Bible Study
The Word at the Middle of the Week
Easter Study: Acts 9:1-17
April 24, 2024 • Pastor Gjerde • Acts 9:1–17
Word at the Middle of the Week April 24, 2024 Zion Lutheran Church - Wausau, WI (LCMC) https://www.youtube.com/redirect?event=video_description&redir_token=quffluhqblforklyuwt4ewzmwnztrwzhcjfoamrkt1qzqxxbq3jtc0ttlurtovvim0rnu1jrbi1poedac0faqnlcn01unjgztzhgs2fynu5ssuvicgdoshy1zfrcuwvmzktoznvls211uxdpnko5rerxsgrbdut5dzvzwjzkqtdbcfbnnuzpuhbtwjlwvmu2bs0tvdzcoxc3yw&q=https%3a%2f%2fzionlutheranwausau.com%2f&v=fdprilu89as Art: "Conversion on the Way to Damascus" by Caravaggio (1601 A.D.) After giving an introduction to the events leading up to Acts 9, Pastor Gjerde shares with us some reflections on Acts 9:1-17, another post-resurrection (and ascension!) appearance of Jesus Christ to Saul/Paul on the road to Damascus. What does Saul learn about the Church through this encounter with the risen Lord? How connected is the Lord to His body, the Church, and why does that matter? Why and how does Jesus involved the greater Church in every conversion? What role does suffering play in the conversion of Paul and the ongoing mission of the Church? And like Ananias, how does the Church continue to lead converts deeper into the faith we believe, teach, and confess? How do people, generally speaking, come to faith in Jesus Christ?
Easter Study: John 21
April 17, 2024 • Pastor Gjerde • John 21
Word at the Middle of the Week April 17, 2024 Zion Lutheran Church - Wausau, WI (LCMC) https://zionlutheranwausau.com/pastor Pastor Gjerde shares with us some reflections on John 21. How does this record of Jesus appearing to the disciples by the Sea of Tiberias show us the ever-important practice of forgiving those who have wronged you? How does Jesus demonstrate his freedom as the Man-who-shall-never-die again? The unpredictable nature of Jesus in his resurrection glory may be strange, surprising, but always good.
Easter Study: Luke 24:13-35
April 10, 2024 • Pastor Gjerde • Luke 24
Word at the Middle of the Week April 10, 2024 Zion Lutheran Church - Wausau, WI (LCMC) https://zionlutheranwausau.com Art: "Camino de Emaús" (ca. 1665 A.D.) by Lelio Orsi Pastor Gjerde shares with us some reflections on Luke 24:13-35. What is the significance of how Jesus opened the eyes of those disciples on the road to Emmaus? How does he still do that very thing today? How do the Scriptures portend, point to, preach, and present Jesus Christ?
Easter Study: John 20:1-18
April 3, 2024 • John 20:1–18, John 20
Word at the Middle of the Week April 3, 2024 Zion Lutheran Church - Wausau, WI (LCMC) https://zionlutheranwausau.com Art: "Appearance of Jesus Christ to Maria Magdalena" (1835 A.D.) by Alexander Andreyevich Ivanov. Pastor Gjerde shares with us some reflections on John 20:1-18. Why worship on Sunday, the "first day of the week"? Who is Mary Magdalene and why does Jesus appear to her? What is the importance of Jesus' clothes being left behind in an orderly manner? How can we understand and appreciate the emotion conveyed in this passage? Why also does Jesus tell Mary not to touch/cling to him?
Study: Lamentations 5
March 27, 2024 • Pastor Gjerde • Lamentations 5
Word at the Middle of the Week March 27, 2024 Zion Lutheran Church - Wausau, WI (LCMC) https://zionlutheranwausau.com Pastor Gjerde concludes our Lenten study today on the book of Lamentations. We pick up where we left off last week, beginning in chapter 5.
