A Righteous Branch

TEXT: Our Text today is the Old Testament Lesson appointed for the FIRST Sunday in ADVENT, Jeremiah 23:5-8.

5"Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land.

Happy New Year! Not only are the days coming, but the days are here. The LORD has indeed raised up a righteous branch for David—and for you. He is reigning and dealing wisely as king of His church, where He is executing justice and righteousness in the promised land that is His kingdom of heaven.

This is what Advent is all about, the coming days of Jesus, a righteous branch—THE Righteous Branch—Who is the LORD, who is even righteousness Himself, come in the flesh to save us.

While the world jumps the gun on Christmas, we who live with Christ by faith in the kingdom of heaven are already celebrating a new year on the church calendar, indeed a new year in the days of the coming of our Lord.

But let's back up a bit and ask a question. Why--when the New Testament has replaced the Old and the Day of the Lord is upon us--why do we bother with the words of an Old Testament prophet? The answer lies in the refrain to the Advent hymn we just sang as the Hymn of the Day. "Hosanna to the Lord, for He fulfills God's Word!"

Our Lord Jesus Christ is the One who has come to fulfill His Father's Word of salvation. The Word of salvation is the Word God has spoken with His Son since before the foundation of the world, the Word of promise spoken to Adam and Eve as they cowered in sin and shame in the Garden. The Word spoken by the Law and Prophets is fulfilled in Christ Jesus, the Word made flesh, who Himself has said it is these Old Testament Scriptures "that bear witness about me."

And so we sing the song of Advent, "Hosanna"—save us now." 5"Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land.

This Righteous Branch, is Himself the Tree of Life, from whom we all like Adam have turned away in favor of the knowledge of good and evil.

This Righteous Branch is the One who took that sin upon Himself and bore its curse upon the tree of Calvary.

This Righteous Branch is now the One who has been raised to bear fruit beyond measure where He reigns as king, dealing wisely with the world and its people through preaching and His Word in His holy Christian Church. In this Church He is executing justice and righteousness even as He once executed justice and righteousness on a cross outside of Jerusalem in the flesh of His beloved Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

This Righteous Branch is now the One, who having been raised from the dead, has also ascended to the right hand of the Father from whence He comes to judge the living and the dead according to His justice and righteousness in the land of His choosing.

While we wait for His coming again in all His glory on the Last Day, He is preparing us for that Last Day by coming to us now in the Word and Sacrament of His Church to judge us now. This judging of the living and the dead is what Jesus established His church and sent out His disciples and ministers of the Word to do according to Matthew 18—execute His justice and righteousness. "tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. . . . where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them."

So in His Church Christ is continuing to fulfill the OT Scriptures.

6In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is the name by which he will be called: 'The LORD is our righteousness.'

This is the name in which we have been gathered here at Trinity, Layton. The Lord our is our righteousness. He has placed His name upon us in Holy Baptism. He continues to come to us and execute His righteousness and justice to us in preaching and His Word and even in His own flesh and blood in Holy Communion. In these things we are saved and dwell securely with Him and Him with us.

7"Therefore, behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when they shall no longer say, 'As the LORD lives who brought up the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt,' 8but 'As the LORD lives who brought up and led the offspring of the house of Israel out of the north country and out of all the countries where he had driven them.' Then they shall dwell in their own land."

Indeed these days are already here. This land is the kingdom of heaven, and our Lord has brought you up to dwell in it forever by forgiving you all your sins--in the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.

Our Father & Eucharist--The Perfect Thanksgiving

Dear Pilgrims in Christ,

And that is what we baptized believers are--travelers in this world—who live, and move, and have our being in the Way, the Truth, and the Life Who is the Word of God made flesh in Christ Jesus.

When we pray the prayer given us by the Son of the Living God known alternately as "The Lord's Prayer" and "The Our Father," we pray the perfect prayer of praise and Thanksgiving.

Part and parcel of giving thanks, indeed central to it, is coming before our Lord as beggars who know our life is completely in His hand and at His mercy, body and soul and all things.

So we pray together--and this together is of utmost importance as indicated by our Lord's choice in the use of the plural pronouns 'our" and "us" throughout--in THE FOURTH PETITION OF THE LORD'S PRAYER:
Give us this day our daily bread.
What does this mean? God gives daily bread, even without our prayer, to all wicked people; but we pray in this petition that He would lead us to realize this and to receive our daily bread with thanksgiving.
What is meant by daily bread? Everything that belongs to the support and needs of the body, such as food, drink, clothing, shoes, house, home, field, cattle, money, goods, a pious spouse, pious children, pious servants, pious and faithful rulers, good government, good weather, peace, health, discipline, honor, good friends, faithful neighbors, and the like.

