Reformation Seminary - Highlights of John's Gospel

Augsburg Confession

This is the link for YouTube. It is not working as it has in the other videos.

Chapter 1

1:1-5

The Trinity is emphasized in the three-fold nature of the opening.

The "same" is autos - very strong pronoun. Emphatic about the Son.

Jesus is the One who executed the Father's Commands.

Answering questions - Did the Son in the beginning? Was He part of the Trinity?

He is not ordinary light - but The Light in the I AM passages.

6. John is subordinate to the Son.

12 - 13. They are the Sons of God by virtue of believing in Him.

14. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

Fourth Gospel = Moses commentary.

17 For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.

18 No man hath seen God at any time, the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him. - The exegete of the Father.

KJV John 1:1-18

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

2 The same was in the beginning with God.

3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.

4 In him was life; and the life was the light of men.

5 And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.

6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.

7 The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe.

8 He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light.

9 That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.

10 He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not.

11 He came unto his own, and his own received him not.

12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:

13 Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

15 John bare witness of him, and cried, saying, This was he of whom I spake, He that cometh after me is preferred before me: for he was before me.

16 And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace.

17 For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.

18 No man hath seen God at any time, the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared

Daily Luther Sermon Quote - Trinity 10 - "If God wants me here, he will give me other treasures, for he has promised to give enough for this life and for the life to come. If he does not want me here, I owe him a death, which will bring me into eternal life; when he calls me, I will go trusting in his Word."

 

Complete Sermon - Tenth Sunday after Trinity, Luke 19:41-48. Prophecy of the Destruction of Jerusalem

17. We pass over these and many like passages, and besides despise them, and depend only on what we have in our banks, and how we may keep our purses filled, and do not consider that God has also given us what we have, and will still give us more; nor do we consider that when we lose God, the stomach will also be lost. Therefore we are served just right in losing both the creator and the creature besides.

18. But believers in God risk all in him and transfer all things into his care, for him to do according to his pleasure, and think thus: God has given you your home and wife, you have not produced them yourself; now because they are God’s, I will entrust them all to his care, he will keep them from all harm. I must otherwise leave all at any rate, therefore I will bravely trust him with them, and for his sake give up all I have. If God wants me here, he will give me other treasures, for he has promised to give enough for this life and for the life to come. If he does not want me here, I owe him a death, which will bring me into eternal life; when he calls me, I will go trusting in his Word.

19. Whoever is not thus disposed, denies God, and must at the same time lose both, the present and the eternal life. The belly with its foul odors is our God, and prevents us from clinging to God’s Word. First, I will be certain how I shall feed, and where my supplies are. The Gospel says:

Trust in God; and your stomach shall most certainly be provided for, and have enough [without believing or trusting in it]. But if I have only five dollars they give me so much courage to think I have anyhow enough food for ten days, that I trust in such limited provisions, and do not trust God who fed me hitherto, that he will care for me to-morrow.

20. Is it not a shameful vexation or calamity that I trust in a penny that I will have something to eat to-morrow? How contemptible this carcass!

Shall a penny have more weight in my heart and give me more courage than God himself, who holds heaven and earth in his power, who gives us the air we breathe and the water we drink, who makes our corn to grow and gives us all things? It is so scandalous that it cannot be uttered, that God should not amount to as much with us as a hundred guilders. Why not think that God, who has created me, will surely feed me, if he wants me to live? If he does not want this, very well, I shall be satisfied.

Hope ELCA Lutheran Church in West Des Moines Has Abandoned Its Denomination, Refusing To Host Gay Weddings.

Hope Lutheran Church in West Des Moines averages 8,700 people worshiping per week.

Protestia

The world’s largest Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) church has officially left the denomination. On July 13, The Synod Council of the Southeastern Iowa Synod voted to remove the Lutheran Church of Hope, West Des Moines, from its membership rolls.

On paper, the Synod is dropping them over a disagreement with their pastoral staff. The multisite mega-church, under the leadership of Rev. Mike Housholder, has seven pastors on staff “who are not on the roster of the ELCA or any of its full communion partners, which conflicts with the ELCA constitution.” Yet in a letter sent to the church family, LCOH has a different take, insisting these pastors are badly needed and are more than qualified, refusing the purge them for the sake of remaining.

The candidacy and call process for pastors, a point of tension between Hope and the ELCA for years, has reached a tipping point. The ELCA has a pastor shortage. As a result, on occasion and out of necessity, Hope’s search for new pastors to serve our rapidly growing congregation has included some who were ordained in non-ELCA denominations. All of these pastors earned a Master of Divinity or higher degree, fulfilled other traditional requirements for Lutheran ordination, and expressed interest in becoming ELCA pastors. However, due to resistance from ELCA synod candidacy committees and the high cost of up to two extra years of required (and often redundant) post-M.Div. classes, they opted out.

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GJ - This congregation is Church Growthy, and ELCA put up with them for many years. When Liz Eaton was a young Ohio bishop, she ridiculed the idea that ELCA would punish those congregations who did not conform to the gay agenda. However, ELCA did that 100%, step by step, with Liz Eaton as Presiding Bishop of the fast-shrinking national synod, 5.3 million members in 1987, probably down by 50% in 2024. Scholars are divided about the records kept.

To keep up the pastoral roster, ELCA began a series of recruiting efforts, graphics below - not fakes.

"Do you feel called to be a leader in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America? We have Discernment Advocates ready to guide you to what might be next. Join an online discernment group today!"

St. John Lutheran Church in Des Moines is an ELCA church noted for being one of the largest in LCA/ELCA.

My vicarage supervisor in Kitchener Ontario, Henry Opperman, had been the senior pastor at St. John, Des Moines. I am guessing they are no longer quite so large. However, these facts are not easily obtained. St. John, Des Moines, is below.