Ash Wednesday

 

Ash Wednesday
22 February 2023
Matthew 6:6-9
Psalm 142
Our Father who art in heaven

But when you pray, go into your room, shut the door, and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.  “And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words.  Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. Pray then like this: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.

Πάτερ ἡμῶν ὁ ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς·

Our Father in the heavens,

 

Friends in Christ, I urge you all to life up your hearts to God and pray with me as Christ our Lord has taught us and freely promised to hear us…

 

God, our Father in heave, look with mercy on us, Your needy children on earth and grant us grace that Your holy name be hallowed by us and all the world through the pure and true teaching of Your Word and the fervent love shown forth in our lives. Graciously turn from us all false doctrine and evil living whereby Your precious name is blasphemed and profaned. Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.[1]

With the confidence Jesus gives me, I come to you, Father. He shows me what a wonderful Father You are, and He has made me Your child. I bring my needs and the needs of my fellow Christians to You, for You are able and eager to help us.

Praying as the second commandment teaches is to call upon God in every need. This He requires has not left it to our choice. It is our duty and obligation if we would be Christian.

We pray from obedience to God and faith in God’s promise.

All our shelter and protection rest in prayer alone. We are too feeble to cope with the devil and all his power. We must consider and take up those weapons with which Christians must be armed in order to stand against the devil.

Whenever a godly Christian prays, “Dear Father let Thy will be done.” God speaks from on high and says, “Yes, dear child, it shall be so, in spite of the devil and all the world.”[2] 

Today we begin a forty-day pilgrimage, which we call, Lent. With the Savior we will walk with Him as we observe His passion, suffering, torture and death.

Lent is a process. It is a six-week spiritual adventure where we become reflective and introspective. We will focus during the next six-week on two points; our need and the Savior’s solution. To help us in this process we will focus this year on the Lord’s Prayer.

Certainly, we all need to pray. The Lord’s Prayer is a simple prayer – it was given to us by our Lord as a model prayer - as He has taught us so to pray.

However this prayer is one of the most profound and serious prayers, as we are called to meditate on it daily. This evening we begin with the introduction: “Our Father Who art in heaven…”

To help us focus on this introduction let us consider for our meditation Psalm 142.  David was a complex individual. He knew great success. He was acquainted with failure. He was placed into the seat of power and encountered enemies; even those from his own family would try to wrestle it away from him.  He experienced every human emotion imagined.

The Psalms are windows to his soul. As prayers, they direct our focus to God. As Scripture, they are the answers to our prayers. Consider David the man of prayer – who invites us also to come to the Father.  In this Psalm, we see David as he prays total and complete.

1.     Consider David the Distressed Man.  [Psalm 142:1-2]

A.    In his distress David gives his spoken request to God: “I cry to the Lord with my voice; to the Lord I make loud supplication” God would by these words tenderly invite us to believe that he is our true Father, and that we are His true children, so that we may with all boldness and confidence ask Him as dear children ask their dear Father.

 

B.     As David cries to the Father, he makes a specific request.

 

1.      There is a complaint on his lips. David says: “I pour out my complaint to Him” (v.2a)

 

2.      It appears to be a complaint about his life as he says: “I declare before Him my trouble”.  Do we take our troubles to the Lord? David encourages us to do so – to take every trouble to the Lord. 

Transition:   David was a distressed man. He was also a desperate man. Desperate times did not cause David to take desperate measures. He was a man of quiet resolve. He took it to the Lord in prayer.

2        David was a Desperate Man.  [Psalm 142:3-4] In his prayers, he was forced to face his doubts and his fears.

A.     David was truly fearful.

1.      There were pressures within.  David felt the pressure: “When my spirit was overwhelmed within me. Then you knew my path” (v.3b) The Lord knew what troubles us internal as well as external.

2.      There were also troubles without. “They have secretly set a snare for me” (v.3b) People were lying in wait for him. There were enemies in David’s life. He needed his Lord to sustain him

B.     In his desperation David felt all alone. He felt he was friendless. He was treated with social as well as spiritual indifference.

1.      He found himself treated with social indifference. “I look on my right hand and see for there is no one who acknowledges me” He was abandoned by all of his friends.

