The Lord is Keeping His Promise to You

Verse for the week: “Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain.” Psalm 127.1

Prayer for the week:  Blessed Lord, you speak to us through the Holy Scriptures. Keep your promise and pour out your Holy Spirit that as we hear, read, respect, learn and suffer your Word, His enduring benefits of faith and comfort may grasp and hold us in true life now and in eternity with you; through the same Jesus Christ, your Son, our Lord. Amen.

Bible reading for the day: Genesis 17.1-11  (This episode in the generations long narrative of God’s chosen relationship with Abraham and his family takes place 25 years after God’s call of Abram. Abram means exalted father, Abraham means father of a multitude.  In Hebrew, to make a covenant is to “cut a covenant”.)

When Abram was ninety-nine years old the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless, ² that I may make my covenant between me and you, and may multiply you greatly.” ³ Then Abram fell on his face. And God said to him, ⁴ “Behold, my covenant is with you, and you shall be the father of a multitude of nations. ⁵ No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham, for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations. ⁶ I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make you into nations, and kings shall come from you. ⁷ And I will establish my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you. ⁸ And I will give to you and to your offspring after you the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession, and I will be their God.”

⁹ And God said to Abraham, “As for you, you shall keep my covenant, you and your offspring after you throughout their generations. ¹⁰ This is my covenant, which you shall keep, between me and you and your offspring after you: Every male among you shall be circumcised. ¹¹ You shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and you.

Prayer (based on the T.R.I.P. method): Gracious and almighty Father, thank you that by your gracious and good will I am one among the multitude of your kept promise to Abraham. And thank you that your covenant with me is not just of the flesh but of water and the Holy Spirit. Keep me in the covenant of my baptism today and each day, that I may live with you in righteousness and purity forever. In Jesus’ name I pray, amen.

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

What benefits does God give in baptism?

In baptism God forgives sin, delivers from death and the devil, and gives everlasting salvation to all whole believe what he has promised.

What does baptism mean for daily life?

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. (from The Small Catechism, by Martin Luther)

Benediction: “I am the Lord your God and you shall be my people.” Amen.

 

*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.

The Sovereign call of God

 ...is laid upon you.

Verse for the week: “The law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.” John 1.17

Prayer for the week:  Blessed Lord, you speak to us through the Holy Scriptures. Keep your promise and pour out your Holy Spirit that as we hear, read, respect, learn and suffer your Word, His enduring benefits of faith and comfort may grasp and hold us in true life now and in eternity with you; through the same Jesus Christ, your Son, our Lord. Amen.

Bible reading for the day: Genesis 12.1-9  (The same Lord God who creates the universe out of nothing just by saying so, chooses a 75-year-old man and his barren wife as his instruments to bless all the families of the earth with his Word.)

 Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you. ² And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. ³ I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

⁴ So Abram went, as the Lord had told him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. ⁵ And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother's son, and all their possessions that they had gathered, and the people that they had acquired in Haran, and they set out to go to the land of Canaan. When they came to the land of Canaan, ⁶ Abram passed through the land to the place at Shechem, to the oak of Moreh. At that time the Canaanites were in the land. ⁷ Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To your offspring I will give this land.” So he built there an altar to the Lord, who had appeared to him. ⁸ From there he moved to the hill country on the east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. And there he built an altar to the Lord and called upon the name of the Lord. ⁹ And Abram journeyed on, still going toward the Negeb.

Prayer (based on the T.R.I.P. method): Gracious and almighty Father, your sovereign call is our beginning and our end. Thank you for laying your call upon Abram and me and rescuing us from ourselves. You will now to use me and your whole church to bless all the families of the earth with your speech. Do it Lord. Bring us to your altar, not the altar of ourselves. Instill in us the calling upon your name and remove from us all our babble. I ask this in Christ’s name, amen.

Hymn: follow this link to a beloved, classic hymn that gives further voice to today’s conversation with the Lord: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LVK47RThdcg&ab_channel=PianoSeries

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

What does this mean?  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!

Benediction: The Lord God remembers you according to his favor. Amen.

