LutheranLectionary.org

Series C – Fourth Sunday in Easter – Sunday, April 17, 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 John chapter 10 verses 22-30
0:35	at that time the Feast of dedication took place at Jerusalem it was Winter and Jesus was walking in the temple in
0:43	The Colonnade of Solomon so the Jews gathered around him and said to him how long will you keep us in suspense if you
0:49	are the Christ tell us plainly Jesus answered them I told you
0:55	and you do not believe The Works that I do in my father’s name they bear witness about me but you do
1:01	not believe because you are not part of my flock my sheep hear my voice I know them they
1:08	follow me I give them eternal life and they will never perish and no one will
1:13	snatch them out of my hand my father who has given them to me is greater than all and no one is able to
1:20	snatch them out of the father’s hand I and the father are one in the name of
1:25	Jesus so we’ve all heard the Disney song who’s afraid of the big bad wolf
1:31	right today is Good Shepherd Sunday and this
1:36	is one of the most amazing images in scripture the image that Christ is our
1:42	Shepherd we are his beloved sheep now if you think this is an amazing
1:48	thing and make it makes you should makes makes it so that you feel good about yourself keep in mind that sheep are
1:54	pretty dumb animals yeah they are completely oblivious to the fact that they have enemies
2:00	and if it weren’t for Shepherds they would surely be toast they have no natural defenses whatsoever and have a
2:07	tendency to wander off and even worse bite the hand
2:13	that guides them fascinating thing about them but our text today is going to be taken
2:19	from our first reading the book of Acts chapter 20 verses 17 through 35 and in
2:26	here we have the Apostle Paul talking to a group of shepherds pastors that’s who
2:33	he is talking to so we return to now to our first reading it says this from militis Paul sent to Ephesus and called
2:39	the Elders of the church to come to him the elders would be the pastors and keep in mind Paul
2:45	is the guy who did all the missionary work in Ephesus we read about his trip
2:51	there in the book of Acts and how he stayed there for a very very long time in fact his um
2:58	his missionary work included having kind of a standing Gig if you would in a
3:03	place called The Hall of tyrannus and in the marketplaces he worked as a tent maker to pay for his missionary work and
3:11	everywhere he went he would tell people about Jesus tell them about the fact that he is the Messiah promised long ago
3:19	from God tell them about the Forgiveness of sins tell them about the fact that he is raised again from the grave
3:26	for their justification and that he himself was an eyewitness to Jesus’s resurrection
3:31	and the gospel took root in city of Ephesus and Ephesus became one of the
3:36	early and I mean early strongholds of Christianity many congregations were
3:42	there Paul is on his way to Jerusalem though and he doesn’t know that if if
3:48	he’s going to live he knows that trouble awaits him when he gets to Jerusalem and so you can kind of
3:54	think about what it is that he’s about to say to these pastors as in a sense kind of like a last will and testament
4:00	he thinks he may be dying he may never see them again he’s pretty confident of that and so keep that in mind we hold
4:08	the words of somebody who is a dying person to be very precious and very important if somebody ever prompt makes
4:13	you promise something while they’re dying that promise oftentimes sticks with you and you feel that you have a
4:19	very important need to fulfill that promise so think of these words in that way so when they came to him the pastors
4:27	came to Paul he said to them you yourselves know how I lived among
4:32	you the whole time from the first day that I set foot in Asia serving the Lord with all humility and with tears and
4:39	with trials that happened to me through the plot of the Jews how I did not shrink from declaring to you anything
4:46	that was profitable and teaching you in public and from house to house testifying both to Jews and to Greeks of
4:54	repentance towards God and of faith in our Lord Jesus Christ an important word
5:00	there by the way is the word shrink and being a pastor I understand the Temptations the pastors face
5:07	I we follow a lectionary here which by the way is a good thing for you because
5:13	oftentimes and I think Gloria can even testify as we’re doing our worship committee work planning out the worship
5:19	for the month ahead sometimes we’ll get to a lectionary reading and I’ll go whoo
