Greetings in the name of our Lord, Jesus Christ. Not much is new with me. I am just taking one day at a time and trying to survive classes. We are down to three and a half week of classes left and I am down to about 11 assignments left. I am getting more and more excited for spring and especially spring break. I did officially get registered for my final two classes of my seminary career next quarter. My friends are quite jealous that I only have two classes in our final quarter.
I just wanted to share with you what I have been thinking a lot about lately. I normally pick one psalm to kind of reflect on for a couple days. Living with them individually for a decent length of time really brings them to life for me. The psalm I have been stuck on for almost two weeks now is Psalm 103. It is such a beautiful psalm. I have been especially fascinated with verses 8 to 12. God is slow to anger but abounding in steadfast love. He does not deal with our sins or give us the punishment we deserve. Then there is this beautiful image of as far as the heavens are above the earth, so great is His steadfast love for us. We have sent probes to Mars and still have not been able to reach the limits of where the heavens begin. His love is truly so great we can never even begin to fully understand it. And then He removes our transgressions from us as far as the east is from the west. No if you really wanted to be scientific, you could Google the circumference of the earth from the date line back around to the date line and that would I suppose be the technical distance between the east and the west. But I really think the psalmist here is being more poetic than scientific. The same way when you look up at the sky, you have no idea how far it really goes, we really have no idea how great the Lord's love for us is. And the same for the east and the west. Especially being a Midwest kid who has been in the open prairie, when you are standing there and you look to the east and then look to the west, you can't being to guess how many miles the eye can see before the horizon each way. And yet, if you started walking east, the horizon never gets closer, and if you start walking west again the horizon never seems to get closer. In each direction, east continues to go farther east and west continues to go farther west. There is no limit to how far east is from the west. We cannot imagine how great God's love for us is and there is no limit to how far He has removed our sins from us through the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. When you see the true Gospel beauty in this poetic imagery of the psalmist, you really do want to say, "Bless the Lord, o my soul!" In Jesus name, Amen.
Wednesday, January 28, 2015
Monday, January 19, 2015
John 1 Sermon
Greetings in the name of the Lord, Jesus Christ. I have been feeling much better lately and actually finding some joy in life again. I preached this last Sunday and while it was the longest sermon I have ever preached, I do think it is one of the top three sermons that I have ever preached. It crossed the half an hour mark, which not everyone in church was thrilled with, but I still got quite a few compliments. I was supposed to video tape it for one of my classes and I was so excited to put the video up on here for all of you to watch. However, I tried to tape the entire service and apparently my SD card ran out of memory space about three minutes into my sermon. So I am going to have to just put up the manuscript like normal. I am going to preach in February and video tape that one, so I will have a video to put up here later.
I also kept Bible class extra long, and I joked that they were not going to let me come back next Sunday. However, everyone seemed to be really enjoying our introduction work to the book of Romans. I am really excited to keep working through Romans with them.
I also did Taste of the Sem this weekend. I attended this event when I was a junior in High School and it really helped me reaffirm that I wanted to go to the seminary and that St. Louis was the right one for me. When I attended, I had an awesome mentor who was crazy fun and helped me to see there were normal people at the seminary. So I volunteered to be a mentor and was paired up with two really cool students. We had such a good time together and they both personally thanked me for a fun time. I hope I helped to inspire them the same way my mentor inspired me. I pray God's blessings to both of them as they finish high school, chose a college, and hopefully some day make it back to the seminary as students.
Today was beautiful out so a friend and I played tennis. It was so much fun to play tennis again and to just enjoy the sunshine.
Here is my sermon manuscript. Hope you enjoy it.
I want you to look in on a discussion between Jesus and Nathaniel with me as we go through the story from this morning’s reading again. Phillip comes to Nathaniel excited and exclaiming he has found the one whom Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote about and his name is Jesus of Nazareth. Nathaniel questions it at first, but is quickly convinced when Jesus tells him He saw him under the fig tree. Nathaniel immediately knows this really is the one of the Law and prophets and he confesses, “You are the Son of God, you are the King of Israel.” Because of this one small miracle, this one small sign of power, Nathaniel is immediately convinced and believes. Then we hear Jesus say, “Because I said to you, ‘I saw you under the fig tree’ do you believe? You will see GREATER things than these.” Nathaniel knows Jesus is the true Son of God and the King of Israel. He knows Jesus is the one who the prophets wrote about. And yet Jesus still gives him the promise to see greater things.
