His compassions are new EVERY morning! - Lamentations 3:22-23

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Whoa...two posts in one morning? Yep! There's just too much good news to share :) 

Think about 2 Corinthians 12:9, where God tells a weak and struggling Paul (and us), "My grace is sufficient for you." Then hear these words from Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary President Paul Wendland:

"God likes to make something out of nothing. Luther once said that if you think you're something, there's not mu

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Praise God from whom all blessings flow! Today we begin another school year under his grace. Our enrollment at Immanuel Lutheran School is up 33% this year! We thank God for gathering so many young ones around his Word. Prayers for his blessings upon another school year for all our children, here and elsewhere!

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The thoughts and emotions of Jesus during his suffering, as prophesied by David 1,000 years before Good Friday:

Psalm 22

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? 
Why are you so far from saving me, 
so far from the words of my groaning? 
O my God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer, 
by night, and am not silent. 

Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One; 
you are the praise of Israel.
In you our fathers put their trust; 
they trusted and you delivered them. 
They cried to you and were saved; 
in you they trusted and were not disappointed. 

But I am a worm and not a man, 
scorned by men and despised by the people. 
All who see me mock me; 
they hurl insults, shaking their heads: 
“He trusts in the Lord; 
let the Lord rescue him. 
Let him deliver him, 
since he delights in him.” 

Yet you brought me out of the womb; 
you made me trust in you 
even at my mother’s breast. 
From birth I was cast upon you; 
from my mother’s womb you have been my God. 
Do not be far from me, 
for trouble is near 
and there is no one to help. 

Many bulls surround me; 
strong bulls of Bashan encircle me. 
Roaring lions tearing their prey 
open their mouths wide against me. 
I am poured out like water, 
and all my bones are out of joint. 
My heart has turned to wax; 
it has melted away within me. 
My strength is dried up like a potsherd, 
and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth; 
you lay meb in the dust of death. 
Dogs have surrounded me; 
a band of evil men has encircled me, 
they have pierced my hands and my feet. 
I can count all my bones; 
people stare and gloat over me. 
They divide my garments among them 
and cast lots for my clothing. 

But you, O Lord, be not far off; 
O my Strength, come quickly to help me. 
Deliver my life from the sword, 
my precious life from the power of the dogs. 
Rescue me from the mouth of the lions; 
saved me from the horns of the wild oxen. 

I will declare your name to my brothers; 
in the congregation I will praise you. 
You who fear the Lord, praise him! 
All you descendants of Jacob, honor him! 
Revere him, all you descendants of Israel! 
For he has not despised or disdained 
the suffering of the afflicted one; 
he has not hidden his face from him 
but has listened to his cry for help. 

From you comes the theme of my praise in the great assembly; 
before those who fear you will I fulfill my vows. 
The poor will eat and be satisfied; 
they who seek the Lord will praise him— 
may your hearts live forever! 
All the ends of the earth 
will remember and turn to the Lord, 
and all the families of the nations 
will bow down before him, 
for dominion belongs to the Lord 
and he rules over the nations. 

All the rich of the earth will feast and worship; 
all who go down to the dust will kneel before him— 
those who cannot keep themselves alive. 
Posterity will serve him; 
future generations will be told about the Lord. 
They will proclaim his righteousness 
to a people yet unborn— 
for he has done it.

Good Friday worship: 12:30 pm
Tenebrae (Service of Darkness:) 7:00 pm

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What was on Jesus' mind on the morning of Maundy Thursday? Perhaps he was thinking of what would happen in the next 30 hours. That night, one of his closest friends would hand him over to a group of people who hated him and were hungry to kill him. Another disciple would vehemently deny that he even knew him. All of his friends would run away. His enemies would blindfold him, punch him, spit on him, pull out his beard, and hand him over to be brutally whipped, beaten, and finally crucified. Then his life would slowly ebb away until he was dead. 

But he doesn't leave his disciples and you and me without words of comfort as we all observe his sufferings and death. He says (John 14:1-4), "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going."

Prayer: Lord Jesus, we are eternally grateful for your sufferings and death, through which you have given us a saving relationship of full forgiveness from you, our Lord and God. Bless our continued study and meditation on your passion. Help us see your cross as it is, our complete forgiveness and salvation. Strengthen us when we feel too weak, as if we aren't worthy to be your followers. Comfort us with the same words with which you comforted your disciples, that you have prepared a place in eternity with you. You have opened the gates of heaven to us; let us always live for you. In your name we pray, Amen.

See you tonight for Maundy Thursday worship at 7pm.

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On Wednesday of Holy Week, we see Judas arranging the betrayal of his God. We see the chief priests plotting some way to put him to death. Horribly sinful actions. Yet, try as they might to thwart Jesus, they are simply accelerating his saving work. God is still in control. Even when it appears Satan has won by enabling God's Son to be betrayed and handed over to murderous thugs, the salvation of the world is being accomplished. 