2.      David also knew of spiritual indifference: “refuge has failed me. No one cares for my soul”

TRANSITION:  Truly David found in his plight a desperate situation. He turned to the father in the depths of his despair. As he opened himself to the Lord, he was given discernment and discretion.

3.   David as he prayed was a Discerning Man [Psalm 142:5-6]

 

As he wrestled, pleaded and cried out to God he found two eternal truths

A.     He found a satisfying portion: “I cried out to You, O Lord: I said, You are my refuge” (v.5)

B.     He also found a secure protection: “Attend to my cry, for I am brought low. Deliver me from my persecutors for they are stronger than I” (v.6)

TRANSITION: In this season of Lent, we need to pray.  In our prayers, may we not only speak but also listen as the Lord extends to us His mercy and grace.

4.  As David came to the Lord, he found himself a Delivered Man. [Psalm 142:7-8] He was brought into the prospect of freedom, fellowship, and fullness.

A.    He was directed to freedom – “Bring my soul out of prison” (v.7a) David cried. Our freedom comes at the cross where our Savior suffered and died.

B.     As he found this freedom, he was brought into a newfound fellowship of knowing and experiencing God. As we know of this hope and freedom we rejoice along with David “…that I may praise Your name” (v7b)

C.     This brought David into the fullness of having a loving relationship with God our heavenly Father. David concludes, “The righteous shall surround me for You shall deal bountifully with me” (v.8)

As we begin this spiritual pilgrimage called Lent may the Lord so direct us to come to Him in prayer.

Lord Jesus, hanging on the cross, and left alone by Your disciples, You called upon Your Father with a mighty cry as You gave up Your Spirit. Deliver us from the prison of affliction and be Yourself our inheritance in the land of the living where with the Father and the Holy Spirit You are blessed now and forever. Amen.[3]

Words-1, 375
Passive Sentences – 7%
Readability – 77.7%
Reading Level -5.8

 

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[1] Lutheran Service Book, Divine Service Setting Five, © 2006 Concordia Publishing House, St. Louis

[2] From Luther’s Large Catechism

[3] For All the Saints, A Prayer book For and By the Church; The American Lutheran Publicity Bureau © 1995 Delhi, NY vol. Year 1 The Season After Pentecost p. 754

 

Ash Wednesday

Ash Wednesday February 26, 2020

The Imposition of Ashes
Prior to the service those who wish to receive ashes to mark the start of the Lenten season may do so. Quietly come forward on each aisle and then return back to your seat. 

Silence for personal reflection

The Ringing of the Church Bell

The Opening Hymn LSB#440, v. 1
“Jesus I will Ponder Now”
The Sentences

P: “Ashes to ashes, dust to dust,” the words of the preacher, O Lord, spoken as the final comment on life.

C: THE WORDS OF ENDING RECALL OUR BEGINNING, FOR OUT OF THE DUST OF THE GROUND GOD FORMED MAN AND BREATHED INTO HIS NOSTRILS THE BREATH OF LIFE, AND MAN BECAME A LIVING BEING.

P: “Ashes to ashes, dust to dust,” Lowly Adam, formed from dust, yet blessed by You with Your image, O Lord.

C: WHAT IS MAN THAT THOU ART MINDFUL OF HIM, AND THE SON OF MAN THAT THOU DOST CARE FOR HIM.  YET THOU HAST MADE HIM A LITTLE LESS THAN GOD, AND DOST CROWN HIM WITH GLORY AND HONOR.

P: Yet, “ashes to ashes, dust to dust,” for we have sinned against You, Lord God, and we deserve the curse of the dust:  “Cursed is the ground because of you, in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life.”

C: THOU TURNEST MAN BACK TO THE DUST, AND SAYEST, “TURN BACK O CHILDREN OF MEN!”

All: THE LENTEN SEASON IS UPON US ONCE AGAIN, O LORD GOD, AND WE COME TO YOU WITH THE SIGN OF ASHES, THE SIGN OF WHAT WE ARE AND WHAT WE HAVE BEEN.  WITH REPENTANT HEARTS, WE COME TO YOU, BEGGING YOU FOR FORGIVENESS AND LIFE, FOR MORE THAN THE SIGN OF “ASHES TO ASHES AND DUST TO DUST.”