5:25	that’s going to be tough to preach on and the Temptation is to shrink back and
5:31	this word kind of has as a picture of it if you would think of it if you’re in an army an ancient army you don’t have
5:37	machine guns you have shield and sword or shield and Spear and what happens is
5:44	that the Army’s supposed to put up a United line the guy who shrinks back is the guy who
5:51	says okay I’m going to just do this and I you over here you can dive I’m gonna
5:56	stay I’m gonna live right the guy who shrinks back acts as a coward and lets his buddies do the work while he does
6:03	the living they do the dying he does the living that’s what shrink back means here
6:08	so Paul says that he did not shrink back and that he told everybody Jews and
6:15	Greeks listen to this of repentance towards God this has to deal with our sins
6:21	repentance is saying God you’re right I’m wrong you’re holy I’m sinful I’m not Measuring
6:28	Up have mercy on me and of faith in our Lord Jesus Christ which speaks to the
6:33	gospel and Paul then continues speaking to this group of shepherds under Shepherds of the great Shepherds he says
6:40	Now Behold I’m going to Jerusalem constrained by the spirit not knowing what will happen to me there except for the Holy Spirit testifies to me that in
6:47	every city imprisonment and afflictions await me you know seriously I mean
6:54	what kind of employer is God right yeah this is a fascinating stuff
7:00	here he says but I do not account my life of any value or as precious to myself if only I may finish the course
7:07	and the ministry that I receive from the Lord Jesus this hearkens to Jesus’s words the one
7:13	who endures to the end will be saved and so he received from the Lord the commission to testify to the gospel
7:20	of God’s grace and he says Now Behold I know that none of you among whom I have
7:25	gone about proclaiming the kingdom will see my face again therefore I testify to
7:31	you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all for I did not hears the word again shrink or shrink back from
7:39	declaring to you the whole counsel of God and you can note here
7:44	even in this address Paul talks about the plots of the Jews the personal cost to himself for preaching the full
7:53	counsel of God’s word which is why there’s the temptation to shave off the
7:58	hard edges to not preach the whole counsel of the word of God because well
8:03	there’s just certain passages of scripture certain doctrines that are revealed in the Holy writings that well
8:09	we don’t want to hear we just don’t want to hear it but Paul says he’s innocent of the blood
8:16	of all this hearkens back to the prophet Ezekiel where God says to Ezekiel if you
8:21	do not call a sinner to repent I will require his blood of you
8:28	so Paul says I testify that I’m innocent of the blood of all and the reason for this is because he preached the truth in
8:35	its entirety and then he says this pay attention to yourselves
8:42	pastors and all the flock in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers
8:48	and notice here who is it that calls pastors into the office of the Holy Ministry it’s the Holy Spirit himself
8:55	he says take care of the Church of God which he obtained with his own blood now
9:01	that’s a whole other sermon but let me just ask the question when did God bleed
9:07	answer on the cross so who does that make Jesus
9:13	God pretty simple right of course we heard in Our Gospel text Jesus said I
9:18	and the father are one indeed they are they are the same God but they are two different persons yet the same God
9:23	that’s the mystery of the Trinity we’ll talk about that in more depth when we get to Trinity Sunday which is just a few weeks away
9:30	so Paul then says this to these pastors I know that after my departure Fierce
9:35	wolves will come in among you among whom among the pastors
9:41	not sparing the flock and from your own selves pastors will arise men speaking
9:49	Twisted things to draw away the disciples after them
9:55	who’s afraid of the big bad wolf if you think that there are no wolves
10:00	and running through Christ’s Church tearing up Christ’s sheep you are
10:05	gravely mistaken Paul is not overreacting here he’s not
10:10	acting in a paranoid way at all what he is saying is absolutely true
10:16	and just like in his day today there are pastors who are speaking Twisted things
10:23	and they’re not making disciples of Jesus they are making disciples after themselves
10:30	you can always tell and I mean this you can always tell who a false pastor and a wolf is
