Good morning and welcome to the broadcast of the Divine Service at Zion Lutheran Church in Chippewa Falls.
To help you follow along, the Order of Worship for today's service is available under the radio tab on our website, ZionLCMSC.org.
The Lord bless you today through the hearing of his word.
confirmation day observed we're gonna begin with him number 794 the Lord my God be praised him 794
Beloved in the Lord, let us draw near with a true heart and confess our sins unto God, our Father, beseeching him in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to grant us forgiveness.
Our help is in the name of the Lord.
I said I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord.
O Almighty God, merciful Father, I, a poor, miserable sinner, confess unto you all my sins and iniquities, with which I have ever offended you, and justly deserve your temporal and eternal punishment.
But I am heartless for them, and sincerely repent of them.
And I pray you of your finalest mercy, and for the sake of the Holy.
upon this your confession I by virtue of my office is a called and ordained servant of the word announce the grace of God unto all of you and in the stead and by the command of my Lord Jesus Christ I forgive you all your sins
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Glory be to God on high.
you
Let us pray.
Almighty and gracious Lord, pour out your Holy Spirit on your faithful people.
Keep us steadfast in your grace and truth.
Protect and deliver us in times of temptation.
Defend
us against all enemies and grant your church your saving peace through Jesus Christ, your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit.
One God, now and forever.
Our first greeting is from Revelation chapter 14.
Then I saw another angel flying directly overhead.
but an eternal gospel to proclaim to those who dwell on earth to every nation and tribe and language and people.
And he said with a loud voice, fear God and give him glory because the hour of his judgment has come and worship him who made heaven and earth the sea and the springs of water.
This is the word of the Lord.
Return to the yellow insert and sing together the gradual.
The epistle reading is from Romans chapter three.
Now we know that whatever the law says, it speaks to those who are under the law so that every mouth may be stopped.
The whole world may be held accountable to God.
For by works of the law, no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.
But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law.
Although the law and the prophets bear witness to it, the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe, for there is no distinction for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God and are justified by his grace as a gift.
Through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood to be received by faith, this was to show God's righteousness.
because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins.
It was to show his righteousness at the present time so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.
And what becomes of boasting, it is excluded by what kind of law, by law of works, no, but by the law of faith.
For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law.
This is the word of the Lord.
Please stand in honor of the gospel.
The Holy Gospel according to Saint Matthew the 11th chapter.
Jesus said from the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence and the violent ticket by force for all the prophets and the law prophesied until John.
And if you are willing to accept it, he is Elijah who is to come.
He who has ears to hear, let him hear.
But to what shall I compare this generation?
Just like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to their playmates.
We played the flute for you and you did not dance.
We sing a dirge, and you did not mourn.
For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say he has a demon.
The son of man came eating and drinking, and they say, look at him, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of Tex collectors and sinners.
Yet wisdom is justified by her deeds.
This is the gospel of the Lord.
Together we confess our faith is written in the words of the Nicene Creed.
I believe in one God, the Father almighty, make the right heaven and earth.
And of all things, visible and invisible, and in one glory, Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, begotten of his Father before all worlds, God of God, light of light.
very God, a very God.
He got him not made.
Being of one substance with the Father, by whom all things were made, 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, 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 descended into heaven, and sits at the right hand of the Father.
And he will come again with glory to judge both the living and the dead, whose kingdom will have no end, and hide the lead from the Holy Spirit, the Lord and giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son.
I acknowledge one baptism for the mission of sins and I look for the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come.
spirit.
Amen.
All right, the church in Rome.
Then what becomes of our boasting?
It is excluded.
A Christian has nothing to boast in himself.
For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.
We confess this eternal truth that God has revealed to us.
It is humbling and frightening reality.
God is righteous, we are not.
God is just, we are guilty, we deserve His punishment.
It is true.
God is also gracious.
All continues.
All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.
They're justified by His grace as a gift through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.
God put forward as a propitiation by his blood to be received by faith.
This is the eternal gospel that had been obscured and was recovered and brought to light during the Reformation and various times throughout history.
