Lutheran Evening Prayer 11-30-11

Reading:
1 Peter 2:13-25

It is interesting in the world today.  Many are standing up against the different issues of our day.  The "Occupy" movement is among the newest ones that are trying to set things right for those that suffer.  They disobey the laws, become disrespectful to property, and other acts that are not good.

St. Peter gives us a different way of seeing the world and how to stand against it.  It is by following the rules, being obedient to the government.  It is doing this you silence the ignorance of foolish people.  We are to be true disciples of Christ that take His example as the way to be.

Jesus did not deserve to be tormented, mocked, spit at or any of these things.  He especially did not deserve to die on the cross.  Yet He did it without a word being uttered about how unfair it was.  He went willing to die on the cross so that He could administer His saving life to you and to me. 

This is the example that we are to follow.

Lutheran Confession Quote of the Day

Besides, catechism study is a most effective help against the devil, the world, the flesh, and all evil thoughts.  It helps to be occupied with God's Word, to speak it, and meditate on it, just as the first Psalm declares people blessed who meditate on God's Law day and night.

Longer Preface Large Catechism.

Lutheran Evening Prayer 11-28-11

Reading:
1 Peter 1:13-25

"Therefore preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ." 

Advent is a penitential season within the Holy Church.  This is rather hard to believe with all of the hustle and bustle of this time of year.  However, after watching how the Black Friday shoppers acted, we probably could all use a little repentance.

Holy Mother Church, calls the faithful to a time of quiet.  She wants us to come into the Church where we here and prepare to once again experience the mystery of the Word made flesh.  We are to be spending this time in the Scriptures, reading the Bible which is the greatest love story ever told.  To hear again the angels announcing the Good News that God is with us and among us and is going to save us.  This is our hope that we rest that God's grace towards us is only because of Jesus Christ.

This prayer is used daily in the Anglican Communion and thought it picked up on the theme of the reading of preparing our hearts and minds:

Almighty God, help us to cast away the works of darkness and put upon us the armor of light.  Now in the time of this mortal life in which Thy Son Jesus Christ came to visit us in great humility.  That in the last great day when He will come again to judge both the living and the dead, we might rise to the life immortal.  Through Jesus Christ.

Lutheran Confession Quote of the Day

A Christian, profitable, and necessary and preface, and faithful, serious encouragement from Dr. Martin Luther to all Christians, but especially to all pastors and preachers.  They should daily exercise themselves in the catechism, which is a short summary and epitome of the entire Holy Scriptures.  They should always teach the catechism.

Longer Preface to the Large Catechism, pg. 351

Lutheran Evening Prayer 11-27-11

Reading:
1 Peter 1:1-12

"According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you."  (1 Peter 1:3-4)

Today marks the beginning of Advent.  Advent is a the time of year that prepares us through works of mercy, prayer and alms giving for the celebration of Christmas, but just as important is the look forward to His return.  The Holy Mother Church calls us to walk once again through the time of preparation and to look towards Christ's sure and certain return.  So we spend these next four weeks in fasting and prayer in preparation for His return.

You must remember that our preparations are not done to earn our status before God.  Because as St. Peter was teaching here our living hope that is imperishable, undefiled and unfading is according His great mercy.  God's mercy is what secures our inheritance because of what Jesus Christ did on the Cross for us.  His death on the cross, where He spilled His most precious blood is what allows us this inheritance.  It is sure and certain not because of our works but because of Jesus Christ and what He has done for us.

St. Peter went on to tell those whom he was writing that they did not see Jesus, they love him and believe in Him.  This is the same for us today.  We have not seen Jesus in the flesh like they did in Jerusalem and throughout the Holy Land when Jesus walked among us.  However, we do still have Jesus coming to us today.  He does so through the Word and Sacraments.  It is in these great gifts that God gives to His Church that His presence is lived out today and we experience with certainty what they promise and that "obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls." (1 Peter 1:9)

May you all have a blessed Advent as we prepare once again for the great mystery of the Word made flesh and for His second coming!

