Hope That Endures –
Tonight, the world marks the beginning of a New Year.
Yet we recall that, as in years past, closing out one 12-month cycle to another doesn’t change the hard realities of a worl... View MoreHope That Endures –
Tonight, the world marks the beginning of a New Year.
Yet we recall that, as in years past, closing out one 12-month cycle to another doesn’t change the hard realities of a world broken by sin.
While many search for secular solutions that disappoint, Christians have a true and lasting hope.
Our trust is in the eternal, everlasting Triune God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Our salvation is found neither in technology nor human politics, but in the grace and mercy given as a free gift to all who have faith in Jesus Christ.
Faith that God works within us through the Holy Spirit using the means of grace found within the Church – His Word and the Sacraments of Baptism and the Lord’s Supper.
Our Lord has not left us alone.
He is here, active in this world.
He can, and does, open His hand, satisfying the desires of every living thing (Ps. 145:16).
He offers us a lasting hope this transient world with all its sorrows can never bring – forgiveness and eternal life.
So we pray, “Our Father who art in heaven … give us this day our daily bread,” placing our trust in a tender Father, rather than a mere new year.
Our Father in Heaven, unlike Father Time, actually demonstrates His love in the person of His Son.
In the person and work of Jesus Christ, our Father has dealt with mankind’s biggest problem, one that no amount of human resolve or will power could ever remedy. That is sin, and the human mortality that comes as the result of it.
Through the sacrificial death and resurrection of God’s only Son, believers have the certainty of His grace and redemption.
Christians do not lose hope because of something our Heavenly Father may, for a time, withhold. Our faith is based on what He has already given and continues to give without fail — His Son.
When we realize our earthly problems are not simply inflation or weight gain, but the evils of sin, death and the devil, we know that time alone cannot address them.
Yet God has not abandoned us.
He sent His only begotten Son into the world to redeem what was lost.
It is in the truth of what Jesus has already accomplished for us through the cross, that Christians have a reassurance that transcends time – our sins have been paid for, and Heaven has been opened.
Through the saving Gospel, all things are made new, even the sinner’s heart and spirit (Ps. 51:10).
This night, find peace and be comforted by the loving God who gave His only Son for you.
Rejoice in the One who is both true God and true man, Jesus Christ, your Lord & Saviour, the hope of the world.
Amen.
Pastor Tom Steers,
Christ the Saviour Lutheran Church, Toronto
http://christlutherantoronto.org/beliefs
FIRST SUNDAY AFTER CHRISTMAS
December 29, 2024
Pastor Tom Steers
Christ the Saviour Lutheran Church, Toronto
Brothers & sisters, peace grace and mercy be to you through God our Father, and our Lor... View MoreFIRST SUNDAY AFTER CHRISTMAS
December 29, 2024
Pastor Tom Steers
Christ the Saviour Lutheran Church, Toronto
Brothers & sisters, peace grace and mercy be to you through God our Father, and our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.
Our Opening Hymn is: “Let All Together Praise Our God”
Lutheran Service Book, 389 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y6xS9tt7cAA
Our Collect Prayer:
Almighty and ever-living God, as Your only-begotten Son was this day presented in the temple in the substance of our flesh, grant that we may be presented to You with pure and clean hearts; through Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
Our Bible Readings:
Old Testament – Exodus 13:1-3a; 11-15
Psalm 111
Epistle – Colossians 3:12-17
Gospel – Luke 2:22-40
Our Hymn of the Day is: “In Peace and Joy I Now Depart”
Lutheran Service Book, 938 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SwyvQd-rg1U
Text by Martin Luther, 1483 – 1546
(The words of this hymn are provided at the end of this post.)
The Sermon,
‘Human Sight or Spiritual Sight’ –
In our lives we’re faced with serious worries and concerns.
They may be health issues; those of our loved ones, or our own.
They may be money related.
The world can appear as an endless series of obstacles we have to battle or overcome to be happy, if not just survive.
We see the world through human eyes, and in human terms.
In our Gospel passage today we read of Simeon, a man led by the Holy Spirit.
A man of intense faith.
His very name means, “one who hears.”
Simeon listens and believes God’s promise that he would see the Saviour, the promised one, before he died.
We can imagine this might have led Simeon to live an existence of worry and anxiety – but it didn’t.
Like all the prophets before him, Simeon lived by faith in God’s Word.
So, once he sees the infant Christ, he’s content to be taken into God’s arms, after he takes the Lord Jesus into his arms.
In peace and joy, Simeon is ready to be with the Almighty.