Jesus further supports He is the one whom the Law and the prophets wrote about in verse 51 when he tells Nathaniel, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.” Now when you hear this verse what do you think of? Because if you only let your mind think of the book of John, Jesus almost looks like a liar here. Nowhere in the book of John do we see the heavens opened and angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man. However, remember what Phillip told Nathaniel, this Jesus of Nazareth is the one whom the Law and the Prophets wrote about. So go back to the Law and the Prophets, go back to the Old Testament, now can you think of anywhere where we see angels of God ascending and descending? It is Jacob’s ladder in Genesis 28 where Jacob dreams about a ladder set up on earth and the top of it reached to heaven. And the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. At the top Jacob saw the LORD and the LORD spoke to him and reaffirmed the promise to always be his God.
Why does Jesus tell Nathaniel he will see this? Jesus is telling Nathaniel that He is indeed the fulfillment to the Old Testament. Jesus, before he was incarnate in the flesh, is the one who was standing at the top of the ladder speaking to Jacob and now here he stands before Nathaniel in the flesh speaking to Him. Jesus is saying that he is the one whom the prophets prophesied about and He is the one who is between the heavenly and earthly realms. Jesus is the one who connects these two different realms of creation, he connected them in Jacob’s dream by standing at the top of the ladder, and He connects them now by being born in the flesh, being God dwelling on the earth. Jesus is the Son of God and He is the King of Israel, He is fully human and fully divine, He is the one who gives us access to our God and He always has been even in the Old Testament. This is why Jesus uses this Old Testament reference when telling Nathaniel you are going to see greater things than these.
Jesus is the fulfillment to the Old Testament, He is the one who gives us access to God, and He promises Nathaniel that he will see greater things. And yet, at this point you almost have to stop and ask what could be greater than seeing Jesus Christ, in the flesh standing immediately in front of you. Could Nathaniel really see anything greater than the Lord Jesus right there in front of Him? Jesus Himself is great, but he will do greater signs to show that He is the fulfillment of the Old Testament and that He is our access to God than simply this conversation with Nathaniel.
So where in Jesus’ ministry do we see these greater things? Well really everywhere, every time He teaches, every time He heals or preforms a miracle, every time he does or says anything it is truly great, but today I want to look at a few of the major GREAT things He does in His ministry that are great signs that He is Son of God.
First, at His baptism, the heavens are literally opened, the Spirit descends upon Him as a dove, and we hear the voice of the Father say, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” He is the beloved Son and the heavens are ripped open to declare this wonderful message, this Great news for all of us who have Jesus as our access to God.
Then, at Jesus’s transfiguration, first we see Moses and Elijah, the writer of the Law and one of the prophets standing with Jesus, and then again the heavens are opened and the Father speaks and says, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased, listen to him.” Then when the disciples look up again, Moses and Elijah are gone and only Christ is left standing there. He is the fulfillment of the Old Testament, again the heavens split wide open and Jesus is pronounced as the true Son of God, the one and only Great access to God.
What’s also good, is even as Jesus is hanging upon the cross, dying for the sin of the entire world, He cried out with a loud voice and yielded up his spirit. Right at the same time as He dies, the curtain in the temple is torn in two. The thick material that separated the Holy of Holies, the place where God dwelled in the temple from the place where the priests were allowed to be is gone. There is no more division between God and man, because Jesus’ death has removed the curtain, removed all barriers between us and our God, He has covered all sin and is our one and only GREAT access to God.
But finally through the empty tomb is His greatest sign. His resurrection from the dead allows Him to be our living and reigning access between us and God. He rose from the dead and appeared to the disciples again showing them that He is the Messiah who has defeated sin and death. He promises to be with the disciples always. He is still with His people even after He ascended into heaven to reign from there, and How Great is that, He is our access to God.