Lutheran Confession Quote of the Day

They do not care that the churches are rightly taught and that the Sacraments are duly administered.  They let all kinds of men into the priesthood without proper selection.  Afterward, they impose intolerable burdens, as though they delighted  in the destruction of their fellows.  They demand that their traditions be observed far more accurately than the Gospel.

Apology of the Augsburg Confession XXVII (XIV) Church Authority 3

Lutheran Evening Prayer 11-22-11

Reading:
Revelation 19:1-21

"Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb"

St. John was blessed to be given these visions of things to come.  Through a gift from God, he was able to see a time in heaven when the voice of the saints cry out to our God the praise that is due His Name.  What a sight this must have been to see.  To see the elders and the living creatures falling in worship before God.  This is the sign of true worship when you come before the Holy God and fall on your face in worship.

This is what our worship is to look like here on earth as well.  We meet weekly to come into the presence of God through Word and Sacrament.  We must remember that Jesus is present in a special way in both Word and Sacrament, so that His presence is real to offer us salvation, the forgiveness of sins.  He has invited you in the waters of Baptism to His feast.  He placed upon you the fine linen robe of His righteousness.  You are now seen as one of the invited.  Then He invites you to His feast, where you feed upon the Lamb Himself that comes to you under the veil of bread and wine. 

May as we approach our Lord in Word and Sacrament waiting for His final return, may we fall down and worship Him now and may we sing along with the voice of the great multitude:
   "Hallelujah!
    For the Lord our God
         the Almighty reigns.
    Let us rejoice and exult
         and give him the glory,
    for the marriage of the Lamb has come,
          and his Bride has made herself ready;
    it was granted to her to clothe herself
          with fine linen, bright and pure -"

Lutheran Confessions Quote

They pretend that monastic works area a [justifying] service; they pretend that they merit the forgiveness of sins and justification.

Apology of the Augsburg Confession XXVII (XIII) Monastic Vows 63

Evening Prayer 11-20-11

Reading:
Matthew 28:1-20

"And behold I am with you always, to the end of the age."

On Good Friday, all looked lost.  The One that the disciples thought would be the one to set them all free was nailed to a cross between two thieves.  All seemed over and fear gripped the disciples as they tried to make sense of what they had experienced over the week of Christ's Passion.  They saw them remove the Body, they knew that He was a placed in the tomb. 

But thanks be to God, that was not the end of the story.  The sacrifice was offered and now Jesus Christ would be the One to take His life back again.  So He is resurrected, never to die again.  He tells those that have seen Him after the resurrection, "do not be afraid!"  We do not have to fear Jesus because He is the One that was sent to restore us with our Heavenly Father.  The angel reminds the women that he is risen as he said.  You see Jesus keeps His promises.

So when He says that He will be with us always, He means it.  He continues to be present among us in Word and Sacrament.  These are the means of grace that He left to His Church so that she could give them to each of us.  These life giving tokens of God's grace and mercy to a fallen world.  We do not have to try to climb to some spiritual height to get to Jesus, no rather He continues to come to us and seek us out.  So it is in the Ark of the Church that we continue to be near Jesus and have His presence in Word and Sacrament given to us each week.

Confession Quote of the Day

Likewise, they neither hear nor teach the Gospel about the free forgiveness of sins for Christ's sake, the righteousness of faith, true repentance, or works having God's command.

Apology of the Augsburg Confession XXVII (XIII) Monastic Vows. 54

Evening Prayer 11-19-11

Reading:
Matthew 27:57-66


Conspiracy theories where alive and well during Jesus' time just like they are today.  You can see the chief priests and Pharisees getting quite concerned at this point.  They remember hearing Jesus speak about the fact that you could destroy the Temple and He will rebuild it three days.  (John2:19)  He did not mean the Temple that was there in Jerusalem, but rather He was speaking about His own body that was going to be offered on the cross for the sin of the world.  This Holy Body would lay for three days and then it would be raised to life again.  This is what the priests and Pharisees were concerned about.  They knew all that Jesus taught was Truth and they saw Him perform miracles, now they were concerned what if He was right.

