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Episodes
Weekly sermons and Bible studies led by a retired pastor of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod
Episodes
Tuesday Jul 19, 2022
Tuesday Jul 19, 2022
The Scriptures this week encourage us to pray with confidence as we approach our Lord in our prayers. The Old Testament lesson is from Genesis 18: (17-19) 20-33. The Lord had revealed that He would destroy the evil cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. Abraham hoped to have his nephew, Lot, and family spared, though they lived in Sodom.
Abraham asks if it is fair to destroy the righteous with the wicked and bargains with God in prayer about how many righteous people there need to be for the city to be spared. He gets the number down to 10 righteous people, as God is very patient and merciful to him. Sadly, there are not even 10, and we hear later that the cities are both destroyed, but God in His mercy does save Lot and his two daughters, as angels drag them out of Sodom (Genesis 19).
The Psalm is Psalm 138. David knows that God is full of “steadfast love and faithfulness.” God’s Word is true, so he can call upon Him and trust His “ways.” He remembers not only to ask in prayer, but to thank the Lord again and again. David says, “The Lord will fulfill His purpose for me” with His everlasting love.
In the Gospel lesson, Luke 11:1-13, a disciple asks Jesus to teach His followers to pray. As He had already done (see Matthew 6:9-12) Jesus taught again a portion of what we call the Lord’s Prayer, the model prayer for our own praying. We pray to our heavenly Father (v.2,13), glorifying His Name and His Kingdom, and asking Him to keep on giving us what we need, day by day, and giving us the greatest gift, the forgiveness of our sins. As we are forgiven, we ask help to forgive one another and to have help in avoiding and battling temptation. Jesus then teaches us to be persistent and almost “impudent” (shameless) in asking and seeking and knocking in prayer, as little children sometimes do with parents, “Daddy, daddy, mommy, can we?… can we?” As parents who love our children, we try to do the best for them, but we often fail and are “evil,” with a sinful nature. Our heavenly Father gives us the great gift of the Holy Spirit, who brings us to faith in Jesus through the Word and baptism, and seeks to keep us in that faith, through Word and Sacrament.
The Epistle continues readings from Colossians - this week, Colossians 2:6-15, (16-19). When we were “dead in our trespasses…" God made us alive in Christ and forgave us all those sins and cancelled the record of all our wrongs and indebtedness toward Him. All our failings have been “nailed to the cross” along with Christ and forgiven by His death and resurrection for us. We now “abound in thanksgiving” in our prayers and ask the Lord to help us “walk in faith” in Christ and “hold fast to the Head,” our heavenly Father, and “grow with the growth” that comes only from Him.
The alternate Gospel reading for St. James is Matthew 4:3-11, the story of the temptation of Jesus by Satan in the wilderness. Where God’s Old Testament people failed in the wilderness and we have failed in our own lives, Jesus did everything right and followed His Father’s will in a perfect way, here and throughout His life. He knew and trusted the Word of God and used it to battle the devil and win victory for us. “Jesus then preached the Kingdom of God” and how we can enter it only through faith in Him, as a gift, and what he has perfectly done for us.
Tuesday Jul 19, 2022
Tuesday Jul 19, 2022
Last week, we heard Paul laying the foundation for all he would now say to the Galatian Christians. He reminded them that no one, Jew or Gentile (non-Jew), could be declared “righteous” by works of the law, but only by faith in Jesus Christ, by the grace of God. The Jerusalem Council had clearly said that, and Paul knew that was true from what Christ Himself had revealed to him.
He could not “rebuild” a salvation based also on additional works of the law. In fact, he had died to his old life, centered in the law; and Christ, the Son of God, loved him and was crucified for him and now lived in him. If Christ had not done enough for him and he had to add to what Jesus did, then he would be saying that Christ had died for no real purpose, or at least did not accomplish enough fully to save people (Galatians 2:14-21).
