Persecution of Christians Today

From Worldview Everlasting

GIVE NOW TO HELP PERSECUTED CHRISTIANS:
https://www.lcms.org/givenow/christia...

GET EDUCATED:
http://www.foxnews.com/world/2014/08/...
The Spread of the Caliphate - http://youtu.be/bsCZzpmbEcs
http://www.kenchitwood.com/blog/2014/...
http://www.firstthings.com/web-exclus...
http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/cultu...
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-...
http://www.cnn.com/2014/07/19/world/m...
http://youtu.be/QVYYeIfLuAs
http://youtu.be/IyGx1dneIRc

From President Harrison - Making a faithful confession

The world is starting to perk up its ears. Reports of Christians fleeing cities in Iraq; pictures of Islamic militants marking the doors of the faithful as a sign that they must leave or be killed; stories of men being killed, women raped, children beheaded: All are now in the news … and all are for the sake of Christ.

We mourn. We pray. And yet we wonder, “What can I do? What does this matter to me?”

• Repent. There may well come a day when we face the same suffering that has befallen the Christians in Iraq. And so we learn from them, pray for them and repent for our own lack of faith, for our confidence in passing, transitory things rather than in the holy things of God (2 Thessalonians 1).
• Remember. Persecution reminds us that the world is not our friend and it is not our home. We are neither Iraqi Christians nor American Christians. We are simply Christians, citizens of a better land, a different kind of country, of heaven itself (1 Peter 2:11).
• Ready. We are called to vigilance because we know that faithfulness and persecution go hand-in-hand. We prepare now; we do not wait. We have Scriptures to learn, catechisms to study and hymns to memorize so that — if God in His infinite wisdom allows this suffering to befall us, too, one day — we are emboldened by the Word of God, which is in our hearts and on our lips (Rom. 10:9ff).
• Rejoice. On Aug. 10, the Church remembers St. Lawrence, who kept and distributed the church’s goods and alms. When the prefect of Rome demanded that Lawrence turn over the church’s treasury, Lawrence made a faithful confession, showing the prefect the widowed and orphaned, the blind and lame, saying, “These are the treasures of the Church.” For his fidelity, Lawrence was burned — roasted alive — over a gridiron, cheerfully remarking after some time, “It is well done. Turn me over” (1 Peter 1:3–8).

That is the kind of confidence with which we enter the days ahead, the times of persecution that we know are coming, that are here even now. We face Satan’s attacks and threats head-on, look them square in the eye, because we have been marked — just like the Christians in Iraq — with the sign of the holy cross on our foreheads and on our hearts in the waters of Baptism. In that gift, Christ promised us eternal life, salvation, comfort, mercy, even joy with Him, despite what the world and all its evil send our way. And He always makes good on His promises.

So let us pray and endure, trusting that, like the apostles and the martyrs and the saints before us, our Lord will preserve us too, suffering much but never letting us fall away. Pray for our brothers and sisters in Christ who are persecuted so ruthlessly in Iraq. And then join with me in reading our Bibles, singing the Church’s hymns, praying its catechism, so that we, too, may make a faithful confession, for “everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven” (Matt. 10:32).

Let me also note that many of you are asking where you may give to support persecuted Christians. The LCMS is providing funds for those in deep need. This type of work is quite delicate because of our mission and mercy presence in many non-Christian countries. We in no way wish to heighten the risk to our faithful workers. Our reporting on the use of funds in this area will be muted for obvious reasons (2 Corinthians 8–9).

Our new Fund to Aid Christians Under Persecution is a response by the LCMS to impact our brothers and sisters in Christ who are facing death or persecution, primarily in countries where the LCMS does not have an international mission presence through official missionaries and other LCMS or partner church personnel. Donations made to the fund will be bundled into one or more grants that will be disbursed through appropriate* nonprofit human-care and relief agencies. That fund is a restricted account, kept separate from other designated funds, in order to facilitate financial management, reporting and auditing.

May God grant peace for Jesus’ sake.

Pastor Harrison

P.S. Here are a few more resources I hope you’ll find helpful.