But of course they wanted to paint it to be that the disciples would come and take the body and then say that He lives.  However, having a missing body would not really prove anything, now would it.  However, a resurrected body that could be seen, touched, spoken with, walked with, and having a meal with, now that might get peoples attention! So they could place all of the seals that they wanted, Jesus came back from the dead and did many wonderful signs to show that He is alive!

This is our blessed hope that because He lives we too shall live.  We have died in Holy Baptism and now have received the new life of Christ so that death no longer has a hold on us.  We know that we will now spend eternity with Jesus because He paid our debt in full when He died on the cross and rose again!  There is no conspiracy, there are too many witnesses that record the resurrection of Jesus in multiple ways.  Lay hold of the truth by faith and live!

Lutheran Confession Quote

Evangelical poverty does not come from the abandonment of property, but from not being greedy, from not trusting in wealth, just as David was poor in a most wealthy kingdom.

Apology of the Augsburg Confession XXVII (XIII) Monastic Vows 46

Evening Prayer 11-18-11

Reading:
Matthew 27:33-56

The crucifixion is the pivotal point in history.  Just as the conception and birth of Jesus rings through with the joy of the "Word was made flesh and dwelt among us."  So the crucifixion, the death of Jesus is when the precious blood of Jesus was spilled for you and for me. All of the Old Testament sacrifices pointed to this moment of time when the Lamb of God would take away the sin of the world.  Jesus was the perfect Lamb that was led to the slaughter.  He willingly went to the cross on our behalf so that you and I could have eternal life and have a relationship restored with our Heavenly Father.

This is why when Jesus gave up His spirit, the veil in the Temple was torn in two.  This huge veil separated man from God.  But now that perfect God - Man offered Himself as the perfect sacrifice for the sin of the world, man now had access to God again.  We come to God through Jesus Christ and His sacrifice that was offered.  We do not come before God through anything that we do, but only as we are found in Jesus.

May we constantly look to the cross.  The prayer for today states,"O Lord Jesus Christ, for this and all Your other suffering and pain, we give You thanks and praise.  We pray You, let Your holy, bitter suffering and death be not lost on us, but grant that at all times this may be our comfort, and that we may boast in it; and that as we ponder it, all evil desire in us may be snuffed out and subdued, and all virtue may be implanted and increased, so that we having died to sin, may live in righteousness, following the example You have left us...'

Confession Quote of the Day

So they made this change that monasticism is a state in which one acquires perfection.  If we follow this logic, monasticism will be no more a state of perfection than the life of a farmer or mechanic.  For these are also states in which one acquires perfection.  All people, in every vocation, should seek perfection, that is grown in the fear of God, in faith, in love toward one's neighbor, and similar spiritual virtues.

Apology of the Augsburg Confession XXVII (XIII) Monastic Vows 37

Lutheran Quote

On account of this, the cross is both holy and blessed!  Once nothing but a dry piece of wood, it was changed, like Aaron's staff, into a green branch full of heavenly blossoms and fruit.  Once an instrument of torment for the punishment of sinners, it now shines in heavenly splendor for all sinners as a sign of grace.  Once the wood f the curse, it has now become, after the Promised Blessing for all people offered Himself up on it, a tree of blessing, an altar of sacrifice for the atonement, and a sweet smelling aroma to God.  Today, the cross is still a terror- but only to hell.  It shines upon its ruins as a sign of victory over sin, death and Satan.

C.F.W. Walther

Evening Prayer 11-17-11

Reading:
Matthew 27:11-32

Who would you choose?

So many times in today's society we will hear, did you choose to follow Jesus?  So many times we will hear the affirmative, "Yes, I have chosen Jesus".  That sounds good doesn't it?  However, I hate to tell you but if the choice was really up to you, you would act like those in the reading today.  Your choice would not be to follow Jesus.  You would follow after someone else and choose someone else and this is why. 