As Chapter 3 of his letter began, Paul made some strong statements about the Galatians and gave a series of questions to make them think. He first called them “foolish” in their thinking. Jesus had used the same term for those who would not believe that He had to die for them and rise again, according to God’s saving plan revealed in the Old Testament (Luke 24:25-27). On another occasion, Paul would say that this plan to save by Christ’s death and resurrection might seem like “foolishness” to skeptical Jews who wanted more signs and proofs and to Greeks and other Gentiles who thought that their own human wisdom was superior to this “foolish” plan. In spite of that, Paul simply did what he was to do and preached “Christ and Him crucified” before the eyes of the Galatians (Galatians 3:1). (See also 1 Corinthians 1:18-2:2.)
Paul had spoken the simple truth to the Galatians. He had likely used, in his teaching, the story found in Numbers 21:4-9, when God’s people had rebelled against Him and poisonous snakes were beginning to bite them, and they were dying. God told Moses to make a bronze serpent and put it on a pole. If the people would look on that bronze serpent, they would live and not die, even if bitten.
Jesus then used this story in teaching Nicodemus in John 3:13-14 that He, the Son of Man, would be lifted up on the pole of the cross, that “whoever believes in Him” and his saving death and resurrection “would have eternal life” (Galatians 3:1). (See also John 3:16-18.).
It was the false teachers, the Judaizers, who had later come and “bewitched” the Galatians by adding additional requirements that they supposedly needed to do for "real" salvation. What Jesus did was not enough, these false teachers were claiming, and the Galatians were believing these additional ideas of what was really needed for salvation.
Paul then asked the Galatians to think back to when they first came to faith. Was it by Paul having them do a bunch of “works of the Old Testament law?” Or was it by the Holy Spirit working simply through what they had heard about Jesus and bringing them to believe in Him and, as we will hear later, receiving the gift of baptism? The Galatians would hopefully not have been “so foolish” as to have forgotten that they came to faith by the Spirit’s power, through the Word of God about Jesus (Galatians 3:2). (See again the words of Paul in 1 Corinthians 2:1-3 and 2:8-10, 12, and 14. See also 1 Corinthians 12:2-3.)
Paul went on to ask, “Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit are you now being perfected by the flesh?” (Galatians 3:3). The Galatians would remember, reminded by Paul, that they had come to believe through the message about Jesus by the miracle of faith that the Holy Spirit had worked in them and by some other miracles that happened, even though there was persecution from Jewish groups, especially aimed at Paul and any who followed him (Galatians 3:4-5).
See also Acts 14, again, where the joys of people coming to faith in Galatia are described, along with “signs and wonders” by the Spirit’s power, and some severe persecution at times. All along, though, Paul and others “preached the Gospel… strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith, and saying that through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God” (Acts 14:3, 19, 21-22).
Notice that more than once, Paul contrasts “hearing with faith” and “works of the law.” He clearly focuses on “hearing” the Good News of Jesus and trusting Him as the way to salvation - and not our doing many other “works of the law” in addition. He asks the Galatian believers if they feel they are now “being perfected by the flesh.” The “flesh” means our own human nature, in the Scriptures, and often is a reminder that our nature is a fallen, sinful human nature, ever since Adam and Eve’s fall into sin.
Paul is asking, do you think that your nature is being perfected by the new rules and regulations being required by the Judaizers, including being circumcised? Do you think that you are more likely to be saved by doing all these additional things? Getting the people to think about all this will hopefully get people ready for what Paul will be discussing next.
Paul ended this section by quoting one more Scripture, from Genesis 15:6: “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.” He will say much more about this passage in what we look at next week, in its context in Genesis. On what basis was he “counted” as a righteous man? Why is this important? What would this mean for non-Jews who came to believe, also? Finally, what does Paul mean when he says that “those of faith are also sons of Abraham” (Galatians 3:7).
Keep reading ahead, if you have time, for more understanding. The Lord’s blessings on your week.