P: The Spirit of the Lord is upon Him, because the Lord has anointed Him to bring good tidings to the afflicted, to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and the opening of the prison to those who are bound.

C: TO GRANT TO THOSE WHO MOURN IN ZION, TO GIVE THEM A GARLAND INSTEAD OF ASHES, THE OIL OF GLADNESS INSTEAD OF MOURNING, THE MANTLE OF PRAISE INSTEAD OF A FAINT SPIRIT.

P: For surely He has borne our grief and carried our sorrows:

C: YET WE ESTEEMED HIM STRICKEN, SMITTEN OF GOD, AND AFFLICTED.

P: But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our 

iniquities.

C: UPON HIM WAS THE CHASTISEMENT THAT MADE US WHOLE, AND WITH HIS STRIPES WE ARE HEALED.

P: All, like sheep have gone astray; we have turned everyone to his own way;

C: AND THE LORD HAS LAID ON HIM THE INIQUITY OF US ALL.

P: He was oppressed, and He was afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth:

C: LIKE A LAMB THAT IS LED TO THE SLAUGHTER, HOW LIKE A LAMB, THE VERY LAMB OF GOD WHO TAKES AWAY THE SIN OF THE WORLD.

P: And like a sheep that before his shearers is dumb.

C: SO HE OPENED NOT HIS MOUTH.

P: By oppression and judgment, He was taken away; and for His generation who considered that He was cut off out of the land of the living.

C: STRICKEN FOR THE TRANSGRESSION OF MY PEOPLE.

P: And they made His grave with the wicked and with a rich man is His death;

C: ALTHOUGH HE HAD DONE NO VIOLENCE, AND THERE WAS NO DECEIT IN HIS MOUTH.

P: That is why Lent begins on Ash Wednesday with ashes of repentance.

C: AND WITH THE HOPE OF LIFE OUT OF THE ASHES.

P: With the Lord Jesus in His suffering, humiliation, agony, and bloody sweat;

C: AND AT A CROSS WHERE HE TOOK OUR SINS UPON HIMSELF.

All: THAT GREAT EXCHANGE—GOD’S MERCY AND FORGIVENESS PURCHASED AT THE COST OF HIS OWN SON!  FOR GOD SO LOVED THE WORLD THAT HE GAVE HIS ONLY BEGOTTEN SON, THAT WHOSOEVER BELIEVETH IN HIM SHOULD NOT PERISH BUT HAVE EVERLASTING LIFE.  AMEN.

The Choir “Just as I am Lord”

The Passion Reading

The Sermon Hymn & Homily LSB #440 vs.5

Luke 18:31-34
If my sins give me alarm
            And my conscience grieve me,
Let Your cross my fear disarm;
     Peace of conscience give me.
Help me see forgiveness won
     By Your holy passion.
If for me He slays His Son,
      God must have compassion!
   
The Gathering of the Lenten Offering

The Confession and Absolution

The Ash Wednesday Prayer

The Lord’s Prayer

Jesus’ Words of Institution

The Distribution

The Distribution Hymns

“Love Divine All Loves Excelling” LSB #700
“Jesus Sinners Doth Receive” LSB #609
“A Lamb Goes Uncomplaining Forth” LSB #438

The Post-Communion Collect

Luther’s Evening Prayer

The Benediction

The Closing Hymn LSB #878, vv. 1, 2, 8
“Abide with Me!  Fast Falls the Eventide”
                     

+ SOLI DEO GLORIA +

As we remember Ash Wednesday today, think about two important points, which this ceremony teaches us—first, our need of a Savior, and, second, the cross on which Jesus died to take away our sins.  

Images copyright © Google images,  Ed Riojas Higher Things 

Ash Wednesday

Ash Wednesday

March 6, 2019

 Matthew 6:1-6

 “Jesus, our true treasure”

Lord, protect us in our struggle against evil. As we begin the disciple of Lent, make this season holy by our self-denial. Grant this through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen

We sometimes associate Lent with giving up certain things that may be sinful or that may easily lead to sin. This negative approach to the Lenten season frustrates a proper Gospel emphasis and promotes a self-righteous attitude. The Gospel for this Ash Wednesday is a section of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount in which Jesus warns us not to practice certain piety only to secure the praise of others. He was speaking of the self-righteousness that can dominate our thinking about repentance.