• Download the free June/July issue of The Lutheran Witness, courtesy of Concordia Publishing House.
• Pray: Merciful and holy Father, remember in Your unfailing love those who suffer now for the name of Christ. Strengthen them for a good confession, and uphold them by Your Spirit. Look in Your mercy on all who are entrusted with civil authority here and in all places throughout the world. Make them bold to stand against and fight every injustice. Especially bring to an end this widespread destruction of the fundamental human right to worship freely, according to the dictates of conscience. “Grant peace, we pray, in mercy, Lord; Peace in our time, O send us! For there is none on earth but You, None other to defend us. You only, Lord, can fight for us. Amen” (LSB 778). In Jesus’ holy and precious name we beg it. Amen!

*Grant-recipient agencies that have been vetted to determine their capacity for getting aid into parts of the world the LCMS cannot reach directly and in ways that do not conflict with or subvert the Christian faith as articulated in Scripture and the Lutheran Confessions.

The Rev. Dr. Matthew C. Harrison is the current and 13th president of The Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod.

Proper 17 - E - 2014 - Vengeance Against Sin Placed On Christ

Lutheran Prayer Hour Audio Here

Click link, then click Download.  Please comment if you listen - should we continue doing this?

Jeremiah 15:15-21       Romans 12:9-21          Matthew 16:21-28

Grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Father through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Amen.  Our text today is from the Epistle lesson just read, especially these words, “Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” Thus far our text. 

Dear friends in Christ.  Our text is clear – God will seek vengeance upon all sin, every last bit of it, with absolutely no exceptions.  Sin must, and will be paid for.  God’s wrath shall without a doubt consume all wickedness. 

And so dear friends we ought to be just a touch worried, because we are full of the sin that God will avenge against.  It is true.  St. Paul says we should do things like “Live in harmony, let our love be genuine, and to never be wise in our own sight, or repay people evil with evil.”

But we don’t live in harmony do we?  In fact we fight – all the time – even with those whom we seem to love the most.  Our fights aren’t even about important things most of the time, but instead over piddley little things.  And over time, we even seem to forget what we were fighting about in the first place.  We fight viciously though, don’t we?  We call each other names that we dare not repeat here in this building.  We purposely do things to drag each other through the mud.  Instead of harmony, we live in sinful discord. 

Let your love be genuine Paul says.  That means let it be pure and holy, with no self seeking aspect to it.  But you know that is impossible isn’t it.  Whenever you love someone, you expect them to love and care for you, to do unto you as you do unto them.  In other words there is always a self-seeking aspect to your love.  A desire for reciprocation.  Why?  Because sin by definition is being focused on yourself, rather than on others, and you are a sinner.

Paul also says, Never be wise in your own sight.  In other words don’t be self-absorbed.  Don’t  get the “aren’t I high and mighty attitude.”  But, the problem is we do think that way, every day, all the time.  We are always comparing our selves to other people, and when we do, we are always inwardly rejoicing that we are “atleast better than that person.”  Or maybe you say to yourself, “At least I didn’t commit that particular sin,” or “I’m smarter than the average bear Boo Boo.”  That’s self-righteousness, and that’s sin.

Dear friends we could go on and on about our sin.  It is enormous.  It is all encompassing.  It affects every action, decision and thought that we have.  We are completely and totally sinful.  And our text says that God will exact vengeance upon that sin.  That means hell.  That means death, not just death in this world, but eternal death.  That means suffering apart from the good gifts that God gives to support you in this world.  That means sorrow.  It means sin, and sinners will get exactly what they deserve – the punishment prepared before the foundation of the world for those who reject God and his gifts.  For it is written, says our text, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” 

And in fact God gets his vengeance – the vengeance you’ve earned.  But, he doesn’t get it against you.  Yes, your sin is punished.  It is killed.  It is destroyed forever in the separation from God that is hell – where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth.  But it is killed upon Jesus.  Yes, because is baptismal waters your sin became his.  He bore it as if it were his own.  Jesus became the greatest sinner that the world has ever seen because he took what was justly yours and made it his own. 

And bearing your sin, Jesus went to the cross.  He bled.  He suffered God’s wrath, he drank the cup of punishment that you had earned.  He went to your death sentence.  He suffered all that Hell is – he who was God became separated from God the Father.  And there was nothing in this world, not Satan, not St. Peter is his own sinful self-righteousness, not doubting Thomas, and no not even sinful you that could stop Jesus from taking your place is Hell. 

He suffered, so that you might not.  He bled so that your blood-price was paid.  He died so that you might have life to the full.  And his last words declared the miracle that he had accomplished on your behalf – “It is finished” their sin is paid for.  And he rose, to proclaim publicly that all he had done was true, and that it counted for even a poor miserable sinner like you. 