Jesus did all of the great amazing signs to show He was the fulfillment and is our access to God. I know you all believe in Jesus of Nazareth as the Son of God and the King of Israel. However, we hear these stories of the great things Jesus did a couple thousand years ago all the time. Maybe we even hear them too many times. Have we heard these stories so many times, over and over again, that they have lost their greatness? Have we become immune to the great things Jesus did?
Or maybe even worse, we let ourselves think, “Well yeah He did all of that great stuff 2000 years ago, but has He done anything great since then?” I mean look around our world and the shape it is in. Violence runs rampant from the Middle East where ISIS is killing Christians to the nearby community of Ferguson that riots over so called injustice. Over a million abortions are still happening every year. Same sex marriage is becoming more and more legal across our country. Has Jesus done anything great since He ascended into Heaven? Does the fact that He is our access to God really mean anything for us? Do you find yourself wondering these questions?
Well, to answer has He done anything great in the last 2000 years, the answer is YES. He has done great things every day for the last 2000 years. The church which was built up by the work of the Spirit after Pentecost grew by the thousands in the first couple years of the church. And while it may not always seem like the church is still growing today, it actually is. Missionaries continue to work in new nations, bringing the good news that Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of the Old Testament and that He is the access to God to all kinds of new people. The sheer fact that the church, the one body of believers, has spread across the world and has survived is a great thing in itself. Through all of the persecutions and trials, the church continues to cling to the Gospel message that Christ is the Son of God whom the heavens declared, He is the King of Israel who died on the cross to remove all barriers between us and God and He is our living and reigning Lord who is our access to God. He continues to do great things in your lives each and every day.
He provides food, clothes, and homes for you. He keeps you safe throughout the night as you sleep and is with you during the day as work. He has blessed you with family and friends who love you and support you. So yes, He has done great things and yes it does matter that He is our access to God.
One of the ways Jesus is our access to God is through His Word, the Scriptures. Through His Word we know His will for us and our lives, but we are also are given strength, encouragement, and joy. This last week my friend was having a really rough week. The weather has been dreary, he like most people is fighting the flu, he is stressed with homework, work, classes, and being married and getting ready to have their first child. He was almost in a depressed like state of just no energy, no motivation. However, he was reading his Bible for a class and he said he had on some music on in the background and was reading through the psalms, and he said he got chills. He finally felt like himself again, he finally felt joy in the midst of his life again. The Word of God gave him this joy in the midst of all the world is throwing at him. This is Jesus as our access to God, this is the Word who was made flesh giving him the energy and joy he needed to keep going. This is the great thing Jesus did for him that day.
Another way Jesus is our access to God is through prayer. My vicarage supervisor had a unique way of praying for church dinners. He would start by individually saying a prayer fitting to the season and the people at the dinner but then he would always end his prayer with, “and we invite you Jesus to be with us now as we join together in saying, Come Lord Jesus.” Then the whole group would join in the common table prayer. The first time he did this, I was blown away and had to stop and really think. I have been saying the common table prayer all my life since I was old enough to talk really. And this may have been the very first time in my life that I realized as we say, come Lord Jesus, we are inviting Him to be a guest with us as we eat. Every time since then I have realized this and truly think about not only that I am thankful for the food I am about to eat, but that Jesus is there with me, providing the nourishment my body needs. He is right there with me at every meal because I have the gift of prayer to ask Him to come join me. This is the greatness of having Jesus as our access to God. This is the great thing he continues to work in our lives every day.
Another way Jesus is our access to God is through confession and absolution. You spoke the words of the confession this very morning. And then as Pastor spoke the words of absolution to you, it was as if Jesus Himself was standing here saying, I forgive each and every one of you for all of your sins. Going back to your catechism, it reminds us that through the office of the keys Jesus gives the disciples and pastors the authority to forgive and we know your sins are forgiven because Pastor used the office of the keys this morning as he forgave your sins in the stead and by the authority of Jesus Christ, so they are truly forgiven. As Psalm 103 says, as far from the east is from the west, you have removed my transgressions from me. Because He died on the cross and removed all barriers between you and God he has the power to forgive all sins. And because He rose from the dead and is your living and reigning Lord, He does forgive you of all your sins. This is one more incredibly great thing He does for you.
