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Summary

Now what's really interesting is that in order to be a Jew you can be a practicing Jewish person or you can be culturally Jew you don't have to be both anyone whose mother is Jewish is automatically in the tribe is is part of the Jewish people that being said and I cannot remember exactly when that switch occurred but during Jesus' day he was he found his lineage through Joseph because Joseph is descended so it used to be found through the father's line but now and for a long time now I can't remember I've looked this up before but now it is through the mother's line that that heritage is found and there are a lot of Jews today who are culturally Jewish but but not practicing their faith we have some key teachings that we are familiar with that they they turn to which the Torah is one Torah well write down some words Torah and this specifically we think think of it as law but really the the translation of Torah is arrow that hits the mark arrow that hits the mark and see it's a picture language it's a picture language so so the Torah itself is the Pentateuch it's the first five books in the Bible Genesis hot diggity dog that's awesome yes it's the first five books in the Bible and those all point to how one can hit the mark right the Jewish people if they follow what is in the first five books of the Bible they can hit the mark exactly the tonk is it is the whole of the old testament and that is and I will say the the Hebrew words are really fun to say so you're welcome to say any of them out loud I'm not gonna blame you but that takes both the Torah the Pentateuch and it takes the oral tradition because everything was handed down through oral tradition it takes that and it's compiled into the tonk and that is all all together so that is what we know as the old testament it is the writings it is the prophets it it goes off of the Torah and then within that we have 613 myths both yeah yeah 613 and this is these are the laws these are the commandments so 613 commandments within the tonk and tradition the oral tradition and tradition itself is very very important in the Jewish culture and religion it's all in there the Talmud is a combination so there are a lot of writings but remember that within Judaism there's a lot of a lot of discussion the debates that they have that we read about when Jesus is sitting there with religious leaders and they're debating that's called pillpool and so that is something that they engage in all the time so they take the pillpool they take the the teachings and they compile them and so the Talmud has it has a rabbinical commentary it has the oral tradition it has the written word together and it's all compiled and then it's it's read every week in synagogue so that's a very very very very basic overview of some of their writings some of their key teachings and this is this is where we start to find that with a lot of their key teachings and a lot of of their kind of values as a as a people we have a lot in common which can be a wonderful bridging point but it also has been historically a place of real contention and we're going to find how that is so one of their or their first key teaching is that they they believe in monotheism they believe that there is one god there is only one god and so so in the Jewish faith we as Christians who confess a triune god one god but three and one we are seen to be monothe or polytheistic we're seen as worshiping three gods where we know that that and it's I mean we are not going to get into the Trinity right now but not doing that but we know that we have one god um three persons in one god and um but they they have one god one god alone Yahweh which they do not say the name they have several different names but that is too holy to even speak um and we see that we see Yahweh like that um and that that is the name there is um the name that they use in place of this um is adonai which means gods which is very interesting because we have the triune god three and one and when they pray and use the name of god they say adonai which is plural um so it's kind of interesting but um what was I saying thank you okay so you will see um you'll see in the Bible when they when they in the Jewish Bible when it's this when it's Yahweh you will see capital L-O-R-D with O-R-D in lower case but when they would come across that they would not say it that's it adonai or Elohim um not not not the name no like an English uh speaking Jewish person may say Lord but not when reading scripture they're coming into contact with the the holy name and so they do not say that um and that is taking the do not use your Lord's name in vain that is taking that to a very severe degree they don't want to even risk saying it wrong so they don't say it at all yeah yep yep absolutely I was just gonna just gonna get there very cool um so they have a they do not want to cross the line at all um so they they stick with this now we will hear the word um Jehovah right and that is a mixing it's actually an accident that is a mixing of adonai with Yahweh or Elohim with Yahweh so it's mixing the holy and mixing um with the the word that they are allowed to speak the name that they are allowed to speak so Jehovah is actually a um uh an error in pronunciation so um but as a Christian people we we know when someone uses the word Jehovah we know what it means and um don't don't rebuke anyone um if they use Jehovah because we know that we know um the Messiah so the Jewish people did believe in a Messiah and they believed that the Messiah would bring about a certain rule and reign and power for the Jewish people there would be no more oppression for the Jewish people and through the years um that has kind of gone by the wayside they kind of say well there could be a Messiah there couldn't be it's not like they are waiting with anticipated breath for a Messiah because history has taught them kind of a dashed hope dashed dream they had other Messiah's prior to Jesus who um who died who were killed so then Jesus comes along and they put all their hopes into or you know a lot of the people put all their hopes into Jesus and then what happens they watch him die and so then when he is resurrected they deny or they reject his resurrection because he still died and Rome is still oppressing them so the Messiah has a lot of political um leaning in power and need and deliverance built into it in the Jewish uh into the Jewish people so there have been many Messiah's in history according to the Jewish understanding but um but through history with their hopes being dashed with them still being persecuted or oppressed um they kind of like modern day Judaism um thinks it's a cute cute story um yeah when they when you're here fighting the Messiah but didn't part of them looking for the Messiah as a blocker coming back you know the coming back in the summary you're using the Messiah is some like a flat against Rome back yeah they wanted a Messiah to fight against Rome and some of them but there's only you who released the Messiah as a spiritual the Messiah with Judaism the Messiah um had a spiritual component but it had a political component that um and that's where the political aspect um it didn't follow through they still were oppressed the whole call for the Jewish people as a tribe was to be separate to be a people unto themselves and that is why you don't have you know Jewish missionaries going out and and trying to convert people into Judaism because if you are if you are Jew a Jew then you would be so um by birth or if you married into it but they do not like like as a whole and this is this is a lot of generalizations so if you have Jewish neighbors or friends um and and you're sitting there going that's not my experience absolutely this is on a whole um generalizations um and and every you know every individual is going to be different um but they are to be a separate people and um yeah we'll go ahead and jump there right now so this is where the um the Holocaust and when speaking with our Jewish neighbors the Holocaust is so important to keep in mind because in the 1900s the Jews let down their guard and they got familiar with their neighbors with their people with their community and they did not expect the cruelty and the the just utter evil to happen to them because they were neighbors they had mingle they had intermingled and um and so the Holocaust is very very important to keep in mind and I think it's an important this is kind of an aside but I think it's important for us to keep in mind anyway because that is a a just evil outright evil in front of our faces our kids need to understand that evil exists in this world and um I just think that's a total aside but we need to understand that evil exists in the world and and how um we how we live um in opposition to that one of the things with the Holocaust that caused a lot of um of breaking between the Jewish people and their Christian neighbors is that Martin Luther's writings were used in defense of the Holocaust um now I think that it's important for us to know this and uh I I like how this author puts it um so so Luther was not inherently anti-Semitic um early in his career he has writings that are very loving um for the Jewish people calling Christians to be kind and loving to their Jewish neighbors so there was no question that he had entered into um into ministry loving his Jewish neighbors and and and supporting that um and then Luther had a writing that was against the lies of um oh it's on the Jews and their lies it was written in night in 1543 and and he argued that Jewish synagogues schools and prayer books should be burned that rabbis should be for forbidden to preach and homes property and money should be confiscated and the 1930s Germans um used that and so in the Holocaust museums you will very possibly find writings of this writing of Martin Luther as an excuse