Sermons
"So, faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the Word of Christ." (Rom 10:17). While it's preferable to hear the sermon in person, those who could not attend, or would like to review the sermon again, can do so here.
Sunday June 29, 2025
JESU JUVA THE FEAST OF SAINT PETER AND SAINT PAUL Text: Matthew 16:13-20 IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER, AND OF THE SON, AND OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. AMEN. What is your confession? Who do you say that JESUS, the SON of MAN, is? Before you answer I must caution you. You see, there is really only one answer: JESUS is “the CHRIST, the SON of the Living God.” Indeed, He is “God with us” and no other answer will do. Thus, we do not confess that JESUS is Saint John the Baptist, Elijah, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets. We do not confess that JESUS was simply a great teacher or philosopher. We do not claim that JESUS was just a good man who came like a sixties flower child with sandals on His feet and flowers in His hair, blathering the message of peace, love, dove. Nor is JESUS some sort of a metro-sexual, feminized image of a man that the world and the Church today seem to hold Him to be. JESUS is “the CHRIST, the SON of the Living God.” JESUS is the CHRIST and “in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead, bodily.” As we confessed with the true Christian Church on Earth only two short weeks ago, JESUS “is, at the same time, both God and man,” (The Athanasian Creed) of one substance with the FATHER, yet born of human flesh. Our confession means that we believe that God deigned to become Man and dwell among us in His creation “... who, for us men and for our salvation came down from Heaven and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the virgin Mary and was made man.” Spoken by the HOLY SPIRIT into the womb of a humble Jewish virgin maiden, JESUS, that is, God in human flesh, lived, died, and was raised again for the forgiveness of our sins. This was and is the message of St. Peter and St. Paul, apostles and martyrs of and for JESUS CHRIST—Peter to the Jews and Paul to the Gentiles. In memory of their lives and sacrifice the Church has set aside the 29th of June to give thanks to God for their confession and for their faith. Their confession was not mere human speculation about what JESUS would do. It was not about filling our lives with purpose mistakenly making of JESUS a new law-giver. They did not promise seven promises that they, as promise breakers, in no way could keep. Their confession was not about living our best life now, it was not about health and wealth. Their confession was not about how rosy this life can be if only we accept JESUS into our hearts. Their confession was about JESUS CHRIST and Him crucified for the life of the world. They were men inspired by God to care for nothing but the saving reality of who JESUS is and what JESUS has done for you and for me. Thus, the red color of this feast day is not to so much to highlight the blood of their martyrdom, the blood they shed for their confession, but the Blood JESUS shed upon the Cross for them, for you, and all mankind. It is that Blood, shed by God in our Flesh—for them, for you, and all mankind—that will also this day pour forth from the Chalice to cleanse your lips, purify your tongue, and inspire your confession. You see, it is the words of one’s mouth that reveal the thoughts of one’s heart. JESUS said, “Those things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and they defile a man. For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies. These are the things which defile a man.” Try as we might, none of us really has the ability to conceal the ugliness that is in his or her heart. The content of our heart has a way of being revealed, of bubbling up like the foul stench of methane gas from a sewer. So, we work overtime trying to conceal the truth of who we are. Why do you think lawyers and politicians are so often held in such contempt? The popular notion is that as long as their lips are moving we cannot trust what it is they are saying. It for this same reason that every politician has a staff to fix the verbal gaffs of their bosses, to cover up their flip flopping and put the best spin on their lies and mistakes. It is also the reason the powerful go unpunished, and the guilty so often go free using simple legal technicalities, or loopholes, or others, who should have known better, are awarded huge sums of money for their lack of common sense. And you? How many times have you pretended that you forgot something that you had not? How many times have you tried to pretended that you did not mean the words you spoke? If you did not mean them, then why did you speak them? How many times have you feigned shock and hurt claiming you had been misinterpreted when what you spoke is exactly what you meant? Again, JESUS tells us, “what comes out of the mouth, this defiles a man,” because the words that proceed from one’s mouth reveal the content of one’s heart. If you cannot tell the truth about the simplest things; if you color the facts, exaggerate, and edit the details; if you tell other people’s stories as though they are your own; if you act like you are better than you are; if all this causes you to feel deep down inside like a phony, it is because you know that your words are born of sin and you know that you must repent! For this reason, God does not build His Church on the content of the human heart, but on the confession that JESUS CHRIST is LORD. Or do you not know that your confession that JESUS is “the CHRIST, the SON of the Living God” is not revealed to you by your heart or by flesh and blood, but by our FATHER who is in Heaven? JESUS asked of His disciples, “Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?” Peter’s response was not his own, but that of the FATHER, spoken through Peter by the SPIRIT of God. The SPIRIT that hovered over the face of the deep, who descended upon JESUS in the form of a dove, who would alight on the fear-filled Apostles as they hid from the Jews and the Roman authorities in order to open their lips that their mouths would sing forth God’s praise; this SPIRIT opened Saint Peter’s lips and out came the Word of God, “You are the CHRIST, the SON of the Living God.” It is upon the Words of this confession, the Word of God, the revelation of His love in the MESSIAH poured out upon His creation and confessed on the lips of men, that CHRIST JESUS has built His Church. Upon this foundation God has built His Church; His Word spoken into the darkness and chaos of this world, creating a new world from that which was broken and defiled. This was the message Saint Paul. This is the message he would bring to the Gentiles who lived in a world in which worshipped in vain, pagan gods that ruled the hearts and minds of men with arbitrary cruelty. Into this world God sent His SON as the “Cornerstone” and it is upon this “Rock,” this confession, that God has built His Church. Yes, this is how God builds His Church. He gives to us the Words to say. In fact, He speaks through us. Even our liturgy reflects this truth as every word, whether spoken or sung, are Words God has given to us. You see, “faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.” The historic liturgy is the language of faith and faith comes only through the Word of God. The historic liturgy is the language of the Church because it is the Word of God. Thus, when Peter did not know what to say, God said it for Him. What Paul could not say, and in fact persecuted