GivenAndShedForYouSA2
March 19, 2026
Rev. Nathan J. Rusert
Laetare Midweek Vespers 18-March-2026 Sermon Series: “Hear Your Shepherd’s Voice!” Sermon Text: Luke 22:19-20 And He took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, "This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me." (20) Likewise He also took the cup after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is shed for you. Sermon Theme:”Given And Shed FOR YOU!” I. The Truth That Frees You!(vs.19) II. The Life That Fills You! (Vs.20) III. The Salvation That Is Certain! By Rev. Nathan J. Rusert
Episode Notes
Laetare Midweek Vespers 18-March-2026
Sermon Series: “Hear Your Shepherd’s Voice!”
Sermon Text: Luke 22:19-20 And He took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, "This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me." (20) Likewise He also took the cup after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is shed for you.
Sermon Theme:”Given And Shed FOR YOU!” I. The Truth That Frees You!(vs.19) II. The Life That Fills You! (Vs.20) III. The Salvation That Is Certain! By Rev. Nathan J. Rusert
I.N.R.I. Words matter, they are powerful. Wisdom teaches, Proverbs 25:11 A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold In settings of silver.” Words can bless or damn us. Two of God’s Ten Commandments teach us to watch our words. We will be punished by God if we use words to “curse, swear, use satanic arts, lie, or deceive” by God’s Holy Name. We are blessed with grace and every blessing using words to “call upon” God’s Name “in every trouble, pray, praise, and give thanks” We will be punished not fearing God’s wrath, when we use words to “tell lies about our neighbor, betray him, slander him, or hurt his reputation.” We are promised grace and every blessing through Jesus as we loving and trusting Him we use our words to “defend” our neighbor, “speak well of him, and explain everything in the kindest way.”
Our Lord Jesus warns us, Matthew 12:36-37 But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment. (37) For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned." Beware of your words - they reveal your heart. Jesus preaches, Luke 6:45 A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil. For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks. You can tell who rules a person’s heart by the words they spew forth. A heart captive to the devil spews forth curses, slander, lies, deception, and the like. A heart ruled by Jesus will be quick to pray, to confess the Truth, to defend and speak well of everyone. As Christians we pray, Psalms 141:3 Set a guard, O LORD, over my mouth; Keep watch over the door of my lips.
Learn to listen carefully to your Shepherd’s voice - to God’s Word. Life flows from every Word that proceeds from the mouth of God. Wisdom teaches, Proverbs 30:5-6 Every word of God is pure; He is a shield to those who put their trust in Him. (6) Do not add to His words, Lest He rebuke you, and you be found a liar. Never add to the Words of Jesus, our Good Shepherd, nor do take away from them. Learn to night to hear His precious promise in the Sacrament of the Altar: ”Given And Shed FOR YOU!” I. The Truth That Frees You!(vs.19) II. The Life That Fills You! (Vs.20) III. The Salvation That Is Certain!
I. “Are You the King of the Jews?” Pilate examined Jesus. Seeking to see if He indeed was promoting treason against Rome’s rule - a crime punishable by death. Crucifixion for non-Roman citizens or beheading for Romans. Jesus gave the good testimony. He indeed is the King. His Kingdom isn’t of this world. It’s weapon is the sword of the Holy Spirit - the Word of God. John 18:37-38 Pilate therefore said to Him, "Are You a king then?" Jesus answered, "You say rightly that I am a king. For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice." (38) Pilate said to Him, "What is truth?" And when he had said this, he went out again to the Jews, and said to them, "I find no fault in Him at all.
What is Truth? Apart from Jesus all live in the darkness of the devil’s lie, the fear of death, and a future of being cast into hell prepared by God for the devil and all his angels. The world stumbling in darkness mocks the Truth. The worldly foolishly say in their heart, ‘There is no God.” Or they imagine God won’t judge sinners casting them into outer darkness. They believe the lie that they can earn heaven by their good life and deeds. Tell them the truth that they are chained by Satan and bound to hell - they will scream and rage in your face.
