The Hymn #613 Jerusalem the Golden
The Confession of Sins
The Absolution
The Introit p. 16
The Introit
Hear, O Lord, when I cry with my voice:
Thou hast been my Help.
Leave me not, neither forsake me:
O God of my salvation.
Psalm. The Lord is my Light and my Salvation: whom shall I fear?
The Gloria Patri
The Kyrie p. 17
The Gloria in Excelsis
The Salutation and Collect p. 19
Collect
O God, who hast prepared for them that love Thee such good things as pass man’s understanding, pour into our hearts such love toward Thee that we, loving Thee above all things, may obtain Thy promises, which exceed all that we can desire; through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, Who liveth, etc.
The Epistle and Gradual
Gradual
Behold, O God, our Shield: and look upon Thy servants.
V. O Lord God of hosts: hear our prayer. Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
V. The king shall joy in Thy strength: and in Thy salvation, how greatly shall he rejoice! Hallelujah!
The Gospel
Glory be to Thee, O Lord!
Praise be to Thee, O Christ!
The Nicene Creed p. 22
The Sermon Hymn # 649 Jesus Savior Pilot Me
The Communion Hymn #307 Draw Now and Take
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 #577 God Bless Our Native Land
- In our prayers - Sarah Buck, Kermit Way, Pastor Jim Shrader and his wife Chris. Sarah Buck, Lorie Howell. Norma Boeckler is being treated.
- The four Veterans Honor roses have leafed out, and one is budding already.
- Our country, Our Constitution, Our Bill of Rights.
KJV 1 Peter 3:8 Finally, be ye all of one mind, having compassion one of another, love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous: 9 Not rendering evil for evil, or railing for railing: but contrariwise blessing; knowing that ye are thereunto called, that ye should inherit a blessing. 10 For he that will love life, and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips that they speak no guile: 11 Let him eschew evil, and do good; let him seek peace, and ensue it. 12 For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers: but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil. 13 And who is he that will harm you, if ye be followers of that which is good? 14 But and if ye suffer for righteousness' sake, happy are ye: and be not afraid of their terror, neither be troubled; 15 But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:
KJV Luke 5:1 And it came to pass, that, as the people pressed upon him to hear the word of God, he stood by the lake of Gennesaret, 2 And saw two ships standing by the lake: but the fishermen were gone out of them, and were washing their nets. 3 And he entered into one of the ships, which was Simon's, and prayed him that he would thrust out a little from the land. And he sat down, and taught the people out of the ship. 4 Now when he had left speaking, he said unto Simon, Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught. 5 And Simon answering said unto him, Master, we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing: nevertheless at thy word I will let down the net. 6 And when they had this done, they inclosed a great multitude of fishes: and their net brake. 7 And they beckoned unto their partners, which were in the other ship, that they should come and help them. And they came, and filled both the ships, so that they began to sink. 8 When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord. 9 For he was astonished, and all that were with him, at the draught of the fishes which they had taken: 10 And so was also James, and John, the sons of Zebedee, which were partners with Simon. And Jesus said unto Simon, Fear not; from henceforth thou shalt catch men. 11 And when they had brought their ships to land, they forsook all, and followed him.
O Jesus Christ, Thou Son of the living God, who hast given us Thy holy word, and hast bountifully provided for all our temporal wants, we confess that we are unworthy of all these mercies, and that we have rather deserved punishment: But we beseech Thee, forgive us our sins, and prosper and bless us in our several callings, that by Thy strength we may be sustained and defended, now and forever, and so praise and glorify Thee eternally, Thou who livest and reignest with the Father and the Holy Ghost, one true God, world without end. Amen.
Let Down Your Nets
KJV Luke 5:1 And it came to pass, that, as the people pressed upon him to hear the word of God, he stood by the lake of Gennesaret, 2 And saw two ships standing by the lake: but the fishermen were gone out of them, and were washing their nets.
This is definitely one of the great miracles of the Gospels, and it is well known. However, there is a cloud of confusion about its meaning. The basic outcome is clear, but what does it mean?
The best way to describe it is - compare our modern statistics. We are numbers obsessed. Many of the great minds of this age are saying, "It is all about the numbers." They can tell us about the future, because they know from the past what the future will be.
This miracle is aimed at the disciples, the crowd, us, and the pastors, missionaries, and teachers. The Big Five - ELCA-LCMS-WELS-ELS-CLC (sic) synods are completely wrong. They would be better off to retire their staffs and start over again - but that is not likely to happen.
The people were eager to hear the Word of God from Jesus. They traveled a long way to hear Him and bunched up at the edge of the lake, where the land rises, giving them a good place hear Him. Two ships were there, which meant Jesus could use one as a pulpit. The ships were empty and the men were washing their nets.
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| Bronze Cathedral (chair) of St. Peter in the Vatican. "We are going to need a bigger boat." |
From #25 - Trinity 5 - Second Sermon
These are obliged to learn, after a long period of governing, that thereby they have not accomplished anything. How often it happens, indeed, that the best plans, the wisest counsels, and the brightest ideas prove to be the very worst, and result in nothing but harm and ruin.
