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Fellowship Services

Easter Sunday

Join us on Sunday, April 8th, to celebrate the resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! He is risen!

The festivities include:

7 – 8 AM: Easter Sunrise Service

8 – 10 AM: Easter Breakfast in the Luther Fellowship Hall (free)

9:30 – 10 AM: Children’s activities in the Luther Fellowship Hall (free)

9:30 – 10:30 AM: Flowering of the Cross (First Lutheran Church tradition of placing flowers on the cross. We invite our guests to participate and bring a flower to place on the cross.)

10:30 AM: Easter Service with Holy Communion

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Fellowship

April First Sunday Fellowship Lunch

Join us on Sunday, April 2nd, for fellowship and lunch immediately following the 10:30am worship service.

Members and guests are welcome and this event is free! All you need to bring is an appetite and some good conversation.

Menu

Baked Chicken

Mashed Potatoes and Gravy

Green Beans

Corn

Rolls

Dessert

We appreciate and accept free-will donations that benefit our Fellowship Committee that allow our church to continue to offer free meals.

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Services

Fifth Sunday in Lent 3/26/2023

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Sermon

Sermon for 03.26.23 “We don’t deserve it”

Lent 5, March 26, 2023
Text: Romans 8:1–11
Theme: We don’t deserve it
Other Lessons: Ezekiel 37:1–14; Psalm 130; John 11:1–45 (46–53) or John
11:17–27, 38–53

A. In the Name of the Father…Amen.
B. The Epistle lesson from Romans 8 serves as our sermon text for this
morning.
C. Grace, mercy, and peace be yours from God our heavenly Father through
our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
D. Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, let us pray:
Ø LSB 430:1 My Song Is Love Unknown
My song is love unknown,
My Savior’s love to me,
Love to the loveless shown
That they might lovely be.
Oh, who am I
That for my sake
My Lord should take
Frail flesh and die?
Text: Public domain
Introduction

