We Live By The Word of God

Grace mercy, peace be to each of you from God our Father through Jesus Christ. His only son our only Lord and Savior a man. Thank you for the little impromptu school before we get into the message today. There was one picture we didn't show you guys last week, but then we were on the show with the late service so that no one then feels left out of pictures. We have one more picture from the wedding thats the after picture Okay, so that's the sort of kind of like a family as it were. All right, if we talked last week about pivoting right last week was Transfiguration. And so we pivoted last week from the Christmas cycle that these two cycle member how we talked about those three months kind of basic themes of Cycles in the church year specifically prohibited from from Epiphany the season of epiphany into Lent And so as of today actually as of Ash Wednesday, but as of today the first Sunday in Lent the color is changed the mood. Actually. Hopefully it's changed the symbols have changed as well. The color purple has been chosen for Lent because it is a color suggesting somberness and a sobriety and its own reflection. It's a subdued colors not bright white gold or even green for that matter until the symbols likewise. Call respond to this new thing. They were exploring In-N-Out Lenten Journey some of the symbols of course have artistic Renditions or artistic variation obviously in the middle here is a cross but actually it's kind of Three Crosses because Jesus was crucified between two Seas. Okay. Once again, also we have the Alpha and Omega the beginning in the end. Jesus Is God from Beginning and end to the end but as God the beginning and the end, he was crucified for us over here very similar to three crosses in one kind of a thing with a crown of thorns because obviously when he was on the cross, he was crowned with the with the crown of thorns on the altar. This is very interesting symbol. We haven't seen this one yet in the middle. On the ends. He stays across I'm not sure where that gold.

Thing is on the on the end of it. Maybe that's like a roadway or pathway into heaven through the cross. I'll let you know interpret. Been in the middle is cold is the Victorious Lamb of God be the Agnus Dei. All right, and that comes from the Book of Revelation where where he is called the land that has been slain is triumphant cuz he's alive and so he is basically holding a banner and that Banner signifies his victory. Obviously. There's a there's a halo around his head meaning that she's all right. So that is the triumphant Lamb of God. Yagnik stay or unused a I guess technically symbols and along with these symbols and color the focus has changed. We're no longer dealing with who Jesus is in the Christmas cycle. In the flesh. We're now dealing with when he came to do. As God In the Flesh she came to die and he came to Rise Again part of what he came to do is if you were listening and change this chapter 3 is the crush the Serpent's head. Okay used to defeat Satan's and defeat the Devil the one who ruined creation the one who lured Adam and Eve into sin and that crushing the serpent the first took place on the cross, but the battle with the serpent the battle with the devil to fight the struggle with the devil began right away after his baptism. Right after he was baptized in the Gospel reading today. If we were following this chronologically, he went into the Wilderness God spirit let him into the Wilderness to overcome to overcome temptation to fight and to win cuz I don't mean you couldn't do it. Okay, but Jesus as a second Adam poll says Jesus was able to resist Satan was able to overcome him with the word of God. That's that's how he won. He did not please please don't misunderstand. Jesus didn't overcome these Temptations because he was sort of kind of God In the Flesh and he was in I was standing up to the devil as God. He was not He was standing up to the devil as a man. And he did that with the word of God and that's how we do it. We can't do it any other way. Can we do it just the way he did it? So then the question becomes so so how how do we get it? Okay. Well I said before that question. Let's do this one of the key versus passages that he used to overcome the devil in the wilderness after 40 days. Can you imagine being hungry for 40 days and 40 nights?

What was so bad about half an hour? and an even know the the the text that I read says if you are the Son of God that the other way of translating the word if is since Since you are the son of God. Why don't you take these rocks and make them bread? Wouldn't that be like Mike hard to resist? All right, after having no food 40 days and 40 nights. So that's why Jesus came back at Satan and came back to the Temptation with this key verse from Deuteronomy. This is not something that he made up. Is there something that he quoted from scripture from what we call the Old Testament man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God. Came, so just like he was able to resist the Temptations of Satan with the word of God. So are we Except that maybe for us we have a little bit of next to struggle because we sometimes forget that. Because there's too much bread in front of us that we want. They may not be stones that you can turn into bread, but there's too much stuff that we want and Tsui is very easy for us to slip into the error of thinking that life consists in the abundance of possessions. I have a really good life if I have a lot of stuff.

I think Sandy helped us got to get over that maybe. Do you think? All right. Life does not consist in the abundance of bread. It does not consist in the abundance of possessions. We need to be reminded of this Ultimate Reality is ultimate life that consists in living by the words of God the word that comes out of the mouth of God. We live by the word of God not by Bread. Oaks so now we can ask the question if you want. Where do we get it? If we live by the word of God then where do we get it? Obviously, we get it in our private devotions that we spent with God. Okay. Hopefully you guys are doing that.

