Worship for Pentecost 3 - 2011

Thursday after Pentecost 2
June 30, 2011

The Lord be with you

Why are the lessons being used at Lamb of God not the same lessons being used in other LC—MS congregations?

As everyone who reads these notes regularly knows, we use a “lectionary” at Lamb of God. There are any number of lectionaries “out there.” We use the one prepared by the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. Lectionaries provide scripture lessons that the pastor may choose from as he prepares his sermon. Liturgical churches, like Lutherans, Episcopalians, Roman Catholics, and others, commonly use lectionaries. They are also catching on in non-liturgical “free” churches. For example, I know of a number of Baptist ministers that now use one of the lectionaries available.

Because lectionaries are keyed to the Church Year there are any number of possible readings that are not used each year. That is because certain seasons of the Church Year vary in length. They do this because the date for Easter is based on a lunar calculation instead of a solar calculation. Our civic calendars are based on a solar year. Because of this, the earliest date for Easter, I believe, is March 23. The latest date for Easter, I believe, is April 25. Pentecost Sunday is always 50 days after Easter so there is also over a 30-day spread of dates for when the Pentecost season begins. However it always ends with the beginning of Advent. The beginning of Advent is determined by Christmas, which is set by the solar year and is always December 25. Lectionaries have to have assigned reading for all possible Sundays. This means that, in a year with a late Easter and Pentecost like 2011, we don’t have as many “Sundays after Pentecost” as we will in years that have an early Easter like next year (April 8) or the year after (March 31).

There are up to 29 possible Sundays in the Pentecost season (counting Pentecost). This year, though, we will have only 24 Sundays in the Pentecost season. Which readings should we skip? The current practice would have us retain the readings for Pentecost and Trinity Sundays (“propers” 1 & 2), skip propers 3 through 7, and start our regular Pentecost readings with proper 8. This is what most liturgical churches do today. However, as I did my planning for the year and reviewed all the assigned readings (both the ones typically used and the ones typically skipped) I noticed that the Epistle lessons take a trip through the book of Romans. However that trip begins with proper 3, one current liturgical practice would have us skip. Current practice would have us pick up our reading through Romans with Romans 7:1-13. This would be the epistle lesson most LS—MS congregations heard last Sunday.

I wanted to “preach through Romans” so, instead of using the current practice, I adopted the practice used back in the days we used The Lutheran Hymnal. With that hymnal and that lectionary series, the omitted Sundays were taken from the end of the Pentecost season. For people who visit this site that are not members of Lamb of God this means that my notes for the appointed lessons will probably not coincide with the lessons being read in your churches. Once we finish Romans we will join the rest of the denomination.

Now, if you are thinking that all the above information is more than the average layman might want, you can thank Jim Kimsey for me including it. He is an Elder at Lamb of God and he caught my deviation from the norm on the very first Sunday. That got me to thinking that others might catch it also so I thought I’d explain myself.

This coming Sunday is the Third Sunday after Pentecost. Our lessons will be Deuteronomy 11:18-21, 26-28; Romans 3:21-28; and Matthew 7:15-29. The sermon text will be Romans 3:27. The sermon is titled “Do You Need A Publicist?” We will be using the Service of Prayer and Preaching (page 260). This service uses the appointed Psalm for the day instead of the Introit, so we will be using Psalm 4. The antiphon is verse 8. This will be a non-communion Sunday. Our opening hymn will be “O God of Love, O King of Peace” (LSB 751). This is the hymn we are currently learning. The sermon hymn will be “Love Divine, All Loves Excelling” (LSB 700). Our closing hymn will be “My Faith Looks Up to Thee” (LSB 702).

I know that this coming Sunday is July 3, just one day before our nation celebrates its independence from England. Maybe I should have picked a hymn like “God Bless Our Native Land” (LSB 965), and I’m sure many churches have done so. However, as Psalm 33:12 says, “Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD” so I think it is indeed patriotic hear about and sing praises to the Lord. We will, of course, remember our nation and its leaders in our prayers. I will say this, from my point of view the hymn we are learning is a patriotic hymn. Check out the words to the first verse and see if you agree.

O God of love, O King of peace,
Make wars throughout the world to cease;
The rage of nations now restrain:
Give peace, O God, give peace again!

The following video is of our sermon hymn, “Love Divine, All Loves Excelling.” The hymn was written by Charles Wesley and is being sung in a Roman Catholic Church. I’ve said it before and I’ll probably say it again, hymns are the most ecumenical aspect of the Christian Faith.



Our Sunday morning adult Bible study is continuing its study of the Gospel of Matthew. We will are in the Sermon on the Mount and this week we will cover “lust” and maybe what Jesus has to say here about “marriage.” Our Education Hour begins at 9:00 AM and everyone is invited to come.

