And they sang a new song, saying,

“Worthy are you to take the scroll

and to open its seals,

for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God

from every tribe and language and people and nation,

and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God,

and they shall reign on the earth.”

Revelations 5:9-10

Sixteen years ago I sat in a Doctor’s office and got some life changing news. My then two year old son was autistic and would probably never graduate from High school. This was do to the severity of his autism. This May 31 2013 He will in fact get his High school diploma and will do it with honors to match. This is a major achievement in his life and one that I am proud to witness. It did get me to thinking about other achievements in the lives of God’s people. Graduation time is here and we mark the passage of one event to another with great celebrations. Regardless of what you have accomplished whether it is graduating to the next level of school, earning that college degree or other such milestones like confirmation, or getting married; these moments are times of reflection for us all. I think back on what my son has done and am amazed that he pulled it off. Soon I will witness the next stages in his life and the accomplishments of them as well. I also look for the accomplishments in my own life like turning 50 (still five years away) and wonder.

Our lives are filled with achievements, some small and some big. Each of us is growing in faith and learning more about the mission and purpose God has for our lives. This is important because there awaits a crowning achievement for us all. Someday we will all stand before the Lord and hear those wonderful words; “well done faithful servant” [Mathew 25:23] and the invitation to the feast of the lamb as well.

So if this spring is a time for celebration of a major event, Congratulations. I salute you on this major step. Still let us look forward to the crowning achievement in our lives of eternity with our Lord Jesus Christ. Not because of all things we have done, but or what Christ has done on the cross for us.

 Be still, and know that I am God.
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth!
(Psalm 46:10 ESV)

Ever ask that question; Why is God being so quiet? On the big scale we ask this about all the disasters and tragedy in the world. Why doen’t God do something? In our personal lives as well. OK in my personal life. I am sure there is not now nor will there ever be struggle in your life. You get my point. We all have those moments when we wonder where God is. There is an answer. Still, you may not want to hear it. Why is God being so quiet? He’s not. You are just not listening properly. God is at work behind the scenes instead of out front. God has rarely spoken in a big voice. Most often he speaks in different ways.With a quiet voice or the actions of other people or with no voice at all but in His word. God is not quiet. He is very active and working in the lives of the people of the world. He just speaks in a whisper. So if it seems like He is not doing anything or being too quiet we need to ask a few questions.

1.  Are we being quiet enough to hear Him? I mean it. Turn off the tv, computer, cellphone and the other things that seem to dominate our modern lives and really listen for the voice of God.
2. Are we really listening? In the history of the church few people have heard the voice of God speaking to them. Most often it’s in the actions of people and things all around us. So you have to listen to the wind and read his Word and watch the actions around you.
3. Are we acting on what is being said? God is not being quiet in these times as much as we are. God uses people to acomplish his mission on earth. So when it comes to disasters and tragedies all around us. Get involved. How you may ask me? I don’t know. But pray about it and ask God how he can use you to speak for him.

So we started this devotion by asking, Why is God being so quiet? Turns out it’s the wrong question. The correct one is, why are we?

• Internet capable computer
• Speakers
• optional – webcam and microphone.

How to Join:

Is simpler than ever!  There are two options

Option One – Via Youtube (no account needed)

Follow this link to our channel http://www.youtube.com/user/OslcJoliet/

Then click on the live feed (note only available between 12:15 PM and 12:45 PM).  The recording will be available by 1PM.

Option Two – Via Google+ hangouts (free account required)

via Google+ search for “Lunch and the Word Biblestudy” we should pop right up click on the link to join the hangout.

I apologize for the poor quality of the video. This was our first run. I promise the later videos are better.

Time – 12:10 PM – 12:50 PM

How to join.

Church – we will be in the Board Room.

Via laptop or desktop -oursavioronline.webex.com – just click on the meeting link. Please, allow a few minutes to download the webex plugin.  You may participate via video, audio, and/or chat.

Via iPhone, iPad, Blackberry, Android phone or tablet, etc. – please download your app by following the appropriate link found here

The password for the meeting is biblestudy.

2. Some point to the manifold benefits and fruits that grow from contemplating Christ’s passion. There is a saying ascribed to Albertus about this, that it is more beneficial to ponder Christ’s passion just once than to fast a whole year or to pray a psalm daily, etc. These people follow this saying blindly and therefore do not reap the fruit of Christ’s passion, for in so doing they are seeking their own advantage. They carry pictures and booklets, letters and crosses on their person. Some who travel afar do this in the belief that they thus protect themselves against water and sword, fire, and all sorts of perils. Christ’s suffering is thus used to effect in them a lack of suffering contrary to his being and nature.

3. Some feel pity for Christ, lamenting and bewailing his innocence. They are like the women who followed Christ from Jerusalem and were chided and told by Christ that it would be better to weep for themselves and their children [Luke 23:27–28]. They are the kind of people who go far afield in their meditation on the passion, making much of Christ’s farewell from Bethany and of the Virgin Mary’s anguish. but never progressing beyond that, which is why so many hours are devoted to the contemplation of Christ’s passion. Only God knows whether that is invented for the purpose of sleeping or of waking.

Also to this group belong those who have learned what rich fruits the holy mass offers. In their simple mindedness they think it enough simply to hear mass. In support of this several teachers are cited to us who hold that the mass is opere operati, non opere operantis, that it is effective in itself without our merit and worthiness, and that this is all that is needed. Yet the mass was not instituted for its own worthiness, but to make us worthy and to remind us of the passion of Christ. Where that is not done, we make of the mass a physical and unfruitful act, though even this is of some good. Of what help is it to you that God is God, if he is not God to you? Of what benefit is it to you that food and drink are good and wholesome in themselves if they are not healthful for you? And it is to be feared that many masses will not improve matters as long as we do not seek the right fruit in them.

4. They contemplate Christ’s passion aright who view it with a terror-stricken heart and a despairing conscience. This terror must be felt as you witness the stern wrath and the unchanging earnestness with which God looks upon sin and sinners, so much so that he was unwilling to release sinners even for his only and dearest Son without his payment of the severest penalty for them. Thus he says in Isaiah 53 [:8], “I have chastised him for the transgressions of my people.” If the dearest child is punished thus, what will be the fate of sinners? It must be an inexpressible and unbearable earnestness that forces such a great and infinite person to suffer and die to appease it. And if you seriously consider that it is God’s very own Son, the eternal wisdom of the Father, who suffers, you will be terrified indeed. The more you think about it, the more intensely will you be frightened.

5. You must get this thought through your head and not doubt that you are the one who is torturing Christ thus, for your sins have surely wrought this. In Acts 2 [:36–37] St. Peter frightened the Jews like a peal of thunder when he said to all of them, “You crucified him.” Consequently three thousand alarmed and terrified Jews asked the apostles on that one day, “O dear brethren, what shall we do now?” Therefore, when you see the nails piercing Christ’s hands, you can be certain that it is your work. When you behold his crown of thorns, you may rest assured that these are your evil thoughts, etc.

6. For every nail that pierces Christ, more than one hundred thousand should in justice pierce you, yes, they should prick you forever and ever more painfully! When Christ is tortured by nails penetrating his hands and feet, you should eternally suffer the pain they inflict and the pain of even more cruel nails, which will in truth be the lot of those who do not avail themselves of Christ’s passion. This earnest mirror, Christ, will not lie or trifle, and whatever it points out will come to pass in full measure.

7. St. Bernard was so terrified by this that he declared, “I regarded myself secure; I was not aware of the eternal sentence that had been passed on me in heaven until I saw that God’s only Son had compassion upon me and offered to bear this sentence for me. Alas, if the situation is that serious, I should not make light of it or feel secure.” We read that Christ commanded the women not to weep for him but for themselves and their children [Luke 23:28]. And he adds the reason for this, saying, “For if they do this to the green wood, what will happen when it is dry?” [Luke 23:31] He says as it were: From my martyrdom you can learn what it is that you really deserve and what your fate should be. Here the saying applies that the small dog is whipped to frighten the big dog. Thus the prophet said that all the generations on earth will bewail themselves over him; he does not say that they will bewail him, but that they will bewail themselves because of him. In like manner the people of whom we heard in Acts 2 [ :36–37] were so frightened that they said to the apostles, “O brethren, what shall we do?” This is also the song of the church: “I will ponder this diligently and, as a result, my soul will languish within me.”

8. We must give ourselves wholly to this matter, for the main benefit of Christ’s passion is that man sees into his own true self and that he be terrified and crushed by this. Unless we seek that knowledge, we do not derive much benefit from Christ’s passion. The real and true work of Christ’s passion is to make man conformable to Christ, so that man’s conscience is tormented by his sins in like measure as Christ was pitiably tormented in body and soul by our sins. This does not call for many words but for profound reflection and a great awe of sins. Take this as an illustration: a criminal is sentenced to death for the murder of the child of a prince or a king. In the meantime you go your carefree way, singing and playing, until you are cruelly arrested and convicted of having inspired the murderer. Now the whole world closes in upon you, especially since your conscience also deserts you. You should be terrified even more by the meditation on Christ’s passion. For the evildoers, the Jews, whom God has judged and driven out, were only the servants of your sin; you are actually the one who, as we said, by his sin killed and crucified God’s Son.