and that has damaged greatly the trust and the relationship between Christians and their Jewish neighbors now in a sermon three days before Luther died in um he again let me find this here he returned back to um back to the position that he had in 1523 so he again spoke of loving the Jewish neighbor um so it really stinks it's very unfortunate that his writing is preserved that was used in a very very bad way yes there was um uh did it did it did it did it did it hold on a second here let me find it yes I've read I've read all of this there's a lot of information in here so um okay so it was a religious dispute um so he had written he had written a treatise in 1523 that was entitled Jesus Christ was born a Jew and he wrote of the Jews as an honorable people who are the lineage of Christ advising a gentle approach for them and speaking against the very things he wrote in 1543 but um but in 1543 um as he had been having some success at witnessing to Jewish people in and around Vittenburg um he came under attack by local Jewish anti-missionaries who called Luther a false teacher and that Christ was a false Messiah and that Christianity was a false religion and so those are the lies that he was responding to um and Luther um for all the good and the the wonderful um direction that he put us as a Christian people on the path with scripture being scripture being scripture right the word alone faith alone grace alone um he was human and he sinned and um and he did did come back and um and again to return to the 1523 treatise um in in being kind and gentle with our Jewish neighbors um he was definitely one of those that was loud, brash and spoke possibly um just out of emotion we don't know fully what his intention was and i bring that up because when we speak with our Jewish neighbor this easily could be brought up that's been brought up to me when i was when i was in Lutheran seminary one of my family members who i did not grow up Lutheran one of my family members said Luther's the reason for the Holocaust how do you feel about that? So um so have to go back and and look at that and um and you know when when evil is at hand it will seek anything and everything to um to move forward right but ultimately God's word prevails and God's goodness prevails and and he keeps his hand upon us so i do want to bring that up because there's no way when you are speaking with um a Jewish whether they are a faithful practicing Jew or a tribal Jew right ethnically a Jewish person um the Holocaust will come up and um so i think that that's that's important to know so um another very key teaching in Judaism is tikun olam which means repair of the world so they do not have a teaching of original sin they absolutely do not believe in the depravity of man um but they do have an obligation to works and the obligation to works is in order to achieve a more perfect world yes yes where did the good marker go there we go sorry okay tikun olam okay so tikun olam is repair of the world um and holoca will write that one down too holoca is an important part of this holoca is the walk so we've got repair of the world and we've got the walk and the walk is really that daily living guided by a system of ethics and study of God so it's this is where you are you are walking repairing the world by studying the word of God and living under the systems of ethics that God's word gives so it's a constant um a constant happening and part of that a huge part of that is shabbat or sabbath and it's resting as a people together away from the rest of the world and so they go to synagogue and they come together and that time is um studying God's word it is praying it is fellowship sounds very familiar to the first church in Acts 2 where they were devoted to the fellowship the teaching of the apostles breaking of bread and prayer that is a great example of um of sabbath because they are spending life together at least once a week they are coming together shutting out the rest of the world and and really living as a people um it's it's done as a community and you get the fullness of the community in that um midrash I dare you say midrash so pillpool is debate right that's that's where they get in and midrash is where um one is seeking answers to religious questions so pillpool we we read about that in the bible where where there is discussion amongst the scholars amongst the religious authorities and Jesus they're engaging in pillpool when they're debating over things then there's also where when at the feet of the rabbi and the rabbi is sitting there teaching that is midrash where people can ask questions and the rabbi can teach can give religious answers so a good example comes up in our reading today where Jesus has been has been sitting there teaching and blessing the children and and he gets up to go and and a young man comes and he he kneels down before Jesus and he says what must I do to inherit eternal life that is where he is seeking an answer to a religious question that would be an example of midrash um so something that is absolutely key in Judaism is and this goes along with the um with the uh monotheism goodness gracious the monotheism is um they're uh oh yeah yeah they're shema or shema which if you open your bibles to Deuteronomy six we'll find this Deuteronomy six and you guys already know where Deuteronomy is that was awesome you all know the Pentateuch so well so I'm going backwards so Deuteronomy is the fifth book in the Bible it is the fifth book of the Pentateuch we're going to Deuteronomy six starting in verse four where it says here oh Israel the Lord is our God the Lord alone you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might keep these words that I am commanding you today in your heart recite them to your children and talk about them when you are at home and when you are away when you lie down and when you rise bind them as a sign on your hand fix them as an emblem on your forehead and write them on the door posts of your house and on your gates twice a day morning and evening the Jewish people are to do the shema and it begins with that with that proclamation here oh Israel the Lord your God is one or the Lord is your God the Lord alone and and then there is a response and then the rest of those verses is is read then they they have another portion of Deuteronomy that they read and then it ends every shema so twice a day every shema ends with numbers 15 so let's go back to numbers let's just back one chap or one book numbers 15 verse 37 through 41 or verses 37 through 41 where it says the Lord said to Moses speak to the Israelites and tell them to make fringes on the corners of their garments throughout their generations and to put a blue cord on the fringe at each corner you have the fringe so that when you see it you will remember all the commandments of the Lord and do them and not follow the lust of your own heart and your own eyes so you shall remember and do all my commandments and you shall be holy to your God I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt to be your God I am the Lord your God so again you begin your prayers with hero Israel the Lord is your God alone and then you end with the Lord's words that he is your God he is your Lord so that begins everything and just like we were talking about their belief in the monotheistic you know one God alone that is built into everything so we have as a people I say ethics guidance and and laws now the 613 a good portion of those are not doable because the temple was destroyed in 70 AD so so they do not have they cannot follow all 613 but the ones that they do have they do they are still expected to follow so they believe that God is is God there's one God they do not believe that there's a Messiah they've been disappointed and so they're not going to do that again very guarded because of the history especially the Holocaust and then the the feast and the festive gosh there's so much to get through and okay we may do a little more Judaism next week too because it's fascinating because we a misconception is that by the Christian churches that we don't have to say anything to our Jewish neighbor that that we really are worshipping the same God that we really are basically in line with our Jewish neighbor but we're not because they deny Christ they deny his death and yes resurrection yet yes well the sacrifices and the offerings they are not they they can't do the sacrifices right now this goes in with the 613 myths and they can't do that so everything they can do they are still obligated to do but this is where we come into that interesting kind of division where you have for lack of better term several denominations within Judaism where some really it is all cultural right we are part of we are Jewish because we're part of this tribe but there is no religious significance to it and they actually have what they refer to like Exodus the story of being brought out of slavery from Egypt there are some sex and Judaism that refer to that basically as grandmother's stories it's a little better a little more reverent than an old wives tale but not much it's it's a cute story oh gosh what is that called a a Bubba Mace a Bubba Mace yes so so even though they go through these in their feasts in their festivals which we need to get to oh my gosh they're they're just stories so so with this man what what what this previous Jewish man who is now Lutheran pastor I almost said Lutheran rabbi oh my goodness this Lutheran pastor he says that that it is harmful for us and it is not loving and not kind for us to not share with our Jewish neighbors we are we will I we're just gonna have to you know what we were gonna do five different religions but we may just do one no we will we will do some more but but we have to there's so much built into this that is just fascinating that we have to return to this I was gonna say something else and I can't remember what it was