Life…Death…Grace
By James Wiese on July 12, 2024
The Seventh Sunday after Trinity July 14, 2024
Text: Genesis 2:7-17 Historic Alternate OT 24:2455
Theme: Life…Death…Grace.
I. Life, God’s Gift.
The new world stood waiting. This was the most exciting moment of a most exciting week. Six days God was busy – creating. He made many wonderful things. But who would enjoy them?
The shining new rivers and lakes could not talk. If they could, they might have asked, “Who is going to swim in our quiet pools? Who is going to drink our sparkling waters?” Who was going to bite into the beautiful and delicious fruit from the trees? Who was going to rest beneath their shady leaves? Who? God? He is spirit and has no such needs. The angels? They also are spirits and were in heaven with God. They must have marveled at all the things God had made. Perhaps, they too wondered: “Who will enjoy this?” The answer soon came in our text.
God would make a special creature for whom all of this was a preparation, a home, a place in which to live and work. God would make man and then woman from the man. So He gathered a handful of dirt. From the ground which He created at the beginning of the week, at the end of the week He formed a body for the man.
Note the care with which He did this. For all the other parts of creation God spoke and they appeared. But with man God formed him with his own hands. The words in the Hebrew language portray a potter delicately crafting an object that will hold special treasures.
With particular purpose and personal persistence, a potter works to form a delicate vase. He doesn’t throw lumps of clay together. He takes care with his work. So it was that God carefully gave Adam eyes, ears, all his members, reason, and all his senses. He gave him a heart that beat, lungs that breathed, a brain to think, and a voice that could speak and sing his Maker’s praises. He made it all out of a clump of dirt! And that is only the half of it.
God breathed into the nostrils He had formed, and the man became a living soul. He could talk, he could think, he could remember, and, like God, he was holy. Made in the knowledge of his Creator, he knew that which was right and would live in it. He also knew that which was wrong, but not by experiencing it. He knew wrong because God told him what was wrong. He hoped, he prayed, he spoke with God face-to-face, he loved His Creator above all things. There was a special bond between them, a spiritual union, a life beyond the physical. God set a garden for Adam in a land called Eden, filled with good food, where man could do meaningful work for the Lord, and where they communed together. This was life, God’s gift to man. It is still His gift to all mankind.
Who are we? How did your existence come about? You might say, “My parents wanted to have children. So, they had me.” I’ve heard others say, “It was an accident. My parents didn’t think of having children; it happened.” Yet, whether planned or unplanned, such thinking is short-sighted, for people by themselves have no power to create life. God is the Giver of life and the Provider for it. He would say, “You were born because I gave you life.” Perhaps He might say, “Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you” (Jer.1:5). Life is from God. So, if you live, it is God’s gift to you.
Such a precious thought for us! Live and it is God’s blessing to you for He gave life to you. It was His loving desire and will.
Isn’t that evident at the dawning of time. Without God wielding His power, nothing would be here. Without God delicately bending down from heaven and molding a clump of dirt into Adam, no person would exist. Without God breathing into him the breath of life, life could not arise. Life is of God – God’s gift with 3 distinct aspects: physical, spiritual, and eternal. God intended it to be unending, lived without interruption in His presence in the garden.
He wanted such fullness of life for us. He wanted to say: “Today, you (are) with me in paradise” (Lk.23:43). He gave physical life, spiritual life, and most of all He wanted us to enjoy eternal life with Him. It is God’s gift in which He discludes no one from His desire. Sadly, we can disclude ourselves. That is death.
II. Death, Man’s Doing.
If the highpoint of life is living in the presence of God and sharing His existence with Him, then death must be the opposite… living outside of God, separate from Him. Death is not just the absence of breath in the lungs and a heart not beating; it’s the absence of the true God in one’s life. People around you may be alive physically, yet dead at the same time. Alive in the body but dead to God, they are the walking dead. Death had its start in Eden.
In the middle of the good garden God made, He placed two trees – the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. By following God’s will concerning these trees, man would be blessed. God commanded: “You may freely eat from every tree in the garden; but you shall not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for on the day that you eat from it, you will certainly die.” Death would come through man’s doing.
I think that you know the story. “Now the serpent was more clever than any wild animal which the LORD God had made.” Like everything else, the snake had been created good. There was no evil in it until Satan entered and used him as his tool of harm. He said to the woman, “Has God really said: ‘You shall not eat from any tree in the garden?’” The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees of the garden, but not from the fruit of the tree that is in the middle of the garden. God has said, ‘You shall not eat from it. You shall not touch it, or else you will die.’”
