Lee Daniel Johnson

Hebrews 4:9

9 There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God;

Today the church remember Johann Gerhard.  He was a pastor and teacher during difficult times.  He was born in 1582 and at age 15 nearly died of serious illness.  During that illness he promised to become minister if he recovered.  He also struggled spiritually, in a way similar to Martin Luther.  Still, by God’s grace he kept his promise and served the Lord faithfully all his life. 

You may like to read more about his life.  But, for now, I will just share a few things about his life.  He is viewed as the third pillar of the Lutheran tradition, after Martin Luther and Martin Chemnitz.  He is considered to be the foremost Lutheran Theologian of time of Lutheran orthodoxy.  But, as wonderful as this all sounds, these accolades have a dark backdrop.

Most of Johann Gerhard’s life was spent during the thirty years war in Europe.  It was a terrifying time. Besides death and plague, including his own personal illness, he suffered the death of his first wife, and many of his children. Johann witnessed armed conflict and political upheaval. His own home was attacked and destroyed because of His public witness.

But in the midst of all these trials, he was a man who trusted in the Lord and clung to the Gospel.  He taught others the hope that was within Him, that through faith in Jesus all our sins are forgiven and we have eternal life as our future.

The Bible passage for today was one of His favorites.

“9 There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God;” (Hebrews 4:9) Rejoice! The trials and pains of a sinful world will not endure forever. There is at last a perfect rest, a Sabbath for the faithful.  Rest in God’s Word now, a word that is grounded in the completed work of Jesus who rested in the tomb when he broke all the power of the devil.  And in the end rest in God’s presence at our own resurrection with Jesus who is risen from the dead.

May these words from Pastor Gerhard encourage you today.  He said: “I am not afraid by reason of my sins: for Thou art my righteousness; I am not afraid by reason of my ignorance: for Thou art my wisdom (I Cor. 1:30); I am not afraid of death: for Thou art my life (John 14:6); I am not afraid of my errors: for Thou art my truth; I am not afraid of corruption: for Thou art my resurrection (John 11:25); I am not afraid of the sorrows of death: for Thou art my joy.”

Let us pray

I thank you Lord for faithful pastors who proclaim your word.  Please guard and keep all those who serve your church and teach your Gospel so that we will be encouraged and sustained in all things unto life everlasting.  In your Name I pray.  AMEN

The Lord’s Prayer

Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name, Thy kingdom come,Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven; give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever.  Amen.

Genesis 17:17-19

17 Abraham fell facedown; he laughed and said to himself, “Will a son be born to a man a hundred years old? Will Sarah bear a child at the age of ninety?” 18 And Abraham said to God, “If only Ishmael might live under your blessing!”

19 Then God said, “Yes, but your wife Sarah will bear you a son, and you will call him Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him.

As you get older, you begin to understand that some things in life are in the past.  Old people don’t have babies.  Abraham believed that God would give Him a son as promised.  But, the possibility of how this could be was beyond Abraham. He tried to help God save face by offering the idea of using Ishmael.  But, God didn’t need Abraham’s assistance.  The son of promise would come, at God’s time and through God’s chosen instrument, Sarah, Abraham’s wife.

Abraham laughed.  It isn’t the kind of laughter that one has at a joke.  It was the laughter of a man caught between his understanding and his faith in God.  The impossibility of the promise, which was also so wonderful that it seemed too goo to be true, struck Abraham deeply.  He was moved, and all he could do was laugh.

The son of promise did come and his name “Isaac” means “he laughs” so that all would remember that though the promises of God seem too good to be true, God keeps His Word.  His plan of salvation will be accomplished.

Isaac was a living prophesy of the one son of promise, Jesus our Lord.  When Mary was with child of the Holy Spirit, who would have dreamed that anything good could have come of her situation.  Yet, God blessed her, and Jesus, true God and true Man was born.

Throughout His ministry, Jesus, the true Son of promise, prompted a kind of Isaac laughter in the world among the faithful.  He helped those who were hopeless.  He drove out demons, healed people, and even raised the dead.  Ultimately He gave His life on the cross and through faith forgives the sins of all hopeless sinners who trust in Him.  

In the end even the sorrow of death will be broken as Jesus, true God and true man, has promised.  He will raise up to eternal life all who trust in Him.  Then, together with Isaac and all the saints in light, there will be laughter.  But, not the laughter of painful struggle in this life.  It will be the laughter of the love of the Father, the face of the Son and the Song of the Holy Spirit in the heavenly feast of light.