A. If you are a condemned person, you are officially declared “guilty” of
your actions and your sentence awaits.
1. Throughout history, many criminals were not only condemned and declared
guilty but were also put to death for their misdeeds.
2. They were:
A. hung,
B. shot,
C. gassed,
D. electrocuted,
E. injected,
F. and more.
3. However, the death penalty has over time been increasingly debated.
4. One reason some have argued against the practice is that some people,
after being put to death, were found actually to be innocent, or at least
not worthy of such extreme punishment.
B. Well, more than talking about the government bearing the sword in Romans
13:4, Paul talks about the guilt of man according to his sin.
1. He says that no one is found innocent.
2. In fact, just before our Epistle lesson, in Romans 7, he makes it very
clear that even with our best intentions, we can’t be free from sin.
3. He writes:
A. Romans 7:15 (NASB95)
15For what I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I
would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate.
B. Romans 7:18 (NASB95)
18For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the
willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not.
C. Romans 7:24 (NASB95)
24Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death?
4. Paul makes it clear.
A. We are not a lot different before God than those on death row are before
man.
B. We are guilty, every one of us!
C. All of us!
D. There are no exceptions!
E. There is no way for us to work our way out of sin.
C. But the beauty and joy of this letter is in what comes next.
1. Paul asks:
A. Romans 7:24 (NASB95)
24Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death?
Romans 7:25 (NASB95)
25Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, on the one hand
I myself with my mind am serving the law of God, but on the other, with my
flesh the law of sin.
2. The answer lies in a Savior from the outside, a Rescuer.
A. Jesus is that Savior; he was sent to bail us out.
B. At the very end of chapter 7, we read Paul rejoicing in this fact,
saying:
1. “Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!” (7:25).
C. And not only that!
1. Because of this rescue, Paul begins chapter 8 with the following
statement:
A. Romans 8:1 (NASB95)
1Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
D. That’s right.
1. In Jesus, you’re not guilty.
2. In Jesus, you’re taken off of death row.
3. In Jesus, you can be at peace.
4. In Jesus, There Is No Condemnation.
E. Why?
1. Jesus Christ came to be our substitute and because He came to be our
substitute, we now live by the Spirit.
I. In Jesus, There Is No Condemnation, because Jesus Christ came to be our
substitute.
A. The purpose of Jesus’ coming to earth was to live as our substitute
under the Law.
1. In a very real way, Jesus came to take our sentence onto himself.
2. He came to do our jail time, to receive the guilty verdict and pay for
our sins with his own life.
3. When Paul says there is no condemnation for those who are “in Christ,”
he is referring to Jesus’ role as our ransom for sin and our union with him
in Holy Baptism.
4. As our ransom, Jesus was the payment offered to God for our sin.
5. Peter says it this way:
A. 1 Peter 1:18–19 (NASB95)
18knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or
gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers,
19but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood
of Christ.
B. Here we might remember the Old Testament sacrificial system with all of
its ceremony and frequency.
1. Day after day, week after week, the priests of old were to offer
sacrifices to the Lord.
2. Why?
3. The writer to the Hebrews declares:
A. Hebrews 9:22 (NASB95)
22And according to the Law, one may almost say, all things are cleansed
with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.
4. The priests were to sacrifice the appropriate animal for the atonement
of the people’s sins.
5. They were to trust the Word of the Lord and to see in that sacrifice was
their forgiveness.
C. Probably more than any other, we recall the sacrifice of the lamb.
1. Let us reflect on the first what happened on that first Passover for the
Israelites while in Exodus.
2. On that night, the sacrifice of a lamb was central, and again each year
it was a substitutionary sacrifice and a foreshadowing of what was to come.
3. This is why when John the Baptist came on the scene he looked at Jesus
and cried out:
A. John 1:29 (NASB95)
29The next day he saw Jesus coming to him and said, “Behold, the Lamb of
God who takes away the sin of the world!
4. When John spotted Jesus, he looked upon the real and greater substitute
for sin who would ultimately win forgiveness for the world by taking our
place under the Law and dying as a sacrificial offering, not by a noose or
a gun shot or electric shock but by death on a cross as was prophesied of
old.
5. With the shedding of his blood, however, there indeed is forgiveness,
and that forgiveness leads to life for mankind!
D. Not only did Jesus become our sin-bearer, but in Romans chapter 6, Paul
makes clear that Jesus’ substitutionary work on our behalf leads to
Baptism, which unites us to Christ.
1. In Romans 6:3–5, we read:
A. Romans 6:3–5 (NASB95)
3Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus
have been baptized into His death?
4Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that
as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we
too might walk in newness of life.
5For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death,
certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection,
E. This language helps us understand the “in Christ” language of verse 1 of
our text.
1. How is it that is there no condemnation for you?
2. By having union with Christ.
3. As our substitute, Jesus died in order to win for us forgiveness of
sins.
4. Additionally, as our substitute, through Baptism, he clothes us with
himself and grants us the gift and indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
5. So, Jesus has not only taken our punishment upon himself, but he has
also remade us and joined us to himself as a fruit of his substitutionary
work applied through Baptism and faith.
6. Paul says in verse 2 of our text:
A. Romans 8:2 (NASB95)
2For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from
the law of sin and of death.
B. Because of Christ, you are not condemned; you are free.
C. Because of Christ, you are not alone, but the Holy Spirit dwells in you
richly.
F. Remember Barabbas?
1. The Bible says Barabbas was a “notorious prisoner” locked away because
of robbery and murder (Matthew 27:16).
2. On that infamous day, Barabbas and Jesus stood before the people.
3. Pilate asked:
A. “What do you want me to do with them?”
B. Of Barabbas, they said, “Let him go!”
C. Of Jesus, they said, “Let him be crucified!”
D. Mark says it this way:
1. Mark 15:15 (NASB95)
15Wishing to satisfy the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas for them, and
after having Jesus scourged, he handed Him over to be crucified.
E. Have you ever cringed at Barabbas, at his guilt and his newfound
freedom?
F. Well, even as Jesus took Barabbas’s place, he has taken yours and mine
as well.
II. In Jesus, There Is No Condemnation and we now live by the Spirit.
A. During Lent, we recall that Jesus took our place on death row.
1. He:
A. opened our jail cell,
B. let us out,
C. and, most amazingly, entered himself.
2. While we rejoice in Jesus for taking our place, we also rejoice in
something else.
3. Not only did he serve us as substitute, he gave us the Holy Spirit as
gift and blessing.
4. The Holy Spirit helps us to suppress the flesh and to live beyond the
moment as children of God and heirs of heaven.
5. That’s the second reason there is no condemnation for us in Christ
Jesus—because we now live by the Spirit.
B. Unique to the Book of Romans and the entire Scriptures is chapter 8 and
its distinction between “life by the Spirit” and “life by the flesh.”
1. Apart from Christ, we are darkness.
2. Our lives are motivated by fleshly desires, and as such we have no hope
of heaven.
3. However, with forgiveness won by Christ and his life offered in our
place as substitute, the Holy Spirit is now given to make us holy and to
give new direction to our lives.
4. Paul writes of this in verses 3–4:
A. Romans 8:3–4 (NASB95)
3For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did:
sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for
sin, He condemned sin in the flesh,
4so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not
walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
5. As those who have escaped condemnation, we find that:
A. our state of being,
B. our perspective in life,
C. and our manner of life have all been changed.
6. Paul speaks of this change throughout the rest of Romans chapter 8, the
final verses of our text and the verses following, as “living by the
Spirit.” He makes four points to explain what this “living by the Spirit”
means.
A. First, when we live by the Spirit, we live with confidence in our
resurrection. Paul says in verses 10–11:
Romans 8:10–11 (NASB95)
10If Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, yet the
spirit is alive because of righteousness.
11But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He
who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal
bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.
1. In union with the Holy Spirit, you cannot be condemned.
2. When the Father sees you in union with the Holy Spirit, he sees Christ
in you, a child of God.
3. This reminds us of the Beatitudes of Matthew 5.
4. Line after line, we read:
A. “Blessed are you, blessed are you, blessed are you.”
B. In this discourse, no one is blessed because of being perfect, nor
blessed by being engaged in some extraordinary activity.
C. The blessed are blessed due to their present condition of faith in the
Lord and presence of the Holy Spirit.
D. Those who are blessed by this union look forward to the day of the
resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come.
B. Second, when we live by the Spirit, we live with the confidence that we
have been made:
1. “sons of God” (8:14).
2. Jesus teaches us to pray “Our Father” for a reason.
3. He wants us to know and believe that he came to earth not just to be our
Savior, but also our Brother.
4. So we sing with joy the hymn, “God’s Own Child I Gladly Say It” (LSB
594).
5. Paul teaches in verse 15 that the Holy Spirit leads us to cry out to God
in a childlike way, saying:
A. “Abba! Father!”
B. We can call out to our heavenly Father in confidence.
C. Having this relationship, though our flesh continues to assault us with
temptation, we ought to remind ourselves over and over again that we indeed
are heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ.
D. This is why Luther encourages Christians to wake up in the morning, make
the sign of the holy cross, and say, “In the name of the Father and of the
Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.”
E. He says this so that we might remember who we are, or better yet, whose
we are.
F. That we might recall our Baptism into Christ and that the Holy Spirit
has brought us into the family of God.
C. Third when we live by the Spirit, we look forward to the future glory of
heaven.
1. In verse 18, Paul shares a familiar and comforting message:
A. Romans 8:18 (NASB95)
18For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to
be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us.
B. Life by the Spirit looks forward to heaven.
C. The earth with its lusts, pleasures, temptations, sickness, vanity, and
general brokenness due to sin is not our final destination.
D. Paul makes clear that the earth is groaning and laboring like a woman
experiencing birth pangs—and that things here are just plain wrong.
E. By the Spirit, we can understand the present circumstance and patiently
await our final goal and future hope.
F. How important this is to know!
G. Because heaven has been made secure by Christ our Redeemer, we can truly
say these words:
H. Romans 8:28 (NASB95)
28And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those
who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.
D. Finally, when we live by the Spirit, we realize that nothing can
separate us from the love of God.
1. Quite possibly the most comforting portion of chapter 8 is Paul’s
listing of all the things that cannot separate us from the love of Christ
when we live by the Holy Spirit. Paul writes:
2. Romans 8:35 (NASB95)
35Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or
distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
Romans 8:37–39 (NASB95)
37But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved
us.
38For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor
principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers,
39nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to
separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
C. Truly “life by the Spirit” is a different life from living “life by the
flesh.”
1. It is:
A. A life lived free from fear,
B. a life with rich identity,
C. a life of confidence in the future,
D. and a life certain of God’s love.
E. These are not themes that typically exist for people living on death row!
D. When Paul said:
1. Romans 8:1 (NASB95)
1Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
2. he meant it . . . and much, much more!
3. As we meditate on the words of Scripture this Fifth Sunday in Lent and
soon come to Holy Week, we should consider what it means that Jesus was
willingly condemned in order to set us free.
4. Not only did he gladly take our punishment upon himself, he graciously
gave us the Holy Spirit and made us victors forever in his name.
Conclusion