others for saying, God said for Him. God purified both Peter and Paul from the inside out. He changed their hearts so that the Words proceeding from their lips were pure and holy. God entered into them and opened their lips. He cleansed those lips for confession, and by grace their mouths declared God’s praise. That is the way God builds. He is the Architect of faith and the Builder all that is good and true, of all that is holy. He even provides the material. He did for Peter and Paul what Peter and Paul could not do for themselves. He gave them His Word and brought them to faith. This is also how God works in you, in me, and all who will believe. For you are a baptized child of God and with this blessed Sacrament, despite all your sins, despite what you have done or left undone, our FATHER in Heaven has declared you well-pleasing to Him. In Baptism, the HOLY SPIRIT Himself has descended upon you, and He, with God the SON, has made His home within your heart. Thus, you make confession just as did Saint Peter, and your confession, just as Saint Paul’s, goes out into the world. You sing God’s praise, the profound reality that God has intervened in your life through grace by faith alone, with His Word alone. Our FATHER in Heaven forgives you for JESUS’ sake and has claimed you as His own. You are holy, righteous, and innocent because God declares you holy, righteous, and innocent. Therefore, you are free from making up your own songs, your own confessions, your own worship, your own questions and answers. God has built you into His Church using as mortar His Word. So, who do you say JESUS is? By His grace, you can confess that JESUS is “the CHRIST, the SON of the Living God” You can confess that JESUS is the One greater than the Prophet Jonah or King Solomon. You can confess that JESUS is your Redeemer and Savior. You can confess with Saint Thomas that JESUS is your LORD and your God. You can proclaim with John the Baptist that JESUS is “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” You can confess that JESUS is “the only-begotten SON of God, begotten of His FATHER before all worlds, God of God, Light of Light, Very God of Very God, begotten not made, being of one substance with the FATHER, by whom all things were made; who for us men and our salvation, came down from heaven, and was incarnate by the HOLY GHOST of the Virgin Mary, and was made man; and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate. He suffered and was buried; and the third day He rose again, according to the Scriptures; and ascended into Heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of the FATHER; and He will come again with glory to judge both the quick and the dead; whose kingdom shall have no end.” JESUS has revealed Himself to us in the Scriptures of the Law and the Prophets and the Gospel Word of the Evangelists. He is the embodiment of the Epistles. He can be found on every page of the Bible and in every Word of Holy Scripture. He is the substance of the Holy Sacraments. All Scripture speaks about CHRIST JESUS—who He is and what He has done for you, me, and the whole world. St. Peter’s confession, the words of faith he spoke through divine inspiration, did not belong to him. His confession and words belong to God, and by extension, to God’s Church. “You are the CHRIST, the SON of the Living God” is the confession of the entirety of Holy Scripture. It is the eternal confession of the Church. All our hope, all our faith, all we have—everything!—we have in CHRIST. Thus, our confession, just as St. Peter’s and that of St. Paul, is not ours by right; it is God’s confession, and He has chosen to give it to you. It rises up from your heart made pure by grace and the righteousness of CHRIST, to be spoken by your lips made clean by grace through faith alone. It is the gift of God. It was His alone. He has given it to you. Now it is your confession. JESUS is “the CHRIST, the SON of the Living God” IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER, AND OF THE SON, AND OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. AMEN. SOLI DEO GLORIA Rev. Raymond D. Parent II Our Savior Evangelical Lutheran Church Crestview, Florida 6/29/25
Sunday June 22, 2025
Jesu Juva THE OCTAVE OF THE FEAST OF THE MOST HOLY TRINITY Text: St. Luke 16:19-31 IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER, AND OF THE SON, AND OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. AMEN. You have heard it said: “...it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God.” Hearing this, you breathe a sigh of relief because you have taken stock of yourself and have decided that indeed, you are not rich and therefore, you somehow have the inside track on the path to paradise. But I will let you in on a bit of a secret which you may have kept from yourself, neither are you poor. Yes, I know none of you are an Elon Musk, a Bill Gates, or a Warren Buffet, but neither are any of you going to sleep at night in a cardboard box with a dirt floor, a tin roof, and nothing more than yesterday’s newspaper for a blanket; and to the best of my knowledge, none of you are standing in breadlines or dining from trash cans and dumpsters either. In fact, I suspect that nearly all of you own a house, at least one car, a cell phone, and a big flat screen tv. Thus, we suffer from the sin of hypocrisy. For our lives are filled with good things that our gracious FATHER in Heaven provides—all things needed for this body and life—and still we complain and worry that we do not have enough; We do not have enough for our old age and retirement; we do not have enough for medical care; we do not have enough for vacation; we do not have enough to secure our children’s and grandchildren’s futures; and the list goes on and on and on. Yet, if one were to stop worrying about one’s self long enough to listen to the Word of God, one might hear our LORD JESUS say, “Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly FATHER knows that you need all these things. But seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.” Still, this our ears cannot hear nor our heart trust due to the weakness of our faith. We do not trust God to keep His Word, and thus, we neglect to share what riches we have, no matter how meager, with those who are far less fortunate than are we. No, it is much more convenient to step over the poor wretches thrown down at our gate than to even consider giving them the crumbs that fall from our tables. Let the dogs lick their sores. What is that to us? In this way, we are no different than the rich man of whom JESUS speaks—this nameless one had no faith in the Word or promises of God. The entire concern of his life was for his earthly treasures and his own personal pleasure and comfort. It was in these that he placed his trust. These were his god and master and what he held up as the sign of his sanctity. For he thought surely one so blessed must have found favor in the eyes of God. Yet, “… what is highly esteemed among men is an abomination in the sight of God.” The rich man was soon to find that earthly treasures do one no spiritual good unless put to the good uses for which God provides them. The rich man transformed the blessings of wealth into a curse of eternal torment. Lazarus, on the other hand, seemingly had nothing. Each day, dressed in nothing more than rags, he was thrown down unnoticed at the gate of the rich man’s house. Surely the rich man saw him, and yet, had no compassion for him. Poor Lazarus’ only friends were the dogs who came daily to lick his sores. Still, his only desire was to eat of the scraps that