He who laughs last thinks slowest.
‹anonymous›
Atlantis: the domain of the Stingray
31May
2014
Sat
22:31
author: Stingray
category: My Ramblings
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What I Did This Week, no. 22

it's the 22nd!

As far as the number of weeks go, this one is my favorite number. Those who know me know why. When I play sports games, and create myself as a player in that sport, I either give myself the number 55 or 22. In any event, this week was a bittersweet week.

29May
2014
Thu
23:30
author: Stingray
category: Sermons
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Ascension of Our Lord

Luke 24:44-53; Acts 1:1-11

The Ascension of Our Lord 2014 Wordle

NOTE: These weekday sermons seem to be chock full of typos and such errors, more so than the Sunday sermons are. Perhaps that's because they are written under more pressure (a tighter deadline). If you listen to the audio, you'll likely hear some places where the manuscript tripped me up. What is entered here and the pdf file are the original, unedited, uncorrected manuscript.

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

As you were to pore over the Scriptures, you would find periods of time where God is simply silent. There was no thunder from heaven, no smoke, no fire, no trembling mountains—only silence. Not much is said of God’s activity in the time between Noah and Abraham. The Old Testament closes and there was 400 years of silence before John the Baptist, to which even the Apocrypha attests. (cf. 1 Maccabees 9:27) Even in the New Testament, there’s hardly a word from God, even as He walks on earth in the flesh, between the time of Jesus’ Annunciation to His birth, between His birth and baptism, and a little between His resurrection and ascension. Of course, we presume to know that God was active in all of those times, but we read and hear little to nothing of them.

We now live in a time referred to as The Saeculum, a Latin word meaning “age” or “period of time.” It is used to refer to a period of time since an event occurred and the death of the last person to witness the event. This Saeculum that we live in is marked by the period of time in which no one living as seen Jesus in the flesh. By the standards set forth so far in this sermon, The Saeculum is another period of silence from God—there is no thunder from heaven, smoke, fire, or trembling mountains, at least, none of which we can attribute to the direct activity of God to mark His presence. The Canon of Scripture is closed, as there is no further revelation from God. Jesus has come, died on the cross, rose from the grave, and is now ascended to the right hand of majesty.

Now, there is silence...only silence.

25May
2014
Sun
15:10
author: Stingray
category: Sermons
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Rogate

John 16:23-33

Rogate 2014 Wordle
In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

“Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.”

As we are about to enter the days of Rogation, the three days before Jesus’ ascension to the right hand of the throne of God, we are given a text on prayer; appropriate to the day, Rogate, which name means “ask” or “call upon.” So, Jesus says, “Most assuredly, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in My name He will give you.”

24May
2014
Sat
22:33
author: Stingray
category: My Ramblings
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What I Did This Week, no. 21

Prepare and Play

It was a preparation and enjoyment. We got the house clean, again. We welcomed some guests, again. And right now, a good time is being had by all in our household. Time in the office was short, consequently, but plans were made in that short time.

18May
2014
Sun
19:57
author: Stingray
category: Sermons
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Cantate

John 16:5-15

Cantate 2014 Wordle
In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

“And when [the Helper] has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: of sin, because they do not believe in Me; of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more; of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.”

Jesus is speaking of His death, resurrection, and ascension. He speaks to the 12, His chosen disciples, preparing them for the time when He would no longer be among them as He had been before.

Jesus is the Way, so goes on His way; He must go to the cross and grave first, for sins, then, into resurrection and rebirth. But then, Jesus continues on His way, for He ascends into heaven, and is no more seen as He was before. Now the Comforter, that is, the Holy Ghost, comes to His church. (Burnell F. Eckardt, Jr. in Every Day Will I Bless Thee)

There, in Jesus’ Bride, the Church, the Holy Ghost does His work.

17May
2014
Sat
19:52
author: Stingray
category: My Ramblings
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What I Did This Week, no. 20

tempus fugit

Can you believe that there have already been 20 weeks this year? Or, can you believe that there have only been 20 weeks this year? It’s all a matter of perspective, I suppose—where you’ve been, what you’ve done, what you’ve gone through so far this year, or any year—that determines whether a point in time is already so far into a period or only so far into it.

11May
2014
Sun
16:31
author: Stingray
category: Sermons
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Jubilate

John 16:16-22

Jubilate 2014 Wordle

This manuscript is nearly identical to one preached on 2nd May 2010. You can view the manuscript here, or via the PDF file here.

10May
2014
Sat
16:14
author: Stingray
category: My Ramblings
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What I Did This Week, no. 19

short and sweet 2

Another short one this week. This week was spent entertaining family. My sister, brother-in-law, and nephew were down from Washington (with their dog, of course). We spent time visiting a couple of breweries. We went to the pool in Castle Rock. We had pictures of the kids taken—the cousins. Thursday came quickly, however, and they had to return home. It was good to host them.

The regular stuff happened at church, minus some regular office hours. There was Lutheran Confessions Study on Wednesday night; we finished Article VI of the Formula of Concord. Bible Study on Friday was supposed to be hosted at our house, but the older kids decided to misbehave for most of the day, so they were put to bed while I went to church; there, we finally finished with the first two verses of Genesis—it took us four weeks, but we did it!

Saturday was a pretty relaxing day, though I did have a visit to make in an unusual place, for me at least. We finally got the Disney movies we ordered today, too.

3May
2014
Sat
20:53
author: Stingray
category: My Ramblings
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What I Did This Week, no. 18

short and sweet

I’m gonna keep this short. This week, we did a lot of cleaning. We had some outlets downstairs changed to grounded outlets and had some new ones installed. Sermon prep saw me get nowhere, so I borrowed a sermon. Got back into the Lutheran Confessions Study at church and finished Article V of the Formula of Concord, both the Epitome and Solid Declaration. On Saturday, we enjoyed a play put on by some homeschooling friends and their co-op: a modern interpretation of Pilgrim’s Progress.

1May
2014
Thu
16:02
author: Stingray
category: My Ramblings
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I wonder...

...is Target Stores getting anything out of this?

LEGO Target Store?