Midweek Lenten Service - 7 PM Central Time - Jesus Came To Teach

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Mid-Week Advent, 

Wednesday, 7 PM Central

The Hymn #657               Beautiful Savior    
The Order of Vespers                                         p. 41

The Psalmody            Psalm   14                     p. 124
The Lection            

Sermon Hymn # 410             Jesus Lead Thou On

The Prayers and Lord’s Prayer                         p.  44

The Collect for Peace                                        p. 45

The Benediction                                                   p. 45

The Hymn # 558            All Praise to Thee

                            Announcements and Prayers

• In treatment - Kermit Way ; Pastor Jim Shrader and Chris; Sarah Buck;  the son of Dr. and Mrs. Lito Cruz.
• The new computer is going back to Best Buy in favor of something that works well.
• Those suffering from emotional and metabolic stress.

Isaiah 7:10 Moreover the Lord spake again unto Ahaz, saying, 11 Ask thee a sign of the Lord thy God; ask it either in the depth, or in the height above. 12 But Ahaz said, I will not ask, neither will I tempt the Lord. 13 And he said, Hear ye now, O house of David; Is it a small thing for you to weary men, but will ye weary my God also? 14 Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.

Isaiah 9:6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. 7 Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.

 Gospel Teaching - Both Testaments

I was reading Luther and stumbled over one of his great insights. The simple - but profound statement - Jesus is most of His work through teaching. He performed many great miracles among the crowds and alone - and He displayed additional miracles before His disciples.

    However, creating even more miracles would not have been practical. The Gospel of Mark is filled with miracles, and that was a great help for those who wanted to experience God's work firsthand. And that was exhausting for Jesus who rested and prayed. The disciples were impatient to get Him back to work.

    The greatest amount of reach came from Jesus teaching individuals, smaller groups, and great masses of individuals hungry for God's grace - even to the point of going out and hungering for the Word rather than the good food.

    I began to think about the fake solutions today - which explain the lack of teaching. 

Funny, sad, or dismaying, many denominations:

1. Gourmet coffee, the pastor as a barista. (Yes Lutheran).
2. Snacks during the service.
3. Repairing cars - Midland Michigan.
4. Expensive invited pastors, to increase the numbers who attend.
5. Parking the car ministry (WELS).
6. Must have a better or bigger building.
7. Comparing with other congregations.

Jesus taught his disciples, small groups, and the masses. The rationalists dismiss the miracles and then find themselves fashioning their own religions based on human reason and imagination.

    Our best source of teaching is the Word of God itself, preserved for all time, no matter how much people bend, twist, oppose, and ignore it. Prayer is very good and effective, and it is based on teaching from the Bible. The Holy Spirit in the Word of God is always effective in teaching us how to pray. Nothing is too small to dwell on from the Bible.

    Teaching the Christian Faith comes from all points of the compass. Luther said the family is a school for character as the children grow up and learn from their parents. Christian friends are likely to teach one another in various ways. Bruce Wenger, MD PhD, wanted to know about teaching at Yale Divinity, and he gave me many Biblical insights that never left me. The same is true of four professors, during the golden age there.

    The faithful are likely to have barnacles to scrape off. We may not think so until it is obvious. So we are in a constant process and learning what God teaches us through the spoken and written Word.

    The only benefits come from faith in Jesus Christ. Gather all your knowledge, histories, rulers, leaders, and much more - but the Savior is the one who teaches us about Himself - the Father - and the Spirit. He is God in the Flesh - Incarnate - and serves to help us understand Him, not from guesswork or quirky theories but just the truth itself. I AM the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.

Daily Luther Sermon Quote - Advent 3 - "It must, therefore, be observed that teaching is also a work, yea, even the chief work of Christ, because here among his works he mentions that to the poor the Gospel is preached. Therefore, just as the tyrants are known by their works, so are they known by their teachings. Where Christ is, there surely the Gospel will be preached; but where the Gospel is not preached, there Christ is not present."

 

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

10. The answer of his works is more convincing, first, because such works were never before accomplished either by John or by anyone else; and secondly, because these works were predicted by the prophets. Therefore, when they saw that it came to pass just as the prophets had foretold, they could and should have been assured. For thus Isaiah had said of these works: “The Spirit of the Lord Jehovah is upon me, because Jehovah hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the weak; he hath sent me to bind up the broken hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound,” Isaiah 61:1. When Isaiah says, “He hath anointed me,” he thereby means that Jesus is the Christ and that Christ should do all these works, and he who is doing them must be the Christ. For the Greek word Christ is Messiah in Hebrew, Unctus in Latin, and Gesalbter (anointed in German). But the kings and priests were usually anointed for the kingdom and priesthood. But this anointed king and priest, Isaiah says, shall be anointed by God himself, not with real oil, but with the Holy Spirit that should come upon him, saying, “The Spirit of the Lord Jehovah is upon me.” That is my anointment with which the Spirit anointed me. Thus he indeed preaches good tidings to the weak, gives sight to the blind, heals all kinds of sickness and proclaims the acceptable year, the time of grace, etc.

Again Isaiah says: “Behold, your God will come with vengeance, with the recompense of God; he will come and save you. Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then shall the lame man leap as a hart, and the tongue of the dumb shall sing,” etc. Isaiah 85:4-5. Now, if they would compare the Scriptures with these works, and these works with the Scriptures, they would recognize John’s witness by Christ’s works, that he was the true Messiah. Luke says that Christ at that time, when John’s disciples asked him, healed many of their diseases and plagues and evil spirits, and bestowed sight on many that were blind. Luke 7:21.

11. But here we must take to heart the good example of Christ in that he appeals to his works, even as the tree is known by its fruits, thus rebuking all false teachers, the pope, bishops, priests and monks to appear in the future and shield themselves by his name, saying, “We are Christians ;” just as the pope is boasting that he is the vicar of Christ. Here we have it stated that where the works are absent, there is also no Christ. Christ is a living, active and fruit-bearing character who does not rest, but works unceasingly wherever he is. Therefore, those bishops and teachers that are not doing the works of Christ, we should avoid and consider as wolves.

12. But they say, Why it is not necessary for everyone to do these works of Christ. How can all the pious give sight to the blind, make the lame walk and do other miracles like those of Christ? Answer: Christ did also other works, he exercised himself in patience, love, peace, meekness, etc.; this everybody should do. Do these works, and then we also shall know Christ by his works.

13. Here they reply: Christ says, “The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat; all things therefore whatsoever they bid you, these do and observe; but do not ye after their works; for they say, and do not. Matthew 23:2-3. Here Christ commanded to judge the doctrine, but not the life. Answer: What do I hear? Have you now become Pharisees and hypocrites, and confess it yourselves? If we would say this about you then you would indeed become angry. Be it so, if you are such hypocrites and apply these words of Christ to yourselves, then you must also apply to yourselves all the other words Christ speaks against the Pharisees.

However, as they wish to shield themselves by these words of Christ and put to silence the ignorant, we will further consider the same, inasmuch as the murderers of Christians at the Council of Constance also attacked John Huss with this passage, claiming that it granted them liberty for their tyranny, so that no one dared to oppose their doctrine.

14. It must, therefore, be observed that teaching is also a work, yea, even the chief work of Christ, because here among his works he mentions that to the poor the Gospel is preached. Therefore, just as the tyrants are known by their works, so are they known by their teachings. Where Christ is, there surely the Gospel will be preached; but where the Gospel is not preached, there Christ is not present.

Presidents of the United States of America

 

This is how Trump won.