The Fourth Sunday after Trinity, 2024.

 

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The melodies are linked in the hymn name. 

The lyrics are linked in the hymn number.

• The melody site is linked here.
• TLH Lyrics site is linked here.

The Hymn # 452                      The Son of God  
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 Gospel 
Glory be to Thee, O Lord!
Praise be to Thee, O Christ!
The Nicene Creed p. 22
The Sermon Hymn #528:10-15  If God Himself Be For Me

A Simple Guideline

The Communion Hymn # 308       Invited Lord  
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 

Prayers and Announcements

•  Kermit and Maria Way, Pastor Jim and Chris Shrader, Callie, her mother Peggy, and her father Calvin.
• Mike and Amanda Oak were blessed with a beautiful girl, June, last week. 
• Lito Cruz and his son are much better. 

KJV Romans 8:18 For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. 19 For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. 20 For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope, 21 Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. 22 For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. 23 And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.

KJV Luke 6:36 Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful. 37 Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven: 38 Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again. 39 And he spake a parable unto them, Can the blind lead the blind? shall they not both fall into the ditch? 40 The disciple is not above his master: but every one that is perfect shall be as his master. 41 And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but perceivest not the beam that is in thine own eye? 42 Either how canst thou say to thy brother, Brother, let me pull out the mote that is in thine eye, when thou thyself beholdest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, cast out first the beam out of thine own eye, and then shalt thou see clearly to pull out the mote that is in thy brother's eye.

Fourth Sunday After Trinity

Lord God, heavenly Father, who art merciful, and through Christ didst promise us, that Thou wilt neither judge nor condemn us, but graciously forgive us all our sins, and abundantly provide for all our wants of body and soul: We pray Thee, that by Thy Holy Spirit Thou wilt establish in our hearts a confident faith in Thy mercy, and teach us also to be merciful to our neighbor, that we may not judge or condemn others, but willingly forgive all men, and, Judging only ourselves, lead blessed lives in Thy fear, through Thy dear Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, one true God, world without end. Amen.

Mercy

KJV Luke 6:36 Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful. 37 Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven: These verses are so clearly stated that we can imagine Luke 15 following them - the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the prodigal son - each emphasizing mercy, not being judged, not condemning, and being forgiven. The Luke 15 parables emphasize ordinary people rejoicing in finding the lost sheep, the lost coin, the lost child.

    There are two pairs -  to be merciful and to judge not; to condemn not and to forgive. 

These are the kinds of memory work Luther used. He would think about a verse or a phase for one or two days. We have trained ourselves to rush through literature and the Scriptures, but more likely to slow down for sports, recipes, and local news.

    The words are very powerful because the Holy Spirit is always at work in the Word of God. As that phrase suggests, it is the Word that belongs to God, so it is not something for joking or twisting around. Nor does the-Word-belonging-to-God ever lack in its energy, whether condemning our sins or forgiving our sins.

    Media experts now take advantage of words themselves, making us listen to a waterfall of sludge, all kinds of broadcasts filled with empty claims, obscenities, and worse. They have the effect of replacing what is good and beautiful with that which is evil and ugly.

    These two verses condense most of the wisdom about how we should live our lives and affect others. If we take the verses seriously, we have to examine the Scriptures teaching us about mercy and forgiveness. Not only are they primary but they are also the opposite of judging and condemning. 

    It is funny that the shallow use of judging has been used to condemn something said. For instance, at a clergy meeting I said something that made the district vice-president say, "You are being judgmental!" I said, "Yes, I am supposed to judge between right and wrong." He mumbled something in response.

    The use of "judgmental" has been cleverly crafted to move the ethics of our country into the sewers and worse. That actually from the ex-minister Carl Rogers, psychologist, atheist. He advocated that there was no right or wrong. He invented "didn't you, aren't you" counseling. If someone wanted to do something bad, he said, "You are wrong, aren't you." Listening to the flat voice on the tapes can put a whole room into a deep sleep.

    So now we have a change from judging between good and bad, right and wrong, patriot or traitor. Political law and religious law have always marked such pairs as worthwhile. 

38 Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again.

    This is quite an image for anyone baking. For example, there are always measuring instruments in the kitchen or bakery, even more so in large bakery factories. The measurements should be precise because a small error can have catastrophic results - forgetting the yeast or salt, too much of either one, flavorings, etc.

    However, this is an example of hyperbole on the positive side. Jesus exaggerates how much God returns on our response. Let's imagine a cup or a quart of flour or anything else in making bread.   