Preview of the Lessons

Deuteronomy 11:18-21: The word “Deuteronomy” means “second law.” The book is mainly a series of sermons given by Moses just before he died and the Israelites entered the Promised Land. In it he reviews the time he has spent leading the Israelites, including the giving of the Ten Commandments, and gives them directions for life in the Promised Land. This particular passage deals with living in the Promised Land. This passage should be understood in an illustratively way, as the very first direction indicates: “You shall therefore lay up these words of mine in your heart and in your soul”. Moses does not mean that we should have an operation to implant small copies of the Bible, or even the book of Deuteronomy, into our hearts. What he means is that the Word of God should shape our lives. The focus of the Bible is Jesus, as our Epistle lessons tells us (Romans 3:21), and so he should be the focus of our lives. If Scriptures are not leading us to Jesus, we are not reading them correctly. When Moses says that we should bind the word on our hands and hang them as frontlets before our eyes, he does not mean what the Jews did in Jesus’ day of literally binding bits of the Scriptures on their hands and hanging bits of the Bible on their heads (much less the entire Bible of book of Deuteronomy), but that we view everything from a biblical point-of-view and all that we do is shaped by our Christian Faith. When Moses says, “You shall teach them to your children, talking of them when you are sitting in your house, and when you are walking by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise,” he doesn’t mean that if you are standing in your home you shouldn’t teach your children about the Lord or that you have to go on a walk to teach about the Lord but never if you go on a drive. He means that our Christian Faith should inform every aspect of our life as a family and that parents should always be willing to share how their Christian Faith shapes how they lovingly relate to each other in the home. The same is true when Moses says, “You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates”. Our home is founded on the Word of God, on Jesus. Sharing the love of Christ in our home should be intentional. Referring to things like putting Scripture on our doorposts, and the like, does indicate that sharing God’s word, the love of Jesus, is not strictly a verbal thing. We can be greatly aided in keeping our homes focused on Christ through the used of visual aids, like a plaque that contains a favorite Bible verse or a painting. We might add music, good movies, worship services, family devotions, and so on. That which focuses us on God’s grace in Christ Jesus builds our homes, our lives, on the solid foundation of Jesus and His word. The lesson ends with a curse and a blessing. The curse is upon all those who abandon God and his word, the blessing is upon all those who cling to God and his word. To put this in a different way, those who remove themselves from the blessings of God have nothing left but a curse, which is life without the blessings of God.

Romans 3:21-28: In verse 21 Paul refers to the “Law and the Prophets.” This was a standard First Century Jewish way of referring to what we call the Old Testament. Paul says that OT teaches us about the righteousness we receive by grace through faith in Jesus. This certainly agrees with what our Lord himself taught (John 5:39; Luke 24:25-27). The big thought in this passage is that you cannot merit eternal life by anything you do or because of your station in life, or what have you. Salvation is a pure gift of God’s grace. I will say no more because this reading is the foundation for Sunday’s sermon.

Matthew 7:15-29: This lesson is the tail end of our Lord’s Sermon on the Mount and concludes with the reaction of the people to his teaching. It contains the Golden Rule, warnings to watch out for those who would draw us away from Jesus and his Word, and the eternal dire circumstances for those who rise to leadership in the visible Church only to draw people away from the sure foundation of our Lord Jesus and his word. I can’t help but worry about those in the visible Church today who claim to have revelations from God and yet those so-called revelations teach something different from what Jesus and his Apostles taught. Jesus tells us that the wise man builds his life on the rock of his words, not the words of such false prophets. The response of the people to the Sermon on the Mount is astonishment. This is something of a neutral word. Jesus taught based on his own authority. He taught as if his words were of the same level of importance as the words recorded in the Old Testament. This astonished everyone, both those who were his disciples and those who were not, and also the fence sitters. We know that Jesus can teach this way because his is the Son of God, the Second Person of the Trinity. He does speak with Divine authority (John 1:1-14).

Tidbits

• The church office will be closed on Monday, July 4. Have a great Independence Day celebration.

• Our Women’s Bible Fellowship will not be meeting Wednesday because so many of our ladies will be out of town for the holiday.

Well, I pray I will see you Sunday.

Blessings in Christ,
Pastor John Rickert

Worship for Pentecost 2 - 2011

Thursday after Trinity Sunday
June 23, 2011

The Lord be with you

This coming Sunday is the Second Sunday after Pentecost. We are now in the season of Pentecost, also called the non-festival half of the Church Year or the season of the Church. The first half of the Church Year has all the major festivals like Christmas and Easter, ending with Pentecost and Trinity Sundays. While the second half does have quite a few Feasts and Commemorations, like tomorrow which is the Festival of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist, none of them are “the biggies.” In a standard lectionary series the readings for major Festivals always supersede the Sunday’s regular readings. So, for example, the readings on Pentecost will always be related to Pentecost, no matter what Sunday Pentecost in the year may fall. By contrast, if the Festival of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist happened to fall on a Sunday, the church would exercise the option of staying with the regularly appointed lessons for that Sunday or switching to the readings for the Festival. Most churches I know of simply stay with the regular lessons.