But also we get it on Sunday mornings at on Sunday morning Gathering that are Divine service meetings on Sunday mornings, and we've been talking about that for the last couple of weeks that ever going to wrap it up. We talked about the service the preparation a while back right how it removes the burdens in the baggage that we bring with us. Then we talked a lot of service other word which then now that's God speak and let's and and and sets up then for us to hear and to receive in the service of the word consists of a couple of components. There's always three readings the Old Testament the New Testament and and the gospel in response to that. We have a confession of Faith or I Creed then follows the sermon and then we receive tithes and offerings in response to that and then we have a time of prayer usually with the Lord's Prayer attached to it. It's very very interactive. God speech we respond. Abingdon receive the tithes and offerings and having prayed. We now ready to move into the service of Holy Communion. where God continues to speak and we continue to listen and receive and like I said last time a Divine service without the service of communion is like a three-legged stool without a leg. Okay convenience. Something we had extra communion is something that is an integral part of the Divine service where where we lead up to that point in the service for God has the ultimate word on the final word? most important parts of the service of communion arm to you know, what they are. What's the most important parts of the service of communion? The Consecration and the distribution. Thank you. My wife made the notes she knows this. Okay, the most important parts of the service of communion or when the pastor says the words of institution over the elements re-enacting the words of Jesus on the night. He was betrayed and Institute of the Lord's supper and then the people immediately following received the bread and the wine as the body and the blood of Christ. That's the essential Sacramento moment. That's the central Sacramento action write those two things together.

Unfortunately among Lutheran's because we're just the way we are we have people who say oh no, no, no. No, the most important moment of communion is a consecration. So they're called the consecration is and then we have to be able to say no print of the most important moment of communion is on people receive it so they got a receptionist.

And that's silly. All right. That's a full stack Academy. You can't have one without the other. All right. If you ever consecration without anybody receiving with consecrated, you don't have communion you're kind of a sacrilege and if you have reception without somebody consecrating the bread and while you might as well use cooking potato chips goes it's not communion. So they both go together. Those are the essential parts and that's why I don't 9:30 service in the Gathering. We move right after the prayers. We move directly into the consecration in distribution right away game. We intended to make this simpler. We intend it to make this basic at the 11:00 service the traditional service which may be many of you grew up with right after the they offering in the prayers. It's a much more involved sequence of items. We have the prefix and the proper prefix and then the factors which is Latin for Holy Holy Holy Holy The Lord's Prayer, then the words of institution happen after that then the pieces offered which is very often used to be shared. But I don't know if you guys remember when we used to do that with each other piece then and that just let me just blew out blow away the whole Movement and sacredness of the moment. So that's why we share the peace now right after the Absolution in the world and then they'll be the distribution. So we have this whole list of stuff that goes on around the words of institution and and the distribution Why do we do that? in the traditional Service Orange additional services in general we do that to Adorn and to beautify the sacred act that we are about to participate in. We do that to Adorn and to beautify the sacred action that we are taking part in is all that stuff essential.

Come on know the answer is no what what essential the consecration in the distribution is all that stuff and dice and helpful. And yeah, so is that okay fine as a necessary know? Alright, the important thing is to consecrate and to distribute. So in that case, let's do a quick review. What is distributed and received in communion? Pop Quiz confirmation anybody all right to buy bread bread and wine that's obvious Bread and Wine is distributed and received by the way. We have the best wine from miles around. I'm just saying, all right, I don't know who chose it when or how we have the best wine in communion from miles around what is also distributed and received besides Bread and Wine. Body and blood of Christ the body and blood of Jesus because and my blood mint. What do you mean? This is my body and this is my bun. Okay? So then people want to know well, how can that be? You know, what's a good look for an answer is? We don't know. Okay, we don't know. All right, we we don't go into the rabbit hole of trying to rationally explain to people how that can be. Okay, some of our Christian brothers and sisters. They go into rabbit holes in some safe transubstantiation where the body and it went the bread and the wine or transubstantiated into the body in the blood of Jesus and some of our other Christian brother and sister say no no. No, it's the symbol. It's a picture. It's a metaphor. Because it can't be. Sorry, our answer is we don't know we just simply take Jesus at his word. He said it and he means it and that's why it's important because we re-enact that night when he was betrayed and instituted this Lord's Supper as we call it was distributed is the bread and the wine and the body and the blood of Jesus and what else Now with the pants if you come to communion with faith. All right. Did you come to communion with faith if you receive it with faith, and you will also receive forgiveness in life. All right, because this is my body given for you. This is my blood shed for the Forgiveness of your sins. All right, so if you come to communion with faith in Christ and with faith that his body and blood is there and was faith that this is what it's for, but this is what he's doing then you receive forgiveness and life and you and you hear God speak to you his love his grace his Mercy his peace his Joy his hope and all those other kinds of intangibles that only he can deliver it to your mouth and he speaks time into your life not into your ears, but literally into your mouth. That's reported. And you receive it not through your ear that you receive it through your mouth. On the other hand, if we come to communion to receive the bread and the wine and the body and blood of Jesus, but we come without faith. When we receive Christ body and blood the Bible says to our judgment. Food that does not mean that you know receiving once the wrong way go straight to hell do not pass go do not collect $200. It doesn't mean that it does mean however that it is to our spiritual harm to a person's spiritual harm that they can receive communion if they come up without faith and that's a communion can never be just open. Communion can never be hey y'all come you're sitting the fuel come out. Okay, because communion is the bread and the wine and the body and blood of Jesus given and shed for us Christians to eat and to drink so that we may receive from God forgiveness life and salvation and that is a faith kind of a thing. Okay. how to get to the really hot topic so far so good on this Okay. question

Do this in memory of me.

