Sermon Archive - December 7th, 2008

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=3 height=130 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000" background="12ba6e903.jpg"> <bR> <div> <IMG SRC="11fcbc320.jpg" border=0 width="700" height="50" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> <B>OFC:  713-526-5731      5315 MAIN STREET, HOUSTON TEXAS 77004      FAX: 713-524-1709</B></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="St. Matthew Lutheran Church Houston, Te"><U><B>HOME</B></U></A><B>  ~   </B><A HREF="id39.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Worship Schedule"><U><B>WORSHIP</B></U></A><B>  ~  </B><A HREF="id32.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Map Directions"><U><B>LOCATION</B></U></A><B>  ~  </B><A HREF="id362.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="URL Calendar Home Link"><U><B>CALENDAR</B></U></A><B>  ~  </B><A HREF="mailto:info@stmatthewhouston.org?subject=Website Inquiry" TARGET="_top" TITLE="mailto:info@stmatthewhouston.org?subject"><U><B>EMAIL US</B></U></A><B>  ~  </B><A HREF="id452.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Site Map"><U><B>SITE MAP</B></U></A></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" rowspan="2" width=155 BGCOLOR="#660000" TEXT="#F7F7FF"> <bR> <div> <IMG SRC="123030970.jpg" border=0 width="48" height="151" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> <A HREF="id464.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Welcome"><U>Welcome</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id465.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Lutheran Beliefs"><U>Lutheran Beliefs</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id466.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="How to Join"><U>How to Join</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id467.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Local Missions"><U>Local Missions</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id468.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Global Missions"><U>Global Missions</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id508.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Parish Education"><U>Parish Education</U></A></div> <bR> <bR> </td> <td valign="top" height=280 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <bR> <div> Sermon Archive - December 7th, 2008</div> <bR> <div> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="568" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#990000" BORDERCOLORDARK="#FFCC99" FRAME="VOID" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=CENTER BGCOLOR=#FFCC99 HEIGHT= 18 WIDTH="134"><div> <A HREF="id563.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="St. Matthew Sermon Archives"><U><IMG SRC="157a270e0.png" border=0 width="39" height="14" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></U></A></div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP BGCOLOR=#990000 WIDTH="421"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="18" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="421" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div> <B>“Baptism and Repentance”</B></div> <div> Mark 1:1-8</div> <div> Second Sunday in Advent: December 7, 2008</div> <div> Pastor Mark Wiesenborn</div> <div> St. Matthew Lutheran Church, Houston, Texas</div> <div>       </div> <div> <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#800000" FACE="Franklin Gothic Book" >    </FONT> Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father and from our dear Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Dear friends in Christ, in just two-and-a-half weeks we will gather to celebrate the birth of Christ - the Messiah who had been foretold by prophets centuries earlier as “The Son of David.”  The Gospel of Matthew lays out the genealogy showing that Jesus was a descendant of King David through Mary. However, Scripture also teaches that Jesus is the eternal Son of God! Our sermon message for the Second Sunday in Advent is taken from the Gospel reading, where the story of Jesus Christ begins not with his birth, but instead with his baptism at the beginning of his public ministry some thirty years later.</div> <bR> <div>      Mark stresses this fact in the first verse of our Gospel reading: “The beginning of the Gospel about Jesus Christ, the Son of God.”  Mark wants us to understand that Jesus is “God in the flesh” so that we will understand that it is God Himself who dies on the cross for us.  This fact will help us understand why Jesus was Baptized!</div> <bR> <div>      Let's examine our Gospel reading a bit more closely. Mark quotes from the prophets Malachi and Isaiah (although Mark only mentions Isaiah).  Mark says these prophets were pointing ahead to John the Baptist who was sent by God to prepare His people for the coming of the Lord, who is Jesus.  Listen to these words:</div> <div> “John appeared, baptizing in the wilderness and proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.”</div> <bR> <div>      After that Mark describes John's clothes and eating habits. Why? He wants us to see that John lived just like the prophets of ancient times who also pointed ahead to the coming of the Lord.  What was John's message?  John preached that the people should confess their sins and receive forgiveness in the waters of Baptism. This gift was not only for adults, as some wrongly suggest. It was common for the Jews to include children and infants in the gifts of God.</div> <bR> <div>      We hear about this from Peter in Acts chapter 2. Listen to what Peter says to the Jewish crowds who heard his sermon: “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins.  