Posted on by Fred Scragg 5

The Promise Keeper

Galatians 3.15-29

Have you ever experienced a broken promise?

Do you know what it feels like to have a promise made to you only to have the promise maker break that promise to you?

Here’s a more personal question…

Have you ever made a promise to someone only to break the promise you made to them?

Life is filled with promises made and promises broken.

I don’t believe there is a more public example of broken promises than those that exist in the realm of politics.

Every politician and every political party makes promises to you, promises that they know they can not ultimately keep.

Here are a few examples from the last 100+ years in the United States of America:

Woodrow Wilson won re-election in 1916 with the slogan “He kept us out of war,” only to enter World War I a year later.

Lyndon B. Johnson promised in 1964, “We are not about to send American boys 9 or 10 thousand miles away from home to do what Asian boys ought to be doing for themselves.” During his presidency, the U.S. entered the Vietnam War and Johnson did not seek reelection.

Richard Nixon in 1968 claimed to “have a secret plan to end the war” and promised to find a way to “peace with honor” in Vietnam, but American troops were not withdrawn until 1973 — a little more than a year before Nixon resigned.

Jimmy Carter campaigned on solving the energy crisis, but his speeches about conservation and attempts to add solar panels to the roof of the White House weren’t good enough. He was unable to get support for a gas tax, and the energy problem only worsened during his presidency.

Ronald Reagan promised to make a constitutional amendment allowing school prayer during his campaign, and although he proposed the amendment in 1982, it never went anywhere.

George H. W. Bush famously promised in 1988: “Read my lips: No new taxes,” only to sign a bill raising taxes during his first and only term.

Bill Clinton campaigned on a renovation of the health care system before he took office in 1993. Although he attempted health care reform — “Hillarycare” — it ended in failure.

Politifact tracked Barack Obama’s 533 promises and found that he broke 52% of his promise while in office as the President of the United States of America.

In our Biblical text for this morning, from our very slow crawl through the New Testament book of Galatians, we are going to hear the Apostle Paul speak about the difference between God’s Law and God’s Promise.  More specifically, we are going to hear that we only have hope in life because God is both the Promise Maker and the Promise Keeper.  He will never leave us or fosake us.  He will ensure that we will be brought home into His Kingdom of Heaven.

Continuing on in his letter to the churches in the region of Galatia during the mid-first Century, the Apostle Paul says this:

[15] To give a human example, brothers: even with a man-made covenant, no one annuls it or adds to it once it has been ratified. [16] Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring. It does not say, “And to offsprings,” referring to many, but referring to one, “And to your offspring,” who is Christ. [17] This is what I mean: the law, which came 430 years afterward, does not annul a covenant previously ratified by God, so as to make the promise void. [18] For if the inheritance comes by the law, it no longer comes by promise; but God gave it to Abraham by a promise.

[19] Why then the law? It was added because of transgressions, until the offspring should come to whom the promise had been made, and it was put in place through angels by an intermediary. [20] Now an intermediary implies more than one, but God is one.

[21] Is the law then contrary to the promises of God? Certainly not! For if a law had been given that could give life, then righteousness would indeed be by the law. [22] But the Scripture imprisoned everything under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.

[23] Now before faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed. [24] So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith. [25] But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, [26] for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. [27] For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. [28] There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. [29] And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise. (ESV)

The driving force behind Paul’s words in this section of his letter is the desire to make the purposes of God’s Law and God’s Promise clear to the churches that he is writing to.

Let’s start with the purpose of God’s Law.

In Confirmation, I have the students memorize the following paragraph because it is pivotal for understanding our Christian faith.

The paragraph that explains the purpose of God’s Law goes like this:

The Law is that part of God’s Word which tells us what we must do and what we must not do.  It has two, possibly three uses: 1) to curb our natural tendencies by telling us what we must do under penalty of punishment or failure; 2) to convict of sin by describing where we have failed to keep the law, thus showing us our need for a Savior; and 3) to coach the believer regarding what Christ has given the believer to do.

There are three uses of God’s Law according to the Bible.  None of those uses of God’s Law provides you with a way to earn forgiveness of sin or reconciliation with God.

That’s means, God’s Law does not have the power to save you. 

Over and over again, Scripture makes it explicitly clear that due to the corruption of sin in the human heart, it is impossible to please God by keeping His Law.

The purpose of God’s Law is to show you what he wants you to do and not do.  The purpose of God’s Law is to show you that you do not measure up to God’s standard of holiness.  The purpose of God’s Law is to show you your need for His help.  The purpose of God’s Law is to lead you to your need for His Savior—Jesus.  And, the purpose of the Law is to guide you in living your life in a Godly and Christ-like way after you come to faith and find yourself believing in Jesus as Lord and Savior.

Hebrews 11.6 speaks this truth when it says, 

[6] And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him. (ESV)

Next, the Apostle Paul addresses the purpose of God’s promise.

What is the purpose of God’s promise?

The purpose of God’s promise is to give you hope for today, hope for tomorrow, and hope for a peaceful eternity with God.

God’s promise gives you this hope by assuring you that through Jesus’ life lived perfectly, death to pay the price for sin, and resurrection from the grave to beat the power of sin and death to separate us from God, you are forgiven of your sin, set free from condemnation, and rescued from destruction.

In this Scripture, Paul gives the history of God’s promise.

Paul makes a few things clear. 

First, Paul mentions that God’s promise came to humanity before God’s Law.

Second, Paul mentions that the fact that the Law came after God’s Promise doesn’t make God’s Promise void.  

And, third, Paul mentions that God’s promise was made official through a covenant made with Abraham.

Let’s discuss the absolute Good News of the covenant and the covenant process.

The Hebrew term בְּרִית bĕriyth for “covenant” is from a root with the sense of “cutting.”

In the ancient world, the process of making a promise official was to cut animals in half and walking between them.  This was a pledge, from the promise maker to the promise receiver, that if the promise keeper broke their promise may such a fate as being cut in half befall them.  

When God makes His promise to humanity, through the Father of God’s people, Abraham, God chooses to pass through the cut animals Himself.  He doesn’t ask Abraham to walk through the pieces and promise to be forever faithful in keeping God’s Law because God knows that sin has corrupted humanity and neither Abraham nor any other human could ever keep a promise to perfectly live according to God’s standards.

If the human, Abraham, was asked to make and keep a promise to God, we would all be damned to Hell because we are breakers of God’s Law by nature.

The Good News we have today and always is that God is the promise maker and promise keeper.

Even when you are a promise breaker, breaking your promise to love and honor God with your heart, mind, body, and soul, God keeps His promises to you.

God promises you that He will do whatever it takes to rescue you from the condemnation and destruction of sin.  

And, God did that by entering our world in the flesh of Jesus Christ to be condemned and destroyed for you.

In Jesus, God keeps His promise to love you.

In Jesus, God keeps His promise to forgive you.


In Jesus, God keeps His promise to save you.

In Jesus, God keeps His promise to be gracious and merciful to you.

In Jesus, God keeps His promise to lead you and guide you through His Word and His Law.

In Jesus, God keeps His promise to be with you always, to the very end of the age.

Even when we forget God and turn away from Him, God’s promise to us is never broken.  God  never forgets us and God never turns away from us.  

As 2 Timothy 2:13 tells us:

[13] if we are faithless, he remains faithful—

for he cannot deny himself. (ESV)

The original owners of Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company had the reputation for being people of integrity. The following story reveals their commitment to do the right thing—even when it cost them:

Northwestern Mutual was founded as the Mutual Life Insurance Company of the State of Wisconsin on March 2, 1857. Originally located in Janesville, Wisconsin, the fledgling company relocated to Milwaukee in 1859. Shortly after, the company experienced its first two death claims, when an excursion train traveling from Janesville to Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, derailed, killing 14 people, two of whom were policy owners. With losses amounting to $3,500 and having funds of only $2,000, company President Samuel Daggett and Treasurer Charles Nash personally borrowed the needed funds to pay the claims immediately.

Later when asked why they didn’t simply default on the payments, they replied it would not have been the right thing to do to their fellow man. They both agreed they would rather see the company fail than neglect their obligation to those who trusted them to keep their word.

Lewis Smedes, the late Professor of Theology at Fuller Seminary,  says:

Yes, somewhere people still make and keep promises. They choose not to quit when the going gets rough because they promised once to see it through. They stick to lost causes. They hold on to a love grown cold. They stay with people who have become pains in the neck. They still dare to make promises and care enough to keep the promises they make. I want to say to you that if you have a ship you will not desert, if you have people you will not forsake, if you have causes you will not abandon, then you are like God.

What a marvelous thing a promise is! When a person makes a promise, he reaches out into an unpredictable future and makes one thing predictable: he will be there even when being there costs him more than he wants to pay. When a person makes a promise, he stretches himself out into circumstances that no one can control and controls at least one thing: he will be there no matter what the circumstances turn out to be. With one simple word of promise, a person creates an island of certainty in a sea of uncertainty.

With simple words of promise, “I will never leave your or forsake you”  and, “for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith,” God, our Father in Heaven, creates a island of certainty in a sea of uncertainty for you.

Hebrews 10:23 says:

[23] Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. (ESV)

And, Hebrews 13:8 says:

[8] Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. (ESV)

This morning, as you stare into the mirror of the law, you see that there is no hope of you ever being an exact replica of God in thinking, speaking, and doing.  That type of Law abiding life is impossible because the original sin into which you are born.  You enter this life, at the exact moment of conception when male sperm combines with a female egg, already corrupted by the sin passed onto you by both parents.

So, being grace-filled and merciful toward you, God promises to do for you what you cannot do for yourself.  God promises to live the uncorrupted life for you in the human life of the God-Man, Jesus, that is required for entrance into His Kingdom.  And, God promises to give you full credit for that perfectly lived life simply through faith in Him and His Son Jesus who did it all for you.

This is the Word of God for you today.

This is the Grace of God for you today.

Amen.

Reverend Fred Scragg V.

May 11, 2025.

Prayer:

Mighty God,

Your Word penetrates our hearts and exposes the truth about our thoughts and intentions. It uncovers our self-confidence and self-centeredness, as well as. the secret sins that we hide so successfully from one another. The truth is that we cherish and love many evil thoughts in our hearts, even when outwardly we pretend to be full of spiritual desires. We harbor hatred and anger for those around us, along with jealousy and pride. We judge and condemn others in our hearts, or we envy them and lust after them. Even our good deeds are deeply stained by wrong motives.

We often wait to serve others until people are watching us, so that we may be admired and glorified. We speak your truth impatiently and harshly in order to prove ourselves. Father, forgive us not just for our sinful actions but for our corrupt and perverse hearts.

Jesus, 

thank you that you came to deliver us from our sinful self-centeredness. Your heart was always perfectly aligned with the Father’s Word. Your thoughts as well as your actions were always pure and undefiled, filled with love for those around you and compassion for lost people. You worked hard in the Father’s service, but you also rested confidently in the Father’s power. Even though you are the LORD of Glory and eternally deserving of praise, you never glorified yourself. Instead, you laid aside your glory and became a humble servant, defeating the forces of Satan through your own death and winning victory in our place.

Holy Spirit, 

teach us not to trust in ourselves or in earthly sources of power and strength. Enable us to trust completely in Jesus, our great High Priest, who faithfully intercedes for us. Help us not to be unduly discouraged by the heavy load of guilt that so easily clings to our hearts. Instead, whenever we see clearly the sins of our hearts, enable us to fly to the Scriptural truth that in Christ the penalty of those sins has been paid for, once for all. Remind us that we are now clothed in Christ’s perfect righteousness, and that therefore there can be no condemnation left for us. In Christ’s name we pray, amen.

Posted on by Fred Scragg 5

Crisis Management

Psalm 28

When was the last time you found yourself at a crisis moment in your life?

When was the last time you said or thought, “I’m not Okay!”

A crisis is defined as an extremely difficult or dangerous point in a situation where there is some degree of confusion, argument, or suffering and in which a solution is needed — and quickly.  

Within a psychological context, a crisis situation is a stressful time in an individual’s life when they experience a breakdown or disruption in their usual or normal daily activities or family functioning.

Crisis moments for us come all shapes and forms.

Some of us experience crisis moments due to things like the loss of a job, a car accident, loss of health insurance, conviction and imprisonment, and the inability to pay the bills for things like rent and groceries. 

Some of us experience crisis moments due to the extremes of physical abuse, mental abuse, verbal abuse, emotional abuse, and/or spiritual abuse. 

Some of us experience crises moments due to illness, either in ourselves or in family or friends, such as a cancer diagnosis or the need for surgery. 

Some of us experience family or relational crisis in the form of intense arguing, cheating partners, filing for divorce, custody battles, suicide, homicide, miscarriage, death, and addiction.

In all of these times we know we need to get out of the situation as fast as possible but often feel trapped.  In these moments we are left with feelings of anxiety and panic.

All that being said, I once again ask you, what was your last real crisis moment, or what is your real crisis moment this morning?

Today, we are looking into the book of Psalms. In this Biblical text, we hear from King David during a real crisis moment in his life. 

We are hearing the words and emotions of a man who feels trapped with no way out that he can see or understand.  He realizes that his own mind and reasoning are no help at all.  He is having a moment of anxiety and panic as he knows things are really bad and can possibly and my possibly get worse.

Let’s hear King David’s words and thought process in his crisis moment as found in Psalm 28.

Psalm 28 says this:

[1] To you, O LORD, I call;

my rock, be not deaf to me,

lest, if you be silent to me,

I become like those who go down to the pit.

[2] Hear the voice of my pleas for mercy,

when I cry to you for help,

when I lift up my hands

toward your most holy sanctuary.

[3] Do not drag me off with the wicked,

with the workers of evil,

who speak peace with their neighbors

while evil is in their hearts.

[4] Give to them according to their work

and according to the evil of their deeds;

give to them according to the work of their hands;

render them their due reward.

[5] Because they do not regard the works of the LORD

or the work of his hands,

he will tear them down and build them up no more.

[6] Blessed be the LORD!

For he has heard the voice of my pleas for mercy.

[7] The LORD is my strength and my shield;

in him my heart trusts, and I am helped;

my heart exults,

and with my song I give thanks to him.

[8] The LORD is the strength of his people;

he is the saving refuge of his anointed.

[9] Oh, save your people and bless your heritage!

Be their shepherd and carry them forever. (ESV)

Right out of the gate, David’s words tells us that he was in a crisis moment.

This crisis moment happened after David became the second King of Israel.

Many years into his reign, after a very turbulent relationship with his oldest son, Absalom, Absalom ran a coup and declared himself King and sat himself on David’s throne as the king of Israel.  

Absalom gathered his own followers and set out a military campaign against his Father, David, who was the actual anointed King of Israel. 


So, David found himself running from and hiding from his son.

Would he live?

Would he die?

Would he be King again?

Would he be imprisoned and tortured?

Would he live out the rest of his days struggling to survive in the wilderness?

David was full of anxiety and panic.

David felt backed into a corner.


David felt like he didn’t know if he was going to be ok today, tomorrow, or in the end.

David felt:

  • Hopeless
  • Helpless
  • Lost
  • Confused
  • Powerless
  • Scared
  • Fearful
  • And stuck.

And, to make it worse, it seemed like God, in whom he had trusted all of his life, had abandoned him in his moment of need.  It seemed like God was silent to the evil, wickedness, and suffering that he was experiencing.