A. He’d squandered everything.
1. His father had been so good to him, so generous, advancing him his
inheritance in cold, hard cash, and he’d blown it all on wild living.
2. As he trudged back from the far country toward his father’s house, he
knew what was coming.
3. He knew what he deserved:
A. “I told you so!
B. You had your chance.
C. Now you’re on your own.”
4. But no, that is not what happened!
5. Dad comes running out to meet him!
6. Not a harsh word.
7. Not a well-deserved judgment.
8. Instead he hosts a party and showers good graces on this, his lost son!
B. The parable of the prodigal son is a wonderful reminder of grace and
undeserved mercy, as Paul describes in Romans 8.
1. By Christ’s sacrifice for us:
A. Romans 8:1 (NASB95)
1Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
2. With humble thanks and a great sense of peace, we reenter the Father’s
household as dearly loved and redeemed children. Amen.
C. Let us pray:

Ø LSB 430:7 My Song Is Love Unknown
Here might I stay and sing,
No story so divine!
Never was love, dear King,
Never was grief like Thine.
This is my friend,
In whose sweet praise
I all my days
Could gladly spend!” (LSB 430:7) Amen.
D. The peace of God, which transcends all understanding, guard your hearts
and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

E. In the Name of the Father…Amen.

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Services

Lenten Service 5th Week 3-22-2023

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Sermon

Sermon for 03.22.23 “Know Thyself”

Lenten Midweek 5
Text: 2 Chronicles 26:1–5, 15b–21
Theme: Know Thyself: Uzziah
Psalm 110; Hebrews 7:1–10, 26–28; John 10:11–18
Hymns: LSB 529, 564

A. In the Name of the Father…Amen.
B. The reading from 2 Chronicles 26 serves as our sermon text for this
evening.
C. Grace, mercy, and peace be yours from God our heavenly Father through
our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
D. Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, let us pray:
Ø Holy God, hear my prayer.
There is pain and there is sorrow, there are broken relationships and
broken hearts.
Sometimes I am the cause of those things.
I have caused pain. I have broken the relationship.
Sometimes I am simply a part of them – I am the one who suffers, I am the
one who is broken.
So I ask for Your forgiveness, and I ask for Your healing.
Beyond that, I ask that You turn me from my former self to a person who
reflects Your mercy and grace and love.
Through Christ, who is my example, I pray. Amen.

