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Even Stronger Than Before!

Psalm 23:4 says, “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you [the Lord, my Shepherd] are with me. Your rod and your staff, they comfort me.”

Having faith in the darkest valley—during a global pandemic, for example—is bold. It’s natural to feel fearful right now, but believers can have a bold faith and hope during a crisis because of who our God is and what he’s accomplished for us in Jesus.

He is never changing, even when our world does. (Malachi 3:6)

He is all-knowing, having knowledge of everything past, present, and future. (Isaiah 46:9–10)

He is all-powerful, strong and able to do anything he wills. (Psalm 147:5, Romans 1:20)

He is faithful to his Word and always will be. (2 Timothy 2:13)

He is both just and merciful (Exodus 34:6-7). He proved both are true by giving us the Great Exchange at the cross of Jesus Christ (Jesus takes our sin as his own and in exchange gives us his righteousness). (2 Corinthians 5:19-21)

And he is so much more! He is beyond what we can conceive in our limited human minds. (Romans 11:33-36)  His purposes and promises are sure, even when we don’t understand them. Even when we aren’t sure where he is or what he’s doing. As Charles Spurgeon said: “God is too good to be unkind and he is too wise to be mistaken. And when we cannot trace his hand, we must trust his heart.”

We are able to clearly trace God’s heart thanks to the Gospel of Jesus Christ! Every step of Jesus’ life, suffering, death and resurrection was prompted by the undeserved love in God’s heart for this sin-filled world. What a heart of undeserved love and compassion and mercy the true Savior-God has for us!

Again, trusting God and having faith during a pandemic is a bold stance. But do you know what else is bold? Coming before the almighty and all-merciful God in prayer. Hebrews 4:16 instructs us: “Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”

Come boldly to the God who is unchanging, always faithful, and never caught by surprise. Keep your faith in him and let the knowledge of who he is calm your fears. In the end, our strong God will make us even stronger than before!

Forward this to someone who needs encouragement for today.

In Christ alone,

Pastor Philip Kieselhorst

www.svlchurch.com

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LOOKING FOR SOMETHING?

Urban legend has it that a woman entered a Haagen-Dazs in the Kansas City Plaza for an ice-cream cone. While she was ordering another customer entered the store. She placed her order, turned and found herself staring face to face with Paul Newman. He was in town filming Mr. and Mrs. Bridge. His blue eyes made her knees buckle. She finished paying and quickly walked out of the store with her heart still pounding.

Gaining her composure she suddenly realized she didn't have her cone. She turned to go back inside. At the door she met Paul Newman who was coming out.

He said to her, "Are you looking for your ice-cream cone?"

Unable to utter a word she nodded yes. "You put it in your purse with your change."

When was the last time awe of God made you forget what was going on around you?  Made you forget the dishes?  Made you forget the ball game?  Made you forget the bank account?  Made you forget where ... you put your ice cream cone?

When we enter God’s house and step up to the altar to receive the Lord’s Supper, we are meeting God face to face (Christian Worship, hymn 315 – “Here, O My Lord, I See You Face to Face”).  In this shocking encounter with Jesus, we lose more than our sense of what is going on around us.  We lose our sins!

“Mine is the sin but yours the righteousness;

Mine is the guilt but yours the cleansing blood.

Here is my robe, my refuge and my peace:

Your blood, your righteousness, O Lord, my God”   (Christian Worship, hymn 315 v. 4)

And as Luther’s Small Catechism states it so clearly and succinctly: 

THE BLESSINGS OF HOLY COMMUNION

What blessing do we receive through this eating and drinking?

That is shown us by these words, "Given” and “poured out for you for the forgiveness of sins."  

Through these words we receive forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation in this sacrament. For where there is forgiveness of sins, there is also life and salvation.

Are you looking for your sins? You won’t find them.  Jesus has put them in his pocket.  Are you looking for your ice cream cone? You might want to check your pockets. In awe of God’s grace, Pastor K Holy Communion will be offered at SVL in groups of 10 members or less on Sunday, May 24.Please email [email protected] to sign up for one of the following time slots:

10:00 AM

10:30

11:00

11:30

1:00 PM

1:30 

2:00 

2:30

3:00

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Thank You, Mom! Thank You, Jesus!

Since this Sunday is Mother’s Day, I thought I would begin

with a list someone made that they have called “Murphy’s

Laws of Parenting.” See if you can identify with any of these: 

1. The later you stay up, the earlier your child will wake up

the next morning.

2. The gooier the food, the more likely it is to end up on the

carpet.

3. The longer it takes you to make a meal, the less your child

will like it.

4. A sure way to get something done is to tell a child not to

do it.

5. For a child to become clean, something else must

become dirty.

6. Toys multiply to fill any space available.

7. Yours is always the only child who doesn’t behave.

8. If the shoe fits . . . it’s expensive.

9. Backing the car out of the driveway causes your child to

have to go to the bathroom.