This leads David to cry out in his crisis moment, asking God to not be quiet any longer.

David knows, as he mentions in verses 1, and 3-5, that if God remains silent to his cries for help, David will experience the effects of his immediate physical crisis — David will most likely be found and killed by his son and his son’s army.


David also knows, as he mentions in verse 1, that if God remains silent and doesn’t intervene in his life, David will experience the effects of his spiritual crisis — he will be punished for his sin and will be separated from God and God’s Kingdom of Heaven forever.

Back in September of 2015, a British Airways jet caught fire at the Las Vegas airport, sending smoke billowing into the air, after suffering what the pilot described as a “catastrophic failure” of the left engine. The plane—a Boeing 777 heading from the U.S. city’s McCarran airport to London Gatwick—could be seen with flames around its fuselage.

The pictures of a burning jetliner in Las Vegas were certainly riveting. But as the plane burst into smoke and flames, some observers saw something even more startling: People stopped during their evacuation to grab their luggage. Authorities are certainly concerned about planes that burst into flames, but they’re also worried that we’d risk our lives to grab our carry-on bags.

So what’s the big deal with grabbing one carry-on bag? The FAA requires planes to be evacuated within 90 seconds, but as a Chicago-based air traffic controller wrote:

Let’s say the average delay time per bag is 5 seconds. This includes the time needed to reach up to open the overhead compartment, pulling the bag down, and the extra delay hauling it through a crowded aisle. If half of the 170 people on board Flight 2276 took the time to take their bag the evacuation would have taken an additional 7 MINUTES longer than necessary. Imagine being the last one to exit the smoke-filled cabin knowing that your one minute evac time is now over 7 minutes!

One veteran pilot with a major U.S. airline said, “We’re always shaking our head. It doesn’t matter what you say, people are going to do what they do.” Or as one blogger summarized this news story: “People love their carry-ons more than life itself.”

The Bible warns us that there are many things beside God that we can place our trust in when we are in need of help — many idols, as the Bible calls them.

Just like some people worry about their luggage instead of their own life in the case of an airplane emergency, some of us place our trust in money, logic, reason, family members, friends, techniques learned in therapy sessions, advice given in self-help books, the words spoken from a mystic using a crystal ball or tarot cards, instead of of the God who is alive and active and can help us in our moments of need and crisis. 


But, as the Bible tells us, when the rubber meets the road, all of those things are powerless and leave us hopeless because they are dead and cannot hear, answer, or respond with the help we need.

Psalm 115:4–8 says:

[4] Their idols are silver and gold,

the work of human hands.

[5] They have mouths, but do not speak;

eyes, but do not see.

[6] They have ears, but do not hear;

noses, but do not smell.

[7] They have hands, but do not feel;

feet, but do not walk;

and they do not make a sound in their throat.

[8] Those who make them become like them;

so do all who trust in them. (ESV)

In Psalm 28, in his crisis moment, David immediately reached for, grabbed, and held onto the only thing that could save him — David reached out to, grabbed onto to, and held onto God, the Father in Heaven.

And, what happened in David’s crisis moment?


God, who promises to hear, answer, and help those in need, heard, answered, and helped, David in his moment of need, in his moment of crisis.

One commentator writing about Psalm 28 speaks these words of hope to you:

Jesus is our own Word of promise, and it is this Word from God that we cling to. It is like Paul says about Abraham: “No distrust made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised” (Romans 4.20-21). And Paul says about himself: “For I am certain that neither death nor life nor angels nor rulers…will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8.38-39).

So far so good. But this truth does not automatically end our inner wrestling match with doubt and despair, does it? Often the suffering that is part of our lived experience threatens to loosen our grip on this Jesus in whom we trust. Sometimes, in this life, God’s work is incomprehensible. Sometimes, in our individual lives, circumstances seem to deny the fact of God’s love.

This voice in Psalm 28, a prayer to God but also words from God for us to pray, invites us to cry out against this death-dealing God and plead that he make known the salvation the he has promised. We certainly know that in the past our God has intervened to save his people. He has acted in history to deliver them, and he has acted most decisively by sending his son in human flesh. In Jesus, God made his future plans for us clear. Jesus’s resurrection is our future, but it is also what we want to experience now. With the Psalmist, we want God to break the silence and bring us the salvation promised in Jesus and given to us personally in our baptism and in holy communion. In the terms of the Somme, we pray for the not yet to become the now, and we pray for an end to the tension between these two in which we presently live. If nothing else, the voice in Psalm 28 lives within the attention and teaches us how to live within it well.

But until that day how are we to live when the wait becomes so long that we can’t forget what we are waiting for? 

When it becomes so long that we may forget what God has promised? But even as we stand in the waiting line, God has promised not to leave us. Jesus sent his Holy Spirit to minister to us in the meantime. The spirit is the one who strengthens us through the promises of God so that we can live by faith and not by sight, as the poet David dead. The spirit is the one who helps us make the words of psalm 28 our own.

Through the strengthening of the spirit, we can pray Psalm 28.6-8 with the certainty that God hears our cries. This reality gives us the ability to sustain our joy in this broken world. “We rejoice in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces endurance, and endurance produces character and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because the love of God has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us” (Romans 5.3). It is also why we can pray Psalm 28.9: “Save your people and bless your inheritance, and shepherd them and lift them up forever.” With these words, we pray that the salvation that is already ours in Jesus will come in its fullness for us all.

The lines of one of the hymns from The Lutheran Service Book is a companion to Psalm 28.

Hymn #732 sings like this:

When with sorrow I am stricken,

Hope anew my heart will quicken;

All my longing shall be stilled.

To His lovingkindness tender

Soul and body I surrender,

For on God alone I build.

Well He knows what best to grant me;

All the longing hopes that haunt me,

Joy and sorrow, have their day.

I shall doubt His wisdom never;

As God will, so be it ever;

I commit to Him my way.

If my days on earth He lengthen,

God my weary soul will strengthen;

All my trust in Him I place.

Earthly wealth is no abiding,

Like a stream away is gliding,

Safe I anchor in His grace (LSB 732:4-6)

In a daily devotional, a book that has Biblical scripture and a small explanation for each day of the year, that I read on Thursday, I read what I am about to share and I want you to hear Jesus saying this to you as well.

Jesus says to you:

Accept each day exactly as it comes to you. By that, I mean not only the circumstances of your day but also the condition of your body. Your assignment is to trust me absolutely resting in my sovereignty and faithfulness.

On Sundays, your circumstances and your physical condition feel out of balance: the demands on you seem far greater than your strength. Days like that present a choice between two alternatives – giving up or relying on me. Even if you wrongly choose the first alternative, I will not reject you. You can turn to me at any point, and I will help you crawl out of the Meyer of discouragement. I will infuse my strength into your moment by moment, giving you all that you need for this day. Trust me by relying on my empowering presence.

And, then the author reminds of this truths from Scripture.

Psalm 42:5–6 says:

[5] Why are you cast down, O my soul,

and why are you in turmoil within me?

Hope in God; for I shall again praise him,

my salvation [6] and my God.

And, Jeremiah 31:25 says:

[25] For I will satisfy the weary soul, and every languishing soul I will replenish.” (ESV)

So, the next time you find yourself experiencing a crisis moment, and I can promise you, there will be another time, and you find yourself thinking or saying, “I’m not Okay!,” remember that Jesus Christ died on the cross in the most extreme crisis moment ever, for you.

And, because Jesus experienced that crisis moment, your sins are forgiven, eternal life is yours, and you will be today, tomorrow, and forever, 100% Okay, as God welcomes you into His family and Kingdom of Heaven through the faith you have in Him, His Son, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit.

This is the Word of God for you today.

This is the Grace of God for you today.

Amen.

Reverend Fred Scragg V.

May 4, 2025.

Prayer:

Heavenly Father, 

We live in a frightening world. In our fear, we often forget that you are powerful and loving and are devoted to your children. When we hear of wars and terrorists, we are tempted to turn to politicians to rescue us, and we panic despairingly if we feel we can’t trust them. When faced with illness and mortality, we turn to doctors, diets, and frenetic health strategies in order to avoid the inevitable. When friendships fail and relationships disappoint us, we struggle with bitterness, anger, and depression because we have looked to other weak sinners to find comfort and meaning in life. When our plans don’t work out, we scramble to construct self-salvation strategies in order to calm our fears and give us a measure of confidence and peace. Father, forgive us for forgetting that you love us, for stubbornly laying all our hopes and dreams at the feet of our idols, for despising you when you lovingly interfere with our self-salvation campaigns in order to rescue us from our pride and self-trust. 

Thank you for your great patience with weak sinners like us, who refuse to turn to you until all else has failed. Thank you for bringing suffering into our lives and for letting our sinful hearts pour out of us, so that we can see our sin and repent before you. Thank you for causing our best plans to fail so we will learn that you are wiser, stronger, kinder, and more loving than we ever dreamed possible. Thank you for Christ, who faced fear and suffering with great dread, and yet turned to you in his moments of terror and temptation, trusting in your plan in spite of his horrible feelings. Thank you that his faithful determination to fix his eyes on you and to trust you in spite of the evil that he faced has now been credited to our account, and that you welcome us as perfect trusters. Thank you that you hold this world in your hand and promise that all will be well in the end. Thank you for the Holy Spirit, who lives in us and is at work every moment to help us grow, to comfort us, and to help us look away from our scary world and scary hearts so that we may see the beauty of our remarkable Savior. 

Help us to remember your promises, to believe them, and to run to you in the midst of our fears with hearts that are bursting with gratitude and growing confidence in you alone. Amen.

Posted on by Fred Scragg 5

Crucifying Doubt

JOhn 20.19-31

Do you ever think that God might not be real? 

Or, have you ever thought that you may be wasting your time on Sunday morning’s with a child’s fairytale?  Is everything you’ve ever believed a lie?

Do you ever question if God loves you?

Do you ever sit back and think, “Is God really on a mystical throne somewhere beyond the expanses of space?” 

Or, “Is God even aware of me and what is going on in my life right now?”

Do you have doubts about what will happen when you die?

Or, have you ever questioned if the Bible is really God’s Word, or, if your name is really written on the palms of God’s hand, on God’s heart, and in the book of life in Heaven, like the Bible says it is?

If you have ever asked any of these questions or had similar doubts about God the Father, Jesus the Son, or the places of Heaven and Hell, you are not alone.  You are not alone with your questions and doubts in this room today.  And, you are not alone with your questions and doubts in the annals of the history of mankind.

Last weekend, we celebrated both Good Friday and Easter.

Good Friday and Easter were confusing.

Good Friday and Easter were wild.

But, Good Friday and Easter were also grace-driven, grace-filled, and glorious.

This morning, we are entering back into the Biblical narrative with a text from John’s biography of Jesus that was chosen for us by the lectionary.

John’s text tells us what happened on Easter night, and then 8 days after Easter, with Jesus’ disciples who were still feeling the effect of the confusion, the wildness, and the glory of Good Friday and Easter.  

Let’s hear together what happened immediately following Jesus’ resurrection.

John 20:19–31 tells us this:

[19] On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” [20] When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. [21] Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.” [22] And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. [23] If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld.”

[24] Now Thomas, one of the twelve, called the Twin, was not with them when Jesus came. [25] So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe.”

[26] Eight days later, his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” [27] Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.” [28] Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” [29] Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

[30] Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; [31] but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. (ESV)

In the early 1950s teenage Lyle Dorsett and his family moved to Birmingham from Kansas City, Missouri. They were outsiders, often labeled Yankees by peers. But one summer evening in 1953, Dorsett was walking to his house after work and decided to take a shortcut through the campus of then-Howard College (now Samford University).

He was immediately intrigued by the sight he saw: a large tent on the football field featuring a magnetic preacher. As Dorsett drew near, he could hear evangelist Eddie Martin preaching on the parable of the prodigal son, calling other prodigals to come home. Dorsett said, “I knew I was the prodigal and … needed to come home.”

Martin asked those in attendance to return the next evening. Dorsett came early, and this time was seated near the front. When the call came, “the evangelist led me through a sinner’s prayer. I confessed my need for forgiveness. While being led in prayer, I strongly felt the presence of Jesus Christ. I sensed his love and forgiveness as well as his call to preach the gospel.”

Shortly thereafter, Dorsett and his parents joined a local Baptist church. However, 18 months later, Dorsett’s family moved back to Kansas City. On his return, gradually he drifted. During his time in college, he embraced a materialistic worldview. He received a Ph.D. in history but despite professional success, he began to drink heavily and became an alcoholic. His wife, Mary, who became a Christian after their marriage, began to pray.

One evening, he stormed out of the house after Mary asked him not to drink around the children. He found a bar and drank until closing. While driving up a winding mountain road, he stopped at an overlook and blacked out. The next morning, he woke up on a dirt road at the bottom of a mountain next to a cemetery not having any memory of the drive.

Dorsett cried out to God, “Lord, if you are there, please help me.” 

At that moment, he recognized that the same presence he had met in Birmingham was with him in the car and loved him. The prodigal son had finally, truly come home. He said, “Although I made countless mistakes, the Lord never gave up on me.”

God then called Dorsett to full-time ministry, ordination in the Anglican Church, and eventually to the Billy Graham Chair of Evangelism at Beeson Divinity School, Samford University, where he had first heard God’s call to preach.

He concludes,

“Over the years God has proved to be a gentle Comforter—like when my wife underwent massive surgery for cancer, and when our 10-year-old daughter died unexpectedly. Certainly, the most humbling and reassuring lesson is his persistence in drawing me to himself. And it was he who pursued me and sustained the relationship when I strayed in ignorant sheeplike fashion, doubted his existence, and then like the Prodigal Son deliberately moved to the far country. And it is all grace—unearned, undeserved, unrepayable grace.”

All of our hearts and minds are broken and corrupted by sin. 

Therefore, we all doubt. 

We doubt, like Thomas, if God is real.  

We doubt, like Thomas, if God loves us. 

We doubt, like Thomas, if Jesus is who he says he is—God in the flesh.

We doubt, like Thomas, if Jesus death on the cross can actually forgive our sin.

And, we doubt, like Thomas, if resurrection from the dead is possible.

You may have heard the lie that Christians NEVER doubt God’s existence or power or His Word, the Bible.  You may have been told that you don’t really have faith or trust in God if you raise questions about some of the facts found in the Bible and if find yourself confused from time to time.

It is a very sad reality that people leave their churches because of the way their honest doubts have been dismissed. Fuller Youth Institute (FYI) studied the spiritual progression of five hundred youth group graduates during their first three years of college. Kara Powell, FYI’s executive director, wrote that one of the main reasons Christian youth abandoned their faith after high school was because, at some point in their lives, they’d expressed doubts about what they’d been taught to believe. Instead of providing a safe place to process those uncertainties, well-meaning church leaders told them they shouldn’t even ask such questions in the first place. This led them to conclude that Christianity was a house of cards—the church couldn’t deal with their doubts, and neither could God.