What is the Truth? The great scientist and astronomer, Isaac Newton, lay on his death-bed. His life work was done, the grave was opening before him, but that wouldn’t be his end for he clung to Jesus. “I have learned two great facts,” he confessed. “One is that I am a great sinner, and the other, that Jesus Christ is an even greater Savior.”
What is Truth? Last Wednesday we heard our Shepherd’s promise , “Take eat, this is My body, which is given for you.” “Drink of it all of you, this cup is the new testament in My blood which is shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.” Jesus is The Truth - He never lies! God cannot lie. What are we given by the Holy Spirit within Christ’s Church at the altar? It is the true body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ under the bread and wine, instituted by Christ Himself for us Christians to eat and to drink. Our Shepherd Jesus is clear - the bread “is” His body, the wine “is” His blood. He doesn’t say “represents” but “is!”
Why does He place His body and blood under bread and wine into the mouth of our bodies?(LSB pg. 327 W.B.E. & D?) To free you from the lie you can save yourself. Forgiveness is never earned - it flows through the flesh and blood of the God/Man Christ Jesus from by Father as the Holy Spirit comforts you.
Jesus’ Word is Truth setting you free! Placed upon the very lips of your body. A mother doesn’t nurse her infant because they’ve earned the live giving milk. She loves her baby giving him what he needs to thrive. A father doesn’t protect, provide, and feed his children because they earn it. He loves them longing to share his life’s fruits with them.
The Sacrament of the Altar is pure grace -fed to us from our Good Shepherd. He paid our price in full. Once for all He drank the cup of God’s just wrath for your sin in His passion. Drinking it to its bitter dregs the judgment you deserved is finished! His cross has become the Tree of Life. From the fruit of the cross, God the Holy Spirit places upon your lips - forgiveness given for you - under Jesus’ body and blood under the bread and wine. Rejoice to feast on the Truth - freeing you - you are forgiven. Cling to His Word - this is “FOR YOU” for “forgiveness of sins” - ever last one of your sins! Come often to the feast, for you daily sin much and deserve only God’s wrath and punishment - but here the Father’s grace flows upon your lips into your body - marking you as redeemed! Satan’s accusations stop at Jesus’ cross! You are forgiven - you have His body and blood on it!
II. In Eden the Triune God planted the Tree of Life in the midst of Adam’s home. It would be the place where God would meet with Adam and his wife - speaking His Word and sharing His feast of life.
Adam’s rebellion drove us from the Tree of Life. Our Shepherd, the second Adam, has brought us back Home to the Father’s feast. (LSB pg. 327 W.B.E. & D?) Life is given you through Jesus’ Word in this meal. “Given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.”
Sin’s only wages are death temporal as we wilt and die like spring daffodils suddenly frozen - eternal death in the fires of hell.
The Truth - only God gives and sustains life. Contrary to the mythology of modern man, science has never created life. It may alter it to cause plagues, produce pathogens, and a pandemic - it cannot create new life - only death.
God forbade consuming the blood of an animal in the Old Testament, for life is in the blood. Life is in the blood of the God/ Man. It is His life - eternal life! You have His Word on it! He gives His life FOR YOU! Sin is forgiven - life now fortifies you through His crucified and risen flesh and blood under bread and wine. He now lives in you by grace through faith in His Word. Death loses its claim on you. The Lord’s Supper is truly the food of immortality.
III. Memorize this promise of your Good Shepherd! John 10:27-28 My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. (28) And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. Hear His voice calling you Sunday after Sunday to the green pastures of His altar to be fed cross won - empty tomb certified forgiveness and life.
Can you be certain you will be saved? Trusting your own thinking and doing leads into darkness, doubt, and death. Repent! Hear the voice of the beloved Son of the Father - "This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.".... "This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is shed for you.”!(LSB pg. 327 W.B.E. & D?)
Upon your lips the Holy Spirit places salvation in Jesus’ body and blood reconciling you to your God and Father. The Life of Jesus fills you. What can now separate you from the love of God in Christ Jesus? Nothing! Come to His altar - receive His gifts - they are pure gospel - means of grace. The conduits through which God the Holy Spirit daily and richly applies to us sinners in Christ’s Church forgiveness of all our sins, life, and the certainty we are saved by Jesus as the Father’s beloved children.
