The Lord Is Our Help

Psalm 124 KJV; 5^th Sunday after Pentecost; The Lord will save us.

Help Us To Give!

Gospel: Matthew 25:31-46 KJV; Christ the King; Help us to recognize your abiding in presence in others. Help us to give even as you have given.

An Offensive Word?

Psalm 119:114 KJV; To mock the name of Jesus with offensive words.

His Enemies Have Scattered

Psalm 68:1-10 KJV; 7th Sunday of Easter; The enemies of God continue to fight a war that was already one by Jesus on the cross.

Put Not Your Trust In Princes

Psalm 146:1-10 KJV; Put not your trust in leaders who claim to want to help the world; yet, only help themselves. Put your trust in the Lord and know that many who say that they are oppressed have actually become the oppressor and in the end the Lord will turn their ways upside down.

Our Help Comes From The Lord

Psalm 121 KJV Where else would help come from but from the Lord?

God be merciful to me a sinner

 We are all sinners; therefore, we all have a need to humble ourselves, repent, turning to Jesus for life and salvation.

Deliver Me

Psalm 27; Romans 8:28; Deliver me for in you only is our hope and our salvation. Help me to see your goodness!

Help Comes From The Lord

When evil comes to us we must look to the Lord for help..

Psalm 121:1-2 KJV

We Cry Unto The Lord

Reading from Psalm 138 KJV - We cry to the Lord; He hears and answers. His mercy endures forever.

Help Us To Love

Reading from Leviticus 18:1-3; 19:9-18 KJV Love and help your neighbor.

The Many Become One In Christ

Valaam Monastery, Russian Karelia

And the Lord God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him.

And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof;

And the rib, which the Lord God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man.

And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.

Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.

                                                                                (Gen 2:18, 21-24 KJV)

And the Lord God said "they shall be one flesh." 

God decided that the man he created needed a help meet; a partner, so he created woman from the man. The one man became two people. And the Lord God said that the man shall cleave unto his wife and they shall be one flesh.  

Thankfully most (but, not all) people in this country realize that man is not more equal than woman. Each has their gifts and abilities that they bring to the union. One is not more important than the other because they are partners and each uses their own gifts to make the union a fruitful one and not just fruitful for themselves; but, for others around them as well.

It is a great mystery how God created man and then woman making two out of one and then then brings them together to make one again. But, once one realizes the wisdom of this act of God living life becomes much easier.

On the sixth day of creation God said that "it is not good for the man to be alone." It is not good for any human being to live in isolation from the rest of the world. But for many reasons there are those who do not have a help meet in life. There are many challenges to living without a help meet. Especially for those who have no individual to live life wholly with them we hope and pray that the community of God is there to help and support them; to help our brothers and sisters in Christ. 

St. Paul compares the union between a man and a woman to the union of Christ and the church. It is a great mystery. But, we know that when we are baptized into the death and resurrection of Christ we are united with Christ. We become one with the whole church. As members of the body of Christ; as partners in the church, we support one another. We support the couples, the families, the single persons for we are all united in Christ.

God's Peace - Pr. J.

Help Us!

 

I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help.

My help cometh from the Lord, which made heaven and earth.

(Psalm 121:1-2 KJV)

The reality is that there are some things that we just cannot control.  Stuff happens!

Some stuff happens that can only be fixed by the Lord. That does not mean we should sit back and say nothing or do nothing when we are able. God surely works through his children and so we must do what he calls us to do.  But, without God we can do nothing!

And, so we pray:  Help us Lord!

God's Peace - Pr. J.

Help My Unbelief!

And... that is a gift from God
Eph 2:8-9

And they brought him unto him: and when he saw him, straightway the spirit tare him; and he fell on the ground, and wallowed foaming.

And he asked his father, How long is it ago since this came unto him? And he said, Of a child.

And ofttimes it hath cast him into the fire, and into the waters, to destroy him: but if thou canst do any thing, have compassion on us, and help us.

Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.

And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief. 

