I used to work for a major corporation, responding on their behalf to customers’ social media complaints. My job was to engage customers and resolve online conflicts. We had strict standards: Never respond in haste.… The Apology to the Augsburg Confession
“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” (Hebrews 11:1) The village of Cambridge, Wisconsin is located about thirty-five miles east of Madison and ten miles from the… Faith Evangelical Lutheran Church Cambridge, Wisconsin
Editor’s note: this article should not be taken as this magazine’s approval — tacit or otherwise — of the life and works of Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest. The Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest, in… Martin Luther Bible School
“It was he [Jesus] who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that… The Retirement of Professor Paul Schaller
TLH = The Lutheran Hymnal, 1941; WS = Worship Supplement 2000; LSB = Lutheran Service Book, 2006
Date Hymns Reading Comments
Jun 1 TLH 456/LSB 545; James 5:7-16 Patience and prayer go well together.
Jun 3 TLH 156/LSB 530; Acts 15:1-21 Having considered the Word of God, the council recognized that the Gentiles were also saved by grace through faith in Jesus.
Jun 4 TLH 355/(LSB 526) Galatians 1:6-12 The Gospel message is not man-made; it has been revealed to us from God Himself.
Jun 5 TLH 529/LSB 719 Proverbs 16:1-9 Let the Lord have the last word in your life. Let His plans be your plans.
Jun 6 TLH 324/LSB 609 Galatians 2:1-16 You can’t justify yourself before God by doing better at keeping His rules.
Jun 7 TLH 390/LSB 597; Galatians 3:1-14 Beware that you don’t ever substitute the Law for the Gospel as the Galatians were doing.“BREAD OF LIFE” READINGS June 2019
COVER STORY – PENTECOST
Our lives are constantly changing. Occasionally, those changes feel life-shattering. We move, change jobs, get sick, or lose a friend or family member; the list could go on. We wonder how we can continue, but God knows that His plan for us is not broken. God picks up the pieces of our broken lives and makes us His new creation. “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus
for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” (Ephesians 2:10)
Consider the life of Jacob. He fled his home after deceiving his father, fearing that Esau would kill him. He saw firsthand the kind of healing that God is capable of when he returned to his homeland and was met by his brother’s embrace (Genesis 33:4). He had faced adversity of many kinds and had been blessed by God with twelve sons; then he was told that his beloved son Joseph was dead. “And all his sons and all his daughters arose to comfort him; but he refused to be comforted, and he said, ‘For I shall go down into the grave to my son in mourning.’ Thus his father wept for him.” (Genesis 37:35) His life was broken in a way that no human comfort could mend.
God’s plan was bigger than Jacob understood. He used Joseph to help prepare for a seven-year famine. But God didn’t care only about the big picture. He knew the pain that Jacob was living with and healed him by reuniting him with his son. “Then Israel said, ‘It is enough. Joseph my son is still alive. I will go and see him before I die.’” (Genesis 45:28) God Has a Plan for You
DEVOTION – FATHER’S DAY
How difficult is it to get a national holiday started? If one were to look at the history behind Father’s Day, the conclusion would be—quite difficult.
It seems as far back as the Middle Ages, Catholic Europe held a Father’s Day of sorts on the Feast of St. Joseph. However, the practice just didn’t seem to catch on. Several cities in the U.S. attempted to get something going with parades and speeches in the early 1900’s, but still—nothing doing. Most attempts to get a Father’s Day going were seen as collusion between the promoters and manufacturers of ties, tobacco pipes and other traditional father-type gifts. Congress rejected no fewer than three bills attempting to establish the holiday, even with the backing of several presidents. Finally, dads got their day when Richard Nixon made the holiday permanent in 1972.
In the beginning, Father’s Day was received with cynical and sarcastic attacks and jokes. Not much has changed. Watch any TV program or movie and look at how the father is being portrayed. Fathers are often viewed as dimwitted knuckle draggers outsmarted by their wives and offspring. In most presentations, these narrow-minded men need their opinions changed, or at least need to be taught a lesson.Our Father’s Day
A HYMN OF GLORY LET US SING “The King of kings, and Lord of lords, who alone has immortality, dwelling in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see, to whom be honor… TLH 233 “Come, Holy Ghost, Creator Blest”
GEMS FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT Many prayers in the Psalms are offered by people going through difficult times; but most of them express a measure of confidence and end on a note of hope. That… Praying in the Darkness
STUDIES IN THE NEW TESTAMENT “Do not be carried about with various and strange doctrines. For it is good that the heart be established by grace, not with foods which have not profited those who… No Substitute