9. He who is so hardhearted and callous as not to be terrified by Christ’s passion and led to a knowledge of self, has reason to fear. For it is inevitable, whether in this life or in hell, that you will have to become conformable to Christ’s image and suffering. At the very least, you will sink into this terror in the hour of death and in purgatory and will tremble and quake and feel all that Christ suffered on the cross. Since it is horrible to lie waiting on your deathbed, you should pray God to soften your heart and let you now ponder Christ’s passion with profit to you. Unless God inspires our heart, it is impossible for us of ourselves to meditate thoroughly on Christ’s passion. No meditation or any other doctrine is granted to you that you might be boldly inspired by your own will to accomplish this. You must first seek God’s grace and ask that it be accomplished by his grace and not by your own power. That is why the people we referred to above fail to view Christ’s passion aright. They do not seek God’s help for this, but look to their own ability to devise their own means of accomplishing this. They deal with the matter in a completely human but also unfruitful way.

10. We say without hesitation that he who contemplates God’s sufferings for a day, an hour, yes, only a quarter of an hour, does better than to fast a whole year, pray a psalm daily, yes, better than to hear a hundred masses. This meditation changes man’s being and, almost like baptism, gives him a new birth. Here the passion of Christ performs its natural and noble work, strangling the old Adam and banishing all joy, delight, and confidence which man could derive from other creatures, even as Christ was forsaken by all, even by God.

11. Since this [strangling of the old Adam] does not rest with us, it happens that we occasionally pray for it, and yet do not attain it at once. Nevertheless we should neither despair nor desist. At times this happens because we do not pray for it as God conceives of it and wishes it, for it must be left free and unfettered. Then man becomes sad in his conscience and grumbles to himself about the evil in his life. It may well be that he does not know that Christ’s passion, to which he gives no thought, is effecting this in him, even as the others who do think of Christ’s passion still do not gain this knowledge of self through it. For these the passion of Christ is hidden and genuine, while for those it is only unreal and misleading. In that way God often reverses matters, so that those who do not meditate on Christ’s passion do meditate on it, and those who do not hear mass do hear it, and those who hear it do not hear it.

12. Until now we have sojourned in Passion Week and rightly celebrated Good Friday. Now we come to the resurrection of Christ, to the day of Easter. After man has thus become aware of his sin and is terrified in his heart, he must watch that sin does not remain in his conscience, for this would lead to sheer despair. Just as [our knowledge of] sin flowed from Christ and was acknowledged by us, so we must pour this sin back on him and free our conscience of it. Therefore beware, lest you do as those perverse people who torture their hearts with their sins and strive to do the impossible, namely, get rid of their sins by running from one good work or penance to another, or by working their way out of this by means of indulgences. Unfortunately such false confidence in penance and pilgrimages is widespread.

13. You east your sins from yourself and onto Christ when you firmly believe that his wounds and sufferings are your sins, to be borne and paid for by him, as we read in Isaiah 53 [:6], “The Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.” St. Peter says, “in his body has he borne our sins on the wood of the cross” [I Pet. 2:24]. St. Paul says, “God has made him a sinner for us, so that through him we would be made just” [II Cor. 5:21]. You must stake everything on these and similar verses. The more your conscience torments you, the more tenaciously must you cling to them. If you do not do that, but presume to still your conscience with your contrition and penance, you will never obtain peace of mind, but will have to despair in the end. If we allow sin to remain in our conscience and try to deal with it there, or if we look at sin in our heart, it will be much too strong for us and will live on forever. But if we behold it resting on Christ and [see it] overcome by his resurrection, and then boldly believe this, even it is dead and nullified. Sin cannot remain on Christ, since it is swallowed up by his resurrection. Now you see no wounds, no pain in him, and no sign of sin. Thus St. Paul declares that “Christ died for our sin and rose for our justification” [Rom. 4:25]. That is to say, in his suffering Christ makes our sin known and thus destroys it, but through his resurrection he justifies us and delivers us from all sin, if we believe this.

14. If, as was said before, you cannot believe, you must entreat God for faith. This too rests entirely in the hands of God. What we said about suffering also applies here, namely, that sometimes faith is granted openly, sometimes in secret.

However, you can spur yourself on to believe. First of all, you must no longer contemplate the suffering of Christ (for this has already done its work and terrified you), but pass beyond that and see his friendly heart and how this heart beats with such love for you that it impels him to bear with pain your conscience and your sin. Then your heart will be filled with love for him, and the confidence of your faith will be strengthened. Now continue and rise beyond Christ’s heart to God’s heart and you will see that Christ would not have shown this love for you if God in his eternal love had not wanted this, for Christ’s love for you is due to his obedience to God. Thus you will find the divine and kind paternal heart, and, as Christ says, you will be drawn to the Father through him. Then you will understand the words of Christ, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, etc.” [John 3:16]. We know God aright when we grasp him not in his might or wisdom (for then he proves terrifying), but in his kindness and love. Then faith and confidence are able to exist, and then man is truly born anew in God.

15. After your heart has thus become firm in Christ, and love, not fear of pain, has made you a foe of sin, then Christ’s passion must from that day on become a pattern for your entire life. Henceforth you will have to see his passion differently. Until now we regarded it as a sacrament which is active in us while we are passive, but now we find that we too must be active, namely, in the following. If pain or sickness afflicts you, consider how paltry this is in comparison with the thorny crown and the nails of Christ. If you are obliged to do or to refrain from doing things against your wishes, ponder how Christ was bound and captured and led hither and yon. If you are beset by pride, see how your Lord was mocked and ridiculed along with criminals. If unchastity and lust assail you, remember how ruthlessly Christ’s tender flesh was scourged, pierced, and beaten. If hatred, envy, and vindictiveness beset you, recall that Christ, who indeed had more reason to avenge himself, interceded with tears and cries for you and for all his enemies. If sadness or any adversity, physical or spiritual, distresses you, strengthen your heart and say, “Well, why should I not be willing to bear a little grief, when agonies and fears caused my Lord to sweat blood in the Garden of Gethsemane? He who lies abed while his master struggles in the throes of death is indeed a slothful and disgraceful servant.”

So then, this is how we can draw strength and encouragement from Christ against every vice and failing. That is a proper contemplation of Christ’s passion, and such are its fruits. And he who exercises himself in that way does better than to listen to every story of Christ’s passion or to read all the masses. This is not to say that masses are of no value, but they do not help us in such meditation and exercise.

Those who thus make Christ’s life and name a part of their own lives are true Christians. St. Paul says, “Those who belong to Christ have crucified their flesh with all its desires” [Gal. 5:24]. Christ’s passion must be met not with words or forms, but with life and truth. Thus St. Paul exhorts us, “Consider him who endured such hostility from evil people against himself, so that you may be strengthened and not be weary at heart” [Heb. 12:3]. And St. Peter, “Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh, strengthen and arm yourselves by meditating on this” [I Pet. 4:1]. However, such meditation has become rare, although the letters of St. Paul and St. Peter abound with it. We have transformed the essence into semblance and painted our meditations on Christ’s passion on walls and made them into letters.

Luther, M. (1999). Vol. 42: Luther’s works, vol. 42 : Devotional Writings I (J. J. Pelikan, H. C. Oswald & H. T. Lehmann, Ed.). Luther’s Works (7–14). Philadelphia: Fortress Press.

So, it stands to reason, that if we are going to be reflecting on those things that led to Jesus’ death, we should evaluate whether or not the things in our lives are worth keeping.  For the purposes of this article I am only going to focus on our media intake.

They say that you are what you eat.  There is a corollary statement that goes like this, you think what you see and hear.  What comes in your eyes and ears is every bit as important as the food that comes in through your mouth.  Much like how food becomes a part of you fueling your body and providing necessary components that your body uses to maintain itself, the things that come in your eyes and ears fuel your emotions and become the building blocks of your thoughts.  Just think of it as food for the mind.  It stands to reason that just as you need to be careful in maintaining a balanced diet and eat mainly food with good nutritional value; it is a good idea to take in things through your eyes and ears that have nutritional value.  A popular educational practice among home schoolers and some parochial schools called Classical Education stresses the idea that only the truly beautiful are worth our time and devotion.  Beauty in the philosophy of Classical Ed, includes artistic beauty but also the ideals of virtue and truth.  So that what is considered beautiful isn’t just pretty it also evokes passion for virtue and truth and instills a desire for them.  It makes a good rule of thumb when evaluating what you are filling your head with.  Does it elevate virtue, does it convey the truth, is it artistically beautiful?  If it isn’t, it is not worth your time.   Heaven knows you are going to have enough junk thrown at you during the day that you don’t need to go adding more of your own volition.

This idea goes beyond asking the question is it Christian or Secular.  Not everything from the secular world is bad, even they can stumble upon artistic beauty and virtue.  Just don’t look to them for the Gospel.  On the other hand, there is an overabundance of things that are labeled Christian that are little better than shopping exclusively in the candy aisle.  Evaluating beauty, virtue and truth requires you to measure it against an objective measure.  For us, this obviously means knowing Scripture for that is the ultimate measure of truth and virtue.  It also means learning through experience what is beautiful.

This Lenten season take time to evaluate your mental diet.  And consider, if it is your practice, to give up for Lent everything that is not beautiful, virtuous, and true.  If you want to learn more about how to evaluate your mental diet, I would suggest reading Reading Between the Lines:  A Christian Guide to Literature by Gene Veith.

How about you?  Does it seem like you want God to bless your ideas or are you following the plans God has for you?  We know He has plans for you.  Plans to give you a hope and future. (Jeremiah 29:11 )  So how do you know the difference?  How can we discern the difference between our ideas and God’s?

