlehem who would hear the good news that God had taken on human flesh to carry out his soul-saving work and bring peace on earth and goodwill between God and mankind. And my feet brought me over here and up these steps to preach the good news to you, that you are released from your prison cell, that you have been rescued from hell, that…<span></span></p> <p class="gmail-MsoNormal" style="font-size:small;text-indent:13.5pt"><b><i><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">"Your God reigns! …the Lord has comforted his people, he has redeemed Jerusalem. The Lord will lay bare his holy arm in the sight of all the nations, and all the ends of the earth will see the salvation of our God."</span></i></b><span></span></p> <p class="gmail-MsoNormal" style="font-size:small;text-indent:13.5pt">And you have seen it in the baby born on Christmas day, taking on human flesh, eyes, ears, finger, and yes… feet and toes. The God who created the cosmos, didn't get around by teleportation. He didn't fly around like Superman. He didn't even travel by car or bicycle! But he chose to confine himself to the ground, to walk around from place to place on sore, tired, dusty, dirty feet. What a miracle—the incarnation—where God took on human flesh and human feet! <span></span></p> <p class="gmail-MsoNormal" style="font-size:small;text-indent:13.5pt">And how did he use those feet? Well he always walked the straight and narrow path. He always went where God wanted him to go, whether it was walking up a mountain to teach his disciples or walking on the water to prove his divinity. And whether it was walking in the way of the Ten Commandments, perfectly keeping them for you and for me, or walking the long difficult road to Jerusalem where he knew he was to die, he did it all for us. <span></span></p> <p class="gmail-MsoNormal" style="font-size:small;text-indent:13.5pt">He showed his humility and love when refused to have his feet washed by someone else, but instead washed his disciples' feet. He showed his love for us when his feet carried him and his cross up the hill called Golgotha and when he let those feet be nailed to the cross to take the blame and the punishment for our every sin and to take our sin away.<span></span></p> <p class="gmail-MsoNormal" style="font-size:small;text-indent:13.5pt">Now, I doubt Jesus' feet, calloused and cracked, with the spit and the dirt and the sweat and the blood all caked to them were a pretty sight to look at. But, ah, dear friends, what beautiful feet! They are the very feet of God! They are the feet that rescued us! The feet that marched into hell and back victorious! The feet that walked out of the tomb three days after his death! <span></span></p> <p class="gmail-MsoNormal" style="font-size:small;text-indent:13.5pt">And because of those feet, <b><i><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">"…the Lord has comforted his people, he has redeemed Jerusalem… and all the ends of the earth [have seen] the salvation of our God." </span></i></b>We are forgiven of every sin. We are at peace with God! (If you'll pardon the pun, he used his soles—s-o-l-e-s—to save our souls—s-o-u-l-s.) And because of those feet we know that our feet will be in heaven someday soon, where the fungus will be gone, the cracks all healed, the toenails will be perfectly restored when we get our glorified, perfected bodies for all of eternity! <span></span></p> <p class="gmail-MsoNormal" style="font-size:small;text-indent:13.5pt">And now we look to the sky as we wait for him. His feet were the last part of Jesus that his disciples saw as he ascended into the sky and was hidden by a cloud. And since he promised he'll come back in the same way that he left, his feet will be the first thing we'll see when returns to take us to glory. <b><i><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">"When the Lord returns to Zion, [we] will see it with [our] own eyes."<span></span></span></i></b></p> <p class="gmail-MsoNormal" style="font-size:small;text-indent:13.5pt">Now, use your feet to show your thanks to God. Offer your mind and your ministries, your treasures and your talents, your skills and your strength all to him. Offer your whole self to him, your soul and your soles, your feet included, as you pray to him, <b><i><span style="color:rgb(56,86,35)">"Take my feet and let them be swift and beautiful for thee."</span></i></b> (CW #469 v.2b) <span></span></p> <p class="gmail-MsoNormal" style="font-size:small;text-indent:13.5pt">Use your feet to stand in the back to hand out bulletins and to walk to the front to take the offerings as you serve as an usher. Use your feet to walk over to the church cleaning signup sheet in the narthex and sign up. Then use them to walk back and forth pushing a vacuum, a mop, or a broom. Use your feet to go for a walk with your spouse as you listen and give encouragement. Use your feet to chase after your toddler without yelling or screaming, but showing patience and love. Use your feet to walk across the street to help a neighbor carry in the groceries. Use your feet to do your job to the very best of your ability, not to get a promotion, but to give glory to God. <span></span></p> <p class="gmail-MsoNormal" style="font-size:small;text-indent:13.5pt">And most of all, use your feet to carry you into a conversation that gives you the opportunity to share the message of Christmas: That God became man and took on flesh, even feet, to walk the way to the cross, and have those feet nailed to it ,to take away your sin and theirs. Share with them how, <b><i><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">"…the Lord has comforted his people, [how] he has redeemed Jerusalem… and [how] all the ends of the earth [have seen] the salvation of our God."