Words of Encouragement for December 15, 2010

Advent Meditation

“And his father Zacharias was filled with the Holy Ghost, and prophesied, saying, Blessed be the Lord God of Israel; for he hath visited and redeemed his people, and hath raised up an horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David; as he spake by the mouth of his holy prophets, which have been since the world began: that we should be saved from our enemies, and from the hand of all that hate us; to perform the mercy promised to our fathers, and to remember his holy covenant; the oath which he sware to our father Abraham, that he would grant unto us, that we being delivered out of the hand of our enemies might serve him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before him, all the days of our life. And thou, child, shalt be called the prophet of the Highest: for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways; to give knowledge of salvation unto his people by the remission of their sins, through the tender mercy of our God; whereby the dayspring from on high hath visited us, to give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.” Luke 1:67-79

In these prophetic words, Zacharias the priest, being filled with the Holy Spirit, spoke of the salvation God was providing in His Son and of the ministry of his son, John the Baptist.

Jesus, Son of God and descendant of David through the Virgin Mary, came into the world as promised since the very beginning. In Jesus, God Himself visited and redeemed His people. Jesus bore upon the cross the punishment for the sins of the whole world and made atonement for God’s people and for all of mankind. He suffered, died and rose again that He might set us free from the curse and condemnation of our sins to live for Him and serve Him evermore!

John the Baptist, the son born to Zecharias in his old age, would be the prophet of the Highest, going before the Lord Jesus Christ – Jehovah Himself in human flesh – to prepare His ways. And how was John to prepare the people for the coming of their Lord? He was to give them knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins. He was to teach them of God’s mercy and forgiveness for the sake of the innocent sufferings and death of God’s Son, the Dayspring from on high who would visit them. In this way, he would give light to those sitting in darkness and the shadow of death and guide their feet into the way of peace with the Lord their God.

People today are still sitting in spiritual darkness and the shadow of death. They do not know the LORD God and His mercy in Christ Jesus and are headed for an eternity of suffering and punishment apart from Him and His lovingkindness. Thus, the ministry of God’s people today, as they prepare for the second coming of the Lord Jesus from heaven, is to give to people around them in the world knowledge of salvation by the remission of sins. The church is to call people to repentance and faith in the Messiah and Savior; for Jesus, God’s own dear Son, came into this world, redeemed all of mankind by suffering and dying upon the cross for all sin and rose again on the third day.

Followers of Christ proclaim the law of God that people might see their sinfulness and the error of their ways. They make known the good news of God’s mercy and forgiveness in Christ Jesus that people might trust in Him alone for eternal salvation. In this way, followers of Jesus continue to give light to those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death and guide their feet into the way of peace.

O gracious and merciful God, bring us all to repent of our sinful and erring ways and grant us mercy and forgiveness for the sake of the Son, Jesus Christ, that Dayspring from on High who has come to visit and redeem us. And, dear Lord Jesus, move us to give to others, sitting in darkness and the shadow of death, the knowledge of salvation by the forgiveness of their sins through faith in You and Your innocent sufferings and death in their stead. Amen.

Meditations in Genesis

“And Jacob said unto his father, I am Esau thy first-born; I have done according as thou badest me: arise, I pray thee, sit and eat of my venison, that thy soul may bless me.” Genesis 27:19 (Read all of Genesis 27)

Does the end justify the means? Is it okay to seek to accomplish God’s will by less-than-honorable methods?

When Jacob and Esau were yet in the womb, God told Rebekah that the elder (or firstborn since they were twins) would serve the younger (cf. Genesis 25:22ff.). Yet, because Isaac loved Esau (Genesis 25:28), he sought to bless him instead of Jacob. Rebekah, though, knew that God had chosen Jacob, and it is likely that Isaac knew as well; but did that make her plan to deceive Isaac and obtain the blessing for her favored son – a plan which Jacob carried out – right?

Consider the words of Psalm 37:5: “Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in Him; and He shall bring it to pass.”

