“I’M GLAD YOU ASKED!” (TWENTY-FOURTH IN A SERIES) Pastors Answer Frequently-Asked Questions If I started by telling you what it is, you might not read anything that follows. So let’s start by explaining its purpose…
The ROAD TO REFORMATION In preparation for the 500th anniversary of the Lutheran Reformation, we are presenting a brief survey of the life of Martin Luther. The series will culminate in the October 2017 issue…
A SLICE OF LIFE IN THE CLC Snapshots of Congregations from Around the Church of the Lutheran Confession “I lift up my eyes to the hills — where does my help come from? My help…
NOTES FROM THE FIELD In this series, thoseinvolved with CLC foreign missions profile one aspect of our overseas endeavors. Imagine this: you are conducting the Sunday worship service, completely unaware that a commotion is brewing…
IN THE PIPELINE (SIXTH IN A SERIES) This series profiles the men and women who are preparing for the public teaching and preaching ministry at our Immanuel Lutheran College and Seminary in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. …
“We Send You On In Jesus’ Name.” On Monday, January 2, 2017, a commissioning service for Missionary Todd Ohlmann was held at Messiah Lutheran Church in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. CLC Board of Missions member Nathanael…
TLH = The Lutheran Hymnal, 1941; WS = Worship Supplement 2000; LSB = Lutheran Service Book, 2006
Date Verse Reading Comments
Jan 2 TLH 123:1-4 Psalm 90:1-6 We have to admit that we are nothing next to God. What grace that He takes notice
of us at all!
Jan 3 TLH 123:5-6 Psalm 90:7-10 Even those sins we are not aware of are seen by the eyes of our God.
Jan 4 TLH 123:7-8 Psalm 90:11-17 The Lord’s forgiveness, compassion, and unfailing love shall bless us all our days.
Jan 5 TLH 134 John 3:1-4 Jesus revealed Himself as the One sent from God, and the miraculous signs confirmed it.
Jan 6 TLH 127; John 3:5-15 Salvation comes through Spirit-worked faith in Jesus.
LSB 401
While that’s probably not the way you would normally see that sentence spelled (“The eyes have it”), it might well be the way Pastor Juan José Olvera would spell it these days. Pastor Olvera is a foreign affiliate of the CLC currently working in the Juárez area south of El Paso, Texas. He, like the Apostle Paul, helps to support himself and his family by sewing—until recently. His ongoing struggle with diabetes left him with serious vision impairment in both eyes. His condition required immediate surgery to correct the problem and to prevent it from leaving him permanently disabled. Thanks to a small gift from the CLC Mission Development Fund and an advance on their modest subsidy, Pastor Olvera had two successful surgeries that have, by the grace of God, restored his vision and allowed him to carry on both his secular and pastoral duties.
Pastor Olvera writes,
Dear Brothers in the Lord,
I give thanks to our God for the blessings I have received. Last week I had surgery on my left eye. All went well with the blessing of the Lord. I received all the necessary care and am very well. Thank you very much for all your prayers and support, both spiritual and material. These blessings make me redouble my efforts to continue talking with everyone in Mexico about the true faith that the Lord has given us. Soon I’ll be sending news of the students in our seminary and the Evangelistic crusades to reach more people for the Lord. Greetings to our brethren in other countries that day by day fight the good fight of faith, as well as our mother church, the CLC. May the spirit of the Lord guide their ministries. I pray always for you, in Christ Jesus.
Your brother and fellow servant in the work of Jesus,
Pastor Olvera
DEVOTION – EPIPHANY
The account of the coming of the Wise Men stands out as one of the highlights of the Christmas and Epiphany seasons. That account should be especially important to us, the believers of the Gentile nations. We look to the Wise Men as the first of the Gentiles to know and worship Jesus as their Savior and Lord. When they arrived in Jerusalem following a long and arduous journey, they immediately began asking about the newborn King. It seems they expected the entire nation to be caught up in the excitement of this momentous event, the coming of the long-promised Messiah. Yes, the question they posed was regarding the birth of the King of the Jews, but they made it evident that they had come to worship Him. This was something more than the usual honor paid when a new crown prince was born. They were searching for their king, a spiritual king.
A HYMN OF GLORY LET US SING (FOURTEENTH IN A SERIES)
It may be a new year, but do you get the feeling that you’ve done it all before? Just like last year, you’ve watched the thirty-first of December fade out of sight and the first of January come into focus. Unless the Lord returns first, you’ll likely do the same again next year and the year after that.
In music, when certain lines repeat over and over again, it is called a refrain. Thus as the beginning of our year repeats, the words of Christian Keimann’s hymn also repeat through four stanzas: “Joy O joy, beyond all gladness, Christ hath done away with sadness! Hence, all sorrow and repining, For the Sun of Grace is shining!”
