God's unique advertising campaign prepares us for His ultimate product:  Salvation through His Son Jesus.

Luke 3:1-6 (EHV)

In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar—while Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, Herod was tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip was tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias was tetrarch of Abilene— 2during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John, the son of Zechariah, in the wilderness. 3He went into the whole region around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 4Just as it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet: A voice of one calling in the wilderness, “Prepare the way of the Lord! Make his paths straight.

5Every valley will be filled, and every mountain and hill will be made low. The crooked will become straight, and the rough ways smooth. 6And everyone will see the salvation of God.”

Tensions arise when the real Jesus is different than the Jesus we want Him to be.

Luke 19:28-40

After Jesus had said these things, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem. 29As he came near to Bethphage and Bethany, at the place called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples ahead, 30saying, “Go to the village ahead of you. When you enter it, you will find a colt tied, on which no one has ever sat. Untie it and bring it here. 31And if anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ you will say this: ‘The Lord needs it.’”

32Those who were sent ahead went and found things just as he had told them. 33As they were untying the colt, its owners said to them, “Why are you untying the colt?”

34They said, “The Lord needs it.”

35Then they brought the colt to Jesus. They threw their robes on the colt and set Jesus on it. 36As he went along, people spread their robes on the road. 37As he was approaching the slope of the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of disciples began to praise God joyfully, with a loud voice, for all the miracles they had seen, 38saying, “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”

39Some of the Pharisees from the crowd said to him, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples!”

40He replied, “I tell you, if these people would be silent, the stones would cry out.”

What lessons can we learn from how God's people gave thanks throughout history?

History that is covered in this podcast:

The First Thanksgiving Cain & Abel (Genesis 4:2-5a)

Thanksgiving after the Flood Noah & His Family (Genesis 8:15-22 & 9:12-15)

Thanksgiving at the Harvest Ruth & Boaz (Ruth 2:2-9)

Thanksgiving in the Gospels Jesus & the Ten Lepers (Luke 17:11-19)

Thanksgiving in the Epistles Paul & Timothy (1 Timothy 6:6-10)

The first civil Thanksgiving Proclamation Governor William Bradford (1623)

Thanksgiving is Nationally and Annually Celebrated Abraham Lincoln (October 3, 1863)

All readings from the Evangelical Heritage Version.

Music by the Martin Luther College Choir

Casting Nets Podcast can be found at: castingnets.fireside.fm

Three things a blind beggar teaches us about the Christian life:

He sees what isn’t obvious.

He discovers how to get Jesus’s attention.

His faith makes him well.

.

Matthew 10:46-52 (EHV)

46They came to Jericho. As Jesus and his disciples and a large crowd were leaving Jericho, a blind man, Bartimaeus the son of Timaeus, was sitting by the road begging. 47When he heard that it was Jesus the Nazarene, he began to shout, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” 48Many told him to be quiet, but he kept shouting all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”  49Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.”  They called the blind man, saying, “Cheer up! Get up. He is calling you!”  50He tossed aside his outer garment, jumped up, and went to Jesus.  51“What do you want me to do for you?” Jesus asked him.  The blind man replied, “Rabboni, I want to see again.”  52Jesus told him, “Go. Your faith has made you well.” Immediately he received his sight and began following Jesus on the road.

Pastor Peter Zaferos, pastor at Mt. Olive Lutheran Church and the Bay Area Life Center, was our mission speaker.

Matthew 25:31-46

31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. 34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’ 37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’ 40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’ 41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’ 44 “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’ 45 “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’ 46 “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”

When people say they are blessed by God, what are they looking at in their lives as proof of this?

Matthew 5:1-12 (EHV)

1 Now when he saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, 2 and he began to teach them, saying: 3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 4 Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. 5 Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. 6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. 7 Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. 8 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. 9 Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God. 10 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 11 “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. 12 Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Pastor begins by explaining a Latin phrased used during the Reformation: Verbum Domini Manet in Aeternum (“Word of the Lord Remains Forever”)  He also talks about how the Word does remain, no matter what, and that it remains to do a purpose that matters.

Mark 13:5–11  (EHV)

5Jesus began by telling them, “Be careful that no one deceives you. 6Many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am he,’ and will deceive many.

7“Whenever you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be troubled. Such things must happen, but the end is not yet. 8In fact, nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places. There will be famines. These are the beginning of birth pains. 9But be on your guard! People will hand you over to councils, and you will be beaten in synagogues. You will stand in the presence of rulers and kings for my sake as a witness to them. 10And the gospel must first be preached to all the nations. 11Whenever they arrest you and hand you over, do not worry beforehand what you should say. Say whatever is given to you in that hour, because you will not be the ones speaking; instead it will be the Holy Spirit.”

How we view our possessions reflects on how we view our God.  There are two dangerous extremes to avoid, overestimating ourselves and underestimating God.

Mark 10:17-37 (EHV)

17As Jesus was setting out on a journey, one man ran up to him and knelt in front of him. He asked, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”  18Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except one—God. 19You know the commandments. ‘You shall not murder. You shall not commit adultery. You shall not steal. You shall not give false testimony. You shall not defraud. Honor your father and mother.’”  20The man replied, “Teacher, I have kept all these since I was a child.”  21Jesus looked at him, loved him, and said to him, “One thing you lack. Go, sell whatever you have, and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”  22When he heard this, he looked sad and went away grieving, because he had great wealth. 23Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How hard it will be for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God!”  24The disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus told them again, “Children, how hard it is for those who trust in their riches to enter the kingdom of God! 25It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”  26They were even more astonished and said to one another, “Who then can be saved?”  27Jesus looked at them and said, “For people, it is impossible, but not for God, because all things are possible for God.”

The image of God, displayed in Adam and Eve, lost through their sin, given to us in Word and Sacrament, changes how we view the world and empowers us to live as the family of God.

Genesis 2:18-24 (EHV)

18The Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper who is a suitable partner for him.” 19Out of the soil the Lord God had formed every wild animal and every bird of the sky, and he brought them to the man to see what he would call them. Whatever the man called every living creature, that became its name. 20The man gave names to all the livestock, and to the birds of the sky, and to every wild animal, but for Adam no helper was found who was a suitable partner for him. 21The Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep. As the man slept, the Lord God took a rib and closed up the flesh where it had been. 22The Lord God built a woman from the rib that he had taken from the man and brought her to the man.

23The man said,

“Now this one is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh.

She will be called “woman,” because she was taken out of man.

24For this reason a man will leave his father and his mother and

will remain united with his wife, and they will become one flesh.“

If Only... a sermon that Pastor rerecorded in his office due to a bad sermon recording in worship.

Numbers 11:16;24-26

16So the Lord said to Moses, “Gather seventy men from the elders of Israel for me, men whom you know to be elders and officers for the people. Take them to the Tent of Meeting and make them stand there with you.”24Moses went out and told the people the Lord’s words. He gathered seventy men from the elders of the people and had them stand all around the tent. 25The Lord came down in the cloud and spoke to him. He took from the Spirit that was on Moses and put it on the seventy elders. When the Spirit rested on them, they prophesied, but they did not do it again. 26Two men, however, remained in the camp. The name of one was Eldad, and the name of the other was Medad. They were listed among the elders, but they had not gone out to the tent. The Spirit rested on them, and they prophesied back in the camp. 27A young man ran and reported this to Moses. He said, “Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp!”  28Joshua son of Nun, Moses’ aide from his youth, answered, “My lord Moses, stop them!” 29Moses said to him, “Are you jealous for my sake? If only all of the Lord’s people were prophets so that the Lord would put his Spirit on them!”