Were Rebekah and Jacob trusting in the LORD and committing this matter into His hands when they schemed to deceive Isaac?

Psalm 37 continues: “Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for Him…” (v. 7).

Even though Isaac was opposing the will and plan of God to bless Jacob and give to him the blessings promised to Abraham, did Rebekah and Jacob trust in the LORD and wait patiently for Him to intervene?

We might consider the example of David, who had been chosen of God and anointed by Samuel to be king over Israel. Even when he had opportunity to kill Saul and take the kingdom, he did not. Instead, David waited for the LORD to accomplish His will and purposes (cf. 1 Samuel 24).

Yes, Jacob was blessed and upon him came the promises and blessings given to Abraham and Isaac; but it would not have been necessary to deceive Isaac for God to accomplish His purposes. God does not need man’s meddling to accomplish His eternal plans. And had Rebekah and Jacob waited upon the LORD, they could have been spared the painful separation which followed.

How does this inspired account from ancient history apply to you and me today? In addition to seeing how God worked – even through the workings of sinful people – and brought good out of evil to accomplish the salvation of the world through the gift of His Son, we ought to also see the importance of waiting upon the LORD and trusting in Him.

The end does not justify the means! Even though we may desire to accomplish God’s purposes, it does not make it right to go outside of His will to bring it to pass.

We may be convinced that God has called us to some duty or task in His kingdom; but rather than seeking to manipulate others who may be outside of that will, we ought to rather trust in the LORD and wait patiently for Him to bring it to pass.

We know that God desires us to carry His saving Word to all the nations, but not every way conceived by man is a Scriptural way to accomplish this good work. Whether it be the past attempts to Christianize the world by military might or the more recent attempts to further the Gospel by political maneuvering or worldly fund-raising techniques, the end still does not justify the means. God would have us simply preach the Word to all and trust that the Spirit of God will open hearts and produce the fruit of faith in men’s lives. God would have us teach His Word in the churches and trust that He will move men to freely give and support the work of spreading the saving Gospel. (cf. Mark 16:15-16; Matthew 13:1ff.; 28:18ff.; Ephesians 1:13-14; Romans 10:17; 2 Timothy 4:2.)

Unfortunately, we have all too often taken matters into our own hands and sought to accomplish God’s will by our own means. Thank God for His grace and mercy toward us in Christ Jesus! In spite of our sinfulness and failures, He did not fail in His plan to send His only-begotten Son to die for our sins and rise again. In Jesus, He offers and gives to us forgiveness and life! In Jesus, we have a certain hope!

And, as we trust in Jesus and follow Him, let us also learn from Him not to shortcut God’s purposes and plans, but to trust in the LORD God and commit our works and our ways to His keeping. Indeed, even though we may not see how and may feel the need to intervene, God will finish His work in His way and bless us and all His elect in Christ Jesus! Trust in Him!

Dear Lord Jesus, God’s Son and our Savior, forgive us for going outside of Your will to accomplish what we believe to be Your purposes. Instead, teach us to follow You, proclaim nothing but Your Word, and trust You to bring about Your blessing. Amen.

The Augsburg Confession

Article XXIV: Of the Mass

Falsely are our churches accused of abolishing the Mass; for the Mass is retained among us, and celebrated with the highest reverence. Nearly all the usual ceremonies are also preserved, save that the parts sung in Latin are interspersed here and there with German hymns, which have been added to teach the people. For ceremonies are needed to this end alone that the unlearned be taught [what they need to know of Christ]. And not only has Paul commanded to use in the church a language understood by the people 1 Cor. 14:2-9, but it has also been so ordained by man’s law. The people are accustomed to partake of the Sacrament together, if any be fit for it, and this also increases the reverence and devotion of public worship. For none are admitted except they be first examined. The people are also advised concerning the dignity and use of the Sacrament, how great consolation it brings anxious consciences, that they may learn to believe God, and to expect and ask of Him all that is good. [In this connection they are also instructed regarding other and false teachings on the Sacrament.] This worship pleases God; such use of the Sacrament nourishes true devotion toward God. It does not, therefore, appear that the Mass is more devoutly celebrated among our adversaries than among us.

