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| Graphic by Norma A. Boeckler |
The Eighteenth Sunday after Trinity, 2019
Pastor Gregory L. Jackson
The Confession of Sins
The Absolution
The Introit p. 16
The Gloria Patri
The Kyrie p. 17
The Gloria in Excelsis
The Salutation and Collect p. 19
The Epistle and Gradual
The Absolution
The Introit p. 16
The Gloria Patri
The Kyrie p. 17
The Gloria in Excelsis
The Salutation and Collect p. 19
The Epistle and Gradual
The Gospel
Glory be to Thee, O Lord!
Praise be to Thee, O Christ!
The Nicene Creed p. 22
Praise be to Thee, O Christ!
The Nicene Creed p. 22
Love for God
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 #651 Be Still My Soul
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 #651 Be Still My Soul
In Our Prayers
- Carl Roper and his wife Lynda.
- The family of Norm Woehrle, who died last night - a WWII veteran and long-time friend of the Jacksons.
- Pastor K and Doc Lito Cruz - dealing with diabetes.
- Those looking for work and a better income.
- Glen Kotten is visiting the Philippines this month. We met him at the Shraders. Pastor Shrader continues his battle with cancer. Pastor Shrader's congregation is in fellowship with us and the Bethany Philippine Mission - they are also contributing to the effort. Pastor Palangyos is baptizing two families this Sunday.
- Large Print page 15 is available.
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| Graphic by Norma A. Boeckler |
KJV 1 Corinthians 1:4 I thank my God always on your behalf, for the grace of God which is given you by Jesus Christ; 5 That in every thing ye are enriched by him, in all utterance, and in all knowledge; 6 Even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you: 7 So that ye come behind in no gift; waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ: 8 Who shall also confirm you unto the end, that ye may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord.
KJV Matthew 22:34 But when the Pharisees had heard that he had put the Sadducees to silence, they were gathered together. 35 Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him, and saying, 36 Master, which is the great commandment in the law? 37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. 38 This is the first and great commandment. 39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. 40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. 41 While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, 42 Saying, What think ye of Christ? whose son is he? They say unto him, The Son of David. 43 He saith unto them, How then doth David in spirit call him Lord, saying, 44 The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool? 45 If David then call him Lord, how is he his son? 46 And no man was able to answer him a word, neither durst any man from that day forth ask him any more questions.
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| Graphic based on Norma Boeckler's Art |
Eighteenth Sunday After Trinity
Lord God, heavenly Father: We are poor, miserable sinners; we know Thy will, but cannot fulfill it because of the weakness of our flesh and blood, and because our enemy, the devil, will not leave us in peace. Therefore we beseech Thee, shed Thy Holy Spirit in our hearts, that, in steadfast faith, we may cling to Thy Son Jesus Christ, find comfort in His passion and death, believe the forgiveness of sin through Him, and in willing obedience to Thy will lead holy lives on earth, until by Thy grace, through a blessed death, we depart from this world of sorrow, and obtain eternal life, through Thy Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, one true God, world without end. Amen.
Background for the Gospel, Matthew 22, The Lord Said to My Lord
Some harbor the concept that one can debate every topic except religion, as if the college and professional champions are important and eternity is not. St. Paul wrote that "there must be divisions and heresies" to prove what is good. The debate between Jesus and the religious leaders was a significant feature of Jewish education and still is. The pupils challenge the rabbi and the rabbi asks them a question that would stump most people.
We see that division throughout the Bible, the choice between good and evil, life and death. Many choose the easy path of getting along and following the trends of society. However, that has resulted in massive corruption and the abuse of the poorest of the poor, the weakest of the weak, the unborn.
Not surprisingly, the image and name of Moloch, the pagan god for sacrificing children, has become popular, even as a name for software. The time is coming soon when light will overcome darkness or darkness will prevail in our country and around the world. These evils are global, Satanic, and paved with gold and debauchery.
Those who know Jesus is the only-begotten Son of God will not hesitate to witness to His Name and His truth. Anyone who questions His divinity, His loving-kindness, and His gracious will should read the Gospel of John.