Although we are guilty of deserving God's just punishment for our sins, he justified us undeserved.
Without any merit or worth, he did this out of grace.
His gift free for us, extremely costly for him.
God put forward his son, Jesus Christ, as a propitiation by his blood.
This word propitiation means atoning sacrifice.
The only way for you to be declared righteous was that your sins had to be atoned for, and the only way for that to happen was for God to become a man, to be sacrificed for your sins.
Only the pure and holy blood of the Son of God could atone for your sins, and God did exactly that through Christ on the altar of the cross.
The redemption that is in Christ Jesus,
This alone justifies you before God.
This is God's righteousness.
This is the good news that assures us that by the blood of Jesus we are right before God.
But a person wanting to justify themselves before God does not want to accept this.
It means that boasting in ourselves is excluded.
It means that no one can do anything to be right before God.
To add anything that anyone else can do is to deny that the suffering and death of Christ was enough.
To suggest that more is required is to deny the gospel.
The gospel is eternal, it never changes.
Sometimes it is obscured, such as at the time of the Reformation.
The Church of Rome was selling indulgences, telling people they could purchase time off of purgatory.
The idea is that you could do something to help your case before God.
It's appealing to our desire to do whatever we can to be right with God.
But it's misleading and it takes away from what Christ has already done.
It takes away any assurance that we have from what Christ has done.
When you get the idea that you can do something more, you move the justifying work from Christ to yourself.
Then the question, when becomes when is enough enough?
There is no assurance.
There is no comfort.
The pure gospel of Jesus Christ gives comfort and assurance.
And preserving the gospel preserves the comfort and assurance promised in Christ.
And he delivers that to us whenever we gather here for the divine service.
But the gospel, the declaration of salvation by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone is met with resistance.
Jesus speaks of this in today's reading from Matthew.
The prophets including John the Baptist were proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ and Jesus is the fulfillment of their prophecies.
And yet they were met with violence.
Jesus suffered the violence of the crucifixion.
Jesus Christ, the innocent and holy Son of God brought light to the dark world, revealing its sin and guilt.
And the righteousness of God was made manifest in Jesus.
The gospel requires the acknowledgement that all have sinned, fall short of the glory of God.
and it requires believing in the blood atoning sacrifice of Christ.
There is no room for boasting in this.
We have been justified by God's grace as a gift.
You were assured of this in your baptism when you were joined to Christ and received the seal of the Holy Spirit.
There you are covered with the righteousness of Christ and set apart to walk and live in him.
We cannot boast because even the faith that receives this is a gift from God.
We live by faith in the gospel that we have received and we carry the gospel into the world in which we live.
The righteousness of God is revealed in Christ Jesus.
We live by faith in what Jesus has done for us, daily repenting of our sins and receiving the forgiveness paid for by his blood.
We gladly hear and learn his word and we live according to it.
We love God.
We love our neighbor.
Forgiving as we have been forgiven.
We regularly gather to receive the free gifts of grace that he distributes here in the divine service.
We're not boastful.
Boasting in ourselves is excluded.
But we live according to his promises.
And we speak of the righteousness of God through faith in Christ Jesus.
Many will try to persuade us to follow their ways like the children in the marketplace that Jesus was referring to.
I may say that we're too concerned about being obedient to God's word as we strive to live according to his commands.
I may say we should be more punitive when we forgive someone who sins against us.
And we'll say we're too joyful when there are so many troubling things going on in the world.
Yet wisdom is justified by her deeds.
What you believe matters.
How you live matters.
We hold God's word sacred and we submit to it as coming from God.
We proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ that others may also be saved through faith in this work of Christ.
And we also treasure the confessional writings that came out of the Reformation as clear and
accurate explanation of God's word.
Help us from losing sight of God's gospel, which assures us of righteousness before God through faith in Jesus Christ.
We live according to Christ's teachings and commandments, but not to boast in ourselves.
We boast in Jesus Christ, our crucified and risen Lord.
As Saint Paul wrote,
But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise.
God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong.
God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are.
So that no human being might boast in the presence of God.