Yes, dear friends, you are forgiven.  Your guilt is taken away.  Your wrong is made right.  You are Holy, you are love filled, you are righteous – only because Jesus has made you to be.  And believing in his Word and his Work, you now serve others in a joy that knows that you have nothing in yourself, but that Christ who is outside of you has given you everything.  Yes, dear friends, your sins are forgiven, by the death and resurrection of Jesus.  Amen.  

Al Miller Funeral Sermon - Fear Not

Link To Sermon Audio Here

Matthew and Kelly Muehler Wedding Sermon

Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 -  Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. ¹⁰ For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up! ¹¹ Again, if two lie together, they keep warm, but how can one keep warm alone? ¹² And though a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand him—a threefold cord is not quickly broken.

1 John 4:16-19 - So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. ¹⁷ By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is so also are we in this world. ¹⁸ There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. ¹⁹ We love because he first loved us.

Matthew 19:4-6 -  He answered, “Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female, ⁵ and said, ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? ⁶ So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.”

Grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Father through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Amen. 

Dear friends in Christ, especially on this day, Matt and Kelly.  It was Saturday September 21^st, and I had never seen Matt so anxious to be done with the opening day of Duck Season.  The birds had been flying fairly well, but he couldn't wait to be done.  He kept hinting that we should pick up the decoys and head in.  "But its opening day!" I said.  Finally the truth came out.  "I've got an appointment with the jewler to buy a diamond ring."  That's when I knew that this day would come.  

And so today here you are.  And as we just heard, Solomon says that two are better than one, and he doesn’t mean two heads is better than one, or that one bird in the hand is better than two in the field, or any other thing.  He means it is good for you to be together, united as one flesh, until death do you part. 

It is good for you to be together, because, as he says, when one of you falls, the other can lift them up.  So when the difficulties of this world come, and they will, time and again, the two of you might prevail together.  So when the money is tight – the two of you together will be able to overcome.  When one of you is sick, the other can care for them.  When one is struggling, the other can care and love them. 

That’s what you promise today – for better for worse, for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health – that you two will stay united to each other only, until one of you departs this world.  That until that day, you two will be better than just one of you by yourself. 

Except we know that in this sinful world this promise is easier said than done.  We know that marriages fall apart all around us.  That sometimes two people in love is not enough in this world. 

And that’s why our scripture ends with words not about two, but about three.  It doesn’t say two people can make it by themselves in this world, because God knows that can’t be garunteed.  It doesn’t say, two people by themselves, can overcome everything.  Instead it ends with the words, “A cord of three strands is not easily broken.”

Three?  Why three?  Because as God speaks through these words he knows that you will need him as well as each other.  If two are good, three are even better, especially if one of them is God.  God will be there when you both are at your wits end.  God will be there when you both are tired and grumpy, or even those days when you might argue about leftovers.  God will be there when hours at work are long, and you hardly see each other.  God will be there when Matt Jr. is born, and even as you both head towards “‘til death do you part.”

God will be there, just as he has been there for you in the past.  He’ll be there for you with forgiveness earned by Jesus on the cross.  He’ll be there for you with grace that can cover all guilt and sin freely.  He’ll be there for you to sustain and comfort you as you go forward in life.  Two is better than one, and with God’s promise, you will be together, the two of you, for many happy years ahead.  And it won’t be only because of you, but because of the grace of Jesus.  Yes two are better than one.  But we can say today, and for the rest of your married life, that with God, a cord of three strands is not easily broken. 

God’s blessings on many happy years.  Amen.  

Proper 15 - G - 2014 - Have Mercy on Me

The Tenth Sunday After Pentecost

August 17, 2014- Pastor Adam Moline

Isaiah 56:1, 6-8           Romans 11:1-2a, 13-15, 28-32            Matthew 15:21-28

Hymns LSB 779, 615, 683   Communion Hymns LSB 685, 901, 571, 570

Grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Father through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Amen.  Our text today is form the Gospel lesson just read, especially these words, “even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters' table.”  Thus far our text for today. 

Dear friends in Christ.  Oh, that we had faith like the woman in our text.  She has nothing to offer Jesus in exchange for what she wants.  She has no money to pay him.  She has no gifts to offer him.  Her only words to him are to cry out continuously, “O Lord have mercy upon me.”

