Wittenberg Door Campus Ministry
  • Home
  • Calendar
    • Events
  • Blog
  • Recording Archives
  • Resources
    • Christianity 101
    • Greek Tutorials
  • About
    • About Wittenberg CoMo
    • Support Us
    • Contact Us
  • Position Papers
  • Sandbox
  • Greek Tutorials

Luke 17:11-19 - Lectionary for Trinity 14

9/10/2020

0 Comments

 
9/10/20
Many churches throughout the world use a Bible reading schedule called a "lectionary." It's just a fancy word meaning "selected readings." Posts like this reflect on the readings for an upcoming Sunday or other Church holiday, as found in the historic one-year lectionary.

On the border of two cultures, Jesus meets men from those two cultures - Samaria and Galilee. The men are in athe same kind of trouble, suffering from leprosy. At the time, it was an incurable disease which led to a slow and painful death after going through the course of the disease separated from society and treated like an outcast. It was a slow death in poverty. These men need help. There is no earthly help for them, so when they find Jesus, the healer they have heard of, they ask for mercy.

Jesus sends them to visit the priests. Why is this? It’s because the priests are the people God appointed in the Old Testament to look at illnesses, specifically leprosy, to see if it was spreading or if maybe it was a rash that was going away, and to put people in quarantine or release them. Jesus sends them to the proper authority.

Did you notice that he didn’t heal the men before he sent them? He just sent them. As they went they were healed. God’s healing happened to them after they had gone ahead and followed God’s will. 

One of the ten, a Samaritan, not a Jew who would have recognized himself as part of God’s covenant people, came back to thank Jesus. That’s when Jesus tells the man that his faith has healed him.

When we realize God’s mercy and grace, when we walk in the truth and we see that we are all right, when we then turn to the Lord in thanksgiving, that’s when Jesus normally tells us the message we already were realizing. That’s when he tells us we are healed, we are restored, we are forgiven. When did it really happen? Jesus was healing the Samaritan man from the time he asked for healing. Jesus then proclaimed that his promise was good and complete.

Likewise with us, when we ask the Lord for his mercy, he responds by showing us that his mercy was there for us all along. This is the Lord who is able to come before us and rescue us. We normally realize it only later. But our right response is exactly that of the Samaritan. We give thanks to God for his work.

If this brief meditation was helpful to you, I hope you will check out the other materials on our website at www.WittenbergCoMo.com and consider supporting us.

0 Comments

Galatians 5:16-24 - Lectionary for Trinity 14

9/9/2020

0 Comments

 
9/9/20
Many churches throughout the world use a Bible reading schedule called a "lectionary." It's just a fancy word meaning "selected readings." Posts like this reflect on the readings for an upcoming Sunday or other Church holiday, as found in the historic one-year lectionary.

My Lunch and Learn Bible study today had to do with using God’s name and authority rightly. The concept of God’s people rejoicing in the Name of the Lord, trusting that they can receive what they pray for, was central. Really? We can pray for what we want and God will do it?

Yes, absolutely, provided we are praying within God’s will. As we pray in the Lord’s Prayer, we ask that God’s will should be done. God is most certainly able to accomplish His will. 

This brings us to Galatians 5:16. As we walk in the Spirit we will not gratify the desires of the flesh. When we are set apart for God’s purpose and our desires and affections are wrapped up in what He has said, rather than what we may desire, we’ll end up doing God’s will. We will be transformed into instruments of God’s will rather t han remaining instruments of our will, working out our fallen nature.

Wait a minute! As I’m writing this post, I’m sitting on a metal bench at a table outside on campus. There’s no back support. My shoulders are starting to scream at me. There’s a chilly, damp wind blowing and my fingers are getting pretty numb. I’m not complaining, but I’m looking forward to seeking out some comfort. When I leave this location, I’ll also probably get something to eat and drink. Is that a plan to gratify the desires of the flesh? Am I threatening to stop walking in the Spirit?

