A CLOSER WALK

            Genesis 5:22-24 ²² Enoch walked with God after he fathered Methuselah 300 years and had other sons and daughters. ²³ Thus all the days of Enoch were 365 years. ²⁴ Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him.

            If we continue to walk in a half circle only, we must turn back and continually walk and retrace our steps and we never get to see the whole circle.  If we stay in the half circle we do not grow and we are subject to live over and over the same mistakes until the path we walk becomes a rut that swallows us up to an extinction.

            Now if we complete the circle we might find that it is not a circle that we walk but actually a spiral that continues on forever.  Rather than say we walk in a circle of life, we can say we walk in a spiral of eternal life unfolded for us by God.  This happens when we walk with the word of God which gives us strength, for it is a part of the bread of life as Christ is the word and the bread from heaven.

            Pauline Bitonti did not consider her age a limitation but rather an opportunity to help in other ways; she walked with God and kept His word close to her always.  And now Pauline lives entirely on the bread from heaven waiting to see us there too.

AMAZING GRACE

            John 1:16-17 ¹⁶ And from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. ¹⁷ For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

            God saves a wretch like me?  1 John 1:8 says we should have the truth in us and admit that we are sinners.  As painful as it is to look back and surely as we do look back on our lives we can see that this is true; we are sinners.  But God calls us to be His through grace and mercy knowing of our captivity that we suffer as we are still shackled by our sin.  God holds the key to set us free.

            This is amazing grace as we kneel at the base of the cross that painfully took away our savior as He died for our sin.  Jesus cries out "Forgive them, for they know not what they do" and His Father listens and through amazing grace adopts each of us to be His children. God turns the key and the Son says we are free indeed.

CHILDRENS MESSAGE

            And now I introduce to you the Giant of the Philistines.  "Fee-Fry-Foe-uh-Big Shoe, I smell the coffee of a He-Brew," the words bellow out as the Giant from the Philistines comes closer to the crowd.  There stands a little giant who re-introduces himself to the crowd.  "Hello, I am Goliath the giant of the Philistines,” He continues to say there is no need to be afraid I came not for you but for the puny little Hebrew called David.  For those of you who claim to have faith I am a giant because I am bigger than this whale you see before you.

            Those Hebrews talk about faith in their God and how even a little faith can move mountains.  That is ridiculous, you need a giant to move mountains.  Well maybe in the future when they have bulldozers, but everyone knows us giants can do the big things.

            I think this puny Hebrew David is a no show, can't say that I blame Him...  Where did that little mountain come from?  Then David comes up and says I brought it with me!  Then David with his sling hurls the mountain at Goliath and the giant is knock out for the count.  David says yes even a little faith can move mountains when it serves God's purpose.

FOR THE FRUITS OF HIS CREATION

            Matthew 25:35-40 ³⁵ For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, ³⁶ I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ ³⁷ Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? ³⁸ And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? ³⁹ And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ ⁴⁰ And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’

            Where are our fruits to appear and for what reason should we have fruits of labor.  The second verse of the hymn we just sang (For the Fruits of His Creation LSB 894) says our fruits are the works of God through us, it is His will.  How does this happen? 

            Our fruits when we listen to the word of God is the will of God.  His will is that we are all brothers and sisters in Christ and our actions speak of this tithing together.  We are all of one Church, we are all of one Body of Christ, and we are all one family under the Fatherhood of our God, Yahweh.  Do we just sing the words or listen to them, or just read them to say we did?  No! We hear them inwardly digest them and then give action to them because that is the will of God.

            What else is the will of God?  It is God's will is that He chose us to be His adopted children and it is His will to give us full pardon for our sin and even better full inheritance to the same gifts He gave His only begotten Son, and that is eternal life and relationship with Him.  That is eternal life and relationship with our Father in heaven, our Lord Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit. 

PRAISE AND THANKSGIVING

            Malachi 3:8–15 ⁸Will man rob God? Yet you are robbing me. But you say, ‘How have we robbed you?’ In your tithes and contributions. ⁹You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing me, the whole nation of you. ¹⁰Bring the full tithes into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need.