Matthew 26:3-5, 14-16: "Then the chief priests and the elders of the people assembled in the palace of the high priest, whose name was Caiaphas, and they plotted to arrest Jesus in some sly way and kill him. 'But not during the Feast,' they said, 'or there may be a riot among the people.'
"Then one of the Twelve--the one called Judas Iscariot--went to the chief priests and asked, 'What are you willing to give me if I hand him over to you?' So they counted out for him thirty silver coins. From then on Judas watched for an opportunity to hand him over."

Prayer: Heavenly Father, you allowed your Son to be handed over and betrayed by his friends. You did this because you loved us and wanted to save us from our sins. We thank you for your amazing grace in saving us and buying us back from the devil's grasp. Continue to bless our meditation on Jesus' sacrifice, that we may be built up in his saving love. Amen.

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We continue our walk with Jesus through Holy Week by hearing his words on Tuesday of the week. Jesus did a great deal of teaching on Tuesday, some to bring the self-righteous Pharisees back to repentance and some to show the grace of God in calling formerly hopeless sinners like us to be his own. Here is one of Jesus' Tuesday parables from Matthew 22:

Jesus spoke to them again in parables, saying: “The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son. He sent his servants to those who had been invited to the banquet to tell them to come, but they refused to come. Then he sent some more servants and said, ‘Tell those who have been invited that I have prepared my dinner: My oxen and fattened cattle have been butchered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding banquet.’ 
“But they paid no attention and went off—one to his field, another to his business. The rest seized his servants, mistreated them and killed them. The king was enraged. He sent his army and destroyed those murderers and burned their city. 
“Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding banquet is ready, but those I invited did not deserve to come. Go to the street corners and invite to the banquet anyone you find.’ So the servants went out into the streets and gathered all the people they could find, both good and bad, and the wedding hall was filled with guests. 
“But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes. ‘Friend,’ he asked, ‘how did you get in here without wedding clothes?’ The man was speechless.
“Then the king told the attendants, ‘Tie him hand and foot, and throw him outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ 
“For many are invited, but few are chosen.” 

Prayer: Heavenly Father, I thank you that in your undeserved love for me you have called me to be your own. You found me in my distress, you knew me and still do, you made me your child, and you clothed me with Jesus' righteousness. Help me to never take my greatest blessing for granted. Don't let the cares of this life and my own sinful nature lead me to self-righteousness, but help me always to see Jesus' sacrifice, and that his perfect sacrifice makes me worthy in your eyes. In his name I pray. Amen.

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On Monday of Holy Week, we see Jesus' actions in the temple and focus on our own. Which do we typically spend more of our free time in developing: Success and the comfortable life, or the ability to come directly to our Lord in prayer and study of his Word? We overturn our fading earthly pleasures and find lasting peace in our Savior's gift of complete holiness as we meditate on his actions today:

Mark 11:15-17 - "On reaching Jerusalem, Jesus entered the temple area and began driving out those who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves, and would not allow anyone to carry merchandise through the temple courts. And as he taught them, he said, 'Is it not written: 'My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations?''"

As we see the Jews growing more and more hostile toward Jesus, we focus on the culmination of his saving act, which we will observe on Thursday and Friday. We observe as he washes away our sins in his true body and blood. We watch with awe as he sacrifices himself on a cross, separating our sins from us forever. 

Have a blessed Holy Week.

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Did you know that in baptism we are pronounced dead? Dead to sin and, yes, dead to death. Romans 6:3,6,7 - "Don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?" We are no longer "slaves to sin--because anyone who has died has been freed from sin." Thank you, Lord, that you give us baptism so that Jesus' death counts for us too!

Grab yourself a free copy of the monthly "Forward in Christ" from our church lobby for this and other thoughts on baptism and the Lord's Supper. And of course, have a wonderful grace-filled day :)

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Jesus says to his twelve disciples and his disciples in 2012, "Your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will not be exhausted, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys." 

Get those distractions out of the way! Don't literally give away everything you have (as they are gifts from God), but remember where your true treasure is--in heaven with him. That treasure will never be destroyed, no matter how much our "treasures" here on earth rise and fall. Putting too much of our trust, our hope, our worth in our jobs, our houses, yes, even our families, leads to disappointment. But our heavenly home is the one possession we have that is truly secure. Our jobs bring us joys and disappointments. Our houses are a fire or another housing market crash away from losing a great deal of worth. As much as we love our families, they are still humans who disappoint. 

But our "purse", our "treasure" in heaven will never be exhausted. It will never run out, and it will never fall. Jesus won it for us, and has a place prepared for us. Nothing, not even the world's greatest disappointments, can take that away from us. When you are disappointed, let it remind you of the "disappointment-free zone" that your Savior won for you in heaven forever!

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