Like a tree...

Verse for the week: “for the Lord knows the way of the righteous,
    but the way of the wicked will perish.”  Psalm 1.6

Prayer for the week: Almighty God, make me to know your ways, even as it means the death of my will, lead me in your truth and teach me; for you are the God of my salvation, for you my soul waits all the day long;  through Jesus Christ, your Son, our Lord. Amen.

Bible reading for the day: Psalm 1   

¹ 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, thank you: in my baptism you have planted me in the only stream that does not fail: Christ Jesus… the end and goal of the law. Thank you! Defend me against my will’s constant attempts to uproot me from him. Keep me rooted in Christ… his gifts of forgiveness, life and salvation constantly watering me and bringing forth the fruit you have already appointed. 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=QmBCXucfwTg&ab_channel=ChetValleyChurches

“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 99^th year in the Word. In 2025, we are reading from Genesis to Revelation, with a few interludes along the way.