“God is our refuge and strength,
a very present help in trouble.” Psalm 46.1
Prayer for the week: Dear Father in heaven, You are light and love; the only true God. Make
me steadfast in faith, filled with the knowledge of you and your son Jesus. And
by your Holy Spirit, use me to love others and keep your commandments. In
Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.
Bible reading for the day: Psalm 46 (This
psalm is part of a collection that many identify as the royal Psalms, so named
because they preach to us our true king, Christ Jesus, and give us our rightful
place in his kingdom… even as our neighbors and nations are raging and
tottering.)
1 God is our refuge and
strength,
a very present help in trouble.
2 Therefore we will not fear though the earth give
way,
though the mountains be moved into the heart of
the sea,
3 though its waters roar and foam,
though the mountains tremble at its swelling. Selah
4 There is a river
whose streams make glad the city of God,
the holy habitation of the Most High.
5 God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved;
God will help her when morning dawns.
6 The nations rage, the kingdoms totter;
he utters his voice, the earth melts.
7 The Lord of hosts is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah
8 Come, behold the works of
the Lord,
how he has brought desolations on the earth.
9 He makes wars cease to the end of the earth;
he breaks the bow and shatters the spear;
he burns the chariots with fire.
10 “Be still, and know that I am God.
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth!”
11 The Lord of hosts is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress.
Prayer of the Day: Gracious and almighty Father, thank you: our river of life, our fortress,
is Christ alone. Politicians rage, our human kingdoms totter… and you call us
to be still. Until Jesus returns, pour forth the living water of his word… even
to and through us. Irrigate our drought-stricken souls with your living speech,
that right in the midst of the conflict we may be steady and calmly vigilant…
trusting in you above all else. 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=bONV_YZCKdg
“I believe in Jesus Christ, God’s only Son…”
What does this mean? I believe that Jesus Christ –
true God, Son of the Father from eternity, and true man, born of the Virgin
Mary – is my Lord.
At great cost he has saved and redeemed me, a lost and
condemned person. He has freed me from sin, death, and the power of the devil –
not with silver or gold, but with his holy and precious blood and his innocent
suffering and death.
All this he has done that I may be his own, live under him
in his kingdom, and serve him in everlasting righteousness, innocence, and
blessedness, just as he is risen from the dead and lives and rules eternally.
This is most certainly true.
(from The Small Catechism, by 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 99th year in the Word. In 2025, we are reading
from Genesis to Revelation, with a few interludes along the way.