Holy Trinity Sunday/Confirmation 05/18/08 Text: Matthew 28:16-20 Title: Off to a Great Start!
Holy Trinity Sunday
05/18/08
Text: Matthew 28:16-20
Title: Off To A Great Start!
This morning is a big day for two of our young members. Today they will be confessing before us the faith that was given to them by God in their Baptism. This time is not as so many believe, graduation, but a time when we, as a congregation, welcome them to join us in partaking of Jesus’ very body and blood in the Lord’s Supper.
It is very sad, that so many people believe that once they have gone through confirmation do not feel the need to study the Word of God. They are missing some of the most wonderful joys of life. God wants you, all of those who call themselves followers of Jesus to know him better, so that their lives are better.
Today is Holy Trinity Sunday, that Sunday when we usually read together the Athanasian Creed, the creed that explains our faith in the Triune God. We are not going to do that today because of our confirmation service in the 10:30 service. But we are still going to take a look at the Triune God today, for what better day for our confirmands to publicly proclaim their faith.
Christianity is unique in that we confess our belief in a God, who is three distinct persons. No other religion can make that claim. Now to those who do not believe this belief it is, of course, pure silliness. It makes no sense, because you cannot have 3 distinct persons be one person. It does not make any sense and I tell those I am instructing in the Christian faith that if anyone tells them that they understand the Triune God they probably should flee from them.
It is a mystery, as it should be. The Trinity is only our feeble attempt to grasp a God who cannot be understood. The Trinity allows us to get a grasp on the mightiness and unfathomable richness of God. It is, as I said earlier our feeble attempt of grasping a God that cannot be grasped.
That is why God tells us about himself in his Word. We see God the Father in action as he creates and sustains the world. We see him throughout the Old Testament as he makes a people who will in time produce the mother of our Lord. He shows us this through the actions of sinful people because he wants us to know that he is the one in control and that what he says will happen will happen.
We see God the Father in the New Testament as Jesus talks to him and tells us that the Father and He are one. There is the start of the unity of the Trinity. Jesus is one with the Father, not just spiritually but holistically, because he is God in the flesh, that is human form.
We of course see Jesus in the New Testament as he is born, lives, dies, is resurrected, and ascends to heaven to once more be with the Father. But we also see Jesus in the Old Testament, right in the beginning as he speaks the creation into existence. We know he was there because John tells us in John 1 verse 1, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”
We see the Holy Spirit in the Word of God first in Genesis, where we are told in Genesis chapter 1, verse 2, “And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.” The Holy Spirit is mentioned in many places in the Old Testament. Remember last week when we read Numbers? We found that God took some of the Spirit he had given Moses and put it on the seventy elders.
We also saw last Sunday, when we celebrated Pentecost, that the Holy Spirit was turned loose unto the whole world, so that all could come to faith and be know Christ as their Savior. Jesus he God-man left our presence so that the Holy Spirit who is not confined to a body could go where Jesus could not go since he he had a human body and was confined to a certain time and place.
We see all of that and to be able to somehow grasp the mystery we have the doctrine of the Trinity that our confirmands, that all of us, are confessing this morning. And because of our belief, our confession of the Trinity we can more fully understand Matthew 28:19-20, “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, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age."
There is a lot to be said about in those two verses. First we have the law which tells everyone of us who claim to be a follower of Jesus what we are to do; make disciples. We are to baptize and teach them the Word of God.
There are, in my opinion, very few people in any given congregation that have the spiritual gift of evangelism. But there are a lot of people in the congregation that have the spiritual gift of encouragement and the ability to give money for the support of those with the gift of telling the Good News, which is what the word evangelist means. And in encouraging and supporting those with the gift of evangelizing those without the gift of evangelism are joined with them in making disciples.
That is what this congregation has done. It has baptized and then taught these two young people the Word of God. You might not have taught them directly or even know them personally, but never the less you as a member of this congregation have taught and supported them. I know, that just like many of you they think they have learned it all, but they have not, for that study will never be finished. But they have learned the ABC’s, the fundamentals of the Christian faith and it will serve them well over the years. And I thank you the members of Saint John for doing that.
And to you two, Brennen and Emily, I want to remind you that Jesus has promised that he will be with you always until the end of time. Amen.
