The Joshua Victor Theory

  Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Amen. The Bible verse for our focus today will be Acts 2:21, “ And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved .” When you are in trouble or need help, who helps you? Who can you trust? Who are your phone contacts? Your parents or older sibling for advice. Your trusted mechanic for when the car breaks down. Your plumber for leaks, your pastor for spiritual guidance, your doctor for your health. Or in a life-or-death emergency, or when a crime is underway, you call 9-1-1 because they respond 24/7 to emergencies. Anything beyond our own wisdom, expertise, ability to care for ourselves, or above our emotional threshold—we reach out to others for help. We call upon our “helpers.” We take cell phones for granted and calling anyone in the world. It’s astonishing, when you remember that just 200 years ago, there was no such thing as a telephone, and...

    Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ, Amen. What do you think of when you hear the word delight? Where does delight happen? What do we take delight in? We could give many different answers. A toddler delights in the cool sensations of splashing or running water. An older child delights in the colors and booms of a firework display. Young lovers delight in the warm emotions and tingling excitement of finding a person that shows mutual interest. A cowboy delights in the strength and speed of a horse. A race enthusiast delights in the roar and muscle of a stock car. An artist delights in a natural scene of beauty they can translate to the canvas. We can delight in people, relationships, sensations, beauty, power, wisdom, and a host of other things. God’s creation is full of wonders, knowledge and mysteries that spark our curiosity with delights both forbidden and blessed. Delight happens in our heart and our eyes. We might d...

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...

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Though on Maui it might be a stretch—I want you to imagine two people huddled outside in the cold snow, perhaps under a dark shelter—but they are shivering, freezing. Then the sun breaks through the clouds with brilliant force, casting warm beams to the earth. But hidden under the shelter, the two are still frozen cold. Then one enters the sunlight, and suddenly feels the warmth soaking into all their body, face, fingertips, and toes. The other is still miserable, shivering cold in the dark. If the first simply says, “hey, quit shivering, just warm up!” but doesn’t bring them out into the sunshine, it does the person no good—they’ll still be frozen. Their words are empty sentiment. But if they’re brought into the warmth of the sunlight, they will immediately feel the chill and the cold fading away. Another example. In James 2:14-17, James describes a faith without works. He says what if a person was hungry ...

The 13th and final sermon in a series on Romans 6-14, "God's Greater Story". Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father, and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Amen. Today is our 13 th and final week in the book of Romans—and we’ve been slowly digesting a considerable portion of the book: chapters 6-14. Like any “meal” from God’s Word, the food is rich and filling—filling us with God’s truth, with the knowledge of His love and mercy for us in Christ Jesus, and with His Holy Spirit. And yet the “table” is always far from empty, as there is much more that we could return to. God’s Word is a never-ending feast for the hungry soul—a banquet which never runs out of the well-aged wine of wisdom, nor the nourishing bread of life. And hopefully you’ve gained an appetite to return and dig deeper into Romans yourself. This would be a great opportunity for you to read through the entire book of Romans again on your own, and review its message to you. If you can do it al...

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen. Recently the poem “Invictus” was prominently featured as the title of a movie about Nelson Mandela. These famous lines from that poem gave inspiration to Nelson Mandela while he spent years in a South African prison: “It matters not how strait the gate, How charged with punishments the scroll. I am the master of my fate: I am the captain of my soul.” Those last words, “I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul,” capture the strong emotion of what many people feel about their life and destiny. I am the captain of my soul. I set the course for life, no one else is my master; I answer to no one. In today’s Gospel reading, we’ll see that Jesus leads us to a very different conclusion about who’s ultimately in control of our life, and who rules the soul. Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. Thank God that the saints in Scripture were no flawle...

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen. Today’s sermon is from the Gospel reading, Mark 8:27-38. Jesus asks His disciples and us that all-important question: “Who do you say that I am?” It is my aim that you would be able to answer that question for yourself with certainty, or at least make it a front burner issue to decide what you think of Jesus. Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. Jesus’ first question to His disciples, was “Who do people say that I am?” What was Jesus after? Did He have an identity crisis? Was He looking for validation? No, He was looking for the disciples and others to take a position on who He was. The public opinion poll about Jesus came in from the disciples that some thought He was John the Baptist (the prophet and cousin of Jesus who had recently been executed, and who some feared was now back from the dead). Others thought He was Elijah, the great prophet of old,...