Trinity 3 2025. Luke 15 and the Gracious Mercy of God

 

Bethany Lutheran Church

Springdale, Arkansas

The Third Sunday after Trinity, 2025

Pastor Gregory L. Jackson

Bethany Lutheran Church, Springdale, Arkansa

                       

The Hymn #650                Behold a Stranger 

The Confession of Sins
The Absolution
The Introit p. 16

Introit

Turn Thee unto me and have mercy upon me: 

for I am desolate and afflicted.

Look upon mine affliction and my pain: 

and forgive all my sins.

Psalm. Unto Thee, O Lord, do I lift up my soul: 

O my God, I trust in Thee, let me not be ashamed.

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

Collect

O God, the Protector of all that trust in Thee, without whom nothing is strong, nothing is holy, increase and multiply upon us Thy mercy that, Thou being our Ruler and Guide, we may so pass through things temporal that we finally lose not the things eternal; through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, who liveth, etc.

The Epistle and Gradual  

Cast thy burden upon the Lord: 

and He shall sustain thee.

V. I will call upon God; and the Lord shall save me: 

He hath delivered my soul in peace. 

Hallelujah! Hallelujah!

V. I will love Thee, O Lord my Strength: 

the Lord is my Rock and my Fortress and my Deliverer. Hallelujah!

     

The Gospel              

Glory be to Thee, O Lord!
Praise be to Thee, O Christ!
The Nicene Creed             p. 22

The Sermon Hymn #436            The Lord's My Shepherd, I'll Not Want

       

God And Angels Rejoice

The Communion Hymn #179                     On My Heart

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 #49                 Almighty God Thy Word Is Cast

In Our Prayers and Announcements

• Medical treatment - Pastor Jim Shrader, Chris Shrader, Kermit Way, Sarah Buck, many other conditions; those with emotional issues and those with metabolic disorders. Tom Fisher - very tough year with the sheep.
• Pray for those cause in the Texas Flood.

 By Norma A. Boeckler

KJV 1 Peter 5:6 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. 8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: 9 Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world. 10 But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you. 11 To him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.

KJV Luke 15:1 Then drew near unto him all the publicans and sinners for to hear him. 2 And the Pharisees and scribes murmured, saying, This man receiveth sinners, and eateth with them.  3 And he spake this parable unto them, saying, 4 What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it? 5 And when he hath found it, he layeth it on his shoulders, rejoicing. 6 And when he cometh home, he calleth together his friends and neighbours, saying unto them, Rejoice with me; for I have found my sheep which was lost. 7 I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance. 8 Either what woman having ten pieces of silver, if she lose one piece, doth not light a candle, and sweep the house, and seek diligently till she find it? 9 And when she hath found it, she calleth her friends and her neighbours together, saying, Rejoice with me; for I have found the piece which I had lost. 10 Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth.

Third Sunday After Trinity

Lord God, heavenly Father, we all like sheep have gone astray, having suffered ourselves to be led away from the right path by Satan and our own sinful flesh: We beseech Thee graciously to forgive us all our sins for the sake of Thy Son, Jesus Christ; and quicken our hearts by Thy Holy Spirit, that we may abide in Thy word, and in true repentance and a steadfast faith continue in Thy Church unto the end, and obtain eternal salvation, through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, one true God, world without end Amen.

God And Angels Rejoice

KJV Luke 15:1 Then drew near unto him all the publicans and sinners for to hear him. 2 And the Pharisees and scribes murmured, saying, This man receiveth [welcomes!] sinners, and eateth with them.

Luke 15 is often called Luke's Great Passage - the Loving Mercy of Jesus.

1. The Lost Sheep - Luke 15:1-7

2. The Lost Coin - Luke 15:8-10

3. The Lost Son - Luke 15:11-32.

These three passages are distinctive in dealing with one particular theme, Jesus' gracious love - comparing that to the self-righteous or works-righteous Pharisees and scribes.