The mercy she asks for is underserved of God.  She hasn’t been holy, but is a sinner.  She’s not even a true Israelite, but is instead a Canaanite despised by all the Jews.  She isn’t special in her self, she’s just an everyday average person.  She hasn’t done any special mission to please God.  She has nothing, nothing, and she knows it. 

She doesn’t make excuses saying “Its not really my fault – the sinful things that have happened in my life.”  She doesn’t claim to be a victim of circumstances out of her control.  She doesn’t avoid the truth.  Instead she owns up to her sin and her life, which is the reason that her cry is only “Lord have mercy.” 

And even when confronted by Jesus himself, when God himself says to her “You don’t deserve a seat at the table for any reason, you aren’t an Israelite.”  Her reply is only, “You’re right O Lord, I’m but a dog, but even dogs eat the crumbs from the master’s table.” 

Do you see her faith?  Her faith is completely in Jesus, not in herself.  She doesn’t think she’s capable in herself.  Instead she trusts only in God and in his great mercy! 

And when Jesus hears her trust in Him and Him alone, he gives her the mercy she begs of him, “O woman, great is your faith! Be it done for you as you desire.”

What Great faith that woman had, to trust in Jesus alone.  What great faith that woman had in confessing her sin.  What great faith that woman had in looking for God’s mercy.  Oh that we had such faith as to not trust in ourselves. 

We too are sinful.  We too have nothing within ourselves to please God.  We’ve broken all God’s laws, day in and day out.  We are indifferent about the times that we’ve done it.  We make excuses for it, we blame it on others.  We are guilty, dear friends, and nothing we can do will change that. 

No, you can’t give enough money to make God happy, you can’t do enough works to please him, you can’t keep your promise to avoid sin.  Its too great, within each one of you.  The only option we have is to follow the example of this woman, to beg for mercy.  To fall down on our knees before God and to say, “Lord have mercy, Christ have mercy, Lord have mercy upon me a sinner.” 

And in fact that’s what we cry each week in our liturgy – we sing the very words this woman cries out before God.  Lord have mercy. 

And have mercy, God does.  He shows mercy to you in your sin.  He shows you grace for what you’ve done wrong.  He gives mercy to promise you eternal life.  And his mercy is not just a nice saying, or empty words.  His mercy comes through a person, through Jesus Christ himself.  Jesus suffers upon the cross, so that you might have mercy.  Jesus bleeds so that you won’t suffer hell.  Jesus dies, because you deserved to die.  Jesus is laid in the grave, because of your guilt, and Jesus rises on the third day to promise you mercy and forgiveness. 

This mercy comes to you in the promsies of God’s words, promises to guard and protect you.  This mercy comes to you in Water and the Word, knowing God’s mercy has washed away your sin.  This mercy comes to you, here today, and evermore.  In the name of Jesus.  Amen.  

JB and Annie Bladow Wedding Sermon

Song of Solomon - My beloved speaks and says to me:
“Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away;
¹¹ for now the winter is past, the rain is over and gone.
¹² The flowers appear on the earth; the time of singing has come,
and the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land.
¹³ The fig tree puts forth its figs, and the vines are in blossom;
    they give forth fragrance.
Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away.

Set me as a seal upon your heart, as a seal upon your arm;
for love is strong as death, passion fierce as the grave.
Its flashes are flashes of fire, a raging flame.
⁷ Many waters cannot quench love, neither can floods drown it.
If one offered for love all the wealth of one’s house,
    it would be utterly scorned.

Mark 10 - And Jesus left there and went to the region of Judea and beyond the Jordan, and crowds gathered to him again. And again, as was his custom, he taught them.

² And Pharisees came up and in order to test him asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?” ³ He answered them, “What did Moses command you?” ⁴ They said, “Moses allowed a man to write a certificate of divorce and to send her away.” ⁵ And Jesus said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart he wrote you this commandment. ⁶ But from the beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female.’⁷ ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife,^[a] 8 and the two shall become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two but one flesh. ⁹ What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.”

Grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ, on this, your wedding day.  Amen. 

Dear friends, especially JB and Annie, What God has joined together, let man not separate.  These words of God take on very special meaning today, as the two of you here, and now are joined together as one flesh.  Today you begin a journey together, until death do you part. 

Til death do you part.  Several months ago, JB had promised that very thing to Annie, but as a joke JB had told her that until death do they part meant 10 years.  Meaning now we’re down to 9 and a half years? 

So over those years, over that time period, which we hope is more than a decade, God promises to be with you, and to care for you, in good time and bad.  God promises to support you in sickness and in health, and God promises to give you love for all those days. 

