Preparing the Way of the Lord

Kongsvinger Lutheran Church

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Welcome to the teaching ministry of Kungsvinger Lutheran Church Kungsvinger is a beacon for the gospel of Jesus Christ and is located on the plains of northwestern,

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Minnesota We proclaim Christ and him crucified for our sins and salvation by grace through faith alone

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And now here's a message from Pastor Chris Roseberg the Holy Gospel according to st.

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Luke chapter 3 verses 1 to 14 in In the 15th year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea Herod being

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Tetrarch of Galilee and his brother Philip Tetrarch of the region of Echeria and Trachonitis and Lysanias Tetrarch of Abilene During the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas The Word of God came to John the son of Zechariah in the wilderness

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And he went into all the region around the Jordan proclaiming a baptism of repentance

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For the forgiveness of sins as it is written in the book of the words of the of Isaiah the prophet

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The voice of one crying in the wilderness Prepare the way of the Lord make his paths straight

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Every valley shall be filled every mountain and hill shall be made low and the crooked shall become

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Straight and the rough places shall become level ways and all flesh shall see the salvation of God He said therefore to the crowds that came out to be baptized by him

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You brood of vipers who warned you to flee from the wrath to come

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Bear fruit in keeping with repentance and do not begin to say to yourselves We have

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Abraham as our father for I tell you God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham Even now the axe is laid at the root of the trees and every tree

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Therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire and the crowds asked him

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What then shall we do and he answered them? Whoever has two tunics is to share with him who has none whoever has food is to do likewise

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Tax collectors also came to be baptized and said to him teacher What shall we do and he said to them collect no more than you are authorized to do

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Soldiers also asked him and what shall we do and he said to them do not extort money from anyone by threats or by False accusation and be content with your wages.

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This is the gospel of the Lord in the name of Jesus So, how does one prepare for the arrival of the

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Lord well, let's do a little comparative work shall we Well, my house currently is prepared for the birth of Jesus Christ and every year

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It usually gets prepared for the birth of Jesus Christ the the day after Thanksgiving And so right now my home has got the twinkly lights

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It's got the Christmas tree going and of course every year we break out like the classic Christmas music

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And I'm talking about like, you know Perry Como, you know, maybe a little Kenny Rogers, you know,

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Frank Sinatra I love them J I and G Bells, uh -huh.

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Anyway, you kind of get the idea, right? So but here's the thing the way we prepare for the arrival of Jesus Is just way different than the way

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John the Baptist prepared everybody for the arrival of Jesus In fact, I mean take a look at the front of your bulletin.

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I love this artwork. I mean this guy looks like a raving maniac. I Jesus says of this raving maniac that of all human beings born

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According to the natural course that human beings are born that guy that raving maniac.

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He is the greatest of all of us You know, it's like Jesus took a look across history and said, all right

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Adam and Eve last guy who breathes his last on the last day and he goes which of them is the best eeny meeny

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Miny John the Baptist, that's the guy who's like there's the pinnacle. That's the one

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I really think Exemplifies exactly what I would like to see in people and you sit there and you go

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What? You mean old grasshopper breath, really? him and Yet, here's the thing is is that we're going to learn how one prepares the way of the

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Lord And it's a little uncomfortable I'm like it actually kind of hurts your feelings.

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So hang on for a second. It's gonna be a bumpy ride We'll work our way back through our gospel text

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Luke 3 Here's what it says in the 15th year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea Herod being

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Tetrarch Tetrarch by the way is basically meaning like a fourth of a monarch You know after the death of Herod the

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Great they cut up his portion of the Roman Empire into fourths And so they had four different guys who kind of ran what used to be run by one fellow

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So here we got four Tetrarchs Herod being Tetrarch of Galilee his brother Philip Tetrarch of the region of Iturria and Trachonitis Licinius Tetrarch of Abilene during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas now a little bit of a note here

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When did this take place? You'll note it says 15th year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar Oh the scholars debate this one because when

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Tiberius was before he became Caesar by himself He was kind of like Co Caesar with the aging

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Caesar for two years So it depends on when you start counting. So this is either somewhere about 26

