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Friday Sermon | “The Good Samaritan” via Fighting for the Faith

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frisermonToday, we’ll be listening to Pastor Chris Rosebrough of Kongsvinger Lutheran Church. preach on the parable of the Good Samaritan. We’ll be listening to it via his online radio ministry Fighting for the Faith, because he also included the Sunday School lesson he taught on the same Sunday. Since both are included in one audio file, I thought it best to share it this way. Sound exegesis, proper distinction of Law and Gospel, pointing us to Christ.

 

Sermon Text

Luke 10:25-37 (ESV) | The Parable of the Good Samaritan

And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?” And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” And he said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.”

But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead. Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion. He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him. And the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.’ Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?” He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” And Jesus said to him, “You go, and do likewise.”

The Good Samaritan is Jesus. This parable points us to Him.

Hebrews 13:20-21 (ESV) Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do his will,working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.

In Christ Jesus,
Jorge

CTT | Repentance and Joyfulness

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The past couple of weeks have been rough in social media. Some heartbreaking news, some vitriolic ad hominem attacks, and a great deal of saber rattling… but through it all there were moments of genuine iron sharpening iron, where faithful stewards of God’s Word sought to cut through the hyperbole, through the rhetoric, isolating the Truth of the matter from the hurt, enmity, and vengeance. I don’t care to delve back into the who ordeal today, but if you’d like to know to what I’m referring, read here.

In the interest of focusing on what the Word of God teaches us concerning repentance, I thought today we’d take a look at this week’s edition of Grappling with the Text at WEtv.

Grappling: The Cheerful Heart of Proverbs

 

Proverbs 17:22 (ESV) A joyful heart is good medicine,
but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.

Psalm 32:1-5 (ESV) | Blessed Are the Forgiven
A Maskil of David.
32 Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven,
whose sin is covered.
2 Blessed is the man against whom the Lord counts no iniquity,
and in whose spirit there is no deceit.
3 For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away
through my groaning all day long.
4 For day and night your hand was heavy upon me;
my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer. Selah
5 I acknowledged my sin to you,
and I did not cover my iniquity;
I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,”
and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah

Proverbs 15:13-15 (ESV)
13 A glad heart makes a cheerful face,
but by sorrow of heart the spirit is crushed.
14 The heart of him who has understanding seeks knowledge,
but the mouths of fools feed on folly.
15 All the days of the afflicted are evil,
but the cheerful of heart has a continual feast.

Proverbs 12:25 (ESV) Anxiety in a man’s heart weighs him down,
but a good word makes him glad.

Such a wonderful lesson taught here, and notice how Rev Bryan Wolfmueller covered both Law and Gospel? Excellent.

In closing, let us look at the following passage toward the end of the Apostle Paul’s letter to the Philippians.

Philippians 4:4-9 (ESV)

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.

The Lord is at hand, do not be anxious, confess your sins to the LORD in prayer and know that He has forgiven you because of Jesus Christ our Savior.

In Christ Jesus,
Jorge

Church History | Christianity in America

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frisermonLately, I’ve been spending a lot more time studying Christian History and Orthodoxy than I have listening to current, mainstream preaching. In my wandering through a few Confessional Lutheran groups, someone shared a link to this teaching series by Dr. Dan van Voorhis  entitled Christianity in America. This series covers American Christianity from the Puritans through the modern-day Emergent Church. Fascinating series.

Daniel van Voorhis, PhD, is an Assistant Professor of History and Political Thought and Assistant Dean in the school of Arts and Sciences at Concordia University, Irvine. He has a BA in Theology and earned his PhD in Modern History from the University of St. Andrews (Scotland) in 2007. (source)

Dr Dan van Voorhis makes mention to handouts in the video that are available below. I’ll try to share some notes and links to things mentioned in the video that you may find helpful in understanding this material.

 

UPDATE 3/15/16

I just heard back from the wonderful folks at Faith Lutheran, and the handout for this video is available via their website FaithCapo.com. Look for Christianity in America Part 1, Word Doc under Attachments.

Some General Notes on things mentioned in this lesson:

I had posted this before I knew where to find the handouts. I tried to provide some useful links for understanding key people/events mentioned in this lesson.