</span></i></b><span></span></p> <p class="gmail-MsoNormal" style="font-size:small;text-indent:13.5pt">And it doesn't matter if your feet have a fungus, if your toenails are yellow, if your heels are dried and cracked. As you go share that message, your feet will be truly beautiful. They'll be as beautiful as Isaiah's and as beautiful as the shepherds! For, <b><i><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">"How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion, "Your God reigns!" </span></i></b>In Jesus' name, dear friends, amen.</p></div><div><div class="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div>In Him,</div><div>Pastor Rob Guenther</div><div><font color="#000099"><b><br></b></font></div><div><b><font color="#000099">Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church</font></b></div><div>47585 Ciechanski Road, Kenai, AK 99611</div><div><a href="http://www.gracelutherankenai.com/" target="_blank">www.GraceLutheranKenai.com</a></div><div><a href="mailto:pastorguenther@gmail.com" target="_blank">pastorguenther@gmail.com</a><br><span><span title="Call with Google Voice">(907) 690-1660</span></span></div><div><br></div><div><div style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"><font size="1">Read sermons online: <a href="http://www.gracelutherankenai.com/Sermons" style="color:rgb(17,85,204)" target="_blank">www.GraceLutheranKenai.com/Sermons</a></font></div><div style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"><font size="1">Listen to sermons online: <a href="http://www.gracelutherankenai.com/Podcast" style="color:rgb(17,85,204)" target="_blank">www.GraceLutheranKenai.com/Podcast</a></font></div><div style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"><font size="1">Watch services online: <a href="http://www.gracelutherankenai.com/Webcast" style="color:rgb(17,85,204)" target="_blank">www.GraceLutheranKenai.com/Webcast</a></font></div></div><div style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"><font size="1">Like us on Facebook: <a href="http://www.Facebook.com/GraceLutheranKenai" target="_blank">www.Facebook.com/GraceLutheranKenai</a> </font></div><div style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"><div style="font-size:12.8px"><font size="1"><br></font></div><div style="font-size:12.8px"><font size="1">Have you been blessed by our ministry at Grace? Consider supporting us with your generous gifts. Give securely online with a check or credit or debit card here: <a href="http://www.GraceLutheranKenai.com/Give" target="_blank">www.GraceLutheranKenai.com/Give</a></font></div><div><br></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div> </div> Pastor Rob Guentherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02352798164314819498noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-815791093574782702.post-81068057463657943692017-12-29T21:11:00.001-08:002017-12-29T21:11:54.575-08:00Building God’s House (A sermon based on 2 Samuel 7:8-11)<div dir="ltr"><div class="gmail_default"><font face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif">Have you ever built a house? It takes a lot of work doesn't it? And it takes a lot of work to build God's house too. Just... not by you. God told David that he didn't want David to build a house for him. Instead God would build a house for David and his descendants -- a spiritual house. There's nothing we do to build that house. God did it all (by the cross and empty tomb) and does it all (bringing us to faith and into his house). But now, we are privileged to be the tools he uses as he keeps building on. Read or listen to (<a href="http://www.gracelutherankenai.com/home/180007450/180007450/Audio/20171224_2_Samuel_7v8-11.mp3">download</a>) this sermon based on 2 Samuel 7:8-11 and rejoice that you're a part of God's house!</font><br clear="all"></div><div><div class="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div><br></div><div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><div style="text-align:center"><span style="text-align:center;font-family:arial,sans-serif"><b style="font-size:13pt">Building God's House</b><span style="font-size:17.3333px"><b><br></b></span></span><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif">A sermon based on 2 Samuel 7:8-11<br></span><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif">Sunday, December 24</span><sup style="font-family:arial,sans-serif">th</sup><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif">, 2017 – Advent 4B/Christmas Eve</span><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif"> </span></div></div> <p class="gmail-MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in">Have you ever built a house? Ever wanted to? I'll be honest: I don't know that much about house building. When Becky and I bought our brand new house in Raleigh, we just got in on the very tail end of the construction and didn't even get to choose the paint color. (It was "builder brown.")<span></span></p> <p class="gmail-MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in">So if you want to know more about building your own house, don't ask me. You'd be better off asking Phil or Bob and Kelly, Greg and Emmanuela, or Marian, or someone else who's done it before and not me. All I know is that it's a lot of work, whatever you think it's going to cost, you should add at least 30% to that estimate, and however long you think it's going to take, you should add 30 to <i>50</i>% more time. <span></span></p> <p class="gmail-MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in">Well, today, we're going to talk about building a house. But it's not just any old house. We're talking about building a house for God. And we're not just talking about building a church, like the Builders for Christ do, but we're talking about building <i>the</i> Church—the Kingdom of God as he rules in hearts and lives. And that takes us back to the Old Testament, to the time of the kings, to the time of Israel's glory days under King David…<span></span></p> <p class="gmail-MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in">King David was now living in a beautiful palace. He had taken the throne after Sauls' death, he had ended the civil war that ensued, he united the kingdom under one banner and one king, and he had defeated all the enemies that surrounded the nation on every side. And David recognized that it was clearly God who was handing this all to him. God was fighting for him and through him. And all he had was by God's grace alone. So he naturally thought, "It's not right that I'm living in this beautiful mansion covered in gold, while the Ark of the Covenant, which represents God's presence here on earth, is still sitting next door in a canvass tent. I'm going to build God a house. And it's going to be awesome.