The Joshua Victor Theory

Sermon Outline:  1.       Palm Sunday, Holy Week, looking down the path that Jesus journeyed to the cross. We watch our king enter Jerusalem, Last Supper, Good Friday. Do we turn our eyes from that shameful death on the cross, or do we look to Him and breathe out our humble prayer of repentance and thanksgiving, that He suffered that for us? 2.       “Rejoice greatly! O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.” How should the heart rejoice at the sign of Jesus’ coming? “Our hearts should jump for joy. Our spirits should hop with rejoicing. Our tongues should be speaking praises. For this King does not bring just any ordinary benefit. That’s why also this joy should not just be any ordinary joy, but rather a special joy. It is written in Neh. 8:10: For the joy in the Lord is y...

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen. Happy New Year! The new cycle of the church’s calendar begins this First Sunday in Advent, as the year begins with the expectation of Christ’s coming. Only we’re no longer awaiting the Christ child’s coming birth, as the prophets of Israel foretold, and has long ago been fulfilled. Rather we’re living in the expectation of His second coming to judge the living and the dead. In Advent we wait for our King, who’s coming to us, and we ready our hearts for His arrival. Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. It may seem strange to you that the church year begins out-of-sync with the regular calendar, by beginning almost 1 month sooner. It may seem even more strange that we have a reading about Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday on the First Sunday in Advent! Why is Palm Sunday, from the week before Jesus’ death, brought into the season of A...

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen. Palm Sunday or the Sunday of the Passion is a day of real contrasts. As the first day of Holy Week, the week of Jesus’ betrayal, arrest, crucifixion, and death, it starts the week on a joyful note of praises. But a week that quickly turned to great gloom and despair. It seems so disjointed, that Jesus’ week would start with such a joyful celebration and the triumphal procession for a King, but by the end of the week that the crowds would have turned so decisively against Him. They began the week with palms for their King, He ended it in thorns. The significant days of Holy Week are Palm Sunday, which we just celebrated with the Palm Processional into the sanctuary. Maundy Thursday, the night when Jesus celebrated the Passover meal with His disciples, instituted the Lord’s Supper, and was betrayed. Good Friday, the day of Jesus’ crucifixion, death, and burial. On Holy Saturday, Jesus lay buried in the tomb. A week ...

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen. I want to draw your attention to a common theme between our Old Testament and Gospel readings today. The theme of God’s promise to establish a “house” for David. In order to make the connection more clear, I’m going to read the few verses that were left out, 2 Samuel 7:11-16: “I will give you rest from all your enemies. Moreover, the Lord declares to you that the Lord will make you a house. When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son. When he commits iniquity, I will discipline him with the rod of men, with the stripes of the sons of men, but my steadfast love will not depart from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away from before you. An...