Pr. DFD

Saturday, January 9, 2016

Baptism of our Lord

The Baptism of our Lord

1.10.2016

Luke 3; 15-22

Heaven is open to you

The baptism of Jesus fits into the season of Epiphany perfectly. It is the beginning of Jesus’ earthly ministry. In this season, we finally see all things clearly. The one true God is revealed in the person of Jesus Christ. In the flesh and blood of Jesus Christ haven is open to you. You see Jesus as He is. Not and the babe in Bethlehem’s stall. Not the inquisitive child held up in the temple. But as God’s man for the saving of humankind.

In mercy, Jesus will take His place with sinners. But He will do more than merely associate with sinners. He will do more than share an occasional meal He does more then spend time with them. As the friend of sinners, He takes the place of sinners. He receives their sin to Himself. He bears them. He carries them.

Luke reminds us, “When all the people were baptized…It happened. Right then and there – Jesus was also baptized.”

The story of redemption began –way before the Father’s voice of approval on the Mt. of Transfiguration. Way before His trip to Jerusalem. Way before His trudge to the cross. Way before His dying words – “It is finished!” Jesus submits Himself to a baptism for the

Jesus has no sin of His own. Yet He will take the sins of the world upon Himself. These are great words of hope as we enter the New Year. When you were baptized, you were baptized into the death and life of Jesus. You were baptized into His own death; You were baptized into His resurrection.

In this New Year, when you, “pass through the waters,” when you encounter difficult and challenging times, you shall not be harmed. Says the prophet Isaiah, “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you.

When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze. For I am the LORD, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior…” Isaiah 43:2-3

Fear not I am with thee, O be not dismayed

For I am Thy God, I will still give thee aid

I’ll strengthen thee, help thee, and cause thee to stand

Upheld by My gracious, omnipotent hand.

When thro’ the deep waters I call thee to go

The rivers of sorrow shall not overflow,

For I will be with thee, thy trials to bless

And sanctify to thee, thy deepest distress.

When thro fiery trials thy pathways shall rise

My grace, all-sufficient, shall be thy supply

The flams shall not hurt thee, I only design

Try dross to consume and thy gold to refine.1

Jesus has created you for glory. Heaven is open to you. He has redeemed you with His blood that you might be His own, and live with Him in His kingdom.

As you are baptized with a baptism like His, so also you are united with Him in His death and resurrection. He unites with you that You might walk in newness of life with Him. For all who are baptized into Christ Jesus receive His anointing of the Holy Spirit and so are named by His Father a beloved and well pleasing sons and daughters.

We are just a few days into this New Year. But through it all in ever circumstance, in every situation, in every nuance may Jesus be your center.

Jesus – direct my beginning

Jesus – remain ever near me.

Jesus- refuge in temptation.

Jesus- be my sole desire.

Jesus – be ever in my thoughts.

Jesus – let me never falter! 2

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[1] Bach’s Christmas Oratorio, New Year #7, #42 Choral

Words-660

Passive Sentences –8%

Readability –83

Reading Level-4.2

Wednesday, January 6, 2016

Epiphany

O God, by the leading of a star, You made known Your only-begotten Son to the Gentiles. Lead us, who know You by faith, to enjoy in heaven the fullness of Your divine presence; through the same Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

Source:

Sunday, January 3, 2016

Time in the Word - The Baptism of our Lord

Time in the Word – Epiphany 1

The Baptism of our Lord

January 4-9, 2016

The Epiphany season begins each church year with the Baptism of our Lord. At Christmas we celebrate the incarnation; God entering time and space to be our Savior. We see what it will take for Jesus to become the world’s Redeemer as He enters the Jordan river to be baptized by John. Jesus’ work will conclude with his death on the cross on Good Friday. Already He is planning your salvation as He becomes you substitute. He will live the perfect life for you. He will be tempted as you are. He will carry your sin so that in your baptism you may receive His perfection, obedience, and grace.

Anointed with the Spirit is the theme for this coming Sunday. Christmas is officially over for the year and a new season is upon us. Epiphany literally means “I see it!” or “Now I understand!” or “I’ve got it!” In Epiphany this infant whom we have worshiped at the manger we now see as God’s chosen One. Hence the antiphon for the Introit will be taken from Isaiah’s prophecy—Jesus is the Father’s chosen one, the one in whom He delights. Jesus begins His public ministry at His baptism. Now we see Him as He is. Now we understand what He will do. In the Old Testament lesson God’s Servant is anointed with the Spirit to bring Justice. In the Gospel lesson Jesus is anointed with the Spirit as God’s Son at His Baptism. Paul in the Epistle reminds his readers, that through our own incorporation into Christ we are to be regarded as dead to sin and alive in Christ. The Hymn of the Day recounts Christ’s own baptism and calls for us to live our lives anew to Him who has redeemed us.