Thus, it is neither mere accident nor empty repetition that the members of Christ's Bride, His Holy Christian Church on earth pray this prayer whenever they gather for the Holy Eucharist (which means Thanksgiving) in the greatest of Thanksgiving feasts to receive the body and blood of our Lord for eternal life.

A most blessed Thanksgiving to you and yours. I hope and pray that The Holy Eucharist is the entree` to your and our every Thanksgiving.

Here Is the Bridegroom!

If you would like to hear the sermon preached at Trinity Lutheran Church in Layton, Utah for the Last Sunday of the Church Year, "Here Is the Bridegroom!"--click on this MP3 audio link. The audio includes the Hymn of the Day, "Water, Blood, and Spirit Crying," LSB #597. The sermon begins at the 2:25 mark.

Here is the Bridegroom! Rejoice and spread the Word. He has come to meet us.

A rough preaching manuscript follows below if you prefer to read along or read instead.

SERMON for the LAST SUNDAY of the CHURCH YEAR: November 20, 2011

"Here Is the Bridegroom!"

TEXT: 1[Jesus said:] "The kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. 2Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. 3For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them, 4but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps. 5As the bridegroom was delayed, they all became drowsy and slept. 6But at midnight there was a cry, 'Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.' Matthew 25:1-6

Dear Baptized,

"Here is the bridegroom!" Yes, He is here and each of you baptized is a member of His beloved and holy bride.

If this sounds at least vaguely familiar, and maybe even redundantly repetitive to you—well, then, Sweet! That means the Lord has kept me faithful in my call to give you "nothing but Christ and Him crucified," as our dear Lord's apostle, Paul, puts it.

This really is the same message I preached here to you last week, as I reminded you that "You are a sheep and the Holy Spirit has called and is gathering you at the right hand of the King." And this really is the same message I ought to be preaching to you every week in some way, shape, or form. "Here is the bridegroom!"

This is what every called and ordained servant of the Word since the Lord breathed the Holy Spirit upon His disciples has been placed into the office of the ministry and sent out to proclaim: "Here is the bridegroom!" This is the good news of the Gospel and the New Testament of our Lord in Word and Sacrament--in water, blood, and Spirit crying.

As we learn from the Gospel of Matthew account of John the Baptizer (which we will hear more about three weeks down the road in Advent), this is the Good News of the New Testament for which every OT prophet was sent to prepare God's chosen people. As the last and greatest of the prophets, "John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, 'Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.'" For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah."

IOW, John was crying out to those wandering in the desert of sin, "Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him."

This really is the preaching of Jesus Christ Himself, that He has handed down to His servants of the Word and poured His Spirit out in abundance to proclaim to a world lost in sin and blinded to His presence among them ever since Adam and Eve first went their own way and tried to hide from God. "After John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, and saying, 'The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.'" "Here is the bridegroom!"

This is also what Baptism itself is all about. In baptizing little Talbot here today, we welcomed him into the kingdom of heaven and introduced him to the bridegroom and made him a member of Christ's holy and beloved bride, the Church. We gave him the lamp of faith—the same lamp each of you was given when you were baptized into the death and resurrection of Christ Jesus. These lamps of faith, filled with the Holy Spirit lighten the darkness of this sinful world and open your blinded hearts to see "Here is the bridegroom!--standing before, behind, among, along side, above, and below you.

If you think about it, this also means that a whole lot of people are wandering around out there with empty lamps and smoldering wicks. Like the five foolish virgins, though their lives may appear to be as pure, or purer, than anybody else, when the Lord reveals Himself on the Last Day the baptized whose lamps are not filled with the Holy Spirit will be caught on the wrong side of the door that has safely locked behind Christ and His elect, His holy and beloved bride,

This Holy Spirit who fills the lamps of faith gifted to each of the Baptized comes only and always in, with, and through the Word of God in the preaching, teaching, and Sacraments of His bride, the Church.

