Monthly Archives: November 2025
The Experiences of Advent Week: 1 Experience Great Joy! A sermon on 1 Thessalonians 3:9-13
The Experiences of Advent Week 1
Experience Great Joy!
1 Thessalonians 3:9-13
† I.H.S. †
May the grace and peace of God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ help you to experience joy as we enter His presence!
The Experiences of Advent.
In Matthew 13, Jesus describes the Kingdom of God with parables comparing the Kingdom to the great harvest. The first to be gathered up are the wicked, to be gathered and tossed into the fire. Then the good are gathered up, and enter into God’s presence!
Right in the middle of those parables, Jesus says this, “17 I tell you the truth, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see, but they didn’t see it. And they longed to hear what you hear, but they didn’t hear it.” Matthew 13:17 (NLT2) It echoes the thoughts of Jesus regarding Abraham, “56 Your father Abraham rejoiced that he was to see the time of my coming; he saw it and was glad.” John 8:56 (TEV)
You think of all who waited, from Adam and Even to Abraham, to Moses and Johus who knew the promised land wasn’t real estate but a home with God; to David—whose psalms looked forward to His Lord coming, and all the prophets like Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel, who warned taught people to prepare and long for the coming of the Messiah-Savior, to Mary and Joseph, and finally the shepherds, the first to leave everything behind them to see Jesus. And finally, we hear the words of Paul today,
“Because of you we have great joy as we enter God’s presence.”
What incredible joy they had, as they considered the coming of Jesus, of seeing people come into the presence of Jesus!
Hmmm, did anyone catch what I did there?
When would Paul enter the presence of Jesus?
So, what in the world does that have to do with preparing for Jesus’ coming to His people in Advent?
Simple, the joy of knowing you are coming into the presence of God.
Think back to the quote from Augustine…we started with…
“Let us love him, for he made these things and he is not far off,44 for he did not make them and then go away: they are from him but also in him. You know where he is, because you know where truth tastes sweet. He is most intimately present to the human heart, but the heart has strayed from him. Return to your heart, then, you wrongdoers, and hold fast to him who made you. Stand with him and you will stand firm, rest in him and you will find peace.”[1]
What were they experiencing prior?
I want to take a moment to think about these people who longed for and looked forward to Christ’s coming, before hearing the good news of being in the presence of a loving, merciful God.
Abraham was a businessman from Ur. Moses was a foreigner, a man wanted as a criminal, an alien who worked in the fields of his father-in-law, tending his animals. David was pretty much written off by his family, given the most menial and meaningless job in the family. We can go through them all, servants and lesser priests. This is especially true after the destruction of the Temple and the removal of the Ark of the Covenant from the people of God.
They had one thing in common: they didn’t have a hope in the world beyond the next day.
What sense does life, suffering, and brokenness make if we don’t know what comes later? How do we deal with broken sin, both your sin and your brother’s sin, if you don’t have the encouragement and comfort that comes from knowing God’s mercy and comfort?
So what were they thinking? How in despair could they have been, or what were they ignoring in their life?
Just like the world, when they are stressed and overwhelmed, dealing with guilt and sin and resentment, with anxiety. Haunted by the past, anxious about the future, unable to find peace….
Wait- that sounds like some of us, as we forget the blessings we have in Christ…
Being reminded of them is the purpose of Advent – to remind us of life before Jesus entered our lives and cause us to rejoice as we look forward to the day Advent prefigures.
What were Paul, Mary and the Shepherds thinking.. “on the way”.
The Advent journey isn’t about the time before we knew about Jesus. It’s about the time we find out about Him and are driven by the Holy Spirit into His presence. It’s the reaction of the Shepherds when the angels told them the Messiah was born.
It’s the same reaction that Paul had, as he thought of the people of the church in Thessalonika… whom the Spirit was driving into the arms of Jesus. Hear his prayer for them, which has been our benediction for the last year,
“May the Lord make your love for one another and for all people grow and overflow, just as our love for you overflows. 13 May he, as a result, make your hearts strong, blameless, and holy as you stand before God our Father when our Lord Jesus comes again with all his holy people. Amen!
This is the effect of the work of Jesus, as the Holy Spirit prepares us to appear before the Father on the judgment day. It is the work we refer to as Salvation, as deliverance, a work driven by love and compassion, a work that knows what it means to come into the presence of God.
It is why Paul knew he would enter God’s presence with great joy, because of the work he witnessed in the lives of people, as He spoke and wrote to them—telling them about how God would cause them to love each other, strengthen our faith, set us apart as His kids—all looking to the day that Christ rejoiced He would bring about, as He died on the cross – to make sure it happens…
And this is the source of our joy – as we gather together to share in the laughter and tears that come along the way.
Enjoy the journey, and the knowledge that God will sustain you until that day…. And rejoice in His work in your life.
AMEN!