To start with let me say that it can be done: with prayer.  Yes prayer.  By asking God to show us His will and erase any desire we have that is not in accordance with it.  This is

something that I am doing and still working on.  When I am asked to do something big I ask for a week to pray about it.  If they can wait the week then I pray about it and come back to them.  If they can not then the answer is always no.  Another thing you can do is talk to a trusted friend or pastor.  Most people want what is best for us and a fellow believer because they know God and us they can put things into proper perspective.  Lastly in prayer ask God for His will to be done not our will.

No I am not saying that this is a easy task.  But seeking God’s will should be first in our mind when it comes to major choices that we have to make.  So today I challenge each and every one of you to seek first God’s will and then to follow it.  Put the horse in front of the cart.

I just heard about a Lutheran congregation out east doing the Matins service everyday on-line via WebEx by Cisco. I have looked at it and while I am not too sure about doing a service on-line, I think it has potential for doing Bible Studies during the week. In particular, I think it has potential because it would make it so everybody who commutes could participate. They wouldn’t have to miss out on a doing a Bible Study outside of Sunday because of distance and time factors. And just as important, they wouldn’t have to give up family time because I am thinking if we did this it would be a noontime thing. Along those lines, I think this would also be good for stay at home parents with small kids.

If we did this I am thinking we would cover a book of the bible (although I am open to other options as I am looking at possibly starting a series “Bible Stories for Adults” in the fall that may be on Sundays). Time wise I would plan on 30-45 minutes so we could keep it as close as possible to fitting in a lunch break. And no, I wouldn’t mind if people were bringing lunch. I would also be open to having people sit in at church so we don’t exclude people who don’t want to video conf. or do not have the gear to video conference.

There is a monthly subscription fee to use the site of $19 (church pays), but if enough people participate, I think it would be worth the cost, plus we could use the account for other purposes. Also, everybody would need at least a mike and likely a webcam to interact fully, but most laptops already have that equipment and they have mobile apps for tablets and phones.

I know this is kinda of out of the box, but hey I am game to give it a shot. Let me know what you think. You can check out the video conferencing information by following the link below.

http://www.webex.com/overview/index.html

Edit fee changes with number of people expected and services.

‘I was born and raised down in Alabama; On a farm way back up in the woods; I was so ragged the kids would call me patches………’  lyrics that begin a famous song by artist, Clarence Carter.  I remember patches too – the kind your mother would sew on your clothes when you wore a hole in the knees of your pants, or the elbows of your shirt.  My brother and I spent most of our time on knees and elbows; so mom was kept pretty busy patching our clothes – a task not high on her list of things to do, as I recall from the occasional swat after a particularly nasty rip!

Sometimes it seems we follow a ‘patches’ theology – the thought that if we patch-over the sin in our lives, the hole doesn’t exist anymore!  God does not call us to a ‘patches theology’ – as Christians we are not called to patch our old way of life, but to be made new again by the power of the Holy Spirit.  Paul says this in 2 Corinthians:  ‘Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!  All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation.’

If you take an old, well-worn garment that has a hole and patch it with a piece of new material that has never been washed, your patch will rip a larger hole in the garment.  Hebrews 12 says : ‘let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.’  Lord, by the power of Your Holy Spirit, create a new heart and renew a right spirit within me!  Galatians 6:14-16  ‘May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything; what counts is a new creation. Peace and mercy to all who follow this rule, even to the Israel of God.’

‘Moses led the Hebrew slaves to the Red Sea where they made unleavened bread, which is bread made without any ingredients…. Moses went up on Mount Cyanide to get the ten commandos…. He died before he ever reached Canada but his commandos made it…. Solomon had three hundred wives and seven hundred porcupines….. He was an actual hysterical figure as well as being in the Bible. It sounds like he was sorta busy too.’

While it’s sometimes funny to read what little kids write about their Biblical knowledge, it’s sad when we as adults have the same concepts.  Paul, in 1 Corinthians 3 talks about ‘spiritual food’ in terms of milk – something you give infants:  ‘Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual but as worldly—mere infants in Christ. ²I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it.’  The idea is that we are to progress from ‘milk’ to ‘solid food’ – we are to grow spiritually in our understanding of God’s Word.  These words are recorded in Hebrews 5:  ‘In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food!  Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness.  But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.’  I encourage you to make the commitment to read, and study your Bible and your catechism so that you are always prepared to give an answer for the hope that you have.  Psalm 119:  ‘I gain understanding from your precepts; therefore I hate every wrong path.  Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.  I have taken an oath and confirmed it, that I will follow your righteous laws.’  Joshua 1:  ⁸ Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.  Read the Book, read the Book, read the Book, Book, Book!  It is Light, and it is Life!

Once, when we put up the Manger, I lost my wedding ring and we searched the straw for hours, trying to find it, but to no avail.  Miracle of all miracles, when we took it down in January, with 12 inches of snow on the ground, we found my ring!  God is Good!  But, where else would you expect to see a miracle, if not at the Manger of our Lord, Jesus Christ.

When we see that manger, it is a reminder of 2 important truths.  It Reminds us that THE BIBLE’S ACCOUNT OF JESUS BIRTH IS LITERAL AND RELIABLE and that CHRIST WILL LIVE WHERE ROOM IS MADE FOR HIM.    Here in the manger is visible proof that God does keep his promises, that God  loves each of us and all the world.  God is faithful and loving!  1 John 4:10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.

O holy Child of Bethlehem, Descend to us we pray!
Cast out our sin and enter in; Be born in us today.
We hear the Christmas angels and great glad tidings tell;
Oh, come to us, Abide with us, Our Lord Immanuel!

Kathy and I drove out to Cherry for the 100^th anniversary of the event.  Not much to see anymore except the waste piles from the mine, and an old foundation or two.  Some signs document the event, but not much else; not much else except the cemetery.  It is an odd thing to walk thru that cemetery and see the gravestones of those mostly-Italian miners; row after row of tombstones with the same death-date.  Some of the bodies weren’t recovered for months, but nevertheless their markers carried the same date.  This cemetery was created because of that tragedy – and originally was for the miners-only; although today, many of their descendants are buried there with them.

Just as in the days of Noah when almost all of mankind was wiped out – literally on the same day – we look forward to a future date when this world and all life in it will end.  1 John 2:17:  ‘The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever.’  Those 21 survivors of the Cherry Mine fire, trapped in darkness for 8 days, described their feelings upon seeing the light for the first time after they were rescued, as if they were viewing the Glory of Heaven itself.  They talked in terms of re-birth; or new birth – given a second chance at life.  As we recount our blessings this Thanksgiving Season, let us put our personal relationship with a loving God who called us into His marvelous light, at the top of the list.  We were dead, but now are Alive in Christ!   Praise God from whom all blessings flow; praise Him all creatures here below.  Praise Him above, you Heavenly hosts; praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost, Amen!

Ever look at a tombstone?  They usually have a date the person was born, and a date the person died, separated by a ‘dash’.  We only control the dash – the time in between.  We do not control how God chooses to bless us, or challenge us, we only control our Attitude to the situations God lays before us.  It has been said:  ‘The truth is that our finest moments are most likely to occur when we are feeling deeply uncomfortable, unhappy, or unfulfilled. For it is only in such moments, propelled by our discomfort, that we are likely to step out of our ruts and start searching for different ways or truer answers.’  

It’s times like these that ought to lead us to surrender everything to Christ.  Even after loosing everything, Job said this in Chapter 19  ‘I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God.’  What a great profession of Faith in our Risen Lord!  So, when your eulogy’s being read with your life’s actions to rehash…Would you be proud of the things they say about how you spend your dash??  (‘The Dash’ is a famous poem by Linda Ellis and can be read at this website:  http://www.sba.muohio.edu/snavely/415/dash.htm )

Parents, I would encourage all of you to consider Scouting for your sons and daughters.  The values learned through scouting last a lifetime – learning accountability, self-reliance, teamwork and discipline are all good character attributes for any of us.  Adults, I would encourage all of you to consider participating in Scouting as adult leaders.  Hours of sacrifice to be sure; but the rewards are worth the effort.  I was there, first-hand, to see what it meant for teenage boys to develop a close relationship with my dad, their Scoutmaster.

In a way, I can picture the relationship between Jesus and his disciples much like scouting, in the sense that this group of men were being molded by Jesus for a mission of service and outreach in the world, in much the same way that Scouting leaders teach young people to become responsible citizens.   Proverbs 22 says  ‘Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it.’  While we think of this verse in terms of Bible-based training, our kids should be associated with role models and leaders and peers outside the home and church that exemplify the best in Christian behavior.  (Scout Promise)  On my honor I will do my best To do my duty to God and my country and to obey the Scout Law; To help other people at all times; To keep myself physically strong, mentally awake, and morally straight.)

LHM Men’s Network – Fatherhood

How to Read the Bible

What’s a bullseye?  Everybody knows it’s the center of the target – the spot you aim for. As Christians, we have a bullseye too.  Our bullseye – our center – what we aim for – is Christ; to be more Christ-like; to have an intimate relationship with Christ – to make Christ the ‘center’ of our life.   If we want to be in the center of God’s will, we need to be in the center of His Word.  

Did you know the Bible has a ‘literal’ center – a bullseye, if-you-will?  The shortest chapter in the Bible is Psalm 117; the longest is Psalm 119.  The ‘literal’ center of the Bible – Psalm 118.  There are 594 chapters before and after Psalm 118.  Add 594 + 594 and you get 1188.  What is the center verse in the Bible – the ‘bullseye’?  Psalm 118:8.  What does that verse say?  ‘It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in man.’  We spend so much of our life hitting the clothespins and falling short of the bullseye.   It’s time to refocus, re-aim and seek the bullseye – Our Lord, Jesus Christ!  Remember, when things get tough, our relationship with God doesn’t get us around trouble, it get’s us through it!

