A SLICE OF LIFE IN THE CLC SNAPSHOTS OF CONGREGATIONS FROM AROUND THE CHURCH OF THE LUTHERAN CONFESSION Millston is a community of 135 residents in west-central Wisconsin, sixty miles southeast of Eau Claire. U.S.…
In the CLC we generally look at overseas outreach as the job of the Board of Missions. And when it comes to a sending agency, a synod-supported mission board is one traditional way of doing…
IN THE PIPELINE Want to meet the person who may be your next pastor or Christian day school teacher? This series profiles the men and women who are preparing for the public teaching and preaching…
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. The only entry gate into Christian education is…
TLH = The Lutheran Hymnal, 1941;
WS = Worship Supplement 2000;
LSB = Lutheran Service Book, 2006
Date Verse Reading Comments
Dec 1 TLH 415 Matthew 24:1-14 Before the end comes, things will get worse, but salvation is in store for the believers in Christ.
Dec 2 TLH 526/LSB 659; Matthew 24:15-34 The destruction of Jerusalem would be a tremendous tragedy, but not all would be lost. God would still care for His children.
Dec 4 TLH 611 Matthew 24:35-51 Heaven and earth will pass away suddenly, but believers will be safe in the arms of their Savior, Jesus.
Dec 5TLH 609Matthew 25:1-13May God give us heavenly wisdom so that we are eager and prepared for the Last Day.
Are there any more amazing words than that? We sing these words of “Hark, the Herald Angels Sing” (TLH 94) every year. Those words might roll off our tongues with hardly a thought. In fact, many secular choirs sing this famous hymn of Charles Wesley at this time of year without even pausing to wonder what “God and sinners reconciled!” actually means.
Could there be two more polar opposites than the holy God and wretched sinners? Could there be any more irreconcilable differences? It would be an astonishing thing that would grab the attention of the whole world if North and South Korea could be reconciled and find peace with each other. It would make your jaw drop in amazement if a serial killer would become best friends with the families of his victims.
Could irreverent rebellious creatures, who mock and blaspheme the God Who created them and revel in everything God forbids, be reconciled to the God Whom they despise? Should God, Who cannot tolerate sin and Who must punish every sin—yes, the God Who destroyed the entire world in a flood because of the wickedness of mankind—be reconciled to the sinners who hated Him and even crucified His own Son? That would the news of all the ages.
DEVOTION – ADVENT
“And what I say to you, I say to all: Watch!” (Mark 13:37)
“Place your order today to receive it by December 24.” Modern shipping services are pretty remarkable. Most orders we place online arrive on our doorstep three days later. If we’re in a real pinch, we can pay extra and receive that package by the very next day. Using our smart phone or computers, we can even track those Christmas gifts we ordered and learn the day of their arrival. The more important the package, the more we want to be aware of when it will arrive.
Each Sunday, the church keeps tracking another, more important arrival—an arrival that will change everything forever! “He shall come again to judge the quick [the living] and the dead” we confess to one another in the Apostles’ Creed.
A HYMN OF GLORY LET US SING (TWENTY-FIFTH IN A SERIES) God had not spoken to His people for 430 years. More than four centuries had come and gone since Malachi had declared God’s final…
GEMS FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT (Please read 1 Kings 19:1-18 for context.) Elijah was feeling tired and dejected. To him, all his devotion and hard work in serving the Lord seemed to make little difference.…
STUDIES IN THE NEW TESTAMENT “By faith Moses, when he was born, was hidden three months by his parents, because they saw he was a beautiful child; and they were not afraid of the king’s…
