Reformation 2023

 

The Festival of Reformation

Bethany Lutheran Church

Springdale, Arkansas

Pastor Gregory L. Jackson

Daylight Savings Ends Next Sunday

Hymn # 262      A Mighty Fortress         

The Confession of Sins
The Absolution
The Introit p. 16
The Gloria Patri
The Kyrie p. 17
The Gloria in Excelsis
The Salutation and Collect p. 19
The Epistle and Gradual       

The Gospel              

Glory be to Thee, O Lord!
Praise be to Thee, O Christ!
The Nicene Creed             p. 22

The Hymn #387     Dear Christians One and All            

Jesus Is the Great "I AM"

The Communion Hymn #267   If God Had Not Been on Our Side                    

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 #259  Flung to the Heedless Winds 

Prayers and Announcements

• Sarah Buck, Dr. Kermit Way, Lori Howell, Randy Anderson, Doc Lito Cruz - dealing with diabetes, Pastor Jim Shrader; Callie and her parents, Aaron home from the hospital.
• Daylight Savings is November 5th.

Ministries of Bethany Lutheran Church 

1. The Christian Art of Norma Boeckler and Norma's print books.
2.  Martin Chemnitz Press - Kindle and print books, and free pdfs.
3.  Lutheran Library Publishing Ministry and Lutheran Librarian - low-cost print books - Alec Satin.

           

KJV Revelation 14:6 And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, 7 Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.

KJV Matthew 11:12 And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force. 13 For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John. 14 And if ye will receive it, this is Elias, which was for to come. 15 He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.

Romans 5 Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: 2 By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. 3 And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; 4 And patience, experience; and experience, hope: 5 And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.

Collect

O almighty, eternal God: We confess that we are poor sinners and cannot answer one of a thousand, when Thou contendest with us; but with all our hearts we thank Thee, that Thou hast taken all our guilt from us and laid it upon Thy dear Son Jesus Christ, and made Him to atone for it: We pray Thee graciously to sustain us in faith, and so to govern us by Thy Holy Spirit, that we may live according to Thy will, in neighborly love, service, and helpfulness, and not give way to wrath or revenge, that we may not incur Thy wrath, but always find in Thee a gracious Father, through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, one true God, world without end. Amen.

Jesus Is the Great "I AM"

The Reformation is a great way to discuss the theology of the Middle Ages, from Augustine to Luther. Or, Islam to today. Or, the influence of Thomas Aquinas. However, the real meaning of the Reformation, apart from all the subcategories of the Bible, church history, dogmatics, and personalities - one point is central.

The meaning, purpose, and glory of all this - and more - comes from Jesus, the "I AM" of Exodus 3 and John 8 - "Before Abraham was, I AM." Any one or any entity that tries to set aside the work, ministry, and power of Jesus Christ is bound to fail, as we see so clearly in these days.

Jesus is central to the entire Bible, which is the only revelation of God Himself. He is central because God the Father chose to give Him to be our Good Shepherd, and our sacrificed Lamb, and our King of Kings, and Lord of Lords. The Holy Spirit's work is to teach us this truth through the Scriptures, through teaching, preaching, and memory - the truth coming from God the Father and God the Son - in harmony with each other.

This only comes to us through faith in Jesus Christ, faith stirred up and supported by the Holy Spirit teaching us about our Savior Jesus, the Son of God. Thousands of books have been published to lean this way or that about many topics. However, what teaches us faith in Jesus Christ is ultimately the Bible, the true Bible. That is the anchor when we are storm-tossed, depressed, anxious, fearful, and lost. 

Every Word of the Bible is divine, aiming at lifting us up, opening our hearts, teaching us the enormous grace of God revealed through faith in Him. The Bible is all-Jesus, not partly Jesus. People like some parts? How kind to treat the unique Word of God so seriously. 

The Son of God is eternal, and speaks from Genesis 1 and John 1. "In the beginning [God created the heavens and the earth] was the Word..." both books, unique in starting the same. Do people stop to think that the Creation came from Jesus Himself, the Son of God? 

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 The same was in the beginning with God. [GJ - "The same" is pointing to one Person alone.] 3 All things were made by Him; and without Him was not any thing made that was made.

How can anyone scoff at what God can do, when the Son is the Creator of what the Father has commanded, and the Holy Spirit has executed?  

How can we say to ourselves or others, "God cannot do this for me or my loved ones, because He does not know or care or see or feel compassion." Yes, everyone feels discouraged and beaten up at one time or another, 

How many dozens of examples do we need to recite to see how much God has done with so little within ourselves? When the disciples wanted to keep the children away (sticky, odorous, and clamoring), Jesus welcomed them and excoriated the disciples. I brought back a lost little white dog last night and all the children beamed "Thank you!" at me with their voices, smiles, and eyes. The little white dog was really half brown from the mud, but the children only saw their tiny friend. So the children around Jesus only saw the Good Shepherd, as we should see Jesus today.

What harm does Jesus do to make us so discouraged, fearful, and angry? The Good Shepherd tends the flocks, calls each individual by name, and leads them to food and clear water. Not only that, He chases the wolves away, the wolves who want to scatter the Flock.

We are far past the time when most denominations will teach any of this. The vast amount of noise is about comparing one religious corporation to another, adoring and honoring it.  People should wear corporate symbols around their necks so we can sort them all out.

But Jesus works in another way. The most oppressed people were burdened by their sins. They could not pay enough to absolve them. Jesus said, "Your works are nothing. I AM your righteousness. Believe in Me, not the demands of the lawgivers."

To this day, many turn Jesus into the Lawgiver and Moses into the Savior.

But He brought joy to the hearts of those who heard and believed He was the one predicted all those centuries. When we consider all the things that led to His torture, crucifixion, death, and resurrection, we realize that those thousands of incidental Promises were and are the unified truth of the Scriptures. That was not just for the past, but for our present and future.