Beaver makes me Proud!

Justin Beaver.
If you don't know him, or at least what he has accomplished - you should. He has not cured cancer or set about bringing peace to the world. What he has done, anyone who roots for the underdog will appreciate. Beaver led his team the UW Whitewater Warhawks to the D3 Football Cahmpionships for several years running. 2007 finally saw his team take the trophy. Justin was awarded the Gaglardi Award - the award given to the best D3 football player annually, both on the field and off. He was also invited to the Packers rookie camp. He did not get an offer sheet - but for all of us who ever wanted just the chance to don an NFL helmet and give it a go -- thank you. As a former player, as a D3 fan and as a father - I am glad there are still men like you out there.

RAMS to set up camp at CUW

The NFL's Saint Louis Rams are making Concordia U Wisconsin home for summer training camp in the Year of our Lord 2008! The big boys will be running through the paces on the same field that I was once honored to strap on the pads, lock and load and play the world's greatest game. I will post camp schedules when they become available. Go Falcons!

ALMA MATER

Congrats to Concordia University Wisconsin! The U landed Hank Aaron as commencement speaker for this year. A few years back we (Alum as well) were honored to have the president of the USA speak. This year hammerin' Hank

In an attempt to MP3

In the near future I am going to attempt to post sermon recordings on this blog -- It is my prayer that the Word, our Lord has so graiously allowed me to speak will be of benefit to someone or someones.

So if I email you and ask --

how does this MP3 thing work? -- be gentle!

Sunday Sermon for Lent V + Is Time Really on your Side?

While I do not have the manuscript for yesterday's sermon - here is the gist of my preaching.

Introduction -

Use of the Rolling Stones song - Time is on my Side. That along with the placement of the Paschal candle - either Easter or funeral -- and it is not Easter yet. Time is NOT on our side.

Text - Saint John 11 -- Lazarus being raised. Death comes - not when we are always prepared, but it comes.

Transition -- Time well spent is time spent as God ordains it - Love God and Love your neighbor.

• Yesterday Too much time is spent here - regrets of sin past as well as romanticizing what went before. Yesterday is gone. Thanks be to God there is forgiveness in Christ - for while we cannot undo our sin ridden past - God can and doe through the death of Jesus.


• Tomorrow - dreams and hopes, worries and wonders - Jesus tells us the truth when He counsels, have no worry for tomorrow -- and Saint James as well - do not say we will do this next year or that but IF THE LORDS WILLS...


• Today -- is the day of salvation. Hearing, trusting, Believing on Jesus and His blessed sacrifice is the only reality we have -- yesterday is gone and tomorrow never comes --- trusting on the life and death, the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ TODAY is the Holy Spirit preparing us for...........................................Forever.

Time is not on our side - but Christ is and so come what may life or death we know that for the sake of the Lord and His meritorious death we have the gift of time today - that we love God and neighbor and that He prepare us for the time to come - with out end.

"The Justice of God" + sermon for Midweek 4

Grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.

Beloved in Christ –

There are hard words to hear in life. When you found out your first girlfriend has grown tired of your company. Learning that you will lose a job or a beloved member of the family to sickness; these are hard words to hear. As a child coming to understand that you must move from the only place you had ever known. As a child of God hearing that judgment begins with the household of God.

Yes, there is a Word of God that speaks in no uncertain terms about what the consequence of sin is to be – it is judgment. And there is no place less desirable than to be a sinful person judged before the perfect throne of our Holy God. Those are hard words to hear.

Saint Paul writes about this wrath that comes against all sinners. “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men…”
And lest we somehow become comfortable in our position before the throne of God's glory – Paul continues in chapter 2, “Therefore you are inexcusable, O man, whoever you are who judge, for in whatever you judge another you judge yourself.” In fine Lutheran fashion we ask, “What does this mean?” It means that we all stand before God and before man as being guilty of some sin or another. And if we have not sinned in deed, we have sinned in our very being. We are all sinful human beings. We are all corrupted creation – not by God’s design but by our fall to temptation. We are in need of a new judgment that acquits the guilty of our guilt.

Can God acquit the guilty and yet be holy? He can and He does; for there is one who suffers the punishment of God against our sin. It is Jesus Christ. The punishment of God comes upon Him – His own Son through the means established by God.

Pontius Pilate was a man considered for his brutality. He accomplished what he did with a hard hand and an expedient eye. Pilate was no saintly person by any standards. He did what he did and was who he was – no equivocation; no excuse. The Father of all Lights used a dark man to accomplish His will for a fallen race.

