YouTube -- 2nd Sunday after Christmas (January 4, 2026)

Here is the Divine Service from Sunday, January 4, 2026.

Sermon -- 2nd Sunday after Christmas (January 4, 2026)

THROUGH JESUS, WE HAVE RECEIVED GRACE UPON GRACE.

JOHN 1:14-18

In the name + of Jesus.

     John the Baptist was a fiery preacher, preparing people for the Messiah.  Although John’s message was strong and shook the conscience of his listeners, John was not a loose cannon.  As a faithful prophet, John preached what God had given him to preach.  What John preached was God’s Law.  That Law exposed people for being the sinners that they were.  Some recognized that John’s message, although uncomfortable to hear, was true.  These people repented and were baptized as John directed them.  Others also found John’s message uncomfortable.  But rather than draw near with a true heart to confess their sins, they were defensive.  For them, John’s preaching did not produce repentance, it provoked anger. 

     “The law was given through Moses” (John 1:17), but the Law came from God. God’s Law may have been written by Moses over 3,000 years ago, but it still applies to every era of history, to every age of life, to every nation on earth, and to every culture in the human spectrum.  The fact that our calendar now reads 2026 changes nothing.  God does not change; neither does his word.  What has always been good is still good now.  What has always been evil is still evil now.  The world’s judgment changes constantly.  God’s word does not.

     God’s Law exposes sin.  One time when Jesus was talking to a Samaritan woman at a well, he revealed that he knew she was a five-time divorcee and that she currently shared a bed with a man who was not her husband.  You can imagine her alarm that he would know this.  But God sees all.  She ran back into town and said to the people there, “Come, see the man who told me everything I ever did” (John 4:29)!  That’s what God’s Law does.  It tells you everything you have ever done, said, and thought.  Even if your sin is not known to the public, God’s Law makes it known to you.  It shows if the thoughts of your heart are bitter, perverse, and self-centered.  It convicts you of being controlled by greed, lust, jealousy, revenge, and so on.  Some acknowledge that God’s word is true, resulting in contrite and penitent hearts.  For others, God’s Law provokes anger, and they call God’s Law evil.

     There is always a part of us which calls God’s Law evil.  That’s because God’s Law can make us feel bad.  Today, that is how people define hatred.  If you make someone feel bad—whether stating an opinion or a fact—people will scowl and demand to know, “Why do you hate that person?”  It is a tactic of manipulation.  They expect you to retract your statement.  They want you to change your opinion or to deny the facts.  But God’s Law is not based on opinion.  It is a divine command.  God gave it because he loves us, not because he hates us.  Since it is from God, it is good.  If it shows that people are evil, God’s Law is still good.  If it is despised and rejected, God’s Law is still good.  If God’s people cannot live up to it, God’s Law is still good.

     John the Baptist preached that Law to prepare hearts to receive the Messiah.  John the Apostle testified about the Messiah who has come: “Out of his fullness we have all received grace upon grace.  For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ” (John 1:16-17). 

     We usually do not connect God’s Law with grace, because “no one is declared righteous before God by the law” (Galatians 3:11).  But that does not mean God’s Law has no benefits.  Our Catechism teaches us that God promises “grace and every blessing to those who keep these Commandment” (Luther’s Small Catechism; Conclusion to the Commandments).  The Psalms teach us, “By (God’s laws) your servant is warned.  In keeping them there is great reward” (Psalm 19:11).  And again, “How blessed are those who are blameless in their way, who walk in the law of the Lord.  …How can a young man keep his path pure?  By guarding it with your words” (Psalm 119:1,9). 

     Do you realize the blessing that is given to people who follow God’s commandments?  Do you recognize how many problems you do not bring upon yourself by listening to the word of the Lord and following his ways?  God did not give his law to you to suck all the fun out of your life.  It is more like the rules of the road.  They are not there to make driving boring, but safe.  If you’ve ever driven on a mountain road, you probably saw very little scenery.  You stared at that yellow line on the road to make sure you didn’t veer off the side.  If you saw a speed limit sign warning you to slow down for a sharp curve, you probably didn’t glance at your passenger to say, “Let’s just see how fast we can whip around this.”  You obey the rules of the road for your safety and for everyone else’s safety.  As much fun as it would be to crack 100 mph, it is not safe.