Words matter! Cling to the Word of your Good Shepherd alone - know the benefit of feasting with Him in His Church - now in His Church militant on earth - and soon in His Church triumphant in the Life of the World to come! Revelation 19:9 Then he said to me, "Write: 'Blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb!' " And he said to me, "These are the true sayings of God." Amen.
Sermon Series: “Hear Your Shepherd’s Voice!”
Sermon Text: Luke 22:19-20 And He took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, "This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me." (20) Likewise He also took the cup after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is shed for you.
Sermon Theme:”Given And Shed FOR YOU!” I. The Truth That Frees You!(vs.19) II. The Life That Fills You! (Vs.20) III. The Salvation That Is Certain! By Rev. Nathan J. Rusert
I.N.R.I. Words matter, they are powerful. Wisdom teaches, Proverbs 25:11 A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold In settings of silver.” Words can bless or damn us. Two of God’s Ten Commandments teach us to watch our words. We will be punished by God if we use words to “curse, swear, use satanic arts, lie, or deceive” by God’s Holy Name. We are blessed with grace and every blessing using words to “call upon” God’s Name “in every trouble, pray, praise, and give thanks” We will be punished not fearing God’s wrath, when we use words to “tell lies about our neighbor, betray him, slander him, or hurt his reputation.” We are promised grace and every blessing through Jesus as we loving and trusting Him we use our words to “defend” our neighbor, “speak well of him, and explain everything in the kindest way.”
Our Lord Jesus warns us, Matthew 12:36-37 But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment. (37) For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned." Beware of your words - they reveal your heart. Jesus preaches, Luke 6:45 A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil. For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks. You can tell who rules a person’s heart by the words they spew forth. A heart captive to the devil spews forth curses, slander, lies, deception, and the like. A heart ruled by Jesus will be quick to pray, to confess the Truth, to defend and speak well of everyone. As Christians we pray, Psalms 141:3 Set a guard, O LORD, over my mouth; Keep watch over the door of my lips.
Learn to listen carefully to your Shepherd’s voice - to God’s Word. Life flows from every Word that proceeds from the mouth of God. Wisdom teaches, Proverbs 30:5-6 Every word of God is pure; He is a shield to those who put their trust in Him. (6) Do not add to His words, Lest He rebuke you, and you be found a liar. Never add to the Words of Jesus, our Good Shepherd, nor do take away from them. Learn to night to hear His precious promise in the Sacrament of the Altar: ”Given And Shed FOR YOU!” I. The Truth That Frees You!(vs.19) II. The Life That Fills You! (Vs.20) III. The Salvation That Is Certain!
I. “Are You the King of the Jews?” Pilate examined Jesus. Seeking to see if He indeed was promoting treason against Rome’s rule - a crime punishable by death. Crucifixion for non-Roman citizens or beheading for Romans. Jesus gave the good testimony. He indeed is the King. His Kingdom isn’t of this world. It’s weapon is the sword of the Holy Spirit - the Word of God. John 18:37-38 Pilate therefore said to Him, "Are You a king then?" Jesus answered, "You say rightly that I am a king. For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice." (38) Pilate said to Him, "What is truth?" And when he had said this, he went out again to the Jews, and said to them, "I find no fault in Him at all.
What is Truth? Apart from Jesus all live in the darkness of the devil’s lie, the fear of death, and a future of being cast into hell prepared by God for the devil and all his angels. The world stumbling in darkness mocks the Truth. The worldly foolishly say in their heart, ‘There is no God.” Or they imagine God won’t judge sinners casting them into outer darkness. They believe the lie that they can earn heaven by their good life and deeds. Tell them the truth that they are chained by Satan and bound to hell - they will scream and rage in your face.
What is the Truth? The great scientist and astronomer, Isaac Newton, lay on his death-bed. His life work was done, the grave was opening before him, but that wouldn’t be his end for he clung to Jesus. “I have learned two great facts,” he confessed. “One is that I am a great sinner, and the other, that Jesus Christ is an even greater Savior.”
