Third Sunday in Lent -2024

 

https://us06web.zoom.us/j/89977857519?pwd=vWgBQOVHtS3WNxAch0N8aXrN6uX1p0.1

The Hymn #381         I Know My Faith Is Founded

The Confession of Sins
The Absolution
The Introit p. 16

Introit

Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice.

Let your moderation be known unto all men: 

the Lord is at hand.

Be careful for nothing: but in everything, 

by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, 

let your requests be made known unto God.

Psalm. Lord, Thou hast been favorable unto Thy land: 

Thou hast brought back the captivity of Jacob.

The Gloria Patri

The Kyrie p. 17
The Gloria in Excelsis
The Salutation and Collect p. 19

Collect

Lord, we beseech Thee, give ear to our prayers and lighten the darkness of our hearts by Thy gracious visitation; who livest and reignest with the Father and the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end.

The Epistle and Gradual

Gradual       

Thou that dwellest between the cherubim, shine forth: stir up Thy strength and come. V. Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel: Thou that leadest Joseph like a flock. Hallelujah! Hallelujah!

The Gospel              

Glory be to Thee, O Lord!
Praise be to Thee, O Christ!
The Nicene Creed p. 22
The Hymn # 63                 On Jordan's Bank the Baptist Cries

The Calendar of Grace 

The Hymn # 85:1-5       From Heaven Above     - Martin Luther       

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 #657                 Beautiful Savior   

Announcements and Prayers

• December 18th - Ninth Wedding Anniversary of Corey and Abby Meyer Fagan.
• Ongoing medical care - Pastor Jim Shrader and Chris Shrader, Kermit Way, Doc Lito's family.
• Tues is Zach Engleman's Birthday.
• Next Sunday is Norma's birthday.

Epistle

KJV 1 Corinthians 4:1 Let a man so account of us, as of the ministers of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God. 2 Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful. 3 But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged of you, or of man's judgment: yea, I judge not mine own self. 4 For I know nothing by myself; yet am I not hereby justified: but he that judgeth me is the Lord. 5 Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts: and then shall every man have praise of God.

Gospel

KJV Matthew 11:2 Now when John had heard in the prison the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples, 3 And said unto him, Art thou he that should come, or do we look for another? 4 Jesus answered and said unto them, Go and shew John again those things which ye do hear and see: 5 The blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them. 6 And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me. 7 And as they departed, Jesus began to say unto the multitudes concerning John, What went ye out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken with the wind? 8 But what went ye out for to see? A man clothed in soft raiment? behold, they that wear soft clothing are in kings' houses. 9 But what went ye out for to see? A prophet? yea, I say unto you, and more than a prophet. 10 For this is he, of whom it is written, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee.

Third Sunday In Advent

Lord God, heavenly Father, who didst suffer Thy Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, to become man, and to come into the world, that He might destroy the works of the devil, deliver us poor offenders from sin and death, and give us everlasting life: We beseech Thee so to rule and govern our hearts by Thy Holy Spirit, that we may seek no other refuge than His word, and thus avoid all offense to which, by nature, we are inclined, in order that we may always be found among the faithful followers of Thy Son, Jesus Christ, and by faith in Him obtain eternal salvation, through the same, Thy beloved Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, one true God, world without end. Amen.

Stewards of the Mysteries of God 

KJV 1 Corinthians 4:1 Let a man so account of us, as of the ministers of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God. 2 Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful.

    This lesson might be strange and unusual, but it has precise meaning - so often ignored in the past and in these new Babylonian times. Stewards had a very high standing in royalty, among the English. A steward then was important but not the King. Uncertain rules a noble person could have a very high standing but that did not make him the King. Instead, a child could wait until he was old enough to be a young king. 

There is a vast gulf between the two. Paul is using the term for those who take care of a wealthy business but can raise no higher than steward. Notice how the unfaithful steward used money to get himself a high standard - in the parable of the Unjust Steward.

    Paul associated two terms with his work. One was "servant," meaning that he was below Christ - the Holy Trinity. And he was also a steward, a phrase often misused by clergy who parade themselves around as the real thing - and know God better than He does Himself. That has been called "airs" when someone is overwhelmed by his own pride and majesty.

    Paul addressed this because he had special privileges handed to him, such as seeing the risen Christ and being appointed as equal among the apostles. The Corinthians were a rowdy bunch who got involved in what we call Pentecostalism, stoking up feelings and makes those feelings the proof of great Christian wisdom and power. We have to love the Corinthians, because they revealed so many problems that would be repeated in the centuries to come, engaging generations in bypassing or addressing those faulty use of the Christian Faith.

