May 28, 2012 - AmericanThinker

The Distinctive Trait of America

By Steve McCann

“Spirit, Breath, Wind: The Lord and Giver of Life”

(Ezekiel 37:1-14; John 15:26-27; 16:4b-15; Acts 2:1-21)

Today is the Day of Pentecost, a day when we call special attention to the person and work of the Holy Spirit. That is what I would like to do now, using as our theme a phrase we just spoke in the Nicene Creed, where we called the Holy Spirit “The Lord and Giver of Life.”

Life--this is what the Holy Spirit is all about, giving us life. The Holy Spirit, the…

Group:  Judaized Christianity

Definition of a Christian:  Christians are Jews who have recognized Jesus as the promised Savior. Any Gentile desiring to become a Christian must first become a Jew.

Genuine Concern:  Having a high regard for the Scriptures and God's choice of Jews as His people, they do not want to see God's commands overlooked or broken.

Danger: Tend to add human traditions to God's law. Also tend to subtract from God's concern for all…

Legalism Then and Now

It is important to understand the problem of legalism in the Church then and now-and to distinguish it from the Gospel and Christian freedom. Outside of biblical Christianity, other religions or philosophies have one thing in common. They teach that we must somehow save ourselves.

Such salvation is sometimes viewed as a future paradise. Sometimes it simply means a bettering of this present world. Either way, it is up to us to achieve…

“Sanctified in the Word of Truth” (John 17:11b-19; 1 John 5:9-15)

In today’s Gospel reading, Jesus prays for his disciples--he prays for all believers, he prays for his church--he prays for us, here in this time between his ascension and his return. And one of the things Jesus prays for us is this, where he says to the Father: “Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.” “Sanctified in the Word of Truth.” Let’s find out what that means for us now.

The prayer…

“What to Preach and Where to Reach” (Luke 24:44-53; Acts 1:1-11)

Today is Ascension Day, that glorious day when our Lord Jesus Christ ascended into heaven, where he now sits at the right hand of the Father and from where he will come again on the last day. Ascension Day, which occurred forty days after Easter and thus on a Thursday, which is why we always have service on this day of the week at this time of the year. The Ascension of Our Lord is a major festival in the…

“A Place for Jim” (John 14:1-6)

When someone we love leaves us, it can be very painful for us. Our heart aches. That person we know and love is no longer with us, and we miss him. That’s what we’re experiencing now with our brother Jim. We miss him now, and we will continue to miss him. Husband, father, friend, fellow church member--Jim Stewart was someone we got to know, and we liked him, and now he won’t be around anymore to share our company. That hurts, and…

"This Is Eternal Life"

http://lcmssermons.com/index.php?sn=543

Two Kinds of Religion

http://gnesiolutheran.com/how-christians-should-regard-moses/

August 27, 1525

Dear friends, you have often heard that there has never been a public sermon from heaven except twice. Apart from them God has spoken many times through and with men on earth, as in the case of the holy patriarchs Adam, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and others, down to Moses. But…

Let Your Sins Be Strong:                      A Letter From Luther to Melanchthon                Letter no. 99, 1 August 1521, From the Wartburg                                   (Segment)                                 Translated by                             Erika Bullmann Flores               from: _Dr. Martin Luther's Saemmtliche Schriften_                         Dr, Johannes Georg Walch, Ed.                (St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, N.D.),                           Vol.…

“All You Need Is Love” (1 John 5:1-8; John 15:9-17)

“All you need is love. Love is all you need.” No, I’m not quoting John the Beatle. I’m quoting John the Apostle, or at least I’m paraphrasing him. Yes, John--that John, St. John--talked about love a lot. And he’s doing it again today, both in the Epistle reading from 1 John and in the Gospel of John. Basically, John is saying today, “All You Need Is Love.”

Listen first to John’s first epistle: “Everyone who believes…

"Jesus said to him, 'If you wish to be perfect, go, sell your possessions, and give money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow Me." - Matthew 19:21.

There exists a law of perfection in the Gospel for they that would justify themselves under the "Gospel". The rich young man extended the works righteousness of the Pharisaical system to the ministry of Christ. Just as the papists, he sought perfection in piety, that he could save himself by adhering to yet…

“Abiding in the Vine” (John 15:1-8)

In the Gospel reading for today from John 15, Jesus tells us, “I am the vine; you are the branches. Abide in me, and you will bear much fruit. Do not abide in me, and you will not bear fruit. Then you will be like a dead branch that is thrown into the fire and burned.” Obviously, then, it becomes vitally important that we give our attention to this matter of “Abiding in the Vine.” So let’s do that now.

Abiding in the vine. It’s the…

The Countenance of Job

Early  in the Reformation, Dr. Martin Luther wrestled with issues of salvation, suffering, and divine punishment similar to those in the Book of Job. He noted that some theologians argued simply that if people obtained grace by doing righteous acts, God would reward them, and if people lived  in unrighteousness, God would punish them.This approach to theology left little room for righteous suffering or salvation based on God’s…

Job Challenges God by Suing: God Responds

When Job questions God, Edward L. Greenstein finds precedence in Near Eastern Legal Texts

Suing God. To most it would seem an absurd notion—but not to Job. After all, desperate times call for desperate measures.

The angel known as the Satan (Hebrew for “the…

Who asserted that nothing should be credited to the human nature in the person of Christ that is above or contrary to its natural, essential property?

Join us at the Wittenberg Study Group/The Lutheran Confessions today, and for the next two weeks, as we read and comment on the Formula of Concord Solid Declaration, Article VIII, The Person of Christ