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| Books by Norma A. Boeckler |
The Festival of the Reformation, 2018
Pastor Gregory L. Jackson
The Confession of Sins
The Absolution
The Introit p. 16
The Gloria Patri
The Kyrie p. 17
The Gloria in Excelsis
The Salutation and Collect p. 19
The Epistle and Gradual
The Absolution
The Introit p. 16
The Gloria Patri
The Kyrie p. 17
The Gloria in Excelsis
The Salutation and Collect p. 19
The Epistle and Gradual
The Gospel
Glory be to Thee, O Lord!
Praise be to Thee, O Christ!
The Nicene Creed p. 22
Praise be to Thee, O Christ!
The Nicene Creed p. 22
Biblical Doctrine Caused the Reformation
The Preface p. 24
The Sanctus p. 26
The Lord's Prayer p. 27
The Words of Institution
The Agnus Dei p. 28
The Nunc Dimittis p. 29
The Benediction p. 31
The Hymn # 261 Lord Keep Us Steadfast
The Sanctus p. 26
The Lord's Prayer p. 27
The Words of Institution
The Agnus Dei p. 28
The Nunc Dimittis p. 29
The Benediction p. 31
The Hymn # 261 Lord Keep Us Steadfast
KJV Revelation 14:6 And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, 7 Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.
KJV Matthew 11:12 And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force. 13 For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John. 14 And if ye will receive it, this is Elias, which was for to come. 15 He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.
Collect
O almighty, eternal God: We confess that we are poor sinners and cannot answer one of a thousand, when Thou contendest with us; but with all our hearts we thank Thee, that Thou hast taken all our guilt from us and laid it upon Thy dear Son Jesus Christ, and made Him to atone for it: We pray Thee graciously to sustain us in faith, and so to govern us by Thy Holy Spirit, that we may live according to Thy will, in neighborly love, service, and helpfulness, and not give way to wrath or revenge, that we may not incur Thy wrath, but always find in Thee a gracious Father, through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, one true God, world without end. Amen.
Background for Sermon
Beginnings - Encouragement
The supervisor of the Augustinian order, Staupitz, encouraged Luther to pursue his emphasis upon Biblical teaching and made him earn a doctorate in Biblical studies in order to teach it.
Authority - Our Choice Changes Everything
Luther made the Scriptures - as God's only revelation - the authority for all Christian teaching. At the time, Rome made the papacy the ultimate authority for everything, secular and religious. The secular rulers were the absolute authority in their realms.
By unhitching the authority of popes and kings, Luther set the stage for America's freedoms as a religious right.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness. That, to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.
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| John 1:29. Romans 4:25, etc. |
The Scriptures Are One Truth - Not a Claw Vending Machine
Luther reversed the tendency to treat the Bible as a claw-crane vending machine, where individual verses are grabbed to support a pre-existing dogma. When the false teachers of today say "Romans 4:25!" or "John 1:29!" they are returning to the Roman error still practiced by the Vatican, making the false prophets little Antichrists serving the Antichrist.
Historic Christianity treats the Bible as one infallible, inerrant harmonious Truth, so anyone who departs from this standard is already playing games with God's revelation. Luther revived this approach by teaching the Scripture against any error rather than making the human teachers our filters for God's revelation.
Divine Efficacy Includes the Holy Spirit in Every Word of the Bible
When people fall away from God's truth, they pretend the Holy Spirit is NOT united with the Word. This error of Enthusiasm turns the Bible into Bartlett's Familiar Quotations. Luther has been used the same way, including a Luther Insult website. How juvenile!
God only acts and speaks through His Scriptures, so we take comfort in the Spirit bringing all blessings, forgiveness, Jesus Himself, even the thunderings of the Law, through the Word. Thus when the Word of God is preached and taught faithfully, God Himself acts according to His gracious will. The weakest, frailest, most timid person is as powerful as the Word. The greatest human sorrows are comforted by the Gospel Word. The terrors of the conscience are soothed by the guidance of the Spirit, who brings the grace of Jesus to us through the Means of Grace, the Word and Sacraments.
