What About Alcohol?
“I’M GLAD YOU ASKED!” (FOURTEENTH IN A SERIES) Pastors Answer Frequently-Asked Questions Is the use of alcohol a sin? Of course we know that that cannot be the case. Christ Himself drank from “the fruit…
Franz Pieper (1852-1931)
LUTHERAN LEADERS AS WE APPROACH THE 500TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE REFORMATION, WE TAKE A BRIEF LOOK AT THE LIVES OF INFLUENTIAL AND IMPORTANT LUTHERAN LEADERS AND THEOLOGIANS When C.F.W. Walther died in 1881, Franz Pieper, who…
A Loud Land
NOTES FROM THE FIELD In this series, thoseinvolved with CLC foreign missions profile one aspect of our overseas endeavors. A few years ago my wife Vanessa and I were in Zambia, traveling from Lusaka to Livingston.…
Redeemer Evangelical Lutheran Church Bowdle, South Dakota
A SLICE OF LIFE IN THE CLC Snapshots of Congregations from Around the Church of the Lutheran Confession Redeemer of Bowdle has been a member of the CLC since 1962, the year the congregation was…
Tour Choir Tryouts
TAKING THE GOSPEL ON TOUR In the second of this four-part series, seminary student Sam Rodebaugh shares his memories of trying out for the Tour Choir of Immanuel Lutheran College. A few weeks into every fall…
New Missionary Arrives in India
The BELC has a two-year pastor training program at the Martin Luther Bible School. The BELC also conducts monthly training meetings in each district. Our missionaries travel to these meetings, as the schedule allows, and…
“Lord, Teach Us How to Pray”
Do you need your tire jack? Of course you do! If you get a flat tire in the middle of nowhere, you are going to be glad you have that tire jack. We use our…
Beware the Suicide Brothers
Students of the Bible, and even many who are not, have heard of Judas Iscariot. What they may not understand is that his greatest sin was not his thievery or betrayal, but his rejection of…
“BREAD OF LIFE” READINGS March 2016
TLH = The Lutheran Hymnal, 1941; WS = Worship Supplement 2000; [ ] = Biblical Events Noted
Date, Biblical Events Noted, Hymn Verse, Reading and Comments
Mar 1 WS 786 Leviticus 2:1-13 Yeast, a picture of sin, was to be avoided in offerings (1 Corinthians 5:6-7). Salt, a picture of love, was to be added (Colossians 4:6).
Mar 2 WS 751 Leviticus 5:14-19 Even if we sin unintentionally, we are guilty and in need of the forgiveness Christ gives us.
Mar 3 TLH 390 Leviticus 9:7-24 Aaron made atonement for himself and for a the people, a foreshadowing of Christ’s great work as our High Priest.
Mar 4 TLH 381 Mark 7:31-37 What a beautiful confession: “He has done everything well.” He has done everything perfectly, in fact.
Luck Has Nothing to Do With It
“If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised.
And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith”
(1 Corinthians 15:13-14 NIV).
“Good luck! And, by the way, there’s no such thing as luck.”
This was the parting comment a Christian friend made to us as he prepared to climb into his van and return home from the Sunday morning service. We knew what he meant. It was his way of encouraging us to remember that our lives aren’t guided by blind chance. We have an almighty Lord Who is at our side every moment, Who controls all events in the lives of His believers for their good.
Someone might ask, “What’s the guarantee of this?” A good answer (short but sweet) is, “EASTER!” We celebrate Easter with gusto and a multitude of hallelujahs because we know it is our heavenly Father’s assurance that the One Who died on the cross, Whose body was laid in the grave, also arose triumphantly. He is now orchestrating all happenings in the world at large and in our personal lives so they help us to attain a blessed end.
What would your life be like if the angel’s message, “He is not here, He is risen!” were a fairy tale? Then everything you believe about Jesus would be a mirage. The wall of sin that separated you from your God would still be there. Death would be pursuing you as an invincible foe. Your hope of heaven would be a delusion. The devil would have reason to celebrate, for it would mean he had scuttled Jesus’ mission as mankind’s Savior . . . IF the events of Easter didn’t happen.