Most Certainly True Podcast

The Ministry of the Gospel is carried out with compassion for God's sheep.

Jesus, the Good Shepherd, has such compassion for his flock that he cares for them through "under-shepherds" so that all may be nourished and fed by his promises of forgiveness and eternal love. 

Prayer:

Almighty, eternal God, in the Word of your apostles and prophets, you have proclaimed to us your saving will. Grant us faith to believe your promises that we may receive eternal salvation; through Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

Paul writes so beautifully to his friends who lived in the city of Ephesus.  Six chapters that display Paul’s love for the people of Ephesus and his love for his God.  The book flows smoothly from truth to truth – from Election to Salvation By Grace to God’s Grace for All, to Unity in the Body of Christ to Living in the Light of Christian Love to Carrying out our Vocation to God’s glory and then culminating in the beautiful picture of the armor of God.  There’s so much to see and to experience and celebrate in the book of Ephesians this short podcast doesn’t do it justice!  Get comfortable with  Paul’s letter to the Ephesians and read it often, because in it you’ll find new treasures and old and you’ll never be left without reason to rejoice in the love of God for us!!    

The Ministry of the Gospel Proclaims the Triune God.

Today marks the end of the first half of the Christian calendar: The Time of Christ. Beginning in the season of Advent and concluding with Pentecost last Sunday, the Lutheran Church repeats the great plan God prepared to save the world through his son. From one Sunday to the next, the Holy Spirit has strengthened and deepened our faith through the Word and the Sacrament. On this day, we look back and remember the Holy Trinity - Father, Son and Holy Spirit - and rejoice in God's great gifts to us.

Prayer:

Almighty God and Father, dwelling in majesty and mystery, filling and renewing all creation by your eternal Spirit, and manifesting your saving grace through our Lord Jesus Christ: in mercy cleanse our hearts and lips that, free from doubt and fear, we may ever worship you, one true immortal God, with your Son and the Holy Spirit.

The guys gather together and introduce a new effort being done at Grace Lutheran Church this summer called Same Page Summer.  Get on the Same page with us and join us in our effort to read through the New Testament.  They begin by discussing some current events, a major Grace milestone and then the gospel of John, which was the reading for this first week of the summer.   Due to some technical difficulties (and a button that wasn’t pushed – but we’re not here to assign blame, Pastor Strong’s microphone wasn’t turned on.  So he was here and had some great things to say, but they could not be heard.  Some edits were made to pass along the conversation to you anyways.  My – I mean our collective – apologies to Pastor Strong.  And the Pastors H are not going senile when they talk to a person doesn’t appear to be in the room, that’s the skinny on what happened!!  Whoops!!

Jesus sends the Holy Spirit to his Church.

On the Day of Pentecost, 50 days after Easter, the ascended Lord Jesus sent the Holy Spirit in a visible and audible way to commission and equip his people to carry out the ministry of the gospel in the world. The Spirit's approval and power rests on us still today as we carry out our mission to preach the gospel to every creature.

Prayer:

Holy Spirit, God and Lord, come to us this joyful day with your sevenfold gift of grace. Rekindle in our hearts the holy fire of your love that in a true and living faith we may tell abroad the glory of our Savior, Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you and the Father, one God, now and forever.

Closing out our reading of Grace Abounds, we conclude this series with a discussion on Chapter 17 – Eschatology.  That’s just a big goofy sounding Greek word that means “study of the End Times.”  The book closes with a review of the things that the Christian can expect and hope for as we are ushered through death from this world and to the next and the return of Jesus Christ to judge the world and gather the elect to his side in the glory in heaven.   We see, in these truths as we have all throughout this series, that God’s Grace Abounds.    

Jesus Is Our Intercessor.

The lines of communication between Jesus and his people are always open. He hears and answers our prayers and represents us before the throne of God.

Prayer:

Almighty God, your Son our Savior was taken up in glory and intercedes for us at your right hand. Through your living and abiding Word, give us hearts to know him and faith to follow where he has gone; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

We are holy and redeemed children of God.  Because of his grace and forgiveness, we now can do something that we could never do on our own – live that Christian life.  Christ Jesus has changed places with us and has fulfilled the law in our place and now we are holy in God’s sight.  We can live those holy lives to thank and praise our loving and living Lord!  It’s not always east – in fact God promises a struggle, but it’s a struggle which we will overcome, because Jesus is our strength, our joy and our life!    

Jesus Is Our Companion.

By trusting in Jesus and keeping his commands (ie - believing what he tells us about himself) we are attached to the Savior's eternal presence. We never walk alone, but are guided by his love and his Spirit.

Prayer:

O God, you are the giver of everything good. Inspire us, your humble servants, to long for what is right and through your gracious guidance, to accomplish it to your glory: through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

Chapter 15 of Grace Abounds discusses the Church. Pastors Strong and Hackmann discuss the difference between the visible and invisible church.  They explore the blessing that it is that God has both established the priesthood of all believers and established the public ministry.  The church is a blessing for the believer and we pray that this podcast episode is as well.