God's Time, Not Ours
God may act while we are asleep, or He may take centuries.
Faithfulness Is Success
Echoing Paul, Luther trusted the power of the Word to accomplish God's will in God's time. Reform means returning to the Word.
Clarity of the Word
The Word of God is so plain and clear that anyone can grasp the basic lessons. At the same time, there is so much truth to be mined that one can spend a lifetime of study and never obtain more than a fraction of the spiritual wisdom within the Bible.
A Very Long Sermon about Jesus
So many threads of discussion are started by so many people over the ages, but Luther summarized the Bible as "a very long sermon about the Man Jesus Christ."
Luther never neglected the main focus of the Scriptures - God becoming flesh so that His true, gracious nature could be taught to man in a way no one could miss - and that mankind would be warned against lack of faith in the Promises.
Biblical Doctrine Caused the Reformation
KJV Revelation 14:6 And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, 7 Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.
Luther's life did not cause the Reformation. History informs us, at least when it is not filling us with illusions and fantasies. Most of history is lost to us, which is probably good. However, one aspect of our culture has been preserved intact since the beginning - The Word of God.
Bibles were available, but they were still rare - as all hand-copied books were. The Church of Rome, the only church in Europe, kept literacy alive, so the higher levels of clergy could read. But what was important?
- Aristotle - because his work was in harmony with the Bible (?).
- Aquinas - because he loved Aristotle and taught the Medieval dogmas of the papacy.
- The Sentences of Lombard - because everyone said so.
If someone occupied himself in these areas, there was scant time to learn and appreciate the Scriptures. However, Luther wanted to know what God's Word taught. In earning a doctorate so he could teach (seldom done in WELS-ELS), Luther immersed himself in the Word. There was plenty of training in memorizing the Psalms, but this went far beyond monkish training.
Luther had an even more significant training - facing the issues of the times. There is no better way to learn the Scriptures and helpful (or toxic) books than to look for answers that are faithful to God's Word. The most deadly poison in the Lutheran Church today is the refusal to discuss doctrine with any level of seriousness.
The St. Louis Seminary cried "Eighth Commandment" when two districts insisted on teaching the Biblical doctrine of Creation, which is directly related to the power and efficacy of the Word.
The Wisconsin Sect kicked a pastor out during discussions of Justification by Faith, in spite of public promises to continue the discussion at the next pastor conference.
ELCA is so sure of its dogma that they gladly let people leave as long as the members leave the endowments and buildings behind. WELS does one better by stealing the building and endowment back.
A Very Long Sermon
The trouble with most approaches to the Bible is that dignitaries start with their claims and seek to prove their verities with appropriate or inappropriate snippets from the Word.
Therefore, the key element is missed - the Bible exists to teach us about God becoming man, about faith in Him, about listening to His teaching so we see in Jesus and hear in His Words the true nature of God.
The Gospel of John is the key to God's communication through the Word. The language is so basic and simple that any foreign language - even Greek - can be learned from reading the Fourth Gospel. And yet, the Gospel is so profound it its teaching that one can study it repeatedly and still marvel at how much it reveals through the Spirit about God.
John's Gospel is key in its emphasis upon the Son and Father teaching and willing the same. No one can imagine that God the Father is ferocious and vindictive when we see the Father through the Son, witnessed by the Holy Spirit.
The message is God's love, a love so profound that the Son willingly laid down His life to die for the sins of the world. This is the great paradox. The unbelieving world hated and rejected Christ, but God so loved the world that He gave His only-begotten Son.
Although most people would say they enjoy the passages of the Fourth Gospel we all know so well, such as the Little Gospel in 3:16 and the I AM sermons, the Spirit's clearest witness is attacked on all sides.
