Mid-Week Advent Service, 2016

 The Annunciation by Norma Boeckler

Mid-Week Advent Service, 2016

Pastor Gregory L. Jackson

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/bethany-lutheran-worship

Mid-Week Advent, Wednesday, 7 PM Central

The Hymn # 240                    Father Most Holy
The Order of Vespers                                             p. 41

The Psalmody            Psalm   14                           p. 124
The First Lection                  
The Second Lection       
The Sermon Hymn #61      Hark a Thrilling Voice

         

Isaiah's Christmas Passages

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

Isiaah 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.

Isaiah's Christmas Passages

Isaiah 7 is a wonderful passage to consider, becase so much effort has been made to dispel its importance. Evil King Ahaz was in deep trouble for asking the Assyrian king to help him stay in power. Ahaz also promoted the worship of idols.

The prophet Isaiah had good news to offer him - God would give him a miracle. A sign is a good enough word, but we have watered it down quite a bit. This miracle can be anything Ahaz wishes, either on earth or in heaven.

Of course, God knew the mind of Ahaz, so the hypocrisy of the evil king made this miracle a central event in the entire book. A believer would welcome a miraculous sign from God, but Ahaz said something almost comical - I will not put God to the test.

When God offers a miracle, this is not an excuse for someone to become suddenly modest and super-pious.

Isaiah erupted in anger, "You are not content with making my people weary, and now you will do the same with my God? He will give you a miracle.

What this setting does is clear - it underlines and accents the importance of this message. The words themselves are remarkable, but the language of the prophet shows this is a miracle of miracles, as it indeed is. And even if sceptics quibble at the language, as unbelievers do, there is a final confirming phrase - God with us, Immanuel.

Here is the miracle, which has been under attack ever since the Age of Rationalism. "Behold, a Virgin shall conceive and bear a Son. And you will name Him Immanuel."

The first quibble is almah - Virgin. Oh, that just means "maiden." Aha, the maiden voyage of a ship is one which that ship has never made before. The fact is, maiden and virgin are interchangeable in this context, as shown by the Greek word used - parthenos, which is both young maiden and virgin.

So they want to claim, "This means the king's married daughter will have a son." How can that be a miracle. Married women have babies all the time. And not one is named "God with us." Jesus did not take on that name in ordinary life, but Jesus does mean salvation, a word that fits in well with many Psalms. 

Holman Christian Standard Bible
My eyes grow weary looking for Your salvation (Your Jesus) and for Your righteous promise. Psalm 119:123

In the last century, Methodists took "offspring of the Virgin's womb" out of their own hymn and hymnal. A Wesley hymn!

That is like taking Justification by Faith away from the Lutheran Reformation and draping that error around Luther's neck, as Jay Webber did so maladroitly.

Some so-called scholars wondered if Jesus existed, and other allowed He did exist, but was only a man.

No matter what they say, this Virgin Birth prophesy is central to Isaiah, to the Old Testament, and the New Testament.

The Child prophesy is taken up again in Isaiah 9

Isaiah 9:6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given:

This is a not just a child and a child give for us. That suggests faith in Him, since is He is given for us. The repetition "for us" emphasizes the meaning of His birth.

and the government shall be upon his shoulder:

This implies the government of the entire world, as the following words spell out. That cannot be an ordinary prince of a tiny nation. We can see from history how God has moved entire nations to change all future developments, sometimes to punish, at other times to bless. The Stuart kings "left an indelible bad impression on the British." Because of their cowardly and deceitful support of Roman Catholicism, they forced many to go into exile to America, where our Founders swore they would never let the government be tied to a given church body.

As a result, this almost unknown world became central to evangelism around the world and an anchor for peace as well. Now we know what happens when our country no longer exerts its power to protect that peace.

and his name shall be called 

If this birth is royal but ordinary, why are such glorious titles attached to a child? Precious few people would name anyone in the House of David remarkable, after David and Solomon. Satan pursued Israel until barely a stump was left when Jesus was born, a green twig growing from a fading, dying stump, owned and punished by Rome.