Don't be caught with an empty lamp. Don't risk being one of those wandering around in the dark when our Lord reveals Himself in all His glory—the glory that you can know, believe, and participate even now as a member of His holy and beloved Bride. Come to the Lord's house and table often to hear His Word and receive His very body and blood from which the Holy Spirit proceeds to keep your lamp of faith filled. And go forth with your lamp lit so that your neighbors, the family and friends with whom live and work and play every day, may also know where to get their lamps filled to see, Here is [their] bridegroom!—Christ, the Son of the Living God—that they too may "Come out to meet him." Now while and where He may be found.

The Church is where "the dealers" of oil for your lamps of faith are located. Of course that oil, the Holy Spirit is not for sale. But is only delivered and dispensed where "Water, blood, and Spirit crying, By their witness testifying To the One whose death defying Life has come, with life for all."

Dear Baptized, Life has come with life for you. "Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him." For He has come here to meet you--forgiving you all of your sin and giving you life now and forever--in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

Right Hand or Left?

If you would like to hear the sermon preached at Trinity Lutheran Church in Layton, Utah for the Second-Last Sunday of the Church Year, "Right Hand or Left?," click on this MP3 audio link. The audio includes the Hymn of the Day, "The Day Is Surely Drawing Near," LSB #508. The sermon begins at the 5:30 mark.

Have a most blessed week in your Lord, Jesus Christ, living with Him at the right hand of the Father.

Here is a rough preaching manuscript if you prefer to read along or read instead.

SERMON for the SECOND-LAST SUNDAY of the CHURCH YEAR:

November 13, 2011

"Right Hand or Left?"

TEXT: [Jesus said:] "When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. Matthew 25:31-34

Right hand or left? Sheep or goat? Do you ever wonder?

Dear Christian, as a called and ordained servant of the Word, I have been placed into the office of the ministry here in Layton to tell you and all who will listen: "You are a sheep and the Holy Spirit has called and is gathering you at the right hand of the King."

You are a sheep because God has made you a sheep. At your Baptism, in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, God said, "Here I am. Follow me. Be my sheep. I will take care of you for every day of your life, just be my sheep."

To say you are a sheep is another way of saying that you are a disciple. For disciples follow and live by every Word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord. That is what Matthew 28:19-20 is all about: "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Amen.

Yes, this is Jesus' command to His Church to make disciples, but it also tells how to make a disciple, and therefore, it tells us what a disciple is. A disciple is one who is Baptized in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. AND a disciple is one who is taught to observe, that is to live or abide in, all things that Christ the Lord has commanded -- in other words, everything God has spoken to us by His Word as recorded in Holy Scripture.

In point of fact, this Baptism and teaching to observe is not two things but one. Being Baptized in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit means to be given everything God has to give. When that water trickled over your brow with the Words of God's very name, you became heir to God's kingdom.

In today's Gospel, Jesus speaks of the day when that kingdom that has already been given to you as an inheritance of faith by His New Testament, will be given to you in full in the flesh—your own resurrected flesh.


Between now and the day of His judgment, you live in your Baptism as a child of God by being taught all the things that God has given you in His Word and by living in and according to that Word of God. And it is in your Baptism, or better put, in God's baptism, that you, along with all the brethren of Christ who share the baptism of God, that Christ is with you always, even to the end of the age - that is even to the time of today when He will come again in glory to separate the sheep from the goats.

From the moment the first drops of water touched your tiny (or not so tiny) head, and God's Word was received through your ears by the proclamation of the Gospel and into your heart by faith, until you take your last breath and close your eyelids for the last time, Jesus is with you in your Baptism and you are with Him as you follow Him by hearing and receiving all that His Word has to give.

Simply put, in Baptism Jesus becomes your Good Shepherd and you become His sheep. As a sheep you are all about listening and following the voice of your Shepherd.
"And when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice." [John 10:4 ]

Listening and following your Shepherd, you are a member of His flock. Even though you don't see them, by hearing God's Word, the voice of your Shepherd, you are gathered with all His other sheep, those of the different pens throughout time and the far reaches of the earth. [John 10:16] As sheep you are the brethren of Christ of whom He speaks in our Gospel. Living in the Word with all the other sheep, confessing the truth in Christ that Word brings, is how you are among those on His right hand who fed the hungry, gave drink to the thirsty, sheltered the homeless, clothed the naked and visited the sick and imprisoned. And because you are content with hearing the voice and following the person of your Good Shepherd, Jesus Christ, you don't even know that as you follow, you are doing the work of God.

In the 23rd Psalm we have a beautiful picture of the church, the sheepfold of God and His kingdom on earth. For in it the Lord tells us what a sheep does.
The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures; he leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul; he leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for You are with me; your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup runs over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.

