Wedding and Praise

Greetings and blessings to you all.   I am finding that the constant feeling of being behind and needing to catch up is an exhausting feeling.  However, last night I crawled into bed about seven and was asleep by nine.  I was very tired from a major lack of sleep from this weekend, but I feel must better today after a good, long nights sleep.  This weekend was a blast.  I left Friday morning about three twenty in the morning central time and made it to Michigan to meet up with my friend and his family at about eleven thirty eastern time.  We dropped the girls off at the house where stage one of the bachelorette party was taking place.  Then us guys drove to the groom's grandparents' house where we grilled lunch and played golf with foam golf balls in the back yard.  They live right on a lake so it was a beautiful property.  Then we had a private brewery tour which included a free beer.  Then we had tickets to a comedy club.  I had never been to one before, but it was a lot of fun and we got a lot of laughs out of the whole thing.  Then we hit one last bar quick before we headed back to the grandparents' house.  My friend, the bachelor, was well ready for bed we'll say when we got back, so we put him to bed.  The rest of us stayed up and played cards for a couple hours, again filled with many laughs.  They taught me Euchre which is a pretty fun game.  The next morning we got up and drove to the golf course, but right as we got there it started to rain and radar showed it wasn't going to stop any time soon.  So we changed our plans and went bowling instead.  The rehearsal and rehearsal dinner were Saturday night, and then we just went back and hung out in the hotel.  Sunday morning, I watched some T.V. and got some reading for class done  in my hotel room before the wedding.  The wedding was beautiful and everything went perfect.  The reception was very classy and a ton of fun.  I decided to go back to the after party at the hotel, which was also very fun.  I got to talk to my friend's cousin, who is a fellow seminarian.  We got to know each other last year when he was on campus, but this year he is on vicarage so it was good to see him and catch up with him again.  Monday morning I was on the road by six Michigan time and was back on campus by noon our time.  I took a quick nap before class and then made it to class at two.  So while it was a very busy weekend, constantly on the go, not much sleep, just over 1200 miles on my car, and a little bit of money, it was totally worth it to be there to help my friends celebrate their special day, get to know their families better, and get a mini vacation all at once.
This week is a busy week of catch up and try to get ahead.  I have another wedding, I am actually in this one, next week in Lincoln.  I am excited, but again it is forcing me to stay on top of homework.  If I can survive the next two weeks, the rest of my quarter will be a breeze.  I just thank the good Lord he has given me the ability to be able to do all this extra stuff while still completing all my school stuff.
I am writing a book report on a book titled The Destiny of the Righteous in the Psalms, written by Jerome Creach.  It is an amazing book and I would highly recommend it to anyone looking for good material to read.  For me it brings the Psalms alive, makes them understandable, and most importantly practical for our lives today.  It is a pretty easy read, and only 155 pages.  I will definitely keep it on my shelf and read it more than once in my life time.  I will let you buy the book (it's not very expensive) and read it for yourself, but today I want to share one small part of it with you.  This is a quote from chapter two titled: "The Activity of the Righteous".  "Praise is not just a way of speaking about or to our God; it is also a way of living in light of one's relationship with God.  Praise is the most basic "activity" of the righteous, the action from which all else emerges." (p.31).  The book defines "the righteous" not as moral purity, but rather as essentially a relational term, referring to our righteousness being only from God.  It is the understanding that at all times and in all places "the Lord reigns".  He is creator and we are creatures who depend on Him.  So when we know that He reigns, and we depend on Him, we should live our lives through praising Him.  This then goes back to the fact that praising Him does not mean we sit around and talk or sing praise to Him (not that we shouldn't do this), but more importantly that praise should be everything we do in actions and words.  Living a life that is pleasing in His sight and through all we do and all we say gives the glory to His name.  People should be able to see through our lives that we know, understand, and live by the fact that we are creatures created by the creator, our Great Lord and God.  I brought this out with my Galatians Bible study through the most dreaded verse by Lutherans, James 2:17, "So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead."(ESV).  We Lutherans do not like this verse because we're scared it will sound too much like works righteousness.  However, we know we are saved by faith in Christ alone by his grace.  So not that we know that, we should not sit idly by and not work for fear of looking like works righteousness, but praise Him in the sense that we live the activity of our righteousness to show we know our relationship with Him.  Now I know this is easier said than done, because trust me I fail at this day in and day out too.  However, the more we try and ask the Spirit to give us the strength to live a life of praise (by the above definition), the more we will find ourselves actually living that life of praise.  All Praise (as an activity and song) be to Him who is our creator, creating us in a life that is in relationship with Him, making us His righteous children.
LSB Hymn 558 (1,4)- this hymn is written based on Psalm 115
Not unto us, not unto us be glory, Lord
Not unto us but to Your name be praise
Not unto us but to Your name all honor be giv'n
For matchless mercy, forgiveness, and grace
Not unto us but to Your name be glory, Lord
For grace so rich, so wide, so high, so free
Abide with us, till trav'ling days are over and done
And pilgrim feet lead us home, Lord, to You.  Amen.

