The Fourth Sunday in Advent. John 1:19-28.
Beyond Jordan
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The Fourth Sunday in Advent, 2013
Pastor Gregory L. Jackson
Bethany Lutheran Church, 10 AM Central Time
The Hymn #477 Lord Jesus Thou 3:90
The Confession of Sins
The Absolution
The Introit p. 16
The Gloria Patri
The Kyrie p. 17
The Gloria in Excelsis
The Salutation and Collect p. 19
The Epistle and Gradual
The Absolution
The Introit p. 16
The Gloria Patri
The Kyrie p. 17
The Gloria in Excelsis
The Salutation and Collect p. 19
The Epistle and Gradual
The Gospel
Glory be to Thee, O Lord!
Praise be to Thee, O Christ!
The Nicene Creed p. 22
The Sermon Hymn #90 Come, Your Hearts 3.83
Praise be to Thee, O Christ!
The Nicene Creed p. 22
The Sermon Hymn #90 Come, Your Hearts 3.83
Peace and Forgiveness
The Hymn # 103 – Luther To Shepherds 3.82
The Hymn # 103 – Luther To Shepherds 3.82
The Preface p. 24
The Sanctus p. 26
The Lord's Prayer p. 27
The Words of Institution
The Agnus Dei p. 28
The Nunc Dimittis p. 29
The Benediction p. 31
The Hymn #95 Savior of the Nations 3.42
The Sanctus p. 26
The Lord's Prayer p. 27
The Words of Institution
The Agnus Dei p. 28
The Nunc Dimittis p. 29
The Benediction p. 31
The Hymn #95 Savior of the Nations 3.42
KJV Philippians 4:4 Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice. 5 Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand. 6 Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. 7 And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
KJV John 1:19 And this is the record of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, Who art thou? 20 And he confessed, and denied not; but confessed, I am not the Christ. 21 And they asked him, What then? Art thou Elias? And he saith, I am not. Art thou that prophet? And he answered, No. 22 Then said they unto him, Who art thou? that we may give an answer to them that sent us. What sayest thou of thyself? 23 He said, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Esaias. 24 And they which were sent were of the Pharisees. 25 And they asked him, and said unto him, Why baptizest thou then, if thou be not that Christ, nor Elias, neither that prophet? 26 John answered them, saying, I baptize with water: but there standeth one among you, whom ye know not; 27 He it is, who coming after me is preferred before me, whose shoe's latchet I am not worthy to unloose. 28 These things were done in Bethabara beyond Jordan, where John was baptizing.
Fourth Sunday In Advent
Lord God, heavenly Father, it is meet and right that we should give thanks unto Thee, that Thou hast given us a more glorious baptism than that of John the Baptist, and hast therein promised us the remission of sins, the Holy Spirit, and everlasting life through Thy Son, Jesus Christ: Preserve us, we beseech Thee, in such faith in Thy grace and mercy, that we may never doubt Thy promise, but be comforted by the same in all temptations: and grant us Thy Holy Spirit that we may renounce sin, and ever continue in the righteousness bestowed upon us in baptism, until by Thy grace we obtain eternal salvation, through the same, Thy beloved Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, one true God, world without end. Amen.
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Peace and Forgiveness
Someone wrote back about the sermon being everything. One reason I posted that was the utter lack of work involved in most sermons. They are copied all over the Net, sold by some, given away by others. Obviously the sermon means nothing to those clergy who borrow and steal them.
Apparently the idea is to please everyone, even though we are warned that the era of apostasy is one where people will pile up false teachers that will tell them what their itching ears want to hear.
That also means the congregations have no regard for the sermon, because they would also demand original work instead of plagiarized tosh.
When clergy are off-base about the sermon, the results are never the Gospel. It may seem like to the Gospel to some, but it is really the Law in disguise, with the new Moses saying, “This is what you have to do.”
The Law has one purpose in the sermon, to make us more aware of our need for the Gospel of forgiveness. Paul illustrated that in Romans 1-3, where he showed that the civil law and the Mosaic law can only condemn – and can never give righteousness.
That is why Paul did not simply write about the Law in the first few chapters. Otherwise it would have been all condemnation, like the cop who told me about all the ways “an open bottle is violated” in driving. He said it applied to soda, too, since it was a distraction. And he added, “I violate that law all the time.”
Business is full of the law, where the boss says, “Great. Your sales are up 40%. Now let’s see how you can do much better.”
Condemnation makes people agitated to do something. That is why the law has been used to motivate others. They are told they owe something to God, so they need to pay with money and good works. This is how Purgatory has served the Church of Rome and why it will never be given up. It gives false peace of mind to think, “I have been a criminal all my life, but I can make up for that if I give my entire estate to Holy Mother Rome and the priests pray for my soul forever. Yes, I can endow masses that will alleviate my suffering in Purgatory and bless those who attend and those who say the Mass.”
The apostle Paul encouraged the Philippians with the nearness of the Lord’s coming. The Lord is at hand – let your gentleness be known to all.
Be anxious (careful) about nothing. English has changed since Tyndale wrote his translation and the KJV edited it for posterity. Careful used to mean full of cares, but no longer. There are very few words that need explanation in the KJV, but this is one of them.
Anxiety comes from lack of faith. Some will say, “No, there are many reasons to be anxious – the world is bankrupt, wars are everywhere, medicine seems to be failing.” All those things are true, and they have been true in the past as well. The Roman Empire became so big that the financial and security problems were almost the same. King Henry VIII spent so much money that the country began debasing its own currency to make up for it. His daughter Elizabeth had the country invaded by a vast Spanish Armada. History then was known for war years, plague years, and the Great Fire.
Still, anxiety comes from lack of faith in God’s power and compassion. In His compassion He solves our problems, often before we think to ask. He has the power to do this in an instant, through the oddest of means.
I was at the faculty meeting when I mentioned I began teaching English because I met someone in the post office in Bella Vista. Someone asked my wife Chris, “Post office. Met someone?” That was how it happened. My boss had a similar experience, finding the campus by chance when he was out driving in the winter.
We all have our knowledge and experience from which we based our opinions and expectations. A lot of anxiety comes from that, as the disciples showed when they were in the storm-tossed boat with Jesus. What they did not include in their thoughts was the presence of Christ.
Faith gives us the peace that exceeds our knowledge, our experience, our understanding. That peace primarily comes from receiving forgiveness in faith, which is the greatest miracle of all, given to the greatest and the least but only understood with a child-like faith.
This peace guards (keeps) our hearts and minds, that is, our emotions and thoughts. Emotions are great. Nothing is more disturbing than someone with no emotions. We worry about that – flat affect. But emotions are real devils at time, too. We can be elated and despondent, worried, fearful, reckless, and bound up.
The peace of salvation in Christ changes how we view everything, from the smallest detail of life to the greatest challenges, because everything is “in Christ” for the believer.