10:38	they preach themselves They Don’t Preach Christ that’s the sheer sign
10:45	they preach me they preach you they Don’t Preach Christ you see under
10:50	Shepherds of the Good Shepherd Jesus know that whom they work for and they
10:55	know in whom there is salvation it’s in Christ he’s the one who gets all the glory the false teachers I mean
11:02	literally I mean the way they behave and the doctrines they teach which have never been heard before often times all
11:09	right so they come along and they’ve got some new interpretation some new
11:15	doctrine and you’d sit there and think well the church has been here for 2 000 years how on Earth did the church
11:21	survive without this man thankfully God has finally sent somebody to once and
11:27	for all help us understand what the Bible says because for two thousand years we were totally clueless
11:34	right but see that’s what’s going on
11:40	oh and it’s piped into your house just flip the channel to that one station or
11:45	there’s two now right and you hear the guy with the shiny teeth saying what you really need to do
11:51	is decree and declare God is for you he’s not against you you’re the head not the tail you are super duper important
11:59	and all you have to do is speak the right words and you can create an amazing Destiny for yourself God wants
12:06	you to be healthy God wants you to be wealthy God wants you to prosper he’s going to take you to the next level and
12:12	it’s all up to you just stretch out with your faith speak it into existence
12:19	and then when you open your Bible the Bible says none of this stuff
12:26	what does that make that man a wolf
12:32	but he has a large Church multi-million dollar Ministry
12:38	he’s a wolf plain and simple
12:43	he’s speaking Twisted things he’s drawing away disciples after himself
12:51	and Jesus In Our Gospel text makes it clear that these men are not even believers
12:57	remember Jesus’s words you do not believe me because you are not among my sheep my sheep hear my
13:04	voice I know them and they follow me
13:10	these men are not even believers now Paul had some experience dealing
13:17	with Wolves we’ll talk about two groups that are found in your Bible the first group of
13:23	the judaizers we’ll talk about them a little bit more next week the judahiters judaizers in Acts chapter
13:30	15 The circumcision group they believed that you were not saved by
13:36	grace through faith alone they believed that you were saved by grace
13:43	and then by keeping the Mosaic law observing Torah
13:49	and that includes if you’re a man a little surgical procedure that may
13:54	cause you to be sore for a few days called circumcision you can imagine the impact that would have on evangelism right
14:02	and it says in Acts chapter 15 The judaizer said that unless you are circumcised according to the custom of
14:09	Moses you cannot be saved
14:15	straight up lie the Apostle Paul when you read his epistle to the Galatians
14:21	has some very strong words for these people he anathematizes them it says even if we are an angel from heaven
14:27	should preach a gospel other than one already preached let him be damned
14:33	and he would not budge not even an inch of ground wouldn’t compromise one bit of Doctrine for the
14:41	sake of the Gospel you see normally the way conflict Works in life goes like this all right you got
14:48	a husband you got a wife things start to get a little squirrely in the relationship they start to get short and
14:55	angry with each other and then they start making mistakes both of them right they call the pastor up pastor we need
15:01	to talk to you or something like that or they go to a marriage counselor and the marriage counselor the pastor will sit there and say well here’s your part in
15:07	which you’ve done wrong and here’s her part in which she’s done wrong and you need to look figure out a compromise it’s a good way of dealing with things
15:14	because neither none of us are actually fully right or fully wrong in our relationships oftentimes we have a lot
15:20	of sin that we pack into our relationships but when it comes to Doctrine
15:25	you do not make compromises it’s the faith once delivered to the
15:30	saint the people who are teaching false Doctrine you do not compromise with them
15:37	they are wolves you don’t sit there and say all right well maybe we’re saved by grace through
15:42	faith alone but it’s okay to talk about it in a way where it sounds like it could also be works
15:50	too it doesn’t work that way does it nope
15:55	and so Paul has some of his harshest words written under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit to the judaizers but