Do any of these strike home? I want to especially focus in on #5. That is not only true for a child. It’s true for every human being who has ever lived. And I’m of course not referring to becoming clean on the outside – like cleaning our clothes or cleaning some dirt from our bodies. I’m talking about getting a clean conscience – having a clean heart within us. In order for a person’s soul to become clean, something else must become dirty. And that something else was nothing else than the Son of God – the holiest, cleanest being of all – became unclean and covered with sin so that we might become clean.

We might chuckle at all the things a Mom has to put up with for her children, but  we know that behind everything a Mom does for her kids is pure love. We might cringe at all that the Son of God had to put up with for us, but we certainly know that behind everything Jesus did and still does for us is pure love.

What we don’t want to do on this Mother’s Day is take our Moms for granted. The best example I know of that is the Mother’s Day card that reads like this: “Forget the housework, Mom. It’s your day. Besides, you can always do double duty and catch up on Monday!”

I suspect some of you Moms can relate to that? No, we certainly do not want to take our mothers for granted – ever! – and we also do not want to take our Savior Jesus Christ for granted either. Therefore, I’d like to briefly focus on one of the greatest things our mother’s ever did for us: They brought us to the water of our baptism. This one event in our lives changed our lives completely and fills our lives with special blessings.

But how can this be? Is baptism really that important? Is it really that powerful? To understand how amazing the water of Baptism is, we have to look at what’s in the water and what comes with the water.

Luther’s Small Catechism summarizes the Bible’s teaching about what’s in Baptism this way: 

First: What is Baptism? Baptism is not just plain water, but it is water used by God’s command and connected with God’s Word.

Which is that Word of God? Christ our Lord says in the last chapter of Matthew, “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit!”

What is in the water of Baptism? 

The cleansing water of Baptism has the active ingredient of Christ’s power! Just as a cleaning product needs a powerful active ingredient to do its job, so the water of baptism has an active ingredient to do its job. It draws its power from the perfect life, innocent death and triumphant resurrection of Jesus Christ. It has this active ingredient of Christ’s power because he puts it there – by his Word. Baptism is commanded by Jesus, so this water is not just plain water, it is water used by God’s command and connected with God’s Word.

Next, the Small Catechism explains the Bible’s teaching about what comes with Baptism: 

Second: What does Baptism do for us? Baptism works forgiveness of sin, delivers from death and the devil, and gives eternal salvation to all who believe this, as the words and promises of God declare.

What are these words and promises of God? Christ our Lord says in the last chapter of Mark, “Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.”

God says, so no matter how impossible it seems, if God says it’s true – it’s true! The purpose of baptism is to wash away the stain of sin. No matter how evil you have been, repent and be baptized and God will wipe away your sins. No sin is too great for God to forgive. No past is too checkered.

Acts 2:38-39 confirms both what Baptism is and what Baptism does for us: 38  Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.  39  The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.”

What a gift God gives us in our Baptisms! Since we are baptized in the name of Jesus Christ and also receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, we know that the water of Baptism is filled with God’s power. We also know that the water of Baptism is filled with peace thanks to the forgiveness of sins we receive. And therefore, the water of Baptism is also filled with incredible promise! This is true because wherever there’s the forgiveness of sins, there is also life and eternal salvation.

So thank your Mother this Sunday (and Monday … and EVERY day after that…) for bringing you to the miraculous water of your Baptism. Its cleansing water is filled with power, peace and promise for you.

Thanks Mom! Thanks Jesus 

CONNECTING WITH OUR BAPTISM

 Think of ways you could celebrate the anniversary of your baptism,

ways that would remind you of the importance of this Sacrament.

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What About the Married Couples?

Married couples, how are you doing?

I pray that this time spent at home with your loved ones has been an enriching experience for you and your spouse.

Has everything been going smoothly as you work together through the growing list of things that need to be done around the house and now can receive the attention they need? Have you been patiently working through “The List” together? Who’s going to clean the toilet? What about cleaning the garage? Who’s taking care of the pets? Who’s helping the kids with their math homework today? As you tackle all of those items on “The List” and as you spend more time than usual with each other, how has the communication been? How has the working through the challenges of quarantine gone?

Again, I pray that this time has been an opportunity for growth in your marriage. I also want to offer you encouragement from the Bible to continue to grow in your love for one another. So here are two resources to help enrich your marriage even more …

The first resource is an online Marriage Enrichment seminar (prerecorded) called Enriching Your Marriage. This is produced by WELS Adult Discipleship. It includes 8 sessions with both a video guide and downloadable resources for you to work through together at home. These resources can be found at this link: https://cad.welsrc.net/downloads-cad/interactive-faith/

Second, I’d like to invite you to a virtual small group chat called JUST SHOW UP. It is a website that helps facilitate discussion of an audiobook that the group listens to together. (More details later)  The book I’d like to discuss is called “The Meaning of Marriage” by Timothy Keller. I’ve found this book to be helpful in keeping the proper focus in married life.    

Timothy Keller explains in Chapter One:

“I’m tired of listening to sentimental talks on marriage. At weddings, in church, and in Sunday School, much of what I’ve heard on the subject has as much depth as a Hallmark card. While marriage is many things, it is anything but sentimental. Marriage is glorious, but hard. It’s a burning joy and strength, and yet it is also blood, sweat and tears, humbling defeats and exhausting victories. No marriage I know more than a few weeks old could be described as a fairy tale come true… I believe all this, and yet there’s no relationship between human beings that is greater or more important than marriage… And that is why, like knowing God himself, coming to know and love your spouse is difficult and painful – yet rewarding and wondrous.”

