Reformation Sunday - 2024.

 YouTube

Daylight Savings Ends Next Sunday

Hymn # 262      A Mighty Fortress         

The Confession of Sins
The Absolution
The Introit p. 16

Introit

The Lord of Hosts is with us. The God of Jacob is with us.

Wherefore will not we fear though the earth be removed: 

and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea.

Psalm. God is our refuge and strength: a very present Help in our trouble.

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

Collect

O almighty, eternal God: We confess that we are poor sinners and cannot answer one of a thousand, when Thou contendest with us; but with all our hearts we thank Thee, that Thou hast taken all our guilt from us and laid it upon Thy dear Son Jesus Christ, and made Him to atone for it: We pray Thee graciously to sustain us in faith, and so to govern us by Thy Holy Spirit, that we may live according to Thy will, in neighborly love, service, and helpfulness, and not give way to wrath or revenge, that we may not incur Thy wrath, but always find in Thee a gracious Father, through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, one true God, world without end. Amen.

The Epistle and Gradual       

KJV Revelation 14:6 And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, 7 Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.

The Gospel              

Glory be to Thee, O Lord!

KJV Matthew 11: 12 And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force. 13 For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John. 14 And if ye will receive it, this is Elias, which was for to come.15 He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.
Praise be to Thee, O Christ!
The Nicene Creed             p. 22

The Hymn #387     Dear Christians One and All  

          Faith in Jesus Christ Gives Us Access to God's Grace

The Communion Hymn #267   If God Had Not Been on Our Side                    

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 #259  Flung to the Heedless Winds 

Prayers and Announcements

• Sarah Buck, Dr. Kermit Way, Lori Howel, Doc Lito Cruz - and grandson, Pastor Jim Shrader; Callie's parents have serious medical issues.
• Bible John just got 20 more Super Large Print KJV Bibles; he has kidney failure.
• All Saints is also Daylight Savings - November 3rd.

Ministries of Bethany Lutheran Church 

1. The Christian Art of Norma Boeckler and Norma's print books.
2.  Martin Chemnitz Press - Kindle and print books, and free pdfs.
3.  Lutheran Library Publishing Ministry and Lutheran Librarian - free and low-cost print books - Alec Satin.

  Faith in Jesus Christ Gives Us Access to God's Grace

Medieval Burdens and Terror

    It is a pity that modern Catholic universities still argue salvation by works. I was looking over Notre Dame messages, when I saw this, "Those who attend... will receive X amount of years reduced from Purgatory." Nothing has changed.

    Like everyone else, Luther was tortured by guilt. How could he do enough to have his sins forgiven? He was a monk, a leader among the monasteries, and a scholar of the Bible with a PhD in that field, and also soaked in Medieval dogmatics - Augustine, Jerome, and Aquinas.

    Luther was under the authority of the Pope and even traveled to Rome, which was supposedly the holiest place on earth - but it was just the opposite.

The Electoral College

    No one has ever voted for President in America. Not one. The "popular vote" count is pure baloney. There is no popular vote, only the electoral vote. Each voter gets to vote for electors in one state. The electors then vote for President. Why? Tiny states in population - like Nevada - have great clout in the electors. Without electors, the heavily populated states would dominate the final count.

Look at Luther's era - the Electors kept the Holy Roman Emperor away - he did not have enough of the five Electors.

Wikipedia - Frederick III (17 January 1463 – 5 May 1525), also known as Frederick the Wise (German: Friedrich der Weise), was Prince-elector of Saxony from 1486 to 1525, who is mostly remembered for the protection given to his subject Martin Luther, the seminal figure of the Protestant Reformation. Frederick was the son of Ernest, Elector of Saxony and his wife Elisabeth, daughter of Albert III, Duke of Bavaria.

He was one of the most powerful early defenders of Martin Luther, as the elector successfully protected him from the Holy Roman Emperor, the Pope and others.^[1]

Frederic kept the Spanish Holy Roman Empire troops away from Germany, and they soon needed Germany to repel the Muslim invaders. Vienna 1683 - Coffee house invented because the Muslim troops left their coffee beans behind.

[This part below infuriates the Big Five Apostates - ELCA-LCMS-WELS-ELS-CLC (sic).

Faith in Christ Means Access to God's Grace

Abraham is the Father of Faith, the Father of Nations.

    This is clearly expressed in Romans 4, which serves as the introduction to Romans 5:1-2. Abraham is the Father of Faith. Romans 4 - is the background for Romans 5, and both are founded upon KJV Genesis 15.

KJV Genesis 15:5 And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be. 6 And he believed in the Lord; and he counted it to him for righteousness.

KJV Genesis 22:11 And the angel of the Lord called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham: and he said, Here am I. 12 And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me. 

The Hebrew text is incredibly precise because the official copyists must count every letter and every word, or the particular part is burned. This has continued ever since the Five Books of Moses and the Old Testament. When you read or hear the original Old Testament and New, it is the ancient Word of God. Romans is not simply "a book about" but a sermon about Abraham and his descendant Jesus, the Incarnate Word.

KJV Romans 5:5 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.

KJV Micah 7:16 The nations shall see and be confounded at all their might: they shall lay their hand upon their mouth, their ears shall be deaf. 17 They shall lick the dust like a serpent, they shall move out of their holes like worms of the earth: they shall be afraid of the Lord our God, and shall fear because of thee. 18 Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? he retaineth not his anger for ever, because he delighteth in mercy. 19 He will turn again, he will have compassion upon us; he will subdue our iniquities; and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.

Luther found in Romans 5 and also in Habakkuk - Justification by Faith. All the claims, books, decrees, and traditions were lacking because they depended on the righteousness of works - not faith in Jesus Christ. The false doctrine of CFW Walther was continued by his subordinate F. Pieper. The error of Justification without Faith was welded into the 1932 Brief Statement, which was not the Bible, not the Book of Concord, not anything except the Halle Pietism of Bishop Martin Stephan. He promoted it and Walther gloried in it the rest of his life.

    The answer is not in the doing but the believing. This has consolidated the Lutheran sects in their peculiar righteousness of works (DNA, belonging to the right sect, and joining sects/cults together with their error, including ELCA).

    Our daily prayers should always include asking forgiveness, thanksgiving for the many blessings, and help for others.