     There is great blessing in keeping God’s Law.  How much happier the house is when husband and wife love and honor each other, and when the children honor and obey their parents.  How much better society is when people help and befriend their neighbor in every bodily need.  How much better the workplace is when people do not lie, cheat, gossip, or steal.  This does not mean your life will suddenly be easy or that you will gain riches.  But it does mean that your life will be good and good for others.  This is how God blesses those who follow his commandments.

     But through Jesus, we have received grace upon grace.  “For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ” (John 1:17).  God’s Law is good.  It is good to know it and to live according to it.  But what Jesus gives us is better.  That is not to say that Jesus replaces God’s Law with something different.  Once again, God’s Law does not change.  So, Jesus did not come to change it.  Not even one word of it.  Jesus said, “Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets.  I did not come to destroy them but to fulfill them.  Amen I tell you: Until heaven and earth pass away, not even the smallest letter, or even part of a letter, will in any way pass away from the Law until everything is fulfilled” (Matthew 5:17-18). 

     And true to his word, Jesus continued to uphold God’s Law in his teaching.  In speaking with priests and peasants, to rabbis and Roman soldiers, to friends and to foes, Jesus spoke truthfully and kindly as God’s Law demands.  In living among people who were diseased, disillusioned, deceptive, and defiant, Jesus demonstrated patience and mercy, but still did not make concessions which excused evil.  Jesus received divine favor because he proved to be a faithful servant who followed the orders of God.  Jesus followed God’s Law because it is good and because Jesus himself is good. 

     Now, if Jesus was just a teacher of morals, he would still be worth listening to and following.  To this day, there are professors and pundits who will give instruction about virtue and morality and ethics.  Occasionally, it happens that one of those figures is guilty of some scandal.  Many will take great delight in someone’s moral failings.  They will cry, “Ha ha!  You hypocrite!  Your words are useless, you liar!”  While we should be saddened that anyone would ruin himself by a scandal, that does not mean that lessons on virtue, morality, and ethics are bad.  The Law came through Moses, and Moses did not keep it.  That doesn’t make the Law bad.  It only proves that people are sinners.  Anyone who finds vindication in someone else’s sins is a petty sinner himself.  There is nothing gracious about mockery.

     But through Jesus, we have received grace upon grace.  As the only man who kept all of God’s Commandments, Jesus could have looked down on all of us.  Instead, he picked us all up from our dreadful, sinful condition.  While Moses commands, “Thou shalt do this!” and “Thou shalt not do that!”—and Moses is not wrong—Jesus tells us, “I will do this for you.  I will fulfill all that God demands of you so that it is all done.  And I will submit to the curse that God puts upon all who fail to live up to the good God demands.  I will give my life in every way for you.  I will live the perfect life under the Law; this will satisfy God’s demands.  And I will die under the Law to pay the price for sins; this will appease God’s wrath.”  This is grace upon grace—God’s love given in the words that direct our lives and God’s love given in the words which proclaim eternal life. 

     “Grace and truth come through Jesus Christ” (John 1:17).  The grace of God is proclaimed by the Savior whose sacrificial death removes the curse and the penalty for sins.  He is not only merciful in not treating us as our sins deserve, he is gracious in pouring out blessings that we did not deserve.  The grace of God is poured out upon you in your baptism.  The Lord has marked you as his own dear child.  Your identity is now as a saint in a world of sin and a child of the Most High God awaiting a place in the heavenly kingdom.  And the grace of God is delivered to you in the body and blood which have overcome death.  This is the medicine of immortality, sustaining you on your journey to endless glory and eternal life.  Through Jesus Christ, we have received grace upon grace—God’s gifts delivered by sound and sight and taste and touch.