Our nature is so disordered that we do not even know how to choose good. We are truly rotten to the core.  We have nothing good in us apart from Christ.  For us to choose Him means that we had to make the first move and that creates a work on our part in salvation.  If it would be a work then it is not grace and mercy.  But rather God chooses us first.  That is why the Scriptures state that Christ died for us while we were yet sinners. (Romans 5:8) 

It is sad in this account that you hear the people say, "Let his blood be on us and our children."  I pray this everyday for my children but I have a different meaning.  For me when I say this I am praying that my children will be strengthened in the True Faith every day, living their lives as baptized children of God, trusting in the blood of Christ for the forgiveness of sins.  These poor people were bringing condemnation on themselves and their children with their words.  The Blood of Jesus was not a comfort to them as it should have been but rather it was sealing their fate as they continued to harden their hearts against Him.

As He was mocked, beaten and crucified, remember it was done for you, me and the sin of the whole world.  There is nothing that you can do that will separate you from the love of God in Christ Jesus.  Place your hope in Jesus and His work on the cross for your salvation.  Be thankful that He choose you and loves you with an everlasting love!

Lutheran Confession Quote

First, it is certain that a monastic life does not merit forgiveness of sins, but we receive this freely through faith, as has been said before.  Second, for Christ's sake, through mercy, eternal life is granted to those who through faith receive forgiveness and do not apply their own merits against God's judgment, as Bernard also says with very great force: 
     It is necessary first of all to believe that you cannot have
     the forgiveness of sins except by God's good will.  Second,
     you cannot have any good work, unless He has given it.
     Finally, you cannot merit eternal life by works, unless this
     is also freely given.

Apology of the Augsburg Confession XXVII (XIII) Monastic Vows 31-32

Lutheran Quote of the Day

"And so Christ, by wrestling with the power of the devil, with the horror of death, and with the agonies of the damned, brought back from them a glorious triumph for our salvation."

-- Francis Pieper

Evening Prayer 11-16-11

Reading:
Matthew 27:1-10

"thirty pieces of silver"

This is really amazing, that for thirty pieces of silver, one of the beloved disciples would betray their Lord into the hands of those that would kill Him.  Now we know that Jesus was to be delivered up to death and that He willingly laid down His right to life, so that He could apply His life to us.  But really, when you have been with Jesus for the three years of earthly ministry and know that He is God in the flesh, how could you sell Him out for 30 pieces of silver?

Don't we though do the same each and every time that we fall into sin?  We choose to walk away from God and go back to the filth and wretchedness that we left.  We fall into sin because we still struggle against the old man that is in us.  Just as Judas changed his mind and tried to undo what he had done, we too are hopefully struggling against the sin in our life.  Instead of trying to make it right ourselves, we turn in repentance to Jesus Christ and look to the saving cross to be saved.  We place our faith fully on Jesus Christ and what HE did for us.  That is where we find forgiveness of sins and peace in our hearts. 

We will continue to struggle in this life with sin and the devil.  But we need to remember that greater is He that is in us (Jesus), than he that is in the world.  Jesus has overcome sin, death and the devil when He went willingly to the cross.  He experienced the pains of death that He did not deserve so that He could set us free from the bondage to sin.  We are victorious because Christ is victorious!

May we not be like Judas who appears to have tried to make himself right with God by changing his mind about what He did, but not understanding the gift of the Gospel, he fell into despair and killed himself.  May we hear the words and believe them that we are baptized child of God and an heir to God's kingdom.  May we hear the words of Absolution from our faithful Pastors that we are truly forgiven on account of Christ.  And may we hear the words of the Pastor at the distribution of Holy Communion,"The true Body and Blood of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Given and Shed for YOU!" and may this be our trust and hope.

Evening Prayer 11-14-11

Reading:
Matthew 26:36-56

"Remain here and watch with me"

They disciples have just finished receiving the first Eucharist, where Jesus promises to come to them under the veil of bread and wine with His very body and blood.  Now Jesus is continuing to prepare for His crucifixion.  Seems like such a small thing, watch with me.