But Pastor, you protest, that didn't really say anything about what the sheep does, it tells what the Shepherd does.

You are so right, dear Christian. You are so right. For there you have it! Being a Christian is all about the Shepherd. And you are a sheep because the Lord is your Shepherd. The Lord is your Shepherd--the Good Shepherd. That is who He is and what He does. You are His sheep who live at His right hand. Therefore you will never be lacking for any good thing, because He is here being your Shepherd.

Jesus makes you lie down in the green pastures of His Word and leads you beside the still waters of His Baptism. You eat and drink in what He has set before you -- because you are a sheep.

Jesus restores your soul by forgiving you your sin, He leads you in the paths of righteousness by giving you His name and the works He has prepared for you to do. You confess your sins and speak of His wonderful works -- because you are a sheep.

Jesus comforts you with the rod of His Law and the staff of His Gospel, the means by which the great comforter, the Holy Spirit, brings you to repentance and forgives you all your sin to create faith in you by which you walk through this dying world with Jesus, your Good Shepherd in front, along side and behind your every step - because you are a sheep.

Jesus prepares the table of His Supper by setting His resurrected body and blood before you so that you can participate in His resurrected life, He anoints your head with the oil of the Holy Spirit so that you will remain in the faith that receives His gifts to overflowing. You eat of His body and drink of His blood to give strength to your weak and dying flesh, you receive His Holy Spirit to give comfort to your flagging spirit, and you receive life - because you are a sheep.

The goodness and mercy of Jesus, the Son of God and your Good Shepherd follows you every day of your life as His Holy Spirit pursues you with His Word, and you dwell in the house of the Lord forever as Jesus dwells with you by the Baptism He has placed upon you and the body and blood He has placed within you. You live in the presence of God and have a seat in His heavenly kingdom even now--because you are a sheep who has been gathered by the holy Spirit to His right hand in the Holy Christian Church.

Pity those poor goats. The goats on Jesus left have none of this because they are not sheep. They think they have done many good things, yet they have not taken in Christ and did not recognize Him as the Son of God and their Savior because they did not listen to the voice of the Shepherd. The goats are always wanting because they have and desire no shepherd.

Goats do not lie down and feed in green pastures of God's Word or drink of the quiet waters of Baptism because they are busy climbing mountains, eating and drinking whatever garbage they come across. You are not a goat.

Goats do not have their sins forgiven or walk in the paths of righteousness because they are too busy enjoying their sin and pretending to be righteous. You are not a goat.

Goats do not have any comfort and are constantly driven by fear because they are too busy trying to ignore, cheat, or beat death and have no desire to hear what God would have them do or what He has done for them, they only want to tell what they want God to do for them or somehow prove what they can do for God. You are not a goat.

Goats do not eat at the table of the Lord and their cups are perpetually empty because they are too busy fighting with God, spilling their cups as they climb their mountains and fight their battles. You are not a goat.

Goodness and mercy does not follow goats and goats do not dwell in the house of the Lord now, or ever, because they are too busy chasing evil, following their own desires, and trying to build their own mansions. You are not a goat.

But remember, it's not as if you yourself have never been a goat, or that you wouldn't love to be a goat again, or as if you don't wander over to the left hand. Your sinful human nature, that goatish flesh of yours, is always tempted--and too many times successfully so—to go butting in and climbing around all that garbage piled to the left.

As you pity those poor goats, remember there but for the grace of God and the work of the Holy Spirit go you and me. You and I were once goats. This is what we believe and confess together in the Third Article of the Creed:
I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or come to Him. But the Holy Spirit has called me by the Gospel, enlightened me with His gifts, sanctified and kept me in the true faith. In the same way He calls, gathers, enlightens, and sanctifies the whole Christian Church on earth and keeps it with Jesus Christ in the one true faith. In this Christian Church He daily and richly forgives all my sins and the sins of all believers. On the Last Day He will raise up me and all the dead and will give eternal life to me and to all believers in Christ. This is most certainly true.

No, dear Christian, you are not a goat any longer. You are a sheep. You have been saved from being a goat and suffering at the left hand of God. You have been delivered by His strong Right Hand. You are baptized into the One true faith. You hear God's precious Word proclaimed for the forgiveness of your sin. You eat of His body and drink of His blood. By these very things you have the anointing of His Holy Spirit, the salvation of your souls, the presence of God your Savior, you dwell in the house of the Lord forever, and you are among those at his right hand who will most certainly hear Christ your King say, 'Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world!"