<span></span></p> <p class="gmail-MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in">At first, the prophet Nathan (David's pastor) said, "That's a great idea, David! Get to it!" But God came to Nathan that night and told him otherwise. He told Nathan that he didn't want David to build a house for him. Instead, he (God) would build a house for him—for David and his descendants—for all of <i>us</i>. Listen to what Nathan told David in 2 Samuel 7(:1-18)…<span style="font-size:6pt;text-indent:0.25in"> </span></p> <p class="gmail-MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in"><b><i><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">After the king was settled in his palace and the Lord had given him rest from all his enemies around him, <sup>2 </sup>he said to Nathan the prophet, "Here I am, living in a palace of cedar, while the ark of God remains in a tent." <span></span></span></i></b></p> <p class="gmail-MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in"><b><i><sup><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">3 </span></sup><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">Nathan replied to the king, "Whatever you have in mind, go ahead and do it, for the Lord is with you." <span></span></span></i></b></p> <p class="gmail-MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in"><b><i><sup><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">4 </span></sup><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">That night the word of the Lord came to Nathan, saying: <span></span></span></i></b></p> <p class="gmail-MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in"><b><i><sup><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">5 </span></sup><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">"Go and tell my servant David, 'This is what the Lord says: Are you the one to build me a house to dwell in? <sup>6 </sup>I have not dwelt in a house from the day I brought the Israelites up out of Egypt to this day. I have been moving from place to place with a tent as my dwelling. <sup>7 </sup>Wherever I have moved with all the Israelites, did I ever say to any of their rulers whom I commanded to shepherd my people Israel, "Why have you not built me a house of cedar?" ' <span></span></span></i></b></p> <p class="gmail-MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in"><b><i><sup><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">8 </span></sup><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">"Now then, tell my servant David, 'This is what the Lord Almighty says: I took you from the pasture and from following the flock to be ruler over my people Israel. <sup>9 </sup>I have been with you wherever you have gone, and I have cut off all your enemies from before you. Now I will make your name great, like the names of the greatest men of the earth. <sup>10 </sup>And I will provide a place for my people Israel and will plant them so that they can have a home of their own and no longer be disturbed. Wicked people will not oppress them anymore, as they did at the beginning <sup>11 </sup>and have done ever since the time I appointed leaders over my people Israel. I will also give you rest from all your enemies. <span></span></span></i></b></p> <p class="gmail-MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in"><b><i><u><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">" 'The Lord declares to you that the Lord himself will establish a house for you:</span></u><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)"> <sup>12 </sup>When your days are over and you rest with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, who will come from your own body, and I will establish his kingdom. <sup>13 </sup>He is the one who will build a house for my Name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. <sup>14 </sup>I will be his father, and he will be my son. When he does wrong, I will punish him with the rod of men, with floggings inflicted by men. <sup>15 </sup>But my love will never be taken away from him, as I took it away from Saul, whom I removed from before you. <sup>16 </sup>Your house and your kingdom will endure forever before me; your throne will be established forever.' "</span></i></b></p> <p class="gmail-MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in">So, a while ago I noticed that the headlights of my van weren't really very bright when I was driving around in the dark. I tried cleaning my headlights and then polishing them. I tried Rainex and Windex wipes every time I filled the tank with gas. And I finally decided that I needed new bulbs. And not just the same old halogen that were so dim. I needed those super bright LED lights so I could see a mile ahead as I drove. But… I figured I could save some money if I ordered them at Amazon and installed them myself. <span></span></p> <p class="gmail-MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in">Well, let me tell you how that worked out: When I was done, the headlights