Rescue from the Confusion of your self

Verse for the week: “This is the Lord's doing;
    it is marvelous in our eyes.”  Psalm 118.23

Prayer for the week: Almighty God, draw our hearts to you, guide our minds, fill our imaginations, control our wills, so that we may be wholly yours. Use us as you will, always to your glory and the welfare of our neighbor; through Jesus Christ, your Son, our Lord. Amen.

Bible reading for the day: Genesis 11.1-9 (Our natural, sinful inclination is to make a name for ourselves. Here is what the Lord does to such attempts of our will.)

 Now the whole earth had one language and the same words. ² And as people migrated from the east, they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there. ³ And they said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks, and burn them thoroughly.” And they had brick for stone, and bitumen for mortar. ⁴ Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth.” ⁵ And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of man had built. ⁶ And the Lord said, “Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language, and this is only the beginning of what they will do. And nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them. ⁷ Come, let us go down and there confuse their language, so that they may not understand one another's speech.” ⁸ So the Lord dispersed them from there over the face of all the earth, and they left off building the city. ⁹ Therefore its name was called Babel, because there the Lord confused the language of all the earth. And from there the Lord dispersed them over the face of all the earth.

Prayer of the Day: Gracious Lord God, thank you for condescending… for coming down to earth in Jesus to become our sin that we might become your witnesses. Daily deliver me and your whole church from all the self-glorifying projects of our will. Set us on our only true starting place and foundation: Christ crucified for the salvation of sinners. In Jesus’ name I ask this. Amen.

Hymn: follow this link to a beloved classic that gives further voice to today’s conversation with the Lord: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w1YBYrJ8Hzg&ab_channel=MartijndeGroot

I believe in God the Father, creator of heaven and earth.

I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord. He was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended into hell. On the third day he rose again. He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Christian church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.

Benediction: For the Lord takes pleasure in his people;
    he adorns the humble with salvation.   Psalm 149.4

 

*This is now our congregation’s 99^th year in the Word. In 2025, we are reading from Genesis to Revelation, with a few interludes along the way.

 

Sleepers, Awake

Verse for the week: “He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man's heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end.”  Ecclesiastes 3.11

Prayer for the week: Dear heavenly Father, hallow your name among us: see to it that your Word is taught in its truth and purity and that we as your children live in harmony with it; through Jesus Christ, your Son, our Lord. Amen.

Bible reading for the day: Ephesians 5.1-21

 Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. ² And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

³ But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints. ⁴ Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving. ⁵ For you may be sure of this, that everyone who is sexually immoral or impure, or who is covetous (that is, an idolater), has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. ⁶ Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. ⁷ Therefore do not become partners with them; ⁸ for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light ⁹ (for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true), ¹⁰ and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord. ¹¹ Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them. ¹² For it is shameful even to speak of the things that they do in secret. ¹³ But when anything is exposed by the light, it becomes visible, ¹⁴ for anything that becomes visible is light. Therefore it says,

“Awake, O sleeper,
    and arise from the dead,
and Christ will shine on you.”

¹⁵ Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, ¹⁶ making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. ¹⁷ Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. ¹⁸ And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, ¹⁹ addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, ²⁰ giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, ²¹ submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.

Prayer of the Day: Gracious and Almighty Father, in Christ Jesus you wake me up and call me out of the death and darkness that is within and around me and into his light. Thank you! The days a certainly evil; give me the wisdom that exposes the darkness and deceit of empty words and debauchery for the counterfeit that they are. Daily guide me to walk as a child of light, making the best use of the time; in Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.

Hymn: follow this link to Bach’s classic “Sleepers Awake,” it gives further voice to today’s conversation with the Lord: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KyWOIKCtjiw&ab_channel=ClassicalMusicOnly

“What does baptism mean for daily living?”

It means that our sinful self, with all its evil deeds and desires, should be drowned through daily repentance; and that day after day a new self should arise to live with God in righteousness and purity forever.

St. Paul writes in Romans 6:  “We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.”   (from The Small Catechism, Martin Luther)

Benediction: For the Lord takes pleasure in his people;
    he adorns the humble with salvation.   Psalm 149.4

 

*This is now our congregation’s 99^th year in the Word. In 2025, we are reading from Genesis to Revelation, with a few interludes along the way.

 

Of all your wonderful deeds...

Verse for the week: “He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man's heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end.”  Ecclesiastes 3.11

Prayer for the week: Dear heavenly Father, hallow your name among us: see to it that your Word is taught in its truth and purity and that we as your children live in harmony with it; through Jesus Christ, your Son, our Lord. Amen.