Introduction

A. Inscribed at the Delphic Oracle, a temple of pagan prophecy in ancient
Greece, were the words “Know Thyself.”
1. Traditional Greek wisdom considered that every man should know who he
was.
2. If you’re a commoner, know that you are a commoner.
3. If you’re an aristocrat, know that you are an aristocrat.
4. Know your privileges and obligations.
5. Know your strengths and weaknesses.
6. Perhaps most important to the Greeks was the idea that you are mortal.
7. You are not a god, and you should not try to imitate the gods.
8. Therefore know yourself.
I. We all need to know our place in life—including what we’re not.
A. Perhaps it is better to say:
1. “Know your place.”
2. Although this goes against the grain of our culture, which takes pride
in being free of any restrictions and being who you want to be, there is
still great wisdom in this phrase.
3. Especially with respect to God, you do well to know that he is God and
you are not.
II. Uzziah’s pride led him to usurp the priest’s role.
A. King Uzziah held the highest office in the land of Judah.
1. He was a descendant of David and a good king.
2. “He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, according to all that
his father Amaziah had done” (26:4).
3. Uzziah was the grandson of King Joash, about whom we spoke last week.
4. Uzziah ascended the throne at sixteen and reigned fifty-two years, one
of the longest-serving kings.
5. He won victories over the Philistines on the coast and the Arabians in
the desert.
6. His fame reached the border of Egypt.
7. As with the other kings, this was not because of his greatness.
8. “As long as [Uzziah] sought the Lord, God made him prosper” (26:5).
B. The reign of King Uzziah as described in 2 Chron­icles is defined by his
strength.
1. He broke down the wall of Gath, the city from which Goliath had come.
2. Ancient enemies like the Ammonites paid tribute to him.
3. He fortified Jerusalem with high-tech weapons that could shoot arrows
and stones from towers.
4. He expanded the kingdom and enriched Judah.
5. Again, Scripture says:
A. 2 Chronicles 26:15 (NASB95)
15In Jerusalem he made engines of war invented by skillful men to be on the
towers and on the corners for the purpose of shooting arrows and great
stones. Hence his fame spread afar, for he was marvelously helped until he
was strong.
C. Yes, Uzziah was a strong king—but he was a terrible priest.
1. That ought to go without saying, for he was not a priest.
2. He was a king.
3. Unfortunately, King Uzziah did not heed the maxim for him to “know
thyself.”
4. He let pride—the Greeks would call it hubris—grow inside of him.
5. He grew proud to his destruction and decided in turn to play priest.
6. Uzziah entered the Holy Place in the temple to burn incense.
7. Only the priests were to go there; only the sons of Aaron were to offer
incense.
8. Perhaps you remember that even Aaron’s sons, Nadab and Abihu, had burned
unauthorized incense and paid with their lives.
D. But Uzziah was proud, apparently believing in his strength above all
else, and boldly entered the temple to burn incense.
1. Azariah the high priest and eighty other priests tried to stop him.
A. 2 Chronicles 26:18 (NASB95)
18They opposed Uzziah the king and said to him, “It is not for you, Uzziah,
to burn incense to the LORD, but for the priests, the sons of Aaron who are
consecrated to burn incense. Get out of the sanctuary, for you have been
unfaithful and will have no honor from the LORD God.”
B. King Uzziah reacted in anger.
C. No one would tell him what he couldn’t do!
D. Filled with pride, he believed he was the supreme ruler.
E. He was famous around the world, and he was strong.
F. That, however, didn’t make Uzziah a priest.
G. Offering incense in the Holy Place was not his place.
E. The punishment for this impudence was that the Lord struck him with
leprosy.
1. Right on his face, the result of his sin could be seen.
2. This wasn’t simply a matter of sickness.
3. As a leper, he was ritually unclean and therefore:
A. 2 Chronicles 26:21 (NASB95)
21King Uzziah was a leper to the day of his death; and he lived in a
separate house, being a leper, for he was cut off from the house of the
LORD. And Jotham his son was over the king’s house judging the people of
the land.
B. Indeed, he was also effectively removed from office as king, because the
law for lepers was that they must be separated from the population.
C. Even as king, he lived in a separate house, and his son, Jotham,
governed the people of the land. Thus isolated, King Uzziah’s strength and
fame were of no account.
D. Even at death, when he was buried in the kings’ burial field, Uzziah was
separated from his fathers according to Levitical law concerning those
afflicted with leprosy:
1. Leviticus 13:46 (NASB95)
46“He shall remain unclean all the days during which he has the infection;
he is unclean. He shall live alone; his dwelling shall be outside the camp.
E. His whole identity was changed:
1. 2 Chronicles 26:23 (NASB95)
23So Uzziah slept with his fathers, and they buried him with his fathers in
the field of the grave which belonged to the kings, for they said, “He is a
leper.” And Jotham his son became king in his place.
III. For salvation, we need a stronger king than Uzziah.
A. King Uzziah was a strong king.
1. But not only could his strength not save his people; it couldn’t even
save him.
2. Such is the strength of kings.
3. If we are to follow a king who brings salvation, he will have to be a
much stronger king than Uzziah.
IV. Jesus’ strong humility led him to take the priest’s role.
A. The Son of Uzziah is our Strong King and Priest.
B. So it is that Jesus, the Messiah, the Son of Uzziah, is our strong king.
1. His strength was not in military superiority:
2. Like breaking down walls or collecting tribute.
3. Nor was it in developing new weapons.
4. Jesus’ strength was in freeing people from demonic possession and
healing the sick, including lepers.
5. His power forgave the sins of men and taught with authority and power,
the likes of which had never been seen before.
6. The Son of God was not filled with hubris.
7. Although the eternal Word was in the form of God, he emptied himself to
be born of a virgin in the likeness of men.
8. He was found humble and riding on a donkey as the crowds chanted,
“Hosanna to the Son of David!”
9. This Son of David humbled himself in obedience to his Father, even to
death on a cross.
10. Far from pride, Jesus suffered shame and spitting and mocking from
sinners.
11. Yet he lay down his life of his own accord.
C. In this death, the Son of Uzziah humbly took the role of priest.
1. This was not to gratify pride or show authority.
2. The King of the Judeans became a priest to offer the one sacrifice his
people needed.
3. He was not weak like the sons of Aaron who had to wash for their own
uncleanness and offer sacrifice for their sins before offering sacrifices
for the people.
4. Nor was his sacrifice feeble like their bulls and goats which, offered
daily and yearly, could never take away sins.
5. Only the perfect Lamb of God, offered by the Messiah, was the single
sacrifice for sins offered for all time.
6. And Jesus, the great High Priest, did not follow the order of Aaron,
whose sons died one after the other.
7. His priesthood is forever after the order of Melchizedek, for it is
testified that he lives.
D. As the Son of Uzziah hung on the cross, he endured the isolation of a
leper.
1. Jesus became sin and bore our sin in his body:
A. all the uncleanness of our flesh.
2. Separation from his Father, our God Almighty, resulted in the death of
the Son as the Spirit departed his body.
3. What weakness the chief priests and rulers of the Judeans saw!
4. Yet this was not the weakness of hubris, but the strength of Jesus’
humble purpose.
5. There never was strength like our Lord bearing the weight of the world’s
sin on his striped back.
6. There was all evil and the devil’s power defeated.
7. On the cross, Jesus was truly revealed: The Son of Uzziah Is the Strong
King and Priest we all need.
V. Our place is in the presence of God through King Jesus.
A. As the King of the Judeans hung on the cross, the curtain of the temple
tore.
1. The Holy Place lay open to all who would follow the Son and Lord of
David.
2. Indeed when our High Priest offered his perfect sacrifice, God highly
exalted him above the heavens, where he sat down at the right hand of the
Lord.
3. There the Son of David is David’s Lord and our Lord interceding for us,
offering perfect prayers sweeter than any incense on earth.
4. By his blood, we therefore have confidence to enter the holy places.