Experiencing doubt can be incredibly scary—especially for Christians who grew up in an environment in which faith was understood to suggest absolute certainty. The message was clear: If you have doubts, it means that your faith is weak or that there is something wrong with you spiritually. In his book Authentically Emergent: In Search of a Truly Progressive Christianity, Dr. R. Scott Smith wrote, “In effect, we tell people to shut up, just take the biblical teaching (which, on some topics, may really just be our own strongly held opinions) at face value as fact and accept it by faith, as though that by itself is a virtue. But biblical faith is not a blind leap; it involves knowledge—that God has spoken and is trustworthy.”[3] False definitions of faith that are so often taught are based on a misunderstanding of the difference between unbelief and doubt. They are not the same thing. Unbelief is a decision of the will, but doubt tends to bubble up within the context of faith.

If more churches would welcome the honest questions of doubters and engage with the intellectual side of their faith, they would become safe places for those who experience doubt.

Today’s Biblical text shows us that Jesus’ grace-driven and grace-filled presence is a safe place for those of us that experience doubt.

Right now, in Jesus’ presence, you are in a safe place.  You are gathered together under one roof, just like the disciples, including Thomas on that second night, where God comes to you in the person and work of Jesus Christ to answer your questions and provide you with the proof you need to have peace today and peace forever.

The peace that Jesus brings to the disciples, with a special focus on Thomas, around the Easter event, is both imminent and transcendent. To say it another way, the peace that Jesus brings surrounding the Easter event is both for the here-and-now and for the eternal. It is a peace for today.  It is a peace for tomorrow. And, it is peace forever. 

The peace that Jesus brings to you is the peace that comes from knowing that Jesus is who he says he is. He is God wrapped in the flesh. He is the fulfillment of every last thing that is spoken about in the Holy Scriptures. And, He is able to do more than you can ask or imagine. 

We receive a divine peace that passes understanding because Jesus lets us know that His life, death, and resurrection was all accomplished so that we could be made right with God.

Here is the beautiful thing that is shared with us in this morning’s text:

Jesus’ care and concern for His followers is incredibly grace filled. 

Jesus knew Thomas’ doubts and questions before Thomas spoke them to Jesus.  So, Jesus preemptively calmed Thomas’ doubts and fears by giving Thomas what Thomas needed to be at peace—the ability to touch the once-again alive Jesus who was marked with the scars of crucifixion. 

And, Jesus’ care and concern for you is the same.  Matthew 6.8 tells you that “your Father in Heaven knows what you need before you ask him.”  God’s intimate knowledge of your life, that only your Creator could have, brings you peace because God is able to provide exactly what you need in moments of doubt.

Jesus knew every last fear that was causing anxiety for the disciples.  He knew every last question and point of confusion in Thomas’ mind. And in all of that, he went to meet them where they were.  He was persistent and pursued them out of love for them. They did not have to find Jesus. Jesus found them afraid, doubting, and hopeless and he gave them exactly what they needed to see, hear, and believe and in turn receive both the forgiveness for their sin and eternal life—Jesus gave them the holes in his hand and the hole in his side from crucifixion, and he gave them his physical presence after death, where he ate a piece of fish from their dinner plate to demonstrate his full bodily resurrection. 

Jesus’ care and concern for you this morning is incredibly grace filled. 

He knows every last fear that is causing anxiety for you.  He knows every last question and point of confusion in your mind. And in all of that, he comes to meet you where you are. Jesus is persistent and pursues you out of love for you. You do not have to find Jesus. Jesus find you. And, sometimes like the disciples in our text, Jesus finds you doubting, and hopeless and he gives you exactly what you need to see, hear, and believe and in turn receive both forgiveness for your sin and eternal life. In the Gospel, the Good News, the Word of God, the Bible, Jesus gives you the holes in his hand and the hole in his side from crucifixion, and he gives you his physical presence after death, to demonstrate his full bodily resurrection. 

In the room, the night of Easter, and in the room 8 days later with Thomas, Heaven met Earth for the disciples and they repented, believed, and moved out into the world sharing the good news of Jesus Christ alive, dead, and resurrected with the world around them so that others could receive the peace that Jesus offers through faith in Him.

Yes, Good Friday and Easter were confusing.

Yes, Good Friday and Easter were wild.

But, Good Friday and Easter were also grace-driven, grace-filled, and glorious.

Good Friday and Easter are the place where Jesus takes all of your sin and disobedience to God and gives you His perfect righteousness which makes you fully ready for life in God’s eternal Kingdom of Heaven.

In this morning’s text Jesus gives the disciples meaning and purpose for their lives when he says to them:

“Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.”

Jesus also gives you this same meaning and purpose right now.

Jude, the writer of one of the letters in the New Testament part of the Bible, understands this all very well when he wrote this exhortation to the Christian Church during the 1st Century A.D. (or C.E. for you scholars out there):

[17] But you must remember, beloved, the predictions of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ. [18] They said to you, “In the last time there will be scoffers, following their own ungodly passions.” [19] It is these who cause divisions, worldly people, devoid of the Spirit. [20] But you, beloved, building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, [21] keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life. [22] And have mercy on those who doubt; [23] save others by snatching them out of the fire; to others show mercy with fear, hating even the garment stained by the flesh. (Jude 17-23, ESV)

Let’s leave this room today, where God has gathered us, after the crucifixion and resurrection, so that Jesus can give us peace, with full readiness to head back out into the world to love others and as God has first loved us all while sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ that will rescue others from unbelief and doubt.

This is the Word of God for you today.

This is the Grace and Peace of God for you today.

Amen.

Pastor Fred Scragg

April 27, 2025

Prayer:

Merciful Father, 

We come to confess our incredible lack of faith in the reality of the resurrection. Like Thomas, we often live in defiant doubt of your resurrection, evidenced by our idolatrous and self-centered lives. It is shocking and almost inconceivable that you would allow your Son to bear the just and holy wrath that was reserved for us, even to the point of death. Yet you have sealed the promise of our forgiveness and perfect salvation by raising him from the grave, victorious over death and hell itself. This amazing truth is what we have doubted. Forgive us, Lord, for this abuse of your priceless gift. We confess that when we sin with our bodies, minds, and spirits, we live as though Christ never left the tomb. We live in the deadness of our flesh as though you too are dead. Deliver us from this living death, we pray. 

Suffering, victorious Savior,

you never doubted your Father. Even as you experienced the agony of being abandoned by him on the cross, you trusted your Father to keep his promise to you and raise you from the dead. Now your perfect faith is ours, and we live confidently in the joy of your obedience credited to us. Although we walk through this life as poor, wretched, and needy sinners, we are clothed with your goodness, and we are participants in your endless victory over death. 

Powerful Holy Spirit, 

help us to be children who live by faith, and not by sight. Impress upon us the reality of what we cannot see—Jesus’ hands in heaven, forever bearing scars that proclaim that the punishment of our sins has been paid in full. Transform us into people who do not doubt you. Help us to believe firmly in the power of the cross. Strengthen us to become people of growing faith who hate our sin and run from it until love’s redeeming work is completely finished. Raise our joys and triumphs high as we wait for that day when we will follow where Christ has led, be made like him, and worship our risen Savior forever. Amen.

Posted on by Fred Scragg 5

Crossed Out Curse

Galatians 3.10-14

You may have heard someone refer to a specific aspect of life as being “both a blessing and a curse.”

Something can be both a blessing and a curse when it offers positive outcomes but also carries negative consequences or challenges. 

Some examples of this are,

Intelligence: Intelligence can be a blessing for learning and understanding, but a curse if it leads to boredom or frustration.

Money:  Money can be a blessing for buying things that you need to survive, but a curse if it leads to worry, theft or envy.

Sensitivity: Being sensitive allows for strong empathy and a deep appreciation for life, but it can also make it difficult to cope with negativity and criticism.

Creativity: Creative individuals can produce amazing art and ideas, but they may also struggle with perfectionism and difficulty following rigid rules.

Love: Loving someone deeply is a great blessing, but it can also be a source of pain and anxiety, particularly if the relationship is challenging.

Many of our passions, talents, character traits, and possessions can be dichotomous by releasing both joyous highs and soul-wrenching lows into our human experience. 

In our text this morning, we are going to hear about something, more specifically, a someone, that is both a curse and a blessing.  From the next pericope, or next section, of Galatians that we are up to, the Apostle Paul talks about Jesus being both a curse and a blessing.  

Let’s get right into the Bible text now.

In Galatians 3:10–14, the Apostle Paul says this:

[10] For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, “Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them.” [11] Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for “The righteous shall live by faith.” [12] But the law is not of faith, rather “The one who does them shall live by them.” [13] Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree”—[14] so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith. (ESV)

I am sure that when we hear about being cursed, many non-Biblical ideas and images flash through our minds.  

Maybe we think about the Evil Queen who feeds Snow White a cursed poison apple that puts puts Snow White into a indefinite period of sleep.

Maybe we think about the Golden Idol in Indiana Jones, that when removed from it’s pillar, begins a series of death traps culminating in Indiana Jones nearly escaping the crushing weight of a giant boulder.

And, if you are as old, or even older than me, maybe you think about the cursed Hawaiian Tiki statue that Peter Brady finds in a construction pit and then wears around his neck, only to be met with a string of bad luck, including a tarantula crawling on him in his hotel room bed.

Well, these ideas and images of curses and cursed items bringing danger and bad luck have nothing to do with the curse that the Apostle Paul is talking about in this section of his letter to the churches in the region of Galatia.  But these ideas and images are what pop-culture presents to us and they often taint and misinform our understanding of the Bible.

So, let’s ask a series of questions about this morning’s Biblical text and get the answers to those questions so that we can better understand the Good News of Jesus that the Apostle Paul is proclaiming to us.

Let’s begin:

What does it mean to be cursed in Biblical language?

To be cursed in Biblical language is the opposite of being blessed.

To be blessed is to have God’s love and favor on you and in your life.  To be blessed means that God makes you perfectly fulfilled in every way, forgiving your sin and giving you the righteousness you need to enter His Kingdom of Heaven.

Therefore, the opposite of that—to be cursed—is to not have God’s love and favor on you and in your life.  Instead, those that are cursed by God have God’s anger and wrath poured out upon them, punishing them for their unbelief and sin.

Next:

How does one become cursed by God?

The text tells us that a person is cursed, meaning that they are in danger of being punished by God’s wrath for their sin, when they attempt to be forgiven of sin and made right with God through giving him a list of His laws that they followed and the good deeds that they did.

And:

Why does attempting to make God love you with your behavior put you in a place where you are deserving of God’s punishment?

Well, the text also answers this question.  In order to be worthy of God’s love by doing good deeds and Godly works, you would have to obey every command of God perfectly from birth to death.  You have to live every second of every day doing ALL things written in the Bible without ever getting any of it wrong.

Because of original sin, the sin which you inherit from Adam and Eve at the very moment you are conceived in the womb, it is impossible to live and love in the way God commands.  

And, thinking that your record reflects more good stuff than bad stuff doesn’t do you any good because as Jesus’ brother James tells us in his Biblical letter found in the New Testament:

[10] For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it. [11] For he who said, “Do not commit adultery,” also said, “Do not murder.” If you do not commit adultery but do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law. (James 2:10–1, ESV)

However, there is always hope for you to have a fresh start as faith in Christ enables you to be born again.  With the help of the God’s Holy Spirit, that makes its home in you the very moment that you find yourself with faith in Jesus Christ as your Redeemer, you are strengthened and empowered by God Himself to choose the good part of every hour.

Many rejoiced on Palm Sunday during Jesus’ parade into Jerusalem because they knew God’s grace had sent Jesus to be their Savor and Redeemer.

However, even though we are given the picture of a celebratory parade on Palm Sunday, this event is, in actuality, the beginning of a week long funeral march.  

Jesus rides into Jerusalem as the people’s champ—“Do you smell what God’s Rock is cooking?” Jesus, the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords, came not to sit on the throne in the earthly temple or palace, but to sit on the throne in God’s Kingdom of Heaven.  

Jesus enters the city to the praise of his followers, but leaves the city 5 days later to the weeping of his friends and family.

Palm Sunday culminates in Jesus’ death on the cross on Good Friday, but also Jesus’ resurrection from the grave on Easter Sunday.  

Holy Week, beginning today, has both joyous highs and soul-wrenching lows for those that are known by God the Father in Heaven and in turn know God the Father in Heaven in the person and work of Jesus Christ for them.

The path that Jesus rides and then walks during Holy Week was willingly chosen by Him to ensure your eternal blessing.  Innocent Jesus became cursed by God and was hung on the tree of the cross to be fully and completely punished by God’s anger and wrath in your place.  

In another letter that the Apostle Paul wrote, also contained in the Bible’s New Testament, he explains the Good News of Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter Sunday for you when he writes this, in Ephesians 2:1–10:

[1] And you were dead in the trespasses and sins [2] in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience—[3] among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the flesh and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. [4] But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, [5] even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—[6] and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, [7] so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. [8] For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, [9] not a result of works, so that no one may boast. [10] For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. (ESV)

In Galatians 3.11, the Apostle Paul quotes the Old Testament book of Habakkuk which says, “But the righteous one will live by faith.”

Martin Luther, the 16th Century church reformer, first read Habakkuk 2:4 when he was a monk living in a monastery, but he didn’t understand it at the time. Later he went through a period of illness and depression as he imagined himself under the wrath of God. Lying in a bed in Italy, fearing he was about to die, Luther found himself repeating over and over again, “The righteous will live by faith.” He recovered and went to Rome, where he visited one of the famous churches there. The pope in that day had promised an indulgence forgiving the sins of any pilgrim who mounted the tall staircase in front of the church. Pay your money, climb the staircase, and you can have your sins or someone else’s forgiven. People flocked to climb the staircase on their knees, pausing to pray and kiss the stairs along the way. Luther’s son later wrote the following of that experience for his father: “As he (Luther) repeated his prayers on the Lateran staircase, the words of the Prophet Habakkuk came suddenly to his mind: ‘The just shall live by faith.’ Thereupon he ceased his prayers, returned to Wittenberg, and took this as the chief foundation of all his doctrine.” Luther later said, “Before those words broke upon my mind I hated God and was angry with him. . . . But when, by the Spirit of God, I understood those words—‘The just shall live by faith!’ ‘The just shall live by faith!’—then I felt born again like a new man; I entered through the open doors into the very Paradise of God.” 

This morning, our readers shared the story of Jesus’ Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem from the Gospel of John.  These texts were chosen by the lectionary for this morning.

In the Gospels of Luke and Matthew, we get other accounts of what happened on Palm Sunday.  These other accounts of that day tell us some of the things that the crowd was shouting and singing as Jesus passed by.

Luke 19:37–38 tell us this:

[37] As he was drawing near—already on the way down the Mount of Olives—the whole multitude of his disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen, [38] saying, “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” (ESV)

And, Matthew 21:9 tells us this:

[9] And the crowds that went before him and that followed him were shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!” (ESV)

Palm Sunday is the beginning of the full and complete public declaration that Jesus is the One that takes you who were dead to God because of sin and makes you abundantly alive in the eternal love and freedom of God.

Without Jesus, you remain cursed, condemned, and dead to God.

With Jesus, you have been set free from the curse of sin and have become blessed, and are brought back to life by God at the price of His One and Only Son in your place.

The people rejoiced on Palm Sunday because God’s promised Redeemer and Savior had come to them.

I invite you also to repent of your sin and rejoice that God’s promised Redeemer and Savior has come to you.

This is the Word of God for you today.

This is the Grace of God for you today.

Amen.

Reverend Fred Scragg V.