And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children…”</div> <bR> <div>      Here we see that God uses Baptism to give us the forgiveness of sin won for us by Jesus. God also uses Baptism to give us the Holy Spirit who moves us to live in daily repentance and faith.</div> <bR> <div>      The Bible is clear in all four Gospels: A Christian life involves daily repentance. Repentance is feeling sorry for both your “sinful nature” and also for your specific sins. Feeling sorry about your imperfections (that is, having regrets and remorse) leads to an inner change where the Holy Spirit in us begins to amend our sinful habits and unhealthy patterns. A famous prayer is: “God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; the courage to change the things I can; and the wisdom to know the difference.” It takes a great deal of courage to begin to recognize and change our sinful habits and personal imperfections that hurt ourselves and hurt the people around us. Sometimes, we simply accept our sinful habits and pray that we (and others) will gradually accept such inner flaws of our personality. But genuine change is possible through the power of the Holy Spirit. </div> <bR> <div>      We cannot change our sinful nature. Our sinful, deeply ingrained flaws and personality defects can be changed but not our sinful nature. Our human nature is always sinful and cannot be changed; but specific flaws of character can be changed and transformed. This takes the Spirit; it takes courage; it takes discipline; and it takes the encouragement and support of others.</div> <bR> <div>      So many of us Christians want others to simply accept our personality defects rather than going through the hard spiritual work of inner change. Repentance is the work of the Holy Spirit and is part of sanctification (growing in wholeness and holiness). All of us want that courage and discipline to change and not remain with our disabling personality defects and deficiencies. We often give up too soon to what we think is the inevitable, that we can't change, that we can't be changed. John the Baptist will always be a symbol for us…to change, and to be changed by the power of God. As the Bible says, “With God, nothing is impossible.” Even changing our personality defects and our spiritual deficiencies.</div> <bR> <div>      Many people came out to hear John preach. Some believed. Others did not. However, some wrongly thought that John the Baptist was the promised Messiah. Listen to what John said to correct them: “After me will come one more powerful than I, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. I baptize you with water, but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”  Now, when John said “I baptize with water” he meant that he was only God's instrument. In other words, John was merely the guy who spoke God's Words and applied the water.  In contrast, John says that Jesus will “baptize you with the Holy Spirit.” This means that Jesus is the one who gives us the Holy Spirit.  Jesus is the one who actually baptizes us and gives baptism its power to save.</div> <bR> <div>      Now we're ready to hear about the Baptism of Jesus. Mark writes: “At that time Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan.” As Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: `You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.'”</div> <bR> <div>      This seems strange. Why was Jesus Baptized? Isn't Baptism for us sinners who need forgiveness? Yes! But Jesus is God Himself and has no sin whatsoever. So, why was Jesus Baptized?  Here's the answer: Jesus was Baptized FOR YOU! This truth means two things for us.</div> <bR> <div>      First, “Jesus was Baptized FOR YOU” means that God uses Jesus' Baptism to show you WHO Jesus really is. The Father and the Holy Spirit use Jesus' public baptism to declare to all that Jesus is the very Son of God.  Those words might sound familiar.  We hear something like them in Psalm 2: “You are my Son; today I have become your Father.” This Psalm was read whenever a new king was put on the throne in Old Testament Israel. It reminded them that the only TRUE King is God's Son who rules over all creation. Those who oppose God's Son will be destroyed. Those who trust in God's Son will be blessed.</div> <bR> <div>      Now, the second thing “Jesus was Baptized FOR YOU” means is that Jesus gives Baptism its power to wash away the guilt of our sin. God washes away your sin in Baptism and clothes you with the holiness of Jesus. Simply put, when Jesus was Baptized He took our sin from the water and carried it all the way to the Cross where He would suffer and die for you and me in our place of damnation. Jesus gives Baptism the power to forgive sin because Baptism is connected to the work of Jesus on the Cross!</div> <bR> <div>      Jesus was Baptized FOR YOU. God uses Jesus' Baptism to show the whole world that Jesus is the promised Savior who is also the eternal Son of God. God also used Jesus' Baptism to make our Baptism a “means of grace” for the forgiveness of sins that removes our guilt and gives us new life as God's children.</div> <bR> <div>      I can't stress enough that we must not view Baptism as merely a one time event in the past. Nothing is more tragic than people who have been Baptized but have walked away from the miracle of Baptism and are now living apart from Christ - no longer hearing His Word or trusting in Jesus. That is why most Lutheran congregations have a Baptism font either at the entrance to the sanctuary or at the front of the sanctuary for all to see. We do this to remind ourselves that we are to live each day in the power of our Baptism. In fact, this is also why we begin every Service with these words: “In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”</div> <bR> <div>      In Martin Luther's Small Catechism, he writes: “What is Baptism? Baptism is not simple water only, but it is the water comprehended in God's command and connected with God's word. Which is that word of God?  