didn't really work right. One hardly turned on at all. The other pointed a bit high, so everyone thought I had my brights on and constantly flashed theirs at me. Actually, I <i>may have</i> had the brights on, because whenever I tried to turn on my brights, the lights went out completely. I tried to do the project myself and, as a result, messed everything up. <span></span></p> <p class="gmail-MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in">And if you have small kids at home, you get how this works, don't you? "Let me do it! I'll do it myself!" often ends up creating more work for mom or dad who have to undo the mess and start all over from scratch, if the project isn't already broken beyond repair. That's the way it often is when people want to do great things for God. We think, "I got this! Let me do it!" and then, subsequently, end up messing everything up. <span></span></p> <p class="gmail-MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in">David wanted to build a massive temple for God. He wanted a palace for God that would make his own look small. He would do great things for God! And isn't that the way that we often think too? God, I'll do good things for you. I'll make an impact. I'll make a difference. I'll change the world for you! But that's not what God wants. Not really.<span></span></p> <p class="gmail-MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in">You see, before we build anything for God, God wants to build something for us. Before we do great (or small) things for him, he wants to do great things for us. So, while David told his pastor, Nathan, all about the great things he was going to do for God, Nathan came back the next day and told David what God said: "I don't want <i>you</i> to build a house for <i>me</i>. <b><i>I</i></b> want to build a house for <i>you</i>." <span></span></p> <p class="gmail-MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in">And it's not just in our projects that we want to do great stuff for God. Sometimes we even think we can do great things for him for our salvation. "I got this God. Let me do it. I'll do it myself. You'll see how awesome it is when I'm done." And inevitably we mess it up every time. Because our sinful nature—our selfishness—gets in the way. We sin—against God… against each other. And we prove how broken we are. We've ruined our relationships with each other. We've ruined our relationship with him. <span></span></p> <p class="gmail-MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in">And just as stubborn and rebellious adult child will eventually get kicked out of the house, we deserve to be kicked out of <i>God's</i> house. We deserve to be banished from his heaven. We deserve to be left outside forever in hell. <span></span></p> <p class="gmail-MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in">Nevertheless, because of his great grace—his love that we don't in any way deserve—God has built a house for us…<span></span></p> <p class="gmail-MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in">And he built it on his Son…<span></span></p> <p class="gmail-MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in">Now, at first read, when God told David, <b><i><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">"I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, who will come from your own body, and I will establish his kingdom. He is the one who will build a house for my Name…"</span></i></b> it sure seems like he's talking about King Solomon, David's son, who did build the temple of the Lord using all the materials his dad had stockpiled for him for that very purpose. But… keep reading…<span></span></p> <p class="gmail-MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in"><b><i><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">"He is the one who will build a house for my Name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom </span></i><u><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">forever</span></u><i><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">… Your house and your kingdom will endure </span></i><u><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">forever</span></u><i><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)"> before me; your throne will be established </span></i><u><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">forever</span></u><i><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">." <span></span></span></i></b></p> <p class="gmail-MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in">Now, I'm not sure if you were aware of this, but King Solomon… is dead. That means his reign came to an end. In fact, the temple that he built was destroyed when the Babylonians invaded Jerusalem. In fact the subsequent temple that was rebuilt over the ruins has also been destroyed—that one by the Romans. So, it couldn't have been to the physical temple that God was referring when he said, <b><i><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">"Your house… will endure </span></i><u><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">forever</span></u><i><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">… your throne will be established </span></i><u><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">forever</span></u><i><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">."