But the serpent scoffed, “You certainly will not die. In fact, God knows that the day you eat from it, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” When she saw that the tree was good for food and that it was appealing to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took some of its fruit and ate. She gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate it. And the eyes of both of them were opened.”
Now they knew evil by experience through disobedience. They not only knew wrong, they did wrong. They sinned against God and in sinning death entered just as God said it would – first spiritually, but that would lead to physical death. It was man’s doing. You can’t even say it was the devil’s doing. He didn’t make them die; they died on their own through disobedience to God.
But how could they have possibly chosen death over life? And wherein lay their sin?
The sin that caused death took place before the fruit was eaten. The first sin was not eating the fruit, although that was definitely disobedience to God’s command. The sin began with the failure to trust the word of God and the doubting of His goodness. They threw aside God’s word and trusted Satan’s.
The devil is a liar, “a murderer from the beginning. When he speaks, he speaks his native tongue” – lies (Jn.8:44f). And he comes at us in the same way he came to Eve: “Did God really say…?”
Take the matter of this world’s beginning. Evolutionists say that God did not create the world in six days but that it took millions of years to evolve. Liz and I heard it again this past week in our travels at Wisconsin Dells. What does God say: “In six day I created it.”
God tells us to obey parents in everything for this is right. Instead, we argue with parents and chafe at their rules. Then disobey them. In doing so we fail to hear and trust God’s Word.
We justify what we do. But it doesn’t matter; our disobedience attacks the Word of God. In it we do not trust what God says, do not follow it, and reject it. To continue in that way is death. We die apart from God. Refusing to trust Him, we disobey His Word. Death is our doing. Yet, there is hope.
III. Salvation, God’s Grace.
Ironically, the first glimmer of hope is found in the phrase: “Their eyes were opened, and they realized they were naked.”
The effect of sin was felt. The first husband and wife could not even look at each other without discovering thoughts new to them of shame, embarrassment, and fear. What must that have been like for those once perfect creatures! But at least they were not past feelings of conscience in the matter of doing wrong. God’s grace provided guilt to arise and torment them so that they would look outside of themselves for help. And help came through His Word.
In that Word God promised that He would win the victory that we needed over sin, Satan, and death. It would come through the Lord Jesus Christ and by faith in Him. He overcame the devil’s temptations for us when we did not. He died our death to pay the price for sin when we could not. And He rose again from death to give us life. He offers the blessings of salvation from sin and death, then gives it to all who believe. It’s as simple as that. Salvation is of God’s grace. Trust His word and it’s yours.
Adam and Eve lost Eden, lost perfection, lost their right to live with God. Death became reality for them and for us. But we did not lose God’s love. Undeserved, He returned us to life in His Son.
God is good. In Christ He restores us to the life that was lost in Eden. And as in such faith we pass this life, we pass it to live with Him forever. That’s His promise. God grant it to us in faith, for Jesus’ sake. Amen
Zion Lutheran Church of Springfield
4717 S Farm Rd 135 (Golden Avenue)
www.zionluthchurch.com
Church phone: 417.887.0886 Pastor’s cell phone: 417.693.3244
You can also find us on Facebook
The Seventh Sunday after Trinity July 14, 2024
“The undeserved gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 6:23
Welcome: The family of Zion welcomes you as we worship the Lord today. We encourage children to worship with us. However, if you need to leave with your child, there is a nursery room to the right as you exit the sanctuary. The rest rooms are located in the hallway between the sanctuary and the fellowship hall. Visitors, please sign our guest book to the right, just outside the sanctuary. We’re glad that you are here and pray that through our worship the Lord grants you peace.
U p o n E n t e r i n g G o d’ s H o u s e
“The law of the LORD is perfect. It revives the soul. The testimony of the LORD is trustworthy. It gives wisdom. The fear of the LORD is pure. It stands forever. May the speech from my mouth and the thoughts in my heart be pleasing to You, O LORD” (Psalm 19).
W h a t T h i s S u n d a y i s A b o u t
The Goodness of God Found in His Gifts of Grace – God’s acts of care for the creatures He has made is known as the teaching of “God’s Providence.” He provides for the needs of His creatures, all of them, even the needs of those who will not acknowledge Him. He performs His gracious deeds in their lives in order that they may see His works and turn from their opposition to Him.
Paul writes in Romans 2 that the “kindnesses of God lead to repentance.” If the individual humbly views God’s acts of care for him in life, the care that God provides to both body and soul, that person could not help but respond in gratitude and service to His gracious Lord. Sadly, that does not always happen after the fall into sin, even among those who believe but do not in faith acknowledge His goodness.
