Written Sermon 5/1/2022

CWC - Easter 3 - Lesson - Kieth Bernard Kuschel

Acts 9:1-22

Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples. He went to the high priest 2 and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem. 3 As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. 4 He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”5 “Who are you, Lord?” Saul asked.“I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” he replied. 6 “Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”7 The men traveling with Saul stood there speechless; they heard the sound but did not see anyone. 8 Saul got up from the ground, but when he opened his eyes he could see nothing. So they led him by the hand into Damascus. 9 For three days he was blind, and did not eat or drink anything.10 In Damascus there was a disciple named Ananias. The Lord called to him in a vision, “Ananias!”“Yes, Lord,” he answered.11 The Lord told him, “Go to the house of Judas on Straight Street and ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying. 12 In a vision he has seen a man named Ananias come and place his hands on him to restore his sight.”13 “Lord,” Ananias answered, “I have heard many reports about this man and all the harm he has done to your holy people in Jerusalem. 14 And he has come here with authority from the chief priests to arrest all who call on your name.”15 But the Lord said to Ananias, “Go! This man is my chosen instrument to proclaim my name to the Gentiles and their kings and to the people of Israel. 16 I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.”17 Then Ananias went to the house and entered it. Placing his hands on Saul, he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord—Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you were coming here—has sent me so that you may see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” 18 Immediately, something like scales fell from Saul’s eyes, and he could see again. He got up and was baptized, 19 and after taking some food, he regained his strength. Saul spent several days with the disciples in Damascus. 20 At once he began to preach in the synagogues that Jesus is the Son of God. 21 All those who heard him were astonished and asked, “Isn’t he the man who raised havoc in Jerusalem among those who call on this name? And hasn’t he come here to take them as prisoners to the chief priests?” 22 Yet Saul grew more and more powerful and baffled the Jews living in Damascus by proving that Jesus is the Messiah.

What do you want to be when you grow up?

Believer and a proclaimer

Strength from Jesus

I. To stop persecuting Jesus

A. Saul’s History

1. Acts 7 & 8

2. Acts 9

3. Jesus stopped it

B. Us

1. Persecuting by negative talks

2. Persecuting by ungodliness

II. To believe Jesus is the Savior

A. Saul’s History

1. Pharisee

2. Old Testament knowledgeable

3. Familiar with the events of Jesus life

B. Jesus’ appearance

1. What it said to Saul

2. What it did to Saul

C. Our History

1. Pharisees by nature

2. Life of Jesus is a fairy tale

3. We believe because of Jesus’ action

II. To proclaim that Jesus is God

A. Saul’s history

1. Wait for orders

2. Orders from Jesus

3. In synagogues

4. Debates

B. Our History

1. Orders are clear

2. Congregational

3. Wisdom to defend truth

IA1 What do we know about Saul? He is first mentioned in Acts 7:57 They covered their ears and, yelling at the top of their voices, they all rushed at Stephen, 58 dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. Meanwhile, the witnesses laid their coats at the feet of a young man named Saul. 8:1 And Saul approved of their killing him. On that day a great persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria. 2 Godly men buried Stephen and mourned deeply for him. 3 But Saul began to destroy the church. Going from house to house, he dragged off both men and women and put them in prison. Saul was doing this because these people believed that Jesus of Nazareth was the Savior.

2 He wasn’t satisfied with doing it in Jerusalem. Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples. He went to the high priest 2 and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem. His reputation had spread as far north as Damascus. 13 “Lord,” Ananias answered, “I have heard many reports about this man and all the harm he has done to your holy people in Jerusalem. 14 And he has come here with authority from the chief priests to arrest all who call on your name.” . 21 All those who heard him were astonished and asked, “Isn’t he the man who raised havoc in Jerusalem among those who call on this name? And hasn’t he come here to take them as prisoners to the chief priests?”

3 3 As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. 4 He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”5 “Who are you, Lord?” Saul asked.“I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” he replied. 6 “Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.” Saul was persecuting the members of the body of Christ, thus persecuting Christ. Jesus stopped Saul from persecuting Him.

B1 “I sure am glad that I never persecuted Jesus as Saul did.” Isn’t that how we tend to respond to this incident? Wait a minute. If hating is the same as murder, and lust is the same as adultery, and coveting is the same as stealing, then any hindrance to the preaching of the Gospel is the same as persecuting Jesus. So, when I talk negatively about my congregation and am openly critical of its ministry, I am convincing whoever hears me do that to not come to here to hear about Jesus. That is persecuting Jesus.

2 You are Christians. People have the right to expect that you live the way Jesus wants people to live. When you don’t live your godliness, people in the world are going to react by saying, “I wouldn’t consider having Jesus a part of my life, if that is the way Christians live.” You have just driven that person away from Jesus. That is persecuting Jesus. LORD JESUS, please give me the strength to stop persecuting You.

IIA1 Saul had been a Pharisee during his early years. That means he believed that he could make himself right with God by following God’s laws and by following the rabbinic laws. So when Jesus taught that all humans are sinners, and that nobody can make himself right with God by what he does, Saul evaluated Jesus as a false teacher. He insisted that anyone who took the attitude of Jesus was against God’s laws and therefore should be put to death.

2 Saul as a practicer of Judaism was familiar with the Old Testament. He knew that any human being who put himself on the same level as God was a blasphemer. The way Christians talked about Jesus made it seem as if they thought He was God. This was revolting to a strict adherent of Judaism.

3 When Jesus said to Saul, “I am Jesus whom you are persecuting,” Saul knew right away who was talking. He was familiar with the life and actions of Jesus. He had evaluated them and had decided that Jesus of Nazareth could not possibly be the Christ, the Messiah.

B1 When Jesus appeared to Saul, He was saying to Saul, “I am the promised Messiah in spite of what you think. I died on the cross to give forgiveness to the world. I lived and never sinned so that I could cover the world with holiness. I rose from the dead so that people can live forever. These people whom you are persecuting believe this and they are right.”

2 The next thing we hear Saul is doing is preaching that Jesus is the Son of God. He was proving that Jesus is the Christ. Jesus’ appearance had turned Saul into a believer.

C1 Human beings on our own are all like Saul. We insist that we are good people. We insist that we are better than a lot of other people. We insist that we do a pretty good job of doing what is right. We insist that God ought to be pleased with our best efforts. In effect all human beings are home grown Pharisees.

2 On our own we all think the record of Jesus’ life is just another fairy tale. The people around us reinforce that idea. Virgins don’t have babies. Humans can’t heal the sick, stop storms and raise the dead. Somebody’s life and death that happened 2,000 years ago is irrelevant to people living today.

3 And yet we are here today confessing that we believe that Jesus is really God and really human. We believe that His death washes away our sins. His holiness makes us right with God. His resurrection gives us eternal life. How did this happen? Jesus gave us the strength to believe that we are sinners who need Him and that He is who He claimed to be. LORD JESUS, please give me the strength to keep believing that You are my Savior.

IIIA1 After Jesus appeared to Saul and informed Him that He was who He claimed to be, He took charge of Saul’s life. Saul obeyed. 6 “Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”7 The men traveling with Saul stood there speechless; they heard the sound but did not see anyone. 8 Saul got up from the ground, but when he opened his eyes he could see nothing. So they led him by the hand into Damascus. 9 For three days he was blind, and did not eat or drink anything. Quite a change from somebody who wanted to get rid of anything connected with Jesus to someone who patiently waited for orders from Jesus.

2 His wait was over when Ananias came. 10 In Damascus there was a disciple named Ananias. The Lord called to him in a vision, “Ananias!”“Yes, Lord,” he answered.11 The Lord told him, “Go to the house of Judas on Straight Street and ask for a man from Tarsus named

Saul, for he is praying. “Go! This man is my chosen instrument to proclaim my name to the Gentiles and their kings and to the people of Israel. 16 I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.” Quite a change from somebody who opposed Jesus to somebody who was going to openly proclaim Jesus to the world.

3 Saul did what the LORD told him he was to be doing. 20 At once he began to preach in the synagogues that Jesus is the Son of God. Quite a change from somebody convinced that Jesus was a blasphemer to some who openly told others that Jesus was the Son of God.

4 Saul was challenged about his proclamation about Jesus. But the LORD gave him the strength and the wisdom to rise to the challenge. Saul grew more and more powerful and baffled the Jews living in Damascus by proving that Jesus is the Messiah. Saul was able from the Old Testament Scriptures to prove that Jesus was the One anointed by God to bring God’s truth to people, to sacrifice Himself to pay for the sins of the world, and to rule people’s lives through His Word.

B1 We have been given orders by the LORD Jesus. We don’t have to wait for a while before we learn what they are. God allows us to live in this world to share the forgiveness, holiness, and eternal life which Jesus won by His life, death and resurrection with others. We are to give Jesus and His blessings to our family members, to our friends, to our acquaintances, to our coworkers, to our classmates.

2 We exist as a congregation, a gathered group of followers of Jesus, to do the same. Everything we do here is connected with sharing Jesus and His blessings with each other and others. That’s why we worship together, have Bible study together, do fellowship activities together, operate educational agencies together, use our money together.

3 Sometimes as we share Jesus with the people in our lives, we are challenged as Saul was. We need to have the truth of God well enough ingrained in our souls so that we could do what Saul did: proclaim that Jesus is God and prove that He is the Messiah. There is only one way that is going to happen. We need to be involved in personal and group study of the Scripture so the LORD equips us with the strength and courage to stand up for the truth and the wisdom to be able to apply it. LORD JESUS, please give me the strength to keep proclaiming that You are God.

Written Sermon 4/24/2022

CWC- Easter 2 - Lesson -  Kieth Bernard Kuschel

                         Acts 5:12, 17-32

 The apostles performed many signs and wonders among the people. And all the believers used to meet together in Solomon’s Colonnade.

17 Then the high priest and all his associates, who were members of the party of the Sadducees, were filled with jealousy. 18 They arrested the apostles and put them in the public jail. 19 But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the doors of the jail and brought them out. 20 “Go, stand in the temple courts,” he said, “and tell the people all about this new life.”21 At daybreak they entered the temple courts, as they had been told, and began to teach the people. When the high priest and his associates arrived, they called together the Sanhedrin—the full assembly of the elders of Israel—and sent to the jail for the apostles. 22 But on arriving at the jail, the officers did not find them there. So they went back and reported, 23 “We found the jail securely locked, with the guards standing at the doors; but when we opened them, we found no one inside.” 24 On hearing this report, the captain of the temple guard and the chief priests were at a loss, wondering what this might lead to.25 Then someone came and said, “Look! The men you put in jail are standing in the temple courts teaching the people.” 26 At that, the captain went with his officers and brought the apostles. They did not use force, because they feared that the people would stone them.27 The apostles were brought in and made to appear before the Sanhedrin to be questioned by the high priest. 28 “We gave you strict orders not to teach in this name,” he said. “Yet you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and are determined to make us guilty of this man’s blood.”29 Peter and the other apostles replied: “We must obey God rather than human beings! 30 The God of our ancestors raised Jesus from the dead—whom you killed by hanging him on a cross. 31 God exalted him to his own right hand as Prince and Savior that he might bring Israel to repentance and forgive their sins. 32 We are witnesses of these things
How did you spend Easter?

Locked room? Jesus spent forty days with His disciples after He rose.  He answered their questions about His work.  He wanted them to have the tools and courage to spread the message about Him without His physical presence. Did it work? On Pentecost they spoke boldly about Jesus, not cowering as fearful weaklings behind locked doors.  Peter said, {2:23}“you with the help of wicked men, put Jesus to death by nailing him to the cross.” Peter courageously confronted them with their sin.  After Peter and John healed a crippled beggar at the temple gate, Peter said,{3:16} “It is Jesus’ name and the faith that comes through Him that has given this complete healing to Him, as you can all see.” Because of that action, the religious high court put them in prison.  When they were given a chance to explain themselves, they said, {4:10}“It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the death, that this man stands before you completely healed.” Peter again courageously confronted them with their sin Peter and John were released and told not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus.  They did anyway.  The first verses of today’s lesson say,  12 The apostles performed many signs and wonders among the people. And all the believers used to meet together in Solomon’s Colonnade. 17 Then the high priest and all his associates, who were members of the party of the Sadducees, were filled with jealousy. 18 They arrested the apostles and put them in the public jail 19 But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the doors of the jail and brought them out. 20 “Go, stand in the temple courts,” he said, “and tell the people all about this new life.”21 At daybreak they entered the temple courts, as they had been told, and began to teach the people. 26 At that, the captain went with his officers and brought the apostles. 29 Peter and the other apostles replied: “We must obey God rather than human beings! 30 The God of our ancestors raised Jesus from the dead —whom you killed by hanging him on a cross.  Peter a third time courageously confronted them with their sin  {33} The Sanhedrin members were furious when they heard this and wanted to put them to death.   Peter and John knew that was the reaction that they were going to get.  Why did they do it anyway?  They weren’t afraid of death anymore.  Jesus’ resurrection had proven to them that death was not the end.  If they were put to death proclaiming God’s law, they could face it with courage, knowing that resurrection to eternal life was waiting for them. God’s law says: “You are a sinner.  You deserve to be punished because of the wrong that you have done.”  How does that make you feel?  Defensive.  Angry. Combative.  Just like the members of the Sanhedrin. But God the Holy Spirit has led you to respond to the law by saying, “I know I am a sinner.  I know I deserve to be punished.”  When you tell somebody, as Peter and John did, that they sinned, you can expect the same reaction.  Try saying these to somebody: “You are sinning when you tell everybody else what someone failed to do, instead of talking to the person who produced the failure.”  “You are sinning when you waste your money instead of using it the way God wants it used.”  “You are sinning when you don’t use the Word with your congregational family.” Expect a defensive, angry, combative response. Why confront people with sin?  They need to repent of it, otherwise it will separate them from Jesus.  Where do we get the courage from?  Well, what is the worst that could happen to us? Ridicule.  Vicious words. Death.   Death isn’t the end.  Jesus resurrection proves that.  Jesus’ resurrection gives us, as it gave Peter, the courage to speak the law to others. If I were a member of the crowds Peter addressed, I would have asked: How can you claim that Jesus of Nazareth is doing these miracles, and at the same time accuse us of putting Him to death?”  Peter and John’s answer is:30 The God of our ancestors raised Jesus from the dead—whom you killed by hanging him on a cross. 31 God exalted him to his own right hand as Prince and Savior that he might bring Israel to repentance and forgive their sins. 32 We are witnesses of these things.  The miracles of the apostles were evidence that Jesus was alive and well. That is what really bothered the Jewish religious leaders.  They hadn’t believed Jesus was the Messiah.  They thought they had stopped the idea by killing Him.  Now the idea was being promoted by others.  These followers of Jesus were claiming Jesus was alive.  They were pointing to their miracles as evidence of it.  The apostles continued to proclaim Jesus and perform miracles in spite of their knowledge that this would lead to more confrontations with the religious leaders because they knew that what they were claiming was true.  They had seen Jesus alive.  They had interacted with Him for forty days.  The resurrection of Jesus had given them the courage to proclaim the Good News that Jesus was who he claimed to be.  In all the public presentations of the apostles up to this point in the book of Acts, the content is the same and it becomes a broken record.  “You killed Jesus.  God raised Him from the dead.  That is proof that He was who He claimed to be.  He is the Savior and Messiah long promised.”  That is the way the first presentation to the Sanhedrin ended.  That is the way the speech to the people in the temple after the healing of the beggar ended.  That is the way the sermon at Pentecost ended.  That is the way the speech before us today ended.  

Where did the apostles get the courage to proclaim the good news that Jesus was the Messiah?  Something that was very obviously a disputed teaching in their situation.  From the resurrection of Jesus.  That gave them the courage to know their message was true and should be proclaimed.    

We have much less proof that Jesus rose from the dead than the apostles had.  We have not personally, physically seen Him.  We have not talked to Him after He rose.  We have not eaten with Him or spent forty days with Him.  Our evidence comes from those who did.  It has been recorded for us in the Bible.  It is on that basis that the Holy Spirit has convinced each of us that He did rise. 

From where do we get the courage to proclaim the Gospel?  From where does the courage come for us to say, “Jesus is true God, the Savior, the only way to eternal life”?  Same place the apostles got it.  The resurrection of Jesus.  Jesus’ resurrection proves everything about Him to be true.  The empty tomb should be the symbol of Christianity. 

 Why does the resurrection of Jesus give us boldness to talk about Jesus the Savior being the only way to eternal life?  Because although we can’t give actual proof of the truthfulness of the Gospel message today, on the last day when we rise with everybody else because of Jesus’ resurrection, everything Jesus taught will be proven to be true.  That gives us courage now.  

God gave the apostles some very tough orders in this section of the Bible.   20 “Go, stand in the temple courts,” he said, “and tell the people all about this new life.”   Go back to  the temple and do the same thing in the same place where you got arrested for doing that once before.  That is just crazy.

Sometimes the first time doing a difficult task is the easiest.  After you have gotten arrested once, doing it the second and third time is much harder.  But the apostles did it.  The LORD gave them the courage to do it.  