fell from the rich man’s table. In him was no envy or jealousy for the rich man’s treasures. He did not cry out for and demand his fair share. Instead, he longed for no more than a crumb, that which we might regard as nothing more than garbage, fit only for the feeding of dogs. Time past, and the circumstances of the two men were reversed. Both died, but only one would enjoy the blessings of paradise. Only one was judged holy while the other found himself enduring the pains of hades, which in the context of our text, certainly means hell. The text tells us that when Lazarus died he was immediately met by angels who carried him off to paradise in the bosom of Abraham. The rich man, whose name is never mentioned because it has been erased from the Book of Life, is simply buried to suffer an eternity of torment in the flames. It would be extremely easy to assume JESUS’ reason for telling the story of the rich man and Lazarus was for the purpose of telling us not to be stingy; to not hoard our money and treasures, but to share every blessing with our neighbor. While it is true that we are to love and serve our gracious God by loving and serving our neighbor, and that implicitly includes loving and serving our neighbor with our treasures and all the gifts that our FATHER in Heaven has provided for us in this body and life, and while it is also true that JESUS uses money and treasure as an illustration several times, seldom, if ever, does our LORD talk about money in this way. In fact, JESUS never uses money as an illustration for the purpose of adding a new law to the Ten Commandments as though it is written, “You shall have no other gods; Do not take the Name of the LORD, your God, in vain; Remember the Sabbath Day by keeping it Holy; [and while you are at it, give all your money and possessions to the poor”]. JESUS did not come as a new lawgiver, but as our SAVIOR, and to interpret the text before us this morning in such a way as to make of JESUS a new lawgiver laying down a new requirement for us to reach heaven, would make of Him little more than a new Moses who gave us just one more Law which we cannot keep and entirely miss the point of His teaching. This parable is not really about what earthly treasures the men possessed or did not possess. Nor is it even about who shared or did not share their possessions. Indeed, it is not at all about their worldly possessions or the lack of such things. It is not about who was generous and who was not. It is not about who was sinner and who was saint. It is, rather, about what the men believed and in whom did they put their trust. It is, simply put, about faith. Yes, our text this morning is really about faith or the content of the human heart. For though it may seem that Lazarus had nothing good in this life, though it seems the rich man had a life filled with blessings and Lazarus only a life of cursed misery; though the rich man seems to have had everything but refused to share with poor wretched Lazarus even the crumbs that fall from his table; even though it appears the Lazarus’ only friends are the dogs who licked his sores; in reality, of the two men, Lazarus is the man who is rich. Lazarus is rich beyond imagination for he has Moses and the prophets. He has a treasure that will not fail him. He has a treasure that neither moth nor rust can destroy and no thief can break in and steal. Lazarus has the Word of God and believes it. He has placed all his trust in God; Lazarus has faith. The rich man rejected God’s Word of salvation. Even as he suffers the agonies of hell, the rich man does not believe in the power of Moses and the prophets, that is, he does not believe the Word of God has the power to change the hearts of men. He receives instruction from Father Abraham himself, and still he demands salvation in his own way; the rich man demands God on his own terms. Repent! Repent because so too, rich man, do you. Yes, we too, want God on our own terms. We want God to conform to our way of thinking. If what God has to say does not square with what we feel is meet, right, and salutary then we want to redefine God and reinterpret His Word. Is it not true that we would be much more comfortable with a god made in our image rather than allowing God’s Word to have its way with us, reshaping, and remaking us in His image. Perhaps you would be much happier if the Church and your pastor would be a little less zealous for God’s Word, a little less offensive, a little more inclusive, and a little more compromising about the truth of God’s teachings. But God has given you Moses and the prophets; hear them! Hear them! Because to listen to anything else is nothing but raw, naked, arrogance, and unbelief. Lazarus heard Moses and the prophets and believed them. He lay at the rich man’s gate rejected by the world, but clinging to the Word of God with every fiber of his being. He did not demand that God change his circumstance. He did not demand that God change His message. Instead he prayed with all believers, “O LORD, I have trusted in Your mercy; My heart shall rejoice in Your salvation. I will sing to the LORD, Because He has dealt bountifully with me.” Lazarus did not trust in himself and his own fickle emotions, and he leaned not on his own judgment or understanding. He heard God’s Word and believed it, and in believing it, he was given everlasting life. All those who hear God’s Word and keep it are blessed even as it is written, “…blessed are those who hear the Word of God and keep it!” But remember, you “keep” the Word of God, not in the sense of obeying a command, but in the sense of keeping His Words in your heart, pondering them, and confessing them, and most importantly, believing them. Outside of the Word of God there is no miracle that can rescue a sinner, not even if one should come back from the dead—not even JESUS. So it is, that whoever will not hear God’s Word hears nothing. Whoever will not hear God’s Word is already dead and the dead cannot hear anything but the silence of the grave. Conversely, those who hear and believe will never die, but have eternal life. When we hear the Word of God what does it tell us? It tells us that though we suffer the loathsome, festering sores of sin, JESUS did not step over us as we lay helpless at His gate. He did not turn His face away. JESUS set aside the riches of Heaven and took on the form of a slave to save you. He has given you the name “Lazarus,” a name which means, “the one whom God helps.” He took on your infirmities; He carried your sorrows, and He was wounded for your transgressions; He was bruised for your iniquities; and the world hid its face from Him. To save you, JESUS became as Lazarus for you, and by His wounds you are healed. JESUS stepped outside the gates of Heaven to save you. He died for you and gave you a place at the Heavenly Feast that never ends. He took you into His arms and anointed your head with oil. JESUS has bathed you in the pure waters of Holy Baptism where it not only soothes your open, sin-filled sores; it cures them and washes the filth of sin away. He dressed you in His robes of righteousness and feeds you with the Medicine of Immortality, curing all that ails you with His very own Body and Blood. O the depths of the goodness and grace of the God who is love, who has befriended you, who has saved you, who has died for you, and risen for you, who has opened your eyes to see what is really important, who has given you faith. He knows you and calls you by name; to you He gives the riches of His Kingdom; to you He gives the right to be called the children of God. You too, shall recline with Lazarus and all the saints in the bosom of our father Abraham, because you have heard His Word and believed. You heard Moses and the prophets declare salvation in JESUS CHRIST alone. Yes, you heard more than Moses and the prophets, you heard the Gospel of JESUS CHRIST and believed Him when He said, “I forgive you all your sins.” IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER, AND OF THE SON, AND OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. AMEN. Soli Deo Gloria Rev. Raymond D. Parent II Our Savior Evangelical Lutheran Church Crestview, Florida 6/22/25 AD