    The mysteries are those pearls and jewels of God's wisdom, presented perfectly so that no one takes them for granted or misuses them. The sceptics and know-it-all of today reject or corrupt the mysteries which belong only to God -

Luther's three summaries of the mysteries are three-fold

1. The humanity of Christ - denying His human nature;
2. The divinity of Christ - rejecting Him as only a man, even if very noble and wise, but still just a man;
3. Justification by Faith in Jesus - brushing aside faith in Jesus Christ  and becoming angry about Romans 4 and its climax at the opening of Romans 5.

1. Christina was taking to the owner of a rare books store about jewelry. The owner said "I wish you could fix my pearly necklace." Christina did that and brought it back." The owner said, "They are so beautiful and I want you to have the necklace." The pearl necklace was passed on, and so should the mystery of the faith be. We are required to be faithful stewards of the mysteries of 
   God, not just Paul the Apostle, but those who those and treasure those treasures.

3 But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged of you, or of man's judgment: yea, I judge not mine own self. 4 For I know nothing by myself; yet am I not hereby justified: but he that judgeth me is the Lord. 

The power of the mysteries is that no one is allowed to preserve and to spread them.

Or distort them. The mysteries are capsules of the Christian Faith -

The Trinity

The Spirit at work in the Word and never apart from the Word

 The three basics above, isolating the divinity or the human of Christ and distorting Justifications.

Invented and therefore false mysteries are: Mary's Assumption, her sinless life, her power to help souls in Purgatory, the scapula, Mary  (without sin) offering up Christ - serving as a priest, various ways to reduce time in Purgatory, saints, especially Mary who reduce time in Purgatory - some perhaps escaping just before the End.

5 Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts: and then shall every man have praise of God.

So, what is really important? Everyone has opinions, and we can see that the Corinthians had lots of opinions, just as the Galatians did. Opinions different from the Word of God make people fuzzy eyed, because they do not see clearly or clarify thoughts. One man told me about a church that reminded him of fish swimming in groups. "They all swim together and turn sharply with no warning, they swim more and turn sharply again. My church is just like that." He was not impressed.

What Dr. Fuhrman said about food is very close to the stewards of the mysteries of God. We can turn away from valuable food sources. No room for candy, ice cream, and pizza. But when introduced to foods that were always there (I plead guilty), those low calorie fruit, vegetable, greens, and nuts become delicious and long lasting.

I like what Luther did - dwelling on one Word or a phrase to get the complete meaning, as much as we can. Those are mysteries of God, favorites like John 3:16, going back to the serpents in the Pentateuch, raised up to cure people. God waiting until this came to be fully understood as Christ raised on the cross.

Daily Luther Sermon Quote - Advent 3 - "Now, as it was of great importance for them to believe John’s witness and acknowledge Christ, he praised John first for his steadfastness, thus rebuking their wavering on account of which they would not believe John’s witness."

 

Third Sunday in Advent, Matthew 11:2-10. John in Prison: or Christ’s Answer to John’s Question; His Praise of John; and the Application of This Gospel

III. HOW AND WHY CHRIST PRAISES JOHN.

“And as these went their way, Jesus began to say unto the multitudes concerning John, What went ye out in the wilderness to behold? a reed shaken by the wind? But what went ye out to see? a man clothed in soft raiments? Behold, they that wear soft raiment are in kings’ houses. But wherefore went ye out? to see a prophet? Yea, I say unto you, and much more than a prophet.”

41. Inasmuch as Christ thus lauds John the Baptist, because he is not a reed, nor clothed in soft raiment, and because he is more than a prophet, he gives us to understand by these figurative words, that the people were inclined to look upon John as a reed, as clad in soft raiment, and as a prophet. Therefore we must see what he means by them, and why he ;censures and rejects these opinions of theirs. Enough has been said, that John bore witness of Christ, in order that the people might not take offense at Christ’s humble appearance and manner.

42. Now, as it was of great importance for them to believe John’s witness and acknowledge Christ, he praised John first for his steadfastness, thus rebuking their wavering on account of which they would not believe John’s witness. It is as though he would say: You have heard John’s witness concerning me, but now you do not adhere to it, you take offense at me and your hearts are wavering; you are looking for another, but know not who, nor when and where, and thus your hearts are like a reed shaken by the wind to and fro; you are sure of nothing, and would rather hear something else than the truth about me. Now do you think that John should also turn his witness from me and, as is the lease with your thoughts, turn it to the winds and speak of another whom you would be pleased to hear?