 

*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.

Rescue for babblers like us

Verse for the week: “The law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.” John 1.17

Prayer for the week:  Blessed Lord, you speak to us through the Holy Scriptures. Keep your promise and pour out your Holy Spirit that as we hear, read, respect, learn and suffer your Word, His enduring benefits of faith and comfort may grasp and hold us in true life now and in eternity with you; through the same Jesus Christ, your Son, our Lord. Amen.

Bible reading for the day: Genesis 10.32 - 11.9

³²These are the clans of the sons of Noah, according to their genealogies, in their nations, and from these the nations spread abroad on the earth after the flood.

^11.1 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 (based on the T.R.I.P. method): Gracious and almighty Father, you know the truth about us: we are your beloved children and yet our hearts are thoroughly corrupt. This corruption shows up in our babbling, our constant attempts to put our own name above yours. Thank you that in your Son crucified and raised you confound our will and rescue us from ourselves and give us the name that is above all names, Jesus Christ. Keep it up Lord… until the intention of my heart is no longer evil. In Jesus’ name I ask this, amen.

Hymn: follow this link to a beloved, classic hymn that gives further voice to today’s conversation with the Lord: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=teI3ayeBxX0&ab_channel=Koine

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

What does this mean?  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!

Benediction: The Lord God remembers you according to his favor. Amen.

 

*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.

The Lord God Remembers You

Verse for the week: “The law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.” John 1.17

Prayer for the week:  Blessed Lord, you speak to us through the Holy Scriptures. Keep your promise and pour out your Holy Spirit that as we hear, read, respect, learn and suffer your Word, His enduring benefits of faith and comfort may grasp and hold us in true life now and in eternity with you; through the same Jesus Christ, your Son, our Lord. Amen.

Bible reading for the day: Genesis 6.5-8.22

The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. ⁶ And the Lord regretted that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart. ⁷ So the Lord said, “I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens, for I am sorry that I have made them.” ⁸ But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord.

⁹ These are the generations of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his generation. Noah walked with God. ¹⁰ And Noah had three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

¹¹ Now the earth was corrupt in God's sight, and the earth was filled with violence. ¹² And God saw the earth, and behold, it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth. ¹³ And God said to Noah, “I have determined to make an end of all flesh, for the earth is filled with violence through them. Behold, I will destroy them with the earth. ¹⁴ Make yourself an ark of gopher wood. Make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and out with pitch. ¹⁵ This is how you are to make it: the length of the ark 300 cubits, its breadth 50 cubits, and its height 30 cubits. ¹⁶ Make a roof for the ark, and finish it to a cubit above, and set the door of the ark in its side. Make it with lower, second, and third decks. ¹⁷ For behold, I will bring a flood of waters upon the earth to destroy all flesh in which is the breath of life under heaven. Everything that is on the earth shall die. ¹⁸ But I will establish my covenant with you, and you shall come into the ark, you, your sons, your wife, and your sons' wives with you. ¹⁹ And of every living thing of all flesh, you shall bring two of every sort into the ark to keep them alive with you. They shall be male and female. ²⁰ Of the birds according to their kinds, and of the animals according to their kinds, of every creeping thing of the ground, according to its kind, two of every sort shall come in to you to keep them alive. ²¹ Also take with you every sort of food that is eaten, and store it up. It shall serve as food for you and for them.” ²² Noah did this; he did all that God commanded him.

^7.1Then the Lord said to Noah, “Go into the ark, you and all your household, for I have seen that you are righteous before me in this generation. ² Take with you seven pairs of all clean animals, the male and his mate, and a pair of the animals that are not clean, the male and his mate, ³ and seven pairs of the birds of the heavens also, male and female, to keep their offspring alive on the face of all the earth. ⁴ For in seven days I will send rain on the earth forty days and forty nights, and every living thing that I have made I will blot out from the face of the ground.” ⁵ And Noah did all that the Lord had commanded him.

