Tuesday, March 10, 2009 – Great is Thy Faithfulness – Luke 3:22-24

The text of this hymn was written by Thomas Chisholm who lived a long life from 1866-1960 and was renewed in 1951 by Hope Publishing Co. Surprisingly, there were four Bible passages mentioned as sources.

The first, Lamentations 3:22-24, “Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning great is your faithfulness. I will say to myself. The Lord is my portion; therefore, I will wait for him.” What a great promise! Even because of our sin, the Lord’s love will not change toward us. It is new every day. The last part of the verse “I will wait for Him” tests us at times.

From James 1:17 comes another great promise to uphold is in “the wait.” “Every good and perfect gift is from above” and “who does not change like the shifting shadows.” Lord, keep me patient and trusting in your faithfulness forever.

Psalm 89:1-2 encourages us to sing of the Lord’s love and to make His faithfulness known throughout the generations and that His love stands firm.

The Last Bible notation is Genesis 8:20-22. Noah and his family have just emerged from the ark and built an alter and sacrificed an offering to the Lord. It was a pleasing aroma to God. He promised never again to curse the ground because of man’s inclination to sin or destroy all creatures. Then in verse 22 God promises, “As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease.”

Great is Thy faithfulness, O God my Father;
There is no shadow of turning with Thee
Thou changest not; Thy compassion they fail not;
As Thou hast been, Thou forever will be.

Great is Thy faithfulness! Great is Thy faithfulness!
Morning by morning new mercies I see;
All I have needed Thy hand hath provided;
Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!

-Marlene Conrad

Schnorr von Carolsfeld, woodcuts © WELS Permission to use these copyrighted items is limited to personal and congregational use.

Monday, March 9, 2009 – A mighty Fortress is our God – Psalm 46

Based on the 46th Psalm, Martin Luther’s well known hymn has been called the battle hymn of the Reformation. Translated into nearly every language, it was sung at the funeral of Dwight Eisenhower at the National Cathedral in Washington, DC. It was included in National Service of Prayer and Remembrance following 9/11. The powerful words of “A Mighty Fortress is our God” are found inscribed on the tomb of Martin Luther.

As in 1529, the battle remains the same. The evil foe is out to get us “the world’s prince may still scowl fierce as he will” Some times we get caught up in our own efforts to fight evil, only to get knocked down over and over. It seems as though people have tried to rely on their own strength for centuries, but there is nothing humanly possible we can do to defeat the evil one. The songwriter explains: “with might of ours can naught be done”.

“For us fights the Valliant One”, Jesus Christ who has and always will defeat the devil. There is comfort and hope knowing He is our Mighty Fortress. This is brought into focus in a hurry during times like 9/11. Just as importantly, in all our daily struggles we need to clearly identify Him as our “Shield and Weapon.” He will help us get through the evils and temptations. With him we will win the final victory. Thanks to our Lord and Savior, “The Kingdom ours Remaineth”

Lord Jesus,
Ever remind us you are “by our side”. Remind us of the “one little Word” who can defeat the evil around us

-Teri Conrad

Schnorr von Carolsfeld, woodcuts © WELS Permission to use these copyrighted items is limited to personal and congregational use.

Time in the Word - Lent 3

The theme for the Third Sunday in Lent is Meeting the demands of the Law. Lent e points to the cross as the only means of fulfilling God’s demands. These demands are spelled out in the Old Testament lesson with the giving of the 10 Commandments and in the Gospel lesson which shows us that these demands are not being met so that Jesus, in righteous indignation, cleanses the temple of the commercial traffic conducted in the name of religion. The solution to the problem is in the cross where the price of disobedience was paid and where perfect obedience to God was demonstrated. Since Christ has fulfilled the demands of the Law, believers in Christ are free from the curse of the Law as a means of finding favor with God. The suggested Psalm emphasizes the excellence of God’s law the Lord requires.


Monday, 9 March 2009—Psalm 69:14-16; antiphon, Psalm 69:9—The Introit sets the theme for the day: meeting the demands of the law. Without the Lord by our side there is nothing we can do but fall. Yet, with the Lord we are sustained, rescued, and we rise to new life rather then sink.