We remember this event in every Divine Service when, after the Lord’s Supper and receiving our Lord’s Body and Blood, we sing the ‘Nunc Dimittis,’ the Song of Simeon.
We participate in this Sacrament out of faith.
Faithful Simeon isn’t afraid of death, because having seen His Lord He knows he has a Saviour, a Redeemer, who will deliver him from sin and eternal separation from God.
It’s the same for us.
The Holy Spirit works faith in us using God’s means of grace, His Word found in the Bible, and the Sacraments of Baptism and Communion.
These means of grace are found within Christ’s Church.
Simeon serves as an example of faith, of a reliance on God that can transform, and help us deal with the trials and struggles we face.
He also provides an example of Christian witness to Jesus; the kind of witness God calls all of us to.
The temple in First Century Jerusalem was a busy place.
The centre of almost constant activity.
Into this scene come Mary, Joseph, and the infant Jesus.
If any parents had reason to worry, it would have been this couple.
Mary, a peasant teenager, had been told she would bear the son of the Most High.
She wouldn’t give birth in her hometown with the comfort of family around her, but delivered her child in a stable in another village.
Joseph, who had considered divorcing Mary when he found out she was expecting, was told by an angel that his wife would bear the Messiah.
Not long after these events described in Luke, Mary and Joseph were told by an angel to run for their lives to Egypt so the ruling Jewish king wouldn’t kill the child.
They had every cause to worry.
But faith ruled their lives, and they walked by faith, not human sight.
Many parents would have brought their first-born baby boys into the temple in Jerusalem on the day Mary and Joseph presented Jesus to the Lord.
To others, the Holy family would appear to be just another poor couple fulfilling the Law of Moses.
How then were Simeon and Anna able to pick Jesus out of the crowd?
How did they identify Jesus as the promised Saviour?
And how is it that the rest of the crowd saw nothing special?
The divinely inspired words of St. Luke give us the answer.
Luke connects Simeon to the Holy Spirit three times in the Gospel reading:
1) Luke writes the Holy Spirit was upon him,
2) It had been revealed to Simeon by the Holy Spirit that he would see Christ, and
3) Simeon came in the Spirit into the temple.
Martin Luther reminds us in his explanation to the Third Article of the Apostle’s Creed that the Holy Spirit: calls, gathers, enlightens, and sanctifies.
Spiritual sight given by God led Simeon to the temple at just the right time for him to see Jesus.
We can think of Simeon waiting in the temple, watching parents bringing their first-born sons, perhaps for years.
Then, when Mary and Joseph entered with Jesus, we can see the Holy Spirit telling Simeon – "This is the one!"
It wouldn’t have been the wealth or stature of the humble little family that made them stand out.
Those who waited for an ‘earthly’ king would have missed Jesus.
There was no worldly way of telling this child was the Christ.
Even today some may be inclined to downplay the event.
They might say, “it was nice that God made this special provision for Simeon, the story about Anna is also touching, but what have they got to do with me?"
It’s this: just as the Holy Spirit led Simeon and Anna to Jesus in the temple, He also leads us to Jesus today.
The Holy Spirit is the only way anyone sees Jesus as Saviour.
And it’s only through the Spirit that we see our lives and the world around us with the spiritual sight God wants us to have, to use, and to help us through our times of worry and pain.
In today’s world there are many who believe in the historical Jesus.
They’ll be quick to concede Christ lived on earth.
They’re ready to admit Jesus did good deeds, taught good teachings, and is a fine example for anyone to follow.
They’re ready to praise His bravery in criticizing the oppressive religious and social establishments of His day.
In fact, anyone who’s honest must agree Jesus changed history in an incalculable way, and that His great influence continues.
Many in the world see the historical Jesus, but they don't see the Son of God come to earth.
They see the historical Jesus, but they don't see their Redeemer.
Only the Spirit gives us the ability to know Jesus as our own Saviour.
And with the Holy Spirit's gift of faith, we see the crucifixion as the truest expression of God's love for each and every one of us here today.
It’s the Holy Spirit who opens our spiritual eyes so we become aware of sin in our lives, and our need for a Saviour.
He shows us that we haven’t loved God with our whole heart, that we haven’t loved our neighbours as ourselves.
By the power of the Spirit, we see the reality of the terrible, eternal punishment our sins deserve.
But our loving and merciful God doesn’t leave us in that predicament.
It’s Christ Himself that explains this to us.
Jesus told Nicodemus one night when that leader of the Pharisees came to Him: “Truly I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the Kingdom of God.”
Nicodemus didn’t immediately understand.
So, Christ explained that without the Holy Spirit we can neither see the Kingdom of God, nor enter it.