Jesus had told the apostles they were to speak about Him in the presence of the leaders of the people.  The apostles were aware that these people didn’t want to listen to them.  Those leaders wanted to get rid of them.  They would use everything they said against them.  Why should they expose themselves to attack by these people?

But the apostles did it.  The LORD gave them the courage to carry out His orders to speak to people who from a human standpoint didn’t deserve to hear the truth.  Sometimes, the task isn’t as difficult as getting over the hurdle of our distaste for the people we are supposed to deal with. 

 The apostles in this situation made a wonderful statement about their purpose in life.  {29}“We must obey God rather than human beings!”  There were a whole lot of forces tugging at them.  Their own safety.  Their responsibility to the church in Jerusalem.  Good PR in the community.  What should be most important?  They decided obeying God was most important.  God gave them the courage to make that decision.  

 God has given us the same orders that He gave the apostles.  We are to repeat His message to people over and over again.  Tell the person over and over again that sexual activity outside of marriage is sin.  Every time you say it, it gets harder.   Tell the indifferent person over and over again that Jesus’ death wipes away his sin,  Jesus’ life give him holiness, and Jesus’ resurrection insures eternal life.  It even sounds like a broken record to you.  Every time you say it,  it gets harder.  Where do we get the courage to be boldly repetitious?  We know Jesus is working right along side us.  How do we know?   Jesus rose.  

God has given us the same orders that He gave the apostles.  We are to give His message to people who from our perspective don’t deserve the truth and are distasteful to us.  To people who enjoy ridiculing us.  To people who will use what we say against us.  To people who don’t like us.  To people who treat us condescendingly.  To people who are doing disgusting things.  Where do we get the courage to do this?  We know Jesus is working right along side us.  How do we know?   Jesus rose.  

God has given us the same orders that He gave the apostles.  We are to obey Him rather than humans.  Obeying Him is more important than our financial security, our job success, our reputation in the community, our enjoyment of life or anything else.  Where do we get the courage to make priority decisions and obey God?  We know Jesus is working right along side us.  How do we know?   Jesus rose. 

 Conc: Risen LORD JESUS, please continue to give me the courage to proclaim Law and Gospel and to obey You.    

Written Sermon 4/17/2022

CWC Old Testament Lesson Easter Sunday - KB Kuschel

Exodus 15:1-12

15 Then Moses and the Israelites sang this song to the Lord: “I will sing to the Lord, for he is highly exalted. Both horse and its rider he has hurled into the sea. 2 “The Lord is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation. He is my God, and I will praise him, my father’s God, and I will exalt him. 3 The Lord is a warrior; the Lord is his name. 4 Pharaoh’s chariots and his army he has hurled into the sea. The best of Pharaoh’s officers are drowned in the Red Sea. 5 The deep waters have covered them; they sank to the depths like a stone. 6 Your right hand, O Lord, was majestic in power. Your right hand, O Lord, shattered the enemy. 7 “In the greatness of your majesty you threw down those who opposed you. You unleashed your burning anger; it consumed them like stubble. 8 By the blast of your nostrils the waters piled up. The surging waters stood firm like a wall; the deep waters congealed in the heart of the sea. 9 The enemy boasted, ‘I will pursue, I will overtake them. I will divide the spoils; I will gorge myself on them. I will draw my sword and my hand will destroy them.’ 10 But you blew with your breath, and the sea covered them. They sank like lead in the mighty waters. 11 Who among the gods is like you, O Lord? Who is like you— majestic in holiness, awesome in glory, working wonders?

Reminders of Easter: Flowers, Eggs, Rabbits, Butterflies,

Moses and the Red Sea???

IA1 Israel had been in Egypt for 400 years. They had become forced laborers who built the pyramids and other public works projects. God sent the ten plagues to convince the Pharaoh to let them leave Egypt. Pharaoh let them go.

2 Israel began the journey away. Pharaoh changed his mind. Pharaoh’s chariots and army came charging after Israel. Israel was caught between the enemy army and the Red Sea.

B1 Who are the enemies in your life? Sometimes people are. We are being inundated with anti-bullying presentations. Why? Because people do bad things to other people. Their actions hurt us physically. Their words hurt us emotionally. Their opposition hurts us spiritually.

2 Who is the worst enemy in your life? You are. Why? Listen to St Paul. Rom 7:19 What I do is not the good I want to do; no the evil I do not want to do - this I keep on doing.”

3 Who is another enemy? The devil. His whole purpose is to disconnect you from your relationship with Jesus. Listen to Peter: 1 Pet 5:8 Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.

4 Who is the last enemy we should mention? This enemy shuts down our bodies. This enemy wants to put an end to our existence. Listen to Paul 1 Cor 15:26 The last enemy.... is death.

C1 Jesus engaged all our enemies. People like the Pharisees tried to get Him to sin by backing Him into a corner. It never worked. He never caved in. They did. The confrontations always ended like this. Luke 20:40 No one dared to ask him any more questions.

2 The devil did his best to get Jesus to sin. None of the temptations were successful. They always ended the same way. Matt 4:11 Then the devil left him.”

3 Jesus died. That’s what we commemorated on Friday. But today we are reminded. Rom 6:9 Death no longer has mastery over Christ.”

D1 Why was Jesus of Nazareth able to overcome all of our enemies? Because Jesus of Nazareth is the LORD. The LORD has become our salvation. How do we know that for sure? Because of His resurrection. Human beings aren’t strong enough to conquer temptations to sin from other people or the devil. Human beings can’t conquer death. Only God can. So St Paul wrote:Rom1:4 He was declared with power to be the the Son of God by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord.

2 There is a practical, spiritual consequence for us because Jesus conquered all our spiritual enemies. It means that those enemies can’t dish out the consequences of our sins: We can’t be judged guilty and sentenced to punishment. How do we know that? Jesus resurrection proves that His work to wash away our guilt was successful. God declares us to be “Not Guilty” because of the work of Jesus. : Listen to Paul once more: Rom 4:25 Jesus was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.”

He is not here. He has risen. The LORD has become our Salvation.

Sing Hymn 152:1-3

IIA1 What did the LORD do to become salvation for Moses and the Israelites? 8 By the blast of your nostrils the waters piled up. The surging waters stood firm like a wall; the deep waters congealed in the heart of the sea. Because of God’s action Moses and Israel walked through the Red Sea on dry land.

2 But He acted again. 10 But you blew with your breath, and the sea covered them. They sank like lead in the mighty waters. 4 Pharaoh’s chariots and his army he has hurled into the sea. The best of Pharaoh’s officers are drowned in the Red Sea. 5 The deep waters have covered them; they sank to the depths like a stone. Thus the words: The LORD has become my salvation.

B1 The LORD has also acted in order to become our salvation. The first thing He did was take on Himself our humanity. He had to do that. In order to engage our enemies for us He had to be in exactly the situation in which we are when they engage us.

2 Then as a real human being He could experience being trapped in a situation where both options offered to us are sin. Then He could experience real doubt about God’s desire and ability to care for us. Then He could experience real desire to focus on what we can see and touch rather than the supernatural, spiritual world. Jesus did experience all that. And He never sinned. So He can cover us with His holiness and make us acceptable to God.

3 As a real human being He could experience death and separation from God for us, so that God could justly free us from that punishment for our sins, because we have already suffered it in our Substitute Jesus.

C1 Last week when you were in that situation where your two choices were to either lie or hurt somebody, how come you didn’t do either? Because you are connected to Jesus, and He gave you the wisdom to figure it out.

2 Last week when the devil was trying to convince you that God doesn’t care about you since He has again let you experience chest pain and shortness of breath, how come you still are convinced that God loves you? Because you are connected to Jesus, and He gave you the strength to overcome that doubt.

3 Sometime in the future when physical death grabs you, how come you are going to be able to continue to live forever? Because you are connected to Jesus, and He will allow you to continue to live forever with Him.

D1 Do we have any proof that Jesus can grant us this unending life? Yes. He resurrection. Jesus said: John 14;19: Because I live, you also will live. John 11:25: I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever lives and believes in me will never die.

2 Do we have any proof that Jesus can grant us the wisdom and strength to live out our relationship with Him appropriately? Yes. His resurrection. Rom 6:5 If we have been united with Christ in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection. 6 For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be rendered powerless, that we should no longer be slaves to sin.

He is not here. He has risen. The LORD has become our Salvation.

Sing Hymn 152:4 & 5

IIIA1 How did Moses and the Israelites respond to what God had done? 15 Then Moses and the Israelites sang this song to the Lord: “I will sing to the Lord, for he is highly exalted. Both horse and its rider he has hurled into the sea. 2 “The Lord is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation. He is my God, and I will praise him, my father’s God, and I will exalt him. 3 The Lord is a warrior; the Lord is his name. 11 Who among the gods is like you, O Lord? Who is like you— majestic in holiness, awesome in glory, working wonders? They responded with words of praise.

2 Moses and the Israelites also responded by continuing on their journey back to Palestine. Why did they do that? Because God told them to. They responded with actions of obedience.

B1 How do we respond to what God has done for us? With our words of praise. When I ask people, “Why do you come to worship Jesus every week?” the first answer I usually get is “Because I want to hear the Word of God and stay locked in to Jesus.” As the game show host says, “Good answer.”

2 There is another equally important answer. When you sing and say, “2 “The Lord is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation. He is my God, and I will praise him, all the rest of the people present hear that. The Christians are reminded by you that Jesus lived and died and rose for them. That is why the LORD has become their salvation. That reminder is used by the Holy Spirit to lock them into their relationship with Jesus. Words of praise.

3 There is yet a third answer. When you sing and say, “3 The Lord is a warrior; the Lord is his name. 11 Who among the gods is like you, O Lord? Who is like you— majestic in holiness, awesome in glory, working wonders?, all the rest of the people present hear that. The nonChristians are informed by you that Jesus lived and died and rose for them. That is why the LORD has become their salvation. That information is used by the Holy Spirit to bring them into a relationship with Jesus. Words of praise.

C1 How do we respond to what God has done for us? We live our lives confident that the LORD is going to continue to keep His promises to us. He will provide for us as long as we are on this earth. He will protect us until it is time to be with Him. He will keep our trust that Jesus lived and died and rose for us strong. He will be with us always and get us through the difficulties and problems of life. Actions of praise.

2 How do we respond to what God has done for us? We live our lives confident that He will equip us to be good parents, good children, good workers, good citizens, good leaders or whatever else we might happen to be in life. We live our lives confident that He will equip us to make use of opportunities to share Jesus’ forgiveness, holiness, and eternal life with the people around us. We live our lives confident that He will equip us to live His way to point people to Him. Actions of praise

Conc: Why do we fill our lives with words and actions of praise to Jesus? Because He has become our salvation and we want Him to become salvation for others. How do we know He can become salvation for others? Because of Easter. He is not here. He has risen.

Sing Hymn 152, 6-8

THE LORD HAS BECOME MY SALVATION

Written Sermon 4/10/2022

CWC- Epistle Lesson - Palm Sunday - KBKuschel

Philippians 2:5-9

5 In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: 6 Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; 7 rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death— even death on a cross! 9 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name,10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

What did the Palm Sunday crowds say about Jesus?

Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the LORD.

What did the crowds say about Jesus on Good Friday? Crucify Him. A contradiction.

What are we as humans? Sinners.

What does God consider us because of Jesus? Holy, forgiven people. A contradiction.

Today we want to look the contradiction of Christ and Christians. Attitude seems like a contradiction to exaltation.

IA1 People in high positions frequently exploit every privilege they can get. They squeeze out every advantage for themselves that they can find in their positions. Not Jesus. Paul wrote: Christ Jesus: 6 Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage.

2 7 Rather, he made himself nothing. He was God. But He didn’t use His almighty power all the time. It was there, He just didn’t use it. He was God. He could have looked like He did on the Mt of Transfiguration all the time. But He didn’t. He looked like a lower level social classed human being.

3 “Taking the very nature of a servant.” Instead of doing things for His own advantage, He served. He taught people the truths they needed to know for their spiritual well-being. He gave them the help they needed for their physical well-being.

4 Being made in human likeness. 8 And being found in appearance as a man.” If you had been there to watch Jesus of Nazareth during His life, most of the time what would you have concluded about Him? He was a real human being. That of course is true. He was made a human through conception and birth. He looked like a human throughout His life.

5 “He humbled himself.” He allowed Himself to be ridiculed as just Joseph the carpenter’s son. He allowed Himself to rejected and almost thrown over a cliff. He allowed Himself to be captured by humans who were much weaker than He. He allowed Himself to be judged guilty of blasphemy and deserving of death.

6 Why? By becoming obedient to death— even death on a cross! All of this was about obedience. He took on humanity in obedience to the Father’s plan for the salvation of humans. He lived and obeyed all the commandments of God perfectly so He could cover us with His holiness. He obediently died on the cross to wash away our sins and to take the punishment of death and hell on Himself which we deserved, so that He could rescue us from it.

B1 Paul’s directive to us is: 5 In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus. Don’t use your position for your own advantage. It’s easy to do, isn’t it. I am the leader so I can make the people under me do things for me that they don’t really have to do.

2 Make yourself nothing. If you are a very influential person, why does anybody need to know that? If you are a very wealthy person, why does anybody need to know that? If you are very high up on the social ladder of society, why does anybody need to know that?

3 Take the nature of a servant. Get down on the floor and help the little one with her boots. Get down on the floor and pick up what the aged one dropped. Reach up on the top shelf of the grocery store for the short one.

4 Humble yourself. It’s OK if people ridicule you for being a wimp when you don’t join along when the group is ganging up on somebody. It’s OK if people declare you to be weird for being respectful to your teacher. It’s OK when people attack you for doing the best you can at the task before you.

5 Become obedient. It’s all about obedience. We want to obey God to thank Him for giving us forgiveness, holiness and eternal life because of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. We want to obey God because we know that what He tells us is intended to benefit us. We want to obey God because we want others to be pointed to Him as the Savior. We want others to have the correct answer to the question, “Why are you dealing with other people this way?” The correct answer is: “Jesus is our Savior. We want to act the way that Jesus acted. That is the way Jesus would have acted.” The Christian life is all about attitude. The attitude of Christ. Paul’s words are: 5 In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus.

IIA1 9 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place. On Palm Sunday Jesus was exalted. People acknowledged Jesus was above them. They praised Him. Nobody thought He was ordinary. 2 But the verse before us says, “9 Therefore God exalted him. Therefore. Because He took on Himself our humanity, because He humbled Himself, because He took our place in life, because He took our guilt and took our punishment, in other words, because He obediently did everything God told Him to do, therefore God exalted Him.

3 God said, “Go ahead and use Your power again. Declare Your victory over Satan. Conquer death. Don’t be subject to the limitations of this earth anymore. Begin to rule over all things again. And then judge everyone.”

B1 On Palm Sunday the crowd verbalized their exaltation. They called Him “Son of David.” A member of the royal family. They called Him “One who comes in the name of the LORD.” He had a special purpose and mission in life. They said, “Hosanna in the highest,” calling on Him to give them salvation.

2 In these verses Paul says God verbalized His exaltation of Jesus too. 9 God gave him the name that is above every name, Jesus Christ is Lord. Lord is God’s personal name. God was saying, “It’s right to assign my personal name to this Jesus of Nazareth and to give Him the same glory that you give me, because He is LORD.”

3 Because God exalted Jesus, Paul wrote at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord. Angels do this now in heaven. Believers do this now on earth. But Paul says, Every knee including those under the earth. Most likely he is referring to Judgment Day when all unbelievers and even the devil and His evil angels will have to grudgingly admit that Jesus is LORD, ruler over all things, and in complete control even of them.

4 Did you notice the last phrase in this section? At the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Angels say God is great and God is good now in heaven. Believers do the same on earth. But unbelievers and the devil will have to say on Judgment Day, “God is great and God is good for offering eternal life to all creatures, but we were so foolish that we didn’t think we needed it.”

C1 The Father exalted Jesus because of what He did. The Father exalts us because of what Jesus did for us. The Father says to us, “Because of Jesus go ahead and exercise your power over the devil. Go ahead and conquer death. Go ahead and be released from the limitations of this earth. Go ahead and join Jesus in His power position.”

2 Our exaltation is reflected in what we are called. Christians. Children of the loving God. Saints. Brothers and sisters of Christ. Loved by God. We have the honor of wearing those names now on this earth. But greater honor and glory will be ours when we wear those names in perfection with the LORD.

3 God gives us the name of Jesus to wear. He also gives us the commission to acknowledge that Jesus is LORD to the glory of God the Father. When we acknowledge to others that Jesus is LORD, we are sharing with them the truth that can lead them to acknowledge that Jesus is LORD. When we acknowledge to others that Jesus is LORD, we are sharing with them the truth that can cement them in their relationship with Jesus. When we acknowledge to others that Jesus is LORD, we are sharing with them the truth that can equip them to acknowledge that Jesus is LORD. What an important, let’s say, exalted position He has given us.

Conc: God gave Jesus an exalted position. He gave Jesus an exalted name. That is the opposite of His attitude. Because of Jesus God has given us an exalted name and an exalted position. That is the opposite of our attitudes. Christians and Christ are contradictions. Praise the LORD.