but it's just amazing we are next week we'll touch on the on the feasts and how there's so much that is built into the Jewish faith that points us directly to Christ and this is why you know I thought oh we'll start with Judaism because it's just this easy link and then I start reading and I'm like wow this is amazing and there is a lot more to it than what I expected and I also want to get into the how are we not worshiping the same God because that's that how does that make sense but we're gonna we're gonna do those two things since we are definitely returning to this is there anything else that we definitely want to touch on next week with Judaism oh they are traders yes so he asked he said what about Messianic Jews like there are there are Jewish converts to Christianity and and Jewish people the Jewish people are fine with with whatever anyone else in the Jewish tribe wants to believe they are fine with Christians who are Gentiles but a Jewish Christian is the only thing that they have that is like a heretic or a traitor no they they are no longer to be considered Jewish yes so you have okay so you you know someone who was Catholic then converted to Messianic Jewish which that is a Jewish person who who follows this with the understanding that Jesus has died for our sins and and right so I feel sad because then they have just put themselves under the burden of the law right um although I so I grew up Catholic so I will say I mean kind of under the burden of the law as a Catholic too but um yeah interesting very very interesting okay yes prophecies that point towards Christ well they don't read some of them they skip right over them legitimately yep yes yes yes yes sorry differences that the modern okay and that's another that is another thing that I didn't get to yet I'm telling you there is so much to cover it is just unbelievable it was like opening just it was just amazing amazing and that's also why I say like this is a great book but be ready because you will dive in and then have a hundred more questions and then go on all sorts of tangents is so we have a lot to cover next week god bless and we will we will continue diving into Judaism next week thank you Well, good morning. Well it matters we know that one of the things that happened was Luther standing up for God's word and standing up for the truth of both his law and his gospel it really was the push that others needed others who were not happy with the church at large and saw the corruption also in their own countries it really pushed that ability for others who saw the need for reform to bring reform into their own countries into their own cities and so we saw a lot of ripple throughout Europe and then throughout the world where there was a lot of reform so if you think about it we had the church right we had the church then we had the Roman church and the Eastern Orthodox church so we had this split which if you study the Eastern Orthodox church that just like the Roman church turned Protestantism in the oh my goodness with the reformation so there are some ups and downs some bumps and trials within the Eastern Orthodox religion as well and there are splits that happened there as well as so they've got denominations within the church there too so then we so we had those then then within the Western church all of a sudden after the reformation that's where we see a lot of different branches or denominations within the Christian faith start to really take off and others was really interesting there was a study done and it said that it estimates or estimations show that there are more than 200 Christian denominations in the US and a staggering 45,000 globally according to the center for the study of global Christianity so one of I would say one of the problems with coming out of the reformation and the split with so many denominations is that just like anything that is good can go wonky you think about it there are denominational splits throughout history over just arguments nothing theological just an argument and then there are theological arguments also that lead to splits and denominations but there was one one colleague or cohort of mine in seminary who talked about a small town I believe is in Colorado a small town in Colorado that you walk down the street and there's church after church after church after church and how those how those churches came to be was that this family and this church was angry with this family of this church so then they were going to go ahead and start this church and so that entire town was infested with anger churches right so so there can be some issues and and so out of the reformation then you have people like Zwingli in Switzerland who who wants to reform is inspired by Luther and but then he does not like what Luther which Luther is saying no we're basing we're pulling everything all of our theology is coming out of scripture and and so then there's this big split over the Lord's Supper over communion and and and that's where and infant baptism we get a big split out of that and then you've got the anabaptists running out and and coming out of that and so there are a lot of splits in the Christian church that came out of the reformation which was not started with the intention of splitting the church at all it was started with the intention of being unified in scripture but then man gets involved and we go right so so that is how we have so many so many split so many denominations and the reformation really emboldened people and that is it's wonderful but it also has some difficult consequences and and that doesn't take away from the need for the reform it doesn't take away from the power of the reformation and and God's work in it but I think it's important that we see the big picture and and we see what can happen uh when we take over something and so then that leads us to today does the reformation still matter I mean because we have enough denominations we can all almost everyone in the world has access to God's word so does the reformation I mean we're not we're not needing that anymore we're not you know I mean you know are the same benefits the same matters the same uh purpose of the reformation do they does it pertain today yes yes absolutely what came out of the reformation is so important um think of the solace the solace faith alone grace alone word alone if we don't have that in the church that is where we go wonky do and never come back we have to stick and maintain even in our modern church today grace alone faith alone word alone it's vital that we as a Christian people know the word not just know about the word that there is a word but that we know the word looser when he was told to recant um he said unless I am convinced by scripture and plain reason I do not accept the authority of the popes and councils for they have contradicted each other my conscience is captive to the word of God I cannot and I will not recant anything for to go against conscience is neither right nor safe God help me amen we have to go back to God's word over and over and over again it is part of our call as God's sheep to know the shepherd and how do we know the shepherd Jesus tells us my sheep know my voice and we have God's voice speaking to us from his word that is where we know the shepherd and so that word alone that solar scriptura out of the reformation is absolutely vital for us to hold onto the reformation really opened up to us to all of the Christian church the word which is the grace of God it is the holiness of his law and it is the grace of his mercy the promise of life for us and one of the um we'll call it a bugaboo one of the bugaboo's that I have as a pastor as a Christian as a mom as a person with kind of the Christian church at large is that we like it easy we like life easy we like life convenient and so we take that love of convenience that love of easy and we bring it right into our faith lives and we don't invest and I don't mean like a stock market investing right I mean like we don't invest in knowing the truth of God's word and so we'll pick up a book that says this is from a pastor but it's from a pastor who denies the Trinity so that's not a Christian book or we pick up a devotional book that claims these are new words of Jesus Christ but God in various and old ways spoke to people of old by the prophets but now in these last days he has spoken to us by his word that is not this devotional the word is complete in the Bible that we have been given and so we can't exchange the fullness of God's word for for a variety of feel good or self-empowered theology this is where the reformation is so vital for us today and we are all we are all in the sermon today we talk about the the talents that God gives us and and the generosity and and he gives to each of his servants according to their ability we are not all called to the same to the same place right we are not all called if we were all called as preachers then we are all going to be talking over each other right but we are all called as the sheep to know our shepherd and to know him intimately he already knows us intimately and so we are called to know him and called to know him better and we do that by diving in to his word and so so okay so um so what I want us to take out of this study from the reformation I mean it's a great historical study it's fascinating to know how things move shift change um so that's just from a historical perspective that's a fun study to do but it also has a practical study for us or a practical purpose application for us today as Christians we are called to dig in to study to not only know about God but to know God and we do that by digging in by diving in to our bibles and not everything in the Bible is going to be easy to um to discern but we have a long history of church fathers of theologians who will walk with us through those passages we have certain passages in scripture that are difficult