April 13, 2025 / Palm Sunday

Prayer:

King of heaven, 

We long to worship you today with hearts full of joy, but we have sinned countless times and we have no crown of glory or obedience to wear before you. Our dancing is turned to mourning when we think of our sin. We understand that we are like the mockers who scoffed at Jesus as he died, the rebels who pressed the crown of thorns deeply onto his sinless head. We are undone and wonder how you could ever love us and welcome us as cherished sons and daughters. Father, forgive us for hearts that doubt you and turn away from you many times each day. Forgive us for worshiping other gods, and then running away in cycles of shame and guilt because we are disappointed in ourselves. Forgive us for believing that our sin is so much stronger than your love and grace. 

Lord, 

thank you for your perfect Son, who never sinned, yet became sin for us. Thank you for allowing his head to be bloodied by that thorny crown, so that you could lift up our heads and crown us with your steadfast love and mercy. Thank you for your deep and infinite love that willingly crushed your only Son so that his wounds could pay our ransom. Dear Father, thank you that our sin is dealt with, fully paid for, and that we have become the righteous through faith in the work of your Son. 

Father, 

we are desperately weak people who constantly need your help. Please turn our eyes toward your radiant Son to see his head now crowned with glory and honor, always pleading in our defense. Help us remember all the benefits that flow toward us because of our redemption in Christ. Give us such great love for your Son and gratitude to you, that we are transformed into people who want to obey you with all our hearts. Make us children who love with the same kind of love that we have received from you. Cause us to point one another to Christ as our only hope for surviving this fallen world and our own sinful hearts. Thank you that nothing can keep us from reaching our heavenly home, where we will see your Lamb seated on his throne, crowned with radiant glory, where we will fall at his feet and worship for all eternity. Amen.

Posted on by Fred Scragg 5

Grace For The Ages

Galatians 3.1-9

Father Abraham had many sons

Many sons had Father Abraham

I am one of them and so are you

So let’s just praise the Lord

(Right arm; Left arm; Right Leg; Left Leg)

And, for the sassier youth groups,

(Right cheek; Left cheek)

The lyrics above come from a fun, catchy, easy to remember, and danceable tune that has been taught in Sunday School’s, Children’s Churches, Youth Groups, at Christian camps and in Christian homes since it’s arrival in the music scene in 1971.  A very interesting note is that the song actually had it’s beginnings in an English opera from 1720.

Although the song is simple, it teaches a deep theological truth.

The truth that the lyrics to Father Abraham teach, inform us that each of us, who finds ourself believing in Jesus Christ and praising Him as Lord and Savior, are an integral part of God’s Heavenly family.

Abraham is called “Father” because God chose him to be the first person in God’s nation of people that God would set apart for Himself and for Heaven. Therefore, as we will hear in this morning’s Biblical text, each of us is related directly to Abraham as as the Father of God’s people through the faith that includes us in that set apart eternal nation.  We, by faith, are each, one of the many sons or daughters of Abraham.  

So, let’s just praise the Lord as we hear from Galatians 3.1-9.

Galatians 3:1–9 says this:

[1] O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified. [2] Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith? [3] Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh? [4] Did you suffer so many things in vain—if indeed it was in vain? [5] Does he who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you do so by works of the law, or by hearing with faith—[6] just as Abraham “believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”?

[7] Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham. [8] And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “In you shall all the nations be blessed.” [9] So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith. (ESV)

Let me begin here by saying that people don’t want the grace of God.  

That’s why Jesus tells us that the gate that leads to life is narrow but the road that leads to destruction is wide.

In this portion of Galatians, Paul is reprimanding the Christians in Galatia because they are turning away from and rejecting the grace of God that was once precious in their sight.

Following Paul’s argument up to this point in this letter, that he wrote to the Christians gathered in the region of Galatia, Paul is saying, “you heard about the grace of God that forgives you, makes you righteous, and welcomes you home into Heaven, but you are once again following the lies of this world that say you have to work hard to possibly earn God’s love.”

To further reiterate his teaching, the Apostle Paul reminds the Christian churches that they received God’s Spirit in their lives by faith, not by a record of doing good.

And, what does receiving God’s Spirit in your life signify?  

Receiving God’s Spirit in your life, that is, having God live in you and work through you, is a sign of salvation.  It is sign that you have been forgiven of your sin and are loved by God today, tomorrow, and forever.  Having the third part of the Trinitarian Godhead, the Holy Spirit, living and active in you, is a sign that you are part of God’s Heavenly family.

In the New Testament Biblical book of Ephesians, the Apostle Paul clarifies the meaning of receiving God’s Spirt when he says:

[13] In [Jesus] you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in [Jesus], were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, [14] who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory. (Ephesians 1:13–14, ESV)

How is someone blessed with God entering their life?  By hearing the Good News of Jesus and believing in Jesus.

People are glory hounds and like to say that they earned what they have—although I would also argue that recently, the last coupe of generations of Westernized humanity, have unfortunately been lied to by their teachers, professors, and more sadly parents and sometimes pastors, with the idea they are simply owed everything they want without any blood, sweat, and tears shed.

But, even that posture of entitlement is a search for personal glory as it results in the boasting that “I got what I deserved!” 

The search for individual glory begins in this world and is often transferred wrongly into our understanding of God and His Work for us.

Some that identify as Christians often teach, promote, and argue for the most ridiculous, unGoldy, and non-Biblical theological ideas as those in the region of Galatia were doing.

One of those completely wrong ideas is that forgiveness of sin and salvation do not come by faith alone and that idea is not a Biblical idea but an invention of humanity later on in history.

Specifically, these misled people, today, say that salvation by faith alone was forced on the world by the New Testament church and then by the Protestant Reformation of the 16th Century.

Anyone who believes, teaches, promotes, or argues that forgiveness of sin and salvation need human good deeds attached to faith in order to find rest in God’s love have absolutely no idea what they are talking about because the Bible never, ever, teaches such heresy.  And, this morning’s text from the Biblical book of Galatians helps fight such botched theology. 

Let’s see that salvation by faith alone is as old as the Creation in which we live.

Shortly after the Creation event when Adam and Eve’s fall into Sin in the Garden of Eden, God told them that He would right their wrongs in the future through a Savior—Jesus.  God did not tell them to start working hard to prove to Him that they can once again be good enough to get on His good side.

When God set apart a nation of people for Himself, those that He would call His sons and daughters, He made sure that they knew, and that we would know by extension, that the one He chose to be the leader of the nation on earth, was not a super-human capable of more good deeds than others, or, any good deeds at all for that matter, God has Moses, in Genesis 15.6 let us know that Abraham, “believed the LORD, and he counted it to him as righteousness” (Genesis 15:6, ESV).

Paul not only repeats that exact idea here in Galatians 3.6, but He continually makes the point that salvation is by faith alone.  In the Apostle Paul’s letter to the Christians gathered in the city of Rome, the Apostle Paul also says, 

[1] What then shall we say was gained by Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh? [2] For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. [3] For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.” [4] Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. [5] And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness, [6] just as David also speaks of the blessing of the one to whom God counts righteousness apart from works:

[7] “Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven,

and whose sins are covered;

[8] blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin.”

[9] Is this blessing then only for the circumcised, or also for the uncircumcised? For we say that faith was counted to Abraham as righteousness. [10] How then was it counted to him? Was it before or after he had been circumcised? It was not after, but before he was circumcised. [11] He received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. The purpose was to make him the father of all who believe without being circumcised, so that righteousness would be counted to them as well, [12] and to make him the father of the circumcised who are not merely circumcised but who also walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised. (Romans 4:1–12, ESV)

This first Father of God’s people, the one that the Apostle Paul is referencing in this morning’s Biblical text, did not prove Himself to God through good deeds in order to be chosen by God for God’s Kingdom.  Abraham was simply considered perfect and righteous by God because of his faith.

The Old Testament, the books of the Bible that tell us everything that happened from the moment of Creation up until God entered our world to rescue us in Jesus’ birth, death, and resurrection, are often spoken of like they teach and promote the idea that God’s love is earned by doing what God says to do and not doing what God says not to do.

However, the Old Testament, from the very beginning as we have already seen this morning, speaks of salvation by faith alone. We are shown time and time again that people who try to do what is right in God’s eyes always fail and fall short. But, grace of God was and is always present to call humans to faith and trust in His promise to right all wrongs for them.  This grace of God in the salvation event, for you and me, is continued to be talked about in the New Testament.

Using the example of Father Abraham’s righteous before God coming ONLY from his belief in God’s promises and God’s goodness, that will lead God to fulfill those promises to him, is a clear and undeniable show that salvation comes by faith alone.

Another false argument relating to the idea of good works needing to be accepted by God for forgiveness of sin and salvation comes from the lie that, “There are people who don’t believe in God that do good things.”

Well, once again, the Bible very clearly addresses that misconception.

Speaking about all of the Old Testament figures and how it was their faith that made them righteous and perfect and acceptable to God, the author says:

[6] …without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him. (Hebrews 11:6, ESV)

King David, the Psalm writer, another book from the Bible’s Old Testament, also addresses the fact that there is no possibility of doing Godly good without faith when he says:

[1] The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.”

They are corrupt, doing abominable iniquity;

there is none who does good.

[2] God looks down from heaven

on the children of man

to see if there are any who understand,

who seek after God.

[3] They have all fallen away;

together they have become corrupt;

there is none who does good,

not even one. (Psalm 53:1–3, ESV)

This idea of no human having the capacity to do true Godly good apart from faith is so-central to the human need for a Savior that the Apostle Paul quotes these exact verses from Psalm 53 thousands of years later when he is speaking to the Christians in Rome.  

Paul says to the Roman Christians:

[9] What then? Are we Jews any better off? No, not at all. For we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin, [10] as it is written:

“None is righteous, no, not one;

[11] no one understands;

no one seeks for God.

[12] All have turned aside; together they have become worthless;

no one does good,

not even one.”

[13] “Their throat is an open grave;

they use their tongues to deceive.”

“The venom of asps is under their lips.”

[14] “Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.”

[15] “Their feet are swift to shed blood;

[16] in their paths are ruin and misery,

[17] and the way of peace they have not known.”

[18] “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”

[19] Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. [20] For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.

[21] But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it—[22] the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: [23] for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, [24] and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, [25] whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. [26] It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. (Romans 3:9–26, ESV)

The Old Testament also defeats the claim that people who don’t have faith in God-in-Christ are capable of genuinely good deeds.

The prophet Isaiah, let God’s people know this:

[6] We have all become like one who is unclean,

and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment.

We all fade like a leaf,

and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away. (Isaiah 64:6, ESV)

What we are being told in these words from God’s prophet Isaiah is that even perceived good works by someone who doesn’t believe in Jesus Christ are a delusion and an impossibility.

In a very graphic statement, Isaiah states that even what seems to be the most generous, charitable, helpful, sacrificial, giving good deed from someone who doesn’t believe in the truth of sin and a Savior, are nothing more than a dirty menstrual pad in the eyes of God.

That is because every so-called good work by someone that does’t believe in Jesus Christ has selfish and self-centered motivations at the very core.

Mostly unspoken thoughts of receiving personal glory while doing good things go like this:

“I will give this homeless man some change because he will then think that I am a good person.  Maybe someone will see me giving change to this homeless person and also think that I am a good person.”

Or, how about:

“If I go hand out food at the shelter, maybe my picture will be in there news letter or on their Facebook page.”

Without the driving true and sacrificial love of God at work in you, there is no true and sacrificial good deed.  There is always sinful and selfish ungodly motivation present.

Whether these motivations for attempted good works without God are spoken out or not, the heart is always deceptive and selfish apart from God’s Spirit working the fruit of the Spirit in your life after you come to find yourself believing in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.

Good works flow out of the man or woman of faith and are described as fruit in your life because they are planted in you and grow out of you only after trusting in Jesus for forgives of sin and abundant life now and forever.

Galatians 5:22–25 tells us what the fruits of God’s Spirit are in our life.  Or, to say that another way, we are told about the truly good works that are a possibility for us as we live with faith in God’s goodness, grace, and unmerited love for us in Jesus Christ.

Galatians says:

[22] …the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, [23] gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. [24] And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

[25] If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit.

Only God is good and capable of truly good works.

And, good works are only possible for you when that good and gracious God is alive and active in you by His Spirit that the promises He will give to you who repent and believe.

Don’t be tricked and fooled into believing that Jesus Christ’s crucifixion wasn’t enough to provide you with the forgiveness of sin, Godly righteousness, and eternal life in Heaven.

You, who find yourself believing in Jesus Christ as the Way, the Truth, and Life—the only One who can possibly make you right and reconciled to God, have the Sprit of God alive and active in you blessing you with a love that creates good works that bless the world around you and bring glory to God, the Father in Heaven.

Through faith in Jesus Christ alone,

Father Abraham had many sons

Many sons had Father Abraham

I am one of them and so are you

So let’s just praise the Lord

This is the Word of God for you today.

This is the Grace of God for you today.

Amen.

Reverend Fred Scragg V.

March 30, 2025

Prayer:

Living God, 

We confess before you our deep attachment to dead works. We often seek to justify ourselves before you by our own obedience, even though the work of our defiled hands cannot be accepted into your holy presence. Sometimes we bind ourselves and others to do things in your name that you never commanded us to do. We think that by pursuing empty rituals or by denying ourselves things that you have declared good that you will somehow be pleased with us. At other times, we obey your Word out of a self-centered desire for our own glory and in order to declare our independence from you. We avoid small sins and pursue acts of righteousness that we find easy to perform, while blatantly ignoring far more important sins that have a strong grasp on our hearts. We denounce others for their inability to do these things, while ignoring the deep pride and lovelessness that pervade our lives. Father, forgive us. 

Jesus, 

thank you for being our great High Priest. Thank you that as our representative you never offered your Father dead works. All your obedience came from a heart fixed on pleasing God. There was no pride or self-exaltation in your acts of service, nor were you selectively obedient in the commandments that you kept. Your hands and your heart were pure and clean as you offered a perfect and unblemished life of obedience in our place. You presented your own blood as the atoning offering that enables us to draw near to God with boldness. 

Holy Spirit, 

give us confidence as we draw near to the throne of grace—not a confidence in ourselves and our own goodness, but a confidence founded upon Jesus Christ and his merits alone. Teach us to enthrone Christ in our hearts, and so be humbled; equip us to serve others out of the same mercy and grace that we ourselves have received. Give us the joy and gladness that comes from knowing that he has offered the once-and-for-all sacrifice in our place, and that he is returning again to be reunited with his people forever. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Benediction:

Go, in peace today, praising the Lord.

Father Abraham had many sons

Many sons had Father Abraham

I am one of them and so are you

Posted on by Fred Scragg 5

Look In the Mirror

Luke 13.1-9

Tragedy is defined as a lamentable, dreadful, or fatal event or affair.  

Over the past couple of years, there have been both national and international tragedies that have occupied our attention, time, and often resources:  The Floods in North Carolina,The Los Angeles Fires, and the recent strain of airplane crashes.

There is something about tragedy that pulls on the human heart.

There is something about tragedy that captivates our mind’s eye. 

There is something about tragedy that resonates deep within each and every one of us causing us to start asking real serious questions about life and death.

