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
Praise be to Thee, O Christ!
The Nicene Creed p. 22
The testament of Thy deep love;
For, lo, thereby I now am able
To see how love Thy heart doth move.
9. What higher gift can we inherit?
It is faith's bond and solid base;
It is the strength of heart and spirit,
The covenant of hope and grace.
10. This feast is manna, wealth abounding
Unto the poor, to weak ones power,
To angels joy, to hell confounding,
And life for us in death's dark hour.
11. Thy body, given for me, O Savior,
Thy blood which Thou for me didst shed,
These are my life and strength forever,
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 # 361 O Jesus, King
- Pastor K and Doc Lito Cruz - dealing with diabetes.
- Cancer treatment: Rush Limbaugh, Mary Howell, Chris Jackson
- Treatment: Randy Anderson, Pastor Jim Shrader, Kermit Way
- Diagnosis: Wm. B.
- Seizure treatment: Gavin, and Jeshra Palangyos
- The rice mission is half-way funded for the rice, with $500.
Seventeenth Sunday After Trinity
The Unity of Truth
KJV Ephesians 4:1 I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, 2 With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love; 3 Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
This passage names the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This also uses "one" seven times - and not by accident. In the Bible, the groups of three are associated with the Holy Trinity - faith, hope, and love; nine-fold fruits of the Spirit, etc. Groups of four emphasis completeness - four corners of the world; every tribe, nation, people, and tongue.
Paul is in prison and facing death. The end of his life is not well known because the early Christians were not involved in writing down their history but in proclaiming the Gospel. There are a couple of alternatives, but they ended with his death. Therefore this letter is focused on the ultimate, the eternal, not the needs of the moment.
Paul is writing with the perspective of leaving behind the most important message of his apostolic labor. God converted him with the living Word, the risen Christ, and God gave him a special role among the apostles. He had great burdens as the former persecutor and to this day, people work hard at pointing out how horrible he was, how he should be dismissed.
Paul is writing about unity and eternity, and we can see how important that is, because so much has been tossed away carelessly. This unusual passage is a good example of how the infinite can be taught with simple words. However, the complex thought is revealed in a way we could never duplicate if asked to describe God and the Christian life in 25 words or less (the old standard for winning prizes, long long ago).
That is true of the entire Bible - most of the words are simple by themselves, but the concept is far beyond us, a mystery revealed by the Holy Spirit, teaching faith and how we should live that faith.
Man starts with man and seldom gets beyond man. The Bible begins with God and places us in relationship to Him and each other.
Creation was once assumed by most scientists and taught with science. For example, the pink Queen Elizabeth rose was developed by Walter Lammerts, a Lutheran scientist with a PhD in plant genetics. He taught the Six Day Creation of the Bible and also developed the Chrysler rose (which outlasted the car) - a brilliant red. Lammerts was not shy about Creation. He formed a group where scientists were excluded if they compromised on Creation.
Creation is important for our country, because law and order, right and wrong are based upon the "laws of nature and of Nature's God." There is no religious test for office holders but there is a clear basis for justice and the law.
Remove Creation by the Word, and compromising Christians must consider themselves "new evolutes" rather than "new creations (creatures)." Yes, our language and our Bible are burdened with the concept of Creation by God.
One member brought up the issue of the Bible's unified message - it is seldom taught. The effect of sectarian attitudes is to compare one denomination that specializes in a certain concept versus others who have another specialty. It is easy to look and compare, browse and eventually decide, then change.
One branch of my family became convinced the world was going to end on a certain day. They were led by Miller and were called Millerites. The charter members sold everything, went up on a mountain and waited. Nothing happened. Then the final date was re-calculated by Miller, and they repeated their folly with the same result. They became the Adventists and continue to emphasize one thing - the end of the world.
The Bible does not teach institutions but the eternal truth of the Gospel. In short, Jesus is the message throughout, from Creation (John 1:3) to the end times. The purpose of the Scriptures is to build all our blessings - and eternity - on faith in Jesus the Savior, and to teach the Christian life.
18. One of the wickedest offenses possible to commit against the Church is the stirring up of doctrinal discord and division, a thing the devil encourages to the utmost. This sin usually has its rise with certain haughty, conceited, self-seeking leaders who desire peculiar distinction for themselves and strive for personal honor and glory. They harmonize with none and would think themselves disgraced were they not honored as superior and more learned individuals than their fellows, a distinction they do not merit. They will give honor to no one, even when they have to recognize the superiority of his gifts over their own. In their envy, anger, hatred and vengefulness, they seek occasion to create factions and to draw people to themselves. Therefore Paul exhorts first to the necessary virtue of love, having which men will be enabled to exercise humility, patience and forbearance toward one another.
19. The character of the evils resulting to the Church from divisions and discords in doctrine is evident from the facts. Many are deceived; the masses immediately respond to new doctrine brilliantly presented in specious words by presumptuous individuals thirsting for fame. More than that, many weak but well-meaning ones fall to doubting, uncertain where to stand or with whom to hold. Consequently men reject and blaspheme the Christian doctrine and seek occasion to dispute it. Many become reckless pleasure-lovers, disregarding all religion and ignoring the Word of God. Further, even they who are called Christians come to have hard feelings against one another, and, figuratively, bite and devour in their hate and envy. Consequently their love grows cold and faith is extinguished.