Tuesday, 10 March 2009—Psalm 19 key verse v.8 and John 6:68 — You have the words of eternal life. In this psalm, David reminds us once again and emphasizes the excellence of God’s Law. The Theme of the Day reminds us that eternal life is in the words of Christ and not in the words of the Law.

Wednesday, 11 March 2009—Exodus 20:1-17—The demands of God’s Law. God gives the Ten Commandments to Moses and his people. The Ten Commandments are unconditional demands of God. They are absolute laws that express the will of God for His people. Israel is His people for a covenant was established at Mt. Sinai. The commandments follow the covenant relationship as the people’s response to God’s grace in making the covenant. They are not conditions to be met before God is their God but rather because He is their God. They will live as His children according to these absolute laws. The laws were written on two tablets of stone by the finger of God indicating that the laws come from God and not from social development. The two tablets refer to the division of the laws as they relate to God and to people.

Thursday, 12 March 2009—1 Corinthians 1:22-25—The fulfillment of God’s law in the cross. The crucified Christ is preached as the power and wisdom of God. The message of Christ crucified has difficulty in gaining a sympathetic hearing in the world. Both Jews and Greeks were opposed to it. The Jews demanded a sign and found the cross to be a stumbling block. The Jews asked how God’s Son, the Messiah, could die on a cross, reserved for the worst criminals. Moreover, the Jews looked for signs in terms of their spectacular and startling. How could Jesus be the Messiah when He came as one meek and lowly and refusing to use violence? The Greeks, too, were hostile to the cross, for they wanted wisdom. But to them the message of the cross was foolishness. In spite of this hostile environment, Paul is determined to preach Christ crucified, the power and wisdom of God.


Friday, 13 March 2009—John 2:13-22— Man’s failure to keep God’s law. Jesus cleanses the temple of those who traded in it. In the firs three Gospels Jesus begins His ministry in Galilee, but in John’s Gospel the focus is on Jerusalem. In the first three Gospels the cleansing of the temple comes at the end of Jesus’ ministry, but John’s Gospel puts it at the beginning. In the first three Gospels the cleansing of the temple becomes the immediate cause of Jesus’ arrest. In John the cleansing is related to the Jew’s demand for a sign authorizing Him to take such dramatic action. Jesus’ sign was the destruction of the temple and rebuilding it in three days – a forecast of His death and resurrection.

“Who are you to say or do what you said or did?” This question is the same as the Jews’ asking Jesus for a sign. The temple with its activities, services, and programs is the charge of the priests who were authorized to take care of the temple. Who is this itinerant peasant preacher to say what is right to do in the temple? This question is certainly in order. Jesus gives them the sign of the cross. He is the one whose temple will be destroyed and rebuilt on the third day. This proves who He is – the Messiah – and He has the right and the authority to cleanse the temple.

Saturday, 14 March 2009— Psalm 67:1-2 - The hymn of the Day May God Bestow on Us His Grace {LSB 823}. The suggested reference reminds us. These verses introduce a prayer. The heart of the prayer is found in verse one echoing the priestly benediction that God’s people have received for thousands of years. The Lord blesses us as He comes to us in the person of Jesus Christ our Savior.

Collect for the Third Sunday in Lent— O God, whose glory it is always to have mercy, be gracious to all who have gone astray from Your ways and bring them again with penitent hearts and steadfast faith to embrace and hold fast the unchangeable truth of Your Word; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, on Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen

Lectionary Preaching Workbook Series B John Brokhoff © 1981 CSS Publishing Lima, OH

Illustration from a woodcut by Baron Julius Schnoor von Carolsfeld, 1794-1872, a distinguished German artist known especially for his book, Das Buch der Bücher in Bilden (The Book of Books in Pictures).

Sunday, March 8, 2009 - 2nd Sunday in Lent – Mark 8:31-38

Jesus announces His suffering in Jerusalem. He teaches that He must suffer and die and calls upon His disciples to follow Him in the same. Jesus and the Disciples are at Caesarea Philippi. Peter had confessed Jesus as the Christ. Thereupon Jesus explains to His Disciples that as the Messiah he must go to Jerusalem to suffer and die. This did not fit Peter’s conception of the Messiah and therefore he rebukes Jesus. Jesus sees this as a temptation not to go to the cross. He turns down the temptation by seeing Satan in Peter. Then, Jesus explains to both Disciples and people that they, too, are to take the way of the cross that involves denial, suffering and sacrifice – the discipline of Lent.