Our Biblical text for this morning opens with a group of concerned citizens approaching Jesus for an explanation of two tragic events.  The two tragic events which the people describe are unique to the Lukan gospel account and have no extra-biblical evidence to shed light on the particulars of the situations.  However, it is not the events themselves which are important but rather the false assumptions and popular beliefs behind the people’s concern.  These false assumptions and adoptions of popular belief are the real tragedy in this morning’s text.

Let’s hear from the Gospel text for today.

Luke 13:1–9 tells us this:

[1] There were some present at that very time who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. [2] And he answered them, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered in this way? [3] No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. [4] Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them: do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem? [5] No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.”

[6] And he told this parable: “A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it and found none. [7] And he said to the vinedresser, ‘Look, for three years now I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and I find none. Cut it down. Why should it use up the ground?’ [8] And he answered him, ‘Sir, let it alone this year also, until I dig around it and put on manure. [9] Then if it should bear fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down.’” (ESV)

In this Biblical text, chosen by the lectionary for the 2nd Sunday in Lent, we see and hear that people were obsessed with comparison and suffering. They were coming to Jesus thinking that they were better off than those around them who were victims of tragic events.  Their preeminent thought was, “God must love me more and I am obviously living a holier life because God hasn’t punished me with suffering and a tragic death like those other people!”

Specifically, people were coming to Jesus and asking, “What bad things did the Galileans do in order to be punished by being killed while they were worshiping in the temple?” And, “What bad things was God mad at that made him make the tower of Siloam fall and kill those 18 people?”

Jesus was being asked about a god who finds joy in punishing people caught in their sin.  

However, in our text this morning, we do not meet a God who is waiting with excitement and joy to punish sinners.  Instead we come face to face with God who is patient for the single purpose of allowing you and me to hear about and experience His grace and mercy present in the person and work of Jesus Christ.  As Jesus himself says, “Look in the mirror at your own disobedience to God and repent and believe in Me — the grace of God present with you!”

What the people in this morning’s text were promoting was similar to what we today would call Karma.  They were believing that good deeds brought reward and bad deed brought suffering and punishment.

Well, to see the record straight, God is not Karma! And, Karma is not God!

What that means is that God does not base the way he treats you on the way you act in this world or the way you treat him or others.  And, that is nothing but mercy dripping with grace for you.

I’m going to get on a small soap box here for a minute.

If I had a dollar for every time a Christian has referenced Karma in their life or the life of someone around them, the wall in the parking lot would be rebuilt before this service is over!

Sometimes, we are influenced by the ridiculous beliefs of the world around us.  When that influence leads us to include some of the world’s stupid false theology and asinine philosophy into our Christianity, we no longer have Christian faith, we have become syncretists. That means we have fused together a bunch of often conflicting ideas that, at the end of the day, do nothing but make make us falsely feel good about ourselves, and falsely arrogant as we promote internally and externally that we  better and more superior than others.  We do all of this false self-glorification while denying any and all real self-examination.

Karma is a false God.  Karma has nothing to do with God the Father in Heaven, Jesus the Son, or the Holy Spirit.

Believing in and promoting Karma causes us to break the first two commandments.

Commandment 1 says,

[2] “I am the LORD your God…

[3] “You shall have no other gods before me.

And, Commandment 2 says, 

[4] “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. [5] You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, [6] but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments. (Exodus 20:2–6, ESV)

Karma is a false God because it promises to give you want you want if only you do its bidding by doing good in this world first.

This fake universal Karma “spirit” has no basis in reality.  Many of us can attest to continually trying to do good things without so much as a “thank you.”  If doing good things can’t even get you a “thank you” from the people you served and helped, how can anyone possibility think they will get something more.

Believing in some form of immediate divine earthly reward for so-called “good” behavior and immediate divine punishment for bad behavior goes completely against everything the Bible tells us about God.

Since we are working through the Biblical book of Galatians alongside of our lectionary texts this Lenten season, let’s hear a bit of what the Apostle Paul has to say about what doing good often gets you.

Galatians 6:7–10 encourages us with these words:

[7] Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. [8] For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. [9] And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. [10] So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith. (ESV)

Why would one grow weary of doing good and want to give up doing good?  Because doing good, meaning loving God and loving others, isn’t always met with immediate earthly acceptance and reward.  In fact, doing the right thing, standing up for what is Godly, voicing God’s definitions of right and wrong, and helping those in need, is often rewarded in this world with criticism, mocking and rejection. 

You either take Jesus and have everything — meaning God on your side—or, you reject Jesus and have absolutely nothing — meaning God completely against you.  

What Jesus tells you in this text spits in the face of the philosophy of Karma.

Even when you who are bad by nature, do bad in this world, treat God and others like crap, God in his grace and mercy chases after you in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus to do good to you by forgiving you of your false belief and disobedience to Him and His Word and Commandments.  God chases after you in Jesus even while you are a sinner sinning, showing you, like a proud realtor, the home in Heaven that he has bought for you.

The Bible tells us over and over again that God, our Creator, who is also our Redeemer in Jesus Christ, is a patient and loving God.

Psalm 103.8 tells us of God’s patience with us.

“The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.”

And, in verse 17 of that same Psalm,

“…the steadfast love of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him…”

The reason God in Heaven is patient with you is because His love for you creates a desire to see you eternally safe and secure in His Kingdom.  He does want to crush you. Instead, He wants to forgive you and save you.

In his second letter to the Christian Church of the 1st century, the apostle Peter reminds those who have faith in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior about God’s patience with them.

He says,

“…count the patience of our Lord as salvation.” (2 Peter 3.15)

We have a God who is patient with us, even in our most annoying, disturbing, argumentative, intolerable, and disobedient moments.  

We on the other hand are an impatient people.

We want what we want now.  We believe we should never suffer, never experience hurt or pain, and never be uncomfortable.

The second we don’t get what we want from God or from the people around us in our life, we start to throw fits, want to give up, and question everything about our existence.

The second suffering, hurt, pain, or discomfort enter our sphere of personal existence, we begin repeating the mantra, “I don’t deserve this,” or, “How long, O Lord, how long?”

After the devasting tsunami in Indonesia back in 2004, one of my mentors said to me, 

“We shouldn’t get caught up asking the question, ‘Why did this happen to them?’ We should only ask the question, ‘Why did this not happen to me?’” 

What my mentor was highlighting is exactly what pastor and professor Michael Wilcock, points out when discussing this morning’s Biblical text.

He reminds us that,

“The fact is that we are all sinners, al in need of repentance, all deserving of punishment, and all preserved from the wrath of God—at least until judgement day—purely by His mercy.” (Wilcock, The Message of Luke, 138)

Jesus makes clear that all sin is equal in God’s eyes and punishable by a death that separates us from Him and His Kingdom of Heaven forever.  However, not wanting that end for anyone of us, Jesus is patient and gives us opportunity after opportunity to repent, confess, and be forgiven.  

We cannot escape death and separation from God if we trust in our own good work or in our good work as compared to the work of others.

Jesus points out that disasters and tragedies should cause each one of us to reevaluate our own life, leading us to confession of sin and repentance, placing our trust and hope in Jesus Christ alone for eternal safety and security.  

But, Jesus also makes it clear that a time is coming when God’s patience will end.  A time is coming where no more warnings will be issued.  A time is coming when the tree that does not bear fruit will be cut down.  A time is coming where repentance and faith will no longer be possible.  

In order for God to be perfectly just, He must eventually punish sin.  

Jesus, God in the flesh, was a completely innocent man and still experienced suffering, pain, hurt, and death.  He had every right to scream out, “I don’t deserve this,” or to petition God with the cry of, “How long, O Lord, must I suffer? How long?” But Jesus neither thought nor spoke those words. 

In this Lenten season, leading up to Good Friday and Easter, we are reminded that Jesus continued to patiently make His way to Jerusalem where He would knowingly experience the hurt and pain of rejection as well as the suffering and death associated with crucifixion.   God was being patient with you and me and only at an appointed time would Jesus be allowed to be punished and die in our place.  

And true and full justice came when Jesus breathed His last breath on the cross.  Sin was fully paid for.  

Your belief in Karma, your misunderstanding of God, your self-righteousness that causes you to think that you are better than others in certain ways, your constant obsession with comparison that leads to both pity and inflated egos, and your impatience with God and others was forgiven in Christ’s death.  

On the cross, Jesus perished and was cut down so that you could live and be replanted in God’s eternal garden.

I tell you what Jesus tells you in today’s Biblical text, today is the day of salvation.  

Hear Jesus’ words of warning and Repent of your wrong doing and ask God for forgiveness, or you will be cut out of God’s eternal garden and perish.  

Don’t look at others to figure out who you are.  

Look in mirror and point the finger at yourself.

First, you should say, “You are a sinner who deserves to be punished by God for disobeying his rules for life and love!”

And, second you says, “But, you are loved by God and through his gift of Jesus Christ, you are forgiven, made perfect in every way in his sight, and welcomed home into Heaven with arms wide open waiting to hug you and hold you safe and sound forever!

This is the Word of God for you today.

This is the Grace of God for you today.

Amen.

Reverend Fred Scragg V.

March 23, 2025.

Prayer:

Guiding Father, 

Forgive us for our lack of faith. As you called Abraham out of his country into unknown circumstances, so you often call us to walk through frightening, lonely, or unstable times. In response to trials of various kinds, we have certainly not counted them as joy. Like sheep, we are prone to wander at these times; we have turned—every one of us—to our own way. In moments of suffering, we have looked for wisdom from this world, comforting ourselves with man-made schemes to deal with our suffering or escaping into addictive patterns of numbing behavior. Our vision for what you are doing in our lives in the midst of suffering is blindingly clouded by fear and anger, and we have consistently settled for our own limited, self-centered vision as the final word of truth. Yet in your immeasurable grace, the Good Shepherd has laid down his life for his selfish, wandering sheep. 

Holy Jesus, 

thank you for the life of doubtless faith that you lived on our behalf. You came from heaven to take on human flesh and live perfectly in the place of your children. In the midst of every kind of trial and temptation, you responded with utmost trust and faith in your Father’s will. Even as your Father turned his face away as you were crucified for our sin of unbelief, you remained faithful, to your final breath, declaring your atoning work as finished. What vast, free, abounding grace! 

Spirit of God, 

bind our wandering hearts to you as we walk through the paths that you have ordained for us. When we suffer, be our vision by teaching us to count this cost as joy and strengthening our belief that you always have redemptive purposes in the suffering of your children, as we see so clearly in the cross of Christ. Enable us to cry out for wisdom when we lack it, and humble us to see that we lack wisdom often. Grow our faith in the promise that you will not leave us as we pass through troubled waters, that we will not be burned when we are called to walk through fire, and that we do not need to fear, for you have called us by name; we are yours. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Posted on by Fred Scragg 5

Gathered. Not Scattered.

Luke 13.31-35 & Galatians 2.15-21

Every town and city has something that is it famous for.

Huntington has Walt Whitman’s birth place. New York has the Empire State Building, Freedom Tower, Times Square, Broadway, and Central Park.  San Francisco has its cable cars. Seattle has its Space Needle.

And Longview, WA has its squirrel bridge called The Nutty Narrows Bridge. Spanning Olympia Way, is a local landmark.

The Nutty Narrows Bridge was built in 1963 by a local builder, the late Amos Peters, to give squirrels a way to cross the busy thoroughfare without getting flattened by cars. Before the bridge was built, squirrels had to dodge traffic to and from the Park Plaza building where office staff put out a nutty feast for the squirrels. Many times, workers near Park Plaza witnessed squirrels being run over. It didn’t take long before squirrels started using the bridge. They even escort their young across, teaching them the ropes. In addition to the Nutty Narrows Bridge, four additional bridges have since been built, the most recent bridge was installed in May of 2015. The sixth bridge is in the works.

In the busyness of every day life, there are dangers that threaten to stop us in our tracks and prevent us from making it back into our bed at night.  We have to become wise in order to know what paths to walk and which paths to avoid in order to stay safe not only today, but for tomorrow and the future.

In this morning’s two Biblical texts, we will hear about the ultimate danger we face while living life.  We will also hear about how to avoid and escape that danger that will leave us flattened and dead if we don’t take the safety bridge put in place for us.

Let’s get into our first Biblical text now.

Luke 13:31–35 says this:

[31] At that very hour some Pharisees came and said to him, “Get away from here, for Herod wants to kill you.” [32] And he said to them, “Go and tell that fox, ‘Behold, I cast out demons and perform cures today and tomorrow, and the third day I finish my course. [33] Nevertheless, I must go on my way today and tomorrow and the day following, for it cannot be that a prophet should perish away from Jerusalem.’ [34] O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing! [35] Behold, your house is forsaken. And I tell you, you will not see me until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!’” (ESV)

The Gospel message is both serious and soft (gentle).

The message of the Gospel is serious because it tells you of our dire condition.  The message of the Gospel is serious because it tell you that Sin separates you from God.  The message of the Gospel is serious because it speaks the truth that you are lost in Sin from the moment of conception due to the inheritance of Sin from your first parents Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden.  The message of the Gospel is serious because it informs you that your aren’t only lost in Sin but that you are actually dead in Sin meaning you are lifeless and unable to do anything to help yourself get back to God.  The message of the Gospel is serious because it tells you that because of Sin you are scattered away from God and running around without protection from the danger of being punished by God’s wrath.

In this morning’s Biblical text, we hear that the Gospel is not only serious, but it is also soft, meaning, gentle.  Jesus says that He came to gather you to Himself in order to cover you and protect you from the danger that you are in because of Sin.

The Gospel, ultimately meaning, “Good News” from the Greek evangelion, tells you the Good News that while you were still a sinner sinning, God poured out his love for you and chased after you in the person and work of Jesus Christ.  

Using the illustration of a mother hen gathering her babies under her wings to protect them from ultimate harm—death—she gives them shelter even if it means she has to die in the act of protecting them.

Let’s explore the mother hen for a moment.

When a hen senses danger, her parental instincts kick in and she brings all of her little ones under her wings so that predators, such as foxes, cannot see her babies and therefore cannot steal them, harm them, or kill them.  The mother’s love is so great that she is willing to take all of the hurt, suffering, pain, and even die, from enemy attacks, if necessary, by making herself a shelter to protect her offspring.  

One commentator shares this information:

“Fire is a terrifying thing to trapped animals as to people, if not more so. When a farmyard catches fire, the animals try to escape; but, if they cannot, some species have developed ways of protecting their young. The picture we have [in Luke 13.31-35] is of a hen, gathering her chicks under her wings to protect them. There are stories of exactly this: after a farmyard fire, those cleaning up have found a dead hen, scorched and blackened – with live chicks sheltering under her wings. She has quite literally given her life to save them.” (Wright, 171)

The way the hen brings her brood close so that she can protect them is an incredible demonstration of true love because there is the willingness present in the mother to sacrifice her well-being and even her life to save the children she loves.

This morning’s Biblical text tell you that Jesus has come to you and for you because Jesus desires to gather you under the protection of his cross where you are fully protected from the wrath of God that will you destroy you because of your Sin.

In Jesus, the grace of God gathers you in.  It doesn’t scatter you out and away.

So, that leads us to ask the question, “How, exactly are we gathered to God and not scattered away from Him?”

Well, the Apostle Paul addresses and answers that question Galatians 2:15–21 when he writes these words:

[15] We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners; [16] yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified.