  • Mark A. Noll is the non-Lutheran Historian quoted. (read more)
  • “A Brief History of Lutheran Pietism” series taught by Dr. Dan Van Voorhis
  • For an overview of the 30 Years War, click here.
  • England and Scotland was a place where many Christians sought refuge from persecution, they sought religious freedom in England. Let’s look at the monarchs and their reigns.
  • The New World
    • English Puritans weren’t leaving persecution. They were separatists leaving the protestant safe haven of England, where different “denominations” exchanged ideas.
    • “American” Christianity was born out of the Puritan Separatists came over pushing for a better Christianity, a Purer Christianity. American Christianity was novel and it measured its purity not by the Word of God, but by whether or not the nation would be successful. Things went well, so they assumed their version of Christianity was the right version.
    • Other individuals mentioned who are “the preachers; the Billy Grahams of the early American Church”
    • These early Puritan separatists attempts to create a new mix of faith and politics with poor uses of the Old Testament leading to Theonomy. In our day, there are self-labeled Theonomists in the trendy Calvinist camps. They are pointing back to these Puritans.

Some additional reading:

Hebrews 13:20-21 (ESV)

Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do his will,working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.

In Christ Jesus,
Jorge

CTT | Government Elections

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29 February 2014.

I’ll be brief today. As Christians, we are citizens of two completely different kingdoms… the Kingdom of Heaven and the kingdom(s) of this world. Our citizenship in the Kingdom of Heaven is by God’s Grace, through Faith in Christ Jesus.

Ephesians 2:1-10 (ESV) | By Grace Through Faith

2 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— 3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. 4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— 6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 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. 10 For we are his workmanship,created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand,that we should walk in them.

Romans 8:14-17 (ESV)

14 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. 15 For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!”16 The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.

Now, though we have been adopted as sons and daughters of the Most High God, while we continue in this life walking this cursed earth, we are subject to the Authorities set in place by God.

Romans 13:1-7 (ESV) | Submission to the Authorities

13 Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. 2 Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. 3 For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, 4 for he is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer. 5 Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God’s wrath but also for the sake of conscience. 6 For because of this you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing. 7 Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed.

Here in the United States, we live (for now) under a Federal Government that has clearly defined limits and guaranteed protections of rights endowed to us by our Creator. Part of this government system is the opportunity to elect our Representatives. This is both a blessing and a responsibility. We really don’t get to choose who will run, nor do we really choose who will “win” the nomination. We get to provide input via voting. We should do so in our service to our neighbor. An unbiblical work isn’t ever a good work. Speculative ventures, or supporting a candidate for reasons that are unbiblical don’t qualify as a good work. Ultimately, God is in control and His Will shall be done. I’m not writing to place the weight of the US Government on your shoulders… that’s not your weight to bear. It isn’t mine, either.

I’m writing today, to encourage my brothers and sisters in Christ to love your neighbor in executing your vocation as US Citizen in a God-Honoring way, so that your conscience may be clear. Don’t venture in speculation, for you have no way of knowing how a candidate “might” perform after you’ve cast your vote. It’s completely outside of your control. All you can do is cast your vote in support of the individual you consider to be the best for the job. And then, that’s it. It’s up to God and His plan.

The US may not survive much longer, but cast your vote faithfully. We may all lose our “political freedoms”, but cast your vote honorably. Our hope is not set on this life, we are not laying up treasures for ourselves in this world; rather, we are to lay up treasures in Heaven.

Matthew 6:19-21 (ESV) | Lay Up Treasures in Heaven

“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

No matter how you cast your vote, know that we dare not place our hope in anything other than Christ Jesus.

1 Peter 1:3-21 (ESV) | Born Again to a Living Hope

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls. Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired carefully, inquiring what person or time the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories. It was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves but you, in the things that have now been announced to you through those who preached the good news to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven,things into which angels long to look.

Called to Be Holy

Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.” And if you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one’s deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile, knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot. He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.

Do not be anxious for what tomorrow will bring. I say this as a word of encouragement that I myself struggle with… for which I am also in need of Grace.

Jude 24-25 (ESV) Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.

Amen, indeed.
In Christ Jesus,
Jorge