Wonderful Counsellor,

Is there a better Name for Jesus? We sing from time to time, a favorite of some members. What a friend we have in Jesus. All the verses really spell out what this title means. Those who believe in Christ are in Him, and He is in us, just as He is in the Father and the Father in Him. John

Jesus guides and blesses us. Without His help and His Means of Grace, we could not continue. And yet He promises us endless blessings and forgiveness for remaining with Him, abiding with Him. John 15.

The mighty God,

There is that title again - God. This child is God, which explains the glorious titles and beyond-human characteristics. If the Child is God, and He is born, this is another statement of the Incarnation, God in the flesh.

And how many times is this found in the New Testament? Not just Matthew and Luke, but John 1 as well. Look at the opening of Romans, both God and man. And so many more places. Like the light on the tree my wife could not see today, the clear references are there as long as people look at the plain words and not the distractions.

She saw what looked like cardboard on the tree. Since the light was bent, a solar light, and at an odd angle, as long as she thought "cardboard" she saw cardboard. God shows us the Incarnation from many perspectives, many different but equivalent phrases so we know, believe, and have comfort that Jesus is our Counselor.

The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.

"I and the Father, We are one." This is a mystery. Jesus and the Father are two Persons, but also One, and the Spirit. God's Kingdom is the only one described below - not any human government.

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.

Pastor Horst W. Gutsche, ELCA, ELCiC, WELS, CLC (sic) Met His Maker

Koenig was incensed that this photo was posted on my blog.
He furiously sought after its source, which was Facebook!

 Gutsche missed one ELCA conference
because he was in the hoosegow.
That ended his ELCA career, but not his work with the CLC
or ELCA's counterpart in Canada, the ELCiC, eh?

We are saddened to announce the passing of Pastor Horst Gutsche on December 8, 2016, at the age of 65. He is survived by his son, Alexander, his mother Emma, and his sister Heidrun and her family. He was predeceased by his father Edmund and brother Wilfred. A memorial service will be held at Christ Lutheran Church in Mellowdale at 1pm on Friday, December 16. If you wish to make a donation in Horst's memory please consider supporting the missionary work of the Lutheran Church. - See more at:
http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/edmontonjournal/obituary.aspx?n=horst-gutsche&pid=183069988#sthash.gL5SnU9z.dpuf

 Somehow Gutsche missed out on serving the LCMS,
but he kept working with the CLC (sic) via
Pastor David Koenig.

Christ Lutheran Church- Mellowdale (LCC)

Box 6 Site 18 RR1 Barrhead, AB  780-674-5801 - LCC is LCMS in Canada.

Sassy Signals

Sassy has a number of ways to tell us what she wants. I taught her to tell us when it involves food.

At 6 AM she was awake, so I did a hand clap to have her come closer and be petted.

Two light claps mean she should do what I ask. She licked her mouth instead - she wanted food.

Clap, clap. "Move, move."

She licked her mouth again. I had no doubts - she would not move when hungry for breakfast crunchies. I really laughed the second time. She inched up part-way, which meant some partial concession, conditional, as if expecting food to follow - and it did, after some petting.

Recently I tried out bird sounds on her. She smiled a little, amused. Then I used my turkey call, which was louder. Her smile grew.

She ignores the bird-feeder now. I filled the platform feed with corn this time, and the squirrels sat in that to reach the sunflowers above in the hanging feeder. Sassy is unimpressed with squirrels, unless they are nearby on a walk.

Most little dogs are ignored on our walks. She decided to visit three, surprising me. She went over to the chain-link fence. They began licking each other's noses, which shows trust. They enjoyed her visit so much that they began to fall over each other to reach her.

Bethany Lutheran Church Greek Lessons To Begin

Greek lessons began early in the parsonage,
but not quite this early. That is a Greek New Testament.

First Greek lesson here.

Saved video of the first Greek lesson, John 1:1-4.

Saved video for the second lesson. John 1:1-14

Greek text to go with the second lesson.

Third Greek lesson.

Third saved video for the third lesson.

Facebook Page for all the lessons and video links.

Fourth Saved Video - Lesson on the Greek article.

Blog Post for the Fourth Video Lesson.