⁶ Noah was six hundred years old when the flood of waters came upon the earth. ⁷ And Noah and his sons and his wife and his sons' wives with him went into the ark to escape the waters of the flood. ⁸ Of clean animals, and of animals that are not clean, and of birds, and of everything that creeps on the ground, ⁹ two and two, male and female, went into the ark with Noah, as God had commanded Noah. ¹⁰ And after seven days the waters of the flood came upon the earth.

¹¹ In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on that day all the fountains of the great deep burst forth, and the windows of the heavens were opened. ¹² And rain fell upon the earth forty days and forty nights. ¹³ On the very same day Noah and his sons, Shem and Ham and Japheth, and Noah's wife and the three wives of his sons with them entered the ark, ¹⁴ they and every beast, according to its kind, and all the livestock according to their kinds, and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth, according to its kind, and every bird, according to its kind, every winged creature. ¹⁵ They went into the ark with Noah, two and two of all flesh in which there was the breath of life. ¹⁶ And those that entered, male and female of all flesh, went in as God had commanded him. And the Lord shut him in.

¹⁷ The flood continued forty days on the earth. The waters increased and bore up the ark, and it rose high above the earth. ¹⁸ The waters prevailed and increased greatly on the earth, and the ark floated on the face of the waters. ¹⁹ And the waters prevailed so mightily on the earth that all the high mountains under the whole heaven were covered. ²⁰ The waters prevailed above the mountains, covering them fifteen cubits deep. ²¹ And all flesh died that moved on the earth, birds, livestock, beasts, all swarming creatures that swarm on the earth, and all mankind. ²² Everything on the dry land in whose nostrils was the breath of life died. ²³ He blotted out every living thing that was on the face of the ground, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens. They were blotted out from the earth. Only Noah was left, and those who were with him in the ark. ²⁴ And the waters prevailed on the earth 150 days.

^8.1But God remembered Noah and all the beasts and all the livestock that were with him in the ark. And God made a wind blow over the earth, and the waters subsided. ² The fountains of the deep and the windows of the heavens were closed, the rain from the heavens was restrained, ³ and the waters receded from the earth continually. At the end of 150 days the waters had abated, ⁴ and in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat. ⁵ And the waters continued to abate until the tenth month; in the tenth month, on the first day of the month, the tops of the mountains were seen.

⁶ At the end of forty days Noah opened the window of the ark that he had made ⁷ and sent forth a raven. It went to and fro until the waters were dried up from the earth. ⁸ Then he sent forth a dove from him, to see if the waters had subsided from the face of the ground. ⁹ But the dove found no place to set her foot, and she returned to him to the ark, for the waters were still on the face of the whole earth. So he put out his hand and took her and brought her into the ark with him. ¹⁰ He waited another seven days, and again he sent forth the dove out of the ark. ¹¹ And the dove came back to him in the evening, and behold, in her mouth was a freshly plucked olive leaf. So Noah knew that the waters had subsided from the earth. ¹² Then he waited another seven days and sent forth the dove, and she did not return to him anymore.

¹³ In the six hundred and first year, in the first month, the first day of the month, the waters were dried from off the earth. And Noah removed the covering of the ark and looked, and behold, the face of the ground was dry. ¹⁴ In the second month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, the earth had dried out. ¹⁵ Then God said to Noah, ¹⁶ “Go out from the ark, you and your wife, and your sons and your sons' wives with you. ¹⁷ Bring out with you every living thing that is with you of all flesh—birds and animals and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth—that they may swarm on the earth, and be fruitful and multiply on the earth.” ¹⁸ So Noah went out, and his sons and his wife and his sons' wives with him. ¹⁹ Every beast, every creeping thing, and every bird, everything that moves on the earth, went out by families from the ark.

²⁰ Then Noah built an altar to the Lord and took some of every clean animal and some of every clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar. ²¹ And when the Lord smelled the pleasing aroma, the Lord said in his heart, “I will never again curse the ground because of man, for the intention of man's heart is evil from his youth. Neither will I ever again strike down every living creature as I have done. ²² While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease.”