One more way Jesus is our access to God is through communion. Here he not only offers you His actual body and blood, but He unites the heavenly and earthly realms. Our liturgy tells us this. Every time we have communion you hear Pastor say, with angels and archangels and all the accompany of Heaven, we join together to laud and magnify you ever more praising you and saying, “Holy, Holy. Holy”. So as we come to the rail, the heavens are opened to us and we are joined by the heavenly realm as we receive His body and blood for the strength of our faith and for the forgiveness of sins through the tangible elements of bread and wine. All of heaven and earth come together to laud and magnify the glorious name of the one who is the living Lord, the Son of God. This is the GREAT thing Jesus gives you every Sunday because He is your living access to God.
And finally the greatest thing of all that any of us will ever see is that final day. When Jesus, who is our access to God, returns to resurrect and glorify every human body. On that final day with the trumpets sounding, and every knee bent and every tongue confessing the same confession as Nathaniel, this is the greatest thing He will do for us. He will give you the same resurrection from the dead that He himself has accomplished. He will be your access to God who claims you as His own child because you have been washed and made clean in His name. He will welcome you into the new creation for the rest of eternity. Jesus, who is our access to God, continues to do great things in your life each and every day for you, and He will show you even greater things than these on that final day when He comes with all the glory of His Father to claim you as His own and be with you, physically standing in front of you for the rest of eternity.
In the name of Jesus Christ, who is the fulfillment of the Old Testament and is our access to God. Amen.
I also kept Bible class extra long, and I joked that they were not going to let me come back next Sunday. However, everyone seemed to be really enjoying our introduction work to the book of Romans. I am really excited to keep working through Romans with them.
I also did Taste of the Sem this weekend. I attended this event when I was a junior in High School and it really helped me reaffirm that I wanted to go to the seminary and that St. Louis was the right one for me. When I attended, I had an awesome mentor who was crazy fun and helped me to see there were normal people at the seminary. So I volunteered to be a mentor and was paired up with two really cool students. We had such a good time together and they both personally thanked me for a fun time. I hope I helped to inspire them the same way my mentor inspired me. I pray God's blessings to both of them as they finish high school, chose a college, and hopefully some day make it back to the seminary as students.
Today was beautiful out so a friend and I played tennis. It was so much fun to play tennis again and to just enjoy the sunshine.
Here is my sermon manuscript. Hope you enjoy it.
I want you to look in on a discussion between Jesus and Nathaniel with me as we go through the story from this morning’s reading again. Phillip comes to Nathaniel excited and exclaiming he has found the one whom Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote about and his name is Jesus of Nazareth. Nathaniel questions it at first, but is quickly convinced when Jesus tells him He saw him under the fig tree. Nathaniel immediately knows this really is the one of the Law and prophets and he confesses, “You are the Son of God, you are the King of Israel.” Because of this one small miracle, this one small sign of power, Nathaniel is immediately convinced and believes. Then we hear Jesus say, “Because I said to you, ‘I saw you under the fig tree’ do you believe? You will see GREATER things than these.” Nathaniel knows Jesus is the true Son of God and the King of Israel. He knows Jesus is the one who the prophets wrote about. And yet Jesus still gives him the promise to see greater things.
Jesus further supports He is the one whom the Law and the prophets wrote about in verse 51 when he tells Nathaniel, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.” Now when you hear this verse what do you think of? Because if you only let your mind think of the book of John, Jesus almost looks like a liar here. Nowhere in the book of John do we see the heavens opened and angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man. However, remember what Phillip told Nathaniel, this Jesus of Nazareth is the one whom the Law and the Prophets wrote about. So go back to the Law and the Prophets, go back to the Old Testament, now can you think of anywhere where we see angels of God ascending and descending? It is Jacob’s ladder in Genesis 28 where Jacob dreams about a ladder set up on earth and the top of it reached to heaven. And the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. At the top Jacob saw the LORD and the LORD spoke to him and reaffirmed the promise to always be his God.