How many people today in our world won’t see the Kingdom or enter it because they only see with human sight.
So, as Christians, the question for believers becomes: do we care, do we love others as God commands, and if we do, how do we respond, what do we do, how do we help?
Has our spiritual sight changed our lives as it did with Simeon and Anna?
A blind person can’t react by sight to the world around them.
Without help they stumble and fall.
If we saw a blind person on the street about to cross a busy intersection, who among us wouldn’t reach out their hand, wouldn’t speak up and offer help.
Is it then no less important, no less compelling when we see the spiritually blind around us, the lost who may be lost for all eternity, that we should speak up and offer help – offer witness – to our Saviour?
Should we not respond to God’s great gift of love, the gift of salvation through Christ, with the same compassion for others – even strangers?
As Christians assured of salvation through Christ, we react to the world around us differently than the faithless, the unsaved, just as a sighted person reacts differently than the blind.
We begin to see the world as God wants us to, and our human priorities are realigned with God’s priorities for our lives, and those around us.
And what others around us need, more than anything, for this life and for eternity, is to know our Lord & Saviour, and the salvation that comes only through Him.
Our ultimate purpose in life is to know Christ and to make Him known, in whatever way, through whatever vocations and gifts God gives us.
The Great Commission our Lord gave the disciples, He gives to all Christians –His disciples of today.
Because there is a world of blind people outside the Church who are in spiritual darkness . . .
. . . who we can reach out to and help as they stumble,
. . . who we can be a light to reflecting the true light of Jesus,
. . . who we can witness to and speak of the eternal life and salvation found only in our Lord.
It can be as simple as telling them about the hope we have in Christ, what it means, and has meant to us.
It can be as simple as inviting them to hear the Word of God in Church, or read an online sermon post.
May the Lord of all comfort and grace grant us the spiritual eyes to see Him, and through the power of the Holy Spirit, respond to the need of others around us to know the Saviour of the world.
Amen.
The Benediction –
The Lord bless you and keep you.
The Lord make His face shine upon you
and be gracious unto you.
The Lord lift up His countenance upon you
and give you peace.
Amen.
“In Peace and Joy I Now Depart”
A Hymn by Martin Luther
LSB 938
In peace and joy I now depart
Since God so wills it.
Serene and confident my heart;
Stillness fills it.
For the Lord has promised me
That death is but a slumber.
Christ Jesus brought this gift to me,
My faithful Saviour,
Whom You have made my eyes to see
By Your favour.
Now I know He is my life,
My friend when I am dying.
You sent the people of the earth
Their great salvation;
Your invitation summons forth
Every nation
By Your holy, precious Word,
In every place resounding.
Christ is the hope and saving light
Of those in blindness;
He guides and comforts those in night
By His kindness.
For Your people Israel
In Him find joy and glory.
In our daily Bible text for Dec. 28 from Matthew 2:13-23 we read of Herod’s slaughter of the innocents.
In Canada about 275 unborn children are killed every day in abortion.
In the United States i... View MoreIn our daily Bible text for Dec. 28 from Matthew 2:13-23 we read of Herod’s slaughter of the innocents.
In Canada about 275 unborn children are killed every day in abortion.
In the United States it’s on average 2,750 unborn babies killed each day.
When will we stop this slaughter?
Pastor Tom Steers
Christ the Saviour Lutheran Church, Toronto http://christlutherantoronto.org/sermons/pro-life-ministry
CHRISTMAS DAY – The Nativity of Our Lord
Dec. 25, 2024
Pastor Tom Steers,
Christ the Saviour Lutheran Church, Toronto
... View MoreCHRISTMAS DAY – The Nativity of Our Lord
Dec. 25, 2024
Pastor Tom Steers,
Christ the Saviour Lutheran Church, Toronto
Brothers & Sisters, peace, grace, and mercy be with you through God our Father, and our Lord & Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.
Our Opening Hymn 379 “O Come All Ye Faithful” (Lutheran Service Book) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F57qt4PHBmo
A Prayer on Christmas Day –
This day of joy returns, Father in Heaven, and crowns another year with peace and good will.
Help us rightly to remember the birth of Jesus, Our Lord and Saviour, that we may share in the song of the angels, the gladness of the shepherds, and the worship of the wise men.
Guide us in appreciating your great love, and Christ’s great sacrifice for us.
Close the doors of hate, and open the doors of love all over the world.
Let kindness come with every gift, and Godly caring with every greeting.
Deliver us from evil, by the blessing that Christ brings, and teach us to be merry with loving hearts.
