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Lutheran Spokesman

Hymn 96 “Oh, Rejoice, Ye Christians, Loudly”

A HYMN OF GLORY LET US SING (FOURTEENTH IN A SERIES)

It may be a new year, but do you get the feeling that you’ve done it all before? Just like last year, you’ve watched the thirty-first of December fade out of sight and the first of January come into focus. Unless the Lord returns first, you’ll likely do the same again next year and the year after that.

In music, when certain lines repeat over and over again, it is called a refrain. Thus as the beginning of our year repeats, the words of Christian Keimann’s hymn also repeat through four stanzas: “Joy O joy, beyond all gladness, Christ hath done away with sadness!  Hence, all sorrow and repining, For the Sun of Grace is shining!Read More »Hymn 96 “Oh, Rejoice, Ye Christians, Loudly”

“BREAD OF LIFE” READINGS December 2016

TLH = The Lutheran Hymnal, 1941; WS = Worship Supplement 2000; [ ] = Biblical Events Noted

Date Verse Reading Comments [Festivals of the Church Year]

Dec 1 WS 796 Jeremiah 31:3-9 God never forsakes His believing children, but nourishes and cherishes His remnant.

Dec 2 TLH 493 Ezekiel 2:1-3:4 Although Ezekiel was being sent to a rebellious people, the power of God’s Word would be working through Him.

Dec 3 TLH 424 Jeremiah 32:1-25 Jeremiah wasn’t buying a field to farm it. The acreage was a reminder of God’s promise to restore His people.

Dec 5 TLH 207 John 20:1-18 “I have seen the Lord!” – Mary Magdalene could say it, and you and I will say it.Read More »“BREAD OF LIFE” READINGS December 2016

Hymn 58 “O Lord, How Shall I Meet Thee”

Imagine yourself as a Jew living in Jerusalem in the year we now call A.D. 301. Roman
rule over Judea embitters your life. Your religious leaders—the Pharisees—have burdened you with numerous invented religious “laws” which they say you must follow in order to be righteous in God’s eyes. Sadducees, the other prominent Jewish social/ religious/political element, control the high priest’s office and hold a majority in the Sanhedrin (the Jewish high court); but they are wealthy aristocratic appeasers of Rome who are entirely out of touch with, and much despised by, the common Jewish residents of Judea.Read More »Hymn 58 “O Lord, How Shall I Meet Thee”