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[Introduction] Have you ever heard the phrase “cooking the books”? Cooking the Books is the same thing as creative accounting. It refers to deceptive accounting practices. A person in charge of finances cooks the books by creatively manipulating their accounting to make expenses seem lesser than they really are, and to make profit appear greater than it really is. When a man is convicted of embezzlement, it’s most likely because he was cooking the books.  4. That is what seems to be happening in our Gospel reading. Luke writes, Jesus also said to his disciples, There was a certain rich man, who had a house manager, and an accusation was brought to him that this man was wasting what already belonged to him (v 1).  This parable is truly one of the most difficult lessons in the New Testament. Part of the problem stems from the title we give it. Sometimes we call it the Parable of the “Dishonest Manager.” Another part of the problem is that when we read it too quickly it sounds li...

[Introduction] If you were intent on forging a hundred dollar bill, you wouldn’t print it on pink construction paper with purple ink, now would you? No one would be fooled by that fake. Instead, to pass off a counterfeit as true, you’d make the bill look like the original. You’d copy the paper and the ink, the image and the watermark. And you’d rely on SOME truth to mask the lie. In our Gospel reading, Jesus warned us about this problem of counterfeits ... that is, those who rely on some truth to mask a lie. In the closing words of his Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said, Beware of false prophets who come to you in the clothing of sheep but inwardly are ravenous wolves (v 15). Sometimes, false prophets mask the truth of God’s Word with evil fruit (vv 17-18) ... a counterfeit. Sometimes, false prophets hedge the truth to convince you that there is another way, another truth, and another life. They often claim divine inspiration, but they always deliver messages contrary to God’s true natur...

And YHWH (Our) God formed the man of dust from the earth and blew into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being. And YHWH (Our) God planted a Garden in Eden in [the rising sun], and he set there the man whom he had formed. ... And YHWH (Our) God took the man whom he formed, and settled him in the Garden to serve it and to treasure it (vv 7-8a, 15). [Introduction] Our Old Testament reading from Genesis 2 provides us with a beautiful image of the sixth day of creation ... you know, the day God formed Man into a flesh and blood living being. Unlike the heavens and the earth, God did not make Man out of nothing. He did not simply speak him into existence like he did with the rest of creation, saying ... let there be light and sky, and sea and land, and fish and birds, and sun and moon and stars ... plants and animals.  Our God came down and formed Man. He made him incarnate ... in the flesh.  He intimately ... carefully ... purposefully ... fashioned Man...

[Introduction] Dear brothers in Christ, what I’m about to say is nothing new, but it needs to be said.  It is unanimously confessed in our churches, in accordance with the Word of God, that we poor sinners are justified before God and saved only by him through faith in Christ. We cannot by our own reason or strength save ourselves. We cannot by our own reason or strength create faith. There is nothing that we can do … there is nothing we can say … to cause or merit our justification before God.  Jesus alone saves. He alone is our righteousness. He alone lived in perfect obedience to the Father, fulfilling all righteousness in baptism. He alone suffered and died on a cross for sins. He alone has made atonement for all sin … your sin and mine … yesterday’s, today’s, and tomorrow’s … on account of the blood he shed. And he was raised from the dead on the third day for your justification. Death has no more dominion over him. He forgives. He justifies. And He saves … YOU. 3. I am...