Dear Christian, this is the Gospel of the Lord. You cannot hear or speak it to others too often. You are a sheep. Welcome to the right hand of God--In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

Blessed Are All Saints

If you would like to hear the sermon preached at Trinity Lutheran Church in Layton, Utah for All Saints' Sunday, "Blessed Are All Saints" click on this MP3 audio link. The audio includes the Hymn of the Day, "Oh How Blest Thy Faithful Children," a hymn for All Saints written by Rev. Eric Stefanski, sung to the tune of Galilean. The sermon begins at the 5:45 mark.

Have a blessed week in the Lord as dear children of God, blessed to be saints in the kingdom of heaven now and forever.

A servant of the Word and His folk,

Pastor Hering

Here is a rough preaching manuscript if you prefer to read along or read instead.

TEXT: "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4"Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
5"Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
6"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
7"Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.
8"Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
9"Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.
10"Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11"Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. 12Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you." Matthew 5:3-12 ESV)

Dear Blessed Ones of the Father,

Truly God is proclaiming to you in the All Saints' Day Gospel reading for today that you are among those who are blessed. And to be among those who are blessed is to be a saint, to be sanctified—that is, made holy. Blessed are all saints, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

• God has given you new birth and marked you as one of all those saints in Holy Baptism;

• God is proclaiming you to be one of all those saints in the Word I am preaching to you now and wherever the Word of God is preached and taught for the forgiveness of the poor in spirit;

• God enfleshes you with Himself and all those saints when He gives you the body and blood of Christ in Holy Communion;

• and God sends you forth into the world as one of all those saints carrying the benediction of His name-the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

You who believe these things are indeed all saints who are blessed because in these things Jesus comes to you and you are made one with Him—the blessed One of whom the beatitudes of Matthew's Gospel speak.

Blessed are the poor in spirit. Jesus became poor in spirit for us when "For our sake [His Father] made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become) the righteousness of God." 2 Corinthians 5:21 Therefore theirs is the kingdom of heaven who are poor in spirit and confess their sins. For they are forgiven and blessed in Christ.

4"Blessed are those who mourn. Jesus mourned as He wept over Lazarus at his tomb and over Jerusalem for their unbelief, and as He prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane that not His will but His Father's be done. Therefore they shall be comforted who mourn the curse of their sin and certainty of their death for they are blessed in Christ and share in His resurrection.

5"Blessed are the meek, Jesus became meek though he was in(C) the form of God, did not count equality with God(D) a thing to be grasped, 7but(E) made himself nothing, taking the form of a(F) servant,[b](G) being born in the likeness of men. Philippians 2:6-7 Therefore they shall inherit the earth who do not claim their own sinful works but Christ's work as their glory.

6"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, Jesus, though the Son of God knew He was to be in His Father's house, hearing and speaking His Word and doing His will. Therefore they shall be satisfied who seek the righteousness of Christ in His house of Word and Sacrament.

7"Blessed are the merciful, God desires mercy, not sacrifice so He sent the merciful One Jesus. Therefore they shall receive mercy who receive God's mercy in Christ rather than offer their feeble sacrifices..

8"Blessed are the pure in heart, Jesus pure—spotless without blemish of sin. Therefore they shall see God who have been purified by His blood and washed in the living water..

9"Blessed are the peacemakers, Jesus suffered and died to bear the wrath of the Father and make peace with Him on our behalf. Therefore they shall be called sons of God who are made one with the only begotten Son of God.

10"Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, Therefore theirs is the kingdom of heaven who remain faithful unto death bearing all the world's disdain.

11"Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. 12Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you."

Blessed are all saints who have gone before us to deliver this faith to us. We remember them, like Roger, for their living in W & S to the last day.

Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints. Psalm 116:15

with full courage now as always Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. Philippians 1:20b-21

During the service of the Sacrament we in the Sanctus, "Holy, Holy, Holy," we sing: "Blessed is He, blessed is He, blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord."

"Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!" Matthew 21:9

Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD! We bless you from the house of the LORD. Psalm 118:26

Jesus is the One who comes in the name of the Lord to make us blessed along with Roger and all the saints who have gone before us. So now blessed are you who come in the name of the Lord--baptized, forgiven children of God YOUrs is the kingdom of heaven and blessed are you with all Saints --In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

HYMN OF THE DAY: Oh How Blest Thy Faithful Children

TEXT: Rev. Eric Stefanski TUNE: Galilean (LSB #826)

1. Oh, how blest Thy faithful children
Ever dost Thou give them rest,
By the cross their sins removest
Far away as east from west.
Now they dwell by grace forever
Cleansed from sin, from fear set free;
For Thy death hath opened Heaven,
And in death they live to Thee.