Bible Study

Greetings to you in the name of our Christ and Lord.  This week was a busy one.  I worked nine straight hours Wednesday for all three jobs since I do not have classes on Wednesdays.  This coming week is going to be busy too because symposium is Tuesday and Wednesday.  However, we do not have classes those days either so hopefully I can get caught back up on reading and homework.  The next couple weeks are going to be crazy as I am traveling to Michigan for a fellow seminarian's wedding, and then am in a wedding in Nebraska for some college friends.  It will be a lot of traveling, but I think I can manage to keep caught up as long as I work a little harder while I am here.
I led my first Adult Bible class today after church.  Last year the second year guy led it over Job, and the most he ever had was six people.  I changed a few things, had two weeks worth of notice in the bulletin, and thought I would be optimistic and make eight copies of my handout plus the original.  Then as I was getting the coffee out and all of my stuff ready, more and more people kept coming into the classroom.  I ended up with eleven people so a few couples had to share handouts.  It was a blessed surprise.  I led them through the introduction of Galatians, a few key terms and definitions, and then explained two kinds of righteousness to them as in my mind that is key to understanding Galatians.  We then dove into chapter one and got through all of the questions with even some deep discussions and side tangents.  I was very pleased with how well it went and thank the Lord that He was with me.  Afterwards they all seemed excited to continue on next time and I do hope they all come back.  The one little old lady told me I will make a great Pastor.  I jokingly told her to hold that opinion until she hears me preach in about a month.  I hope it continues to go well, because I would like to keep the motivation to put in the time and effort to be well prepared and intentional about the Bible study which is easier to do if they are excited about it too.  I know though it's not just me, but the Lord is with me and my teaching too.
I will either preach the last Sunday in October or the first Sunday in November.  I will also continue to be lectern and do liturgy.  As active as I am going to be in the church on Sunday's, I will be well prepared for vicarage, hopefully.
One of the themes from our Bible study that is pretty basic but can never be emphasized enough is the love and Christian attitude we use when dealing with all people.  It doesn't matter whether they are religious of a different denomination or non-religious at all, the more love and genuine care we show to that person, the better chance of building a relationship with them we have.  If someone of a different religion tells us we are wrong, we need to be patient, kind, considerate, and loving to that person.  If we just get mad and say, "Am not, YOU'RE wrong!" we sound like a fifth grader and all hope of changing their opinion is gone.  However, if we just dialogue with them, ask them what they truly believe and compare faiths with them, we stand a better chance of inviting them to listen to our side.  If we remain calm and have a mature conversation with that person we have a chance to plant the seed of truth and pray that the Holy Spirit makes it grow.  All we can do is share the truth we know with everyone and hope it is the seed that the Holy Spirit causes to grow.  We cannot convince them or try to force them to come to the faith.  We are called to share the Gospel, and that means both through our words and even more importantly through our actions in our relationships.  So next time someone wants to argue with you over anything, remember to show them the same love and compassion Christ shows you and see what happens.  Then afterward, pray for that person that he or she may someday find the truth and become a baptized child of God who knows the truth of His Gospel.  All Praise Him who forgives us and gives us His free grace, mercy and love, allowing us to live lives that reflect those unto our neighbors so that they too may know what a wonderful God we have and serve.
Hymn 783 LSB
Dear Father in Heaven, 
Take my life and let it be, Consecrated, Lord, to thee,
Take my moments and my days, Let them flow in ceaseless praise
Take my will and make it Thine, It shall be no longer mine
Take my heart, it is Thine own, It shall be Thy royal throne
Take my love, my Lord, I pour, At Thy feet its treasure store
Take myself, and I will be, Ever, only, all for Thee
In Your name we pray, Amen. 