Books Every Home Library Should Include

A good study Bible – personally I recommend the Lutheran Study Bible – the articles and notes are second to none, the only way to get better notes is to buy a commentary series like The People’s Bible Commentary Series or the Concordia Commentary Series (both are excellent choices).

Concordia: The Lutheran Confessions-A Readers Edition of the Book of Concord – This is the collection of our agreed upon confession. There are some parts people may find familiar such as Luther’s Small Catechism, but there is so much more to us than the Catechism. Luther’s Small Catechism was only meant to be the start, here in the full collection of the confessions you will find the confession of faith which has stood the test of time.  You can’t find a better explanation of Scripture, plus like a study bible there are notes to help you understand more difficult passages.

Treasury of Daily Prayer -  The best devotional ever written.  Each day you will read a Psalm, a passage from the Old Testament, a passage from the New Testament, and a writing by various authors on the theme of the passages.  Plus, it has daily prayers, the daily offices (devotional times based on time of day).

Law and Gospel: How to Read and Apply the Bible – This is the pivotal work of Rev. C.F.W. Walther, where he explains the importance of rightly understanding and dividing the two central themes of the Bible – Law and Gospel.  This particular edition has a lot of helps and notes to aid people in understanding the book and more importantly understanding Scripture itself.

Lutheran Book of Prayer – The name kind of says it all.  This book is a collection of prayers.  In it you will find prayers for each day of the week during a month’s time.  There are prayers for special occasions, times of trouble, of preparation, and many others.  This is a good tool if you are at lost for words, want to pray but don’t know how, or even if you are unsure of what to pray for.

Reading the Psalms with Luther- One of the classes Luther taught as a professor was the book of Psalms.  In this book he introduces each Psalm and guides you through reading the ancient song book of the church.

Lutheran Service Book – Every home should have a copy of the hymnal.  In this book is a collection of songs that have been passed on for centuries connecting us with the Christians who went on before us.  Plus it has excellent resources for personal devotions.  I can imagine somebody saying why would I have a hymnal at home?  So, I will share a story that comes from my families history.  My mother when she was about 11 lived in Turkey when her father was stationed at the U.S. Embassy there.  During this time a violent insurrection began that involved fighting in the city they lived.  Locked in their apartment afraid to go out, my mom and her family comforted themselves by sing hymns.

The Lutheran Difference – This book will help you understand what sets us apart from other denominations, helping you to understand our distinctive teachings.  It will help you understand why we never really fit into the nice neat categories sociologists like to use

The next prayer we learn is meal time prayers with ” Come, Lord, Jesus be our guest.” The prayer serves as the first real focus prayer we are praying to God to thank him for the many blessings that he has given us in particular the food we are about to eat. These two prayers are common among new believers. Why? Because they are easy to learn and they express our feelings. Eventually we need to learn to go beyond rote prayers to speaking our mind in prayer. This takes a lot of discipline in the life of a Christian. Right? Wrong. Truth be told it does take time. But it shouldn’t. After all prayer is not something that takes higher degrees of learning. Prayer at its basic elements is talking to God. So anytime we fold our hands or just simply lift our hearts to God to chat for awhile is in fact prayer. We become more comfortable by praying. Just by doing it. We learn that the words don’t matter. For the Holy Spirit speaks in ways that we cannot explain. (Romans 8:26-27) Don’t get me wrong prayer can be rote and there is nothing wrong with memorized prayers. They tie us to the church universal and bind us in unity. The greatest prayer of all is the rote prayer known as the Lord’s prayer. Spend a few minutes looking at this prayer. Really study it and your faith will grow. There is nothing wrong with repeating what has always been said. Still prayer should not stop there. We need to grow in knowledge and faithfulness. We should be growing in prayer so that as things happen in our lives, we are comfortable with lifting them to God in a ongoing conversation. Whether it is a concern for a family member, or ourselves, or a prayer of thanks for God’s many blessings.

My personal life of faith began with prayer and the first thing that I have done in many cases was pray. My wife and I prayed right after I proposed to her and right after the birth of each of our children. Both of our boys were prayed over before the first hour of their lives was up. A practice that continues to this day in my personal prayers is to pray for them and their mother. I want to encourage everyone to lift up their concerns to God in prayer and not to worry about what to say. Let the words flow from you. In fact it is even OK to start by saying “Lord I am not sure how to say this…” God understands our place. He understands our hearts and knows what we need before we even pray it. Still it is a good practice to talk with God. He even tells us to do this. “Come, let us reason together. (Isaiah 1:18a). This is God saying let’s talk about things and work them out together.

So take a few minutes to pray today. Remember that prayer is just talking to God and letting him know how you feel. Have a conversation of praying to God and listening to him in the Word. It is my prayer that everyone who reads this will grow in the knowledge of God and will grow in prayer.

In Jesus name, AMEN

Tony Woodlief at Image (an important journal on Christianity & the Arts) writes,

I’m convinced that bad art derives, like bad literary theory, from bad theology. To know God falsely is to write and paint and sculpt and cook and dance Him falsely. Perhaps it’s not poor artistic skill that yields bad Christian art, in other words, but poor Christianity.
Consider, for example, some common sins of the Christian writer:
Neat resolution: You can find it on the shelves of your local Christian bookstore: the wayward son comes to Christ, the villain is shamed, love (which deftly avoids pre-marital sex) blossoms, and the right people praise God in the end. Perhaps best of all, we learn Why This All Happened.
Many of us are familiar, likewise, with that tendency among some Christians to view life as a sitcom, with God steadily revealing how the troubles in our lives yield more good than ill.  . . .
Sometimes we suffer and often we fail, and there is no clear answer why, no cosmic math that redeems, in our broken hearts, this sadness. The worst Christian novels seem to forget Oswald Chambers’s insightful observation, which is that God promises deliverance in suffering, not deliverance from suffering. And so they lie about the world and about God and about the quiet, enduring faith of our brethren in anguish.
One-dimensional characters: In many Christian novels there are only three kinds of characters: the good, the evil, and the not-so-evil ones who are about to get themselves saved. And perhaps this saved/not saved dichotomy—more a product of American evangelicalism than Christian orthodoxy—accounts for the problem.
I think we might craft better characters if we accept that every one of us is journeying the path between heaven and hell, and losing his way, and rushing headlong one direction before abruptly changing course to dash in the other, and hearing rumors about what lies ahead, and hoping and dreading in his heart what lies each way, and grabbing hold of someone by the arm or by the hair and dragging, sometimes from love and sometimes from hate and sometimes from both.
Sentimentality: Like pornography, sentimentality corrupts the sight and the soul, because it is passion unearned. Whether it is Xerxes weeping at the morality of his unknown minions assembled at the Hellespont, or me being tempted to well up as the protagonist in Facing the Giants grips his Bible and whimpers in a glen, the rightful rejoinder is the same: you didn’t earn this emotion.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s warning against cheap grace comes to mind, a recognition that our redemption was bought with a price, as redemption always is. The writer who gives us sentimentality is akin to the painter Thomas Kinkade, who explicitly aims to paint the world without the Fall, which is not really the world at all, but a cheap, maudlin, knock-off of the world, a world without suffering and desperate faith and Christ Himself, which is not really a world worth painting, or writing about, or redeeming.
Cleanliness: I confess that the best way to deter me from watching a movie is to tell me it’s “wholesome.” This is because that word applied to art is a lie on its face, because insofar as art is stripped of the world’s sin and suffering it is not really whole at all.
This seems to be a failing—on the part of artist and consumer alike—in what my Orthodox friends call theosis, or walk, as my evangelical friends say. In short, if Christian novels and movies and blogs and speeches must be stripped of profanity and sensuality and critical questions, all for the sake of sparing us scandal, then we have to wonder what has happened that such a wide swath of Christendom has failed to graduate from milk to meat.
And if we remember that theology is the knowing of God, we have to ask in turn why so many Christians know God so weakly that they need such wholesomeness in order for their faith to be preserved.
This, finally, is what especially worries me, that bad Christian art is a problem of demand rather than supply. What if a reinvigorated Church were to embed genuine faith in the artist’s psyche and soul, such that he need no longer wear it on his sleeve, such that he bear to see and tell the world in its brokenness and beauty? Would Christian audiences embrace or despise the result?

HT: Gene Veith

In no particular order

“The Year of the Warrior” by Lars Walker – Father Aillill is a character we can identify with,  he is real, he has flaws, I mean he out right lies about being a priest to save his skin when captured by Vikings.  It isn’t neat and it isn’t tidy, but it is a story worth telling with characters worth following.

“West Overseas” by Lars Walker  – This is the continuation of the saga of Father Aillill.

A Skeleton in God’s Closet – Dr Paul Maier -  This book kept me up at night.  Honestly, this is what “Da Vinci Code” should have been.  Again, a real character with real flaws and it is coupled with a gut wrenching thriller style story.  I couldn’t stop reading, mostly because I had to find out just how does he resolve the dilemma.

Lucas Cranach -  I could have tossed up Thomas Kincaid, I do like his paintings, but Cranach did more theologically themed paintings.

Koine – The Church Band – They don’t do any originals, but they have fantastic rearrangements.

