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Devotions

Following the Risen Lord with Confidence

DEVOTION—RESURRECTION LIVING

The story was told by one of my former teachers of a time when the lower grade classroom of Messiah Lutheran School in Hales Corners was working on an art project. I was in second grade at the time, and my classmate, Gretchen, already having finished her project, walked up to my desk and asked if I wanted help finishing mine. Apparently, my response was, “Let me see yours first.” Isn’t that a typical response? Even from childhood, most of us just don’t like getting ourselves into commitments before we know exactly what we can expect.

That wasn’t the response of another young Samuel, however. When the great prophet was still just a child serving in the tabernacle, the Lord called out to him by night. “Samuel!” Three times he ran to Eli the priest and responded, “Here I am!” (1 Samuel 3:1-10 ESV) Finally, he recognized the Lord’s voice and answered Him, “Speak, for your servant hears.” Notice the readiness in all of Samuel’s replies. “Here I am . . . Speak, for your servant hears.” With the confident trust of a child, it’s as if he’s saying, “I don’t know what is coming or what you will require of me; but whatever it is, I will listen to and follow you.” Read More »Following the Risen Lord with Confidence

“BREAD OF LIFE” READINGS MARCH 2021

TLH = The Lutheran Hymnal, 1941; WS = Worship Supplement 2000; LSB = Lutheran Service Book, 2006

Date Hymns Reading Comments

Mar 1 TLH 333 Nahum 1:1-11 Ninevah was the capital of the Assyrian kingdom. Assyria had brought an end to the northern kingdom of Israel. Judah was in trouble too, but Assyria’s end was coming.

Mar 2 TLH 487 Nahum 1:12-15 God would bring about Assyria’s destruction because of its wickedness, but also in order to preserve Judah for the eventual arrival of Jesus Christ.

Mar 3 TLH 659 (LSB 774) John 6:1-15 By the sign of the loaves and fish, the people recognized Jesus as someone great, but they didn’t catch on that He was there to feed their souls, not just their stomachs.Read More »“BREAD OF LIFE” READINGS MARCH 2021

Union in Communion

DEVOTION—LORD’S SUPPER

A “Why is this night different from all others?” If you had grown up in a Jewish household, you would probably know the significance of this question. Each year, at each Passover, one of the children at the table would have asked this question of the head of the Passover meal.

On the night of His betrayal (Maundy Thursday), as the Lord Jesus celebrated the last Passover with His disciples, that question would take on a new and more important meaning. Sitting at the table with the disciples that night was the Passover Lamb of God. Soon His blood would be shed as He was punished for the sins of the world. Because of His shed blood, God passes over our sins and spares us from the eternal plague of hell that we deserved.Read More »Union in Communion

“BREAD OF LIFE” READINGS February 2021

TLH = The Lutheran Hymnal, 1941; WS = Worship Supplement 2000; LSB = Lutheran Service Book, 2006

Date Hymns Reading Comments
Feb 1 TLH 494 Micah 4:1-5 These prophecies have come to pass, for Jesus has come and His Word has gone
out to all lands, the Word of peace and forgiveness.
Feb 2 TLH 383 (LSB 557) Micah 4:6-13 “In that day” is our day now, the day of the New Testament Church. The Lord Jesusrules over us in love and has redeemed us from the hands of our enemies.
Feb 3 TLH 105 (LSB 389) John 3:16-21 We are saved by faith in the Son of God, therefore let us live in the light!
Feb 4 TLH 348; LSB 534 John 3:22-36 Jesus was sent from God and was greater than all the prophets. Still today He speaksthe Words of God to us.
Feb 5 TLH 559 (LSB 882) 2 Kings 10:17-31 The Lord used King Jehu of Israel to bring final judgment on the family of King Ahab and to put down the worship of Baal. Without such interventions, would there have
been any faith left in Israel?Read More »“BREAD OF LIFE” READINGS February 2021

The Ashes of Repentance

COVER STORY – ASH WEDNESDAY

The custom of observing a time of fasting, prayer, and repentance leading up to the celebration of Christ’s resurrection began very early in the Christian church, but practices and customs varied among congregations in different areas. The First Council of Nicea (A.D. 325) unified the Christian church in observing Lent as a period of forty days of fasting and prayer.
In A.D. 601, Gregory the Great decreed that there should be no fasting on Sunday, which was considered a day of celebration of Christ’s resurrection. So in order to maintain the forty days of fasting, he changed the beginning of Lent to Wednesday. Some sources suggest that he was also the one who initiated the practice of smearing ashes on the forehead of worshipers, saying, “Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return” (see Genesis 3:19). Thus the first day of Lent became known as Ash Wednesday.
From the most ancient of times in the Bible, ashes have been used to express sorrow and grief. Ashes were used in times of grief over some injustice or loss (2 Samuel 13:19, Esther 4:1), or as a way of humbling oneself before God in prayer (Daniel 9:3, Genesis 18:27), and—perhaps most of all—to express sorrow for sins (Job 42:3–6, Jeremiah 6:26, Matthew 11:21). For these reasons people would sit in ashes, roll in them, or sprinkle them over their head.
The use of ashes can be a vivid reminder that we ourselves are nothing but dust and ashes. They remind us of our sin, one consequence of which is the inevitable prospect of being reduced to dust and ashes again. Fasting can be a very concrete reminder of our repentance over sin. If you remember that your fasting is a sign of repentance, the relentless hunger pains can help keep you mindful of repentance throughout the day.
However, God also warns about the human propensity to corrupt these signs of repentance. On the one hand, we might feel superior and holier for fasting or displaying the ashes on our forehead. On the other hand, it can simply become an empty action that has no corresponding repentance in the heart.Read More »The Ashes of Repentance