• good measure, (not skimping)
• pressed down, (adding even more)
• and shaken together, (no gaps)
• and running over. (abundance)

As a veteran in my father's retail bakery and in the kitchen, I can list any number of bad examples and outrageous errors. But this is Jesus' way of showing us that we should not be stingy in the fruit of the Spirit, all those things that come from the Gospel leaven at work in our lives. 

KJV Galatians 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, 23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.

Downtown Moline was more than a business district. It was a collection of family owned businesses, with the location and business continuing into multiple generations - like John Deere and the radio/tv store nearby.  People had a lot of connections. The mother-church of the Augustana Synod was right across the street from the donut shop, clothing store, and basement restaurant. 

That kind of association is mostly gone today, but it continues in many forms, from denominations to congregations. What God gives to us freely should also be a blessing in the lives of others, to be multiplied many times over.

39 And he spake a parable unto them, Can the blind lead the blind? shall they not both fall into the ditch?

    That is a familiar, concise parable. We even have games based on this. If we are not fruitful from the Gospel in our lives, others will fall into the same problem. So I see in many denominations a very strict measure of shunning, freezing people out of a congregation, district, and synod. "They strain out a gnat and swallow a camel." The self-described purity is really a gigantic monument to man-made law. A young visitor to our house said about dancing - "That is my favorite dance of the ones I am not allowed." He gave a demonstration.

40 The disciple is not above his master: but every one that is perfect shall be as his master.

    In other words, the student (Christian) is not above his Master (Christ), but they are to conduct themselves in the pattern of Jesus Christ. This is where the denominations have fallen down and lost their way, both at the same time. They are blind to faith in Jesus Christ as Savior. It could not be more simple and clear, especially for those who say "grace" and yet deny its origin.

KJV Romans 5 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.

access by faith προσαγωγην εσχηκαμεν τη πιστει εις την χαριν ταυτην

access 

προσαγωγην 

we have

εσχηκαμεν

by faith

τη πιστει

into this grace

εις την χαριν ταυτην

    Doc Lito wrote to say that Jews now  becoming Christian are startled to find that the church they were are attending is not Trinitarian, not really Christian.

    Romans 5:1-2 have always been the bulwark of Biblical doctrine, and yet The Big Five - ELCA-LCMS-WELS-ELS-CLC (sic) - sidestep it by saying everything is "by grace." By saying everything is "by grace," they water down the meaning and are really saying "all is grace without faith." The last I heard, five different things were "by grace." The Apostle Paul says, "faith gives us access to God's grace." Luther said "faith alone" to emphasize the difference between that message and Roman Catholic "faith plus works."

    Not by working harder, not by promising to never sin again, not by works of contrition - such as walking over painful paths, etc etc - but only access to grace through faith in Jesus Christ. 

Link explaining access

Definition: a bringing to
Usage: approach, access, admission.

    As stated before - and - is always needed for all of us - access to grace is only by faith in Jesus Christ and should not be mixed around so much that we get dizzy figuring out all kinds of graces. In the end, grace is not found in works, in becoming cloistered, etc. Faith in the Savior is access to grace, and faith comes from the Gospel Word.

Emphasizing the Gospel message builds grace through faith. Faith and grace are from God.

41 And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but perceivest not the beam that is in thine own eye? 42 Either how canst thou say to thy brother, Brother, let me pull out the mote that is in thine eye, when thou thyself beholdest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, cast out first the beam out of thine own eye, and then shalt thou see clearly to pull out the mote that is in thy brother's eye.

    Our country has fallen into a terrible scourge, an epidemic of man-made law. The laws multiply daily. When the Covid scam was running at full steam, I asked where the "clean pens" were for signing. When I was done I pushed the pen back - with fingertips - under the glass plate (now gone) and said, "Make sure this is in the to- be-washed bunch." I said to another severe hawk-eyed watcher, "Do you realize how often you touch credit cards in getting the doctor paid?" That was followed the next time by an added device so the desk workers would not directly touch those credit cards. How many lives were not saved?

    If everyone is going to concentrate on man-made laws, then how will we every expand the reach of God's own grace through access to faith in Jesus? As Paul said, we are children until we grow up and act according to faith rather than laws. Of course, the anti-law people jump on that and miss the mark entirely (antinomians). An anti-law pastor rejected the 10 Commandments and Creation. Needless to say, he soon became a loud, open Atheist.

    Notice that Jesus taught access to grace in Him in this message.