                                                                                  (Mark 9:20-24 KJV)

A father cries out:  "I believe; help thou mine unbelief."  This father has begged Jesus to heal his son even as he asks Jesus to heal him of his lack of faith. He knows that he cannot come to faith except by the grace of God. Faith is a gift from God. Paul wrote to the Ephesians:

"For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast." (Eph 2:8-9)

We cannot come to faith; we cannot be saved by anything that we do. Our faith is not our own work. It is a gift from God. Our salvation is not by our own works. If we could save ourselves then Christ's death would have been in vain. Salvation is a gift from God. 

As Lutherans we affirm that faith is a gift from God in the third article of the Apostle's Creed and what it means to us as can be found in the Small Catechism in the Book of Concord:

"Of Sanctification.

I believe in the Holy Ghost; one holy Christian Church, the communion of saints; the forgiveness of sins; the resurrection of the body; and the life everlasting. Amen.

What does this mean? — Answer.

I believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or come to Him; but the Holy Ghost has called me by the Gospel, enlightened me with His gifts, sanctified and kept me in the true faith; even as He calls, gathers, enlightens, and sanctifies the whole Christian Church on earth, and keeps it with Jesus Christ in the one true faith; in which Christian Church He forgives daily and richly all sins to me and all believers, and at the last day will raise up me and all the dead, and will give to me and to all believers in Christ everlasting life. This is most certainly true."

Let us pray even as the father who brought his son to Jesus to have the evil spirit removed:  "I believe; help my unbelief!"

God's Peace - Pr. J.

Put Not Your Trust In Princes

Psalm 146 KJV

Praise ye the Lord. Praise the Lord, O my soul.

While I live will I praise the Lord: I will sing praises unto my God while I have any being.

Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help.

His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish.

Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the Lord his God:

Which made heaven, and earth, the sea, and all that therein is: which keepeth truth for ever:

Which executeth judgment for the oppressed: which giveth food to the hungry. The Lord looseth the prisoners:

The Lord openeth the eyes of the blind: the Lord raiseth them that are bowed down: the Lord loveth the righteous:

The Lord preserveth the strangers; he relieveth the fatherless and widow: but the way of the wicked he turneth upside down.

The Lord shall reign for ever, even thy God, O Zion, unto all generations. Praise ye the Lord.

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Put not your trust in princes! What a reminder these last few weeks have been of that! Our rulers too often do what they think will get them elected or reelected or keep their prestigious appointments with no mind paid toward those who will suffer because of their decisions.

May God be with and have mercy on all who have been left behind because of the decisions of our leaders! May God have mercy on all of us.

God's Peace - Pr. J.

Help Us To Help

PSALM 14 KJV

The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good.

The Lord looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, and seek God.

They are all gone aside, they are all together become filthy: there is none that doeth good, no, not one.

Have all the workers of iniquity no knowledge? who eat up my people as they eat bread, and call not upon the Lord.

There were they in great fear: for God is in the generation of the righteous.

Ye have shamed the counsel of the poor, because the Lord is his refuge.

Oh that the salvation of Israel were come out of Zion! when the Lord bringeth back the captivity of his people, Jacob shall rejoice, and Israel shall be glad.

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Is there any understanding of the good will of God for all people? The Psalmist doesn't seem to think so. Indeed, we are all sinners. We look out for our own welfare while eating up our neighbors (next door and around the world). We desert those in need for our own welfare and prosperity. What a shameful world it can be!

May God grant us all eyes to see; ears to hear; and open hearts so that we might come to the aid of others according to the good will of our Father in heaven.

God's Peace - Pr. J.

To Whom Shall We God

 

But there are some of you that believe not. For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believed not, and who should betray him.

And he said, Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto me, except it were given unto him of my Father.

From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him.

Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will ye also go away?

Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life.

And we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God.

                                                                                 (John 6:64-49 KJV)

Where will we go? In times of severe trouble people sometimes stay away from their places of worship. Some are embarrassed because they think that people will  know about their problems and judge them. Others might be grieving and or depressed. There are many reasons that people use to not attend worship and hear the promises of God. But, that is exactly where we need to be when things get bad. We need to go and hear the promises of God in his Word that our faith might be strengthened (Rom 10:17) and to receive the gift of Communion with our Lord, the Son of the living God, and with one another that we might be refreshed.

When things get rough do you turn away from the Lord or do you turn to him to help you in your time of need?