</span></i></b><span></span></p> <p class="gmail-MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in">So what <b><i>was</i></b> he talking about? Well, fast forward a thousand years (give or take). The angel Gabriel came to the virgin Mary and told her, <b><i><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">"Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him </span></i><u><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">the throne of his father David</span></u><i><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">, and he will reign over the house of Jacob </span></i><u><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">forever</span></u><i><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">; his kingdom </span></i><u><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">will never end</span></u><i><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">." </span></i></b>(Luke 1:30-33)</p> <p class="gmail-MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in">So what's the house that God promised to David that he would build? It was his Church (with a capital "C"). That is, it's not some physical building of brick and mortar, but where God reigns in the hearts of his believers through faith. This is the house that God built though his Son, David's descendant, Jesus. <span></span></p> <p class="gmail-MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in">In John 2:19 Jesus pointed that out. He said of himself, of his own body, <b><i><span style="color:rgb(192,0,0)">"Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days." </span></i></b>And that's exactly what he did. And by his death and resurrection, he built the Church (the House) of God. <span></span></p> <p class="gmail-MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in">Lately, I've been reading a little in the Church Fathers and have been reading a book called "The Shepherd of Hermas." In one vision, the shepherd sees a huge tower being built and is told that the tower represents God's Church and all who are saved though Jesus. The shepherd asks about the oddly shaped stones that are lying far away from the tower and he's told that those misshaped stones weren't fit to be used in construction of God's holy dwelling. <span></span></p> <p class="gmail-MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in">Well, that's what we deserve: to be cast away from God's house because we're not perfect, we're not square, we're not even close. But we don't get what we deserve… because Jesus didn't get what he deserved. He who was sinless and deserved only the mansions of heaven, came to earth to live for us, keeping God's law in our place. So that we who so often neglect God's church and are apathetic to worship and his Word, get his perfect record. He came to die on a cross in our place, to pay the penalty our sins deserve so we are forgiven. Now we aren't cast away from God's church. We'll never be cast away to hell. <span></span></p> <p class="gmail-MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in">But instead we're brought into God's Church, as Peter said in 1 Peter 2:5, <b><i><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">"you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house…" </span></i></b>We're brought into God's Church—into his <i>eternal</i> church—which, <b><i><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">"will endure forever…"</span></i></b> (2 Samuel 7), which, <b><i><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">"will never end." </span></i></b>(Luke 1:33) The salvation that we have in Christ can never be lost or destroyed. Because it's something we didn't do… because it's something that we didn't build… because it's something <i>God</i> has done… something <i>he</i> has built for <i>us</i>… we can't mess it up. It will last forever. You are forgiven. You are heaven-bound. You have true, spiritual peace, and rest from all of your real enemies: satan, sin, guilt, and shame. And you have God's certain promise that he will take care of you, especially protecting and preserving your faith, until he brings you into the eternal kingdom of his heaven. <span></span></p> <p class="gmail-MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in">So… what do we do in the meantime while we wait to be a part of God's heavenly Kingdom? Well, we keep building. You, dear friends, are a bunch of tools. I know that sounds like an insult. But it's not. You see, God has not only made you stones in the building project of his house, but he's also made you the tools he uses to keep building it. You are the hammer and saw, the ladder and the square, the chisel and the paint brush, each with your own roles and your own gifts given to you to help build God's church—the very Church God built for you. <span></span></p> <p class="gmail-MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in"><span></span></p><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:small"><span style="text-indent:0.25in;font-family:arial,sans-serif">So, go share your Christmas joy! Come back to tomorrow or next Sunday or the Sunday after that—and bring a friend with you! Keep growing in your faith so you can better share your faith. And whether you ever build your own home or not, you'll be a part of God's crew as you keep building on the house that he built for you. Merry Christmas, dear friends, dear living stones in God's house. In Jesus' name, amen.</span></div></div><div><br></div><div>In Him,</div><div>Pastor Rob Guenther</div><div><font color="#000099"><b><br></b></font></div><div><b><font color="#000099">Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church</font></b></div><div>47585 Ciechanski Road, Kenai, AK 99611</div><div><a href="http://www.gracelutherankenai.com/" target="_blank">www.GraceLutheranKenai.com</a></div><div><a href="mailto:pastorguenther@gmail.com" target="_blank">pastorguenther@gmail.com</a><br><span><span title="Call with Google Voice">(907) 690-1660</span></span></div><div><br></div><div><div style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"><font size="1">Read sermons online: <a href="http://www.gracelutherankenai.com/Sermons" style="color:rgb(17,85,204)" target="_blank">www.GraceLutheranKenai.com/Sermons</a></font></div><div style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"><font size="1">Listen