The Law never satisfies

Woe to Christian preachers if they have nothing to preach but the Law. Their hearers will become hungry by it, but not satisfied.

CFW Walther, "God Grant It," page 678

This weekend...

This morning - ALS Walk with Team Mary at Scottsdale Stadium, activities begin at 8 am.

This afternoon - Saturday worship at 5 pm.

Tomorrow morning - Sunday worship at 8 and 11 am, observance of the Reformation.

Join us this weekend at LICL!

You'll Get Through This

You'll get through this.

It won't be painless.

It won't be quick.

But God will use this mess for good.

Don't be foolish or naïve.

But don't despair either.

With God's help, you'll get through this.

Max Lucado

Listen to the text

Whenever an awestruck student would ask Dr. (William) Lane how he approached Scripture, he would answer, "I listen to the text."

Michael Card, "The Walk," page 69

Where the devil likes to fish

Satan loves to fish in the troubled waters of a discontented heart.

Thomas Watson

What do you think? Will this prediction come true?

I predict that (the Bible) will in the future be read, as it always has been read, almost exclusively by Christians.

CS Lewis

A Peaceful, Easy Feeling

Has it been a crazy, hectic week.  Looking for a place to relax? You could hang out at Lake Pleasant. You could visit a library.  You could participate in a yoga class.

Or, you could join us for worship this weekend.

Visit us on Saturday at 5 pm or Sunday at 8 and 11 am.  Hear the good news about Jesus' love for the world.  Rejoice in the forgiveness of sins.  Listen as God speaks His Word of comfort and hope for you. Leave refreshed and ready to take on the challenges and opportunities of another week.

Hope to see you this weekend at LICL!

Funny Tees!

My dear, sweet wife received something called "Catalog Favorites" in the mail earlier this week. It included a variety of different items but what caught our eye was the t-shirts.  Some of the sayings were laugh-out-loud funny.  Here's a sample:

Nurses - We Can't Fix Stupid But We Can Sedate It!

Wait! I do not snore! I dream I'm a motorcycle!

Exercise? I Thought You Said EXTRA FRIES!

Sometimes When I Open My Mouth My Mother Comes Out...

Every Time I Think Things Can't Get Worse THERE'S AN ELECTION

NOVINOPHOBIA: The fear of running out of wine

Sometimes I laugh so hard tears run down my leg

Never Laugh At Your Wife's Choices - You Are One Of Them

I Just Did A Week's Worth Of Cardio After Walking Into A Spider Web

And my favorite...

You're Never Too Old For NAP TIME!

Debts - paid in full!

This comes from a devotional book we found in my Mom's home while we were cleaning up after she fell asleep in Jesus.  The book is in my office and I believe was published in the early 20th century (although I don't remember the exact date).

Is there anything more precious and joyous than to know that debts which would have rendered us forever unhappy have been paid? In the payment of these awful debts consist the great glory of God's kingdom.

Before and after

(Jesus) appeared common and ordinary.  But ordinary He was not.  He lived before His incarnation, before heaven and earth, before plants, animals and mankind.  He is curator of all things, the Second person of the Trinity, the eternal Son of God.  Jesus is after Adam but Adam's maker, after David but David's Lord, after Mary but Mary's Savior, after John but John's predecessor.  He is before all things and will remain after all things pass away.

Gere Pool, "Portals of Prayer," Jan-March 2014, 2/11/14

He would know!

"Wherever two or three (Christians) are gathered together, problems develop.

Eugene Peterson, "The Contemplative Pastor" page 63

Worship this weekend at Life in Christ

This Saturday at 5 pm.

This Sunday at 8 and 11 am.

Sunday school and adult Bible class at 9:30 am.

My Sunday sermon title is "No Time to Give Up."

God bless your weekend!

How does it go? Let go and let God?

Pray, and let God take care of you.

Martin Luther, "Treasury of Daily Prayer," page 1035

God's Autobiography

Reread Exodus 34:6-7.  In 50 words or less, this is God's "autobiography;" these are things for which He will be remembered forever.

Jane Fryer, "Today's Light Bible," page 132

Search the Scriptures!

Search the Scriptures like a miner digging for gold.  Once you find a nugget, grasp it.  Trust it.  Take it to the bank.  There is no greater treasure.

Max Lucado, "God is With You Every Day," October 6

Seek yourself only in Christ

In the "Today's Light Bible," Jane Fryer writes, "How do you see your God today? Is He the 'God who is strong enough' to help in all times of need? And do you see yourself as the 'royal priesthood?' He has declared you to be in Christ?"

Seek yourself only in Christ and not in yourself and you find yourself in Him eternally.

Martin Luther, "Luther's Works" - Vol. 42, page 106

Through the Word...

Through the Word, then, the individual is brought into a personal and saving relationship with Christ; through the Word he is brought into personal union with Christ; through the Word he is built up and more and more perfected in Christ; and through the Word the whole body of believers, the church, is gathered, edified, and kept unto the end.


"The Lutheran Pastor," page 24

Mark Twain wisdom

The good Lord didn't create anything without a purpose, but the fly comes close!

Walther's Task

CFW Walther was the first president of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, first president of Concordia Seminary and a parish pastor to boot! His book, "Law and Gospel" is a classic and one of the first books read by every seminarian.

"Law and Gospel" is comprised of a series of lectures.  Right at the outset, Walther shares his goal with his students:

I wish to talk the Christian doctrine into your very hearts...

The in-between time

Sorry, but I did not note where I found the following...

You live in the in-between time, waiting for the completion, for Easter promise and beginning to come full.  Now you suffer.  Your loved ones die.  Your pets die.  Your plants die.  Cars rust.  Paint chips. Wood rots.  All things are coming undone.  And we carry too many biers out to the cemetery.  But Jesus died, and Jesus lives, and Jesus loves you and will bring you home.  Your day will come...Your children will not be taken from you forever.  Your sorrow will end.  Because our judgment is coming, but Jesus lives.

David Petersen

Fit for prayer?

"Struggling in the midst of conflict or of temptation, therefore, we ought to resist Satan with trust in the Intercessor and say: 'If I am a sinner,' what then? God is merciful.  If I am unfit for prayer because of my sins, well and good.  I do not want to become more fit.  For, woe is me.  I am more than fit for prayer,  because I am an exceedingly great sinner.

Martin Luther
from Scott Murray's "Memorial Moment"
3/8/2013