December 5, 2023
Remember to check the calendar at the bottom – lots of things coming up!
If you’re interested in singing in the choir for Christmas Eve, but the 7:45pm practices are too late for you, let me know and I’ll loop you in another way! The more the merrier!
Also! In case you missed it, here’s an Advent Devotional written for you by the pastors of the St. Cloud Circuit. Thanks to Pastor Reber for prompting us and assembling the book
Dear Friends,
“For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it” (Hebrews 12:11).
Recognizing this is so important for Christians. It is the difference between meeting trials and afflictions with despair or hope. The one who meets trouble with despair is one who has never learned that “for those who love God, all things work together for good” (Romans 8:28). On the other hand, the one who recognizes the work of his loving, heavenly Father in all things is the one who can meet trouble, even trouble that he has brought upon himself, with hope.
Here’s how God thinks about the trouble that you suffer in this life: “It is better for you to enter life crippled or lame than with two hands or two feet to be thrown into the eternal fire” (Matthew 18:8). It is better to lose the whole world than to lose your soul.
This sheds light on the main task that God assigns to parents. He assigns them the task of disciplining their children in a loving, gracious way. “Do not withhold discipline from a child; if you strike him with a rod, he will not die. If you strike him with the rod, you will save his soul from Sheol” (Proverbs 23:13-14).
God gives parents to assign lesser, temporal consequences for disobedience, so that their children will learn repentance and obedience and avoid the final, eternal consequence of hell.
When Christian parents discipline their children, they are teaching them to regard sin the same way God does – with disgust and dread. They are also teaching them how to endure discipline patiently and faithfully. Without that instruction, how will they ever receive properly the chastening of their heavenly Father?
All of this is to say that losing a finger is better than losing your soul, and God knows it. That’s why he enforces the natural order of the world, so that we feel it when we are in rebellion. That’s why there are consequences for sin and marks that remain. That’s why he gives us parents and teachers and government and pastors and the body of Christ – to help us to receive the Lord’s discipline rightly, as the mercy of a heavenly Father who does not want sinners to perish but to rejoice in the truth of his love!
God bless and keep you,
Pr. Buchs
COMING EVENTS:
Wednesday, Dec. 6
9:30am – Matins
10:00am – Wednesday Morning Bible Study
6:00pm – Small Catechism Bible Study
7:00pm – First Midweek Advent Service
7:45pm – Choir Rehearsal
Wednesday, Dec. 13
9:30am – Matins
10:00am – Wednesday Morning Bible Study
5:30pm – Family Night
7:00pm – Midweek Advent Service
7:45pm – Choir Rehearsal
Wednesday, Dec. 20
9:30am – Matins
10:00am – Wednesday Morning Bible Study
7:00pm – First Midweek Advent Service
7:45pm – Choir Rehearsal
Sunday, Dec. 24
9:00am – Divine Service (Fourth Sunday in Advent)
7:00pm – Lessons and Carols (Christmas Eve)
Monday, Dec. 25
9:00am – Divine Service (Christmas Day)