Collect for 2^nd Sunday after Christmas – O God, our Maker and Redeemer, who wonderfully created us and in the incarnation of Your Son yet more wondrously restored our human nature, grant that we may ever be alive in Him who made Himself to be like us; through Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, One God, now and forever.

Collect for the Epiphany or our Lord – O God, by the leading of a star You once made known to all nations Your only-begotten Son; now lead us, who know You by faith, to know in heaven the fullness of Your divine goodness; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, One God, now and forever.

Collect for Epiphany 1 – Father in heaven, at the Baptism of Jesus in the Jordan River You proclaimed Him Your beloved Son and anointed Him with the Holy Spirit. Make all who are baptized in His name faithful in their calling as Your children and inheritors with Him of everlasting life; through the same Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, One God, now and forever. Amen

Collect for the likeness of Christ—O God, by the patient suffering of Your only-begotten Son, You have beaten down the pride of the old enemy. Now help us, we humbly pray, rightly to treasure in our hearts all that our Lord has of His goodness born for our sake that after His example we may bear with patience all that is adverse to us; through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Monday, 4 January 2016 Psalm 2:7-11, 12c antiphon, Isa, 42:1a -Behold My servant, whom I uphold, My chosen, in whom My soul delights. When the matador enters the ring, when your favorite teams enters the court, there is a thunder of applause from the adoring crowd. This is the Father’s response not only to His own Son Jesus but also with you. By grace through faith you have been incorporated into God’s family. At the celebration of the baptism of our Lord, we also remember our own baptism. This is your new status as one of Christ’s redeemed

Tuesday, 5 January 2016 Psalm 29 (antiphon; v.3) - Ascribe to the Lord the glory due His name; worship the Lord in the splendor of His holiness. This week’s Psalm is a hymn of praise to the King of creation whose majesty and power are trumpeted by the thunderbolts of the rainstorm – as the storm rose above the Mediterranean swept across the Lebanon range and rolled over the wilds of Kadesh. The key verse is the believer’s response we are to worship the Lord “in the splendor of His holiness.”

Wednesday, 6 January 2016 Isaiah 43:1-7 - God’s servant is anointed with the Spirit to bring justice. This is a servant song about Israel as God’s servant who will be anointed with the Spirit to bring justice and light to the nations. We can see the fulfillment of this prophecy in Jesus, and then the church as God’s servant carrying on the work of Jesus in the world.

Here is a much needed conception of the church as God’s servant. To be this, the church needs to be anointed by the Spirit (verse 1). As servant, the church will not use force but the compassion of life to attain her goals (verses 2, 3). She will not be discouraged in her work – in spite of setbacks in a hostile world (verse 4).

Thursday, 7 January 2016 Romans 6:1-11 - Your baptism is a birth certificate; your baptism is a death certificate. In baptism you died to sin and became alive to God. When we come to the Father in repentance and faith, our old Adam, that is, our old sinful nature is drowned and killed while a new man becomes alive in us to live before God in righteousness and purity. Each day is a death to self and a new life to God. The words of John the Baptist are a fitting refrain, “He must increase I must decrease” (John 3:30).

Friday 8, January 2016 Luke 3:15-22 - How many baptisms are there? Luke emphasizes the anointing of the Spirit in connection with baptism. The Holy Spirit comes to us in and through our baptism. In the Gospel lesson “water baptism” and “spirit baptism” are mentioned. In verse 16 John the Baptizer says he baptizes with water but a greater than he will baptize with the Spirit and fire. Water and Sprit baptism are one and the same. The Spirit comes with the Word manifested by the sign of water. Baptism is essentially a spiritual matter, a covenant between God and the believer. It is not a mere external matter of applying water to a person. You are a true and complete Christian by virtue of your baptism. This is your birthright, where faith is born. Its purpose and power cannot be taken away from you.

Saturday 9, January 2016 Luke 3:21-22 This week’s hymn of the week, “To Jordan came the Christ, our Lord”. Written by Martin Luther tells the story of salvation. The hymn recounts Christ’s own baptism and the new life He offers to us. As you meditate upon this wonderful hymn, resolve to daily walk with Him who has promised to order your days and direct you path.

