Saturday, April 14, 2018

The Daily Readings for SUNDAY, April 15, 2018 - Third Sunday of Easter


Daily Readings
SUNDAY, April 15, 2018 - Third Sunday of Easter
(Revised Common Lectionary Year B)

Opening Sentence
Thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Prayer of the Day (Collect)
O God, whose blessed Son made himself known to his disciples in the breaking of bread: Open the eyes of our faith, that we may behold him in all his redeeming work; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Confession and Forgiveness

Let us confess our sins against God and our neighbor.


God is light and in him there is no darkness at all.  If we say that we have fellowship with him while we are walking in darkness, we lie and do not do what is true;  but if we walk in the light as he himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.  If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

We serve a risen Savior yet live as if in chains. Forgive us, Lord that we are so hesitant to live the resurrection life. Forgive us that we fail to show through word and action the truth that you loved us into your kingdom through the glorious mystery of the Cross. Forgive us that there is still fear in our lives that prevents us from achieving our full potential. Draw us close. Open our eyes to the glory of the risen Christ, our hearts to the wonder of the Cross and our hands to the service of your kingdom where you have placed us, that your name might be glorified through our lives. Amen.


The Lessons

The First Lesson
Acts 3:12-19
3:12 When Peter saw it, he addressed the people, “You Israelites, why do you wonder at this, or why do you stare at us, as though by our own power or piety we had made him walk? 13 The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, the God of our ancestors has glorified his servant Jesus, whom you handed over and rejected in the presence of Pilate, though he had decided to release him. 14 But you rejected the Holy and Righteous One and asked to have a murderer given to you, 15 and you killed the Author of life, whom God raised from the dead. To this we are witnesses. 16 And by faith in his name, his name itself has made this man strong, whom you see and know; and the faith that is through Jesus has given him this perfect health in the presence of all of you. 17 “And now, friends, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did also your rulers. 18 In this way God fulfilled what he had foretold through all the prophets, that his Messiah would suffer. 19 Repent therefore, and turn to God so that your sins may be wiped out,

The Response
Psalm 4 Cum invocarem
1 Answer me when I call, O God, defender of my cause; *
you set me free when I am hard-pressed;
have mercy on me and hear my prayer.
2 "You mortals, how long will you dishonor my glory; *
how long will you worship dumb idols
and run after false gods?"
3 Know that the Lord does wonders for the faithful; *
when I call upon the Lord, he will hear me.
4 Tremble, then, and do not sin; *
speak to your heart in silence upon your bed.
5 Offer the appointed sacrifices *
and put your trust in the Lord.
6 Many are saying, "Oh, that we might see better times!" *
Lift up the light of your countenance upon us, O Lord.
7 You have put gladness in my heart, *
more than when grain and wine and oil increase.
8 I lie down in peace; at once I fall asleep; *
for only you, Lord, make me dwell in safety.

The Epistle
1 John 3:1-7
3:1 See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God; and that is what we are. The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. 2 Beloved, we are God’s children now; what we will be has not yet been revealed. What we do know is this: when he is revealed, we will be like him, for we will see him as he is. 3 And all who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure. 4 Everyone who commits sin is guilty of lawlessness; sin is lawlessness. 5 You know that he was revealed to take away sins, and in him there is no sin. 6 No one who abides in him sins; no one who sins has either seen him or known him. 7 Little children, let no one deceive you. Everyone who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous.

The Gospel
Luke 24:36-48
Jesus Appears to His Disciples
24:36 While they were talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” 37 They were startled and terrified, and thought that they were seeing a ghost. 38 He said to them, “Why are you frightened, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? 39 Look at my hands and my feet; see that it is I myself. Touch me and see; for a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.” 40 And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. 41 While in their joy they were disbelieving and still wondering, he said to them, “Have you anything here to eat?” 42 They gave him a piece of broiled fish, 43 and he took it and ate in their presence. 44 Then he said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you—that everything written about me in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms must be fulfilled.” 45 Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures, 46 and he said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day, 47 and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. 48 You are witnesses of these things.


Here ends the Lessons

Click HERE to read today's Holy Gospel Lesson message

The Apostle's Creed
We believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth.

We believe in Jesus Christ, his only son, our Lord. He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary. He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended to the dead. On the third day he rose again. He ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again to judge the living and the dead.

We believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen

Benediction
Now all glory to you, mighty God, who is able to keep me from falling away and will bring me with great joy into your glorious presence without a single fault. All glory to you who alone are God, our Savior through Jesus Christ our Lord. All glory, majesty, power, and authority are yours before all time, and in the present, and beyond all time, Amen.

Blessing
The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.

The Bible texts of the Old Testament, Epistle and Gospel lessons are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Church of Christ in the USA, and used by permission.
Peace be with you.

Are You a Witness?


“Are You a Witness?”

24:36 While they were talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” 37 They were startled and terrified, and thought that they were seeing a ghost. 38 He said to them, “Why are you frightened, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? 39 Look at my hands and my feet; see that it is I myself. Touch me and see; for a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.” 40 And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. 41 While in their joy they were disbelieving and still wondering, he said to them, “Have you anything here to eat?” 42 They gave him a piece of broiled fish, 43 and he took it and ate in their presence. 44 Then he said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you—that everything written about me in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms must be fulfilled.” 45 Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures, 46 and he said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day, 47 and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. 48 You are witnesses of these things.

Grace and Peace to you from our Lord and Savior, Jesus who is the Christ. Amen

Do you remember the television show Archie Bunker? There was an episode where Archie saw a mugging in an ally. His son-in-law whom he called meat head, urged Archie to be a witness when the case when to court.

Not Archie!

He said: "Do you know what you gotta go through if your are a witness? I’m a working man. I don’t get paid if I show up absent. To go to court, you gotta put on a shirt and tie, drag yourself downtown and hang around till the case comes up. You forget what you was gonna say, and the other lawyer can make a monkey outta you."

Witnessing can be a terrifying event. Witnessing in court. Witnessing for your faith. Witnessing, telling about the life and work of Jesus Christ can be a terrifying thing.

Jesus in our gospel lesson tells the disciples that they are witnesses to all the thing concerning Jesus.

The scripture says: “Thus it is written, that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day, 47 and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. 48 You are witnesses of these things.”

The disciples were told they were witnesses to all these things. They were witnesses to Jesus suffering on the cross, the resurrection, the repentance and forgiveness of sins should be preached in Jesus name. As the disciples are witnesses to these things so are we as modern day disciples.

I would like to look at just aspect of this forgiveness of sins. Forgiveness of sins should be preached in Jesus name. At the beginning of our worship service, we have the confession of sins. We confess our sins and then in the name of Jesus, I pronounce your sins are forgiven. We speak about repenting, or turning away from our sins as we accept this forgiveness from Jesus.

Forgiveness and repenting are difficult things to understand. Sometimes we are more interested in the sins of others than in our own sins.

This story tells of that condition;

"An old man walked daily through his village wearing a patched and tattered coat of many colors. A visitor to the village stopped and asked, "Why do you parade through the streets wearing such a garment? What does it mean?"

The old man replied, "Each colored patch represents the sins of my neighbors. I don’t want them to forget them.

Then the visitor asked, ’What is the white patch between your should blades?’

Reluctantly the old man answered,’That is my own sin. I put it where I cannot see it."

Repentance and forgiveness in Christ means that I am more concerned about my own sin than my neighbors. Remember the conversation Jesus had about the log and the eye.

It says in Matthew 7, 3 Why do you see the speck in your neighbor’s eye, but do not notice the log in your own eye? 4 Or how can you say to your neighbor, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ while the log is in your own eye? 5 You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your neighbor’s eye.

We should be more concerned about our own sins, our own repenting. We should look to Jesus about forgiving our sins.

Not only are we concerned about our own sins, but we must be concerned about the wrong or the harm we do to others. We must learn to seek forgiveness from others and we must be willing to forgive others their wrongs to me.

A story from an unknown author says this about forgiving:

"By: Author Unknown

A story tells that two friends were walking through the desert. In a specific point of the journey, they had an argument, and one friend slapped the other one in the face.

The one, who got slapped, was hurt, but without anything to say, he wrote in the sand: "TODAY, MY BEST FRIEND SLAPPED ME IN THE FACE".

They kept on walking, until they found an oasis, where they decided to take a bath. The one who got slapped and hurt started drowning, and the other friend saved him. When he recovered from the fright, he wrote on a stone: "TODAY MY BEST FRIEND SAVED MY LIFE".