Written Sermon 4/3/2022

CWC- Epistle Lesson - Lent 5 - Kieth Bernard Kuschel

Philippians 3:514

5 circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; {6} as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for legalistic righteousness, faultless. (7) But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. (8) What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ {9} and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christthe righteousness that comes from God and is by faith. {10} I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, {11} and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead. {12} Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. {13} Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, {14} I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

Bag of goodies (trash or treasure)

IA1 “I consider everything a loss.{8}” What do you think Paul included in “everything” when he made that comment. University of Tarsus education? Roman citizenship? Intellectual brilliance? Financial standing?

2 Paul wasn’t thinking of any of those. He tells us what he was thinking about in verses 5 & 6: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; {6} as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for legalistic righteousness, faultless. All of these were things that Paul earlier in his life was convinced would make him acceptable to God.

B1 Now what Paul had thought was on the profit side of the ledger, he considered to be loss. (Phil 3:7) But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. (8) What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ.” That list of things which I read before, not only did not give him righteousness with God, but they had actually been hindrances for Paul to have a right relationship with God because those things had led him away from Jesus.

2 Now Paul not only considered that list of things to be worthless rubbish when compared to Jesus, he also says because of Jesus he actually had lost many of them. “I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ.” Because Paul had become a Christian, he had lost his position as a respected member of the Hebrew community, his role as a leader among the Pharisees, and his power as an arm of the Sanhedrin to persecute Christians.

C1 “I consider everything a loss.” What comes to mind first for you with that word “everything”? Our prestige at work? The toys we have? Our influence on others? Our achievements in life?

2 What about things similar to what Paul was thinking of? Born into a Christian family. Have generations of ancestors who were Christian. Confirmed. Do a good job at living a godly life. Notice and point out false teaching. If we conclude that these things at least in part make us right with God, then they are diverting us from Jesus.

D1 It doesn’t matter what family we are born into, how many generations of Christians there are in our ancestry, if we went through some religious procedures, how moral we are, or whether we can notice falsehood or not. In order to be right with God, we have to be perfect. And we aren’t.

2 But it is difficult to consider all those things to be loss, to be worthless. Are we willing to throw out all our little “advantages” which we insist help make us right with God? Are we ready to say, “I know these are (rubbish) trash next to the perfection God demand from me?” Are you a success? Only if the Holy Spirit has led you to understand your best attempts to make yourself right with God are trash.

IIA1 What had changed Paul’s mind so radically about what was trash and what was treasure? Jesus had appeared to him, knocked him off his horse, blinded him, told him he was persecuting God by persecuting Christians, and told him he was to spread the message about Jesus to Gentiles.

2 Jesus had led Paul to know who Jesus really was. Paul’s phrase in the text is: {8}the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. After Jesus’ appearance to Paul, Paul knew Jesus wasn’t a heretic leading people away from the Law of Moses. Jesus was and is the Christ, the promised Messiah, the Savior or the world, who could be that because He was and is truly God.

B1 Why did Paul consider knowing Jesus to be such a treasure? Because Jesus solved Paul’s need and desire for righteousness. Paul’s goal in life was to be righteous in God’s sight. That’s why he had tried so hard to keep the law. That’s why he had been a Pharisee. That’s why he tried to be faultless. Jesus had convinced Paul that righteousness comes from God as a gift.

2 Notice that gift of righteousness from God is connected with Jesus. Paul wanted to “gain Christ {9} and be found in him, having a righteousness which is through faith in Christ the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith.” Paul had been led by Jesus to trust that his sins had been washed away in the blood of Christ, that he had been rescued from death and hell as punishment for his sins because of the suffering and death of Christ, and that he was covered with the holiness that Jesus had lived for him as his substitute. That was Paul’s treasure - he was righteous in God’s sight because of Jesus.

C1 Paul was looking forward to something else because of his connection with Jesus. {10} I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, {11} and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.” Paul had shared in the sufferings of Jesus because of all the persecutions he had experienced as a witness for Jesus. We know that Paul later shared in the experience of dying as Jesus did because he openly confessed that Jesus was the Son of God.

2 Paul was certain that he would rise from the dead because Jesus Himself had risen from the dead and promised that Paul also would. But Paul hadn’t experienced any of that yet. In order to experience that, he would have to die. Whether it was death by persecution, by disease, or by old age - that would be how Paul would attain to the resurrection of the dead. He was looking forward to that experience.

D1 What is our treasure? Jesus - because He is the Christ anointed by God to be our Savior. Jesus - because He is the Lord, true God from eternity, qualified to be our Savior. Jesus - because He gives us forgiveness of our sins through His death on the cross. Jesus - because He rescues us from death and hell by experiencing it for us. Jesus - because He gives us the righteousness which He lived in our place so that we are holy in God’s sight. Jesus - because His resurrection makes us confident of our resurrections to an eternity of perfection with the Lord.

2 Are you a success? Only if the Holy Spirit has led you to know that Jesus is our Treasure.

IIIA1 Paul continues: {12} Not that I have already obtained all this. We know he hadn’t attained the resurrection from the dead yet. Why? He was still alive. We know he hadn’t attained becoming like Jesus in his death yet. Why? He was still alive.

2 He helps us out so we know more precisely what he was thinking. “or have already been made perfect.” He knew Jesus was his Savior. But his knowledge wasn’t perfect. He trusted Jesus as his Savior. But his faith wasn’t perfect. He suffered with Jesus. But his joy in doing so wasn’t perfect. He lived his life for Jesus. But his godliness wasn’t perfect.

B1 How did Paul respond to this lack of perfection? {14}“I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.” Jesus took hold of Paul when Paul became a believer in Jesus the Savior. At that point he had eternal life - a relationship with God that wouldn’t end. However, for as long as Paul was living in a sinful world as a sinner, he was not fully experiencing what was his.

2 So, he was “pressing on to take hold of it.” Paul was righteous in God’s sight through Jesus. He was working real hard at actually being righteous. He hadn’t attained it. He wouldn’t attain it in this life. But he still was working hard at it. If he didn’t work hard at it, his focus would not be on the goal that Jesus had in mind for him - eternal perfection with Jesus.

C1 Paul underlines his thought with a reference to athletics. Just as a runner might lose a race because he doesn’t concentrate, so the Christian who gets distracted from living His life to the Lord may lose the blessings God has in store. “Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, {14} I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”

2 The focused runner never looks behind. He would lose direction and speed. He always looks ahead to the finish line. Paul didn’t look back to the time in his life when he was persecuting Christians. He would have been diverted by guilt and grief. He didn’t look back to the time in his life when he was a successful missionary. He would have been diverted by pride. He looked ahead to what it would be like when he was going to be with Jesus in eternity. And he tried to achieve as much of that as he could every day of his earthly life.

D1 Nothing has changed. We are holy in God’s sight. But, we are not holy in our thoughts, words, and actions. We live our lives to the Lord. But, we are not perfect. We trust that Jesus is our Savior. But, our faith isn’t perfect. We suffer with Jesus. But, our joy at being connected with Jesus isn’t perfect. We do what God wants with our lives. But, our enthusiasm isn’t perfect.

2 But, with Paul we don’t look back. Grief and shame over our failures will divert us. Pride and self-satisfaction over our successes will divert us. Just keep looking ahead at what it is going to be like when we are with Jesus in eternity. And then try to attain as much of that as you can every day in this life. Are you a success? Only if the Holy Spirit has led you to stay eternity-with-Jesus focused.

LORD Jesus, please help me to keep knowing what is trash and what is Treasure.

Written Sermon 3/27/2022

CWC Old Testament Lesson - Lent 4 - Kieth Bernard Kuschel

Isa 12:1-6

{1} In that day you will say: "I will praise you, O LORD. Although you were angry with me, your anger has turned away and you have comforted me. {2} Surely God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid. The LORD, the LORD, is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation." {3} With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation. {4} In that day you will say: "Give thanks to the LORD, call on his name; make known among the nations what he has done, and proclaim that his name is exalted. {5} Sing to the LORD, for he has done glorious things; let this be known to all the world. {6} Shout aloud and sing for joy, people of Zion, for great is the Holy One of Israel among you."

Happy face.

What makes us happy?

Sad face.

What makes us sad?

When we are sad, who can make us happy?

How does He do that?

Should we try hard to be happy?

Why?

Who can you tell them about?

Happy face. Sad face.

JOYFUL JOURNEY AMIDST SIN & SORROW

I. Cause of Joy

A. Salvation

1. Sin causes God’s anger

2. Salvation = rescue from anger

3. Rescued to comfort from Lord

B. Salvation’s timing

1. Future - with Lord

2. Present - robbers of joy

3. Sickness - self-sufficient?

4. Financial - temporary

5. Death - with Lord

6. Relationship - purpose in life

II. Tool to reinforce joy

A. God brings Word

1. We need reinforcement

2. Sin - forgiven

3. Life bad - glory awaits

4. Temptation - kept by God

B. Wells of salvation

1. Failure to use = I don’t want

2. Blessings from - joy to use

III. Expression of Joy

A. Sing

1. Expression of happiness

2. Singing edifies

B. Shout aloud

1. Lives shout out

2. Puritans- no joy

3. Joy amidst problems

C. Make known

1. Want others to be happy

2. Good news gets shouted

Conc: Joy to know Jesus as Friend

IA1 The believer who is talking in the words before us today is very happy. Why? {2}“The Lord has become my salvation. Surely God is my salvation.” What does salvation mean? Rescue. From what is the believer rescued according to these verses? God's anger. What is the cause of God’s anger against humans? Sin. God created humans to be in total harmony with Him in what they thought and did. But humans rebelled and broke God’s law. When we do what comes naturally as humans, we produce selfish thoughts and actions. Those are sin. They break God’s law. They cause God’s anger.

2 God is right and just. He must punish violations of His law. The punishment He gives out for sin is death. Physical death & separation from Him and from His blessings. Cut off from His love. Outside of His family. It is from this punishment we deserve because of our sins that we are rescued. That is what salvation means. The quote is {1b} “Your anger has turned away”.

3 When someone is rescued, he is rescued from something. But, he is also rescued to something. That is true regarding salvation. Not only has Jesus taken our guilt on Himself. Not only did He remove our sins. Not only did He suffer the separation from God that we deserve because of our sins and thus rescued us from it. He also lived a perfectly holy life so that He might give us His righteousness. That makes us right with God. That means we can be members of God’s family. That means we can be His friends. That’s what we have been rescued to. The quote is {1c}“You have comforted me.”

B1 There is a future aspect to that rescue. We are going to be rescued by the Lord from physical death and taken to be with the Lord both body and soul for eternity. He has promised that our existence there will be joy-filled. No problems, sorrows or difficulties.

2 However, this rescue isn’t all tied to the future. We have a special relationship with God now that can bring joy into our lives now. We still have things which cause us fear and try to take away our joy. Sickness. Financial problems. Death of loved ones. Difficulties in human relationships. They all form a part of life which tries to steal our joy. But our relationship with God helps solve these parts of life which try to rob us of our joy. How does that work?

3 “The Lord is my strength. I will trust and not be afraid.” {2} Who else besides the Christian, besides us, can say, “Lord, I appreciate the lesson You are teaching me through this sickness. I was becoming quite self-sufficient. You have reminded me that I am not indestructible. You have given me some time to become closer to You. If this sickness is the way which You want me to die, thank You for giving me the opportunity to get ready.”

4 “The Lord is my strength. I will trust and not be afraid.” Who besides the Christian, besides us, can say, “Lord, I appreciate the lesson You are teaching me though these financial difficulties. Thank You for reminding me that the things of this life are passing, temporary and not dependable. I was getting much too involved in them. I am glad that although I might lose everything I own, I will never lose the forgiveness and eternal life that I have through Jesus.”

5 “The Lord is my strength. I will trust and not be afraid.” Who besides the Christian, besides us, can say, “Lord, it is going to be terrible to face life without him or her. But I know that he or she is with You. All her/his problems have been removed. Fullness of joy is his/hers in heaven. Thank You for providing that gift for him/her.”

6 “The Lord is my strength. I will trust and not be afraid.” Who besides the Christian, besides us, can say, “Lord, the people around me just keep using me. They just aren’t spiritual. But, my relationship with You reminds me that my purpose in life is to be a light for them. That purpose in my life makes me able to face tomorrow and face them.”

IIA1 Let’s be realistic. We are human. We don’t always react in a perfectly spiritual manner to the things that get us down. Then what? Does God abandon us to our difficulty? No. He comes to us and reinforces the reasons for our joy. How does He do that? By talking to us through His Word. He brings us the good news, the Gospel. That serves our spiritual lives as water revives and refreshes our bodies. The quote is: {3}“You will draw water from the wells of salvation.”

2 When we just can’t seem to overcome a particular sin. When we know what we are doing is not pleasing to God and have promised that we would get it out of our lives and haven’t. When we become depressed over our failure, Jesus comes to us and says, “Be of good cheer, your sins are forgiven.” {Matt 9:2}

3 When everything we have experienced lately has turned out badly. When our job, our family, our health, and everything we can think of seem to be causing us major problems, the Lord comes to us and says, “When you realize what I have in store for you, don’t let these things get you down.” The quote is: “The sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that will be yours with me forever.” {Rom 8:18}

4 When everybody around you and every circumstance in which you find yourself seem to be attacking your faith. When your friends keep inviting you to sin with them. When your acquaintances ridicule your faith. When your own intellect says, “How can you believe that stuff.” When you become afraid that you will give in and lose your godliness and your faith, the Lord comes and says, “I will help preserve your faith by working in your heart through my Gospel.” The quote is: “You are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation.” {1 Pet 1:5}

B1 Those are the blessings God wants to give from the wells of salvation. What should be our attitude toward the wells of salvation? The quote is {3}“With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.” How could our attitude be: “I don’t want the blessings of God. I don’t want forgiveness of sins. I don’t want confidence about eternity. I don’t want to be in the Lord’s family. I don’t want the strength to face the problems and difficulties of this life.” That is our attitude, that is what we are saying, when we fail to draw water from the wells of salvation. That’s what we are saying when we feel forced into studying the Word at worship and Bible study. That’s what we are saying when we fail to use the Word of God on a daily basis in our lives.

The quote is “With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.” How about this

attitude? “What wonderful opportunities the Lord is giving me. I can study a section of the Word of God in some detail for about 15 minutes, once a week, as my pastor leads me through the sermon. I can study the Word of God for an hour a week with my fellow Christians in one of our Bible classes. I have the privilege to listen to God talk to me through His Word in my home every day as I read my devotional books. What a joy it is to make use of all those different offerings from the Lord to reinforce His blessings in my life. What a chance to let Him keep the joy in my life. The quote is “With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.”

IIIA1 Joy is an abstract word. How do we express it? The quotes are:{2b} “The Lord is my song. {5}Sing to the Lord.” When a person breaks out into singing, how does he feel? Happy. When someone is humming or singing at work, what is he saying? “ I am satisfied with what I am doing.” After a day at work, what is the person saying who sings in the shower? “I did OK today.”

2 Our thanks to the Lord for His blessings of forgiveness and eternal life in Jesus the Christ often expresses itself in the same say - joyful singing. We sing together on Sunday mornings. That has two results. It lifts us up emotionally by getting us to realize the joy that belongs to everybody present. It also is a channel of our joy and a pointer to the source of and reasons for our joy to everybody present.

B1 Joy is an abstract word. How do we express it? The quote is: {6}“Shout aloud, people of Zion, for great is the Holy One of Israel.” When your favorite football, baseball or basketball team wins, how do we respond? We shout aloud. Why? We are happy. When we win the game we are playing, we shout aloud. Why? We are happy. Our lives as Christians shout aloud for joy because God has blessed us, because of what Jesus has done for us, & because we are the friends and family of the Lord.

2 Remember the Puritans from early American history? What color clothes did the men wear? Black. What color dresses did the women wear? Grey. What kind of expressions did they always have on their faces? Serious. Why? They believed that any outward expression of joy leads to sin. Does that fit with the verses before us today? No. Is life as bad as it appeared to be reflected on the faces of the Puritans? No. Do the blessings of the Lord give me a reason to smile, sing, and shout aloud? Yes.

3 But you say, “I have problems. I can’t be a happy- go-lucky person.” I didn’t say “happy-go-luck person.” I said, “Be joyful because of the blessings of God gives because of Jesus, in spite of the sin and sorrow that is a part of your life. Be joyful, knowing that God’s love in Christ is much greater than the problems.”

C1 Joy is an abstract word. How do we express it? The quote is:{4} “Make known among the nations what He has done. Proclaim that His name is exalted.” Joyful people don’t like to see other people unhappy. We know that there is only one way to be happy - to have Jesus Christ as our friend. In order for others to be happy, they have to be told about Jesus the Christ. That is why God has put us into the world. To help others be happy. To make known God’s salvation among the nations.

2 When something wonderful has happened, we shout it out. When we have very good news, we get so excited that we blab it all over. Something wonderful has happened. Jesus lived and died and rose so we might have forgiveness, righteousness and eternal life. We have good news. We shout it out. We bubble over with joy as we pass along the good news about Jesus to our friends. What a joy to know that Jesus is our friend, who is Lord without end.

