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Second Sunday after the Epiphany

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Date:: January 19

Event Categories: Liturgical Calendar

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We’re grateful to everyone who has participated

We’re grateful to everyone who has participated in our online Prof Insights: Faculty-Led Workshops this summer.

Dr. Erik Herrmann, associate professor of Historical Theology and chairman of the department of Historical Theology, is currently in the midst of his online workshop, Reforming Christian Devotion. This workshop explores Martin Luther’s principles for the reform of Christian devotion – and draws from Luther’s insights to consider our own context in today’s church.

Learn more about Prof Insights: Faculty-Led Workshops: http://ow.ly/4h2H50AQtPE

"In remembering the small things of family life, w

"In remembering the small things of family life, we have recurring glimpses of the unfathomable love of our Creator." Read more of today's #MeyerMinute on Facebook @concordiasem.

“We’re in our own kind of wilderness, disease,

“We’re in our own kind of wilderness, disease, weather, social unrest, political chaos and God only knows what else. He really does!” Read more of today's #MeyerMinute from @DaleMeyerda on Facebook @concordiasem

Ninth Sunday after Pentecost: “Give thanks to th

Ninth Sunday after Pentecost: “Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever” (Psalm 136:1 ESV).
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#bibleverse #biblequotes #verseoftheday #quote #bible #faith #jesus #god #christian #gospel #church

“You give them something to eat” (Matthew 14:1

“You give them something to eat” (Matthew 14:16).

If I had been there, I would have said, “What?!” Oh, excuse me. Getting ahead of myself. I’m thinking about this Sunday’s Gospel lesson. Jesus went off for some time alone with His Father, but a crowd wouldn’t let Him, 5,000 men, plus women and children. “He had compassion on them and healed their sick. Now when it was evening, the disciples came to him and said, ‘This is a desolate place, and the day is now over; send the crowds away to go into the villages and buy food for themselves.’ But Jesus said, ‘They need not go away; you give them something to eat’” (Matthew 14:14–16).

“If I had been there….” Thinking about it, I am there. I am in that story. This happens to me all the time. I think, “I don’t have the wherewithal to deal with this.” How about you? The Gospel lesson is about hungry people, but there were villages where they could have bought some food. America is in the midst of a graver crisis. Many in the crowd have lost their jobs. Many in the crowd face losing their homes. Many in the crowd are sick. Five thousand? Thirty times that have died. “You give them something to eat”?

Spirit, give me more trust in Jesus! Sometime later, Jesus fed a crowd of 4,000. Then He and His disciples got into a boat and, wouldn’t you know it, the disciples had no bread! Jesus: “‘Why are you discussing the fact that you have no bread? … When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up?’ They said to him, ‘Twelve.’ ‘And the seven for the four thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up?’ And they said to him, ‘Seven.’ And he said to them, ‘Do you not yet understand?’” (Mark 8:17–21).

Yup, I’m in the boat with them. I’ve seen and learned wondrous things from God, but when I face trouble, I forget all Jesus can do. I need to live more in the Bible, to time travel into those stories, to see myself as a disciple who usually doesn’t get it, to see myself in the crowd needing a miracle. Jesus is my wherewithal. You know?

Dr. Dale A. Meyer
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#meyerminute #quote #bible #scripture #faith #jesus #god #christian #gospel #church

We are thrilled that Dr. Philip Penhallegon has jo

We are thrilled that Dr. Philip Penhallegon has joined our faculty as professor of Exegetical Theology. Provost Dr. Douglas L. Rutt said, “We are gaining a proven teacher, pastor and mentor.” We couldn’t agree more. Welcome, Dr. Penhallegon!

“Whoever is of God hears the words of God” (Jo

“Whoever is of God hears the words of God” (John 8:47). Granted that none of us wants to be going through these times, one blessing is we’re still hearing the Word of God because congregations are live streaming their worship services. Many pastors are also putting up devotions and Bible studies for their members, and these invitations to the Word are not for their members only. Some ministers say their streaming is being received by people who are not official members of their congregations. That’s great!

Is this blessing a two-edged sword? … How many people will physically come back to church when it is truly safe to do so? There are people who came to church rain or shine, others who refused to come, but many in-between, believers who especially need to hear the invitation, “Let us go to the house of the LORD!” (Psalm 122:1). Post-COVID-19, will they say, “I can hear the Word of God at home. I don’t need to physically go to church”? Indeed, they are hearing God’s Word.

Some reasons for physical attendance? … In-person is more engaging. Standing, sitting and singing make worship a total-body experience, unlike sitting before a screen. Another: Casual conversations with fellow worshipers give you opportunities to learn how they’re doing, to sympathize, encourage, laugh ... much more intimate than the internet. Another: Streamed services convey head knowledge but preaching and listening in person better engage emotions. And of course, a compelling reason for coming together is to receive the Lord’s Supper with no physical distancing from the rest of the Body of Christ.

Does it make a difference? However we receive it, the Word works (see Isaiah 55:10–11). … But your local congregation is a flesh-and-blood institution, a building and activity presence in your community. I don’t know of any institution that is flourishing and making a difference only online. Jesus promises, “I will build my church” (Matthew 16:18). That impresses me as spiritual and physical, incarnationally present. It’s a stimulating time to be His church!

Dr. Dale A. Meyer
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#meyerminute #quote #bible #scripture #faith #jesus #god #christian #gospel #church

The #MeyerMinute for July 29 is on Facebook @conco

The #MeyerMinute for July 29 is on Facebook @concordiasem #bible #bibleverse

Can I encourage you to take your own minute and li

Can I encourage you to take your own minute and list some mercies, or as newer translations put it, “loving-kindnesses,” that are coming to you under this dread COVID-19 cloud?

Popular belief tries to tell us that human nature is getting better … that we’re evolving into basically better beings. Are we seeing the essential goodness of humanity these days? The news is an object lesson for what St. Paul said about himself: “I am of the flesh, sold under sin” (Romans 7:14). A strange blessing, this insight, but a blessing it is.

James Madison, one of America’s founding fathers, wrote, “What is government itself, but the greatest of all reflections on human nature?” (Federalist Papers No. 51). As we see demonstrators protesting and leaders flailing, we are blessed with another moment of truth. The Founders did not intend the United States to be a pure democracy. “The Founders’ philosophy began with accommodation of, not cures for, human defectiveness. Harvey C. Mansfield rightly says of the Founders, ‘It is true that they distrusted democracy, but not because they loved aristocracy. They distrusted democracy for the same reason they rejected aristocracy — because they distrusted human nature’” (George F. Will, The Conservative Sensibility, 18).

The COVID-19 cloud is reinforcing for me the hard truth of original sin. One of my church’s confessions puts it this way: “Since the fall of Adam all men who are born according to the course of nature” — that exempts Jesus — “are conceived and born in sin. That is, all men are full of evil lust and inclinations from their mothers’ wombs and are unable by nature to have true fear of God and true faith in God. Moreover, this inborn sickness and hereditary sin is truly sin and condemns to the eternal wrath of God all those who are not born again through baptism and the Holy Spirit” (Augsburg Confession, Article II). My glass today is half full. I’m thankful for the strange blessings that point me to hope. “Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!” (Romans 7:25).

Dr. Dale A. Meyer
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#meyerminute #quote #bible #scripture #faith #jesus #god #christian #gospel #church

The Concordia Seminary Life Team meets monthly to

The Concordia Seminary Life Team meets monthly to equip students to affirm life now and in future congregations. The team met this past Saturday and welcomed new team members who have joined the Seminary community for the 2020–21 academic year.
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#seminary #campus #studentlife #lutheranchurch #bible #gospel #missions