A helpful response to an important question about our common problems…
Blessed Holy Week!
April 14 Arrives Soon!
Trinity Lutheran Church has its first service in Norcross, Georgia on Palm Sunday, April 14! All is set and ready for the preaching of the unmerited grace of God in Jesus Christ, our crucified and risen Lord! This is a new place at a new altar where people can gather and receive the eternal treasures of the Triune God! This is a place where our Lord will snap the idolatrous chains of Satan that keep people trapped in spiritual death (Ephesian 2:1-10). This will be a place where burden and guilt will be lifted off the shoulders of troubled souls by the forgiveness of sins in our loving Savior, Jesus (John 20:20-23). We give God thanks for the mission heart and support from the Atlanta North Circuit for the purchase of the new hymnals and catechisms. We also thank our Lord for our Florida-Georgia District who have given a generous gift to cover the cost of rent at Norcross Elementary School for 6 months. It is time. If we continue to wait until our weak sinful natures are ready enough to engage in the Great Commission, we will never move. But our Lord Jesus Christ says “Go (Matthew 28:18-19)!” We trust the power of the Word of God to bring all the results. We trust the Holy Spirit Who brings new life when and where He wills (John 3:3-7). “Behold, now is the favorable time (kairos); behold now is the day of salvation (2 Corinthians 6:2)!”
The schedule for the day will be:
- The Divine Service at 9 AM with Dr. Victor Belton preaching (pictured above left).
- Bible Study for all ages at 10 AM.
- The Divine Service in Korean at 11 AM with Rev. Min Soo Kim preaching (pictured below with his family).
- Bible Study for all ages in Korean at Noon.
- Food and Fellowship for all at 1 PM.
Praise God, from Whom all blessings flow;
Praise Him, all creatures here below;
Praise Him above, ye heavenly host:
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen!
~Thomas Ken
Evil and God
The question about evil continues to pop up as a reason for people to “not believe.” It is very common for people to say that “I cannot believe in a God that allows suffering or evil.” This all concerns the question of theodicy. Theodicy basically probes the question “why does a loving God allow evil in the world?” This is a legit question and people are very often legitimately asking this because they are seeking answers. So . . . how do we respond?
Oddly enough, this question is concretely answered in Article XI of the Formula of Concord! Crazy! Thanks to Rev. Wolfmueller for putting this in front of us so succinctly!
Why Plant a Church?
Why should any of us be so concerned about planting a church? Aren’t there plenty of Christian churches already around us? Aren’t there churches with much better facilities? And much more effective programs? Wouldn’t they be better at helping people understand the Gospel and find a church? Why do we need to be so concerned about what we are doing? Read Matthew 28:19-20. The words are “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have observe all that I have commanded you.” Christ clearly commands us to go to baptize all nations and to teach all that He has commanded us. The tense of this Greek word “Go!” basically says “having already gone,” baptize and teach. This is not a job we ever walk away from. It is protocol for the entire Christian Church on earth. Also, we are assured here that until the close of the age, Jesus says there will be a holy Christian people with whom He will dwell. He says “And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” The question is, “how can these holy people be found or recognized?” Martin Luther writes that these holy Christian people can be recognized by these seven things:
- Possession of God’s Holy Word in its entirety (2 Timothy 3:16-17)
- Holy Baptism rightly administered (Acts 2:38-41).
- The Sacrament of the Altar rightly administered (Acts 2:42).
- The Office of the Keys exercised publicly (John 20:23).
- The Office of the Ministry called pastors who administer the above four things (Acts 20:38).
- Prayer, public praise, and thanksgiving to God (1 Timothy 2:1-2).
- Possession of the sacred cross in proclamation and participation (Galatians 6:14).
Luther’s Works, Volume 41, Pages 148-165.
Ask yourself. Where can you find all these things in one place?
Although there are churches around us, these precious things are not all around us. And yet these things are the reason for our courage. Although we are sinners whose only consolation is the mercy of the cross of our Savior, time and time again we are steadied by our convictions in the Word of God and the necessity for the people around us to hear the eternal Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ clearly (Romans 1:16). We are moved by our conviction of God’s mighty power in Holy Baptism (Romans 6:3-5), the necessity of the forgiveness of sins (John 20:23), and the great benefits of the Lord’s Supper (John 6:54). People need the Good News of Christ in these days! They need His concrete means of grace! The Holy Spirit has given us the desire for others to be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth (1 Timothy 2:3-4). The result of these 7 marks of the Church is Christian love empowered by the Holy Spirit.
