COVER STORY – ALL SAINTS The celebration of All Saints Sunday has been largely abandoned by many Christian denominations. Because of a problem. A poll would quantify or establish the problem. Ask one hundred people… The Problem of “Saints”
COVER STORY – REFORMATION
When we think of the Lutheran Reformation, we no doubt think of great men like Martin Luther, Philip Melanchthon, Johannes Bugenhagen, and others. They were all front and center in bringing back the glorious truths of “Scripture Alone,” especially our salvation by “Grace Alone,” through “Faith Alone.” However, the Reformation was not just about the grace of God, the Reformation itself was a wonderful act of His grace.
Mankind always has a propensity for turning away from God but has no power to turn back to Him. Psalm 81:11-12 says of the nation of Israel, “But My people would not heed My voice, and Israel would have none of Me. So I gave them over to their own stubborn hearts, to walk in their own counsels.” (ESV)Reformation—An Act of God’s Grace!
ERROR’S ECHO In this series we take a look back at some of the most notorious errors and heresies that have threatened the church over the centuries, as well as the subtle (and not so… Paulicianism
NOTES FROM THE FIELD In this series, thoseinvolved with CLC foreign missions profile one aspect of our overseas endeavors. It is not always for us to understand or explain why things do not go the… Progress in Nepal
DEVOTION—BACK-TO-SCHOOL
“Welcome to the new normal!” “I wish things could get back to normal!” “Finally, we’re getting back to normal!”
I have heard (and even expressed) similar sentiments since new guidance, mandates, and rules began to upset our lives a year ago last March. But I would ask you, what is “normal,” and do we really want to return to it? This question is especially fitting when it comes to our Christian schools, which will be opening their doors to students again this month.
“Normal” describes that which is expected, that which is considered typical. So, what was normal before the pandemic? Parents murdering their children, legally and illegally; people cheating and stealing from one another; political turmoil; areas of our world devastated by war and poverty; and, oh yes, we did have disease and death before COVID-19! Is this a world that we can call “normal” by any stretch of the imagination? Is this what we want to go back to?
God had a much higher standard for the world when He created it. “Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good.” (Genesis 1:31) In the beginning plants, animals, nature, and mankind all worked together in perfect order and harmony with the Creator. That was God’s idea of normal! Yet man had a different idea from God’s. His rebellion against God in the Garden brought nothing but the disharmony and destruction mentioned earlier.The Real Normal
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. In addition to welcoming our freshmen and other… Meet the New Staff Members
COVER STORY – RETURN TO CHURCH
During the past year of pandemic isolation, we all have been very thankful to God that He has provided us with the means to share His Word through live streaming and other venues. Thanks be to God that He has spared the large majority of our members from severe health problems due to the virus! Now that restrictions have been eased and the danger has subsided somewhat, it’s a good time to remind each other of the blessings of in-person fellowship.
The word fellowship has to do with sharing. Church fellowship can be described as “whatever Christians do together as spiritual partners.” Examples include worship, prayer, singing hymns and spiritual songs, sharing the Lord’s Supper, Christian education, mutual encouragement in God’s Word, and mission work.
God wants to bless His believers through the interactive exercise of their faith with others who share the same beliefs in Jesus, founded on the truth of His Word. This fellowship that we share was never meant to be purely passive. Yes, it’s possible to do these things in a limited way from a distance, but the best blessings come when you give as well as receive:“Welcome Back to Church!”
COVER STORY – THE DIVINE CALL
Carrying out the Lord’s kingdom work under a divine call is a truly awesome privilege. It is, at the same time, both enormously gratifying and profoundly sobering to recognize that God Himself has elected you to the office you hold. The Holy Spirit through Paul communicated the weight and origin of the divine call with these words: “Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood.” (Acts 20:28 ESV) He taught the gravity of the divine call by reminding us that the work is all about caring for souls that “he obtained with his own blood”—human beings for whom our Savior suffered and died. He also assured us that the origin of the divine call is God Himself .
The context of these words is also informative. They were spoken to the elders of the church at Ephesus. From Miletus, on the return leg of his third missionary journey, Paul had asked the elders from Ephesus to come to him. We therefore conclude from these words (“in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers”) that every divine call has the same source or origin—God the Holy Spirit—and that every single individual laboring under a divine call is charged by God Himself with the care of His own beloved children. Every Christian called to provide any aspect of soul-care to others is included. Divine calls are not limited therefore to the obvious (pastors, teachers, and missionaries), but include also every Sunday school teacher, every church council member, every elder and deacon, every layman that the congregation calls to conduct a Sunday service in the Pastor’s absence or to assist with the distribution of the elements in Holy Communion.Workers in the Word, Called by God
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
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