There will be struggles.  There will be difficulties, and days of sadness alongside the days of joy and happiness.  There will be times where you are both so busy between teaching and drilling that you’ll hardly see each other.  There’ll be times where perhaps you’ll wonder what you were thinking on this day.  But through it all God’s love for you will carry you, and keep you, throughout all the challenges that await you. 

That’s a love that begins and ends with Jesus Christ.  He who showed us what love really is by giving up his life for us on the cross.  Who suffered, bled and died that all our sins might be forgiven.  God’s love is a powerful love.  Many waters cannot quench God’s love, neither can floods drown it.  In fact, nothing in this world can destroy that love.  That is the forgiving love that will keep you and hold you together until death do you part. 

Because God first loves us, we are able then to love each other.  Because God loves us, we’re able to care for each other, no matter what things might happen in the next 9 and a half years, or God willing even for the next 40-50 years.  When money is tight, God loves you, and will provide.  When there is an argument about whose better, UND or NDSU, God has already given you forgiveness.  When one of you is sick, God will be there with both of you throughout it all. 

Today, a life of love, which we pray will be longer than 9 and a half more years JB, begins.  As Solomon writes, “Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away. Set me as a seal upon your heart, as a seal upon your arm;  for love is strong as death, passion fierce as the grave.”  In fact, love, the love of Christ will keep you until death do you part. 

In the name of Jesus.  Amen.  

Alex and Greg Wedding Sermon

Genesis 2:18-24 - ¹⁸ Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for^[a] him.” ¹⁹ Now out of the ground the Lord God had formed^[b] every beast of the field and every bird of the heavens and brought them to the man to see what he would call them. And whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name. ²⁰ The man gave names to all livestock and to the birds of the heavens and to every beast of the field. But for Adam^[c] there was not found a helper fit for him. ²¹ So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. ²² And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man he made^[d] into a woman and brought her to the man. ²³ Then the man said,

“This at last is bone of my bones
    and flesh of my flesh;
she shall be called Woman,
    because she was taken out of Man.”^[e]

²⁴ Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.

1 Corinthians 13:1-7 - 13 If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. ² And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. ³ If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned,^[a] but have not love, I gain nothing.

⁴ Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant ⁵ or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful;^[b] 6 it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. ⁷ Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

⁸ Love never ends. ¹³ So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

Grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Father through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Amen.  Our text today is from the 1 Corinthians text, especially these words, “Love never fails.”  Thus far our text. 

Love is patient, Love is kind.  Love never ends, and our text says the greatest thing in the world is love itself!  As the song goes, “All you need is love”.

And yet in our world, we see couple after couple that love each other implode.  We see marriages falling apart, families fighting and through the many years, that happy, gushy feeling that we call love often times is dampened, crushed and slowly it falls apart.  As we live our daily lives, we just seem not to feel love anymore. 

Alex and Greg, these difficult challenges and more lie ahead.  There may be days when it is difficult to make ends meet.  There may be days when you two cannot agree on what to do, where to go, or how to live your daily lives.  That’s our sinful world.  And during those times, love will seem miles away.

You will not always be patient.  You will not always be kind.  You will at times be jealous, and you will at times be envious.   

And perhaps the “feeling” of love will be gone one day.  But love will still be yours, because Love is not just a feeling, it’s a person – the person of Jesus Christ.  He is the very embodiment of love.  He who had such great a love as to suffer, bleed and die for you both, and for the forgiveness of all your sins.  He will be with you in all the many days and years ahead.  He will guard you and keep you, he will be your bulwark when the feeling of love is lost among you. 

You see, all love begins outside of yourself.  Love begins with Christ, and so love will be with you both every day of your married life.  Love will be there to forgive when you fight.  Love from Christ will sustain you for your entire life. 

And in that love from Jesus, you will be able to be patient with each and forgive each other when your not.  You’ll be able to be kind, not arrogant or rude, and endure all things.  IN the love of Christ, you’ll have many more happy years ahead of you. 

Love is patient, love is kind, love is caring, and love never ends.  Love comes from Christ, and now, dear friends you share that love with each other for the rest of your days. 

God’s Blessings.  Amen.  

Proper 14 - G - 2014 - The Miracle on the Sea of Galilee

The Ninth Sunday After Pentecost

August 10, 2014- Pastor Adam Moline

Job 38:4-18           Romans 10:5-17            Matthew 14:22-33

Hymns LSB 722, 715, 805 Communion LSB 637

Grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Father through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Amen.  Our text today is from the Gospel lesson just read. 

