A sermon in "talking points."
In der Liebe Christi,
Rev. Kurt Hering, Pastor
Trinity Lutheran Church
Layton, UT
Grace, mercy and peace to you from God the Father and Christ Jesus, our
Lord.
TEXT: 1 Cor 1:1-9 Paul, called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ through the
will of God, and Sosthenes our brother, To the church of God which is at
Corinth, to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints,
with all who in every place call on the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both
theirs and ours: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord
Jesus Christ. I thank my God always concerning you for the grace of God
which was given to you by Christ Jesus, that you were enriched in everything
by Him in all utterance and all knowledge, even as the testimony of Christ
was confirmed in you, so that you come short in no gift, eagerly waiting for
the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will also confirm you to the
end, that you may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is
faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus
Christ our Lord. (NKJ)
Beloved of our Lord,
God is faithful!
You are not.
This is a hard lesson, but one that must be learned and taken to heart.
God is faithful!
You are not.
John 1:29-30 The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said,
"Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! This is He of
whom I said, 'After me comes a Man who is preferred."
And again: John 3:30 "He must increase, but I must decrease." (NKJ)
God is faithful!
You are not.
Prov 3:5-8 Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own
understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your
paths. Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD and depart from evil.
It will be health to your flesh, and strength to your bones. (NKJ)
Micah 7:5 Do not trust in a friend; do not put your confidence in a
companion; guard the doors of your mouth from her who lies in your bosom.
(NKJ) Matt 15:19 "For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders,
adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies." (NKJ)
Ps 146:3-5 Do not put your trust in princes, nor in a son of man, in whom
there is no help. His spirit departs, he returns to his earth; in that very
day his plans perish. Happy is he who has the God of Jacob for his help,
whose hope is in the LORD his God" (NKJ)
God is faithful!
You are not.
John 3:30 "He must increase, but I must decrease." (NKJ)
Moses, David, John, Peter, Paul - are you more faithful than they?
They were not faithful. Neither are you.
1 Cor 10:13 No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man;
but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you
are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you
may be able to bear it" (NKJ)
Heb 4:14_16 Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed
through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.
For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses,
but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore
come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace
to help in time of need. (NKJ)
God is faithful!
You are not.
The miracles where Jesus says "your faith has saved you," it is not faith
that looks inside, it is faith that looks to the faithful one.
1 Cor 2:1_5 And I, brethren, when I came to you, did not come with
excellence of speech or of wisdom declaring to you the testimony of God. For
I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him
crucified. I was with you in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling. And
my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom,
but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith should not
be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God. (NKJ)
Prov 22:17-19 Incline your ear and hear the words of the wise, and apply
your heart to my knowledge; For it is a pleasant thing if you keep them
within you; let them all be fixed upon your lips, So that your trust may be
in the LORD; I have instructed you today, even you. (NKJ)
God is faithful!
You are not.
1 Cor. 1:10 Now I plead with you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus
Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions
among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in
the same judgment. (NKJ)
Why? Because God is faithful!
You are not.
So Paul entreats Pastor Timothy,
2 Tim 2:7-15 Consider what I say, and may the Lord give you understanding in
all things. Remember that Jesus Christ, of the seed of David, was raised
from the dead according to my gospel, for which I suffer trouble as an
evildoer, even to the point of chains; but the word of God is not chained.
Therefore I endure all things for the sake of the elect, that they also may
obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory. This is a
faithful saying: for if we died with Him, we shall also live with Him. If we
endure, we shall also reign with Him. If we deny Him, he also will deny us.
If we are faithless, he remains faithful; he cannot deny Himself.
You have been buried into Christ in Baptism and incorporated into His body.
A body he gives to you out of His faithfulness in the Lord's Supper. You are
part of Him and He will not deny you because
God is faithful!
You are not.
Jer 39:18 "For I will surely deliver you, and you shall not fall by the
sword; but your life shall be as a prize to you, because you have put your
trust in Me," says the LORD.'" (NKJ)
2 Cor 1:17-22 Therefore, when I was planning this, did I do it lightly? Or
the things I plan, do I plan according to the flesh, that with me there
should be Yes, Yes, and No, No? But as God is faithful, our word to you was
not Yes and No. For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you
by us-- by me, Silvanus, and Timothy-- was not Yes and No, but in Him was
Yes. For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the
glory of God through us. Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and
has anointed us is God, who also has sealed us and given us the Spirit in
our hearts as a guarantee. (NKJ)
OT or NT. Prophet or Apostle. Prioest or pastor. The message is the same:
God is faithful!
You are not.
No, you are not faithful.
But God is. You have His Word on it - in the name of the Father and of the +
Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen
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