He warns us not to practice our righteousness for the primary purpose of being seen and honored by others. He warns us not to concentrate on all the good we are doing by keeping a detailed account of how we have provided for the needs of others. We are not to make a display of our prayer life but to pray naturally and quietly. Fasting is not to be done for display but privately before God as a genuine expression of what we are experiencing in our spiritual life.

You are gathering treasures in heaven not on earth. Your heart is already in heaven with God and Christ, in whom alone true treasures are to be found. With Jesus as your heavenly treasure you are able to serve Him with a piety that flows naturally and joyously from faith in Him.

It is easy to become so earth-oriented that we forget that Jesus and heaven are our highest treasures. Lent again reminds us that where our treasure is, there will our heart be also. In this section of His Sermon on the Mount from which the Gospel is taken, Jesus says that by focusing on Him as a treasure, we maintain a balance in our Christian life between the earthly and the heavenly.

1. We can be more keenly aware of the distinction between the earthly and the heavenly.

A.            Christ embodies all the spiritual values that are not of the earth.

1.            In Him are found basic truths conveying assurance that God is our gracious Father, who has opened heaven’s doors to us because of what Christ accomplished at the cross and at the empty tomb.

2.            In Him we find real peace in all the changes of this life and also joy in death.

B.            What we have in Christ cannot be taken away from us by thieves or by rust or any earthly corruption.

1.            All our earthly treasures – our health, too are temporal.

2.            But what we have in Christ provides a basis for enjoying all these earthly treasures, because Christ has secured for us an anchor that hold in all the changes of life.

Transition: We receive Christ and His treasures of forgiveness and peace with God fully and freely at our baptism. Yet we continue to gather for ourselves heavenly treasures as we cling to Jesus as our highest treasure.

2. We can gather for ourselves treasures in heaven.

A.            We gather for ourselves heavenly treasure when we do not need to publicize the good we are going for others.

1.            We do good to others so naturally that we are hardly aware of doing it.

2.            When our primary concern is not to get the praise of others but simply to meet their needs in response to what Jesus has done in meeting our needs, our Father will reward us. His ways of rewarding go far beyond what we can imagine here on earth or in heaven Men may praise us, but it far more significant to gather heavenly treasure by having God’s blessing.

B.            We gather heavenly treasure when we don’t need to show others how beautiful our prayers are.

1.            God does not look at the form, length, or pithiness of our prayers. Since prayer is an expression of our faith, what matters is that we are praying from the heart and without fear or doubting.

2.            By so praying we gather treasures in heaven. When we pray in response to God’s promise that He will answer our prayers, His answers to prayer are a far higher reward that any human recognition for our praying.

C.            We gather treasure in heaven when no pious activity on our part is carried out for ostentatious display.

1.            Fasting, for example, has its place in the Christian life, but we don’t fast to call attention of others to how pious we are.

2.            There is reward in such recognition, of course, but what is that human recognition in comparison to the heavenly recognition god gives us who are fasting as a genuine expression of our relationship to Christ?

How good it is to have as our highest treasure! From Him we gain insight into the distinction between the earthly and the heavenly. From Him we gain power to keep on gathering treasures in heaven.

Schnorr von Carolsfeld woodcuts © WELS Permission to use these copyrighted items is limited to personal and congregational use

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Passive Sentences-16%

Readability-65%

Reading Level-9.1

Ash Wednesday homily

Ps 23:1 (KJV)
"The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want."

The Good Shepherd who shares His life with us.

14 February 2018

Tonight we begin the discipline of Lent. We begin a forty-day pilgrimage as we walk with the Savior observing His Passion, suffering and death. During our Wednesday evening services we will focus on one of the most dearly loved Psalms in the entire book of Psalms, Psalm 23, the Shepherd’s Psalm.