Study: Lamentations 4
March 20, 2024 • Pastor Gjerde • Lamentations 4
Word at the Middle of the Week March 20, 2024 Zion Lutheran Church - Wausau, WI (LCMC) https://zionlutheranwausau.com Pastor Gjerde continues our Lenten study today on the book of Lamentations. We pick up where we left off last week, beginning at chapter 4, a dark and haunting chapter, a hard word spoken out of love by Jeremiah for the love of his people. Similarly, the Church too speaks hard words to a lost world out of love and sympathy that those who are lost may be found. Notice how Jeremiah continues to identify himself along with all those suffering in Jerusalem, truly a foreshadowing of Jesus Christ.
Study: Lamentations 3:19-66
March 13, 2024 • Pastor Gjerde • Lamentations 3
Word at the Middle of the Week Zion Lutheran Church - Wausau, WI (LCMC) https://zionlutheranwausau.com Pastor Gjerde continues our Lenten study today on the book of Lamentations. We pick up where we left off last week, beginning at chapter 3. After an introduction to the world Jeremiah wrote and preached in, a world of violence and various forms of debauchery and degeneracy, nevertheless the Lord still promises to be the God of Israel, a reason for which Jeremiah cries out to the people in Lamentations on behalf of this jealous God, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. Jeremiah's God-inspired poetry can help us endure suffering, being hopeful even in the face of great, seemingly unbearable suffering.
Study: Lamentations 2:13-3:18
March 6, 2024 • Pastor Gjerde
Word at the Middle of the Week Zion Lutheran Church - Wausau, WI (LCMC) https://zionlutheranwausau.com Pastor Gjerde continues our Lenten study today on the book of Lamentations. We pick up where we left off last week, beginning at 2:13. What do we learn in this portion about the suffering of Israel and the suffering we experience? How does the isolation the sufferer experiences a foreshadowing of the grave, truly making one an "individual"? Where do find hope in the face of suffering, through unspeakable grief, in this dark chapter of Lamentations?
Study: Lamentations 2:1-12
February 28, 2024 • Pastor Gjerde • Lamentations 2:1–12
Word at the Middle of the Week Zion Lutheran Church - Wausau, WI (LCMC) https://www.youtube.com/redirect?event=video_description&redir_token=quffluhqbexbwnlibmxfzddwtkz0ny02t1ziwxpauxn6qxxbq3jtc0ttafdqtzzynhz4tnbauzjucy1ivzzpu3rqug1imgy2n1m3a2d3bjrlnldrxznuymhvevbtqw1mruniafjmd1lfqklhdldqqufhuddnq1nir2p6q2n5uk1wwjfntexwce5steluvxricxayc01tadz0bw&q=https%3a%2f%2fzionlutheranwausau.com%2f&v=_wjmwgxcidc Art: Lamentation of Christ by Raffaellino del Garbo (d. 1527 A.D.) Pastor Gjerde continues our Lenten study today on the book of Lamentations. We pick up where we left off last week, beginning at 2:1. How do we read Lamentations in light of God's mercy shown in Jesus Christ? How can Lamentations help us to lament with faithfulness? How can Lamentations help us to be more compassionate to fellow sufferers? How can great and good things, like compassion, actually turn into a form of idolatry and actually lead someone away from faith, from God? Lamenting can be a helpful antidote to doubt and unbelief. The poetry of Lamentations can be a helpful guide to express the deepest sorrows, frustrations, and disappointments of our lives in prayer.
Study: Lamentations 1:9-22
February 21, 2024 • Pastor Gjerde • 2 Corinthians 5:21, Lamentations 1:9–22
Word at the Middle of the Week Zion Lutheran Church - Wausau, WI (LCMC) https://zionlutheranwausau.com Pastor Gjerde continues our Lenten study today on the book of Lamentations. We pick up where we left off last week, beginning at 1:9. How does 1:12 point to Jesus and his sufferings on the cross? Where else do we see the person and work of Jesus Christ in this chapter? Jesus, bearer of our sins, becomes sin "for us" (2 Corinthians 5:21), and Lamentations paints a beautiful yet painful portrait of our Lord's sufferings as our substitute and sacrifice foreshadowed in the sufferings of Jerusalem at the hands of Babylon. Where do we see the work and person of Holy Spirit in this passage, like the "comforter" in 1:16? Who will comfort Israel in the face of judgment? Who will comfort the Church through this vale of tears? Why are the sufferings of Jerusalem incomplete and how are they fulfilled in Jesus Christ?