Christ says: Remember, children, of what spirit you are, namely, of the Holy Spirit, who is a Spirit of peace, not of division.  Peter forgot this in the garden, and was rebuked when Christ said to him:  Put the sword into the sheath.  The Christian Church does not require fighting, but suffering.  The Holy Spirit permits it now, and maintains his silence that Christ is thus crucified and abominably dealt with.  Because we have the pure doctrine, it happens also to us that everything that is great in the world uses power and might against this doctrine.  But God alone upholds His doctrine, else it would have been destroyed long ago…. But since they vilify the doctrine and defend their godless estate, we cannot hold silence, but must speak against them.  In this we are like John and James, and in our heart desire revenge upon the godless tyrants… Here everyone should repent thoroughly and pray God that He would keep us from such murderous thoughts.  We should not desire revenge, but have compassion, and remember why the Son of Man is come, namely, that we should not desire judgment and revenge upon the sinners.”

- Martin Luther

Yes, brothers, I struggle. I struggle because I see what Peter is doing. I get it. I understand. Peter is “preaching you the Word” and what’s more is that he’s “planting it home.” He’s pushing the seeds of Law and Gospel deep into the soil of the hearts of those listening…and he’s punctuating it with the homiletical 2nd person plural. You. Or if Peter was from down south, Y’all.

But make no mistake about it, he’s preaching you the Word and he’s not letting you off the hook.

And this is why I struggle. He’s not letting me off the hook either. This One whom God has made both Lord and Christ, He’s the One YOU crucified.

I struggle to do the same thing, week in and week out. To preach to all the yous out there. But the inclination is to soften the blow. We crucified Him. Somehow, the mutualizing of the Law, we reckon, sounds better to the ears of those in the pew. After all, who are we to punctuate our sermons with yous? Aren’t we pastors sinners too? Isn’t it equally true that we all are guilty of the Son of God’s blood?

It’s almost as if the prophet Nathan had said to David: “We are the men!” Surely Nathan’s eyes had wandered. Surely he had sinned. But that wasn’t the point. Nathan was God’s man at that point and it wasn’t Nathan’s sins that were the main concern. Nathan’s 2nd person singular You was absolutely necessary. David had sinned and this dilly of a sin had called into question his own faith in the promise of a Messiah. Does the forebear of the Messiah behave like this? YOU, Nathan proclaimed at the risk of his own life. No mutualizing, no sympathizing, no reducing. YOU are the man. The one who sinned. The one who besmirched the family name of the Son of God Himself.

For the rest of the sermon go to http://www.wmltblog.org/2011/05/now-thats-what-im-talking-bout-preaching-the-you/

There was a man…He believed in Jesus, was raised in the church. He was actively involved in the life of the church. But he, little by little, allowed sin to take hold in his life; soon he was living in open sin. His life was immoral. He still claimed to believe in Jesus…but he was really dead in his trespasses and sins. The fruit on his tree of faith was beginning to rot. “The wages of sin is death!” Rom 3:23

There was a man…He believed in Jesus, was raised in the church. He was actively involved in the church. His whole life centered around the church; he served the church. He was doing all the right things! But, little by little, he began to go through the motions of the faith. He still claimed to believe in Jesus…but inwardly, his life of faith was dying. The fruit on his tree of faith was beginning to rot. “The wages of sin is death!”

Two men: one openly living a sinful lifestyle – dying from the outside in; one going through the outward motions – dying from the inside out. Both experienced the reality of death; both needed to have Life restored. By dying to self, confessing their sin inward and outward, by turning back again to the life-giving, life-transforming Spirit, they tasted again the GRACE of God! They were dead; He had made them alive again in Christ. “but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus.”
Rom 6:2

It is indeed necessary for me, who falls and sins so often, who so quickly becomes lax and weak, to renew, cleanse, and inflame myself through frequent prayer, confession, and the holy reception of Your body, lest perhaps by abstaining too long, I fall away from my holy purpose.  For from the days of his youth the senses of man are prone to evil, and unless divine aid strengthens him, he quickly falls deeper, but Holy Communion removes him from evil and confirms him in good.

-Thomas Kempis

The first place that God speaks to us is in the examples of the people and places all around us. Martin Luther said that “The resurrection was not just in books alone but in every leaf of springtime. “All of the world around us is God speaking to us. We only have to know how to listen. From the humming of birds to the cry of a life beginning. Talk with someone who has been around for a few years with God and they can tell you how that voice sounds. They have heard it many times in their lives. In my own walk with God I have never heard that voice above a whisper. In fact the time I heard it the most was in court a few years ago. I had gone to court to pay a fine for a ticket I had gotten. I do not remember for what. I was ready to admit my mistake and take the penalty for my error in judgment. The judge looked at me and then looked for my accuser, in this case the officer who wrote the ticket. Noticing that he was not in the room, she threw the case out. At that moment I heard God. He showed me a parallel to his courtroom. Where we will all stand in judgment ready to plead guilty for our sins. Yet at that moment God will see our faith in His Son and proclaim us innocent in His eyes.

Second and most important, He speaks to us in His Word. The Bible is God speaking to us. Open it’s pages and let certain verses will move you in a way that you have never been moved before. The Bible is as relative and powerful to us as it was when it was first written ages ago. There are verses dealing with every issue we face in this life. From dealing with temptation where we are told to” resist the devil and he must flee.” (James 4:7) to words of encouragement like (Psalm 27:14 ), to the beautiful words of praise when things are going good. (Psalm 65:8). God’s word is “a lamp to our feet and a light to our path.” (Psalm 119:105)

These are the voices of God that we are listening for and sometimes miss in the moments of our lives when God is doing the talking. The difference is that this is not the big booming voice we imagine he had at creation. It is a quiet still voice that you have to listen to hear. There is so much more that can be said about the voice of God. We could go on talking for the rest of our days of the examples that are there to hear His voice. But to do so would miss a key ingredient to hearing the voice of God.
We must lift our prayers to God to chat with him and then be still and quiet to hear his voice. For it is in the quiet times that we are most able to hear what our heavenly Father is saying. When our hearts are open, our ears are listening and our mouths are shut we can in fact here the voice of God.

Thank you
For the friends
Beside us.

Thank you
For the love
Between us.

Amen.

On those days, when you are almost afraid to ask “what else can go wrong?”, you have a choice to make. You can listen to Murphy or you can listen to God.

Murphy in his first law states: “If anything can go wrong, invariably it will!” There is nothing you can do about it, so you might as well have a good laugh.

God in His Word makes this promise: “All things work together for good, for those who love God and who are called according to His purposes.” The God who made everything out of nothing, promises that He can take those things that invariably go wrong in this fallen world in which we live (sorrow, pain, sickness, suffering, misfortune) and use them to bring about His good purposes.

Join me in saying: “Lord, have Murphy!” In other words, “Lord, You take care of Murphy; I’ll trust You and Your promises!”

True contrition must come first.  Out of pure grace, for the sake of the only Mediator, Christ, without any works and merit, people are righteous before God in the way stated above (i.e. they are received into grace).  The Holy Spirit is also given to them.  He renews and sanctifies them and works in them love for God and for their neighbor. But the beginning of renewal is imperfect in this life.  Sin still dwells in the flesh, even in the regenerate.  Therefore, the righteousness of faith before God comes from the free crediting of Christ’s righteousness, without the addition of our works.   So our sins are forgiven us and covered and are not charged against us (Romans 4:6-8).

- Formula of Concord Solid Declaration III 22-23

Main character Peccator, troll restoration shaman
Guild
Server Sentinels (US)

15 Minutes of Fame: Let’s start out with some context for our conversation here. Tell us a little bit about your congregation and denomination.

The Rev. Fisk: My congregation is a member of the Lutheran Church — Missouri Synod, the second-largest Lutheran denomination in the United States, and the one known for being conservative about theology. We still believe the Bible is the inerrant word of God, and we require a “quia” or total commitment to the historic teachings of Christianity for all pastors.

Many people think Lutherans just follow Martin Luther. Luther was a brilliant and helpful man, and he was a catalyst for the conservative Reformation of the medieval catholic Church, but if Lutheranism is about a man, it about Jesus of Nazareth. The Reformation succeeded because by Scripture alone we can know that salvation is by grace alone received through faith alone because of the work of Jesus Christ alone. There’s a lot to unpack there, but that’s a good summary. My parish is a very small one — the kind of little church America used to be famous for…

To read more follow this link http://wow.joystiq.com/2010/09/21/15-minutes-of-fame-when-wow-meets-real-world-religion/

Since this is my first post, let me tell you a bit about myself: I grew up in Nebraska and continue to follow the Huskers. I am a St Louis Cardinals fan. Since moving to Chicago I have started to follow the Bears, Bulls, and Blackhawks. While I can get passionate about sports, I understand that sporting events really don’t matter in eternity.

I want my legacy to be that I am a believer in Jesus Christ who is passionate about my Savior and who has dedicated his life to discipling others. I have a passion for prayer, for Christian music, and for getting into the Scriptures. I enjoy playing my guitar.

I have been serving as a pastor 28 years, at Our Savior for 11. My wonderful Christian wife & I just celebrated our 31st anniversary. We are enjoying being grandparents since last June!

1.  The prophet Ezekiel writes, “Say to them, As I live, declares the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live; turn back, turn back from your evil ways, for why will you die, O house of Israel?” (Eze 33:11) A Christian does not find delight in any person dying, except in the death of the saints. Our delight would have been in bin Laden’s repentance.

2. God relented of His wrath and punishment for ten years following bin Laden’s most vicious attack. He had ample time to repent of his wickedness, but showed himself time and time again to be an enemy of both the Church and the State.

