and all that is within me,
bless his holy name!” Psalm 103.1
Prayer for the week: Dear Father, by your gracious choosing I am indeed your child and you
are truly my Father, so I call on you now with complete confidence, through
your Son, Jesus Christ, the Lord. Amen.
Bible reading for the day: I John 3.1-10
See what kind of love the Father has given to us,
that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason
why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. 2 Beloved,
we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet
appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like
him, because we shall see him as he is. 3 And
everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure.
4 Everyone who makes a
practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness. 5 You
know that he appeared in order to take away sins, and in him
there is no sin. 6 No one who abides in him keeps
on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known
him. 7 Little children, let no one deceive
you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is
righteous. 8 Whoever makes a practice of sinning is
of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the
Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. 9 No
one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God's seed abides in him;
and he cannot keep on sinning, because he has been born of God. 10 By
this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the
devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the
one who does not love his brother.
Prayer of the Day:
Gracious and almighty Father, your
Son is the only one who doesn’t make a practice of sinning. Were it not for
your love for me in him, I would belong to the devil. Keep on rescuing me and
your whole church every day… day after day birth me anew of your seed rather
than my own, that Christ’s righteousness may destroy the devil’s works. In
Jesus’ name I pray, amen.
Hymn: follow this link to a beloved classic that
gives further voice to today’s conversation with the https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f1Le7-y9xVI
“What does baptism mean for daily living?”
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.
St. Paul writes in Romans 6.4:
“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 99th year in the Word. In 2025, we are reading
from Genesis to Revelation, with a few interludes along the way.
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