May this Christmas morning make us happy to be Your children,
And this Christmas evening bring us to our beds with grateful thoughts, forgiving and forgiven, through Jesus Christ, Our Lord. Amen.
Hymn of Praise: 380 “Hark the Herald Angels Sing” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OfvbpVH0CDQ
Confession and Absolution
Our Bible Readings:
Our First Reading – Isaiah 52: 7-10 Psalm 2 Epistle Reading – Titus 3: 4-7 Our Gospel Reading – John 1: 1-14
The Apostles’ Creed
Hymn of the Day: 370 “What Child Is This” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2wJIOnT3axY
The Sermon,
“In the Beginning Was the Word”
Brothers & sisters, a joyous, happy Christmas to each and everyone one of you, and peace through our Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.
Last night I wrote about Christ as the true light of the world who broke the darkness of sin.
Around the world we’ve known about darkness, despair, and brokenness in the past year.
Our Gospel text Christmas Eve was the traditional birth narrative from the Apostle Luke.
Luke very carefully laid out the history of Jesus' birth, so we have a clear understanding that Christ was born in a real place, at a real time.
From Luke we learn that Jesus was true man born in Bethlehem and laid in a manger.
Yes, the angels reveal the supernatural nature of this baby, and Luke includes many teachings that show us that Christ was both man and true God in human flesh.
But Luke reminds us of the Christ’s incarnation, and its meaning.
Today's reading from the Evangelist John has a different emphasis.
John wrote his Gospel near the end of the First Century.
By that time, John was very old, and the other Apostles were already in Heaven with the Lord.
A new generation hadn’t personally known Christ, and false doctrine was infiltrating the church.
And so, the Holy Spirit led John to write from a different point of view.
God inspired John to explain the reason for his Gospel with these words,
“Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these things are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.” [John 20:30-31]
It’s no coincidence that Genesis and the Gospel of John both start with the same words, "In the beginning."
God wanted everyone who heard John's gospel to understand that Jesus is God from eternity.
He wanted everyone who studied this Gospel to know that the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God, and yet there are not three Gods, but only one – the mystery of the Trinity.
The opening verses of John's Gospel are gorgeous in any language.
The word picture John paints is a masterpiece of elegant simplicity.
With simple words and grammar, a theology begins to take shape that’s anything but simple.
And their beauty only deepens as our understanding of the original language and the culture of the day increases.
The understanding of the opening verses of today's Gospel very much depends on the meaning of the word: "Word."
There are two Greek terms that may be translated as ‘word.’
One of them refers to the physical sound of speech.
It relates to the vibrations that travel from the lips of the speaker to the ear of the listener.
Occasionally, scholars who translate the Bible will express this word as “thing” instead of word.
Last evening's Gospel is an example of this, we read that the shepherds said to one another, "Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us."
But the other meaning of the Greek term for ‘word,’ means receiving, a record, an account.
To the Greek mind, it stands not only for the thoughts expressed by the ‘word,’ but also the reasoning and intellect that produced the word.
To the Jewish mind, the Word of God, in this sense of the reasoning or mind of God, had enough power to bring the whole universe into existence.
When Jews and Greeks read the first verses of John in this morning’s text, they understood that when John wrote, “the Word,” it wasn’t just a word on the page.
They thought of a living, thinking mind.
An all-powerful mind.
They thought of God.
“In the beginning was the Word” … and here we learn that the Word is eternal, even as God Himself is eternal.
“And the Word was with God” … the Apostle John is teaching us that the Word is not the same as the Father, but is with the Father.
“And that the Word was God” … we’re taught that the Word is with the Godhead.
All things were made through Him.
This Word created the entire universe, and no one created Him.
In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.
In a divinely inspired sentence, John is explaining that this Word is the source of true life and true knowledge for all people.
The climax, the core of today's Gospel is that this Word, this Light, came into the world in order to live with us.
The Word became flesh, and dwelt among us.
Again, we have so much meaning.
The word ‘dwelt’ in the original Greek includes the idea of pitching a tent.
The Word became flesh and pitched his tent among us.
This is the same God who pitched His tent, His tabernacle, with the children of Israel, as they wandered through the wilderness.
The Bible teaches us that God is not a far-off deity who thinks of us as some sort of science project.
He desires to be with the people He created.
He wants to be a part of, and share our lives.
In other words, He loves us.
He wants to be with us.
What could be more wonderful?
Yet, there is mourning, a sadness in the middle of this beautiful word picture.
The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world.
He was in the world, the world was made through Him, yet the world didn’t know Him.
He came to His own, but His own people didn’t receive Him.
In spite of the honour, the blessing, the joy of God's presence among us, we reject Him.