But it is evident that for a long time this also has been the public and most grievous complaint of all good men that Masses have been basely profaned and applied to purposes of lucre. For it is not unknown how far this abuse obtains in all the churches by what manner of men Masses are said only for fees or stipends, and how many celebrate them contrary to the Canons. But Paul severely threatens those who deal unworthily with the Eucharist when he says, 1 Cor. 11:27: Whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. When, therefore our priests were admonished concerning this sin, Private Masses were discontinued among us, as scarcely any Private Masses were celebrated except for lucre’s sake.

Neither were the bishops ignorant of these abuses, and if they had corrected them in time, there would now be less dissension. Heretofore, by their own connivance, they suffered many corruptions to creep into the Church. Now, when it is too late, they begin to complain of the troubles of the Church, while this disturbance has been occasioned simply by those abuses which were so manifest that they could be borne no longer. There have been great dissensions concerning the Mass, concerning the Sacrament. Perhaps the world is being punished for such long-continued profanations of the Mass as have been tolerated in the churches for so many centuries by the very men who were both able and in duty bound to correct them. For in the Ten Commandments it is written, Ex. 20:7: The Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh His name in vain. But since the world began, nothing that God ever ordained seems to have been so abused for filthy lucre as the Mass.

There was also added the opinion which infinitely increased Private Masses, namely that Christ, by His passion, had made satisfaction for original sin, and instituted the Mass wherein an offering should be made for daily sins, venial and mortal. From this has arisen the common opinion that the Mass takes away the sins of the living and the dead by the outward act. Then they began to dispute whether one Mass said for many were worth as much as special Masses for individuals, and this brought forth that infinite multitude of Masses. [With this work men wished to obtain from God all that they needed, and in the mean time faith in Christ and the true worship were forgotten.]

Concerning these opinions our teachers have given warning that they depart from the Holy Scriptures and diminish the glory of the passion of Christ. For Christ’s passion was an oblation and satisfaction, not for original guilt only, but also for all other sins, as it is written to the Hebrews 10:10: We are sanctified through the offering of Jesus Christ once for all. Also, Hebrews 10:14: By one offering He hath perfected forever them that are sanctified. [It is an unheard-of innovation in the Church to teach that Christ by His death made satisfaction only for original sin and not likewise for all other sin. Accordingly it is hoped that everybody will understand that this error has not been reproved without due reason.]

Scripture also teaches that we are justified before God through faith in Christ, when we believe that our sins are forgiven for Christ’s sake. Now if the Mass take away the sins of the living and the dead by the outward act, justification comes of the work of Masses, and not of faith, which Scripture does not allow.

But Christ commands us, Luke 22:19: This do in remembrance of Me; therefore the Mass was instituted that the faith of those who use the Sacrament should remember what benefits it receives through Christ, and cheer and comfort the anxious conscience. For to remember Christ is to remember His benefits, and to realize that they are truly offered unto us. Nor is it enough only to remember the history; for this also the Jews and the ungodly can remember. Wherefore the Mass is to be used to this end, that there the Sacrament [Communion] may be administered to them that have need of consolation; as Ambrose says: Because I always sin, I am always bound to take the medicine. [Therefore this Sacrament requires faith, and is used in vain without faith.]

Now, forasmuch as the Mass is such a giving of the Sacrament, we hold one communion every holy-day, and, if any desire the Sacrament, also on other days, when it is given to such as ask for it. And this custom is not new in the Church; for the Fathers before Gregory make no mention of any private Mass, but of the common Mass [the Communion] they speak very much. Chrysostom says that the priest stands daily at the altar, inviting some to the Communion and keeping back others. And it appears from the ancient Canons that some one celebrated the Mass from whom all the other presbyters and deacons received the body of the Lord; for thus the words of the Nicene Canon say: Let the deacons, according to their order, receive the Holy Communion after the presbyters, from the bishop or from a presbyter. And Paul, 1 Cor. 11:33, commands concerning the Communion: Tarry one for another, so that there may be a common participation.

