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SERMON: Rejoicing In The Freedom Of Christ (Matthew 11:2-15; Isaiah 35:1-10)

Here's an excerpt from an Advent sermon I found the other day...


 
"John the Baptist is in prison. So are you. John’s bars can be seen. Yours cannot. But yours are no less strong. Maybe they are even stronger. 
John’s prison is named for the king who put him there: Herod. Yours are named by what put you there as well. Yours are the prisons of fear, worry, doubt, anger, bitterness, sadness, loneliness, addiction, covetousness, and countless others that lock you in their grip. You try to escape, but the bars and bonds are strong. 
And holidays like Christmas don’t release from those prisons, like many hope. That this year will be different. It usually isn’t, and often just makes things worse. When your Christmas isn’t a Hallmark Christmas. When your Christmas isn’t white, but dark. And when your expectations, hopes, and dreams fall short or come crashing down, they bring you with them. The prisons getting darker and deeper. That’s why the holidays historically show an uptick in suicides. People don’t see any way out of their prisons. For, they think, if Christmas - with all of its joy and happiness and hope cannot get me out - nothing can. 
But Christmas can. Not the joy and happiness Christmas. Not the tree and gifts Christmas. Not the carols and decorations and the things-will-be-different-this-year Christmas. But the Christmas Advent prepares us for - the Immanuel Christmas. The God with us Christmas. Jesus’ Christmas. For He is the one who came exactly for this: to set prisoners free." 
-- Rev. James Douthwaite


Be sure to read the full Advent sermon from Pastor Douthwaite.

People commonly experience disappointment because of false or unfulfilled expectations. We hope God will act in a certain way, but He does not.

We then wonder why.

To guard against false expectations, focus on Jesus and on what He has said and done. He is the fulfillment of all our hopes. "All the promises of God find their Yes in Him" (2 Corinthians 1:20).

Jesus is deeply grieved that some who have had the greatest opportunity to hear the Gospel stubbornly refuse to repent and believe.

Many of us have been blessed to drink often the water of life. We must respond eagerly and sincerely. Day by day, Jesus patiently invites us to repent of our sins and hear His Word of forgiveness.

Lord Jesus, when I struggle with doubts and unfulfilled hopes, remind me of Your words and works that assure me of Your saving love. Turn my heart daily, O Holy Spirit, to confess my sins and receive the full and free forgiveness earned by Jesus. Amen.

In a Lutheran layman's terms, rejoice in the freedom of Christ for you!




NOTE: Please understand that I'm not a called and ordained minister of God's Word and Sacraments. I'm a layman or just your average everyday Christian, Corporate Recruiter, Husband, Father, Friend who lives in the "City of Good Neighbors" here on the East Coast. As another Christian Blogger once wrote, "Please do not see this blog as me attempting to 'publicly teach' the faith, but view it as an informal Public Journal of sorts about my own experiences and journey, and if any of my notes here help you in any way at all, then I say, 'Praise the Lord!' but please do double check them against the Word of God and with your own Pastor." To be more specific, and relevant to the point I want to make with this disclaimer/note, please understand that I'm a relatively new convert to "Confessional Lutheranism" and one who recently escaped an American-Evangelical-Non-Denominational mindset a little more than 4 years ago now despite being a Christian my whole life. That being said, please contact me ASAP if you believe that any of my "old beliefs" seem to have crept their way back into any of the material you see published here, and especially if any of the content is inconsistent with the Bible, our Confessions, and Lutheran doctrine in general (in other words, if it's not consistent with God's Word, which our Confessions merely summarize and repeatedly point us back to over and over again) so that I can not only correct those errors immediately and not lead any of His little ones astray (James 3:1), but repent of my sin and learn the whole truth myself. With that in mind, please be aware that you might also discover that some of the earlier/older pieces I wrote for this blog back in 2013 definitely fall into that "Old Evangelical Adam" category (and they don't have a disclaimer like this) since I was a "Lutheran-In-Name-Only" at the time and was completely oblivious to the fact that a Christian "Book of Concord" even existed (Small/Large Catechism? What's that!?!). This knowledge of the Lutheran basics was completely foreign to me even though I was baptized, confirmed, and married in an LCMS church! So, there are some entries that are a little "out there" so-to-speak since the subject matter was also heavily influenced by those old beliefs of mine. I know that now and I'm still learning. Anyway, I decided to leave those published posts up on this website and in cyberspace only because they are not blasphemous/heretical, because I now have this disclaimer, and only to demonstrate the continuing work of Christ and the Holy Spirit in my life (Hebrews 12:2; Philippians 1:6). Most importantly, please know that any time I engage in commenting on and/or interpreting a specific portion of the holy Scriptures, it will always closely follow the verse-by-verse footnotes from my Lutheran Study Bible and/or include references to the Book of Concord unless otherwise noted. Typically, I will defer to what other Lutheran Pastors both past and present have already preached and taught about such passages since they are the called and ordained under-shepherds of our souls here on earth. Finally, I'm going to apologize ahead of time for the length of most entries (this disclaimer/note is a perfect example of what I mean! haha). I'm well aware that blogs should be short, sweet, and to the point, but I've never been one to follow the rules when it comes to writing. Besides, this website is more like a "Christian Dude's Diary" in the sense that everything I write about and share publicly isn't always what's "popular" or "#trending" at the time, but is instead all the things that I'm studying myself at the moment. For better or for worse, these posts tend to be much longer than most blog entries you'll find elsewhere only because I try to pack as much info as possible into a single piece so that I can refer to it again and again over time if I need to (and so that it can be a valuable resource for others -- if possible, a "One-Stop-Shop" of sorts). Thank you for stopping by and thank you in advance for your time, help, and understanding. Feel free to comment/email me at any time. Grace and peace to you and yours!

About JKR

Christian. Husband. Father. Friend.

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Thank you for visiting A Lutheran Layman! Please feel free to leave a comment or a question since we do not exercise censorship. We've seen a similar policy with other blogs and it's worth repeating: Please act as if you're a guest in my home, and we'll get along just fine. I think anyone would agree that the kind of back-and-forth that is characteristic of blogs/chat forums and social media is becoming tiresome for all of us. Still, we should confess, edify, and love (and contend and defend when needed). Bottom line? Search the Scriptures! Apply Acts 17:11 to anything and everything you find here and, if you do happen to disagree with something you find here (which is certainly ok), or think I'm "irresponsible" and "wrong" for writing it, then please refute my position by supporting yours with Scripture and/or the Confessions. I don't think that's an unreasonable request, especially for those who identify themselves as "Christians" here, right? Besides, Proverbs 27:17 tells us "Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another" and 2 Timothy 3:16 says, "all Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness." If you have an opinion that's great, I welcome it, but try to support it using God's Word. I mean, if the goal here is to help us all arrive at the truth of God's Word (myself included), then it should be easy to follow through on this one simple request (I'm talking to all you "Anonymous" visitors out there). Grace and peace to you and yours!

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