16:01	there’s not too many judaizers today although the Judaism heresy is making a
16:07	roaring comeback in the form of What’s called the Hebrew Roots movement
16:12	okay oddly enough it hasn’t really taken deep root here but in Montana there’s a
16:17	lot of folks that are falling for that heresy again in our day though
16:22	the group that Paul dealt with that is closest to whom we deal with were the
16:27	so-called super Apostles right you see you got pastors teachers prophets
16:35	Apostles but then this other group came along they were called the super
16:41	Apostles okay Paul was just an apostle these guys were super Apostles and let
16:47	me explain how this kind of worked is back in the day they didn’t have television they didn’t have theaters
16:53	quite the same way we had them and they didn’t have novels and books you know distributed quite the way they were so
16:58	what would people do for entertainment well back in the day there were people who were skilled orders
17:04	they were instructed in oration and they were so good at what they did that they
17:11	could hold an audience captive where people would hang on every single word
17:17	they were generally easy to look at they dressed well they had makeup or their
17:23	hair was done right right they were not the ugly people right and they could command very large
17:30	quantities of money for their oration and some of them became Christians and
17:37	then carried their vocation as orators into the churches
17:45	so these were people that the Apostle Paul had to deal with and the odd thing is
17:52	when you read second Corinthians especially starting in chapter 10 Paul begins to address the church at Corinth
17:58	who invited these guys in and you know what they said about Paul
18:04	well he’s not one of the super apostles I mean look at him
18:09	I don’t know if you know this about Paul but church history records that he wasn’t very good looking
18:14	some some church fathers describe him as short
18:20	ugly hooked nosed and cross-eyed no joke
18:26	okay and and and he wasn’t very skilled
18:32	at speaking like not at all you don’t believe me one account in the book of
18:38	Acts tells us that one time Paul was preaching and some kid fell asleep during his sermon fell out of a window
18:45	and died okay now I’ve never killed any of you while preaching but I have seen
18:52	some of you wander off and doze off okay that’s why we have pews it’s to keep you from dying okay
19:00	all right so by the standards of the super Apostles they were the super apostles
19:06	were shiny pennies Paul was a slug nickel all right that’s
19:12	kind of the comparison and the church at Corinth they were listening to these guys and Paul has to
19:17	write to kind of correct them and watch what he says about them second Corinthians chapter 11 I’ll start at
19:23	verse 1. he says I I wish you would bear with me a little foolishness do bear with me for I feel a Divine jealousy for
19:31	you since I betrothed you to one husband to present you as a pure virgin to
19:36	Christ but I’m afraid that as the serpent-deceived eve by his cunning your
19:42	thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ for if someone comes and proclaims
19:48	another Jesus than the one we proclaimed or if you receive a different Spirit
19:54	from the one you received or if you accept a different gospel from the one
20:00	you accepted you put up with it readily enough Paul here is not complimenting them
20:07	think about this another Jesus a different Spirit a whole other gospel
20:13	is it different Jesus is able to save you no different Spirit no
20:20	different gospel no not at all right so Paul is gently at this point
20:27	but he’s going to take the he’s going to Crank It Up in intensity in just a minute here he says you put up with this
20:33	readily enough indeed I consider that I am not in the least inferior to these so-called super Apostles even if I am
20:39	unskilled in speaking hard to look at too I’m not so in knowledge indeed in
20:45	every way we have made this plane to you in all things or did I commit a sin in humbling myself so that you might be
20:51	exalted because I preached God’s gospel to you free of charge you see the super Apostles came in and say and how much
20:57	did Paul charge you to preach here he didn’t charge you very much oh he did
21:03	it for free you know why he did it for free because it’s not worth the same
21:08	message that we would preach super Apostles would come in and they’d charge a large sum of money and they
21:15	would gladly pay a Paul he did it free of charge right and so the super Apostles convinced the