     “Grace and truth come through Jesus Christ” (John 1:17).  Grace and truth are both found in Jesus Christ.  While our Lord is gracious to sinners, he is also truthful to sinners.  He had no problem acknowledging that the people he commiserated with were people with sinful baggage.  When the Pharisees brought to Jesus a woman caught in the act of adultery, he demonstrated astounding grace to her.  He did not add to her public humiliation.  The Pharisees had done enough of that.  He invited anyone without sin to stone her to death.  After the dejected Pharisees walked away, Jesus asked, “‘Has no one condemned you?’  ‘No one, Lord,’ she answered.  Then Jesus said, ‘Neither do I condemn you’” (John 8:10-11).  This was astounding grace.  But Jesus continued with truth.  He told her, “Go, and from now on do not sin anymore” (John 8:11).  Jesus did not deny that she had sinned.  First, he forgave her for it; then he called her to flee from it.  To receive God’s grace then also means to live according to God’s truth.

     The Lord teaches you to be honest with yourself about your sins.  Do not present yourself before the Lord as anything other than you are.  You are a sinner.  But then rejoice in what the Lord tells you that you are: You are his redeemed.  Through Jesus, we have received grace upon grace.  It never runs out.  It always forgives.  It always relieves burdened hearts and minds. 

     Through Jesus, we have received grace upon grace.  In his grace, the Father sent his Son to ransom you from sin and death so that you will be his very own.  In his grace, Jesus sent his Holy Spirit to dwell in you so that you remain a child of God.  In his grace, the Holy Spirit will preserve you in the faith and raise you up to heavenly glory.  

In the name of the Father and of the Son + and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

Sermon -- 2nd Sunday after Christmas (January 3, 2021)

JOHN 7:40-43

GIVE YOUR UNDIVIDED ATTENTION TO JESUS.

 In the name + of Jesus.

     “There was a division among the people over (Jesus)” (John 7:43).  There always has been.  You are either in the kingdom of God, or you are not.  There is no middle ground.  Jesus always produces a division, just as there is a division between light and darkness, between sin and righteousness, between life and death.  You are either a believer or an unbeliever.  You can’t be neutral, and you certainly can’t be both.

     What caused this division among the people?  Our reading begins with the phrase, “When the crowd heard these words…” (John 7:40).  That begs the question, “What words?”  So, let’s back up a few verses to hear what Jesus said.  “On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, ‘If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink.  Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, “Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water”’” (John 7:37-38).  What we might overlook in Jesus’ words is his claim of divinity.  He did not say, “Whoever believes in God’s word.”  He said, “Whoever believes in me, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water,” that is, the Holy Spirit.  By these words, Jesus declared that he is the giver of the Holy Spirit, of faith, and of eternal life.  And he who gives all of these is truly God.

     The crowd who was at the festival caught it.  There was a buzz as the people debated who this Jesus really was.  “Some of the people said, ‘This really is the Prophet.’  Others said, ‘This is the Christ’” (John 7:40-41).  Still others rejected the idea.  They said, “Is the Christ to come from Galilee?  Has not the Scripture said that the Christ comes from the offspring of David, and comes from Bethlehem, the village where David was” (John 7:41-42)?  Was Jesus the promised Messiah?  Was he one to believe in or not?  “There was a division among the people over him” (John 7:43)

     You can credit the crowd for this much: They knew some of the promises about the Christ.  He was to be a son of David, and he was to come from Bethlehem.  They recognized that they did not get to pick a Messiah based on their own whims, but on what God had promised.  Unfortunately, they relied on their presumptions, not on the facts.  The fact is that Jesus of Nazareth has checked all the boxes and met the qualifications to be the Christ and the Savior of the world.  Give your undivided attention to Jesus.  He proves that he is the very one whom God sent to give us eternal life.

     It is important that Jesus of Nazareth fulfilled everything that God had promised about the Christ.  In fact, it is necessary.  If he did not, then he is not the Christ and we need to look elsewhere for our salvation.  But Jesus is a son of David, as spelled out by St. Matthew.  Jesus was born in Bethlehem, as recorded by St. Luke.  Give your undivided attention to all that the prophets had foretold about the Christ.  We don’t believe in Jesus because he seems nice, because he taught an inspiring message, or because he did works of compassion.  We believe in Jesus because through the prophets God told us what to look for centuries in advance, and because Jesus has fulfilled all that the prophets had foretold.  The fact that Jesus’ life perfectly aligns with the words of the prophets is not an amazing coincidence; it is the intentional fulfillment of God’s plan and purpose.  Therefore, give your undivided attention to Jesus.

