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Reflections
Today's Reading: Introit for Third-Last Sunday of the Church Year
(Psalm 130:1-2, 7-8; antiphon: vs.3-4)
Daily Lectionary: Jeremiah 11:1-23; Matthew 24:1-28
If You, LORD, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? But there is forgiveness with You, That You may be feared. (From the Introit for the Third-Last Sunday of the Church Year)
In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. What if when you went to church tomorrow, you had to write down all the sins you did this past week and then, one by one, the pastor would read them. Church would last a lot longer than an hour! And who would come back again to be shamed that way?
Yet that's how so many people think God operates--that He's just compiling a big long list of your sins and you'll have to hear it read before you enter the pearly gates.
But that's not what the psalm says! If the Lord did that, if He kept track, we'd be done for. Doomed. But He doesn't, because with Him there is forgiveness. That's why He sent His Son and why Jesus the Son lived and died and rose again. To get rid of the record! To hide the evidence and cover it with His blood. To make the accusations against you illegible so they must be thrown out of court. Jesus has paid for your sin in full.
The Divine Service is just the opposite of a time of shame for what you've done. Tomorrow everything in the worship service is a promise and reminder that God does NOT mark iniquities. He DOESN'T keep track. He has expunged the record. Blotted out your sins. Forgotten them. Forgiven you.
From the words of the Invocation, recalling your Baptism, through Absolution, the reading of God's Word, the sermon preaching Christ crucified and the Supper delivering the life-giving Body and Blood of Jesus--all of this is the Lord's promise that He does not mark your iniquities. There's no keeping track. There's no keeping score.
The Divine Service is one big reminder that with the Lord there is nothing but forgiveness for sinners. No shame there--only rejoicing in having such a merciful and loving Savior. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.
Lord, I believe, were sinners more
Than sands upon the ocean shore,
Thou has for all a ransom paid,
For all a full atonement made.
("Jesus, Thy Blood and Righteousness" LSB 563, st. 4)
Audio Reflections Speaker: Pastor Duane Bamsch
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By Higher Things®Today's Reading: Introit for Third-Last Sunday of the Church Year
(Psalm 130:1-2, 7-8; antiphon: vs.3-4)
Daily Lectionary: Jeremiah 11:1-23; Matthew 24:1-28
If You, LORD, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? But there is forgiveness with You, That You may be feared. (From the Introit for the Third-Last Sunday of the Church Year)
In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. What if when you went to church tomorrow, you had to write down all the sins you did this past week and then, one by one, the pastor would read them. Church would last a lot longer than an hour! And who would come back again to be shamed that way?
Yet that's how so many people think God operates--that He's just compiling a big long list of your sins and you'll have to hear it read before you enter the pearly gates.
But that's not what the psalm says! If the Lord did that, if He kept track, we'd be done for. Doomed. But He doesn't, because with Him there is forgiveness. That's why He sent His Son and why Jesus the Son lived and died and rose again. To get rid of the record! To hide the evidence and cover it with His blood. To make the accusations against you illegible so they must be thrown out of court. Jesus has paid for your sin in full.
The Divine Service is just the opposite of a time of shame for what you've done. Tomorrow everything in the worship service is a promise and reminder that God does NOT mark iniquities. He DOESN'T keep track. He has expunged the record. Blotted out your sins. Forgotten them. Forgiven you.
From the words of the Invocation, recalling your Baptism, through Absolution, the reading of God's Word, the sermon preaching Christ crucified and the Supper delivering the life-giving Body and Blood of Jesus--all of this is the Lord's promise that He does not mark your iniquities. There's no keeping track. There's no keeping score.
The Divine Service is one big reminder that with the Lord there is nothing but forgiveness for sinners. No shame there--only rejoicing in having such a merciful and loving Savior. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.
Lord, I believe, were sinners more
Than sands upon the ocean shore,
Thou has for all a ransom paid,
For all a full atonement made.
("Jesus, Thy Blood and Righteousness" LSB 563, st. 4)
Audio Reflections Speaker: Pastor Duane Bamsch