A prayer for steadfast faith – Almighty God, our heavenly Father, of Your tender love towards us sinners You have given us Your Son that, believing in Him, we might have everlasting life. Continue to grant us Your Holy Spirit that we may remain steadfast in this faith to the end and come to life everlasting.

A prayer for newness of life in Christ – Almighty God, give us grace that we may cast away the works of darkness and put upon ourselves the armor of life, now in the time of this mortal life, in which Your Son Jesus Christ came to visit us in great humility, that in the last day, when He shall come again in glory to judge both the living and the dead, we may rise to the life immortal.

Sources:

Schnorr Von Carolsfeld woodcuts © WELS permission granted for personal and congregational use

Saturday, January 2, 2016

Christmas 2

Christmas 2

Luke 2:41-52

3 January 2016

Jesus in the temple – Mary did you know?

“Mary did you know, that your baby boy, will one day walk on water? Mary did you know, that your baby boy, will save our sons and daughters?”[1] Of course, Mary heard the announcement and the prophecy. “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.”[2] Twice the evangelist will remind us, “But his mother treasured all these things in her heart.” (vv.19, 52) Mary knew. But did she fully understand?

As for you. Do you know? That this baby boy. Will one day walk on water? Do you know? That this baby boy. Will save our sons and daughters? Do you know? That this boy. Is not lost as some suppose. But prefers to reveal Himself. Specifically. In hidden places. At His own choosing.

“And the child grew and became strong; he was filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was upon him.” This is the only account of Jesus in adolescence.

Now his parents each year went to Jerusalem for the feast of Passover. Jesus and the family go on their trip to Jerusalem to celebrate the feast. His parents were faithful Jews. When he was twelve years old, they went up, according to the custom of the feast. They would go to Jerusalem three times each year. For Passover, Pentecost, Booths. [3] They did what they did. Attendance was not an option. This was their regular practice. To be observant was a priority within the family structure. It was what was expected.

Jesus would now move from the court of the women to the court of the men. This was his transition. From childhood to manhood. He's a man now. So he stays behind. His parents considering him to be traveling with them. They are not aware he is not with them. He had never disobeyed. So they would have no reason to doubt he was traveling with him.

Having not found him they returned to Jerusalem seeking him. It happened, after three days, they found him…in the posture of the rabbis (sitting) hearing them and questioning. Jesus is both questioning and answering...They were amazed of his intelligence. Jesus is sitting in the temple hanging with the teachers and asking them questions. And the teachers are amazed. Here is this child. Certainly not old enough to have any schooling. Who hasn’t studied under any Rabbi. He is asking some astonishing questions. He seems to be more than just an inquisitive child. Where does this simple child get this?

“Child, why have you done this? Right here and now your father and I have been distressed seeking you...” Mary’s worry? Jesus was still a child. It was her responsibility. To care for him. Imagine! Three days of lostness. And here we find it. The temple. In the temple. Jesus does not need to be found. He's not in your pocket. Where is he to be found? He is found in those places he has promise. In the temple. In His promised Word. And where that Word is attached visibly.

“Why are you seeking me? You know where I should be...” This is a reversal of the question asked in the garden, "Where are you?" Jesus is not lost. “Why were you looking for me? Do you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” "How is it that you sought me? Did you, (of all people!) not know that I must be in my Father's house?" or "be about by Father's work?"

Note the play on words. Mary says, your father, meaning Joseph. Jesus shifts the word from horizontal to vertical- my Father, meaning God, our heavenly Father. She defines her son by family and blood. He now defined Himself. He is the one so uniquely related to God that the temple is my father's house. The gift of faith his family gave him is now taking on a life of its own as Jesus' reaches out beyond his family to grasp his unique vocation as the one who speaks and acts for God without any awareness of guilt or shame.

But they did not understand the word preached by him. Did they forget it? No, but they become distracted. In the same way we might ask, “Where is God in all of this?” “Why am I suffering?” “Why this cross?” If, at the center of our faith, is a dead man on a cross. We need to see Jesus in the whole of the Scriptures, at the center. What is obvious is only seen through the eyes of faith.

Years later. There will be another trip to Passover. Not with his old family. But with his new one. He will travel. With Peter, and James and John and Mary Magdalene and the rest. Again he will teach in the temple. But this time the reception will not be so kind. Again, he will be lost for three days. Women who seek him will be asked a question by an angel, "Why do you seek the living among the dead?" Again, astonishment and lack of understanding will be the response when he is taken to his father's house through the resurrection. Even this childhood story hints at the great mysteries ahead.