Conclusion

A. After all, what is your place?
1. Are you a king, or are you a priest?
2. Well, certainly not in the sense of the old covenant.
3. You may not be proud of your strength or be famous around the world.
4. But in Christ, you are a chosen race and a royal priesthood.
5. He has freed you by his blood and made you a kingdom, priests to his God
and Father.
6. The Ruler of kings on earth has made you a place with him in the kingdom
of heaven.
7. Your place is in the presence of God.
B. Let us therefore boldly draw near to the throne of grace and receive
mercy in every need. Amen.
C. Let us pray:
Ø O God, when I look at You and then look at myself, I realize how tiny I
am.
But I am not so small that my actions are inconsequential.
Sometimes a word of thanks brings warmth to a cold heart.
Sometimes a choice to forgive opens up a new future for two people.
Sometimes a thoughtless gesture slashes the heart.
Sometimes my inaction leaves the world in its sorry state.
I ask for your help.
I ask that Your greatness infuse my smallness.
I ask that I will not be captive to the wrong I do but changed by the mercy
You grant. Amen.
D. The peace of God, which transcends all human understanding, guard your
hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
E. In the Name of the Father…Amen.

Categories
Services

Sermon for 03.19.23 “Our faith and calling”

Lent 4, March 19, 2023
Text: Ephesians 5:8–14
Theme: Our faith and calling
Other Lessons: Isaiah 42:14–21; Psalm 142; John 9:1–41 or 9:1–7, 13–17,
34–39

A. In the Name of the Father…Amen.
B. The Epistle lesson from Ephesians 5 serves as our sermon text for this
morning.
C. Grace, mercy, and peace be yours from God our heavenly Father through
our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
D. Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, let us pray:
Ø Holy God, hear my prayer.
Ø As I walk this spiritual life, I relentlessly question You.
Ø You heal someone’s beloved, and I ask, “Why not this one too?”
Ø You shower food upon some who hunger, and I complain that my stomach is
growling.
Ø Forgive me.
Ø Forgive me for my doubts and my limited sight.
Ø Open wide before me the expanse of Your grace, the embrace of Your love,
and the wonder of Your healing power.
Ø In the Name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, I pray. Amen.
Introduction