[17] But if, in our endeavor to be justified in Christ, we too were found to be sinners, is Christ then a servant of sin? Certainly not! [18] For if I rebuild what I tore down, I prove myself to be a transgressor. [19] For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God. [20] I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. [21] I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose. (ESV)

As an aside, there are two verses here that you should have highlighted in your Bible and committed to memory. Those verses are 16 and 20.

Now, in order to fully grasp most of Paul’s letter to the Galatians we have to learn to properly distinguish the place of God’s Law and God’s Gospel in every piece of Scripture that we read.

So, let’s begin by answering the question, “What is the Law of God?”

In a paragraph written by one of my seminary professors, that summarizes pieces of The (Lutheran) Book of Concord, and that I make every one of my Confirmation students memorize, we are told that God’s Law has three uses in our life. Here is that paragraph:

The Law is that part of God’s Word which tells us what we must do and what we must not do.  It has [three] uses: 1) to curb our natural tendencies by telling us what we must do under penalty of punishment or failure; 2) to convict of sin by describing where we have failed to keep the law, thus showing us our need for a Savior; and 3) to coach the believer regarding what Christ has given the believer to do.

What we have to notice is that there is no place in God’s Law that says, “Following God’s Law is possible and it will save you from your sin.”

That’s where we have to ask, “How then can I be forgiven and saved for God’s Kingdom of Heaven?”  Or, in a more specific question, “What is the Gospel?”

In another paragraph written by one of my seminary professors, that summarizes pieces of The (Lutheran) Book of Concord, and that I make every one of my Confirmation students memorize, we are told what God’s Gospel (or, Good News) provides for us and accomplishes in our life. Here is that second paragraph:

The Gospel is that part of God’s Word which tells us what God has promised to us and has done for us in Christ Jesus.  It is good news (Gospel) which is the power of God for salvation (Romans 1.17) which when preached causes one to be born again (1 Peter 1.23-25) as faith comes through hearing this word (Romans 10.17).

After hearing these two paragraphs describing the Law and the Gospel, we can better understand why Paul tells the Galatian Christians that “we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified” (Galatians 2.16).

Jesus doesn’t want forgiveness to be impossibly hard.  

Jesus doesn’t want to lose you.  

Jesus wants to rescue you. 

After all, as 1 Timothy 2.4 tells us, it is God’s will that all men and women are saved.”  This is all shown in Jesus’ preaching.  Jesus’ message was “Repent [of your sin] and Believe!”  Jesus’ message was not, “Work hard, do the right things, struggle, worry, doubt, and then maybe God will think you are good enough.”

Jesus gathers us under the protection of arms spread out on the cross by faith alone.  We are not welcomed under the cross of Christ by obedience to God’s Law because God’s Law is impossible for a human to fully complete.  You are welcome under the protection of Jesus’ cross and death by simple fish in Him and His work there for you.

On December 26, 2004, the third-largest earthquake ever recorded by seismograph occurred deep beneath the Indian Ocean. It registered 9.1-magnitude on the Richter scale, and the shock waves produced tsunami waves more than one hundred feet in height, traveling five hundred miles per hour and reaching a radius of three thousand miles. This deadliest tsunami in history claimed 227,898 lives, but one people group living right in its path miraculously survived without a single casualty.

The Moken are an Austronesian ethnic group that live on the open seas from birth to death. Their handcrafted wooden boats, called kabang, function as houseboats for these sea gypsies. Moken children learn to swim before they learn to walk. They can see twice as clearly underwater as landlubbers. And if there were an underwater breath-holding contest, it would be no contest. But it wasn’t any of these skills that saved them from the tsunami. What saved them was their intimacy with the ocean. 

The Moken know its moods and messages better than any oceanographer, reading ocean waves the way we read street signs.

On the day of the earthquake, an amateur photographer from Bangkok was taking pictures of the Moken when she became concerned by what she saw. As the sea started to recede, many of the Moken were crying. They knew what was about to happen. They recognized that the birds had stopped chirping, the cicadas had gone silent, the elephants were headed toward higher ground, and the dolphins were swimming farther out to sea.

Fishermen in the same vicinity as the Moken were blindsided by the tsunami and had no survivors. “They were collecting squid,” said one Moken survivor. “They don’t know how to look.” The waves and birds and cicadas and elephants and dolphins were speaking to those Burmese fishermen, but sadly they didn’t know how to listen.

A local anthropologist who speaks Moken said, “The water receded very fast and one wave, one small wave, came so they recognized that this is not ordinary.”

The Word of God is speaking to about your Sin and your Savior,Jesus.  The Word of God tells you what the dangers of Sin are and what the dangerous sins are.  The to Word of God tells you to look out for Sin and it’s sins and to repent of those sins before the wave of His wrath makes it to your boat or shore.  The Word of God is giving you the signs you need to know in order to not be one of the casualties of God’s wrath that punishes those stuck in unrepentant Sin.

Don’t be like King Herod and the Pharisees who looked at Jesus and did not recognize God’s saving grace in their life.

Instead, Look and recognize that Jesus gently gathers you to God, under the protection of His arms that are spread out on the cross to shield you from the destruction that comes because of God’s deadly storm on Sin.  In the process of the crucifixion, because of His love for you, Jesus willingly takes the full brunt of the storm that so that you can escape alive and live in ultimate safety today, and forever, in the arms of your Creator and Redeemer—God the Father in Heaven.

I encourage you to wake up everyday preaching The Gospel to yourself while being readied to walk through life doing the good deeds that God has prepared for you to do.  According to one of today’s Biblical texts, you can find help every morning by repeating Galatians 2.20 along with the Apostle Paul which says, 

“I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”

This is the Word of God for you today.

This is the Grace of God for you today.

Amen.

Reverend Fred Scragg V.

March 16, 2025

Prayer:

Glorious God, 

We praise you for the privilege of knowing you. We have lived in this world, yet often have been ignorant of its Creator; we have enjoyed your tender care without knowing you as the provider. In blindness we have enjoyed sunlight, and we have listened to voices all around us while profoundly deaf to spiritual truth. We have understood many things without knowledge of your ways, and have seen the world yet failed to see Jesus. We live each day as sovereigns of our own kingdoms, carrying out our desires and bending others to our wills. Instead of submitting humbly to those you have called us to obey, our souls rise up with prideful indignation, inflamed with desires for self-determination. We fear that if we love others sacrificially, we will lose the world, and so we fight for our kingdom to come and our will be done. Father, forgive us for our sin, and for the great damage we do to others as we sin. 

Lord Jesus, 

you have entered into the darkness of our world in order to possess us and save us. You submitted to the will of your Father, loving us sacrificially as you carried our cross up the hill of execution and died in our place. With your perfect obedience and death, you have crushed the head of the serpent forever and wrapped us in the silken robes of your righteous submission and sacrificial love. In losing yourself, you gained the treasure for which you longed: our salvation. Jesus, thank you. 

Holy Spirit, 

grant that we may weep in praise of the mercy that we have found. May we tell others as long as we live that you are a pardoning God who pursues proud and selfish sinners and transforms them into grateful, humble, loving, and sacrificial saints. Though we are weak in this life and only make small beginnings in obedience, may our hearts expand with joy to think of the great treasure that is ours in Christ. His perfect love casts out our fear, for though we continue to sin, there is no condemnation left for us, and an eternity of joy has been purchased by his blood. Give us boundless gratitude and increasing grace to live in submission to your perfect and loving will, and to sacrifice ourselves as he laid down his precious life for us. In Christ’s name, amen.

Benediction:

God in peace today.  Jesus gently gathers you to God through his life, death, and resurrection of you. 

Posted on by Fred Scragg 5

Defeating Temptation

Luke 4.1-13

A recent study tracked the top temptations Americans face. 

The people surveyed said they struggled with the following temptations either “often” or “sometimes”:

  • Worrying or being anxious—60 percent
  • Procrastinating or putting things off—60 percent
  • Eating too much—55 percent
  • Spending too much time on social media—44 percent
  • Being lazy—41 percent
  • Spending more money than they could afford—35 percent
  • Gossiping about others—26 percent
  • Being jealous or envious of others—24 percent
  • Viewing pornography or sexually explicit material—18 percent
  • Abusing alcohol or drugs—11 percent

So, I now ask you:

What tempts you?

Does the snooze button on your alarm clock tempt you to stay in bed and prolong the start of your day?

Does the Playstation, Xbox, or Switch tempt you to play one more level of your current video game instead of studying for a test or preparing for your early morning work meeting?

Does the chocolate on your counter tempt you to break your commitment to eating healthier and losing weight?

Does the availability of every episode of your favorite show on a streaming service tempt you to forsake your household chores or ignore your children?

Does the promise of a new car or luxury vacation tempt you to miss important events in your kid’s life in order to at work late and go in for overtime to pay off the expense?

Does the alcohol in the restaurant tempt you to break your commitment to sobriety?

Does the instant physical gratification of pornography tempt you to break the promise you made on your wedding day to find satisfaction only in your spouse?

We are all tempted in one way or another.

And, let’s be honest, temptation isn’t something we find easy to brush off or walk away from.  Temptation, to do what we shouldn’t  do and to not do what we should do, is powerful and often seems to control and dictate our thoughts, our words, and our actions.

Today’s text, chosen for us by the lectionary for this First Sunday in Lent, comes from the Biblical book of Luke.  This pericope is focused on several temptations that strongly encourage Jesus to make decisions that will completely ruin his life and in turn completely ruin our life.

Our sermon text for today is Luke 4.1-13, which can be found on page 859 of the blue Bibles in your pews.

Let’s read and hear this piece of history together:

Luke tells us this:

[1] And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness [2] for forty days, being tempted by the devil. And he ate nothing during those days. And when they were ended, he was hungry. [3] The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.” [4] And Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone.’” 

[5] And the devil took him up and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time, [6] and said to him, “To you I will give all this authority and their glory, for it has been delivered to me, and I give it to whom I will. [7] If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours.” [8] And Jesus answered him, “It is written,

“‘You shall worship the Lord your God,

and him only shall you serve.’”

[9] And he took him to Jerusalem and set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, [10] for it is written,

“‘He will command his angels concerning you,

to guard you,’

[11] and

“‘On their hands they will bear you up,

lest you strike your foot against a stone.’”

[12] And Jesus answered him, “It is said, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’” [13] And when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from him until an opportune time. (ESV)

Here in our Biblical text, we hear and see that Jesus was tempted by God’s ultimate enemy, the devil.  We often hear the Devil referred to as “Satan” which is derived from the Greek word satanas,  meaning adversary. 

This morning, we see that the devil tempts Jesus in three specific ways.

First, Jesus was tempted to find instant gratification by feeling pleasure and satisfaction through trusting in his own abilities.  The devil tempts Jesus to use his power to meet his own needs instead of trusting in God’s promise to provide for him when the time was right.

Second, Jesus was tempted to inappropriately “skip the line” in order to have power over the people and kingdoms of the earth.  Jesus was tempted to take the short cuts in life in order to get servants, authority and wealth, instead of walking the road that God put him on.  The road that God put him also promised power, but it would have road blocks and bumps along the way.  However, God’s road to power would lead him to be blessed now and forever. And, God’s road for Jesus would ultimately lead to you, hearing this today, receiving God’s blessing now and forever.

Jesus’ third temptation was to become instantly famous.  He was again tempted to take the easy way out and cheat with short cuts in order to have people look at him and want to be like him and want to be near him.  Taking the Devil’s way would lead people to speak of Jesus’ greatness without ever mentioning that God the Father in Heaven and Creator of the Universe, sent him to freely forgive sin and give out  righteousness and eternal life.  By following the devil’s temptation to walk away from God’s plan and purpose for his life, he would forsake you and me, leaving us forever separated from God in Heaven.

Jesus was on God’s mission to rescue you.  During His time on earth, Jesus was fully aware that the life of obedience that he lived be credited to you through your faith.  So, Jesus did what was right in God’s eyes for your eternal good.  

The greatest temptation that we all face is the exact same temptation that Jesus faced in our text this morning.  That temptation is the temptation to look away from God, to ignore God, and to disobey God’s plan and purpose for our life.  The temptation is to skip God’s line in order to get things that matter only in this world—instant pleasure or satisfaction, fame, and power.  

We are tempted to look only to our own personal interests and our own personal good (as we see it) and ignore everything that God has done for us.  This path of temptation causes us to live in disobedience to God’s will that we would be saved from God’s wrath on our sin and simply love Him and love others.

Even things that don’t seem like a big deal—the things we would label “little sins”—show that we are tempted to care more about ourselves than God or others.  

As an example, let’s go back to where we started. As silly as it seems, giving into the temptation to eat that piece of chocolate on the counter when you once, probably not too long ago, committed to taking better care of the physical body that you are now living in, says that you don’t care about the body that God has given you. 

What tastes good right now and for the next 3 minutes, as the residue remains in your mouth, is a sign of a much bigger problem of the inability to choose right and do right 100% of the time.

To repeat what I said a few minutes ago,

We are all tempted in one way or another.

And, let’s be honest, temptation isn’t something we find easy to brush off or walk away from.  Temptation to do what we shouldn’t and to not do what we should is powerful and often seems to control and dictate our thoughts, our words, and our actions.

There are some days where life is difficult and we want to take any short cut we can to get to where we want to be.  We will step on who we need to step on.  We will lie where we need to lie.  We will gossip where we need to gossip.  We will fix numbers where we need to fix numbers.  We will cheat where we need to cheat.  

We will do all of these things and more if it means getting what we want sooner and easier.

Several years after Jesus’ death, resurrection, and return back to Heaven, the apostle Paul wrote to the struggling church in the city of Corinth.  In his first letter to them, he encourages them with these words, found in that letter, specifically at 1 Corinthians 10:13:

Paul reminds them that:

[13] No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. [But] God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it. (ESV)

It is here that the apostle Paul reminds us of two pieces of good news.

The first piece of good news is that you are not alone when you are tempted.  When distractions come your way and something inside of you tells you to turn away from doing the right thing, you are no different than any other human being that has or that will ever live.

You are not strange.

You are not weird.

You are not the only one who struggles with choosing to think, say, and do, the right thing 100% of the time.

Temptation is as old as humanity.

The second piece of good news that the apostle Paul gives in his words to the Christians in the city of Corinth is that when you are tempted, God is with you who believe in Him, and will help you and give you exactly what you need to overcome the temptation.

You may be asking, “How does God give me the ability to overcome the strong pulls of temptation to think, say, and do, the wrong thing? The text just says that he will, not how it will happen!”

Well, for that, let’s look back to Jesus in the desert.  In Jesus’ temptation in the desert, we see how God provided Jesus the strength to push away the temptations in his life.  God provided the strength for Jesus to push away temptation by giving Him the living and active words of Scripture that God had written for him and his daily, as well as, eternal, good.

For each specific temptation, Jesus knew a verse from the Bible that helped him and strengthened him to trust God when the road to doing the right and Godly thing was difficult.

So, how does this work in your life? The same way God worked in Jesus’ life now works in your life.

2 Timothy 3:16–17 reminds you of this when Paul reminds his disciple Timothy that:

[16] All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, [17] that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. (ESV)

There are verses to help you and strengthen you in every single temptation you are facing now and will face in the future.  

