Grace Alone Online

Today we begin a study of Paul's letter to the Romans beginning with chapter 6 and continuing through to the end of the Epistle.  Every week we will take a different chapter, and a different message.  Today we begin with Baptism.  Why in the middle of the letter to the Romans?  Why not the beginning?  There is a good reason....listen and find out.  You may also join us for the full worship service or a video sermon at www.gracealoneonline.org/sermons.

Rev. Michael Lange, President of the California, Nevada and Hawaii District of the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod is our guest preacher today.

On Trinity Sunday the Matthew 18:19 passage in which Jesus sends his  disciples into the world to preach and baptize in the name of the  father, and the Son and the Holy Spirit (The Trinity).  Little attention  is given to Jesus' words before His command that say, "All authority in  heaven and earth has been given to me."  In our society today, with  protests, rioting, looting, we have a huge problem with "authority".   What is Jesus' authority? How are we to understand that authority in  light of the authority that is in the world.

Pentecost - the pouring out of God's Holy Spirit at the Festival of first Fruits (Shavuot), in Jerusalem - is the day which God confirms Christ as Lord in and through the Apostle's preaching.  He (God) takes a legal obligation of Moses, to give thanks for the first fruits of harvest, and make is a celebration of the first fruits unto eternal through the resurrection of Christ Jesus.  We are, through Christ, the harvest brought in to give glory to God, through the power of the Holy Spirit as God's Word of the Good News is preached to all.  How is Pentecost a real ongoing happening even today?

Glory and suffering don't go together naturally.  In our culture we have the phrase NO PAIN, NO GAIN.  All the responsibility for gain and glory in our culture is through our own suffering.  And, when we don't get the glory we think we should - many would say it is because we didn't have enough pain in the training, or whatever.  We are bent on thinking that our glory comes at our own expense, our suffering and pain.  If we endure we will get the prize.  But what if we don't?  I mean, does our pain and suffering "guarantee" the glory?  In no way.  Many people make the ultimate sacrifice without the glory.  So if that's the way it is in our society, how is it any different from the Christian?  Well, it is.  Jesus, St. Paul and St. Peter tell us why suffering is a part of the glory we experience "in Christ".  Find out why Christians find glory even in suffering.

"In Christ...."  This phrase is used all the time by Christians to describe their salvation.  In fact, it is used so frequently it almost becomes cliché and void of what it really means.  What DOES it mean to be in Christ?  St. Paul uses it some 164 times in his 13 epistles alone.  I believe the secret is Jesus' teaching in John 14:1-14.  Jesus reveals two things about himself and the faith of his disciples and they revolve around the two questions asked by Thomas and Philip.  First, he reveals that he is the way, the truth, and the life.  (This was our focus in last week's sermon.)  Today we focus on Philip's question to which Jesus answers "I am IN the Father and the Father is IN me..."  Simple words - not so simple meaning.  The Christian is in JEsus, the same way the Father is in Christ.  Find out the deep meanings to this text!

We are in the Fifth Sunday after Easter, and yet John 14 takes us back to the beginning of Holy Week when Jesus teaches his disciples shortly after Palm Sunday.  His goal is to prepare them for this week of suffering, trials, his crucifixion and resurrection.  He starts by saying, "You believe in God; believe also in me."  And then moves to tell them he is going to the Father to prepare a place for them.  The questions come from Thomas and Philip and move our story along giving Jesus the opportunity to tell them, and us, who He really is and where he is going and WHY he is going there.  He is the WAY, the TRUTH and the LIFE but why?  And why such exclusive claims which really clashed with our pluralistic religious culture in the USA.  Listen in and find out.

Jesus enters and greets His disciples after His resurrection.  They are afraid as if they had seen a ghost - which Jesus is NOT.  Jesus teaches them - AND US - about our fears, our hurts and our hesitancy in light of His resurrection.  Listen in to valuable comfort and encouragement.

I loved show and tell as a kid.  In second grade of elementary school every Friday we had to bring something that interested us and share and talk about it in front of the class; it was our very first public speaking opportunity.  Luke has a "show and tell" story at the end of his Gospel that we will investigate today.  Find out what this "show and tell" event is about!

Jesus says to his disciples, "Peace be with you."  He says it no less than three times in the space of a few sentences.  And though statement "No peace, no Jesus - Know peace, know Jesus" is trite, it is also true.... but perhaps not in the way you think it is.  There are differences between the Roman (and our) concept of peace and what Jesus shares with his disciples in John 20.  What did Jesus actually mean when talking about peace, and how do we get it.  Today, we learn how Jesus' words invite us into peace.