3. Though we do not delight in his death, it is a cause for rejoicing.

4. After Moses and the people of Israel crossed the Red Sea and the host of Pharaoh’s army was drowned, they sang, “I will sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously; the horse and his rider he has thrown into the sea” (Ex 15:1). While this certainly has a spiritual meaning in Christ’s victory over sin, death, and hell, we must not forget the historical fact that the saints rejoiced over the death of their enemies. Psalm 68 says, “God shall arise, his enemies shall be scattered; and those who hate him shall flee before him! But the righteous shall be glad; they shall exult before God; they shall be jubilant with joy! (Ps 68:1, 3).

5.  But we live in the New Testament. Jesus has died for the sins of the world. Doesn’t that mean that Christians should condemn any act of violence? Shouldn’t we rather depend on the Gospel to deal with the wicked? First, the essence of God’s nature did not change from Old to New Testament, for it was also in the Old Testament where God says that He does not take pleasure in the death of the wicked (see point 1 above). Also, the path to salvation has not changed. Even in the Old Testament, people were saved by repentance and faith in the promise of Christ. Yet God still punished the wicked by the sword (often the swords of His saints).

6.  Second, Sts. Paul and Peter reaffirm that God has instituted the government to punish wickedness. “Be subject for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme, or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good” (1 Pt 2:13-14). And, “For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God…Then do what is good and you will receive his approval, for he is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer” (Rom 13:1b, 3b-4). The Kingdom Christ establishes (the Church) is distinct from worldly kingdoms, but worldly kingdoms and their authority still exist and more so, are instituted by God.

7.  The Lutheran Reformers also teach “that the spiritual kingdom does not change the public state. Therefore, private remedy [i.e. personal revenge] is prohibited not by advice, but by command (Matthew 5:39; Romans 12:19). Public remedy, made through the office of the public official, is not condemned, but is commanded and is God’s work, according to Paul (Romans 13). Now the different kinds of public remedy are legal decisions, capital punishment, wars, and military service” (Apology of the Augsburg Confession, Article XVI).

8.  In his work Whether Soldiers, Too, Can Be Saved, Martin Luther makes it clear that the work of a soldier–even when it’s killing and bloodshed–is a good work when done within vocation. He writes, “This is why God honors the sword so highly that he says that he himself has instituted it [Rom. 13:1] and does not want men to say or think that they have invented it or instituted it. For the hand that wields this sword and kills with it is not man’s hand, but God’s; and it is not man, but God, who hangs, tortures, beheads, kills, and fights.” The entire treatise is highly recommended, as well as Temporal Authority: To What Extent It Should Be Obeyed and On War against the Turk (all are found in Luther’s Works, American Edition, vols. 45 & 46). If the work of the Navy Seals was indeed God’s work, then it is rightly to be praised.

9.  How should a Christian react to the killing of Osama bin Laden? We do not delight in his death, even though he was an adamant enemy of Church and State. Yet we rejoice that God has given us the sharpest sword ever borne by Caesar in the history of the world in the U.S. military. Everyone from the Commander in Chief to the special operators of the Navy Seals performed well within their vocations to protect the citizens of this country, to bring justice to a wicked man, and to carry out God’s wrath on a wrongdoer. They are all to be commended. And, as an American, there is reason to celebrate.

- Rev. Jacob Ehrhard

Facebook, I have found is great for quick posts, not so great if you want to write in depth on any one topic, plus it is pretty hard to go back in time and see a good or useful post.  This website is meant to fill in the big gaping hole of Facebook.  Here you will find articles by yours truly and Pastor Schlote on a wide variety of church related topics.  We plan on posting short articles about all things theological and otherwise useful and edifying. We will continue on Facebook, but we hope this will become a useful repository of information that you can access at your convenience.

Eventually, I hope we will have regular devotions written by the pastors and by selected members.  I want to get back to what I started on Facebook, but I do not wish to go back to Facebook because the character limit made it really hard to get any depth.

So … here … we … go!

‘Christ Have Mercy, How to Put Your Faith in Action’ (by Matthew Harrison) talks about relationships!  We were made for a relationship with God and with each other.  James 4 says ‘Come near to God and he will come near to you.’  My daughter graduated Salutatorian from her High School class and there was a lot of haughty talk about her accomplishment until I reminded her it was a rather small class!  She lost sight of the fact that self-made people often worship their creator.  (Think about that one).   I would urge you to do two things this week.  First, make a list of 10 people who helped you become who you are today and thank God for their presence in your life.  Second, pick someone who helped you in your life, and send them a thank you card.  Thank You Lord, for all the people You have placed in my life; the people who have befriended me; who have nurtured me; who have helped shape my character!  Ephesians 4:   ‘….walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, ²with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, ³eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.’

When I look at all the rocks in my collection – the beauty; the crystal symmetry; the order; the awesomeness of their variety and form, I am reminded of their Creator – the ultimate ‘Rock’.  David says in 2 Samuel 22:  “The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge.’  Isaiah 26 says this:  ‘Trust in the LORD forever, for the LORD, the LORD, is the Rock eternal.’  It’s a common misconception that the rocks of the earth are solid and enduring.  The truth is that sun, rain and wind will reduce every rock to rubble over time; but Isaiah says that the Lord is the eternal Rock!  Recall the words of Psalm 78:  ‘They remembered that God was their Rock, that God Most High was their Redeemer.’  And the words of Matthew 7:  ‘The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock.’

So, the next time you go rock-collecting; remember that our Lord is the Rock eternal; that our Lord, the Rock is also our Redeemer and when we build our house with Him as our foundation, the storms of life cannot destroy us.  ‘Rock of Ages, Cleft for me…..let me hide myself in Thee.’

What is valuable in life?  Spending your time on something that will outlast it.  What outlasts your life?  The life of others, for one.  One hundred years from now, it won’t matter what car you drove, what kind of house you lived in, how much you had in the bank; nor what your clothes looked like.  The world may be a little better place because you were important in the life of a child.  Well, you say, all my kids are grown – or I don’t have any kids.  Yes you do – they are called the Our Savior Church family!  Take the time to know them!

Ecclesiastes 3 says:   ‘He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men… ¹² I know that there is nothing better for men than to be happy and do good while they live. ¹³ That everyone may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all his toil—this is the gift of God. ¹⁴ I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it. God does it so that men will revere him.’  Godliness is the result of a disciplined spiritual life. But at the heart of a disciplined spiritual life is the disciplined use of time.  Ephesians 5:15-16, paraphrased in The Message –   “So watch your step. Use your head. Make the most of every chance you get. These are desperate times!”

While the history of St. Valentine is shrouded in mystery, it has come to be a celebration of love; commercialized with sentimental cards and copious amounts of candy.  When we were kids, we used to give Valentine cards to all our classmates and teachers – it was a nice; if somewhat corny tradition.  We’re all familiar with the classic rhyme, ‘Roses are Red; Violets are Blue; Sugar is Sweet and so are you.’  Here’s one of the more sillier rhymes: ‘Chocolate is brown, hearts are red – if you won’t be my Valentine, I’ll ask another  instead!’

Valentine’s day ought to be a reminder of God’s unfailing love for us!  God’s ultimate Valentine was becoming a sacrifice for us.  There is no greater love than this!  It’s a love that has produced a priceless salvation available to all mankind!  John 3:16 is really the best Valentine’s verse that anyone could ever receive:  ‘For God so loved YOU that He gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life!’  Or, think about it this way:  If God had a refrigerator; YOUR picture would be on it!

Well the next step is to build a foundation. To make it strong and able to stand up to the things of this world that is going to push against it. In simple terms you need concrete. Cement is powerful stuff. It is able to withstand all sorts of temperatures and weather patterns. So we need something just as powerful in our Spiritual Body. But what was it?

My mind was drawing a blank and I almost missed seeing the most important thing of all. The cement that we need to build our house upon: God’s Word. That is right the Bible, itself, is the cement that we need. After all a short look through it gives us hope and strength to endure through all sorts of things The Bible is in fact a rod and lamp unto my feet. (Psalm 119:105)  It is the word of God that David speaks of in psalm 23 Verse 4 where he calls it “A rod and a staff.”  It is this wonderful book that provides protection when the winds of this world blow against it.  It is the foundation that needs to be strong so we can handle the tough matters of life. A foundation built upon the cement of faith, in Christ and cemented if you will in the words of Christ. The living Word of God is what Jesus spoke of when he told the parable of the wise and foolish builders. (Matthew 7:24-27, Luke 6:47-49)

It is this word that we live on for more than our daily bread. Man cannot live on bread alone, but on the very word of God” Jesus tells Satan at his temptation in the dessert. So how do we do this?  That answer is simple: we spend time in the Word. We do so on a daily basis with our personal devotion and on a regular basis with the people of Christ. Time in the word should not be skipped by anyone. Mixing cement to build our foundation takes time. Time that we need to have. You have to mix it and smooth it out and form a foundation to build on. God’s word is that for us. After all when it comes to dealing with things in this life the Holy Bible has all the answers and that is a foundation we can build upon, because it always points to Christ and his rock solid promises

 (From a sermon, The Risk Taking Church by Stephen Sheane)  ‘There are only 3 kinds of churches.  There is the under-taking church.  The undertaking church is one that is always looking backwards. All that people ever talk about are the “good old days”.  Franklin Field said ‘Poor eyes limit your sight; poor vision limits your deeds.’  Then there is the care-taking church.  It seems to always be in maintenance mode, just trying to keep it’s head above the water.  The number one questions is always “do we have the money now to support this”?  Finally, there is the risk-taking church.  The risk taking church is always looking forward. They believe that the best is yet to come. They invest all they have today so that they can be all that God wants them to be tomorrow.    A blind man’s world is bounded by the limits of his touch; an ignorant man’s world by the limits of his knowledge; a great man’s world by the limits of his vision.’