The Lost Sheep is not so much about the animal but God. 

3 And he spake this parable unto them, saying, 4 What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it?

This is painfully clear. The works-righteous have their feet to the fire, as people say. Someone could have 100 sheep and still go after that one sheep until it is found. How about seeing people as God does? Sheep are timid, easily frightened, hard to control. The owner cares about them and their suffering. So this part alone is easy to see - the scribes and Pharisees are placed in the position of God. Jesus is saying, "Wouldn't you go out and look for that sheep, dying in the wilderness, growing weaker by the hour?" Our emotions would respond - we have to try. We can't let the little guy suffer. We will find him! But that is not all! The owner will search until he finds the lost sheep.

1. Searches
2. Finds
3. Lays it on the shoulders - 
4. Rejoices
5. Calls friends and neighbors - 
6. Rejoices
7. The lost one is found!
8. More joy in Heaven than the 99 almost perfect ones - a jibe from Jesus - for those who think they are without sin.

I often hear from people who have reached the bottom of life from alcohol and drug abuse. The Savior has rescued them from almost complete destruction and have experienced the long passage back from the wilderness, which very difficult. But it also means someone can be a good counselor after coming back. 

Most importantly - This is a parable about the graciousness of God. He delights in mercy.

When graduate students write about how tough Jeremiah is, I remind them of the name that came from the prophet's long, angry speeches. The denunciations are called jeremiads, in honor of Jeremiah. But I respond to Jeremiah 31

31 Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah:
32 Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the Lord:
33 But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.
34 And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the Lord: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.

8 Either what woman having ten pieces of silver, if she lose one piece, doth not light a candle, and sweep the house, and seek diligently till she find it? 9 And when she hath found it, she calleth her friends and her neighbours together, saying, Rejoice with me; for I have found the piece which I had lost. 10 Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth.

This is a great follow-up, which can make anyone sweat bullets - as they say - go bats trying to find lost items - tickets, glasses, maps, etc. Once again, the emphasis is about rejoicing over the lost coin. Just as the angels rejoice in this parable, so does the individual have joy in telling the friends and neighbors. 

The joy is over repentance, not coin collecting. Just as we find a thrill in the object of value lost and then found, even more significant are the angels rejoicing over one repentant sinner.

Factual about the Mainline Denominations - ELCA, LCMS,WELS, ELS, etc.

 

Navel gazing at its best - and the results follow.

Someone wanted "his book" - which he did not write - published for the glory of...(deep, dark secret). And yet they knew that they were covertly glorifying a serial adulterer. "Nothing to see here, move on. You better not say a word anywhere, got that?"

How many lies and secrets are locked up forever in the CFW Walther Museum of Syphilis and Adultery? The glorification of Dr. Walther (ahem) continues to this day. Lutherans are supposed to be above and beyond but the truth is too obvious now, and the final generation is fading away fast.

Rauschenbusch and the Social Gospel

The pivotal figure was Walter Rauschenbusch, and the slogan was "The Social Gospel." A few people got together and promoted a form of socialism that spread over the years. Yale Divinity School was rationalistic already before World War 1. The fermentation grew slowly.

The mainline denominations were Calvinistic, liberal Baptist,  many flavors of Methodism, and the liberal apostate Lutherans. They wanted to use the church bodies to "make the world a better place," so the denominations had to be activist at all levels. The Social Gospel became the Gospel, so various tags were used to signal the actual goal of denominational politics.

By the time the Lutheran Church in America was founded, along with the American Lutheran Church, the road to Social Gospel Lutherans was straight and narrow full speed into the abyss. But no, they had more to go - from LCA/ALC mergers to the ultimate face-plant, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America - January 1, 1988.

It was definitely a face-plant for the peacocks - male laity and pastors - because the peahens lifted themselves up to be bishops and quickly took over the entire shrinking shrieking flocks.

