Each Day in the Word, Sunday, December 4th

Posted on December 4, 2022 by Tom and Karen Klumb

Revelation 2:1-7

2 “To the angel of the church of Ephesus write,

‘These things says He who holds the seven stars in His right hand, who walks in the midst of the seven golden lampstands: 2 “I know your works, your labor, your patience, and that you cannot bear those who are evil. And you have tested those who say they are apostles and are not, and have found them liars; 3 and you have persevered and have patience, and have labored for My name’s sake and have not become weary. 4 Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love. 5 Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place—unless you repent. 6 But this you have, that you hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.

7 “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give to eat from the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God.” ’

Today’s Gospel (Luke 21:25-36) turns our attention to Christ’s second advent, with His urgent warning that we not allow ourselves to be so entangled in worldly affairs that we are no longer watchful and ready for His return.

The devotional text from Revelation fine-tunes that warning. The angel (i.e., the pastor) of the church in Ephesus, and, by extension, the members of his congregation, were faithfully watching out for false doctrine and eradicating impenitent sinners from their midst. They rightfully hated the practices of the Nicolaitans, who were attempting to normalize adultery and sexual immorality within the Christian Church. They were doing many of the outward things that Christians ought to do.

Even so, they were not ready for Christ’s advent, because all their watching, all their toiling, all their fighting for the truth was no longer motivated by love. Some 35 years earlier, the Apostle Paul had written this to the Ephesian Christians when their church was in its early days: “I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints” (Eph. 1:15). Apparently, that love had grown cold. Their devotion to purity of doctrine and life had become an external thing, a matter of pride or of self-righteousness instead of a matter of love. They were doing the right things, but it wasn’t coming from a love for God or for His people. And as Paul wrote to the Corinthians, “Though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing” (1 Cor. 13).

As you watch for Jesus to return, search your heart. And if love is missing, repent and turn to Christ for forgiveness before He comes! Then you will surely overcome this world and be allowed to eat from the tree of life when He comes!

Let us pray: O Lord, You see what is in our hearts as You walk among Your churches everywhere. Forgive us our sins and warm our hearts with Your love that we may imitate You even as we watch for You. Amen.

Posted in Devotion | Comments Off on Each Day in the Word, Sunday, December 4th

Each Day in the Word, Saturday, December 3rd

Posted on December 3, 2022 by Tom and Karen Klumb

Hebrews 2:1-14

2 Therefore we must give the more earnest heed to the things we have heard, lest we drift away. 2 For if the word spoken through angels proved steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just reward, 3 how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation, which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed to us by those who heard Him, 4 God also bearing witness both with signs and wonders, with various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit, according to His own will?

5 For He has not put the world to come, of which we speak, in subjection to angels. 6 But one testified in a certain place, saying:

“What is man that You are mindful of him,
Or the son of man that You take care of him?
7 You have made him a little lower than the angels;
You have crowned him with glory and honor,
And set him over the works of Your hands.
8 You have put all things in subjection under his feet.”

For in that He put all in subjection under him, He left nothing that is not put under him. But now we do not yet see all things put under him. 9 But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, for the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, that He, by the grace of God, might taste death for everyone.

10 For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings. 11 For both He who sanctifies and those who are being sanctified are all of one, for which reason He is not ashamed to call them brethren, 12 saying:

“I will declare Your name to My brethren;
In the midst of the assembly I will sing praise to You.”

13 And again:

“I will put My trust in Him.”

And again:

“Here am I and the children whom God has given Me.”

14 Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil,

The revelation of God’s grace to us in Jesus Christ ties His people together, making us His Church. He has come to different people at different times throughout history, but we all end up coming together into one holy body according to His truth and mercy. His people of Israel were given the promises and miracles that showed God’s love and faithfulness to man, but when the fulfillment of His promises were revealed in Christ Jesus He reveals that people from all nations might be made fellow heirs of everlasting life through faith in Him.

God comes to the world through the Word of His Son, and that Word attached to earthly elements—which we call Sacraments—bring peace and comfort. Jesus had a body of flesh and blood that was nailed to the cross for the atonement of our sins, and that same body was glorified in His resurrection from death, and ascension into Heaven. However, we cannot forget the fact that Christ still has a body of flesh and blood that is made up of the members of His Church!