21:22	church at Corinth that Paul was somehow super inferior and the reason why he was not charging anything is because his
21:29	messages weren’t worth listening to isn’t that amazing
21:35	so he says because I preach God’s gospel to you for your charge I robbed other churches
21:42	by accepting support from them in order to serve you and when I was with you and
21:47	was in need did I I did not burden anyone for the brothers who came from Macedonia they supplied my needs so why
21:54	refrain and I will refrain from burdening you in any way as the truth of Christ is in me this boasting of mine
22:00	will not be silenced by in the regions of Ikea and why because I don’t love you
22:05	God knows that I love you and what I am doing I will continue to do in order to undermine the claim of
22:13	those who would like to claim that in their boasted mission they work on the same terms we do
22:19	and now it comes watch what Paul says about these so-called super apostles
22:25	for such men are false apostles they are not true
22:31	they are deceitful workmen they are disguising themselves as
22:36	Apostles of Christ and no wonder for even Satan disguises himself as an angel
22:41	of Light now when we think of Angel here
22:48	oftentimes we think like the bright shiny Angel big wings and stuff like
22:54	that I think a better way to think of it is this way the word oncolas can also mean messenger
23:00	and that’s its normal usage Satan disguises himself as a messenger
23:06	of light you see Satan’s a preacher was he not preaching in the Garden of
23:11	Eden did God really say oh you will not surely die because God knows that you
23:18	when you eat of the fruit you will your eyes will be opened and you’ll be like God that was a sermon
23:27	so Satan disguises himself as an angel of Light so it should not surprise you if his servants also disguise themselves
23:34	as Servants of righteousness and see that’s the thing
23:41	false teachers and wolves they say words like Jesus God Holy Spirit Redeemer
23:50	but all those words have a different meaning they preach a different Jesus a
23:55	different Spirit totally different gospel they preach themselves they don’t teach the historic Christian faith they
24:02	twist God’s word and they stand in Christian pulpits
24:09	and Paul says of them their end will correspond to their deeds translation they’re on their way to hell
24:19	and they’re trying to preach you into the same place they are going thinking that they are preaching you
24:24	into heaven but they refuse to preach the truth or to even believe it
24:31	now if you think Paul’s just being cranky okay that’s enough that’s oftentimes a
24:36	claim okay you know there’s this group of people that call themselves red letter Christians red letter Christians they
24:42	ignore Paul all right from time to time you’ll get a Newsweek article or a Time magazine article
24:48	claiming that Paul is the inventor of Christianity trying to drive a wedge between Paul and Jesus let me read to
24:55	you what Jesus says about the last times from Matthew 24 some highlights Verses 4
25:00	and 5 in Matthew 24 Jesus says see to it that no one leads you astray talking about what it’ll be like in the last
25:07	days for many will come in my name saying I am the Christ and they will
25:13	lead many astray verse 11 Jesus says many false prophets will rise and they will lead many astray
25:22	it doesn’t say some Jesus said many
25:28	verses 22-27 in the last days if they had not been cut short no human being
25:34	would be saved for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short then if anyone says look here’s the Christ or
25:41	there he is do not believe it for false Christ and false prophets will arise and
25:46	perform great signs and wonders so as to lead astray if possible even the elect
25:55	I want you to think about this for a second we all pretty much understand that what
26:00	you see on Christian television ain’t right that there’s a lot of false teachers and
26:06	false prophets broadcasting on Christian television
26:11	you think it’s bad now let me tell you what Jesus says is coming
26:17	here’s how this is going to go down you’re going to get an email from a friend someday and the email is going to
26:23	say did you see what happened on TBN last night and you write back no what happened
26:30	they have a report out of Uganda Jesus is in Uganda
26:36	they’ve got photographs of him and they kind of look like the fuzzy photographs of the Sasquatch right
26:42	yeah so you know you can always so there’s and there’s claims coming that he’s gone