44 See Ps 99(100):3; Acts 17:27.
[1] Saint Augustine. (2012). The Confessions, Part I (J. E. Rotelle, Ed.; M. Boulding, Trans.; Second Edition, Vol. 1, p. 104). New City Press.
Augustine, Luther, Vatican I and the Purpose and Mission of God’s People.
Thoughts which carry me to Jesus, and to the cross:
“ And as they came down the hill-side, he warned them not to tell anybody what they had seen till “the Son of Man should have risen again from the dead”. They treasured this remark and tried to puzzle out among themselves what “rising from the dead” could mean. (Mark 9, Phillips)
Have you never read this scripture— The stone which the builders rejected, The same was made the head of the corner; This was from the Lord, And it is marvellous in our eyes?” ” (Mark 12 Phillips)
[1]Let us love him, for he made these things and he is not far off,44 for he did not make them and then go away: they are from him but also in him. You know where he is, because you know where truth tastes sweet. He is most intimately present to the human heart, but the heart has strayed from him. Return to your heart, then, you wrongdoers, and hold fast to him who made you. Stand with him and you will stand firm, rest in him and you will find peace.
Concerning the use of sacraments it is taught that the sacraments are instituted not only to be signs by which people may recognize Christians outwardly, but also as signs and testimonies of God’s will toward us in order thereby to awaken and strengthen our faith. [2] That is why they also require faith and are rightly used when received in faith for the strengthening of faith.
…so the Church, constituted by GOD the mother and teacher of all nations, knows its own office as debtor to all, and is ever ready and watchful to raise the fallen, to support those who are falling, to embrace those who return, to confirm the good and to carry them on to better things. Hence it can never forbear from witnessing to and proclaiming the truth of GOD, which heals all things, knowing the words addressed to it: “My Spirit that is in thee, and My words that I have put in thy mouth, shall not depart out of thy mouth, from henceforth and for ever.”*
Today is the last day of the Liturgical year. Not a big deal to some, but to me, it has some significant meaning.
It lies between the Sunday of the CHirst the King – the Sunday that celebrates His victory for us, which we know is coming, and the beginning of Advent, a season of repentant waiting for Jesus to become Immanuel, that is, God with us! (Note the exclamation point; it is there for a reason.)
Like the disciples after the transfiguration, I have questions about the cross. Not about the necessity, but the fact that Jesus volunteered for it with joy, to save you and me. We so desperately need not just a Savior, but a brother, who leads us back to the Father. It is truly a marvelous mystery to treasure, this grace that unites us to God.
We get to know this through the sacraments, those moments when God draws us near and unites us to Himself. As He originally cleanses us, cutting away our stone-hard hearts, and replacing them with His Heart, His Spirit (see Ezekiel 36:25) He then cleanses us of not only all sin, but all unrighteousness–all injustice. All the damage done to us by our sin, the sin of the world, both present and in the past. And of course, the incredible feast where Jesus feeds us with His body and blood. The Lutheran Augsburg Confession nails the purpose: not to define us to the world, but to strengthen our faith, to lay the foundation and build our lives on Jesus.
This is why Augustine talks of such an intimate relationship with God. It is of the most incredible value, so much so that He begs us to return to our heart, for that is Jesus, our Heart. He recognized, the hard way, that there is no option, no other name in which to find comfort, hope, and a relationship that heals.
This is what the world needs to know!
Vatican I sees this clearly! It is the purpose of the church, the purpose behind preaching, catechizing, teaching, and distributing the sacraments. Not just to indoctrinate people. Not to receive their tithes and offerings, and building artistic edifices. This is what ministry is! This is why we are here! This is the very thing at the heart of the Reformation (at least Luther/Melanchthon’s portion of it), and for some, the Counter-Reformation.
It is who we are, and I pray all the church, Lutheran, Catholic, Orthodox, and others, return to this ministry in the next year…AMEN!
Saint Augustine. (2012). The Confessions, Part I (J. E. Rotelle, Ed.; M. Boulding, Trans.; Second Edition, Vol. 1, p. 104). New City Press.
Kolb, R., Wengert, T. J., & Arand, C. P. (2000). The Book of Concord: the confessions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church (p. 46). Fortress Press.
McNabb, V., ed. (1907). The Decrees of the Vatican Council (pp. 17–18). Benziger Brothers.
The Lord Leads Us! Where? 2 Thessalonians 3:1-5
The Lord Leads Us!
Where?
2 Thessalonians 3:1-5
† Jesus, Son and Savior †
May the grace of God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ enable you to consciously walk with God, following where He leads!
Intro: He who wanders is lost
So, anyone recognize this proverb? Can you tell me if It is from proverbs, Ecclesiastes, or maybe a New Testament quote?
“Not all those who wander are lost.”
It’s actually from JRR Tolkien’s , Lord of the Rings, and though some geeks might think that classic is scripture, it is not.