but we know that it's there for a reason and that's why we turn to good sound foundational sources we first look to scripture to interpret scripture and then we look to solid theologians to help us to walk with us um pastor eyeball myself Steve David we are here also to walk with you um and as you know I mean I'm more than happy to jump in and study if I don't know something it's fun um we have uh the small catechism what a great place to start the small catechism just very basic explanations very very basic guidance with God's word and with our Christian beliefs we have small groups and there are small groups that are doctrinally founded there are small groups that are um on biblical studies biblical Bible or biblical books we have um different Bible studies for men and women for kids and have you ever heard that the best way to learn is to teach okay so think about someone someone in your life who needs to be taught who can be taught who can you teach because we all have at least one person in our life that need grace alone faith alone word alone and as Christ's disciple that is our call to know our shepherd and then to share it so that his flock continues to grow and be called to him so I hope that you understand the significance of the reformation um not only in history but uh but really in our lives even today and does anyone have any questions or thoughts yes yeah yeah yeah can I explain what we mean by grace alone word alone faith alone so um yes absolutely so so with the early church um in in Catholicism bless you um we had uh it was a matter of I needed to do in order to have righteousness and um and so we are not made righteous and we are not saved by anything that we do but it is only by the grace of God that we are saved it is only by the grace of God that we are called into faith and that faith in Christ Jesus our Lord and Savior saves us and so we find that it is through God's word alone that um that we are led that we are taught that we are saved that we are um that we know God and because there were even just in the very first early church with the Apostles there was a um uh uh uh the judyisers who were saying you know yes we are saved by grace saved by faith plus by doing this by doing these works by maintaining these ceremonies by keeping up with this law of the Jewish law this you know this mosaic law does that make sense? okay yes good morning again so we are wrapping up with our heroes of faith today it's our last time that this does not mean that you cannot look up other heroes of faith and see how they how different people use their faith in action or even everyday people like you and me well they those are the heroes of faith though they're everyday people like you and me who have done something living out their faith lives where then they get known for it so we will probably never be known for our faith but we are known in the kingdom for our faith so there we go any hoozy so today we're finishing with the heroes of forgiveness and I don't know how many of you know the story of Corrie ten Boom yes no maybe okay and she wrote the hiding place I think that she she exemplifies forgiveness amazingly which we'll hear I'm gonna tell you a little bit about her then we're gonna jump into Scripture and then we'll jump back to her after that I think we hope so I will I'm working towards it okay so Corrie ten Boom it's a Dutch bless you Dutch woman grew up in Holland when she was 52 years old she well back it up four years in 1940 when the Nazis invaded Holland she and her family who were very faithful people they realized they needed to do something to help the Jewish people in their community and so they would get extra rations and they had kind of an underground network going they hid Jewish people in there in their house and they all told it's estimated that they helped to save approximately 800 Jewish people in Holland so they were living out their faith as a family it was just incredible I if you have not read the hiding place I highly recommend it amazing amazing story and lots of really good tidbits of wisdom in there which is fascinating it's one of those can't put down sort of books so I highly recommend it so when she was 52 and her dad was 84 and it was her her dad and her sister who all lived in the same house and were helping these Jewish people and they were betrayed by one of their countrymen and the Nazis came in and arrested her and her father and her sister and and they were sent to concentration camps 52 I don't know what the average age in here is some of you may have seen 52 come and go some of you are looking towards it but we've got a thumbs up higher higher but just imagine 52 Europe heading into this kind of unknown into this arrest and her 84 year old father did end up dying at one of the concentration camps but we're gonna just I'm gonna read a little bit from her book to you so we get an idea of what she experienced where's my first bookmark here we go oh so this is this is they had already been to two concentration camps they were in concentration camps for a period of ten months she was released after ten months but but this is the third one ravans Brooke this was a not not good place this is they had heard tales of how bad this concentration camp was and and that's where they were headed for two more incredible days and two more nights we were carried deeper and deeper into the land of our fears now mind you they are on a train they're not in Nice little seats they're kind of shoved in to cattle cars no room to sit or lay down her stur is incredibly ill and weak she was a little stronger so they were just trying to figure out how to best ride and this is in two days and two nights standing in a cattle cattle car just crammed with other women occasionally one of the loaves of bread was passed from hand to hand but not even the most elementary provision had been made for sanitation and the air in the car was such that you could eat and gradually more terrible than the crush of bodies and the filth the single obsession was something to drink two or three times when the train stopped the door was slid open a few inches and a pail of water passed in but we had become animals incapable of plan or system those near the door got it all at last the morning of the fourth day the train stopped again for days crammed into this cattle car and the door was opened its full width like infants on hands and knees we crawled to the opening and lowered ourselves over the side in front of us was a smiling blue lake on the far side among sycamore trees rose a white church steeple the stronger prisoners hauled buckets of water from the lake we drank through cracked and swollen lips the train was shorter the cars carrying the men had disappeared only a handful of soldiers some of them looking no older than 15 were there to guard a thousand women no more were needed we could scarcely walk let alone resist after a while they got us into straggly columns and marched us off for a mile the road followed the shore of the lake then left it to climb a hill I wondered if Betsy that's her sister Betsy I wondered if Betsy can make it to the top but the sight of trees and sky seemed to have revived her and she supported me as much as I her we passed a number of local people on foot and in horse-drawn wagons the children especially seemed wonderful to me pink cheeked and healthy they returned my stairs with wide-eyed interest I noticed however that the adults did not look at us but turned their heads away as we approached I think that the very telling tale of the blinding I purposefully those adults knew this was wrong they knew these people were being tortured they had spent at least four days on those cattle cars crammed in there no real food most of them had nothing to drink and they were expected to walk a mile uphill part of the way making it into this next concentration camp Friday's the recurrent humiliation of medical inspection the hospital corridor in which we waited was unheated and a full chill had settled into the walls still we were forbidden even to wrap ourselves in our own arms but had to maintain our erect hands at sides position as we filed slowly past of foul necks of green grinning guards how there could have been any pleasure in the sight of these stick-thin legs and hunger bloated stomachs I could not imagine surely there is no more wretched sight than the human body unloved and uncared for nor could I see the necessity for the complete undressing when we finally reached the examining room a doctor looked down each throat another a dentist presumably at our teeth a third in between each finger and that was all we trooped again down the long cold corridor and picked up our X marked dresses at the door all these women every single week had to just file through completely naked completely vulnerable completely bare and these guards would just smile smile I love how Corey says I don't I don't understand how anyone could find pleasure in this and yet she said stood strong and helped her helped her sister the whole time this is another excerpt from here this is their actual bare where they lived barracks 8 was in the quarantine camp compound next to us perhaps as a deliberate warning to newcomer newcomers were located the punishment barracks from there all day long and often into the night came the sounds of Hell itself they were not the sounds of anger or of any human emotion but of a cruelty altogether detached blows landing in regular rhythm screams keeping pace we would stand in our 10 deep ranks with our hands trembling at our sides longing to jam them against our ears to make the sounds stop it grew harder and harder even within these four walls there was too much misery too much seemingly pointless suffering every day something else failed to make sense something else grew too heavy every day the Sun rose a little later the bike took longer to leave the air