David will demonstrate for us the secret of a happy life. More than money, riches, honor or fame the secret is found in a magnificent spiritual relationship centered in Jesus Christ. David points to us the Good Shepherd who shares His life with us.  We focus this evening on verse 1: “The Lord is my Shepherd I shall not want”

1. A Good Possession - "The Lord is my Shepherd." David speaks of the great care that God takes for believers. He is their shepherd, and they may call Him so. There was a time was when David was himself a shepherd; he was taken from following the ewe’s great with young.

“He also chose David His servant, and took him from the sheepfolds; From the care of the ewes with suckling lambs He brought him, to shepherd Jacob His people, and Israel His inheritance.” (NASB Ps. 78:70-71), David knew by experience the cares and tender affections of a good shepherd towards his flock. David remembered what needs sheep had of a shepherd, and what a kindness it was to them to have a true shepherd that was skilfull and faithful; he even once ventured his life to rescue a lamb.

By these words David illustrates God's care of his people; and to this our Savior refers to Himself when He says, “I am the shepherd of the sheep; the good shepherd,” (John. 10:11). He is the shepherd of Israel, and of the whole church in general: “Oh, give ear, Shepherd of Israel, Thou who dost lead Joseph like a flock; Thou who art enthroned {above} the cherubim, shine forth!” (NASB Psalm 80:1), 

He is the shepherd of every particular believer; even the meanest is not below His awareness, “Like a shepherd He will tend His flock, in His arm He will gather the lambs, and carry {them} in His bosom; He will gently lead the nursing {ewes.}” (NASB Isaiah. 40:11).

We are sheep who have gone astray. Lost in the rebellion of sin we have become wayward sheep. Isaiah the prophet explains in Isaiah 53:6 “All of us like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; but the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him.”

As the Good Shepherd Jesus rescues the sheep. He takes them into His fold, and then takes care of them, protects them, and provides for them, with more care and devotion than any shepherd can. He makes it his business to keep the flock.  Thus, we pray: “into Thy hands I commend myself {placing} my body and soul and all things {into Your care...}”                                

Transition: If God is as a shepherd to us, we must be His sheep, inoffensive, meek, and quiet, silent before the sharers, yes, and before the butcher too, useful and compassionate; we must know the shepherd's voice, and follow him.

2.         A Good Provision -    “I shall not want” David speaks of the great confidence, which believers have in the Good Shepherd: "If the Lord is my shepherd, my feeder, I must conclude I shall not want anything that is really necessary and good for me."

Sheep cannot do one thing to provide for themselves. They need a shepherd who will provide for them. Of themselves, they can do nothing. They are lost, confused and would soon be destroyed without Him. Thus the Good Shepherd will provide for all that we need to support our body and life; both physical but especially spiritual necessities.

When the Christian considers that God is his shepherd, he can boldly say, “I shall not want!” We need not fear. We don’t have to worry about starving; God upon finding us supplies all our needs. We have Him as our feeder. More is implied than is expressed in this little phrase. Not only can David say: “I shall not want,” but also, "I shall be supplied with whatever I need. If I have not everything I desire, I may conclude it is either not fit for me or not good for me currently or I shall have it in due time."

David, a king of his own right acknowledges that the Lord is his Shepherd-King. Jesus, who suffered and died on Calvary’s cross, has become our good shepherd. We walk with Him as we observe His Passion. We need not worry about being in want. To the contrary, we will enjoy goodness and mercy each day of our lives. As we begin the discipline of Lent walk with the Good Shepherd. -He guides and directs your path.

Word – 838
Reading Ease – 75%
Grade Level – 6.0
Google Image: The Good Shepherd 

Ash Wednesday - Wyneken Chapel

Ash Wednesday
Wyneken Memorial Lutheran School Chapel
1 March 2017
The Salutary Gift: Grain, Wine, and Oil
Joel 2:12-19
“Return to the LORD your God.” (Joel 2:13)

“You may eat the fruit from any tree in the Garden... But not this one. Not from the tree in the middle of the garden.  Not the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.” Did you hear those words of instruction? Words, which God gave to Adam and Eve. They seemed so simple. “Choose. But choose wisely."  To make the wrong choice would bring death. 

