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Non-Member Submissions
- west wing theology.rtf:
From Rev. Rick Anderegg: “What makes this show and these people so inviting?
What can you and I learn from them? Integrity! Honesty! Proper pride! Standing
for something!” - Pastor’s Corner 11-2002.rtf:
A discussion of the Holiness of God by Rev. Richard Von Steinman “Anyone
who might want to use it is free to do so and they don’t have to give me credit
for it. I figure this should take care of any copyright issues.” - Nov 02: A Christian response to gambling and casinos by Rev. Bob Weinhold
revez
- Newsletter-Bumper Sticker:
As a bumper sticker announces the (sometimes passionate) views of its owner,
a Christian’s life proclaims the work and passion of its Master, Jesus Christ. - 42743-FIELDATTACHEDFILE: December
article:Are You Ready?Advent calls us to be ready for Christ, not ready for
Christmas. Is there a difference? - 42659-FIELDATTACHEDFILE: Show
the Gospel–Gentle & Genuine Care for Others 1 Thessalonians 2:6b-9 Paul
tells how he and fellow missionaries brought the Gospel to that area. Gentleness
was key. - 43669-FIELDATTACHEDFILE: The
answer to every “mystery” in the Bible is faith. Faith itself is a mystery,
yet it is the means by which we are saved. We turn from what we believe is
right to what God declares is right in his sight. - 43506-FIELDATTACHEDFILE: What
will our church be like when “pillars” (strong Christians) are laid to rest?
Who will rise up to take their place? Paul used the word “pillar” to describe
what is essential to the church. 1 Timothy 3:14-15 - 42849-FIELDATTACHEDFILE:
Pledge your allegiance! In the heated debate against religion (and Christianity),
atheists have often lobbed the charge that “the faithful” are merely “mindless
sheep” who cannot think “outside the box” of sacred Scriptures. What is often
confused for “mindlessness” is what we like to call “devotion.” Pledge your
life–and your soul and your mind–to God–and serve him in peace and joy. - 46064-FIELDATTACHEDFILE: The
word is out! It is on the loose; it travels fast and is presumed dangerous.
The Word? Jesus. It haunted Herod, frazzled Pharisees, puzzled Pilate; yet
the word is loosed on the world to bring light and life. (John 1) - 46591-FIELDATTACHEDFILE: Looking
Forward in Christ (Jan 2002). The year behind may have been horrendous, but
Paul advises looking forward in Christ. The Christian has this resolve: to
know Christ and to tell others of Christ, and the salvation that comes through
him. - MessageoftheCross: The
Message of the Cross: (Lenten season) Crosses come in many varieties: in every
size and shape, crafted of many substances. Would that everyone who wore one
confessed the Lord who was crucified. Leave it to God to change the message
of terror to the message of love & life. - 47547-FIELDATTACHEDFILE: “Run
the race that is set before you!” (VBS theme)Runners need encouragement; w/o
it we soon collapse. God helps his saints run their race so they may win the
prize. Poem: God’s Racing Flags, by E.Zacharias - 45030-FIELDATTACHEDFILE: How
do you approach the celebration of Thanksgiving in a year when things have
changed SO much? Paul says, “Don’t be anxious about anything, but in everything,
by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God” —
and the “peace of God” will rest on your soul. (Nov. 2001) - 48397-FIELDATTACHEDFILE: Wake
Up, Sleeper! (Easter season) God wakes us up from the slumber of our lives
as he calls us to be alive in Christ! (Ephesians 5:14) - 43113-FIELDATTACHEDFILE: Capital
Punishment: confused when members of the “religious community” voice opposite
opinions in capital punishment? The Bible makes it clear that the govt. has
the right to make the decision. A Christian can voice opposition to the death
penalty on “humanitarian grounds,” but he cannot insist that his position
is absolute. The Christian has solid grounds to support the government’s right
for death for capital crimes. - As the Calendar Turns
From Rev. Eric Zecharias: As the Calendar Turns OR Let the Lord Direct Your
Life: Routine makes for a dull life; but on the plus side, God allows routine
to provide for the blessings of life. As God redeems our life in Christ, he
will also direct (and bless it) in his name. January is also “Pro-Life month.”
A reminder to support life follows the lead article.
pastorjim
- ATP: a Christian response to “gay
marriage”
pastordale
- 7-06 WORSHIP WARS: Traditional vs. Contemporary
- 6-06 Where Your Treasure Is: Treasure Cove introduction
- 5-06 News Got Complaints: (Matthew 18:15-17, NIV) gIf your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault, just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over. Included in this newsletter is an outline of a presentation that was given by Rev. Dr. Matthew Rueger, pastor of St. John Lutheran Church in Hubbard and first vice-president of the Iowa District East. Christians). (Matthew 25:40) When you attack a brother or sister, you are attacking Christ as well. The difference is that Christ willingly received our attacks and our sin.