to sermons online: <a href="http://www.gracelutherankenai.com/Podcast" style="color:rgb(17,85,204)" target="_blank">www.GraceLutheranKenai.com/Podcast</a></font></div><div style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"><font size="1">Watch services online: <a href="http://www.gracelutherankenai.com/Webcast" style="color:rgb(17,85,204)" target="_blank">www.GraceLutheranKenai.com/Webcast</a></font></div></div><div style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"><font size="1">Like us on Facebook: <a href="http://www.Facebook.com/GraceLutheranKenai" target="_blank">www.Facebook.com/GraceLutheranKenai</a> </font></div><div style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"><div style="font-size:12.8px"><font size="1"><br></font></div><div style="font-size:12.8px"><font size="1">Have you been blessed by our ministry at Grace? Consider supporting us with your generous gifts. Give securely online with a check or credit or debit card here: <a href="http://www.GraceLutheranKenai.com/Give" target="_blank">www.GraceLutheranKenai.com/Give</a></font></div><div><br><br></div></div></div></div></div></div> </div> Pastor Rob Guentherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02352798164314819498noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-815791093574782702.post-16777664357575508142017-12-20T11:59:00.000-08:002017-12-20T12:00:31.392-08:00Joy to the World! The Lord is Come! (A sermon based on Psalm 98)<div dir="ltr"><div class="gmail_default"><font face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif">Ever been so happy that you can't help but sing for joy! That's the way the psalmist felt as he burst into song calling upon everyone and everything to join him in his song of praise. What made him so happy? God had won salvation for him by his grace alone and he revealed that salvation to him. Read or listen to (<a href="http://www.gracelutherankenai.com/home/180007450/180007450/Audio/20171217_Psalm_98.mp3">download</a>) this sermon based on Psalm 98 and rejoice with the psalmist as you to sing to the Lord!</font><br clear="all"></div><div><div class="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div><br></div><div><div class="gmail_default" style="text-align:center;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><span style="text-align:center;font-family:arial,sans-serif"><b style=""><font size="4">Joy to the World! The Lord is Come!</font><br></b></span><span style="font-size:small;font-family:arial,sans-serif">A sermon based on Psalm 98<br></span><span style="font-size:small;font-family:arial,sans-serif">Sunday, December 17, 2017<br></span><span style="font-size:small;font-family:arial,sans-serif">A "Sola" Christmas – Children's Christmas Program</span><span style="font-size:small;font-family:arial,sans-serif"> </span></div> <p class="gmail-MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in">My house is usually full of signing and music, and especially this time of year. But it's maybe not what you think. On occasion, it's a Christmas hymn my boys have been practicing for today's program or Christmas Eve. Sometimes it's a song playing on the radio. But more often it's a song I've never heard before, made up in the moment, that one of my boys is belting out.<span></span></p> <p class="gmail-MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in">[Singing] "Five days till my birthday! Five days till my birthday!" or [Singing] "It's almost Christmas. And I get to open up all of my presents. It's almost Christmas!" <span></span></p> <p class="gmail-MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in">Now I imagine that for many of you parents and grandparents, you're familiar with this artistic freestyling when kids simultaneously write the music and lyrics to a brand new, never-been-sung-before song, spontaneously. Now I'm not certain any of these songs will make the radio someday. But nevertheless, it usually fills my heart with joy to hear my boys' hearts so full of joy that they can't help but sing. <span></span></p> <p class="gmail-MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in">That's how the Psalmist felt when he wrote Psalm 98—a new song. He couldn't contain his joy and excitement. He just had to sing and he wanted the whole world to sing with him: "Joy to the world!" Why? What had him so excited? Well, in a sense, it was his Christmas presents. God in his grace gave mankind his gift of salvation. And that is definitely worth singing about. Our sermon text for this morning is Psalm 98…<span style="text-indent:0.25in"> </span></p> <p class="gmail-MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in"><b><i><sup><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">1 </span></sup><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">Sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done marvelous things; his right hand and his holy arm have worked salvation for him. <sup>2 </sup>The Lord has made his salvation known and revealed his righteousness to the nations. <sup>3 </sup>He has remembered his love and his faithfulness to the house of Israel; all the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God. <span></span></span></i></b></p> <p class="gmail-MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in"><b><i><sup><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">4 </span></sup><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth, burst into jubilant song with music; <sup>5 </sup>make music to the Lord with the harp, with the harp and the sound of singing, <sup>6</sup> with trumpets and the blast of the ram's horn—shout for joy before the Lord, the King. <span></span></span></i></b></p> <p class="gmail-MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in"><b><i><sup><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">7 </span></sup><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">Let the sea resound, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it. <sup>8 </sup>Let the rivers clap their hands, let the mountains sing together for joy; <sup>9 </sup>let them sing before the Lord, for he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness and the peoples with equity.