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AD To as late as like the early part of 29. So it's somewhere in that two -year span, but you're gonna note this we know

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When in human history this was all taking place you know, you can actually take a

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CNN news crew wait wait and Fox News crew and go back in time and And Record these events and so the other thing you'll note there is is that something weird is going on as far as the high

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Priesthood is concerned because it's shared between two fellows Annas and Caiaphas They had kind of like well

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The best way I could put it is is that the high priesthood had become a political office and two guys politicked against each other and came to a stalemate and so they decided that the easiest way to solve this problem was they were going

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To kind of take turns and as you go this year Caiaphas you go the next year and they was you know

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Kind of rotated like that until they were deposed by Rome in 36 AD And then we hear these words

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The Word of God Came to John the son of Zechariah in the wilderness a little bit of a note here

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If you're familiar with the Old Testament prophets This is a familiar formula The Word of God came to Jeremiah the

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Word of God came to Isaiah the Word of God came to Malachi and said you see John the

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Baptist is the last of the Old Testament prophets and You know that God hasn't spoken for four hundred years in fact our

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Prophet Malachi that fellow who prophesied of John the Baptist He was the last one to hear from God for 400 years and then

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God kind of slips into the background and he assists Israel You know during the Maccabean rebellion this past week those who are

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Jewish are celebrating Hanukkah and you'll note that the the story regarding Hanukkah takes place during those 400 years and God is

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Silent and so this is the first that people have heard from God Directly in 400 years and so now the last of the

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Old Testament prophets God raises up and he's kind of a In -between character because not only is he the last of the

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Old Testament prophets. He's doing something totally new. He's proclaiming the forgiveness of sins

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Baptism repentance and well stuff that sounds a lot like the New Testament apostles and the evangelists and so, you know

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He's an in -between character and he's doing something new and so he is proclaiming a repentance baptism a repentance baptism for the forgiveness of sins and We learned that he one of the prophecies spoken of him is from the

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Prophet Isaiah He's the voice of one calling in the wilderness Prepare the way of the

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Lord a little bit of a note here Do you think this is recorded just so that we know the history of what happened in the past?

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Is that why scripture is written? No, and so you're gonna note in some very awkward and uncomfortable ways here that John the

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Baptist and Isaiah and this idea of preparing the way of the Lord is being Vocalized strongly and loudly to us

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Here today in Oslo, Minnesota of all places

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Talk about a wilderness, right? Prepare the way of the Lord make his paths straight

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Every valley shall be filled every mountain and hill shall be made low

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The crooked shall become straight the rough places shall become level ways it's almost as if Isaiah is looking into the future and sees

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John the Baptist with a with a hard hat on and As a construction worker the guy with like this ginormous

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Bulldozer and he's coming in to build a highway a highway of holiness and oh boy

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That Peaks got to go that valleys got to be filled We got to level this whole place all of this stuff's just got to go and so he comes through with his bulldozer

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Leveling everything in preparation for the Lord and we're asking where are the twinkly lights and the

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Christmas carols? But then he says this all flesh shall see the salvation of God and John the

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Baptist therefore said to the crowds a little bit of a note here a

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Lot of people went out to hear this fellow. He was a spiritual oddity if you would in fact, he was really relevant

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I'm pretty sure that if the magazine relevant magazine Which is some kind of a magazine for church leaders today that if that was being published at the time

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They would have done a front page story on John the Baptist There might have even been like Suggested recipes how you two can eat grasshoppers and honey and like it, right?

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That's how relevant this guy was and the crowds come out to see him and he doesn't tell them what they want to hear

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Like something like Oh God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life You can discover your purpose and achieve your dream destiny.

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Yeah. No, no. No, he does something totally different In fact, he tells him what they need to hear and here are the rough words.

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Are you ready? You brood of vipers Excuse me

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Now I would like to argue there's really no way to say this kindly Somebody suggested that maybe if you say it in a

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British accent that it'll sound a little nicer or maybe maybe like Sean Connery You'll brew the vipers, you know, you know, you know, it doesn't work, right?

