The Joshua Victor Theory

  Christ is Risen! He is Risen Indeed, Alleluia! This is the end of 1 John. A letter of faith and love. Re-read the whole letter once or twice this week and reflect on its resurrection messages and the new life we’re given. There’s always more there than we can unpack. Mine the Bible for those precious jewels. God’s Word is a treasure trove for your life! Today we’re mining the word “testimony.” In chapter 5, John compares the testimony of God to the testimony of man. Testimony is a borrowed word from the courtrooms. Witnesses give their testimony to what they’ve seen or heard. “Martyr” is Greek for “witness” and later came to mean someone who died for their testimony, because so many early Christians were put to death because they wouldn’t deny, change, or surrender their testimony to Jesus Christ and His resurrection. A “testimony” or “witness” has a certain “weight” to it. A court weighs whether they can trust the witnesses. That takes discernment. We talked two weeks ago ab...

  Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Amen. This new church year we’ll spend a lot of time in the Gospel of Mark, the shortest of the four Gospels, but no less meaty or nutritious with Jesus’ good news. In fact, the opening words are: “ The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God .” Straight to the point and purpose; Mark’s style. Early tradition identifies him with John Mark in the book of Acts, a missionary companion of Paul and Barnabas and a friend of Peter (Acts 12:12, 25; 15:37). Some early church fathers, the first generation after the apostles, tell us that John Mark wrote his gospel by interviewing Peter and recording his experiences. To-the-point, Mark skips long introductions and brings us straight to the adult Jesus at the start of His ministry, being proclaimed by His cousin John the Baptist. Let’s take a minute to reintroduce ourselves to John the Baptist. With hindsight, we can see him as the...

            In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen. Today is Trinity Sunday. This Sunday is unique on the Christian calendar, because it doesn’t commemorate an event, miracle, or a person, but rather a doctrine. The teaching of the Trinity is central to the Christian faith. Attacked for centuries, but always defended as the orthodox or correct teaching of the Bible. From the earliest centuries the Creeds were confessed to defend against distortions of the Bible, especially about the Trinity. We could get stuck on the semantics of the word “Trinity”. The word itself is not found in the Bible, but that’s not the important question. The important question is whether the teaching is found in the Bible. We simply use “Trinity” to describe how God shows Himself in Scripture; as Three Persons, One God .             I assume most or all of you alrea...

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Amen. This past Christmas I was immersed in different versions of the classic story: “ A Christmas Carol”, about Ebenezer Scrooge, his poor clerk Bob Cratchit, and Bob’s son, Tiny Tim. Tiny Tim is crippled, undernourished, and walks with a crutch; but his parents love him dearly. In one scene, after bringing Tiny Tim home from church on Christmas Day, the wife asks Bob how Tiny Tim behaved. “As good as gold” he replies, and then explains how Tiny Tim said the most remarkable thing. Tim hoped that people would see him in church, “because he was a cripple, and it might be pleasant to them to remember upon Christmas Day, who made the lame beggars walk and blind men see.” Tiny Tim hoped he would remind people of Jesus. Today, in church, we remember Christ, who made the lame beggars to walk and blind men see. But there’s another connection to our reading. This touching scene shows Tiny Tim has a...

The Savior is Born! He is born in a manger! As we celebrate Christmas, one of the parts of the story that most captures our attention is the angels. But it’s very important to point out that the angels have a serving role in the story—angels never point or draw attention to themselves, but only to Jesus. One of our hymns sings: “Angels, help us to adore Him; you behold Him face to face.” The word “angel” means “messenger”—and this is just what they do—bring the joyful message(s) of God to us, and help us to worship God—because they see and know God face to face. They know and see more than we do, but they still do not know everything, as only God does. Today, the angels will help us to adore, or worship Jesus, as we listen to them glorify the Son of the Most High, and join in with our songs and praises. Hebrews 1 was one of our readings today. It says Jesus was blessed by God with a name that is far superior to, and more excellent than the angels. God never said to any of the angel...

            In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen. Last Sunday, if you were here, we had a bulletin quote from Luther, that whether God’s Law or man’s law, the law should never bind further than love goes, and that love should be the interpreter of the law. “Where there is no love these things become meaningless and the law begins to do harm. The reason for enacting all laws and ordinances is only to establish love, as Paul says, Romans 13:10 ‘Love therefore is the fulfilment of the law.’” Luther’s reflection and St. Paul’s comments both echo Jesus’ words today. He shows the Law is given that we might love. Jesus sums up the whole of God’s law in two great commandments. “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and...