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Christ is risen.
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He has risen indeed.
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Grace, mercy,
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and peace be unto you from God,
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our Father and the Lord and
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Savior Jesus Christ.
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Amen.
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Today we begin a new chapel
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sermon series on the sacrament
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of the altar.
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The 6th chief part of Luther's
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small catechism.
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Which places before us so
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plainly what the church teaches
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concerning our Lord's words on
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the night that he was betrayed.
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Here we learn to trust Christ
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fully with unwavering faith and
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to trust His Word to do
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exactly what it says.
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It was during my junior
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year in college.
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I was attending Southwest
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Baptist University,
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and I found myself at a bit
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of a crossroads in life,
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one of those moments where
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you're not quite sure where
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you're going next
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or what you're going to do,
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and it's hard to focus
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on anything else.
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I have a strong suspicion
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many of you can relate.
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You see,
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my parents would tell you their
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first inclination that I would
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be a pastor was when I was
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just three years old,
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when at the end of
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a church service,
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a pastor was just about to
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give the benediction.
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I stood up and faced the people
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and threw my arms out with all
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but a three foot spread and I
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attempted my own benediction.
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My father quickly put an
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end to that stunt.
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Or when I was in the fifth grade
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and I would come home from
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church and I would make my own
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communion set because Hot Wheels
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racing cars were boring compared
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to the Eucharist.
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Or in high school.
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At various times I remember
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being struck with these moments
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that I was supposed
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to be a pastor.
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How my heart would nearly leap
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out of my chest when I would see
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my pastors process into the
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sanctuary when they read the
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words of institution,
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when I opened up my
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Bible at night.
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The thought of being a church
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worker seemingly would come out
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of nowhere to me. But indeed,
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it came by God's grace alone.
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And I know you can relate.
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Well, for me,
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the crossroads I approached
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while attending Southwest
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Baptist University was what
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kind of pastor I would be.
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A Baptist pastor,
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a Lutheran pastor,
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a nondenominational pastor.
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I didn't know.
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But I thought if I could answer
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this one question,
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then I would know.
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You see,
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years of Lutheran catechesis
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from the hands of faithful
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Lutheran pastors met years of
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academic learning from
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Baptist theologians.
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And the question I needed to
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answer became more
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and more clear.
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And it was this.
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What is the sacrament
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of the altar?
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Is it Christ's true
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Body and blood
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or is it not?
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In my classes at SBU,
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I was directed to Article Seven
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of the Southern Baptist
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Convention of 1963,
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which says it is a symbolic act
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of obedience whereby members
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of the Church,
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through partaking of the bread
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and the fruit of the vine,
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memorialize the death of the
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Redeemer and anticipate
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His Second Coming.
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But when I read the Lutheran
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Confessions article Ten,
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I read it is taught that the
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true Body and blood of Christ
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are truly present under the form
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of bread and wine in the Lord's
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Supper and are distributed and
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received there. Rejected
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therefore also is the
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contrary teaching.
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So which is it?
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Is it the true Body and blood of
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Jesus? Or is it a symbolic act?
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What is the sacrament
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of the altar?
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And though the Word of God was
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in my hands and I could parse
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the Greek verbs in the text,
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I wasn't sure how to answer
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that question.
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So I went to my pastor
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and I asked him,
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what is the sacrament
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of the altar?
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He opened up his Bible and he
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read to me the words
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of institution.
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But that didn't help.
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When he saw I wasn't getting it,
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he read them again and he said,
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that's what we believe.
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But I still didn't get it.
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I thought,
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but how can that be?
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How can it be his body?
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And so he gave me
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a book to read.
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The Genius of Luther's theology
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by our very own Dr.
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Kolb and Dr. Arand.
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I took that book back
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to my college dorm,
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and I read for the very
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first time how
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Martin Luther saw the word of
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God as a mighty and
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lively power.
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That God's language is different
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than our language.
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When the sun rises and when the
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sun sets, God is speaking.
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When the fruit on the tree
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grows, and when a child is born,
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God is speaking.
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When the Creator said,
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Let there be things happened.
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God's word causes action.
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And the very essence of God's
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action lies beyond human
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comprehension.
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And then I still remember
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reading these words that
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followed shortly thereafter,
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the Wittenberg reformer believed
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that God placed his recreating
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Word in various forms which
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we can classify as oral,
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written and sacramental.
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Dr. Kolb pointed me to Luther.
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Luther pointed me to the
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power of God's Word.
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And God's word pointed
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me to Jesus.
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From Kolb to Luther.
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Luther to the word.
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The word to Jesus.
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And now, finally,
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with eyes of faith,
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I was able to ask humbly,
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without relying on human reason,
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what does Jesus say
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that it is?
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For what he says
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then it must be so.
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For His Word is active and
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powerful and it accomplishes
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that which he purposes and
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succeeds in the things for which
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it is sent. Yes. Yes, Lord
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only say the Word and
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it shall be so.
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Dear saints,
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see how plainly he speaks
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of what it is.
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Take
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eat.