Christ, our Lord, says in the last chapter of Matthew: `Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son of the Holy Spirit.'”</div> <bR> <div>      Concerning the Blessings of Baptism, Luther writes: “What does Baptism give or profit? It works forgiveness of sins, delivers from death and the devil, and gives eternal salvation to all who believe this, as the words and promises of God declare. Which are such words and promises of God? Christ, our Lord, says in the last chapter of Mark: `Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.'” [Mark 16:16]</div> <bR> <div> Luther writes about the Power of Baptism: “How can water do such great things?  It is not the water indeed that does them, but the word of God which is in and with the water, and faith, which trusts such word of God in the water. For without the word of God the water is simple water and no Baptism. But with the word of God it is a Baptism, that is, a gracious water of life and a washing of regeneration in the Holy Spirit, as St. Paul says in Titus chapter 3: `According to His mercy He saved us by the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, which He shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ, our Savior, that, being justified by His grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life. This is a faithful saying.'”</div> <bR> <div>      Finally, Luther explains the Significance of Baptism: “What does such baptizing with water signify? It signifies that the Old Adam in us should, by daily contrition and repentance, be drowned and die with all sins and evil lusts and, again, a new man daily come forth and arise, who shall live before God in righteousness and purity forever. Where is this written? St. Paul writes in Romans chapter 6: `We are buried with Christ by Baptism into death, that, like as He was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.'”</div> <bR> <div>      So, why was Jesus Baptized? Jesus was Baptized FOR YOU! As you daily repent of your sins, remember the Baptism of our Lord and know that He is the Son of God, your Savior. Remember the Baptism of our Lord and know that Jesus took your sins from the water of Baptism and carried them to the Cross where He was condemned in your place so that you might live a new life as God's child now and for eternity.</div> <bR> <div> In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen!</div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div> GOSPEL READING - Mark 1:1-8 [ESV]</div> <bR> <div>      1 The beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. 2 As it is written in Isaiah the prophet,</div> <div>      “Behold, I send my messenger before your face,</div> <div>           who will prepare your way,</div> <div>      3 the voice of one crying in the wilderness:</div> <div>           Prepare the way of the Lord,</div> <div>                make his paths straight.”</div> <bR> <div>      4 John appeared, baptizing in the wilderness and proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.  5 And all the country of Judea and all Jerusalem were going out to him and were being baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.  6 Now John was clothed with camel's hair and wore a leather belt around his waist and ate locusts and wild honey.  7 And he preached, saying, “After me comes he who is mightier than I, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. 8 I have baptized you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.” </div> <bR> <bR> <bR> </td> <td valign="top" rowspan="2" width=155 BGCOLOR="#660000" TEXT="#F7F7FF"> <bR> <div> <IMG SRC="122e30960.jpg" border=0 width="48" height="150" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> <A HREF="id499.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Meet Our Leaders"><U>Meet Our Leaders</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id114.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Tour Our Church"><U>Tour Our Church</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id493.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Read Our History"><U>Read Our History</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id626.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Arts and Music"><U>Arts and Music</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id136.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Special Events"><U>Special Events</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id515.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Photo Gallery"><U>Photo Gallery</U></A></div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" height=70 BGCOLOR="#660000" TEXT="#F7F7FF"> <div> <A HREF="id423.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Bible Search"><U><B>BIBLE SEARCH</B></U></A><B>  </B><B>~  </B><A HREF="id99.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="LCMS Links"><U><B>LUTHERAN</B></U></A><A HREF="id99.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="LCMS Links"><U><B> LINKS</B></U></A><B>  </B><B>~  </B><A HREF="id100.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Online Devotionals"><U><B>DEVOTIONALS</B></U></A><B>  ~  </B><A HREF="id563.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="St. Matthew Sermon Archives"><U><B>SERMON ARCHIVES</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> © 2008  St. Matthew Lutheran Church, Houston, TX - All Rights Reserved</div> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>