Happenings

Sermons by Pastor Walter Snyder plus announcements, articles, videos, and anything else that doesn’t fit Ask the Pastor or the Luther Library.





03 November 2019

All Saints Sermon: What Kind of Love!

Preached on 1 John 3:1-3
All Saints Day
3 November AD 2019

Title: Click to hear the MP3 of What Kind of Love!.

Fra Angelico: Saints Summary: Look! Behold! Pay attention!

Led by the Spirit and following those who came before him, John points clearly to Christ. Any good gifts, any true blessings flow through Jesus from the Father. Because He is the perfect Son who offered the perfect sacrifice, we are God’s children by faith. Because He lives, we live also — in time and throughout eternity.

Humankind can only define itself negatively before God. We are the rebels, Satan’s bastard children, heirs of wrath and judgment. Yet even the vilest sinner discovers by faith in Christ that no iniquity is greater than Jesus’ forgiveness. The most wayward and prodigal of sons still find the Father’s arms welcoming them as He redefines them by water and the Word as His dear children.

We don’t play guessing games, trying to figure out what eternal life will be like or what it means when Jesus returns and we are “like Him.” It is enough to know that we will be completely satisfied, absolutely joyful, and perfectly pure in heart and mind. No matter how exactly the New Creation resembles the various Scriptural images — green pastures and still waters, a never-ending banquet, or a city of gold and jewels — we know that it will be our home because it is where our Savior will lead us to dwell.

Text: See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are.

The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.

And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure. 1 John 3:1-3

Scripture quoted from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®, © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Audio: Click to hear the MP3 of What Kind of Love!

NB: A few people have had problems trying to play the inline audio with Windows Media Player. If this occurs, you can either change to QuickTime or another default browser player, copy and paste the link directly into a selected player, or download it to your computer, where it seems to work regardless of which player. Several folks have suggested VLC Player from VideoLAN.

Other Readings: Psalm 149; Revelation 7:(2-8) 9-17; Matthew 5:1-12

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