Why does Jesus tell Nathaniel he will see this? Jesus is telling Nathaniel that He is indeed the fulfillment to the Old Testament. Jesus, before he was incarnate in the flesh, is the one who was standing at the top of the ladder speaking to Jacob and now here he stands before Nathaniel in the flesh speaking to Him. Jesus is saying that he is the one whom the prophets prophesied about and He is the one who is between the heavenly and earthly realms. Jesus is the one who connects these two different realms of creation, he connected them in Jacob’s dream by standing at the top of the ladder, and He connects them now by being born in the flesh, being God dwelling on the earth. Jesus is the Son of God and He is the King of Israel, He is fully human and fully divine, He is the one who gives us access to our God and He always has been even in the Old Testament. This is why Jesus uses this Old Testament reference when telling Nathaniel you are going to see greater things than these.
Jesus is the fulfillment to the Old Testament, He is the one who gives us access to God, and He promises Nathaniel that he will see greater things. And yet, at this point you almost have to stop and ask what could be greater than seeing Jesus Christ, in the flesh standing immediately in front of you. Could Nathaniel really see anything greater than the Lord Jesus right there in front of Him? Jesus Himself is great, but he will do greater signs to show that He is the fulfillment of the Old Testament and that He is our access to God than simply this conversation with Nathaniel.
So where in Jesus’ ministry do we see these greater things? Well really everywhere, every time He teaches, every time He heals or preforms a miracle, every time he does or says anything it is truly great, but today I want to look at a few of the major GREAT things He does in His ministry that are great signs that He is Son of God.
First, at His baptism, the heavens are literally opened, the Spirit descends upon Him as a dove, and we hear the voice of the Father say, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” He is the beloved Son and the heavens are ripped open to declare this wonderful message, this Great news for all of us who have Jesus as our access to God.
Then, at Jesus’s transfiguration, first we see Moses and Elijah, the writer of the Law and one of the prophets standing with Jesus, and then again the heavens are opened and the Father speaks and says, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased, listen to him.” Then when the disciples look up again, Moses and Elijah are gone and only Christ is left standing there. He is the fulfillment of the Old Testament, again the heavens split wide open and Jesus is pronounced as the true Son of God, the one and only Great access to God.
What’s also good, is even as Jesus is hanging upon the cross, dying for the sin of the entire world, He cried out with a loud voice and yielded up his spirit. Right at the same time as He dies, the curtain in the temple is torn in two. The thick material that separated the Holy of Holies, the place where God dwelled in the temple from the place where the priests were allowed to be is gone. There is no more division between God and man, because Jesus’ death has removed the curtain, removed all barriers between us and our God, He has covered all sin and is our one and only GREAT access to God.
But finally through the empty tomb is His greatest sign. His resurrection from the dead allows Him to be our living and reigning access between us and God. He rose from the dead and appeared to the disciples again showing them that He is the Messiah who has defeated sin and death. He promises to be with the disciples always. He is still with His people even after He ascended into heaven to reign from there, and How Great is that, He is our access to God.
Jesus did all of the great amazing signs to show He was the fulfillment and is our access to God. I know you all believe in Jesus of Nazareth as the Son of God and the King of Israel. However, we hear these stories of the great things Jesus did a couple thousand years ago all the time. Maybe we even hear them too many times. Have we heard these stories so many times, over and over again, that they have lost their greatness? Have we become immune to the great things Jesus did?
Or maybe even worse, we let ourselves think, “Well yeah He did all of that great stuff 2000 years ago, but has He done anything great since then?” I mean look around our world and the shape it is in. Violence runs rampant from the Middle East where ISIS is killing Christians to the nearby community of Ferguson that riots over so called injustice. Over a million abortions are still happening every year. Same sex marriage is becoming more and more legal across our country. Has Jesus done anything great since He ascended into Heaven? Does the fact that He is our access to God really mean anything for us? Do you find yourself wondering these questions?
Well, to answer has He done anything great in the last 2000 years, the answer is YES. He has done great things every day for the last 2000 years. The church which was built up by the work of the Spirit after Pentecost grew by the thousands in the first couple years of the church. And while it may not always seem like the church is still growing today, it actually is. Missionaries continue to work in new nations, bringing the good news that Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of the Old Testament and that He is the access to God to all kinds of new people. The sheer fact that the church, the one body of believers, has spread across the world and has survived is a great thing in itself. Through all of the persecutions and trials, the church continues to cling to the Gospel message that Christ is the Son of God whom the heavens declared, He is the King of Israel who died on the cross to remove all barriers between us and God and He is our living and reigning Lord who is our access to God. He continues to do great things in your lives each and every day.
