Bethany Lutheran Church
Springdale, Arkansas
Pastor Gregory Jackson
The Absolution
The Introit p. 16
The Introit p. 16
Introit
God is in His holy habitation:
He is God who setteth the solitary in families.
The God of Israel is He that giveth strength:
and power unto His people.
Psalm. Let God arise, let His enemies be scattered:
let them also that hate Him flee before Him.
The Kyrie p. 17
The Gloria in Excelsis
The Salutation and Collect p. 19
Collect
Almighty and everlasting God, who art always more ready to hear than we to pray and art wont to give more than either we desire or deserve, pour down upon us the abundance of Thy mercy, forgiving us those things whereof our conscience is afraid, and giving us those good things which we are not worthy to ask but through the merits and mediation of Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, who liveth, etc.
The Epistle and Gradual
Gradual
My heart trusteth in God, and I am helped:
therefore my heart greatly rejoiceth;
and with my song will I praise Him.
V. Unto Thee will I cry, O Lord, my Rock:
be not silent to me; hear the voice at my supplications.
Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
V. Lord, Thou hast been our Dwelling Place in all generations.
Hallelujah!
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
Jesus Taught Justification by Faith
[Some parts of the Danish rural population firmly held to Kingo's hymns during the Pietist and Rationalist periods, contributing to their survival.]
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 #575 Before the Lord We Bow - F. Scott Key
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 #575 Before the Lord We Bow - F. Scott Key
In Our Prayers
- Diagnosis and Treatment - Maria Way - two stents; Doc Lito and his wife, Phoenix their grandson - surgery; Sarah Buck, Lori Howell, Pastor Jim Shrader and Chris.
- Ten more KJVs are arriving soon.
KJV 1 Corinthians15:1 Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; 2 By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. 3 For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; 4 And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures: 5 And that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve: 6 After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep. 7 After that, he was seen of James; then of all the apostles. 8 And last of all he was seen of me also, as of one born out of due time. 9 For I am the least of the apostles, that am not meet to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 10 But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.
KJV Luke 18: 9 And he spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others: 10 Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican. 11 The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican.12 I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess. 13 And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner. 14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.
Jesus Taught Justification by Faith
KJV Luke 18:9 And he spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others:
This is, of course, a parable, and yet it is so true to life that it reflects the attitudes of our era - and it was just as true back in the days of Luther, and the Old Testament too. The parable concept makes it a perfect example of self-righteousness compared to faith in Jesus Christ.
If a university has a need, the managers seek people with the money to fund the projects. They are delighted to put that person's name on new buildings. Fuller Seminary had someone so evil, and yet they carved his name on the building he funded. So proud, so impressive...but they had to chisel off that marbled name when he was convicted of his crimes. I could name two others among the Lutherans - and the names remain on the buildings, and yet their names remain, but their denominations are failing at a fast pace.
We can can hear God's Word in this parable, because human nature does not change. God does not need the glitz and glamor of another building. It is fascinating to see how many seminaries have been merged into one campus in New Haven, mergers of mergers, such as Yale Divinity merging with the Episcopal seminary, merging those two into Andover Newton, which was once Andover Seminary and Newton Seminary. Andover (liberal Baptist) was at Harvard for a time, too.
10 Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican.
Luther pointed out that this Pharisee is a model of the Law, an example of righteousness. Paul was the same way, before his conversion. Even today there are many who repudiate faith in Jesus Christ and brag about their high standing in Lutherdom. There are many ways to describe the modern Pharisees. First of all, they are ranked highly among their peers, and look down on the ordinary ones. Although they distinguish one synod from the others and even look down on their supposed brothers (the two LCMS seminaries, the Gettysburg and Philadelphia seminaries, and the WELS and ELS seminaries) their greatest love is for the Church Growth clowns of all the seminaries. PS - I have been at all six of those seminaries, but alas, not at Fuller.
The publican is a tax collector, and we can see the same burdens today, where people with very little money are taxed heavily and persecuted, even while the superwealthy are given loopholes that make their taxes minimal. Those agents who can get more out of their targets are rewarded and given promotions, more money for themselves.
The Jews of that era were paying taxes to the Roman Empire, and Rome did not tolerate any opposition. Jesus knew that the destruction of Jerusalem was coming, marked first by His resurrection, fairly soon the first Christians were driven away before the destruction of the city in 70 AD. Jerusalem was destroyed and the early Christians spread out, to take the Gospel to the corners of the earth.
11 The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican.
Before his conversion Paul gathered up Christians to be punished. It was God's will to reveal the risen Christ to Paul, which helped him combine his new work with Jews and Gentiles. We can imagine what the believers said about Paul - "Him? An apostle? How can that be?" And Paul became a champion Epistle author and also someone who suffered greatly from being persecuted and scorned by false teachers who wanted to destroy the faith of new Christians.
12 I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess.
Jesus pointed out the people should not advertise their fasts or their donations. He did not want sour faces or looking at the fine points of donating, down to mint, cumin, and dill, Matthew 23:23. One thing we should remember in our explorations of the Bible - the unity of the authors with the main author being the Holy Spirit, which gives the Bible harmony and unity. Jesus said, the Spirit will teach from the Father and the Son, and a Harvard graduate could not find the Trinity in the New Testament. I mention that often because this came up with someone who was troubled about the Trinity and learned this from Catholic, Lutheran, Protestant.
13 And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner.
This fits Luther's comparison clearly. We are worriers. We are anxious about the future. That can easily increase blood pressure and make us forgetful as we fret about this and that. Luther's simple phrase is - We do the work, God worries for us. That is a perfect description of faith in Jesus Christ, Who did everything for us; who can serve as his own savior? To imagine we can fix the future is a mighty colossal achievement. Peter says,
1 Peter 5:1 Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble. 6 Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time: 7 Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.
Those of us with more candles on the cake can easily look back and look at all the miraculous things we have experienced. Since God is watching over us, the Good Shepherd providing for the sheep and driving away the wolves, we can look back and say how did that happen? Many times the bad has become good, so good we have to be thankful for the final outcome.
14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.
One was justified - by faith! - a verse invisible to the Objective Faithless Justification crowd. This is the sample offered by Jesus Christ. The humble person has faith in God; the one who praises himself will be humbled.
How Christianity Built the Framework for the Constitution
Ninth Amendment
The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.
Tenth Amendment
The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people.