A. “What is truth?”
1. This question was asked of Jesus by Pontius Pilate hours before our
Lord’s crucifixion (John 18:38).
2. Jesus told Pilate that he came to “bear witness to the truth,” saying
that “everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice” (John 18:37).
3. Pilate wasn’t interested in finding out what truth was.
4. In a cynical, somewhat annoyed manner, he reveals what he thinks about
the ability to discover truth in this life.
5. He thinks it’s silly.
B. A similar attitude is very much alive and well in our time.
1. Objective truth is on trial again.
2. The secular opinion is that truth is manufactured in the heart of man.
3. Truth is what you make it to be.
4. This leads to a diversity of perspectives on life, with no unifying
foundation.
5. How does a society function when truth is based on individual opinion?
6. What is truth when truth can be different from person to person?
7. When there can be more than one truth, how can there be unity?
C. In our text from Ephesians, Paul shows that Christian teaching upholds
objective truth when he exhorts his hearers regarding their manner of life.
1. He says they were once like Pilate, a people who were living in
darkness, apart from faith in Christ.
2. Now, however, they have heard the Word of God, they have been baptized
into Christ, and so he calls them “light in the Lord.”
3. In verses 8 and 9, he says:
A. “Walk as children of light (for the fruit of light is found in all that
is good and right and true).”
B. Paul teaches that once an individual comes to faith in Christ, that
person knows not only what is true but also what is right and good.
C. Today, let’s dig into our text more deeply, especially into these three
fundamental virtues, and see how they define what it means to Walk as
Children of Light.
D. To walk as children of light means:
1. First, that we should walk in a way consistent with all that is good.
2. Second, it means we should walk in a way consistent with all that is
right.
3. Third, to walk as children of light means we should walk in a way
consistent with all that is true.
I. We should walk in a way consistent with all that is good.
A. God alone is good.
1. He is the source and originator of good, that is, of all moral
excellence and purity.
2. The Scriptures make this quite clear.
3. In the beginning, when God created the heavens and the earth, he looked
and:
a. “saw that it was good” (Genesis 1:12).
4. Throughout the Old Testament, it was clear to the ancients that good
comes from God as a gift and blessing.
a. In Psalm 73, we read that:
1. “it is good to be near God” (verse 28).
b. In Psalm 84, we read that he withholds:
1. “no good thing . . . from those who walk uprightly” (verse 11).
c. In Psalm 109, we read that his:
1. “steadfast love is good” (verse 21).
5. In the New Testament, Jesus makes God’s goodness abundantly clear when
he asks:
a. “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone” (Mark 10:18).
B. Though God alone is good, Paul teaches the Ephesians that by Baptism and
faith in Christ they have been brought out of spiritual blindness and now
can see what “good” is!
1. Before they knew Christ, the Ephesians did not know.
2. Formerly they were lost and their lives were lived in pursuit of carnal
things.
3. We read at the beginning of Romans how low the Gentiles became­:
a. to worship idols and even engage in unnatural relations.
b. The way of the Gentiles before Christ was not good.
4. Then the prophets, apostles, and Christ himself brought to the world
“news” from this “good God” that of course came to be called “Good News!”
5. That news was of the only true God, who forgives and saves through the
atoning sacrifice of his Son, Jesus Christ.
6. Because of Christ’s suffering and death for the sins of the world,
Gentiles were able to go from unbelief to belief, from darkness to light,
from bad to good.
C. Pilate, standing near and talking to Jesus, was a Gentile living in
darkness who scoffed at the idea of Christian virtue.
1. His decisions were not based in virtue but on convenience, even if it is
wrong.
2. Look at the world around us today.
a. Who is seeking what is morally excellent? Who is seeking what is
objectively good?
b. The basis for much decision-making in popular culture these days is
subjective;
1. that means, it comes from within the human heart.
2. “Whatever seems good to me, that I will do!” says modern man. It seems
silly to the unbeliever to seek what is good from outside of self, because
an upstanding moral life based on an objective ethic does not necessarily
indulge the flesh or fill the bank accounts.
c. In fact, it may do the opposite!
1. For example, some Christians have quit their jobs in order to separate
themselves from immoral decision-making.
2. Other Christians have remained and are outspoken for the cause of what
is good and received harsh treatment in return.
3. Nevertheless, Paul teaches that walking as children of light is to seek
the good that God has taught and shown.
II. We should walk in a way consistent with all that is right.
A. God alone is right.
1. When Paul teaches the Ephesians to pursue that which is “right,” he is
not teaching them to seek what is “correct” as much as he is teaching them
to pursue justice and righteousness.
2. When considering the rightness or righteousness of God, we immediately
think of God as judge or arbiter.
3. In fact, the Scriptures reveal God this way in many cases.
4. Again we appeal to the Psalms.
a. Psalm 7 states clearly:
1. “God is a righteous judge” (verse 11).
b. Psalm 50 says:
1. “The heavens declare his righteousness, for God himself is judge!”
(verse 6).
c. And in Psalm 75, we read:
1. “I will judge with equity” (verse 2).
B. A proper understanding of “righteousness” is central to understanding
the entire Bible.
1. God who created the world was filled with sorrow when his creation fell
into sin.
2. Nevertheless, God judged Adam and Eve according to their sin in the
Garden of Eden, saying, ultimately:
a. “By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the
ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you
shall return” (Genesis 3:19).
b. As the world now lived in a state corrupted by sin, the Creator was
entirely “right” to judge and sentence the sinner harshly.
C. However, this divine judge was very quick to make declarations that were
laced with grace and mercy for the sinner.
1. In fact, already with Adam and Eve, though they were judged according to
their sins, God spoke words of mercy that related to the promise of a
Savior (Genesis 3:15), words we focused on a few Sundays ago.
2. Throughout the biblical text, we learn more of the Creator God, who is
judge.