This year the regular lectionary lessons take us through much of the book of Romans during the Pentecost season, starting with this coming Sunday. I have decided to stick with the epistle lessons and sort of preach through Romans. This is a powerful book that had a major impact on the Reformation and the Reformation churches understanding of Justification.

We celebrated the Lord’s Supper on both Pentecost and Trinity Sundays. This was because they are such special days. This coming Sunday we return to our normal rotation, which has us celebrating the Lord’s Supper on second and fourth Sundays. Because this coming Sunday is a fourth Sunday, we will again share the Sacrament of the Altar. As always, an excellent way to prepare is to read the Small Catechism.

I should probably be clear when I say “read the Small Catechism.” Luther’s Small Catechism is only a dozen (give or take) pages long. Just how many pages depends on how large the pages are. The Catechism you probably received when you were in Junior Confirmation class included an “explanation.” This is much longer than Luther’s Catechism. When I say “read the Small Catechism” I mean the part that Luther wrote.

The appointed lessons for Sunday are Isaiah 49:8-16a, Romans 1:8-17, and Matthew 6:24-34. The sermon is titled “True Power.” The text is Romans 1:16. The opening hymn is “O God of Love, O King of Peace” (LSB 751). The sermon hymn is “Not What These Hands Have Done” (LSB 567). The closing hymn is “My Hope Is Built on Nothing Less” (LSB 575). The distribution hymns are “Just as I Am without One Plea” (LSB 570), “Creator Spirit, by Whose Aid” (LSB 500) and, “O Jesus, Blessed Lord to Thee” (LSB 632). For our liturgy we will be using the first setting of the morning service.

The following video is of the “Lutheranwarbler” playing and singing one of our distribution hymns, “My Hope Is Built on Nothing Less.”



Our Sunday morning adult Bible study is continuing its study of the Gospel of Matthew. We will are in the Sermon on the Mount. Our Education Hour begins at 9:00 AM and everyone is invited to come.

Preview of the Lessons

Isaiah 49:8-16a: This is a wonderful gospel passage. It is in a poetry part of Isaiah and so is full of metaphors. The bottom line is that God will never forsake you … NEVER. Even when his people feel forsaken (v. 14) God assures us that he has not.

Romans 1:8-17: Paul had never been to Rome when he wrote this letter. His goal was to travel there. Once there he would work among the Romans for a while and then push further west. This letter, then, was kind of his introduction to the Church at Rome. So, unlike so many of Paul’s other letters, he is not addressing some specific problem. In stead he is spelling our his fundamental theology. Not surprisingly then, the key organizing principle of Paul’s theology comes out very early – “the Gospel is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes” (16).

Matthew 6:24-34: This is part of the Sermon on the Mount, which we are studying in our Sunday morning Bible class. You might call this section our Lord’s “anti-anxiety” prescription. It dovetails nicely with our reading from Isaiah. The more you know down deep that what Isaiah is saying is true, the less anxious you will be. In other words, keep God first, trust that he will not forsake you, follow him, and your life naturally is less anxious. An additional thought is that “trusting” “believing” and so on is not so much a word we do but a response to the goodness of God. Therefore Jesus tells us to seek first the kingdom of God (that is the reign of God) and all these things will be added … As you do this you can’t help but notice the goodness and faithfulness of the Lord. The result is trust.

Tidbits

• LitWits will meet Sunday to discuss the very engaging book The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism. We meet at 6:30 PM. Everyone is welcome.

Well, I pray I will see you Sunday.

Blessings in Christ,
Pastor John Rickert

Reason for God

Monday after Trinity Sunday
June 20, 2011

The Lord be with you

I am currently reading The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism by Timothy Keller (Riverhead Books, New York, 2008). This is the book we will be discussing at our book club this coming Sunday evening. I’m a little over half way and I find myself hoping that many people will have read it and join in the discussion.

From time to time Keller refers to the book The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins. I was especially impressed by quotes Keller included by ashiest (whom you would expect to form Dawkins cheering section) about the flawed reasoning in the book. Dawkins’ views come from a philosophical framework called “strong rationalism.” It is a largely discredited approach in all circles. I wanted to include a short sampling here.

The philosophical indefensibility of “strong rationalism” is the reason that the books of Dawkins and Dennett have been getting such surprising rough treatment in scholarly journals. As just one example, the Marxist scholar Terry Eagleton wrote a scathing review of Richard Dawkins’s The God Delusion in the London Review of Books. Eagleton attacks both of Dawkins’s native ideas, namely that faith has no rational component, and that reason isn’t based to a great degree on faith.