     The Jews who were at the feast had made assumptions about Jesus which were not accurate.  They rightly recognized that the Christ must be the offspring of David.  They assumed that Jesus was not.  Either that, or they assumed that the Son of David would be more regal, more assertive, and more combative.  They rightly recognized that the Christ must come from Bethlehem.  But since Jesus was identified as “Jesus of Nazareth,” they assumed he was born there.  As a result, they misidentified Jesus.  The Christ had come, but they did not know it.

     Give your undivided attention to Jesus.  He has made the claim that eternal life comes through him alone.  More than telling you to believe in God, Jesus demands, “Believe in me.”  If he is a fraud, you can ignore him safely.  In fact, if Jesus is a fraud, you should mock him relentlessly.  However, if Jesus of Nazareth does what the prophets foretold and meets all the criteria of the Messiah, then you neglect his words at your own peril.  Yes, it is that serious; and we aid and abet the devil if we fail to confess Jesus as the Scriptures reveal him, without apology, and without compromise.

     Unfortunately, it still happens in Christendom that there are debates about Jesus and how his salvation comes to people.  This is because many trust in their reason and their emotions more than God’s word.  Their attention is divided between Jesus and their personal opinions and agendas.  The results are no less disastrous. 

     Our emotions cause us to disregard parts of God’s word if God’s truth makes people feel bad.  This is especially true when it comes to sexual morals.  We defend what makes people feel good about themselves more than what God actually has to say.  Some will even go so far as to acknowledge what God plainly says and reject it for various reasons: “The culture back then is different from now.  St. Paul had issues with women and sex, so anything he wrote is biased and wrong.  Love is love, and God is love, so there is no way God can fault anyone who loves whoever they want to.  If God really forgives, does it matter what I do?”  You get the idea.  But add another layer on top of that.  Those who engage in behavior that God calls wicked are often our friends or family.  We don’t want them to feel bad, and we don’t want the strife.  Would we really risk forfeiting a relationship over these things?  We would rather have everyone go home happy now, even if they would curse us from hell later because we said nothing.  So, our interests are divided; and our emotions usually outweigh God’s word.  Beware, and repent.

     Our attention also gets divided between God’s word and our reason.  Like the Jews in Jesus’ day, our reason is not totally divorced from the Scriptures.  All Christians acknowledge that Jesus has suffered and died for the sins of the world.  Most of Christendom acknowledges that we are saved by faith in Jesus.  The Bible is clear on these things: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16).  But, how does Jesus’ work of salvation get delivered to you?  How does the payment Jesus made get delivered to your account?  How does one get saving faith?  Reason says that I decided to believe in Jesus.  However, the Scriptures say, “By grace you have been saved through faith.  And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” (Ephesians 2:8,9).  So, faith is not my work, but God’s.  Reason must be overruled by the word of God.  This is why we must give undivided attention to Jesus and his word.

     Reason’s assault continues on God’s word especially in regard to the sacraments.  Reason looks at Holy Baptism and asks, “How can water do such great things?”  Reason sees people go to the altar for Holy Communion and scorns, “How can eating and drinking do such great things?”  Reason hears God’s minister say, “I forgive you all your sins,” and snarls, “How can a man forgive sins?  That is God’s work!”  Such arguments seem quite reasonable since the eyes don’t see anything amazing going on.  This is why many Christian churches have turned the sacraments into purely symbolic acts in which the Christian does something for God rather than God doing anything for us.

     Therefore, give your undivided attention to Jesus and his word.  What does the Bible teach?  “Be baptized, every one of you ... for the forgiveness of your sins” (Acts 2:38).  Forgiveness of sins is given in baptism; that is what is for.  “Take.  Eat and drink.  This is my body and my blood, for you for the forgiveness of sins” (Matthew 26:26-28).  Forgiveness of sins is given in the Lord’s Supper; that is what it is for.  Jesus said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.  If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld” (John 20:22-23).  Forgiveness of sins is delivered through the voice of Jesus’ ministers; Jesus himself said so.