Study: Intro to Lamentations and 1:1-9
February 14, 2024 • Pastor Gjerde
Word at the Middle of the Week Zion Lutheran Church - Wausau, WI (LCMC) https://zionlutheranwausau.com Pastor Gjerde starts our new Lenten study today (Ash Wednesday) on the book of Lamentations by giving a thorough introduction to the little book the prophet Jeremiah penned so long ago. What does it mean to lament? How does it fit into our life of devotion and prayer to the one true God as we carry our disappointments to Him? Why should we lament and not refrain from such a language of faith? How are we to read and understand the book of Lamentations?
Study: Love
January 31, 2024 • Pastor Gjerde • 1 John 4, 1 John 2, 1 Corinthians 13
Zion Lutheran Church (LCMC) - Wausau, WI https://zionlutheranwausau.com Pastor Gjerde briefly talks about a saint that will be commemorated in the life of the church on February 14: Saint Valentine. With love in the air and on the brain, it's a good tie to focus on the joy of the love of God in Christ which has brought to this world. Why does love exist in this world and how does the very existence of it point to the Triune God? How can the God of love, love a world that doesn't desire to love him back? How will this God respond? How has God responded to this rejection? Passages discussed: 1 John 4:7-12 1 John 2:1-6 Romans 5:6 1 Corinthians 13
Study: The Gospels of the Gesimas
January 24, 2024 • Pastor Gjerde • Matthew 20, Luke 8, Luke 18
Pastor Gjerde takes a walk through the Gospel passages for pre-Lent, a time of preparation for the Lenten fasting. Bible passages covered include: Septuagesmia - Matthew 20:1-16 (Parable of the Laborers in the Vineyard ~ Sola Gratia) Sexagesmia - Luke 8:4-15 (Parable of the Sower ~ Sola Scriptura) Quinquagesma - Luke https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cfzgyzmzatu&t=1111s-43 (Blind Beggar Healed~ Sola Christus)
Study: The Transfiguration and Clothing
January 17, 2024 • Pastor Gjerde • Matthew 17, Matthew 17:1–8, 2 Corinthians 5:1–5
Today Pastor Gjerde discusses the Transfiguration of our Lord (One Year Lectionary). As we hear in our text from Matthew 17: "His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became white as light." What does the gospel have to do with clothing? What does clothing have to do with our life found in Jesus Christ? Everything that touches Jesus is transformed (like in Matthew 9:20), that includes not only our homes (something discussed last week and again a little this week), but also our "tent," that is our bodies (2 Corinthians 5:1-5), temples of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 3:16). Clothed in the righteousness of Jesus, He who is the temple made without hands (Mark 14:58; John 2:21), what does our clothing say about our current lives? How are we longing to be "further clothed" (2 Cor. 5:4)?
Study: The Gospel during the Epiphany Season
January 10, 2024 • Pastor Gjerde • John 2, Matthew 3, Matthew 17
What do we learn about homes during the Epiphany season? Going through the various texts of Epiphany-tide, Pastor Gjerde elucidates the various ways homes/houses are connected through the Scriptures assigned for Epiphany and beyond. How can we recapture the home for rest and for the building up of faith? How are our homes made holy? How can our homes also become a place that is idolized, over and against the Church? Pastor also gives a brief summation of Gesima-tide, a "pre-Lent," a time of preparation before the Lenten preparations of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. Why revive this ancient preparatory season? What benefit can the modern church derive from observing Septuagesima, Sexagesima, and Quinquagesima? Baptism of Jesus ~ Matthew https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xoadpfrkp-s&t=193s-17 Epiphany 2 ~ John 2:1-11 Transfiguration ~ Matthew 17:1-9