I’ve heard people rely on this proverb to justify their own wandering, their own experiment with life, to find their own way.
To get lost deeper and deeper in the wilderness.
Yeah – all those who wander are lost – and they need someone to guide them out of the darkness and into the light of God’s glory!
Why would He pray this?
Paul stars chapter 3 of 2 Thessalonians with something we would probably expect – a plea for prayer for the mission of Christ. He asked, “Finally, dear brothers and sisters, we ask you to pray for us. Pray that the Lord’s message will spread rapidly and be honored wherever it goes, just as when it came to you.”
That’s the reason we pray for our missionaries, and for our work as missionaries to Cerritos, and Artesia, to the folks at Fire Safety and USC and Brea Olinda High School, and to doctor’s offices all over Southern California.
But Paul’s request turns strangely personal, “2 Pray, too, that we will be rescued from wicked and evil people, for not everyone is a believer.”
It is almost like he feels like he is in one of Tolkein’s stories, in the Mirkwood or one of the other nasty, haunted parts of the story.
You ever feel that way, like the evil and wicked ones on earth oppress you and haunt you? Where the brokenness of all life, the trauma, and when we are so overwhelmed we need to know we aren’t alone. When we don’t know if God is hearing our prayers, (which He is!) and we ask others to share our burden.
When we talk about the blessing of confessing our sins, most of us know and depend on God forgiving our sins, but we forget that He cleanses us of all unrighteousness.
If we forget that, it is easy to fall into despair and doubt, it easy to forget who is watching out for us, and who would guide us
It is easy to forget, that is why the writer of Hebrews tells us,
25 And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near. Hebrews 10:25 (NLT2)
We have to remember that who is with us, is greater than the world….
That is why Paul talks q12r45about Christ leading us…
Look where He leads us!
3 But the Lord is faithful; he will strengthen you and guard you from the evil one. 4 And we are confident in the Lord that you are doing and will continue to do the things we commanded you. 5 May the Lord lead your hearts into a full understanding and expression of the love of God and the patient endurance that comes from Christ.
I love how the NLT phrases this! In the Greek it is simpler with some translations saying just direct your hearts to the love of God- but the preposition isn’t to, as if that is the target, it is into.
Brings to mind the old idea of you can lead a donkey to water but you can’t make him drink, or you drop the donkey right into the river!
God doesn’t want us to look at His love, to study it like a scientist, He wants us to be enveloped by it, to understand, as Paul prays for us,
16 I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. 17 Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. 18 And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. 19 May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God. Ephesians 3:16-19 (NLT2)
Same consistent thought in Paul – experience the love of God!
Dwell into it, dive into it, be consumed by it, revel in it.
Share it with others.
Treasure it like nothing else you know in life, for God’s love is worth all it and more.
And deeply drawn into the love of God, you will know a peace that goes beyond the dark, dim, sin dominated world, even if we can’t understand how that happens!
Stand Firm! Geta grip! A Sermon on 2 Thessalonians 2:1-8,13-17
Stand Firm!
Geta grip!
2 Thessalonians 2:1-8,13-17
† Jesus, Son and Savior †
May the grace of God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ sustain you’re your grip on your salvation as you stand firm in the hope of the Resurrection to eternal life!
The key verse
Most of the time I preach, I try to come up with some illustration to help understand what scripture is teaching us. Educational theory tells us we are a visual people, which is why those who have tried to teach morals use storytelling, fables, parables, to help people see the point.
Today, I couldn’t come up with one.
That’s okay, as the point today is pretty simple…
“15 With all these things in mind, dear brothers and sisters, stand firm and keep a strong grip on the teaching we passed on to you both in person and by letter.”
That seems simple enough… stand firm – hold on to the hope we have taught you.
The hope found in the experience of salvation.
The hope found in the work of the Holy Spirit who makes us holy, and lead us to believe in the truth.
Stand firm there, and get a grip on this…
But there are challenges.
The challenge – false teaching leading to lawlessness
One of the challenges that I don’t talk about enough is false teaching – especially about End Times. Paul is warning the church about such people who would use the End times to motivate us through fear. Listen to Paul, “2 Don’t be so easily shaken or alarmed by those who say that the day of the Lord has already begun. Don’t believe them, even if they claim to have had a spiritual vision, a revelation, or a letter supposedly from us. 3 Don’t be fooled by what they say.”
It doesn’t matter how sincere these men and women who preach are, it doesn’t matter how they have studied and dissected the numbers and days that create their message. If they focus more on developing fear and horror at the thought of the end, they missed the hope we have…
So ignore them.
Despite the temptation to follow their logic and examine it thoroughly. Despite the attempts to make you come to repentance fearing the Day or Judgement, or the Tribulation, or anything else that puts the “fear of God” and the fear of judgment or condemnation in you, and then asks you to take some action to assure your survival.
