I've had an Epiphany!

Artwork: Jesus Sends Out the Seventy-two Artist: James Tissot Date: 1836-1902 Worship Theme: The Lord invites believers to take part in his kingdom work. What joy and privilege is ours to work in his harvest fields, to witness the power of the Spirit, and to support this ministry!   Old Testament: 1 Kings 17:1-16 Now Elijah the Tishbite, from Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab, "As the LORD, the God of Israel, lives, whom I serve, there will be neither dew nor rain in the next few years except at my word." 2 Then the word of the LORD came to Elijah: 3 "Leave here, turn eastward and hide in the Kerith Ravine, east of the Jordan. 4 You will drink from the brook, and I have ordered the ravens to feed you there." 5 So he did what the LORD had told him. He went to the Kerith Ravine, east of the Jordan, and stayed there. 6 The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning and bread and meat in the evening, and he drank from the brook. 7 Some ...

Christ In Our Home Devotions 7th Sunday after Pentecost Called to work in the harvest fields 1. Make the sign of the cross over yourself and say: In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. 2. Pray Luther’s Morning or Evening Prayer: I thank you, my heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ, your dear Son, that you have kept me this night from all harm and danger. Keep me this day also from sin and every evil, that all my doings and life may please you. Into your hands I commend my body and soul and all things. Let your holy angel be with me, that the wicked foe may have no power over me. Amen. I thank you, my heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ, your dear Son, that you have graciously kept me this day. Forgive me all my sins, and graciously keep me this night. Into your hands I commend my body and soul and all things. Let your holy angel be with me, that the wicked foe may have no power over me. Amen. 3. Pray the Lord’s Prayer: ...

If you are close to my age, you might remember a baseball player named Robin Yount.  Besides being a two-time MVP and one of the greatest Brewers of all time, Robin Yount was known as a player who always gave 100% effort.  It didn’t matter if it was routine ground ball to the shortstop or a ball hit into the corner for a double, he always gave maximum effort.  He never did anything on the field half way. In the Gospel lesson for the sixth Sunday after Pentecost, our Lord asks the same of us.   As the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven,   Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem.   52  And he sent messengers on ahead, who went into a Samaritan   village to get things ready for him;   53  but the people there did not welcome him, because he was heading for Jerusalem.   54  When the disciples James and John   saw this, they asked, “Lord, do you want us to call fire down from heaven to destroy them?” 55...

Artwork: The Repentance of Nineveh Artist: John Martin Worship Theme: Following seems easy. We just go behind the person in front of us. But following Jesus daily for our whole lives requires endurance. It is a struggle between our old and new selves. Old Testament: Jonah 3:3-4:4 3  Jonah obeyed the word of the   Lord   and went to Nineveh. Now Nineveh was a very large city; it took three days to go through it.   4  Jonah began by going a day’s journey into the city, proclaiming,   “Forty more days and Nineveh will be overthrown.”   5  The Ninevites believed God. A fast was proclaimed, and all of them, from the greatest to the least, put on sackcloth. 6  When Jonah’s warning reached the king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, took off his royal robes, covered himself with sackcloth and sat down in the dust.   7  This is the proclamation he issued in Nineveh: “By the decree of the king and his nobles: Do n...

Luke 9:18 Once when Jesus was praying in private and his disciples were with him, he asked them, "Who do the crowds say I am?" 19 They replied, "Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, that one of the prophets of long ago has come back to life." 20 "But what about you?" he asked. "Who do you say I am?" Peter answered, "The Christ of God." 21 Jesus strictly warned them not to tell this to anyone. 22 And he said, "The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life." 23 Then he said to them all: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. 24 For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it. We hate to lose. From the earliest times on the playground, we absolutely hate ...