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Wednesday, February 27, 2019
Hebrews 3:5-6: Now Moses was faithful in all God's house was a servant, to testify to the things that were to be spoken later, but Chris is faithful over God's house as a son. And we are His house, if indeed we hold fast our confidence and our boasting in our hope. The Owner: Have you ever been a part of building a house? My wife and I built our house in the town we lived in before coming to Huntsville. We were at the house every day while it was under construction. We were making sure that it was being built according to the plans and our specifications. Did the process go smoothly? No and yes. It seemed that I was calling the builder every day, taking care of things that weren't being done right. And there were things they were doing that they did very well. House construction is not an easy process to go through. And when it is finished, and when the fruit of the labor comes to a conclusion and you move in, it is awesome. It is your house. Jesus and Us: I'm sure that Jesus is challenged by us. He is building us into a home, a house, and a people that belong to Him. We don't go together well sometimes. We are resistant to being molded and shaped to fit what He wants us to be. We are defective and warped. The raw material for Jesus' house is sinful. "Sinful since conception." So Jesus had to find a way to make all the pieces and materials fit together to build the House of God. How did He do that? Simple. He died on the cross. Jesus gave up His body and blood to forgive and to cause the "building blocks," namely you and me, to fit together in His perfect harmony. Jesus' broken body was the means by which God perfected us. Jesus' blood is the "mortar" the glued all of us who believe with His forgiveness and life. And when Jesus rose, He brought us and built us into His house. Was it easy? What do you think? No, it was not. Jesus' suffering and death put us together. It was painful. Jesus died. So that we will live. The House: And so Jesus' death and resurrection made us to be just the right materials to build His house into something grand and wonderful. We are phenomenal house of love and forgiveness, of grace and mercy. And this living house is always under construction. God the Father through Jesus the Son and called by God the Holy Spirit, is continually adding on to His house. This is beyond description. So we say, "Thank you." What is one way that you can say "Thank You to Jesus for all He has done. Please share.
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 Monday, February 25, 2018
Luke 9:35: And a voice came out of the cloud, saying, "This is my Son, my Chosen One. Listen to Him." The Transfiguration: The passage leading up to today's verse is the account of the Transfiguration of Jesus. Jesus reveals Himself in the fullest measure. Jesus is both God and Man wrapped up in the person of Jesus. Jesus radiated light and life for Peter, James, and John. And by extension, you and I. And our verse is the "Tada" of the Transfiguration. It is the voice of the Father of God through the glow of the cloud. It is the one thing that we, Christians, hang our lives upon. Jesus is the Son of God. Jesus is the Chosen One. Jesus is HIM! The Voice of the Father: The Father draws our attention to the Son. The Father leads us to the ONE through whom salvation comes. The Father draws our attention to our failures and our sins. Do we listen to Jesus? Are we paying attention to what He did? Are we heeding the voice and actions of salvation? In many and various ways, we are not. That is why the words of the Father are a warning and a judgment. It is also why the words of the Father are words of encouragement and hope. "Listen to my Son. He has the words of eternal life. Jesus has the voice to command sin and death to come out of you and give you life with grace and mercy. Listen to the voice of Jesus say, 'It is finished.' which means your salvation and life is secure." And it is also why the words of the Father are words of love and engagement. "Listen to my Son. He has the words of love to lead us to faith is action. Jesus has the words to guide you into lifelong service and strength. 'Love the Lord with all you heart, and all your soul, and all your mind. And love your neighbor as yourself.' Listen to Him and let Him lead your life." In what ways do you listen to Jesus? Please share.  Thursday, February 21, 2019
Genesis 45:7-8: [Joseph is continuing to say,] "God sent me ahead of you to preserve you on the earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance. So now, it is not you who sent me here, but God. He has made me an adviser to Pharaoh, lord over all household, and ruler over all the land of Egypt." What Was Happening: Imagine a famine all over the region that was two years into a seven year cycle. People, if they were not prepared, would die. We have Joseph, son of Jacob, who was sold into slavery by 10 of his brothers, is not the ruler of Egypt. The only official above Joseph was the Pharaoh. Joseph has finally revealed himself, for the brothers did not recognize Joseph, to his brothers. As you recall the events of Joseph's life, Pharaoh had a dream that no one could interpret. Only Joseph could. The dream was interpreted as seven years of plenty followed by seven years of famine. Only Joseph interpreted the dream and was given the leadership to save the people from certain starvation. And now Jacob and his family, the foundational family of the "State of Israel," were to be included in the salvation of