Prayer: LORD Jesus, thank You for being my friend & Lord without end.

Written Sermon 3/20/2022

CWC  - Old Testament Lesson -    Lent 3  - Kieth Bernard Kuschel

Exodus 3:18, 10-15

Exodus 3:1  Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his fatherinlaw, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the desert and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. {2} There the angel of the LORD appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up. {3} So Moses thought, "I will go over and see this strange sightwhy the bush does not burn up." {4} When the LORD saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, "Moses! Moses!" And Moses said, "Here I am." {5} "Do not come any closer," God said. "Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground." {6} Then he said, "I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob." At this, Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God. {7} The LORD said, "I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. {8} So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey. (10)  So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt." {11} But Moses said to God, "Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?" {12} And God said, "I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain." {13} Moses said to God, "Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, 'The God of your fathers has sent me to you,' and they ask me, 'What is his name?' Then what shall I tell them?" {14} God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: 'I AM has sent me to you.'" {15} God also said to Moses, "Say to the Israelites, 'The LORD, the God of your fathersthe God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacobhas sent me to you.' This is my name forever, the name by which I am to be remembered from generation to generation.

Do you ever change your mind?  What would happen if God would change His mind?

GOD CALLS US TO CHANGE OUR MINDS

What important job did God have in mind for Moses?  To lead Israel out of Egypt.   If Moses was going to be able to do that, He would have to be able to patiently analyze and solve problems.    He would also need to recognize that God is the final authority.  

Moses’ early life indicated he needed to change in both of those areas.  What did he do when he saw an Israelite fighting an Egyptian? He impulsively reacted violently and then had to flee. No patient analysis and problem solving.  Why did he think he could do that?  He was the adopted grandson of the Pharaoh, one of the best educated men in the land, the self-appointed protector of Israel.  He could do whatever whenever and however he wanted. God called on Moses to change his mind about himself.  How did he do that?  What did Moses do for forty years after he ran away from Egypt?  Tended sheep.  If God wanted to teach somebody patience, He had him tend sheep.  After tending sheep Moses was much more patient to analyze and solve problems in order to serve the people, instead of impulsively reacting to situations.  

  How did God call on Moses to change his mind about himself?  He appeared to Moses in the burning bush. “The angel of the LORD appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up. {3} So Moses thought, "I will go over and see this strange sightwhy the bush does not burn up." {4} When the LORD saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, "Moses! Moses!" And Moses said, "Here I am." {5} "Do not come any closer," God said. "Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground." {6} Then he said, "I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob." At this, Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God.”  With this appearance God was saying, “Moses, I am the ultimate authority whom you must consult before you act.    You can’t just do whatever whenever however you want and then run away from the consequences and from Me.”  Moses hid his face.  What does that tell you?  He was being led to repent, to change his mind about himself.   

“Would you look at that.  This is how it ought to be done.”  “I like that.  I want that.  I’m going to get that.”  “Hey, what are you doing.”  “Wait a minute, you can’t do that to me.”

Have you ever heard those reactions coming out of anyone’s mouth?   

   2 Moses-like reactionary impulsiveness so often results in Moses-like sin.  God wants us to act with patient analysis and patient problem solving.  He wants us to act after considering the consequences of our actions on the lives of others.  He wants us to act in a way that is beneficial to others. 

 Of course I know what the right thing to do is.”  “I know what’s best for you; I have more life experience than you do.”  “Yes it’s OK for me to do things that way.”  Have you ever heard those reactions coming out of anyone’s mouth? 

 Moses-like self-inflation so often results in Moses-like sin. God wants us to act after comparing what we are thinking with His will presented to us in His Law.  He wants us to act after remembering that we are sinful human beings.  He wants us to act remembering that the people we are dealing with are also sinful human beings.  

 Why?  Because He wants us to lead people, not out of Egypt, but out of their slavery to sin, death and the power of the devil.  He wants us to love, serve and lead other people to Jesus.   In order to do that we need to patiently analyze their needs and patiently apply solutions, not impulsively react.  In order to do that we need to be willing to put ourselves underneath God’s Law.  Recognize our own sinfulness.  Determine a course of action from His Law.  Not do whatever whenever however we want.     
I don’t think God is going to send us to tend sheep to learn patience. I don’t think He is going to appear to us in a burning bush to teach us He is the authority.   So, we need to be asking the Lord to daily call us to repentance.  To teach us patience and submission.  To change our mind about ourselves. 

Moses knew he had a problem.  His credentials would be questioned when he attempted to lead Israel out of Egypt.  {11} But Moses said to God, "Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?"  {12} And God said, "I will be with you.” 

    2 Moses next question is, “If tell them you sent me to do this, and they ask me who you are, what shall I tell them?” {13} Moses said to God, "Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, 'The God of your fathers has sent me to you,' and they ask me, 'What is his name?' Then what shall I tell them?"

   B1 {14} God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: 'I AM has sent me to you.'" God’s name is I AM.  The Egyptian Pharaohs supposedly became gods when they died.  God doesn’t die.  He just is.  He wasn’t created by someone else.  He just is.  He isn’t dependent on somebody else for His existence. He just is.  He doesn’t change.  He just is.  

    2 {15} God also said to Moses, "Say to the Israelites, 'The LORD, the God of your fathersthe God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacobhas sent me to you.'  “The LORD, who agreed to make the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob into a great nation, which would inhabit Canaan and be the ancestors of the Savior, is the one who sent me.  The LORD has kept the first part of his covenant.  Israel is a great nation.  He wants to keep the second part of His covenant.  He wants to get you back to the land in which the Savior is to be born.” 

   3 {5} "Do not come any closer," God said. "Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground."  God is holy.  He doesn’t tolerate sin.  He threatens punishment again anyone who breaks His law.  Moses was afraid of being in the presence of a holy God.

   4 {7} The LORD said, "I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. {8} So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey. (10)  So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt."  God loves and is concerned about Israel.   So, the holy God, who was sending Moses, loves His people just because He is like that.

   C1 "Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground."   Even if God never came and said that to us, our consciences  would remind us that God is holy.  He demands that we be holy.  He says we deserve to die and go to hell if we are not.  It is correct for us to join Moses who hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God.

    2 {7} The LORD said, "I have indeed seen (your) misery. I have heard (your)crying out. I am concerned about (you) suffering. {8} So I have come down to rescue (you).  God the Son came down into our world, took on Himself our humanity, so that He could rescue us.  He will rescue us from the misery, crying out and suffering which we experience in this world when He takes us to Himself.  He guaranteed that would happen when Jesus rose from the dead.  No reason to be afraid of a God who is going to do that.  

   3 {15} God  said Moses, "'I AM ...., 'The LORD, the God of your fathersthe God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.  God keeps His covenant.  He carried out His agreement to wipe away our sins in the blood of the Messiah Jesus which He shed on the cross.  He kept His covenant to cover us with the holiness which Jesus the Christ lived in our place. No reason to be afraid of a God who does that.  

  4 {14} God said, "I AM WHO I AM. This is my name forever, the name by which I am to be remembered from generation to generation.”  The LORD just is.  He doesn’t change.  He is never going to back out of His agreement to forgive sin, cover with righteousness and give eternal life.  His covenant doesn’t change because of changing earthly circumstances because He doesn’t change.  No reason to be afraid of a God who is like that.

 Conc: By reminding us that He is the unchanging, covenant God who rescues us, the LORD is calling on us to repent, to change our minds about Him.  LORD, thank You for changing our minds about ourselves and about You.

Written Sermon 3/13/2022

CW-C Psalm for the Day  - Second Sunday in Lent -  Kieth Bernard Kuschel

Psalm 42 &43

Psalm 42  For the director of music. A maskil of the Sons of Korah. As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God. {2} My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God? {3} My tears have been my food day and night, while men say to me all day long, "Where is your God?" {4} These things I remember as I pour out my soul: how I used to go with the multitude, leading the procession to the house of God, with shouts of joy and thanksgiving among the festive throng. {5} Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and {6} my God. My soul is downcast within me; therefore I will remember you from the land of the Jordan, the heights of Hermonfrom Mount Mizar. {7} Deep calls to deep in the roar of your waterfalls; all your waves and breakers have swept over me. {8} By day the LORD directs his love, at night his song is with me a prayer to the God of my life. {9} I say to God my Rock, "Why have you forgotten me? Why must I go about mourning, oppressed by the enemy?" {10} My bones suffer mortal agony as my foes taunt me, saying to me all day long, "Where is your God?" {11} Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.

Psalm 43  Vindicate me, O God, and plead my cause against an ungodly nation; rescue me from deceitful and wicked men. {2} You are God my stronghold. Why have you rejected me? Why must I go about mourning, oppressed by the enemy? {3} Send forth your light and your truth, let them guide me; let them bring me to your holy mountain, to the place where you dwell. {4} Then will I go to the altar of God, to God, my joy and my delight. I will praise you with the harp, O God, my God. {5} Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.

What is the toughest criticism of your faith for you to handle?

How about:  Where is your God?What is the state of mind in which the writer of the Psalm finds himself?  Vs 5.  “Why are you downcast, O my soul?  Why so disturbed within me?”  What is causing this state of mind?  If you read verses 1,2, & 4 together, you can take a pretty good guess. “As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God. {2} My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God?  These things I remember as I pour out my soul:  how I used to go with the multitude, leading the procession to the house of God, with shouts of joy and thanksgiving among the festive throng.”  The writer is downcast because for some reason he is unable to go to worship God at the temple in Jerusalem.

    2. What might have caused that?  A variety of things. The person might be out of the country on a permanent basis.  His job might have led him to such a situation.  Another possibility might be that the person was living way up north and it was geographically impossible for him to get to Jerusalem on a regular basis.  Another possibility might be that this was written after the northern ten tribes split from Judah.  Then the people were told by the leaders of the northern ten tribes not to go to Jerusalem to worship.  God had told all of his people to worship in Jerusalem, however.

   B.1. The specific comment by the writer on why he is depressed is: “I used to go with the multitude, leading the procession to the house of God, with shouts of joy and thanksgiving among the festive throng.” He was remembering the good old days.  He had been in a situation where he could regularly worship the Lord.  As he compares that with his present situation, he gets real depressed.

     2. If there is something good that comes out of his situation, it is his eager longing to worship the Lord. Notice how graphically he describes his desire:  “As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God. {2} My soul thirsts for God, for the living God” When a deer is running, it gets very thirsty.  It needs that water to keep going.  We have a spiritual thirst for personal contact with the Lord. We need the water of life from Him to keep on going.

   C.1. There is something else which adds to the depression here.   {3} My tears have been my food day and night, while men say to me all day long, "Where is your God?" The people around the writer were looking at how sad he was and telling him, “Obviously your God has left you all alone.  He wouldn’t have put you in this situation if he were interested in having a relationship with you.  He would not have given you this job, or this location if he were concerned about maintaining a relationship with you.”

      2. And the next part of the criticism is implied.  “Why do you even bother with your God?  Why do you trust in Him?  Why do you have a desire to go into His presence?  Why do you even want to worship Him?  He doesn’t seem to want to bother with you?  Trust yourself.  Take care of yourself.  Find some other god who isn’t so distant.  Find some god with whom you can have contact locally.”

  D.1. One of the blessings which we have in our society today is the blessing of long life.  The average life span in now into the seventies.  There are many people who are living well into their eighties.  Every once in a while there is mention of someone who is past one hundred - something that was very rare only a few years ago.  The medical technology that the Lord has given us has  made it possible for us to ward off the consequences of many illnesses and keep people alive for a very long time.

    2. There is a down side to this blessing.  People are alive.  But their quality of life is not what it was , nor very often what the people would prefer. A large percentage of the people in their mid to upper eighties and above are in health care facilities or shut ins in their own homes.  Many of them are not physically or mentally capable of doing anything near what they were used to be doing.  They long for the good old days.  When I visit them, they talk about the good old days when they were able to go to church regularly.  How they long for the good old days!

   3. And what is the world telling them these days, and what will it be telling us when we are in that situation?  “You are foolish to think that a relationship with God is important.  It is obvious that He doesn’t think so.  He wouldn’t have left you all alone like this, if He did.  You shouldn’t insist that you have to look at your life according to what He thinks, since He isn’t an active participant in your life.  If you are sick and tired of life the way it is, then you decide if you want to continue on. You need to realize what the answer is to the question, ‘Where is your God?’” The world’s answer is: “He is nowhere to be seen.”

What is the state of mind in which the writer of the Psalm finds himself? Vs 6. “ My soul is downcast within me; therefore I will remember you from the land of the Jordan, the heights of Hermonfrom Mount Mizar. {7} Deep calls to deep in the roar of your waterfalls; all your waves and breakers have swept over me.”  Mention again is made of location.  But the pictures in verse 7 seem to indicate that the writer is being drowned in the circumstances of his life.

     2. What might have caused that?  Well, life hasn’t changed.  What causes people to be overwhelmed in their lives today?  Pressure of accomplishing what we are supposed to be accomplishing each day.  Expectations of the people around us.  Our failures.  Our own inabilities.  Things beyond our control.  Health issues.  Financial issues.  Relationships.  The list is endless.

    B.1. Again something makes all of this worse.  Vs 10.    My bones suffer mortal agony as my foes taunt me, saying to me all day long, "Where is your God?"  “How come your God lets you be sick like this?  How come your God puts you into a situation where you have so much stress?  How come  your God lets you be without the financial resources to handle life?  How come your God doesn’t equip you better for your life?”

        2. “You should realize what the right answer is to the question, “Where is your God?”.  The answer is: “He isn’t around.”  You are foolish trusting in Him.  You have to handle life on your own your way.  You have to set expectations for yourself.  You have to handle relationships the way that is best for you.  You have to provide for yourself in whatever way you can. Forget god, he’s not around.”

   C.1. And then our feelings take over.  Vs {9} I say to God my Rock, "Why have you forgotten me?  Why must I go about mourning, oppressed by the enemy?"  Notice the implication.  God has forgotten me.  We have listened to the people who have rejected the Lord as their Savior.  They have told us that the Lord has forgotten about us and we have bought the concept.

       2. The reason we buy into the concept is the dreaded “Why” question.  Why is my life so full of grief?  Why are the enemies given so much free reign?  If God loves me, why doesn’t he exempt me from all these problems?  If God loves me, why doesn’t He exercise His power and limit the activities of those who are attacking my faith?   

    D.1. There is something positive that comes from the dreaded “why” questions.  Did you notice the second line of verse 6? “Therefore I remember you.”  If you are asking God the “Why” question, we are remembering Him.  That is Ok.  If fact, that is good.  Very often we get into the depression state because we don’t remember the Lord.  He isn’t part of our thought process.  

      2. Look at verse 8 at the end.  “A prayer to the God of my life.”  When we are asking God the “Why” questions, we are asking Him for solutions.  That is good.  And when we think about the Lord and ask Him for solutions, we are reminded of some things - verse 8 again “at night his song is with me, by day the Lord directs his love.”   There is a blessing that comes from the  comment of those who have rejected the Lord as Savior, “Your God lets bad things happen to you,” and the negative feelings which we have as a result of that.  They lead us to yell at God.  That is OK.  He wants us to do that.  “Call upon me in the day of trouble.”  That is God talking to us.  God’s answer to the question, “Where is your God?”, is “I am right here.”

What is the state of mind of the Psalm writer?  Look at vs 1 of Psalm 43 which is just a continuation of Psalm 42.  “Vindicate me,   O God, and plead my cause against an ungodly nation;   rescue me from deceitful and wicked men.”  Rescue me from deceitful men.  The men have been telling him “Where is your god?”  Now the Psalm writer informs us he realizes that these are deceitful men.  He shouldn’t be listening to them.  He shouldn’t be letting his state of mind be influenced by what these deceivers were telling him.  

     2. Then he says: {2} “You are God my stronghold.   Why have you rejected me? Why must I go about mourning, oppressed by the enemy?  {3} Send forth your light and your truth,  let them guide me;  let them bring me to your holy mountain,  to the place where you dwell.”  In this verse the writer is questioning that he was questioning God.  “You are my Stronghold.  “Why have you rejected  me?”  Should I be asking that question if you are my stronghold?  “Why must I go about mourning, oppressed by the enemy”?  Should I be feeling that way if you are my stronghold?  Probably not.  Send forth your light and your truth, let them guide me; let them bring me to your holy mountain, to the place where you dwell.”  I shouldn’t let my feelings make me feel isolated from the Lord.  I should listen to His Word instead. 

   B.1. It is interesting that the writer says that the light and the truth of the Lord brings us to Him.  Remember this man was isolated.  How do we get over the isolation that all of us feel at one time or another? By being reminded that we are not alone even though it might feel that way.  The Lord is our stronghold.  God is our Rock.  He is with us, no matter how we feel or what others tell us.  Go into the Word.  Let the light of the Word and the truth of the Word remind us of all those things.   Then we have the right answer for the scoffers question, “Where is your God.”  “He is right here with us.”

