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May 2019

Both Shepherd and Lamb

COVER STORY – GOOD SHEPHERD

Jesus was many mutually exclusive things that, humanly speaking, He couldn’t be. He was the God of Sabaoth, and He was the Prince of Peace. He was Lord and Master, and He was the humble Servant. He was “true God, begotten of the Father from eternity,” and He was a mortal man Whose life left Him on Calvary’s cross. He was also both Shepherd and Lamb.
We get this, of course, but it is nonetheless remarkable when you actually take the time to consider it. That both are true is beyond dispute. Jesus once said this of Himself: “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep.” (John 10:11-15 ESV) Clearly then He is a shepherd. Yet John the Baptist, on two separate occasions, identified Jesus as “the Lamb of God.” (John 1:29, 34)Read More »Both Shepherd and Lamb

Graduating with the Lord

DEVOTION – GRADUATION

Near the end of my first grade year, I asked my mom how much longer I needed to go to school. I enjoyed first grade as well as kindergarten the year before that, but I did wonder if there would be a day when I wouldn’t have to go anymore. I had suspected that I would need to go at least until eighth grade, and my suspicions were confirmed. Then my mom surprised me with the news of eight more years of school, called “high school” and “college.” For a young child squinting to see the end of school as upon a distant horizon, graduation seems like a fantasy which will never materialize. For those who are now arriving at their graduation day, the common question is, “Where did the time go?”
While graduation is the end goal for millions of young people around our nation, graduation day is not the end. The word itself implies a progression to something new. Just as the celebration of a sports championship is shortly followed by a new season, so each graduation brings on a new season of life. And how intimidating it can be to graduate into that unknown! Whether you are an eighth grader graduating into the intimidating halls of high school, or a high school senior progressing to the pressures of college, or a college senior stepping into your career, graduation is often accompanied by fear of what comes next.Read More »Graduating with the Lord

The Lutheran Hymnal 51 “Now May He Who from the Dead”

A HYMN OF GLORY LET US SING

Christ’s final act before He ascended into heaven was to lift up His hands and bless His assembled disciples. And it was while He was blessing them that He was parted from them and taken up into heaven (Luke 24:50-51).
This parting picture of Jesus with His hands raised in blessing is most meaningful, a perpetual reminder that He continues to bless His Church on earth and will do so until He comes again. As Victor over sin and death seated at the right hand of the Father in heaven, Jesus gives the forgiveness of sins and the hope of eternal life to all who believe in Him.
Since God’s Word gives us this picture of Jesus with His hands raised in blessing, it is appropriate that we close our services with a benediction—a blessing. In this way we return to our daily lives assured of the Lord’s blessing, just as the disciples returned to Jerusalem with the memory of Jesus blessing them as He ascended.Read More »The Lutheran Hymnal 51 “Now May He Who from the Dead”

“BREAD OF LIFE” READINGS MAY 2019

TLH = The Lutheran Hymnal, 1941; WS = Worship Supplement 2000; LSB = Lutheran Service Book, 2006

Date Hymns Reading Comments

May 1 TLH 144/LSB 421 Exodus 17:1-7 We, too, are just as tempted to test the Lord saying, “Is He among us or not?”

May 2 TLH 363Acts 3:1-19Peter used the miracle to point the people to Jesus, which is what the miracles were for.

May 3 TLH 203 Acts 4:1-12 How do we know Jesus truly rose from the dead? Well, we find Him still doing miracles after Good Friday (v. 10)!

May 4 TLH 294/LSB 523 Proverbs 8:22-36 Solomon is describing wisdom in a picturesque way, but don’t these descriptions fit Jesus too—the Wisdom from on high?

May 6 TLH 366/LSB 536 Proverbs 9:1-10 A truly wise person puts the Lord first in his heart.

May 7 WS 736/LSB 633 Acts 7:1-22 Stephen is not just telling any story here, but the story of God’s love and mercy.Read More »“BREAD OF LIFE” READINGS MAY 2019

Graduating with the Lord

Near the end of my first grade year, I asked my mom how much longer I needed to go to school. I enjoyed first grade as well as kindergarten the year before that, but I did wonder if there would be a day when I wouldn’t have to go anymore. I had suspected that I would need to go at least until eighth grade, and my suspicions were confirmed. Then my mom surprised me with the news of eight more years of school, called “high school” and “college.” For a young child squinting to see the end of school as upon a distant horizon, graduation seems like a fantasy which will never materialize. For those who are now arriving at their graduation day, the common question is, “Where did the time go?”Read More »Graduating with the Lord

“Now May He Who from the Dead” The Lutheran Hymnal 51

Christ’s final act before He ascended into heaven was to lift up His hands and bless His assembled disciples. And it was while He was blessing them that He was parted from them and taken up into heaven (Luke 24:50-51).

This parting picture of Jesus with His hands raised in blessing is most meaningful, a perpetual reminder that He continues to bless His Church on earth and will do so until He comes again. As Victor over sin and death seated at the right hand of the Father in heaven, Jesus gives the forgiveness of sins and the hope of eternal life to all who believe in Him.Read More »“Now May He Who from the Dead” The Lutheran Hymnal 51

How to Get a Good Night’s Sleep

“I will both lie down in peace, and sleep; for You alone,
O Lord, make me dwell in safety.”

(Psalm 4:8)

“I will both lie down in peace, and sleep.”

Our first reaction to these words may be, “Well, of course David slept in peace. He was the king of Israel; powerful, popular, wealthy. He lived in a palace. People referred to him as David the Giant Killer. He had no real worries.” However, when David wrote Psalm 4, he was not living in a palace or even in Jerusalem. Instead, he was fleeing for his life from his own son Absalom. Yet, amid such hardship and heartache, David was still able to sleep in peace. How? Psalm 4 provides the answer.Read More »How to Get a Good Night’s Sleep