3. His judgments are not made with hostile force and cold indifference.
4. Rather, justice is sought not only with regard to what is right but also
with regard to what is merciful.
5. So the Creator God shows amazing grace as the gift of his Son is
announced, a Son who was given willingly for the sake of the lost sinner.
6. As the Messiah was promised to the world, yes, already to Adam and Eve,
the declaration of righteousness was modified.
7. Now, the sinner did not have to appear before the angry judge according
to his own works or merits.
8. Rather, the sinner was given an advocate to stand next to him:
a. even in his place as substitute, taking the death we deserved upon
himself.
b. That advocate was the Son of God, the Savior, Christ Jesus.
D. Our God, who is judge therefore, is not one whom we should flee from.
1. But he is one to whom we should run to.
2. In Isaiah, we read of this judge making a declaration:
a. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow;
though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool” (Isaiah
1:18).
3. Paul makes a parallel statement in Romans when he writes:
a. “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are
justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ
Jesus” (Romans 3:23–24).
4. It is this “good” and “right” God who has brought the Gentiles from
darkness to light, and in so doing has called them to that which is right.
E. Knowing the righteous God who has acted with mercy on behalf of the
sinner for the sake of the cross of his Son, Jesus Christ, the Gentiles are
now given a very clear understanding of what it means to walk as children
of the light in all that is “right.”
1. This “walk” is going to be consistent with justice and mercy, with sound
judgments and compassionate decrees, with attention to the Law of God and
also a focus on the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
F. Understanding what is “right” in light of the Lord, the Gentiles are now
given an ethical standard by which to live.
1. When Paul tells them in verse 10:
a. “Try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord,”
b. they should realize this is something they can do!
c. Knowing this God and his nature, attitude, and disposition toward them,
they can know and learn day by day what is pleasing to him, and knowing
what is pleasing to him will help them in exposing (verse 11) the opposite,
that which does not please him.
III. We should walk in a way consistent with all that is true.
A. The knowledge of that which is good and right will go a long way for the
Gentiles in helping them live out their Christian calling.
1. But Paul speaks of one more virtue in verse 9 that will help them still
more, a virtue that Pilate thought was so far from anyone, but a virtue
that is close to us in Jesus Christ our Lord: that which is true.
2. We should walk in a way consistent with all that is true.
B. It’s an ironic moment in time when Pontius Pilate, a man born of Adam,
looks into the eyes of the God who created him and asks, “What is truth?”
1. Jesus, of course, is truth in the flesh.
2. The Bible again speaks of our God as a God of truth.
3. Appealing yet again to the Psalms, we read in Psalm 43:
a. “Send out your light and your truth; let them lead me” (verse 3).
4. In Psalm 51:
a. “Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being, and you teach me
wisdom in the secret heart” (verse 6).
5. And in Psalm 119:
a. “The sum of your word is truth” (verse 160).
C. The language of truth, like goodness and righteousness, is not only left
in the Old Testament, but sounds forth clearly in the New, especially as it
relates to Jesus.
1. John the apostle writes of truth as a theme in his Gospel.
2. Beginning already in chapter 1, he says:
a. “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his
glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth”
(verse 14).
3. Just a few verses later, he writes again:
a. “For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus
Christ” (verse 17)
4. While these texts are clear, nothing is more clear than what Jesus says
in John 14:
a. “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father
except through me” (John 14:6).
b. The Scriptures make it clear.
c. God alone is the source of all truth.
d. And if the world is to know truth, then it must know Jesus Christ, the
truth of God incarnate.
D. Paul says that walking as children of light must also include walking in
the truth, that is, in the facts and realities of life.
1. How does one walk in truth, or live in reality or understand the facts
of life?
2. Jesus answers this question again in John 8, saying:
a. “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know
the truth, and the truth will set you free” (verses 31–32).
3. Jesus clearly teaches that the Word of God is truth, fact, and real,
even as he prays in the High Priestly Prayer:
a. “Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth” (John 17:17).
b. The Word of God is one of the means through which the Holy Spirit works
to bring people from darkness to light.
c. It is God’s Word which the Gentiles received through the preaching of
Paul that led them away from that which was unfruitful, dark, and shameful.
d. God’s Word exposed the dark ways of the unbelieving Gentiles so that
they could see and live in the light of the truth.
E. What a struggle we have in our day with debates over what is true and
real!
1. Truth has been so obscured that we get angry and frustrated even
thinking about the ways:
a. A boy calls himself a girl.
b. A girl calls herself a cat.
c. An unborn child is called a “product of conception.”
d. Standing up for your beliefs is called bigotry.
e. And on and on it goes.
2. It has become increasingly clear that the Christian faith and worldview
are under assault by that which is false, dark, and evil.
3. The world today is living in a very similar manner to that of these
Gentiles before they were brought into the light of Christ.
F. But Paul’s words in our text are for the Christians.
1. He is not barking at the Gentiles; he is exhorting God’s chosen, his
elect in Christ.
2. He is:
a. Calling
b. Reminding
c. teaching them—teaching you and me—to live out their rightful calling—our
rightful calling—and walk in the light of the Lord that he clearly made
known to us and continues to make clear to us in Holy Scripture.
3. The calling of which Paul spoke to the Ephesians was not based in the
mind of man but in the mind and will of God, who created, redeemed, and
sanctifies.
4. He exhorts the Ephesians to consider their walk and to be wise in their
day, knowing that the days are evil and that Satan will ever continue to
attack those who confess Jesus as Lord.

