The Lord is Good

Psalm 135:1-5 

The people addressed in Psalm 135:1-5 are those who serve in the temple (read "church"), the ones who make the church work, the 20% who are the regular volunteers. They are exhorted to believe and to serve God with all their heart. Do those people really need encouragement? Don't they get it already? Well, yes and no. Yes, we regularly serve. But no, we are not immune to the temptations and trials of the world and of the Enemy. Every day those who serve the Lord need to be re-converted to believe, as though it were the very first time.

Martin Luther wrote in The Small Catechism that the old Adam, our sinful and selfish desires, "should be drowned by DAILY sorrow and repentance" and that the new man "should come forth DAILY and rise up, cleansed and righteous." Every day is a new opportunity for even the most dedicated to re-commit to the Lord. It's a new day to appreciate the Lord's renewed mercies, as we read in Lamentation 3:23 – “for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness.”

QUESTIONS:

1. What is your daily practice of coming into the presence of God and recommitting your life to Him?

2. Where do you sense the mercies of the Lord offered anew each morning?

PRAYER:

Heavenly Father, as I serve You and Your church, allow me to rediscover Your grace, repent of my sins, and cling to Your forgiveness.

Dave Mann

Sowing Seeds as You Read

The Bible is essential for our walk as a Christ follower.  It is our highest authority.  It is more than a book. God can speak to us through the pages of scripture.

The Reformers knew this, and worked hard to get these pages into the hands of everyone.  Martin Luther translated the New Testament into German so that common people could read God’s word for themselves.

If we are not reading God’s word outside of Sunday morning we are not letting God’s word do all that it can in our lives.  If we are not reading God’s word we will be like one of the people from our scripture passage today.

14 The farmer sows the word. 15 Some people are like seed along the path, where the word is sown. As soon as they hear it, Satan comes and takes away the word that was sown in them.

16 Others, like seed sown on rocky places, hear the word and at once receive it with joy. 17 But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away.

18 Still others, like seed sown among thorns, hear the word; 19 but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful.

20 Others, like seed sown on good soil, hear the word, accept it, and produce a crop—some thirty, some sixty, some a hundred times what was sown.” -Mark 4:14-20

Make some time everyday to open up the Bible and listen for God’s voice as you read from his word.

Read today entire passage here Mark 4:10-20

One Night ...

Martin Luther nails his theses to the door of the church

READ: Romans 15:1-6

Today marks the 500th anniversary of the greatest division of the body of Christ in history. With his Ninety-five Theses Martin Luther rebuked Catholicism, and Protestantism was born. What was intended to bring reform, brought division. What was intended to return us to the truth of scripture led us to an abandonment of its very essence.

What is the greatest commandment?

Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and love your neighbor as yourself. (Matthew 22:36-40; Mark 12:28-34; Luke 10:25-37)

“But I stand upon the truth! Do you not see how wrong my neighbor is?”

1 Corinthians 13:2 says, “If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.”

500 years of animosity put to rest

Yes, truth is important. Love is more important.

I saw that love on display at One Night, Columbus’s annual citywide worship service, when a Catholic priest and a Protestant minister took the stage, humbled themselves before the Lord, and confessed the sins of their respective denominations to one another. Then they forgave each other on behalf of their churches and embraced to resounding cheers. It was a beautiful display of Christian unity.

“By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” (John 13:35)

***Learn more about One Night 2018 at www.onenightcolumbus.com