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Series C – Sixth Sunday After Pentecost – Sunday, June 26, 2016 | Pr. Chris Rosebrough

Welcome to the Teaching Ministry of Kongsvinger Lutheran Church. Kongsvinger is a beacon for the Gospel of Jesus Christ and is located on the plains of Northwestern Minnesota. We proclaim Christ and Him crucified for our sins and salvation by grace through faith alone, and now, here’s a message from Pastor Chris Rosebrough:

Time Stamp	Transcript
0:29	the holy Gospel According to Saint Luke
0:30	chapter 9 verses 51 through 62.
0:34	when the days Drew near for Jesus to be
0:37	taken up he set his face to go to
0:40	Jerusalem
0:41	he sent Messengers ahead of him who went
0:43	and entered a village of the Samaritans
0:45	to make preparations for him
0:47	but the people did not receive him
0:49	because his face was set toward
0:51	Jerusalem
0:52	and when his disciples James and John
0:54	saw it they said Lord do you want us to
0:56	tell fire to come down from heaven and
0:57	consume them
0:59	but he turned and rebuked them and they
1:01	went on to another Village as they were
1:04	going along the road someone said to him
1:06	I will follow you wherever you go Jesus
1:09	said to him foxes have holes the birds
1:12	of the air have nests the son of man has
1:14	nowhere to lay his head to another he
1:16	said follow me but he said oh Lord let
1:18	me first go and bury my Father and Jesus
1:21	said to him leave the dead to bury their
1:23	own dead but as for you go and proclaim
1:25	the kingdom of God yet another said I
1:27	Will Follow You Lord but let me first
1:29	say farewell to those at my home Jesus
1:31	said to him no one who puts his hand to
1:33	the plow and looks back is fit for the
1:36	kingdom of God
1:38	in the name of Jesus
1:40	amen amen
1:42	we’re going to deal with an well a
1:44	difficult topic one that needs to be
1:46	addressed though as we walk through the
1:49	first half of our gospel text today we
1:51	will not work on the second half with
1:53	the foxes have holes and things like
1:55	that you’ll notice that Jesus says of
1:57	his disciples and even of himself that
2:00	he doesn’t have a private jet or a
2:01	mansion so but that’s a different sermon
2:04	altogether today we’re going to deal
2:06	with the difficult and thorny topic that
2:08	has to do with calling down fire from
2:11	heaven you’re thinking well who’s doing
2:13	that nowadays let me give you an example
2:15	that we may be familiar with and
2:17	unfortunately uncomfortable with
2:19	remember a couple weeks ago an Islamic
2:22	terrorist walks into a gay nightclub in
2:25	Orlando and guns down 50 people
2:28	horrifyingly awful if that weren’t bad
2:31	enough
2:32	I don’t know if you’ve been paying
2:34	attention to the media there have been
2:35	some Christian ministers who’ve received
2:37	national attention for basically saying
2:40	they got what was coming to them
2:44	that’s an example of calling down fire
2:47	from heaven if you would where the
2:49	response from Christians is good those
2:52	Sinners got what they deserved
2:55	that’s not what Christ Church is about
2:59	so let’s walk back through the first
3:00	half of our gospel text
3:03	and we’ll do a little cross reference
3:04	work in the book of Acts as well here’s
3:06	what it says when the days Drew near for
3:08	Jesus to be taken up he set his face to
3:11	go to Jerusalem good way to translate
3:13	this is he set his face like Flint Jesus
3:17	becomes single-minded and why is he
3:20	going to Jerusalem
3:22	to bleed and to die for the sins of the
3:24	whole world for your sins and for mine
3:27	and you’ll note here that James and John
3:30	and his disciples clearly are of the
3:33	opinion that Jesus is heading for
3:35	Jerusalem to do something different you
3:38	know well finally the Messiah is heading
3:40	to Jerusalem they can mean only one
3:42	thing Jesus is going to be coronated as
3:44	king we’re going to be his cabinet
3:46	members he’s going to kick those evil
3:49	idolatrous Romans out all the evil doers
3:52	are going to die and righteousness will
3:55	reign forever
4:01	that’s what they’re thinking