     Give undivided attention to Jesus.  If you don’t, you end up forfeiting both comfort and confidence.  This is why Jesus gave us the sacraments.  If the sacraments don’t do anything, where do you find confidence for your salvation?  In your faith.  Again, that sounds reasonable and Scriptural.  But if your confidence is in your faith, isn’t your confidence in yourself, then?  What happens when you are particularly burdened by guilt and feel like a total failure of a Christian?  When happens when you are struck with terror about death and judgment?  What if your faith is shaken by disaster, disappointment, or even deception?  Give your undivided attention to Jesus.  He has acted upon you in the sacraments to save you.  He has cleansed you and marked you in holy baptism, which is not based on how you feel about yourself.  He feeds and strengthens you in the Lord’s Supper as he gives you the body and blood which atone for sin and conquer death.  He does not leave you to assume you are forgiven of your sins; he sends his ministers to tell you so.  While such things may offend reason, they are perfectly in line with God’s word.  And since the sacraments are God’s works for you, it is not up to you to make them valuable or effective.  Jesus lived the righteous life we need, and he clothes us with it through baptism.  Jesus shed the blood which atones for sins, and he gives it to us in the Lord’s Supper.  What Jesus won for you on Good Friday and Easter is bestowed to you in word and sacrament, as his words and promises declare.

     Give your undivided attention to Jesus.  He is the Son of David, born in Bethlehem.  He is the Son of Man, obedient to all of God’s commandments and fulfiller of all of God’s promises.  He is the atoning sacrifice for your sins, and he is the righteousness you need to enter eternal life.  He is the word made flesh and points you to the word written in the Scriptures for your hope, your comfort, and your confidence.  You do well to give your undivided attention to his words so that you will not be misguided by your emotions, misled by your reason, or mistaken because of your presumptions.  Let there be no debate: Jesus is the Christ who has served you with an undivided heart and saves you through undeniable blessings.

In the name of the Father and of the Son + and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

Sermon -- 2nd Sunday after Christmas (January 4, 2015)

The Greek letters X (chi) and P (rho)
are the first two letters
in the Greek word for Christ.

LUKE 1:68-75; GENESIS 17:1-7

THE LORD KEEPS HIS OATH.

In the name + of Jesus.

     Nobody likes liars.  It is insulting to be lied to.  Sometimes it is embarrassing that you were foolish enough to buy the lie.  You may think that it is easier to believe no one, and to assume that everyone is a liar.  But that is no way to live.  You would learn to do nothing and to hate everyone.  But you cannot always tell who has your best interests at heart, and so sometimes you fall victim to liars. 

     Sometimes it is not a matter of lying.  We make promises with the best of intentions, but then circumstances change and we cannot come through on our promises.  I am sure that this happens with politicians all the time.  They can see the problems you face, and they are convinced that they have the solutions.  They promise: “Send me to Washington and I will get the job done and the problem solved.”  Once he goes to Washington, he finds himself in a room with 434 other politicians who don’t care about your problems.  Suddenly, his promises crumble and there is nothing he can do to fix it.  He may have had every intention of following through on his promises, but circumstances are not what he thought they were.  Meanwhile, the voters only know that they have no solution to their problems, and they call their congressman a liar. 

     When a man makes a promise, you don’t always know if his going to keep it.  You may have your suspicions about his reliability, but you cannot call such the man a liar until he actually fails to keep it.  In some cases, you may have to wait quite a while before you can call the man a liar.  But until then, you have to wait, and watch.

     It was about 4,000 years ago that the Lord had made a promise to Abraham.  When Abram was ninety-nine years old the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless, that I may make my covenant between me and you, and may multiply you greatly.” (Genesis 17:1,2)  Abraham may have thought to himself, “I have been hearing this promise since I was 75.  It is a quarter of a century later, and I still have no son to be the heir of these promises.”  But Abraham did not call God a liar.  Nor had God backed down, saying that circumstances had changed.  God was in charge of the circumstances, too.  “I am God Almighty” (Genesis 17:1), he said.  God did not just talk big.  He could back it up.  The Lord keeps his oaths.