Worldly Wise Scholars
The worldly wise "scholars" have found hundreds of reasons - all bad - to move John's Gospel into centuries so late that they have little to do with Jesus, even less to do with the facts and the teaching of Christ. This has relegated St. John to a secondary place in the Bible for these great thinkers.
Clever Unbelievers - UOJ
The "Gospel protectors" of UOJ have misused John 1:29 to deny Justification by Faith and to make people feel guilty about faith. The less one believes, they imagine, the closer they are to the real Gospel, the Gospel of universal forgiveness and salvation without the Word, without faith.
Not Works, But Trust in the Works of Christ
No Gospel is clearer that believing in Jesus is forgiveness and salvation. We know from Paul's writing that salvation is either from works or from faith in Jesus.
Although most people would say they enjoy the passages of the Fourth Gospel we all know so well, such as the Little Gospel in 3:16 and the I AM sermons, the Spirit's clearest witness is attacked on all sides.
Worldly Wise Scholars
The worldly wise "scholars" have found hundreds of reasons - all bad - to move John's Gospel into centuries so late that they have little to do with Jesus, even less to do with the facts and the teaching of Christ. This has relegated St. John to a secondary place in the Bible for these great thinkers.
Clever Unbelievers - UOJ
The "Gospel protectors" of UOJ have misused John 1:29 to deny Justification by Faith and to make people feel guilty about faith. The less one believes, they imagine, the closer they are to the real Gospel, the Gospel of universal forgiveness and salvation without the Word, without faith.
Not Works, But Trust in the Works of Christ
No Gospel is clearer that believing in Jesus is forgiveness and salvation. We know from Paul's writing that salvation is either from works or from faith in Jesus.
But none of that is the Gospel, because God makes things happen with a Gospel or faith beginning. Believers do not know what they are starting or where it will go. They only have faith in the Savior and feel moved to do this or that. No one knows the end of teaching because its influence never ends. Some things start and then stop; the Gospel rain moves on because people are ungrateful when the Gospel is most abundant.
We had no rain, then good rain and even more rain. Everything holding rainwater overflowed because there was no reason to pour water on soaked plants. I began thinking, I could use more sunshine and warm weather.
That is why those who have seen the most doctrinal turmoil are the most appreciative. Then comes along the temptation to keep everything placid and calm. So we can discern the history of abundance and want. If the abundance goes on long enough, apathy is almost impossible to address. However, false teachers are never content to let the Gospel take root, so they create conflict and a chance to separate the good from the bad, the healthy from the toxic.
God does not allow any evil to last, but uses the power of the Holy Spirit in the Word to make something good out of evil. I visited a jail and taught basic doctrine to them. One man got out and went to his old haunts and taught his friends, the ones who helped get him into trouble, about their need for repentance and faith in the Savior. I did not expect this, nor did the jailer, but the Gospel moved him to leave the City of Destruction (Pilgrim's Progress), warning the others.
The Gospel is all goodness and blessing, which is what God wants for us, no matter where we start. When faith takes root and grows, the power of constant - daily forgiveness energizes the individual. Instead of conflict eating up the person, peace takes over and moves the individual to increase the blessings for others. There is no boundary or limit for the blessings of the Gospel. They inhabit the believer and overflow into all areas of life.
God does not allow any evil to last, but uses the power of the Holy Spirit in the Word to make something good out of evil. I visited a jail and taught basic doctrine to them. One man got out and went to his old haunts and taught his friends, the ones who helped get him into trouble, about their need for repentance and faith in the Savior. I did not expect this, nor did the jailer, but the Gospel moved him to leave the City of Destruction (Pilgrim's Progress), warning the others.
The Gospel is all goodness and blessing, which is what God wants for us, no matter where we start. When faith takes root and grows, the power of constant - daily forgiveness energizes the individual. Instead of conflict eating up the person, peace takes over and moves the individual to increase the blessings for others. There is no boundary or limit for the blessings of the Gospel. They inhabit the believer and overflow into all areas of life.
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| Books by Norma A. Boeckler |