Bible reading for the day: Psalm 9.1-8

 I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart;
    I will recount all of your wonderful deeds.
² I will be glad and exult in you;
    I will sing praise to your name, O Most High.

³ When my enemies turn back,
    they stumble and perish before^[c] your presence.
⁴ For you have maintained my just cause;
    you have sat on the throne, giving righteous judgment.

⁵ You have rebuked the nations; you have made the wicked perish;
    you have blotted out their name forever and ever.
⁶ The enemy came to an end in everlasting ruins;
    their cities you rooted out;
    the very memory of them has perished.

⁷ But the Lord sits enthroned forever;
    he has established his throne for justice,
⁸ and he judges the world with righteousness;
    he judges the peoples with uprightness.

Prayer of the Day: Gracious and Almighty Father, of all your wonderful deeds this is chief: you chose the cross as your throne and sat yourself, your son there to give your righteousness to unrighteous ones like me. Thank you! In so doing, you brought the Enemy to everlasting ruin; he stumbles and perishes before you. Still somehow, he manages to prowl around seeking whom he may devour, so keep up your work Lord until I breath my last or Christ returns… then I finally will give you thanks with my whole heart. In Jesus’ name I pray, amen.

Hymn: follow this link to a beloved classic that gives further voice to today’s conversation with the Lord: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yKP_XxCBDZY&ab_channel=MartijndeGroot

“I believe in Jesus Christ, God’s only Son, our Lord…”

What does this mean for us?  I believe that Jesus Christ — true God, begotten of the Father from eternity, and also true man, born of the Virgin Mary — is my Lord. He has redeemed me, a lost and condemned creature, and has freed me from sin, death, and the power of the devil, not with silver and gold, but with his holy and precious blood and his innocent suffering and death. He has done all this in order that I might be his own, live under him in his kingdom, and serve him in everlasting righteousness, innocence, and blessedness, even as he is risen from the dead and lives and reigns for all eternity. This is most certainly true!  (from The Small Catechism, Martin Luther)

Benediction: For the Lord takes pleasure in his people;
    he adorns the humble with salvation.   Psalm 149.4

 

*This is now our congregation’s 99^th year in the Word. In 2025, we are reading from Genesis to Revelation, with a few interludes along the way.

 

All the time in the world...

Verse for the week: “He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man's heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end.”  Ecclesiastes 3.11

Prayer for the week: Dear heavenly Father, hallow your name among us: see to it that your Word is taught in its truth and purity and that we as your children live in harmony with it; through Jesus Christ, your Son, our Lord. Amen.

Bible reading for the day: Ecclesiastes 3.1-15 (Of Ecclesiastes, Luther wrote: “This book ought really to have a title to indicate that it was written against the free will. For the entire book tends to show that the counsels, plans, and undertaking of men are all in vain and fruitless, and that they always have a different outcome from that which we will and purpose.”)

 For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:

² a time to be born, and a time to die;
a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;
³ a time to kill, and a time to heal;
a time to break down, and a time to build up;
⁴ a time to weep, and a time to laugh;
a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
⁵ a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together;
a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
⁶ a time to seek, and a time to lose;
a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
⁷ a time to tear, and a time to sew;
a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
⁸ a time to love, and a time to hate;
a time for war, and a time for peace.

⁹ What gain has the worker from his toil? ¹⁰ I have seen the business that God has given to the children of man to be busy with. ¹¹ He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man's heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end. ¹² I perceived that there is nothing better for them than to be joyful and to do good as long as they live; ¹³ also that everyone should eat and drink and take pleasure in all his toil—this is God's gift to man.

¹⁴ I perceived that whatever God does endures forever; nothing can be added to it, nor anything taken from it. God has done it, so that people fear before him. ¹⁵ That which is, already has been; that which is to be, already has been; and God seeks what has been driven away.

Prayer of the Day: Dear heavenly Father, for everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven. You have spoken to me now in your Living Word. Pour out your Spirit with your Word: establish afresh me and your whole church in the one who descended into real time to reclaim us and redeem us from the devil, the world and our sinful selves. Establish our days and nights in the Lord of all time, your Son, Jesus Christ, crucified, raised and reigning now and for eternity. Amen.