Not so. John does not waver, nor does his witness fluctuate; he does not follow your swaying delusion; but you must stay your wavering by his witness, and thus adhere to me and expect none other.

43. Again, Christ lauds John because of his coarse raiment, as though to say: Perhaps you might believe him when he says that I am he that should come as to my person; but you expect him to speak differently about me, saying something smooth and agreeable, that would be pleasant to hear. It is indeed hard and severe that I come so poor and despised. You desire me to rush forth with pomp and flourish of trumpets. Had John thus spoken of me, then he would not appear so coarse and severe himself. But do not think thus. Whoever desires to preach about me, must not preach different than John is doing. It’s to no purpose, I will assume no other state and manner. Those who teach different than John, are not in the wilderness, but in kings’ houses. They are rich and honored by the people. They are teachers of man-made doctrines, teaching themselves, and not me.

44. Christ lauds John, thirdly, because of the dignity of his office, namely, that he is not only a prophet, but even more than a prophet, as though to say: In your high-soaring fluctuating opinion you take John for a prophet, who speaks of the coming of Christ, just as the other prophets have done, and thus again your thoughts go beyond me to a different time when you expect Christ to come, according to John’s witness, so that you will in no case accept me. But I say to you, your thoughts are wrong. For just as John warns you not to be like a shaken reed, and not to look for any other than myself, nor to expect me in a different state and manner from that in which you see me, he also forbids you to look for another time, because his witness points to this person of mine, to this state and manner, and to this time, and it opposes your fickle ideas in every way and binds you firmly to my person.

The Augsburg Confession: A Brief Review and Interpretation by Juergen Ludwig Neve. - Lutheran Library Publishing Ministry - Alec Satin - Lutheran Librarian.

 

Lutheran Library Publishing Ministry Weekly Updates

May God bless you now and always. From your Lutheran Librarian,

📅 NEW PUBLICATIONS AND UPDATES

The Augsburg Confession: A Brief Review and Interpretation by Juergen Ludwig Neve “The main stress in the book… is upon the interpretation of its text… It is prefaced by a chapter with simple talks on confessional questions… The second part… tell(s) the story of the Confession in a readable way.. The third part, with its interpretation of the articles of the Confession, forms the main part of this book… the effort has been made to write in such a way that a layman… can follow the discussions.” -from the Preface by J L Neve. Level of Difficulty: Primer: No prior subject ... Read more Life's Golden Lamp: A Treasury of Texts from the Words of Christ by Robert Offord This daily devotional is made up of short messages based on Scriptural texts. Each has been written by a different minister of the Gospel. ‘May the Lord whose words are the vital portion of the book grant that as these are read from day to day… they may not return to him void!’ - from the Preface Level of Difficulty: Primer: No prior subject matter knowledge needed. Contents About the Lutheran Library Titlepage Preface These Sayings of ... Read more An Easy Guide to Scripture Animals by Vernon Morwood “An Easy Guide to Scripture Animals, being a description of all the animals mentioned in the Bible, with the Scripture References, numerous anecdotes, etc. For home use and for day and Sunday schools.” Level of Difficulty: Primer: No prior subject matter knowledge needed. Contents About the Lutheran Library Original Cover Titlepage Presented to Frontispiece Preface Contents Vocabulary Scripture ... Read more How I Found the True Faith by Samuel McGerald “The story of a remarkable conversion from Roman Catholicism, with additional chapters on subjects vital and fundamental.” Level of Difficulty: Primer: No prior subject matter knowledge needed. Contents About the Lutheran Library Titlepage What’s said about the book by Distinguished Men of Both Continents Autograph Frontispiece Epigraph Contents Foreword 1 My Early Years 2 Boyhood Experiences 3 Coming to America 4 A Turning Point in My Life 5 Reading the Sealed Book 6 The Word Winning Its ... Read more Reasons Why I Cannot Return to the Church of Rome by Samuel McGerald “In view of the persistent and unflagging efforts of my friends to win or force me back to the Roman faith, I am led to give the following reaosns why I cannot return to the church I broke away from sixty-five years ago…” -From the Foreword Level of Difficulty: Primer: No prior subject matter knowledge needed. Contents About the Lutheran Library Titlepage Frontispiece Contents Introduction Epigraph Foreword 1 The Glories of Mary 2 Rome an Apostate Church 3 The Roman Church Founded on ... Read more Handbook to the Controversy with Rome by Karl von Hase “This Handbook… has been fitly called indispensable for a knowledge of the Roman controversy, and a masterpiece of Protestant theology, both in form and contents, unrefuted and irrefutable.” - The Translator Level of Difficulty: Intermediate: Some prior subject matter knowledge helpful. Contents About the Lutheran Library Titlepage Contents of Volume 1 Note Analysis of the Argument Translator’s Preface Prefaces Book 1. The Church 1 Catholicism A Unity B Infallibility C The Sole Means of ... Read more

🚀 SHARE IT WITH YOUR FRIENDS

Liked this week's issue? Don't forget to spread it out!