And, even though they saw the angels and had multiple messages from God, they didn’t see it - yet. The family lived with Jesus. And, though they had eyes to look on him. They never saw him. The teachers in the temple. Watched this little boy question. But were shocked at what they saw. Indeed, throughout Jesus’ life people will look at him and have a strong reaction, “That isn’t God!” How can a child, that gets left behind by his own family be that important? Even today, people have questions when they see Jesus.

Jesus returns to Nazareth and is obedient to the duties of a Jewish son, "And he went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was obedient to them; and his mother kept all these things in her heart." There now will follow eighteen more years without a word. Silence. Normalcy. The grind of the ordinary. And the joy of the everyday. That was Jesus' training ground. When God came in Jesus, he came into a family. And a village. And a job. And to sweat. And to friends. And to prayers. And to toil. And to laughter.

Jesus increased. He progressed in wisdom, stature/age and the grace and favor of God and men was upon him. He grew up like any ordinary person. He became your substitute. To live your life. Perfectly. Under the law. To win for you the Father’s favor. Ponder these things, in your heart, this day.

Words-1,165

Passive Sentences-3%

Readability –85.4

Reading Level -3.2

[1] www.metrolyrics.com/mary-did-you-know-lyrics-kenny-rogers.html

[2] Luke 1:35

[3] See Lev. 23:5ff.

Wilhelm Loehe, Pastor

Although he never set foot on American soil he sent funds and men to serve the new churches in North America.

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us. – Hebrews 12:1

Friday, January 1, 2016

January

January 3, 2^nd Sunday after Christmas – Divine Service

Luke 2:40-52 – Christ our exemplar

January 10, The Baptism of our Lord – Matins

Luke 3:15-22 - Heaven is open to You

January 17, 2^nd Sunday in Epiphany – Divine Service

John 2:1-11 – Christ man manifest in His miracles

January 24, 3^rd Sunday in Epiphany – Setting Three without Communion

Luke 4:16-30 – Christ made manifest in His preaching

January 31, 4^th Sunday in Epiphany – Divine Service

Luke 4:31-44 – Christ made manifest in His forgiving sin

A national election will held on Tuesday, 8 November 2016. As a nation, we will be electing leaders on a local, state and national level. A yearlong debate will remain as the nation considers which individuals will be our country’s leaders. Discussions begin in earnest January 1.

According to the doctrine of the Two Kingdoms (referred by many as the doctrine of Church and State), we Christians recognize our president (and all elected leaders whether on the local, state or national level) as God’s man for this time - whether he knows and understands it or not. St. Paul in Romans 13:1 reminds us, “Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God.” For this reason we are directed to “give everyone what you own him: If you owe taxes, pay tassel if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect, if honor, then honor.” [Romans 13:7]

Daily we should pray for our leaders that the Lord would give them wisdom. They need the Lord’s direction to use their power for our country’s good so that we may live in peace and safety. They need divine guidance that we as free people might exercise our rights of free assembly and worship. We need to treasure our freedoms and support those who have sworn to protect them so that we can gossip the Gospel before the Lord returns in glory.

We live under a representative republic, which means we elect individuals to stand in for us for a certain moment of time. Every four years we inaugurate a head of state, not a king. When we are satisfied with our leader’s work, they are re-elected. If not, others will take their place. We are given freedoms in this great country: to speak our mind, to disagree, and to come together. Every time a new administration is elected, there is a peaceful transfer of the figurehead of power. There are no riots. Life does not cease. In all reality, not much changes. The bureaucrats keep their jobs.

We are living in challenging times. In many respects, we are entering uncharted waters. Some of these challenges we have not had to confront in over fifty years. Others have been looming over us for a while. Now they need to be addressed. We will need the best minds our country has to face the difficulties and challenges of our 21st Century. In this New Year, commit yourself to daily pray for those who serve as your representatives. Vigilance is needed. Serving both God and country is what makes us model citizens. Love God. Serve your neighbor. Be a sermon in shoes.

As we begin a new year we find ourselves in the Christmas/Epiphany season. Epiphany is the shepherds recognizing the Messiah. It is the Magi acknowledging the king of glory. It is Peter's "You are the Christ...." It is the two disciples on the way to Emmaus having their eyes opened. It is any time that our eyes are opened to the manifestation of God in our Savior, Jesus Christ.

The experience of Epiphany is the most important goal of Christian teaching or preaching. It is the moment when Christ is perceived by the eyes of faith. Throughout this coming year may we see God’s hand at work among us, drawing us closer to Him has He continues to order our days directing us through every circumstance of our lives. Christ has come to bring light and life. May His hand guide us throughout this coming year.