Settled in/ Leaky kind of People!

Greetings to you all.  Well I am finally all unpack and organized in my new room.  It is weird though because as I started putting things away in drawers, I realized how much more free space I have every where.  Not only is my room actually bigger in size, but I have a second book shelf and a huge storage space under my bed.  I cannot believe how many free drawers I have and just open space I have for a dorm room.  Now some might walk into my room and say this is the small room you are bragging about.  However, I would then proceed to show them the TINY room I lived in last year and let them see how big this one is relatively speaking.  It just feels good to know where everything is and to be able to call it home for the year.
I also played in our first intramural flag football game today.  We lost on the very last play of the game but it was still fun.  Last year I did not get to play football because I worked every Tuesday, plus my team was not very good.  It felt good to hear I went decently high in the draft this year from the other captains.  One of my friends was going to draft me, but he said I went before he was ready to pick me.  Now I am just hoping to help support my team so they feel I was worthy of that pick.  Other than that I am just trying to get into school work and classes again. I am fighting a cold that at first I thought was a sinus infection, but now is just the sniffles and a slight cough.  However, it seems to be getting better each day.  I have also been spending quite a bit of time just reading the Bible.  I am realizing how unfamiliar I am with the themes of the individual books, and where important themes and verses are.  So, my goal is to spend some part of every day in the Word, just reading, studying, and reflecting.  We are still doing our morning Bible study, but I also am making a point to do more on my own too.  This some times comes in the way of other reading, but I figure the professors cannot really be mad at me for putting the Word of God ahead of a textbook written by man.
I also still have to hammer out exactly what I plan to teach this Sunday as my adult Bible study begins, but I will get the questions finalized, my key to my answers finished, and just a general lesson plan to keep us on topic.  Please keep my teaching abilities in your prayers as I will need the Lord's help to get the truth of His Word to these people.
I think my favorite class this quarter is most likely going to be Pastor as Educator.  Dr. Bacon is an amazing man and has me excited to be back in the classroom.  If your asking why I said again, it is because I was in the education program at Seward for awhile and did forty hours of classroom experience through those classes.  I always did enjoy spending time in the classroom with the kids.  The other class I really enjoy is my Hebrew exegetical.  I am not so sure I will like the work for the class, because my Hebrew is not as sharp as it used to be, but I enjoy Dr. Lessing's insights.  We were looking at key New Testament verses the other day that point back to the "wisdom literature" of the Old Testament.  The class is Psalms and Writings so the "wisdom literature" of Proverbs, Job, Jonah, etc. is what we will be looking at besides the Psalms obviously.  One key set of verses we looked at is Ephesians 5:15-21.  This points us to living not in foolishness like getting drunk, but to live in the wise life, that is Christ's example.  However, verse 18 in particular is what we looked at.  It states in the ESV, "And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit."  Now when you look at the last half of this verse, "...be filled with the spirit," it is best to look at it in the Greek.  The Greek verb for "to be filled" is parsed as present, passive, imperative, second person plural from the verb stem meaning "to fill".  Each part of that parsing is important, and this is one of the times the original language makes a huge theological importance.  The fact that it is an imperative means that it is a command.  This is not something we are suggested or hinted at to do, but commanded to do.  It's important we do this because God's Word commands us to.  The fact that it is present tense is important, because in Greek the present tense does not have the same meaning the present tense does in English.  In Greek the present tense means that the action is happening right now, but has an ongoing result.  It doesn't just happen and is done, but is continued to be done and keeps going.  The fact that it is passive means that it is not something we do but something that is done to us.  So we are not the ones who fills us, but we are filled by God with the Spirit.  The second person plural shows that it is for "you" but plural meaning everyone.  So this one verb by its parsing shows us that this phrase is a command that is for everyone, done by God, and done continuously.  This is where Dr. Lessing in his very loud voice said, "See Christians leak!"  We are not filled with the Spirit once, but CONTINUOUSLY keep being filled with the Spirit.  It is an ongoing process that the Lord commands us to do, even though He is the one who does it to us.  So next time your thinking your feeling pretty holy and doing a good job of being a faithful Christian, just remember that you leak!  You need to be continuously filled with the Spirit, by spending time in the Word, faithfully praying, and always asking God to keep filling you with the Spirit.  All praise Him who is the one who fills us with His Spirit, not abandoning us after raising His Son who redeemed us to His right hand, but continuously filling us with His Spirit to guide us, strengthen us, and keep us in the one true faith.
Dear Heavenly Father, 
Thank you so much for the many blessings you so daily and abundantly enrich our lives with.  Please fill us with Your Spirit, not just once, but continuously as You so command us to be.  Thank you for giving us Your Spirit, and we ask the He may guide us, strengthen us, and keep us in the protection of Your hand until You call us home to live with You, Your Son, and Your Spirit, our One True God.  In Your name we pray, Amen.    
  