Sunday June 15, 2025
JESU JUVA THE FEAST OF THE MOST HOLY TRINITY Text: Isaiah 6:1-7; Romans 11:33-36; St. Matthew 28:18-20 IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER, AND OF THE SON, AND OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. AMEN. If one were to visit most any American Christian congregation today one might be hard-pressed to determine what it is they truly believe about the HOLY TRINITY. Contemporary Christian worship found in many, if not most, congregations today (and sadly even those who have inherited the faith and traditions of the Lutheran Reformation) certainly does not reflect the prophet Isaiah’s vision of what goes on in the throne room of God both day and night. This sad truth calls into question what it is that contemporary Christianity truly believes and confesses about our TRIUNE GOD, for as it is said, “Lex orandi, Lex credendi” or “how one worships shapes and reflects what one believes and what one confesses.” The so-called “Worship Wars” have been going on for decades now with no real end in sight, and while there is really no prescription in Holy Scripture that the Church of CHRIST must worship thus and so or include this and that, I submit that contemporary worship reflects a lack of faith, or perhaps a serious ignorance, that when we gather together as the people of God to receive God’s gifts of faith, forgiveness, and eternal life, we are truly in His awesome presence. Any argument that the form our worship takes is not clearly prescribed in Holy Scripture is not a valid argument for devotional license, such that, we can do whatever it is we choose to do. God is still God, and though times change, He does not. The TRIUNE GOD is the same yesterday, today, and forever. I am not arguing that we, as the seraphim, should necessarily cover our faces and our feet in God’s presence, after all, we have the very Icon of God in the flesh of JESUS CHRIST, our brother as well as our LORD and SAVIOR, and upon whom we may gaze without fear. Even so, JESUS is still God and not just some guy off the street. That very fact alone demands reverence. Thus, our prayer in Psalm 95, “Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the LORD our Maker.” Knowing this, it has always perplexed me when Christians become greatly excited over earthly kings and queens, such as we witness at every coronation or royal marriage, and yet, they refuse to even bow their head, never mind their knees, in the presence of their God. “It is an adiaphoron!” they claim, “It is not necessary.” Yet, who can claim to know the mind and will of God, whose thoughts are not our thoughts and whose ways are not our ways? No one knows the mind and will of God except the SPIRIT of God. Therefore, what we know of the HOLY TRINITY must, needs be, that which has been revealed to us by God the HOLY SPIRIT through the Word of God alone, as interpreted by the Word of God alone. Thus, what man, in his arrogance, speaks in opposition to God’s revelation of Himself in the Words of Holy Scripture, is nothing less than unadulterated fantasy and even outright blasphemy or heresy. There can be only one truth no matter what philosophers may imagine or so-called scientists or theological experts may propose. All else must then be a lie and pure heresy. The question is, “Which is it you believe—the Truth or the lie—orthodoxy or heresy?” If we try to define God by placing Him in a box according to human wisdom and understanding, it will not be long before we stray into heresy. This is so because our knowledge of the TRIUNE GOD is not a matter of human logic or reasoning at all; it is, rather, a matter of faith, and that faith must be based only on what God has revealed to us by His SPIRIT through His Word lest we fall prey to the superstitions of pagans, creating and worshiping gods of our own imaginations and assigning to them a plethora of traits, qualities, and motivations that are far more human fantasy than divine reality—and that, if we acknowledge the existence of God at all. Thus, when it comes to our knowledge of God, all human speculation, conjecture, and mysticism must be excluded. Admittedly, what we know of God in this life is only a mere fragment of what we will know of Him in the life to come when all things are to be revealed. As Saint Paul writes: “For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known.” Yet, what we now know of God and His will is more than enough for our salvation. So, what is it then, that we do know about the TRIUNE GOD, and what then, shall we confess? In Moses fifth book, Deuteronomy, Holy Scripture tells us, “The LORD our God, the LORD is one!” Any other god, then, is by definition no god at all and nothing more than an empty and worthless idol. To worship an idol is analogous to worshiping a demon—even the devil. Therefore, there is no other God to worship except the ONE TRUE GOD—FATHER, SON, and HOLY SPIRIT—and to worship anything or anyone else is to worship Satan himself. This confession is the most fundamental doctrine of the “catholic (or universal) faith.” It is the confession and faith of the One Holy Christian, and Apostolic Church, which preserves, preaches, and teaches the true doctrines of the Christian faith. It is a faith that confesses and worships “one God in TRINITY and TRINITY in UNITY.” It is a faith that confesses the TRINITY as uncreated, infinite, coeternal, almighty, coequal; that “none is before or after another; none is greater or less than another.” The True Church confesses the “catholic faith” boldly proclaiming before tyrants and presidents, before kings and heretics, and the entire unbelieving world: “whoever does not believe [this] faithfully and firmly cannot be saved.” Within this TRINITY is the FATHER, “neither made nor created nor begotten by anyone.” This is He who has “made [you] and all creatures,” who has given you “[your] reason and all [your] senses.” Indeed, this is He who has given you all things—“all that [you] need to support this body and life. He defends [you] against all danger and guards and protects [you] from all evil. All this He does only out of fatherly, divine goodness and mercy, without any merit or worthiness in [you]. For all this it is [your] duty to thank and praise, serve and obey Him.” This too, is the “catholic faith.” So also, do we find in the TRINITY the HOLY SPIRIT—one with the FATHER and the SON from whom He proceeds; coming to speak not His own Words, but the Words of the FATHER and the SON who send Him in JESUS’ Name. Thus, He is the SPIRIT of Truth; He testifies of JESUS that you may have faith and bear witness of Him. By this enlightenment He sanctifies you and keeps you in the One True Faith. By this Word and the blessed and Holy Sacraments He sanctifies you and “daily and richly forgives all [your] sins and the sins of all believers. On the Last Day He will raise [you] and all the dead, and give eternal life to [you] and all believers in CHRIST.” This too, is the “catholic faith.” However, this TRIUNE