Month: February 2017

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Thy Kingdom Come: What Glory Shall Be Theirs Above

Text: Matthew 17:1-9
Date: Transfiguration + 2/26/17

In Exodus chapter three we are told how Moses was called by God. “The angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. He looked, and behold, the bush was burning, yet it was not consumed. And Moses said, ‘I will turn aside to see this great sight, why the bush is not burned.’” He never found out. But God called to him out of the bush and was ordered to remove his sandals because he was standing on holy ground. Where God is there is holy ground. Finally we are told, “And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.” (Ex 3:2-6). Continue reading “Thy Kingdom Come: What Glory Shall Be Theirs Above”

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Thy Kingdom Come: His Rule is Over All

Text: Matthew 5:38-48
Date: Epiphany VII + 2/19/17

How large is God’s Kingdom? Today Jesus says, “He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.” In other words God’s Kingdom comes to all. It’s just that not all receive it aright. We say that God’s Kingdom comes to our benefit “when He gives His Holy Spirit, so that by His grace we believe His holy Word and lead godly lives here in time and there in eternity.” For the person who rejects God “Here in time” he needs to know that there still is time. God will give His Holy Spirit, His grace to all who hear and do not reject His Word or block Him out. “There in eternity” there will be no more need for all there will have come in repentance and faith. Continue reading “Thy Kingdom Come: His Rule is Over All”

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Thy Kingdom Come: You Are God’s Building

Text: 1 Corinthians 3:1-9
Date: Epiphany VI + 2/12/17

Thy Kingdom Come. When we pray these words we not only pray asking that the kingdom come to us from God, from outside of ourselves, but we also pray that God would make us part of His kingdom. St. Paul refers to you as “God’s Field and God’s Building.” Continue reading “Thy Kingdom Come: You Are God’s Building”

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Thy Kingdom Come: Great in the Kingdom

Text: Matthew 5:13-29
Date: Pentecost V + 2/5/17

Thy Kingdom Come. Glorious now, we press toward glory (LSB 578:3).

I wonder how many people, when we pray the words “Thy kingdom come,” think only in terms of the return of Christ on the Last Day, you know, as you often hear these words meaning something is going to continue “until kingdom come,” meaning the Last Day. And certainly, faith is, as we say in the creed, always “look[ing] for the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come.” But the Kingdom of God is more than that as it comes to us Christians even now. Continue reading “Thy Kingdom Come: Great in the Kingdom”