Sunday Jul 17, 2022
Sunday Jul 17, 2022
Sermon for the 6th Sunday after Pentecost, based on:
Sermon originally delivered June 30, 2013
Thursday Jul 14, 2022
Thursday Jul 14, 2022
The Scriptures this week remind us to keep listening to the Word of God. That is also a key reason for regular worship - to hear and receive that Word. The Old Testament lesson is from Genesis 18:1-10a, (10b-14). Abraham and Sarah had been promised a child from the Lord, from whose line of descendants all people would be blessed - through the coming of Jesus. Years went by and nothing happened. Abraham and Sarah seemed to ignore God’s Word and tried to provide a child by their own ideas and power. When the Lord came again, with two angels, and renewed the promise of a child, Sarah laughed at what seemed impossible, as Abraham himself had done a year earlier (Genesis 17:17). Yet the Lord fulfilled His Word to them, and Isaac was born.
In the psalm, Psalm 27:(1-6) 7-14, David knows that the Lord is “his Light and his salvation.” He prays that he may always be able to come to “the house of the Lord” to “seek the face of the Lord” and be “taught” by Him. He encourages all of us: “Wait for the Lord; be strong and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord!”
In the Gospel lesson, Luke 10:38-42, Jesus comes to the home of Martha and Mary. Martha is very busy in preparing to serve Jesus, but Mary just sits and listens to Jesus. Martha is upset with her sister. Jesus reminded her (and us) very simply, “Martha, you are anxious and troubled by many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.” May we take time to listen to the Word, too!
The Epistle lesson continues a reading from Colossians 1:21-29. Paul encourages early Christians to “continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the Gospel that you heard.” The Gospel centers in Christ and what He has done for us and His continuing to live in us, as the Hope for our future glory in heaven. “Him we proclaim,” Paul says. He and His Word are what we need to keep hearing about.
The alternate Gospel reading being used at St. James is Matthew 3:13-17. The One promised from the line of Abraham and Sarah is Jesus, as clearly proclaimed at His baptism. The Triune God is at work. Jesus was being baptized to “fulfill all righteousness” - to do everything needed by us, but in a perfect way, for which we get the credit and blessing. The Father spoke from heaven and said of Jesus, “This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” (Are we always pleasing to God? Obviously not!. Yet we get the credit for what Jesus did, in our place.) The Father repeated the same thing at the transfiguration of Jesus. He added the message of our readings today: “Listen to Him” (Matthew 17:5)! May we keep listening! The Holy Spirit also came upon Jesus in the form of a dove to strengthen Him for His ministry and to battle temptations coming and for dealing with the cross He would later bear in our place, that we might be forgiven and counted acceptable to Him.
Tuesday Jul 12, 2022
Tuesday Jul 12, 2022
Last week, we heard of Paul’s confrontation with Peter because Peter was backing down on the freedom of the Gospel, in Christ (Galatians 2:11-14). That problem was resolved, and then Paul and Barnabas returned to Antioch, in Syria (Acts 12:25). We now need to review a little more history in the Book of Acts before we continue with Galatians 2.
The Holy Spirit communicated to prophets in Antioch that Saul (Paul) and Barnabas were to be sent out on a missionary journey to share the Gospel with as many people as possible (Acts 13:2-3). This, the first of Paul’s three missionary journeys recorded in Acts, probably lasted from about 46-48 AD. You can read about it in Acts 13:4-14:28.
During this journey, Paul and Barnabas visited areas of the Roman province of Galatia (part of the country of Turkey, today) and established churches, gatherings of believers, most likely in Antioch of Pisidia, Iconium, Lystra, and Derbe. They then returned to Antioch in Syria and rejoiced that God “had opened a door of faith to the Gentiles.”
Those Jewish Christians who thought that all people should be circumcised and follow Old Testament laws were still around, though. Some of them went all the way to Galatia and visited the churches that Paul and Barnabas had started. They stirred up trouble and said that Paul was wrong in saying that faith in what Jesus had done for them was enough for salvation. Some also came to Antioch in Syria and insisted that all Gentile believers had to be circumcised and follow other Jewish laws. Paul and Barnabas challenged and debated them, and finally a delegation of believers, including Paul and Barnabas, was sent to Jerusalem to a meeting of all leaders to discuss this dispute. This “Jerusalem Council” happened about 49 AD (though some date it a little later).
