_
Pastor Mark’s sermon for the 5th Sunday in Easter, “Need Love” vs. “Gift Love” :
_
_
___________________________________
_
Thank you, Pastor Mark.
_
And thanks to flickr and lentes bravo, for the photo.
_
Filed under: Uncategorized | 1 Comment »
“And the Word became flesh…”
Posted on April 26, 2013 by theoldadam
John 1
“And the Word became flesh…”
_
In the Old Testament God is the one who led His people out of Egypt. In the New Testament God is the one who raised Jesus from the dead. In both testaments God is revealed as the God who acts and is involved in what we call history, in temporal time and space.
The progress of the Gospel throughout human history has had real and demonstrable effect not only on individual human beings but also on the whole range of human reality. Institutions, cultures, ideas, etc. have been shaped by the Gospel and its implications. This has often been not because of the Church but in spite of it. For the perpetual temptation of the religious impulses that we naturally associate with Christianity (which is not a religion) always want to spiritualize, internalize or spatialize the Gospel. The Bible, on the other hand, reveals the God who is temporalized in the real world of people and events, including sacraments.
Non-sacramental Christianity which emphasizes reason and the internal character of faith, skates dangerously close to the brink of gnosticism which discounts the temporal for the sake of the spiritual. Martin Luther ran into this mentality among the ‘anabaptists’ of his day. The following is a quote from Luther on this score as it applies to infant baptism.
_
“The anabaptists pretend that children, not as yet having reason, ought not to receive baptism. I answer: That reason in no way contributes to faith. Nay, in that children are destitute of reason, they are all the more fit and proper recipients of baptism. For reason is the greatest enemy that faith has: it never comes to the aid of spiritual things, but – more frequently than not – struggles against the Divine Word, treating with contempt all that emanates from God. If God can communicate the Holy Spirit to grown persons, he can, a fortiori, communicate it to young children. Faith comes of the Word of God, when this is heard; little children hear that Word when they receive baptism, and therewith they receive also faith.”
– Martin Luther (1483-1546), Table Talk CCCLIII [1569] .
_
“May the peace of God that passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
_
_______________________________
_
From Pastor Mark Anderson’s daily devotional blog:
Pastor Mark Anderson’s Daily Devotional blog site
_
__________________
_
Thanks to flickr and sj0m0 and Ted.Waters, for the photos.
_
_
Filed under: Non-sacramental Christianity, Pastor Mark Anderson's blog | 6 Comments »
Pastor’s class – The Gospel of John (part 2)
Posted on April 24, 2013 by theoldadam
Listen >The gospel of John (part 2)
_
_
__________________________
_
Thank you, Pastor Mark.
_
And thank you to flickr and Lawrence OP, for the photo.
_
Filed under: Pastor Mark Anderson, Pastor's class, The Gospel of John (part 2) | Leave a comment »
The Book of Revelation – When will we be a family again?
Posted on April 22, 2013 by theoldadam
_
Pastor Mark’s sermon for the 4th Sunday in Easter:
_
________________________________________________________________
_
Thank you, Pastor Mark.
_
And thanks to flickr and Waiting For The Word, for the photo.
_
Filed under: Pastor Mark Anderson, Sermon, The Book of Revelation | Leave a comment »
Jesus always gives us two things
Posted on April 15, 2013 by theoldadam
Sermon for the 3rd Sunday in Easter:
_
_
Thank you, Brian Seaman, for delivering this sermon in the absence of Pastor Mark.
_
_____________________________________________________________________________
_
Thanks to flickr and Waiting For The Word, for the photo.
_
Filed under: Uncategorized | Leave a comment »
Sanctification Hounds
Posted on April 11, 2013 by theoldadam
_
“There’s more work to be done concerning your sanctification.”
_
And more of the ones who aren’t doing it themselves are gonna tell you what you should be doing regarding your sanctification.
_
Here’s my advice: Forget trying to improve people (or yourselves) in God’s eyes. Dump that “3rd use” baloney, and just preach the law and the gospel, to kill off and to make alive again.
