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August 2018

“BREAD OF LIFE” READINGS August 2018

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

Date Verse Reading Comments

Aug 1 TLH 24 Psalm 92 The Lord is victorious over His (and our) enemies.

Aug 2 TLH 47 Proverbs 15:1-9 Wise people guard their tongues, speaking gently for the benefit of others.

Aug 3 TLH 136 Ezekiel 43:1-10 Ezekiel’s vision of the perfect temple reminded the people that God would come among them. This took place when Immanuel (“God with us”) came.

Aug 4 TLH 80 John 1:1-14 Jesus Christ, God in the flesh, came to dwell with us.

Aug 6 TLH 56/LSB 697; 1 Thessalonians 5:12-24 As you wait for the second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, be joyful and live in love!

Aug 7 TLH 28 Psalm 93 The world the Lord has created will remain by His mighty power until He chooses to end it.

Aug 8 TLH 1 Psalm 95 Do not harden your hearts, but come joyfully before the Lord Who cares for you.Read More »“BREAD OF LIFE” READINGS August 2018

Worship the Lord

COVER STORY – WORSHIP

“Give unto the Lord the glory due to His name; Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness.” (Psalm 29:2)

We truly owe God our worship, for He is our Creator and has given us everything we need for our body and life. More than that, He has given His Son to redeem us and has chosen us in Christ to be His children, as Paul says, “Just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world.” (Ephesians 1:4)

Yes, we ought to “Give unto the Lord the glory due to His name” in worship. But what is true worship? You may think of worship in terms of gathering in church to sing hymns, listen to a sermon, and offer prayers to God. Those are acts of worship, but can we really give the glory that is due His name in a one-hour-a-week service?

In Romans 12:1, the Apostle Paul urges us to do much more: “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.” (ESV) Paul speaks of our worship in terms of sacrifice.

Old Testament worship revolved around sacrifices.

There were many different sacrifices in the Old Testament, but they basically fell into two categories: sacrifices to atone for sin and sacrifices of thanksgiving and praise. When you think about it, our worship really revolves around those same two types of sacrifices.

God is not asking us to offer ourselves as a sacrifice to atone for sin. Like the animal sacrifices of the Old Testament, our bodies would never be worthy enough to atone for even one sin. The writer to the Hebrews says, “Every priest stands ministering daily and offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins.” (10:11) All those sacrifices pointed to Jesus, Who alone could truly atone for our sins. As the passage in Hebrews 10 continues, “For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified.” (10:14)Read More »Worship the Lord

The Gospel God’s Grace Comes to Us

DEVOTION – THE MEANS OF GRACE

Ah, summer vacation! Time to get away from the city and enjoy nature around us. There are national and state parks to visit, tents to be pitched, campfires to sit around, and lakes to “get away” to. This time of year it’s not unusual to hear the comment, “I feel closer to God in nature than I do in church.”This doesn’t surprise us too much; after all, nature is God’s handiwork. He is the builder of everything we see around us. It all bears His divine “thumb-print,” if you will. His power is seen in the mighty redwoods of California, the majestic peaks of the Rocky Mountains, and the crashing waves of the Atlantic Ocean. On a cloudless night, hints of God’s divine nature can be seen in the belt of the Milky Way and all the starry host. While nature’s grandeur may tell us of the Creator’s great power, wisdom, and eternal nature, it does not bring us His grace or announce His forgiveness. Hiking through the woods will not comfort the troubled conscience with the assurance of sins forgiven. Summiting a mountain will not tell you how to reach that even higher peak, heaven.Read More »The Gospel God’s Grace Comes to Us

TLH 6, LSB 924 “Kyrie, God Father in Heaven Above”

A HYMN OF GLORY LET US SING (THIRTY-THIRD IN A SERIES)

On His way to Jerusalem, Jesus passed through a village where He was met by a group of ten men who were afflicted with leprosy. Not daring to approach too closely—for lepers were forbidden close contact with the general population—they called out to Him from a distance, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” (Luke 17:13) On another occasion two blind men followed Jesus and cried out to Him, “Son of David, have mercy on us!” (Matthew 9:27)

Their cries for mercy were not in vain. Jesus healed the ten lepers and opened the eyes of the two blind men.Read More »TLH 6, LSB 924 “Kyrie, God Father in Heaven Above”