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| Graphic by Norma A. Boeckler |
Love for God
KJV Matthew 22:34 But when the Pharisees had heard that he had put the Sadducees to silence, they were gathered together. 35 Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him, and saying, 36 Master, which is the great commandment in the law?
As wrote above, debates about the Scriptures are part of Jewish tradition and lore. One style is to have the audience ask three different questions and the rabbi asking the final question of the crowd. There is a story about this in The Joys of Yiddish. The rabbi has a driver take him around in a horse cart, so he can teach people in various locations (I think in Russia). After a long time of doing this, the driver says, "I know so much about our teaching that I could be the rabbi and you the driver of the horse-cart." They exchanged clothing and set off to a new location. Everything went fine at first and the fake rabbi did well. Then someone asked a very tough and complex question, which is part of the tradition, to stump the rabbi. The fake rabbi began sweating and trying to come up with an answer. He finally said, "The answer is so simple that even my lowly cart-driver can answer it," pointing to him.
The give and take of teaching, mostly gone today in all cultures, is part of genuine Judaism because of their respect for the Word of God. To understand the Bible, one must associate the Word of God directly with the will of God. They are not separate. Or, as we often say, "The Word is never without the Spirit, and the Spirit is never without the Word." (A. Hoenecke) To show how much people have corrupted this concept in their Calvinism, the latest edition of the Yale Divinity School magazine, Reflections, quoted a woman saying this, "For a long time there were few women allowed to study to be a pastor. Then all at once, the Holy Spirit blew open all the doors of the seminaries." (paraphrased)
This errant view of the Spirit is to say, "Whatever I like is from the Holy Spirit." It comes from Calvin's notion of the "sovereignty of God" meaning that the Spirit may or may not be present in the Word, in worship, in the Sacraments. This graduate liked what happened and therefore it came from the Spirit.
If the Word of God accomplishes His will, as we know it does, from Isaiah 55:8ff and dozens of other passages, then whatever is said in the Name of God is absolutely essential, powerful, and not to be treated like a child's toy, play with at times, left alone, or broken in a puerile rage.
One mark of apostasy is our age's fear of controversy about the Scriptures. Everyone must calm down and listen to the commands issued from the synodical politicians. Various people will step in, not to deal with the Word of God, but to punish anyone who raises real issues - "disturbing others."
Our tiny Ohio Conference, WELS, was upset over the promotion of Church Growth throughout the synod and in our location. The pastors asked for a speaker to address this. They sent the Number One Fan of Church Growth, David Valleskey, to give a paper, which was about "spoiling the Egyptians," stealing all the wonderful insights of Fuller Seminary. Yes, he went to Fuller, as he admitted to Pastor David Koenig, but David denied it, scared white, when I asked him face-to-face.
We can see the question as hostile, because we know it was generally the case when leaders confronted Jesus. However, the tradition was good and we see how it elicits the truth from the Son of God. Conflict brings out the truth. No matter how we may stutter and stammer and not make a perfect case for God's Word, the slightest implication of honoring that Word can cause eruptions of anger and vindictive responses. That is when we know the Word has found the target, because the flak rises to greet us with determination.
36 Master, which is the great commandment in the law?
This is a superb question, because it involves asking the Lord of Creation what is the primary commandment in the Torah - all the teaching of God, which we now call the Old Testament. The New Testament was yet to be written.
One pastor wondered about how to return his relative from Judaism to Christianity. I said, "Tell him he is not a real Jew. A genuine Jew embraces Christianity and faith in Jesus because the Old Testament is full of Gospel Promises and cannot be understood apart from that knowledge. Isaiah 53 and Psalm 22 are direct prophesies of Jesus the Messiah. That is why Jews realize the truth and believe in Him."
Because the Holy Spirit is stingy with words, we have to take this question and the answer quite seriously and pay attention. Then we should also mull over it all week to make it fresh and lively in our minds and actions.
37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. 38 This is the first and great commandment.
God created Adam perfect so that he loved His Creator in this way. This is the ideal.
Here the Prophets come now, and preach Christ, and say: One is coming who will give counsel how man may regain what he lost and again enter the state from which he fell, to which the Law points him. This is the other sermon that should and must be preached until the day of judgment, namely, the help from sin, death and satan, and restoration of our bodies and souls, so that we may come into the state that we love God and our neighbor from our hearts. This is to be done fully and perfectly in the future life, but here in this life it should be commenced.