I sure hope not. The Lord gives us comforts, food, drink, rest, and shelter. Those are good things. They are gifts of God. Yet, even as we enjoy them, we need to be aware that they are gifts. We give thanks to the Lord who provided those things. And we enjoy them. They are good. We rightly want them. However, we are not to sin in order to get them, nor to sin when we don’t get them. This goes for all sorts of pleasures. Our desires are to be subordinate to God’s will. He is the Lord who provides our needs. We don’t take things into our own hands. We also don’t scoff at the good our Lord has provided. Rather, we delight in the Lord and return thanks to Him.

Walk in the Spirit! It’s the place to be.

If this brief meditation was helpful to you, I hope you will check out the other materials on our website at www.WittenbergCoMo.com and consider supporting us.

0 Comments

Psalm 119:9-16 - Lectionary for Trinity 14

9/8/2020

0 Comments

 
9/8/20
Many churches throughout the world use a Bible reading schedule called a "lectionary." It's just a fancy word meaning "selected readings." Posts like this reflect on the readings for an upcoming Sunday or other Church holiday, as found in the historic one-year lectionary.

I regularly hear from people who want a “memorable” worship experience. Sometimes they will use words like “transformative.” Some of them talk about “lively” or “relevant” times of worship. Yet many of the people who pursue such a worship environment neglect one simple thing, the main point of our passage from Psalm 119.

Much of historic Christian worship does precisely what Psalm 119:9-16 describes. It draws us into a dialog with God’s Word. We are hearing the Scripture and responding with more Scripture. We do this in our worship, in our prayer, in our songs, and even as the sermon draws us into God’s Word.

How will I learn what God’s will is? I will learn it by meditating on God’s Word! How will I learn how to conduct myself in this world? I will learn by exploring God’s Word! 

This seems like a difficult task. After all, my teachers have told me that “rote learning” is useless, that I need to have a living experience of what I want to learn. My teachers have also told me that I need to memorize what I am memorizing all the way, perfectly, with no errors, beginning to end. I can’t actually do that, and don’t normally think that way. My learning is going to be full of holes and places where I might misunderstand the words and the entire point of learning. And how will I remember what I have studied? I expect to live quite a while and might have time to forget something.

This is one of the beauties of historic Christian worship that is based on a solid form of liturgy. We say or sing the same things back and forth, week after week. Eventually we end up knowing those passages of Scriptures, those songs, those prayers. We can fill in the gaps in the Creed. We can pray like the people before us who prayed in the same words. And we wind up knowing these things of the Christian faith even when much else has fled from our memory.

Want something memorable? Feast on God’s Word in the divine liturgy week after week, remembering it a bit more as each succeeding week comes by. Meditate on God’s Word. It will come alive.

If this brief meditation was helpful to you, I hope you will check out the other materials on our website at www.WittenbergCoMo.com and consider supporting us.

0 Comments

Proverbs 4:10-17 - Lectionary for Trinity 14

9/7/2020

0 Comments

 
9/7/20
Many churches throughout the world use a Bible reading schedule called a "lectionary." It's just a fancy word meaning "selected readings." Posts like this reflect on the readings for an upcoming Sunday or other Church holiday, as found in the historic one-year lectionary.

Our reading in Proverbs 4 points up the difference between the way of wisdom and the way of folly. Through wisdom, which is here defined as doing what is within God’s revealed will, we can find security and even long life.

On the contrary, those who have departed from God’s wisdom are not content until they have brought harm on someone. The way of folly is destructive. Wickedness, violence, and stumbling are on the way of folly. 

So many in our world today think that the Bible is an old, out-of-touch, irrelevant book full of primitive ideas that are intended to cause trouble for anyone and everyone. Much of Western Christianity has, sadly, been willing to go along with these views. We are told that we don’t matter. We shrug and act like we don’t matter. We are told that we are intolerant because we think the Scripture speaks of differing roles for male and female. We find a way to argue that the Scripture says male and female are alike and that they are “mere” social constructs. We are told that political solutions are what we really need if we are going to have justice in the world. We become social activists. We are told that Christianity doesn’t have answesr to hard questions. We act as if we are ignorant of the thousands of years of practice Christians have had dealing with hard questions in the world.