What is Truth? Last Wednesday we heard our Shepherd’s promise , “Take eat, this is My body, which is given for you.” “Drink of it all of you, this cup is the new testament in My blood which is shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.” Jesus is The Truth - He never lies! God cannot lie. What are we given by the Holy Spirit within Christ’s Church at the altar? It is the true body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ under the bread and wine, instituted by Christ Himself for us Christians to eat and to drink. Our Shepherd Jesus is clear - the bread “is” His body, the wine “is” His blood. He doesn’t say “represents” but “is!”
Why does He place His body and blood under bread and wine into the mouth of our bodies?(LSB pg. 327 W.B.E. & D?) To free you from the lie you can save yourself. Forgiveness is never earned - it flows through the flesh and blood of the God/Man Christ Jesus from by Father as the Holy Spirit comforts you.
Jesus’ Word is Truth setting you free! Placed upon the very lips of your body. A mother doesn’t nurse her infant because they’ve earned the live giving milk. She loves her baby giving him what he needs to thrive. A father doesn’t protect, provide, and feed his children because they earn it. He loves them longing to share his life’s fruits with them.
The Sacrament of the Altar is pure grace -fed to us from our Good Shepherd. He paid our price in full. Once for all He drank the cup of God’s just wrath for your sin in His passion. Drinking it to its bitter dregs the judgment you deserved is finished! His cross has become the Tree of Life. From the fruit of the cross, God the Holy Spirit places upon your lips - forgiveness given for you - under Jesus’ body and blood under the bread and wine. Rejoice to feast on the Truth - freeing you - you are forgiven. Cling to His Word - this is “FOR YOU” for “forgiveness of sins” - ever last one of your sins! Come often to the feast, for you daily sin much and deserve only God’s wrath and punishment - but here the Father’s grace flows upon your lips into your body - marking you as redeemed! Satan’s accusations stop at Jesus’ cross! You are forgiven - you have His body and blood on it!
II. In Eden the Triune God planted the Tree of Life in the midst of Adam’s home. It would be the place where God would meet with Adam and his wife - speaking His Word and sharing His feast of life.
Adam’s rebellion drove us from the Tree of Life. Our Shepherd, the second Adam, has brought us back Home to the Father’s feast. (LSB pg. 327 W.B.E. & D?) Life is given you through Jesus’ Word in this meal. “Given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.”
Sin’s only wages are death temporal as we wilt and die like spring daffodils suddenly frozen - eternal death in the fires of hell.
The Truth - only God gives and sustains life. Contrary to the mythology of modern man, science has never created life. It may alter it to cause plagues, produce pathogens, and a pandemic - it cannot create new life - only death.
God forbade consuming the blood of an animal in the Old Testament, for life is in the blood. Life is in the blood of the God/ Man. It is His life - eternal life! You have His Word on it! He gives His life FOR YOU! Sin is forgiven - life now fortifies you through His crucified and risen flesh and blood under bread and wine. He now lives in you by grace through faith in His Word. Death loses its claim on you. The Lord’s Supper is truly the food of immortality.
III. Memorize this promise of your Good Shepherd! John 10:27-28 My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. (28) And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. Hear His voice calling you Sunday after Sunday to the green pastures of His altar to be fed cross won - empty tomb certified forgiveness and life.
Can you be certain you will be saved? Trusting your own thinking and doing leads into darkness, doubt, and death. Repent! Hear the voice of the beloved Son of the Father - "This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.".... "This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is shed for you.”!(LSB pg. 327 W.B.E. & D?)
Upon your lips the Holy Spirit places salvation in Jesus’ body and blood reconciling you to your God and Father. The Life of Jesus fills you. What can now separate you from the love of God in Christ Jesus? Nothing! Come to His altar - receive His gifts - they are pure gospel - means of grace. The conduits through which God the Holy Spirit daily and richly applies to us sinners in Christ’s Church forgiveness of all our sins, life, and the certainty we are saved by Jesus as the Father’s beloved children.
Words matter! Cling to the Word of your Good Shepherd alone - know the benefit of feasting with Him in His Church - now in His Church militant on earth - and soon in His Church triumphant in the Life of the World to come! Revelation 19:9 Then he said to me, "Write: 'Blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb!' " And he said to me, "These are the true sayings of God." Amen.
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