Look deeper! What else do you see? There is the serpent. Satan! Planting seeds of doubt. Into the minds of Adam and Eve. It didn’t take much. Just a simple question: “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” (Genesis 3:1). And suddenly Adam and Eve are no longer seriously considering the consequences of their actions. 

Adam and Eve would find out the hard way. That God was serious when He said, “In the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” For “the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23), says the apostle. And death. Is what they got.

You, too. Know the commandments of God. Yet, how quickly the warnings of God’s Word are ignored. When you see something that you want. You try to pretend that God has not spoken. Or that He was not serious about what He has clearly said. Like Adam and Eve. We are in need of a Savior. 

Adam and Eve needed a Savior. And so do you. A Savior from sin and its consequences. It would take Jesus to do this. It would take the Son of God, becoming a person. Taking your sin. Your shame. And your death upon Himself. It would take Jesus. True God and true Man to make you clean again.  But this Jesus has done for you because He loves and cares for you!

Today is Ash Wednesday. We begin the season of Lent. With ashes of repentance. And faith which rises out of the Ashes. We take our place next to Adam and Eve. And hear the terrifying voice of the Lord: “Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”

But we also remember. That only Jesus can save. Only Jesus can heal. Only Jesus can make satisfaction for your sin. All of this He did. So that Adam and his children might live. So look to Jesus. Trust His word. His work. His love. 

To help us remember Jesus’ love for us. We remember the Lord’s Supper. The fruit the devil offered brings bitterness and death. The fruit Jesus offers is salvation and life. The tree of the knowledge of good and evil was pleasing to the eye.  There is nothing extraordinary.  The appearance of this fruit. Simple bread. And simple wine. To our eyes. It seems too ordinary. Grain. Wine. Oil.  They appear so powerless. What can a dying criminal offer for you? 

But that’s the wonderful thing about our kind and gracious Lord. He takes the common things of this world. And uses them to make them special. Words mean something. Trust the sure words of Jesus! This IS my body. This IS my blood. Given and shed for you. For the forgiveness of sins.”

On this Ash Wednesday. We remember. In the beginning, God warned Adam concerning the tree of the knowledge of good and evil: “In the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” But now. In the body and blood of Christ. God has made a solemn pledge. A promise to you. And to all the faithful. “In the day that you eat of it you shall surely live.”

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Reading Level – 2.3

I AM the light of the world

Ash Wednesday
March 1, 2017
John 8:12-20
Jesus said, “I am the light of the world”

Our Lenten pilgrimage begins tonight on Ash Wednesday. During these next 40 days we will observe our Lord’s Passion as He bears our sins on the bloody cross, offering us a great exchange – our sins for His righteousness

To help us along this Lenten journey we will be listening to Jesus’ words as He describes Himself to us in the Gospel of John. What would the Savior say to us tonight? He would remind us that He is the light of the world.

“Then Jesus spoke again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world he that followeth Me shall not walk in darkness but shall have the light of life.” (John 8:12) Light – we take it for granted until we don’t have it – as in an ice or snowstorm! Its wonders are beheld in magnificent sunsets and sunrises. 

How “fast” is the speed of light? –Light travels at a constant, finite speed of 186,000 mi/sec. A traveler, moving at the speed of light, would circum-navigate the equator approximately 7.5 times in one second. By comparison, a traveler in a jet aircraft, moving at a ground speed of 500 mph, would cross the continental U.S. once in 4 hours.  In our text for this evening Jesus refers Himself as the true light that this world still needs. 

I.  Jesus is the light of the world.

A. He is the one who gives life and light to the world.

1. He was present at the world’s creation. “In the beginning was the word and the word was with God. He was with God in the beginning. Through Him all things were made without Him nothing was made that has been made. In Him was life and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness but the darkness has not understood it.”  (John 1:1-5)

2. He alone can give us life and rest spiritually. “Come to Me all you who are weary and burdened and I will give your rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me for I am gentle and humble in heart and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30)

B. He alone is capable of sustaining life.

1. He asks, “Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to your life?” (Luke 12:25)

2. His answer – “Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest?” (V. 26)

3. We need to commit all into His care, trusting in Him that He will bring everything to pass.

Transition: Since the Savior has brought life into this world He asks of us to trust Him.