That's that's the pizza. That's the pizza. Not really hot topic. How often. How often should we receive communion? How often should it be offered all the other stuff somehow kind of goes away once you start talking about how often okay, and so some folks think or thought maybe they don't think too much anymore unless it's better than more because if you receive communion 2 too often, it loses its meaning Anybody ever heard of that one? Well, that's good. I have confused. Am I come back to that is then what you're doing is you're comparing receiving communion to cleaning your room or or or cleaning your house because if you clean your house too often, it loses its meaning. So what you really want to do is clean your house or your room every 6 months to make it a meaningful experience.

Now, I hope there weren't any teenagers to hear that now. Obviously, this is a misunderstanding.

Write this is a misunderstanding of communion. It's a misunderstanding of what it is. It's a misunderstanding of whose it is. Alright, the meaning of communion is not in you. It's not in your action. The meaning of communion is in communion is in price. It is in his words. You cannot receive communion too often. You could clean your room too often. You can't receive communion. So often after all Jesus said what do this as often as you drink it? Submitting do it often meaning at least more often than not. No in the very very earliest days of Lutheranism.

That's what we did in our in our foundational writings is what it says. In-N-Out in our churches mass is celebrated every Sunday and on other festivals. So we're not really is Days by the way communion Services were called Mass. It is not wrong to refer to what we're doing today as a mass. It's unusual. It's not wrong. It's not out of line. And of course every Sunday means every Sunday service. I said was only one and then we did it at the 1 service if there was more than one and I'll be seeing those in those days parishes were larger. So they had more than one mass for Sunday means every time they had they got together for their Sunday Gatherings that Sunday morning masses. They would have communion. That's what we did. That's how we started. Unfortunately. Overtime many Lutheran Churches got away from that practice of having an every Sunday service communion and it was a number two reasons for it just in terms of broad Strokes. One of the reasons was something called pietism that came into the Lutheran Church that emphasized an emotional experience. Okay, in order to make Sunday worthwhile or to make Sunday a meaningful. We have to have an emotional experience. And going up the communion doesn't necessarily mean anything emotional it could so many people that does but it's not necessarily an emotional thing to receive some really good bread a really good wine. With the body and the blood of Jesus so communion with down plate and then following that something called rationalism came in and and rationalism basically put all of the Miracles in the Bible into the filter of human reason. And so therefore the Miracles of the Bible was totally removed and when you get right down to it communions a miracle The fact that Jesus would attach his body and his blood to our little Bread and Wine. At the miraculous thing. And so again then communion was downplay it as a result of pietism and and rationalism and then someone found the words of Lutheran small catechism when he writes this when someone does not seek or desire the sacrament at least four times a year. It was to be feared that he despises it and is not a Christian.

What do you think? That's that's true. Okay, if you say you're a Christian and a church member and you don't receive communion four times a year. I'm sorry. What kind of Christian are you? Who's the head of point but here's the problem. Somebody jumped a whole different conclusion. And somebody said well Luther says we should commune four times a year.

Intrepid many churches did many Lutheran Churches drop down to having communion 4 times a year.

Thankfully over time many Lutheran Churches then went and rediscovered their Roots went and rediscovered their traditions and return to their traditions and communion began to increase in frequency and Lutheran Churches from four times a year to once a month. And we survived and then twice a month. And we survived and then every Sunday but alternating services like we do and we survived and then we added festivals we which means we should have dominion last Sunday for Transfiguration of Jesus. And so now what we have witnessed a congregation or at the point of having communion every Sunday plus festivals, but fifth Sundays at both services, and we have one little itty bitty step to go.

communion every Sunday service

I don't think I think about that. A lot of Lutheran churches do that. So what I'm proposing then when I talk to deal with the guilt about and what I mentioned to the elders what I'm proposing is as we begin now our Lenten Journey for this season of Lent until we get to Easter. We're going to try that. We have communion every single Sunday service. All right. I'm going to see what that looks like and we can see what that feels like and we're going to see how the altar Guild is able to handle all these things cuz you know these things don't show up there by Magic. And there are people that are involved in actually making this happen taking it down putting it up washing and putting it away taking it out. So when it's hopeless or we're not try that and then after we through what we visit and we'll see what you all think. I'm going to see how that all went. Just a little experiment. Okay. Alright because length of the time like I said on Wednesday lent is a time for spiritual growth and spiritual Jeff and spiritual strength and spiritual maturity and communion is an integral part. of that spiritual journey So we're going to Avail ourselves of the blessings of communion. We're going to come forward and receive it in faith. We're going to go back and sit back and refused strengthening our faith forgiving Again by God of our sins and enveloped in his love. And send forth into the world in his Mercy. Which his final word comes to us, then when he feeds us with the very body and blood of his son Jesus Christ. All right. Amen. Amen. All right, let's continue our services we received.