The rugged cross means a rugged way of life for a follower of Christ. The Christian style of life is a hard life. Jesus’ life consisted of sorrow, rejection, suffering, and death. His followers can expect no less. The Christian life has a cross at its center. John Bonne said, “No cross is so extreme, as to have none. There is no gain without pain.” President Truman had a sign on his desk, “Bring me only bad news. Good news weakens me.” In Tom Sawyer Clemens wrote, “He had discovered a great law of human action without knowing it – namely, that in order to make a man or a boy covets a thing, it is only necessary to make the thing difficult to obtain.”

O God, You see of ourselves we have no strength. By Your mighty power defend us from all adversities that may happen to the body and from all evil thoughts that may assault and hurt the soul; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

Schnorr von Carolsfeld, woodcuts © WELS Permission to use these copyrighted items is limited to personal and congregational use.

Sermon for Lent 2

O God, You see that of ourselves we have no strength. By Your mighty power defend us from all adversities that may happen to the body and from all evil thoughts that may assault and hurt the soul through Jesus Christ, Your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen

In this morning’s gospel lesson Jesus teaches us that He must suffer and die as He calls His followers to do the same. This teaching is difficult for some especially as we live in a world that seems to be so infatuated with the self.

Jean Twenge in her work Generation Me writes the following. In many ways, there’s no better time to be alive than right now. Think of all the advantages we have that earlier generations did not: television, cell phones, better medical care, computers, more education, less physical labor, the freedom to make our own choices, the ability to move to a more desirable city. These last two, however, begin to hint at an underlying problem. Our growing tendency to put the self first leads to unparalleled freedom, but it also creates an enormous amount of pressure on us to stand alone. [1]

Our affluent generation puts great value on leisure and luxury. If we must have a cross, it must be made of Styrofoam or worn as a piece of jewelry. A premium is put on comfort and ease. Thus the thrust of today is to let the self go and do as it pleases. Authors and speakers urge upon us self-affirmation, self-realization and self-fulfillment. We hear little about self-discipline and self-denial. The teachings of Jesus in this regard run contrary to the prevailing thoughts and whims of today’s thinking.

Consider the thrust of Jesus’ teaching. Real and abundant living is found in three disciplines which are found outside of the self. If you are looking for a satisfied life Jesus would suggest to us that we must deny the self, loose the self, and crucify the self.

1. Deny the self. V. 34 Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.

A. Christ speaks of denying one’s self. John the Baptist said “He must increase, I must decrease”. To live under God’s directive we must think less of ourselves and more of Him. We need to deny ourselves for each of us are sinners. Conceived in sin we are found to be wanting. Each of us by our very nature are blind, dead, and enemies of God. We must look to Him who is the way, the truth, and the life.

B. Denial is letting go and letting God. This is increasingly more difficult to do in our present age. The world and environment in which we live is more and more focused on the self. “What’s in it for me?” the world asks. I want it my way, and I want it now. How often do we see selfish people doing it their way, on their own terms? Some call it self-gratification. What it all boils down to is the self at the center of the universe. A man wrapped up all in himself makes a very small package. Yet, this is how the world judges success and power and fame.

“The one with the most toys wins!” so says the bumper sticker, and yet all this striving leaves men broken, tired, and left wanting. For true peace and contentment we must deny the self and seek after a higher good – His name, again, is Jesus Christ. Deny the self, “He must increase, I must decrease”.

2. Lose the self. V. 35 For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it.

A. Saving one’s life can lead to losing it. Taking up our cross means that we simply submit to God’s will. Again, this too is something that is increasingly hard to do in our world. Just how does one take up their own cross? It’s found in obedience to the will of God. As I decrease and Christ is to increase I find myself seeking Him who died for me.

We pray so often in the Lord’s Prayer “Thy will be done”. Do we really mean that when we pray it, or have the words become so common place? Christ has called us to obedience. We are to submit to His will. We are to walk according to His command. We are to act, as He would have us go. We follow as He leads.

B. When we loose our life for the sake of Christ and the Gospel then we shall save it. It is not seen in gaining more for the self. It’s found when we remember to keep Christ the heart and center of all that we do in our church, school, family life.

