The Joshua Victor Theory

Sermon Outline: ·          Week 3 of Reformation series—“Scripture alone”. Week 1 & 2, faith alone and grace alone—show that we are saved by faith in Jesus to the exclusion of our works, and by God’s grace, to the exclusion of our having merited or deserved it. Pastor Roschke made the excellent point that these truths stand “altogether”—that is that grace, faith, scripture, and Christ stand together. Clarifies that “alone” here does not mean “in isolation from everything else”. For example, you could say “Jenny is alone in the room”; or you could say “In our class, Jenny alone passed the test.” In the second case, it doesn’t mean that Jenny is by herself, but that the others didn’t pass. ·          Think about what this means when we say “Scripture alone.” Are we saying that we should not read or study or learn from any other book than the Bible? If so, then you shouldn’t even be listening to me pre...

1. “They stood still, looking sad.” Jesus joined the disciples for their sorrowful journey a. Joy was stolen—hope that He would redeem Israel b. Beloved teacher had been crucified, puzzling reports of His appearance, but hadn’t seen Jesus c. Disorienting grief (eyes downturned, hopes dashed, trying to make sense of great loss—grief can show how deeply a person was loved) d. We see an example of how the Christian’s life is not always joyous. Pr. Harrison talks about how this is a relief to many Christians, because some of the most miserable people are those who are tormented by the belief that they always have to show joy to others to prove they have the gift of the Spirit. It can be quite despairing to be told your life should be full of joy, but you feel none of it. Times of grief or joylessness don’t mean that the Holy Spirit is absent from us. e. Permission for grief and sadness—esp. at a funeral. Loss of a loved one. Jesus’ own grief–Lazarus. But our sorrow will be turned into joy...

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen. “The time is coming…” the Apostle Paul wrote to Timothy, a young pastor. “The time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.” Well it shouldn’t take much convincing for us to realize that that time is now here. We already live in the time Paul described, where people will not listen to or tolerate sound teaching, but gather around them teachers that will say what their itching ears want to hear. Today Paul’s words to Timothy call us to make sure we are listening to the God-breathed Word of holy Scripture, which is vital for our spiritual health today. Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. So are we really living in “those times” when people won’t listen to sound teaching,...

Happy Reformation Day! This October 31st, 2009 is the 492nd year since Martin Luther began the Reformation of the Christian church on October 31st, 1517, by nailing 95 Theses or Statements to the church door in Wittenberg, Germany. The events that followed that initial protest against the church’s corruption of salvation have reverberated through history and we in the Lutheran church are heirs of that Reformation. While most of us aren’t students of history, there are many valuable lessons relating to Christian faith and life, and to the definition of the church that we would do well to learn from that period, so that we don’t repeat the mistakes of history. I want to briefly focus your attention this month on one particular issue of importance that was debated during the Reformation. That was the authority of the Bible, or Holy Scripture. You may be familiar with one Lutheran slogan of the Reformation: “Sola Scriptura” or “through Scripture Alone.” The question was this: “What is the ...