But, they will not come into your mind out of thin air.  Part of having faith in God is knowing who he is, what he promises to do, and how he will do it for you.  And, the only place you will find all of that information and be able to store it up for a rainy day of temptation is in His Word, the Bible.

You are living in a time where accessibility to God’s Word, the Bible, is easier than it ever was.  In addition to printed Bibles and Bible Apps for our phones.  We also have search engines like Google that you can type in things like “Bible verses about worry or Bible verses about addiction,” and in milliseconds you will provided with exhaustive lists on what you are looking to know.

A Super Bowl commercial from 2013 advertised the Mercedes Benz CLA. The ad starts with thirty-something man sitting in a cafe. As the waitress serves him a cup of coffee, the man looks out the window and sees two workmen unveiling a new billboard for the Mercedes CLA. His eyes look longingly at the car when a man dressed in black sits across the table from him. The Satan-figure (played by Willem Defoe) says, “Nice car!” “Sure is,” the young man agrees.

The Devil himself then holds a gold fountain pen in his fingers with pointed and polished fingernails. He says temptingly, “Make a deal with me, kid, and you can have the car and everything that goes along with it.”

As the young man takes the pen, he visualizes himself in a series of scenes that represent all the world has to offer. In the first scene, he drives his Mercedes to a red carpet awards ceremony, exiting the car with a gorgeous woman on his arm. In the next scene, he’s at a nightclub dancing side-by-side with his good buddy singer-songwriter Usher. Then the young man is driving his car with several attractive women as passengers. In the next scene he’s a popular model being photographed for trendy magazines. Finally, as he jumps into his car to escape a mob of women, he’s suddenly driving a Formula One race course speeding past the lead car.

Then the ad shifts back to the young man is back at the table in the café. The tempter asks, “So what do you say?” Holding the gold pen, the young man’s eyes stare down at the contract and then gaze out the window where he sees the relatively low price of the Mercedes on the billboard. “Thanks, but I think I’ve got this!” Immediately, the tempter disappears in a cloud of smoke.

So, as God’s enenmy, Satan, is tempting you to look away from God, to deny God’s love for you, and do your own thing in order to get exactly what you want instantaneously by exchanging God for lies, going the wrong way down a one way road hitting everything in sight, look out the window of Satan’s automobile and see the free gift of forgiveness, restoration, and reconciliation with God that he provides for you through Jesus’ death on the cross and resurrection from the grave and say to the temptation and they tempter, “Thanks, but God’s got this for me!” And, just like the tempter did with Jesus, he will leave you and disappear for a while.

The good news that you have in the face of temptation this morning is that you have a God who knows exactly what you are thinking and feeling in the moments of temptation and is therefore able to help you and rescue you by forgiving you of the times that you gave in to temptation and turned your back on Him.

Hebrews 4:14–16 tells us this:

[14] Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. [15] For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. [16] Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. (ESV)

Jesus, God-in-the-flesh, was tempted with every temptation that you have been and will be tempted with.  But, Jesus never gave into any of those temptations to turn away from God and sin.  That is good news for you because He now gives you His sinless life to show to God as it is also your sinless life through faith in Him.

God knows all about your weak moments when you are being tempted. 

And, Jesus death on the cross, forgives you of your weak moments that led you to give into the temptation to think, speak, and act in a way that denies His goodness, His grace, and His love.

So, with confidence, come to Jesus today, and the next day, and the day after that, letting him know all about your struggles while asking him to lead you to the Bible to find the truth you need to strengthen you.  

He is here. He is there. He is waiting.  He is willing.

This is the Word of God for you today.

This is the Grace of God for you today.

Amen.

Reverend Fred Scragg V.

March 9, 2025

Prayer:

Almighty God, 

We have come before you to worship you, but as we speak words of worship and sing songs of praise, we are reminded by your Word that we are to have no other gods before you. We have fallen woefully short of keeping this great command. Our worship of you is neither consistent nor wholehearted. You have called us to set our minds on things above, yet we habitually allow our minds to slip back toward things of earth: the fleeting pleasures that this world offers us in food, sexual immorality, and entertainment; the seeming glory it grants us in reputation, success, and money. 

Lord Jesus Christ, 

we have often doubted that you could rescue our souls. We create elaborate systems of salvation to comfort ourselves in our desperate condition. Some of us have learned to live in blindness toward the sin that so easily ensnares us, assuming that we are better than we are and smugly satisfied that we are not like other sinners. Others of us have established rituals of self-hatred to cope with the sin that we find in our hearts, hoping that if we just work hard enough, you might find it possible to forgive our insidious and constant sins. One thing we have in common is that none of us sees our own sin clearly. Instead we make too much or too little of it, and thereby obscure our view of your cross. 

Holy Spirit, 

lead us back to the good news of the gospel: that all our sin has been put to death, fully and finally, by Christ on the cross. Help us to see the reality of our justification: we have been raised with Christ, and our relationship with God has been secured as beloved children. Help us to put to death the remaining sin in our hearts, but give us the confidence to admit that our struggle with sin is ongoing, and will be so until you glorify us. Give us bold faith that lingers at the cross longer than we linger over our sins. Entice us with the good news from above, so that our worship might flow from transformed hearts enraptured by a God who loved us first. Clear our spiritual vision, we pray, that we might see our souls as hidden with Christ on high, our Savior and our God. In his name we come, amen.

Posted on by Fred Scragg 5

A Seat at God’s Table

Galatians 2.11-14

Do you practice what you preach?

Can the beliefs and morals you speak about and teach your children about be clearly known by the way you live day to day?

Do the words that come out of your mouth match the actions of your daily life?

Now, here is the BIG QUESTION with a BIG SCARY WORD that may make you tense up:

Are you a straight-up hypocrite who says one thing but does the exact opposite?

There are many ways that hypocrisy rears its ugly head. Here are a few ways to spot hypocrisy:

Do you treat those in power differently than you treat the common man or woman?

Do you give advice but fail to follow your own guidance?

Do you promote tolerance but judge others who don’t conform to your way of thinking?

Do you volunteer others but rarely raise your own hand to offer help?

Do you live one way in public but another in private?

Do you say one thing to someone’s face but another thing behind their back?

Well, I have some bad news for you.  I know the truth that you are a straight up hypocrite from time to time and can answer with a confident, “Yes!,” to many, if not all, of the above questions.

You may ask, “How does Pastor Fred know I am a hypocrite?”

Well, I know you are a hypocrite because I, a less than perfect, broken human born into Sin, am also a straight up hypocrite from time to time.  And, because we are human, we are the same.

This morning’s Biblical text, from the next part of the Apostle Paul’s letter to the churches in Galatia during the first century following Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection, shows us that the original disciples of Jesus also struggled with hypocrisy because they too were simply human.

Galatians 2:11–14 tells us this:

[11] But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. [12] For before certain men came from James, he was eating with the Gentiles; but when they came he drew back and separated himself, fearing the circumcision party. [13] And the rest of the Jews acted hypocritically along with him, so that even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy. [14] But when I saw that their conduct was not in step with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas before them all, “If you, though a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you force the Gentiles to live like Jews?” (ESV)

Since this text focuses on an interaction between the Apostle Paul and the Apostle Peter, let’s first ask, “Who was Peter?”

Peter was, as we heard a few weeks ago in this sermon series, one of Jesus’ original 12 disciples.  He was an OGG (original Gospel Gansta). 

In this moment, Paul confronts Peter because Peter is a classic case of believing the right things but behaving the wrong way.  Or, as we began this morning, this is a classic case of being a hypocrite.

Peter (a Jewish man) believes and teaches that the age-old Jewish laws have nothing to do with receiving God’s love in your life.  God doesn’t just love one people group.  God loves all people in all groups around the world.

But, here, Peter gets up from a table with fellow believers and stands to the side because they are not Jewish in background like him.

How do we know that Peter knew and believed the right things but was behaving in the wrong way?

We know that Peter knew what he was doing was wrong because we have the encounter between God and Peter recorded for us in the Bible in which God directly tells Peter that separation of people based on rules and laws and dietary restrictions is wrong and ungodly.

In the Biblical book of Acts, the book that tells of the beginnings of the Christian church immediately following Jesus’ life, death, resurrection, and ascension, we are told that an Italian centurion (that is, a non-Jewish man) invited Peter to his house.  Now, in the mid-first century, that invitation would have clearly meant that they would share a meal together.

Upon receiving the invitation, Peter gets nervous because, as a man with a Jewish background, he was used to having dietary restrictions in his life that were put in place by God for his people generations earlier.  This invitation, if he were to accept it, meant that he would be served food he wasn’t allowed to eat.

Knowing this struggle within Peter’s heart and mind, God graciously intervenes to let Peter know the Good News that in Jesus Christ all rules and regulations for attempting to be Holy have been cast away as they were impossible to completely fulfill, leaving one separated from God the Father in Heaven forever.

Let’s hear about the intervention of God and the new life that God was creating for Peter, for you, and for me.

Acts 10:9–48

[9] The next day, as they were on their journey and approaching the city, Peter went up on the housetop about the sixth hour to pray. [10] And he became hungry and wanted something to eat, but while they were preparing it, he fell into a trance [11] and saw the heavens opened and something like a great sheet descending, being let down by its four corners upon the earth. [12] In it were all kinds of animals and reptiles and birds of the air. [13] And there came a voice to him: “Rise, Peter; kill and eat.” [14] But Peter said, “By no means, Lord; for I have never eaten anything that is common or unclean.” [15] And the voice came to him again a second time, “What God has made clean, do not call common.” [16] This happened three times, and the thing was taken up at once to heaven.

[17] Now while Peter was inwardly perplexed as to what the vision that he had seen might mean, behold, the men who were sent by Cornelius, having made inquiry for Simon’s house, stood at the gate [18] and called out to ask whether Simon who was called Peter was lodging there. [19] And while Peter was pondering the vision, the Spirit said to him, “Behold, three men are looking for you. [20] Rise and go down and accompany them without hesitation, for I have sent them.” [21] And Peter went down to the men and said, “I am the one you are looking for. What is the reason for your coming?” [22] And they said, “Cornelius, a centurion, an upright and God-fearing man, who is well spoken of by the whole Jewish nation, was directed by a holy angel to send for you to come to his house and to hear what you have to say.” [23] So he invited them in to be his guests.

The next day he rose and went away with them, and some of the brothers from Joppa accompanied him. [24] And on the following day they entered Caesarea. Cornelius was expecting them and had called together his relatives and close friends. [25] When Peter entered, Cornelius met him and fell down at his feet and worshiped him. [26] But Peter lifted him up, saying, “Stand up; I too am a man.” [27] And as he talked with him, he went in and found many persons gathered. [28] And he said to them, “You yourselves know how unlawful it is for a Jew to associate with or to visit anyone of another nation, but God has shown me that I should not call any person common or unclean…

[34] So Peter opened his mouth and said: “Truly I understand that God shows no partiality, [35] but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him. [36] As for the word that he sent to Israel, preaching good news of peace through Jesus Christ (he is Lord of all), [37] you yourselves know what happened throughout all Judea, beginning from Galilee after the baptism that John proclaimed: [38] how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him. [39] And we are witnesses of all that he did both in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They put him to death by hanging him on a tree, [40] but God raised him on the third day and made him to appear, [41] not to all the people but to us who had been chosen by God as witnesses, who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. [42] And he commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one appointed by God to be judge of the living and the dead. [43] To him all the prophets bear witness that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”

[44] While Peter was still saying these things, the Holy Spirit fell on all who heard the word. [45] And the believers from among the circumcised who had come with Peter were amazed, because the gift of the Holy Spirit was poured out even on the Gentiles. [46] For they were hearing them speaking in tongues and extolling God. Then Peter declared, [47] “Can anyone withhold water for baptizing these people, who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?” [48] And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked him to remain for some days. (ESV)

Why did God make a point of miraculously telling Peter that age-old dietary restrictions no longer have a place in his life?  

Well, God needed Peter to understand that dietary laws that were used to keep people groups separated had been abolished, by God, so that all men and women could sit around the same table and enjoy life together.

By uniting and allowing all of humanity to sit together at the same table and eat the same foods, God was teaching that the time had come in which all of humanity, regardless of age, ethnicity, race, gender, and socio-economic status, were welcomed into God’s Kingdom.  And, they weren’t welcomed and accepted through following rules and laws like dietary restrictions. They were welcomed and accepted only through a common faith in their Savior, Jesus.

This uniting of people from all walks of life through a simple faith in God’s promised Savior, Jesus, gives Peter, Paul, and us, a picture and foretaste of Heaven.

The Old Testament Prophet, Isaiah, speaks of the world-uniting eternal table at God’s feast in Heaven when he says: 

[6] On this mountain the LORD of hosts will make for all peoples

a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wine,

of rich food full of marrow, of aged wine well refined.

[7] And he will swallow up on this mountain

the covering that is cast over all peoples,

the veil that is spread over all nations.

[8] He will swallow up death forever;

and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from all faces,

and the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth,

for the LORD has spoken. (Isaiah 25:6–8, ESV)

In verses from Psalm 23 that have brought many of us comfort throughout our lives, King David, the song writer says of Jesus:

[5] You prepare a table before me

in the presence of my enemies…(Psalm 23.5, ESV)

And, in the last book of the Bible that speaks of the end of history and the in-breaking of eternity, we are told that an angel says to the Apostle John:

[9] …“Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.” And he said to me, “These are the true words of God.” (Revelation 19:9, ESV)

If Peter believed the right thing—that reconciliation with God only comes through faith in Jesus our Savior—why did Peter change his behavior to reflect the wrong belief—that reconciliation with God comes through obedience to Laws and Commands and Good Deeds?

Peter became a hypocrite and changed his behavior so that it didn’t match his beliefs because of fear.  

Peter feared being rejected by his old friends.  

Peter feared the negative and critical opinions of others about him that would be spread. 

And, Peter feared confrontation from those that believed differently than him.    

So, instead of standing strong in the truth with God on his side, Peter caved and chose the path of hypocrisy which in turn led many away from the comfort and truth of the Gospel and placed them back under the burden of trying to act the right way in order to make God happy.

Commenting on this section of Paul’s letter to the churches in Galatia, the 16th Century Church Reformer, Martin Luther said:

“[Peter] knew the doctrine of justification better than we do.  And yet how easily he could have been responsible for such a terrible ruin by his deed and example if Paul had not opposed him!  All the Gentiles would have fallen away from the preaching of Paul and would thus have lost the Gospel and Christ Himself.  And this all would have happened with the appearance of holiness.”

“For to avoid foods this way is to deny Christ, to tread His blood underfoot, to blaspheme against the Holy Spirit, against God, and against everything holy.  Therefore if one has to lose one or the other, it is better to lose a friend and a brother than to lose God the Father.”

“I am making such a point of all of this to keep anyone from supposing that the doctrine of faith is an easy matter.  It is indeed easy to talk about, but it is hard to grasp; and it is easily obscured and lost.  Therefore let us with all diligence and humility devote ourselves to the study of Sacred Scripture and to serious prayer, lets we lose the truth of the Gospel.”

How did Peter know what was right and what was wrong?  Through God’s Word speaking to him.  For Peter, God chose to speak to him in a dream.

How do you know what is right and what is wrong?  Through God’s Word speaking to you.  God chooses to speak to you through His written and preserved Word known as the Holy Bible.