II. Believe and follow Him.

A. You’ll never walk in darkness.

1. You can’t be in darkness if He is the true light.

2. Follow Him as He goes to the cross exchanging your life of sin for His perfection, your darkness for His true light.

B. With Jesus leading we will always have the light of life.

1. John reminds us early in his Gospel “He came to that which was His own, but His own did not receive Him.” (v.11) The world rejected Him! Who killed Jesus? You did! I did!

2. But to those who come by faith – “Yet to all who received Him to those who believed in His name. He gave the right to be come children of God – children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will but born of God.” (John 1:12-13)

Jesus is the light – neglect not the light! Hate not the light! Seek it. But beware of false light!

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Reading Level – 4.5 

Ash Wednesday - The Attitude of Testing

Ash Wednesday

February 18, 2015

Genesis 22:1-18

The Attitude of Testing

“Here I am Lord”

God tests Abraham’s faith by commanding him to sacrifice Isaac.

“Here I Am Lord”

There was once a commercial, which said: “Delta is ready when you are!”  In our lesson for today, Abraham is always ready when he is called and needed. In each case, he replies, “Here I am”. Abraham is always ready and willing to respond. He is always there when you need Him.  What an example for us! When a job needs to be done, who will say, “Here I am”? When you need someone desperately to help in time of need, does the Christian say, “Here am I”?

A Christian is ready when called…

1.    A Christian is ready when God calls. Vs. 1  tells us  “Now it came about after these things, that God tested Abraham, and said to him, "Abraham!" And he said, "Here I am."  - The call of Abraham was  a call to obey.  True, it was an awesome task, to sacrifice his only Son. But clearly Abraham knew that the Lord would provide.  Do we trust God at His Word? When summoned to obey God do we trust Him at His Word? Abraham trusted God at His Word.  We can do nothing else. During this 40-day pilgrimage may we trust God at His Word. Following Him as we listen to His Word. When He speaks - we listen. When He commands - we follow. As He leads may we follow willingly, trusting in Him to will and to do what He has promised.

TRANSITION: The Christian is ready when God calls and  listens to God. But we are also ready when we listen to the call of our neighbor. We are ready to say “here I am”…

2.    When man calls. Vs. 7 tells us  “And Isaac spoke to Abraham his father and said, "My father!" And he said, "Here I am, my son." And he said, "Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?" – Abraham was given a question to answer.  Isaac had a legitimate question. Where is the lamb?  Abraham could only tell his son what he knew to be true, that the Lord would provide.  We live in a world in which many are searching for meaning in life and answers to their problems.  Where are people to be directed?  When seeking direction where do we lead people? Do we give them our own words, do we given them advice and words that we think they will want to hear?  We must point people in only one direction and that is to the person of Jesus Christ.  He is the way, the truth and the life. 

 No one comes to the Father except through Jesus.  “Jesus is the answer for the world today” so goes the words of the old spiritual.  May we point people to Jesus the joy of man’s desiring – Jesus our only hope in desperate times. During this 40-day period of Lent may we point people to Jesus our strength and our redeemer.

TRANSITION:  We follow Christ and His word. We point people to Christ. We also say “here I am” when angels call.

3.    When angels call. Vs. 11-12 says,“But the angel of the LORD called to him from heaven, and said, "Abraham, Abraham!" And he said, "Here I am." And he said, "Do not stretch out your hand against the lad, and do nothing to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me."  –  This angel of the Lord - The angel of the Lord is Jesus Himself who gives us a call to receive grace.

On that day Abraham’s son Isaac was spared and a lamb was provided.  God would not spare His only Son.  Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, was sent into this world to take away the sins of the world.  The hymn tells us“A lamb goes uncomplaining forth, the guilt of all men bearing”  That lamb was Jesus. He went to the cross to suffer and die. He went to the cross to take away our sin.  He went to the cross to win for us salvation and life.

