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Bad Fruit---4th Sunday in Advent

12/21/2014

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Readings: Genesis 4:1-16, 25-26; Hebrews 11:4; 12:1-2, 22, 24; Luke 11:47-51

In the name of the Father and of the +Son and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.

If Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Heb. 13:8) then there are not two different gods described in the Bible, one in the Old Testament and one in the New Testament. There is merely the same God, with the same character throughout all of time. He has different testaments or legal frameworks which have set out different boundaries and ways of working, but He is the same. For example, under the New Testament in His blood (Matt. 26:26-28) there is no longer a physical temple in Jerusalem (1 Cor. 3:16; Eph. 2:20-22) with the sacrifices and rules of cleanness in order to enter it. But while the specifics may be different, the big picture is the same. God’s character is the same. God still has the same goal: your salvation.

Which brings us to today’s question: why was Abel’s sacrifice accepted and Cain’s not? Over the years I’ve heard many answers, but none of them ever made much sense. For instance, I’ve heard it said that Cain’s sacrifice was of the “fruit of the ground” (Gen. 4:3) which leads some people to speculate that it was rotten fruit from off the ground. That Cain was not giving his best to God. He was  not giving of his first (or best) fruits.


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Know the Time: The Time of Fulfilment—4th Sunday in Advent

12/22/2013

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The 4th sermon in a series called "Know the Time":
1st Sunday in Advent: "KtTime: The Day of the Lord"
2nd Sunday in Advent: "KtT: The Day of His Coming"
3rd Sunday in Advent: "KtT: The Present Joy"
4th Sunday in Advent: "KtT: The Time of Fulfillment"

Deuteronomy 18:15-19
Philippians 4:4-7
John 1:19-28

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In the name of the Father and of the +Son and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.  

John the Baptizer came to prepare for something amazing: the coming of the Prophet.  When the Israelites were freed from slavery in Egypt it was the Angel of the Lord, who is God in human form, who led them out.  The Angel of the Lord led them in the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night (Exodus 13:21-22).  The pillar opened a pathway through the Red Sea, blocked the Egyptians as the Israelites passed through the sea, and allowed the waters to close while the Egyptians chased down into the middle of the sea lusting after their Israelite slaves (Exodus 14:19-27).

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That pillar of cloud by day and fire by night led them to Mt. Sinai where the Lord in the pillar rested on the mountain and gave Moses the Ten Commandments, written by the finger of God on stone tablets.  God, the Lord, the second person of the Holy Trinity, spoke to Moses there.  As the Lord descended on the mountain in His unveiled glory His unhidden perfection impacted this broken creation.  His angelic armies proclaimed His coming with a constant blast of trumpets.  The rocks cried out at His coming as the mountain shook, and was scorched by His glory.  The smoke rose from that mountain, like the blasting heat of a kiln, blotting out the sky.  That was unnerving enough.  But it was hearing the voice of the Lord which undid them. The people trembled in fear and crept back from that mountain.  They cried out, "Please Moses, do not let us hear the thundering voice of the Lord again. You speak to us!  We will listen to you."  For the fear of death was upon them at the sound of His voice.  "You speak to us.  You be His prophet.  His mouthpiece."


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Salvation Like Rain---4th Sunday in Advent

12/23/2012

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Introit (Isaiah 45:8)
Deuteronomy 18:15-19
Philippians 4:4-7
John 1:19-28

In the name of the Father and of the +Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.  
The first murder occurred between the first two brothers.  This juxtaposition of brotherly love with murder formed a wicked symmetry that foretold the deadliness of sibling rivalry down through the ages.  And the Lord God said to guilty brother, “Your brother’s blood cries out to Me from the ground.”  And from that moment the face of the earth has writhed and groaned at the injustices done upon her.  And especially since that first blood was shed creation itself longs for the wickedness it witnesses to be avenged and set right.  

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Putting the Christ in Christmas---4th Sunday in Advent

12/18/2011

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Deuteronomy 18:15-19
Philippians 4:4-7
John 1:19-28

In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.  
You must change your way of thinking.  You must rejoice.  You must pray about all that makes you anxious, for you ought not be anxious for Christ has taken care of everything.  You must be gracious, reasonable, forbearing with weakness and sin.  And overall you must rejoice.  

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