Seminex struck me as a hilarious label from the start, as if they wanted to buy a potent spray from the hardware store or pharmacy. The participants are proud and always work together to keep the magic alive. That is why Matt the Fatt is so close to ELCA. 

Rauschenbusch gave his lectures on The Social Gospel at Yale Divinity and died the next year, 1918. WW1 was over and the phrase "Social Gospel" disappeared but the same content remained. Ask any synodical leader (be subtle) and see if he or she is following the same theme.

"Reconciling Works" is not what you think.

Daily Luther Sermon Quote - Trinity 3 - "Hence this Gospel is very comforting to sinners. But whilst it is friendly to sinners, it is a source of great fear to Pharisees. Had this Gospel been nothing more than a good counsel, it would not have been so comforting; but now that it has been commanded I can recognize the mind of God in Christ, since he will have it so, and enjoins that we are to cover the sins of others. Yea, what is still more, Christ himself does this, and to this end was he sent; for no man fulfills the law of God as perfectly as he. We are scarcely a spark amid the divine fire and light. He is the fire of which heaven and earth are full."

 

Luther's Sermons - Luke 15:1-10.
Third Sunday after Trinity

19. Hence this Gospel is very comforting to sinners. But whilst it is friendly to sinners, it is a source of great fear to Pharisees. Had this Gospel been nothing more than a good counsel, it would not have been so comforting; but now that it has been commanded I can recognize the mind of God in Christ, since he will have it so, and enjoins that we are to cover the sins of others. Yea, what is still more, Christ himself does this, and to this end was he sent; for no man fulfills the law of God as perfectly as he. We are scarcely a spark amid the divine fire and light. He is the fire of which heaven and earth are full.

20. The Gospel is spoken to those only who acknowledge their sins, and their sins they acknowledge when they repent of them. But this Gospel is of no use to the Pharisees, for they do not acknowledge their sins. To those, however, who do acknowledge them, and are about to despair, the Gospel must be brought. But at this point the devil sets up a game, and suggests to the consciences of those who acknowledge their sins and long to be freed from them, that this one should resort to Saint James, that one to Rome, this one should take refuge in prayers, the other in confession.

And then they are told: “Give six pounds of wax, have so many masses said, do this, do that, and thus you will be freed from your sins.” Thereby they are led farther and farther from the Gospel, and are brought to the standpoint of works. In this way they must certainly despair at last.

21. Therefore, when you feel your sins gnawing at you, and feel your heart trembling and agitated, place yourself beside the publicans where they are standing. These are the very ones who shall receive the Gospel. Do so joyously, and say: “Oh, God! it is thy word that says there shall be joy in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine righteous persons, who need no repentance, and that all the righteous and angels are to interpose and cover up sins. Now, Oh, God! I have come to this that I feel my sins. I am already judged. I need but the one Shepherd who seeketh me; and I will therefore freely venture on thy Gospel.”

22. It is thus that you come to God. You are already the sheep placed upon his shoulders. You have found the Shepherd. You are the piece of silver in the hand. You are the one over whom is joy in heaven in the presence of all the angels. We are not to worry, if we do not experience or feel this at once. Sin will daily decrease, and its sting will drive you to seek God. You must struggle against this feeling by faith, and say: “Oh, God! I know thou hast said this, and I lean upon thy Word. I am the sheep and the piece of silver; thou the shepherd and the woman.”

23. You might say: Yes, this I will gladly do; but I cannot atone for my sins. I can render no satisfaction for them. Consider then the publicans and sinners. What good have they done? None. They came to God, heard his Word and believed it. Do the same. His are living words. The Gospel is too deep to be fathomed by human words. Conscientious men who tried it readily understand this.

24. The learned and idle may determine the meaning of the ninety-nine in the desert. It is enough for us to learn the main thought of this Gospel.