            Do you know why we tithe and then sing "Praise and Thanksgiving"?  Our tithing is to help the ministry of God.  This ministry is not just the minister or even the upkeep of this building and property.  Though our tithing gives to these needs too, our tithing is to help us give out the ministry of the fruits of God's creation. 

            Those fruits of God's creation are the outreach God is calling us to do for our neighbor that we are surrounded by.  But here it is; do you give because you feel you have to, or do you give because you feel in your heart that you joyfully want to. 

            Cain did not walk with God and grumbled as he gave because he felt he had to and God shunned his giving.  Able gave an abundance out of joy from his heart because He walked with God and God blessed Able for his giving. 

            Let me tell you; if you were to look at the books there are a few that give an abundance and keep this church alive and there are others who give a little like the woman who gave all she had.

            Luke 21:1-4 The Widow’s Offering.  Jesus looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the offering box, ² and he saw a poor widow put in two small copper coins. ³ And he said, “Truly, I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all of them. ⁴ For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on.”

            God owns all things because He created all things including the paper and metal we print out money on.  What we are doing is not giving to God because God has everything, rather we are giving to the ministry of God that He has called us to share alike in.  God does not expect us to give everything but only asks for a joyful portion of your time and monetary gifts.

            God also calls us through His tithing which was giving His Son up to pay the ransom to free us from the clutches of the law and the evil one who demands we pay an eternal punishment for our sin.  God does not want us in eternal punishment and suffering; God wants us in eternal relationship and life with Him living in joy.  God gave us the way to that eternal joy through our Savior Jesus Christ.

WITH YOUR BLESSINGS

            John 3:16-17 ¹⁶ “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. ¹⁷ For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.

            So it is, we come together and worship our Lord to receive His blessings.  Through our loving God who rose His only begotten Son from the dead and punishment of sin, we can now receive the gift of eternal relationship and life and joy.  This is the blessing we walk out of this building with, and retain as we walk with God, with the help of the Body of Christ we are sharing in His Grace and Mercy forever and ever Amen.

"Reformation from Law to Grace"

Do You Love Christ, then Tend His Sheep?

            Revelation 14:7 ⁷And he said with a loud voice, “Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come, and worship him who made heaven and earth, the sea and the springs of water.”

            This is the celebration of Reformation, in which we remember Martin Luther the German monk of the 1500's.  Surviving a lightning storm Luther promised to follow God.  The members of the church that Martin Luther attended were widespread and taught to fear the church because at that time the church was the law.  The church that I am describing is not the body of Christ, but rather made up of the body of man.  It is the church of the small c, and surely not the Church of the large C as in Christ our savior.

            Martin Luther feared for his life while running for safety through a lightning storm of which he may have not witnessed before.  But his fear translated directly to God as he pleads through fearful prayer for God to spare his life.  You see, God created the storms as well as He created the days of calm and sunshine.  Martin Luther must have known this as he makes his life changing decision to walk with God more closely than he had done before.

            Romans 3:19–20 ¹⁹Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. ²⁰For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.

            Martin Luther becomes a monk and like the Jewish Essene Priests Luther spent a lot of time confessing his sin and then afflicting much pain to pay penances for his sin.  The law of the church demands penances be paid for ones sin.  If one had enough money or monetary gifts one could buy their penances and forgo the physical self afflicted flogging. 

            Martin Luther had to have gotten tired of this self afflicting painful penance after awhile.  Lucky by secular thought or Devine intervention by those who believe in Christ our savior; Johann von Staupitz lead Luther away from the self-punishment and towards repentance as a change of heart.  It was not until Martin Luther studied the writings to the Romans that he learned that our justification to enter into eternal life does not come from works or works of the law.  Martin Luther I'm sure was joyful to learn that through faith that Jesus Christ bought us forgiveness through His suffering, death, and resurrection gives us not only eternal life but also eternal relationship with our God.

            Romans 3:27–28 ²⁷Then what becomes of our boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? By a law of works? No, but by the law of faith. ²⁸For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law.

            I suppose that if one had money enough it would give one bragging rights to show the public one's righteousness to be enough to enter heaven.  However, it would seem that the one who punished themselves would also have the same bragging rights and maybe more because they were willing to take the self afflicting abuse to pay for their sin.  Be that as it may, there is not enough Luther whips nor time to punish one's self enough to earn ones way to heaven. 