4:03	all right how do we know
4:06	by what happens next
4:09	Jesus sent Messengers ahead of him who
4:12	went entered a village of the Samaritans
4:14	Samaritans yeah
4:17	Jews and Samaritans really didn’t get
4:20	along Samaritan well that becomes a
4:22	derogatory turn you really want to
4:24	insult somebody as a Jew you call them a
4:27	Samaritan right those half breeds
4:30	idolaters who don’t Worship in Jerusalem
4:32	we know what’s going to happen to them
4:34	once the Messiah takes over right we
4:38	know what he’s going to do to them well
4:40	he’s heading to Jerusalem his face is
4:43	set to go to the cross
4:46	sends emissaries ahead of them to make
4:48	preparations but well the people of
4:50	Samaria did not receive Jesus because
4:52	his face was set toward Jerusalem
4:56	and so when his disciples James and John
4:58	saw it they said Lord do you want us to
5:02	tell fire to come down from heaven and
5:05	consume them
5:08	I mean it makes perfect sense I mean
5:09	think about the story of Elijah on Mount
5:12	Carmel right think about the story of
5:14	Sodom and Gomorrah well with the
5:16	prophets of all and Ashura at Mount
5:18	Carmel God caused fire to come down and
5:21	consume Elijah’s sacrifice
5:24	and all the prophets of all and Ashira
5:27	lost their lives that day right
5:31	this is what we should expect the death
5:34	of the unrighteous they’re going to get
5:37	what they deserve
5:40	so since you’re heading towards
5:42	Jerusalem Jesus why don’t we Flex some
5:45	spiritual muscle why don’t we just nuke
5:49	Samaria we’ll just turn it into a
5:51	parking lot
5:53	and everybody will know you’re coming to
5:56	Jerusalem right
5:58	well
6:00	things do not turn out as James and John
6:02	expect I remember when I worked in the
6:04	corporate world we had a term that we
6:07	used for an uncomfortable meeting that a
6:10	boss would have with his employees or
6:12	employee right let’s say somebody at the
6:15	job isn’t quite doing their job
6:18	there are productivity numbers aren’t
6:20	where they need to be maybe their sales
6:22	numbers are down maybe things aren’t
6:24	going right and they’re having a
6:26	negative impact on the team and their
6:28	performance right we had a term for the
6:30	meeting that the boss would have with
6:31	that employee it was called the come to
6:34	Jesus meeting
6:35	that’s what we called it right in fact
6:38	if you Google it yeah they’ll talk about
6:41	how this is jargon for that type of
6:43	uncomfortable meeting well James and
6:45	John they for real had to come to Jesus
6:47	meeting here
6:48	with Jesus himself
6:50	and look at what the text says he turned
6:52	on them
6:53	and he rebuked them
7:00	no mention of love your Zeal boys you
7:03	got the right idea
7:04	he full-on rebuked them we don’t know
7:07	the words
7:09	of Jesus’s rebuke the rebuke that’s some
7:13	pretty strong language Jesus gets in
7:17	their face I’m sure the meeting well
7:19	wasn’t too long
7:21	and I’m sure the words were very strong
7:24	and had something to do with the fact
7:26	that that’s not what he’s about
7:30	you see Jesus has set his face towards
7:32	Jerusalem
7:34	so that Sinners do not get what they
7:37	deserve
7:40	he’s going to take everything
7:44	upon himself what they deserve he’s
7:48	going to suffer in their place that’s
7:51	why he’s heading towards Jerusalem and
7:54	it says and then they went on to another
7:56	Village just leave them alone
7:58	just leave them alone right so we want
8:01	Sinners to get what they deserve so many
8:03	times that’s how we think it’s How We
8:05	Talk Amongst ourselves is it not
8:07	right
8:10	but have you ever stopped to think that
8:12	when you talk like that
8:14	that you are
8:16	quite ironically
8:17	and quite blindly leaving yourself out
8:21	of the category of Sinner
8:25	if you really want Sinners to get what
8:26	they deserve then isn’t that what you
8:29	want for yourself
8:31	isn’t that what you want for your pastor
8:32	is that what you want for the church
8:34	Council isn’t that what you want for
8:36	everybody in this community
8:39	everyone in this nation
8:41	because all have sinned and fall short