it will be better everyone assured everyone else when we move into the permanent barracks we'll have a blanket of peace a bed of our own the move to the permanent quarters came the second week in October so it's getting colder and colder as this time progresses we were marched ten abreast along the Y wide cinder Avenue several times the column halted while numbers were read out names were never used at ravans Brook at last Betsy's in mind were called we stepped out of line with a dozen or so others and stared at the long gray front of barracks twenty-eight Betsy and I followed a prisoner guide through our door at the right because of the broken windows the vast room was in semi Twilight our noses told us first that the place was filthy somewhere plumbing had backed up the bedding was soiled and rancid then our eyes adjusted to the gloom we saw that there were no individual beds at all but great square tiers stacked three high and wedged side-by-side and end to end with only an occasional narrow aisle slicing through we followed our guide single-file the aisle was not wide enough for two fighting back the claustrophobia of these platforms rising everywhere above us at last she pointed to a second tier in the center of a large block to reach it we had to stand on the bottom level haul ourselves up and then crawl across three other straw covered plat to reach the one that we would share with how many the deck above us was too close to let us sit up we lay back struggling against the nausea that swept over us from the reeking straw suddenly I sat up striking my head on the cross slats above something had pinched my leg fleas I cried Betsy the place is swarming with them non-stop they were covered with fleas with lice there were roaches in all the other places constantly bugs everywhere we scammed across the intervening platforms heads low to avoid another bump drop down to the aisle and hedged our way to a patch of light they were in what we would consider hell on earth they had no real warmth that I never used this I'm gonna use it now the the beds were just these bunk beds like that and these tight rows and you would fit at least five women at least five women on these little beds they would be sleeping nearly on top the only the only saving grace in this sleeping arrangement was that they would have some body heat a little bit of body heat to keep each other warm truly truly a how on earth I say that when you read this book you will also see the hand of God everywhere throughout their experience and and the fleas are one of those her sister Betsy says oh we need to thank the Lord for the fleas and she says no mm-hmm nope this is where I'm drawing the line I'm not thanking the Lord for the fleas but it comes to air it turns out that they would hold a Bible study every single night with a Bible that they miraculously smuggled in and and the only reason the guards would not go in that barracks to break up the Bible study was because of the fleas so God's hand Trulli was in every moment of this he was with them in their suffering and would provide for them in that suffering at every turn it I highly recommend as you study the world war 2 study the Holocaust have your kids or grandkids study it bring them back to a book like this because a lot of people use the Holocaust as a reason to prove God's non-existence if God existed there wouldn't be such times as the Holocaust but this this book shows how God's hand was still there still with them still providing for them and still loving them so I highly recommend looking at this book or or some of her other books just incredible yes so he's saying that most cattle cars have some opening some some slats see my drawing is good so they have little slats in here so they're exposed to the weather as well so anyone who can't hear him he's just reminding us that most cattle cars are open have some sort of flats some exposure to the weather which these women also would have had to endure so right there they're malnourished they have no drink and they're exposed to weather for and not sitting there standing that whole time the biggest problem was Betsy's strength one morning after a hard night's rain we arrived to find the ground sodden and heavy Betsy had never been able to lift much today her shovels full were microscopic and she stumbled frequently as she walked to the low ground where we dumped the load the guard screamed at her can't you go faster why must they scream I wondered a voice coming from the bell-shaped speaker a scream lingering in the air even after Betsy had left to shut it off loafer lazy swine the guard snatched Betsy's shovel from her hands and ran from group to group of the digging crew exhibiting the handful of dirt that was all Betsy could had been able to lift look at what Madame Baroness is carrying surely she will overexert herself so he is mocking her for the little bit that she can do the other guards and even some of the prisoners laughed encourage the guard threw herself into a parody of Betsy's faltering walk a male guard was with our detail today and in the presence of a man the women guards were always animated as the laughter grew I felt a murderous anger inside the guard was young and well-fed was at Betsy's fault that she was old and starving but to my astonishment Betsy too was laughing that's me alright she admitted but you'd better let me taught her along with my little spoonful or I'll have to stop altogether vegard's plump cheeks went crimson I'll decide who's to stop and snatching the leather crop from her belts she slashed Betsy across the chest and neck without knowing what I was doing I seized my shovel and rushed at her Betsy stepped in front of me before anyone had seen quarry she pleaded dragging my arm to my side quarry keep working she tugged the shovel from my hand and dug it into the mud contemptuously the guard tossed Betsy's shovel toward us I picked it up still in a daze a red stain appeared on Betsy's collar a welt to begin to swell on her neck Betsy saw where I was looking and laid a bird thin hand over the whitmark don't look at it quarry look at Jesus only she drew her hand away it was sticky with blood malnourished no real hydration constantly exposed to the elements expected to do hard labor beaten when ever forced to do these humiliating medical check-ups every single week get worse death seemed a release it seemed a kindness to be able to leave that so now we're gonna jump to scripture we'll come back to this momentarily I just wanted to kind of lay the groundwork of what they were experiencing in this concentration camp so let's go to second samuel in the old testament it's after first samuel after after judges after ruth it's it's after the Pentateuch so you've got Deuteronomy at the end of the first five books and then go a couple more and you'll get to second Samuel chapter 11 if anyone has the page number of the Pew Edition you can holler it out 263 excellent thank you okay so the Bible the Bible character or person that we're gonna study today is David and I bring him up with good reason we're going to read about David's sin here so picking up in verse or in in chapter 11 in the spring of the year the time when the Kings go out to battle David sent Joab with his officers and all Israel with him they ravaged the eminent and menthe ammonites and besieged Rabbah but David remained at Jerusalem it happened late one afternoon when David rose from his couch and was walking about on the tin roof on the roof of the king's house excuse me that he saw from the roof a woman bathing the woman was very beautiful David sent someone to inquire about the woman it was reported this is Beth Sheba daughter of Eliam the wife of Uriah the Hittite so David sent messengers to get her and she came to him and he lay with her now she was purifying herself after her period then she returned to her house the woman conceived and she sent and told David I am pregnant so David sent word to Joab send me Uriah the Hittite and Joab sent Uriah and to David when Uriah came to him David asked how Joab and the people fared and how the war was going then David said to Uriah go down to your house and wash your feet Uriah went out of the king's house and there followed him a present from the king but Uriah slept at the entrance of the King's house with all the servants of his Lord and did not go down to his house when they told David Uriah did not go down to his house David said to Uriah you have just come from a journey why did you not go down to your house he's trying to get Uriah to be with Bathsheba so that that pregnancy is covered up and there's no sin known Uriah said to David the Ark in Israel and Judah remain in booths and my lord Joab and the servants of my Lord are camping in the open field shall I then go to my house to eat and to drink and to lie with my wife as you live and as your soul lives I will not do such a thing then David said to Uriah remain here today also and tomorrow I will say you back so Uriah remained in Jerusalem that day on the next day David invited him to eat and drink in his presence and make him drunk and in the evening he went out to lie on his couch with the servants of his Lord but he did not go down to his house still he won't comply he's being a good servant of David's he's being a soldier and remaining faithful to the king in the morning David wrote a letter to Joab and Senate by the hand of Uriah in the letter he wrote set Uriah in the forefront of the hardest fighting and then draw back from him so that he may be struck down and die now we're plotting murder as Joab was besieging the city he assigned Uriah to the place where he knew there was a valiant warrior there were valiant warriors the men of the city came out and fought with Joab and some of the servants of David among the people fell Uriah the Hittite was killed as well then Joab sent and told David all the news about the fighting and