The Lord often used those men and nations to accomplish His bidding. The Egyptians held in bondage the sons of God – that God might reveal His glory in choosing and delivering them to the Promised Land. Once in the Promised Land – it seems that these delivered children forgot the promise of freeing forgiveness in their God and so it was the Babylonians sent to do the alien work of God and captive they became. Even now the ruler of the people of God is one placed by the occupying empire of Rome.

The punishment of God in and through the work and warfare of opposing nations seems unsavory at best and unfair. Yet, consider what God says about such punishment. He considers the punishment rendered as chastisement to teach and uphold. Yes, you are considered to be children of God to be taught and corrected. You receive such punishment for sin that you might be delivered from greater sin and an eternal judgment against your soul.

Our Father may use what we see as wrongheaded means to teach – but it is for the will of our God to decide. Consider Christ. It is ultimately NOT Pilate who judges Jesus. For all his posturing and politicizing the procurator could not find a way out of this religious malady and so he symbolically washed his hands of the whole ordeal.

It was Almighty God who through Pilate judged the Lord Jesus Christ. For God judged Him as guilty bearing all sin. It is by the teaching of the Holy Bible we know and so believe that Jesus Christ was and ever shall be without sin of His own for which He must account. The sin that lays heavy on Jesus is your sin and mine. It is the sin of the entire world. In His baptism in the Jordan River Christ Jesus took upon Himself to be united with the fallen creation. He who knew NO sin became sin for us. And so through Pilate God judged His Son – the One we confess as Lord and Savior. Thereby sin was judged in the human body of Jesus Christ. His suffering and death on the cross is the due for sin – this one death paved the way for many to be made alive.

This Jesus is so named as Savior because even as God judged through the means of misled religious leaders and ruthless Roman prelates - so God judged you in Christ.

This is the good news that accompanies this terrible judgment scene. It is the truth that because Jesus was without sin – the grave did not – the grave could not hold Him. As God judged Jesus – so God has judged the entire world – in Jesus. The gift of forgiveness and so the gift of and everlasting life in heaven is simply given by God. This gift is received by faith – faith that hopes and holds on to all that our Lord offers and gives. Faith that seeks to grow in its relationship with Christ. Faith that sees the will of God and desires so to do. Faith that clings to Jesus Christ – trusting that as God has judged sin in Jesus and that our Lord has overcome such sin and death – we are free from these bonds as well.

Consider now the word judgment. While God does judge sin – and at times even chastises us whom He loves – the judgment that condemns has already been spoken against Jesus alone. His judgment has become your judgment. And Jesus was judged to be – righteous and holy and so you who are in Christ are as such -- you the guilty, for the sake of Christ Jesus, are acquitted of your guilt.

The Temptation of our Lord

It was a great joy this past Sunday to preach on Saint Matthew 4. Here we are ever reminded that the Lord, Jesus Christ, undertook temptation as the One who stands in our stead. When you consider the text do not focus so much HOW Jesus does what He does - uses the Word to defeat Satan (law perhaps) -- while that is textually present and theologically and homiletically important - consider more so WHAT He does (Gospel perhaps) - stands for us and defeats the Accuser for us. It is Scriptural to say that Jesus was tempted throughout His life on earth. I imagine one of the most severe must have been the temptation to "come down from the cross and we will believe in YOU!"

Thanks be to God that Jesus did not succumb to that temptation -

If Jesus Christ comes down from the cross we would have NOTHING to believe in -- faith is in Christ crucified.

GIANT DISAPPOINTMENT

Eli had to come of age as an NFL QB. Too bad for us Packer fans it had to be in the NFC Championship game. Good Job Eli! Good Luck GIANTS! PLLLLEEEEAAAASSSSEEE beat the Patriots.

Welcome to the Tundra!

It has been long since I have written - vacancy aside - no excuses, I was lazy. So on this day on having been prompted by our blog moderators I offer an analysis of the GBP/SEA game from saturday and why the Packers will beat NYG on Sunday.

Physical play. The Packers looked on Sunday as if they actually enjoyed the hitting as football was long ago. The likes of Huff and Butkus, Nitschke and Dobler must have been pleased. No dome - play like men in the cold and snow. If you got dinged - so what - as my coach always told us -- and this was in HS "...rub some dirt on it and get back in there."

The Pack played football - Seattle tried to "win".

Green Bay should physically dominate both sides of the ball. We have better OL and DL, better LB, much better secondary, better recievers, more consistent running game and yes, even our old QB - but old just means experienced. GB by 10... Now if only the PATS would lose - but that's another story.