God is not SPIRIT alone, for begotten of the substance of the FATHER is the SON, whose Name is JESUS—JESUS who is God incarnate. Fully God and fully man He is the Emmanuel, that is, “God with us” in human flesh. Begotten of the substance of the FATHER before all ages, He is true God; and born in this age of the substance of His Mother, the Blessed Virgin Mary, He is true man. “Perfect God and perfect man, composed of a rational soul and human flesh; equal to the FATHER with respect to His divinity, less than the FATHER with respect to His Humanity… [True God and True man,] one altogether, not by confusion of substance, but by unity of person.” This is JESUS who has “redeemed [you,] a lost and condemned sinner… [who has] purchased and won [you] from all sins, from death, and from the power of the devil; not with gold or silver, but with His holy and precious Blood and with His innocent suffering and death.” All this, “that [you] may be His own and live under Him in His Kingdom in everlasting righteousness, innocence, and blessedness.” This JESUS is the SON of the living God, who, in obedience to His FATHER’s will, assumed human flesh that we would be saved. This too, “is the catholic faith; whoever does not believe it faithfully and firmly cannot be saved.” This is the revealed knowledge of God as God has willed to reveal Himself to the world. This means that our knowledge of God may only be found in the means by which our God chooses to reveal Himself. Therefore, our knowledge of God may only be found in the Words of Holy Scripture; Words which are God-breathed and inerrant; Words which are the faith and confession of God’s holy people and the language of His Church. “What of the Sacraments?” you may ask. Yet, what are the Sacraments if they are not earthly elements infused with God’s will and Word of command as revealed in the Words of Holy Scripture? JESUS said, “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the Name of the FATHER, and of the SON, and of the HOLY SPIRIT.” For what purpose? That “He who believes and is baptized will be saved…” and may enter the Kingdom of God. JESUS also said, “Take, eat; this is My Body… Drink from it, all of you. For this is My Blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.” Therefore, it is the Word of God that makes of the earthly elements a Sacrament. These are the things we know of God and it is for this reason that today we come together as one Body in CHRIST basking in the divine light of the majesty and mystery of our TRIUNE GOD. This God, and no one else, and nothing else, is our only reality. In Him, our mortality is absorbed into His immortality. Without God, our time and lives are nothing more than dust in the wind, mere passing shadows and fleeting moments which can never be recovered. Without God, our life, indeed all life, has absolutely no meaning. Even the greatest of us, those remembered by history and celebrated by men, even the combined glory of all human history is no more than the flowers and grass of the field, which are here today, and tomorrow thrown into the fire. So, we see that for the Christian, even as for all creation, God is everything! He is the FATHER who provides all that we need for this body and life. He is the SON, through whom all things are made and by whom we are redeemed. He is the HOLY SPIRIT, who proceeds forth from the FATHER and the SON and is the holy breath of God who preserves all things in Heaven and Earth and keeps His Church in the one true faith. He is the Wind that blows “…where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes.” The HOLY SPIRIT is the very breath of God spoken into the darkness of every unbelieving soul in order that that soul may hear and believe and live. This is the same God who, in CHRIST JESUS, ascended into Heaven and in human flesh sits at the right hand of the FATHER. All this, He did while we were yet His enemies. This is the God who sent His SPIRIT among us that we may have faith. At the death cry of this God who died on the Cross of Calvary, the HOLY SPIRIT rushed forth in Blood and water from His side so that in Baptism the Name of the TRIUNE GOD, the God whose awesome Name shakes the very foundations of Heaven and Earth and destroys the pillars of hell, could be printed on your forehead. Thus, you are marked by the sign of the Holy Cross in your Baptism and the Name of the FATHER, SON, and HOLY SPIRIT is imprinted and engraved upon your forehead and upon your heart to mark you as a child of the TRIUNE GOD and one redeemed by CHRIST the Crucified. This TRINITY is the same God who places a burning coal from the sacrifice of His Flesh and Blood upon your lips and your sins are forgiven. In this way, you have been made holy like the angels, for you have partaken of that which was sacrificed in your place. It is put into your mouth making you clean. Therefore, all our knowledge of God may be compressed into the moment of CHRIST’s Cross and crucifixion, and that moment of JESUS’ Cross and crucifixion compressed into the Holy Sacraments of JESUS’ Body and Blood and Holy Baptism. Thus, it is in the LORD’s Supper and Holy Baptism that you meet the TRIUNE GOD. In this way, the TRIUNE GOD whom you confess, is revealed not in Heaven, but in the humiliation of the crucified CHRIST by way of His Holy Word and Sacraments. CHRIST JESUS is the only Icon of God and His Cross is our only door to heaven. He who sees JESUS sees the FATHER and has already received the HOLY SPIRIT. Therefore, on this day, as one body, we put everything aside and contemplate the God who gives us all good things, who created and redeemed us with His Flesh and Blood and through the HOLY SPIRIT has made us His own. We are here as God’s people in God’s Holy Church. We are gathered with all the saints and angels, Prophets, Apostles, and martyrs—all who have gone before us in the faith and all who will follow us long after we are gone. Here we gather around the altar of God singing the threefold “Holy, Holy, Holy.” With the whole company of the heavenly hosts, we sing the Gloria in Excelsis lauding and magnifying God’s glorious Name. We hear the angels sing, and we, who stand at the very edge of Heaven, respond, “Blessed be the HOLY TRINITY and the undivided unity; let us give glory to Him for He has shown mercy unto us.” Today and every LORD’s Day we are here to worship our TRIUNE GOD and receive from Him life and salvation. This “is the catholic faith.” Whoever believes this faithfully and firmly will surely hear Him say, “I forgive you all your sins.” IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER, AND OF THE SON, AND OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. AMEN. Rev. Raymond D. Parent II Our Savior Evangelical Lutheran Church Crestview, Florida 6/15/25 AD
Sunday June 8, 2025