Reformation Seminary Lecture - KJV Acts 18 Priscilla and Aquila

KJV Acts 18

18:1 After these things Paul departed from Athens, and came to Corinth;

2 And found a certain Jew named Aquila, born in Pontus, lately come from Italy, with his wife Priscilla; (because that Claudius had commanded all Jews to depart from Rome:) and came unto them.

3 And because he was of the same craft, he abode with them, and wrought: for by their occupation they were tentmakers.

4 And he reasoned in the synagogue every sabbath, and persuaded the Jews and the Greeks.

5 And when Silas and Timotheus were come from Macedonia, Paul was pressed in the spirit, and testified to the Jews that Jesus was Christ.

6 And when they opposed themselves, and blasphemed, he shook his raiment, and said unto them, Your blood be upon your own heads; I am clean; from henceforth I will go unto the Gentiles.

7 And he departed thence, and entered into a certain man's house, named Justus, one that worshipped God, whose house joined hard to the synagogue.

8 And Crispus, the chief ruler of the synagogue, believed on the Lord with all his house; and many of the Corinthians hearing believed, and were baptized.

9 Then spake the Lord to Paul in the night by a vision, Be not afraid, but speak, and hold not thy peace:

10 For I am with thee, and no man shall set on thee to hurt thee: for I have much people in this city.

11 And he continued there a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them.

12 And when Gallio was the deputy of Achaia, the Jews made insurrection with one accord against Paul, and brought him to the judgment seat,

13 Saying, This fellow persuadeth men to worship God contrary to the law.

14 And when Paul was now about to open his mouth, Gallio said unto the Jews, If it were a matter of wrong or wicked lewdness, O ye Jews, reason would that I should bear with you:

15 But if it be a question of words and names, and of your law, look ye to it; for I will be no judge of such matters.

16 And he drave them from the judgment seat.

17 Then all the Greeks took Sosthenes, the chief ruler of the synagogue, and beat him before the judgment seat. And Gallio cared for none of those things.

18 And Paul after this tarried there yet a good while, and then took his leave of the brethren, and sailed thence into Syria, and with him Priscilla and Aquila; having shorn his head in Cenchrea: for he had a vow.

19 And he came to Ephesus, and left them there: but he himself entered into the synagogue, and reasoned with the Jews.

20 When they desired him to tarry longer time with them, he consented not;

21 But bade them farewell, saying, I must by all means keep this feast that cometh in Jerusalem: but I will return again unto you, if God will. And he sailed from Ephesus.

22 And when he had landed at Caesarea, and gone up, and saluted the church, he went down to Antioch.

23 And after he had spent some time there, he departed, and went over all the country of Galatia and Phrygia in order, strengthening all the disciples.

24 And a certain Jew named Apollos, born at Alexandria, an eloquent man, and mighty in the scriptures, came to Ephesus.

25 This man was instructed in the way of the Lord; and being fervent in the spirit, he spake and taught diligently the things of the Lord, knowing only the baptism of John.

26 And he began to speak boldly in the synagogue: whom when Aquila and Priscilla had heard, they took him unto them, and expounded unto him the way of God more perfectly.

27 And when he was disposed to pass into Achaia, the brethren wrote, exhorting the disciples to receive him: who, when he was come, helped them much which had believed through grace:

28 For he mightily convinced the Jews, and that publicly, shewing by the scriptures that Jesus was Christ.

Daily Luther Sermon Quote - Trinity 3 - "Christ’s declaration, that he is the shepherd and has laid our sins upon his back or shoulders, makes us trust in him fully, and makes publicans and other sinners run after him. These would not have come unto him thus, had they regarded him as a hard and wrathful judge; for they had previously acknowledged themselves to be sinners and in need of his grace."

