Midweek Advent 1 - 2024

The Zoom linked while it was live, and I created the YouTube. Getting past the thorns and tangles of the platforms means that I have the YouTube for the Midweek but cannot get some things working together.

 

Bethany Lutheran Worship, 7 PM Central Time

The Hymn #58         O Lord How I Shall Meet Thee

         
The Order of Vespers                                                p. 41

The Psalmody                          Psalm 24                  p. 128
The Lections                             

                                                 
The Sermon Hymn #345  Jesus Lover of My Soul

 

The Sermon –  Only One Power Rules the World  

 
The Prayers

The Lord’s Prayer

The Collect for Grace                                            p. 45

The Hymn #554         Now Rest Beneath Night's Shadows

The Sermon –  Only One Power Rules the World

Jesus was born when the Holy Land was owned and taxed by the greatest empire on earth - The Senate and People of Rome, SPQR. Julius Caesar had already visited England. Caesar Augustus used his power and wealth to create a staggering group of buildings, still filling people with tourists today.

Jesus was born of the Virgin Mary in the meekest of circumstances, as we all know. By popular standards today, He had no land, no known titles, no money. These things are so important today but they were revealed only to Joseph, Mary, and the shepherds.

The Gospel spread in the most humble ways, ordinary people spread the Gospel, especially through persecution, not enormous buildings or giant libraries. When the cry-babies ask, "Why don't we have more ancient New Testaments?!" - the answer is clear. They were worn to death by use and copying and then burned to keep the crumbling paper out of the hands of heretics.

So they had very little power and a lot of horrible experiences, but they crushed the evil ones by the force of their patience under suffering and their praise of Jesus the Savior. Faith in Jesus Christ has two impacts - 

1. one is opposition, which will never go away;
2. the other is teaching the Gospel, evangelism, preaching, and guarding the Word of God. 

I like the New Testament phrase - guard the Word, often written as keep the Word. Unfortunately, many people today guard their seminary and guard their own books while despising the genuine Scriptures. The most powerful thing on earth is that Word of God, which is the precise teaching of Father and Son through the Holy Spirit.

Although people are cowed by the powerful, most of that comes from bluffing, bullying, takings things for granted, and using common phrases like "Do you know who my father is?" 

A. We had Vimeo bills a second year - $900 - and I responded and heard nothing. I emailed, "I already contacted my attorney about this." Minutes later they promised to refund the $900 at once. 

B. I saw that happen with the same phrase. One was an excessive $2,000 bill for surgery. 

C. The other was a botched case where the hospital set up a panel to refuse to remove the $600 overcharge. All I did was say, "I spoke to _____ law firm." And I did. A member of the congregation was a specialist in such cases and told me, "No chance the parents will win." It was only the name of the law firm that drove them into a frenzy with some nasty words, dramatic yelling. About a week later, the bill was erased.

Verbal bullying is a plague on our society. Some of it is outright lying and threats. But others hint at the falsehoods and use them as tools against someone more quiet, shy, and polite. Faith in Christ gives us the strength to do what is right as a believer. I pointed out in two additional cases that standing up, putting knuckles on the table, and yelling are the sign of a gorilla who is afraid. (I don't want to test that.) It worked very well because the yelling lawyers ran out of ammo... or flying spittle.

We can be crushed by spiritual forces, too, because Satan will battle the believers as long as he can before his empire collapses. Emotions are far more fragile than our bodies, and they can pull us down until we feel helpless. We are not helpless.

We worry about running out of gasoline, but more important is running out of spiritual energy. That requires -

• Daily going over all things important and spiritual - confessing sin, helping with our difficulties, guiding others, praising Christ for all He does, thanking God.
• Methodical Scripture reading. The Gospel of John is best.
• Enjoying great Christian music, such as Handel's Messiah, Bach, TLH hymns, and modern efforts.

In Our Prayers

Dr. Lito Cruz - operation; Sarah Buck; Pastor Jim and Chris Shrader; Kermit Way.

ELCA Becomes a Sanctuary Church - The Four Waltherian Cults - LCMS-WELS-ELS-CLC (sic) Sure To Follow

In its simplest form, becoming a sanctuary denomination means that the ELCA is publicly declaring that walking alongside immigrants and refugees is a matter of faith.

In baptism, we are brought into a covenantal relationship with Jesus Christ that commits us to strive for justice and peace in all the earth. Following the example of Martin Luther, we believe that advocacy is a crucial expression of baptismal identity. As a church, we have advocated for stopping the detention of children and families for decades. We have spoken out against family separation, sought a pathway to citizenship for community members who have lived in the U.S. for many years, and have taken steps to address the root causes of migration in a way that honors the humanity in people who must flee.

Through the ELCA’s AMMPARO strategy, we continue this work. Talking points, articles, videos and resources are housed here so this church can have conversations about what sanctuary means with many of our members in their context to discern future action and direction. Becoming a sanctuary denomination was voted on and passed by the 2019 ELCA Churchwide Assembly in Milwaukee.

Being a sanctuary denomination means that we, as church together, want to be public and vocal about this work. It will look different for everyone, but welcoming people is not a political issue for us – it is a matter of faith.