Let us pray

Lord Jesus Christ, help me during all seasons of my life to remain faithful.  Even if I am tempted by my lack of understanding to laugh over the great promises you have given, by your grace may I never doubt your power to save.  You keep your promises. I trust in You.  AMEN

The Lord’s Prayer

Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name, Thy kingdom come,Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven; give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever.  Amen.

John 6:41-51

41 So the Jews grumbled about him, because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” 42 They said, “Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How does he now say, ‘I have come down from heaven’?” 43 Jesus answered them, “Do not grumble among yourselves. 44 No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day. 45 It is written in the Prophets, ‘And they will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me— 46 not that anyone has seen the Father except he who is from God; he has seen the Father. 47 Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life. 48 I am the bread of life. 49 Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. 50 This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. 51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”

Jesus is patient.  In His teaching ministry he met great opposition.  The opposition wasn’t because He was hard to understand.  In fact, the people often understood Him quite well. In the reading for today this is very clear.  They understood that Jesus was teaching that He Himself was the bread that came down from heaven.  He is God’s gift of salvation.

They understood that God gave His people manna in the wilderness to sustain them in their journey to the promised land.  Jesus was teaching that He was the gift of God that would sustain them and bring them to the promised land, eternal life.  They got the point.  But, they didn’t like the point.  To push back, they just said “Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How does he now say, ‘I have come down from heaven’?”  

Jesus is patient.  As He taught people long ago to save them, He still sends His Holy Spirit to teach and save all people.  And the Word that Jesus teaches isn’t impossible to understand. God uses human language and communicates clearly.  God teaches that Jesus, true God and true man, came into the world to save the world.  He died on the cross and rose again.  Those who believe in Jesus are forgiven all their sins and will rise to eternal life on the last day.  

But, as in the past, so also today, there is push back.  The message is clear.  Jesus is the Savior of the World, but people reject the gift of God.  So God, through His church, gives Himself in His Word, Baptism, and the Lord’s Supper (Jesus true body and blood) so that no one can say that they never heard.  And those who believe in Jesus, and receive Him as God’s gift, will have eternal life.

Let us pray,

I thank you Lord Jesus for your patient instruction in your word.  I thank you for overcoming all my opposition to your kindness and allowing me repentance, forgiveness, and eternal life. Help all who preach your Word so that they will be sustained by your power.  Allow all who listen the gift of faith so that they may be saved.  In your name I pray, AMEN.

The Lord’s Prayer

Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name, Thy kingdom come,Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven; give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever.  Amen.

John 6:35-51

35 Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. 36 But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe. 37 All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. 38 For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me. 39 And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. 40 For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”

It is understandable that, when it comes to our relationship with God, we are quick to think about we can do.  The people had been asking Jesus “what must we do?”  Jesus answer that they should believe in Him was an unexpected answer.  They could not accept it.

In teaching them, Jesus lets us glimpse the inner workings of the Holy Triune God.  And we discover that there is much more at play than just what “we must do” to save ourselves.  In fact, everything is due to God’s Grace and action in Jesus.  God gives us to Jesus.  Jesus keeps the will of God, which means that He will not lose us but raise us on the last day.  

This supremely comforting truth is from our Lord’s own lips.  We are saved by God’s Grace through faith in Jesus. Still, no sooner do we hear this, then we are tempted to think about what we must do.  We ruminate on how we must try harder.  

It is true, that after we have come to saving faith, we can work together with Holy Spirit through repentance and faith in Jesus.  This is still a work of God and results in a renewed life in the believer.  Certainly, if we treat the gifts of God with contempt by living apart from God’s Will, we deny both God and His gifts.  But, the necessary call to the life of repentance doesn’t overturn the fact that our salvation is a gift from beginning to end.  Our salvation is due to the faithfulness of our Lord Jesus alone.  Therefore, our faith is in Jesus. He is the bread of life.

Jesus came into the world to offer Himself on the cross for the sins of the world.  On the third day He rose again to eternal life.  His death and resurrection are the one great saving act which defines us.  Through baptism as commanded by Jesus we are bound to His saving work and we  are marked by God for life at the last day.  This is all to God’s glory and our own great joy.

The people Jesus addressed so long ago were frantic in their worries about their survival.  We can understand these concerns.  But, Jesus teaches us again today that He is life.  As we believe in Him, our sins are forgiven and our God given faith is the sign that God the Father has chosen us for life.  And after this life, we can be sure that our life with God is secure, because Jesus will complete His promises.  He will raise us up on the last day.