</span></i></b><span style="text-indent:0.25in"> </span></p> <p class="gmail-MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in">Now in a moment, the kids are going to share with you a Christmas message highlighting the five "solas" of the Lutheran Reformation. And with each one they (or <i>we</i>) are going to sing a song of praise to God. That's the only natural response to hearing what God's done for us—whether literally or just figuratively within your heart—singing praise to God in joy for what he's done. That's the only right response. <span></span></p> <p class="gmail-MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in">So, let me introduce those "solas" to you briefly before the kids tell you more…<span style="text-indent:0.25in"> </span></p> <p class="gmail-MsoListParagraph" style="margin-left:0.25in"><b>I.<span style="font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-weight:normal;font-stretch:normal;font-size:7pt;line-height:normal;font-family:"Times New Roman""> </span></b><b>Sola Gratia (By Grace Alone) and Sola Fide (By Faith Alone)</b> </p> <p class="gmail-MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in">Let's start by looking at the last verse of the Psalm. It says, <b><i><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">"He comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness and the peoples with equity." </span></i></b>Now, does that phrase make you want to sing for joy?! It sure didn't have that effect on Martin Luther. That thought of Jesus Christ coming to judge the earth; to judge the world in righteousness… that idea terrified Martin Luther. You see, he knew that God is a righteous judge. He knew that God would judge all people with equity. That is, he would be fair. But what troubled Martin Luther was that he knew what "fair" looked like for him. He knew he was a sinner who had rebelled against God. And so he knew that "fair" meant punishment. "Fair" meant death. "Fair" meant hell.<span></span></p> <p class="gmail-MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in">And it's not different for us. Too often the songs we sing are self-aggrandizing. We sing, "Look at me! Give to me! Help me! Bless me!" But too seldom do we sing our praises to God by living for him and for others. Our song is, "It's all about me. It's all about me." And so the thought of having Jesus come to judge the earth in righteousness and equity ought to terrify us too. <span></span></p> <p class="gmail-MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in">But… we won't be damned. We won't go to hell. Why not? Because, <b><i><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">"[God] has remembered his love and his faithfulness to the house of Israel…" </span></i></b>In a minute, the kids are going to remind us of many of the promises God made to his people; the promises about the coming Savior from sin. And why did God send Jesus to rescue us? Not because of anything we've done or ever could do, but entirely because of his grace. By grace alone.</p> <p class="gmail-MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in">By grace, God sent Jesus to be the righteousness we could not achieve. Jesus became a human to take our place. Jesus lived a perfect life in our place. Jesus died an innocent death in our place. Jesus took God's wrath in our place. Jesus endured hell on that cross separated from the Father in our place. We did nothing. He did everything. <b><i><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">"His right hand and his holy arm have worked salvation for him."</span></i></b><span></span></p> <p class="gmail-MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in">He did it all. There's nothing left for us to do. We simply trust in his gracious work in our place and in the salvation he worked. We simply receive what he did by faith. We are saved by grace alone through faith alone. <span></span></p> <p class="gmail-MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in">Martin Luther came to realize this truth for the first time when he studied the Bible. Forced by his superior to leave the monastery and teach the Bible at the University of Wittenberg, he discovered for the first time what that phrase—"the righteousness of God"—really meant. No longer did God's righteousness terrify him because he came to see that "the righteousness of God" is not just the righteousness that God <i>has</i> being sinless and holy, but that phrase often referred to the righteousness God <i>gives</i> in Christ alone revealed in Scripture alone… <span style="text-indent:0.25in"> </span></p> <p class="gmail-MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin-left:0.25in"><b>II.<span style="font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-weight:normal;font-stretch:normal;font-size:7pt;line-height:normal;font-family:"Times New Roman""> </span></b><b>Sola Scriptura (By Scripture Alone) and Solus Christus (In Christ Alone)</b> </p> <p class="gmail-MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in">In the Scriptures alone that righteousness of God is revealed. The Psalmest rejoiced that, <b><i><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">"The LORD has made his salvation known and revealed his righteousness to the nations." </span></i></b>And we do too. For in the Scritures (the Bible) and here alone does God reveal what's he done for us in Christ. But he has made his salvation known to us.