The Joshua Victor Theory

  Christ is Risen! He is Risen indeed, Alleluia! So far in 1 John we’ve discussed how we are “Raised for Fellowship,” how “We Shall Be Like Him”, and what “Resurrection Love” looks like. Today is not so much of a “resurrection theme”, but John calls us to distinguish truth and lies. This week I shared an essay in the Midweek Encouragement by the Nobel prize winner Alexander Solzhenitsyn, titled “Live Not by Lies.” He was exiled in 1974 from his homeland in Russia, for criticizing the communist regime, and paid for it by serving a sentence in the gulags—prison labor camps for political prisoners, dissidents, and common criminals. His crime was to think different and to speak out. He witnessed firsthand the horrific power of lies to subjugate a nation and spoke against it at great personal cost. A Christian who chose not to live by lies, he chose to live by the truth. From the Garden of Eden to today, the deadliness of the devil’s countless lies remains the same. The devil is alway...

 Sermon on   Isaiah 52:13-53:12 for  Good Friday  by Rev. Reed Lessing, the "Singing with the Exiles" series.   “See, my servant will act wisely; he will be raised and lifted up and highly exalted.” Isaiah 52:13.     Kol in Hebrew. Pas in Greek. Omnis in Latin. Alles in German. Todos in Spanish. Visi in Latvian. It’s the most superlative word in any language.   A-L-L all. Total, complete, entire, everything. ALL. The most superlative word for the most climactic section of the Old Testament, chapters 52-53, called the Fourth Servant Song of Isaiah. The Lord’s Servant, described here, had it all.               Isaiah 52:13, “See, my servant will act wisely; he will be raised and lifted up and highly exalted.” These words “raised” and “lifted up” describe only one other person in Isaiah, who gets that royal treatment. In Isaiah 6:1 the prophet sees the Lord God sittin...

  Grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Amen. The theme that jumps out of Mark 1 today is Jesus’ Authority. He teaches, He casts out demons, and crowds marvel that they haven’t seen anything like this before. They search and inquire among themselves: “What is this? A new teaching with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.” Jesus’ authority still rules His Church, and His Word still advances against a world of darkness and spiritual evil. May God continue to visit us with His authority for our good. One of the first things strikes people yesterday and today, is that Jesus does not teach like everyone else. The rabbis, or Jewish teachers, had their customary way of quoting other supporting ancient teachers and authorities, building their interpretations and reasoning on what others had said before. Never standing on their own authority. Which in a sense is good; men should never presume to usurp G...

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen. In several different places in the Bible, God contrasts two different paths. One is the way of the righteous, the other is the way of the wicked. One leads to freedom and life, the other, to slavery and ultimately death. Proverbs 4 is a father to son life lesson talk, from Solomon to his son. There are two different paths, and he urges him to stay on the right path, and avoid the path of the wicked. Over and over in the Bible, this theme of two paths reappears. God grant that we stay on the path to life and righteousness. First, let’s consider the path to AVOID. “Do not enter the path of the wicked, and do not walk in the way of the evil. Avoid it; do not go on it; turn away from it and pass on.” It can be sad, humorous or even tragic, when certain “Do Not Enter!” signs in life go ignored. Ignore a “Do Not Enter” sign in a hospital, and you might end up where you’re not supposed to be—but ignore a “Do Not En...

Proverbs 3:1–12 (ESV) 1 My son, do not forget my teaching, but let your heart keep my commandments, 2 for length of days and years of life and peace they will add to you. 3 Let not steadfast love and faithfulness forsake you; bind them around your neck; write them on the tablet of your heart. 4 So you will find favor and good success in the sight of God and man. 5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. 6 In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. 7 Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord, and turn away from evil. 8 It will be healing to your flesh and refreshment to your bones. 9 Honor the Lord with your wealth and with the firstfruits of all your produce; 10 then your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will be bursting with wine. 11 My son, do not despise the Lord’s discipline or be weary of his reproof, 12 for the Lord reproves him whom he loves, as a father the son in whom he d...

Ephesians 3:18–19 By faith, “may [you] have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge .” Amen. Every Sunday, in almost any Lutheran Church Missouri Synod church (I can’t speak for others), prayers are offered for “the whole people of God in Christ Jesus, and for all people according to their needs.”   Those include prayers for the spread of the Gospel, and those who do it—pastors, teachers, missionaries, etc. Prayers for those suffering from famine, war, violence, or natural disasters, as our brothers and sisters in Puna on the Big Island, or the North Shore of Kauai. Prayers for the sick and the suffering, in our congregation or others—including friends, family, neighbors, and others. Prayers to bless those who do good and restrain those who do evil. And almost always prayers for our governmental leaders—our president, governor, legislators, public safety workers, judges...

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen. Today we are going to dive into probably the most interesting chapter in the whole book of Proverbs, both in this sermon and also in the Bible study hour. You’ve heard that Jesus teaches that all of the Bible points to Him (John 5, Luke 24). But what that means or how certain books point to Jesus is not always so easy to figure out. Proverbs appears at first to be a long list of mostly disconnected wisdom sayings. As we’re learning in our Bible study on Proverbs, that’s a major over-simplification. But you’ll have to join us for study to see why! But Proverbs 8 is so important, because early Christians immediately recognized that it was pointing to Jesus. The connection comes out rather clearly when you’ve read the whole New Testament carefully. An extensive web of Bible verses join the idea of Wisdom to Christ—including things Jesus Himself said. The connection from Wisdom personified in Proverbs 8, to Jesus C...