kneeling fisherman

kneeling fisherman

Wednesday, March 13, 2024

Your perfect priest

Verse for the week:  “You are not your own; you were bought with a price.” I Cor 6.19-20

Prayer for the week:  O Lord, teach us how to pray.  Direct the lives of your servants toward the goal of everlasting salvation, that, surrounded by all the changes and uncertainties of life, we may be defended by your gracious and ready help in Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.  (adapted from Lutheran Book of Worship, Minister’s Desk edition, p.113.)

Bible reading for the day: Hebrews 5.5-10

 5 So also Christ did not exalt himself to be made a high priest, but was appointed by him who said to him,

“You are my Son,
    today I have begotten you”;

as he says also in another place,

“You are a priest forever,
    after the order of Melchizedek.”

In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to him who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence. Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered. And being made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him, 10 being designated by God a high priest after the order of Melchizedek.

Prayer (based on TRIP* method):  Gracious and almighty Father, thank you: the only one who is able to save me from my sin, death, and the devil is my Priest… not some guy in a black shirt but your only Son, Jesus. Thank you! Kill off my pride that wants to obey and trust in myself rather than in him. Jesus is the perfect one and you have made him my intercessor forever; so keep breaking in and acting upon me and for me Lord Jesus; in your name I ask this. Amen.

Hymn: follow this link to an excerpt from G.F. Handel’s “Messiah” that gives further voice to today’s conversation with the Lord: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mBvo8xa2LtU  (this portion is based on Psalm 68.18, “You ascended on high, leading a host of captives in your train and receiving gifts among men, even among the rebellious, that the Lord God may dwell there.”)

“I believe in the Holy Spirit...”

What does this mean?  I believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ my Lord or come to him; but the Holy Spirit has called me through the Gospel, enlightened me with his gifts, and sanctified and preserved me in the true faith. In the same way, he calls, gathers, enlightens, and sanctifies the whole Christian church on earth, and preserves it in unity with Jesus Christ in the one true faith. In this Christian church, he daily forgives abundantly all my sins and the sins of all believers. At the last day, he will raise me and all the dead and will grant everlasting life to me and to all who believe in Christ. This is most certainly true!  (from The Small Catechism, by Martin Luther)

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. 
 

Monday, March 11, 2024

Pure content for the impure

Verse for the week:  “You are not your own; you were bought with a price.” I Cor 6.19-20

Prayer for the week:  O Lord, teach us how to pray.  Direct the lives of your servants toward the goal of everlasting salvation, that, surrounded by all the changes and uncertainties of life, we may be defended by your gracious and ready help in Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.  (adapted from Lutheran Book of Worship, Minister’s Desk edition, p.113.)

Bible reading for the day: Psalm 119.9-16

 9 How can a young man keep his way pure?
    By guarding it according to your word.
10 With my whole heart I seek you;
    let me not wander from your commandments!
11 I have stored up your word in my heart,
    that I might not sin against you.
12 Blessed are you, O Lord;
    teach me your statutes!
13 With my lips I declare
    all the rules of your mouth.
14 In the way of your testimonies I delight
    as much as in all riches.
15 I will meditate on your precepts
    and fix my eyes on your ways.
16 I will delight in your statutes;
    I will not forget your word.

Prayer (based on TRIP* method):  Gracious and almighty Father, thank you for the just decree straight from Jesus’ mouth: forgiveness for an impure man like me. Without your living word in my heart, without you guarding me, I will indeed sin against you. So, pour forth your testimony on my behalf… pour Jesus into my ears so that my will be displaced and every closet and corner of my soul be stored up with him instead of me… until finally I honestly delight in your statutes and with my own lips join the company of your preachers. I ask this in Jesus’ name, amen. 

Hymn: follow this link to an excerpt from G.F. Handel’s “Messiah” that gives further voice to today’s conversation with the Lord: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wWnB93S4VOg

I believe in the Holy Spirit...”

What does this mean?

I believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ my Lord or come to him; but the Holy Spirit has called me through the Gospel, enlightened me with his gifts, and sanctified and preserved me in the true faith. In the same way, he calls, gathers, enlightens, and sanctifies the whole Christian church on earth, and preserves it in unity with Jesus Christ in the one true faith. In this Christian church, he daily forgives abundantly all my sins and the sins of all believers. At the last day, he will raise me and all the dead and will grant everlasting life to me and to all who believe in Christ. This is most certainly true!  (from The Small Catechism, by Martin Luther)

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. 