You can read about this, again, in Acts 15, with the Judaizers, Pharisees, and the “circumcision party” insisting, “unless you are circumcised according to the law of Moses you cannot be saved” (Acts 15:1-6). There was “much debate,” but Peter and James and finally the whole Council agreed that “we believe that we will be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they will.” They asked that Gentile Christians avoid a few things that were especially offensive to Jewish Christians, but they did not have to be circumcised or keep all the old Jewish rules (Acts 15:6ff).
It was likely soon after this that Paul wrote his Letter to the Galatians. He could not go back to Galatia right away, as he and Barnabas were to keep working in Antioch in Syria, which was becoming a strong church and a base for more missionary outreach. Paul’s letter would be his defense and clear proclamation of the Good News of salvation purely by the grace of God through faith in Jesus (Acts 15:30-35). This was likely the first of Paul’s letters that we have preserved in the Scriptures.
Go back now to Galatians 2:14. Paul affirmed what was said at the Jerusalem Council. If Jews could not do everything expected in the Old Testament laws, how could they require non-Jews to do all these things that they could not do? Instead, they all had a new freedom in Christ, now that He had come as their Savior. (See again Peter’s words in Acts 15:7-10.)
Paul went on to write, in Galatians 2:15, that Jews had great privileges in knowing God’s will and expectations for them in the Old Testament. The problem was that they still never could or would keep and obey that Law as they should have. They could not be “justified by the works of the law,” no matter how hard they tried, since they were still sinners, falling short of God’s Law, His expectations (Galatians 2:16). Three times in this one verse, Paul says the same thing. (“A person is not justified by works of the law… not by works of the law… by works of the law no one will be justified.”) Salvation could only come by faith in Christ Jesus and all He did perfectly for them.
It is important also to remember that the word “justified” was a legal term, a courtroom term, in the ancient world. A judge or a jury needed to “declare” someone “justified” or “not guilty.” The commentator, Lenski, says, “The sense is 'to declare righteous' and never 'to make righteous.'" The sense is not that in Christ we “become righteous” and are now good enough and capable enough that we can now please God by what we do and can do enough to make ourselves fully acceptable to God. That can never happen by our works of fulfilling God’s law.
That is the problem whenever we say that it is Christ’s work, plus our work that we do, that really saves us. But that is what the false teachers, the Judaizers, the circumcision party, were trying to tell the new Christians in Galatia and in other places. They were being told that they must also become “Jewish” in terms of being circumcised and doing other things according to old Jewish laws and ceremonies.
Paul responded more to these false ideas in the verses that follow. In Galatians 2:17, he asked, “What if we are trying, as Christians, to do the right things and still find ourselves to be sinners? Does that mean that Christ is implicated in our sin, and is somehow a 'servant of sin?'" “Certainly not!” Paul says, very strongly.
We are not “made perfect” by Christ, but are “counted” or “declared perfect” and acceptable in God’s eyes, simply through what Jesus has already done for us. We try to follow God’s moral law, as Christians, but we do not lose our salvation by failing and sinning, at times; and we bring those sins to Jesus for His forgiveness, already earned for us.
In addition, Christ has already freed us from many of the old Jewish ceremonial laws. (See Mark 7:18-19 and Romans 14:2-6, 14, and Colossians 2:16-17, for example.) It is not a sin if we eat pork or do some work on a Saturday or even are not circumcised - which would have been sins under Old Testament Judaism.
So, in Galatians 2:18, Paul said, “If I rebuild what I tore down, I prove myself to be a transgressor.” We are sinning if we teach people that it is sinful to do things that God Himself has said are acceptable in the New Testament. Paul could not go back and change what God clearly said was OK in the New Testament, the New Covenant God gave His people. It was also sinful to add our own requirements for salvation to what Jesus has already said and done for us.
In Galatians 2:19-20, Paul went on to say that he had died to his old life, under the curse of the law, and Christ now lived in him, as he now lived by faith in Christ, the Son of God, who loved him and gave Himself for him. It was by the sacrifice of Christ for him on the cross that Paul had been declared justified, forgiven and not guilty.