Dawkins considers that all faith is blind faith, and that Christian and Muslim children are brought up to believe unquestioningly. Not even the dim-witted clerics who knocked me about at grammar school thought that. For mainstream Christianity, reason, argument and honest doubt have always played an integral role in belief. … Reason, to be sure, doesn’t go all the way down for believers, but it doesn’t for most sensitive, civilized non-religious types either. Even Richard Dawkins lives more by faith than by reason. We hold many beliefs that have no unimpeachably rational justification, but are nonetheless reasonable to entertain. …

Blessings in Christ,
Pastor Rickert

Worship for Trinity Sunday - 2011

Thursday after Pentecost
June 16, 2011

The Lord be with you

This coming Sunday is the First Sunday after Pentecost, which is always the Festival of the Holy Trinity. It also happens to be Father’s Day. For our liturgy we will be using the third setting of the morning service, with some twists. One “twist” will be the use of the Athanasian Creed instead of the Nicene Creed. Another “twist” will be the congregation joining me in portions of the liturgy which normally I am the only speaker. For example, the collect for the day will be printed in the bulletin and the congregation will pray out loud with me instead of silently with me. We will be celebrating the Lord’s Supper. You may prepare by reading the appropriate sections of Luther’s Small Catechism. Because this is a Communion Sunday, and because we are adding one additional hymn in honor of the day, there will be seven hymns Sunday.

The appointed lessons are Genesis 1:1-2:4a; Acts 2:14a, 22-36; Matthew 28:16-20. Even without opening their Bibles most Christians know what these passages are about. The opening hymn will be “Immortal, Invisible, God Only Wise” (LSB 802); the hymn to the Trinity will be “Holy God, We Praise Thy Name” (LSB 940); the sermon hymn will be “Glory Be to God the Father” (LSB 506); the distribution hymns will be “All Glory Be to God on High” (LSB 947); “O Blessed, Holy Trinity” (LSB 876), “O Day Full of Grace” (LSB 503); our closing hymn will be “Almighty Father, Bless the Word” (LSB 923).

The sermon is titled “Order Created, Order Restored.” The text will be Genesis 2:1.

The following video is of our opening hymn, “Immortal, Invisible, God Only Wise.” It includes the words so you can sing along.



Our Sunday morning adult Bible study is continuing its study of the Gospel of Matthew. We will are in the Sermon on the Mount. Our Education Hour begins at 9:00 AM and everyone is invited to come.

Preview of the Lessons

Genesis 1:1-2:4a: This is the account of the creation of all things. In case you never noticed it before, the Bible actually presents the story of the very early days of creation from two perspectives. This reading is the big sweeping picture. Starting in chapter 2 verse 4, the Bible gives a narrow view focused on the creation of humanity. In these notes I can only hit some highlights from the reading. The word translated “God” is, in Hebrew, Elohim. Elohim is a plural, grammatically requiring plural verbs. However the Hebrew text uses singular verbs with Elohim. This reflects the Trinity, One God in Three Persons. The Trinity is also seen in the Spirit of God “hovering over the face of the waters” and the agent of creation being God’s Word (verse 3) (see John 1:1-17). Another thing to note is how God is always saying the creation is good. Sometimes people, who think of themselves as spiritual, disrespect the creation as evil/bad/whatever. God disagrees with them. Sure sin has entered the world and corrupted things (see Genesis 3) but there is nothing innately bad or sinful about the physical creation. In deed, on the Last Day, we will be raised with physical bodies and there will be nothing bad about them. One might also note that if being physical was, in and of its essence, sinful, then Jesus could not have been perfect. Another thing about everything being created good that we might miss is that the idea that evil is eternal or that the devil is somehow an evil equal to God is bogus. We also see God creating everything out of nothing. Only God is truly eternal with no beginning and no end.

Acts 2:14a, 22-36: This is the concluding portion of Peter’s Pentecost sermon. The Trinity comes through especially clear in verse 33 where Peter says, [Jesus] “Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing”. It is well worth noting that, while we most often speak of Jesus as our Savior, actually all Three Persons of the Godhead are involved in our salvation. Peter’s message also accents that Jesus Christ’s death and resurrection occurred according to the will of God the Father. There are those who think that Jesus came the first time to set up a geo-political kingdom but that he failed in this effort. The Church and salvation by grace through faith are some sort of emergency plan thrown together at the last minute by God. I suggest that people who think this way read Peter’s sermon. If they don’t change their minds, then they should read it again. They should keep reading it until words like “according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God” and how Peter can quote David as speaking of Jesus sink in.

Matthew 28:16-20: This is the quintessential “Trinity passage.” Of course it is also the quintessential “Baptism passage.” These verses contain “The Great Commission.” Some say Jesus never accepted worship from his followers. They should read verse 17. Some say Jesus was not divine. They should read verse 18 and 20. Some say baptism isn’t important. They should read verse 19. Some say outreach to the lost is unimportant. They should also read verse 19. In reference to the Trinity, we have a big tip off to the equality within the Trinity in verse 19. We are to baptize in the name (singular) of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. If the Three Persons in the One Godhead were not One, then the word should have been “names.”

Tidbits

• Information for the July newsletter is due Sunday

Well, I pray I will see you Sunday.

