The First Sunday in Advent 2022

  

Bethany Lutheran Church, 

10 AM Central Time

The First Sunday in Advent, 2022

Pastor Gregory L. Jackson

The Hymn #  4  God Himself Is Present
The Confession of Sins
The Absolution
The Introit p. 16

Introit

Unto Thee, O Lord, do I lift up my soul: 

O my God, I trust in Thee.

Let me not be ashamed: 

let not mine enemies triumph over me.

Yea, let none that wait on Thee: be ashamed.

Psalm. Show me Thy ways, O Lord: 

teach me Thy paths.

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

Collect

Stir up, we beseech Thee, Thy power, O Lord, and come, 

that by Thy protection we may be rescued from the threatening perils of our sins and saved by Thy mighty deliverance; who livest and reignest with the Father and the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end.

The Epistle and Gradual 

Gradual

All they that wait on Thee shall not be ashamed, O Lord.

V. Show me Thy ways, O Lord: 

teach me Thy paths. Hallelujah! Hallelujah!

V. Show us Thy mercy, O Lord: 

and grant us Thy salvation. Hallelujah!

The Gospel 
Glory be to Thee, O Lord!
Praise be to Thee, O Christ!
The Nicene Creed p. 22
The Sermon Hymn # 290      We Have A Sure Prophetic  

The Awakening

The Hymn #306:1-6              Lord Jesus Christ
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 #68            The Advent of Our King 

Prayers and Announcements

• Randy Anderson's treatment and scan, Pastor and Mrs. Jim Shrader, Pastor K and Doc Lito Cruz - dealing with diabetes. 
• Our media ministries - Alec Satin, Norma Boeckler.
• Midweek Advent Service, 7 PM Wednesday.

KJV Romans 13:11 And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. 12 The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light. 13 Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying. 14 But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.

KJV Matthew 21:1 And when they drew nigh unto Jerusalem, and were come to Bethphage, unto the mount of Olives, then sent Jesus two disciples, 2 Saying unto them, Go into the village over against you, and straightway ye shall find an ass tied, and a colt with her: loose them, and bring them unto me. 3 And if any man say ought unto you, ye shall say, The Lord hath need of them; and straightway he will send them. 4 All this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, 5 Tell ye the daughter of Sion, Behold, thy King cometh unto thee, meek, and sitting upon an ass, and a colt the foal of an ass. 6 And the disciples went, and did as Jesus commanded them, 7 And brought the ass, and the colt, and put on them their clothes, and they set him thereon. 8 And a very great multitude spread their garments in the way; others cut down branches from the trees, and strawed them in the way. 9 And the multitudes that went before, and that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna to the Son of David: Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest.

 Norma A. Boeckler

First Sunday in Advent - Viet Dietrich

Lord God, heavenly Father, we thank Thee, we bless and praise Thee forever, that Thou didst send Thy Son to rule over us poor sinners, who for our transgressions did justly deserve to remain in the bondage of sin and Satan, and didst give us in Him a meek and righteous King, who by His death became our Savior from sin and eternal death: We beseech Thee so to enlighten, govern and direct us by Thy Holy Spirit, that we may ever remain faithful to this righteous King and Savior, and not, after the manner of the world, be offended with His humble form and despised word, but, firmly believing in Him, 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.

The Awakening

Introduction - The Son of God and Time

Luther on the Old Testament -

8. This promise to the patriarch was later more minutely set forth and more widely circulated by the prophets. All of them wrote of the advent of Christ, and his grace and Gospel, as Peter in Acts 3:18-24 says: The divine promise was believed by the saints prior to the birth of Christ; thus, through the coming Messiah they were preserved and saved by faith. Christ himself (Luke 16:22) pictures the promise under the figure of Abraham’s bosom, into which all saints from the time of Abraham to Christ’s time, were gathered. Thus is explained Paul’s declaration, “Now is salvation nearer to us than when we first believed.” He means practically: “The promise of God to Abraham is not a thing for future fulfillment; it is already fulfilled. Christ is come. The Gospel has been revealed and the blessing distributed throughout the world. All that we waited for in the promise, believing, is here.” The sentence has reference to the spiritual day Paul later speaks of ¾ the rising light of the Gospel; as we shall hear.

We tend to neglect the concept of the Son of God existing and being the same from the beginning of time. Thus, He is the same yesterday, today, and forever - Hebrews 13:8.

That was fully revealed in John 8, for Jesus speaks of Father Abraham, the father of faith in the Savior, seeing Jesus in the future and being glad. This outraged the opponents, because they knew exactly what He meant - He was God then and is God now.