Paul’s efforts added nothing to Christ’s completed work for his salvation, purely by His saving grace and work for him. If Paul’s ultimate justification depended still upon his own efforts to fulfill the law in his own life, then Christ’s work was incomplete, and “Christ died for no purpose.” If we still have to depend on more that we need to do to be saved, then our eternal future is always uncertain and in jeopardy. Our confidence is simply in God’s grace, His undeserved love and favor for us, and in what Jesus has done for us.
Paul said much more about this that we will see as we continue to look at Galatians. What he talks about is at the center of our Christian faith. I will try to explain more as best I can, using other Biblical examples, too, but in a simple and concise way, though it may not seem like it. (Martin Luther’s commentary on just the first four chapters of Galatians is 416 pages long in its English translation!)
The Lord’s blessings, as you study Galatians and think about these things. Just try to follow the Word of God.
Tuesday Jul 12, 2022
Tuesday Jul 12, 2022
Sermon for the 5th Sunday after Pentecost, based on:
Sermon originally delivered June 23, 2013
Wednesday Jul 06, 2022
Wednesday Jul 06, 2022
The Scripture readings for this Sunday center around love for our neighbor, in response to God’s love for us, first given to us. The Old Testament lesson, Leviticus (18:1-5) 19:9-18, specifically says, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” and gives a number of examples of how a person might show such love. Several times God also says, “I am the Lord your God. I am the Lord.” We seek to love, in response to Him, our Lord, who first loved us.
The Psalm is Psalm 41. It has similarities to Psalms 38, 39, and 40, all psalms of David, in times of trouble. These psalms complete the first “book” or set of psalms, which ends with the blessing: “Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting! Amen and Amen!” In Psalm 41, David admits that he is poor and weak, and his own sin has contributed to his problems. Yet the Lord has sustained him “on his sickbed;” and he prays that the Lord would also be gracious to him and “Heal my soul.” He still has enemies, though, and even “a close friend” who turns against him. (This passage is quoted by Jesus in John 13:18, regarding what Judas would do, betraying Him into death.)
In the Gospel lesson, Luke 10:25-37, a teacher of the Law asks Jesus, “What shall I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus asks him what he thinks, and the man quotes passages from the Old Testament about loving God and loving one’s neighbor, including the passage from Leviticus 19 in the OT reading. Jesus agrees and says, literally, ”Keep on doing this, and you will live.” The expert in the Law must sense that he does not always do this and tries to lessen what Jesus says by asking, to justify himself, “And who is my neighbor, whom I am to love?” Surely there are limits on such love! Jesus responds with the parable of the Good Samaritan. A man is robbed, beaten, and left for dead along a road. A priest and Levite come by and avoid any contact with the man who needs help. Only a hated Samaritan helps, in a very generous way, and offers to do more. Then Jesus asks not "who is the neighbor" but "who is being a neighbor." Even the lawyer knew it was the Samaritan, an enemy who actually gave help. Jesus said again, “You go and keep on doing likewise.”
The Epistle lesson is from Colossians 1:1-14. The reality is that none of us keeps doing good and loving God and our neighbor all the time. We are all sinners, who fail often and cannot ever do enough to be able to inherit eternal life on our own. We cannot qualify ourselves. That is why Paul emphasizes so strongly what God the Father has done for us through the perfect love and life of Jesus and in the power of the Holy Spirit. “The Father has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of His Beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”
The alternate Old Testament reading that St. James will use is Daniel 6:1-24, the story of Daniel being delivered from the lions’ den. Daniel had certainly sought to love and serve his neighbor by being the best leader he could be for King Darius and his people. Daniel also loved the One True God and kept praying to Him, even when he was to pray only to King Darius himself. Daniel was caught and thrown into a den of lions as punishment. King Darius respected him so much, though, that he hoped that Daniel’s God could save him - and God did! Daniel was one more in the line of prophets preparing the way for Jesus. While Daniel was rescued, Jesus was not and willingly died on the cross - and only then rose in victory to qualify us to receive the gift of eternal life through trust in Him.