 

Luther's Sermons - Luke 15:1-10.
Third Sunday after Trinity

15. Christ is both the shepherd and the woman; for he has lighted the lamp, that is, the Gospel, and he goes about in the desert, that is, the world. He sweeps the house, and seeks the lost sheep and lost piece of silver, when he comes with his Word and proclaims to us, first our sins, and then his grace and mercy. Christ’s declaration, that he is the shepherd and has laid our sins upon his back or shoulders, makes us trust in him fully, and makes publicans and other sinners run after him. These would not have come unto him thus, had they regarded him as a hard and wrathful judge; for they had previously acknowledged themselves to be sinners and in need of his grace.

And so they were drawn to him when they heard his loving doctrine. Here comes the sheep out of the wilderness, and here the lost piece of silver is found.

16. Learn from this, then, that our neighbor is to be sought as a lost sheep, that his shame is to be covered with our honor, that our piety is to be a cover for his sins. But nowadays, when men come together they backbite one another; and thus they would show how zealous they are against sin.

Therefore, ye men, whenever ye come together, do not backbite your neighbors. Make not one face at one person and another at some one else.

Do not cut off one man’s foot and another man’s hand; make no such traffic of living flesh. Likewise, ye women, when you come together, conceal the shame of others, and do not cause wounds which you cannot heal. Should you meet with anything like this in some one’s house, then throw your mantle over shame and wounds, and close the door. A very good reason for doing this is, that you would have others do the same to you. Then, if you have kept the matter secret, bring the parties before you afterwards, and read them a good lecture; and let it remain with you as a secret.

17. Christ, too, acts thus. He keeps silent and covers our sins. He could, indeed, expose us to shame, and could tread us under foot, as our text shows that the Pharisees did. But he does not do so. All will be brought to light, however, at the final judgment. Then everything hidden must be revealed. Then the virgin must place her crown upon the harlot, the pious woman must throw her veil over the adulteress, and everything we have must serve as a garment to cover the sins of others. For every man shall have his sheep, and every woman shall have her piece of silver. All our gifts must be the gifts of others.

18. Hence there is, in God’s judgment, no greater sin on earth than that pious men and women and virgins commit when they despise those who lie in their sin and would appropriate to themselves their natural gifts, puffing themselves up and despising their neighbor.

19. Hence this Gospel is very comforting to sinners. But whilst it is friendly to sinners, it is a source of great fear to Pharisees. Had this Gospel been nothing more than a good counsel, it would not have been so comforting; but now that it has been commanded I can recognize the mind of God in Christ, since he will have it so, and enjoins that we are to cover the sins of others. Yea, what is still more, Christ himself does this, and to this end was he sent; for no man fulfills the law of God as perfectly as he. We are scarcely a spark amid the divine fire and light. He is the fire of which heaven and earth are full.

Three Months After ELCA's July Cataclysm in Phoenix - The Bishops Will Retreat To Baking Hot Scottsdale - October 1

 

 Rev. Dr. Kristin Johnston Largen

In addition to worship and synod updates, good food and fellowship, we will have two special guests from Wartburg Theological Seminary: Rev. Dr. Kristin Johnston Largen, President of Wartburg Seminary, and Rev. Dr. S. Helen Chukka, Assistant Professor of Hebrew Bible.

Give Me Some Stouted-Headed Men

Give me some men who are stouthearted men
Who will fight for the right they adore
Start me with ten who are stouthearted men
And I'll soon give you ten thousand more.

Shoulder to shoulder and bolder and bolder
They grow as they go to the fore
Then there's nothing in the world can halt or mar a plan
When stouthearted men can stick together man to man.

Background on the Universal Objective Justification of CFW Walther, B.A.

 

Magic acts are a lot of fun. We all know that the magician distracts our eyes so that he can quickly do the trick where we are not looking.

The UOJ Magicians work the same way, but they are nasty and vindictive, not entertaining. Their energy comes from their hatred of the Word, which they cloak with fine words and sanctimony.


LCMS and WELS - Same History - Same Tricks
Missouri and WELS came from Pietism, which has a way of asserting itself again. The clergy who would rather be unionistic, because they love every doctrine but their own, bitterly resent the chains and shackles - as they see them - of the Book of Concord so they throw off those horrid Confessions.

