for the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness!” Psalm 115.1
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: Romans 1.16-23; 3.21-26
(Against his will, Paul is called by God and set apart for the Gospel. In
56 AD he picks up the promise declared by Habakkuk 650 earlier and hands over to
the Romans and to us sinners today the power of God for our salvation in Christ
alone.)
For I am not ashamed
of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who
believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. 17 For
in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for
faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.”
18 For the wrath of
God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of
men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. 19 For
what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to
them. 20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his
eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since
the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are
without excuse. 21 For although they knew God, they
did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in
their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Claiming
to be wise, they became fools, 23 and exchanged
the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds
and animals and creeping things.
3.21 But now the righteousness of
God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the
Prophets bear witness to it— 22 the righteousness
of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there
is no distinction: 23 for all have sinned and
fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are
justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in
Christ Jesus, 25 whom God put forward
as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to
show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed
over former sins. 26 It was to show his
righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier
of the one who has faith from Jesus.
Prayer of the Day: Gracious and almighty Father, thank you for your great love and
faithfulness toward us sinners in Christ crucified and raised for our
salvation. Thank you! Daily rescue me and your whole church from the futility
of ourselves… our attempts to replace or “improve” Jesus with anything else. Until
Christ returns, keep on giving me and my brothers & sisters faith in him
rather than in ourselves. 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=kMf69QqS5r0&ab_channel=MartijndeGroot
“I believe in the Holy Spirit…”
What does this mean?
I believe that I cannot by my own understanding or effort
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 kept
me in true faith.
In the same way he calls, gathers, enlightens, and
sanctifies the whole Christian church on earth, and keeps it united with Jesus
Christ in the one true faith.
In this Christian church day after day he fully forgives my
sins and the sins of all believers. On the last day he will raise me and all
the dead and give me and all believers in Christ eternal life.
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. This month, we are reading the letters of Paul.
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