Prayer (based on the T.R.I.P. method): Gracious and almighty Father, the truth of our corruption is a foreign word to your own beloved people. Yet still you choose to remember us and comfort us by the forgiveness of our idolatry in Jesus Christ. Thank you for this redemption and rescue. Keep it up Lord… until the intention of my heart is no longer evil. In Jesus’ name I ask this, amen.

Hymn: follow this link to a beloved, classic hymn that gives further voice to today’s conversation with the Lord: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Ib73Na2WOw&ab_channel=AndrewRemillard

Or this scene from Handel’s “Messiah”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rHkKXH3CJyk&ab_channel=BostonBaroque

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

What does this mean?  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!

Benediction: The Lord God remembers you according to his favor. Amen.

 

*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.

This shadowlands...

Verse for the week: God is light and in him is no darkness at all.  I John 1.5

Prayer for the week: Gracious Lord God, magnify the wisdom of your Word for us and grant that we may trust you just as beloved children trust their dear, loving father.  Uphold us by your hand, defend us by your power, and receive us at last into glory; through Jesus Christ, your Son our Lord.  Amen..” (adapted from, Kirchenbuch fur die Gemeinde (Isenhagen), quoted in Orate Fratres, p. 64). 

Bible reading for the day: Revelation 1.3-8

Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written in it, for the time is near.

⁴ John to the seven churches that are in Asia:

Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne, ⁵ and from Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth.

To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood ⁶ and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. ⁷ Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of him. Even so. Amen.

⁸ “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.

Prayer (based on the TRIP* method): Gracious and almighty Father, thank you for the grace and peace and new life that are ours in the faithful one, the firstborn of the dead, the ruler of all kings: Jesus Christ our Lord. Thank you! As this year ends, cause me to realize that my life and this whole world, this shadowlands, will one day end… and then we shall finally start really living! In the meantime, keep me and my congregation among the blessed ones who hear and keep your Word; through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

Hymn: follow this link to a beloved classic hymn that gives further voice to today’s conversation with the Lord: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0k1WhFtVp0o

“And lead us not into temptation…” The Sixth Petition of the Lord’s Prayer

What does this mean?

God indeed tempts no one to sin, but we pray in this petition that God would guard and protect us from this, that the devil, the world, and our sinful nature may not deceive us or lead us into false belief, despair, and other great and shameful sins, but pray that when we are tempted in these ways, we may finally prevail and gain the victory. (from The Small Catechism by Martin Luther © Reclaim Resources, Sola Publishing, 2011)

Benediction:    The Lord will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life.

                             The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in

                             From this time on and forevermore.  Ps 121.7-8

 

 

*The T.R.I.P. approach to prayer is based on the way Martin Luther prayed and taught others to pray.  It was later developed by Walter and Ingrid Trobisch and then adapted by Mount Carmel Ministries (Alexandria, MN).  The method is founded on scripture and easy to remember:
T: thanksgiving
R: regret (repentance)
I: intercession (asking God to take a specific action)
P: plan or purpose
Reading a biblical text and then applying this method gives one a sound, simple way to form one’s prayers...not to mention that it helps one learn how to faithfully reflect on God’s Word and talk to God. 

You have died...

 now what?

Verse for the week: God is light and in him is no darkness at all.  I John 1.5

Prayer for the week: Gracious Lord God, magnify the wisdom of your ways for us and grant that in childlike trust we may submit ourselves to your fatherly guidance.  Uphold us by your hand, guide us with your counsel, and receive us at last into glory; through Jesus Christ, your Son our Lord.  Amen.” (adapted from, Kirchenbuch fur die Gemeinde (Isenhagen), quoted in Orate Fratres, p. 64). 

Bible reading for the day: Colossians 3.1-17

 If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. ² Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. ³ For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. ⁴ When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

⁵ Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. ⁶ On account of these the wrath of God is coming. ⁷ In these you too once walked, when you were living in them. ⁸ But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. ⁹ Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices ¹⁰ and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. ¹¹ Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave free; but Christ is all, and in all.