nations. All the heartache, guilt, and struggles that both Joseph and his brothers faced were now coming to fruition. As painful as their lives were sometimes, it was all for preparing a nation for its' greatness. It was preparation a people for salvation. More than Food: Joseph was setting up his family with more than a place to live with food a plenty. Joseph was setting up his descendants for growth and rescue. Joseph was setting up the nation of Israel for more than the Ten Commandments. He was setting them up for the arrival of their Savior, Jesus Christ. Here is an interesting "tidbit of Biblical trivia." The name, Joseph, means "He will add." Through Joseph, God added salvation and life to the nation of Israel AND the entire world. Because of Joseph preparing the way for rescue, we have Jesus' rescue OF US from sin, death, hell, and the influence of Satan. And the kicker is, God laid the foundation and prepared everyone for it. By God allowing Joseph's brothers to sell Joseph into slavery, we have freedom from sin. Preparation: God did it all. He is preparing you for salvation. You may not realize now why certain things are happening in your life. Some are bad. Some are good. Yet no matter what situations you find yourself in, it is all part of God's plan to lead you on the road of salvation. God the Father is leading you to God the Son, Jesus, by means of the work of God the Holy Spirit. He is leading you to Jesus Christ, the one who forgave your sins and cleansed you from all unrighteousness. How has God prepared the way of salvation for you? What situations have led you to Jesus and His death and resurrection? Let's discuss it. Please let's share some experiences together.  Monday, February 18, 2019
Luke 6:35-36: [Jesus is saying,] "But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because He is kind to ungrateful and evil people. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful." Contrary to Popular Opinion: Jesus is a radical. Jesus is a rebel. Why do I say that? Did you read what He said? Jesus is totally different than the way things happen in the world. Hate, not love is in the air. You can't watch a whole news cast and not see hatred and anger and fear running rampant. "Love your enemies?" Not anywhere that I have seen. That is why Jesus is such a radical and a rebel. Jesus is teaching us to love our enemies. The Reality Is: Hatred runs the world right now. Think about it for a bit. And I'm not referring to Washington DC and the actions of elected leaders alone. I am referring to people being called names because of the color of their skin. I am also referring to when people give people "the cold shoulder." I am referring to the "Well, if you treat me badly, I'll treat you badly, too." I am referring to the general attitude of animosity and fear that is gripping people. And do know from where that comes? Our sinful human nature. It comes from selfishness and self-centeredness. It come from the fundamental part of every human being that says, "I only care for me and I don't really care about you." That is sin in a nutshell. The Counter Reality Is: Jesus is the counter reality. Jesus is love, mercy, and grace. Jesus took on the hatred of people and showed them love. Jesus "turned the other cheek" and He died on the cross. Jesus allowed the brutality and sin to be poured full force upon Him. "By His wounds, we are healed." Through the most loving act, the sacrifice of Himself, Jesus loved His enemies and He said, "Father, forgiven them, for they don't know what they are doing." This is what love looks like. This is what love did, and continues to do through us, the followers of Jesus. Our love mimics the love of Jesus. We are, "little Christs" to the world. And it starts now. Do not let hatred run the day. When sin needs to be addressed, deal with it with love. Be truthful and straightforward. Forgive as Jesus has forgiven you. Challenge others with godly behavior and show them what love really is. Show them Jesus. Would you be willing to share your story of love with others? Thank you.  Wednesday, February 13, 2019
Jeremiah 17:5-7: The LORD says, "I will put a curse on people who trust in mere human beings, who depend on mere flesh and blood for their strength, and whose hearts have turned away from the LORD. They will be like a shrub in the desert. They will not experience good things even when they happen. It will be as though they were growing in the desert, in a salt land where no one can live. My blessing is on those people who trust in me, who put their confidence in me." Trust: Misplaced: We all have an experience of someone failing us. We all know someone who did not live up to the expectations we placed on him or her. And when that happens, even though it may be a one time thing, we still will have a problem trusting that person fully. And what about a person who constantly fails us? Time and time again we hear promises only to be dashed to pieces because he or she cannot, or will not, follow through. We hope against hope that things will change, but they don't. And what happens when we trust a person? When we trust a "mere human being?" We get what we deserve. We get troubles, heartaches, and disappointments. We have sin. For even the most trustworthy person is going to fail at some point in time. It is human nature. That is the curse. Trust: Placed: Please look back at the passage above. Do you notice that LORD is all caps? Why is that? It is to designate the Hebrew word translated to "LORD" is "Yahweh." The actual translation of "Yahweh" is, "I AM WHO I AM." It is the name of God. I am who am is the one you can trust for everything. He will never let you down. I am who I am will give you forgiveness and life. I am who I am will give you grace and mercy. God does, and will fulfill all of His promises. You can trust Him. So I want to ask, "For what can you trust I am who I am?" Please comment in what you can trust Him.  