05/18/08
Text: Matthew 28:16-20
Title: Off To A Great Start!
This morning is a big day for two of our young members. Today they will be confessing before us the faith that was given to them by God in their Baptism. This time is not as so many believe, graduation, but a time when we, as a congregation, welcome them to join us in partaking of Jesus’ very body and blood in the Lord’s Supper.
It is very sad, that so many people believe that once they have gone through confirmation do not feel the need to study the Word of God. They are missing some of the most wonderful joys of life. God wants you, all of those who call themselves followers of Jesus to know him better, so that their lives are better.
Today is Holy Trinity Sunday, that Sunday when we usually read together the Athanasian Creed, the creed that explains our faith in the Triune God. We are not going to do that today because of our confirmation service in the 10:30 service. But we are still going to take a look at the Triune God today, for what better day for our confirmands to publicly proclaim their faith.
Christianity is unique in that we confess our belief in a God, who is three distinct persons. No other religion can make that claim. Now to those who do not believe this belief it is, of course, pure silliness. It makes no sense, because you cannot have 3 distinct persons be one person. It does not make any sense and I tell those I am instructing in the Christian faith that if anyone tells them that they understand the Triune God they probably should flee from them.
It is a mystery, as it should be. The Trinity is only our feeble attempt to grasp a God who cannot be understood. The Trinity allows us to get a grasp on the mightiness and unfathomable richness of God. It is, as I said earlier our feeble attempt of grasping a God that cannot be grasped.
That is why God tells us about himself in his Word. We see God the Father in action as he creates and sustains the world. We see him throughout the Old Testament as he makes a people who will in time produce the mother of our Lord. He shows us this through the actions of sinful people because he wants us to know that he is the one in control and that what he says will happen will happen.
We see God the Father in the New Testament as Jesus talks to him and tells us that the Father and He are one. There is the start of the unity of the Trinity. Jesus is one with the Father, not just spiritually but holistically, because he is God in the flesh, that is human form.
We of course see Jesus in the New Testament as he is born, lives, dies, is resurrected, and ascends to heaven to once more be with the Father. But we also see Jesus in the Old Testament, right in the beginning as he speaks the creation into existence. We know he was there because John tells us in John 1 verse 1, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”
We see the Holy Spirit in the Word of God first in Genesis, where we are told in Genesis chapter 1, verse 2, “And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.” The Holy Spirit is mentioned in many places in the Old Testament. Remember last week when we read Numbers? We found that God took some of the Spirit he had given Moses and put it on the seventy elders.
We also saw last Sunday, when we celebrated Pentecost, that the Holy Spirit was turned loose unto the whole world, so that all could come to faith and be know Christ as their Savior. Jesus he God-man left our presence so that the Holy Spirit who is not confined to a body could go where Jesus could not go since he he had a human body and was confined to a certain time and place.
We see all of that and to be able to somehow grasp the mystery we have the doctrine of the Trinity that our confirmands, that all of us, are confessing this morning. And because of our belief, our confession of the Trinity we can more fully understand Matthew 28:19-20, “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, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age."
There is a lot to be said about in those two verses. First we have the law which tells everyone of us who claim to be a follower of Jesus what we are to do; make disciples. We are to baptize and teach them the Word of God.
There are, in my opinion, very few people in any given congregation that have the spiritual gift of evangelism. But there are a lot of people in the congregation that have the spiritual gift of encouragement and the ability to give money for the support of those with the gift of telling the Good News, which is what the word evangelist means. And in encouraging and supporting those with the gift of evangelizing those without the gift of evangelism are joined with them in making disciples.
That is what this congregation has done. It has baptized and then taught these two young people the Word of God. You might not have taught them directly or even know them personally, but never the less you as a member of this congregation have taught and supported them. I know, that just like many of you they think they have learned it all, but they have not, for that study will never be finished. But they have learned the ABC’s, the fundamentals of the Christian faith and it will serve them well over the years. And I thank you the members of Saint John for doing that.
And to you two, Brennen and Emily, I want to remind you that Jesus has promised that he will be with you always until the end of time. Amen.
posted by Pastor Rhoads | 11:24 AM
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