The friend who saved and slapped his best friend, asked him, "Why, after I hurt you, you wrote in the sand, and now you write on a stone?"

The other friend, smiling, replied: "When a friend hurts us, we should write it down in the sand, where the winds of forgiveness get in charge of erasing it away, and when something great happens, we should engrave it in the stone of the memory of the heart, where no wind can erase it".

Learn to write in the sand."

Can we be writers in the sand?

Are you a witness for Jesus to acts of forgiveness? Can you forgive another as you have been forgiven by Christ?

As we receive forgiveness from Christ, then we are able to forgive those around us.

Repentance for us means that we are sorry for our sins and will try to do better. Sometimes we cannot. Other times we can be truly sorry for the sins we commit against another.

We need to be sand writers forgiving the hurts done to us. We need to be truly sorry.

"Two little boys were playing together one afternoon. They had not been playing long when the larger boy took advantage of his weaker playmate. Georgie, the smaller one, too proud to complain, withdrew some distance and sat by himself, manfully winking back the ready tears.

After a short time, the larger boy grew tired of his solitary play and called, "Say, Georgie, come back. I’m sorry."

Georgie, warned by previous experience, did not respond to the invitation at once.

"Yes," he replied cautiously, "but what kind of sorry? The kind so you won’t do it again?"

The kind so you won’t do it again? Isn’t that a good question for us to ponder. Are we sorry for our sins, sorry enough so we won’t do it again? Or are we sorry today and then tomorrow we do it again? Repentance means to turn away from our sins. Repentance means to be sorry that we won’t do it again.

We are to be witnesses to the forgiving power of Christ in our lives and in the lives of those around us.

A closing story speaks about the powerful effect of forgiveness.

"A.J. Cronin, a doctor turned novelist tells this true story. An American family named Adams, had 2 teen-age daughters and a 6 year old son, Sammy. When WWII came, the family decided to take in a orphan boy from Italy named Paul Piotrostanalsi. They did everything possible to comfort this pale, spindly-legged, frightened refugee, but the boy responded quite negatively and showed no sign of gratitude to the family except Sammy. He adored Sammy, the two were always together. Paul went swimming against orders in river which was contaminated and came down with a septic infection that nearly killed him. The doctor wanted Paul isolated from the rest of the family, so they made a bedroom for him in the attic. Paul was far too contagious to see any one, except the doctor and a nurse who wore special clothing.

One morning the father had found the nurse had fallen asleep outside the attic door. He opened it and found Paul was not there. He ran to Sammy’s room and found Paul sleeping in bed with Sammy, his arms thrown over the boy’s shoulder and he was breathing on his neck. Sammy was much younger than Paul and had not been the strongest little boy. Though everything was done for him, poor Sammy never had a chance; he died.

When Dr. Cronin visited the family a year later, he was amazed to see Mr. Adams working in the garden with a small boy. It was none other than the little refugee!! Overcome by a sense of bitter injustice, Cronin exclaimed, "All I can say...he’s lucky, this Paul Piotro...whatever his wretched name is!!"

Mr. Adams put his arm around the boy’s shoulder and said with a quiet half-ashamed smile, "You’ll have no more trouble with his last name. He's Paul Adams now. You see, we’ve adopted him."

The Adam’s family were truly sand writers.

Can you be one too?

Let us pray:
Father, your love for us surpasses all our hopes and desires. Forgive our failings, keep us in your peace and lead us in the way of salvation. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Seeking God?
Click HERE to find out more about how to have a personal
relationship with Jesus Christ

The Bible texts of the Old Testament, Epistle and Gospel lessons are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Church of Christ in the USA, and used by permission. Sermon contributed by Rev Tim Zingale, St. Olaf Lutheran Church, Fort Dodge, Iowa on April 24, 2006.
Do you know what you gotta go through if your are a witness?

The Morning Prayer for SUNDAY, April 15, 2018


Father, your love for us surpasses all our hopes and desires. Forgive our failings, keep us in your peace and lead us in the way of salvation. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.
Amen

Verse of the Day for SUNDAY, April 15, 2018


Luke 24:46-48 (NIV) He (Jesus) told them, “This is what is written: The Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things.

Read all of Luke 24

Listen to Luke 24

Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Un dia a la Vez - El recuerdo sin dolor


El recuerdo sin dolor

Pero fiel es el Señor, que os afirmará y guardará del mal.