Hymn: follow this link to a beloved classic that gives further voice to today’s conversation with the Lord: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yKP_XxCBDZY&ab_channel=MartijndeGroot

“I believe in Jesus Christ, God’s only Son, our Lord…”

What does this mean for us?  I believe that Jesus Christ — true God, begotten of the Father from eternity, and also true man, born of the Virgin Mary — is my Lord. He has redeemed me, a lost and condemned creature, and has freed me from sin, death, and the power of the devil, not with silver and gold, but with his holy and precious blood and his innocent suffering and death. He has done all this in order that I might be his own, live under him in his kingdom, and serve him in everlasting righteousness, innocence, and blessedness, even as he is risen from the dead and lives and reigns for all eternity. This is most certainly true!  (from The Small Catechism, Martin Luther)

Benediction: For the Lord takes pleasure in his people;
    he adorns the humble with salvation.   Psalm 149.4

 

*This is now our congregation’s 99^th year in the Word. In 2025, we are reading from Genesis to Revelation, with a few interludes along the way.

 

Stumbling block and folly

Verse for the week: “The friendship of the Lord is for those who fear him,
    and he makes known to them his covenant.”  Psalm 25.14

Prayer for the week: Dear heavenly Father, hallow your name among us: see to it that your Word is taught in its truth and purity and that we as your children live in harmony with it; through Jesus Christ, your Son, our Lord. Amen.

Bible reading for the day: I Corinthians 1.18-25 (In 54-55 AD, Paul writes to the congregation in Corinth.)

 For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. ¹⁹ For it is written,

“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise,
    and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.”

²⁰ Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? ²¹ For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. ²² For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, ²³ but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, ²⁴ but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. ²⁵ For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

Prayer of the Day: Gracious and almighty Father, wisdom is not the success of our will, it is the termination of our will and the preaching of Christ crucified for our salvation. Thank you. Daily rescue me and your whole church from perishing in our own wisdom. Establish us daily in what the world regards as stumbling block and folly: your power and your wisdom in Christ crucified for the salvation of sinners; in Jesus’ name I ask this. Amen.

Hymn: follow this link to a beloved classic that gives further voice to today’s conversation with the Lord: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZgcaigsoNug&ab_channel=MartijndeGroot

“I believe in Jesus Christ, God’s only Son, our Lord…”

What does this mean for us?  I believe that Jesus Christ — true God, begotten of the Father from eternity, and also true man, born of the Virgin Mary — is my Lord. He has redeemed me, a lost and condemned creature, and has freed me from sin, death, and the power of the devil, not with silver and gold, but with his holy and precious blood and his innocent suffering and death. He has done all this in order that I might be his own, live under him in his kingdom, and serve him in everlasting righteousness, innocence, and blessedness, even as he is risen from the dead and lives and reigns for all eternity. This is most certainly true!  (from The Small Catechism, Martin Luther)

Benediction: For the Lord takes pleasure in his people;
    he adorns the humble with salvation.   Psalm 149.4

 

*This is now our congregation’s 99^th year in the Word. In 2025, we are reading from Genesis to Revelation, with a few interludes along the way.

 

Where is wisdom?

Verse for the week: “The friendship of the Lord is for those who fear him,
    and he makes known to them his covenant.”  Psalm 25.14

Prayer for the week: Dear heavenly Father, hallow your name among us: see to it that your Word is taught in its truth and purity and that we as your children live in harmony with it; through Jesus Christ, your Son, our Lord. Amen.

Bible reading for the day: Job 28 (Job asks, where is wisdom to be found?)

“Surely there is a mine for silver,
    and a place for gold that they refine.
² Iron is taken out of the earth,
    and copper is smelted from the ore.
³ Man puts an end to darkness
    and searches out to the farthest limit
    the ore in gloom and deep darkness.
⁴ He opens shafts in a valley away from where anyone lives;
    they are forgotten by travelers;
    they hang in the air, far away from mankind; they swing to and fro.
⁵ As for the earth, out of it comes bread,
    but underneath it is turned up as by fire.
⁶ Its stones are the place of sapphires,
    and it has dust of gold.

⁷ “That path no bird of prey knows,
    and the falcon's eye has not seen it.
⁸ The proud beasts have not trodden it;
    the lion has not passed over it.

⁹ “Man puts his hand to the flinty rock
    and overturns mountains by the roots.
¹⁰ He cuts out channels in the rocks,
    and his eye sees every precious thing.
¹¹ He dams up the streams so that they do not trickle,
    and the thing that is hidden he brings out to light.