Lord, we do not want to be under-takers; or care-takers of Your Church on earth.  We do not want to be limited by our regret, or our worry, but, by the power of Your Holy Spirit, may we boldly, by faith, be risk-takers, empowered to bring a message of hope, healing and new life to our congregation, our community and the world around us, In Jesus’ Name we pray.  Amen.  A vision without a task is a dream; a task without a vision is drudgery; a vision and a task is the hope of the world.  Let us continue to be a church where God is seen, love is felt and lives are changed!

And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.
Hebrews 10:24

Letter to a Pre-Teen

I look at you my child and think back to the days gone by and sigh. I think about the things you are about to go through and wonder. You are growing up so fast and I want to tell you so many things before you leave the nest. I want to show you compassion and the joy of helping your fellow man. I want you to grow in knowledge and yet retain your innocence of sin and the world. Yet I know that will not happen. The tugs and pulls of this world are a strong thing to deal with. I think about the next ten years of your life and I find myself on my knees a lot. I pray that God will protect you during the teenage years as you grow and become the person he wants you to be. I pray that for the relationships that you will have are pure and holy ones. I pray that God will show you His glory in the friends you keep. In the next ten years you will continue to grow into the person God wants you to be and I will be there as a guide. I have always been your guide. Since your birth I have tried to show you importance of putting God first in your life. I have given you His Holy Word and soon will show you a better way to read it. I have taught you the important things like the Ten Commandments, the Creeds and the Lord’s Prayer. Soon I will teach you what they mean. Soon way to soon you will leave the protection of my wings and fly with your own off to full fill what God wants from you. You will full fill His purpose for your life. I will be there to cheer you on as you fly away. Still as you go through the next decade my son, remember the things that I taught you already. Be a man of prayer. Stay faithful to the word of God. Keep me in the loop as to what is going on in your life. I am proud of you my son for the things you have already done. As you reach for the stars with your dreams stay rooted in the faith of your youth.

That’s the best description I can think of to explain the human condition at the fall of Adam and Eve.  A separation from God, so profound, so dark, there can be no hope for survival unless somebody finds you.  And God’s promise to Adam and Eve was the promise of a Redeemer, a Savior. In Matthew 4, Jesus, speaking of himself, quotes the words of Isaiah ‘the people living in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned.’  Jesus is our Emmanuel – God with Us!  Jesus is our light – the Light of the World!  He says these words in John 8:   “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

Just as He is the Light of the world; He has called us to be lights to the world, reflecting His light, just as the moon reflects sunlight on a darkened earth.  In this season of Joy, share His love and the Hope that you have!  I remember the words of that children’s song we used to sing: ‘This little Gospel light of mine; I’m going to let it shine!

4 Things You Can’t Recover:  The stone after it’s thrown; The word after it’s said; The occasion after it’s missed;  The time after it’s gone.

I think it is proper as we celebrate with a thankful heart, to also reflect on the stones we’ve thrown; the words we said; the occasions we’ve missed and the times we’ve lost.  Let this be an opportunity to pray that we are a blessing to those around us.  In the words of – Etienne de Grellet:  “I shall pass through this world but once.  Any good thing that I can do, or any kindness that I can show, let me do it now.  Let me not defer it or neglect it, for I shall not pass this way again.”

I like these words in Acts 4:   ³¹After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.  ³²All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they shared everything they had… For from time to time those who owned lands or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales ³⁵and put it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to anyone as he had need.  There is a wonderful, mythical law of nature that the three things we crave most in life — happiness, freedom, and peace of mind — are always attained by giving them to someone else.

I think of the words to that well-known hymn I grew up with ‘When I Survey the Wondrous Cross’ on which the Prince of Glory died, My richest gain I count but loss, And pour contempt on all my pride.  Or those words from ‘Alas, and did my Savior Bleed’ and this stanza: ‘Thus might I hide my blushing face While His dear cross appears, Dissolve my heart in thankfulness, And melt mine eyes to tears.’  Or maybe the most inspirational of all ‘The Old Rugged Cross’ and these words:  ‘On a hill far away stood an old rugged cross,
The emblem of suffering and shame; And I love that old cross where the dearest and best, For a world of lost sinners was slain.’

In a way, the cross my dad built was a testimony to his faith, and I feel the same way about the one I built -  it is a testimony to our Lord and when I see it, I think about these words in Hebrews 12:  ‘Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.’  In a month when we celebrate the Reformation and Martin Luther, let us fix our eyes on the Cross and on our Redeemer, Jesus Christ.

Worship is not a spectator sport, and yet, all too often, we attend services in the capacity of a spectator, not a participant.  What is worship – it’s an ‘act’ of religious devotion -it means to do something!  Worship is a participant-event  that requires us to act!  What are act’s of worship?  Here are some I can think of:  Confession/contrition/repentance; prayer; singing/praising; giving; hearing/active listening to the Word; testifying .  The following are not my words, but are worth repeating:  ‘Too often worship has become a place of safety and complacency, a narrowly private experience in which solitary individuals only express their personal adoration. Even when we gather corporately, we often close our eyes (and our voices) to those around us, focusing on God but ignoring our neighbor. But true biblical worship does not merely point us upward–it should turn us outward as well.’  Psalm 100: ‘Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all ye lands. Serve the LORD with gladness: come before his presence with singing.’

In our world today, too many people are not singing God’s praises, but only sitting on His premises!  Remember that idea the next time you are at worship, inspire those around you!   II Samuel 6:  ‘David…danced before the LORD with all his might…’  I Chronicles 16:  Give thanks to the LORD, call on his name; make known among the nations what he has done.  Sing to him, sing praise to him; tell of all his wonderful acts.  Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice.’  II Chronicles 5:  The trumpeters and singers joined in unison, as with one voice, to give praise and thanks to the LORD. Accompanied by trumpets, cymbals and other instruments, they raised their voices in praise to the LORD and sang:  “He is good; his love endures forever.”

Even the most ‘innocent’ habit can become immoral, degrading or evil.  I looked up ‘Shopaholic’ on the Internet, and this is what it says:  ‘Compulsive behavior’, usually associated with an emotional high, or adrenaline rush.   Any ‘compulsive behavior’ can overshadow relationships with family and friends.

I don’t know if I’m, by definition, a ‘shopoholic’, but I do know that if you dance with the devil, he will take you farther than you wanted to go and keep you longer than you wanted to stay.   The god of materialism has certainly enticed many in America today to value the worthless, while disregarding priceless wealth!  Solomon says this is Ecclesiastes 5:   ‘Whoever loves money, never has money enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with his income.’  Paul says this in 1 Timothy: ‘For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.’

I know for me personally, I am happiest when I take these verses in Hebrews to heart:  ‘Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”

I don’t know why I got up and raced over the beach and swam like crazy through those hundreds of  people, out into deep water – but I did.    As I approached the inner tube, the kid was about 3 feet down, struggling to get to the air.  I pulled him up.  When he broached the surface, with a look of desperation, he said simply ‘Help Me.’  Out of all those hundreds of people, that little boy was alive because, by the grace of God, I noticed his plight and I did something about it.

Are you a lifesaver?  You can be.  God has called us to follow Jesus’ example and serve.   Remember the picture of Christ, washing the disciple’s feet?  We are called to be ‘Footwashers’ for Christ.  The Book of  James puts it this way: ‘¹⁵Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. ¹⁶If one of you says to him, “Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it?’  Remember our theme this year ‘Get out of the Boat; Give Hope!’  John Maxwell has said ‘People don’t care what you know; until they know that you care!’  Show YOU care by helping someone today!  Matthew: 25:40   ⁴⁰“The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’

What has your President learned from this experience?  First, I have learned how to pray.  I mean how to pray in a focused, intentional, way.  I have learned discipline, making the commitment to pray everyday.  I have learned about people, because when you pray for them, you think about them; when you think about them; you feel closer to them.  In the process I have learned about myself too.  Most importantly, I have learned that communication with God is a journey – a growing process.  I will be the first to tell you, I am not an eloquent speaker and it is hard for me to be ‘on-the-spot’ when it comes to prayer.  I have learned that prayer is not about inspiring words or articulate expressions that move the angels – it’s about a humble spirit that seeks to honor our Lord.

There are many verses in Scripture that command us to pray, Paul says this in 1 Timothy ‘¹I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone…’  It is our duty, our mission and our obligation to pray!  I would ask you to prayerfully consider joining a HOPE Cell.  You can contact either me, or one of the Pastors if you are interested.  Remember: When praying, don’t give God instructions – just report for duty.

The moral to the story?  Life is going to shovel dirt on you, all kinds of dirt. The trick to getting out of the well is to shake it off and take a step up. Each of our troubles is a stepping stone. We can get out of the deepest wells just by not stopping, never giving up! Shake it off and take a step up!

It has been said that life’s troubles are just one thing after another.  That is wrong.  If it was one thing after another, we could handle that!  Life’s troubles are a whole lot of things all at the same time!  Remember, God never promised; A life without pain, Laughter without tears; Or sun without rain. But He did promise; Strength for the day, Comfort for the tears; And light for the way.  Matthew 6:  ²⁵“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes….. ²⁷Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life……… ³³But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness.  Then there’s Psalm 55:22 –  Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and He shall sustain thee.  He shall never suffer the righteous to be moved.’

Did you ever notice at a ‘State dinner’, there are always servants (or “servers”) standing by, in addition to the servers who are bringing food, pouring beverages and clearing dishes.  Or, maybe you haven’t noticed those other servers who stand in the background because they stand so still, they look like “part of the furniture,” “part of the wallpaper.”