En días pasados, acompañé a mi princesa Niki a realizarse unos exámenes generales, pues no se había sentido muy bien. Así que estuvimos en el hospital Memorial, de Pembroke Pines y allí le hicieron un examen conocido como tomografía axial compute-rizada (TAC). Como Niki estaba un poco nerviosa, le explique de qué se trataba la prueba. No sé si todos lo saben, pero te meten en un aparato que gira en torno al cuerpo del paciente emitiendo un haz de rayos X que, mediante unos cristales, se reciben y registran una serie de datos que se envían a una computadora que convierte la información en una imagen sobre una pantalla. Este examen es tan completo que se detecta cualquier tipo de problema.

Estando allí, la tuve que esperar afuera y empecé a recordar la época de mi enfermedad. En mi caso, pasé por esa misma prueba durante momentos críticos al estar recién operada y cuando el cuadro médico no daba muchas esperanzas de vida. Así que todo era gris y misterioso. Entonces me puse a rememorar varios de esos momentos en que me llevaban en medio de tanto dolor y sintiendo la muerte a mi alrededor.

De pronto, sentí unos deseos enormes de llorar y le agradecí a Dios el milagro de mi sanidad. Nunca me cansaré de reconocer cómo me sanó Dios y de que hoy sea un testimonio viviente.

No es vivir en el pasado, pero nunca debemos olvidar lo que Dios hace por nosotros. Además, eso nos dará la fuerza para seguir adelante.

Un Día a la Vez Copyright © by Claudia Pinzón
De pronto, sentí unos deseos enormes de llorar y le agradecí a Dios el milagro de mi sanidad...

Standing Strong Through the Storm - NAKEDNESS CANNOT SEPARATE US FROM THE LOVE OF CHRIST


NAKEDNESS CANNOT SEPARATE US FROM THE LOVE OF CHRIST

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall…nakedness…?
~ Romans 8:35e (NIV)

The question asked is a personal one. Not “what” can separate us but “who”? The inference is our enemy, Satan, who tries every tactic he can garner to make us think we can be separated from Christ’s love. Today we look at his tactic of “nakedness.”

In the northeast part of China there was a severe flood. Most of the homes were ruined and peoples’ belongings were totally destroyed. There was a couple who were not Christians. The wife was paralyzed from the waist down. They lost everything in the flood so the husband bought some poison pills and was going to give them to his wife and then also take them himself so they could both commit suicide.

They had no place to live so they could only lie on the ground at the train station. They were ragged and filthy with nowhere to bathe and without food. A Christian walked by, saw and smelled them, and asked them what happened. He then invited them to his home. The Christian even carried the crippled wife on his back. This Christian had his wife bathe and clothe the crippled wife. He bathed and clothed the husband. Then they gave them food and shared the gospel with them and this couple committed their lives to Jesus.

The husband of the couple said that they could see from the lives of their hosts that God is real and is a God of love.

The whole church helped this couple to build a house and it also later became a house church meeting place. 

RESPONSE: I will live this day aware that nakedness can never separate me from Christ’s love.

PRAYER: Lord, give me eyes of love to help those who need You and also need a practical example of Your love for them.

Standing Strong Through The Storm (SSTS), a daily devotional message by SSTS author Paul Estabrooks. © 2011 Open Doors International. Used by permission.

LHM Devotion - April 15, 2018 - Teach Them

https://www.lhm.org/dailydevotions/default.asp?date=20180415

Devotions from Lutheran Hour Ministries

"Teach Them"

Apr. 15, 2018

And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.

More often than not, after an individual commits an especially heinous crime, the media goes out and interviews people who appeared to be close to the bad-deed doer. If you listen to the video clips, you will usually hear things like

* "He was a loner."

* "Everybody thought he was strange, but nobody ever thought he was capable of this."

* "When I knew him, he wasn't all that bad."

* "I didn't know him. I don't know anybody who really knew him."

Family members who are willing to appear before the cameras usually say one of two things:

1. "We are shocked and grieve for all who were hurt in this tragedy. We are truly sorry."

2. "He had always been a good boy. We are just as shocked as you."

Now I know, in writing the above paragraphs, I am speaking in generalities, and generalities don't always apply to everybody. They certainly don't apply to the grandmother of 18-year-old Joshua O'Connor of Everett, Washington.