JESU JUVA THE FEAST OF PENTECOST (WHITSUNDAY) Text: St. John 14:23-31 IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER, AND OF THE SON, AND OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. AMEN. I believe in the HOLY SPIRIT, the Holy Christian Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen. What does this mean? I believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in JESUS CHRIST, my LORD or come to Him; but the Holy Spirit has called me by the Gospel, enlightened me with His gifts, sanctified and kept me in the true faith. In the same way He calls, gathers, enlightens, and sanctifies the whole Christian Church on earth, and keeps it with JESUS CHRIST in the one true faith. In this Christian Church He daily and richly forgives all my sins and the sins of all believers. On the Last Day He will raise me and all the dead, and give eternal life to me and all believers in CHRIST. This is most certainly true. If you have been a Lutheran all your life you learned, memorized, and confessed these words in your youth before you were confirmed as a full member of the Church of the Reformation. If you are an adult convert, you may not have memorized these words but you did confess them as you were welcomed into membership in this communion. Your believing and confessing were not done by your “own reason or strength,” your believing and confessing is due to the HOLY SPIRIT calling you “by the Gospel,” and enlightening you “with His gifts” even as He has “sanctified and kept [you] in the true faith.” And as Martin Luther writes and I reiterate: “This is most certainly true.” Today, we celebrate the coming of the HOLY SPIRIT, without whom we would still be lost in our sins. Without the prompting and teaching of the HOLY SPIRIT we would know nothing of our salvation in JESUS CHRIST, and we would still be worshipping idols of wood or stone who can neither hear our prayers nor save us from Hell and eternal death, for the SPIRIT of God is not in them. The HOLY SPIRIT is the Comforter promised by God the FATHER through our LORD, CHRIST JESUS, to His apostles on the night in which He was betrayed, and again at His ascension. JESUS told His apostles that they were to stay in Jerusalem and await the HOLY SPIRIT whom the FATHER would send in JESUS’ name to teach them all things and bring to their remembrance all things that JESUS told them. Yet, not only the apostles, but the whole Christian Church on earth. For these are the words our LORD left with them at His ascension: “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the FATHER and of the SON and of the HOLY SPIRIT, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you....” The apostles were ordained to be “witnesses to [JESUS] in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” The apostles, and by extension CHRIST’s Church, were and are to teach nothing but JESUS CHRIST and Him crucified for the life of the world. Thus, the HOLY SPIRIT did not come for His own glory but that of JESUS CHRIST. He did not come to reveal Himself but to reveal the glory of CHRIST which includes our salvation! This, the Church is to do without compromise! The Word of God and the story of our salvation cannot be separated from our faith in JESUS CHRIST. Faith in JESUS through the divine inspiration of the HOLY SPIRIT cannot be ripped apart such that the Word and promises of God become alien to our understanding of Holy Scripture and whom our SAVIOR is and just what He has done to save us. Indeed, without Holy Scripture as the foundation of our faith, Christianity becomes nothing else than one more self-help program doomed to abysmal failure and destined for the trash heap of all human endeavors devoid of faith in CHRIST. Without the HOLY SPIRIT to teach and guide the people of God, Holy Scripture would be just one more fairy tale or pagan myth, for human reason could not comprehend it. The HOLY SPIRIT speaks only the words spoken by the FATHER through His SON, JESUS. These words are the source and foundation of Christian faith even as they are the sole rule and norm of Christian faith and life, and thus, the life of the Church. Even the Holy Sacraments of the Church, instituted by God Himself, would be nothing more than dramatic re-enactments empty of any power to save or forgive sin. As Saint Augustine wrote and with whom Martin Luther agreed, without the Word and command of God added to the water of Baptism, it is no Baptism. In like manner, without the Word and command of God added to the bread and wine of the Eucharist, they remain bread and wine and there is no body or blood of CHRIST, leaving the celebration of the Eucharist as nothing more than an empty ceremony devoid of salvation. It is the Word of God that gives the Sacraments of God their power. Indeed, without the Word and command of God even the words of absolution would be impotent and useless, leaving us dead in our sins and condemned to eternal Hell. Therefore, the HOLY SPIRIT does not speak words foreign to Holy Scripture. He speaks, and therefore, creates faith through the Word of God alone. That means that when it comes to our salvation, “Whatever is not of the Word of God is of Satan” (Martin Luther). The HOLY SPIRIT proceeds from the Father and the SON to conform the tongues of God’s faithful to the language of the Gospel; to undo the confusion and evil caused by our sin that we may confess with one heart, with one mind, and with one voice, that JESUS is the CHRIST, the SON of the Living God. Therefore, we Christians are united in one Holy Communion—the Communion of God and mankind—made eternal in the Blood of CHRIST JESUS. We kneel in humility as one family in CHRIST, eating of the One Loaf and drinking of the One Cup as members of the one holy Christian and Apostolic Church, such that we are one Body in JESUS CHRIST. In this faith and confession, we are neither black nor white, neither brown, red, nor yellow. Nor in this faith and confession are we Americans, Mexicans, Britons, Germans, Chinese, Arabian, Persian, Palestinian, nor any other nationality; we are one family united by Blood; the Blood of CHRIST. Thus, the true Church of CHRIST knows of no divisions. In the Church, as instituted by CHRIST and nurtured by the HOLY SPIRIT, there is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, there is neither Lutheran nor Baptist, nor Roman Catholic, nor any other division. In the true Church there are only children of God, the FATHER, brothers and sisters of God, the SON, JESUS CHRIST, all saved by His holy Body and Blood sacrificed on Calvary as a propitiation of God’s wrath for all sin. In this we rejoice, for the Blood of CHRIST binds all who confess the Christian faith, as a bride bound to her husband. We are thus bound to JESUS with the wedding promise to suffer all, even death, rather than fall away. Therefore, we confess and witness today what we witness every LORD’s Day—the conversion of our sinful hearts through the preaching of the HOLY SPIRIT—literally a calling by the HOLY SPIRIT through the blessed Gospel unto faith in JESUS CHRIST—the confession that JESUS alone is LORD and SAVIOR; that He alone is the CHRIST, the true and only begotten SON of God. This means that it is the HOLY SPIRIT and nothing within you that gives voice to your confession of JESUS CHRIST. It is the HOLY SPIRIT who sets us apart from the world. For this confession is a language which your hearts do not know of themselves. This confession comes in words that your tongues cannot, by themselves, express. We cannot of our own reason or strength believe in JESUS CHRIST or come to Him, or confess Him as our LORD and SAVIOR. That must come by the teaching of the HOLY SPIRIT who comes with Words not His own, but with the Words given Him by the FATHER from whom He proceeds, and of the SON who sent Him. These are Words which animate the soul and wake it from its sleep of sin and death giving it life. These are the Words of eternal life—Words which animate your tongue and teach it the language of faith that you may make a true confession. It is from this that we know that the Church is born of the Word of God, and because it is born of the Word of God it cannot be created and improved upon by the plans of men. No passion, no heart-felt emotion of man could have given birth to the Body of CHRIST. Nor can any passion or heart-felt emotion of man cause it to flourish and grow. No, the