Fifth Saved Lesson

Fifth Saved Video

Sixth Saved Lesson

Sixth Saved Video



Seventh Lesson

Seventh Video


Eighth Lesson

Eighth Video

Ninth Lesson

Tenth Lesson - Finishing John 2 - Cleansing the Temple.

Eleventh Lesson - John 3. Nick at Night.

Eleventh Lesson Video.

Twelfth Lesson Video. End of Chapter 3.

Thirteenth Lesson Video - John 4

Maundy Thursday Video - John 13


Four Seven are interested in New Testament Greek - so far. First a lawyer, then an engineer, next a blogger, after that someone with language training, and now a regular reader and service participant - people are lining up for Greek New Testament lessons.

I am gathering resources for this class. Some items and ideas I can simply post on this blog and link on the left side.

I will outline the approach on Ustream.

A crucial part will be setting up conference meetings where students can translate while learning some good habits - live - with the possibility of saving the sessions.

Basic Approach - NOT the Synodical Way
My teaching approach is based on Roland Bainton's method of learning a new language. He got out his Greek New Testament and a New Testament in the unknown language. He used the Gospel of John, as I recall, and eventually knew 20 languages. He expected his doctoral students to do the same, to learn the language needed for the documents.

I did this with French and passed the French test at Notre Dame, one of the surprise portions coming from...the Gospel of John.

I originally called this the Bonehead Method because anyone can learn Greek this way. The advantage is that people with language skills can get very good in Greek, quickly. LI was well past the struggling part of a new language when he took Latin, Greek, and Hebrew at WELS schools.

The synodical approach is to hire someone who was able to learn Greek the old way - lists of verbs, lists of nouns, long grammatical drills and tests - and yet catch on because of inherent skills. That same person continues the next generation of torturing Greek students with that failed method.

C. S. Lewis was expected to memorize and translate 100 lines of Homer in Greek for each lesson. He said, "I learned a lot of Greek that way."

The military uses immersion, one language only, until the brain switches over and no longer translates but just reads as if it is the native language.

I was utterly smitten with classical culture when I went to college, so I took Greek, Latin, and German, a great time to learn languages. Later I took Hebrew in seminary, Greek and Hebrew exegesis at Yale. Starting on the Latin-Greek track was good preparation for Biblical studies.

LI went through the Gospel of John in Latin with me. He translated the entire Gospel. We repeated the process in Greek. The first four chapters were done slowly. Then we started over at 1:1 and went faster. That is why he was asked to tutor Greek students at Northwestern College, because they were failing with the old synodical grunt methods. Earlier he helped the football team at Michigan Lutheran Seminary with Latin.

Little Ichabod is reaching for Augustine's City of God,
which I studied in college - in Latin.

Bainton-Jackson Method
This is why I do not teach Greek in any synod - because I know how. Calling it the Bonehead Method is a bit rough, so I call it Bainton-Jackson now.

Here are the basic rules:

1. Read the verse aloud.
2. Translate the known words.
3. Guess the rest.
4. Never write the English words above the text. Never use an inter-linear. Never leave the Bible open to that text.
5. Learn by expanding this process.
6. De-emphasize grammar.
7. Use Lenski and the Keys (Schluessel) for the fine points.

Having the English nearby is a horrible habit. I would use Lenski with LI for a tricky portion from time to time. If the English can be glanced at, then the lazy eyes will go to it and real learning will not take place. That is why a cheat in language is called a jimmie - for King James - and sometimes a pony - for a free ride.

My Latin professor at Augustana, who had several master's degrees in classical languages, said, "No matter who you are or what you know, the eyes will go to the English when it is available on the page or the page opposite."

Those who want to participate in this class should write to greg.jackson.edlp@gmailcom

Anyone who begins to study John's Gospel in Greek will remember the experience with advantages:

• Greek is the foundation of the English language and all Western civilization.
• Our nation was begun with men - and women - who were trained in Latin, Greek, and ancient history. That was considered the very meaning of the word - education.
• The Gospel of John is the doctrinal Gospel, which addresses many of the problems that would erupt in the church later.

There is no charge for the classes. Contributions can be sent via PayPal - the link is here.

More information will be available soon.

Here we are, considering iota subscripts
and the optatives in the New Testament.