Dear friends in Christ.  A miracle happens in our text today, and no its not Jesus walking on the surface of the water.  I mean, that would be miraculous if it were us that were doing the walking on the water, but for Jesus, the great creator of all that we know, see, feel and experience, it isn’t that big of a deal.  God can walk in His creation wherever he desires to, whether we determine it to be miraculous or not. 

No, the miracle is, as I have alluded to, that Peter walks a few steps on the water.  I know, Peter doesn’t walk very far, and he does get wet, but he still walks upon the water at the command and word of God.  Jesus says, “Come,” and in obedience to the very Son of God’s word, Peter walks out upon the water. 

A miracle!  An amazing event.  Peter, as far as I know, is the only non-divine being to have physically walked on unfrozen water without any sort of trickery.  How amazing and power is God’s word that Peter is able to do such a thing at God’s command. 

And yet, how powerful is Peter’s sin as well.  Oh yes, for the word of Jesus is still ringing in the air as Peter suddenly gets nervous.  He sees the waves and the water.  He knows there is little hope for him to survive if he were to fall in the water.  Would Jesus abandon him to the waves?  Will he fall in?  Is this all some hallucination that is occurring right before his lungs fill with water? 

And so he forgets the call of Jesus, and in his sin, begins to sink.  He stops up his ear to the command of God, and suddenly he is thrashing about in the water, sure and certain that he will drown and die. 

Dear friends, it isn’t Jesus’ fault that Peter gets wet in our text today.  It isn’t God’s fault that Peter had more doubt than faith.  Its the fault of sin.  Peter, yes even the great Saint Peter, was a poor miserable sinner, just like you.  Even in the presence of the Son of God in human flesh, Peter displayed his sin time and time again. 

You do it too.  Yes, you are guilty and wrong in God’s eyes also. Just as Peter does in our text you stop up your ears to God’s word, and you substitute you own fears and worries in their place.  You are a sinner, and it shows in the many sins you commit in your life.  You judge yourself not to God’s standards but to you own, whether they be higher or lower than what God says.  You determine your own right and wrong, substituting your own opinions for God’s ten commandments.  And most of the time you live your life as if there really is no God at all. 

Its true.  When you commit sin, most of the time you don’t even realize it – because you are indifferent to what God’s Word said.  Just as Peter ignored God’s command, “Come, walk onto the water” you ignore God’s command, “Love your God with all your heart and soul, and love your neighbor as yourself.”  You ignore God’s command, “You shall have no other Gods,” and instead you create countless God’s for yourself, such as your pride, your ability to accomplish things, your bank account, your work ethic and your own false piety.  Yes, you trust in yourself more than you trust in God. 

And so, when you are confronted by the difficult things of this world, you begin to sink.  You become overwhelmed, your footing starts to falter, and it seems like your entire world is falling apart.  And when this happens, you are quick to blame God, “How could you let this happen God?”  But the truth is this, it is your own sin that is the problem, it is your own guilt that makes you sink, it is your fault that you are drowning in this world. 

As Peter doubts Jesus’ word in our Gospel lesson, he begins to sink right away.  As he watches the waves instead of Christ, he does a cannonball of unfaith, right into the water.  And yet, he doesn’t drown, and he doesn’t die.  For the second great miracle of our text happens.  Jesus reaches out his hand, and rescues poor sinful Peter.  He doesn’t not abandon Peter to the abyss, he doesn’t let him drown, but despite Peter’s lack of faith, Jesus grabs ahold of his hand and pulls him out of the water and back into the boat.  Jesus rescues Peter, despite Peter. 

And dear friends, the same is true for you as well.  Jesus will not let you drown in the sorrow and sinful troubles of this world.  Despite your sin and indifference toward him, Jesus rescues you. 

He saves you by reaching out a hand to pull you out of the water – out of the water of baptism that is. In baptism your sinful nature was drowned in water and word, and you were pulled out by the hand of Christ.  He grabs ahold of you, without any work on your part, and he drags you safely into the ark of the church. 

And the hand that he reaches out to rescue you is a hand that has been pierced with a nail, and hammered onto a cross, to bleed, and to die for your sin.  It’s the same hand that laid dead in a tomb for three days, in place of your own body dead with sin.  And it’s the same hand that rose from the grave to promise you life, forgiveness and salvation.  It’s the hand of Christ, the righteous right hand of God, that will save you from all your sin, and has rescued you from all that is wrong in this world. 

