Listen here.
Welcome to
Devotions for Worship where we meditate on the appointed Scripture readings for
the upcoming Sunday. I am Pastor Eric Tritten from Gloria Dei Lutheran Church
in Hudson, OH.
Thank you for
being with me today.
Our reading today
is a doxology – a verse of praise that gives glory to someone; in this case the
someone is God. The passage reminds us that the coming of Jesus was disclosed
through the prophetic writings – writings like our Old Testament reading when
God promised to send an eternal king through David’s heirs. Because God has
kept that promise and brought salvation to all who believe in Jesus, we glorify
Him. We worship Him and praise Him. And our worship and praise are rooted in
the salvation that comes through the preaching of (and believing in) Jesus
Christ.
The Reading:
Rom. 16:25–27 (ESV)
25 Now to him who is able to strengthen you
according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the
revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages 26 but
has now been disclosed and through the prophetic writings has been made known
to all nations, according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the
obedience of faith-- 27 to the only wise God be glory forevermore
through Jesus Christ! Amen. (Rom. 16:25-27 ESV)
Comments
These verses are the very end of Paul’s letter
– his epistle – to the Romans. This epistle is very important. It digs deeply
into the doctrine of justification – the teaching of how we come to be right
with God through faith in Jesus. The first half of the book focuses almost
exclusively on the topics of sin and grace. The last half of the book focuses
heavily on the church, and what it means to be people who have been justified
by Jesus. These are very important topics! How do you wrap up a letter – a small
book – on such important ideas? What do you try to leave your reader with after
discussing such important facts? Paul turns to a doxology. He praises God – the
one who justifies us and the one who make us the church – and points us back to
trusting in our Savior.
This is a very
good pattern for us as well. Here we are in the Advent season thinking about how
God has saved us. We are pondering the wonders of God’s long faithfulness and
lovingkindness. We stand in awe of the incarnation, that Immanuel, God with Us,
is God in human flesh and blood. And if that weren’t enough, we look ahead and
remember that Jesus is coming again to set all things right. How should we
respond to that?
Doxology. Giving
God glory. Obedience to Him. Praising and worshiping Him.
Sunday morning is
the 4th Sunday of Advent. I suspect that our worship service that
morning will be lightly attended because of the Christmas Eve services later in
the day. I hope I am wrong, because of the beautiful message that God will
bring to us through His Word – that the virgin will conceive and give birth to
a Son. He is Immanuel, and His name is Jesus because He is God with us and He
saves His people. And we will praise God for our Lord Jesus, and we will give
Him glory in our songs, prayers, and worship.
Prayers
O God, to You be
all glory, honor, power, and might, with the Holy Spirit and our Lord Jesus, one
God, now and forever! Thank You for all You have done to save us, especially
for Jesus’ incarnation and His fulfillment of Your promise to be the King who
reigns forever. Forgive us for times of shallow worship, disobedience, and
half-hearted glorification of Your holy name. Fill us with awe at all You have
done and give us lips to sing Your glory, mouths Your wonders to proclaim,
throats that shout of Your salvation, and hearts that stand lovingly in awe of
You. Amen.
Memory Verse:
Luke 2
Thank you so much
for using Devotions for Worship, I pray that our time together has blessed you
and given you something to meditate on – some reminder of God’s grace to rattle
around in your brain – for the rest of the day.
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favor? If you got something out of this devotional time, would you like and/or
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others.
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God bless you!
Comments