For ages God has revealed that He fulfills His promises and accomplishes forgiveness through Jesus. Whether it is by the tribulations and miracles for historic Israel, the persecutions and ministry of St. Paul, or the struggles and confession of His saints in His Church today, all these things point to the cross of Jesus Christ where salvation is fully accomplished! Through faith we are made part of that same body, which lives, breathes, and shows forth God’s eternal purpose that comes to all mankind in His Word. Within this penitential Advent season, there is still a reserved rejoicing that God brings you to be united in Jesus Christ.

Let us pray: Stir up Your power, O Lord, and come, that by Your protection we may be rescued from the threatening perils of our sins and saved by Your mighty deliverance; for You live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen

Posted in Devotion | Comments Off on Each Day in the Word, Saturday, December 3rd

Each Day in the Word, Friday, December 2nd

Posted on December 2, 2022 by Tom and Karen Klumb

Hebrews 2:1-14

2 Therefore we must give the more earnest heed to the things we have heard, lest we drift away. 2 For if the word spoken through angels proved steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just reward, 3 how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation, which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed to us by those who heard Him, 4 God also bearing witness both with signs and wonders, with various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit, according to His own will?

God comes (advents) to you in His Word to tell you that He has merited full forgiveness. From the beginning of the world He has been coming to man through the same Word by which He created you. Sometimes He spoke directly to His people, other times He sent His messengers, the angels; and still other times He sent prophets, apostles, and evangelists. But they all brought the same Word that would be flesh and blood in Jesus Christ.

Unfortunately so many people still neglect the great salvation that God has given through Christ, which is why His Word continues to be proclaimed through the various powers and gifts of His Holy Spirit in the life of the Church. The wisdom of His Law must continue to work toward repentance, and the power of His Gospel certainly continues to show forth God’s love and merciful kindness. The faith-less need to hear these things so they might believe—and the faith-ful need to heed these things so that they do not drift away from the faith!

Sinful hearts and flesh compel man to drift away every day. This makes the exhortation of the second chapter in Hebrews most certainly true and important. “Therefore we must give the more earnest heed to the things we have heard, lest we drift away.” God has given you a profound gift of peace, life, and salvation in the Word of Jesus Christ. Rejoice that He continues to advent to you—preparing you for His final advent in glory!

Let us pray: Stir up Your power, O Lord, and come, that by Your protection we may be rescued from the threatening perils of our sins and saved by Your mighty deliverance; for You live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen

Posted in Devotion | Comments Off on Each Day in the Word, Friday, December 2nd

Each Day in the Word, Thursday, December 1st

Posted on December 1, 2022 by Tom and Karen Klumb

Hebrews 1:1-4

1 God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, 2 has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds; 3 who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, 4 having become so much better than the angels, as He has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.

Popular misconceptions say that we need God to speak to us in a thunderous voice from the clouds, or in some mystical personal experience. While it’s true that God has spoken to His people in these ways in the past, we are naïve to limit the God and Creator of all things visible and invisible to man’s assumptions about how God should work. God the Father made all things through His Son, Jesus Christ, who is the very incarnation of His glorious Words, and He has seen fit to speak to us by the same incarnate Word now.

You don’t have to climb mountains or depend on emotional states to substantiate God as speaking to you. He has given you His Word, which stands ready and preserved in print and also lives and breathes as it is taught and preached. You need not go any farther than a faithful translation of the Scriptures or the voice of a faithful pastor to hear God speak His wisdom and mercy to you. And, if that’s not simple enough, He has also given you the very name of Jesus Christ as a comfort to you!

In His name you are told that God will save His people from their sins (the very meaning of “Jesus”), and this Jesus is the Holy One anointed to be both your King and our Savior (the very meaning of “Christ”). Furthermore, the name of Jesus, the Christ, should also bring to your minds His crucifixion, which is the culmination of all the Scriptures and is celebrated at each Lord’s Supper. How blessed to be so focused on the One who is your great treasure, sent by God, just for you!