Monday, February 11, 2019 Luke 6:22-23: [Jesus is saying,] "Blessed are you when people hate you and when they exclude you and revile you and spurn your name as evil, on account of the Son of Man! Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy, for behold your reward is great in heaven; for so their fathers did to the prophets." Are These Blessings? "If those are signs of being blessed, then I don't want to be blessed!" you may exclaim after reading these verses. Who wants to be hated, excluded, reviled, and spurned? No body does. As a matter of fact, there are protests all over the world because people feel, and are, persecuted. People get angry about not being treated fairly and equitably. And here is Jesus saying that we are blessed when experience them. What's up with that? And He wants us to be happy about it? On Account of Jesus: Now, let's be clear here. I deliberately left off a key phrase in what Jesus said earlier, on purpose. It was to get you to start to think about life, your status, and joy in life. The key phrase is, "on account of the Son of Man." Said in a different way, "on account of Jesus, who is the Son of Man and Son of God." You see, when we suffer because we believe and live with Jesus, that is joyous. People who don't believe see us as "Out of touch," "believing in a false prophet," or "believing in a person who didn't exist." Ask your "Alexa" who Jesus Christ is. We suffer because we believe in the true God. We faced "challenges" because we believe in Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world who gave up His body and shed His blood in order to forgive us our sins. We get hurt by people because they don't know and understand. We get hurt because we believe in someone beyond ourselves. And We Rejoice! Yup, we rejoice in the sufferings. For two reasons. The first is: People are angry and are afraid of what they don't understand, or believe. They don't know Jesus. They don't want to know Jesus. And, if you dug down deep, they are afraid that we are right, that Jesus is who we say He is. So let us rejoice that we are making a difference. The second is: Even though things happen to Christians because of our faith in Jesus, we know that "heaven is our home." We will struggle in this world. And when we pass, there will be no more struggles, forever. It is something to look forward to. It is something about which we rejoice. So rejoice, Christian.  Monday, February 4, 2019
Luke 5:4-8, 10b: And when He [Jesus] had finished speaking, He said to Simon, "Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch." And Simon answered, "Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at Your word I will let down the nets." And when they had done this, they enclosed a large number of fish, and their nets were breaking. They signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink. But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down and Jesus' knees, saying, "Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord." ... And Jesus said to Simon, "Do not be afraid. From now on you will be catching men." Doubt: Have you ever doubted somebody because of what he or she said to you? Of course. It happens all the time. For example, a friend will say to you, "The Patriots are going to win the Super Bowl." Your answer is also immediate saying, "No way. They're getting way to old. LA's younger and hungrier." Then, guess what? New England wins the Super Bowl, again. What is your first reaction? To go your friend and basically say, "I'm sorry that I doubted you." Peter: The scenario is similar. Simon Peter, who had just finished fishing and came back with nothing, hears Jesus say, "Head out. Let's go fishing." Peter's answer was, "The fish aren't biting. We tried all night long." Peter is in effect saying, "Jesus, you don't know what you're asking. Do you know these waters? Have you ever once been out on a boat? No. You're a carpenter. Stick to wood working please." And Yet... Peter knew something. He couldn't put his finger on it. He believed, to a point, and trusted that Jesus was going to do something. That is why Peter replied to Jesus' request the way he did. AND I'M SURE, there was a twinge of sarcasm in his voice. Faith: Lo and behold, Peter caught so much fish that he need James and John's boat to bring in the catch. Peter realized his doubt, confessed his sin of doubting Jesus through words and falling on his knees, a show of humility, confession, and adoration of Jesus. Us: Do we doubt? Do we wonder if all of what Jesus says and did is true? Sure we do. At the same time, we believe and trust. So what wins the day? Jesus' words to Peter, AND TO US, do. "Don't be afraid." Jesus says. Let go of the fear that drives the doubt and le the faith and trust in Jesus guide your day. And in the end, you will be fishing for men, too. |
AuthorPastor Robert Hemsath joined Faith Lutheran Church and School as the Senior Pastor in January 2017. Pastor Hemsath comes to FLC from Christ the King Lutheran Church in Waxahachie, TX. He has also served congregations in Aberdeen, ID and Pocatello, ID. He has been a Lutheran pastor for the past 20 years. Archives
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