 

Thursday, March 7, 2024

Redemption for wanderers

Verse for the week:  “the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”  Mt 20.28

Prayer for the week:  Lord God, heavenly Father, in your Son you have given the world a pioneer of salvation and made him the true and eternal priest and mediator of his people.  Grant that we may hold fast to him in love, learn obedience in his discipleship, and so be brought into the heavenly sanctuary through him, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.  Amen. [K.B. Ritter, Gebete fur das Jahr der Kirche, 2nd edition (Kassel: Johannes Stauda-Verlag, 1948), p. 114.]

Bible reading for the day: Psalm 107.1-9

Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good,
    for his steadfast love endures forever!
Let the redeemed of the Lord say so,
    whom he has redeemed from trouble
and gathered in from the lands,
    from the east and from the west,
    from the north and from the south.

Some wandered in desert wastes,
    finding no way to a city to dwell in;
hungry and thirsty,
    their soul fainted within them.
Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble,
    and he delivered them from their distress.
He led them by a straight way
    till they reached a city to dwell in.
Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love,
    for his wondrous works to the children of man!
For he satisfies the longing soul,
    and the hungry soul he fills with good things.

Prayer (based on TRIP* method):  Gracious and Almighty Father, thank you, in Christ you have redeemed me from the worst trouble of all: from the devil, the world, and my own sinful self. Thank you! Still the devil prowls, the world tempts, and I listen to them and wander. When trouble besets me or I find my way into it, teach me always, always to cry to you, for you alone deliver me and satisfy my longing soul. And then, Lord, gather me with the great congregation that I may extol your praise in the assembly. You alone fill me with good things; thank you Lord, you are good and your steadfast love endures forever; through Jesus Christ, your son, our Lord. Amen.

Hymn: follow this link to a beloved classic hymn which gives further voice to today’s conversation with the Lord: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GVOG15Zj5KM

And lead us not into temptation.”

What does this mean?

“God indeed tempts no one to sin; but we ask in this petition that our heavenly Father would watch over us and keep us so that the devil, the world, and our sinful self may not deceive us or draw us into false belief, despair, and other great and shameful sins. And we pray that even though we are so tempted, we may still win the final victory.” (Luther in The Small Catechism)

Benediction:  Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and through grace gave us eternal comfort and good hope, comfort your hearts and strengthen them in every good work and word.  Amen.  II Thess 2.16-17

  

*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. 

 

Wednesday, March 6, 2024

His workmanship...

Verse for the week:  “the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”  Mt 20.28

Prayer for the week:  Lord God, heavenly Father, in your Son you have given the world a pioneer of salvation and made him the true and eternal priest and mediator of his people.  Grant that we may hold fast to him in love, learn obedience in his discipleship, and so be brought into the heavenly sanctuary through him, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.  Amen. [K.B. Ritter, Gebete fur das Jahr der Kirche, 2nd edition (Kassel: Johannes Stauda-Verlag, 1948), p. 114.]

Bible reading for the day: Ephesians 2.1-10 (Writing perhaps around 55-56 AD, Paul declares that even as we were dead in our trespasses, God “predestined us for adoption” (1.5); in order to rescue us from the course of the world, the devil, and our own desires... and make us his workmanship.)

And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

Prayer (based on TRIP* method):  Gracious and almighty Father, thank you: you are the craftsman not me… my salvation is your workmanship in Christ, not mine. Alleluia!  I must ask you to keep up your work Lord, because that foul wind Satan would still blow to stir the passions of my flesh to disobedience. So, keep on making me and my congregation alive in Christ… that by your sheer grace we may walk hourly in the good works you have already prepared for us… instead of down the path of disobedience. I ask this in Jesus’ name, amen.

Hymn: follow this link to a beloved classic hymn which gives further voice to today’s conversation with the Lord: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U6AaZIL_v-k

“I believe in Jesus Christ…”

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!  (from The Small Catechism, by Martin Luther ©Reclaim Resources, Sola Publishing, 2011)

Benediction:  Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and through grace gave us eternal comfort and good hope, comfort your hearts and strengthen them in every good work and word.  Amen.  II Thess 2.16-17

 

*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. 

 

Tuesday, March 5, 2024

For us snake-bitten sinners

Verse for the week:  “the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”  Mt 20.28

Prayer for the week:  Lord God, heavenly Father, in your Son you have given the world a pioneer of salvation and made him the true and eternal priest and mediator of his people.  Grant that we may hold fast to him in love, learn obedience in his discipleship, and so be brought into the heavenly sanctuary through him, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.  Amen. [K.B. Ritter, Gebete fur das Jahr der Kirche, 2nd edition (Kassel: Johannes Stauda-Verlag, 1948), p. 114.]