When Jesus gave his followers a hard teaching, the teaching that they must partake of his body and blood, many turned away. It was too much for them. But, Peter and the other apostles would not turn away. Where would they go he had asked. After all, Jesus was the Christ. He is the Christ, the Son of the living God. Why would you turn away for anything less?

God's Peace - Pr. J.

Indignant And Arrogant

And being in Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as he sat at meat, there came a woman having an alabaster box of ointment of spikenard very precious; and she brake the box, and poured it on his head.

And there were some that had indignation within themselves, and said, Why was this waste of the ointment made?

For it might have been sold for more than three hundred pence, and have been given to the poor. And they murmured against her.

And Jesus said, Let her alone; why trouble ye her? she hath wrought a good work on me.

For ye have the poor with you always, and whensoever ye will ye may do them good: but me ye have not always.

She hath done what she could: she is come aforehand to anoint my body to the burying.

Verily I say unto you, Wheresoever this gospel shall be preached throughout the whole world, this also that she hath done shall be spoken of for a memorial of her.

And Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve, went unto the chief priests, to betray him unto them. 

                                                                               (Mark 14:3-10 KJV)

Indignant and I'd say a bit arrogant were some of the disciples. Why should this woman waste money on such an extravagant gift for Jesus?

Was Judas, the disciple in charge of their money, upset to see such waste? Or, was he upset because he thought Jesus was making excuses for this mere woman who was being so forward? Maybe, he felt offended because Jesus reminded them that they could help the poor whenever they wished. Maybe Judas felt that Jesus was hinting that they themselves, including Judas, could do much more to help the poor.

Apparently Judas' feelings were hurt. He was one of the indignant. So indignant that he wanted to get even with Jesus so he betrayed him and handed him over to be tried.

Judas isn't the only one. Humankind has a habit of striking back when things don't go exactly their way. Humankind also has a habit of pointing fingers at others and blaming these others for the poor in the world. They could help so much more if they were only willing! But, here Jesus reminds us "For ye have the poor with you always, and whensoever ye will ye may do them good."

Do good to one another. Help those in need. It is not just the government's job to do that. It is ours. It is up to each of us as individuals and as members of the Body of Christ to help those in need. 

God's Peace - Pr. J.

A Good Purpose In Trials

 

And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. (Rom 8:28 KJV)

We are in the midst of Lent. I have found Lent to be a most challenging time, at least for me. Of all the seasons of the year it seems to me that the devil gets a whole lot busier attacking those who love God during Lent. During this time of reflection and repentance; during this time when we are reminded reminded of Jesus' admonition that we are to take up our crosses and follow him; we know full well that we will fall short. We can try to follow in his footsteps. But, we are not Jesus. We are not gods. We cannot do what Jesus did for us. We can do nothing. But, God can and He does. We can take up our crosses and follow the best that we can; but, it must be with the help of God. We cannot stand or walk alone.

No matter what obstacles are set before you; no matter what trials you are enduring, know that God works in and through all of these trials for the good of those who love Him. God is with you through your tribulations. He will show you the way and walk with you on your journey as you carry your cross to the cross of Christ.

God's Peace - Pr. J.

Help Us To See Your Goodness

Hide not thy face far from me; put not thy servant away in anger: thou hast been my help; leave me not, neither forsake me, O God of my salvation.

When my father and my mother forsake me, then the Lord will take me up.

Teach me thy way, O Lord, and lead me in a plain path, because of mine enemies.

Deliver me not over unto the will of mine enemies: for false witnesses are risen up against me, and such as breathe out cruelty.

I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.

Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the Lord. 

                                                                            (Psalm 27:9-14 KJV)

Sometimes it seems as though the Lord is not paying attention to the needs of His people. That is not so. He sees and hears and knows everything that is going on. No matter what is going on around us He can and will work all things for the good for those who love Him. (

In times like these when chaos appears to have taken over some of our cities even our country and world at times, we need to trust in the Lord and His great love for us. Humankind may not have a great love for one another; but, the Lord does. 

Be of good courage and he shall strengthen your heart. Wait upon Him and you shall see His goodness. (

"Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time: Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you. (1 Peter 5:6-7)

God's Peace - Pr. J