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Atlantis ‹the domain of the Stingray›
Slow is when someone laps you in the hundred yard dash.
‹anonymous›
Atlantis: the domain of the Stingray
9Oct
2016
Sun
15:44
author: Stingray
category: Sermons
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trackbacks: 0

Second Sunday after Michaelmas

John 4:46-54

Second Sunday ater Michaelmas 2016 Wordle
In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

You have in the certain nobleman today a beautiful example of faith. He exhibits the nature and character of faith, namely, that it is supposed to increase and, as Dr. Luther put it, become perfect. He shows that faith is not a quiet and idle thing, but a living and restless thing; it rises and falls, ebbs and flows, lives and moves. If this does not occur, then faith does not exist; it is, then, only a lifeless notion of the heart concerning God. “For true, living faith, which the Holy Spirit pours into the heart, cannot be inactive,” as even St. James wrote. (cf. James 2:17) Therefore, do not think that if you have attained faith, that you now have everything; you must constantly grow and increase and continue to learn to know God better.

“Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.” (1 Peter 5:8) Here is a primary reason why: the devil is not idle. You are under constant barrage from the enemy, and this is not always something you can see or feel or otherwise even comprehend; sure, there are times when you will, such as when temptations come alluring. However, this is no mere persecution from a world hostile to the Gospel, but from the powers of darkness, as you heard today in the Epistle. (cf. Ephesians 6:12) The devil howls and rages; he is mad and foolish, and he cannot bear that a Christian grows in his faith; therefore, he is always, always at work against it.

2Oct
2016
Sun
15:23
author: Stingray
category: Sermons
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First Sunday after Michaelmas

Matthew 22:1-14

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

When one hears this parable, the natural inclination is to look at what the all of the people are doing. These people are invited to a feast. When it came time for the feast, they are fetched by a servant, but each of them gives excuses and declines showing up. Additionally, they take those who came to fetch them and treated them spitefully and killed them. Of course, this would incense the one who invited them, and in the parable, he destroyed the invitees and burned up their cities.

Then, there are other people brought to the feast, and again, the attention is on them. The hall is filled with guests, but one of them isn’t wearing the proper wedding garments. It was traditional in the time of Jesus that when you invited someone to a wedding feast, you provided them the appropriate attire. When he’s approached about it, he hasn’t an answer. So, he is bound hand and foot and thrown into outer darkness, where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth.