Mid-Week Advent Service,
December 6, 2023, 7 PM Central
Pastor Gregory L. Jackson
The Psalmody Psalm 14 p. 124
The Lection
Sermon Hymn # 410 Jesus Lead Thou On
The Lection
Sermon Hymn # 410 Jesus Lead Thou On
The Prayers and Lord’s Prayer p. 44
The Collect for Peace p. 45
The Benediction p. 45
- Reformation Seminary, as a name, can be included in the Bethany Lutheran Church bank account. Tomorrow - Zoom and cell phone.
- In treatment - Kermit Way; Randy Anderson; ; Pastor Jim Shrader (surgery) and Chris; Sarah Buck; Lori Howell; Dr. Lito Cruz and his father.
- Callie and her parents; little Aaron with the heart problem;
- Those suffering from emotional and metabolic stress.
Isaiah 7:10 Moreover the Lord spake again unto Ahaz, saying, 11 Ask thee a sign of the Lord thy God; ask it either in the depth, or in the height above. 12 But Ahaz said, I will not ask, neither will I tempt the Lord. 13 And he said, Hear ye now, O house of David; Is it a small thing for you to weary men, but will ye weary my God also? 14 Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.
Isaiah 9:6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. 7 Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.
Announcements and Prayers
- Reformation Seminary can be named in the Bethany Lutheran Church bank account. Tomorrow - Zoom and new cell phone plus Magic Jack.
- In treatment - Kermit Way; Randy Anderson; ; Pastor Jim Shrader (surgery) and Chris; Sarah Buck; Lori Howell; Dr. Lito Cruz and his father.
- Callie and her parents; little Aaron with the heart problem;
- Those suffering from emotional and metabolic stress.
Gospel Preaching - Old Testament
I always gain startling new insights from going over Luther's Sermons (Lenker edition). I have a new focus now, bolding the statements that people might want to quote or memorize. In looking for statements for laity and pastors, I find myself struck by their harmony with the entire Bible (unknown among most clergy and laity today).
My latest shocking and pleasant surprise was Luther's statement about the Old Testament being the real Scriptures and the New Testament serving as sermons about the Old Testament. Nothing builds wonder and awe more than reflecting on those key passages and phrases. Some thoughts -
- Adam and Eve receiving the Gospel when being kicked out of Paradise.
- The difference between Abel and Cain - faith and works.
- The Son of God (The Word of the Lord) speaking to Abraham about faith (Genesis 15) and in John 8 saying, "Abraham saw Me and he was glad." and "Before Abraham was, I AM."'
- The many appearances of the Son in Exodus, especially during the Exodus.
We should spend time in wonder and awe, considering just these four examples, but there are many more. If people can say, "How did that civilization construct such enormous pyramids, mines, temples, and waterworks?" and omit what happened in the ancient days of the Bible.
When people look at Isaiah to find fault, they carry their wounded feelings around. Things do not look smooth and consistent like a dime novel. They object. They go around telling people what is wrong with Isaiah. They get so upset that they invent two Isaiahs, first Isaiah 1-39, 2 Isaiah 40-66. Is the ironic lost on them? That is the same number of books in the Bible, 39 and 27, for 66 books. Isaiah 40-66 is one long Halleluiah chorus, also offensive, too joyful in contrast to the early chapters.
They invent what was never there - two Isaiahs - but miss the two great predictions of the Virgin Birth of Jesus in Isaiah 7 and His divinity in 9. They are so dense about Isaiah 7 that they leave "virgin" alone in 7 and footnote it as "or a young woman." The RSV has gone back and forth on that wording alone, several times. A young woman having a baby - that is not a miracle. Needless to say, the RSV was the new Bible that got this going, unveiling their actual faith - Unitarianism or worse. Now they have "worse" too.
The density comes out for them in John 1, because they criticize John for "omitting" the Virgin Birth when he is revealing in detail Jesus as the Creating Word. The Four Gospels have the Virgin Birth twice, which should be enough, and greater glory in John 1. "But John was written 300 years later!" That is false and a foolish attack against the Bible itself.
That is the ultimate pratfall of the clever ones who teach the Bible and Church Growth. They leach away their own faith by clinging to false teachers of various styles. Once they begin mouthing like braying jackasses, they are stuck in enforcing their own greatness. I ran into one Harvard PhD who was startled by what he did not know. He lost his professor job (LCA) and became a parish pastor.
The most famous Harvard guy came to Yale to say "Paul did not teach the Gospel to the Jews." The great Malherbe told his classes that this was absolutely phony. Can a highly polished Harvard Dean be wrong? Definitely. He went back to Sweden as a bishop and was fired! That took some doing!
We are not lacking Biblical wisdom in America. The books are out there, and no one can absorb the depth of the King James Version.
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