Church of CHRIST is not dependent on man for its survival! The Church of CHRIST is dependent upon the HOLY SPIRIT who creates faith when and where it pleases God, not by human merit, but for the sake of Jesus Christ (Augsburg Confession art. V, The Ministry). The Church of CHRIST is born of the Word of God and is sustained by the life-giving, faith-creating utterance of His HOLY SPIRIT. It is by this Word alone that we live, and breathe, and have our being. It is this Word, breathed by the FATHER, enfleshed in the SON, and brought to our remembrance by the HOLY SPIRIT, that we are to believe, teach, and confess and no other. The Apostle, St. Paul, declared that His message would be JESUS CHRIST and Him crucified, nothing more, but nothing less. It is this Word, and nothing more, but nothing less, that converts the hearts of men from dead works to serve the living God. Thus, the one true Church has loved CHRIST JESUS, clinging to Him even as a loving wife clings to her loving husband; and keeping His Words in Her heart, she has pondered them and confessed them. For that is what JESUS CHRIST meant when He said, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word.” Therefore, JESUS and the FATHER have loved the Church and cared for Her, and made their home with Her. Through the Church, God, the FATHER, has revealed to the world, God, His SON, by the speaking, preaching, and teaching of God, the HOLY SPIRIT. God has shown His love for His creation through His Holy Bride, the Church, who speaks not Her own words, but the Words of her Husband, JESUS CHRIST whom She loves and serves. As member of God’s Church we know that this speaking was not reserved simply for the time of the Apostles. It is no dead letter. It is the Living Word of the Living God transcending all time and all space. The SPIRIT of God opens the mouths of the faithful to declare His SON to the four corners of the earth. Therefore, I, as a called and ordained servant of the Word, take not of what is mine and declare it to you, “for I received from the LORD [JESUS] that which I also deliver to you.” I only give to you that which I have received: “that CHRIST JESUS came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief.” Through the preaching and teaching of the Word of God you receive faith, and with this faith you receive what JESUS has to give to you—forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation. For JESUS has said, “Blessed are those who hear the Word of God and keep it!” and “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My Word; and My FATHER will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him.” Remember, we “keep” JESUS’ Word, not in the sense of obeying a command; JESUS CHRIST is no new Moses giving new Law. You keep the Word of JESUS in the sense of keeping His Words in your heart, pondering them, praying them, and confessing them, and God, FATHER, SON, and HOLY SPIRIT, takes up residence in your heart. With that same Word, the HOLY SPIRIT teaches you the language of faith in CHRIST so that you can speak back to God in prayer and with songs of faith, thanksgiving, and praise, that very same Word, and when you cannot find the Words, the HOLY SPIRIT Himself, prays for you, interceding “with groanings that cannot be uttered.” JESUS’ Word is not only delivered to your ears, it has been poured over you in the bloody waters of Holy Baptism where you received the white garment of CHRIST’s righteousness which covers your sinfulness with the purity of our LORD. The SPIRIT also delivers JESUS’ life and salvation into you through the gift of JESUS’ very Body and Blood delivered into your mouth in and under the simple elements of bread and wine in God’s Holy Supper. With this incredible mystery of JESUS’ true Body and Blood given and shed for you and joined to humble elements of bread and wine, the HOLY SPIRIT cleanses and purifies your body and mouth for service to CHRIST, forgiving your sins while strengthening, nourishing, and sustaining your faith that you may resist Satan, the world, and your own sinful flesh; that you may bear up under the weight of suffering in this life all for the sake of CHRIST. Therefore, the celebration of the Feast of Pentecost is as relevant today as it was all those years ago. The HOLY SPIRIT was sent on the day of Pentecost: to put the Word of God on your lips and in your heart, the Word that says, “JESUS died for you and for His sake you are forgiven all your sins and have eternal life in His name.” This is the same Word that brings us to our knees crying out, “LORD have mercy, CHRIST have mercy, LORD have mercy,” and it is the same Word that gives us ears to hear our LORD’s loving response as He absolves us with these words, “I forgive you all your sins.” IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER, AND OF THE SON, AND OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. AMEN. SOLI DEO GLORIA Rev. Raymond D. Parent II Our Savior Evangelical Lutheran Church Crestview, Florida 6/8/25 AD
Sunday June 1, 2025
JESU JUVA EXAUDI / THE SUNDAY AFTER THE ASCENSION OF OUR LORD Text: St. John 15:26-16:4 IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER, AND OF THE SON AND OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. AMEN. What does it mean to be a child of God and brother or sister of our LORD, JESUS CHRIST? What does it mean to be Christian? There has long been a misperception among unbelievers that we Christians are hypocrites who do not practice what we preach. But they are under the mistaken belief that Christians believe they are somehow better than other sinners. But I submit that there is a dangerous and ever-growing misperception among Christians about what it means to be a member of the Body of CHRIST. That misperception is this: once one has been brought to faith, suffering and pain of any kind should cease—that every malady and irritant in life will pass away and whatever one puts his hand and mind to will be successful—that we have come from glory and we are bound for glory. This misperception believes that even though we have lost our way, this is only a temporary inconvenience. If we can only find the right Scripture passage and apply the appropriate level of religious effort, we can make all things right again. Just as one can find a myriad of books that teach one how to attempt to manipulate God with one’s prayer, so too, one can walk into nearly any Christian bookstore and find even more self-help titles that mislead one into believing that success in life is nothing more than a matter of faith, but not necessarily faith in CHRIST. Therefore, if one only believes something hard enough, if one only prays for something sincerely enough, if one is only “faithful” enough, he or she is bound to succeed in this life having received God’s blessing for his or her effort. After all, God owes it to you, right? But is this faith in God and His goodness or is it, in fact, nothing more than faith in oneself? So, what is your problem? Is it family? Weight? Money? Employment? Career? Complexion? Health? Whatever your problem, whatever your desire, you can probably find a Christian self-help title to fit your needs. From making your family your focus, to diet books that guarantee you will lose weight and maintain your health if you only eat like Jesus, to “The Management Techniques of JESUS CHRIST,” to CHRIST as a master salesman, or even titles to help you improve society by following the techniques of JESUS, the Divine Social Worker; look and you will find a book that will teach you how to use God for your own health, wealth, and happiness, however you might measure them. And if you cannot seem to make the techniques of these self-help books work? Well then, you must not have prayed hard enough, you must not have believed hard enough, you must not be “faithful” enough. 