Waiting to Come Home Milimani, Kenya
“Patience is a virtue.” This expression has reportedly been in use since the fourteenth century. It seems that the only time a person is reminded… Read More »Waiting to Come Home Milimani, Kenya
Lutheran Spokesman
“BREAD OF LIFE” READINGS July 2016
Date Verse Reading Comments
Jul 1 TLH 322 Psalm 143 Confessing our failure to do God’s will, we trust both in His mercy and in His future guidance.
Jul 2 TLH 526 Psalm 3 Protection and deliverance come from the Lord.
Jul 4 TLH 577 2 Samuel 18:28-19:4 David’s love would have given his life for sinful Absalom. Jesus’ love gave His life for all poor sinners.
Jul 5 TLH 234 1 Corinthians 2:6-14 God’s “secret wisdom” is the Gospel, revealed by the Spirit, which no human mind could have
figured out for itself.Read More »“BREAD OF LIFE” READINGS July 2016
“Lord, Who at Cana’s Wedding-Feast”
Hymn 620 is actually a prayer to Christ, offered in the context of a wedding ceremony. When at that wedding we sing “Thou dearer far than earthly guest,/ Vouchsafe Thy presence here” (verse 1), we are actually praying that Christ will be present at this wedding, even as He was present at the wedding in Cana, where He performed the first miracle in His public ministry.Read More »“Lord, Who at Cana’s Wedding-Feast”
“What a Contrast!”
“Now when these things had been thus prepared, the priests always went into the first part of the tabernacle, performing the services. But into the second part the high priest went alone once a year, not without blood, which he offered for himself and for the people’s sins committed in ignorance; the Holy Spirit indicating this, that the way into the Holiest of All was not yet made manifest while the first tabernacle was still standing. It was symbolic for the present time in which both gifts and sacrifices are offered which cannot make him who performed the service perfect in regard to the conscience—concerned only with foods and drinks, various washings, and fleshly ordinances imposed until the time of reformation” (Hebrews 9:6-10).Read More »“What a Contrast!”
Does the Bible Contain Mistakes?
No, the Bible doesn’t contain any mistakes. Everything it says is reliable and true, since it is given by inspiration of God. This is what… Read More »Does the Bible Contain Mistakes?
J.P. Koehler, 1859-1951
For forty-nine years, John Phillip Koehler had faithfully served the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS) as a parish pastor, a professor at Northwestern College, and… Read More »J.P. Koehler, 1859-1951
Resurrection Lutheran Church Corpus Christi, Texas
Names are important, for they have much to tell. When the members of Resurrection Lutheran Church in Corpus Christi, Texas, chose their new name, they… Read More »Resurrection Lutheran Church Corpus Christi, Texas
Living Hope Lutheran Church Appleton, Wisconsin
The congregation of Living Hope in the Appleton, Wisconsin, area has seen a lot of changes in the past few years. In 2014 the congregation… Read More »Living Hope Lutheran Church Appleton, Wisconsin
“BREAD OF LIFE” READINGS June 2016
Date / Verse / Reading / Comments
Jun 1TLH 128 Acts 10:30-48 Jesus Christ, His death, and His resurrection are for the benefit of all people.
Jun 2 WS 743 Psalm 8 Man is given authority over creation (Gen 1:26), and Christ is given authority over all (Mt 28:18). Lord, how great Thou art!
Jun 3 WS 783 Psalm 23 When the Lord leads, goodness and love shall follow.
Jun 4 TLH 428 1 Samuel 17:1-50 There was no sword in the hand of David, but he trusted God’s “sword” and God delivered.
Jun 6 TLH 418 James 2:1-13 Sinning against any part of God’s Law is a sin against all of it. Pointed out here are sins of partiality and of evil judgments.Read More »“BREAD OF LIFE” READINGS June 2016
Letting the Lord Have the Limelight
“I, the servant, am inadequate and unworthy. We, the Lord’s people united by His Word, are inadequate and unworthy. But that’s OK; that is exactly the way Jesus wants it to be.”
At Immanuel Lutheran Seminary, students will often sense inadequacy toward their role as future ministers of Christ. Their inadequacy is more than just a perception. It’s the only right response when looking at oneself with honesty and in view of what the ministry requires and deserves from those who serve. All things considered, the proper realization is this: “I, the servant, am inadequate and unworthy. We, the Lord’s people united by His Word, are inadequate and unworthy. But that’s OK; that is exactly the way Jesus wants it to be.”
As forerunner to the Messiah, John the Baptist understood this truth and how it pertained to his role in serving Jesus. He said in John 3:28-30: “You yourselves bear me witness, that I said, ‘I am not the Christ,’ but, ‘I have been sent before Him.’ He who has the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice. Therefore this joy of mine is fulfilled. He must increase, but I must decrease.”
John knew the key to success in the work of proclaiming the Gospel. It’s not about the preacher or the missionary; it’s not about the members or the prospects either. It’s about Jesus. He, the Savior and Lord of the Church, must increase; but we—pastors and teachers, students and members—must decrease. Easier said than done, one might say. We all know how to make the work of God’s kingdom be about us in some way: our increasing workload, our lack of time and resources, our inability to do this or that. Our flesh makes self-awareness become self-absorption. As we increase in our own eyes, that too is a part of our inadequacy.Read More »Letting the Lord Have the Limelight