Christmas Offense

"Blessed is he who is not offended because of Me' (Matthew 11:6). "Yea, truly blessed! For tie King and His Word, in which men should find great joy, are a stumbling-block for all the world. The world takes offense and is provoked by the Gospel of Christ, because it will not trust in the grace of God, but rather in its own works and merits. And again the world takes offense at Christ because He is so utterly poor and wretched. And again, that, as He carries His cross and lets Himself be hanged upon it, He admonishes His followers to take their cross and to follow Him through all manner of temptations and afflictions. To this the world is especially hostile. Thus is our dear Lord Christ everywhere in the world an annoying preacher. The Gospel will never fare otherwise. It is and it will be a message at which offense is taken, not by the lowly, but by the most saintly and most pious, the wisest and the mightiest on earth, as experience teaches us. Blessed are those who know and trust that it is truly the Word of God, for they are healed, and they are comforted and fortified against all such offense." ~Martin Luther

Reason to Rejoice!

"Come from on high to me; I can not rise to Thee. Cheer my wearied spirit, O pure and holy Child; Through Thy grace and merit, Blest Jesus, Lord most mild, Draw me unto Thee! Draw me unto Thee! ~Now Sing We, Now, Rejoice, verse 2; German and Latin text, 14th cent., Lutheran Service Book #386 What a magnificent explanation of why we have reason to rejoice at Christmas. At first glance it may seem rather depressing: What? I can not rise up to God? I haven't been naughty this year! I've been nice! Well, let's be honest, friends. None of us have been good enough, if we are to be measured against God's standard of perfection. None of us have been perfectly patient, good, kind, forgiving, nor charitable in thought, word, and deed ("None is righteous, no not one; no one understand; no one seeks for God." Romans 3:10). As each year passes I become more painfully aware of my lousy motives, even in the *good* things that I do. Sin is a wearisome thing. Yet in the hymn we cry out to God to cheer us, through His good works, which are good enough! It is through His perfect life, sinless sacrifice on the cross, and continual coming to us through His Word, Holy Communion, and Holy Baptism, that we are forgiven. And by that forgiveness we are drawn to Him. Thanks be to God for the good news that He came to us that first Christmas, comes to us now by His Word and Sacraments, and will come again on the Last Day to draw His children to Himself for all eternity.

Lift Up Your Heads, Ye Mighty Gates

Advent is here! I am so glad to be in Advent services (and away from the December to-do list), which remind me of the longing the world had for its Savior to come the first time, and the longing that we now have for Him to come a second time and take us to Himself. He is coming!! We sang this Advent hymn this morning: Lift up your heads, ye mighty gates! Behold, the King of glory waits. The King of kings is drawing near; The Savior of the world is here. Life and salvation He doth bring; Therefore rejoice and gladly sing. To God the Father raise, your joyful songs of praise. ~LSB 341. This hymn is by Georg Weissel, 1590-1635

The Unfortunate Turkey

Here is a story that my 9 year old daughter wrote: Once there was a turkey named Tom. He lived on the Burgan Farm. It was 3 days before Thanksgiving Day, and he knew what that meant: death for all turkeys. He hated the tradition of having turkey for Thanksgiving. Tom hid inside the barn, hoping not to be noticed. His stomach rumbled. He was hungry. He saw some feed on the ground and ate it. “No one will find me here, I hope,” Tom thought anxiously. 2 days passed. Tom forgot that there was one more day until Thanksgiving. “Ha! I fooled them that time!!!” Tom thought. He came out of hiding, snickering to himself. Before he knew it, Farmer Burgan was chasing him around the barn. “COME BACK HERE, YOU SNEAKY TURKEY!!!” Farmer Burgan shouted. Tom was beginning to tire. He rested inside the barn. “AHA! THERE you are!” said a voice. It was Farmer Burgan! And no one ever heard from Tom the Turkey again. Moral: ALWAYS COUNT THE DAYS UNTIL AFTER THANKSGIVING IF YOU’RE A TURKEY.

Watch the Grammar

Jesus came to “seek and save the lost” (Luke 19:10). Notice the subject of that sentence: Jesus. He does the seeking. What an amazing truth. Jesus came to seek and save the lost. Since we are all born lost, we can correctly say that Jesus came to seek and save me, or that He came to seek and save you. WARNING: Do not make yourself the subject of the sentence, such as, “I sought Jesus so He could save me.” Salvation does not depend on the movement of our will towards God, but on Christ’s death on the cross and resurrection for us, given to us in our baptism. (“Baptism...now saves you” 1 Peter 3:21). He gives us the faith through His Word to believe in Him. The initiative is God’s alone. You can rest your eternal salvation on that.

A Hat and Gloves

I had fun at a recent ladies' meeting where we were invited to wear a hat and gloves if we wished. I borrowed the hat and gloves from a friend.

I suppose I still like to play dress up.

Glancing Back at God's Provision

"Do you have a place to live?" asked our admissions counselor, soon after we sold our home. "Well...we have a place in mind that we could buy, but it's not ideal," was our reply. He told us that there was a four bedroom home available in the country, provided that Stan would agree to do his two years of fieldwork at the church next door. They sent us photos of the house, and we said yes. One month later we were in Indiana, driving to our new home. "If you don't like it you don't have to take it," said the pastor. I thought, "The 26 foot moving truck is showing up today. Where else would we go?" We walked in to the house, and.....we loved it. So much so that we are still living there after Stan finished his vicarage there in August, and is now completing his 4th year at seminary. It has been a tremendous blessing to us to live in the same home for our entire time at the seminary. It has relieved financial stress, and allowed us to put down roots. This is one way God has given us our daily bread.