Missouri and WELS both taught Justification by Faith for many decades.

JFBA Examples in WELS:

1. Gausewitz was the catechism and no one talked of UOJ. The instigator of Kokomo never heard of UOJ before seminary.
2. Some oldsters in WELS remember that they were taught Justification by Faith in the olden days, because they were.
3. JP Meyer and other false teachers worked to supplant the Confessions and the Chief Article, so WELS clergy ignore and loathe the Book of Concord.

JFBA Examples in the LCMS:

1. The 1905 German catechism of the synod taught Justification by Faith, not UOJ.
2. They also used the Gausewitz Catechism, because he was the president of the Synodical Conference.
3. The KJV catechism, lately in the CPH catalogue, teaches Justification by Faith - not UOJ.
4. Dr. Walter A. Maier preached Justification by Faith and taught it as the foundational doctrine of Christianity, named before inerrancy in one quotation. See the graphic. He was praised by sister synods, not denounced as a false teacher.

The Magic Wand of Verbal Abuse

The UOJ Magicians have only one trick. They verbally abuse anyone who threatens their position, and they scare easily. They mask their fear with fake ferocity, always using their buddies to back them up, like shills in an audience helping with a mind-reading trick.

Quoting Rolf Preus on "Due Process":

Robert believed in due process.  He repeatedly said that he would not be used to deny due process to Walter A. Maier.  He also expressed his opinion that his efforts to bring Maier to an orthodox formulation (sic) of this doctrine with the help of such eminent theologians as Dr. Harry Huth, the great Missouri Synod Confessions scholar, would bear more fruit than his brother’s approach. 

 WAM II, left, got the Preus "due process" treatment.
I do not have his academic achievements at this time.
He is with a bunch of Maiers. When I met WAM II, he was jolly and friendly.

Imagine yourself as a professor at the synod's seminary, the son of the world-famous preacher and Biblical scholar, Walter A. Maier, PhD, Harvard, who taught Justification by Faith and inerrancy.

• Jack Preus, the LCMS president, sends a letter to every congregation, denouncing you as a false teacher - for teaching what built The Lutheran Hour, your father preaching on the radio. But the accusation is dishonest, because it does not say, "You teach the Chief Article and we reject that, agreeing with the rationalistic Pietists." No, it is "YOU deny our precious dogma doctrine of Justification without Faith Objective Justification."
• Robert Preus, Jack's brother, as president of the Ft. Wayne seminary, denounces you to the entire LCMS, using the most ridiculous arguments for UOJ, even citing the UOJist who left teaching in the LCMS to be a Roman Catholic editor! That was Edward Preuss of precious memory, still quoted with a school-girl's sigh.
• Instead of being the leading candidate for LCMS synod president, a big effort is mounted to deny you any votes because (wave the magic wands) both Preus brothers have unethically and illegally denounced you as a false teacher. And yes, that is indeed slander.
• Ralph Bohlmann becomes the LCMS president, promotes Church Growth, and sees his daughter ordained as a UCC pastor and married to another woman.
• Herman Otten, a supposed Maier friend, backs UOJ to the hilt, essentially agreeing with the Preus brothers. It took another magician, Paul Rodham McCain, to equal this level of hypocrisy and back-stabbing. Otten sells books against Luther, praises a Roman Catholic author for publishing the obvious, and specializes in promoting the thralls of UOJ.

The irony of this Preus team is that neither Preus brother earned an Ivy league degree or engaged in Biblical scholarship, as Walter A. Maier, WAM II, and WAM III did. Jack and Bob both studied Latin scholasticism at the University of Minnesota - the Icey League. Academic achievement in the Preus family stopped there. As The Right Reverend Bishop James Heiser said to me, "The Preus children are not known for their theological acumen."