The psalmist tells us of the Lord's promise in Psalm 81:10, ‘I am the LORD your God, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt. Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it.’
Nothing delights God more than sharing His gifts with us, but we return the gifts unopened.
God asks us to open our mouths wide, like helpless babies waiting for their mother to feed them, but we clench our teeth in pride, and refuse the blessings.
God has laid out this feast for us in the revelation of Holy Scripture and the feast of His altar table, and we sometimes only grab a few leaves from the salad bar.
Even worse, we can go on to complain that God's way is too hard, and that we get nothing out of it.
God Himself wants to fill us with His life, and light.
In the Book of James, in James, Chapter 4, verse 2, God explains, “You desire and do not have … You covet and can’t obtain … You don’t have, because you don’t ask.
God is not the stingy one.
The ‘Word’ pitched His tent with us, in order to change us.
God reminds us that we live in temporary bodies that are like tents.
Tents are transitory.
They’re not permanent homes.
The ‘Word’ pitched His tent with us in order to provide us a permanent home with Him, in Heaven.
He lived with us in an earthly body in order to give us eternal, heavenly bodies that will live in our true home in Heaven, with Him.
The Word, God, pitched His tent with us so that He, too, could die.
The world didn’t receive Him, and so they nailed Him to a cross.
But the Word, God, used that deadly rejection of the cross to make a sacrifice that removed eternal judgment from the very people who crucified Him.
While the world was hating the Word, the ‘Word,’ Jesus, loved the world.
He gave His life as a sacrifice of that love.
The Word is more powerful than death, so the ‘Word’ defeated death, and returned to life.
His humanity was no longer encased in the tent of this world, but in the eternal home of His heavenly glory.
The Heavenly body of the ‘Word’ shows us what our heavenly bodies will be after we leave behind the earthly tent we now inhabit.
The Good News is that all who receive the Word, Jesus, who believe in His name, Christ gives the right to be His children.
Luke tells us that Mary laid a baby in a manger.
John tells us that baby is the Word who was with God in the beginning, is with God now, and will be forever.
And as a believer in the Word, in Jesus Christ as Your Lord and Saviour, so will you.
Christian, you will live eternally in the paradise, the home, your Lord created.
May that Good News be with you this Christmas day, and always.
Amen.
THE SERVICE OF THE SACRAMENT – THE LORD’S SUPPER
Sanctus (Holy, Holy, Holy) Agnus Dei (Lamb of God)
The Distribution
Nunc Dimitis (Song of Simeon)
Communion Collect
A Christmas Benediction –
God grant you the light of Christmas, which is faith; the warmth of Christmas, which is love; the righteousness of Christmas, which is compassion; the belief in Christmas, which is truth; and the all of Christmas, which is Christ.
Amen.
Closing Hymn 386 “Now Sing We, Now Rejoice” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0FNR7EuA6cY
CHRISTMAS EVE – THE NATIVITY OF OUR LORD
December 24, 2024
Christ the Saviour Lutheran Church, Toronto
Pastor Tom Steers
... View MoreCHRISTMAS EVE – THE NATIVITY OF OUR LORD
December 24, 2024
Christ the Saviour Lutheran Church, Toronto
Pastor Tom Steers
OUR OPENING HYMN 387 “Joy to the World”
Lutheran Service Book
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Di_ajG4JD2Y
OUR PRAYER –
Heavenly Father, on this holy Eve, we praise you for the great wonders you have sent us: for the shining star and the angel's song, for the infant's cry in the lowly manger. Father, we exalt and thank you for the greatest gift of all, our only Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, the Word made flesh in a little Child. We behold His glory and are bathed in its light. Be with us as we sing hymns of praise and hear and accept our prayers. This Christmas Eve we remember Your promise fulfilled; Christ our Saviour has come. Hallelujah! Amen.
HYMN OF PRAISE: 368 “Angels We Have Heard on High”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kt2zN4IKgHk
CONFESSION AND ABSOLUTION Page 184-185 of Hymnal
Our First Reading Isaiah 9: 2-7 Psalm 100 Epistle Reading 1st John 4: 7-16 Our Gospel Reading Luke 2: 1-20
THE APOSTLES’ CREED Page 192
HYMN OF THE DAY: 383 “A Great and Mighty Wonder”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bt4ZbIuobMg
THE SERMON –
Brothers and sisters, peace grace and mercy be to you on this Holy and blessed night through God our Father, and our Saviour, Jesus Christ. Amen.
In the past days and weeks people throughout the world and here in Toronto, faced hardship and conflict.
In the news we’ve seen scenes of war, violence, and personal tragedies.
