What’s New With YOU? Updates from congregations around the church of the Lutheran Confession But now, thus says the Lord, who created you, O Jacob, And He who formed you, O Israel: “Fear not, for… Fiftieth Anniversary of the Mankato Church Fire
NOTES FROM THE FIELD In this series, those involved with CLC foreign missions profile one aspect of our overseas endeavors. It is truly astounding how the awe-inspiring Gospel message leads to heart-warming connections that were… A Promising Leader in Liberia
ILC NEWSLETTER Every other month we get an update on what’s been happening recently at our Immanuel Lutheran High School, College and Seminary in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. For regular readers of the Lutheran Spokesman, David… Introducing A New Professor
TLH = The Lutheran Hymnal, 1941; WS = Worship Supplement 2000; LSB = Lutheran Service Book, 2006
Date Hymns Reading Comments
Jun 2 WS 734 John 20:11-18 Mary was so distracted by her own grief that she didn’t recognize the Lord right away. What was it that got her attention again? The Word of Jesus. That Word calls to us by
name too.
Jun 3 TLH 188; LSB 472 John 20:19-31 Jesus teaches us that it’s not necessary to see Him in order to believe in Him. Again, it’s the Word of Christ that works in our hearts, not what we have seen or not seen.
COVER STORY – BLESSINGS OF FELLOWSHIP
“Say to your brethren, ‘My people,’ And to your sisters, ‘Mercy is shown.’”
(Hosea 2:1)
The above passage is the conclusion to one of the most amazing human love stories ever told. God told His prophet Hosea to marry a prostitute, so he married a woman named Gomer. She was repeatedly unfaithful to him. She bore him three children but he was not their true father. Yet Hosea forgave her, loved her, and cared for her and her children. After all that, she left him and somehow ended up totally destitute. Hosea, in an amazing act of love, bought her back to be his own wife again and cared for her.
Gomer was a vivid picture of the rebellious people of Israel. They were committing spiritual adultery by worshipping idols instead of the Lord. God had named Gomer’s daughter “Lo-Ruhamah”—No Mercy. He named her second son “Lo-Ammi”—Not My People. After loving and forgiving Israel for several hundred years, God indicated that they were no longer His people and He would not have mercy on them. Without God’s protection, the Assyrians conquered them, scattered them among the nations, and they became destitute. Then, in an amazing act of love, God promised to buy them back to be His people once again.An Amazing Act of Love
CONVENTION PREVIEW
God’s plans are not always our plans. The Church of the Lutheran Confession’s planned 2020 Convention was not held due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Instead, the called workers and delegates will meet this year on June 24-27 at Immanuel Lutheran College in Eau Claire, Wisconsin.
In Acts 15 the Holy Spirit records a controversy that struck the early Christian church. “And certain men came down from Judea and taught the brethren, ‘Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.’ Therefore, when Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and dispute with them, they determined that Paul and Barnabas and certain others of them should go up to Jerusalem, to the apostles and elders, about this question.” (Acts 15:1-2)About Our Father’s Work
A HYMN OF GLORY LET US SING
Years ago, pastors would sometimes introduce the Creed in the Sunday service with words such as these: “Let us unite with the whole Christian Church on earth in confession of the Christian faith.” That formula, repeated week after week, was a worthwhile reminder of something easily forgotten. When we participate in a worship service, we may be only two or three gathered together in the name of Jesus Christ, but we are part of the Holy Christian Church, the total number of those who believe in Him.WS 798 “God We Praise You”
GEMS FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT (Read Psalm 27) Change is a part of life. In a real sense, change defines life. Every living thing is a changing thing. But as Christians, we never face change… In the Midst of Change, a God Who Doesn’t
STUDIES IN THE NEW TESTAMENT Where do wars and fights come from among you? Do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members? You lust and do not have. You… Live at Peace and Not at War
WALTHER’S LAW AND GOSPEL One of the hallmarks of the Lutheran Church is its proper understanding and application of the Bible’s two main teachings—Law and Gospel. Dr. C.F.W. Walther’s seminal work, The Proper Distinction Between… A Fundamental Difference