_
And BEFORE you write in with your 27 page tome with excerpts from the Lutheran Confessions and the Bible to buttress your little self-improvement/righteousness project…take a good long look in the mirror and honestly ask yourself what this project has done for you.
_
1 Corinthians 6:11 ESV
“And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.”
_
Romans 10:4 ESV
” For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.”
_
____________________________________________________________________________________
_
Thanks to flickr and Christian_Wall_Art, for the photo.
__
_
Filed under: Sanctification | 3 Comments »
Not a blow by blow account…but a particular perspective, presented for a specific purpose.
Posted on April 8, 2013 by theoldadam
You like Bible? OK…here’s a Bible study on the Gospel of John, given by Pastor Mark.
_
Some of you may consider this quite a departure from the sort of Bible study that you are used to. That’s ok. Another perspective can be a very enlightening thing.
_ _
Listen to > Bible study – The Gospel of John
_
__________________________
_
Thanks, Pastor Mark.
__
And thanks to flickr and tomfinken, for the photo.
_
Filed under: Bible Study, Gospel of John, Pastor Mark Anderson | Leave a comment »
The Gospel of John – “I Am Life”
Posted on April 7, 2013 by theoldadam
Got friends or family who aren’t believers? This might be a good one to get them to listen to:
_
click > The Gospel of John-“I Am Life”
_
Or maybe you can get them a copy of John’s Gospel and ask them if they would read it.
_
_____________________________________________
_
Thank you, Pastor Mark.
__
And thanks to flickr and hagia sofia, for the photo.
_
Filed under: Gospel of John, Life, Pastor Mark Anderson, Sermon | Leave a comment »
Colossians 1:18
Posted on April 5, 2013 by theoldadam
“He is the head of the body, the church;…”
_
Our faith is personal and corporate. Both are well-represented in the Bible. Noah, for example, was commanded to build an ark – in the desert. Needless to say, his reaction was less than enthusiastic. Why did he do it? Obviously, his relationship with God was something intense and personal. So much so, he overcame his reluctance and set to work.
At the same time, Noah was commanded to fill the ark with critters and to bring the family. A new beginning would emerge from the flood for the creation and the covenant people.
Isaiah had a profound, personal vision of the Holy One. That vision brought him face to face with his sin. “I am a man of unclean lips”, he was brought to confess.
At the same time, Isaiah’s vision brought him to see the larger implications. “…and I dwell among a people with unclean lips”, he concluded. Sin is personal and corporate.
The prophets, generally, were perceived to have a unique word from God. At the same time, that word was always for the people of God. The word was personal and corporate.
Our Lord Jesus called Matthew at the toll gate, the first of twelve. Each disciple was singled out. At the same time, Jesus made of them the nucleus of a new Israel. Twelve disciples, representing the twelve tribes of the covenant people.
St. Paul was singled out on the road to Damascus. Christ appeared to him, called him, set him apart. At the same time, bearing witness to this experience was neither the burden nor the focus of Paul’s message. He rarely mentions his dramatic, personal encounter with Christ. His letters were written, in large measure, for the sake of congregations, Christian communities, the body of Christ.
We have just celebrated the Resurrection of our Lord. We believe He lives. But this risen Lord is not the private property of the individual. Through Word and sacrament He makes us His own, one by one, to be sure. At the same time, Christ Jesus never leaves it at that. He makes us members of His body. That’s what the Resurrection looks like here and now; persons called by the grace of Christ into community. We are each a unique, living member of the body. This means faith is personal but not private. Like it or not, we belong to one another.
“May the peace of God that passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
__________________________________________________________________________________________
_
From Pastor Mark Anderson’s Daily Devotional blog site
_
Thank you, Pastor Mark Anderson
_
And thanks to flickr and Capt Kodak, for the photo.
_
_
_
Filed under: Pastor Mark Anderson's blog, The Church | 1 Comment »
The Old Adam Lives! 