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So here he is screaming in your face that you basically are the descendants of snakes

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Thanks for insulting us John But the thing is he's right Remember Jesus said to those who didn't believe in him that they are of their father the devil

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What what John is invoking here? Is that humanity dead and trespasses and sins under the dominion of darkness?

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Well, they have allied themselves Even genetically if you would kind of stretching it a little bit with the snake from the

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Garden of Eden And that he's now our Papa rather than God You brood of vipers who warns you to flee from the wrath to come

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And now he's invoking hell Bear fruit in keeping with repentance and don't think to say to yourselves.

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Oh, we have Abraham as our father Don't think to say to yourself. Well, I've been a lifelong Lutheran All right, kind of the same idea don't think that you can say to yourself we have

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Abraham as our father I tell you God's able to from these stones to raise up children for Abraham and now now the axe it's laid to the root of the trees every tree

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Therefore that does not bear good fruit. It's cut down and Thrown into the fire.

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I don't know any call committee at any church that would want this guy as their pastor Whoa That's rough

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Now think of it this way Repentance oftentimes people confuse to have it like a weird definition of what repentance is and I I would point you to the very clear definition of what repentance is as it is summarized in our

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Confessions the Augsburg Confession article 12 that confessed that repentance comprises of two things

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Repentance is two things at the same time. The first thing is sorrow true sorrow and lament

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Over your sins over the fact that you have transgressed God's holy law that you have sinned against God and against each other

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That's the first part of it, but repentance also includes confident faith in the promises of God in Christ for the forgiveness of your sins and that being the case, there's a really only one way in which

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Repentance can be worked in a human being that is is that they must hear that they have fallen short

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You must hear that you have fallen short, but you also need to hear that Christ has not

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That he has kept God's law perfectly For you the two go together

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So repentance then is this lament that oh man I am

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NOT a good person and that God rightly judges me as a sinner and also saying yes and Christ forgives me of all of my sins

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Both of these come together and this is something worked in us by God and you'll note then this is how

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One is prepared for the Lord You are rightly prepared when you lament and recognize your sinfulness and trust

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Jesus forgives you of all of your sins and so Law and gospel they come together and we see that in John here and you'll note then that as you read the

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Gospels There was a group of people who felt that they didn't need John's baptism and they were the

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Pharisees. They were the religious leaders. They were poorly prepared For Christ to appear in fact

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So poorly were they prepared that they ended up dogging Jesus like his whole ministry

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He'd perform a miracle and they say he did that by the demon by demonic power He's a sorcerer

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He's not really doing this by God and then every time he would preach and teach they try to catch him in his words and Come up with these traps that they laid for him.

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They were poorly poorly poorly prepared for Christ And see that's the difference and then listen to the rabble the the rabble who came to hear

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John the ones who Availed themselves of this baptism for the forgiveness of their sins who were repenting at this message

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It says the crowds they asked John what shall we do? That's like the same question that people asked

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Peter on the day of Pentecost brothers What shall we do and so note then that those who repent that amendment of their life is expected

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You know that John preaches God's law in all of its uses first use second use third use

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Second use convicts us of our sins third use tells us what a good work is And so listen to the people that heard his preaching.

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What shall we do? He said alright, whoever has two tunics is to share with him who has none.

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Ah Love your neighbor as yourself. And here's what it looks like.

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Whoever has food is to do likewise Tax collectors those despised people at the time who were traitors of Israel tax collectors

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They also came to be baptized and you'll note these tax collectors. They hear the preaching of John they go.

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That's me That's me. I am a brood of a viper and so they repented they were baptized

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They received the forgiveness of sins and the question was well now what? Teach and so he said

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Tax collectors, he says teacher. What shall we do? They said collect no more than you're authorized to do stop stealing from people soldiers

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You have to wonder if there were Roman soldiers in that mix, right? They also asked what shall we do?

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Don't extort money from anyone by threats or by false Accusation be content with your wages

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And what about us? What shall we do in the face of this type of preaching?