he instructed the messenger when you have finished telling the King all the news about the fighting then if the Kings anger rises and if he says to you why did you go so near the city to fight did you not know that they would shoot from the wall who killed Abba Malik son of these names jerubbaal did not a woman throw an upper millstone on him from the wall so that he died at the bez why did you go so near the wall then you shall say your servant to Uriah the Hittite is dead - so he delivers that message he knows that Uriah is dead and when the wife of Uriah heard that her husband was dead jumping down to verse 26 she made lamentation for him when the morning was over David sent and brought her to his house and she became his wife and bore him a son these are Biggie's these are what we consider big sins right adultery murder cover-up this is big if this happened in today's age this would be all over the news and we would hear a lot of people condemning David condemning Bathsheba they'd be in a lot of trouble and and we consider those big thins and it's pointed out to David the Prophet Nathan points out his sin to him and he realizes and something that I think that you may know you may not know when you've sinned which we all do when you sin doesn't it hurt it hurts physically you can't eat you can't sleep if you've murdered someone I don't know how you couldn't not run and confess to someone tell someone it physically hurts to bear the burden of sin flip over to Psalm 51 if you open up your Bible to the middle you'll almost be there and so it's Psalm 51 so these sins are what are the driving force behind Psalm 51 David writes his confession out in this Psalm and okay and I say this all the time but this really is my favorite pretty sure I love this I love this because it is so bold so honest and he lays it all out there let's read it have mercy on me O God according to your steadfast love according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions who else has the mercy who else is able to forgive as David needs that forgiveness but the law wash me thoroughly from my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin for I know my transgressions and my sin is ever before me against you you alone have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight so that you are justified in your sentence and blameless when you pass judgment again do you hear that we talk about this all the time that we sin when we sin we are sinning against God and we are absolutely worthy of his wrath and yet with David we cry for that same mercy we cry for that forgiveness from the only one who can offer us mercy indeed verse 5 indeed I was born guilty a sinner when my mother conceived me you desire truth in the inward being therefore teach me wisdom in my secret heart purge me with hyssop and I shall be clean wash me and I shall be whiter than snow let me hear joy and gladness let the bones that you have crushed rejoice here's that physical physical response the bones crushing hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquities this is my favorite verse CLE a create in me a clean heart O God and put a new and right spirit within me who can do that we cannot do that for ourselves we cannot create a new and right spirit for ourselves at all we're born in sin we're born guilty the only one who can create in us a clean and right spirit is the Lord do not cast me away from your presence and do not take your Holy Spirit from me restore to me the joy of your salvation and sustain in me a willing spirit then I will teach transgressors your ways and sinners will return to you deliver me from bloodshed O God O God of my salvation and my tongue will sing aloud of your deliverance Oh Lord opened my lips and mouth will declare your praise for you have no delight in sacrifice if I were to give a burnt offering you would not be pleased the sacrifice acceptable to God is a broken spirit a broken and contrite heart O God you will not despise the Lord wants us to come to him begging for that mercy the Lord wants to lavish us with redemption with forgiveness oh my gosh these are the big sins what we consider the big sins that David is confessing and asking for forgiveness and do we know what happens with David he absolutely has to deal with the earthly consequences of this but out of his branch he gets the ultimate forgiveness we get Jesus out of the branch of David if God can forgive David surely surely he can forgive us so now we're gonna go back to Corey and what does this mean in her life what what did this mean in her life and what does this mean in our life so does anyone remember Oh again small catechism pop quiz you know I do this you should all just keep going with your small catechisms right okay who remembers in the Lord's Prayer the fifth petition and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us and what does this mean oh I thought I thought you were raising your hand okay we pray in this petition that our Father in heaven would not look at our sins or deny our prayer because of them we are neither worthy of the things for which we pray nor have we deserved them but we ask that he would give them all to us by grace for we daily sin much and surely deserve nothing but punishment so we too will sincerely forgive and gladly do good to those who sin against us so we read about the horrors or some of the horrors that Corey experienced her dad died her sister died her her sister was beaten in front of her she was malnourished she was mocked and laughed at she was humiliated she was exposed to the elements what happened it was at a church service in Munich that I saw him this is post-war the former SS man who had stood guard at the shower room door in the processing center at Robbins Brook he was the first of our actual jailers that I had seen since that time and suddenly it was all there the room full of mocking men the heaps of clothing Betsy's pane blanched face he came up to me as the church was emptying beaming and bowing how grateful I am for your message Fraulein he said to think that as you say he has washed my sins away his hand was thrust out to shake mine and I who had preached so often to the people in bloom and all the need to forgive kept my hand at my side even as the angry vengeful thoughts boiled through me I saw the sin of them Jesus Christ had died for this man was I going to ask for more Lord Jesus I prayed forgive me and help me to forgive him I tried to smile I struggled to raise my hand I could not I felt nothing not the slightest spark of warmth or chair and so again I breathed a silent prayer Jesus I cannot forgive him give me your forgiveness as I took his hand the most incredible thing happened from my shoulder along my arm and through my hand a current seemed to pass from me to him while into my heart spring a love for this stranger that almost overwhelmed me and so I discovered that it is not on our forgiveness any more than our goodness that the world's healing hinges but on his when he tells us to love our enemies he gives along with the command the love itself she had gone to hell an earthly hell and this man who created that how part of that hell for her he stood before her saying oh it was a great message I heard that Jesus forgives my sins through your lips how was she supposed to forgive this man but notice it's not out of her power that she forgives is it it's out of Jesus it's out of the love of Christ the forgiveness that we have in Christ that she was able to extend forgiveness to that man and she was overcome with love for this man who had put her through hell and she could forgive him truly forgive him because she had that strength from Jesus so what that means for us in our own lives when we pray that prayer we pray it every single week probably a lot of us pray it at home daily forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against it's not out of our own power but we are called to forgive and I love how she brings it back to Jesus if Jesus already died for the person who has sinned against you if Jesus has forgiven those sins certainly we can call on him to help us to forgive because often when we hold on to that sin against us we too are burdened and we hold on to it and we bear the weight of that sin and we have no release of that so as we go forth as we think about the heroes of faith whether it's strength or peace or mercy or forgiveness we can turn every single time to realize that our strength that our peace that any mercy we may have and forgiveness that we may give truly is sourced at the cross truly is sourced in Jesus Christ because the hell that they endured the sin that we endure whether we commit it or we are sinned against it was already dealt with on the cross it was already overcome through Jesus Christ and we can take that into our daily lives to live out our faith we don't have to be amazing heroes we don't have to become famous to live our faith because when we are living out our faith it is known in the kingdom it's known to those around us and that should be good enough so go forth forgive be forgiven confessed read read David love that confession 51 so on 51 Psalm 51 and I think that's it two minutes over not to that please forgive me you So we are going to get started. would you open your bibles please with me this morning to james the first chapter for our study if you're using a copy of holy scriptures you'll find in the pew you'll find that on page 202 in the new testament our study today from james the first chapter three sets of numbers the first over a million the second one hundred and seventy thousand the third twenty to thirty thousand explanation it is estimated that there are over 1 million words in the english language it's also estimated that there is currently a hundred and seventy thousand words in usage comment usage it is also estimated that for the average adult the average adult has a vocabulary of 20 