8:43	of the glory of God
8:45	is that what the church is to Proclaim
8:47	Sinners are going to get what they
8:50	deserve
8:53	no
8:55	we’ve been called to Proclaim repentance
8:57	and the Forgiveness of sins today is the
9:01	day of salvation today is not the day of
9:03	judgment
9:06	today is the day for us to be on our
9:08	knees praying that we and others do not
9:12	get what they deserve
9:14	today is the day for us to pray for our
9:17	enemies
9:18	and when somebody strikes us on the
9:21	cheek we turn to them the other
9:24	today we are called to Humble ourselves
9:27	and to take up our crosses and follow
9:31	Christ and participate in his sufferings
9:35	and that means suffering insults that
9:39	means suffering true persecution and
9:41	maybe even martyrdom
9:44	that means well
9:46	believing that it is a joy to be
9:49	despised the same way Christ was
9:51	despised
9:56	and you think
9:57	that’s crazy
9:59	my reputation will be tarnished people
10:02	won’t invite me to their Christmas
10:03	parties
10:05	I gotta stand for my rights I can’t be
10:08	Dishonored and mistreated
10:12	isn’t that what Jesus set his face
10:13	toward Jerusalem to do
10:16	for you and for me
10:19	let’s do a little cross-reference work
10:21	this is going to be a build by the way
10:23	into next week’s sermon you have to
10:25	think of next week’s sermon as being a
10:27	compliment to what we’re going to talk
10:28	about here let’s look at Acts chapter
10:30	14
10:31	if you’d like to turn in your Bibles I’d
10:33	love to have you follow along Acts
10:35	chapter 14. we’re going to look at how
10:37	the gospel
10:39	is advancing
10:41	and how Gentiles are being brought into
10:44	faith in Christ through the preaching
10:46	and teaching of the Apostle Paul
10:49	who although he did not witness James
10:52	and John’s come to Jesus meeting
10:55	knows full well
10:57	that the job of us Christians right now
10:59	is to suffer
11:02	and pray that nobody gets what they
11:04	deserve
11:06	acts 14 1-28 now at Iconium they the
11:10	apostles entered together into the
11:12	Jewish synagogue spoke in such a way
11:14	that a great number of both Jews and
11:16	Greeks believed
11:20	I wish it ended right there
11:22	the end and they lived happily ever
11:24	after
11:25	but watch what happens but the
11:27	unbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles
11:30	poisoned their minds against the
11:32	brothers
11:33	what do you do when that happens well
11:35	Watch What Happens so they remained for
11:37	a long time speaking boldly for the Lord
11:39	Who Bore witness to the word of his
11:41	grace granting signs and wonders to be
11:43	done by their hands in other words they
11:46	preached the gospel in the midst of
11:49	active and vocal hostility
11:53	and did not let the hostility keep them
11:56	from proclaiming Christ and him
11:58	crucified for our sins
12:02	let them scream let them yell let them
12:05	carry on we’re going to tell you about
12:07	Jesus
12:09	but the people of the city they were
12:12	divided some sided with the Jews some
12:15	with the apostles yeah you’ll notice
12:17	that preaching the gospel has this
12:19	really bad habit of not uniting people
12:21	but dividing them
12:23	Jesus said that because of him people’s
12:27	enemies would be those in their own
12:29	household
12:30	father against son daughter against
12:33	mother brother
12:35	son-in-law against father-in-law
12:38	the gospel divides
12:40	right so here they’re all divided they
12:43	weren’t clearly bringing peace right but
12:46	they were with God and when an attempt
12:48	was made by both Gentiles and Jews with
12:50	their rulers to mistreat them and to
12:53	Stone them stone is a very polite way of
12:57	putting it the goal is to actually
12:59	murder them
13:01	the stones were the vehicle for the
13:03	murder does that make sense remember
13:05	playing the the game Clue it was Mrs
13:08	plum in the kitchen with a knife right
13:10	the knife was the murder weapon the
13:12	stone here is the murder weapon the goal
13:14	is to kill these guys via rocks right
13:19	so when they heard that their goal was