WELS Husband Faked Death To Be With His Mistress Overseas

 

Borgwardt was seen shuffling into court in handcuffs following his dramatic return to the US on Wednesday. His return comes four months after he was initially thought to have drowned in Green Lake while out kayaking.

Ryan Borgwardt's wife is a teacher in one of the WELS schools in Watertown, Wisconsin.

Ryan faked his death, went to Canada, and traveled to be with a lady in Uzbek. He came back from death by mishandling his own photo, which showed up by mistake in his equipment back home.

They Are Selling - Not Teaching, Because Gospel Teaching Embarrasses Them

 

In this sermon, Luther emphasized that Jesus was primarily a teacher rather than a miracle worker. The miracles were not the end game (contrary to the squeamish rationalists of today) but the method by which the Son of God taught them the essential truths. The centurion - knew and spoke with great clarity - the Word is efficacious. "Just say the Word and my assistant will be healed, not dead."

One of our members brought Justification by Faith books to a Lutheran Free Conference, which meant anyone could participate in sharing materials. Matt the Fatt came by and picked up a book. "What are you selling?" The member said, "We are not selling anything. These are free." The supposed Doctor said, "Looks like you are selling something" and walked away. Pretty soon the so-called "Free Conference" defenestrated the Justification by Faith table. LCMS-WELS-ELS stood (or rather cowered) against Justification by Faith and would not allow it.

The LutherQueasies, unaware of their follies, call us OJ-Deniers. 

The Big Five Apostates - ELCA-LCMS-WELS-ELS-CLC (sic) do not teach at all. They sell the current, pre-packaged products, which must be sold in their perfection of perfidy. For example, some have been sold on Unstuck, so they are required to follow the Unstuck model.

The Unstuck Group | Consulting & Leadership Coaching

2 days ago · Grow your church's impact by successfully aligning vision, strategy, team and action. The Unstuck Group serves churches with fewer than 200 in average attendance to more than …

Daily Luther Sermon Quote - Advent 3 - "For it has always been preached unto the whole world, as Christ says, “Go ye into all the world, and preach the Gospel to the whole creation,” Mark 16:15. Surely these poor are not the beggars and the bodily poor, but the spiritually poor, namely, those who do not covet and love earthly goods; yes, rather those poor, broken-hearted ones who in the agony of their conscience seek and desire help and consolation so ardently that they covet neither riches nor honor. Nothing will be of help to them, unless they have a merciful God. Here is true spiritual weakness."

 

Jesus is the Good Samaritan

Third Sunday in Advent, Matthew 11:2-10. John in Prison: or Christ’s Answer to John’s Question; His Praise of John; and the Application of This Gospel

Therefore, hold to this distinction, and no matter what books you have before you, be they of the Old or of the New Testament, read them with a discrimination so as to observe that when promises are made in a book, it is a Gospel-book; when commandments are given, it is a law-book. But because in the New Testament the promises are found so abundantly, and in the Old Testament so many laws, the former is called the Gospel, and the latter the Book of the Law. We now come back to our text. “And the poor have good tidings preached unto them.”

30. From what has just been said it is easily understood that among the works of Christ none is greater than preaching the Gospel to the poor. This means nothing else than that to the poor the divine promise of grace and consolation in and through Christ is preached, offered and presented, so that to him who believes all his sins are forgiven, the law is fulfilled, conscience is appeased and at last life eternal is bestowed upon him. What more joyful tidings could a poor sorrowful heart and a troubled conscience hear than this? How could the heart become more bold and courageous than by such consoling, blissful words of promise? Sin, death, hell, the world and the devil and every evil are scorned, when a poor heart receives and believes this consolation of the divine promise. To give sight to the blind and to raise up the dead are but insignificant deeds, compared with preaching the Gospel to the poor. Therefore Christ mentions it as the greatest and best among these works.