What’s wrong with us? God has given us words of life, of peace, of hope, and many means by which we can care for our fallen and hurting world. It’s high time we recognize this and act as if we have received the gifts our Lord would have us bring to our world.

Lord, help us be instruments of good, not of evil. Amen.

If this brief meditation was helpful to you, I hope you will check out the other materials on our website at www.WittenbergCoMo.com and consider supporting us.

0 Comments

    ​Help Fuel This Ministry by Clicking Here!

    All the work of Wittenberg Door Campus Ministry, including this blog, is supported by the generosity of people like you. Please consider joining our team of prayer and financial supporters. Read more here!
    Please Note: The opinions presented in blog posts are not necessarily those of Wittenberg Door Campus Ministry. Frequently we report on contrary views, often without comment. Please chime in on the discussion.

    About Throwing Inkwells

    When Martin Luther was dealing with struggles in his life he once saw what appeared to be an angelic being. Not trusting that he was going to be informed by someone other than the God revealed in Scripture, he took the appearance to be untrustworthy and hurled his inkwell at it. The chipped place in the plaster wall is still visible at the Wartburg Castle, though apparently the ink stain on the wall has been refreshed periodically by the caretaker.

    Blog Feeds

    RSS Feed

    Want to keep up with what's happening at Wittenberg Door? Subscribe to our mailing list!