Forasmuch, therefore, as the Mass with us has the example of the Church, taken from the Scripture and the Fathers, we are confident that it cannot be disapproved, especially since public ceremonies, for the most part like those hitherto in use, are retained; only the number of Masses differs, which, because of very great and manifest abuses doubtless might be profitably reduced. For in olden times, even in churches most frequented, the Mass was not celebrated every day, as the Tripartite History (Book 9, chap. 33) testifies: Again in Alexandria, every Wednesday and Friday the Scriptures are read, and the doctors expound them, and all things are done, except the solemn rite of Communion.

(To Be Continued….)

How Must God’s Word Be Preached

In Order to Produce Faith in the Hearts of the Hearers?

By Franz Pieper

Luther-Hour Lectures presented to the Seminary Students

SECOND LECTURE

(C.T.M., August, 1933, pp. 583-589)

In the last lecture I sought to show you that it is the task of the ministry to work faith in Christ and that in this consists the unique importance and exalted character of the ministry in comparison with all other public offices God has ordained. The office of the ministry has been instituted by God, as Rom. 1:5 says: “for obedience to the faith among all nations, for his name” i.e., for the purpose of establishing the obedience of faith toward the Gospel among men, or, as the Apostle writes to Titus (ch. 1:1), “according to the faith of God’s elect,” for the purpose of the faith of the elect. Kata with the accusative, in the usage of the New Testament as in classical Greek, designates the declaration of purpose.

But now I warn you against an erroneous notion that could intrude itself in connection with the declaration of the purpose of the ministry, namely, against the erroneous notion as though the working of faith stood in the hand of the preacher, in his skill, in his power. He who becomes involved in this erroneous notion that the working of faith stands in the hand of the preacher will commit a whole series of mistakes which definitely hinder the production and continuance of faith. To be sure, you are to lend your mouth to the Word of God, but no man can work faith, nor can all men with all their united power and wisdom, nor can any angel, nor can all angels together. Faith in Christ is a work of divine grace, of divine omnipotence, and so a miracle, which God alone performs. Holy Scripture is very intent upon inculcating this into the preachers. So speaks the Apostle Paul in the Epistle to the Ephesians (1:19) in the name of all believers: “We believe according to the working of His mighty power, which He wrought in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead, and set Him at His own right hand in the heavenly places”; further, in II Cor. 4:6: “God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. Therefore we faint not.” In the Ephesians passage the power whereby man comes into this state of grace is compared with the power of God which He showed when He raised Christ from the dead; in the Corinthian passage, on the other hand, to the power which He employed when, at the creation of the world He commanded the light to shine out of darkness. Therefore Luther is speaking in complete accord with Scripture when he says: “Faith in Christ is a miracle as great as the creation of the world.”

To be sure, Scripture ascribes the working of faith also to the preachers. The Apostle says with reference to the Corinthians (I Cor. 4:15): “In Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the Gospel.” And the Apostle in the same verse calls himself the spiritual father of the Corinthians. For this reason also our Christians speak rightly when they call the preachers through whom they have come to faith spiritual fathers. And since the ministers preach not for their own persons but by the commission and in the stead of the Church, that is, in the stead of all believers, therefore Gal. 4:26 calls the Church the mother of all believers. But men come into consideration here only as instruments, and in no other capacity. While they preach the Word, the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit alone, works faith by His infinite power, and that where and when He wills, not where and when the preacher wills. In James 1:18 we read: “Of His own will begat He us with the Word of Truth.” And therefore we confess in the Fifth Article of the Augsburg Confession that God has indeed instituted the ministry in order to awaken and to strengthen faith, but that through preaching He works faith where and when it pleases Him, not where and when it pleases the preacher.