to 30 000 words that's a lot of words isn't it let's just take the smallest number our respective vocabularies of twenty to thirty thousand since it's estimated that we'll spend about twenty percent of our lives talking using those twenty to 30 000 words well it begs the question doesn't it how are we to use our speech how are we to talk how are we to use our respective vocabularies of 20 to 30 000 words let's hone the question as we continue today our summer series q a here's the question for today what does the bible mean when it talks about the bridled tongue what does the bible mean when it talks about the bridal tongue or bridled speech we turn to james the first chapter for our study when you turn to the book of james james is not really a doctrinal treatise so often for example you see in the writings of the apostle paul you'll see doctrine laid out and then paul moves into an application of the doctrine james is really more of a focus on practical christian living in fact one of the one of the summary verses of how you are to understand the book of james is the very first verse of our text for today verse 22 but be doers of the word and not merely hearers who deceive themselves that's practically living out your faith it's one of james's themes and such an interesting word here when he says but be doers of the word and not merely hearers who deceive themselves that's a word in ancient day that was really associated with mathematics and it had to do with miscalculation it can also be translated as it comes over into english sometimes you'll see in an english translation it'll be translated delude here instead of deceived but it's really a mathematical understanding that if we think that we can we can hear the word of god and not do it that's a miscalculation that's an error that we make he goes on to expound the point for if any are hearers of the word and not doers they're like those who look at themselves in a mirror for they look at themselves and on going away immediately forget what they were like there's a little comedy here that james is interjecting isn't it the word of god functions as that mirror it is revealing of god's ways and so james is saying if we look into the mirror but then not put that to practice well it's like someone who looks in the mirror and forgets what they look like he goes on making the same point verse 25 but those who look the word there in the greek means to observe carefully so it's not a not a casual type of glance like oh i gave that gave that a a look very quickly no this is careful observation but those who look into the perfect law what's the perfect law that's a synonym for holy scripture you see it pop up elsewhere in scripture but those who carefully observe the scriptures looking at that which god speaks to us and then the law of liberty you see god's ways revealed in holy scripture they're not constraining they're free it brings us joy does it not to be in the will of god and in obedience to him that doesn't restrict that freeze those who look carefully into the scriptures the law of liberty scriptures which communicates the freedom of god's will as he communicates his desires and then by god's grace as we live that out and persevere being not hears who forget but doers who act they'll be blessed in their doing god's ways are always best god's ways are freeing god's ways bring joy then to make sure we understand it he applies it he applies this theme here that he is pounding he applies it in two specific applications in the next two verses let's go to verse 27 first here's the application religion interesting word here it means the outward expression of one's faith so he's talking about as a follower of the lord jesus christ how do you express then your faith remember the theme be a doer and not a hear only so he says the expression of faith that is pure and undefiled before god the father is this to care for orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself unstained by the world here's an application where he says well this is how this is practically lived out as you're a doer of the word we care for each other we care for each other specifically he highlights here widows and orphans is part of the larger principle that we are in relationship with one another we care for one another then the other application verse 26 if anything fair they are religious the same word again in other words the expression of one's faith so as we're a follower of the lord jesus christ this expression of the faith and do not here it is bridle their tongues but deceive their hearts their religion their expression of faith is worthless it's worthless see if we think that we can express our faith with not having an aspect of that the bridal bridling of the tongue that's deception that's a miscalculation where we're deluding ourselves so we're right back to the original question aren't we what does it mean to bridle the tongue what does it mean to bridle the tongue reminded when i was a boy one of the few times that i went horseback riding i remember we got up on the special steps that they had put there so that we could get on the horse and hardly artfully did i get on that horse that day you know how sometimes you can look into the eyes of an animal and you communicate that that horse looked at me with a look like you're new at this aren't you kid and it was that just patient of once again having a newbie on board well my horse had a bridle so also did all the other horses you know that that harness that goes on the head of the horse the reins attached there to the bridle what's the purpose of the bridle the purpose is to control the horse right what is bridled speech bridled speech is controlled speech controlled speech that call for bridled controlled speech that reverberates in scripture you hear the echoes constantly of it for example proverbs the 10th chapter we read this when words are many transgression is not lacking but the prudent are restrained in speech or proverbs 12. names of churches interest me I've always maintained that this church she has a great name living word why it refers to the word the Lord Jesus Christ it refers to Scripture it draws on the Hebrew verses there in terms of the word being living and active it is an incredible and wonderful name for a church some churches will designate themselves numerically sometimes you'll hear First Lutheran Church your second Baptist Church etc I came across recently a church and the name of the church was the tenth Presbyterian Church you have to do some serious accounting in a community there to make sure you've got your numbers right for that right today I want to use the numerical approach to naming a church and I'd like to name a church that we see in Holy Scripture it doesn't reveal this name to us in the Word of God but I think this name would be appropriate specifically the first Church of the Gentiles the first Church of the Gentiles and what we're going to see today is what occurred in the First Church of the Gentiles what they were called in the first Church of the Gentiles and what they did in the first Church of the Gentiles now to put this into a context for us you'll recall that in acts the tenth chapter you have it's an incredibly important chapter that's why we spent so much time in it in the tenth chapter of the book of Acts you have the message that the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ is not only for the Jew but it's for the non Jew it's for the Gentile in the 11th Peter goes and he goes back to the church in Jerusalem and tells them what God has been doing among the Gentiles and the response take a look at chapter 11 verse 18 when they heard this they were silenced and they praised God saying then God has given even to the Gentiles the repentance that leads to life you then have more witnessing to the Gentiles notice in verse 21 please chapter 11 the scripture says the hand of the Lord was with them and a great number became believers and turned to the Lord Barnabas then comes from the church in Jerusalem he comes to encourage these new believers he calls and exhorts them to remain faithful and to be devoted and what you have here in Antioch is the birth of a church and the name I'd like to give it this morning the first church of the Gentiles the first church of the Gentiles so let's pick up our story let's go to verse 25 now chapter 11 then Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul and when he had found him he brought him to Antioch you remember Saul Saul had dedicated his life to the eradication of Christianity Saul said if I run across a Christian they're gonna be thrown into prison we're gonna kill these Christians we're gonna eradicate this movement God met him on the road to Damascus transformed his heart turned him into a believer and the last we heard about Saul was back in the ninth chapter and Saul was going guess where to Tarsus de Tarsus so Barnabas Barnabas knows exactly who he wants to help him here in Antioch and so he goes to Tarsus to look for Saul Galatians tells us that during that period from the ninth chapter of Acts to the eleventh chapter of acts that paul had gone into syria and cilicia we know from Scripture that churches were born certainly Paul would have founded them and now Barnabas is gonna team up with Paul team up and they're gonna minister to this new church the first church of the Gentiles just reflect on this a second that is quite a team isn't it that is quite a pastoral team for the church church for the first Church of the Gentiles in Antioch to have Barnabas and pull that's a strong team strong team what do they do there at the first church look please halfway through verse 25 so it was that for an entire year they met with the church and taught a great many people they talked remember back in the sixth chapter of Acts when you had the food distribution to the widows and the Apostle says we need to bring