Let us pray

Lord Jesus, you taught that the will of your Father is that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life. You promised that you will raise those who believe in your on the last day. I confess that you are the bread of life.  I thank you heavenly Father for drawing me to my Savior Jesus. I thank your Lord God for the gift of faith through Holy Baptism. And I trust in you Lord Jesus. You will keep your promises and raise me, and all believers, to eternal life with you on the last day.  In your name I pray, AMEN.

The Lord’s Prayer

Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name, Thy kingdom come,Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven; give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever.  Amen.

I Kings 19:3-8

3 Then he was afraid, and he arose and ran for his life… and came to Beersheba, which belongs to Judah, and left his servant there. 4 But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness and came and sat down under a broom tree. And he asked that he might die, saying, “It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life, for I am no better than my fathers.” 5 And he lay down and slept under a broom tree. And behold, an angel touched him and said to him, “Arise and eat.” 6 And he looked, and behold, there was at his head a cake baked on hot stones and a jar of water. And he ate and drank and lay down again. 7 And the angel of the Lord came again a second time and touched him and said, “Arise and eat, for the journey is too great for you.” 8 And he arose and ate and drank, and went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb, the mount of God.

No one wants to be the person who ran away.  It seems that Elijah felt very discouraged about his behavior.  He had just called down fire from heaven and witnessed God’s victory over the false prophets of Baal.  Yet, the threats of a wicked queen were just too much for him.  Elijah ran away, and found himself in prayer in the middle of nowhere.  He confessed his weakness and was so broken that he asked that God would take his life.  He couldn’t go any farther.

See the mercy of God for Elijah and God’s understanding of our human condition.  True, Elijah had witnessed the power of God.  True God would deliver His people from their wicked King and Queen.  But, humanly, Elijah was done.  He had no strength left physically or spiritually.  So, what did God do?  God helped Him.

God sent His angel to bring nourishment to the prophets body and soul.  He brought both food and God’s Word which communicated God’s love for Elijah and God’s plan for His people.  Strengthened by the Lord, Elijah continued to the mountain of God, mount Horeb, where God would instruct His prophet.

The prophets of God all pointed to Jesus who met Satan and all evil, even our sins, on the cross of Calvary.  Through faith in Jesus God still shows His mercy and love.  He forgives those who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ.  God also overrules the deadly threats of the evil one, be those the threats of individuals or evil governments today.  God sustains us with the heavenly food of the Lord’s Supper and His Word in the Holy Bible.  On the last day we will be raised to life with Jesus.  The love of God in Jesus will last forever.

Let us pray

I thank you Lord for continuing to bear with my weaknesses, especially when I am frightened or anxious about the situation in the world around me.  Restrain all evil governments and world leaders.  And, bless your church with faithfulness and boldness to proclaim your truth in all nations.  In the name of Jesus I pray, AMEN.

The Lord’s Prayer

Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name, Thy kingdom come,Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven; give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever.  Amen.

I Kings 19:1-3

Elijah Flees Jezebel

19 Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword. 2 Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, “So may the gods do to me and more also, if I do not make your life as the life of one of them by this time tomorrow.” 3 Then he was afraid, and he arose and ran for his life…”

God gives many blessings.  Some of these blessings are the great miracles that have become so commonplace that we don’t recognize them.  For instance, your physical life, our bodies, and the entire natural world are often nothing more than a background to our busy preoccupied lives.  Spending quiet moments in prayerful thanksgiving helps us to see these blessings and find profound joy in God’s faithful love.

There are also blessings that are so astonishing that they can’t be missed.  One such blessing was a victory of God over the false prophets of Baal.  The prophets of Baal were a wicked, murderous cult of human sacrifice. They were supported by the government.  No one would have thought that there could be any salvation from such a horrible situation.  Anyone would think that the nation was doomed.

But, human power (whether it is in the form of governments or false prophets) cannot overrule the Lord and His Will.  At the right time, God demonstrated His power and overcame the false prophets and the murderous king and queen.  It is important that we remember this example of God’s mercy and pray earnestly that the Lord would restrain evil in our day as well.

But, what happened next is also important for us to see.  Elijah, after seeing the power of God over evil, was terrified by the threats of the government who did whatever it wanted.  The queen, in particular, lived as if God didn’t exist.  Her threats were real to her.  She intended to kill Elijah.  This struck terror into Elijah. So, Elijah ran away.

What can we learn from this?  We should expect that satanic evil, especially in the form of wicked governments, will continue to cause great suffering in this world.  But, just because human wickedness can cause so much suffering, it doesn’t mean that God’s plan of eternal salvation in Jesus no longer stands.  Not at all.  God’s plan of salvation will continue to the very end.  We have the witness of the whole Bible to see that this is true!