Blessings in Christ,
Pastor John Rickert

Worship for Pentecost 2011

Thursday after Easter 7
June 9, 2011

The Lord be with you

This coming Sunday is Pentecost. The date of Pentecost each year is determined by the date of Easter because Pentecost comes fifty days after Easter. Therefore the date each year moves around. This year it is about as late as it can be. Because Pentecost is a movable date it can fall on dates used to commemorate other events and individuals. This year it falls on June 12, which is also the Commemoration of Ecumenical Council of Nicaea held in 325 AD. While the focus of our service will be Pentecost, we will also remember the Nicene Council in our prayers when the following petition will be prayed:

O Holy Spirit, we give you thanks and praise for the witness of all those who stood firm in Your grace throughout the ages, proclaiming the saving message of the incarnate Christ and resisting error. Today we especially remember those who, called together by that blessed emperor, Constantine, met in the Council of Nicaea in 325 and confessed the true Christian Faith in the face of the challenge of the Arian heresy. Saints like Nicholas of Myra, Athanasius of Alexandria, and Eusebius of Caesarea, helped preserve what the Apostles taught, giving us the Nicene Creed as a precious summary of the key truths of Your inspired scriptures. Grant that we, inspired by the great cloud of witnesses that have gone before us, may stand firm in the true Christian Faith which was confessed at Nicaea. Lord in Your mercy.

Yes, Nicholas of Myra is the same man people today call Saint Nicholas. If you only think of him as “Santa Claus” you really don’t know anything about him. By-the-way, the date set to remember Nicholas is December 6.

We will be celebrating the Lord’s Supper Sunday. We also will be using a special liturgy for Pentecost Sunday. Some of our regular musical pieces found in the liturgy will be replaced by hymns. With Communion and a special liturgy, the list of hymns for Sunday is longer than normal. We will be singing: "Holy Spirit, Light Divine" (LSB 496), “O Day Full of Grace” (LSB 503), “Create in Me” (LSB 956), “Holy, Holy, Holy” (LSB 507, vs 1-2 ), “Lamb of God, Pure and Holy” (LSB 434), "Come, Holy Ghost, God and Lord" (LSB 497), "Draw Near and Take the Body of the Lord" (LSB 637), "Creator Spirit, by Whose Aid" (LSB 500) and "Go, My Children, with My Blessing" (LSB 922).

The appointed lessons for Pentecost are: Numbers 11:24-30; Acts 2:1-21; and John 7:37-39. The text for Sunday’s sermon is Acts 2: 11b. The sermon is titled: “It’s About the Word”.

Following the worship service we will have a picnic. The hamburgers and hotdogs are being provided. Everyone else should bring a desert, salad or side-dish. While we certainly hope that you remember to bring something, if you forget DO NOT let that keep you from joining the picnic. There will be plenty for everybody.

The following video is of St. Lorenz Evangelical Lutheran Church singing “Holy Spirit, Light Devine.” It is the opening hymn of their worship service and so the video begins with a prelude and the lighting of the altar candles. The chancel is an interesting mix of old and new. They have a beautiful altar, set further back from the nave (today churches tend to be designed with less space between the altar and the nave), a raised pulpit, and so on. It makes the wide-screen television monitors to the right and left really stand out.



Our Sunday morning adult Bible study is continuing its study of the Gospel of Matthew. We will are in the Sermon on the Mount. Our Education Hour begins at 9:00 AM and everyone is invited to come.

Preview of the Lessons

Numbers 11:24-30: The setting for this reading is rather typical. The people of Israel are griping, this time about the food God is providing. They would prefer to return to slavery. Thus we see the allure of sin even when we are delivered from it. We only remember certain aspects and not the whole degrading picture. This is one of the times Moses also is getting impatient. His complaint is that everyone complains to him. The Lord has the people select 70 elders who will assist Moses and promises to send so much meat that the people will grow sick of it. This is where the story picks up in our reading. The 70 elders, minus two, appear at the Tent of Meeting. The Lord descends and speaks with Moses. A portion of the Spirit that rests on Moses rests on the 70 elders and they begin to prophesy, that is, to speak the word of God. This included Eldad and Medad, the two who didn’t show up at the Tent. It is reported to Moses that Eldad and Medad are thus speaking and Joshua urges Moses to stop them. Moses responds, “Are you jealous for my sake? Would that all the LORD’s people were prophets, that the LORD would put his Spirit on them!”. This desire of Moses’ was fulfilled at Pentecost. What a joy that each one of us has the Holy Spirit and the Word of God that we can share.

Acts 2:1-21: This is the account of the first Pentecost and the first half of the sermon Peter delivered that day. Because of the flashy events of this day (speaking in foreign languages, fiery tongs appearing, the sound of a violent wind) some very obvious truths are often missed. For example, Luke does not give us a verbatim record of what Peter said. In stead he gives us the main points, the essential points, the essences of the Apostolic message. He tells us so in verse 40 where he wrote, “And with many other words he bore witness and continued to exhort them, saying …” To be frank, the flashy signs are not the main point of the day. In Sunday’s message we will learn what the main point is.