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I would suggest maybe the Ten Commandments give us a little help here Repent of your idolatry

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Your false gods the things in which you trust to comfort you in times of trouble the things you worship other than the one true

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God, maybe it's your PlayStation 4 Maybe it's your bazillion dollar combine

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Maybe it's your money. Maybe it's your status who knows But you need to repent bear fruit in keeping with repentance by worshiping and trusting the only true

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God who is Not misusing God's name Yeah, stop believing the false teachers that you listen to on the radio or the television or stop believing the false

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Doctrines that you are holding on to despite what God's Word tells you, you know and says that that's not true

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Stop misusing God's name stop pie using God's name to hide your false ideas also

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What shall we do stop despising God's preaching come to church hear the

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Word of God receive the sacraments? Feast on what God has spoken man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God Honor your father and your mother

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This is a recognition not just merely that God has instituted families But also that God has instituted order within our societies

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This order extends all the way up to the president of the United States also includes Christ as the head of the church

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Honoring him. In fact, there's much talk today About what is described as cancerous feminism and I would argue the most cancerous form of feminism is when the bride of Christ rebels against her husband and Demands to have her way in his church

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That's feminism Cancerously, so so honor your father and mother don't murder.

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Oh But you don't understand pastor. I have a right to be angry at that person

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Did you hear what they said about me? Or did you see how they rolled their eyes when

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I said such -and -such a thing or maybe they stepped on my toes or whatever? I have a right to be angry at this person

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Jesus says that's murder their fruit in keeping with repentance

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Forgive Thou shalt not commit adultery.

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Well, this is super easy nowadays adultery is really convenient. It's only one click away and yet People have been sent to hell for this and repent stop surfing onto those websites that you know are sinful

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Stop flirting with that person who is not your spouse Enjoy the blessing that you have in your wife or your husband and if you're single

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Let your life be virtuous Let your life be virtuous sexually You shall not steal.

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Oh, there's so many different ways to do this It's immeasurable from the paperclips you steal and the pens that you steal from your boss at work

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To the little tiny white lies you tell on your tax return there's all these different ways in which we steal so stop doing it and Give to people what is owed them and protect their property

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Don't give false testimony against your neighbor get off the phone. Stop talking about people and talk to them

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Stop gossiping and murdering people's reputation Speak well of them.

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Oh and Social media Maybe some of you need to get off that all together because that's just turned into one big gossip fest

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You should not covet your neighbor's house His manservant maidservant made man ox donkey combine anything in fact our whole

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Economy seems to be running off of coveting. Does it not I Hate it every single year in the fall

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My favorite tech company has these big events where they announce the latest and greatest

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Technology and why you need to have it. Could you imagine the iPhone now has a

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USB C port? Oh My life will never be the same and so you despise the things that you have and you covet the things that you do not have

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The whole economy runs on it Repent be content with the gifts that God has given you

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Wow that's uncomfortable, isn't it and See, that's exactly then how

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Christ prepares his church For his arrival because remember

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John the Baptist was sent by God to prepare the way of the Lord so this year as You enjoy the comfort of your home the twinkling of your

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Christmas lights the wonderful classic Christmas music Do not forget that that is not the way in which we prepare for the

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Lord The way we prepare for the Lord is to recognize our need for the gift that God has given us in Christ Because he is the one who took our sins upon himself

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He himself was baptized in the Jordan River the sinless one Soaking up like a sponge all of our filth and our muck and then he goes to the cross and bleeds and dies the righteous for the unrighteous the godly for the ungodly and We are well prepared to recognize

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That we have fallen short and feel some sorrow and contrition about how woefully we have fallen short

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Sinned against God and sinned against others and at the same time be confident of the forgiveness of sins that we have in Jesus Christ This is what it means to be

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Prepared for the arrival of the Lord and then all of your

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Christmas decorations take on a whole new vibrancy because you recognize that we are celebrating the great gift that we have of a

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Savior in Jesus Christ and so all of those twinkly lights are most appropriate After we recognize we need to repent in the name of Jesus Amen, if you would like to support the teaching ministry of kungsvinger lutheran church

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You can do so by sending a tax -free donation to kungsvinger lutheran church 159 5 0 470th

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Avenue Northwest Oslo, Minnesota 567 4 4 and again that address is kungsvinger lutheran church 159 5 0 470th

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Avenue Northwest Oslo, Minnesota 567 4 4 We thank you for your support

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