26:48	from Uganda and he’s gonna he’s heading out to Madagascar
26:53	and there’s a team of people following him and then the report will be yes Jesus appeared to us and it’s going to
26:59	be all the buzz right and a whole lot of people who call
27:04	themselves Christians are going to get caught up in this and they’re going to think it’s real
27:11	and then you will Point them to this passage and they’re saying you’re just being divisive you’re a hater
27:18	you’re not listening to what the spirit is doing right now of course Jesus appeared in Uganda
27:26	like I said you think it’s bad now this is what’s coming but Jesus says
27:32	they will arise and listen to this they will perform great signs and wonders so
27:38	when the TBN camera crew finally catches up with Jesus notice the air quotes
27:43	right is these appearing in Madagascar you know what’s going to happen this Jesus is going to perform miracles
27:51	there’s going to be somebody Bonafide stone cold dead they’re going to have a death
27:57	certificate there’s going to be a corpse undeniably a corpse this guy is going to raise him from the dead and everyone’s
28:04	going to go see it’s Jesus
28:09	and then when you listen to his message it doesn’t sound anything like what Jesus would preach
28:16	at all but Jesus says they will perform great signs and wonders
28:22	so as to lead astray notice what he says if possible even the elect see I’ve told
28:27	you beforehand so if they say to you look he’s in the wilderness you know
28:32	what Jesus said compromise just this is all okay no he says don’t
28:39	go out if they say to you look he’s in the in a room he says go ahead and entertain the
28:45	thought maybe it’s me nope he says do not believe it
28:51	for as the lightning comes from the East and shines as far as the West so will be the coming of the son of man
28:59	he’s told us all of this ahead of time because the wolves are already in the church
29:05	and it’s going to get so bad that this is what’s coming
29:10	you think Paul was being cranky now sounds a lot like Jesus doesn’t he
29:17	let’s talk about what true preachers preach though Paul said he didn’t shrink back from
29:24	preaching the truth preach the full counsel of the word of God repentance towards God and faith in
29:29	Jesus Christ in First Corinthians Paul lays out the foolishness of what it is that he preached it sounds like total
29:36	stupidity to the world are you ready here it is for the word of the cross
29:43	the word of the cross it’s foolishness to those who are perishing
29:49	but to us who are being saved the word of the Cross is the power of God
29:54	for it is written I will destroy the wisdom of the wise and the discernment of the Discerning Eye will thwart
30:01	so where is the one who’s Wise Wise by the world standards where is the Scribe where is the debater of this age has not
30:08	God made foolish the wisdom of the world and see the wisdom of the world is all about well how to become one of the
30:15	pretty people how to become one of the people who has the big house the nice car
30:20	the nice beautiful new plush carpet padded bank account
30:27	the island in Bermuda The Bungalow in Barbados
30:33	right and to be healthy wealthy wise this is what the wisdom of the world is all about
30:40	for since in the wisdom of God the world did not know God through wisdom it pleased God through the Folly
30:45	foolishness of what we preach to save those who believe Jews demand signs
30:52	yeah I think of miraculous signs Greeks they seek wisdom oh but yeah we don’t preach any of that
31:00	we preach Christ crucified for Sinners for your sins and mine
31:07	and this is a stumbling block to Jews it’s foolishness to Gentiles but to those who are called both Jews and Greeks Christ is the power
31:15	of God and the wisdom of God for the foolishness of God is wiser than men and the weakness of God is stronger than
31:22	men so consider your calling Brothers not many of you were wise according to worldly standards
31:27	not many were powerful not wet many were of normal birth anyone here royalty
31:33	couldn’t me either God chose what’s foolish in the world to shame the wise
31:39	like an ugly scrawny looking cockeyed man with a hooked nose
31:45	who doesn’t speak very well like Paul God chose what’s weak in the world to
31:50	shame the strong God chose what is low and despised in the world even the things that are not to bring to nothing
31:55	the things that are so that no human being might boast in the presence of God and because of God you are in Christ
32:02	Jesus and that’s true of you brothers and sisters because of God you are in Christ Jesus you’ve been washed