He provides food, clothes, and homes for you. He keeps you safe throughout the night as you sleep and is with you during the day as work. He has blessed you with family and friends who love you and support you. So yes, He has done great things and yes it does matter that He is our access to God.
One of the ways Jesus is our access to God is through His Word, the Scriptures. Through His Word we know His will for us and our lives, but we are also are given strength, encouragement, and joy. This last week my friend was having a really rough week. The weather has been dreary, he like most people is fighting the flu, he is stressed with homework, work, classes, and being married and getting ready to have their first child. He was almost in a depressed like state of just no energy, no motivation. However, he was reading his Bible for a class and he said he had on some music on in the background and was reading through the psalms, and he said he got chills. He finally felt like himself again, he finally felt joy in the midst of his life again. The Word of God gave him this joy in the midst of all the world is throwing at him. This is Jesus as our access to God, this is the Word who was made flesh giving him the energy and joy he needed to keep going. This is the great thing Jesus did for him that day.
Another way Jesus is our access to God is through prayer. My vicarage supervisor had a unique way of praying for church dinners. He would start by individually saying a prayer fitting to the season and the people at the dinner but then he would always end his prayer with, “and we invite you Jesus to be with us now as we join together in saying, Come Lord Jesus.” Then the whole group would join in the common table prayer. The first time he did this, I was blown away and had to stop and really think. I have been saying the common table prayer all my life since I was old enough to talk really. And this may have been the very first time in my life that I realized as we say, come Lord Jesus, we are inviting Him to be a guest with us as we eat. Every time since then I have realized this and truly think about not only that I am thankful for the food I am about to eat, but that Jesus is there with me, providing the nourishment my body needs. He is right there with me at every meal because I have the gift of prayer to ask Him to come join me. This is the greatness of having Jesus as our access to God. This is the great thing he continues to work in our lives every day.
Another way Jesus is our access to God is through confession and absolution. You spoke the words of the confession this very morning. And then as Pastor spoke the words of absolution to you, it was as if Jesus Himself was standing here saying, I forgive each and every one of you for all of your sins. Going back to your catechism, it reminds us that through the office of the keys Jesus gives the disciples and pastors the authority to forgive and we know your sins are forgiven because Pastor used the office of the keys this morning as he forgave your sins in the stead and by the authority of Jesus Christ, so they are truly forgiven. As Psalm 103 says, as far from the east is from the west, you have removed my transgressions from me. Because He died on the cross and removed all barriers between you and God he has the power to forgive all sins. And because He rose from the dead and is your living and reigning Lord, He does forgive you of all your sins. This is one more incredibly great thing He does for you.
One more way Jesus is our access to God is through communion. Here he not only offers you His actual body and blood, but He unites the heavenly and earthly realms. Our liturgy tells us this. Every time we have communion you hear Pastor say, with angels and archangels and all the accompany of Heaven, we join together to laud and magnify you ever more praising you and saying, “Holy, Holy. Holy”. So as we come to the rail, the heavens are opened to us and we are joined by the heavenly realm as we receive His body and blood for the strength of our faith and for the forgiveness of sins through the tangible elements of bread and wine. All of heaven and earth come together to laud and magnify the glorious name of the one who is the living Lord, the Son of God. This is the GREAT thing Jesus gives you every Sunday because He is your living access to God.
And finally the greatest thing of all that any of us will ever see is that final day. When Jesus, who is our access to God, returns to resurrect and glorify every human body. On that final day with the trumpets sounding, and every knee bent and every tongue confessing the same confession as Nathaniel, this is the greatest thing He will do for us. He will give you the same resurrection from the dead that He himself has accomplished. He will be your access to God who claims you as His own child because you have been washed and made clean in His name. He will welcome you into the new creation for the rest of eternity. Jesus, who is our access to God, continues to do great things in your life each and every day for you, and He will show you even greater things than these on that final day when He comes with all the glory of His Father to claim you as His own and be with you, physically standing in front of you for the rest of eternity.
