Life Under the Cross

Verse for the week: “Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel,
    you who lead Joseph like a flock.
You who are enthroned upon the cherubim, shine forth.”  Psalm 80.1

Prayer for the week: Restore us, O God of hosts; let your face shine, that we may be saved through Jesus Christ, your Son, our Lord. Amen.

Bible reading for the day: I Peter 2.13-20 (The congregations receiving this letter know firsthand the experience of their faith being under attack from the devil, the world, and their own sinful selves. Peter writes to encourage the church for life under the sign of the cross.)

 ¹³ Be subject for the Lord's sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme, ¹⁴ or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good. ¹⁵ For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people. ¹⁶ Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God. ¹⁷ Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor.

¹⁸ Servants, be subject to your masters with all respect, not only to the good and gentle but also to the unjust. ¹⁹ For this is a gracious thing, when, mindful of God, one endures sorrows while suffering unjustly. ²⁰ For what credit is it if, when you sin and are beaten for it, you endure? But if when you do good and suffer for it you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God. 

Prayer of the Day: Gracious and Almighty Father, thank you: in Christ you make me a perfectly free lord of all, subject to none… AND a perfectly dutiful servant of all, subject to all. Make this evident in my life and in my congregation, for this is a gracious thing in your sight. 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=j6yhLoUl0LY&ab_channel=BeautifulSaviorSeaTac

“What does baptism mean for daily life?”

It means that my 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.

As 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: 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.