The Joshua Victor Theory

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. Today we pick up where we left off two weeks ago, in our series on the Lord’s Supper. This month begins our weekly celebration of the Lord’s Supper, with the exception of March 27th, which will be a Children’s Sunday. The last sermon discussed the Biblical teaching of the “real presence”—that Jesus is truly present in His body and blood in the Lord’s Supper, for us to eat and to drink. That teaching is foundational to the topic for today: the spiritual blessings and benefit of the Lord’s Supper. The first and foremost blessing of the Lord’s Supper is described in Christ’s own words: “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins” (Matt. 26:28). The biggest blessing of the Lord’s Supper is the forgiveness of sins. But don’t we get that elsewhere, you ask? Don’t we have the forgiveness of sins in our Baptism, or by hearing and believing in the ...

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. Today is part two of our sermon teaching series on the Lord’s Supper. Last week I informed the congregation that in March, we’ll begin offering the Lord’s Supper every Sunday. I spoke about how Christ gave us the Supper and instructed us to do it often, in remembrance of Him, and how this gift of love for us is Jesus’ own body and blood. Last week I referred to this understanding of the Lord’s Supper as the “real presence” or “bodily presence” of Jesus. Today I will answer the question, “Is this Lutheran understanding of the “real presence” the Biblical one—that is to say, the Christian one?” That is the essential question—because by “the Lutheran understanding” of a particular teaching, whether the Lord’s Supper or otherwise—we don’t mean something new and unique and apart from Christianity. If it were, we certainly couldn’t call it a Christian or Biblical teaching. When we as Lutheran ...

This Sunday I would like to announce to the congregation an important change that will be coming to our worship services, and over the next few Sunday’s I’m going to do a teaching series of sermons to explain and prepare us for that change. The change is that beginning in March, when we start the season of Lent, we’re going to move to having the Lord’s Supper available every week. The exceptions will be when we have Preschool or Children’s Sunday services, or combined outdoor services, etc. Presently, the elder’s will be responsible for the additional communion setup, though we welcome new volunteers from our church members to be trained to help in communion setup. I’m very excited to bring this change to the congregation, and believe that it will be a source of blessing for us as we gather each week to receive God’s two holy treasures for us: the Word and the Sacrament. Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. In today’s sermo...