It is so easy to blame the disciples at this point.  What is wrong with you?  Here is God in the flesh asking you to watch with Him as He enters His darkest hour and you could not do it.  You must be so weak that you could not do this.  But before we jump on the disciples, shouldn't we look at ourselves, do we spend time with Jesus like we should?  Do we spend time in His Word everyday?  Do we desire to be with Him at the Lord's Supper?  Do we spend time in quiet conversation with Lord?  We will most likely have to admit that no we do not.  Jesus tells us the problem, the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak. 

The problem for us is that we are weak, our faith is dim.  That is why we do not cling to our faith, but we trust fully in the faithfulness of Jesus Christ, who is everything that I can not be.  He is the one that is faithful, when I am faithless.  He is the one that is perfect, when I am so much less than that.  He is the one that is merciful, when I can't find love in my heart for my neighbor.  He is the one that intercedes on my behalf with my heavenly Father because I don't know how to pray.

So we pray that God's Spirit will enliven in us a love for His Word and Sacrament so that we will desire to spend time in God's Word and seek Him in the Sacraments.  With God's love producing our faith and fanning it into a flame, it can be accomplished.  Watch with me.

Evening Prayer 11-13-11

Reading:
Matthew 26:20-35

Take, eat...Drink of it, all of you.

During these last weeks of the Christian year, the lectionary guides us through end times issues.  Our Lord throughout the Gospel of Matthew uses different parables to explain His return.  In today's lesson our Lord is leaving to His Church the most blessed gift that He could give to them...His very Body and Blood.

Jesus knew that He was going to be betrayed as discussed in v. 21.  He had His face set stedfastly to go to Jerusalem where He knew that He was going to die and offer Himself as the sacrifice for the sins of the whole world.  But He wanted to give this gift to the Church.

In the Sacrament of the Altar, Jesus comes to the us today.  He is there under the veil of bread and wine to give to us His very Body and Blood for the strengthening of our faith and the forgiveness of sins.  This covenant was not being sealed with the blood of goats and other animals that only pointed to Jesus, but rather it was being sealed with the Blood of Jesus Christ Himself.  This is what we partake of every time we come to Holy Communion.  We hear the Pastor tell us the words, given and shed for YOU!  This is sealing you into God's covenant and assuring you of God's grace and favor towards you because of Jesus Christ.

"O Lord, in this wondrous Sacrament You have left us a remembrance of Your passion.  Grant that we may so receive the sacred mystery of Your body and blood that the fruits of Your redemption my continually be manifest in us; for You live and reign with the Father and Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen"

Evening Prayer 11-12-11

Reading:
Matthew 26:1-19

"Why this waste?"

The plot to kill our Lord, continues to thicken.  The chief priests and elders are continuing with the High Priest, Caiaphas, to plot to arrest Jesus and kill Him.  Isn't this amazing, those religious leaders of the day, those that had the most knowledge about the work of the Messiah, were plotting to kill Him.  The chief priests who offered the sacrifices everyday, which all of these pointed to the day that Jesus would die on the cross, plotted to kill him.  It is almost too difficult to believe.  Yet it is true.

Those that should have known Him did not.  Even His own disciples who were with Him still did not get it.  However, this woman at the house of Simon got it.  She saw Jesus for who He is and anointed Him with the ointment.  She does this out of love for Jesus.  The disciples do not say, wow look how much she loved him.  Instead they start complaining that she is wasteful.  Really, she was wasteful anointing the body of Jesus Christ, the God-Man.  How could anything that could be done to Him  be wasteful?  So close to the crucifixion and the disciples did not get it.

Are we that much different?  Until the Holy Spirit opens our eyes to see Jesus for who He really is, we really don't know Him.  And even after the Holy Spirit opens our eyes, we still struggle with sin in the life.  That is why the Holy Spirit is constantly calling us back through repentance.  To rely on God to change us and not that we can change ourselves.  We must rely on God's grace.  Nothing that we can ever do for the Lord will be put to waste, but as is promised in the Scripture, all things work together for good to those who know the Lord.