And these difficulties in the lives of others may have been accompanied by challenges in our own lives as well.
Illness, unemployment, housing issues, and family problems don’t take a break at Christmas.
The world around us may seem to be in celebration, but within our hearts and homes are reminders that we live in an imperfect world.
And framing all of this is the cold and physical darkness of winter.
As we look out on the streets around us and watch our TV screens, we may also feel helpless in a world that’s affected by another type of darkness, a spiritual kind.
And this was the state people were in for thousands of years, as a world, broken by sin, waited for light, hope, and salvation that was promised by God after Adam and Eve disobeyed their Creator.
People, especially people of faith, who knew God through His Holy Word, waited for a miracle.
And so, on this night we consider a miracle that mankind can never fully understand.
No person could ever be amazed enough at this wonder: the incarnation of Christ, the birth of God in human flesh – Christmas.
The Apostle Luke records the date and place where the miracle occurred in history: when Augustus was Caesar, and Cyrenius was governor of Syria, in the regions of Nazareth and Bethlehem.
The miracle doesn’t take place in some mystical land beyond the rainbow.
God doesn’t descend in a shower of gold or flying on the back of a mythic beast as other religions describe their gods coming to earth.
No, true God, the eternal Lord, comes down from timeless Heaven to enter our world, our history, our flesh in humility, born to a poor couple in a stable.
And we can’t emphasize the hard reality of that too much.
God is not just an ‘idea.’ not just an abstraction.
He’s a reality who exists, and who 2,000 years ago came into this world in the person of Jesus Christ.
We hear the facts about Him recorded by eyewitnesses, established through careful checking into the facts, as Luke, the beloved physician did.
The historical facts are important, and vital.
But even more important is faith, faith that Christ is our Saviour, a faith that God’s divinely inspired Word works in our hearts through the power of the Holy Spirit.
And that’s a gift from God.
The most important of gifts, because on it, is built our salvation.
And that salvation is named Jesus.
He was born as food for our souls, born of the virgin Mary in a town called Bethlehem, which in Hebrew means ‘House of Bread.’
And He fulfills this prophetic name of Jesus, which means, ‘The Lord saves,’ because He is the Bread of Life as the Apostle John quoted Him as saying.
Jesus doesn’t demand royal treatment though.
He’s laid in a manger, a feeding trough for working animals that surround the Nativity scene.
May we, who are truly unclean and lowly, never be too proud to spiritually eat this Bread of Life by faith.
May we always consider the Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper for what it is – a miraculous blessing, the true Body and blood of our Lord.
So there in Bethlehem is Jesus, showing His purpose, intention, and mission, in the way He was born.
He’s swaddled in strips of cloth to hold His infant body.
He enters this life the same way we find Him after the crucifixion, wrapped in cloths.
He’s born for the exact purpose that He should die and be wrapped in grave cloths.
And this would be tragic if His were merely a human life.
Christ is indeed human, a true child of His mother Mary.
But He’s also fully divine, conceived by the Holy Spirit without the help of man.
Therefore, He’s not only Mary's first-born Son, but also the first-born over all creation, the only Son of God.
So, His death, is not ultimately tragic.
Just the opposite, He willingly was born into flesh so He could have His body put on the cross, for us.
Jesus gladly gave Himself into human death so that He could bring eternal life and peace on earth between God and man.
So, He could break the spiritual darkness human beings had been stumbling around in for thousands of years without God’s light.
This is the message of the angel who appeared to the shepherds.
The angel even begins his message with the words: "Don’t be afraid."
Don’t be afraid because the Lord and Saviour of all has come to free you from death and hell and satan.
He comes to remove all fear by His incarnation, and death, and resurrection.
Our sinful flesh allows us no perfection in this earthly life.
Now, and then, fears do come, nevertheless, Christ will finally, and for all eternity, take away our fears, when He leads us into the new Heaven and the new earth that as our Lord, He’s prepared for us.
Luke tells us an angel sends the shepherds to find their Redeemer, born as a baby.
He says this Baby is none other than the Lord.
So, He’s worthy of worship.
Yet we, today, don’t seek a baby, since Christ didn’t remain one.
Now, He is King of Kings.
He rules over angels in Heaven, and over the leaders of the earth, and over all the universe He created at the beginning of time.
Today, we look in faith to the Man who is also God, the one Mediator between the Almighty and us, who sits in glory at the Father's right hand, yet remains with us in Spirit, and in His Word and Sacraments.
And that is someone worth worshiping and praying to, the one who’s earned salvation for us.
Because we could have never done it for ourselves.