2 Now please, do not misunderstand me. I am not saying that God does not have anything to say to us about how we should live our lives. Of course, He does! Holy Scripture can and should shape our values and lives. It should shape the way we look at our world and the culture and society around us. But that is the key. God’s Holy Word shapes us and conforms us to His plan of salvation in His Son, JESUS CHRIST. No amount of spiritual gymnastics can ever conform God to our individual ideas as to what life is or what life should be about. So, how have Christians come to this? The problem lies in the way we look at God and the Bible. When we twist the Words of Holy Scripture to fit our idea of what is meet, right, and salutary, we will always come up short. None of our ideas ever seem to work out quite right, nor do the various self-help panaceas ever really do what they claim and promise to do. If this were not so then there would be no need for some new spiritual process for happiness and success to be discovered and pandered to the Church every couple of years or so. But they are nothing more than snake oil pandered by wolves in sheep’s clothing to their unsuspecting victims who place their trust in men rather than God—victims who are left just as empty as they were before they decided to take God’s message of salvation and twist it into a formula for personal success—and perhaps even more so. Martin Luther called this kind of self-aggrandizing, success-centered, power spirituality “the theology of glory.” Of course, the attraction of such a theology is understandable. Naturally, we want success, victories, and happiness. We will do almost anything to avoid failure, defeat, and sorrow. Any religious scheme that seems to offer relief from any kind of pain or suffering is far more attractive to our sensibilities than one which points only to the Cross and the suffering CHRIST. If a religion’s doctrines can offer prosperity, happiness, and spiritual power, we jump at the chance to buy a ticket on that glory train. Why else do you think cults are so successful at deceiving so many people—even those who call themselves Christian? Yes, that is what we want, but that is not Christianity. We want comfort and success, but instead, we are disappointed because God calls us to take up a cross. You see, true spirituality and true salvation, which are offered through faith in CHRIST JESUS alone, run counter to the spirituality so popular in the world of today. True spirituality and true salvation in CHRIST are diametrically opposed to the shallow, misguided, and self-centered spirituality of this world. They are opposed to the “theology of glory” because the Gospel of JESUS CHRIST is not about your success or your prosperity. It is not about social programs. The Gospel of CHRIST is not about you or anyone else living the good life or their best life now. The Gospel of JESUS CHRIST is about God in the flesh and God on the Cross for the life of the world. It is about your salvation. The Gospel of JESUS CHRIST is about our God who emptied Himself of all glory. The HOLY SPIRIT tells us through the pen of St. Paul: “Have this mind among yourselves, which is 3 yours in CHRIST JESUS, who, though He was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made Himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” The Holy Scriptures do not tell us of a SAVIOR who manifested Himself among us in glory. It tells us of a Messiah who was born in what appears to be a rather scandalous way; conceived by all appearances of a poor, unwed, young, Jewish virgin, not in a king’s palace wrapped in fine silks and linen, but wrapped in rags in a stable meant for animals. His life did not get any better either. JESUS, Himself, tells us, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the SON of Man has nowhere to lay His head,” and as the Prophet Isaiah prophesied, “He has no form or comeliness; And when we see Him, There is no beauty that we should desire Him. He is despised and rejected by men, A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.” It does not sound to me like JESUS would make today’s list of the world’s sexiest men. You will not find Him on the cover of GQ magazine. To top everything off, He was betrayed by His friends, tried by a bloodthirsty mob, beat nearly senseless, and nailed to a cross. Isaiah goes on to tell us, “Surely He has borne our griefs And carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.” You see, JESUS’ way is the way of the Cross. The way of the Cross is the way of glory—the only way—for the story does not end on that lonely way. No, the way of the Cross leads to JESUS’ resurrection from the dead and His ascension back to glory. He shall come again with glory, to judge both the quick and the dead. And His Kingdom shall have no end. Therein lies our glory. When CHRIST returns to claim us we will live happily ever after, but until that time, we live here in this place under the Cross. JESUS said, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.” He also said, “And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.” This does not mean that we are somehow to suffer all that our LORD did. Nor does it mean that we are to look at suffering as some sort meritorious act or payment for our sins. JESUS already accomplished that for us. What it does mean is that the spiritual life, your spiritual life, has to do with suffering, defeat, and weakness—not simply the experience of “glory” as we might like and desire. The way of the Cross means being broken by the Law and recognizing that without CHRIST everything else is meaningless because without JESUS all is hopeless. It means 4 recognizing that salvation lies not in optimistically assuming success and glorifying the power of success in this life, but in clinging to the Cross, trusting in JESUS to do for us what we cannot do for ourselves. This is the spirituality that saves because it is saving faith in JESUS. Today, the popular assumption is that real Christians do not suffer, that if one has enough faith, God will grant healing, prosperity, and success. This idea is so fashionable that entire churches and their theology and practice are built around promises of good health and financial success, not only through following biblical principles, but from the “theology of glory” and “name-it, claim-it” acts of faith. True acts of faith, however, believe in the Words CHRIST JESUS has given us, “This is my Body, given for you. This is my Blood, shed for you.” True acts of faith cling to the feet of JESUS where we wash His feet with our tears and dry them with our hair. True acts of faith say to JESUS, “LORD forgive me for I have sinned.” True acts of faith desire nothing more than to hear JESUS’ reply, “I forgive you all your sins.” Therefore, it is God’s love that saves you. It is God’s grace that calls you. It is the FATHER’s mercy through the death of His SON and preached by His SPIRIT that claims and sanctifies you. It is His Word of peace that absolves and forgives you, making of you a true child of God and brother or sister of our LORD, JESUS CHRIST. IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER, AND OF THE SON AND OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. AMEN. SOLI DEO GLORIA Rev. Raymond D. Parent II Our Savior Evangelical Lutheran Church Crestview, Florida 6/1/25 AD