Early to bed.. Early to rise..

Good morning and greetings to you through Christ Jesus our Lord and Savior. For those of you who know me well, you know I am a late night kind of guy who is most definitely not a morning person. However, so far this school year I have been going to bed about eleven thirty every night and have been getting up at six thirty each morning. Now I was up at six thirty every morning this summer for work, so it probably does not seem like that big of a deal that I am still getting up that early. However, getting up for work I have always been able to do, because being late to work just is not an option. Getting up that early on my own free will is impossible. I tried the first couple mornings I was down here, before classes started, and I ended up rolling out of bed anywhere from nine to even ten thirty. However, my dear friend Chris wanted to do a Bible study and the only real time we could do it together every day is that early in the morning. Now, I do not want it to seem like I do not think Bible studies are important or that it is not worth getting out of bed for, but when that alarm goes off the first thought through my head is, "Nope, not today." It's a good thing Chris is my neighbor and I know if I do not get out of bed and get dressed he will be over pounding on my door. Once I get out of bed, use the restroom, and get that first sip of coffee I am wide awake and excited to be up. It is just a very slow and kind of cranky process making it through those first three steps, especially the first one. Then when I stop and think about it, isn't it kind of funny how that works. To get up for work, of course I do not want to get up but I know I have to so I always do. Or when I get up before day light during hunting season to be out in the blind before sunrise, I have very few problems getting myself up and ready. But ask me to get up for a Bible study and it takes everything in my power to drag myself out a of bed. This is my sinful nature at work in me. My sinful nature is more than happy to allow me to do fun things like hunting or things that just seem mandatory like work. However, my sinful nature resists anything to do with God or faith. The Devil just whispers in my ear, "Doesn't your bed just feel so comfortable? You can skip just this one day of Bible study and still be a good Christian." And if it was not for good friends holding each other accountable I would listen to those whispers everyday. Thank the Lord He has given me good friends who can support each other to not listen to those temptations.
Once I'm up, I love our time together and the studying and meditation we accomplish. We are working through the book of Galatians right now and it brings up some great discussions. It is especially good for me because that is the book I will be using for my Bible study at my field work church.  I truly do believe there is no better way to start every day then to be able to sit outside while it is still cool, drink a hot cup of coffee, and read and discuss the Word.  If you have never tried it, I highly recommend it.  But again, I suggest doing it with a friend or group to hold you accountable to actually doing it.  

Other than that I am just slowly getting back into school mode with classes and work.  Right now I have the advantage that my books have not come in the mail yet so I have a valid excuse to not read.  However, that will sadly only last another day or two and then I will have to play catch up.  I am super excited though because this weekend is a big one.  I get to move into my bigger room which means I can finally unpack and get everything out of storage and feel like I actually live in my own room.  I am also excited because my good friend Aaron Sailor is coming into town.  Not only do I get to hang out with him, but he is taking me to a Cardinals game.  I told myself this would be the year I get to one and sure enough he is helping me accomplish that goal. I told him I would buy his beer and snacks since he is paying for my ticket.  I know it will be a blast, just have to pray for nice weather.  

One thing that came up in our discussion through our Bible study was the idea of justified through Christ.  Galatians 2:16 is sometimes referred to as Luther's verse, because it was one of the main verses he used to defend his view at the diets during the reformation.  Every good Lutheran knows we are justified by Christ alone through faith alone, but what does it really mean to be justified in Christ?  I hope you think about this on your own for awhile and try to really hammer out what that sweet statement means to you and your faith.  So go ahead and stop reading this for a couple minutes and then when you have pondered on it, continue reading to see what little old me has to say.   