- Newsletter 4-06.rtf: Last month, a man in Afghanistan faced the death sentence for becoming a Christian. Where is catechesis (Reviewing the basics of the Christian faith) on your list of priorities, both to yourself and the children in your life? Suddenly, we find Jesus very low on the list of what we’re willing to die for, or at least those we’re willing to live for. In Christ, we celebrate the resurrection, the new day of hope and new life. God sealed us in that new life in our Baptism with the promise of forgiveness, salvation, and eternal life.
- 3-06 News 1 Day Closer: Every day is one day closer to our Lord’s return.
- Newsletter 2-06What Is Love: Husbands, you are the head of the house. Wives, you are subordinate to your husband. The reality is that husbands are sinners and don’t always love as they do. Where you have failed to love others as you love yourself, God has loved you completely.
- 12-05 Newsletter Chrismuk: Hanukkah celebrates God saving His people from an atheist oppressor, but in Christmas, we celebrate God saving His people from the devil himself.
- 1-06 Newsletter: We also know that “Young Earth” scientists examine the same evidence as “Macro-Evolution” scientists but have drastically different interpretations. Why?
- 11-05 Come Fishing: Pick your bait and cast.
- 10-05Groundbreaking: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormons) are moving in. Our response.
- 8-05
Changed the World: Last month, two events occurred that made
a major impact on our world. Those events also contradicted each other. - Newsletter7-05Church
Growth: If you want more people in church, bring someone with
you! - 6-05
Newsletter-Anniversaries: This month, we celebrate two anniversaries,
the 125th anniversary of our congregation and the 475th anniversary of the
presentation of the Augsburg Confession, as well as this year
being the 425th anniversary of the publishing of the entire Book of Concord. - Newsletter
5-05 Understand: A couple weeks ago, we received word that a friend
of our family was facing a potentially dangerous situation. We were deeply
concerned and kept asking, “Why?” The more we talked about it,
the less sense it made. We just couldn’t understand. - 4-05 Life
and Death: Choose life isnt just a slogan for
anti-abortion commercials. Its a mandate from God. Even though we
have the promise of paradise because of Jesus sacrifice on the cross,
life is still an invaluable gift from our Creator, and no matter what your
quality of life, any life is better than no life at all. - 3-02 Why matter:
Of course, to understand why it’s important, we need to understand how the
New Testament is different from the Old Testament. They are more alike than
you might think. In both Old and New Testaments, you will find the same
God saving His people the same way: by grace through faith in the Savior.
The difference, of course, is that in the Old Testament, the people
looked to the One Who would come to pay for their sins, and we, the New Testament
people of God, look to the One Who came already. But if someone asked you,
“Why is the New Testament important to Christians,” or even, “Who
is Jesus?,” would you be ready to answer? The key to any question
like this is found in the upcoming season: Easter. Jesus is the One
Who came to pay for our sin on the cross and rise to eternal life. - Newsletter
1-05 Word Stands: France moved December 10 towards the creation
of a new law which would make sexist or homophobic comments
illegal. Canada is also moving in this direction. Given the power of the
media and lobby groups in the United States, the day may well come when
Christian churches like ours are forbidden to preach and teach that homosexuality
is sin. The immediate effect would probably be fines and possible imprisonment
for me, as well as the church losing its non-profit status. - 2-05
Newsletter-2 days to salvation: Roughly 1/3 of the world at least
claims Christianity as their religious affiliation. The number who actually
believe that Jesus earned the right for them to go to heaven by His death
on the cross is unknowable, but we can be sure that it is many fewer. So
what would happen if you and every other Christian todaytold someone about
Jesus, that He paid for their sins so they could live forever? - 11-04 Stem Cell:
A discussion on stem cell research with emphasis on Embryonic Stem Cell
Research - 12-04
Christian parents: Guns and “Bunker Busters” won’t help
your children fight against the devil. For that, you need God’s Word and
its training manual, the catechism. - Newsletter
8-04 All One: Our district and synod are having special offerings
to support their mission projects. We face the reality that ministry costs
money. Many of our missions began suffering when mission giving went from
giving via the offering plate (a portion of which was then given to the
district, district to synod and various district missions, and finally synod
to the various synod-supported missions). If one part suffers, we all suffer. - 10-04 Three
Solas: In the foundation of Reformation teachings rest the “Three
