The Man In the Fire
GEMS FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT Any Sunday School student worth his salt knows of the three men in the fiery furnace. They might even remember their names — Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-Nego—and that these three…
The Man In the Fire
Christian Crosses are for Your Good
STUDIES IN THE NEW TESTAMENT “But recall the former days in which, after you were illuminated, you endured a great struggle with sufferings: partly while you were made a spectacle both by reproaches and tribulations,…
From Recluse to Scholar: 1506-1507
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…
Odisha State, India
NOTES FROM THE FIELD In this series, thoseinvolved with CLC foreign missions profile one aspect of our overseas endeavors. Pastor Deepak Immanuel is one of the district chairmen in the Berea Evangelical Lutheran Church (BELC)…
MAN UP Retreat—August, 2016
EVENTS AROUND THE CLC The secular world has many meanings for the term “man up” (see sidebar). When viewed from a Christian perspective, the term takes on much greater meaning. God’s biblical advice and guidance…
“What is a sacrament, and how many are there?”
“I’M GLAD YOU ASKED!” (TWENTY-Sixth IN A SERIES) Pastors Answer Frequently-Asked Questions You will not find the word sacrament in the Bible. If you were to do a quick search in a concordance, the closest…
A New Building In Myanmar
MISSION NEWSLETTER our CLC Board of Missions updates us with the latest news from various mission fields. The CLC is in fellowship with two church bodies in Myanmar (formerly known as Burma). One is the…
The Monday After
How is your mood on Monday? During the NFL season in the community I call home, the Monday mood of many hinges on what happened the previous Sunday afternoon. If our team won, there are…
“BREAD OF LIFE” READINGS March 2017
“BREAD OF LIFE” READINGS March 2017
TLH = The Lutheran Hymnal, 1941; WS = Worship Supplement 2000; LSB = Lutheran Service Book, 2006
Date Verse Reading Comments
Mar 1 TLH 166/LSB 418; Psalm 51:1-6 Upon recognizing our sin, we trust ourselves to God’s mercy and unfailing love.
Mar 2 TLH 144 Psalm 51:7-12 With sins forgiven and clinging to the joy of salvation, we ask God to help us lead a holy life.
Mar 3TLH 498Psalm 51:13-19The joy of salvation doesn’t stop with us, but we share it when we open our mouths to declare God’s praise before others.
Mar 4 TLH 411 Ephesians 1:1-8 God gave us the riches of His grace and arranged for us to be brought into His spiritual family.
Christ Loves You with a PASSION
“My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work.” (John 4:34, NIV84)
What’s your passion?
Is there a hobby you especially enjoy doing? Cooking? Playing piano? Fixing cars? Long distance running? Most folks have a set of activities they choose to include in their schedules depending on their interests. It’s good to have such diversions. They have a way of adding spice to life. They can also revitalize us for the respective callings in life which the Lord has given us (in the home, at work, at church, and so on).
Speaking of “callings,” we will soon enter the season of Lent.
It’s the time of year when we ponder in a special way the calling God gave to His Son, Jesus. We are reminded how Jesus’ one burning desire—His passion—was to finish the mission His Father assigned to Him for our eternal blessing. For Jesus it was, of course, more than a hobby. It was THE reason He was born into the world. As we meditate on His work for us, it saddens us to think how it was our transgressions that brought such woe on Him. At the same time, it makes us happy. The basis for our happiness could be pictured by an acrostic on that word PASSION, as follows:
The P in “PASSION” stands for PREDICTED. We hear again and again in the passion account that everything took place so the writings of the prophets might be fulfilled (for an example, read Matthew 26:55-56). This is important because it proves that Jesus is our true Messiah, chosen by God to serve us in love.