            Martin Luther through his studies of the Holy Scripture discovered the meaning of the Truth.  The truth is that through the help of the Holy Spirit we can all find that our God went about to procure a means to justify to Himself the ones who cannot do it for themselves.

            Martin Luther now through the word of God, realizes the answer to how salvation works.  One is justified by faith, but not of your own works, rather by the works of our Triune God. 

            Romans 10:17 ¹⁷ So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.

            Ephesians 2:8-9 ⁸ For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, ⁹ not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

            The gift of God that is given at baptism is the drowning of the old Adam, then being revived by Christ, which does not come wrapped up in a package for you to choose to take, but as a gift of God that comes like one being revived from drowning.  In other words it the entire choice of our God that we are brought to faith and are saved for eternal life and relationship with Him.

            John 8:31–36 ³¹So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, ³²and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

            So some of you have heard me say the truth that sets you free is Jesus Christ who claims to be the "way, truth and life," here is another place where we can see that Christ is the truth.  The truth will set you free, "the son remains forever," So it is the Son who sets you free.

            John 8:31–36 ³⁴Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin. ³⁵The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever. ³⁶So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.

            The only freedom worth having is the freedom from the law that punishes us for our sin and sends us to eternal death.  Christ is that freedom that sends us His gift of salvation to all who are brought to believe and have faith in the only savior our Lord.  Amen.

 

 

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“Tend my Sheep”

Do you love Jesus?  Then tend His sheep.

Philippians 4:4–7 ⁴Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. ⁵Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; ⁶do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.

            Let your reasonableness be known to everyone, not your reasoning.  In our anxiousness we tend to forget that God asks us to be reasonable, sensible, evenhanded, and sound in dealing with one another.  It is when we take reasonableness and replace it with our own reasoning that we get ourselves in trouble.  It is our reasoning that removes our faith in God and replaces it with faith in ourselves.  Reasoning becomes law and law is then dispensed without gospel.

            In a meeting a person asked the president of the Ohio District if they could change the pastor’s call papers.  I thought about this for a while, with this person’s reasoning it wasn’t clear if the person wanted a new pastor or thought if they changed the call papers it would change the pastor they already have.

            Have you ever pondered a lock, it is designed by the lock smith to be the lock the lock smith designed.  Once the lock is made then a key must be made that will fit that lock and allow that lock to do the job it was designed to do.  If you change the lock then you have to change the key, because that key will no longer fit the new lock.

            There are five churches in our area that need your prayers because they have to call a new pastor.  Some of the pastors have retired, and some pastors were called to other churches.  So each church has to write up call papers to call a pastor.  Pray that they use God’s reasoning to call their next pastor, don’t worry you are stuck with me and none of these churches will be calling me.

Isaiah 25:7 ⁶On this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wine, of rich food full of marrow, of aged wine well refined.  ⁷And he will swallow up on this mountain the covering that is cast over all peoples, the veil that is spread over all nations.

            We are all covered with the same covering that seems to get in the way and works to keep us from God’s reasoning.  This cover is what we were cursed with through the fall of Adam and Eve, it is sin.  The covering of sin which we all wear does not come off by or own reasoning nor does it come off through the law.  In fact the law ensures this cover stays upon us as it convicts us of our sin.  But thanks be to God there is one way this cover will be replaced.

John 6:35 Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.

John 6:51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh."

            It is the food that Jesus offers to all people; a food that is rich and accompanied with aged wine.  The food that Jesus says we should eat that comes from heaven. This is the body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ.  This food can be eaten during the Lord’s Supper of which some of you will take part in and this food also comes from knowing Jesus through the word of God.  And receiving both brings life.

Isaiah 25:8 ⁸He will swallow up death forever; and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces, and the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth, for the Lord has spoken.

            Do you love Jesus?  Then witness through His word how He tends His sheep and copy what He does.  We have tears now as we deal with life, but we can take heart for God will get us through all that life on earth will throw at us.  And when these tears are wiped from our faces what we are left with is the joy of knowing we have a Father in heaven who loves all His people here on earth, even those who hate Him.  Jesus tells us to love our enemies.