So here are the details for the JUST SHOW UP book discussion:

Wednesday, May 6th @ 6:30 – 7:30 p.m.

Email Pastor K ([email protected]) if you would like to join the discussion group and he will send you an invitation to join the group. (I’ll also try to set up a Facebook invitation – or better yet, I’ll ask someone to help me set up a Facebook invitation!)

To begin the session, Pastor K will give you three questions to consider for later discussion. Then we will listen to 30-40 minutes of the audiobook. This will leave 20 minutes for discussion of what we heard. If you’d like to get more out of the study, it’s recommended that participants order a copy of the book so they can read along with the audio recording.

I look forward to our virtual discussion!

In Christ alone,

Pastor K

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What About the Singles?

Singles, how are you doing?  Maybe our family of faith can’t gather together in person right now, but we can still see smiles and hear laughter.

Thanks to technology, our world is more connected than ever before. I imagine that you are staying connected to family and friends through social media and video chat groups even more than before the lockdown.

I’m thankful that SVL, as a family of faith, is still able to have worship services online and virtual small groups. We can encourage each other through text, email, and video chat. Praise God!

Actually, I haven’t started up the virtual small groups yet (my tech abilities are sorely lacking!). But I would like to start one by inviting all of our singles to a JUST SHOW UP virtual study and discussion. JUST SHOW UP is basically an online book discussion group chat (more details later).

The book I’d like to discuss with you is one that, while I have read and taught it for those who are married, speaks almost more to single Christians than to those who are married. It is titled: The Meaning of Marriage by Timothy Keller. That’s right – a book on marriage that speaks also to singles! Timothy Keller’s congregation in New York City is made up of almost 80% single Christians, and this book is based on his best received sermon series.  One reader on Amazon gave it this five star description:

I am a thirty-something Christian single female, who has dodged a lot of sympathetic sighing from well-intentioned people. Keller and his wife, Kathy, are well aware of the myriad of mixed messages Christian singles receive and they don't sidestep this often neglected group in their excellent book… They don't offer a five step if you do this, this, and this you will attract a godly mate, instead it's a Bible based exploration of why God gave us marriage and what it means for everyone- single or married, divorced, separated, widowed, etc.

Timothy Keller explains in the introduction to the book:

“This book’s primary goal is to give both married and unmarried people a vision for what marriage is according to the Bible. That will help married people correct mistaken views that might be harming their marriage, and it will help single people stop destructively over-desiring marriage or destructively dismissing marriage altogether. Also, a Bible-based marriage book will help each reader have a better idea of who he or she should consider as a prospective mate.”

This book also includes a chapter that highlights what the Bible says about the goodness of singleness. It focuses on 1 Corinthians 7 and the apostle Paul’s assessment that singleness is a good condition blessed by God, and in many circumstances, it is actually better than marriage.

So here are the details for the JUST SHOW UP book discussion:

Wednesday, May 5th @ 6:30 – 7:30 p.m.

Email Pastor K at [email protected] if you would like to join the discussion group and he will send you an invitation to join the group. (I’ll also try to set up a Facebook invitation – or better yet, I’ll ask someone to help me set up a Facebook invitation!)

To begin the session, Pastor K will give you three questions to consider for later discussion. Then we will listen to 30-40 minutes of the audiobook. This will leave 20 minutes for discussion of what we heard. If you’d like to get more out of the study, it’s recommended that participants order a copy of the book so they can read along with the audio recording.

I look forward to our virtual discussion!

In Christ alone,

Pastor K  

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What about the Kids? What about the Parents?!!

Parents, how are you doing?

I know you might be using your only five free minutes of the day to read this email, so I’ll make it quick.

When our church is able to meet physically again, we want you to come back without having pulled all of your hair out, so here are some ideas for entertaining your kids and engaging them spiritually.

If you’re not a parent, forward these ideas to a parent you know. I’m sure they’ll appreciate it.

Northwestern Publishing House has free online Sunday School materials on this page. 

The Kennedy Center has “Lunch Doodles with Mo Willems” with 15 videos and downloadable activities on YouTube

This Pinterest board has some awesome indoor craft ideas

The SVL website has family devotions for the month of April posted for you to use in your homes. These devotions include Bible readings, Catechism readings, and the powerful messages of dearly loved hymns.

Parents of Teens, be sure to check out the following resources:

The Bible Project  shares interesting videos that give the overview of many books of the Bible and themes of the Bible. Watch and discuss a video together and then read through that book of the Bible together

The Axis website for parents with teens is filled with Parents’ Guides on many different topics

Subscribe for WELS Teen Devotions “Transformed”

We’re praying for you as you navigate this new normal. Please let us know what you need. And if you know about other resources for kids, send them our way and we’ll share them with other parents in our church.

In Christ alone,

Pastor K 

Shepherd of the Valley Lutheran

Westminster, CO