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This is my body
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given for you.
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Take,
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drink.
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This is the New Testament
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in my blood,
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shed for you for the forgiveness
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of sins.
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These are not words of man.
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These are the words of God.
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Words that create.
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Words that are lively
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and powerful.
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For when Jesus spoke to
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the storm on the sea,
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peace be still.
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It was so.
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And there was a great calm.
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When Jesus spoke to the
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paralytic man on the mat,
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pick up your mat and go home.
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It was so and and he picked
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up his mat and went home.
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When Jesus
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spoke to the dead man
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Lazarus. Lazarus, come out.
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It was so.
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And the dead man came out.
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So if the Lord speaks to bread
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and wine and says,
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this is my body,
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this is my blood, then it is so.
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For God's word is active,
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creating that which lies beyond
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our human comprehension. Indeed,
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the sacrament of the altar is
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the true body and blood of our
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Lord Jesus Christ under the
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bread and wine instituted by
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Christ himself for us Christians
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to eat and to drink.
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Luther writes we do not wish to
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fight with the defamers and
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blasphemers of this sacrament,
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but to learn first what is of
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the greatest importance.
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The chief point is God's word.
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All the circumstances and
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institution of this supper
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testify that these words of
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our Lord Jesus Christ,
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which are in themselves so
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simple, clear, plain,
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firm and beyond doubting,
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can and should be understood in
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no other way than their usual,
00:10:17.346 --> 00:10:18.040
proper,
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commonly accepted meaning.
00:10:22.010 --> 00:10:25.734
Human reason sees this meal as
00:10:25.772 --> 00:10:28.954
merely symbolic because it
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cannot comprehend the
00:10:31.296 --> 00:10:33.340
power of God's word.
00:10:34.350 --> 00:10:36.710
But by God's word alone,
00:10:36.790 --> 00:10:38.714
the body of the crucified and
00:10:38.752 --> 00:10:41.502
resurrected Jesus Christ is
00:10:41.556 --> 00:10:44.286
placed before your very eyes in
00:10:44.308 --> 00:10:46.030
the sacrament of the altar.
00:10:47.170 --> 00:10:50.302
He who is our life and
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length of days.
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In Him
00:10:54.230 --> 00:10:55.806
death is swallowed
00:10:55.838 --> 00:10:56.930
up in victory.
00:10:57.590 --> 00:10:59.762
In Him all the fullness of God
00:10:59.816 --> 00:11:02.242
was pleased to dwell. In Him,
00:11:02.376 --> 00:11:05.060
all things hold together.
00:11:05.690 --> 00:11:06.662
In Him
00:11:06.796 --> 00:11:09.122
we have received grace upon
00:11:09.186 --> 00:11:11.702
grace and peace with God.
00:11:11.836 --> 00:11:14.726
By the blood of His cross and in
00:11:14.748 --> 00:11:16.470
the sacrament of the altar.
00:11:17.390 --> 00:11:21.100
Our bridegroom draws near to us
00:11:21.870 --> 00:11:24.154
that we may behold God
00:11:24.352 --> 00:11:26.890
and eat and drink.
00:11:27.950 --> 00:11:29.014
O dear saints,
00:11:29.062 --> 00:11:30.286
taste and see that
00:11:30.308 --> 00:11:32.014
the Lord is good,
00:11:32.212 --> 00:11:33.818
that his mercy endures
00:11:33.914 --> 00:11:35.760
forever for you.
00:11:36.930 --> 00:11:38.922
If all Christians believed
00:11:38.986 --> 00:11:41.214
Christ's words on the night
00:11:41.252 --> 00:11:42.830
that he was betrayed,
00:11:43.810 --> 00:11:45.950
if Christ would open their eyes
00:11:46.020 --> 00:11:48.973
to see Him and to trust in His
00:11:49.012 --> 00:11:52.400
Word to do exactly what it says,
00:11:53.330 --> 00:11:55.473
just as He has opened yours
00:11:55.521 --> 00:11:57.510
by grace through faith.
00:11:58.410 --> 00:11:59.380
Then they too
00:12:00.810 --> 00:12:04.334
would eat and drink with Him and
00:12:04.372 --> 00:12:06.800
behold Him just as you do.
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But how will they
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unless they hear?
00:12:13.490 --> 00:12:16.602
And how will they hear unless
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someone preaches to them?
00:12:19.250 --> 00:12:20.990
And how will they preach
00:12:22.210 --> 00:12:23.760
unless they are sent?
00:12:24.530 --> 00:12:25.574
O
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how beautiful are the feet of
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those who bring the good news.
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Christ is risen.
00:12:32.098 --> 00:12:35.154
He is risen indeed. Hallelujah.
00:12:35.282 --> 00:12:36.502
And may the peace of God,
00:12:36.556 --> 00:12:37.734
which surpasses all
00:12:37.772 --> 00:12:38.802
understanding,
00:12:38.946 --> 00:12:40.626
guard your hearts and your minds
00:12:40.658 --> 00:12:42.690
in Christ Jesus. Amen.