Therefore when we are terrified by the wickedness of the world, we are not alone.  We stand with Elijah, who confessed his sins and prayed to the Lord.  We are be sustained by Jesus, who died on the cross for our sins and rose again for our salvation.  Therefore, even the darkest day of setback in this life will not change the fact of Jesus’ forgiveness of your sins, your eternal future at the resurrection of the dead, and the presence of God the Holy Spirit to sustain your faith today and always.  

Let us pray

I thank your Lord for the great miracles that you work every day.  I especially thank you for restraining the evil and maintaining the witness of your church around the world.  Help me to be faithful, brave, and joyful in your service.  In your name I pray, AMEN

The Lord’s Prayer

Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name, Thy kingdom come,Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven; give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever.  Amen.

John 6:35

35 Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.”

Hunger and thirst are physical.  Through hunger and thirst we become aware of the needs of our bodies.  The needs of our physical bodies are important.  Where would you be without your body?  Your body is important. When God created humanity, He made us to be creatures with a physical body and a soul.

More than that, to simply say that the body isn’t important, or to say that all that “matters” is the soul, denies the importance of Jesus coming into the world to save us, body and soul.  Jesus came into the world and became fully human. Yes, God Himself now has a body.  How did God do this?  Jesus came to save us by facing physical death on the cross for the forgiveness of our sins and then physically rising from the dead.  Our salvation is both spiritual and physical. At the last day, God promises that we will rise from the dead, a new creation in Jesus.

The problem that people had long ago, and that we still have today, is that we are tempted to think that our lives are only physical or spiritual, not both.  The people were chasing Jesus around because they recognized that He could meet their physical needs.  God can meet our physical needs!  But, we need more! Jesus is more! More than just a free lunch. More than just a physician.  Jesus is the one who can forgive sins, free us from death and the devil. Jesus is the Savior who will give the resurrection and eternal life to those who trust in Him.

In the end, at the resurrection, the nature of God’s salvation will be clear for all to see.  In the mean time, we must hear the teaching of Jesus so that we don’t forget the miracle that God has done in creating human life.  He has given us a body and a soul.  He has redeemed both body and soul through Jesus.  And through Jesus He will restore us to everlasting life.

All this God gives freely through faith in Jesus.  Therefore, both during times of ease as well as during times of trial and testing, we are called to faith in Jesus.  He is the world’s one Savior who is truly life.  Jesus said, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.”

Let us pray,

I thank you Lord Jesus for supplying all my needs of body and soul.  Strengthen my faith each day, so that I will give thanks for your blessings, serve others after your example, and anticipate the resurrection to eternal life that you have promised.  In your name I pray.  AMEN

The Lord’s Prayer

Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name, Thy kingdom come,Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven; give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever.  Amen.

John 6:22-29

22 On the next day the crowd that remained on the other side of the sea saw that there had been only one boat there, and that Jesus had not entered the boat with his disciples, but that his disciples had gone away alone. 23 Other boats from Tiberias came near the place where they had eaten the bread after the Lord had given thanks. 24 So when the crowd saw that Jesus was not there, nor his disciples, they themselves got into the boats and went to Capernaum, seeking Jesus.

25 When they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, “Rabbi, when did you come here?” 26 Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. 27 Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal.” 28 Then they said to him, “What must we do, to be doing the works of God?” 29 Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.”

In getting to know another person, it is common to ask the question, “What do you do for a living?”  A person’s daily work has a great impact upon his or her life and interests. A good followup question might be “Why do you do that for living?”  Even if you don’t ask that question directly, it isn’t long before the “why” comes out.  Sometimes people just fall into a job because of chance and circumstance.  Other times, a job is pursued in hope of wealth or because of personal aptitude or interest.  In most every situation, though, a job is how we hope to make a living!  We want to put food on the table. We want to live!

The people who were present at the miracle of the feeding of the five thousand had their worlds turned upside down.  They worked for a living, and Jesus showed that he could give them everything they needed to live.  They loved this idea.  They chased Jesus around to the other side of the sea of Galilee in hopes of a free lunch.  But, in doing this they also showed their need for correction.  Knowing God through faith is true life.  No earthly job can give what only God gives through faith.  In fact, every blessing that comes through our work, actually comes from God’s love.  The people were confused on this very point.

The people revealed their confusion when they were so distracted by the bread that they immediately forgot Jesus’ Words and only chased after His free lunch.  If they forgot Jesus over a lunch, how quickly they would overlook the greater gifts of forgiveness of sins, resurrection from the dead, and life everlasting.  So, Jesus directly addressed their error and called them to repentance.