      2. Verse 4: “Then will I go to the altar of God, to God, my joy and my delight, my Savior and my God.” When the Word brings us into the presence of the Lord, we are reminded who He is.  He is our Savior.  He took our guilt on Himself and removed it from us.  He suffered the wages of sins for us so we don’t have to be threatened by death as punishment for sins.  He experienced hell for us so we don’t have to be afraid of experiencing that.  He lived for us so He could cover us with His righteousness.  Our sins are gone in Christ.  We are acceptable to God in Christ.  He rose from the dead.  We will conquer death and live forever.  When we are reminded who He is, we have the right answer for the question of the scoffers, “Where is your God?”  The answer is: He is my Savior and my God.  I have him with me right now.

   3. “I will praise you with the harp, O God, my God. Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him,” When the Word brings us into the presence of the Lord, we are reminded who He is and what He has done and we are led to praise Him.  When we praise Him, we say how great He is.  We hear that as well as other people.  And when we remind ourselves of who He is and what He has done, we put our confidence in Him and His promises.  And then we don’t listen to our feelings or our enemies any more.  Then we know the right answer to the question, “Where is your God.”  He is with me every step of the way.  

Written Sermon 3/6/2022

CWC Lent 1 - Old Testament Lesson Alt -- Kieth Bernard Kuschel

Joshua 6:16- 19, 7:13-26

{6:16}[Joshua commanded the army, “Shout! For the Lord has given you the city! 17 The city and all that is in it are to be devoted to the Lord. (this means that everything was given over to the LORD often by totally destroying them) 18 But keep away from the devoted things, so that you will not bring about your own destruction by taking any of them. Otherwise you will make the camp of Israel liable to destruction and bring trouble on it. 19 All the silver and gold and the articles of bronze and iron are sacred to the Lord and must go into his treasury.”

{7:13}This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: There are devoted things among you, Israel.14 “‘In the morning, present yourselves. 15 Whoever is caught with the devoted things shall be destroyed by fire, along with all that belongs to him. He has violated the covenant of the Lord and has done an outrageous thing in Israel!’ 16 Early the next morning Joshua had Israel come forward by tribes, and Judah was chosen. 17 The clans of Judah came forward, and the Zerahites were chosen. He had the clan of the Zerahites come forward by families, and Zimri was chosen. 18 Joshua had his family come forward man by man, and Achan son of Karmi, the son of Zimri, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, was chosen. 19 Then Joshua said to Achan, “My son, give glory to the Lord, the God of Israel, and honor him. Tell me what you have done; do not hide it from me.”20 Achan replied, “It is true! I have sinned against the Lord, the God of Israel. This is what I have done: 21 When I saw in the plunder a beautiful robe from Babylonia, two hundred shekels of silver and a bar of gold weighing fifty shekels, I coveted them and took them. They are hidden in the ground inside my tent, with the silver underneath.”22 So Joshua sent messengers, and they ran to the tent, and there it was, hidden in his tent, with the silver underneath. 23 They took the things from the tent, brought them to Joshua and all the Israelites and spread them out before the Lord. 24 Then Joshua, together with all Israel, took Achan son of Zerah, the silver, the robe, the gold bar, his sons and daughters, his cattle, donkeys and sheep, his tent and all that he had, to the Valley of Achor. 25 Joshua said, “Why have you brought this trouble on us? The Lord will bring trouble on you today.” Then all Israel stoned him, and after they had stoned the rest, they burned them. 26 Over Achan they heaped up a large pile of rocks, which remains to this day. Then the Lord turned from his fierce anger. Therefore that place has been called the Valley of Achor ever since.

Examples of redefining God

We are tempted to redefine God

I. He isn’t all knowing

A. Text

1. Jericho

2. Commands

3. Checked out people

4. What does his action say?

B. Us

1. Do your job

2. Don’t be dishonest

3. Dishonest on job

4. What does action say?

C. Jesus

1. Temptation #1

2. Jesus example & substitute

II. He isn’t most important

A. Text

1. Achan’s actions

2. What does his action say

B. Us

1. Topic of conversation with friend

2. Read your Meditation booklet or not

3. Honor teacher or not

4.Take care of body or not

5. Have sex or not

6. Use resources to love or not

7. Speak the truth or not

C. Jesus

1. Jesus temptation #2

2. Jesus example and substitute

III. He doesn’t punish sin

A. Text

1. Threat and fulfillment

2. What does his action say

B. Us

1. People’s redefinition of God’s forgiveness

2. God still demands perfection; threatens punishment

3. What do our words and actions say

C. Jesus

1. Temptation #3 - you can do whatever you want

2. Jesus example and substitute

IA1 Joshua had led the people of Israel into Palestine. Jericho was a fortified city standing in opposition to Israel’s conquest of the land. Israel marched around the city once a day. On the seventh day they marched around it seven times with the priest blowing on the rams’ horns. Then all the people shouted and the wall of the city fell down.

2 {6:16}[Joshua commanded the army, “Shout! For the Lord has given you the city! 17 The city and all that is in it are to be devoted to the Lord. (this means that everything was given over to the LORD often by totally destroying them) 18 But keep away from the devoted things, so that you will not bring about your own destruction by taking any of them. Otherwise you will make the camp of Israel liable to destruction and bring trouble on it. 19 All the silver and gold and the articles of bronze and iron are sacred to the Lord and must go into his treasury.”

3 Some time later. {7:13}This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: There are devoted things among you, Israel.14 “‘In the morning, present yourselves. 15 Whoever is caught with the devoted things shall be destroyed by fire, along with all that belongs to him. He has violated the covenant of the Lord and has done an outrageous thing in Israel!’” Achan was chosen.22 So Joshua sent messengers, and they ran to the tent, and there it was, hidden in his tent, with the silver underneath. 23 They took the things from the tent, brought them to Joshua and all the Israelites and spread them out before the Lord.

4 What did Achan’s action say about his God? His God wasn’t going to know it, if he took the devoted things. Is that true? No. Achan had redefined the all-knowing God. That is sin.

B1 When you go to work, what are you supposed to do? Do your job. For how long? For as long as you are going to get paid. When you go to school, what are you supposed to do? Your schoolwork. When you go to Catechism class, what are you supposed to have done with the Bible verses? Memorize them.

2 What is God’s command? To be truthful and honest.

3 You don’t do what you are supposed to do at work for as long as you are supposed to do it. But you get paid for doing your job for the expected duration. Or. You don’t read the book at home and you make up your book report from the movie you saw based on the book. Or. You write the Bible passages on the back of your hand and you read them instead of reciting them.

4 What do your actions say about your God? Your God isn’t going to know it. Is that true. No. You have just redefined the all-knowing God. That is sin.

C1 Jesus in the Gospel lesson was tempted by the devil to make the stones into bread. Jesus was very hungry. He needed food. What was the real temptation? To not trust that God would take care of him. What would Jesus’ actions have been saying, if He would have made the stones into bread? Wouldn’t they have been saying, “My God doesn’t know that I need bread”?

2 Jesus quoted the Bible and withstood Satan’s temptation. He was saying, “God is the One who takes care of our physical life.” Is that true? Yes. Jesus didn’t cave into the temptation to redefine the all-knowing God. Why was He doing that? Not just to show us that we can withstand Satan’s temptations by quoting the Bible. Although that is important. He did that as our Substitute. So He could take His conquest of the temptations of Satan and apply it to us. Or to state it from the positive side. To take His perfect keeping of God’s commands and apply it to us. That’s what makes us right with God.

IIA1 19 Then Joshua said to Achan, “My son, give glory to the Lord, the God of Israel, and honor him. Tell me what you have done; do not hide it from me.”20 Achan replied, “It is true! I have sinned against the Lord, the God of Israel. This is what I have done: 21 When I saw in the plunder a beautiful robe from Babylonia, two hundred shekels of silver and a bar of gold weighing fifty shekels, I coveted them and took them. They are hidden in the ground inside my tent, with the silver underneath.”

2 Achan had a clear command of God. {6: 18) But keep away from the devoted things, so that you will not bring about your own destruction by taking any of them. Achan evaluated what he saw: {7:21 When I saw in the plunder a beautiful robe from Babylonia, two hundred shekels of

silver and a bar of gold weighing fifty shekels, I coveted them and took them. What did his actions say about God? This earthly stuff was more important than God. Is that true? No. Achan had defined God as not so important. That is sin.

B1 You regularly have conversations with your friend. You talk about sports, your professions, your relationships with other humans, and a variety of other topics. Or, you regularly talk about Jesus and sneak in mention of forgiveness and eternal life when you can. Our words define God as most important or redefine Him as not so important.

2 You daily take five minutes to read the www.whataboutJesus devotion that comes to your computer. Or you daily take five minutes to read the daily page in the Meditations booklet. Or you read a chapter in Bible every day. Or your life is so filled that you just don’t have time to do any of the above. Our actions define God as most important or redefine Him as not so important.

3 You respectfully are quiet in the classroom because you are thankful that God has given you a teacher who works hard at training your brain. Or you are noisy and fail to pay attention most of the time. Our actions define God as most important or redefine Him as not so important.

4 You try to eat, drink, exercise and rest appropriately because you are so thankful to God for the wonderful body which He has given to you. Or you fill your body with dangerous and destructive things. Our actions define God as most important or redefine Him as not so important.

5 We have sex with our neighbor’s husband or we say with Joseph “How can I do such a wicked thing as sin against God?” Our actions define God as most important or redefine Him as not so important.

6 We use our money to bring the Gospel to others and to take care of the needs of others because God has given us the Gospel and takes care of our needs. Or we expend all our resources on ourselves. Our actions define God as most important or redefine Him as not so important.

7 We speak the truth because we want other people to get the truth about Jesus from us. Or we use our words to take advantage of others. Our words define God as most important or redefine Him as not so important.

C1 Jesus in the Gospel lesson was tempted to bow down to Satan. What was the real temptation? To consider everything in the world to be more important than the LORD.

2 Jesus quoted the Bible and withstood Satan’s temptation. He was saying, “God is the most important.” Is that true? Yes. Jesus didn’t cave into the temptation to redefine the importance of God. Why was He doing that? Not just to show us that we can withstand Satan’s temptations by quoting the Bible. Although that is important. He did that as our Substitute. So He could take His conquest of the temptations of Satan and apply it to us. Or to state it from the positive side. To take His perfect keeping of God’s commands and apply it to us. That’s what makes us right with God.

IIIA1 {6:18} But keep away from the devoted things, so that you will not bring about your own destruction by taking any of them. Otherwise you will make the camp of Israel liable to destruction and bring trouble on it. God’s threat to punish was pretty clear. {7:22} So Joshua sent messengers, and they ran to the tent, and there it was, hidden in his tent, with the silver underneath. 23 They took the things from the tent, brought them to Joshua and all the Israelites and spread them out before the Lord. 24 Then Joshua, together with all Israel, took Achan son of Zerah, the silver, the robe, the gold bar, his sons and daughters, his cattle, donkeys and sheep, his tent and all that he had, to the Valley of Achor. 25 Joshua said, “Why have you brought this trouble on us? The Lord will bring trouble on you today.” Then all Israel stoned him, and after they had stoned the rest, they burned them. 26 Over Achan they heaped up a large pile of rocks, which remains to this day. Then the Lord turned from his fierce anger. God’s action carried out his threat.

2 What did Achan’s actions say about God? God won’t punish me if I do this. Is that true? No. Achan had defined God. That is sin.

B1 When you hear most people in the western world, which has its roots in Christianity, talk about god, you get the correct message that He is a god of forgiveness and love. That is true. God forgives the whole world by washing away its sins in the blood of Jesus. He loves the world so much that He covers it with the holiness of Jesus. However, their description of god implies that he doesn’t care if people sin. He just overlooks it. He doesn’t punish anyone. That redefines God.

2 God still demands holiness. If I refuse to believe that Jesus is my Savior, then my sins are not washed away and I am not covered with holiness, and then God has to carry out His just and threatened punishment. If I refuse to acknowledge that I need Jesus’ forgiveness for my sins by insisting on continuing to do them, which implies I don’t really think they are sin, then God has to carry out His just and threatened punishment.

3 If I continue to get paid for what I really didn’t do, continue to turn in dishonest book reports, continue to read my memory verses, continue to refuse to bring the Gospel to people who need it, continue to not use the Bible, continue to be disruptive in the classroom, continue to damage my body, continue to be involved in sinful sexual practice, continue to refuse to use my money to love others, and continue to assault people with my words, what are my words and actions saying? Aren’t they saying, “God doesn’t punish sin.” Is that true? No. You have redefined God as one who doesn’t punish sin.

C1 Jesus in the Gospel lesson was tempted to jump off the temple. What was the real temptation? To do any kind of action you want and insist that God will continue to love you and protect you no matter what you do.

2 Jesus quoted the Bible and withstood Satan’s temptation. He was saying, “God has standards of actions that He insists on for people. Breaking those standards has consequences.” Is that true? Yes. Jesus didn’t cave into the temptation to redefine God. Why was He doing that? Not just to show us that we can withstand Satan’s temptations by quoting the Bible. Although that is important. He did that as our Substitute. So He could take His conquest of the temptations of Satan and apply it to us. Or to state it from the positive side. To take His perfect keeping of God’s commands and apply it to us. That’s what makes us right with God.

Prayer: LORD Jesus, thank You for conquering Satan’s temptations for me, covering me with your holiness. Please empower me to conquer Satan’s temptations so that my words and actions don’t disrupt my relationship with You.

Written Sermon 2/27/2022

CWC- Epistle Lesson - Transfiguration Sunday -– Kieth Bernard Kuschel

2 Corinthians 4:3-6

3 And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. 4 The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. 5 For we do not preach ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. 6 For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.

IA1 Why did Peter want to build three shelters on the Mt of Transfiguration? Peter had just seen obvious evidence that Jesus is God. He wanted a permanent reference point to go back to in order to be reminded that Jesus really is true God. He wanted to be able to go back there every time some doubts about Jesus would arise in his life.

2 What? Peter needed a permanent reference point to remind him that Jesus really was God? He had a lot more proof than we have. He heard Jesus. He watched Jesus. He saw the miracles of Jesus. He saw the transfiguration. What is wrong with him? We don’t have any of what he had. If we only had what Peter had, it would be so much easier for us to believe in Jesus.

B1 Are we saying that God hasn’t ever done anything miraculous in our life that matches the Mt of Transfiguration? Are we having a self-pity party because we don’t think we have received the same privileges that Peter and the other apostles received when they were physically and personally with Jesus?

2 Paul’s comment in the verses before us today is: {6}“God said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” God created all things. With the power of His almighty word He said, “Let there be light.” The result? Light shined out of darkness. That is the same God who allowed the light of His glory to become bright and obvious on the Mt of Transfiguration to the three apostles. Same God. Same power. Same Light of the world.

3 He says to us, “God has done the same thing in each of your hearts.” {6}“God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts. Same God. Same power. Same Light of the world. We don’t have to feel sorry for ourselves. Peter didn’t have any advantage over us. God did the same miracle in our hearts that He did on the Mt of Transfiguration and at the creation. He caused His light to shine.

C1 What is the result of God’s use of His power to shine into our hearts? {6b}“To give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God .” We know God isn’t some impersonal, unapproachable force who is not interested in us. We know He is not a vicious judge who wants to punish people for not following impossible demands. We know He deserves our praise because He wants us to be with Him forever. This knowledge is ours only because God has exercised His creative almighty power and has shined into our hearts.

2 This knowledge about God is ours{6b} “in the face of Christ.” It is in the face of Jesus looking at us that we see the forgiveness of sins which Jesus won for us by dying on the cross. It is in the face of Jesus turned toward us that we see the holiness lived by Jesus with which He covers us. It is in the face of Jesus shining at us that we see the eternal life earned by Jesus when He rose from the dead.

3 It doesn’t matter if we were on the Mt of Transfiguration or not. Because we weren’t there, it is true - we didn’t see the physical light, bright as a flash of lightning. But God has shined His almighty power into our souls. His light has shined.

IIA1 “Even if our Gospel is veiled.” (Vs 3). The good news that Jesus lived and died and rose to give the world forgiveness, holiness and eternal life sometimes gets put under something so that it can’t shine appropriately.

2 It can’t shine appropriately when people bury it under the veil of human reason. Human beings on our own would say that the message about Jesus the Savior is foolishness. Human beings on our own reject God’s truth. Paul’s comment is, {3}“it is veiled to those who are perishing.”

3 Human beings get reinforced in their thinking by the devil. {4}The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” On my own I don’t agree with God’s truth. The devil says to me, “You are right in the way you think. Stick with it.” So we do.

4 Human beings on our own think the Gospel is foolish. How can Jesus of Nazareth, a real human being, also be true God? That is foolish. That is how people responded to Jesus Himself. He did miracles. Instead of confessing that obviously Jesus is God, they said He was using the power of the devil. If those people had been on the Mt of Transfiguration with Peter, James and John, they would have come up with an alternate explanation as to why the light was shining.

B1 We shouldn’t miss one important little word in this verse. {3}Even if our Gospel is veiled Paul was writing. The good news about Jesus had become his. God had shined it into his life. It had become part of him. Now he was shining it into the lives of others.

