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”
“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!”
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?
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
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
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
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
“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
It was just a small Baptist church, located in a poor rural area of the country and made up of parishioners who themselves possessed very little in terms of material wealth. The salary they were able to pay their pastor was barely adequate, often consisting partly of produce grown by the parishioners—which they gave him in lieu of cash.
The pastor had been newly married when he accepted the call to serve them seven years earlier. Then came children. Now that the pastor and his wife were the parents of a growing family, their financial difficulty was becoming more serious, and it may have seemed providential to him that he had recently received a call to be the pastor of a large and prosperous Baptist church in the city. Read More »Hymn 464 “Blest Be the Tie That Binds”
“Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian. And he led the flock to the back of the desert,… Read More »It Is of the Lord’s Mercies That We Are Not Consumed
