New Year's Eve 2022

 

Bethany Lutheran Church, 7PM

The Hymn # 110     Across the Sky the Shades of Night
The Confession of Sins
The Absolution
The Introit p. 16

Introit

O Lord, our Lord, how excellent is Thy name in all the earth: who hast set Thy glory above the heavens. What is man that Thou art mindful of him: and the Son of Man that Thou visitest Him? Psalm. Thou, O Lord, art our Father and our Redeemer: Thy name is from everlasting.

The Gloria Patri
The Kyrie p. 17
The Gloria in Excelsis
The Salutation and Collect p. 19

Collect

Almighty and everlasting God, from whom cometh down every good and perfect gift, we give Thee thanks for all Thy benefits, temporal and spiritual, bestowed upon us in the year past, and we beseech Thee of Thy goodness, grant us a favorable and joyful year, defend us from all dangers and adversities, and send upon us the fullness of Thy blessing; through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, who liveth, etc.

The Epistle and Gradual 

Gradual

All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God: make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all the earth.

V. The Lord hath made known His salvation: His righteousness hath He openly showed in the sight of the heathen. Hallelujah! Hallelujah!

V. God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in times past unto the fathers by the prophets: hath in these last days spoken unto us by His Son. Hallelujah!

The Gospel 
Glory be to Thee, O Lord!
Praise be to Thee, O Christ!
The Nicene Creed p. 22
The Sermon Hymn # 123    Our God, Our Help



The Hymn # 126     Arise and Shine in Splendor
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 #  552   Abide with Me

Announcements and Prayers

• Randy Anderson's operation was very successful; he is home.
• Medical care - Callie, Kermit Way, Pastor Jim Shrader and Chris, diabetics - Pastor K, Doc Lito.

The Epistle

KJV Galatians 3:23 But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed.

24 Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.

25 But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster.

26 For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.

27 For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.

28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.

29 And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.

The Gospel

KJV Luke 2:21 And when eight days were accomplished for the circumcising of the child, his name was called Jesus, which was so named of the angel before he was conceived in the womb.

St. Stephen's Day, December 26th

KJV TEXT: ACTS 6:8-14, AND ACTS 7:54-60. 

8 And Stephen, full of grace and power, wrought great wonders and signs among the people. 9 But there arose certain of them that were of the synagogue called the synagogue of the Libertines, and of the Cyrenians, and of the Alexandrians, and of them of Cilicia and Asia, disputing with Stephen. 10 And they were not able to withstand the wisdom and the Spirit by which he spoke. 11 Then they suborned men, who said, We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses, and against God. 12 And they stirred up the people, and the elders, and the scribes, and came upon him, and seized him, and brought him into the council,13 and set up false witnesses, who said, This man ceaseth not to speak words against this holy place, and the law: 14 for we have heard him say, that this Jesus of Nazareth shall destroy this place, and shall change the customs which Moses delivered unto us. 54 Now when they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed on him with their teeth. 55 But he, being full of the Holy Spirit, looked up steadfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God,56 and said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God. 57 But they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and rushed upon him with one accord; 58 and they cast him out of the city, and stoned him: and the witnesses laid down their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul. 59 And they stoned Stephen, calling upon the Lord, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. 60 And he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep.

 Luther - ST. STEPHEN’S DAY.

TEXT:

Matthew 23:34-39. Therefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: some of them shall ye kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute from city to city: that upon you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of Abel the righteous unto the blood of Zachariah son of Barachiah, whom ye slew between the sanctuary and the altar. Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation.

O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, that killeth the prophets, and stoneth them that are sent unto her! how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! Behold, your house is left unto you desolate. For I say unto you, ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.

This sermon and the parallel one - for St. Stephen's, using Acts - struck me as especially powerful, focusing on the theme of faith - how we read and use the Scriptures.

I always get suspicious when people start extolling someone with "new ideas" because he is such a great scholar that he alone knows this. Decades ago, it was Christianity as a mushroom cult - best seller, all nonsense. 

Luther says it plainly - Most of the leaders in the Scriptures were not "scholars" but ordinary men sent by God to teach. Moreover, as Luther also says - no one should teach anything except from the Scriptures. That used to be said often in the Church and with great force. However, now people are urged by clergy to tickle their ears with new magic that is no different than the old nonsense. Being deliberately outside the Word, they glory in the improvements. Consider - Unstuck. And also the idea that being extra welcoming will increase the size of a church.

This is also the ultimate battle between faith and human reason - often called Dame Reason by Luther. When I speak to people about gardening, I always discuss Creation because man cannot handle and organize thousands of living items that keep gardens alive and thriving. Who invites the beneficial insects (like ladybugs) to drop in and devour the destructive bugs? Who tells them to insert eggs into predatory insects so the babies grow up to be like mom and dad by having the predator for breakfast?

If Creation is true, we should be all the more eager to take every Word of Jesus seriously, because His lessons are life and death for us, not just a matter of agriculture. One beautiful metaphor is Jesus saying, before His crucifixion - 

KJV Matthew 23:37 O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!

38 Behold, your house is left unto you desolate.

39 For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.

When the hen sees the shadow of a hawk, she stretches out her wings to protect the chicks. Her noise makes them take cover. She risks her own life for her little ones. Jesus does the same for believers. There are threats, dangers, suffering, loss of food and income, plus rare medical disorders. These things happen to all believers in Christ but they still have protection and care until they reach eternal life.

Persecution of the Faith grows with the seduction of false gods and Satanic influence. Those who are anti-Christian are quick to sift the people they know or meet and identify those who are a danger. Many times their hatred is intense and deliberately destructive. I got all my promotions toward independent preaching and writing by the Heroes of Church Growth and Gender Confusion. They made sure a tiny living would be shut down, regardless of a child's and a wife's medical needs. Those fears were resolved as they developed. Step by step, they pushed me to a place they could not reach or touch. 

Things just happen, thanks to God. Big John came asking for more KJV Bibles yesterday. I had 10 in all, various surplus KJVs. He said, "You and I agree that the Super Giants are the best." I said, "Yes, John I am ordering 10 tonight." About 60 - 70 KJVs have been distributed free.

No matter what John gives away, more requests come in. There is always enough to buy more.

Faith

Luther:

Now it was said before in an Epistle how it is not sufficient that we are pious, do good works, and live in grace. For our righteousness cannot stand before God’s eyes and judgment, much less our unrighteousness. Therefore I have said: Faith, if it is true faith, is of such a nature that it does not rely upon itself nor upon the faith; but holds to Christ, and takes refuge under his righteousness; and he lets this righteousness be its shield and protection just like the little chicken never trusts in its own life and efforts, but takes refuge under the body and wings of the hen.

The truth is that God lets us have trials to build trust in Him. Our faith - literally the faith belonging to Jesus (excluded from the new Bibles) - shows us how we grow through turmoil, rejection, and loss. Like Paul we are shocked away from apostasy to learn that we would not trade the treasures of Christ for anything in the world.

Luther on Faith versus the False Pro