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...

Grace, mercy, and peace to you, from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Amen. Last week we heard in 1 Peter 3 about the Christian living their life with good conscience, despite persecution and opposition for their faith. The theme continues in today’s reading. We’ve talked before this year about how we don’t experience persecution anywhere on the order of how millions of Christians in foreign countries do today, or early Christians. Yet Peter almost took it for granted that persecution was a basic reality of Christian life. Our reading opens with, “Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you.” This challenges us to consider why we don’t experience more persecution. Is it because we enjoy a period of relative peace in our country? Or do we see warning signs that the “goodwill” toward Christianity is fading in society? Or does it tell us we aren’t speaking up or witnessing ...

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, Amen. Courtroom dramas have been popular for decades, and it’s no surprise why—a person’s life hangs in the balance. Will they be declared guilty or innocent? Did they really commit the crime, or is the real culprit still out there? Will they serve a short sentence? A life sentence? Face the death penalty? For some it strikes painfully close to home. For others it’s a fascination with what it would be like, or the dread of whether it could happen to me. Everything builds toward the verdict—guilty or innocent. After that, the next great concern is the sentencing. What price will they pay for the crime, if they’re found guilty? Once the sentence is given, it must be carried out. Whatever the crime, whatever the penalty, it’s a grim reminder that the law is not merciful, and that law breakers runs into danger. “For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad” Paul says (Romans 13:3). “He is God’s servant for you...

• 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. Dear Saints of God in Christ Jesus! Today we observe All Saints’ Day, remembering those Christians who have died and gone before us to their eternal reward with Christ. Using our epistle reading from 1 John, we’ll look at who the saints are, and what it means to be a saint. Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. Saints are children of God. Does that strikes you as too ordinary and familiar a truth? Heard it too many times before? Then we need to have our minds refreshed to appreciate again this wonderful reality. John says, “See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God, and so we are.” See what kind of love. John calls us to marvel at this love of God. Marvelous because we were not always children of God. Before God looked for us and found us, we were orphans, we were in darkness. Sons of disobedience and en...

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...