    Categories

    All
    1 Corinthians
    1 John
    1 Kings
    1 Peter
    1 Samuel
    1 Thessalonians
    1 Timothy
    2019-02-feb
    2 Chronicles
    2 Corinthians
    2-john
    2-kings
    2 Peter
    2 Samuel
    2 Thessalonians
    2 Timothy
    3-john
    Academic-success
    Acts
    Advent 1
    Advent-1-a
    Advent-1b
    Advent-1c
    Advent 2
    Advent-2-a
    Advent-2b
    Advent-2c
    Advent 3
    Advent-3-a
    Advent-3b
    Advent-3c
    Advent 4
    Advent-4-a
    Advent-4b
    Advent-4c
    Alesso-2009
    Alexander 1999
    Allitt-2010
    Alon 1996
    Amos
    Anunciation
    Aristotle
    Ash Wednesday
    Audet 1996
    Augustine
    Bakker 1993
    Bammel 1996
    Baptism Of Christ
    Baptism-of-the-lord-b
    Bauckham 2006
    Belonging
    Ben-Amos 1999
    Betz 1996
    Biesenthal 1893
    Boehme-2010
    Braaten 2007
    Bruce1988
    Bruce-1988
    Bryennios
    Butler 1960
    Canonicity
    Capon1998
    Capon-1998
    Carson-1991
    Carson-moo-2005
    Catholicism
    Christmas-1b
    Christmas-1c
    Christmas Dawn
    Christmas-day
    Christmas Eve
    Christmas Midnight
    Chronicles
    Circumcision And Naming Of Christ
    Colossians
    Confession Of Peter
    Confessions
    Connolly 1932
    Connolly 1933
    Connolly 1934
    Constanza-2013
    Culley 1986
    Daniel
    DeHalleux 1996
    Deuteronomy
    Didache
    Diversity
    Dix 1933
    Dix2005
    Dix-2005
    Doane 1994
    Draper
    Draper 1989
    Draper 1995
    Draper 1996
    Draper 1997
    Draper 2000
    Draper 2006
    Easter 2
    Easter-2a
    Easter2b
    Easter-2c
    Easter 3
    Easter-3a
    Easter-3b
    Easter-3c
    Easter 4
    Easter-4a
    Easter-4b
    Easter-4c
    Easter 5
    Easter-5a
    Easter-5b
    Easter 6
    Easter-6a
    Easter-6b
    Easter-6c
    Easter 7
    Easter-7a
    Easter-7b
    Easter-7c
    Easter-b
    Easter Day
    Easter-sunday-a
    Easter-sunday-c
    Ecclesiastes
    Eleutheria-2014
    Elman 1999
    Ephesians
    Epiphany
    Epiphany-1c
    Epiphany-2-a
    Epiphany-2c
    Epiphany-3-a
    Epiphany-3b
    Epiphany-3c
    Epiphany-4-a
    Epiphany-4b
    Epiphany-4c
    Epiphany-5-a
    Epiphany-5b
    Epiphany-5c
    Epiphany-6-a
    Epiphany-6c
    Epiphany-7-a
    Epiphany-c
    Epistle Of Barnabas
    Esther
    Eucharist
    Eve Of The Circumcision Of Christ
    Exodus
    Exodus-20
    Ezekiel
    Ezra
    Fagerberg1988
    Fagerberg-1988
    Farrell 1987
    Flew-2007
    Flusser 1996
    Forde-2007
    Fraade 1999
    France-2007
    Galatians
    Genesis
    Gibbs 2006
    Glover 1958
    Gonzalez-2010
    Grosvener & Schaff 1885
    Grosvenor 1884
    Guardian Of Jesus
    Habakkuk
    Haggai
    Harnack 1884
    Hebrews
    Henderson 1992
    Henderson-1992
    History
    Hoffman 1986
    Holy Innocents
    Hosea
    Hutchens-2013
    Hymes 1994
    Infertility
    Isaiah
    Jaffee 1999
    James
    Jeffreys 1986
    Jeremiah
    Jerome
    Job
    Joel
    John
    Jonah
    Joseph
    Joshua
    Jude
    Judges
    Jungmann 1959
    Justin-martyr
    Kelber 1987
    Kelber 1995
    Kevil
    Kings
    Kleinig-2013
    Koch-2010
    Kolb2000
    Kolb-2000
    Kolbarand2008
    Kolb-arand-2008
    Kurekchomycz2009
    Lamentations
    Last Sunday Of The Church Year
    Last-sunday-of-the-church-year-a
    Last-sunday-of-the-church-year-b
    Last Sunday Of The Church Year C
    Lectionary
    Lent 1
    Lent-1-a
    Lent-1b
    Lent-1c
    Lent 2
    Lent-2-a
    Lent-2b
    Lent-2c
    Lent 3
    Lent-3-a
    Lent-3b
    Lent-3c
    Lent 4
    Lent-4-a
    Lent-4b
    Lent-4c
    Lent 5
    Lent-5-a
    Lent-5b
    Lent-5c
    Lessing2014
    Lessing-2014
    Leviticus
    Lincoln 1885
    Long-2009
    Lord 1986
    Lord 1987
    Luke
    Luther
    Maas-2014
    MacCoull 1999
    Malachi
    Mark
    Marty-2016
    Martyrs
    Mason 1998
    Matthew
    Matthias
    Mazza 1996
    Mcknight-2014
    Micah
    Milavec-2003
    Milavec-2012
    Mitch-2010
    Molina & Evers 1998
