Sunday, October 23, 2022

The I Am Sermons in the Gospel of John - Revised
Improvements with Vimeo

 


God willing, the revision of the I AM Sermons in the Gospel of John will be sent to Janie Sullivan tomorrow.

The revision was mostly a matter of format, but also included some improvement in language, bolding I AM, and adding a name (Dr. Lito Cruz) to our distinguished roster of parish professors.


I made some changes to the audio for our service today and results were good. Some more basic changes will be made this week - sound dampening, testing combinations.



The Nineteenth Sunday after Trinity 2022.

 

The Nineteenth Sunday after Trinity, 2022

Link to today's Vimeo <-- Click here.

Pastor Gregory L. Jackson



The Hymn # 377:1-5       Speratus - Salvation Unto Us
The Confession of Sins
The Absolution
The Introit p. 16

Introit

Say unto my soul, I am thy Salvation: The righteous cry, and the Lord heareth.

He delivereth them out of their troubles: He is their God forever and ever.

Psalm. Give ear, O My people, to My Law: 

incline your ears to the words of My mouth.

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

Collect

O almighty and most merciful God, of Thy bountiful goodness keep us, we beseech Thee, from all things that may hurt us, that we, being ready, both in body and soul, may cheerfully accomplish those things that Thou wouldst have done; through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, who liveth, etc.


The Epistle and Gradual 

Gradual

Let my prayer be set forth before Thee as incense: 

and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice. Hallelujah! Hallelujah!

V. Oh, sing unto the Lord a new song: for He hath done marvelous things. Hallelujah!


The Gospel 
Glory be to Thee, O Lord!
Praise be to Thee, O Christ!
The Nicene Creed p. 22
The Sermon Hymn #377, 6-10     Salvation Unto Us                               

Put on the New Man

The Communion Hymn #376                Rock of Ages
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 #261       Luther - Lord Keep Us Steadfast  




Our Prayers and Announcements
  • Ongoing medical - Kermit Way, Pastor Jim Shrader, Randy Anderson.
  • Pastor K and Doc Lito Cruz - dealing with diabetes.
  • Seizure treatment: Gavin; Callie. Therapy - C.
  • Michael Oak and Amanda Meyer were married last year on October 16th. Congratulations and God's continued blessings.
  • October 25th is John Popp's birthday - John is Diane's husband.
  • The I AM Sermons revision should be sent out this week.




Nineteenth Sunday After Trinity
O mighty and everlasting God, who by Thy Son Jesus Christ didst mercifully help the palsied man both in body and soul: We beseech Thee, for the sake of Thy great mercy: Be gracious also unto us; forgive us all our sins, and so govern us by Thy Holy Spirit, that we may not ourselves be the cause of sickness and other afflictions; keep us in Thy fear, and strengthen us by Thy grace that we may escape temporal and eternal wrath and punishment, through Thy Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, one true God, world without end. Amen.

KJV Ephesians 4:22 That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; 23 And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; 24 And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. 25 Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another. 26 Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath: 27 Neither give place to the devil. 28 Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth.

KJV Matthew 9:1 And he entered into a ship, and passed over, and came into his own city. 2 And, behold, they brought to him a man sick of the palsy, lying on a bed: and Jesus seeing their faith said unto the sick of the palsy; Son, be of good cheer; thy sins be forgiven thee. 3 And, behold, certain of the scribes said within themselves, This man blasphemeth. 4 And Jesus knowing their thoughts said, Wherefore think ye evil in your hearts? 5 For whether is easier, to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and walk? 6 But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (then saith he to the sick of the palsy,) Arise, take up thy bed, and go unto thine house. 7 And he arose, and departed to his house. 8 But when the multitudes saw it, they marvelled, and glorified God, which had given such power unto men.




 Books by Norma A. Boeckler

 Put on the New Man

KJV Ephesians 4:22 That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts;

Ephesus was the Mother Church of a vast area where Christians flourished for a time. But they lost their first love (Revelation 2), much like Laodicea - which became lukewarm, neither cold nor hot.

In this letter before his death, Paul wanted to remind all the churches about the truth he offered them as a witness to the risen Christ. We often list in our histories the witnesses to successes and catastrophic failures. They are named and carefully described to show that they had important things to say about those events. 

The Apostle Paul had a triple score in this area. 