But all that does is convince you that God’s grace is sufficient, and puts the burden of survival on you… and reinforces a stereotype that our sin is great than God’s ability to deliver.
The call to share in the glory of Christ.
When Paul writes to a young pastor named Titus, he addressed this idea of the believer fearing God because of their sin. He wrote, 3 Once we, too, were foolish and disobedient. We were misled and became slaves to many lusts and pleasures. Our lives were full of evil and envy, and we hated each other. 4 But—“When God our Savior revealed his kindness and love, 5 he saved us, not because of the righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He washed away our sins, giving us a new birth and new life through the Holy Spirit. Titus 3:3-5 (NLT2)
That is the same message as he tells these believers from Thessalonika. Instead of worrying about the End Times, focus in on what the Holy Spirit is doing in your life, as we started with, “a salvation that came through the Spirit who makes you holy and through your belief in the truth. 14 He called you to salvation when we told you the Good News; now you can share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.
That last line is what we should be focused on, what we pin our expectations on, this idea that we can share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.
When we think of end times, this is what our focus needs to be! Not on the trauma, for life itself can be just as traumatic as anything the doomsayers and fearmongers put forth.
We need to remember the promise of our baptism—that we receive the forgiveness of sins, the gift of the Holy Spirit and everlasting life.
This is a constant theme in scripture,
27 For God wanted them to know that the riches and glory of Christ are for you Gentiles, too. And this is the secret: Christ lives in you. This gives you assurance of sharing his glory.
Colossians 1:27 (NLT2)
23 but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 6:23 (NLT2)
And how many of the parables, from the wheat and the tares to the sheep and the goats talk about us entering everlasting life…
Us, those who were born into sin, and have struggled with sin, the kind of people this place was built for…
Not that we would fear Judgment Day, but that we would expect it and rejoice as we see it coming.
For it will come, and we will be at home with our Lord! AMEN!
Helping Those Who Seem to not Want Help
Thoughts which carry me to Jesus, and to the Cross
“When Jesus had finished these parables he left the place, and came into his own country. Here he taught the people in their own synagogue, till in their amazement they said, “Where does this man get this wisdom and these powers? He’s only the carpenter’s son. Isn’t Mary his mother, and aren’t James, Joseph, Simon and Judas his brothers? And aren’t all his sisters living here with us? Where did he get all this?” And they were deeply offended with him. But Jesus said to them, “No prophet goes unhonoured except in his own country and in his own home!” And he performed very few miracles there because of their lack of faith.” (Matthew 13:53–58, Phillips)
These camouflaged souls represent a special category of people who need help: those hiding their need—either consciously or unconsciously. In order to help those who don’t want help, we must recognize that some of these people will ask for help, but they will ask for it through a tangential issue.
But doesn’t a personal relationship involve more than that? A mere benefactor, however powerful, kind and thoughtful, is not the same thing as a friend. Jesus says, “I have called you friends” (John 15:15) and “Look, I am with you every minute, even to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20, paraphrase).
Every church has them, every form of social media abounds with them They will often put up great defenses of their views, and sometimes are out on the offense. One friend describes them as “”For those who feel the zealous fumes of righteous rebellion coursing through their lungs,” Books have been written about them- these well intentioned alligators, these people who are more worried about being perceived as right that actually seeking the righteousness of Christ. They are labelled with terms like toxic, non-compliant, They don’t get the help, the healing they need, because they are so focused on defending their brokenness.
Others have different coping mechanisms, as they hide their hurt and pain deep within themselves. declaring all is good in their lives, and refusing, even getting offended by the offer of help.
And neither group experience of the healing, the miracle that is available to them in Jesus. Which is most regrettable, as it was when Nazareth rejected Jesus.
The question is whether our response is one based in the grief of knowing what is missing, or whether we simply wanting to correct and/or brush the dust off our feet and leave them in their brokenness. Will we see them asking for help in a very different way, and whether we will respond, or not.
This takes patience and more than a little sacrifice. It takes effort to restore these people to spiritual health, to the point where praising God is their constant focus, for they know they have been established in Christ Jesus. That is our goal, as fellow brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus, to see them healed and restored.
I love how Dallas Willard used to phrase this – to know Jesus as a friend, not just a benefactor. To know that Jesus is not just invested in your performance, but is invested in you. This is where their hope like ours, is found. Where peace is beyond comprehension, where we (all of us!) are healed of our brokenness and sin.
Learn to humbly pray for their healing, pray for your own patience, pray for the love to care for them, and to hear their call for the hope you have. AMEN!
Shelley, M. (1986). Helping those who don’t want help (Vol. 7, p. 91). Christianity Today, Inc.; Word Books.
Willard, D., & Johnson, J. (2015). Hearing God Through the Year: A 365-Day Devotional. IVP.