The Preus brothers used the weakness of CFW Walther's education to their advantage, calling up the ghost of Stephan's thrall to pound WAM II into the ground. The weakness of LCMS clergy and laity always comes through when they line up like iron filings around the magnetic personality of their first pope, professor, publisher, and political expert, CFW Walther, BA.

The answer does not come from inane theses that beg the question, like Valleskey on Fuller and Church Growth. The answer comes from careful study of the Biblical text. Anyone can do that, but few take the trouble.

I am happy to say that the younger generations of men are willing to address what the Boomer men ignored.

 According to this former editor of Steadfast Lutherans,
Dr. Maier was "a moron" for teaching Justification by Faith.

Daily Luther Sermon Quote - Trinity 3 - "Christ is both the shepherd and the woman; for he has lighted the lamp, that is, the Gospel, and he goes about in the desert, that is, the world. He sweeps the house, and seeks the lost sheep and lost piece of silver, when he comes with his Word and proclaims to us, first our sins, and then his grace and mercy. Christ’s declaration, that he is the shepherd and has laid our sins upon his back or shoulders, makes us trust in him fully, and makes publicans and other sinners run after him. These would not have come unto him thus, had they regarded him as a hard and wrathful judge; for they had previously acknowledged themselves to be sinners and in need of his grace."

 

Tom Fisher's lambs

Luther's Sermons - Luke 15:1-10.
Third Sunday after Trinity

Then Samuel, among other things, said unto them: “Far be it from me that I should sin against Jehovah in ceasing to pray for you; but I will instruct you in the good and right way. Only fear Jehovah, and serve him in truth with all your heart, for consider how great things he hath done for you.” 1 Samuel 12:19-24.

12. David also acted thus. When the Lord inflicted the plagues upon Israel he spake unto the Lord and said: “Lo, I have sinned, and I have done perversely; but these sheep, what have they done? Let thy hand, I pray thee, be against me, and against my father’s house.”

13. Such should be your bearing toward sinners; inwardly the heart in service, outwardly the tongue in earnest. God requires this of us; and this is what Christ, our Captain, has manifested in himself, as Paul says to the Philippians 2:4-9: “Not looking each of you to his own things, but each of you also to the things of others. Have this mind in you, which was also in Christ Jesus; who, existing in the form of God, counted not the being on an equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in likeness of men; and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, becoming obedient unto death, yea, the death of the cross.”

14. Christ was filled with all righteousness, and might justly have condemned us all as sinners. But he did not do so. What did he do, then?

He gave himself to be our Servant. His righteousness has served for our sins, his fullness for our feebleness, his life for our death. This we find illustrated, for our example, in the Gospel before us, where he bears himself with such friendliness toward sinners that the Pharisees murmur.

The Lord therefore sets before them the following parables in order to teach how they are to receive sinners and be of service to them, saying: “What man of you, having a hundred sheep, and having lost one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it, etc. Or what woman having ten pieces of silver, if she lose one piece, doth not light a lamp, and sweep the house, and seek diligently until she find it?”

15. Christ is both the shepherd and the woman; for he has lighted the lamp, that is, the Gospel, and he goes about in the desert, that is, the world. He sweeps the house, and seeks the lost sheep and lost piece of silver, when he comes with his Word and proclaims to us, first our sins, and then his grace and mercy. Christ’s declaration, that he is the shepherd and has laid our sins upon his back or shoulders, makes us trust in him fully, and makes publicans and other sinners run after him. These would not have come unto him thus, had they regarded him as a hard and wrathful judge; for they had previously acknowledged themselves to be sinners and in need of his grace.

And so they were drawn to him when they heard his loving doctrine. Here comes the sheep out of the wilderness, and here the lost piece of silver is found.

Weekly Grass Cutting Audience - That Must Be a John Deere Mower

 

Reformation Seminary Lecture - Acts 17, Second Part

 

 The Acropolis taken from the Areopagus

Second Part of Chapter 17

16 Now while Paul waited for them at Athens, his spirit was stirred in him, when he saw the city wholly given to idolatry.