John 7:37-39: This is a short reading. It takes place while Jesus is at Jerusalem celebrating the “Feast of Booths” (7:2). This is another name for Pentecost. Jesus promises the Holy Spirit, a promise that was fulfilled fifty days after the first Easter. In speaking of the Spirit Jesus says, “out of his [ever Christian] heart will flow rivers of living water.” The word translated “heart” is really “guts.” We still have echoes of this use of the “guts” when we talk about a “gut feeling,” “gut reaction,” or “butterflies in our stomach.” John ends by saying the Spirit had not been given yet because Jesus was not yet glorified. How do we handle that statement in light of passages like our Old Testament lesson? The answer is really simple. Jesus and John are speaking of Pentecost. John does not say the Spirit had never been given before. The best way to read this, then, is something like “Now this he [Jesus] said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been give [on Pentecost] because Jesus was not yet glorified.”

Tidbits

• Remember the Picnic Sunday
• Remember the Picnic Sunday
• Remember the Picnic Sunday

Well, I pray I will see you Sunday.

Blessings in Christ,
Pastor John Rickert

How Can a Loving God Send People to Hell?

"I doubt the existence of a judgmental God who requires blood to pacify his wrath." ...

"The only God that is believable to me is a god of love. The Bible's God is no more than a primitive deity who must be appeased with pain and suffering."

"[A]n individual should arrive at his or her own religious beliefs independent of any church or synagogue."

These are just a few statements from the topic of Hell with which Timothy Keller wrestles in his book The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism. Not only does he rationally refute the top seven excuses for not accepting the Christian faith, but he establishes Christianity as a soundly rational belief.

Many of us are currently reading this intriguing book for our book club (LitWits), which will meet on Sunday, June 26th to discuss it. There is still time to get yourself a copy and read it. The downtown library has two copies. I may just purchase it - there is so much good stuff in it that I will want to read it again!

The Return of Christ?

Tuesday after Easter 7
June 7, 2011

The Lord be with you

Well, as everybody knows by now, the world is still here, Jesus didn’t recently return to “rapture” away Christians and leave the earth to the non-Christians, or anything like that, back on May 21. The false prophet, Harold Camping, was wrong. Calling him a “Bible scholar,” as some newspapers have, is simply how the devil and the world seek to discredit God and his inspired word. Of course, we have been given a new date, but it too will turn out to be bogus. The words of Jesus remain firm in the face of all date setters:

“But concerning that day or that hour, no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Be on guard, keep awake. For you do not know when the time will come.” (Mark 13:32-33)

Even a casual review of Church history reveals that it is quite common for Christians to believe that they are living in the very end of time, that Christ’s return is imamate. Quite often this feeling is under-girded by pointing to current events. I remember back in the late 60’s or early 70’s the appearance of a comet was enough to spark the date-setters off on a frenzy of predictions about the return of Jesus, sighting passages like Mark 13:24-27. In 1988 another scare was thrown into people because that marked the 40th anniversary of the founding of the modern state of Israel. The passage used to support the false prophecy was Mark 13:30. It seems every generation produces date-setters, but some produce more than others.

I am currently reading From Judgment to Passion: Devotion to Christ & The Virgin Mary, 800-1200 by Rachel Fulton. As you can tell from the title, it is a history book focused on the Church of the Middle Ages. This was also a time of great expectations concerning the Second Coming of Jesus. Clearly all of those date-setters were also wrong. Rachel, in seeking to explain why this happens, wrote:

In the majority of these narratives (or myths) [put forth by both non-Christians and Christians to make sense of the world and their lives], the pattern of completion takes one of two shapes, either cyclical or linear, in the latter of which completion involves not repletion but cessation, an absolute End to the mundane experience of human consciousness. It is, of course, this latter pattern, resolutely and relentlessly linear, that is dominate in the narrative of Christian history, from the cosmogonic rupture of Genesis to the eschatological relief of Revelation, the dissolution of creation conceived in its beginnings. In plotting their own lives according to such grand linear narratives (and grand narratives are always more appealing than modest ones), human beings almost invariably cast themselves as arriving not at the beginning or even in the middle, but toward the end, if not in the last days of the narrative, then within a generation or so. Even if they do not imagine that the narrative itself will be brought to completion within their own lifetimes, they are frequently convinced, despite all evidence to the contrary, that it will in fact end soon thereafter, it being somehow congnitively intolerable to imagine that one will die without knowing the ending, that things will carry on much as they did before one arrived in medias res, or worse, that they will change in ways that one has not anticipated. Thus the appeal of prophecy in promising what Frank Kermode has called “the sense of an ending”: it allows those who accept the prophecy as authoritative to situate their own lives within the structure of an established whole, to console themselves with a story of their lives that takes its meaning not only from the finitude of their own mortality but also from the finitude of history as a predetermined—or, even better, divinely predetermined—totality. (73-74)

If Rachel Fulton is right, and I think she makes a good point even if her sentences run on forever, then people will continue to be deceived by the false prophets who set dates for the end. They are willing dupes because it helps them find meaning in their lives. For those who let the Bible guide their thinking on this subject, we find our meaning in Jesus. Having been redeemed by him and receiving that redemption through faith, we are now sons and daughters of the Father. We serve in his kingdom, which is already established, in faith towards God and in love towards our fellow man. We do look forward to the Second Coming of Christ but we confidently leave the date in his hands.