13:20	to mistreat them oh and to murder them
13:22	they learned of it and they fled to
13:25	lystra and to Derby
13:27	no calling down of any fire on these
13:29	towns
13:31	just well moving along
13:34	these are cities of Laconia and to the
13:36	surrounding country and there they
13:38	continue to preach the gospel the good
13:40	news the Christ is bled and died for our
13:42	sins and Rose bodily from the grave for
13:44	our justification now at Leicester there
13:46	was a man sitting who could not use his
13:48	feet a little bit of a note here lystra
13:50	is a pagan town that worships Pagan
13:53	deities they don’t know much at all
13:56	about the God of Israel
13:58	so Watch What Happens at Leicester there
14:00	was a man sitting who could not use his
14:02	feet he was crippled from birth and he
14:05	had never walked he listened to Paul
14:07	speaking and Paul looking intently at
14:09	him seeing that he had Faith to be made
14:10	well said in a loud voice stand upright
14:13	on your feet he sprang up and began
14:16	walking
14:18	and when the crowd saw what Paul had
14:20	done they lifted up their voices saying
14:22	in the laconian language the gods have
14:25	come down to us in the likeness of men
14:27	Barnabas they called Zeus Paul Hermes
14:31	because he was the chief speaker
14:34	the priest of Zeus whose Temple was at
14:38	the entrance to the city brought oxen
14:39	and garlands to the gates and wanted to
14:41	offer sacrifices with the crowds reminds
14:44	me of the Star Wars movie where C-3PO
14:48	was worshiped by walking teddy bears
14:50	right
14:51	uh-huh
14:54	but
14:56	Paul and Barnabas are not gods and
14:59	they’re not about to allow
15:01	the glory to go to Zeus
15:03	or the Hermes or any of the false gods
15:06	of the Roman Pantheon
15:08	so when the apostles Barnabas and Paul
15:10	heard of it they tore their garments
15:12	they rushed out into the crowd crying
15:13	men
15:14	why are you doing these things we also
15:17	are men of like nature with you we bring
15:20	you good news that you should turn from
15:23	these vain things to a living God who
15:26	made the Heaven and the earth and the
15:28	Sea and all that is in them in past
15:30	Generations he allowed all the nations
15:31	to walk in their own ways yet he did not
15:34	leave himself without witness for he did
15:36	good by giving you reigns from heaven
15:38	and fruitful Seasons satisfying your
15:40	hearts with food and gladness even with
15:43	these words they scarcely restrain the
15:46	people from offering sacrifice to them
15:49	now there seems to be this Unwritten
15:51	rule in the universe currently under the
15:53	curse and the rule goes something like
15:55	this no good deed goes unpunished
15:59	okay have you ever felt that way
16:01	yeah
16:03	you you did the right thing and you
16:06	suffered for it
16:08	well that’s kind of what’s going to
16:10	happen next remember a guy who was
16:12	crippled from birth is now walking God
16:15	has healed them they’ve heard the good
16:17	news of Jesus Christ and now it’s time
16:20	for this Unwritten rule of the universe
16:21	to now well spring into action
16:25	but the Jews from Antioch and Iconium oh
16:28	boy
16:30	notice the tenacity
16:34	notice the tenacity
16:37	they left their towns
16:39	we’ve heard Paul is in lystra
16:43	we’ve got to get there
16:46	that guy has got to die
16:49	so they leave town make the trip to
16:52	lystra for the whole purpose of killing
16:55	these guys
16:57	so when the Jews from Antioch and
16:58	Iconium having persuaded the crowds they
17:01	stoned Paul
17:03	and dragged him out of the city
17:04	supposing that he was dead
17:08	so they made good on their threat to
17:10	have him stoned and to murder him
17:13	they thought they had accomplished the
17:15	deed they thought he was Stone Cold dead
17:20	think about it that had to hurt
17:23	right
17:26	so when the disciples gathered around
17:28	him the disciples thinking Paul is dead
17:30	thinking they have a funeral to prepare
17:33	for
17:34	shocks them all he rose up
17:37	he entered the city
17:39	and on the next day he went on with
17:41	Barnabas to Derby