Solas,” Sola Gratia (Grace Alone: We are saved solely by God’s grace,
not anything we do.), Sola Fide (We are saved solely through faith that
Jesus died to take away all of our sin–and incidentally, that faith is
also a gift of God, not a human work), and Sola Scriptura (All we know about
God is found in Scripture, not human opinion, since opinion is prone to
error.) - Newsletter
7-04 as a child: Should we take the stories of Jonah, Creation,
etc. literally? - Newsletter 6-04:
“What happens to the soul of a baby who is aborted or dies before Baptism?” - 4-04
Newsletter-gaymarriage: A response to the recent gay marriage discussions - 3-04
Newsletter-Sword Pract: The teachings in the Catechism contain the
teachings upon which all other teachings of Scripture are based, as well
as being the most practical “real life” teachings to be used daily. Recognize
your responsibility to your children, godchildren, grandchildren, family,
friends, and neighbor. Dont wait for Confirmation Class to teach your childrenteach
them from infancy of Gods love. - 2-04Newsletter-ApplyLawGosp:
Applying Law & Gospel in daily life - 1-04
Newsletter-Drummer Boy: We daily turn on Him and seek our own selfish
goals and desires, and when we do seek to serve Him, our motivation is often
selfish as well or not to the best of our ability, doing “enough,”
but not “fit to give a king.”…The Lord does smile at our efforts,
not because “we tried,” but because of Christ acting through us. - 12-03
Newsletter;Amid wrapp: This time of year, everywhere you look, you
see red, white, and green, sleigh bells, reindeer, and a big guy in a red
suit, and somewhere, between the Animatronic Hula-Dancing Santas and the
30½ inflatable Rudolph, complete with 500-watt flashing red nose, youll
find a few small boxes with dolls, one of which is a baby laying in a bed
of straw. As a Christian, its frustrating to see the attention that
Santa gets compared to Jesus, and many Christians have boycotted Santa altogether. - 11-03
Newsletter-GOvs.GAIN: Our Evangelism Board has been very busy, and
as we look into various ways to get the Word out, it’s tempting to turn
our efforts into a membership drive, seeking to add to our numbers
for selfish reasons like increasing the weekly offering or big numbers to
point to, but while it would be nice to grow our membership so that more
peopel will be hearing Gods Word and growing in faith each week, we
cannot make numbers our goal…. - 10-03
Newsletter-memorizing: I was about to go back to the office when
the doorbell rang…Now, I just talked about the cults a couple newsletters
ago, so I’m not going to spend a lot of time on their beliefs, but what
struck me after they left (Still sadly clinging to their works for the time
being), was that the key to sharing your faith and standing up for what
you believe in is memorization…. - 9-03
Newsletter-how long: They called out in a loud voice, “How long,
Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth
and avenge our blood?” Then each of them was given a white robe, and they
were told to wait a little longer, until the number of their fellow-servants
and brothers who were to be killed as they had been was completed. (Revelation
6:9-11, NIV) - 8-03
Newsletter-Answer Cult: Mormons and Jehovah’s Witnesses have strange
beliefs, notably that both reject the Trinity, but the central problem with
them is the answer to the question, “How are you saved?” - 7-03
newsletter-same old: Why we keep talking about the cross. - 6-03
Newsletter-afraid of: But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail
marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand
into his side, I will not believe it.”…Not until things get better, when
we see for ourselves, do we believe that God is able to handle our financial
struggles, that the same Jesus who drew money out of the mouths of fish
is able to handle our financial burdens. “My health is failing&emdash;there’s
no hope.” Not until we feel for ourselves our bodies healing do we believe
that the same Jesus Who raised Lazarus from the dead can bring healing. - 5-03
Newsletter-Faith Fill: Are you running on fumes? - 4-03
Newsletter-Catechesis: What is catechesis and when does it end? - 3-03 Newsletter-Lent:
About fasting & penitence - 2-03
Newsletter-Broom or Sh: How do you approach Scripture–with a broom
or a shovel? - 1-03Newsletter-cleanorhost:
Can we host guests if our house isn’t clean? - Immanuel-Law
or Gospel - Dec
02 Newspaper Devos: Written for our local Newspaper–short devotionals - streetsofgoldhavenocurbs:
Benke Situation, Part 3 - Golden Rule:
Benke Situation, Part 2 - What’s Syncretism?:
About the Benke Situation - The
Secret to Absolute Contentment - 6th commandment
- 9-11 wtc extra
- advent
- anthrax
- are you gifted
- assurance
of heaven - big brother
- blunt as a
2×4 - catechesis
- communion
of saints - don’t
make ’em like - fathers day
- garbage disposal
- happy epiphany
- is
the reformation dead - lent ugh
- new year
- newspaper
devo 3/12/02 - parousia
- sabbath
on a stick - vacation time
- violence
- what’s
the difference - why
do you want to know - 2 kingdoms