I am struck by the number of people we have at Our Savior that provide critical services to us that we never think of – the bulletin folders; the altar people; the food preparers and servers; the drivers; the yard maintainers – and the list goes on and on!  These are the unsung heroes of Faith, the people who ‘Stand and Wait’.  This is what the Lord says of them:  (Matthew 25)  ‘ ³⁴“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. ³⁵For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, ³⁶I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

On behalf of a grateful congregation Thank You for your service; your reward is great in Heaven! (verse 40) – ⁴⁰“The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’

Last month, I asked you to put in writing ‘Your Story’.  Hope you did.  Thought you might like to hear mine:

I like to say I was born in the Lutheran Church, but that isn’t exactly accurate.  I was raised in the Lutheran Church, Missouri Synod from the time I was two years old – I cannot remember a time when the Church wasn’t the main thing in my life.  It seemed like my family had no social life outside Church – all our friends were there and we were constantly doing stuff – working, playing, serving, worshipping – everything together there.  (Almost) everything was accompanied by a meal too – oh, those potlucks and sauerkraut suppers!

I cannot remember a time when I didn’t feel God was real.  I saw Him in a thousand faces: my Sunday School teachers, my choir leaders, the Pastors, the church-workers and of course, all those wonderful Christian people we knew at Church!  Most of all, I saw Him in my Mother, and my Father.  They lived God’s love, as an example to me and my brother.  Were any of these people perfect?  No, sinners all!  But, somehow, for me, what I ‘caught’ was ‘the saint’, not ‘the sinner’.  What I felt was the love, joy, peace, patience – the fruit of the Christian character – they didn’t only ‘tell’ me about Jesus and His love – they ‘showed’ me; everyone of them!

That’s why I’m a Christian, and what my faith means!  I hope I can pass along to others, what was given to me!

But what about our spiritual house? You know the one God is building out of our lives for Him and His purpose. Well the good news it’s in the same way your start with a hole to build up a house God starts with a hole in our lives. I know what you’re thinking. A hole. God starts with a hole. Yes He does. The first thing God does is throws out all the things in your life that no longer matter and are not needed. He throws out malice and envy and pride and anger and all sorts of addictions. (Colossians 3:8) He gets rid of the things that have been keeping you from him. Like it’s been said in pop culture, “There is a God shaped hole in all of us.”  We all have this hole and ever since we came to Christ, God has been empting it and filling it with his presence and Spirit. Still in order to do that He must first dig out all the things that are wrong in this place.  How does he do the digging is a mystery for the ages. He digs out of us the God shaped hole that we have been trying to fill with the way the world wants us to fill it. Like the building of a house he does not throw out one piece of dirt that can be used later on. He is constantly throwing out the dirt in our lives, the sin if you will, and replacing it with His purpose and presence.

Into this hole will go a lot of things we will talk about in the coming months. For now let us just thank God that he has dug a hole on our lives and removed all of the things that needed to be gotten rid of.

This is the part of the house that the rest of the world will see and will see every time they look at it. In spiritual terms we call this the fruit of the Spirit. Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness and Self Control, are the building blocks of God, used by him to create a house that He can in fact show the world. These 9 parts of the Fruit of the Spirit build up our walls and shine out to the world proclaiming that we are a house of God. When the fruit of the Spirit is evident in our house, people see Jesus in us. Our four walls are made up of peace, patience, faithfulness, and gentleness.

These walls are calm to those who look upon them. They do not move to the issues and turmoil of the day. They are strong enough to keep us on steady ground during the ups and downs of this life. They show the world that faith in Christ can and in fact does keep us going. We have windows of kindness, goodness and love that show our concern for our fellow man. A door of self control keeps out unwanted guests. Our roof of joy shouts to the whole world that we are the workmanship of God.

It is this house that invites those around us to call upon the Master Builder to shape their lives as well. As people see our deeds, they see what the Word and the Father has done in us (Matthew 5:14-16). The fruit of the Spirit shows the world in our everyday lives that we are workmanship of God. (Or at least it should.) Still each of our houses has problems that need to be tweaked and worked on. As any home owner knows, a house always needs to be worked on. God is the same way with us. He is constantly working on our house until it shines the way that He wants it to. His plan or blueprint is never fully complete this side of heaven. He is constantly working out things with us. So let us tip our hat the creator of our house and give Him the praise that He desires. Then and only then can our house, our very lives, show the world that Jesus is worth it.

1 Peter 4:10 says ‘Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others’…..Elsewhere Peter also says these words ‘Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.’  We have two, important callings as Christians: we are called to serve and we are called to give hope.

I would encourage each of you to write down how you intend to serve the Body of Christ and our Community this coming year and also ‘Your Story’ – your account of the hope that is in you because of what Christ has done in your life.

Now, think about this….If those words only remain on that paper – what good are they?  A thought that does not result in action is nothing much.  When it comes to getting things done, we need fewer architects and more bricklayers.  The Apostle John put it more eloquently: ‘Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions (serve others) and in truth. (give hope)’

First up is the first step in building. It takes a plan. Plans are important. Without the right plans, nothing will look just the way you want it to look. Anything worth doing takes planning and we are no different. God started with a plan for we are fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalm 134:14) God’s plans were very detailed. It included the number of hairs on our head (Luke 12:7) and the number of tears we would have as well. (Psalm 56:8) God has a plan for our lives and it is very detailed. He even tells us the point to his plans. For I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future (Jeremiah 29:11). God started our lives before our first breath (Jeremiah1:5a) working out His plan. His blueprint, if you will, for the lives of His people. He continues to build on that blueprint today.

So what should our response to this be? One of gratitude and joy. For the master builder is building us up. We should also be encouraging others to let God build them up in the manor that He sees fit. We should be spurring each other on to the glory of God the father (Hebrews 10: 24, 25). Trusting in the blueprint that God has a purpose for each moment of our lives. Now I know that this is difficult in trouble times and during suffering moments. Still we need to remember that he is the master builder and it is in his plans that these things happen. When these things happen, He is the master builder and will use them according to His purpose. This is not to say that God wants us to suffer. By no means. God allows us to suffer in order to bring about the greater good. (Romans 8:28). Still as we go through life, we take great comfort in the fact that it all is happening according to the great and wonderful blueprint of our Father’s plan.

This is a time of joy, of laughter and good cheer; but for many it is a darker time too.  Jobs at risk; bills to pay; sickness; friends and family missing from the table – whether out-of-town, or home with the Lord.  This is a good time to pick up the phone or send a card to someone and remind them how much they mean to you.  There is no better gift you can give someone than yourself. Take the time to tell them how they enrich your life.  1 John 4:7  ‘Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.’  Reflect God’s love this season!

This is also a good time to open the best present of all – the gift of Emmanuel – God with Us!  As they say, ‘He is the Reason for the Season’.  Luke 2:10-11   ‘And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.  For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord.’  Remember to give Him the gift of ‘yourself’ – by your worship – and by your service!  Romans 11:36: ‘For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things.  To Him be the glory forever! Amen.’

Looking at the words of the great Moses gave me strength. After all Moses could tell God to send someone else and certainly God would understand and do just that. After a week or two I began to feel God working on my heart and to think about it. I re-read the passages that I have just quoted and looked at what God had to say. In each case God was patient with Moses and gave him reasons why it should be him. The Lord did the same to me. He reminded me that I have written in the past and that what I have written has been well received. Finally after a long week of looking and thinking I found myself coming back to the Lord and saying. “I know better people who have better things to say.” It was at that moment that the Lord reminded me of something. The Apostle Peter was once asked to stop preaching the word of God and his response is dear to my heart. “For we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard.” (Acts 4:20) The only thing this apostle did was speak as God instructed him through the power of the Holy Spirit as to what he had seen. It was God’s mission and he took this fisherman and made him speak. So the truth is correct. I am not the right person to do this work. Not on my own power. Yet and it’s a big YET, With God in my plans and direction I can speak about what I have seen and heard. It is therefore my hope and prayer that these devotions will move you in your walk with God. After all it’s His mission.

Come back each month as I share with you more of what God wants me to share.

As we commemorate and celebrate the Reformation and the work of Martin Luther this month, consider the Power of God’s Word – the ‘Holy dynamite’ we use to demolish arguments and pretensions through the work of the Holy Spirit!  Hear again the word of Ephesians 6 as you’ve never heard them before:  ‘Be prepared. You’re up against far more than you can handle on your own. Take all the help you can get, every weapon God has issued, so that when it’s all over but the shouting you’ll still be on your feet. Truth, righteousness, peace, faith, and salvation are more than words. Learn how to apply them. You’ll need them throughout your life. God’s Word is an indispensable weapon. In the same way, prayer is essential in this ongoing warfare. Pray hard and long. Pray for your brothers and sisters. Keep your eyes open. Keep each other’s spirits up so that no one falls behind or drops out.’

The same is true for us at Our Savior, in the sense of one ‘education year’ ending, and another beginning.  Now is a good time to resolve to join that new Bible Study, or commit to that new Small Group or maybe even work towards more faithful church attendance.  We enter into God’s presence, and we experience His peace when we are connected through worship and Word, with our Church Family.

I like the words of The Message in Hebrews 10: ‘Let’s keep a firm grip on the promises that keep us going. He always keeps his word. Let’s see how inventive we can be in encouraging love and helping out, not avoiding worshiping together as some do but spurring each other on, especially as we see the big Day approaching.’

Remember, try Our Sundays; they are better than Baskin-Robins!