Lutheran Quote of the Day

First, we hope that all good people everywhere understand that we keep the dignity of the Mass and show its true use with the greatest zeal.

Apology of the Augsburg Confession XXVII (XIII) 99 The Mass

Treasury of Daily Prayer

The Lutheran Church Missouri Synod published a prayerbook, called the Treasury of Daily Prayer.  In this book are the offices of Morning and Evening prayer and prayers for each day.

On Thursday the prayer is for the right use of the Sacrament of the Altar, or the Lord's Supper.  I found this part of the prayer very strengthening.

"We implore You, O Lord, for our altar, that it may ever be a place where the medicine of eternal life, the forgiveness of our sins, strengthens us in body and soul; that disbelief and impenitence may stay far from all who come there so that they may not eat and drink to their own judgment."  TDP pg. 1308.

Evening Prayer 11-10-11

Reading:
Matthew 25:14-30

'Well done, good and faithful servant.'

How we all long to hear these words!  Whether it is from our boss, friends, family or whomever, we all desire to hear that we have done a good job.  Getting compliments is something that makes us feel good.  But are what are the good works that are being described, are these works towards salvation or something else?

Some will try to tell us that we can work ourselves to God and that there is a checklist that we have to complete.  Or some will compare it to a balance sheet where there are credits and debits for our good deeds and bad deeds.  We just hope at the end that our good outnumber our bad.  The problem with both of these approaches to works is that they put the burden of our salvation on us.  This leaves us in despair because we all know that truly we can not be good enough for God.

When you really read the story, the man going on the journey gave the talents to the servants.  They did not earn them they were given them.  So it is with us and our salvation.  It is given to us as a gift on account of what Jesus Christ did for us on the Cross when He died and then rose again.  We do not earn it, nor could we, we just receive it by faith for the gift that it is.  But now that we have the gift of salvation, we are to do something with it.  The Scriptures tell us that faith without works is a dead faith.  (James 2:14-24)  We live out the gift of the forgiveness of sins by living a life of works of mercy and witness to the life of Christ.  In doing so, we help to call others out of darkness into the marvelous light of Christ.

With a life of works, our Lord will return and thank you for your time in the vineyard.  He will be glad to see that gift that He gave to you in Holy Baptism did not get hidden but displayed for the world to see.

Lutheran Quote of the Day

Our adversaries have no references and no command from Scripture for defending the use of the ceremony for freeing the souls of the dead.  Yet they receive unlimited revenue from this.  Certainly it is not light sin to establish such services in the Church without God's command and without the example of Scripture and to apply the Lord's Supper to the dead.  (It was set up for commemoration and preaching among the living.)  This violates the Second Commandment by abusing God's name.

Apology of the Augsburg Confession XXIV (XII). 89  The Mass

Evening Prayer 11-9-11

Reading:
Matthew 25:1-13

Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.

Do you know when the Lord is going to return?  Do you know when your life is going to end?  These are some of the largest questions that loom around people.  We often think that the answer to this is, unfortunately I do not know.  But is it really unfortunate that you do not know when the end will occur?

You see from the moment of your birth, because of sin, we are destined to die.  That is what sin pays us, it gives us death.  But for those of us that are Christians, we are different in that regard.  In the waters of Holy Baptism, God calls you by name and chooses you for Himself.  He buries your old sinful nature and gives you the righteousness of Christ.  This gift that is given to you in Baptism is the free gift of the forgiveness of sins and life everlasting.  So now, we know that unless the Lord returns we are going to die, but we no longer fear death because we have been united to Jesus Christ, the One that overcame death and the grave.

We are to be living each moment as if it could be our last.  We live our lives in state of repentance, surrounded with the Word of God and His Sacraments.  These gifts of God, then produce in us fruits of the Spirit and works of faith where we reach out to meet the needs of others.  We live out faith so that others may see our good works and glorify our Father in heaven.