17 Therefore disputed he in the synagogue with the Jews, and with the devout persons, and in the market daily with them that met with him.

18 Then certain philosophers of the Epicureans, and of the Stoicks, encountered him. And some said, What will this babbler say? other some, He seemeth to be a setter forth of strange gods: because he preached unto them Jesus, and the resurrection.

19 And they took him, and brought him unto Areopagus, saying, May we know what this new doctrine, whereof thou speakest, is?

20 For thou bringest certain strange things to our ears: we would know therefore what these things mean.

21 (For all the Athenians and strangers which were there spent their time in nothing else, but either to tell, or to hear some new thing.)

22 Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars' hill, and said, Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious.

23 For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, To The Unknown God. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you.

24 God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands;

25 Neither is worshipped with men's hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things;

26 And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation;

27 That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us:

28 For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring.

29 Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man's device.

30 And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent:

31 Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.

32 And when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked: and others said, We will hear thee again of this matter.

33 So Paul departed from among them.

34 Howbeit certain men clave unto him, and believed: among the which was Dionysius the Areopagite, and a woman named Damaris, and others with them.

Daily Luther Sermon Quote - Trinity 3 - "A truly Christian work is it that we descend and get mixed up in the mire of the sinner as deeply as he sticks there himself, taking his sin upon ourselves and floundering out of it with him, not acting otherwise than as if his sin were our own. We should rebuke and deal with him in earnest; yet we are not to despise but sincerely to love him. If you are proud toward the sinner and despise him, you are utterly damned."

 

Calov

 Caladium

Luther's Sermons - Luke 15:1-10.
Third Sunday after Trinity

7. A truly Christian work is it that we descend and get mixed up in the mire of the sinner as deeply as he sticks there himself, taking his sin upon ourselves and floundering out of it with him, not acting otherwise than as if his sin were our own. We should rebuke and deal with him in earnest; yet we are not to despise but sincerely to love him. If you are proud toward the sinner and despise him, you are utterly damned.

8. These, then, are great and good works in which we should exercise ourselves. But no man pays attention to them. Such works have entirely faded away and become extinct. In the meantime, one resorts, in the name of the devil, to Saint James, another proceeds to build a church, a third provides for the saying of masses, — this one does this, the other does that, and no one thinks of praying for the sinner. It is therefore to be feared that the holiest are in the deepest hell, and that the sinners are mostly in heaven. But it would be a truly Christian work, if you received sinners, if you entered into your closet and there said, in earnest prayer to the Lord: “Oh, my God! of such a person I hear so and so, he lieth in his sins, he hath fallen. Oh, Lord, help him to rise again,” etc. This is just the way in which to receive and serve the sinner.

9. Moses acted thus when the Israelites worshipped the molten calf. He mingled freely with the people in their sins. Yet he punished them severely, and caused three thousand men to be slain from gate to gate.

Exodus 32. After that he went up and bowed down before God, and prayed that he would forgive the people their sin, or blot him out of the Book of Life. Behold, here we have a man who knew that God loved him and had written his name in the book of the blessed; and yet he says: “Lord, I would rather that thou shouldest damn me and save the people.”

10. Paul, too, acted thus. At times he rebuked the Jews severely, calling them dogs and other names. Yet he knelt down and said: “I could wish that I myself were anathema from Christ for my brethren’s sake.” Romans 9:3. It is as if he had said: “I would willingly be anathema, if only the mass of the people might be helped.” Such a course as this is much too lofty for reason, and passes beyond its conception. It is thus that we, too, must act, and thus that we must serve our neighbor.

11. Again, we have an incident in the first Book of Samuel. When the people demanded a king, and would not be ruled by God’s Word alone, but lost faith in the Lord, and said that they wanted a temporal king to go out before them and fight their battles, like all the nations, 1 Samuel 8:20.