31. But it must be observed that Christ says: “The Gospel is preached to none but to the poor only, thus without doubt intending it to be a message for the poor only. For it has always been preached unto the whole world, as Christ says, “Go ye into all the world, and preach the Gospel to the whole creation,” Mark 16:15. Surely these poor are not the beggars and the bodily poor, but the spiritually poor, namely, those who do not covet and love earthly goods; yes, rather those poor, broken-hearted ones who in the agony of their conscience seek and desire help and consolation so ardently that they covet neither riches nor honor. Nothing will be of help to them, unless they have a merciful God. Here is true spiritual weakness.

They are those for whom such a message is intended, and in their hearts they are delighted with it. They feel that they have been delivered from hell and death.

32. Therefore, though the Gospel is heard by all the world, yet it is not accepted but by the poor only. Moreover, it is to be preached and proclaimed to all the world, that it is a message only for the poor, and that the rich men can not receive it. Whosoever would receive it must first become poor, as Christ says, Matthew 9:13, that he came not to call the righteous but only sinners, although he called all the world. But his calling was such that he desired to be accepted only by sinners, and all he called should become sinners. This they resented. In like manner all should become poor who heard the Gospel, that they might be worthy of the Gospel; but this they also resented. Therefore the Gospel remained only for the poor. Thus God’s grace was also preached before all the world to the humble, in order that all might become humble, but they would not be humble.

33. Hence you see who are the greatest enemies of the Gospel, namely, the work-righteous saints, who are self-conceited, as has been said before. For the Gospel has not the least in common with them. They want to be rich in works, but the Gospel wills that they are to become poor. They will not yield, neither can the Gospel yield, as it is the unchangeable word of God.

Thus they and the Gospel clash, one with another, as Christ says, “And he that falleth on this stone shall be broken to pieces; but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will scatter him as dust.” Matthew 21:44.

Again, they condemn the Gospel as being error and heresy; and we observe it comes to pass daily, as it has from the beginning of the world, that between the Gospel and the work-righteous saints there is no peace, no good will and no reconciliation. But meanwhile Christ must suffer himself to be crucified anew, for he and those that are his must place themselves, as it were, into this vise, namely, between the Gospel and the work-righteous saints, and thus be pressed and crushed like the wheat between the upper and nether millstones. But the lower stone is the quiet, peaceable and immovable Gospel, while the upper stone is the works and their masters, who are ranting and raging.

34. With all this John contradicts strongly the fleshly and worldly opinion his disciples entertained concerning Christ’s coming. They thought that the great king. whom John extolled so highly, namely, that the latchet of whose shoe he was not worthy to unloose (John 1:27), would enter in such splendor that everything would be gold and costly ornaments, and immediately the streets would be spread with pearls and silks. As they lifted up their eyes so high and looked for such splendor, Christ turns their look downward and holds before them the blind, lame, deaf, dumb, poor and everything that conflicts with such splendor, and contrariwise he presents himself in the state of a common servant rather than that of a great king, whose shoe’s latchet John considered himself unworthy to unloose, as though Christ would say to them: “Banish your high expectations, look not to my person and state, but to the works I do. Worldly lords, because they rule by force, must be accompanied by rich, high, healthy, strong, wise and able men. With them they have to associate, and they need them, or their kingdom could not exist; hence they can never attend to the blind, lame, deaf, dumb, dead, lepers and the poor.

But my kingdom, because it seeks not its own advantage, but rather bestows benefits upon others, is sufficient of itself and needs no one’s help; therefore, I can not bear to be surrounded by such as are already sufficient of themselves, such as are healthy, rich, strong, pure, active, pious, and able in every respect. To such I am of no benefit; they obtain nothing from me. Yea, they would be a disgrace to me, because it would seem that I needed them and were benefited by them, as worldly rulers are by their subjects. Therefore, I must do otherwise and keep to those who can become partakers of me, and I must associate with the blind, the lame, the dumb, and all kinds of afflicted ones. This the character and nature of my kingdom demand. For this reason I must appear in a way that such people can feel at home in my company.

35. And now very aptly follow the words, “And blessed is he, whosoever shall find no occasion of stumbling in me.” Why? Because Christ’s humble appearance and John’s excellent testimony of Christ seemed to disagree with each other. Human reason could not make them rhyme. Now all the Scriptures pointed to Christ, and there was danger of misinterpreting them.

Reason spoke thus: Can this be the Christ, of whom all the Scriptures speak? Should he be the one, whose shoe’s latchet John thought himself unworthy to unloose, though I scarcely consider him worthy to clean my shoes? Therefore, it is surely true that it is a great blessing not to find occasion of stumbling in Christ, and there is here no other help or remedy than to look at his works and compare them with the Scriptures. Otherwise it is impossible to keep from being offended at Christ.