In the name of Jesus Christ, who is the fulfillment of the Old Testament and is our access to God. Amen.
Monday, January 12, 2015
Romans!
Greetings in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord. I apologize that is has been quite a while since I have posted anything on here. I had a pretty good break over the holidays. I did get a deer while hunting in Iowa before Christmas. I brought the meat back with me to St. Louis to start making a bunch of jerky for the guys on campus. Then for Christmas the whole family was together again. It was good to see the nephews again, I miss them so much. I spent the first week in Iowa and then the second week in Nebraska. New Years was a fun evening, but I still can't believe 2015 is here.
I am back in St. Louis and classes have started again. One of the reasons I haven't posted anything on here for a while is because I have been lacking all motivation lately. And it is not even just motivation for school work, I have been lacking motivation to do anything at all. I have been doing the bare minimum that I absolutely have to do to get by, but other than that I have no energy to be productive. I am not sure if it is because I am fighting getting sick, or just tired, or the cold dreary weather, or what it is? I love winter, but the cold is less fun without snow. I just have zero energy or drive.
That is until I started preparing my Bible Study on Romans for field work church. Saturday evening, I read through the first half of Romans and then cracked open Luther's Works on Romans and Martin Franzmann's commentary on Romans. Reading through these works and thinking deeply about this amazing letter of Paul's and this crucial book in the New Testament was the first time I have been enthusiastic about anything ministry related in quite some time. This fourth year of being back in school after experiencing the ministry on vicarage for a year is so much harder than I thought it would be. I just want to be back out in the church, not writing papers for profs, not reading books for a grade, but rather writing sermons for my actual people and reading books of my choice for my own personal gain. I just keep telling myself I only have six more weeks to grit through this quarter and then spring quarter I only have two classes left. I am hoping the warmer weather of spring, the smaller class load, and the excitement of being my final quarter of school EVER will give me the motivation I need to finish strong. Just six more weeks, just six more weeks!
However, back to Romans, if you own a Lutheran Study Bible, you need to go to the introduction section and read Luther's quote on what he thinks about this book. His quote really puts the significance of Romans into perspective and I am excited to start working through it in the adult class at Hope Lutheran in Highland, IL. We didn't have class last week because it started to rain and they were worried about it icing over. But next week we will get started and I am stoked. I also preach this coming Sunday, so I will post my sermon manuscript on here next week.
Please keep me in your prayers and blessings on your week.
I am back in St. Louis and classes have started again. One of the reasons I haven't posted anything on here for a while is because I have been lacking all motivation lately. And it is not even just motivation for school work, I have been lacking motivation to do anything at all. I have been doing the bare minimum that I absolutely have to do to get by, but other than that I have no energy to be productive. I am not sure if it is because I am fighting getting sick, or just tired, or the cold dreary weather, or what it is? I love winter, but the cold is less fun without snow. I just have zero energy or drive.
That is until I started preparing my Bible Study on Romans for field work church. Saturday evening, I read through the first half of Romans and then cracked open Luther's Works on Romans and Martin Franzmann's commentary on Romans. Reading through these works and thinking deeply about this amazing letter of Paul's and this crucial book in the New Testament was the first time I have been enthusiastic about anything ministry related in quite some time. This fourth year of being back in school after experiencing the ministry on vicarage for a year is so much harder than I thought it would be. I just want to be back out in the church, not writing papers for profs, not reading books for a grade, but rather writing sermons for my actual people and reading books of my choice for my own personal gain. I just keep telling myself I only have six more weeks to grit through this quarter and then spring quarter I only have two classes left. I am hoping the warmer weather of spring, the smaller class load, and the excitement of being my final quarter of school EVER will give me the motivation I need to finish strong. Just six more weeks, just six more weeks!
However, back to Romans, if you own a Lutheran Study Bible, you need to go to the introduction section and read Luther's quote on what he thinks about this book. His quote really puts the significance of Romans into perspective and I am excited to start working through it in the adult class at Hope Lutheran in Highland, IL. We didn't have class last week because it started to rain and they were worried about it icing over. But next week we will get started and I am stoked. I also preach this coming Sunday, so I will post my sermon manuscript on here next week.
Please keep me in your prayers and blessings on your week.