A Faithful Witness
Guest Pastor Shaun Arndt from Peace Lutheran, Sun Prairie served us today.
Not Ashamed of the Gospel
I am not ashamed of the gospel. (Romans 1:16) So writes Paul to the Roman Christians. At first blush we might be inclined to respond patronizingly, “Oh, how good of you.” But such a dismissive reaction misses the weight of what Paul is saying!
Paus is saying he is not ashamed of the Christian gospel. “Gospel” is a word that means “good news.” The Greek word is euangellion. It is a word that is used outside of the Bible. It is a word that is often used for really big “good news.” For example, the news of a great military victory is euangellion. There is an ancient inscription that says this about the birth of the Emperor Augustus: “…the birthday of the god Augustus was the beginning of the good tidings [εὐαγγέλιον] for the world that came by reason of him.” Reading that makes the beginning of Mark all-the-more striking! The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. (Mark 1:1)
Heavenward All the Way!
Knowing where you are headed impacts what you do. For example, knowing that I finally wanted to be in Austin, Texas affected how I acted in the airport a few weeks ago. Knowing I was headed to Austin meant I went to certain terminals and certain gates at certain times to get on certain flights. I didn’t just show up at the airport and get on the first plane I saw hoping that I might possibly end up in Austin. Knowing where you are headed impacts what you do.
Repentance, not Excuses
The Jews had a saying. Fathers eat sour grapes, and the sons’ teeth are set on edge. (v. 2) The evokes the image of a father eating a sour, unripe grape but his son is the one who gets a tooth-ache or who puckers. It was a proverb the people used to make the point that children were suffering because of what their parents did. It was really an attempt to excuse oneself from responsibility.
Amazing, Infuriating Grace
Before us this morning is this wonderful thing we Christians call grace. Maybe somewhere along the line you were taught this as a definition of grace: grace is God’s undeserved love for sinners. Do you ever linger over that thought? God loves sinners! Broken, rebellious human beings! Broken, rebellious human beings…like ME! There is a hymn that is a favorite for many Christians that sings of grace. You know the one. Amazing Grace. Maybe you even know it by heart: “Amazing grace, how sweet the sound! That saved a wretch like me! I once was lost but now am found. Was blind, but now I see.”
Forgiven So Much! Forgiving So Little?
Has the 5th Petition of the Lord’s Prayer ever made you uneasy? Here is the 5th Petition of the Lord’s Prayer, Forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us. The first part of that isn’t troubling. We like that! We like the thought of our Father in heaven forgiving us our huge debt of sin! It’s the second part that sort of makes us squirm. As we forgive those who sin against us. It kind of sounds like we are saying to God, “God, apply to me the standard of forgiveness I use with people who sin against me!” If that is the case, I am very, very uneasy!
Remember Who You Are
Pastor Eugene Kock served us today.
Waiting for the Groaning to Give Way to Glory
There’s an awful lot of groaning going on in Romans 8! In our text we hear about all of creation groaning. We are told we ourselves are groaning. Immediately after our text Paul writes about the Spirit of God groaning. So much groaning going on! Why all this groaning?
What About You?
There’s a difference between playing along with Jeopardy at home and taking the semester test in history class with 50% of your grade riding on how you perform. When you sit at home and watch Jeopardy you can throw out wrong answers and criticize the contestants when they incorrectly answer. It is just inconsequential diversion. But when you are taking a semester test that counts for 50% of your final grade, now you’ve got “some skin in the game.” Now your answers matter a great deal!
She Just Knew There Were Some Crumbs!
Our text for today has something for everyone. If you have ever felt like an outsider in God’s Kingdom, if you have ever felt unworthy of God’s love, if you have ever felt like you are not the “right stuff” for God. If you are a parent who has prayed for a sick or troubled child, if you have ever felt like God does not hear your prayers, like God is being dismissive with you, like God doesn’t hear you or doesn’t see you, this text is for you!