Waiting until the last minute and then making the change is not what God is looking for.  He wants us to live in the constant state of readiness for His return!  Be like the 5 wise virgins who had their lamps ready for the return of the Bridegroom. 

Lutheran Quote of the Day

Liturgy agrees well with our belief that one minister who consecrates gives the Lord's body and blood to the rest of the people, just as one minister who preaches offers the Gospel to the people.

Apology of the Augsburg Confession XXIV (XII) 80 - The Mass

Evening Prayer 11-8-11

Reading:
Matthew 24:29-51

"But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only."  Matthew 24:36

Over the last few months, due to a particular Pastor, there has been a lot of interest in the end times.  When is it going to occur?  Will the faithful be raptured out of here?  What will it look like?  All of these questions appear to be honest questions, however, is this really what we are supposed to be thinking about.

In the verses today, our Lord is teaching us that no one but the Father knows the time of His return.  So when you hear someone telling you that they know when Jesus is coming back or that the end of the world is happening at a given time, beware of a false prophet!  We are told in these verses that we are not going to know when the Son will return for He is going to be like a thief in the night.  Our lives are going to go on as usual right up to the point of His great return.   We are told to stay awake!  We are to be ready for His return.

His first coming was missed by many because He came in great humility.  When He returns there will be no missing Him.  The sun will be darkened, moon will not give light, stars will fall from heaven, powers from heaven will be shaken. We will see Him coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory!

For those that are His in the waters of Holy Baptism, where you have been given new life because your sins are forgiven, when you see Him you will be glad.  For those that are not faithful to our Lord and have not received the forgiveness of sins, to those it will be a dreadful day because they will be outside the time of grace and mercy. 

May you continue to prepare for the coming of our Lord by watching and praying.  Be ready, be awake for you know not when He will come.

Lutheran Quote of the Day

Rather, it offers the Gospel and the Sacraments to others, so that they may conceive faith and the Holy Spirit through them and be brought from death to life.

--Apology of the Augsburg Confession Article XXIV (XII) 59 The Mass

Indian Valley Lutheran Church Blog

We have created a blog for our Church.  The site is:

www.ivlc.blogspot.com

This web site will contain information regarding our Congregation.  We will also be posting sermons to this site to help feed you with the Word of God if you were not able to attend our weekly service.

Evening Prayer 11-5-11

Evening Prayer 11-5-11

Reading:
Matthew 23:1-12

"Do as I say, not as I do"

How many times do parents tell their children this statement.  I will tell you what to do, but don't look at what I am actually doing.  Unfortunately our lives tell much about what is going on inside of us.  So if our actions do not match what we are saying, this rapidly shows a disconnect and more than likely our children are not going to follow what we say.

It was pretty much the same with the Scribes and Pharisees.  These Jewish leaders had no problem continuing develop laws and rituals to try to make themselves clean.  They wanted to try to earn their righteousness before Almighty God.  So they would add rule after rule to be sure that they were doing everything right.  However, their hearts were not right and their actions could not make them right before God.  This was madness and drove people to despair because they could not be good enough.  This is what happened to Martin Luther who drove himself to despair as he tried to celebrate his first Mass perfect as a work before God.

They are teaching us the way of righteousness but it is one of Law.  The Law shows us our sins and prescribes to us our wage for that which is death.  But we are fortunate in that there is one who came and lived this perfect life.  That person is Jesus Christ.  He is the God-Man who lived among us and did everything perfect.  He alone is without sin.  He then willing laid down His right to life so that He could give us His righteousness.  This is an alien righteousness, it comes to us, not from us.  This righteousness of Christ is given to us as a gift so that God does not put to our account our wrong doings, but instead looks on the righteousness of Christ.  This great exchange, our filthy rags of sin, and death, for the righteousness of Christ which brings life and peace occurs at your Baptism.  You are put to death and Christ now lives in your heart by faith.

Do not try to earn yourself before God, for you can never be good enough.  Rather trust fully in the completed work of Christ upon the Cross.  Look to Him and trust Him to be your righteousness before your Father in Heaven.