To that end we pray: O God. Your never-failing providence orders all things both in heaven and earth. We humbly implore You to put away from us all hurtful things and give us only those things that are beneficial for us, through Your Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.
T h e W o r d o f G o d f o r T o d a y
(The Lessons of the Day are from the Historic Pericope Series of the Christian Church.)
The Old Testament Lesson: Genesis 2:7-17
In His tender care, God formed man on the last day of creation. All had been made for him as the crown of creation. God placed him in a special “home” we call the Garden of Eden. It was a beautiful place, in which God richly provided for him and gave a command that would continue life for him with God forever.
The Epistle Lesson: Romans 6:17-23
In response to God’s gift of grace, Christians strive to live in the present as those who have been set free from sin and as people who have a new master, the Lord Jesus Christ. They serve Him in love with holiness of living and strive to walk in His commands.
The Gospel Lesson: Mark 8:1-9
Jesus feeds a crowed of over 4,000 people who had listened to Him teaching for three days. He is the Savior who graciously provides for body and soul. He provides for us as He feeds our bodies with the physical nourishments we need. But most importantly He nourishes our souls with His life-giving Word.
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The Organist: Jane Rips The Preacher: Pastor Edwin Lehmann
Point to Ponder: “Jesus said, ‘Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? And one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father’ (Mt.10:29). Could it be that the same God who guides the destinies of men and nations is concerned about the sparrow that falls to the ground? Could it really be? Yes, it could be, it must be for the Son of God Himself has said so. If that be true of sparrows, what shall we say of us?
“Think for a moment of what God has already done for us…feeding us on the green pastures of His Word…leading us by the still waters of His comforting assurances…seeing us out in the desert of sin and decreeing that we should be brought into the shelter of His fold through Christ.
“His mercy found us; His love brought us into His fold. Dare we doubt that He will care for us and keep us now that He has gathered us among His own? Surely, He whose eye is on the sparrow will not forget those for whom He bled and died.” — Herman Gockel on His Eye Is on the Sparrow
Outline of Our Worship
The Preparation
Opening Thoughts on the Service
The Entrance Hymn: #620
Order of Worship: The Service: Setting One page 154-160
Prayer of the Day
The Ministry of the Word
Genesis 2:7-17
The Psalm: #19
Romans 6:17-23
Gospel Acclamation: God’s Love pg.161
Mark 8:1-9
Hymn: #502
Sermon: Genesis 2:7-17 Life…Death…Grace
The Offertory: Hymn #942
The Apostles’ Creed pg.163
Our Response to the Word
Prayer of the Church: pg.164
The Offering
Hymn: #679
The Lord Blesses Us
The Closing Prayers and Blessing Hymnal page 171
Closing Hymn: #605
Silent Prayer
The Seventh Sunday after Trinity – Historic Series
Old Testament Lesson: Genesis 2:7-17 – God Forms Adam.
7 The Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being. 8 The Lord God planted a garden in Eden in the east, and there he put the man whom he had formed. 9 Out of the ground the Lord God made every kind of tree grow—trees that are pleasant to look at and good for food, including the Tree of Life in the middle of the garden and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.
10 A river went out from Eden to water the garden, and from there it divided and became the headwaters of four rivers. 11 The name of the first river is Pishon. It flows through the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold, 12 and the gold of that land is good. Incense and onyx stone are also found there. 13 The name of the second river is Gihon. It is the same river that winds through the whole land of Cush. 14 The name of the third river is Tigris. This is the one which flows along the east side of Assyria. The fourth river is the Euphrates.
15 The Lord God took the man and settled him in the Garden of Eden to work it and to take care of it. 16 The Lord God gave a command to the man. He said, “You may freely eat from every tree in the garden, 17 but you shall not eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, for on the day that you eat from it, you will certainly die.”
Epistle Lesson: Romans 6:17-23 – Serve God, Not Sin, In Your Life.
17 Thanks be to God that, although you used to be slaves of sin, you became obedient from the heart to the pattern of the teaching into which you were placed. 18 After you were set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness. 19 I am speaking in a human way because of the weakness of your flesh. Indeed, just as you offered your members as slaves to impurity and lawlessness, resulting in more lawlessness, so now offer your members in the same way as slaves to righteousness, resulting in sanctification.
