May 21, 2024
Dear Friends,
Let me commend to you the following questions and answers that are helpful in preparing for Communion. These are the kinds of questions, among other things, that I ask anyone before they join the congregation – it’s the most important stuff. You can find this in the hymnal (pp. 329-330). Take a look on Sunday before you come to Communion!
Preparation is good not just for knowing your sin and your need for forgiveness, but also for knowing what you’re aiming at, which the Lord’s Supper delivers to you.
Think of it this way: the Lord’s Supper is the medicine that cures your disease, and it is the food that strengthens you in recovery. It takes away your sin and energizes you to live the good life: a life of faith towards God and love for your neighbor. That is our aim: “love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith” (1 Tim. 1:5). When our trust is in God and we love the way God loves us, then we are living a life of blessedness. It is then that we are living the life of Christ, the life that we were meant to live.
Do you know what you’re aiming at? Do you wonder what could make you happy or content or at peace? Do you fill your life with distractions to avoid the big questions of life and death? Do you fear disappointment, the end of things, or death?
Learn from Jesus what has lasting worth. Trust him when as he teaches you to build on a solid foundation. Put the devil to flight, with all his temptations and doubts and anxieties, by keeping the word of Jesus. No other word will do. No other medicine will suffice. No other food can give you what the body and blood of Jesus give to you.
God bless and keep you,
Pr. Buchs
COMING EVENTS:
Wednesday, May 22
9:30 am – Chapel
10:00 am – Bible Study
7:00 pm – Vespers
Sunday, May 26
9:00 am – Divine Service
10:30 am – Bible Study
2:00 pm – Installation of Pr. Brian Thorson @ Bethlehem, Annandale
Wednesday, May 29
9:30 am – Chapel
10:00 am – Bible Study
7:00 pm – Vespers