The Joshua Victor Theory

  In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen. Our OT reading from Exodus 20 is the giving of the 10 Commandments on Mt. Sinai. I’ve substituted Hebrews 12 for the regular Epistle reading of the day. Hebrews contrasts two mountains. Mt. Sinai on the terrifying day when Israel came to the mountain to hear God directly speak the commandments out loud to them. And secondly, Mt. Zion, where we the gathered worshippers have come to this second mountain, and to Jesus Christ. Consider God’s work for us and our salvation at each mountain. First, Mt. Sinai. God delivered volumes of teaching, instruction, and laws to Moses and the Israelites on Mt. Sinai. Most of the 5 books of Moses. Sinai was the place of His revelation, God speaking to His people. But of all that God revealed to them, only the 10 Commandments God spoke directly to Israel without a mediator (Deut. 5; Ex. 20). Everything else came by Moses. But at the scene in Exodus and Hebrews 12 they heard t...

Sermon outline:  ·          Re-read: “ 28Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” Beloved passage ·          Burdens and yokes. Farming, oxen. Trading Yokes with Jesus. Heavy for light ·          Our yokes and burdens: 1) the yoke of sin and guilt. 2) “wearisome changes”—the yoke of worries and cares in the world, 3) the yoke of labor ·          All my burdens. All my anxieties. Sin and guilt—heaviest and perhaps least understood. Invisible, but we feel its weight. Feel the dread of guilt, judgment, fear of hell. Denial doesn’t get rid of it. Anger can’t lift it. Passing the blame doesn’t lessen the weight. Doesn’t stop us...

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Amen. Today in our reading from 1 Peter, the phrase “good conscience” appears twice. Once it’s in the context of a Christian living out their faith in Jesus and doing good, while suffering persecution or opposition—yet being able to have a good conscience. The second time it’s about our appeal to God in baptism for a good conscience. Today we’re going to see what this Scripture tells us about the gift of a good conscience, and how to keep our conscience clear. Have you noticed nowadays how even non-religious people are very aware of guilt? It’s no surprise that they often try to deal with it in a variety of ways that are very different from the Christian answer to guilt—which in short, is forgiveness in Jesus Christ. But it shows that guilt is very troubling for people. Sometimes we perceive that it originates from inside us; while other times we blame others for imposing guilt on us (isn’...

Intro: This sermon is a reflection on how we might examine our lives according to the Ten Commandments. Not every sin may be your own, or my own, but as Luther reminds us: it is not hurtful to acknowledge and confess our sin, but rather we should say from our hearts “O Lord God! I’ve done this sin.” Although you may not have committed a certain sin that another has done, neither have they committed the same sins as you. Any cry of superiority from one to another is cancelled out. So as you hear this sermon, reflect thoughtfully on your own sin, acknowledge and confess it before God, gladly welcoming His forgiveness, knowing that in Christ your sin is no longer counted against you. But don’t be deceived to think God won’t know if you harbor sin in your heart. Self-righteousness has no place before God. Also reflect on the goodness of each commandment—and the yet-still-greater goodness of our Savior Jesus Christ, who nailed our every debt to the tree of His cross, that we might be for...

• the signs of Jesus’ innocence are repeatedly ignored and overlooked, and He is sentenced to crucifixion against all justice and with no fair trial. There was no “Innocent till proven guilty” for Jesus. No one ever proved any guilt in Him. • Take the life of another person and you have their “blood on your hands.” Since Pilate knew he was killing an innocent man, he tried to exculpate himself (free himself from blame) by washing his hands. But this couldn’t free him from guilt. Shockingly, the mob made no such attempt to exculpate themselves--they brazenly said: “His blood be upon us and on our children!” They took the responsibility and were glad for it, thinking that they were vindicated by the fact that they were supposedly doing good by getting rid of this troublemaker Jesus. • What are the different ways we try to exculpate, exonerate, absolve, vindicate, ourselves from sin or guilt? We “wash our hands” of the matter, saying we had nothing to do with it, or if we knew we shared n...

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. Today we wrap up our sermon series on the Lord’s Supper. We’ve previously covered how we observe the Lord’s Supper at the institution and command of Jesus, how He taught that it is His true body and blood offered for us to eat and to drink, and what are the spiritual blessings and benefits of this blessed communion. Now we address the question of how we faithfully use that sacrament. Who comes to the altar to receive it, and how does a person receive the sacrament worthily—or for their good? The sermon talking points refer you to questions from the catechism and various Bible verses on this topic. The text for today is 1 Corinthians 11:17-34, where the apostle Paul addresses how the church had begun to misuse the Lord’s Supper: 17 But in the following instructions I do not commend you, because when you come together it is not for the better but for the worse. 18 For, in the first place,...

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen. Our sermon text is Luke 23, the narrative of Jesus’ passion, but I want to re-read one section from verse 39-43: 39One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him, saying, “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!” 40But the other rebuked him, saying, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? 41And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.” 42And he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” 43And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.” Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. This scene of Jesus’ crucifixion, where two criminals hung together with Jesus, are discussing His punishment and guilt or innocence, reminds me of a scene from a movie where an innocent man goes to prison for a crime that h...