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Grace peace and mercy to you from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

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The theme for this morning sermon is that the gospel is alive and both

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the best of times

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and in the worst of times. One of the most famous quotes in English

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literature is by Charles Dickens in the classic opening of his work, A

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Tale of Two Cities.

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He wrote it was the best of times and it was the worst of times. It was

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an age of wisdom

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and an age of foolishness. It was an epic of belief and an epic of

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incredulity.

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It was the season of light and a season of darkness.

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It was a spring of hope and it was a winter of despair.

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As Christians

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we understand that there are times in life that we see we experience

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and we realize the many blessings of God.

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And there are times that we see,

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experience, and realize the brokenness of sin

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in this world.

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I know for many of you here, 36 hours ago, many of you received,

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either a placement or a Call, and soon, you will see God's people in

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the best of times.

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And you will see God's people in some of the hardest of times. And

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thank God, that you will be there because you will be reminding them

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of the gospel. And to speak

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candidly, it is easy and

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fun to be a Vicar, or a Deaconess, or a pastor in the best of times.

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When those celebrations are happening during weddings and baptisms and

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confirmations. When you're invited to your members kindergarten or

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High School graduations. But also, you will be the first person that

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your members will call in the hardest of times when their loved ones

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have a heart attack or when their member, when your members are told

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that they have terminal cancer or even when

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loved one dies.

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It may be also you started to feel this stress about what life will be

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like as you move in transition away from Seminary to that vicarage

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placement or Deaconess placement, or or pastoral Call.

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Maybe you've already started feeling the stress about where you're

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going to go and what it will be like. And should I buy a home

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or should I not is the market the right time to buy a home?

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And all those decisions that you make all along the way, is the

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economy going up

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is it going down?

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How is inflation

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going to affect all of these decisions.

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So, how do you navigate the best of times

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and the worst of times as a vicar or a Deaconess or as a pastor?

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Saint John wrote the Book of Revelation while he was in exile on the

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island of Patmos.

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So John knew exactly what hard times were like.

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Saint John begins the Book of Revelation with this greeting.

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And his greeting is full of gospel comfort.

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He begins with God's grace and peace and then he reminds them of the

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resurrection of Christ who was ruling over all the kings of this Earth.

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And then he reminds them of Jesus

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love that has freed you from your sins by his blood. And then he

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concludes with the doxology declaring that the Lord is the Alpha and

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the Omega who is, and who was and who is to come.

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And then lastly, he reminds them that it is God who is

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Almighty.

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So the first thing that we can learn from our epistle lesson is that

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because of what Jesus did during his Earthly life death and

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Resurrection.

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You are no longer God's enemy.

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God is not against you because of God's grace towards you

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you now have a peace with God.

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A spiritual peace and you have been reconciled to God.

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Romans chapter

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5:10 says, for why you were enemies

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you were reconciled to God by the death of his Son.

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So in the middle of the hardships of life,

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 in the trials of ministry, you can be confident that God loves

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you and that you are his child.

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And that in the midst of the tragedies of this life.

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You can have a peace that surpasses all understandings because you have

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a peace with God through Christ.

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A second thing that we can learn from our epistle lesson, is that

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Saint John reminds his audience of the resurrected Christ who is

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ruling over

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all the kings of this Earth. Verse, eight calls, Jesus Almighty.

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The kings of this Earth, though

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they invade other countries.

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They go to war.

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They threaten freedom, they take away liberty.

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The future of the West is being radically changed before our eyes and

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it is uncertain.

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The church in many places is

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under persecution, but this is something that is not new.

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John was writing this very book The Book of Revelation while he was in

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exile, and although Saint John lived under persecution.

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The almighty Lord was at work and doing amazing and marvelous things

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in his life. And your almighty

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Lord and all-powerful

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Lord is at work in your life.

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And God will be at work and whatever Church you are being placed

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or called into. And God is at work blessing

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you.

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A third thing that we can learn from our epistle lesson is that Saint

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John reminds his readers

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in verse 5 that Jesus love has freed you from your sins by his blood.

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The greatest bondage that anybody could ever have the greatest slavery

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is a slavery and bondage to sin. And sin

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is that bondage that no one can escape from on their own.

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But freedom from sin, it comes as a work of the Holy Spirit through

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the preaching of the word. And your work as a pastor or vicar will be

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to preach the word that literally freeze people from spiritual death

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and the bondage of the devil and that's why your work is so important.

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And it is because your work that is so important that the devil will

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try to trip you up, get you to stumble and to all sorts of sins and

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temptations and discouragements.

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When you are discouraged by the devil, remember, whose you are. When

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you're discouraged by your own sinful mind

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remember whose you are. When you are discouraged by others.

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Remember

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whose you are. You belong to Christ.

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You're a child of God.

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You have been bought with the price.

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You have been baptized into Christ in your sins are washed away.

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No matter how much you have done.

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God has done so much more on the

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He has died on the cross for you, and he has called you to be a

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Deaconess or a vicar or a pastor. To Proclaim that very love of Christ,

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which is found in his life death and Resurrection.

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The fourth thing that we can learn from the gospel or Saint John's

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Book of Revelation is found in the 8th verse.

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Saint John concludes this section of scripture with a small short, doxology.

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He wrote, I Am the Alpha and the Omega says the Lord God, who is and

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who was, and who is to come the almighty. And we understand the Alpha

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and Omega in light of Isaiah 44:6.

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It says I am the first I am

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the last and besides me there is no other God.

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The Lord God is the only true God and that is the Lord in whom you

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serve.

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In your time of service is Vicars or deaconesses, or as a pastor,

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many will try to pressure, you to compromise.

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And when people or the government try to intimidate you to compromise

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the law or the gospel.

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Remember to always be more fearful of God than any politician. St.

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John was in Patmos because he would not compromise on the law or the

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gospel.

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St.

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Paul, was imprisoned for preaching the gospel.

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So from today's episode lesson, we are reminded of the beauty of the

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Gospel, in the midst of both great times, good times

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and in the midst of hard times. In times of blessings

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we remember the first article of the Creed.

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It says, all this, he does out of Fatherly divine goodness and mercy,

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without any merit or worthiness in me. For all of this

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it is my duty to thank and praise and to serve and

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obey Him. But even in the hard times, when you're dealing with the

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brokenness of sin, you can still praise God, your Almighty and

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all-loving God.

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Your God is the Alpha and Omega.

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Your God is the first and the last, your God is the beginning and the

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end. Your God is Almighty and all-powerful and your God has freed you

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from your sins.

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And God has freed you to serve and to preach the gospel to others. And

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daily

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your god is forgiving you, and he's blessing you and he's caring for

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you.

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Now may this Grace which surpasses all understanding may it guard your

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hearts.

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May it guard your minds through Jesus Christ.

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Who is this world's only Lord and Savior.

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Amen.