True life doesn’t begin in us, but in the grace of God in Jesus.  God “made a living” when He sent Jesus to die on the cross for our sins and rise again from the dead.  The true gift of God is Jesus. The eternal life that we receive as a gift through faith in Jesus is true life. Jesus calls us recognize the difference between temporal blessings and the eternal gifts of God in Him.  When the people asked ‘What must we do?”  Jesus said clearly, “Believe in the one He has sent.”  Jesus directed them, and also now us to believe in Him for life. In Jesus, are found all the blessings we receive in this life, and the eternal life that is to come.

Let us pray,

I thank you Lord Jesus for giving me life and sustaining my faith.  Help me to trust in you at all times, and acknowledge that you are my life now and forever.  Amen.

The Lord’s Prayer

Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name, Thy kingdom come,Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven; give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever.  Amen.

Ephesians 4:15-16

15 Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, 16 from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.

There is much interest in knowing the truth.  Our present age is no exception.  Claiming to know “the truth” about this or that is a great way to get attention.  

The trouble is, in our sinful world, the truth is often only presented in the form of a half truth.  It is then used as a weapon to destroy others.  Love is absent and is made worse by a denial of accountability to God on the day of judgement.  What shall we do?

When it comes to the truth, we need to remember Jesus.  He spoke the truth, and often it was a very hard to truth to hear.  Jesus talked about sin against God and man, and called people to repent before it was too late.  What makes Jesus preaching different than what we hear in our culture today?

Jesus spoke the truth in love. His goal in speaking the truth was not to harm but to help, not to destroy but to heal, not to kill, but to bring to life.  Jesus spoke the truth, even to the point of the cross where He offered His life for ours and gained eternal life for all who trust in Him.  Through faith in Jesus, sinners can be forgiven and have the gift of eternal life.

We sinners cannot hope to be perfect in our speaking to one another. But, God is gracious and will guide us in our care for one another.  Therefore we pray for God’s guidance and in all things trust in Him to direct us.  

What might this look like? When we talk to one another, we shall remember how Jesus has loved us.  We shall speak in love by pointing to Jesus and His saving call to repentance.  We shall speak in love, and when confession or apology is offered, forgive one another from the heart as God in Christ has forgiven us.  We shall speak in love by not simply excusing sins, but removing them by the power of the Gospel.  In this way we grow up in the faith, as each part of the body of Christ does its work.

Let us pray

I thank you Lord for bringing me back to life through faith through the Gospel and enabling me to speak the truth in love.  Grant me courage to care for those in my family and congregation so that relationships can be restored and strengthened.  I ask this in your name, AMEN

The Lord’s Prayer

Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name, Thy kingdom come,Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven; give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever.  Amen.

Ephesians 4:11-14

11 And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, 12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, 13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, 14 so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.

In raising children, one of the seemly least effective things to do is to assign them a share in household chores.  Children usually don’t want to do chores any more than adults.  They can complain and drag their feet.  It is easy for a parent to think, “Why am I trying to get my kids to do chores?  It would be easier for me to just do them myself!” 

If the only goal is getting a task done, doing it yourself is often much quicker. You know the saying “if you want something done right, you need to do it yourself.” But, in this case, the chore isn’t the goal. The parents’ goal is raising children to be mature, wise, and loving.  The chores are only a teaching tool.  By participating in the work of the household, a child comes to know what it means to be part of a family and community.  A child learns to develop respect for others, their work in the family, and his or her own role and calling.  This is how children learn to actually be a part of a family.

God gave various chores, or callings, in His church.  Not everyone has the same role, but all have a role, because God cares that we grow to be mature, wise, and loving.  In following God’s will and faithfully caring for one another, the will of God is accomplished.  As grow up, we are not easily fooled by satanic temptations and lies.  We support one another and most of all, we recognize that God, as the head of HIs body the church, has placed us all where we need to be for the good of all.

Jesus is the world’s one Savior.  He is the one who could offer the perfect sacrifice that forgives the sins of the world.  Jesus is the one who rose from the dead and now offers eternal life to all people through faith.  Jesus fulfilled His calling, and will come again on the last day as judge of the living and the dead.

In the mean time, God cares for you and is helping you to grow up in the faith through the various callings in His church.  As God gives us opportunities to serve one another in love, God causes us to become mature and grow in wisdom and love.  

Let us pray,

Thank you Lord for patiently caring for me throughout my life and involving me in my place in your body the church. I thank you for the care that you have provided through others in my congregation who teach and care for me.  I ask you to help me likewise to serve others with joy.  In your name I pray,  AMEN

The Lord’s Prayer

Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name, Thy kingdom come,Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven; give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever.  Amen.