And so you see, dear friends, that the miracle of today’s text isn’t that Jesus walks on the water, as amazing as that is.  But rather, its that a sinner like Peter can be rescued from unbelief and doubt to walk with Jesus.  It’s the miracle that the same is true for you, that you are rescued to walk with Jesus, and to be with him, even forever more.  In the name of Jesus.  Amen.  

Parsonage Progress

As you know, this past winter, the congregation held a special voters meeting and voted to build a new parsonage rather than make repairs on the current one.  Ground was broken and work began at the end of June.  Here's the progress over time, as seen in panoramas from the current parsonage bedroom window, (plus a few extra from other view points).  

 

 

 

The project is hoped to be done in October.  Things are going very well so far.  Soon, the outside work will be completed, and we'll have to find a new camera angle.  

Brooke and Stephen Boyer Wedding Sermon

Genesis 2 – Then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.   Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for  him.” ¹⁹ Now out of the ground the Lord God had formed  every beast of the field and every bird of the heavens and brought them to the man to see what he would call them. And whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name. ²⁰ The man gave names to all livestock and to the birds of the heavens and to every beast of the field. But for Adam there was not found a helper fit for him. ²¹ So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. ²² And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. ²³ Then the man said,

“This at last is bone of my bones
    and flesh of my flesh;
she shall be called Woman,
    because she was taken out of Man.”

Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.

Philippians 4 - Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. ⁵ Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; ⁶ do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. ⁷ And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Matthew 19:4-6 - He answered, “Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female, ⁵ and said, ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? ⁶ So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.”

 

Grace Mercy and Peace to you from God our Father through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Amen.  Our text today is the lesson read earlier from our Old Testament, especially these words, “They shall become one flesh.” 

Dear Friends in Christ, Family and Friends, and especially Brooke and Stephen.  Today God gives you a beautiful and blessed gift, He gives you the gift of each other.  Today in his presence and before these witnesses, you promise to have and to hold each other, for richer and poorer, in sickness and health, for better or worse until death do you part.  And when you make that promise, God’s word is proclaimed, “What I have joined together, let no man separate.” 

Yes, it’s a gift.  Stephen, God gives you Brooke, the same way he gave Eve to Adam.  She promises to be there with you, to care for you, no matter what.  And God will be there to help her fulfill that promise.  And Brooke, Stephen is God’s gift to you as well.  God has given you him to love you and to give all that he has to care for you.  And so it is today, that God gives you each other as a gift. 

And you will, in the years of your marriage ahead, need each other.  This world is not easy on marriage.  Sin will ever be after you, seeking to destroy and make null the promises that you made today.  Sin will seek to hurt you both, and to even make you hurt each other.  Money will at times be tight, and patience will be short.  There will be times when it will just seem easier to give up than continue.  Times when you’ll wonder why you made the promises that you did today, and when it will seem foolish that you did make them. 

And yet, remember God gives you to each other today as a gift, and as you make your promises, he makes a promise to you as well.  A promise to be with you.  To sustain you.  To keep you in your promises, and to forgive you when your own sinful natures fail. 

Yes, God gives you the gift and promise of forgiveness of all sin today, as you are joined together.  It’s a forgiveness earned by Jesus’ blood and death upon the cross for your sake.  His blood has washed away your sin, both individually, and as a couple. 

So when you fight as a couple, and you will, your sin is already forgiven by Jesus so that you can forgive each other as well.  When you get on each other’s nerves, when money is tight, when Stephen Jr. is misbehaving in school, you know that in the grace of Christ, you can make it through.  When you have a tough choice to make as a couple, you know that no matter what choice you make, you already have the promise of eternal life in Christ. 

Stephen and Brooke, God promises to day, to be with you each and every day of your married life – to help you to fulfill your promises to each other.  And when you fail to do so, he promises to forgive you sin for Jesus’ sake, so that you also might forgive each other. 

He joins you together today, by the power of His word.  He gives you each other, joining you for the many years of joys and struggles ahead.  He promises to bless you and preserve you through out the days ahead.  He will never leave you nor forsake you. 

Today he joins you as one flesh in the promises of His holy word, a great and wonderful blessing.  And what God has joined together, let man not separate. 

In the name of Jesus.  Amen.