Peter was told by God Word in his dream that salvation—the forgiveness of sin, including the sin of hypocrisy and leading others away from the grace and mercy of God in Jesus Christ, and eternal life—comes to you only through faith in the innocent life of Jesus sacrificed over to death on the cross and risen from the grave on Easter morning.  Good deeds and following commandments will never get you to God.  

And, you are told through God’s Word in the Bible that salvation—the forgiveness of sin, including the sin of hypocrisy and leading others away from the grace and mercy of God in Jesus Christ, and eternal life—comes to you only through faith in the innocent life of Jesus sacrificed over to death on the cross and risen from the grave on Easter morning.  Good deeds and following commandments will never get you to God.  

I give you comfort, encouragement and exhortation for today and the week ahead of you from another Biblical letter, this time to the churches in Colossae.

In Colossians 2:8–23, God says to you, through the Apostle Paul’s words,

[8] See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ. [9] For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, [10] and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority. [11] In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, [12] having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead. [13] And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, [14] by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. [15] He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.

[16] Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. [17] These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ. [18] Let no one disqualify you, insisting on asceticism and worship of angels, going on in detail about visions, puffed up without reason by his sensuous mind, [19] and not holding fast to the Head, from whom the whole body, nourished and knit together through its joints and ligaments, grows with a growth that is from God.

[20] If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the world, why, as if you were still alive in the world, do you submit to regulations—[21] “Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch” [22] (referring to things that all perish as they are used)—according to human precepts and teachings? [23] These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh. (ESV)

As the Apostle Paul demonstrated in his confrontation with the Apostle Peter, our struggle with hypocrisy doesn’t leave us hopeless.

Hypocrisy is just one sin, among countless others, that breaks God’s command to always be truthful in our words and actions.  

The sin of hypocrisy is forgivable, just like every other sin is forgivable, through confession to God the Father in Heaven, repentance, and belief in His Sin forgiving Son, Jesus Christ.

Today is a happy day because Jesus washed your sin away.  You’ll never be the same again, forever you are changed.

I invite you to sing it out, Jesus is alive;

The empty cross, the empty grave;

Life eternal, Jesus has won the day.

This morning, repent of your sin, believe the Gospel, and take a seat at God’s table, where a place has been prepared for you by Jesus.

This is the Word of God for you today.

This is the Grace of God for you today.

Amen.

Reverend Fred Scragg V.

March 2, 2025

Prayer:

God of all grace, 

We are weak and forgetful people, easily distracted by the joys and sorrows of our lives. We are capable of great thoughts concerning you one moment, yet we forget your kindness and live as though we had no hope the next. Forgive us, Father, for the unbelief that clings to our sinful flesh and clouds our minds with doubt and fear. 

Jesus, 

thank you for clinging to us, even though we let go of you repeatedly. You held fast to the gospel in your living, dying, and rising again, always obeying your Father and setting your face toward the hill of sacrifice. You never forgot your mission or resisted your calling, but faithfully lived and died in our place. You endured mocking, beatings, and crucifixion for the joy set before you. Thank you that we are that joy; now fill us with your joy and cause us to find great delight in you. Though we may be quick to forget you and need reminding often, you never forget us. Instead you intercede for us daily before your Father, and you are preparing for the day when we will feast with you in heaven. Come quickly, Lord Jesus! 

Holy Spirit, 

produce in us growing faith that we may live in Christ. May all our desires rest in him constantly. Make Jesus our greatest hope and all our glory. May we enter him as our refuge, build on him as our foundation, walk in him, follow him, conform to him, rely on him, and obey him. Let us never be ashamed of him or his words. May his death comfort us, for we have been loved with unfathomable love. May his resurrection assure us that his obedience was perfect, his sacrifice accepted, and his work finished. Help us to hold fast to the gospel we have believed: to cherish it in our weakness and to profess its power when we stand strong. Deepen our faith and guard our hearts and minds with the helmet of Christ’s salvation, the breastplate of his righteousness, the shield of his faith, the sandals of his peace, and the sword of his truth. In his strong name we pray, amen.

Benediction:

Go in peace today, you have a seat at God’s table in Heaven.  Invite others to join you by living in such a way that your behavior matches your belief. 

Posted on by Fred Scragg 5

The Titus Test

Galatians 2.1-10

In 2009, a church pastor, who actively denied the objective truth of the Bible with this statement, “I don’t take the stories from the scripture literally. I don’t believe in the doctrine of atonement (that Jesus died for our sins, for example),” and who also denied the Trinity, Hell and the Resurrection in their teaching, interviewed Christopher Hitchens, one of the most famous atheists of our time. 

Hitchens, the atheist, didn’t believe in God or an afterlife. Hitchens died of cancer in December 2011 but at the time of the interview he was riding a wave of popularity from his best-selling book God is not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything.

In a very interesting moment during the interview, the renowned atheist Christopher Hitchens said to the Bible denying church leader, “I would say that if you don’t believe that Jesus of Nazareth was the Christ and Messiah, and that he rose again from the dead and by his sacrifice our sins are forgiven, you’re really not in any meaningful sense a Christian.”

As we have been hearing from the Apostle Paul in his letter to the  churches in Galatia, there were, and continue to be, Pastors, Bible study facilitators, Seminary professors, and people claiming to be Christian, that do not believe or teach the truth of the Bible.

In this morning’s section of the Biblical book of Galatians, we hear about the Apostle Paul traveling to the city of Jerusalem to meet with Jesus’ original disciples to compare the messages about Jesus that they were sharing with the world around them.

The Apostle Paul was always concerned that false teaching in the churches was taking the spotlight off of Jesus and giving people false hope through a false message that had nothing to do with God’s Word and God’s Will.

Let’s hear about this interview that the Apostle Paul held with Jesus’ original disciples now.

Galatians 2.1-10 tells us this:

[1] Then after fourteen years I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, taking Titus along with me. [2] I went up because of a revelation and set before them (though privately before those who seemed influential) the gospel that I proclaim among the Gentiles, in order to make sure I was not running or had not run in vain. [3] But even Titus, who was with me, was not forced to be circumcised, though he was a Greek. [4] Yet because of false brothers secretly brought in—who slipped in to spy out our freedom that we have in Christ Jesus, so that they might bring us into slavery—[5] to them we did not yield in submission even for a moment, so that the truth of the gospel might be preserved for you. [6] And from those who seemed to be influential (what they were makes no difference to me; God shows no partiality)—those, I say, who seemed influential added nothing to me. [7] On the contrary, when they saw that I had been entrusted with the gospel to the uncircumcised, just as Peter had been entrusted with the gospel to the circumcised [8] (for he who worked through Peter for his apostolic ministry to the circumcised worked also through me for mine to the Gentiles), [9] and when James and Cephas and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that was given to me, they gave the right hand of fellowship to Barnabas and me, that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised. [10] Only, they asked us to remember the poor, the very thing I was eager to do. (ESV)

In this piece of autobiographical information from the Apostle Paul, we hear that after 14 years of traveling around the Mediterranean region he went to Jerusalem to visit with Jesus’ original disciples, the OGGs (The Original Gospel Gangstas).  Before going to Jerusalem on this trip, Paul spent one and a half decades preaching the Good News of Jesus Christ.  As people received the message of Christ as their Savior and repented of their Sin, Paul started Christian churches where the believers could gather together for encouragement and support.

However, the time had come for Paul to show unity with the disciples in order for the Good News of Jesus to keep spreading.

As Paul was preaching to the Gentiles, meaning the non-Jewish population, and the disciples were preaching to the Jewish population, people started to notice their different fields of work.

So, in order to show the world that both he and the disciples were sharing the same Good News—that forgiveness of Sin and eternal life in Heaven comes by faith alone, never by good deeds to please God—Paul traveled to Jerusalem to promote the unity that Jesus Christ brings across ethnic groups, socio-economic groups, gender groups, etc. 

As the Apostle Paul will say later in this letter to the churches in the region of Galatia during the 1st Century following Christ’s birth, death, and resurrection,

[26] for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. [27] For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. [28] There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. [29] And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise. (Galatians 3:26–29, ESV)

How did the Apostle Paul know that Jesus’ original disciples were preaching and teaching the exact Gospel message that Jesus gave to them?  

Well, the Apostle Paul used what I like to call, “The Titus Test.”

When the Apostle Paul went up to Jerusalem to compare the Good News of Jesus that he was sharing with the Good News of Jesus that the original disciples were sharing, the Apostle Paul took Titus with him.

Titus was a Gentile, meaning not Jewish.

If the disciples, with their Jewish background, insisted that Titus be circumcised, in order to follow the Jewish Law, before he could be fully acceptable to God the Father in Heaven, Paul would know immediately that their message was false because they were adding human works and human traditions to simple faith in Jesus Christ.

However, Paul finds assurance that they are true brothers in Jesus Christ because Titus “was not forced to be circumcised.”  Even though they had Jewish backgrounds and were preaching to the Jewish population, they believed and taught that works of the Law saved no one.  For the message of both Paul and the disciples was the Good News of Jesus Christ that forgiveness and salvation come by faith alone.

The true Gospel that both the Apostle Paul and Jesus’ original disciples were proclaiming was that Jesus is your Savior.

The true Gospel proclaims reality.  

Reality is that every man, woman, and child is dead in Sin from the moment of conception.  We are birthed into this world an enemy of God choosing the selfish option, the self-centered choice, and in pride, declaring our self-righteousness with no need for God in our life.

Reality is that in order for you and me to have hope in a life with God, the Creator of the Universe, on our side, we need someone to breathe life into us, rescue us, and provide forgiveness of Sin so that God can be present with us and us with God.

Reality is that the person, who provides a way for us to be forgiven of Sin and rescued from God’s wrath and punishment that we fully deserve because of Sin, the One promised shortly after the creation of all that has and will ever exist, is none other than the God-Man, Jesus.

The overly famous Bible text of John 3:16–17 tells us this truth when we hear,

[16] “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. [17] For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. (ESV)

The Gospel, meaning, “Good News,” is that God’s love transcends human brokenness.  Despite every human’s defiance to God’s rules for life and love, God demonstrates nothing but grace and mercy towards us.

Because of this, we cannot tell people that Jesus is their mascot, cheering them on as they do whatever makes them feel good in he moment.

That is not the true Gospel.

We cannot tell people that Jesus is one option among many and that all roads lead to God in Heaven.  

That is not the true Gospel.

We cannot tell people that Jesus is just a good teacher.

That is not the true Gospel.

We cannot tell people that Jesus is their therapist giving them good advice to follow in order to better themselves and forge a healthier existence in this world. 

That is not the true Gospel.

We cannot tell people that Jesus is the giver of bling, existing to make them healthy and wealthy.

That is not the true Gospel.

We cannot tell people that Jesus is their National Patriot fighting for and defending only their people group.

That is not the true Gospel.

We cannot tell people that Jesus is just a social justice warrior.

That is not the true Gospel.

We cannot tell people that Jesus is just a moral example to be used with the mantra, “What Would Jesus Do?”

That is not the true Gospel.

We cannot tell people that Jesus is a mystic—a spiritual guru who wants them to look inward and be led by their feelings and “vibes.”

That is not the true Gospel.

We cannot tell people that Jesus is a new form of Moses—the giver of a new set of rules and laws to follow the will make you worthy of God’s love and forgiveness.

That is not the true Gospel.

God did not step off the throne in Heaven and enter this world in the person of Jesus Christ for the silly business of being your mascot, one option among many for you, a good teacher, a therapist, or a giver of bling.

The innocent and blameless Jesus did not die through the excruciating and humiliating death on a cross so that he could simply be your national patriot, a social justice warrior, a moral example, a vibe giving mystic, or the giver of new rules and laws.

Jesus walked this earth, lived daily like you and me (except without sin), died on the cross and rose from the grave to be your Savior.  

Jesus did all of this for you to give you eternal hope by reconciling you God the Father in Heaven through the forgiveness of your Sin.

The true Gospel that both the Apostle Paul and Jesus’ original disciples were proclaiming was that Jesus is your Savior.

While doing relief work in Haiti following the devastating earthquake there on January 12, 2010, Palmer Chichen observed firsthand the tragedy of building a house with a lot of sand and not enough steel:

There was a problem in Haiti. Houses were built with too much sand and not enough steel. Sand is cheap, so because of poverty, when many Haitians built their cement-block homes, they used more sand than they should have in their mortar mix. And because steel is expensive, they didn’t use enough steel in the columns and ring beams. So when the ground quaked, homes crumbled; there was too much sand and not enough steel. It was a tragedy of poverty.

In our own poverty of spirit, we try to build lives this way:

We build marriages with too much anger and not enough love … and they crumble. We build reputations on too much pride and not enough humility … and they crumble. We build families on too much busyness and not enough time … and they crumble. We build friendships on too much criticism and not enough grace … and they crumble.

We build our hope on false Christs and false gospels…and that faith crumbles when we experience suffering or when we don’t get what we think we deserve in this life. 

Knowing how attractive false gospels and false Christs are to our human nature, Jesus gives this warning in Matthew 7:15–29:

[15] “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. [16] You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? [17] So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. [18] A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. [19] Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. [20] Thus you will recognize them by their fruits.

[21] “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. [22] On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ [23] And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’

[24] “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. [25] And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. [26] And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. [27] And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.”

[28] And when Jesus finished these sayings, the crowds were astonished at his teaching, [29] for he was teaching them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes. (ESV)

And, then, Jesus makes the true Gospel, the Only Good News, explicitly clear to you, as He did to His original disciples and the Apostle Paul, when He says:

[6] “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. [7] If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.” (ESV)

This is the Word of God for you today.

This is the Grace of God for you today.

Amen.

Reverend Fred Scragg V.

February 16, 2025.

Prayer:

Heavenly Father, 

You are our great King. We are eager to declare our willingness to go where you command and follow wherever you lead. Yet we confess that we are very weak and fickle. We are easily distracted, constantly diverted from your ways, and quick to follow our own sinful hearts instead. As we plan our futures, we think more of our safety, comfort, and financial profit than we do of laying down our lives for the sake of your kingdom. We are eager to please our families and friends, and slow to consider your calling and your glory our highest goal. 

Thank you, Lord Jesus, that you did not guard your own interests, but chose to leave the comfort and richness of heaven for us. When you came to earth, you did not build a secure and comfortable home for yourself, but camped out in the open air or lived in the homes of others. Your first bed on earth was a dirty feeding trough; your last bed, a stone slab in a cold tomb. You made yourself vulnerable, not only to the harsh elements of nature, but also to the foul hatred of those you had come to save. You even gave up the precious fellowship you had shared with your Father from all eternity, to make your rebellious enemies into your redeemed brothers and sisters. Your obedient, joyful self-sacrifice now enables us to stand before our Father, forgiven of our self-centeredness and clothed in your obedience. 

Teach us what it means to take up our cross daily and follow you. Help us put to death our overwhelming desires to control our own lives in the present and future. Show us the emptiness of owning nice things, the shallowness of the praise of others, and the offensiveness of our enormous pride. Fill us with such a burning passion for your glory that we will suffer any loss, ridicule, inconvenience, or cost, in order to hear your name praised in every land, from the rising of the sun to the place where it sets. Change our selfish hearts. Enlarge them with a love and gratitude toward you so immense and powerful that following you will be our greatest joy and delight. Amen.

Benediction:

Go, in Peace today.  Jesus is your Savior. Period. The end.