Resources

• Talking Points
• Videos
• Overview
• AMMPARO resources
• Memorials Committee Report Original memorial language
• Legislative Update - 8/7/2019 Passed action item
• Sanctuary Bible Study
• Sanctuary Memorial FAQ
• Sanctuary Memorial FAQ - Spanish
• ELCA Sanctuary Church Guidelines

 

Female Lutheran pastor leads church in 'sparkle creed' prayer to 'nonbinary' God, says Christ Jesus had '2 dads'

By Ian M. Giatti, Christian Post Reporter Thursday, June 29, 2023

A female Lutheran pastor in Minnesota has gone viral for leading her congregation in a “sparkle creed” prayer in honor of LGBT pride month in which she described God as “nonbinary” and Christ Jesus as having “two dads.”

Anna Helgen, co-pastor of Edina Community Lutheran Church (ECLC) in Edina, a suburb of Minneapolis, delivered the prayer during a Sunday service live stream on June 25, when she called on members of the church to stand in honor of the “sparkle creed.”

In this prayer, Helgen recited a statement of faith known on social media as the “sparkle creed.”

“I believe in the nonbinary God, whose pronouns are plural,” Helgen said. “I believe in Jesus Christ, their child, who wore a fabulous tunic, and had two dads and saw everyone as a sibling child of God.

“I believe in the rainbow spirit who shatters our image of one white light and refracts it into a rainbow of gorgeous diversity. I believe in the church of everyday saints, as numerous, creative and resilient as patches on the … quilt, whose feet are grounded in mud and whose eyes gaze at the stars in wonder. I believe in the calling to each of us that love is love is love, so beloved let us love. 

“I believe, glorious God, help my unbelief, Amen.”

Can ELCA pastors have too many tattoos? Nadia Bolz Weber

Daily Luther Sermon Quote - Advent 2 - "The course of the heavens has been so arranged from eternity that before the last day these signs must appear. The heathen say that the comet is a natural product; but God has created none that is not a token of future evil. Thus also the blind leader, Aristotle, writing a book about the phenomena of the heavens, attributes all to nature and declares these are no signs. Our learned men follow him and thus one fool fills the world with fools."

 

Second Sunday in Advent, Luke 21:25-36. Christ’s Second Coming: or the Signs of the Day of Judgment; and the Comfort Christians Have from Them

11. We also read in the history of the destruction, of Jerusalem that many signs were fulfilled, yet they would not believe them to be tokens of the coming destruction until judgment was executed. Finally, from the beginning of the world, it has ever been so, that the unbelieving could not believe the day of calamity to be near — they always experienced it before they believed it. This is in fulfillment of Psalm 55:23: “Bloodthirsty and deceitful men shall not live out half their days,” for they presume upon the continuance of their days and have no fear, and so the hour must come unawares. So here people are putting off the judgment for yet a thousand years when it may break in upon them in a night. This is the first class of signs which presage the nearness of the day of God. Let us now consider the second class. “And there shall be signs in the sun.”

12. This sign to be given in the sun is that it will lose its brightness, after the manner in which it has often occurred, as Matthew 24:29, says: “The sun shall be darkened.” I will not trespass here again but express my opinion. Some think that the sun is to be darkened as never to shine again; but this cannot be the meaning, for day and night must continue to the end, as God foretells, Genesis 8:22: “While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.” This sign must therefore, not interfere with day and night and still be fulfilled before the judgment day, for it is a token of its coming.

It cannot, therefore, be more than a darkening of the sun in its accustomed course.

13. Now at all times such a sign in the sun has been looked upon as foreboding misfortune or disaster, which also often followed, as history abundantly shows. Thus we have had, it seems to me, the last few years more and more frequent eclipses of the sun than in any other like period of time. God has spared us and no great evil has come upon us. For this reason these signs are not noticed. In addition, astronomers have told us, and rightly so, that these eclipses are but natural phenomena. As a result the tokens are still more despised and carnal security increased.

Nevertheless God in carrying on his work in silence, gives us security and moves forward in his plans. Whatever the natural course of the heavens may be, these signs are always tokens of his wrath and predict sure disaster for the future. If these are not seen, shall God make other suns and moons and stars and show other signs inthem?'

14. The course of the heavens has been so arranged from eternity that before the last day these signs must appear. The heathen say that the comet is a natural product; but God has created none that is not a token of future evil. Thus also the blind leader, Aristotle, writing a book about the phenomena of the heavens, attributes all to nature and declares these are no signs. Our learned men follow him and thus one fool fills the world with fools. Let us know that though the heavenly bodies wander in their courses according to law, God has still made these to be signs or tokens of his wrath. “And in the moon.”

15. This sign is given in Matthew 24:29, to the effect that “the moon shall not give her light”; that is, it will lose its brightness. The same is to be said of this as of the signs in the sun, no matter how natural it may be. Is it not true that scarcely a year has passed of late in which sun or moon or both have been eclipsed, sometimes one of them twice a year? If these are not signs, then, what are signs? It may be that at other times more were seen than now, but surely not in more rapid succession. When Jerusalem was to be destroyed, some signs preceded which had occurred before, but they were still new tokens. “And in the stars,”