Pastor Raasch amazonaws com
Looking back on last week’s worship… We continue our summer worship series, “The Christian Atheist,” based on the book of the same title written by Craig Groeschel. We have come to learn that it is easy to believe in the Lord, and then to live as if He doesn’t exist. We are learning how to engage our faith in our daily lives that we may live with purpose and meaning even during challenging times—especially during challenging times. Last week we pursued the theme, “When You Believe in God, but Not Prayer.” It’s not so much that we don’t believe in prayer, it’s that we don’t employ prayer in our daily lives as we know we should. Perhaps we feel our challenges in life aren’t big enough for God’s attention. We might think we aren’t good enough for God to listen. We may have prayed for something specific, but that prayer wasn’t answered to our liking, so we’ve given up on prayer. Whatever the reason, we know our prayer lives could be fuller and deeper. What we come to understand about prayer is that prayer is not about us. The power of prayer has nothing to do with the abilities of the one who prays, but the grace of God who hears our prayers and then answers them according to His will. Perhaps that is where we get hung up. Often God’s will and ours isn’t the same. The blessing of prayer is that God’s will is for our best interest, even when we don’t see it or understand it. Prayer is about approaching God in faith, pouring out our hearts to Him and asking for His good and gracious will to be done in our lives. Last week was the second sermon of our second summer worship series at the outdoor amphitheater on the shore of Lake Michigan at Concordia University. As we consider “The Lord’s Prayer” we engaged in a look at the first petition, Hallowed Be Thy Name. It is important to use God’s name properly because a name is a representation of the person. We came to find that instead of “hallowing” God’s name, we often “hollow” His name when we use it carelessly. Instead we should use God’s name with honor as we pray, as we worship, as we share His message of salvation with others. The manner in which we use God’s name demonstrates our relationship with Him.
Looking forward to this week’s worship… This coming Thursday is the third sermon for our current worship series on the bluff, “The Lord’s Prayer.” Also known as The Second Petition of the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus teaches us to pray, “Thy Kingdom Come.” When we hear this phrase we usually think of heaven, His “Kingdom of “Glory.” But Jesus teaches that we pray also for His “Kingdom of Grace” to come to us, which is found in His Word and Sacraments, bringing faith and forgiveness to our daily lives. Dr. Martin Luther explains this portion of the Lord’s Prayer in his Small Catechism: Thy Kingdom Come. What does this mean? The kingdom of God certainly comes by itself without our prayer, but we pray in this petition that it may come to us also. How does God’s kingdom come? God’s kingdom comes when our heavenly Father gives us His Holy Spirit, so that by His grace we believe His holy Word and lead godly lives here in time and there in eternity. To prepare for this Thursday’s worship read Psalm 103:8-13, Ephesians 1:3-10 and John 9:1-7. We continue our worship series simply entitled, “The Christian Atheist.” We consider our fifth sermon, “When You Believe in God, but Don’t Think He’s Fair.” Sick children, job loss, drive by shooting, terrorist attacks, famine. We all shake our head and wonder, “Why?” When tragic things befall faithful Christians we questions God’s “fairness.” We wonder why bad things happen to “good” people. We will come to understand that in the midst of this imperfect world where imperfect things happen to imperfect people, a perfect, just and loving God comes to us to make sure a very good thing happens to us, even when we don’t deserve it. To prepare for this weekend’s worship read: Psalm 66:16-20; James 1:2-8 and Matthew 7:7-11. Let us worship the Lord!
Pastor Raasch
Looking forward to this week’s worship… This coming Thursday is the third sermon for our current worship series on the bluff, “The Lord’s Prayer.” Also known as The Second Petition of the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus teaches us to pray, “Thy Kingdom Come.” When we hear this phrase we usually think of heaven, His “Kingdom of “Glory.” But Jesus teaches that we pray also for His “Kingdom of Grace” to come to us, which is found in His Word and Sacraments, bringing faith and forgiveness to our daily lives. Dr. Martin Luther explains this portion of the Lord’s Prayer in his Small Catechism: Thy Kingdom Come. What does this mean? The kingdom of God certainly comes by itself without our prayer, but we pray in this petition that it may come to us also. How does God’s kingdom come? God’s kingdom comes when our heavenly Father gives us His Holy Spirit, so that by His grace we believe His holy Word and lead godly lives here in time and there in eternity. To prepare for this Thursday’s worship read Psalm 103:8-13, Ephesians 1:3-10 and John 9:1-7. We continue our worship series simply entitled, “The Christian Atheist.” We consider our fifth sermon, “When You Believe in God, but Don’t Think He’s Fair.” Sick children, job loss, drive by shooting, terrorist attacks, famine. We all shake our head and wonder, “Why?” When tragic things befall faithful Christians we questions God’s “fairness.” We wonder why bad things happen to “good” people. We will come to understand that in the midst of this imperfect world where imperfect things happen to imperfect people, a perfect, just and loving God comes to us to make sure a very good thing happens to us, even when we don’t deserve it. To prepare for this weekend’s worship read: Psalm 66:16-20; James 1:2-8 and Matthew 7:7-11. Let us worship the Lord!
Pastor Raasch