And that’s what Lent is all about!  It’s about Jesus the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.  Lent is a time when we think about what Jesus did for you and for me.  During this 40-day journey may we walk with Jesus as He makes His way to the cross on Good Friday. When He speaks to us in His word we will say with Abraham of old “Here I am” when others ask “who is this Jesus? We will say “here I am” to witness of what we know and what we have seen. When Jesus speaks we will say “Here I am” and He will simply say “I am with you always, even unto the end of the age!”

Image: Abraham sacrifices Isaac, Schnorr von Carolsfeld woodcut (c)  WELS permission granted for personal and congregational use

Words –850

Passive Sentences –7%

Reading Ease –87.6%

Reading Level –3.9

Ash Wednesday - The 4th Commandment

Ash Wednesday

18 February 2015

Wyneken Memorial Lutheran School

4^th Commandment

Honor your Father and your Mother

Today is Ash Wednesday. It is the first day in the season of Lent. We come today with the ashes of repentance and faith. Today is a day we remember our sinfulness and the reason for which Jesus came into this world. Jesus came to make all things new.  At the cross, Jesus took your sins upon Himself. That great exchange – God’s mercy and forgiveness purchased at the cost of His own son! For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

This year, throughout this special season, we will review the Ten Commandments. We will review the first three commandments at the end, during Holy Week. As we review each commandment, we will see that there were times when God’s people kept the commandment. And other times not.

– The rich man thought more of costly clothes and food than of God. The rich young man loved his possessions more than Christ. 1^{st Commandment.}

– Peter swore that he didn’t know Jesus after His arrest. Herod sword in an unknown and unimportant matter. 2^{nd Commandment.}

^– Jesus gladly heard and learned the Word of God. Mary sat at the feet of Jesus. Jesus’ mother pondered the Word of God in her heart. 3^{rd Commandment.}

– Abraham rescued Lot from his enemies. David protected the life of Saul. The good Samaritan helped the man who had fallen among thieves.   5^{th Commandment}

^– Herod took his brother’s wife while Joseph refused the advances of Potiphar’s wife. 6^{th Commandment.}

^–      Zacchaeus promised to restore four times what he had taken and gave half his goods to the poor. 7^{th Commandment}

– Jonathan spoke well of David. The people of Capernaum spoke well of the Centurion. 8^{th Commandment}

– Ahab coveted Naboth’s vineyard. 9^th Commandment.  Absalom estranged the hearts of the people away from his father David. 10^{th Commandment.}

Today, we begin with Commandment number 4. Honor your father and your mother. – Joseph provided for his father. From the cross, Jesus turned His mother over to John and provided for her care. More than half of the seven words from the cross concerned the needs of others.

Commandments 4-10 have to do with how we treat our neighbor. These last seven commandments apply to us in our relationship with our neighbor. Love for God will always show itself in love for our neighbor.  It is fitting that we review the 4^th commandment on Ash Wednesday. Just as God has given us eternal life. We look to those who gave us life. Our Father and our Mother.

The commandment reads, Honor your father and your mother. What does this mean? We should fear and love God so that we do not despise or anger our parents and other authorities, but honor them, serve and obey them, love and cherish them.

Honor. To honor someone means that we regard him or her, with respect. When we honor someone, we will fulfill an obligation or keep an agreement we have made. Parents owe their children love and care for body and soul.  Children owe their parents love, respect, and obedience.

God is one of order – He exercises His rule over us through those whom He has placed over us. He extends His ruling arm through the following. Our parents, grandparents, our aunts and uncles in the home. Pastors and teachers in church and school. Police, officials, those who represent us in congress, the Governor, and our President through the Government. Ad our boss and all other supervisors when we are at work.

God reminds us to honor our superiors. They are His representatives. However, it one of these demands something, which God forbids, or forbids something, which God demands, we must always obey God.

This commandment follows us all our life. We are always under obligation. I’m 58. My Mom and Dad are 84. I owe them. As long as I’m working, I have an obligation to do my best towards those who are over me. I’m a citizen of my community, state, and nation. I owe respect and service to my country.  We are always under orders to serve and obey. May the Lord direct us to love and to do in a spirit of love, respect, and duty to those He has placed over us.

Words-754

Passive Sentences –2%

Readability –75.7%

Reading level -5.1