¹² “But where shall wisdom be found?
    And where is the place of understanding?
¹³ Man does not know its worth,
    and it is not found in the land of the living.
¹⁴ The deep says, ‘It is not in me,’
    and the sea says, ‘It is not with me.’
¹⁵ It cannot be bought for gold,
    and silver cannot be weighed as its price.
¹⁶ It cannot be valued in the gold of Ophir,
    in precious onyx or sapphire.
¹⁷ Gold and glass cannot equal it,
    nor can it be exchanged for jewels of fine gold.
¹⁸ No mention shall be made of coral or of crystal;
    the price of wisdom is above pearls.
¹⁹ The topaz of Ethiopia cannot equal it,
    nor can it be valued in pure gold.

²⁰ “From where, then, does wisdom come?
    And where is the place of understanding?
²¹ It is hidden from the eyes of all living
    and concealed from the birds of the air.
²² Abaddon and Death say,
    ‘We have heard a rumor of it with our ears.’

²³ “God understands the way to it,
    and he knows its place.
²⁴ For he looks to the ends of the earth
    and sees everything under the heavens.
²⁵ When he gave to the wind its weight
    and apportioned the waters by measure,
²⁶ when he made a decree for the rain
    and a way for the lightning of the thunder,
²⁷ then he saw it and declared it;
    he established it, and searched it out.
²⁸ And he said to man,
‘Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom,
    and to turn away from evil is understanding.’”

Prayer of the Day: Gracious and almighty Father, we dig and mine and refine; extracting silver, gold, sapphires and pearls. But more precious than these, where is wisdom to be found? In Christ crucified and raised for our forgiveness, life, and salvation. Thank you! Day after day, teach me and your whole church to fear, love, and trust you above anything else and to turn away from evil. I ask this in Jesus’ name, amen.

Hymn: follow this link to a beloved classic that gives further voice to today’s conversation with the Lord: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uesejz03QVY&ab_channel=AndrewRemillard

“Our Father, who art in heaven…”

What does this mean for us?  Here God encourages us to believe that he is truly our Father and we are his children. We therefore are to pray to him with complete confidence, just as children speak to their loving father. (from The Small Catechism, Martin Luther)

Benediction: For the Lord takes pleasure in his people;
    he adorns the humble with salvation.   Psalm 149.4

 

*This is now our congregation’s 99^th year in the Word. In 2025, we are reading from Genesis to Revelation, with a few interludes along the way.

 

Christ alone is our righteousness

Verse for the week: “The friendship of the Lord is for those who fear him,
    and he makes known to them his covenant.”  Psalm 25.14

Prayer for the week: Dear heavenly Father, hallow your name among us: see to it that your Word is taught in its truth and purity and that we as your children live in harmony with it; through Jesus Christ, your Son, our Lord. Amen.

Bible reading for the day: Psalm 1 (Psalm 1 serves as a preamble to the entire collection of 150 songs. It contrasts the way of the righteous and of the wicked. There is not a single prescriptive or imperative verb in the entire psalm. Every verb is indicative, every verse is descriptive.

“Blessed is the man
    who walks not in the counsel of the wicked,
nor stands in the way of sinners,
    nor sits in the seat of scoffers;
² but his delight is in the law of the Lord,
    and on his law he meditates day and night.

³ He is like a tree
    planted by streams of water
that yields its fruit in its season,
    and its leaf does not wither.
In all that he does, he prospers.
⁴ The wicked are not so,
    but are like chaff that the wind drives away.

⁵ Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
    nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous;
⁶ for the Lord knows the way of the righteous,
    but the way of the wicked will perish.

Prayer of the Day: Gracious and almighty Father, there is indeed a river whose streams make glad and enliven; this river is Christ Jesus himself. Christ alone is the way of the righteous. Thank you that it is your will to plant us in him. In season and out, deliver me and my congregation from claiming a righteousness of our own… keep us planted in him who is our righteousness; through the same, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. 

Hymn: follow this link to a beloved classic that gives further voice to today’s conversation with the Lord: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=92D8K6Mkmzo&ab_channel=GlendaleAZSDAChurch

The First Commandment, with a Promise

“I am the Lord, your God. You shall have no other gods besides me.” Exodus 20.2

What does this mean for us?  We are to fear, love, and trust God above anything else. (from The Small Catechism, Martin Luther)

Benediction: For the Lord takes pleasure in his people;
    he adorns the humble with salvation.   Psalm 149.4

 

*This is now our congregation’s 99^th year in the Word. In 2025, we are reading from Genesis to Revelation, with a few interludes along the way.