#27
As Paul also says in 1 Corinthians 3:6-7: “I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase. So then neither is he that planteth anything, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase,” etc.
The work is ours, but the results are from God alone. We can worry ourselves to death, as all of us have done, but the results and the timing belong only to God. Jesus has taught us - by prayer - to take all away our troubles, worries, disasters, mistakes. errors, sins, and weaknesses. Doubt? That means the Savior has no power. Not according to our timing and wishes? Ditto. That means the Savior has no power.
As Paul writes, inspired by the Holy Spirit - God gives the increase.
I decided to blog in 2007, 17 years ago, expecting only 100 regular readers. In fact, I was elated to reach that number. The 500th anniversary of the Reformation, 2017, proved that Lutheran synods - the Faithless Five - hate Luther. We are now only a few years from the 500th anniversary of the Augsburg Confession 2030, and we should expect even less support from the "confessional Lutherans" who do not confess Justification by Faith. The confession of sin among the Faithless Five should be their goal. To teach against the Word of God is a terrible sin, and for those clergy managers and teachers - who were baptized and trained in the Christian Faith, Universalism is a horrible and disgusting sin.
The Kingdom of God belongs to those with a child-like faith, but no to those who have hardened their hearts against the Good Shepherd and mocked His teaching, atoning death, resurrection and ascension.
6 And when they had this done, they inclosed a great multitude of fishes: and their net brake. 7 And they beckoned unto their partners, which were in the other ship, that they should come and help them. And they came, and filled both the ships, so that they began to sink.
The empty nets of the previous night gathered an enormous catch of fish. I am thinking of one member who knows all about fishing - and loves it - pointing out that the weather was too warm up north to have the usual results, and disappointing.
We can see how turned upside-down are the clergy managers (they are not leaders or teachers) who demand results or declare they will have the most fantastic results ever, just wait and see. One synod has (or had) a "planning hymn" invented for their hymnal. They might as well sing the original Catholic hymn - "Faith of our Fathers (priests) Mary's prayers shall bring our country back to Thee." (English Roman Catholics). That hymn was so honest that the Protestants had to fix it to use in their services.
8 When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord. 9 For he was astonished, and all that were with him, at the draught of the fishes which they had taken: 10 And so was also James, and John, the sons of Zebedee, which were partners with Simon. And Jesus said unto Simon, Fear not; from henceforth thou shalt catch men.
Simply by revealing His divine power, Jesus opened their eyes to the overwhelming divinity of Jesus, a teacher but far more than a teacher. They were suddenly all in the presence of God. They felt the x-ray, the cat-scan, and pet-scan of their lives. Who were they to witness God knowing every nook and cranny of their lives!?
I have to repeat the story I participated in, around 1987, when the WELS Church Growth advocate Paul Kelm ended the "evangelism conference" claiming, "Can you think of anyone, after knowing about us, who would not want to join the Wisconsin Synod?" He paused for the pastors and laity to consider how true and motivating that was. It was dead silent, so I said, "Herb Chilstrom," (the new presiding bishop of ELCA). The audience roared with laughter, and Kelm had to laugh. And the waves of laughter kept going through the audience, perhaps catching up on radical, apostate character of Chilstrom. The laughter was so infectious that it kept starting over.
All the synods fell for those Satanic plans, to emphasize the results, not the Word of God. The results would prove they were right, and Fuller Seminary and Willow Creek and Trinity Divinity taught the same ridiculous dogma - that the results would come from sterile business concepts (promoted by Peter Drucker). That became a disaster.
How does that affect our individual lives? Being dis-couraged is a lack of trust, because discouraged means we are emphasizing results and not trusting in our Good Shepherd. He leads us beside the still waters, He feeds us. He opens the gate to eternal life which is already at work in our lives, thanks to the Gospel. God gives us miracles, many of them passing by - only to be understood much later. One of my students said recently, "My worst experiences have become great blessings, but it took me a long time to understand that."
#51
For Christ has not come to make you afraid, but to remove from you your sins and distress. Nor does he draw nigh and follow after you in order to drive you away, but that he may kindly allure you to himself.
We now live in an age that does not require us to have church mimeographs and then - wow - Xerox copy machines. We do not need to pay for radio or TV broadcasts. We are not limited by more than a pittance for a computer, the Internet, and a free blog. The Word goes all over the world in many different ways - and - the congregation even comes to our little cathedral - the spare room in a rented house. And I can travel to see members without great expense.
Doubtless our country will be in great struggles between observing our Constitutional Republic and making things even worse. We have moved into the Satanic phase of America, where presidents and governors brag about ending a baby's life, yet protecting dangerous drug dealers. I remember one drug for horses used in a detective show. Next I heard it was being used by foolish people, with its own nickname. And after that, this horse medicine would be good for people.
We should pray for our country and the Gospels every day. Satan will rage but be defeated. The Savior is the Creating Word and executes the commands of God the Father. The Spirit is at work in the Word to show us the Gospel and enlarge our grasp of God's Promises.
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