2 The same is true for us. God has shined the Gospel into our lives. It has become ours. It should be shining from us to others. At Christmas time do we say this baby Jesus is God and our Savior? Or do we put a veil over that Biblical truth because we are embarrassed by this illogical teaching? When a natural disaster occurs, do we say that God is in control? Or do we put a veil over that Biblical teaching when we don’t have a good answer to the “Why” question? On Ash Wednesday would we be willing to wear a cross of ashes on our forehead to indicate we are Christians who acknowledge our sinfulness? Or do we put a veil over that because sin is not a politically correct concept in our world. On Good Friday do we say that this person who died was God? Or do we put a veil over that because that makes no sense at all? On Easter do we say that Jesus rose from the dead? Or do we put a veil over that because nobody has ever seen any body else rise from the dead?

C1 Many of us here have been Christians from little on. There was not a time in our lives that we can remember when we did not believe that Jesus lived and died and rose to give us forgiveness, holiness, and eternal life. It is very easy for us to get upset and even angry when people reject the good news about Jesus. We need to be reminded over and over again. Christians are the exception. Unbelievers are the norm.

2 The combined effort of the devil and our self oriented humanity put up such a good barrier to the Light of the world that the gospel often remains veiled in the lives of many people. That darkness is all around us. Don’t let the epiphany light, shined into our hearts just as clearly as it was for Peter on Transfiguration, get veiled. It if does, think of all the darkness that won’t get resolved.

IIIA1 What would be a normal human response when the Gospel is veiled to many and Satan blinds many? Frustration. Do you know where frustration comes from? Self-focus. For St Paul that would have sounded like this: “ Many people aren’t accepting the Gospel. I am supposed to be a transmitter of the Gospel. I look bad when people don’t believe the Gospel. I want to be viewed as a success. I don’t like to be viewed as a failure.” What would be a pretty standard next step after thinking like that? Stop doing what makes you look like a failure.

2 Paul didn’t decide to stop. Why not? Because he knew none of this was about him. If Paul had been preaching his own philosophy and it wasn’t working, it would have meant Paul was a failure at producing spiritual philosophy and he should have tried something else. But he wasn’t preaching his own spiritual philosophy. He preached the gospel, the powerful truth of God. If Paul had been presenting himself as the solution to people’s spiritual problems and nobody was accepting the message, it would have meant Paul was a failure at marketing and he should have quit. But he didn’t present himself as a spiritual solution for people. He pointed them to Jesus.

3 “For we do not preach ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake.” {5} Jesus had served Paul by living and dying and rising to give him forgiveness and holiness and eternal life. Paul wanted to serve other people by giving them the same blessings from Jesus. The result would be a bigger family for Jesus. Rejection of Paul’s message meant rejection of Jesus. It was not a personal reflection on the success or failure of Paul. So, he didn’t quit.

B1 Frustration. It is a challenge we have to face as we attempt to direct people to Jesus. Imagine being in a country like Japan as a Christian missionary. Ten years, twenty years. Few people have become Christians. Huge amounts of time and resources have been expended. The questions would swirl in your head, wouldn’t they? Is it me? Maybe I should quit. Maybe somebody else should try. The questions would swirl in the meetings of the committee responsible for the work. Should we keep expending resources with so few results? Should we stop trying there and expend the resources and use people in some other part of the world? Or should we just quit altogether.

2 We offer the community worship opportunities every week. Not many visitors come. We send personalized invitations to people who move into the community. Few come. We invite people to come to musical presentations about Jesus. Few come. We invite people to come to study about Jesus in Bible Classes. Few come. We participate in parades to make people aware of our presence. Few seem to be. We build a beautiful, functional worship facility to make worshiping Jesus easily accessible. Few come to check it out. The questions swirl in our head, don’t they? Should we just quit doing these things

3 You talk to your friend about Jesus. You talk to your friend about eternal life when the topic of death comes up. You talk about sin when some crime in the community is under discussion. You are open about worshiping Jesus every week. . You invite your friend to worship Jesus with you. You invite your friend to low-key spiritual events at our church. No acceptances. No obvious changes in attitude toward Jesus. The questions swirl in your head, don’t they? Is it me? Maybe I should quit. Maybe somebody else should try.

4 We need to remember Paul’s words. {5} “For we do not preach ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake.” This is not about you. This is not about whether you are a success or failure. This is all about Jesus. People need Jesus even if they don’t admit they need Jesus. The light needs to keep on shining. There is nothing wrong with the message. How do you know that? Look at what God accomplished with it in your life. The light has shined. It should shine no matter what.

Wrritten Sermon 2/20/2022

CW-C Gospel Lesson - Epiphany 7 - Kieth Bernard Kuschel

Luke 6:2738

{27} "But I tell you who hear me: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, {28} bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. {29} If someone strikes you on one cheek, turn to him the other also. If someone takes your cloak, do not stop him from taking your tunic. {30} Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. {31} Do to others as you would have them do to you. {32} "If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even 'sinners' love those who love them. {33} And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even 'sinners' do that. {34} And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even 'sinners' lend to 'sinners,' expecting to be repaid in full. {35} But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. {36} Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. {37} "Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. {38} Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you."

St. Valentine

Meaning of word "saint"

Historical Person

Loved Jesus so much

Love Whom? How? Why?.

History St Valentine

LOVE AS JESUS DOES

I. Whom?

A. Objects of Love

1. Valentine’s Day

2. List of them

3. People who can return the favor

B. Enemies

1. Definition

2. People we hate

3. People who hate us

C. Jesus’ Objects

1. All sinners

2. Enemies who crucified

II. How?

A. Ways to Express

1. Valentine’s Day

2. Usual ways

3. All are giving

B. Jesus’ directives

1. Do good

2. Pray for

3. Give/ Don’t expect back

5. Don’t judge

6. Forgive

C. Jesus’ actions

Gives rain; Offers Word; Gave life

III. Why?

A. Usual Reasons

1. Valentine’s Day expectations

2. Commitment, responsibility

3. You want reciprocity

B. Toward Enemies

1. We are children of God

2. God treats us that way

C. God’s motives

1. Wants us to be His children

2. Wants us to be in heaven

Conc: Do whatever it takes to

Get everyone around you to heaven

IA1 Sometimes the focus of the secular world and our focus as God’s people on Sundays fall together so nicely that it can’t possibly be an accident. For the month before Valentine's day all the advertising everywhere and all the special features in the newspaper and on the television news focused on what? Love. Everywhere you saw what color? Red. Red what? Hearts. And what word? Love. Well, no red hearts on the front of the bulletin today, but LOVE is in big capital letters. Whom are we supposed to love according to Valentine’s Day? Some very special person in our lives .

2 Whom are we supposed to love, really? “Love your neighbor as yourself,” Jesus taught. We are to love ourselves. We are to love our marriage partners. We are to love our family members. We are to love our extended family members. We are to love our friends, relatives, neighbors, and acquaintances.

3 What do all those individuals and groups have in common? They are in our circle of contacts on a regular basis. That means there is a lot of interaction. They have to opportunity to love us back. That is the group that we tend to love, isn’t it? Those who can reasonably be expected to love us back. Did you notice Jesus’ comment about that group? {32} "If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even 'sinners' love those who love them.”

B1 Whom are we supposed to love according to Jesus? {27} “Love your enemies.” And just in case we missed it the first time, Jesus repeats it in verse 35. “Love your enemies.” How many of you saw posters like this over the past two weeks? “Joe loves His enemies.” What is an enemy? The dictionary says an enemy is: 1. A person who hates another. 2. A person who wants to injure another 3. A person hostile to a cause, an idea etc

2 Who are your enemies? Whom do you, if you were only a sinful human being and not a Christian, hate and want to injure? If a drunken driver killed your children, you would react, “Let me get my hands on him, I want to kill him.” If someone raped your marriage partner, you would instinctively respond, “I hope that rapist rots in hell.” If our marriage has been dissolved, who is often the enemy from that point on? Your ex-partner. If somebody burned down your house by falling asleep while smoking, and you lost all the things on this earth that are dear to you, I would venture that you would hate that person and want to injure him. If somebody is constantly trashing you in conversations, your natural human response is to hate that person and want to injure him, at least verbally.

3 Who are your enemies? Who hates you and wants to injure you? Maybe the person on your athletic team who is always second best to you in everything. Maybe your ex marriage partner. Maybe the person who lost his job because you had more seniority when the layoffs came. Maybe the neighbor who lost in a legal dispute over some issue in the neighborhood. Maybe someone against whom we have sinned.

C1 Love your enemies. Whom did Jesus love? He loved His enemies. How do you know that? He asked that those who were killing him be brought to repentance and be forgiven for what they were doing. He cried over the city of Jerusalem because it was rejecting Him.

2 Love your enemies. Whom did Jesus love? He loved His enemies. How do I know that? Because He loves me. On my own I am God’s enemy. (Rom 8:7)“The sinful mind is hostile to God,” St. Paul wrote. I hate it that God makes demands on my life. I hate it that God says I can’t make myself acceptable to Him. God hates it when I sin. God hates it when I insist I don’t need Him. Because of my sinfulness I hate God and He hates me. And yet God so loved the world. That includes me. God loves He enemies. So should we.

IIA1 How are you supposed to love people? It’s really very simple if you listened to and read the advertisements over the pasts few weeks. How is Valentine’s Day love expressed? You buy a card. You buy some flowers. You buy some candy. You go out to dinner. You buy a diamond. And what is the implication if you don’t do these things? You don’t love whomever.

2 How are we supposed to love really? I love my marriage partner by sharing responsibility for the beneficial operation of our family unit. I love my family members by taking care of their needs. I love my friends by supporting them emotionally in the endeavors. I love my relatives by being there for them when they have needs. I love my neighbors by looking out for their well-being. I love my acquaintances by sharing my life with them.

3 What do all these ways of loving have in common? Giving. That’s what loving is - giving. I am willing to give up my lifestyle and my favorite things to benefit my marriage partner. I am willing to give 40 hours a week to earn money to take care of my family’s needs. I am willing to give myself emotionally to help support my friends. I am willing to give my money to help people with their physical needs. I am willing to give my time to monitor how my neighbors are doing. I am willing to give my time just to be with people.

B1 Love your enemies. Jesus said. How do you love your enemies? Jesus tells us how in the verses before us today. {27}Do good to those who hate you. You send a Bible to the person who is in jail for burning your house down, raping your marriage partner, or killing your children. After the storm you help clean up the yard for the person who is verbally trashing you, who lost his job even though you didn’t, who was the loser in the neighborhood dispute, or who is your ex-marriage partner. You let the other person excel in events even though you are better than he is.

2 Love your enemies. How? {28} “Bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.”

“Lord, lead the arsonist, the slanderer, the rapist, the murderer to repent of his sins and receive eternal life because of Your life, death, and resurrection. Lord, bless my ex-marriage partner, the person who lost his job or his legal dispute with financial security. Lord, bless my rival with a sense of satisfaction.”

3 Love your enemies? How? {30}“Give to everyone who asks you. Lend without expecting to get anything back.” You give of your time to go to talk to the repentant arsonist, rapist and murderer who asks to talk to you. You faithfully give child or spousal support to your ex marriage partner. You give your time to help your rival on the team to get better at what you are doing. You lend the equipment which used to be both of yours to your ex-marriage partner, or to your laid off neighbor, or to your angry neighbor when it is needed without demanding payment.

4 Love your enemies? How? {37} “Do not judge. Do not condemn.” Jesus has told us very clearly we are to point out sin and inform people that sin leads to God’s condemnation. From the verses that come later we learn what He means when He says here “Do not judge. Do not condemn.” We are not to look at other people in a condescending fashion, acting as if we have never or could ever sin in the way they have. Rather than being judgmental and condescending I am to approach my enemy humbly acknowledging that I am just as much a terrible sinner.

5 Love your enemies? How? {36} “Be merciful. {37} Forgive,” Jesus says. “Lord, please lead the arsonist, the rapist, the murderer, the slanderer, my ex-marriage partner to repent and come to trust that You lived and died and rose for him.” When you pray that prayer, you have forgiven your enemy. If you insist that you want to punish them and they should rot in hell, you haven’t forgiven them. You may never want to be in the presence of the arsonist, rapist, slanderer, and murderer again because you still don’t trust them. That is another issue. Forgiveness means you are willing to let God and His appointed representative the government deal with the person about punishment, but you want the person to repent and go to heaven.

C Love your enemies? How did/does Jesus love His enemies? He gives rain and sunshine and all other earthly blessings humans need to enemies as well as believers. He gives His Word, the Law and the Gospel to all humans beings, enemies as well as believers. He gave His life to pay for sins, so He could offer forgiveness to the world, enemies as well as believers. He offers the holiness that He lived to all people, enemies as well as friends. He offers eternal life, which He won by resurrection, to enemies as well as friends. Jesus gives to His enemies. So should we.

IIIA1 Why express love to people this week? Because it is required. Valentine’s week puts a certain amount of pressure on us to conform to what everybody else around us is doing. You do it because you have to. That is a pretty cynical evaluation, isn’t it.

2 Why do you love people really? I love my marriage partner because I have a commitment to God and to my partner that I will always be there until I die to benefit her. I love my family because that is my responsibility under God. I love my friends because God has told me I am to support and uplift the people around me. I love my neighbors because the Lord has told me to love them as much as I love myself. I love my acquaintances because God has told me I am to always be ready to answer them about Jesus.

3 Why express love to others? Another reason: {31}“Do to others as you would have them do to you.” Or. {35}“Then your reward will be great.” Or. {38} “Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you." Ordinarily people treat you in a similar manner. That is nice. That is good. I want that. So I love others to get that.

B1 Why express love to others? {35} “Then you will be sons of the Most High.” Now remember Jesus is talking to His disciples here. People who are believers. People who trust that the Savior God will forgive them, cover them with His righteousness, and give them eternal life. We are already sons and daughters of the Most High. But when we express love to others including our enemies, it will be very obvious to them that we are sons of the Most High. It is called being witnesses for Jesus with our lives and actions.

2 Why express love to others? {36}“ Just as your Father is merciful.” God sends Jesus into this world even though I as a sinner hate Him. He blesses me with everything I need, even though I as a sinner curse Him for every bad thing that happens in my life. Jesus prays for me even though my sins crucified Him. He willingly listens to our complaints even though they are all insults to Him. He fills my requests. He never expects me to give Him back what I am using when I am finished. He loves me even though He knows I can never give Him the same kind of love in return. He gives me forgiveness, holiness and eternal life even though I deserve hell. Why love others including enemies? Because that is how God treats me.

C1 Why does Jesus love His enemies? Because He wants us to be part of His family. He wants to have an intimate relationship with us. He wants to spend the times of our lives here on this earth with us.

2 Why does Jesus love His enemies? Because He wants us to be with Him forever in heaven. He wants us to have an intimate relationship with Him forever. He wants us to spend eternity with Him.

Conc: Why love others even our enemies? Because we want to give whatever it takes to get all the people around us including our enemies to spend eternity with us and Jesus.

Written Sermon 2/13/2022

CWC -Epiphany 6 - Epistle Lesson - Kieth Bernard Kuschel

1 Corinthians 15:12, 16-20

(12) But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? (16) For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either. {17} And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. {18} Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. {19} If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men. {20} But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.

Enumerate blessings of God

Jesus’ Resurrection Guarantees our Blessings

I. Forgiveness of our sins

A. If God were to ask you why should I let you into heaven,

what would you tell him?

1. I am a nice person

2. I am a relatively nice person

3. I try harder

4. There is no way He would let me into heaven because of me

B. Christian response

1. #4 above is Christian response

2. Because Jesus took away my sins

3. Because Jesus’ covers me with His holiness

C. How do you know that is true

1. Bible says so, God’s plan, Jesus’ resurrection

2. Without resurrection vs 17= verdict is guilty

II. Resurrection of our bodies

A. What is going to happen to you when you die

1. Nothing. Dead - gone

2. Become an angel - spirit (Medieval, modern)

3. Problem in Corinth

B. Christian response

1.Body is buried, souls go to be with Lord

2. Bodies raised on last day and enter eternity

3. This confidence makes us live our lives to the Lord

C. How do you know that is true

1. Bible says so, God’s plan, Jesus’ resurrection

2. If no resurrection of Jesus, none for us

IA1 If you were to ask somebody on the street, “If God were to ask you why should I let you into heaven, what would you tell him?”, what kind of answers would you get? One category of answers would sound like: “I would tell Him that I am a pretty nice person. I am helpful to the people around me. I take care of the needs of the people dependent on me. I shoulder my responsibilities.”

2 Another category of answers would sound like this: “I am a relatively nice person. I have trouble with my temper, but I don’t beat my wife as my neighbor does. I have a little trouble with self-indulgence but I don’t waste all my money at the casino as my neighbor does. I do try to get out of things once in a while, but I am not a lazy good for nothing welfare cheat like some people. It should be obvious to God that I am better than those people.”

3 Another category of answers would sound like this: “I know that I am not perfect, but I try my best. When I hurt somebody’s feelings, I try to make it up by being extra helpful the next time. When I do something that is damaging to somebody’s physical well-being, I try to not only fix what I have done, but go overboard in taking care of that person the next time I see he or she needs something. When I slip up on my responsibilities, I try to take a double load the next time. It should be obvious to God that I try hard to make up for my mistakes.”

