The Twenty-Second Sunday after Trinity, 2022
Pastor Gregory L. Jackson
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The Confession of Sins
The Absolution
The Introit p. 16
The Absolution
The Introit p. 16
Introit
If Thou, Lord, shouldest mark iniquities:
O Lord, who shall stand?
But there is forgiveness with Thee:
that Thou mayest be feared, O God of Israel.
Psalm. Out of the depths have I cried unto Thee,
O Lord: Lord, hear my voice.
The Gloria Patri
The Kyrie p. 17
The Gloria in Excelsis
The Salutation and Collect p. 19
Collect
O God, our Refuge and Strength, who art the Author of all godliness, be ready, we beseech Thee, to hear the devout prayers of Thy Church, and grant that those things which we ask. faithfully we may obtain effectually; through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, who liveth, etc.
Gradual
Lord, Thou hast been our Dwelling Place: in all generations.
V. Before the mountains were brought forth or ever Thou hadst formed the earth and the world: even from everlasting to everlasting, Thou art God. Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
V. They that trust in the Lord shall be as Mount Zion: which cannot be removed, but abideth forever. Hallelujah!
The Gospel
Glory be to Thee, O Lord!
Praise be to Thee, O Christ!
The Nicene Creed p. 22
Praise be to Thee, O Christ!
The Nicene Creed p. 22
Thankful Always
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 #50 Lord Dismiss Us
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 #50 Lord Dismiss Us
In Our Prayers
- Safe travels to those on distant journeys.
- Pastor K and Doc Lito Cruz - dealing with diabetes; Randy Anderson; Callie and her parents; C.
- The flowers on the altar and table are for Anita Engleman, Zach's mother.
KJV Philippians 1:3 I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, 4 Always in every prayer of mine for you all making request with joy, 5 For your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now; 6 Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ: 7 Even as it is meet for me to think this of you all, because I have you in my heart; inasmuch as both in my bonds, and in the defence and confirmation of the gospel, ye all are partakers of my grace. 8 For God is my record, how greatly I long after you all in the bowels of Jesus Christ. 9 And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment; 10 That ye may approve things that are excellent; that ye may be sincere and without offence till the day of Christ; 11 Being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God.
KJV Matthew 18:23 Therefore is the kingdom of heaven likened unto a certain king, which would take account of his servants. 24 And when he had begun to reckon, one was brought unto him, which owed him ten thousand talents. 25 But forasmuch as he had not to pay, his lord commanded him to be sold, and his wife, and children, and all that he had, and payment to be made. 26 The servant therefore fell down, and worshipped him, saying, Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay thee all. 27 Then the lord of that servant was moved with compassion, and loosed him, and forgave him the debt.
28 But the same servant went out, and found one of his fellowservants, which owed him an hundred pence: and he laid hands on him, and took him by the throat, saying, Pay me that thou owest. 29 And his fellowservant fell down at his feet, and besought him, saying, Have patience with me, and I will pay thee all. 30 And he would not: but went and cast him into prison, till he should pay the debt.
31 So when his fellowservants saw what was done, they were very sorry, and came and told unto their lord all that was done. 32 Then his lord, after that he had called him, said unto him, O thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all that debt, because thou desiredst me: 33 Shouldest not thou also have had compassion on thy fellowservant, even as I had pity on thee? 34 And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him.
35 So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses.
Thankful Always,
Even in Prison
Background
Paul's letter is often called The Epistle of Joy because joyful terms are used so often, 17 times by Lenski's count. Philippi was a Roman colony honoring the name of Alexander the Great's father. It was a wealthy city because of gold and silver mines. Paul's first convert there was Lydia, who owned a business in the very expensive dye (made from snails) used only by those who could afford it. She generously supported Paul's ministry, so she was a forerunner of Dow Chemical. (See Acts 16:14)
Paul had been awaiting his appeal to the Emperor, which was his right as a Roman citizen. That was developing and therefore a reason for rejoicing. We know very little about this because the New Testament is about Jesus Christ the Son of God, not the Apostles, except for a little background.
Philippians 1:1-21 Paul and Timotheus, the servants of Jesus Christ, to all the saints in Christ Jesus which are at Philippi, with the bishops and deacons: 2 Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.
KJV Philippians 1:3 I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, 4 Always in every prayer of mine for you all making request with joy,
Some more treasure has been dug up - 5,000 coins made of gold, silver, bronze, and statues, in Sienna, Italy. Ditto in England, once controlled by Rome. Paul did not rejoice over gold and silver, but about the Gospel. My impression is that he did indeed rejoice about taking his case to the Roman court, but he had to know that he was not going to enjoy a long life, considering the opposition to him, offending the pagan gods business and the Jewish leaders.
In the Scriptures, thankfulness and joy are not for material gain. As we get older, we realize that the greatest treasures are everlasting and not something to be locked up in a vault. God turns grief into joy as we realize how much we were blessed - and still are - by believers who have gone before us. That is my promise for mothers - you will be the person most valued by the survivors - and they will wish you could only be with them another hour.