    Monday In Holy Week
    Montenyohl 1993
    Morris-1992
    Motyer-1993
    Mueller 2006
    Music
    Nahum
    Nehemiah
    Neufeld 1999
    Newsletter
    Newtestament
    New Testament
    Niditch 1995
    Niederwimmer 1996
    Numbers
    Obadiah
    Oldtestament
    Old Testament
    Olsen 1986
    Ong 1987
    Ong 1988
    Ong 1995
    Orality
    Ordination
    Orphan-hosting
    Osborne-2002
    Osborne-2013
    Ozment1980
    Ozment-1980
    Palm Sunday
    Palm-sunday-a
    Palm-sunday-c
    Parks 1986
    Passionb
    Pearce 1993
    Pentateuch
    Pentecost-10a
    Pentecost-10b
    Pentecost-10c
    Pentecost-11a
    Pentecost-11b
    Pentecost-11c
    Pentecost-12a
    Pentecost-12b
    Pentecost-12c
    Pentecost-13a
    Pentecost-13b
    Pentecost13c
    Pentecost-13c
    Pentecost-14a
    Pentecost-14b
    Pentecost-14c
    Pentecost-15
    Pentecost-15a
    Pentecost-15b
    Pentecost-15c
    Pentecost-16
    Pentecost-16a
    Pentecost-16b
    Pentecost 16C
    Pentecost-17a
    Pentecost-17b
    Pentecost 17C
    Pentecost-18a
    Pentecost-18b
    Pentecost 18 C
    Pentecost-19a
    Pentecost-19b
    Pentecost 19 C
    Pentecost-1a
    Pentecost-20a
    Pentecost-20b
    Pentecost 20 C
    Pentecost-21a
    Pentecost-21b
    Pentecost 21 C
    Pentecost-22a
    Pentecost-22b
    Pentecost 22 C
    Pentecost-23a
    Pentecost-23b
    Pentecost 23 C
    Pentecost-24a
    Pentecost-24b
    Pentecost-24-c
    Pentecost-25b
    Pentecost-25-c
    Pentecost-26b
    Pentecost-26-c
    Pentecost-2a
    Pentecost-2b
    Pentecost-2c
    Pentecost-3a
    Pentecost-3b
    Pentecost-3c
    Pentecost-4a
    Pentecost-4b
    Pentecost-4c
    Pentecost-5a
    Pentecost-5b
    Pentecost-5c
    Pentecost-6a
    Pentecost-6b
    Pentecost-6c
    Pentecost-7a
    Pentecost-7b
    Pentecost-7c
    Pentecost-8a
    Pentecost-8b
    Pentecost-8c
    Pentecost-9a
    Pentecost-9b
    Pentecost-9c
    Pentecost-b
    Pentecost-c
    Pentecost Sunday
    Peterson2010
    Peterson-2010
    Philemon
    Philippians
    Philosophy
    Pieper1924
    Pieper-1924
    Piper 1947
    Preaching
    Presentation Of Our Lord
    Proper-19c
    Proper-20c
    Proper 21C
    Proper 22C
    Proper 23C
    Proper 24C
    Proper 25C
    Proper 26C
    Proper 27C
    Proper 28C
    Prophets
    Proverbs
    Psalm
    Quinquagesima
    Quintilian
    Receptivity
    Reformation
    Revelation
    Rhetoric
    Romans
    Rordorf 1996
    Rosenberg 1986
    Rosenberg 1987
    Rosenfeld-levene-2012
    Rueger-2016
    Russo 1994
    Ruth
    Saenger 1999
    Sailhamer1992
    Sailhamer-1992
    Sale 1996
    Samuel
    Scaer2004
    Scaer-2004
    Schaff 1886
    Schaff 1888
    Schaff 2014
    Schaff-2014
    Schollgen
    Seeliger 1996
    Septuagesima
    Sermon
    Sexagesima
    Smith-2009
    Sommerville-2006
    Songofsongs
    St. Andrew
    Stark 1997
    St. John
    St. Matthias
    St. Paul
    St. Stephen
    St. Thomas
    St. Titus
    Sunday Of The Passion
    Taylor 1888
    Teaching
    Telfer 1939
    Thielman-2010
    Thursday In Holy Week
    Timothy
    Titus
    Transfiguration
    Transfiguration-a
    Transfigurationb
    Transfiguration-c
    Trinity 1
    Trinity 10
    Trinity 11
    Trinity 12
    Trinity 13
    Trinity 14
    Trinity 15
    Trinity 16
    Trinity 17
    Trinity 18
    Trinity 19
    Trinity 2
    Trinity 20
    Trinity 21
    Trinity 22
    Trinity 23
    Trinity 3
    Trinity 4
    Trinity 5
    Trinity 6
    Trinity 7
    Trinity 8
    Trinity 9
    Trinity-a
    Trinity-b
    Trinity-c
    Trinity Sunday
    Tuckett
    Tuesday In Holy Week
    Ty 19
    Van De Sandt 2002
    Van De Sandt 2007
    Van-de-sandt-2010
    Van-de-sandt-2011
    Varner 2005
    Veith1993
    Veith-1993
    Veith-sutton-2017
    Vikis-Freibergs 1997
    Voobus 1969
    Warfield 1886
    Wasson & Toelken 1998
    Wednesday In Holy Week
    Weston-2009
    Wilson2011
    Wilson-2011
    Wilson20113470b5cf10
    Ysebaert-2002
    Zechariah
    Zephaniah

Proudly powered by Weebly