Sunday Jul 03, 2022
Sunday Jul 03, 2022
Last week, we heard Paul describing how he came to know the truth of the Gospel of Jesus - especially by revelation from Christ Himself. Paul spent little time with the original apostles and then only with a few of them, and they affirmed what he said and “added nothing to it.” They did not require Titus, a non-Jew who visited Jerusalem with Paul, to be circumcised or to follow all the laws and rituals of the Old Testament (Galatians 1:18-2:10). (See especially 2:3-6 again.)
Paul and Barnabas then returned to Antioch and continued the ministry there. At some point, Cephas (Peter) came to Antioch to visit the churches there, and Paul had to confront him and oppose him for something he was doing (Galatians 2:11).
At first, Peter was very willing to have regular contact and fellowship with the Gentiles who had become Christians and to eat with them (Galatians 2:12). He had learned he was free to do this from revelations of Jesus and his contact with Cornelius, a Roman centurion, and his family and friends in Acts 10-11:18. Remember what Peter had said in Acts 10:28. Peter was free from the old Jewish law that said that any contact with a non-Jew would make him spiritually unclean.
However, when “certain men” also came from Jerusalem to visit the churches, Peter “drew back and separated himself” from the Gentile Christians because these visitors were part of “the circumcision party.” Members of the “circumcision party” had come to believe in Jesus, but also still thought that they needed to follow all the old Jewish laws and that Gentiles also needed to do the same, including being circumcised. According to this thinking, if the Gentile Christians had contact with the Jewish Christians, then everyone would become spiritually unclean. This also implied that salvation depended on faith in Jesus, but also upon still keeping all the Old Testament laws (Galatians 2:12).
Peter knew better than this, but he “feared” these people and did not want to get into conflict with them over this issue. He decided to avoid this by keeping a distance from Gentile Christians and especially by not eating with them.
Peter sometimes had this weakness in the past, when he was afraid of others and what they might think and do. Peter had said he would stand by Jesus always; but when Jesus was arrested, Peter (and the other disciples) ran away in fear. Jesus had warned Peter that he would deny his connection with Him. Peter was sure he would never do such a thing, yet he denied three times that he even knew Jesus, when he was confronted and feared what would happen to him. (See Mark 14:26-30, 43, 50, 66-72.)
What Peter did also set a very negative example for the rest of the Jewish Christians, who began to follow Peter and not associate with or eat with the Gentile Christians. Even Barnabas “was led astray” by this action of Peter. He must have “backed off” in some ways from the very Gentile Christians he had been sharing the faith with (Galatians 2:13).
Think about what these actions might have implied. Were the Gentile Christians inferior Christians? Were they “polluting" Jewish Christians just by being around them? Were they not even actually Christians, unless they were circumcised and started following all the Jewish rules?
Think of all the practical questions that these “hypocritical” actions also could raise for churches. Were separate churches needed for Jews and Gentiles, or at least separate places where Jew and Gentiles could sit without much contact with one another? We hear already in Acts 2, after 3,000 people were brought to faith in Jesus and were baptized at Pentecost, that the believers “devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers” (Acts 2:42).
“The breaking of bread” refers especially to receiving the gift of the Lord’s Supper together. But we know that the early Christians also began to have a fellowship meal before the worship and communion, as they met in peoples’ homes. This would be something like what we call a “potluck” or “carry-in” meal, where food would be shared with one another, including the poor and needy who had nothing to bring, before the worship.
How could that have happened if Jews and non-Jews could not even eat together? How could people even receive Communion together, which is a very special kind of eating and drinking together, if non-Jews were “polluting“ Jews, just by being there. (See 1 Corinthians 11:17-22. Maybe some of the “divisions” in the church at Corinth were not just over important doctrinal issues or “the rich vs. the poor,” but over Jewish and non-Jewish issues and other ethnic issues still creating problems.)
