Monday, April 21, 2014

Sermon for 420/14 “There they will see me”

Sermon “Therethey will see me”


Do we want to see Jesus?


He has thrown the horse and rider into the sea. He has shattered the enemy. Make no mistake.
 hard times
 dangerous times
 are we going to see him as unbelievers do?
   no hope
   no confidence in eternity
   cannot stand
Good people?
Really nice folks?
Generous
Known them all my life
This makes no guarantee about someone’s eternal state. Hell will be well stocked with perfectly nice people, people who even went to church regularly, people who were upstanding members of the community.


Where does our hope come from?
 die with Christ
 confidence in his resurrection
 no other name by which we are saved


What are we feeding ourselves with?
 God’s Word or our own personal ideas?
 Worship of the true and living God or of our own preferences?
 Standing with the saints throughout history or trying to go it on our own?


When the Lord comes to us, will we be like the guards at the tomb, the horse and rider he casts into the sea? Or will we be like the disciples, seeking Jesus, who has gone ahead of us?


Let us follow our Lord and Savior. He has conquered death. He will lead us on. As we walk with him he will guide us
 fellowship with one another in the context of the assembled body of Christ
 receiving his blessings in Word and Sacrament
 seeing that the Lord can gather his people from every nation, tribe, and tongue
 knowing that it is this true, biblical, Lutheran teaching of salvation by grace, through faith, provided by Christ Jesus, in the context of the local church which binds his people together.


He has gone ahead of us.
Where are we going now?
 gather to receive his gifts
 give to support efforts to bring the Gospel freely to all nations
 building up the body of Christ, never tearing it down



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