together a team that can do this they said and we ourselves will devote ourselves to prayer and to serving the word they understood that their calling was to teach notice what happens look at chapter 13 verse 1 scripture says now in the church at Antioch there were prophets and teachers so as the pastoral team ven of Barnabas and Paul Minister in Antioch as they're teaching who's born but more teachers right they're instructed and now they themselves will teach what occurred at the First Church of the Gentiles they taught and they talked and they talked that's why there's Sunday school for age three through adult that's why Sunday school never ends until the Lord takes you home that's why there's small groups that gather together and study that's why there's a men's group and a women's group and they study that's why when the youths get together they study that's why when the kids go in for music on Wednesday nights they study what it is that they're singing what the words are that's why they're taught the great hymns of the church they're taught how come this hymn has remained for centuries here they're taught how great hymns preach that's why pastor malonic and I are working on the formation of an Academy here at Living Word we're gonna roll it out in the fall this is an academy it's a three-year program some thirteen classes that we're gonna combine together and we're going to teach it's gonna be theology it's gonna be doctrine it's gonna be biblical studies it's gonna be Christian caregiving it's gonna be witnessing there is no other Church in the Metroplex that is doing this and our prayer is is that every single person will enroll in this Academy will go through this three-year program receive the certificate that other churches in the area will become a part of it this is like a mini seminary that we are putting together for the expressed purpose of equipping the Saints for the work of ministry and what's going to be at the heart of it we're gonna teach and we're gonna teach and we're gonna tee and we're gonna make teachers that then go out and in even greater ways defend the faith why when someone in our faith community when they move out of our service area often times they'll say pastor can you recommend a church to me sometimes I can other times I can't but in the times that I can't what I do is I share with them please do this when you go to choose a church choose the church based upon what she teaches what she teaches it doesn't matter whether it's large doesn't matter whether it's small doesn't matter what's medium or in the whole full range of how churches come choose the church I'll say based upon what she teaches don't choose it based upon program is you can have the greatest program and the life of a church since the Lord Jesus walked this earth but if the teaching is bad what does it matter don't don't choose it based upon friend lines his friends come and go people come and move away don't choose it because your next-door neighbor has a friend of your child and they go to this particular church don't use it that way don't use it based upon the demographics don't choose it for any other reason than what the Church teaches because you see it's the teaching that forms us it's the teaching that God uses to transform us into who he wants to be it's the teaching that remains for your children it's the teaching that they then will pass on to the next generation when the church in Antioch the first Church of the Gentiles when they gathered they didn't gather to be entertained they didn't gather to have their ears tickled with cute stories from the preacher they didn't gather to have their opinions validated by the preacher they gathered they gathered to be taught because the teaching was paramount what they do in the First Church of the Gentiles what occurred they just taught and they just kept on teaching because that's by God's grace how mature disciples are born what were they called in the first church of the Gentiles look with me please at the last part of verse 26 and it was in Antioch that the disciples were first called Christians Christians the first place in scripture where Christians are ever referred to as Christians called a lot of things are called witnesses brothers and sisters followers of the way there's many different designations this is the first use of Christians and you know what the birth of this designation was not a compliment it was a form of derision it was born out of the derision of the pagans Christian honey the Greek word there means the party of Christ you belong to Christ so they said ah you belong to the party of Christ aren't you you are you're a Christian they'd say you don't belong to the party of Caesar like we do you belong to the party of Christ and so Christians was a term of derision derision the early Christians they wore that with a badge of honor badge of honor Becki the historian Eusebius says of an early martyr he turned to his torturers and said to his torturers I am a Christian I'm they belong to Christ they belong to him they didn't deserve that none of us deserve it we're sinners every last one of us we sin against him in thought word indeed what we've done and what we've left undone what we deserve is Hell itself but the Lord Jesus Christ has borne our sins on the cross his tomb is empty the sacrifice has been accepted God comes and claims us as his own in the waters of Baptism gives us the gifts of life eternal in faith and the Holy Spirit and eternal life he makes us a member of the family he says to us you're mine you're mine [Music] that's why Paul says in Romans the fourteenth chapter he says whether we live or whether we die we are the Lord's it's the Christian they belong to Christ they belong to him what occurred they taught what were they called Christians what they do what they do look when they please at verse 27 at that time prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch one of them named Agabus stood up predicted by the spirit that there would be a severe famine over all the world and this took place during the reign of Claudius which is a little aside here Claudius reigned from 41 to 54 there are several historians secular historians from the day who recorded severe famines that affected Israel in 44 and 45 exactly as what was predicted exactly so what they do verse 29 the disciples determined that according to their ability each would send relief to the believers living in Judea this they did sending it to the elders by Barnabas and Saul that's what they do they loved in Jesus name and who they loved they loved the Jews the very people who for so long just hated them hated them didn't matter didn't matter they just loved them they gave proportionately those who had more gave more those who had less they gave less but both was proportional sacrifice they loved they had been claimed by the Lord Jesus Christ they were followers of him they belong to him Jesus Christ had given his all dying for them and rising for them and so as the act of service to the one who had served them through the cross and the resurrection they lived out their faith and they just loved they loved them they said here's help here's help they thought they were called Christians and they lived out their name they lived out their name today seven eighth graders are about ready to go through the rite of confirmation this is the time of year when you see a lot of gowns academic gowns they're gown is different this isn't a gallon of achievement it's a gallon of giftedness it's white because God has claimed them as his own in the waters of baptism and has given to them of the righteous garment of the Lord Jesus Christ this is not a gown of academic achievement this is a gown of rejoicing it's a gift when they rise they're not going to make their decision for Jesus today because Jesus has already made his decision about them in the waters of baptism when Jesus said calling them each by name you're mine you are mine no if ands or buts about it and he took his word 1 through the cross and the empty tomb and just washed the in the promises these confrim ends have been taught two years Wednesday night we've studied the small catechism of Martin Luther you see four years in Sunday school they learned the Bible stories and the doctrine and then they get the confirmation and they learned the doctrine and go right back to the Bible stories you see it comes out in both ways for two years studied they were taught and their gown today does not mean it's graduation day it's not graduation day from being taught it's a declaration that indeed the teaching of Almighty God goes on and on and on until that day when he takes us home and so when they rise we're gonna see people that have been taught and that continue to be taught when they rise we're gonna see Christians Christians and they wear that name proudly because they have been made one who belongs to the Lord Jesus Christ and that is solely God's gracious act on their life as he transformed them into believers when they stand these ones who have been taught they stand as Christians and when they stand that is a declaration to the congregation that indeed having completed this period of study in their life they are ready to take on a greater responsibility in the life of Christ's Church they are saying in a specific way to each one of us today that they're ready in in greater ways to live out who they are Christians call to love and serve in the name of Christ when they stand it is a reminder to us that the First Church of the Gentiles they were taught named and they lived out their name and in living word lutheran church in Grapevine Texas taught named and living out their name and the same thing that happened in the First Church of the Gentiles by God's grace happens right here right here amen [Music] The gathering, the gathering.

Video citations

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