So, this day we honour and remember the greatest rescue mission that’s ever taken place, a rescue out of true terror and darkness, our own rescue by God.
It’s a love story, the greatest love story ever told, the love of God for us.
Because of Jesus, we are counted as holy, our sins covered by Christ’s blood, by His glory, the same glory that shone around the angel and the Heavenly host.
As believers, the glory of God covers our sinful human hearts so that we’re deemed righteous, for the sake of our Lord and Saviour.
That is the message, and the true gift of Christmas – that God came as one of us, to save us.
God became Man, so mankind could be redeemed by His cross.
You have been saved by the sacrifice of the One who loves you.
May this same Christ be with you tonight, and through whatever trials and difficulties this world may bring.
The light of Christ has overcome the darkness.
May Jesus, the light of world, comfort and strengthen you, and give you hope, now and forever.
Amen.
THE PRAYERS OF THE CHURCH
SERVICE OF THE SACRAMENT THE LORD’S PRAYER Page 196 THE WORDS OF OUR LORD Page 197
THE DISTRIBUTION POST COMMUNION COLLECT (Left-hand column) Page 201 BENEDICTION Page 202
CLOSING HYMN 363 “Silent Night, Holy Night”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hU5MGtDXM44
THE FOURTH SUNDAY IN ADVENT
December 22, 2024
Pastor Tom Steers
Christ the Saviour Lutheran Church, Toronto
Brothers and sisters, peace, grace and mercy be to you through God our Father, and our L... View MoreTHE FOURTH SUNDAY IN ADVENT
December 22, 2024
Pastor Tom Steers
Christ the Saviour Lutheran Church, Toronto
Brothers and sisters, peace, grace and mercy be to you through God our Father, and our Lord & Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.
Our Opening Hymn is: “My Soul Rejoices”
Lutheran Service Book, 933 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eTSzijTcRF4
Our Collect Prayer:
Stir up Your power, O Lord, and come and help us by Your might, that the sins which weigh us down may be quickly lifted by Your grace and mercy; for You live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
Our Bible Readings:
Old Testament – Micah 5:2-5a
Psalm 80:1-7
Epistle – Hebrews 10:5-10
Gospel – Luke 1:39-56
The Apostles’ Creed –
I believe in God, the Father almighty,
maker of heaven and earth,
And in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord,
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died and was buried.
He descended into hell.
The third day he rose again from the dead.
He ascended into heaven
and sits at the right hand of God
the Father almighty.
From there he will come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy Christian Church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting. Amen.
Our Hymn of the Day is: “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel”
Lutheran Service Book, 357 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PXp-bpDaxEU
1. O come, O come, Immanuel,
and ransom captive Israel
that mourns in lonely exile here
until the Son of God appear.
Refrain:
Rejoice! Rejoice! Immanuel
shall come to you, O Israel.
2. O come, O Wisdom from on high,
who ordered all things mightily;
to us the path of knowledge show
and teach us in its ways to go. (Refrain)
3. O come, O come, great Lord of might,
who to your tribes on Sinai's height
in ancient times did give the law
in cloud and majesty and awe. (Refrain)
4. O come, O Branch of Jesse's stem,
unto your own and rescue them!
From depths of hell your people save,
and give them victory o'er the grave. (Refrain)
5. O come, O Key of David, come
and open wide our heavenly home.
Make safe for us the heavenward road
and bar the way to death's abode. (Refrain)
6. O come, O Bright and Morning Star,
and bring us comfort from afar!
Dispel the shadows of the night
and turn our darkness into light. (Refrain)
7. O come, O King of nations, bind
in one the hearts of all mankind.
Bid all our sad divisions cease
and be yourself our King of Peace. (Refrain)
The Sermon –
Mary, a poor young peasant girl from a small village is pregnant with Jesus.
She has a fiancé, but this child is not his.
The penalty for bearing a child when unmarried would at least be social isolation as an outcast, and could even be death by stoning.
To whom can Mary turn?
She goes to her cousin, who’s also expecting, an older woman who can help.
Two women get together to talk about having a baby -- the caring and things that need to be done.
Mary’s fiancé naturally feels betrayed, but being a good man, simply wants to end the relationship quietly.
An angel from God would reassure Joseph he had not been betrayed.
So, Mary had a dilemma, a serious one.
How was she going to handle this situation?
At Mary’s arrival, Elizabeth was thrilled when her own child leaped for joy inside her.
Through God’s grace, Elizabeth was granted a child at an advanced age.
Yet even beyond this she was given to know her cousin Mary’s baby was something much more.
That her young cousin was to be esteemed above all mothers on earth.