If you do not hold this fast, my dear young brethren, then you will fall into a whole series of mistakes. I will just bring to your attention a few such mistakes. The grossest mistake which has its basis in the notion that the preacher has the gift of faith in his hand is found among our American revivalists. Not long ago I received a report from a pastor in the Central District who, as he said, had attended an interesting meeting of a revivalist. In the report I read that the revivalist had preached Law and Gospel almost entirely correctly, had showed to all from the Law their worthiness of damnation and had proclaimed to all the grace of God in Christ Jesus. So far he was right; but now the vice of the revivalist preacher came to light. After his sermon was finished, he pulled, out his watch (it was quarter to nine) and said: “Before nine o’clock you must be converted.” And then he called out to the assembly: “Confess your faith.” What was the effect? It was very bad indeed. It can best be made plain by a comparison. It is just as though you would sink a plant into the ground, and then in order to hasten its growth you would go and see whether it had already taken root; or, if you did not actually uproot the plant, yet you would pull it to the left and to the right to control its growth. The growth would not be hastened thereby but only hindered. How things go in this respect in the Kingdom of God is written in Mark 4:27. In the Kingdom of God the situation is “as if a man should cast seed into the ground; and should sleep and rise night and day, and the seed should spring and grow up, he knoweth not how. For the earth bringeth forth fruit of herself; first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear.” To be sure, when you have preached the Word you should exhort to its acceptance, and to its acceptance on the spot. You should speak in the imperative: Believe on Christ, the Savior of sinners, all of you; for He calls all of you to Himself, and “today if ye shall hear His voice, harden not your hearts!” But then you must let it go at that. You may not undertake to set a definite time within which men must be converted. If you do that, then you are committing a usurpation upon God’s majesty; and that is a criminal undertaking. Thereby you desire to grasp for yourself what God has reserved for His own might. And the consequence is that many confess to be converted who yet are not converted. The preacher has called forth a certain emotional reaction by his magnetism, and the people suppose that they believe in Jesus Christ as the Savior of sinners, but they do not have this faith.

This gross mistake does not occur among us. But more refined mistakes, which belong in the same category and have the same basis, namely the self-confidence of the preacher in his work, are found also among us. It is a mistake when a person does not simply preach the Word of God, but supposes that he must by his rhetoric and by his way and manner of presentation make the Word of God interesting and powerful. The result is that the people get the impression that the preacher is “putting on a show,” and do not quite take you seriously, and thus you hinder the production of faith. Another mistake would be if we should undertake in a sermon to convert this or that person, of whom we suppose that he is not yet converted, and on that account should so twist and turn our words in the public preaching that it is specially intended for this particular person whom we wish to reach. The result is the hindering of faith, if God does not make good the harm we have done. If the matter takes the course it must naturally take in accordance with the foolishness of the preacher, then those concerned notice that the words are specially intended for them. They close their heart, and so the preacher, as far as in him lies, has become a hindrance to faith.

Concerning this weighty point we shall hear Luther. Luther treats the subject just discussed rather exhaustively, in his Commentary on the Eighth Psalm, specifically v.2 “Out of the mouths of babes.” This exposition you will find in the St. Louis Edition, IV, 623 ff, Erlangen Edition (Latin) XV, 18 ff. Luther writes as follows: “In the first place the Psalmist says: ‘Out of the mouths.’ That is an impressive, but also a faithful reminder for those who treat the Word in the Church. For it is only rightly treated when the mouth is distinguished from the Word, that the Word is not his who preaches, or rather does not preach, but lets Christ speak through his mouth, as St. Paul says in II Cor. 13:3: ‘Since ye seek a proof of Christ speaking in me.’ For the prophet could have said here: The babes have perfected praise; but we presumptuous confabulators were due for a rebuke, who, without so much as greeting the Holy Ghost, pour out before the people whatever comes into our mind, yes, into our mouth.”