Grandma apparently got a look at her grandson's journal and was shocked at what she saw. In his writings he spoke of wanting to become "infamous" by shooting fellow members of ACES High School and running up the "biggest fatality number I possibly can." Joshua gave grandma a look into his heart when he confessed to reviewing other mass shooters so that he could learn "from past shooters'/bombers' mistakes."

Well, grandma had a choice. She could talk herself into believing these were the foolish fantasies of her grandson which would never happen or she could turn her grandson into the authorities.

Grandma chose the second course of action and turned Joshua in.

He was arrested at school. In his possession was a knife and some marijuana. A search of his home turned up a hidden semi-automatic rifle and some hand grenades. Reviewing the events, a spokesperson for the school district said, "It really speaks to the (importance) of if you see something or hear something to notify authorities. That's what she did. It could well have saved many, many lives, including her grandson's life."

Friends, for over 50 years, America has tried a grand experiment in which we wanted to find out what things would be like if the Lord was banned from the classroom. Now we know. We have created troubled individuals who strive to be the meanest, the deadliest, the cruelest. We have given the young the technology to become cyber-bullies and drive their classmates to suicide.

And we also have a world where those young people with the light of Christ in their hearts will stand out like a beacon that witnesses to the Savior's love and sacrifice. As part of the family of Christ, we need to decide which of these two groups will grow and flourish. God grant that we -- like the grandmother of Joshua -- will do the right thing.

THE PRAYER: Dear Lord, "The old evil foe now means deadly woe." Those words are just as true today as when they were written. Grant that we may do all we can do share the Savior's sacrifice and goodness with those who come after us. This we ask in the Savior's Name. Amen.

The above devotion was inspired by a number of sources, including one written by the Christian Headlines by Veronica Neffinger on February 16, 2018. Those who wish to reference that article may do so at the following link, which was fully functional at the time this devotion was written: https://www.christianheadlines.com/blog/potential-school-shooting-is-averted-after-suspect-s-grandmother-calls-911.html

Use these devotions in your newsletter and bulletin! Used by permission; all rights reserved by the Int'l LLL (LHM).
More often than not, after an individual commits an especially heinous crime, the media goes out and interviews people who appeared to be...

Notre Pain Quotidien - Des raisons de chanter

https://www.ministeresnpq.org/2018/04/15/des-raisons-de-chanter/

Des raisons de chanter

Lisez : Psaume 98

Chantez à l’Éternel un cantique nouveau ! Car il a fait des prodiges. (V. 1)

Lorsque j’avais 13 ans, mon école exigeait que les élèves suivent quatre cours d’exploration, y compris d’économie domestique, d’arts, de chorale et de sculpture sur bois. Lors de mon premier jour dans la chorale, le professeur nous a fait venir à tour de rôle au piano pour entendre notre voix et placer chacun dans la pièce selon son registre vocal. À mon tour au piano, j’ai chanté les notes qu’elle a jouées plusieurs fois, mais sans me faire indiquer dans quelle partie de la pièce aller me placer. Au lieu de cela, après m’avoir fait répéter mes tests de voix, elle m’a envoyée au bureau d’orientation scolaire pour que l’on me trouve une autre classe. Dès lors, j’ai eu le sentiment que je ne devais pas chanter, que ma voix ne devait pas être entendue sous forme de chant.

Or, cette pensée m’a habitée pendant plus d’une décennie, jusqu’à ce que je lise le Psaume 98 au début de ma vie d’adulte. L’auteur commence par y lancer une invitation à « [chanter] à l’Éternel » (PS 98.1). Or, la raison qui en est donnée n’a rien à voir avec la qualité de nos voix ; Dieu se plaît à entendre tous ses enfants le louer. On nous invite plutôt à chanter, car Dieu « a fait des prodiges » (v. 1).

Le psalmiste souligne deux merveilleuses raisons de louer Dieu avec joie par des cantiques et une bonne attitude : son œuvre rédemptrice dans notre vie et sa fidélité infaillible envers nous. Au sein de la chorale de Dieu, chacun a sa place pour chanter les prodiges qu’il a accomplis.

Dieu se plaît à entendre la voix de ses enfants.


© 2018 Ministères NPQ
Lorsque j’avais 13 ans, mon école exigeait que les élèves suivent quatre cours d’exploration, y compris d’économie domestique, d’arts, de chorale et de sculpture sur bois.