Now, I’m going to make a prediction about the date-setters. (I do not do this by direct Divine inspiration, nor do I do this by crunching numbers out of the Bible. It just makes sense to me.)

The Date-Setters will go crazy with dates for the return of Jesus beginning 2027 and extending through 2033. Why? Because these dates will mark the 2,000 anniversary of the public ministry of Jesus. (Some date his ministry as beginning 27 AD, others in 30 AD. There are other options out there as well, and to the extent that the date-setters are aware of them, you can expect those dates to be somehow creatively entered into the date-setters calculations.) You can expect special attention given to Christmas Holy Week (Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Easter), the Ascension, and Pentecost. I say this because it was that way at the turn of the first millennium. By the way, they will be wrong.

Well, you heard it hear first.

Blessings in Christ,
Pastor Rickert

The Bible on Trial

Lutheran Hour Ministries'

'The Bible on Trial'
Airs on Television Nationally
June 18 and July 18

Lutheran Hour Ministries is proud to present The Bible on Trial: Beyond a Reasonable Doubt, a full-length broadcast program for television. On Saturday, June 18 the program will air at 6 p.m. Eastern, 5 p.m. Central, 4 p.m. Mountain and 3 p.m. Pacific on the Inspiration Network (Channel 259 on Dish Network and Channel 364 on DirecTV; Inspiration is also available on 2,800 other local cable systems). The program can be seen on Monday, July 18 at 9 p.m. Eastern, 8 p.m. Central, 7 p.m. Mountain and 6 p.m. Pacific through the National Religious Broadcasters Network (Channel 378 on DirecTV, Channel 126 on Sky Angel, as well as online at www.nrbnetwork.tv).

Hosted by attorney Craig Parton, The Bible on Trial lays the overarching question before some of the world's foremost authorities in biblical scholarship and ancient history: "Are the Bible and its claims trustworthy?" A panel of experts—including Dr. Paul L. Maier of Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, Mich.; Dr. Randall Price of Liberty University, Lynchburg, Va.; Dr. Jeff Kloha of Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, Mo. and Joel Lampe of The Bible Museum, Goodyear, Ariz.—weighs the evidence from contemporary non-Christian writers and archaeological, bibliographic and eyewitness sources. The balanced testimony from these scholars affirms the reliability of the biblical record. The program concludes with a call to the viewer: "What is your verdict?"

The Bible on Trial began airing in May on AMG TV network stations in Los Angeles, Phoenix, Houston, Nashville, Detroit, Cincinnati, New York, Orlando, Dallas, Seattle and many other cities. More airings are scheduled in the coming months. For broadcast dates and times, visit the Broadcast Guide at www.TheBibleTrial.com. Please check back periodically to get information about additional local airings across the country.

Worship for Easter 7 - 2011

Ascension Day
June 2, 2011

The Lord be with you

Today is the Commemoration of the Ascension of our Lord, which happened forty days after the Resurrection of our Lord. To read a little bit more about it see the post I made earlier this day.

Sunday will be the Seventh Sunday of Easter. It will also be the Commemoration of Boniface of Mainz, Missionary to the Germans. Gregory lived during a pivotal point in history. The old Roman Empire was gone, much of the Western Empire having been overrun by barbarians. The Eastern Empire had become the Byzantine Empire. The Moslem conquest of Europe was halted by the Franks, who went on to found the Holy Roman Empire. Many areas reached by Christianity in earlier centuries had fallen back into paganism, and of course, many areas had not yet been reached by the Faith. Gregory, who was from England, had a heart to reach the pagans in “Friesland” (the Netherlands). When he sought permission from the Pope, he was first sent to Germany instead. Years of work there brought thousands to Christ, but he always wanted to return to Friesland. Finally he was sent there, and again his work was blessed by God. In Friesland he suffered a martyr’s death. For more about his life and times see the post I made earlier this week.

For our liturgy Sunday we will be using the Service of Prayer and Preaching (LSB page 260). In this service we use the appointed Psalm, which is Psalm 68, verses 1 through 10. The antiphon is verse 32. The appointed readings are Acts 1:12-26, 1 Peter 4:12-19; 5:6-11, and John 17:1-11. Our opening hymn will be “O Day Full of Grace,” (LSB 503). Our sermon hymn will be “How Can I Thank You, Lord,” (LSB 703). Our closing hymn will be “Christ the Lord Is Risen Today” (LSB 469). The text for the sermon will be John 17:6 and the sermon is titled “Gifts, Gifts, Gifts!”

As “O Day Full of Grace” is the hymn we are learning this month, I’ve decided to post the same video I posted last week. It is Trinity Lutheran in Sheboygan, WI singing “O Day Full of Grace.”