32:11	in the blood of the Lamb the Waters of your baptism your sins have been forgiven you’ve been raised to
32:18	New Life in him you were fed with the very body and blood of Christ here the Lord’s table
32:25	you are in him God has placed you in him and so Christ has become for us wisdom
32:33	from God righteousness sanctification and redemption in other words Jesus is
32:38	everything Jesus is your righteousness he’s your sanctification he’s your Redemption so
32:44	that it is as it is written let the one who boasts boast in the Lord and see that’s the scandal of all of this
32:51	when you really understand what Christianity teaches it teaches you can’t do a thing to save yourself you
32:59	are in total slavery and bondage to sin death and the devil you can’t bargain
33:04	your way out there’s not enough good works that you can do you couldn’t write a check big enough and give it to an
33:09	orphanage to buy your way into heaven and out of Slavery to sin you are stuck
33:16	and the only way out of this is for God to come and save you
33:21	and for him to do it all and we don’t like that
33:28	there’s got to be something I can do no it’s gift period
33:33	how many zeros do you want behind the check put the checkbook away you can’t buy it because you were purchased with the
33:39	blood of God right
33:47	so let the one who boasts boast in the Lord Paul says when I came to you Brothers I did not come proclaiming the
33:55	testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom and the reason for this is simple
34:01	for I decided to know nothing among you nothing except for Jesus Christ
34:07	and him crucified that’s the mark of a real Apostle of a
34:12	true teacher not a wolf one who truly is a shepherd under the great Shepherd
34:18	Jesus they preached nothing and I mean nothing except for Christ and him crucified
34:25	so Paul ends with these words therefore be alert be alert
34:31	remembering that for three years I did not cease night or day to admonish everyone with tears
34:39	and now I commend you to God and to the word of his grace the gospel which is able to build you up give you the
34:44	inheritance among all those who are sanctified I coveted no one’s silver or gold or
34:51	apparel false teachers they coveted all of those things you yourselves know that these hands ministered to my necessities
34:57	and those who were with me in all things I have shown you that by working hard and in this way we must help the weak
35:03	and remember the words of the Lord Jesus how he said it is more blessed to give than receive and here’s our closing
35:10	thought we’ve all heard those words it is more blessed to give than to receive we Trot those words out at
35:16	Christmas time it is more blessed to give than to receive and so we like to give at Christmas time but notice the
35:23	context in words in which these words appear it is more blessed to give than to receive this is now in the context of
35:30	a pastor preaching Christ as opposed to preaching himself
35:36	and as a pastor I can say it is truly more blessed to give than to receive because if I don’t give you Jesus
35:43	I’ve got nothing to give you I’ve got no wisdom no philosophy no easy
35:49	steps to make your life better I do not know the secrets of how to gain wealth or how to stay healthy my girth
35:57	should prove that and so it is truly more blessed to give
36:02	than to receive and I pray that in our preaching today you heard
36:08	that you have Jesus because there is nothing else except for Christ and him crucified for your sins
36:15	there is no other message that I could preach to you think of me like a 1970s
36:21	or early 80s one-hit wonder band I don’t know if you all Remember The Knack in their song My Sharona never never nobody
36:28	ever talks about their other great hits because there weren’t any right
36:35	so I got one message I got one thing to give you Jesus because he’s everything and he has done
36:42	it all for you he is your good shepherd He loves and he cares for you and he loves and cares for you enough that he
36:49	has warned you ahead of time to not listen to The Wolves who would come in his name who desire to devour
36:57	you in the name of Jesus Amen

If you would like to support the teaching ministry of Kongsvinger Lutheran Church, you can do so by sending a tax-free donation to: Kongsvinger Lutheran Church 15950 470th Ave NW, Oslo, MN 56744 We thank you for your support. All of our teaching messages may be freely distributed as long as you do not edit or change the content of the message, and, again, thank you for listening.