Luke 6:35  But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil.

Though it is the ones who He successfully leads to believe in Him and wanting Him to be their savior, this is our God.

Isaiah 25:9 ⁹It will be said on that day, “Behold, this is our God; we have waited for him, that he might save us. This is the Lord; we have waited for him; let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.”

            We are waiting for Jesus Christ to return and He will and when He does He will bring us to Him into eternal life and into ever lasting relationship as then we will be living His word, love, and joy for His Glory.  Amen.

Philippians 4:7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

“Feed My Lambs”

Philippians 3:4b–14 ⁴though I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh also. If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more: ⁵circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; ⁶as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness, under the law blameless.

            Do you love Jesus?  Feed His lambs.  We all have many things that we are good at.  There are many people who obey the laws, are polite and nice to others and even see the faults of others.  We all have confidence in what we can accomplish on our own. Sometimes we have enough confidence we do not need faith to accomplish most things. In fact we replace faith with our confidence and actually without knowledge push God away. 

            There are some that are like the Pharisee in Paul.  They know law and try to live every part of their life to their law, even trying to guide others to do the same.  These people take the gospel as law and measure it in steps that need to be followed in order to be saved. 

There are many who have zeal for the Lord and in some cases that is good, however there are other cases that are bad.  Like those who follow Islam the one with too much zeal is as bad as Paul was before Jesus confronted Paul.  These people are ready to persecute anyone who does not believe or even think like them, and they will do it in the name of God.  You know that is taking the Lord’s name in vain, don’t you? 

And of course there are those who feel they are blameless in any situation that transpires from their actions with others.  These people like to lay blame on others, and throw the law outwardly on others so they can look like they are blameless. 

These are all sins of the flesh because none of them come from the spirit in us, rather the Holy Spirit in us.  All of which starves God’s lambs.  You did know you too are one of God’s lambs?

Matthew 21:33–46 ⁴³Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing its fruits. ⁴⁴And the one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and when it falls on anyone, it will crush him.”

⁴⁵When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they perceived that he was speaking about them. ⁴⁶And although they were seeking to arrest him, they feared the crowds, because they held him to be a prophet.

If we live always in the flesh we starve ourselves as the flesh tells us we do not need a steady diet of God’s word.  The flesh says we can do it all ourselves, and we do not need the steady diet of fellowship in God’s word either.  We not only do not starve ourselves but we also starve other lambs of God too. 

Ok why am I concerned with you being in God’s word through fellowship in God’s word called Bible Studies or small groups?  Well it’s not because I get a bonus, or a prize, or even a pat on the back.  It is because I love Jesus and I as your pastor was called to feed God’s lambs.

Though you can lead a lamb to the baptismal waters and even get them wet; I can’t seem to convince you to drink of the baptismal words of our Lord.  We are a small church and not growing for a reason, can you guess what that reason is.  The real question is do you want to be a church that is growing?

Philippians 3:7–14 ⁷But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. ⁸Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ ⁹and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith—

Paul gave up the things of the flesh and in doing so he had to do something that would seem to many as foolishness; Paul had to put his life into the hands of the word of Jesus, he had to move forward in faith.  We are all people of the flesh.  It is hard to take that leap of faith to move forward in life.  Sure we can live this life in flesh, but what joy we can obtain if we move forward as a church in real faith in Christ and God’s word.

Philippians 3:10–14 ¹⁰that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, ¹¹that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.

¹²Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. ¹³Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, ¹⁴I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

            Because Christ Jesus made us His own.  These are just some of the words that we can obtain joy from.  Christ gruelingly suffered to obtain us from death and the evil one.  Jesus hung for our transgressions so that we would not have to in the afterlife of eternity.  Isn’t this something to get excited about every chance we can?  Isn’t this something we can come together to share in the joy?  We have a creator called Yahweh, a God who has always been and in losing us to the fall works through blood sweat and tears to regain us daily.  Christ came to feed His eternal Lambs, that is, you and me.  Christ died and lives so that we can too as the eternal lambs and relationship of our God.  Amen.