¹² Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, ¹³ bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. ¹⁴ And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. ¹⁵ And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. ¹⁶ Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. ¹⁷ And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Prayer (based on the TRIP* method): Gracious and almighty Father, thank you for putting my will death in Christ and hiding me in him. Keep it up, Lord. Rescue me from the constant, lurking desire to resurrect my deadly old will and re-enthrone it. Put to death all that is earthly in me: sexual immorality, impurity… the whole rotting load of idolatry. Hide me in you and clothe me from the inside out in a compassionate heart, kindness, patience, forgiveness… the new self that cannot help but serve my neighbor in word and deed in the name of the Lord Jesus. Amen.

Hymn: follow this link to a beloved classic hymn that gives further voice to today’s conversation with the Lord: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a6hqnWh45q8&ab_channel=DannyAdventureVlogs  

What does baptism mean for daily life?

It means that my sinful self, with all its evil deeds and desires, should be drown 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, in order that, just 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 by Martin Luther)

Benediction:    The Lord will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life.

                             The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in

                             From this time on and forevermore.  Ps 121.7-8

 

  

*The T.R.I.P. approach to prayer is based on the way Martin Luther prayed and taught others to pray.  It was later developed by Walter and Ingrid Trobisch and then adapted by Mount Carmel Ministries (Alexandria, MN).  The method is founded on scripture and easy to remember:
T: thanksgiving
R: regret (repentance)
I: intercession (asking God to take a specific action)
P: plan or purpose
Reading a biblical text and then applying this method gives one a sound, simple way to form one’s prayers...not to mention that it helps one learn how to faithfully reflect on God’s Word and talk to God. 

The piercing of Mary's soul

Verse for the week: God is light and in him is no darkness at all.  I John 1.5

Prayer for the week: Jesus, Lord and Savior, you are the same yesterday, today, and forever. You have seen the end from the beginning, you are the first and the last. Teach us to number our days that we may have wisdom in thought, word, and action. You live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

Bible reading for the day: Luke 2.22-38

 And when the time came for their purification according to the Law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord ²³ (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, “Every male who first opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord”) ²⁴ and to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the Law of the Lord, “a pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons.” ²⁵ Now there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. ²⁶ And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ. ²⁷ And he came in the Spirit into the temple, and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him according to the custom of the Law, ²⁸ he took him up in his arms and blessed God and said,

²⁹ “Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace,
    according to your word;
³⁰ for my eyes have seen your salvation
³¹     that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples,
³² a light for revelation to the Gentiles,
    and for glory to your people Israel.”

³³ And his father and his mother marveled at what was said about him. ³⁴ And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, “Behold, this child is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is opposed ³⁵ (and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), so that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.”

³⁶ And there was a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was advanced in years, having lived with her husband seven years from when she was a virgin, ³⁷ and then as a widow until she was eighty-four. She did not depart from the temple, worshiping with fasting and prayer night and day. ³⁸ And coming up at that very hour she began to give thanks to God and to speak of him to all who were waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem.

Prayer (based on the TRIP* method): Gracious and almighty Father thank you; you have given us afresh the one Simeon and Anna waited for their whole lives: Jesus Christ and in him our salvation from the devil, the world and our own sin. Thank you! The piercing of Mary’s soul is our fault. Repent me and your church when we oppose Jesus, when he gives the Word and we are anti-Word. Replace my will’s opposition to him with fasting, prayer, and trust that waits for you. In Jesus’ name I pray, amen.

Hymn: follow this link to part 2 of G.F. Handel’s “Messiah” that gives further voice to today’s conversation with the Lord: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jgA4hkdCL8k&ab_channel=BeleefKlassiek

benediction:  Now to him who by the power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen. (Eph 3:20-21) 

 

 

*The T.R.I.P. approach to prayer is based on the way Martin Luther prayed and taught others to pray.  It was later developed by Walter and Ingrid Trobisch and then adapted by Mount Carmel Ministries (Alexandria, MN).  The method is founded on scripture and easy to remember:
T: thanksgiving
R: regret (repentance)
I: intercession (asking God to take a specific action)
P: plan or purpose
Reading a biblical text and then applying this method gives one a sound, simple way to form one’s prayers...not to mention that it helps one learn how to faithfully reflect on God’s Word and talk to God.