"Before Abraham was, I AM." If we want to know where the apostasy is, simply note the outrage when the basics of salvation are taught. The Lutheran sects of today remain outraged by Justification by Faith, and always hide behind the skirts of Holy Mother Church, the institution or corporation, rather than the Good Shepherd, the costumes, titles, and pageantry rather than the Gospel conveyed by the Spirit. 

Because of the Spirit always at work in the Word, we can read the plain words of the Apostolic Text (KJV), know, and experience what is taught. The factory worker, the engineer, the shopkeeper, the mother, sometimes even the pastor can comprehend Jesus the same, yesterday, today, and forever.

KJV Romans 13:11 And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed.

The Old and New Testaments are welded together, our distinctions coming from our notion of time. The rationalists jump up and down and say, "Paul was mistaken! He imagined that the End was coming immediately. How can we believe anything else from Paul?" They teach their falsehoods and smirk about what they have laid out as the truth. The conclusion is - if they are not outright atheists - everyone is forgiven and saved, no matter what - except for those who "cling to their Bibles."

Nothing is funnier than people who lose their child-like faith in order to settle into a lifetime of teaching falsehood. The Jesuit in the Vatican (Francis, SJ) is as bad as the Lutheran Jesuits, so clever they can teach left, right, and in the middle when it suits them. That might be the origin of their names. They pretend to be Jesus-like, and wear the suit - Je-Suits. But it is a costume and not reality.

Romans is the doctrinal letter, written for all the congregations, so they can teach the Gospel and its application. "The glory that was Rome is of another day."  Salvation is not peace on earth but forgiveness of sin and eternal life, because of faith in Jesus, the Son of God. Civilizations crumble but the Gospel remains forever.

12 The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light.

The sleep analogy is perfect for Paul's warnings. Then, as now, night was avoided - only used by thieves and pagans in their demonic rituals. As one officer said, "Only cops and robbers are out at 4 AM." 

Whatever is done from faith is light, and whatever is done in the spirit of this age is darkness. That seems exciting for many, until the emptiness overwhelms them and their fun becomes an addiction, their addiction a heavy chain dragging down life.

13 Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying.

This should tell us a lot - that people revel in being dishonest, in suiting themselves while harming others, bragging about the strife they cause. We all thought things were bad 10 years ago, but that was nothing compared to now. No one expected Satan Clubs in our public schools, even though Christianity was treated as a disease. Several members were shocked that it happened in my home town - Satan Club or Clubs as an after-school activity. 

No one can imagine mutilating young children (or anyone) in the quest for another gender. But that is widespread and growing worse, after starting with children of Hollywood celebrities.

Natural law is simple to understand - God commands what is good for us. The Second Table - about our relationships to others - tells us how to have a peaceful and respectful life - because God says it is good for us and all others as well. 

Sound doctrine (literally healthy doctrine) weighs on some. They pursue what their "itching ears want to hear" 2 Timothy 4.

It is all one loaf of bread, however it is sliced. Sound doctrine leads to caring for others. Self-centeredness leads to hurting and alienating others. Challenging false doctrine and evil is now considered disturbing the peace, rocking the boat, and upsetting everyone, but we got to after-school Satan clubs by saying nothing, doing nothing, insisting on staying asleep. Vast penalties are paid for this.

14 But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.

Luther:

33. Now, in Christ we behold only the true armor of light. No gormandizing or drunkenness is here; nothing but fasting, moderation, and restraint of the flesh, incident to labor, exertion, preaching, praying and doing good to mankind. No indolence, apathy or unchastity exists, but true discipline, purity, vigilance, early rising. The fields are couch for him who has neither house, chamber nor bed. With him is no wrath, strife or envying; rather utter goodness, love, mercy, patience. Paul presents Christ the example in a few words where he says ( Colossians 3:12-15): “Put on therefore, as God’s elect, holy and beloved, a heart of compassion, kindness, lowliness, meekness, longsuffering; forbearing one another, and forgiving each other, if any man have a complaint against any, even as the Lord forgave you, so also do ye: and above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfectness, and let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to the which also ye were called in one body; and be ye thankful.”

There is only one Truth, and that Truth emanates from the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Jesus Christ is the God-Man who shows us and teaches us what the Truth is, because He is the Light, and He is the Way, the Truth, and the Light. No one comes to the Father except through Him. 

That means, when we consider what God is and teaches, and what He has done for us through the Savior, all our challenges, difficulties, and troubles are consigned to Him and shaped by Him for His glory and our greater faith in Him. 

Nothing is so small and insignificant that God overlooks it, and nothing is so daunting and fearsome that God cannot deal with it according to His wisdom. No miracles today? Miracles are all around us, starting with Jesus rising from death and ascending to Heaven. If He can die as a criminal and rise from death, what is left that is greater than that?