20. Of so much disturbance in the Church, and of the resulting injuries to souls, are guilty those conceited, factious leaders who do not adhere to the true doctrine, preserving the unity of the Spirit, but seek to institute something new for the sake of advancing their own ideas and their own honor, or gratifying their revenge.
That is a good description of the Bible revisers of the 1880s. They changed the Greek New Testament and gave their version (Hort-Wescott) to the translators. When the revision of the KJV was finished, based on the changed Greek New Testament, the greatly altered Greek NT was also published. There was an uproar, but the changes were widely rejected. However, by the 1950s, they pursued the plan with RSV, where the Virgin Birth of Isaiah 7:10 was removed and then put in a footnote (following the firestorm).
The same attitude as Hort-Wescott-Tischendorf prevails and hardly any academic institution or denomination allows the KJV. Thus the Bible has become one more religious book, fashioned by man, not God, and subject to extreme revision to make it more relevant, more appealing, more readable.
The arrogance and pride described by Luther have been equally evident in the catastrophic Church Growth Movement, currently hiding under various names. It no long matters how badly it failed. The agenda was apostasy from the start, and the question is only, "Do you question our New Religion or swear obedience to it?"
One district pope (the Brit) refused to use it in his own congregation but forced it on all the pastors.
The unity of the Spirit is unity of the Word. It is not how we feel, but the location of our trust. If we believe that the Bible is one, unified truth and the singular revelation of God, the result will a common will, a common Faith, and the peace that comes from Justification by Faith.
Departures from the Word, since they are man-driven, will end up as new versions of the Law, not necessarily God's Law. I had one student who only wrote essay on the evils of eating pork. I did not know where he was one religion or the other, and I did not want to ask. However, it was very clear that eating pork was a terrible evil, a risk to health. Disagreeing with this was a terrible sin.
Luther often talked about the invented traditions and exhibitions of righteousness in the Medieval Church. I used to get tired of his asides, but they are endlessly repeated now in new forms - and just as silly. A good bishop will make sure everyone knows he is on the side of Left-wing activism. Sometimes I look up reports and see how clergy slept on the sidewalks outside their urban church, to show solidarity with the homeless, so they described their pain and their fears. Oh, the bishop stopped by to share their pain and to show bro-sisterhood, fraternity, and sanctimony.
4 There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; 5 One Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.
There is only one Church. It is not an institution or a church building - it is comprised of all those who sincerely trust in the Savior for the forgiveness of their sins. There can only be one true Church of believers because the foundation is the Word of God, Jesus Himself, revealed in the Word.
Departing from the Word necessarily means denying so many concepts or teaching found in the Scriptures. That happens because people have so many of their own ideas and only have one reliable source.
For instance I gave the digging crew a dozen daffodils, but the flowers are still not planted at their house. Why? The husband and wife cannot agree on where to put them. The same thing happens when people say "But I feel..." or "I was taught..." People may line up about what they oppose, but they have serious trouble about agreement.
One body of believers means one Spirit/Word which proclaims, teaches, admonishes, blesses, forgives.
We know this to be true because of the divine effect of the Word of God. The Spirit helps in its teaching and its reception. Whatever our station in life, whatever our sorrows and joys, God's Spirit makes them better. What is better than love bound up with forgiveness? The great hymns teach us about patience in suffering and our ultimate reunion in eternal life. Some labors may seem to be tedious and without thanks or rewards of any kind, but God comes through and shows us, "You were impatient," so we are little more patient.
One hope is to have meaning in life. We are part of one vast train of saints (believers) who labor, give thanks to God, receive forgiveness, and honor God with our service to others.
I said to Christina, "I would like to be able to go back to Garfield Elementary School and say to one girl, "You are going the marry the Chief of Police in Boston!" Then I would say to my friend stung by a wasp in class, "Don't worry. You will be honored in Sports Illustrated!" We see so much better looking backwards.
When I think about the people I know from our church, many I have not met, there is no one alike yet everyone serving others in various ways and working together too.
Just as we have one Lord, so we have one Faith. No matter how much man divides himself into factions, similar to the Tower of Babel experience, still we have One Truth that unites us for eternity.
As Jesus taught, we have the wisdom that ancient kings and scholars sought all their lives. But they did not know a fraction of what we have before us. The more we see this, the more we value it.
We can tell how much this means because the truths taught 100+ years ago are largely ignored by the great and wise, but easily enjoyed today. We read them as believers paying attention to believers.
People in institutions worry about their institutions failing. I remember a name still mentioned often today. He went to one seminary and it faded away by merger and even more by incompetence. He taught at another seminary, which was apparently too small to last. The college almost had another lease on life, and a legal decision finished it. The man was Nicholas Lenker, who gathered a bunch of translators to produce Luther's Sermons. The same set re-appears in various places and languages, in print and on the Net.
I would like to go back in a robe and say, "John, you struggle to get some books out and teach people about Luther's great contributions. The great and wise will pass on, but your work will continue to be copied, over and over, because it is so worthwhile for Christian laity and clergy."
John Nicholas Lenker attended Hamma Seminary, which is gone, and taught at Dana Seminary, which was also merged into oblivion. Dana College was closed rather than going online, due to an edict.