20 For when you were slaves of sin, you were free from righteousness. 21 So what kind of fruit did you have then? They were things of which you are now ashamed. Yes, the final result of those things is death. 22 But now, since you were set free from sin and have become slaves to God, you have your fruit resulting in sanctification—and the final result is eternal life. 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the undeserved gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Gospel Lesson: Mark 8:1-9 – Jesus Feeds More than 4,000 Men.
1In those days, when there was again a large crowd and they had nothing to eat, Jesus called his disciples and said to them, 2 “I feel compassion for the crowd because they have already stayed with me three days and do not have anything to eat. 3 If I send them home hungry, they will faint on the way. Some of them have come from a long distance.”
4 His disciples replied, “Where can anyone get enough bread to feed these people here in this deserted place?” 5 He asked them, “How many loaves do you have?” “Seven,” they said.
6 He commanded the crowd to sit down on the ground. Then he took the seven loaves, gave thanks, and broke them. He gave the pieces to his disciples to distribute to the crowd, and they did so. 7 They also had a few small fish. He blessed them and said that these should be distributed as well. 8 The people ate and were satisfied. They picked up seven basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. 9 About four thousand men were there. Then he sent them away. Evangelical Heritage Version® (EHV) © 2019
Calendar & Announcements for Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church
| Today
July 14 |
Monday
July 15 |
Tuesday
July 16 |
Wednesday
July 17 |
Thursday
July 18 |
Friday
July 19 |
Saturday
July 20 |
Next Sun.
July 21 |
| 9:00 am
Divine Worship Service online -Facebook 10:15 am Fellowship & Bible Study
Seventh Sunday after Trinity |
|
No Midweek Bible Class
|
9:00 am
Divine Worship Service with Holy Communion online – Facebook 10:15 am Fellowship & Bible Study Eighth Sunday after Trinity |
A Brief Bible Study on God’s Word for Today
Our Savior is a God of mercy and kindness. Our very existence is testimony to that fact. Daily He provides us with all that we need to keep our bodies and lives. He also grants protection from all earthly dangers. In addition, our Savior provides us with spiritual blessings—food for the soul. In His Word we receive the good news of sins forgiven and free salvation.
The Gospel Lesson: Mark 8:1-9 (the answers are found below)
- What emergency developed on the third day of Jesus’ teaching?
- What does the crowd’s presence in the wilderness for three days tell you about the people?
- Jesus again performs a miracle to feed a crowd of people. What does this tell you about Him?
Those We Remember In Our Prayers: Greg Miller; William & Laurie Moon; Kirsten Jaster (Laurie Moon’s sister); Libya, (Jodi Milam’s granddaughter); Barbara Long; Robbie Woessner; Norine Richardson; Melissa Morlock-Jaeger; Liz Lisenby; Barbara Long.
Divine Call Meeting Last Sunday Pastor Steven Lange in Louisville, KY, informed us that he was returning the divine call that our congregations had sent him to be our next pastor. We will hold our next call meeting on Wednesday evening, July 24th, at 7 pm. It is Peace’s turn to hold the meeting. It will be held in the church basement, and all are invited to attend. We will give more information, as we can, next Sunday.
You Are Invited to join the Day family in Marshfield today from 2-4 pm to celebrate the 65th wedding anniversary of Don and Bobbie Day at Peace L.C. in the church basement. No gifts please, just your presence is requested, if you are available. Don and Bobbie were married in the same church building on July 14, 1959.
Forward in Christ’s latest edition for July has arrived. There are copies in the narthex for family and friends.
Upcoming Services and Events
– Tuesday, July 16 – The Church Council will not be meeting during the month of July.
– Sunday, July 21 – Congregational informational meeting. Since there is no business that has to be conducted by the voters assembly, we will hold a general informational meeting for all following the worship service.
Wednesday, July 24, 7 pm – Call Meeting at Peace in Marshfield.
The Week in Review
Last Sunday Worship: Bible Study: Midweek Bible Class: no class this week; Offerings: $.
Next Sunday’s Lessons:
The 8th Sunday after Trinity: Jeremiah 23:16-29; Romans 8:12-17; Matthew 7:15-23 (Historic Pericope Series)
Answer to Today’s Gospel Lesson Brief Study:
- After being with Jesus for three days in the wilderness, they had run out of food.
- To stay out in the wilderness for three days shows how intent these people were on learning what Jesus had to say. Like Mary, they were eager to sit at Jesus’ feet, hear His words of life, and put all other concerns aside.
- Jesus feels compassion for His people and wonderfully supplies their everyday needs. There is no reason on our part to worry and fret. If He daily feeds the birds of the air and clothes the flowers in the field, He will provide the needs of those for whom He gave His life.
This week I am praying for……