So . . . Trinity Lutheran Church is going into Norcross. They will bring these blessings to the lost and also disciple the saved. Keep them in your prayers as things begin on April 14, 2019! Glory to God and salvation to man!
Mission Field: USA in Georgia
Beginning on May 8, 2019, there will be Mission Field: USA training offered at Living Faith Lutheran Church in Cumming from 9 AM – 4 PM. This training is for pastors and lay people interested in starting a new Lutheran congregation, being a part of a church plant, or learning more about the process.
This training for doing missions is structured around the 7 marks of the Church (Luther’s writing on Church and Ministry III) and the framework of Witness, Mercy and Life Together. For more information, go to http://www.lcms.org/how-we-serve/national/church-planting. The Rev. Steve Schave will be onsite leading us on May 22.
The schedule is as follows:
9 AM – Order of Matins
10 AM – Bible Study on the Gospel of Mark
11:30 AM – Study in the Catechism and the Lutheran Confessions
Noon – Liturgical study
12:30 PM – Lunch Break
1:30 PM – Mission Field USA
2:30 PM – Pavement Pounders
Feel free to come for as much of it as you can! Glory to God! Salvation to man!
Trinity Lutheran starts in Norcross!
On April 14, 2019, Trinity Lutheran Church begins Word and Sacrament ministry in Norcross, Georgia!
Trinity’s new location will be at Norcross Elementary School (150 Hunt St. Norcross 30071). Both worship and Bible study will be in the cafeteria.
Get the word out so that people looking for a good church in Norcross can start to gather! Worship and Bible Study begins at Norcross Elementary School on April 14. Plan on attending and supporting the ministry as it reaches out to all people in the area with God’s eternal Word and gracious Gifts!
More information on Trinity Lutheran can be found at http://www.TrinityLutheran.net.
Rev. Rojas on the Giver of Life
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Epiphany of our Lord
“After Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, saying, ‘Where is He who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw His star when it rose and have come to worship Him.’” ~ Matthew 2:1-3
HE STILL SEEKS WISE MEN. This is not the phrase you see this time of year. In fact, nobody would buy it or understand it. Instead, we see the bumperstick “Wise men still seek Him.” We would all agree that it would be very wise to seek Jesus! But, alas! We are not wise! Even the fall into sin could be understood in light of Romans 1:22, “claiming to be wise, they became fools.” The Gospel is foolishness to those who are wise (1 Corinthians 1:18-19). In Matthew 2, it is the Lord Who is seeking the magi! The best translation of the Greek word magi is . . . you guessed it . . . magi! If we call them “wise men,” it is only because they were wise in their dark arts. They were definitely pagans. As Chaldeans rulers, they may have had some lingering memory of what the faithful Hebrews told them in Babylonian exile, but they were still wandering and wondering souls. They were lost.
We must gladly remember this. This is consistently Biblical from the beginning to the end. We don’t end up believing in God because we find Him. Or seek Him. Or make a decision for Him (read Ephesians 1:3-14 sometime!). Or even “accept” Him. Uh. . . . you can’t do that either. Only the Holy Spirit can create the new life that we call saving faith (1 Corinthian 12:3). God was not lost in Genesis 3 or any chapter after that. God is the One Who has been seeking and finding as a Good Shepherd looks for His Sheep. He is the One Who drew the wise man out of their spiritual darkness to the place where they could interact with the King of kings. The Light of the world was shining forth through this toddler (Jesus was living in a home in Bethlehem by the time the magi arrived) that themagi would eventually “find.” One tiny, lasting word from one of Yahweh’s dear people in exile was enough to prepare the wise men to travel to see the true King when the star drew them forth. And . . . coming to the place where Jesus was, they fell down before Him and worshipped Him. They opened up to Him their gifts, which were gold, frankincense, and myrrh. The first two were kingly gifts indeed, but the last one, myrrh, which was used in the burial process, was already revealing that this tiny eternal Messiah would be the Savior of the world. He was born to die and born to save the lost.