4 Another category of answers would sound like this: “There is no way that God would let me into heaven. Look. I have done some pretty nasty things in my life. Even if other people would say, “That isn’t so bad,” if God has any kind of standard that He holds to, I can’t measure up to it. There is no way that I could point to myself and say, “God, You have to let me into heaven.”

B1 If I were to ask you, “If God were to ask you why should I let you into heaven, what would you tell him?”, what kind of answers would you give? Would any of the categories of answers which I quoted above come out of your mouth? The last one should be in there somewhere. “I have done some pretty nasty things in my life. Even if other people would say, “That isn’t so bad,” if God has any kind of standard that He holds to, I can’t measure up to it. There is no way that I could point to myself and say, “God, You have to let me into heaven.”

2 If I were to ask you, “If God were to ask you why should I let you into heaven, what would you tell him?”, what kind of answers would you give? Your answers don’t talk about yourselves. Your answers talk about Jesus. “Lord, you should let me into heaven because my sins have been removed. They would keep me out of heaven. But You took them off me and put them on Jesus. Jesus then took them to the cross. There He suffered the death and hell I deserve because of my sins. Since You have already punished Jesus for my sins, there is no reason for You to punish me. Since my sins have been taken away by Jesus, there is no barrier to keep me out of heaven. You should let me into heaven because of what Jesus did for me.”

3 But, what would you say, if God then said, “But I only let holy people into heaven.” Again your answers don’t talk about you. Your answers talk about Jesus. “Lord You should let me into heaven because Jesus has given me His holiness. He lived that holiness as a real human being so He could be my Substitute. It is as if I lived that holiness. Since Jesus has lived that holiness for me and given it to me, I am covered with it. You should let me into heaven because of what Jesus did for me.”

C1 Those answers will satisfy God, but what about all the critics we have to deal with now. The critics who say, “How do you know that is true.” “The Bible says so.” “What if they Bible is wrong?” How do you know it is true then?” “It was God’s plan.” “How do you know God’s plan worked? How do you know Jesus’ life was worth enough to pay for your sins? How do you know Jesus’ perfect life was accepted as the basis for God’s gift of holiness to you?” “Jesus’ rose.” Jesus’ resurrection guarantees God’s blessings for us - one of those blessings is the forgiveness of sins.

2 What if Jesus hadn’t risen? God would have been saying, “Jesus’ death is not sufficient payment for the sins of the world. It didn’t work. Jesus’ life is not the source of holiness for people. It didn’t work.” Paul writes: {17} And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile (worthless); you are still in your sins(They are not forgiven. The verdict is: “You are guilty. Go to hell.”

IIA1 If you were to ask somebody on the street, “What is going to happen to you when you die?”, what kind of answers would you get? One category of answers would sound like: “Nothing is going to happen. When you’re dead, you’re dead. You stop being a person. The elements which make up your body rot. You go back to being a part of the dirt. That’s it. Period. End of story.”

2 Another category of answers would sound like this: “I am going to become part of the spiritual world. Like an angel. I won’t be limited by my body or anything physical.” If we were still living in the middle ages, people might think in terms of the disembodied spirits floating free in the world and influencing events in the world. Ghost and goblins kind of thinking. Today people might say, “This will be such freedom. All the negatives of the present have to do with the physical. I sure hope I don’t have to come back and be an embodied being again. I want to just stay a spiritual being.”

3 The people in the congregation in the city of Corinth were struggling with the question: “What is going to happen to you when you die?” Some didn’t believe there was a physical resurrection of the dead. They were influenced to believe that by the prevailing attitude in Greek philosophy which said everything spiritual is good and everything physical is bad. They believed that Jesus was their Savior who had risen from the dead, but that there was no resurrection from the dead available to humans. Thus the question from Paul: (12) But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? Paul gives his answer to his own question in verse 16, pointing out the inconsistency of their belief: (16) For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either.

B1 If I were to ask you, “What is going to happen to you when you die?”, what kind of answers would you give? Your answers would sound something like this: “My body is going to stop functioning. It will gradually erode into the basic elements of which it consists. But my soul, what makes me me, will not die or go out of existence. That soul will be taken to be with the Lord. It will continue to be with the Lord until Judgment Day. No free floating disconnected spiritual existence.”

2 If I were to ask you, “What is going to happen to you when you die?”, your answer wouldn’t stop there. You would probably continue: “But that is only a temporary situation. On the last day the Lord is going to gather up all the souls of the people who have died and reunite them with their bodies. In most instances that means He will have to reformulate their bodies, because their bodies will have decomposed totally. At that point then He will make a public declaration about all the reconstituted people and all the other people who are still alive on Judgment Day. Those who trusted that Jesus lived and died and rose for them and gave them forgiveness and holiness will be welcomed into eternity in perfection with the Lord. Those who didn’t believe in Jesus as their Savior God will send away from Him and His blessings forever.”

3 If you are really talkative your answer might continue: “That’s why I live the way I do now. I live to the Lord now because I am going to live with Him forever. I make sacrifices to insure that I stay close to Him now so that I will stay close to Him forever. I put up with ridicule now because I know my relationship with Him is forever and my relationships with people are temporary. My future shapes my present.” Paul comments from the negative: {19} If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men.

C1 And the critics say again, “How do you know that is true.” “The Bible says so.” “What if they Bible is wrong? How do you know it is true then?” “It was God’s promise.” “How do you know God’s promise will be kept?” “Jesus’ rose.” Jesus’ resurrection guarantees God’s blessings for us - one of those blessings is the resurrection of our bodies. Paul’s comment is:{20} But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.” In other words, Christ rose first, that means we will follow.”

2 What if Jesus hadn’t risen? God would have been saying, “Jesus’ didn’t conquer death. None of His promises are any good.” Paul writes: {18} Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost.” {20} But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.” In other words, Christ rose first, that means we will follow.”

Conc: We Christians always have the same answer to “How do you know?” The answer is: Jesus rose

Written Sermon 2/6/2022

CWC- Old Testament Lesson - Epiphany 5 - Kieth Bernard Kuschel

Isaiah 6:18

{1} In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple. {2} Above him were seraphs, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. {3} And they were calling to one another: "Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory." {4} At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke. {5} "Woe to me!" I cried. "I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty." {6} Then one of the seraphs flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. {7} With it he touched my mouth and said, "See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for." {8} Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?" And I said, "Here am I. Send me!"

Tell children to go back and tell their parents:

Jesus lived and died and rose for you.

Jesus washed away your sins and give you eternal life.

HERE I AM. SEND ME

I. In spite of my sinfulness

A. Woe to me

1. In trouble

2. Unclean lips

3. Unclean people

4. LORD is King, Almighty

B. God’s call

1. Question in verse 8

2. Sends us to......

C. Our reaction

1. Not good enough

2. “Good enough” is bad

II. Because of my Savior

A. Seraphs

1. Definition

2. Give glory to God

B. Special action

1. Touch lips

2. Guilt removed

3. Sin atoned for

C. God’s call

D. Our reaction

1. I am qualified

2. Others need to know what I know

Conc

IA1 “Woe to me!” When was the last time you said that? Anybody know what it means? Isaiah helps us out with what it means. The next statement is: {5}“I am ruined.” We might say: I am in lots of trouble! Should we join Isaiah in saying “I am in lots of trouble!”?

2 Isaiah tells us the reason he said “Woe to me!” “I am ruined.” What was it? {5}“For I am a man of unclean lips.” So are we. Instead of glorifying God, we toss His name around as if it is just another word. Instead of speaking God’s truth in love, we don’t bother to speak it at all. Instead of building others up, I verbally abuse them. Instead of praising God for His wonderful creation, I make fun of other people’s body parts. Instead of speaking reverently about God’s gift of sexuality, I trivialize it. I am in lots of trouble because I am a man of unclean lips.

3 “Woe to me,” Isaiah says, (5)“because I live among a people of unclean lips.” I am in lots of trouble. The people around me are just as much sinners as I am. They encourage me to live for myself. They tell me the Bible is a fairy tale. They want me to be as disrespectful as they are. They indicate that being nice doesn’t get me anywhere. They laugh at my sexual restrictions. They influence me to think life is about toys. All of that helps me to be unclean.

4 “Woe to me,” Isaiah says, “(5)my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty." I have taken a look at the LORD. I see that He is the King. He has oversight over everything. He sees my unclean lips. I see that He is Almighty. He has the power to punish me with death and hell because I am unclean. I am in lots of trouble.

B1 {8} Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?" When God says this to us as He said it to Isaiah, He isn’t indicating that He is at a loss as to whom He should send to tell people the truth about Himself. What is God trying to do when He says to us, "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?" He is trying to get us to realize that He is telling us He wants us to go and share His truth with others.

2 He is telling us that He wants to send us into a career of teaching His truth as pastors or Lutheran School teachers. He is telling us He is sending us into our families to teach all of our family members that they are sinners and Jesus is their Savior. He is telling us He is sending us to our friends to share with them as part of our relationship with them that Jesus lived and died and rose to give them forgiveness, holiness, and eternal life. He is telling us He is sending us into our neighborhoods to invite people to hear about Jesus the Savior here at church. He is telling us He is sending us into that checkout line at the grocery store when the person in front of us starts talking about god. He is telling us that He is sending us to Zambia, and Malawi, and Puerto Rice and wherever we can go through the missionaries we pay for in the WELS.

C1 Our first reaction is, “Who me? I am the unclean one, remember, Lord. I am not good enough to have you send me to people with Your truth.” It is true that the Lord has some expectations of his messengers. We are to know what we are talking about. We are to back up our message with lives lived to the glory of God. But when the Lord says to us that He is sending us to people with His truth, I don’t think it is our place to say that is a bad idea because we are not good enough.

2 On the other hand, it would be a big problem if people would react to God’s call to send them to others with His truth by thinking proudly, “I can do that because I am good enough. My resume as a child of God qualifies me to serve as Christ’s messenger.” That attitude scares me. It sounds as if the person hasn’t looked at himself with Isaiah and concluded, “Woe is me! I am man of unclean lips.” God would much rather have us join Isaiah and say together: “Here I am. Send me in spite of my sinfulness.”

IIA1 God granted Isaiah something that He doesn’t give to many people. Isaiah was able to see the Lord and some seraphs in a vision. Seraphs are angels. From the symbolism in the vision we can conclude that these seraphs are ready, willing and able to do what the Lord tells them to do. They can go quickly to accomplish what the Lord wants. Yet, they are humble, reverent creatures.

2 {3} The seraphs were calling to one another: "Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory." They are praising God, telling others what God is like.

God is holy-separate from sin. God is Almighty - can do anything. He deserves to be praised everywhere by His whole creation.

B1 {6} Then one of the seraphs flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. {7} With it he touched my mouth and said, "See, this has touched your lips.” Remember in the vision God is sitting on His throne, the cover of the ark of the covenant in the Most Holy part of the temple. From one of the altars in the temple, probably from the altar of burnt offering where there was an offering burning all the time, the seraph took a burning coal and touched Isaiah’s lips. Remember what had Isaiah said about his lips? They were unclean.

2 The seraph also said, “See, this live coal from the altar has touched your lips. Your guilt is taken away.” Remember what the sacrifices on the altars in the Old Testament meant. They were pictures of the truth that a life would have to be taken to remove man’s guilt. They were pointers to the Messiah. God here was reminding Isaiah that through the sacrifice of the Messiah, foreshadowed in the Old Testament offerings, Isaiah’s guilt was taken away. Even though God was holy, Isaiah didn’t have to fear God because of Isaiah’s unclean lips. Isaiah could accept God’s commission as a prophet because God had cleansed him of his guilt.

3 The seraph also said, “See, this live coal from the altar has touched your lips. Your sin is atoned for." Our sins separate us from God because God is holy and we are not. When our guilt is removed, we can be at one with God again. God takes away our guilt and puts it on Jesus. God brings us back to be at one with Him by covering us with the holiness of Jesus. We will be at one with God forever because of the resurrection of Jesus the Messiah. The seraphs reminded Isaiah and us that God’s cleansing makes us at one with Him again.

C {8} Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?" God is telling us that He is sending us as individuals to share His Law and Gospel with all the people with whom we have contact in life. He is sending us to share Jesus through the individual ministries that we carry out in this congregation. He is telling us He is sending us to share Jesus’ forgiveness, holiness and eternal life though all the functions of our congregation. He is telling us He is sending us to share Jesus with the whole world through the ministries we do together as the WELS.

D1 And we respond, “Here I am. Send me.” We can accept our commission from the Lord because we are qualified. We are qualified because we are no longer men of unclean lips. God has cleansed us of our guilt with the blood of Jesus. He has made us at one with Him by covering us with Jesus’ holiness. Here I am. Send me because of my Savior.

2 Here I am. Send me. I want to go to some people to share with them what I have seen. I have seen that the Lord is the LORD. He is the unchanging God who doesn’t back down on His covenant to forgive the sins of the human race. I want others to experience what I have experienced. The Lord comes into people’s lives and touches them with the blood of Christ and makes them guilt free. He comes into people’s lives and touches them with the holiness of Jesus and makes them at one with Him. Here I am. Send me. Because of my Savior in spite of my sinfulness.

Written Sermon 1/30/2022

CWC-Alternate OT Lesson - Epiphany 4 - Kieth Bernard Kuschel

I Kings 17:7-16

7 Some time later the brook dried up because there had been no rain in the land. 8 Then the word of the Lord came to him: 9 “Go at once to Zarephath in the region of Sidon and stay there. I have directed a widow there to supply you with food.” 10 So he went to Zarephath. When he came to the town gate, a widow was there gathering sticks. He called to her and asked, “Would you bring me a little water in a jar so I may have a drink?” 11 As she was going to get it, he called, “And bring me, please, a piece of bread.” 12 “As surely as the Lord your God lives,” she replied, “I don’t have any bread—only a handful of flour in a jar and a little olive oil in a jug. I am gathering a few sticks to take home and make a meal for myself and my son, that we may eat it—and die.” 13 Elijah said to her, “Don’t be afraid. Go home and do as you have said. But first make a small loaf of bread for me from what you have and bring it to me, and then make something for yourself and your son. 14 For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘The jar of flour will not be used up and the jug of oil will not run dry until the day the Lord sends rain on the land.’”15 She went away and did as Elijah had told her. So there was food every day for Elijah and for the woman and her family. 16 For the jar of flour was not used up and the jug of oil did not run dry, in keeping with the word of the Lord spoken by Elijah.

Repeat after me

Jesus died to wash away your sins

Jesus lived to cover you with His holiness

Jesus rose from the dead so you can live forever.

You are a prophet.

Prophets

I. Sent by God

A. Elijah

1. Situation in Israel

2. Sent: practical; prophetic

B. Jesus

1. Priestly work

2. Prophetic Work

C. Called Workers

1. Assignment committee

2. Special work

D. Us

1. Places in life

2. Reason: God put you there

II. Communicate

A. Elijah

1. Asked for food and water

2. Opening up a conversation

B. Jesus

1. Opened up conversation; get them thinking

2. Sometimes good results; sometimes not

C. Called workers

1. Preaching and teaching Bible class

2. Teaching skills

D. Us

1. Discuss everyday life things

2. Gives you the right to talk with the person

III. Pass Along God’s Promises

A. Elijah

1. Food and rain

2. Gifts from the LORD

B. Jesus

1. Promise to rise

2. Promise to give eternal life

C. Called Workers

1. Every sermon and every Bible class

2. Every devotion and every religion class

D. Us

1. Promise to guard and keep and be with

2. Promise of forgiveness, holiness, and eternal life

IA1 Ahab was the King of Israel. According to I Kings 16:30 “Ahab did more evil in the eyes of the LORD than any of those before him. He not only diverted the people in his nation away from the worship of the true God in Jerusalem by having altars built to Him in other places, but in addition he introduced the worship of and built temples for the Palestinian fertility gods Baal and Asherah. Because of that God sent a drought on the land of Israel.

2 God took care of His prophet Elijah by sending bread and meat to him air mail. When the brook which was supplying him with water dried up, God sent him to Zarephath in Sidon, outside of Israel. The practical reason God sent him was Elijah would get food there. From Jesus’ comments in the Gospel lesson, the spiritual reason God sent him there was - he was sent by God to bring the truth about the LORD to people there.

B1 Jesus was also sent by God. For what? Most Christians would say, “To die on the cross to wash away my sins. To suffer death as my Substitute to rescue me from death as punishment for my sins. To experience hell as my Substitute to rescue me that as punishment for my sins. To live and never sin to cover me with His holiness. To rise from the dead so that I might live forever.” All of that is true and good.

2 But God sent Jesus into our world for another reason. To be our prophet. To pass along God’s truth. If Jesus hadn’t taught God’s truth, we wouldn’t know which laws are demanded by God to be kept by us. If Jesus hadn’t taught God’s truth, we wouldn’t know why He lived and died and rose. Prophets pass along God’s truth. Jesus was the perfect prophet. He perfectly passed along God’s truth. He was sent by God to do that.