And because of him, you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption.
so that as it is written, that the one who boasts, boasts in the Lord.
Amen.
May the peace that passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
Amen.
Please stand.
Let us pray for the whole Church of God in Christ Jesus and for all people according to their needs.
Loving Father, though we deserve Your righteous wrath and punishment, for the sake of Your Son, do not remember our sins, but defend us from all harm and danger of body and soul, and be our very present help in time of need.
Lord, in Your mercy.
Gracious God, you have renewed your church in every age with the voices of those who recall your people to the gospel and who speak your word in all circumstances.
Receive our thanks for Martin Luther and those who contended for the gospel against many and great enemies.
Make us bold that we would also contend for the faith against those who would silence our voices or distract your people from the true, the one true gospel of the crucified and risen Christ.
Lord in your mercy.
Heavenly Father, bless the faithful proclamation of Christ's saving name throughout the world that your people's faith may be strengthened and your kingdom extended.
Lord in your mercy.
Lord, make us truly your disciples.
Keep us in your word.
Free us from all errors and make our homes and families peaceful.
Preserve all fathers and encourage them for their godly task.
that children would be brought up in the fear and instruction of the Lord.
Lord, in your mercy.
God of grace, do not let your people fear, though the earth gives way, and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea.
Rescue all people in need, especially the families of Pastor Jones and Don Walker.
Vicki, Lynn, Anita, Lois, Lewis, Mary, Marlis, Greg, Grant, Thorfinn, Doris, Matthew, Megan, Alyssa.
Mark, Ethel, Dave, Fred, Harold, Joan, Diane, Jaden, Rick, Virginia, Lacey, Marilyn, Marlene, George, Anne, Myron, and Florence, and comfort them with the promise that you are with them or in your mercy.
O Lord our God, you have given us the certainty of sins forgiven in your Son, set forth as the propitiation by His blood to be received by faith.
So lead us to eat and drink your holy body and precious blood in repentance and faith now and always.
Lord, in your mercy, preserve your church, O Lord, and each of us as members of Christ's body, that we may not surrender the true gospel for any reason, but be kept in this faith and fear throughout the days of our earthly pilgrimage.
Until that day when we and all your people shall stand before the judgment seat of Christ to receive the reward you have prepared for us and all who have loved his appearing Through the same Jesus Christ your son our Lord who lives and reigns with you in the Holy Spirit one God now and forever The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ the love of God and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all
the Lord be with you
lift
up your hearts let us give thanks unto the Lord our God
It is truly good, right, and salutary that we should at all times, and at all places, give thanks to you, Holy Lord, Almighty Father, everlasting God, through Jesus Christ our Lord, who on this day overcame death and the grave, and by his glorious resurrection, opened to us the way of everlasting life.
Therefore, with angels and archangels, and with all the company of heaven, we laud and magnify your glorious name.
Evermore praising you and saying.
Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive
those who trespass
against us
and leave us not into
temptation but
deliver us from
evil.
For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory for ever and ever.
Amen.
Our Lord Jesus Christ and the night when he was betrayed took bread.
And when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to the disciples and said, take heat.
This is my body, which is given for you.
This do in remembrance of me.
In the same way also, he took the cup after supper.
And when he had given thanks, he gave it to them saying, drink of it, all of you.
This cup is the New Testament in my blood, which is shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.
This too is often as you drink it and remember us of me.
The peace of the Lord be with you always.
Thank you for tuning in to the Divine Service at Zion Lutheran Church in Chicago.
Christ dwells in you richly.
If you have any prayer requests, please let us know.
You may call us at 715-723-6380 or stop by and visit 110 East Grand Avenue in Chippewa Falls.
If you're looking for a church home, we'll gladly tell you more about Zion or help you find a congregation near you.
These broadcasts are paid for by generous gifts made to our radio fund.
If you'd like to contribute, click the Give tab on our website, ZionLCMSCF.org, or send a check to Zion Lutheran Church Radio Fund, 110 East Grand Avenue, Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, 54729.
Zion is a member of the Lutheran Church, Missouri Synod.