17:44	no calling down of any fire from heaven
17:48	no praying I hope you get what you
17:51	deserve how dare you murder me even
17:53	though I’m still alive
17:55	right
17:57	notice
17:59	he goes about preaching the gospel
18:02	from City to Village to town
18:06	each and every place he’s proclaiming
18:08	Christ making sure that everybody hears
18:11	the good news that Christ the true Son
18:15	of God born of the Virgin Mary has come
18:17	to Earth to bleed and to die for their
18:19	sins and announces to them forgiveness
18:22	and peace with God calls them to repent
18:25	and to be forgiven and God even grants
18:28	miracles to go along with the message
18:30	to verify the veracity of the claims of
18:33	the Apostle Paul
18:35	some hear and they believe
18:38	some here and they grit their teeth and
18:42	their responses I want to kill you
18:48	right
18:50	and rather than stand for his rights
18:53	stand up against the aggressor the
18:56	oppressor the one who wants to cause him
18:57	to suffer
18:59	Paul always takes well
19:03	the path of suffering
19:07	and when push comes to shove
19:10	he leaves down
19:13	why
19:15	because Jesus said if they won’t listen
19:18	to you
19:19	Move Along
19:20	Shake the Dust off your feet Move Along
19:24	today is not the day of God’s judgment
19:26	and Wrath
19:28	today is not the day where Sinners get
19:30	what they deserve today is the day that
19:33	Sinners get to hear good news preached
19:35	to them
19:36	today is the day of God’s mercy and of
19:38	God’s grace
19:40	we are not called To Rule and to Reign
19:43	and to execute and flex power
19:47	we’re called to suffer
19:53	so when they had preached the gospel to
19:55	that City and had made many disciples
19:58	they returned to lystra and to Iconium
20:00	and Antioch strengthening The Souls of
20:02	the disciples encouraging him to
20:04	continue in the faith and saying and
20:06	here’s the best part saying that through
20:08	many tribulations we must enter the
20:11	kingdom of God
20:12	and that’s how we enter the kingdom of
20:14	God through many toils and tribulations
20:18	today is the day
20:20	of suffering
20:22	today is not the day of Glory
20:24	so our text today says that Jesus set
20:27	his face toward Jerusalem
20:29	so that we would not get what we deserve
20:33	not only did Jesus set his face towards
20:36	Jerusalem he single-mindedly
20:37	accomplished his journey
20:40	and he goes to the cross
20:43	and the scriptures say that God laid on
20:46	Jesus the iniquity of all of us the
20:49	iniquity of the whole world John the
20:52	Baptist said of Jesus Behold the Lamb of
20:54	God who takes away
20:56	the sin of the world
20:58	your sin and mine so that undeserving
21:02	wretched sinners like you and like me
21:05	can be forgiven and have peace with God
21:08	today is the day of the preaching of the
21:11	good news not the preaching of God’s
21:13	judgment
21:14	today we know that God’s judgment is
21:17	coming and that judgment will be just
21:21	and it’s very sad and tragic that on
21:25	that day
21:28	forgiven sinners sinners for whom Christ
21:31	has bled and died for
21:33	will unfortunately
21:35	sadly choose to get what they deserve
21:41	rather than believe and be forgiven
21:44	but that is not today
21:47	knowing that God’s Wrath is coming how
21:50	are we to conduct Our Lives
21:52	calling down fire from heaven praising
21:55	God when terrorists attack and kill
21:58	sinners
21:59	no
22:01	we’re not Isis
22:03	we’re not Muslims
22:04	we’re Christians
22:07	we’ve been given good news to Proclaim
22:09	Christ set his face towards Jerusalem
22:11	and calls us all to repent and to be
22:14	forgiven and repentance is not a
22:17	one-time thing
22:19	repentance is the lifestyle of
22:21	Christians
22:23	and so we now deny ourselves
22:28	take up our cross
22:30	follow Christ
22:32	and through many trials and tribulations
22:34	and sufferings and persecutions and
22:37	maybe even martyrdom and death
22:39	we March setting our faces now
22:43	towards the New Jerusalem
22:46	the one coming
22:48	in the name of Jesus
22:50	amen
22:51	[Music]

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