2. Blesséd now the poor in spirit;
Thou to them dost Heaven give
Who confessed themselves as beggars,
Looked alone to Thee to live.
Blesséd are we pining mourners
Comforted alone in Thee:
By Thy grace Thou wilt sustain us
'Til at last Thy face we see.

3. Blesséd are the ones who meekly
Ever trust Thy gracious will,
Who have suffered lack, but gladly,
For Thy promise Thou fulfill:
A new Earth and a new Heaven
Thou shalt give for their abode,
Treasures there beyond all measure
Glory that naught can erode.

4. Those who for it thirst and hunger
Shall forever more be filled
With the righteousness of Jesus,
Which God's righteous wrath hath stilled.
They are purchased with His merit:
'Gainst their debt His blood sufficed;
They show mercy, for receivéd
They the mercy won by Christ.

5. Lord, Thy sufferings hearts pure maketh
In them who by grace shall see
Thee in glory, for Thou takest
From them all iniquity;
And peacemakers Thou has made them
By the peace received from Thee:
That the sons of Thine own Father
All might know them now to be.

6. Now rejoice we in the sufferings
Which we for Thy sake receive,
Since Thou didst for us win Heaven;
Grant us ever to believe
That the prophets and the martyrs
Gathered 'round Thy holy throne
With Thine angels shall receive us
Entered there by Christ alone.

∆ 7. For Thy saints above we praise Thee,
Who hast led them there by grace;
For Thy Church this prayer we raise Thee:
Bring us also to that place.
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,
Praise and glory be to Thee
Gracious, everlasting, clement,
Holy, Blessed Trinity. Amen.

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Help Us Help Pastors

The Augustana Ministerium (TAM, http://augustanaministerium.org ) is a pan-Lutheran group formed in 2004 to the aid of faithful pastors who have been mistreated in, or unbiblically removed from their calls by their congregations, as well as to generally uphold and promote our Lutheran confession of the Office of the Holy Ministry.

Since the election of Rev. Harrison as president of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, TAM membership and contributions have waned, though the number of illegitimate "Divine Deposals" of pastors does not seem to be on the wane at all. So now, in addition to not having the resources to continue current subsidy levels for the men who have been deposed in the past, TAM faces the reality of being unable to provide any future financial assistance to additional men in need.

This is in no way meant to detract from Pres. Harrison’s faithful execution of his elected office. What it does mean is “so that we may obtain this faith [of AC IV], the ministry of teaching the Gospel and administering the Sacramentsm,” it takes individual pastors and laymen of our LC-MS congregations to do whatever they can to support what first “was instituted” by our Lord Himself. [See AC V.]

Pastors, please consider joining the ministerium [http://augustanaministerium.org/AM-Application.html ].

Laymen, please consider joining the confraternity [http://augustanaministerium.org/AC-Application.html ].

Congregations, please consider including TAM in your mission budget items.

The annual dues--$50 for pastors, $40 for laymen--cover the registration fee for TAM's annual Theological Conference and Plenary. The 2012 Theological Conference and Plenary is being planned for sometime in late July-early August in the greater Chicago area. Audio recordings and textual documents of past Theological Conference presentations are accessible at http://augustanaministerium.org/essays/ .

Respectfully submitted for your consideration,
Rev. Kurt Hering
TAM Dean of Pastoral Care

It's Time! -- for All Saints to Fall Back

It's Time . . . !

• to fall back chronologically. Please remember to set your clocks back an hour before you hit the hay tonight and enjoy the extra hour of sleep or weekend fun.
  
• to fall back theologically. That is, to turn away from the sin that separates us from God and clings to the things of a dying world, and fall back into the arms of the one Who forgives sin and offers eternal in the kingdom of heaven in His holy Christian Church.

Whether it's been a week, a month, a year, or a lifetime--God, our Father in heaven, is waiting like the Patient Father of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-32) to welcome you home and feast with you and All His Saints at His table in the Divine Service here at Trinity and wherever the Word of God and Him made flesh in Christ Jesus--is delivered for the forgiveness of sins in His preaching, teaching, and Sacraments.