C1 Why are pastors and teachers and staff ministers and deacons and deaconesses carrying out their ministries at particular places? First reason. They were turned into believers in Jesus by the Holy Spirit. Second reason. God the Holy Spirit working through the Good News about Jesus convinced them that being professional prophets was a good idea. Third reason. God the Holy Spirit working through the Bible equipped them to be able to be prophets. Fourth reason. God’s people under the direction of Jesus designated them to carry out their work in a particular place. For all those reasons we can say God sends these people to their place of ministry.

2 A missionary is a good example. WELS World Mission Board, a group of believers in Jesus, wanted people to share Jesus with people in a foreign land. They asked a believer in Jesus, who is a professional equipped prophet for the Lord, to carry out that particular job for them.

D1 Why are you at your place in life? Practical reasons are the same as those for Elijah. I have a job to be able to provide myself and those dependent on me with necessities of life. I am at school in order to become equipped with skills so that I will be able to have a job to be able to provide myself and those dependent on me with necessities of life.

2 Why are you at your place in life? The real answer is God sent you there. You are working at that job because there are some people there like the widow in Zarephath who need the truth about God or need to have the truth of God reinforced by you. You are at that school because there are some people there like the widow in Zarephath who need the truth about God or need to have the truth of God reinforced by you. You are on that sports team because there are some people there like the widow in Zarephath who need the truth about God or need to have the truth of God reinforced by you. You are involved in that group of people who get together daily or weekly or monthly to socialize because there are some people there like the widow in Zarephath who need the truth about God or need to have the truth of God reinforced by you. God sent Elijah to Zarephath. God sent His Son into our world. God sends professional prophets. But the biggest group He sends out to share His truth is you.

IIA1 10 So Elijah went to Zarephath. When he came to the town gate, a widow was there

gathering sticks. He called to her and asked, “Would you bring me a little water in a jar so I may have a drink?” 11 As she was going to get it, he called, “And bring me, please, a piece of bread.” 12 “As surely as the Lord your God lives,” she replied, “I don’t have any bread—only a handful of flour in a jar and a little olive oil in a jug. I am gathering a few sticks to take home and make a meal for myself and my son, that we may eat it—and die.”

2 What was Elijah doing? He was having a conversation with this woman. Why? He was opening up communication lines with this woman? Why? He was earning the right to talk to this woman. Why? Because he wanted to share the truth about God with this woman. If he didn’t earn the right to talk to this woman, she wouldn’t be a listener to what he had to say.

B1 In the Gospel lesson for today, Jesus made the dramatic claim that the Old Testament prophet Isaiah’s words about the Messiah were fulfilled in Him. Why did He do that? He was trying to get the listeners to think about what He had to say. He was trying to initiate a conversation with them about who He was. He was opening up the lines of communication with these people.

2 Sometimes when Jesus started a conversation with people, it went well. Think of the woman at the well in Samaria. After talking about everyday things, Jesus moved the conversation to spiritual things and the woman was led to realize that Jesus was the Messiah. Things didn’t go very well in the Gospel lesson for today. Jesus got the people to think about His claim and compare it with their conclusion that he was just Joseph’s son. But they rejected His claim to be the Messiah.

C1 When God sends professional prophets out today, those people have had a lot of training in communicating God’s truth in a structured way and in a group settings. They spend four years learning to research, write, and present sermons. Learning to prepare and present Bible classes, Bible Information classes, Catechism classes, Bible History classes.

2 Teachers spend four years learning how to communicate in a classroom so the students grasp the concepts of math, the facts of history, the procedures of science, but much more important the truths about Jesus.

D1 If God sends you to share His truth with people in the various places of your life, how are you to go about doing that? It is much different from professional prophets preaching a sermon or teaching a class. How do you do that? You talk with the widow at Zarephath about the

groceries. You talk with her about the economy. You talk with her about how things are going in her life. You talk with her about the drought.

2 Why? Because the first thing we all must do with the people in the places of our lives is earn the right to talk to them about the truth of God. You do that by opening up the lines of communication with them. You do that by talking to them and listening to them. If we don’t earn the right to talk to someone, that person will not listen to what we have to say. Talk to the person at work about how the job is going. Talk to the person at school about how the classes are going. Talk to the person on your team about basketball. Talk to the person in your group about the weather. But remember, you are doing that for a reason. You are earning the right to share God’s truth with them.

IIIA1 13 Elijah said to her, “Don’t be afraid. Go home and do as you have said. 14 For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘The jar of flour will not be used up and the jug of oil will not run dry until the day the Lord sends rain on the land.’ Elijah passed along two promises of God. The LORD would take care of her and her son by miraculously providing them with food. What was the other promise? That He would bring the drought to an end.

2 Elijah brought this woman more gifts from the LORD. He restored the woman’s son to life after he died. He led her to realize that the LORD was the one and only true God. He led her to realize that the LORD is the source of and restorer of life. He led her to realize that the LORD by definition forgives sin and keeps His promises. And we can correctly assume that he led her to understand the promises of the Savior.

B1 Jesus, the perfect prophet, throughout His three years of public ministry perfectly passed along God’s truth. Included in that truth were God’s promises. Maybe the most dramatic promise that Jesus made during those three years was His promise to rise from the dead. Whenever He predicted that His enemies would kill Him, He promised that He would rise from the dead.

2 He made other promises. He promised to be with His followers always. He promised to use His power for our benefit. He promised to forgive our sins. He promised to cover us with His holiness. He promised to have us live forever with Him. Interestingly all these other promises are directly connected to His dramatic promise to rise from the dead. If He hadn’t done that, He couldn’t do any of these other things.

C1 Professional prophets are trained to make sure they pass along God’s promises when they speak the truth of God. In every sermon that is preached God’s promise to forgive your sins because of Jesus death, God’s promise to cover you with the holiness which Jesus lived, and God’s promise to give you eternal life because Jesus rose must be present. No matter what the stated topic of the Bible class is at some point God’s promise of forgiveness, holiness and eternal life because of the life death and resurrection of Jesus must be stated. In every communication that is sent the Gospel of Jesus, the promises of God are to be there.

2 In every devotion and every religion class, even if the topic is Elijah and the widow of Zarephath, the promises of God’s forgiveness, holiness and eternal life because of the life death and resurrection of Jesus are to be present.

D1 God sends you to share His truth with the people in the places of your lives. What are you to tell them? The promises of God. To your friend whose wife died, you can say, “Jesus promises to be with you always.” To your neighbor who lost His job, you can say, “Jesus promises to take care of you.”

2 But just like every sermon and every classroom presentation, every conversation that you carry out as a prophet of God needs to have the most important promises of God present. So let’s practice them. Jesus died to wash away your sins. Jesus lived to cover you with His holiness. Jesus rose from the dead so you can live forever.

Prayer. LORD Jesus, thank You for being my Perfect Prophet by giving me Your truth. Thank you for giving me the privilege of being one of Your prophets. Motivate, equip, and empower me to pass along Your Promises.

Written Sermon 1/23/2022

CWC - Psalm for the Day - Epiphany 3 - Kieth Bernard Kuschel

Psalm 19

1 The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.

2 Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge.

3 They have no speech, they use no words; no sound is heard from them.

4 Yet their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world.

In the heavens God has pitched a tent for the sun.

5 It is like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber,

like a champion rejoicing to run his course.

6 It rises at one end of the heavens and makes its circuit to the other;

nothing is deprived of its warmth.

7 The law of the Lord is perfect, refreshing the soul.

The statutes of the Lord are trustworthy, making wise the simple.

8 The precepts of the Lord are right, giving joy to the heart.

The commands of the Lord are radiant, giving light to the eyes.

9 The fear of the Lord is pure, enduring forever.

The decrees of the Lord are firm, and all of them are righteous.

10 They are more precious than gold,

than much pure gold;

they are sweeter than honey,

than honey from the honeycomb.

11 By them your servant is warned;

in keeping them there is great reward.

12 But who can discern their own errors?

Forgive my hidden faults.

13 Keep your servant also from willful sins;

may they not rule over me.

Then I will be blameless,

innocent of great transgression.

14 May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart

be pleasing in your sight,

Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.

Epiphany - meaning

What are we to show forth, reveal or disclose?

Today’s Psalm tells us about some of God’s epiphanies.

God gives us Epiphanies through

(Tells us something about Himself)

1. The creation 2. Our consciences 3. His Word

IA1 How big was your heating bill last month? It sure would be nice if we had a heat source that would take care of our heating needs free. There is one source of heat that is free. And it is truly amazing. It heats up the entire earth. 6: “nothing is deprived of its warmth, ". the Psalm writer says. That source is the sun.

2 Another amazing thing is the distribution system. Oil trucks show up at the customer’s

house when the computer says it is time for more oil. The sun has a delivery route too. 6: “It rises at one end of the heavens and makes its circuit to the other.” This huge flaming source of heat is always in the right place. It doesn’t get too close to make toast out of us. It doesn’t go too far away to make permanent snow cones out of us.

3 (4)In the heavens God has pitched a tent for the sun. 5 It is like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, like a champion rejoicing to run his course." Like a bridegroom coming out of the portable enclosure used at the public wedding ceremony, ready for new life, so the sun arises each morning ready for the new life of the new day. Like a champion running around the course with his arms raised in a victory trot, so the sun victoriously makes its course around the earth, conquering darkness and cold each day.

B1 The sun is used in verses 4-6 as an example of the rest of the parts of the universe, called the heavens and skies. When we look at these things, we see amazing things like the sun, which do amazing things, which display amazing power, which provide amazing benefits.

2 These amazing things talk to us, they tell us things. “2 Day after day they pour forth

speech; night after night they reveal knowledge. 3 They have no speech, they use no words; no sound is heard from them. 4 Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world." Since they impart information without speech or language, every human being everywhere can understand the message. Since everybody everywhere is able to observe the working of the universe, everybody everywhere has access to the message which the heavens and the skies proclaim.

C1 What is the message which we hear the heaven, the skies telling us? The first thing they tell us is that whoever is responsible for all of this is wise. He had to be smarter than a human being. It has taken humans almost 10,000 years to just come to a little understanding about how all this works. He is smarter than we are.

2 Next. Whoever is responsible for all this is powerful. Not only was He smart enough to make the planets have a course, but He is powerful enough to keep them on course. Not only was He smart enough to give the sun the ability to warm us. He is powerful enough to keep it sending out the energy that we need. Not only was He wise enough to set up the water cycle, the chlorophyll cycle and many other intricacies of our world, but He is powerful enough to have put those cycles into action and keep them going.

3 Third. Whoever is responsible for all this is very good. Through each thing in the universe some benefit is provided. The sun - heat and light. The moon - gravitational pull. The water cycle - makes food grow. On and on.

4 What epiphany does the sky, the heavens give us? That there is somebody very wise, very powerful, and very kind out there who is responsible for everything we see around us. It was all the work of His hands. And we are led to join the skies in saying that He deserves to be praised for who He is and what He has done. “1 The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.”

IIA1 If this person who is responsible for all this around us is smart, powerful, and kind, we ought to strive to be as much like Him as possible. That is easier said than done. In order for us to be able to do good to others, we have to be smart enough to figure out what they need. Sometimes that is easy. Sometimes it is not. If we aren’t aware of what is needed to benefit someone else, it’s quite apparent that we are incapable of taking care of the need.

2 There is another problem. We aren’t always even looking to be in tune with other people’s needs. It’s called selfishness. If left to ourselves, we would only look out for ourselves. If left to ourselves, we get so caught up with what we are doing, what we want, what we like , and what makes us feel good, that we don’t even see what others need, what they are missing, what we might do to benefit them.

B1 So the Psalm writer concludes: “12 Who can discern their own errors? Forgive my hidden faults.” “Lord, when I look at what You do for me through Your creation and I compare it with what I do for others, I have to conclude that I don’t even think about my responsibility toward others very much. If I don’t even think about it a lot, I know I fail to be helpful, to give myself to others when they need it. Lord, I need Your forgiveness for all those failures that I don’t even know about.”

2 “But Lord, I also have a problem with things I do which hurt others. My selfishness sometimes goes into high gear. I want to take advantage of others. I want to use others. I want to get back at others who hurt me. I want to verbally abuse others. I know those things are wrong. I need Your help. I need our strength. I need Your protection so that I don’t get actively involved in things that are destructive to others and ultimately to myself. “13 Keep your servant also from willful sins; may they not rule over me. “

3 “Why do I need to avoid things that oppose Your will? Because I know they have drastic consequences. They destroy relationships. They destroy peace of mind. They destroy my relationship with You. They make me deserve Your punishment. They put me outside of Your family.

C1 How does God tell us about Himself? How does He gives us epiphanies? He has placed in each of us a basic knowledge of right and wrong. He has placed in each of us a little voice which testifies to what is right and wrong. It leads us to compare ourselves with the goodness, wisdom, and power of God. It leads us to draw a conclusion as to whether we are comparable to Him or not.

2 So, our conscience tells us we are responsible to Someone who made all things for our benefit. It tells us that we don’t do a very good job of reflecting His goodness, wisdom and power. It makes us feel uncomfortable because of our failures. It reminds us of our actions which go counter to what we know about God’s way of doing things.

3 It teaches us that we just can’t make it with this powerful, wise, and good God on our own. It teaches us that we fail. It points out to us that we need to get help from somewhere else if we are going to have a relationship with this God.

IIIA1 Sometimes our consciences don’t make very clear comments. Sometimes the circumstances in a situation seem to overwhelm us so that the conscience gets drowned out. Sometimes the selfishness within us does a good job of arguing the conscience out of what is right. Then what?

2 Then God talks to us in another way. God has written His will down. It is in the Bible. Something written down doesn’t change. Circumstances don’t alter it. Selfishness doesn’t affect it. It is an unchanging standard. “ 7 The law of the LORD is perfect.”

3 “7bThe statutes of the LORD are trustworthy, making wise the simple.” Sometimes we just can’t figure out what we ought to do in a given situation. Sometimes we don’t know what is right and wrong. Then we can go to the written word of the Lord and become educated. It makes us simple people wise.

4 Sometimes we just can’t see how to apply what we have read. We don’t see any way out of a situation. Or, we don’t see any way into a situation. 8b" The commands of the LORD are radiant, giving light to the eyes.” The solution is - God talks to us more from His Word. He will clear away our blindness so that we will see how to apply His will.

5 “9b The decrees of the Lord are firm, and all of them are righteous." We don’t have to second guess. We know that the Lord has given us His Word. It is true and sure. It isn’t tainted with selfishness. It doesn’t have a wrong motive. It’s what’s right.

6 So, the Lord talks to us. “11 By them (God’s words) your servant is warned.” He warns us that sin makes us guilty before Him. He warns us that sin makes us deserve His anger. He warns us that the only way to achieve His praise is by perfectly keeping His law. He warns us that the devil takes over in the lives of those who oppose His will. Those warnings make us fear God, acknowledge that He is the one to whom we are responsible. He is the one who has a perfect right to expect perfection from us because we are His creatures. Those warnings make us want not be subject to His punishment. That fear is a good thing. “9 The fear of the LORD is pure, enduring forever.”

7 But we also know that if we could keep His law, we would be right with Him. If we could keep His law, things would be much better for us now. “11b in keeping them there is great reward.” So, we ask His help to implement what our conscience says is right and what our reading of His will tells us is right. “14 May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer.”

B1 Did some phrases sound strange? 7 “The law of the LORD is perfect, refreshing the soul.” The Law shows us our sins. The Law threatens punishment. The Law doesn’t revive the soul. The LORD Himself is the only one who revives the soul, gives the soul life. He does that by telling us that we can live forever because Jesus died to wash away our sins, lived perfectly to cover us with His holiness, and rose so that we might live forever. The only way this verse makes sense is if we translate the word “Law” as “teaching” which is possible meaning. “Teaching” then would include both Law and Gospel. The Gospel, the good news about Jesus, is what revives our souls.

2 Another strange phrase. 8 The precepts of the LORD are right, giving joy to the heart. The precepts of the LORD take away our joy because we can’t keep them. But the entire message of the LORD which includes what He gives us, forgiveness, holiness, and eternal life - that gives joy.

10 They are more precious than gold, than much pure gold; they are sweeter than honey, than honey from the honeycomb. God’s words, whether we call them precepts, or teaching, are sweet because they tell us about our Savior. Our Savior who lived and died and rose to give us holiness, forgiveness, and eternal life. That’s what revives the soul. That’s what give joy to the heart. That’s the most important epiphany God has given us. That is what Jesus said the Scriptures were all about. They testify to us about Him.

Lord, thank You for giving us epiphanies through the creation and from our conscience. But most importantly thank You for Your Epiphany that come to us through Your Word. The epiphany that reveals Jesus to us.

Sermon 12/12/2021

Sermon 12/5/2021

Rev. Kieth Kuschel

St. Paul’s Lutheran Church Manistee, MI (WELS)

Sermon Text: Psalm 24

Sermon 11/28/2021

Sermon Thanksgiving Eve 11/24/2021

Sermon 11/21/2021

Rev. Kieth Kuschel

St. Paul’s Lutheran Church Manistee, MI (WELS)

Sermon Text: Revelation 1:4b-8