8. For in the life beyond there will be no longer any faith, but perfect love, and all the Law demands we will do with our whole heart. Therefore we must now preach what we should become and should forever continue to be, namely, that we are to love God and our neighbor with our whole heart. This I will commence, says Christ, and complete, not alone as to my own person, but I will aid you to make a beginning, and to continue ever in it, until you come where you will also fulfill it perfectly.
8. For in the life beyond there will be no longer any faith, but perfect love, and all the Law demands we will do with our whole heart. Therefore we must now preach what we should become and should forever continue to be, namely, that we are to love God and our neighbor with our whole heart. This I will commence, says Christ, and complete, not alone as to my own person, but I will aid you to make a beginning, and to continue ever in it, until you come where you will also fulfill it perfectly.
Because Adam and Eve sinned, the created impulse to love God was lost. However. God moves us through the Gospel to realize how merciful and forgiving God is, that His power is chiefly known in showing mercy. In seeing how Christ died for our sins, we realize how great this divine love is. "We love Him because He first loved us."
Some of the wording in the sermon linked may seem harsh, but Luther was dealing with an age where the visible church said, "Just belong to us and that is your assurance of partial salvation. You will go to Purgatory for sure, but we can help you shorten that."
A vague connection to God is not loving Him with all our heart, soul, and mind. The more people have watered down the Word of God with entertainment and treats, the less people care about worship. No one is helping them start this journey toward eternal life, which begins with the knowledge of our fallen nature.
My wife asked me how ministers could become atheists, as the author of Love Wins did. I could see it clearly, because the minister is awash in getting everything done and pleasing people so that there is no time for actual study of the Word. Shortcuts lead to even more of this. If gimmicks seem to work, the gimmicks are used until the entire operation is a farce. The Phoenix Community of Joy recognized this, fired all the professional entertainers on the staff, and saw the membership collapse. It no longer exists.
That has to be turned around by the minister and congregation so the Word of God is first and everything else is secondary or even unwelcome. No more Boy Scout Sunday, Girl Scout Sunday, Veterans Sunday, Masonic Lodge Sunday, and Bakery Sunday. Brunhilda will not sing "You Light Up My Life," even if she has 50 relatives who will come to hear her sing.
When the emphasis is on the Word, and the Word is trusted, Christ dwells in the hearts of people through faith. How can we be guided and moved in ways pleasing God if we do not have Christ dwelling within us through faith?
The purpose of having the Sabbath is to give people needed rest and to let them enjoy the Word of God so worship becomes the bread of life from heaven for all those who hunger for righteousness.
39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. 40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.
The second commandment is the created fruit of the Spirit. Because we love God, that love produces a desire to help our neighbor, even if we never meet that neighbor face-to-face. Thus missions were started all over the world by those who saw the need to provide the Gospel to others. Europe hated that for a long time. Stay here where you have a church and pastor. But people left for many reasons and often had not spiritual guide. So people like Loehe send real leaders to those locations and those areas thrived and became centers of the Gospel.
This also applies to those closest to us, though we also have that through the Internet. As I have written before, people in this area have helped with our dead battery to such a degree that they would not let me call AAA for help. "No, I am not leaving until your car is running." And they did that for a stranger.
Call me biased by age, but I believed this long ago. People should honor and respect the oldest generation. There is much to learn. Fortunately, I am still younger than many and I still appreciate and enjoy the wisdom of those who have lived through WWII and have so much to offer. Asians simply revere age, and they show that in many different ways. The new wisdom is that people who tweet all day must know a lot because they always read the latest trivial, watch the latest funny videos, etc. Some of them even walk into ponds while doing so, a measure of their focus.
When Luther approaches a text, he often starts by saying. "This lesson teaches about two loves, love for God and love for our neighbor." His constant them, following Jesus, is that the two loves must go together. If we have no love for God, no desire to hear His Word, there will be no genuine love for others. If we imagine that we love God and show no love for our neighbor, then we must repent and ask ourselves if we really are sorry for our sins and receiving forgiveness through faith in the Savior. Because, if we are, then love and patience toward others is automatical.
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