And so this word of Luther concerns you who wish to become preachers. As preachers you shall lend your mouth to the Word, but you shall not desire to give it power. Your mouth and God’s Word belong together, but then again they must be strictly distinguished, in so far as you do not want to give power to the Word of God. That does not belong to the mouth. Consider how strangely the Apostle Paul expresses himself in the First Epistle to the Corinthians. There he speaks of the manner of his preaching and says: “When I came to you, I came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God,” ch. 2, v. 1, not to persuade with “enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power” (v.4). The Apostle Paul did not push himself forward with his mouth, so that the mouth was all and the Word took second place, but he merely lent his mouth to the Word of God, so that the simple Word of God was not buried under the rhetoric and the human struggling and striving of the Apostle Paul. If human effort and human art count for everything in preaching and the Word of God is pushed into the background, what will the consequence be? The Apostle points out the evil consequences. He says he has preached so simply and not employed human art (1 Cor. 2:5), that our faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God. And so the danger is present, my dear brethren, when you let rhetoric and personal magnetism predominate, that then a pretty conversation comes to pass, a conversation which men have made but which God has not made. The poor people go their way and think they are converted, and later it turns out that they are not converted. They have not been led to the Word, they do not base their faith upon the Word, but they have come under personal influence, under personal magnetism, and as soon as the preacher is gone, it is all over. Therefore the reports in the English churches show a quite terrible effect of the revivalists in a place where they have held forth. There is pretty general agreement that where a revivalist has worked for some weeks, there no spiritual grass grows for five years to come. The whole land is spiritually desolated, a burned out crater. We know the cause of these evil results if we give attention to 1 Cor. 2 and consider the direction the Apostle gives. The real revival preacher permits his art and his power to come to the fore in his preaching. Oh yes, he occasionally preaches from God’s Word. There occur a few crumbs of divine truth, but this divine truth is completely covered over with human might. The hearers are not really caught, but merely come under the personal influence and magnetism of the revival preacher. Thousands, ten thousand, fifteen thousand, have been converted by the influence of the outstanding personality. But, as soon as the revivalist is gone and the excitement has subsided and the nerves have come to rest again, there develops a spiritual hangover (Katzenjammer); for the stimulus is gone; the Word is not in the heart and does not hold the people. Faith in Christ has not been worked. An English preacher himself reports that the people who have been converted become the very worst mockers. But all of this rests upon the mistaken notion and the perverse practice which assumes that faith really lies in the power of whom? In the power of men, in the power of the preacher. This rests upon the error that the preacher wants to be more than a mouth.

But I wanted to read to you from Luther. He writes: “That is an impressive, but also a faithful reminder for those who treat the Word in the Church. For it is then rightly treated when the mouth is distinguished from the Word, that the Word is not his who preaches, or rather does not preach, but lets Christ speak through his mouth, as St. Paul says in 2 Cor. 13:3: ‘Since ye seek a proof of Christ speaking in me.’ For the prophet could have said here: The babes have perfected praise; but we presumptuous confabulators were due a rebuke, who without so much as greeting the Holy Ghost, pour out before the people whatever comes into our mind, yea, into our mouth. Yea, others even search and seek intentionally not to preach anything solid, that is to say, that Christ should not teach His Word but that they should teach their own word. Hence it also follows that they not only do not destroy the enemy and the avenger, but rather strengthen him and give him occasion to mock.”

These are the evil effects when people attach themselves to individual persons instead of to God’s Word. And the preachers who use their personal art in order thereby to push God’s Word into the background are to blame for these evil effects. Do you be like the Apostle Paul, who rebuked the Corinthians (1 Cor. 3:14) when he learned that some said Paul was the best, others that Peter was the best, and still others Silas. The Apostle takes hold of the situation and administers a fearful rebuke. He tells them that they are all wrong in this conduct of theirs. He says: “Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believed, even as the Lord gave to every man? I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase.” In this relation shall we stand to the Word, and so shall we preach. The preachers shall be held in all honor, but only in so far as they bring the Word in their preaching and base it upon the Word and hold fast to the Word. As soon as the preacher wants to be something for his own person, as soon he wants to do something without the Word and ascribe a power to himself, he goes beyond the prescribed bounds.