Conclusion

A. Not many years ago, a Lutheran pastor was putting his children to bed.
1. The daughter was banging on the bathroom door, appealing to her brother
to let her in.
2. “Stop that!” the father called out.
3. To his son in the bathroom, he said, “Open the door. We’re all waiting
to get in and brush our teeth!”
4. When the father came closer to the door, he could hear that the water in
the sink was running much stronger than necessary.
5. So he called out again, “Son, open the door and turn off that water!”
6. No response.
7. The father got serious.
8. “Son, open the door or I’ll take it off the hinges myself!”
B. Soon after, the father, the daughter, and now a small crowd gathered
around the outside of the door to see what was going on inside.
1. A hand was heard on the doorknob, the lock was clearly released, and the
door began to open.
2. To the surprise of all, water flooded every corner of the bathroom.
3. The father yelled at his three-year-old son, “Where did all of this
water come from?”
4. From chin touching chest, and a thoughtful expression on his brow, he
slowly looked up and answered his father and pastor, “God?”
5. Immediately, the father’s stern demeanor and high shoulders relaxed into
a more casual posture.
6. “I guess that’s true, son,” he said.
7. With siblings now laughing behind him and attempting to keep the smirk
off his own face, the father continued, “Water does come from God, but the
mess came from you!”
C. Though Paul exhorts the Ephesians in today’s text to walk as children of
light (Ephesians 5:8), it’s a challenge for us sinners to try and put good
and right and true together all at the same time, isn’t it!
1. We often end up standing ashamed like the little three-year-old drowning
in his own mess.
D. Though virtue remains on trial today in our world and our society and
Pilate’s question continues to ring from generation to generation, we have
received a word from the only reliable source of wisdom and knowledge in
life.
1. The triune God, who is himself good and right and true, has given us his
Son—even to death on the cross—so that we might have these virtues
illuminated before our eyes.
2. Not only that, but the Son of God has brought us into his marvelous
light by Baptism into his name, that we might not only know virtue but also
live virtuous lives.
3. May we, like the Ephesians, boldly cling to the Word of Christ and
pursue that which is good and right and true in our day, to the glory of
God and in service to our neighbor. Amen
E. Let us pray:
Ø Great God of all creation, who am I that you are mindful of me?
Ø You who set the stars in motion, who launched waves crashing against the
shore, who knows the heights and depths of the world.
Ø Why do you bother with me?
Ø You count the hairs on my head and call me each by name.
Ø You give me Your wisdom and You uphold me by Your Spirit.
Ø You tend to me and care for me, and I do not understand why.
Ø I cannot grasp Your love for me, O God, for it is unlike me to be that
loving and forgiving.
Ø Remind me once again of the sacredness of my ordinary, day-to-day life.
Ø By your Spirit, teach me to live truly as beings little lower than
angels.
Ø In your mercy, O God, forgive who I am and bless who I will be.
Ø I pray in the peace that only God, the Father, the Son, and Holy Spirit
can give. Amen.
F. The peace of God, which transcends all human understanding, guard your
hearts and minds in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.
G. In the Name of the Father…Amen.

Categories
Services

Lenton Mid-Week Service March 15, 2023

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Categories
Reaching Out

We Are On Our Way to the Promised Land

It is the year 1450 B.C. in ancient Egypt. We can feel the excitement in the air as the children of Israel just learned that the pharaoh has consented to their freedom to leave Egypt and return to their homeland, the land of Israel. They were on the way to the Promised Land! To top it off, the local people gave them valuables – gold, silver, and jewelry, so glad they were to get rid of these troublesome people, and their troublesome but powerful God. The children of Israel were thrilled to leave because they were leaving a life of slavery – of long days of heavy labor, building the pharaoh’s monuments.

As they headed into the desert – men, women, children, with all their worldly belongings, their exuberance began to wear thin as they experienced heat with no shade and thirst with little water. Some even wanted to go back to Egypt and its stability, even though it would be returning to a life of slavery.

When they finally arrived at the edge of the Promised Land, they sent in 12 spies to check out the land and its inhabitants. When the spies returned after 40 days, their reports are ominous. Ten of the spies were freaked out by the inhabitants, saying: “There we saw giants, and we were like grasshoppers in their sight.” Numbers 13:33

But Joshua and Caleb, the other two spies, tore their clothes and exclaimed: “The land we passed through to spy out is an exceedingly good land. If the Lord delights in us, then He will bring us into this land and give it to us, ‘a land which flows with milk and honey.’ Only do not rebel against the Lord, nor fear the people of the land, for their protection has departed from them, and the Lord is with us.” Numbers 14:7-9

But the majority prevailed, and refused to enter the Promised Land in spite of God’s promises to deliver it to them. God responded with righteous anger at their unfaithfulness. After seeing miracle after miracle in their deliverance from Egypt, they rejected God’s guarantee of safety and victory, and embraced disbelief when the Promised Land lay just before them. So God decreed that this generation would wander in the wilderness of Sinai for 40 years and die in the desert, so their children could enter the Promised Land. When their children grew up and entered the Promised Land, God gave them victory after victory.

There is a vital parallel with our own lives. Many people are still enslaved – not by cruel taskmasters as in Egypt, but by the seductions of the world, the lusts of the flesh, or the lies of the devil. They are attracted to darkness rather than light, and embrace a life of sin, thereby trapping themselves in this life and into eternity. But we can become free of the slavery of sin, for Christ paid the price to set us free. “For you did not receive the spirit of slavery leading again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption, by whom we cry: ‘Abba, Father.’” Romans 8:15
In like manner, many people are wandering in their own wilderness, perhaps moving from one religion or philosophy to another, or one relationship to another, always seeking fulfillment and knowledge but never finding the Truth of Christ. Perhaps they too, like the children of Israel, were given an opportunity to go into the Promised Land – a life of peace in Christ in the Kingdom of God, but were too afraid or unwilling to repent of their sins, die to self, and receive Christ. They resisted the promptings of the Holy Spirit, unwilling to pay the entrance price to the narrow path that leads to eternal life in heaven.

Finally, there are some – a smaller number, who took the narrow path and made it into the Promised Land – a life in Christ, led by the Holy Spirit, and responding to God’s call on their life, carrying out the work that He has set before them.

So which of these spheres are you in – a life of slavery, wandering in the wilderness, or in the Promised Land, as a follower of Christ in the Kingdom of God? The Lord is calling those of us who are enjoying life in the Spirit – the Promised Land, to reach out to those who are enslaved or wandering in the wilderness and help them find the Way to Christ. But we need to act, for time is short, tomorrow is not guaranteed, and eternity is forever.
To God be the glory
Board of Evangelism

Categories
Services

Third Sunday in Lent 2023

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