Bible reading for the day: Numbers 21.4-9 (note: Within weeks of their deliverance from 400 years of slavery in Egypt, the people complain against God because life in the wilderness is difficult. The lifting up of a serpent on a pole prefigures the lifting up of Christ on the cross for our salvation.)

From Mount Hor they set out by the way to the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom. And the people became impatient on the way. And the people spoke against God and against Moses, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we loathe this worthless food.” Then the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people, so that many people of Israel died. And the people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord and against you. Pray to the Lord, that he take away the serpents from us.” So Moses prayed for the people. And the Lord said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent and set it on a pole, and everyone who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live.”So Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on a pole. And if a serpent bit anyone, he would look at the bronze serpent and live.

Prayer (based on TRIP* method):  Gracious and almighty Father, thank you: you not only put a bronze serpent on a pole, you put your own beloved Son on the cross to forgive snake-bitten complainers like me, thank you! Repent me and my congregation of complaining about life under you in the real world. Until we die, fix our eyes and ears on Christ that we may really live and may point other snake-bitten sinners to Jesus as well; in his name I ask this. Amen.

Hymn: follow this link to a beloved classic hymn which gives further voice to today’s conversation with the Lord: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ax_NMWLEb6U

“I believe in Jesus Christ…”

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!  (from The Small Catechism, by Martin Luther ©Reclaim Resources, Sola Publishing, 2011)

Benediction:  Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and through grace gave us eternal comfort and good hope, comfort your hearts and strengthen them in every good work and word.  Amen.  II Thess 2.16-17

 

*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. 
 

Monday, March 4, 2024

Where following Jesus will get you

Verse for the week:  “the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”  Mt 20.28

Prayer for the week:  Lord God, heavenly Father, in your Son you have given the world a pioneer of salvation and made him the true and eternal priest and mediator of his people.  Grant that we may hold fast to him in love, learn obedience in his discipleship, and so be brought into the heavenly sanctuary through him, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.  Amen. [K.B. Ritter, Gebete fur das Jahr der Kirche, 2nd edition (Kassel: Johannes Stauda-Verlag, 1948), p. 114.]

Bible reading for the day:  Mark 10.32-34

And they were on the road, going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was walking ahead of them. And they were amazed, and those who followed were afraid. And taking the twelve again, he began to tell them what was to happen to him, 33 saying, “See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death and deliver him over to the Gentiles. 34 And they will mock him and spit on him, and flog him and kill him. And after three days he will rise.”

Prayer (based on TRIP*method):  Gracious and almighty Father, following your Son amazes us and causes us to be afraid… for his end is ours… the death of our pride and the end of our devotion to the things of man. Thank you for convicting me and your whole church by your Holy Spirit; otherwise we would not follow him… and thus never know true life now and in eternity. Thank you, Lord, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

“I believe in Jesus Christ…”

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!  (from The Small Catechism, by Martin Luther ©Reclaim Resources, Sola Publishing, 2011)

Benediction:  Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and through grace gave us eternal comfort and good hope, comfort your hearts and strengthen them in every good work and word.  Amen.  II Thess 2.16-17

 

*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. 


Thursday, February 29, 2024

The folly of what we preach

Verse for the week: “In Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them.”  II Cor 5.19

Prayer for the week: Heavenly Father, you sent your Son to us and laid on him the burden of the cross that we might see and know the glory of your holy love.  Grant that our faith in him may not be shaken by adversity or daunted by the threat of it, but that we may ever follow steadfastly the way that leads to perfect fellowship with him, and so with you; through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.  (Charles M. Jacobs in Paul Z. Strodach, Collects and Prayers, Philadelphia: Board of Publications of the United Lutheran Church in America; 1935, p.166.)

I Corinthians 1.18-25 (Writing in 55AD, Paul declares that our preaching is foreign to the generations of this age.)

18For 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 (based on TRIP* method):  Gracious and almighty Father, thank you for your wisdom and your power: his name is Jesus. In your wisdom Jesus takes our sin so seriously as to take it to death with him… and he rises again so that our forgiveness can be absolutely free on account of your power not ours. Thank you!  Repent us of demanding religious signs from Jesus and of requiring him to fit our philosophies. Your foolishness is wiser than our wisdom, your weakness stronger than our strength… so bring him Lord: see that Jesus is preached among us and by us… otherwise we and our neighbors perish. In Jesus’ name I ask this, amen.

Hymn: follow this link to a brief hymn that gives further voice to today’s conversation with the Lord: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9bcFe2cPFAA

“I believe in Jesus Christ…

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!  (from The Small Catechism, by Martin Luther)

Benediction:  The peace of God which surpasses all understanding keep your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus our Lord.  Amen.  Phil 4.7

  

*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.