Where You Go, I Go

DEVOTION—LENT

At the beginning of the book of Ruth, we’re introduced to three widows: Ruth, Orpah, and their mother-in-law, Naomi. Naomi bids her daughters-in-law to go and find new husbands. Orpah does, “But Ruth said: ‘Entreat me not to leave you, Or to turn back from following after you; For wherever you go, I will go; And wherever you lodge, I will lodge; Your people shall be my people, And your God, my God.’ ” (Ruth 1:16) Ruth swore an oath that she would stay with Naomi. Ruth didn’t choose to stay because of a legal requirement, but because of her love for her mother-in-law and for her God. She showed trust that Naomi would not lead her to destruction and that God would keep them both in His loving-kindness. Ruth went with Naomi and found another husband, Boaz, and Ruth and Boaz were the great-grandparents of King David. Read More »Where You Go, I Go

“BREAD OF LIFE” READINGS JANUARY 2021

TLH = The Lutheran Hymnal, 1941; WS = Worship Supplement 2000; LSB = Lutheran Service Book, 2006

Date Hymns Reading Comments
Jan 1 TLH 114 (LSB 900) John 1:1-5 Jesus is described as both life and light. Think about how these descriptions are so fitting.
Jan 3 TLH 76 (LSB 383) John 1:6-13 Jesus enlightens us and makes us His own. We do not enlighten ourselves. Left to ourselves,
we would reject Him.
Jan 4 TLH 85 (LSB 358) John 1:14 In one verse we have the most profound mystery—Jesus is both human and divine in the
same person. On top of that, grace and truth come from Him!
Jan 5 TLH 86 (LSB 381) Matthew 1:1-25 We end the twelve days of Christmas with a recital of Jesus’ ancestry and a review of the birth
of Him who is called “God with us.” Read More »“BREAD OF LIFE” READINGS JANUARY 2021

Life Lessons

DEVOTION—PRO-LIFE

Of all the political, social, and moral debates that have gone on for the past forty years, it would be hard to come up with a more sensitive topic than abortion. Since the U.S. Supreme Court decided Roe v. Wade in 1973, 60 million children have been ripped from the safety of their mothers’ wombs and brutally murdered. That is not the debate, those are the facts. And many experts believe the true number of abortions has been greatly under reported.
Contrary to many opinions, the debate is not about when life begins. For years people entangled themselves in endless arguments about whether life begins at fertilization, or when the heart starts beating, or when brain waves are detected, or when the first breath is taken, and on and on. Very few would deny that the unborn child is alive. If only our government applied the same standard to humans that it applies to eagles! According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act “provides criminal penalties for persons who ‘take, possess, sell, purchase, barter, offer to sell, purchase or barter, transport, export or import, at any time or any manner any bald eagle . . . [or any golden eagle], alive, dead, or any part, nest, or egg thereof.’ ” Is an egg alive? Yes, we would agree there is a baby eagle waiting to be hatched. The act provides penalties of up to $200,000 and a year in prison for the first offense.Read More »Life Lessons

“BREAD OF LIFE” READINGS DECEMBER 2020

TLH = The Lutheran Hymnal, 1941; WS = Worship Supplement 2000; LSB = Lutheran Service Book, 2006

Date Hymns Reading Comments
Dec 1 TLH 75 (LSB 354) 1 Kings 21:1-29 “There was never anyone like Ahab, who sold himself to do evil in the eyes of the Lord. . . .” Yet when he humbled himself before the Lord, the Lord held off on His immediate judgment. What
mercy! You too will find that He is merciful.
Dec 2 TLH 289 1 Kings 22:1-28 Four hundred false prophets vs. one true prophet. Whose word do you think will be right? Remember that just because “everyone” says it, that doesn’t make it true. Only God’s Word is always
true.
Dec 3 TLH 61 (LSB 347) 1 Kings 22:29-44 Micaiah was right because his word was from the Lord. Ahab was killed while faithful Jehoshaphat became king in Judah.Read More »“BREAD OF LIFE” READINGS DECEMBER 2020

Where is John Pointing?

DEVOTION—JOHN THE BAPTIST

Have you experienced the frustration that comes when you try to point at something exciting, only for your audience to miss it? This happens frequently in my family when we’re on the road. I will see something that I want my young children to see as well. I will point and exclaim, “Look over there!” And my boys will be staring at my hand instead. I will more vigorously thrust my pointed finger back and forth to get them to look in that direction while their eyes will follow the movement of my hand and miss the moment entirely. Toddlers will do this. Don’t adults sometimes do the same? Read More »Where is John Pointing?