Luther says further: “By this word also the ostentation is rebuked of those who exercise themselves in matters and in things too high for them (Psalm 131:1), since they teach high and difficult things which are irrelevant, which the people cannot grasp, and if they could grasp them they would receive no profit from them; and in general all doctrine is here reproved which is of human origin and is presented with adulteration of carnal understanding, which is not in accord with divinely inspired doctrine” (IV, 625; XV, 19.). So we ought not to lose heart and quit the ministry when we do not immediately see fruits. The fruit shall come in its time. We have to open our mouth, and God will work faith in His own good time. If we want to take hold here with our own effort, then we can only cause harm. Luther says: “Wherefore we should lay aside foolish confidence as though we were able to cooperate with the Word in the hearer, but rather occupy ourselves in prayer that He alone without us would perfect in the hearer that which He speaks in the teacher, for it is He who speaks and it is He who hears and works all in all. We are His utensils and tools, who can neither receive nor give anything unless He Himself gives it and receives” (IV, 626; XV, 20.). So also the Apostle says, 1 Cor. 2:3: “I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling.”

(To Be Continued….)

Bible Study in Preparation for Sunday

Scripture Readings appointed for Sunday are: Psalm 24; Acts 20:13-38; Matthew 1:18-25. Please read them in their context as you prepare for worship on Sunday.

The Adult Bible Class will continue in the Gospel of John at chapter 14:12ff. What works would Jesus’ disciples do? How would they be enabled to do such works? What does Jesus say about the petitions they make in His name? Cf. 1 John 5:14-15; Psalm 37:3-7. Why will Jesus do as His disciples ask? Who will receive glory? How? How do Jesus’ words apply to us? What will people do if they love Jesus? Cf. 1 John 5:2-3. (Study 1 John 4 and 5 for a better understanding of Jesus’ words about love.) For what does Jesus say He will pray to the Father? Who would abide with Jesus’ disciples forever? Who is this? How is He the Comforter? Who alone can receive the Comforter? Why cannot the world receive Him? How will Jesus come to us and comfort us? What promise did Jesus make in verse 19? What act of Jesus gave this verse real meaning for us? What would Jesus’ disciples come to know when Jesus poured out His Spirit upon them? Who is it who truly loves Jesus? How does Jesus manifest Himself to those who love and trust in Him? How does all this apply to us today?

Remember to Pray

Remember to pray for our church and for all our members, that none be lost to Christ’s kingdom but that all continue in repentance and be strengthened and built up in the true and saving faith in Christ Jesus through the hearing and study of His Word. We pray for God’s healing and strengthening of our congregation, as well as for God’s help with our church’s financial needs. We continue to pray for all who have been sick or who are suffering among us – especially for Bill Schoepf, who is home recovering from hernia surgery; Dick Stueland, also recovering from a second knee surgery; for Harley Woods, following surgery; for Sam Rusch, who has had repeated stays in the hospital; the mother of Dick Rusch; for Dick Rusch who is recovering from shoulder surgery; and for Regina Wood (the sister of Lonnie Moll), who was diagnosed with ovarian cancer and is undergoing chemotherapy – for those who have been absent from us, for our extended families and for Christians who are alone and have no congregation. Continue to pray for Lutheran congregations which desire to remain faithful to Christ and His Word, for the Lutheran churches in the Philippines, for Christians in Nigeria, Haiti and Chile, and for believers around the world who are persecuted or suffering for their faith in Christ Jesus.

Events and Announcements

Video services can now be watched on-line at the church Web site: www.goodshepherdrogers.org. Simply go to the page titled Worship Service Video and click on the service you wish to view. Depending on your browser, the video will either stream or download for viewing.

Anyone wishing to help with costs involved for Sam Rusch to visit the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota may place a gift in the offering with the designation: Sam Rusch.

Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve services are being planned for 7 p.m. on each night.

The choir continues to practice after church services on Sundays. More voices are welcome.

Information for bulletins or newsletters may be sent to Pastor Moll by calling him at 479-233-0081 or by e-mail at goodshepherdrogers@yahoo.com.

“For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.” Isaiah 9:6-7

[Scripture in this Newsletter is taken from the King James Version of the Bible.]