<span></span></p> <p class="gmail-MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in">You know there might be a bit of a pun in the Hebrew here. In Hebrew, the word for "salvation," is <i>Yeshua</i>. That's the Jewish name for Jesus whose name mean's "salvation." So the Hebrew could be translated, <b><i><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">"The LORD has made his salvation known," </span></i></b>or, <b><i><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">"The LORD has made his [Yeshua] known," </span></i></b>or, <b><i><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">"The LORD has made his [Jesus] known."</span></i></b><span></span></p> <p class="gmail-MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in">And that's what God has done for us by his Word. In the Word of God he has revealed his plan of salvation for all people. <b><i><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">"The Lord has… revealed his righteousness to the nations… all the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God." </span></i></b>He's revealed that the salvation he won is not just for Jerusalem. It's not just for Israel. It's for all nations. It's for all the ends of the earth—even to Alaska!</p> <p class="gmail-MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.25in">And he's revealed this all to us by his Word. <b><i><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">"All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation [the Yeshua, the Jesus] of our God,"</span></i></b> because the Word has gone to the ends of the earth. We need that Word. We love that word. We want to learn that Word better in church and in Bible Class. We can't get enough of that Word that is God's love letter to us. For by Scripture alone we learn how we are saved by Christ alone. <span style="text-indent:0.25in"> </span></p> <p class="gmail-MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin-left:0.25in"><b>III.<span style="font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-weight:normal;font-stretch:normal;font-size:7pt;line-height:normal;font-family:"Times New Roman""> </span></b><b>Sola Dei Gloria (To God Alone Be the Glory)</b><b> </b></p> <p class="gmail-MsoNormal" style="text-indent:13.5pt">And as we learn that message again and again, more and more, there's only one response to all that God's done for us… for his salvation by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, revealed through Scripture alone… We can't help but sing to the Lord a new song. The same old song and dance of trying to earn God's favor by what we do, just won't do it for us anymore. The same old song and dance of living for ourselves, with little to no thought of God on a day to day basis, won't cut it. We, who know that we already have God's favor <b><i>by Grace alone</i></b>, <b><i>through faith alone</i></b>, as <b><i>Christ alone </i></b>is revealed in <b><i>Scripture alone</i></b>, can't help but bring <b><i>glory to God alone</i></b> and sing a new song to the Lord! <span></span></p> <p class="gmail-MsoNormal" style="text-indent:13.5pt">We just can't help it! Our hearts are so full of joy that we can't help but sing our praise to God. We can't help but live our praise to God as we live to serve him by serving one another. <span></span></p> <p class="gmail-MsoNormal" style="text-indent:13.5pt">It's been said that a Christian is a lot like a tea kettle, which, when it's up to its neck in hot water, sings all the more loudly and clearly. Even as we go through the problems and trials of this life, we know what is to come because of Jesus. And as we sing for joy we too call on everyone and even every<i>thing</i> to shout for joy! Joy to the World! The Lord is come! In his name, dear friends, amen!</p></div><div>In Him,</div><div>Pastor Rob Guenther</div><div><font color="#000099"><b><br></b></font></div><div><b><font color="#000099">Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church</font></b></div><div>47585 Ciechanski Road, Kenai, AK 99611</div><div><a href="http://www.gracelutherankenai.com/" target="_blank">www.GraceLutheranKenai.com</a></div><div><a href="mailto:pastorguenther@gmail.com" target="_blank">pastorguenther@gmail.com</a><br><span><span title="Call with Google Voice">(907) 690-1660</span></span></div><div><br></div><div><div style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"><font size="1">Read sermons online: <a href="http://www.gracelutherankenai.com/Sermons" style="color:rgb(17,85,204)" target="_blank">www.GraceLutheranKenai.com/Sermons</a></font></div><div style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"><font size="1">Listen to sermons online: <a href="http://www.gracelutherankenai.com/Podcast" style="color:rgb(17,85,204)" target="_blank">www.GraceLutheranKenai.com/Podcast</a></font></div><div style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"><font size="1">Watch services online: <a href="http://www.gracelutherankenai.com/Webcast" style="color:rgb(17,85,204)" target="_blank">www.GraceLutheranKenai.com/Webcast</a></font></div></div><div style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"><font size="1">Like us on Facebook: <a href="http://www.Facebook.com/GraceLutheranKenai" target="_blank">www.Facebook.com/GraceLutheranKenai</a> </font></div><div style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"><div style="font-size:12.8px"><font size="1"><br></font></div><div style="font-size:12.8px"><font size="1">Have you been blessed by our ministry at Grace? Consider supporting us with your generous gifts. Give securely online with a check or credit or debit card here: <a href="http://www.GraceLutheranKenai.com/Give" target="_blank">www.GraceLutheranKenai.com/Give</a></font></div><div><br><br></div></div></div></div></div></div> </div> Pastor Rob Guentherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02352798164314819498noreply@blogger.com0