     The Lord continued his promise: “I will establish my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you.” (Genesis 17:7)  In a year, the Lord proved himself faithful to part of his oath.  Abraham had a son, Isaac.  But Abraham died before he saw the rest of the oath fulfilled.  He had not begotten kings or nations.  He had not taken possession of the land.  Nevertheless, Abraham believed God to be faithful to his word.  Abraham would not call God a liar.  Abraham lived and died in faith.  And by this faith, Abraham was justified and saved.

     It was some 2,000 years later that the Lord proved faithful to his word.  It was another aged, childless man who heard the word of the Lord.  He was a priest named Zechariah.  He had gone into the temple to make the evening sacrifice and to pray for Israel.  Zechariah’s prayer was not that he and his wife would have a baby.  That dream went away when old age came.  Circumstances had changed.  Zechariah’s priestly prayer was, rather, that God would keep his oath and send a Savior.  God’s angel had told Zechariah,    The Lord keeps his oath.

     At first, Zechariah called God a liar.  But God’s faithfulness does not depend on our opinion of him.  Nor does God’s faithfulness hinge on our faithfulness to him.  God would send the forerunner, and then God would send the Savior.  Elizabeth would bear a son to Zechariah in their old age, just as Sarah bore one to Abraham.  God is not a man, that he should lie... (Numbers 23:19)  Zechariah’s and Elizabeth’s circumstances did not matter.  He is God Almighty.  He is in charge of circumstances.  The Lord would keep his oath. 

     This is your great blessing, for you have also called God a liar.  You have not believed that obeying his commands is a blessing for you or even good.  You have heed given into temptations because they are fun.  You have given way to your lust because you like it.  You have gratified your greed because you were pleased with whatever you could gain through it.  You have manipulated your spouse because you are happier in taking advantage than you are in serving.  You have exalted yourself because you think there is nothing to be gained by humility.  In all of this, you have called God a liar.  You have deemed his word idiocy and would not follow it.  Why would sinners defy God?  Perhaps it is because we believe that God is also lying when he speaks about judgment and damnation.

     Repent!  For, it is not God who lies to you.  [The devil] is a liar and the father of lies. (John 8:44)  The devil has convinced you that his ways are fun and fruitful and lead to good times.  Do not be deceived.  Sin brings death and damnation.  Though it has not come yet, it will.  God will be proved true in this.  His threats are not empty.  He keeps his word.

     Though the world had to wait 2,000 years for it, the Lord kept his oath to Abraham.  Zechariah had to wait mere months for it, but the Lord kept his oath to him and Elizabeth.  And when Zechariah held his infant in his arms, he rejoiced that the Lord had heard his prayer.  He celebrated that the Savior was coming.  “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has visited and redeemed his people…[and has remembered] his holy covenant, the oath that he swore to our father Abraham, to grant us that we … might serve him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before him all our days.” (Luke 1:68,72-75) 

     The Lord has kept his oath.  He has sent a Savior who has delivered us from the lies of the devil, from the sins that condemn us, and from all fear and dread.  While it is true that sin brings death and damnation, Jesus Christ brings life and light, peace and hope, mercy and forgiveness, joy and salvation.  The Lord keeps his oath by sending his Son to take our sin from us.  God has been faithful in delivering you from the curse of your sins and the consequences of every lie Satan has ever deceived you with.  For, if your sin is taken away, then you are delivered from death and damnation. 

     The Lord keeps his word.  Jesus, who paid for your sins, declares you are forgiven, and he does not lie to you.  Jesus, who rose from the dead, assures you that you will rise from your grave, and he does not lie to you.  Jesus, who ascended into heaven, has promised that he will come back and take you to the place in Paradise that he is preparing for you, and he does not lie to you.  Though the Church has been waiting 2,000 years for it, your trust in God’s word is well-placed.  Just as the Lord kept his oath to Abraham, so he will keep his oath with you.  That is why we look for the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come.

     Until that day, we will serve him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before him all our days. (Luke 1:74-75)  There is no fear, for you are forgiven.  There is no fear, for God regards you as one of his saints.  There is no fear, for you are delivered from death to life, and you will be delivered from perdition to Paradise.  There is no fear, for the Lord has sworn all of these things on oath.  God does not lie to you.  The Lord keeps his oath.

In the name of the Father and of the Son + and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.