3. Crucify the self. V. 36 What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?

A. There is the possibility of wasting one’s life. Years ago The United Negro College Fund had as its slogan, “A mind is a terrible thing to waste.” A tragedy of life is to waste this precious once-in-a-lifetime life. Jesus called Judas Iscariot a “son of perdition” in other words a waste. Judas Iscariot was one who wasted his life. Jesus said it would have been better if he had never been born. Life can add up to zero. The Savior taught that when we try to save our lives we lose or waste them. In losing one’ life in service to Christ we reap abundant life.

B. There is a necessity of investing one’s life. Follow Jesus. That is the third and final command. “Savior lead, I follow Thee” so go the words of the hymn. We follow Jesus as He leads us into paths of righteousness for His name’s sake. We follow as He leads us to the cross and empty grave giving us His life in exchange for our mortal way of doing things. The words sound simple. It takes a life of faith to live them daily. That’s why this season of Lent is so often referred to as a discipline and pilgrimage. We are on a walk with the suffering Savior. We walk with Him as He gives direction. We follow Him to the cross and empty tomb where we find in Him salvation and life. It is His death that has saved us. It is His life that He exchanges for our futile way of living. It is in His resurrection that we find what we truly need to have life and have it abundantly.

This week, as you have time, glance through the hymnal. Our hymns are a great treasury of strength to the battered Christian. Notice how the lines from the Christian’s prayer book come to life. Savior I follow on guide by Thee…Savior, lead, I follow Thee. Wherever You go I will follow, forsaking this world…to find in Thee my life my rest, Christ, crucified I come.

[1] Generation Me: Why Today's Young Americans Are More Confident, Assertive, Entitled - and Moore Miserable Than Ever Before. by Jean Twenge, PhD © 2006 Simon & Schuster pg. 109

Saturday, March 7, 2009 – Garments parted – Psalm 22:18

Ewwwwwww. Gross!
“I can’t believe that they would pick on each other like that!” As the two kids were standing out in the chicken house, they couldn’t help but notice a poor little chicken being chased around the pen by all the other chickens. They had chased, cajoled, and pecked this smaller chicken until it was tired, featherless, and almost too weak to run anymore. The other chickens were relentless in their pursuit, refusing to let this poor little one find any retreat anywhere.
This little chicken was being persecuted for nothing it had or hadn’t done other than not being one of the other chickens.
Pigs will do the same thing. They will relentlessly pick on a small or injured pig until they torture and eventually kill it.
These are incredibly mean and vicious behaviours that we sometimes see in animals. Can you believe that people can act the same way?
This is the situation that Jesus found himself in during His persecution and crucifixion. He had been as meek as a lamb to all who knew him. But He was not one of them. He was chased, cajoled, and tortured mercilessly without lifting a hand to harm anyone.
Now He finds Himself nailed to a cross, naked, bleeding, and physically suffering beyond our knowledge. As He looks down from the cross he sees one more humiliation, they are casting lots to divide His clothes. The soldiers had already written Him off for dead and were dividing His last possessions. One more humiliation. They were relentless in their pursuit of Jesus until the very end.
As we look at the extreme suffering that Christ endured for us, it not only helps us understand what He went through. It also helps us to put our own lives into perspective. We realize that any hardship that we have pales in comparison to what Jesus went through, and we also realize that we can live our lives in the joy of hope and grace because of what He went through.
Let us live every day with the boldness of Christ who has been crucified and has risen to glory. Let His light shine through us, giving peace and hope to all, and bringing them closer to Him.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever, world without end.

-Stan Stoppenhagen

Schnorr von Carolsfeld, woodcuts © WELS Permission to use these copyrighted items is limited to personal and congregational use.

Back to Bloomington for more Opera

We are taking off at noon after confirmation instruction to take in the second week of Lydia's production. You can catch it streaming at the IU Opera theater web site. The Opera stats at 8 pm EST. Henry will be home this week for Spring break followed by Lydia next week. Then it's back to beans and rice once the children return to school.

The cats are having "issues" with their schedule being interrupted which does not make sense because if a cat had a day planner it would read, "wake up...kill something and eat it...preen...social time with the human...back to sleep.

On it goes...

Picture take by Mr. Ervin Orban and (c) Indiana University Opera Theater