Paul knew very quickly that what Peter was doing in Antioch was a very serious matter and that Peter needed to be “condemned” for it. That is why Paul used such strong language, calling Peter and others “hypocrites” and “opposed him to his face” very directly (Galatians 2:11, 13). Paul realized that the conduct of Peter and the Jewish Christians “was not in step with the truth of the Gospel.”
The Good News of salvation earned entirely by Jesus’ saving work and received simply by faith through the gift of God’s grace was in grave danger if people were required also to do other works of their own, whatever they were, truly to be saved (Galatians 2:14). Paul spent almost all of the rest of this letter teaching what salvation by God’s grace alone through Christ really meant and what a joy it is.
Nothing more is mentioned of this incident in the Scriptures. Apparently Peter realized the wrong he had done and repented, and later on he defended the teaching of Paul in the Book of Acts. In 2 Peter 3:15-18. he spoke of his “beloved brother Paul” and his letters which were also “Scripture,” the very Word of God. Peter ended his letter with the same teaching and focus that Paul gave, “Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”
Peter was not perfect; nor was Paul, and neither are we. How often do we back down and not stand up for what we know is right, because we are afraid of what others will think or say of us? How good it is to know that we can be forgiven, too, by that amazing grace of God in Christ.
Next week, we will see more of what happened after the incident between Peter and Paul, leading up to the writing of this letter we are studying. God’s continued grace and blessings for you all.
Sunday Jul 03, 2022
Sunday Jul 03, 2022
Sermon for the 4th Sunday after Pentecost, based on:
Sermon originally delivered June 16, 2013
Thursday Jun 30, 2022
Thursday Jun 30, 2022
The Scriptures for this 4th Sunday after Pentecost call for us to praise and trust our Lord, for He is the one who brings hope and ultimate victory in our lives.
Psalm 66:1-7 calls upon “all the earth” to give “glorious praise” to God for His power and awesome deeds. The psalmist remembers God’s help for His people at the time of Moses at the Red Sea and Joshua at the Jordan River. It may not seem like it, but the Lord “keeps watch on the nations” and there is a warning about judgment for “the rebellious who exalt themselves.”
The Old Testament lesson is from Isaiah 66:10-14. Isaiah has brought many warnings from God about judgment coming for the people of Israel because of their own sin and rebellion. Yet he was also able to speak from God about “comfort” and “peace” and “rejoicing” that would come through what would eventually happen in Jerusalem. “The hand of the Lord shall be known to His servants” and “His enemies” will be defeated through the coming of Jesus, our Savior.
In the Gospel lesson, Luke 10:1-20, Jesus sends out His disciples to prepare the way for His message and saving work, “like lambs in the midst of wolves.” There will be those who resist and reject His message, but there will also be “sons of peace” who will come to trust in Jesus. As His Good News is shared, “Satan will fall” and “demons” and the powers of evil will be broken, ultimately through the saving work of Jesus Himself. “Rejoice,” above all, that the names of those brought to faith “are written in heaven.” Our eternal future is secure through Christ Jesus.
The Epistle lesson is from Galatians 6:1-10 and 14-18. Paul reminds us that our sins can be forgiven, even when we fail, and though we stand alone before the Lord, we can help one another and do good and encourage each other “in the household of faith,” as the Holy Spirit guides us. Above all, we keep our eyes on our hope, “the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ,” and what He has already done for us. He makes us “a new creation,” and we have “peace and mercy” and “grace” through Him who saved and sustains us.
Those at St. James will have an alternative Old Testament reading, from 1 Samuel 17, the story of David and Goliath. Goliath is a giant and a leader of the Philistine army. He curses the true God and wants to fight anyone who will go up against him. No one in Israel has the courage except for a young boy, David, who said, “The Lord saves not with sword and spear. For the battle is the Lord’s, and he will give you into our hand.” David felled Goliath with a stone and slingshot and then killed him, and the Lord gave victory to Israel. David eventually became king of Israel, and God fulfilled many promises through him and his descendants, finally with the coming of Jesus, who was from his family line and as both God and man won the ultimate victory over the worst enemies - sin and Satan and death - for us.