God finds us. He sent Jesus to find both Jews and Gentiles. He sent Him to save both the low-born and the high-class. He came to save the notoriously sinful, but also those who still think that they are wise in their own eyes. Yes, He still seeks wise men! He still seeks those flirting with all kinds of false spirituality and the deep darkness of self- worship. He is seeking all those trapped in the new age movement and worshipping idols in temples. Christ came to liberate us from the our bondage to sin through His liberating life and salvation through His atoning death and glorious resurrection. He puts down a name through Word with water in Baptism to find, to save, to keep. This very Lord, Who once was so tiny and helpless, is now at the right hand of the Father with all things under His feet. He is the very merciful and conquering Lord Who stoops down to strengthen with His Body and Blood in the bread and wine of Holy Communion. Jesus is a King Who stays for us with the forgiveness of sins until the closing of the age (Matthew 28:20).
As recorded in George Malech’s Book, “History of the Syrian Nation and the Old Evangelical-Apostolic Church of the East,” there is a group of Christians who claim that their origins go back to the mission work of the converted Magi who told of the newborn King. They also have a record of the names of the 12 ruling magi who came to see Jesus. Do we know this for a fact? No, because it is not recorded in the Holy Scriptures. But . . . what we do know from Word of God is that Jesus is our Savior. He has come for both Jew and Gentile. He has delivered us from our spiritual blindness. He has given us His Words. These are the very words that we gladly get to tell to those who around us in a lost and hurting world. Arise, and shine, your Light has come!
Blessed Epiphany!
Rev. Tim Droegemueller
The Voice
As Rev. Scott Keith with the 1517 Legacy Project does presentations all around the country on the need for clear distinction between Law and Gospel, he is asked one question more than any others. The question is “where can I get this stuff on a regular basis?” And . . . 99% of people who ask this question is already attending a church. To serve the necessity of growing in our understanding of this eternally crucial need, here is some instruction from Martin Luther about the “The voice of one crying in the wildnerness (Isaiah 40:3).”
Luther writes:
By this prophecy Isaiah promises a new kind of teaching beyond that which had been in vogue heretofore. For in this way the evangelists begin. The voice of one crying. It is as if he were saying: “The preaching of the Law was a muttering, incomplete and unpleasant to all ears, and produced nothing but hypocrites. But here comes a voice, a clear and complete and universal proclamation which purely and joyously and most loudly declares that the warfare is ended and that sins are forgiven.” This is received from “a voice,” that is, through the public preaching of the Word. It must be heard and recieved from a speaking voice. Away with our schismatics, who spurn the Word while they sit in corners waiting for the Spirit’s revelation, but apart from the voice of the Word! They say one must sit still in a corner and empty the mind of all speculations, and then the Holy Spirit will fill it. The sophists also taught this. In vain, however, do we rely on this, and that for two reasons. In the first place, because we are not able to empty our souls of speculations. The devil will provide you with many thoughts. In the second place, because the flesh has not yet been killed in you. When you have heard the Word, you earnestly kill the flesh and empty your soul. It will happen in no other way. No one becomes spiritual without this voice. Away with all Enthusiasts (those who trust God will work apart from the Word and Sacraments). Take note: The beginning of all spiritual knowledge is this voice of one crying, as also Paul says, Romans 10:14: “How are they to believe . . . without a preacher?”
The voice of one crying, that is, a new kind of teaching which should be proclaimed everywhere. In the wilderness. This voice is sent forth in the wilderness both by the preacher himself and by the hearers. By contrast, wilderness is placed opposite the teaching of the Law. For like a jail, a wall, and a city, the Law secures and fences us in. The voice of the Gospel, however, is a free wilderness, open to all, public, and unrestrained like a wilderness. There is indeed a limitation about the Law, but the teaching of the Gospel is most free and most unrestrained. Hence all these words are as by contrast set against the teaching of the Law. The voice of one crying in the wilderness. This voice of the Gospel takes the place of the whispering murmur, which teaches the Law in specified localities. This voice, however, has no definite place and teacher. Moses whispers, but the Gospel shouts confidently and most vigorously.”
~Luther’s Works vol. 40: 8.
The Shepherd is Not Lost
Look at this video the next time you are tempted to that anyone has “found” Jesus. Thank you Rev. Adam Ellsworth of Grace Lutheran in Midtown for providing…
https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1889714241323339&id=1481293402183632
The Parable of the Lost Sheep
1Now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear Him (Jesus). 2And the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled, saying, “This man receives sinners and eats with them.”
3So he told them this parable: 4“What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open country, and go after the one that is lost, until he finds it? 5And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. 6And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.’ 7Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.
The Kairos Network 