LEARNING TENDERNESS FROM THE MASTER
Pastor Paul Naumann • Tacoma, Washington
“Be kind to one another, tenderhearted…” (Ephesians 4:32).
Articles
GOD’S OBSCURE SAINTS
(Seventh in a Series) This edifying series of chapel talks comes from the archives of our Spokesman Assistant Editor, Prof. Em. Paul R. Koch •… Read More »GOD’S OBSCURE SAINTS
“Pay It Forward”
31st CLC CONVENTION
June 16-19, 2014
Immanuel Lutheran College, Eau Claire, WisconsinTHEME:
“God Our Savior Desires All Men to be Saved!” (1 Timothy 2:3-4 NKJV)
Essay 1: Jesus is the one Mediator of that truth! (1 Timothy 2:5-6)
Essay 2: We are appointed to proclaim that truth! (1 Timothy 2:7)
“For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time, for which I was appointed a preacher and an apostle—I am speaking the truth in Christ and not lying—a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth.” (1 Timothy 2:3-7)
Back in the year 2000 the movie Pay It Forward was released, based on a book by the same title.
In that connection students in a social studies class were given the assignment to put into action a plan that would change the world for the better. As the story goes, one seventh grade boy came up with the idea that a person who had been done a favor should do a favor for three others—paying it forward instead of paying it back.Read More »“Pay It Forward”
The Last Picture
The recording of family histories has changed over the years, from grainy sepia tone, to black and white, to full vivid color, to digital. The storage of these family memories has likewise transitioned from shoeboxes to archival paper with adhesive corners to magnetic pages in bound books to the ethereal album on a smartphone or in the electronic cloud.
Regardless of form and storage, a moment of history frozen in a photograph Read More »The Last Picture
WHATEVER HAPPENED TO SIN?
“This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Read More »WHATEVER HAPPENED TO SIN?
Doing the Father’s Will
MEDITATIONS ON JESUS’ SERMON ON THE MOUNT: MATTHEW’S GOSPEL, CHAPTERS FIVE THROUGH SEVEN “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom… Read More »Doing the Father’s Will
GOD’S OBSCURE SAINTS
(Sixth in a Series) This edifying series of chapel talks comes from the archives of our Spokesman Assistant Editor, Prof. Em. Paul R. Koch •… Read More »GOD’S OBSCURE SAINTS
Doubt Not
Then He said to Thomas, “Reach your finger here, and look at My hands; and reach your hand here, and put it into My side. Do not be unbelieving, but
believing.” And Thomas answered and said to Him, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus said to him, “Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed.
Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” John 20:27-29
Doubt Not
Doubt not, Thomas.
Behold love’s scars
in hands,
in feet,
in side.
He lives who once had died.
Jesus — the Good Shepherd and the Lamb of God
One of the distinctive ways the one true God reveals Himself in Holy Scripture is by referring to Himself as the great “I AM” God. When the Lord appeared to Moses in the burning bush to call him as one of His prophets and Moses asked Him to give His name by which He is to be known, God said, “I AM WHO I AM” (Exodus 3:14).
By identifying Himself with this remarkable name, the Lord was revealing Himself as the very special personal divine being who always was and always will be.
The Son of God who appeared to Moses on this occasion (Exodus 3:2-4) is the great “I AM” God together with the Father and the Holy Spirit. In John’s Gospel record, we find Jesus referring to Himself in various ways as the “I AM” God. To this unique name Jesus added special descriptive identifiers such as “I am the bread of life” (6:35), “I am the light of the world” (8:12), “I am the good shepherd” (10:11), “I am the resurrection and the life” (11:25), and “I am the way, the truth, and the life” (14:6).
In each of these cases, Jesus makes known wonderful truths about Himself which serve for our blessing and are a source of great comfort. For example, when Jesus tells us He is the bread of life, He helps us to understand that He is spiritual nourishment for our souls, who gives us spiritual and eternal life so that we will never die.Read More »Jesus — the Good Shepherd and the Lamb of God
A Rite of Passage into Spiritual Maturity
THE RITE OF CONFIRMATION
“…that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ.” (Ephesians 4:14-15)
“For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe. But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.” (Hebrews 5:13-14)Read More »A Rite of Passage into Spiritual Maturity