Let us pray: Stir up Your power, O Lord, and come, that by Your protection we may be rescued from the threatening perils of our sins and saved by Your mighty deliverance; for You live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen

Posted in Devotion | Comments Off on Each Day in the Word, Thursday, December 1st

God still works through the message

Posted on November 30, 2022 by Rev. Paul Rydecki
Sermon (audio)
Download Sermon

Service(video)
[vimeo https://vimeo.com/776848285 w=540&h=360]
Download Service Download Bulletin

Sermon for St. Andrew’s Day – Week of Advent 1

Romans 10:8-18  +  Matthew 4:18-22

You all remember, I hope, that great confession of faith that Peter once made when Jesus asked His disciples, “Who do you say that I am?” And Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” What we often forget is that Peter wasn’t the first one of the apostles to come to that conclusion. His brother Andrew was.

You heard this evening how Andrew was called away from his boat to follow Jesus, to become a fisher of men, together with his brother Peter. But that wasn’t the first time Andrew met Jesus. Andrew was one of the very first two men who followed Jesus. And it wasn’t Jesus who first called them to follow Him. It was John the Baptist who pointed them to Jesus after Jesus returned from His 40 days of temptation in the wilderness. Look! The Lamb of God! That message convinced Andrew and the other man to follow Jesus. After spending just that one day with Him, watching Him and listening to Him, Andrew was already convinced about Jesus. He found his brother Peter and told him straight out, We have found the Messiah! We have found the Christ!

Isn’t that remarkable? Of course, Andrew’s astounding confession wasn’t made in a vacuum. He had been listening to the Word of God since childhood. He had also been spending time out in the wilderness with John the Baptist, listening to his preaching. Still, from the very beginning, before Jesus ever did a single miracle, before He displayed any of His famous mercy and grace toward sinners, before He foretold His suffering, before He rode into Jerusalem on the donkey and gave up His life on the cross for sinful man, the Word of God had already worked faith in Andrew’s heart, faith in the God of Israel and faith that Jesus was the very Messiah whom the God of Israel had promised to send, the one for whom mankind had been waiting since the creation of the world.

But such is the power of the word of God, whether preached by the Old Testament prophets, or by John the Baptist, or by Jesus, whether preached by Andrew or by Peter, or by any of those who have been sent to preach since. People don’t come up with faith in Christ on their own. It’s always the Word of God that does it, so that the same thing that Jesus said to Peter applies to Andrew applies to anyone who confesses Jesus as the Christ: Blessed are you, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. But the Father reveals it, not directly, but by His Spirit, through His Word.

And that word is very near you, as Paul wrote to the Roman Christians. “in your mouth, and in your heart,” that is, the word of faith, which we preach. For if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is the Lord and believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

Andrew believed and confessed, first as a disciple, and then, eventually, as a called preacher, sent by Jesus to preach that same word, to bring it near to people all over the world, so that all people might call upon the name of the Lord Jesus, just as Andrew had done, For everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved.

But, Paul reasons, in order for anyone to call upon the Lord with the mouth, he has to believe in the Lord with his heart. But he can only believe in Him if he has heard about Him. And he can hear about the Lord if there is someone to preach the message of Christ to him. And a preacher can only preach if he has been sent to preach, as Andrew was, along with the other apostles, as the Church has continued to send forth men into all the world to preach the Gospel.

Faith comes from hearing the message. That doesn’t mean that all who hear the message believe. Far from it! Paul goes on in Romans to describe how most of Israel didn’t believe, although they had had the message preached to them more directly and more abundantly than anyone else on earth. Still today, people hear the message of Christ through the Word of God and close their ears to it. But the message preached remains the only tool God uses to bring sinners to faith and then to justify them by that faith.

And that’s the whole reason why there are two advents of Christ instead of one. He could have come just once to make atonement for sin and to bring judgment on the world immediately. But there were thousands alive at that time and millions who had yet to be born who needed to hear the message, who would believe the message, and who would be saved by the message. This is the reason—the only reason!—why Christ delays His second Advent. He is not slow in keeping His promises. He is patient with you, not wanting any to perish, but for all to come to repentance.

By God’s grace, you have come to repentance and faith, as Andrew did, through the Word of God alone. And others will, too, though it may be only a few. For those precious few, Christ delays His return. So for now, let’s make it our business to keep hearing the message and to keep sending out preachers to preach it, as Andrew faithfully did. And don’t worry for a moment about all those people who will not believe, and who will try to shame you because you do! Pray for them, and be confident of the fact that God still works through the message, and will continue to work through it all the way up until Christ’s second advent! Amen.

 

Posted in Sermons | Tagged | Comments Off on God still works through the message