  • First of all, he was converted by Christ Himself on the road to Damascus. This was so dramatic and factual that the other apostles accepted him as an apostle. Peter, who was with Jesus from the beginning, had to accept Paul's admonition to be sincere about the issue of kosher foods.
  • Secondly, Paul was imprisoned and put to death for being a Christian leader. The martyrs (witnesses) were a special class of believers in the earliest days, accepting death as a reflection of Christ dying for their sins. 
  • Thirdly, then as now, a dying person's final address was considered especially powerful and truthful, because that person had no more successes or failures.
So Paul was urging the Ephesians and all Christians to keep off the way they used to live, being driven by earthly desires, very much like today. Similar to pagan Rome, our country seems to be chasing after the worst behavior and its destructive power. People passively go along with the radicalism, though there are signs that too many groups have been angered by what is happening to them and their children, their businesses and their future. 

Following our basic instincts is the Old Adam, doing whatever we want instead of acting on our faith in Jesus the Good Shepherd. Paul in various ways contrasted Adam - or the unbeliever - and the New Creation, born of the Gospel Word (not a decision, or we would be called New Decisions and not New Creations).

Luther graduated with a Doctor of Philosophy, PhD, from a Catholic university. He not only studied the Scriptures with a concentration on the Bible, but also taught it to his students. Besides that, he was guided in the Gospel by his advisor, which helped to wean him away from the Medieval slavery of salvation by works.

23 And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; 24 And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness

Unfortunately for Rome, Luther's concentration on the Scriptures revealed the contrast between Middle Ages' focus on salvation by works and the Scriptures' emphasis upon grace through faith in Jesus Christ (aka Justification by Faith).

Salvation by works is so popular today among Lutherans and Calvinists that one can scarcely find the Gospel among both groups. 

Luther was carefully taught that works earned him a place in Purgatory, possibly Heaven. The more he physically tortured himself, the more holy (saintly) he was supposed to be. However, he found that no matter what he did, the more he punished himself, the more burdened he felt as a result.

Worse, when he visited Rome, the "center of the One True Church" (he thought), the lack of faith and the corruption were deeply disturbing. Rome was not the best but the worst. Where is the righteousness and the holiness of Ephesians 4:23-24?

Simply put - righteousness throughout of the Bible is the "righteousness of faith." And Jesus Christ gives us holiness through faith. We can see that as forgiveness through faith first (John 15) and the fruit of forgiveness (also John 15).

Grace is the favorite word in the Christian Church. The 100 year celebration of the LCMS is One Hundred Years of Grace.
English dukes are called "Your Grace" and hundreds of churches are named Grace.

An LCA leader said on the Word and Witness tape that the Evangelicals "have no grace," spoken with anger and bitterness. Paul wrote in Romans -

KJV Romans 4:16 Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham [in Jesus]; who is the father of us all,

KJV Romans Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: 2 By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

This brings us to -
KJV Romans 3:22 Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference:

Without the faith of Jesus leading Him forward, there is no righteous of faith, forgiveness of sin, and holiness. Our faith begins with the faith of Jesus, and we have access to grace only through faith in Him. 

Just as love is the result of faith in Jesus, so are all the fruits of the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5). Luther had to unwind the decades of forgiveness through works in order to enjoy and teach forgiveness through faith in Jesus Christ (rather than the tortured agonies of the man Luther).

25 Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another. 26 Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath: 27 Neither give place to the devil. 28 Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth.

After teaching the true grace of faith in the Savior, Paul wrote a list of actions to avoid. 
It is curious that the modern Lutherans (the heretics: ELCA, WELS, LCMS, ELS, CLC, ELDONUTs) of today constantly lie about what they teach. 
  1. They do not follow Luther or the Book of Concord and mock the Reformation with doggy t-shirts and Here I Stand socks.
  2. They despise the best, Traditional or Majority New Testament with 5,000+ witnesses and love the worst two frauds - Sinaiticus and Vaticanus.
  3. They love their modern, money-making Bibles with so many verses erased and words mangled, and even added (all are justified?, the whole world?)
  4. They bristle at mention of the King James Version and loathe the fact that the Cinderella Bible is better and so much more loved than their wicked step-sisters - Beck, NIV, ESV, RSV, NRSV, Jerusalem, TEV, Goodspeed.