This is poignant rejoicing by Paul, because he knows what lies ahead. As a Roman citizen he had rights in prison, so he had the equivalent of blogging today - a way to reach the tiny community of believers in the Roman Empire, with copies made and preserved.
Note that besides the fraudulent Greek New Testaments - Sinaiticus and Vaticanus - we also have scraps from the heretics of the first two centuries. The Christians were constantly wearing out what they had, copying the Apostolic witness, and burning the worn-out copies to keep them from the false teachers, as much as they could.
Today the fake scholars use the faked Scriptures to suggest they were the real deal when in fact the Traditional or Majority Text continued and overwhelmed the fakes by the copies produced, the translations of those copies, and those lectionaries. I used a CPH lectionary bound in leather, which could last a century with care. In short, the NewTestament we have goes back to the Apostles who died to give us this treasure. The real New Testament has 5,000 witnesses. The fakes - about five in all.
Of all the literature in the world, the Bible has the earliest witnesses, the most witnesses (genuine copies) by far - an overwhelming number. The Bibl is earlier by centuries, more numerous than anyone can imagine, with many buried by time, like the gold and silver coins of Rome.
It is a well-known fact that the congregations closing down have almost no people but thousands upon thousands of dollars in Certificates of Deposit. A 300-year-old church next to a Lutheran seminary could not stay open. The Gospel rain moves on.
So why does Paul pray about the obvious. Prayer requires faith in Jesus Christ, and everything requested is moved by the Holy Spirit in the Word, and heard. We know from Ephesians 3 that prayers are answered even before we ask, and they have the power of the Holy Spirit.
Prayer requires genuine faith (not soap opera prayer) and prayer deepens our faith. When we pray for a certain person, even one we have never met, we know and remember that person more easily.
5 For your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now;
Lydia was the first convert in that province, from the preaching and teaching of Paul. "Faith comes from hearing the Gospel Report." Fellowship in the Gospel does not mean donuts and coffee. Koinonia means communion with God through preaching and teaching.
How many churches have fellowship halls? They are used for secular past-times, whether Halloween parties or Super Bowl gatherings or playing cards. Church Growth experts, who made a ton of money, indebted dozens of churches by telling them they had to have a larger fellowship hall. And nobody laughed!
Fellowship in the New Testament means communing with God. The "fellowship of the Holy Spirit" means through the Word we have a bond with God, a powerful bond.
That fellowship is not through land, property, and money but through God's own will. The fellowship they had from the beginning continues, even with Paul in prison.
6 Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:
They may be dismayed at the founder's predicament, but Paul is confident that the Gospel leaven will continue to grow and spread, a good work to spread the Gospel until the End of Time.
He thanks God that others have come into its fellowship. His confidence is firm regarding certain beginners in the faith, and he is so interested in their salvation he rejoices in it as much as in his own, seeming unable to thank God sufficiently for it. He unceasingly prays that he may live to see many come with him into such fellowship and be preserved therein until the day of the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall perfect and complete all the defects of this earthly life. He prays these beginners may go forth faultlessly in faith and hope until that joyful day.
7 Even as it is meet for me to think this of you all, because I have you in my heart; inasmuch as both in my bonds, and in the defence and confirmation of the gospel, ye all are partakers of my grace. 8 For God is my record, how greatly I long after you all in the bowels of Jesus Christ.
The most prominent loss, but not the only one of the Apostles, revealed this through the Holy Spirit. As much as he wanted to be with them again, they would still carry on the Gospel, no matter what. That became basic to the Apostolic Era.
9 And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment; 10 That ye may approve things that are excellent; that ye may be sincere and without offence till the day of Christ; 11 Being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God.
The fruits of righteousness are the fruits of the Spirit, all the eternal treasures which are abundant with faith in the Savior.
23. Our life has not yet reached the heights it is destined to attain. We know here only its incipient first-fruits. Desire is not satisfied; we have but a foretaste. As yet we only realize by faith what is bestowed upon us; full and tangible occupancy is to come. Therefore, we need to pray because of the limitations that bind our earthly life, until we go yonder where prayer is unnecessary, and all is happiness, purity of life and one eternal song of thanks and praise to God.
But heavenly praise and joy is to have its inception and a measure of growth here on earth through the encouragement of prayer — prayer for ourselves and the Church as a whole; that is, for them who have accepted and believe the Gospel and are thus mutually helpful. For the Gospel will receive greater exaltation and will inspire more joy with the individual because of its acceptance by the many. So Paul says he thanks God for the fellowship of the Philippians in the Gospel, and offers prayer in their behalf.
But heavenly praise and joy is to have its inception and a measure of growth here on earth through the encouragement of prayer — prayer for ourselves and the Church as a whole; that is, for them who have accepted and believe the Gospel and are thus mutually helpful. For the Gospel will receive greater exaltation and will inspire more joy with the individual because of its acceptance by the many. So Paul says he thanks God for the fellowship of the Philippians in the Gospel, and offers prayer in their behalf.
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