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.
The Emmaus Transformation
“And they said to one another, ‘Did not our heart burn within us while He talked with us on the road, and while He opened the Scriptures to us?’” (Luke 24:32).
Usually it is easy to tell.
There are the telltale signs that readily reveal a person’s frame of mind. You watch the youngster out in the winter cold shoveling the sidewalk. From the slouch of his shoulders to the doing-as-little-as-possible attitude, it is easy to conclude that he would rather be anywhere other than where he is. His negative attitude radiates through his lackluster actions.
On the other hand you might witness the retiree out in the summertime flowerbed. You hear her humming, see the hint of a smile playing about the corners of her mouth, while her hands busily make quick work of removing those stubborn and unwelcome weeds among her petunias and roses. You easily surmise that she is happy to be improving the appearance of her property.
Yes, it is usually quite easy to tell. A downcast—perhaps guilty, sad, or disappointed—frame of mind will be as readily obvious as a mindset of joy, happiness, forgiveness, or new life.
Salvation Guaranteed!
And inasmuch as He was not made priest without an oath (for they have become priests without an oath, but He with an oath by Him who said to Him: “The LORD has sworn And will not relent, `You are a priest forever According to the order of Melchizedek’”), by so much more Jesus has become a surety of a better covenant. Also there were many priests, because they were prevented by death from continuing. But He, because He continues forever, has an unchangeable priesthood. Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them. For such a High Priest was fitting for us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and has become higher than the heavens; who does not need daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for His own sins and then for the people’s, for this He did once for all when He offered up Himself. For the law appoints as high priests men who have weakness, but the word of the oath, which came after the law, appoints the Son who has been perfected forever” (Hebrews 7:20-28).