Our Sunday morning adult Bible study is continuing its study of the Gospel of Matthew. We will are in the Sermon on the Mount. Our Education Hour begins at 9:00 AM and everyone is invited to come.

Preview of the Lessons

Acts 1:12-26: The events described in this reading occurred after the Ascension of Jesus and before Pentecost Sunday. We note the dependence of the band of 120 on prayer and the scriptures. It is interesting to note that, among those gathered, we find the brothers of Jesus. The post-resurrection appearance of Jesus to his brother James is referred to by Paul in 1 Corinthians 15:7. While the brothers and sisters of Jesus did not believe in him before the resurrection (John 7:1-5), they sure did after he was raised from the dead. That Paul should specifically mention James indicates just how important this brother became. It is also worth noting that, right from the beginning, the Church included women. The chief woman would, naturally, be Mary, the mother of our Lord. The group selects someone to fill the place vacated by Judas. Notice the requirement to become an Apostle. An Apostle must be an eye-witness. The word “apostle” literally means “sent one.” It is used in scripture to refer to two different classes of people. There are “the Twelve.” These hold a unique place of authority, both in their life-time and throughout time by their writings. This authority is seen in places like Matthew 19:28 and Revelation 21:14. These men were specially commissioned and sent directly by Jesus (Galatians 1:1). There are no more Apostles like these. Then the word “apostle” is used in a more general way. These men are also sent by Jesus, but by means of the Church. That is to say, working through the Church, certain individuals are designated and sent to spread the Gospel (Romans 16:7). Matthias replaced Judas.

1 Peter 4:12-19; 5:6-11: This reading is a little deceptive. In 14:15 Peter starts out “Beloved, do not be …”. He is addressing all his readers. Chapter 5:1-5 is skipped. It starts with the words, “So I exhort the elders among you …”. Here Peter has begun to address the pastors. Chapter 5:6 begins, “Humble yourselves, therefore …”. He is still speaking to the pastors. Because verses 1 through 5 are omitted, it seems like the entire reading is being addresses to all believers. As pastors are to be an example, this understanding is not exactly wrong (5:4). However the idea would then be, “Look at your pastors, their humility, their strong prayer life, their consistent casting of their anxieties on Jesus, their watchfulness, how they are on their guard against the devil, and imitate them.” For pastors undergoing trials and so forth, they are warned to be on their guard because the devil is especially interested in bringing them down. This is the devils consistent practice in the whole world. Chapter 4:12-19 is addressed to all believers and does speak of trials that believers face. So we can understand Peter as saying first that believers should not be surprised by various trials, and that they should stand squarely in the Gospel. Then Peter says that pastors should not think that they will be exempted from trials because of their office.

John 17:1-11: This reading is part of our Lord’s “High Priestly Prayer.” In it we get some insight into the relationship between the Father and the Son. In this prayer Jesus also shows full knowledge of his coming death, resurrection and ascension. The word “glory” is used a lot. Note that to give God “glory” means basically to live in harmony with the will of God. It is not basically being praised or extolled. Someone who shouts “Praise the Lord” but lives like any non-Christian you might meet on the street, is not giving glory to God. Jesus glorified his Father by living according to his will. Therefore Jesus glorified the Father when he willingly went to the cross. What we call humiliating, God calls glorifying. Jesus also prays about his exaltation. There his obedience while here on earth will be part of his glory. Jesus also prays for all future believers, which include you and me. Finally, Jesus speaks of gifts, but that will be the focus of the sermon so I will not speak of it here.

Tidbits

• Remember … tonight at 7:00 Abiding Savior (Anderson), Good Shepherd (Greenville) and Lamb of God will join at Good Shepherd (1601 N Pleasantburg) for an Ascension Day worship service.
• Our ladies are discussing changes in their mid-week Bible study to make it more attractive to the ladies who are not attending. Contact Kitty or Ramona, and get in the conversation.
• The Board of Evangelism will have a lunch meeting after Sunday’s worship service.

Well, I pray I will see you Sunday.

Blessings in Christ,
Pastor John Rickert

Ascension Day

Ascension Day
June 2, 2011

The Lord be with you

Ascension Day is the coronation celebration of our Lord as He is proclaimed to be King of the universe. Jesus' ascension to the Father is His entrance to the greater existence beyond the confines of time and space, being no longer bound by the limitations of His state of humiliation. Jesus now sits at the right hand of God, which Luther correctly taught is everywhere, having again taken up the power and authority that were His since before time. Yet our Lord is present with us who remain bound by time and space. He is with us as true God and true man, exercising His rulership in the Church through the means of grace which He established: His Word and His Sacraments. We mortals in those means of grace can grasp the King of the universe and receive a foretaste of the feast to come.

A Prayer for Ascension Day

Almighty God, as Your only-begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, ascended into the heavens, so may we also ascend in heart and mind and continually dwell there with Him, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

(from: Treasury of Daily Prayer, published by Concordia Publishing House)

Blessings in Christ,
Pastor John Rickert