The Joshua Victor Theory

Sermon by Pastor Paul Roschke, 12-20-17 I.N.I. Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Introduction Last Sunday Pastor Schneider’s sermon on Isaiah helped us to watch for ‘doublets’:  “comfort, comfort” and “double for all her sins”.  Tonight we had a triplet:  3 times we read Psalm 96.  The first reading was from 1st Chronicles which included much of Psalm 96.  The second time, a cantor and a pianist helped us sing parts of it, and we just now read it together for a 3 rd time.   But King David, who is believed to be the author of Psalm 96, had a choir of 4,000 Levites to help the Israelites sing.  The first occasion for singing Psalm 96 was reported in the 1 st Chronicles passage that we read earlier - when the Ark of the Covenant was brought into a tent in Jerusalem.  And then, after the temple was built by King Solomon, every morning and every evening, a portion of the Levitical choir gathered on the t...

Intro: The Lord be with you! Today I wanted to do a special teaching sermon, where we will learn some of the reasons for why we do what we do in worship, and to explain the meaning behind some of the symbols and actions that we often take for granted. I pray that this will help make your weekly worship more meaningful, as we draw near to worship our Triune God and receive His gifts!             Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Amen. Let’s start with a brief introduction to the theology of worship. Worship could be understood in at least one of two ways—one way is that worship is an activity we do for God, and goes from us up to God, and His blessings return down to us, like a capital “M”. The second way is to see worship as first and foremost what God does for us. His gifts and blessings come down to us, and our praises return up to Him, like a capital “W”. The d...