Through the poor, simple Mary, the Lord, God in human flesh, was coming to the world:
“Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! And why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.”
Elizabeth recognizes one of the greatest miracles in all this -- the miracle of the angel’s message to Mary.
The miracle, as well, that God should love us who waste and destroy His gifts in this world, and each other, in rebellion and disobedience to Him.
The miracle that God, in His only Son, unites Himself to us to get under the burden of misery we’ve made, and, as one of us, frees us.
The miracle that God chose a poor maiden who no one thought of any importance to be His way to come to earth.
And then there is what Elizabeth, and also Martin Luther, thought one of the most staggering miracles of all, that Mary believed it -- her faith.
She simply and humbly acknowledges this great gift from God.
She doesn’t magnify herself; she glorifies God.
The peasant girl Mary, born under sin as all humanity, becomes the mother of our Lord.
Mary’s response is not, “Yes, that sure is me. Just think what it does for my self-image.”
No, hers is the song of faith that tells God, the giver, what an astonishing God He is.
Mary says “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour.”
We call it Mary’s song, the Magnificat, but it isn’t something she just made up.
It’s Scripture Mary had learned by heart, that she now uses to praise God.
It’s mostly Hannah’s song of praise to God for the son, Samuel, that was given to her, and whom she gave back to the Lord’s service.
Leah’s song is in it too.
So, Mary’s words are part of the song of all grateful mothers for the gift of a child created in them.
Yet Mary is even more blessed, for the fruit of her womb is Christ the Saviour.
So, there is a joy in Mary’s song above all others.
Her child is God Incarnate, whom she will nurse, and in His state of humility teach to pray, and help Him learn the Commandments and the promises.
The Fourth Commandment says, “Honour thy father and thy mother.”
This is honour that really belongs to God.
An honour He shares with parents who accept the sacred trust of nurturing their child’s life, a precious gift given by God.
A life only He has the right to take away.
The role of motherhood, a mother’s love, needs another love alongside it.
This is the love of the First Commandment, to love God above all things, and in these secular days the love of the Fifth
Commandment -- do not murder.
God’s love, and our love of Him, are always first and center.
For only in so far as our loves are tied to God’s love will they have His blessing.
In this way, our love is kept from shriveling or growing hazardously oversize.
We’re told of two occasions when Mary had to learn this.
At Cana she gave Jesus a prod, “Aren’t You going to do something about the wine?”
Jesus replied, “What I’m to be doing is not something that you have management of.”
Mary took this, and humbly tells the servants, “Whatever He tells you to do, do it.”
On another occasion Christ was with His disciples, preaching.
Mary sent a message summoning Him to come to her.
Jesus did not go, but proclaimed a relationship with Himself that is deeper and larger than mother and child, but into which the relationship of mother and child is to be included and find its maturing and fulfilling place.
He said, “For whoever does the will of God, he is my brother and sister and mother.” (Mark 3:35, ESV)
Mary, too, had to learn discipleship.
It wasn’t easy.
Yet in her hour of utmost grief, that pierced her heart like a sword, she knew not only the blessing, but the promised cost of being Jesus’ mother.
Jesus appointed the Apostle John to do a son’s work in taking care of Mary because of what Jesus was doing through the cross and resurrection.
For her, for us all.
Tenderly from the cross, Christ says, “Woman, behold thy son! . . . Behold thy mother!”
All our loves have their full meaning and fulfillment within God’s strong, forgiving love.
It is toward this great love that we are to look for our hope, and salvation.
Let us pray:
Dear Lord, we thank You for the Blessed Virgin Mary.
For Hannah, Leah, Elizabeth, and for our own mothers.
We thank You, Lord, that You use mothers, sharing with them the joy of creation, giving them children to love and care for with and under You.
Forgive mothers when they play God without You, and forget they are Your deputies and disciples.
We thank You for being born of the faithful, humble Mary, for Your being born of her to become one of us, to walk with us, and bear the burden of our sins on the cross.
Keep all our loves within Your forgiving and life-giving love.
Frustrate the designs of evil, and bless the efforts of all those who serve and witness to your precious gift of children, both born and unborn.
Keep us forever within the true Christian faith, with our eyes fixed on You, and the salvation only You offer.
Amen.
The Benediction –
The Lord bless you and keep you.
The Lord make His face shine upon you
and be gracious unto you.
The Lord lift up His countenance upon you
and give you peace.
Amen.
Our Closing Hymn is: “Joyful, Joyful We Adore Thee”
Lutheran Service Book, 803 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dDtPG8KYQhA
Music: Ludwig van Beethoven
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