OK, you have thought about it?  Well here is what I will say about it.  A professor of mine, while explaining two kinds of righteousness (which if you do not know what that is please ask me and I will GLADLY explain it to you), explained it this way.  When we lay in bed at night at the end of the day, we begin to think about what we did that day and how we did that day.  We may think was I the best mother/father I could have been?  Was I the best husband/wife I could have been?  Was I the best boss/employee I could have been?  Was I the best/most faithful neighbor I could have been?  The answers to these questions will most likely always come up as no.  While we may not have done anything wrong that day, we will always feel like we could have done more or done better.  We will always fall short of perfection when looking at how we live our lives.  We are sinners and we fail daily, hard truth of life.  However, while we know we might have let down our spouse, child, co-worker, or neighbor, we also have the assurance we are justified in God's eyes.  We are righteous in our relationship with Him.  Not because of anything we did, because we sinned and failed to keep His expectations too, but because of Christ's righteousness which we have upon us.  We know that we are righteous and justified in the eyes of our Lord each and every night.  This gives us comfort and hope.  It also gives us the strength to wake up the next day and try harder to be a better spouse, child, parent, employee, etc.  We wake up every morning with a clean slate to try our very best to be the best person we can be.  Not because it is for our salvation, but because it is what we are called to do.  And every night when we think about what we could have done better, we have the assurance we are still blameless and pure in the eyes of the Lord because of the simple fact that we are justified through Christ.  All Praise be to Him who sent His one and only Son to die for us, allowing us terrible, failing sinners to be justified and righteous in His sight because through baptism we were clothed with the holy, pure, and eternal righteousness of Christ our Savior.  

Dear Heavenly Father, 

Thank you so much for the people you have placed in our lives.  Help us each to hold our brothers and sisters accountable to growing closer to You, stronger in our faith, and closer to each other.  Thank you for also giving us our salvation and justification completely through Your free grace and mercy.  We deserve nothing besides eternal punishment for the lives we live.  But through Your gracious mercy, You gave us our salvation at the cost of Your Son's life.  Help us to be the best children of Your's we can be each and every day, knowing that even when we fall short we are still justified in Your eyes.  We ask all this in the name of our Lord, Jesus. Amen.

I'm Back!

Greetings to all of you who still check this.  My deepest apologies for failing miserably over the summer.  I took the full three months as a break from any kind of writing or reading.  Now that I am back on campus, and need to get my brain back into school mood, I decided I just as well get back on track with my blogging.  Even though the three months of summer flew by, it was a good summer.  I made it safely through another summer with the Department of Roads for the State of Nebraska.  I had one or two close calls with vehicles out on the interstate, but my guardian angels where there as always.  I feel sorry for those guys some days and hope God has a special place for them in Heaven to retire to when I make it there.  I also worked for a farmer after work in the evenings and on some Saturdays.  He is an older farmer who is slowly trying to retire and sell his yard.  So I did a lot of painting, spraying, shredding, and even a little fencing, trying to get his yard ready to sell.  The job I enjoyed the most was using his John Deere 6420 with the three point shredder to shred weeds.  I mostly enjoyed it because it was in an air conditioned cab with a radio, but I also enjoyed it because it felt like actual farm work.  The last job I did for him was to pull out an entire pasture's worth of barbed wire fence.  That was fun too, although my arms still look like the barbed wire was tearing me out of the pasture instead of the other way around.  The job I liked the least was mowing.  Even though the entire state of Nebraska was in the worst drought for fifty years, he still had me mow at least once a week.  Some times old people are just stuck in their ruts.  The only reason I hated doing it so much was because there was no grass or even weeds to mow, so it was just me driving around in a dirt and dust cloud the entire time.  Then my allergies would kill me for the next three or four days.  The worst part was every time I would just start getting my allergies cleared, I would have to mow again either for him or at the State.  Oh well, I survived and came out with a little money in my pocket for books and school.
The only trip I took this summer was to Pennsylvania for a wedding.  I went to Kansas twice I guess, but I would not call that a "trip".  The trip to Pennsylvania was fun but a lot of driving for only being there one actual day.  Then attached to that trip was our mini family reunion in Illinois.  I know what your saying, "In Illinois?!"  However, that is where Nate, Kari, and the boys live now.  Even Tim came back, so the whole family was together for a few days.  It was a fun visit with everyone, especially since we are not all together that much anymore.  My fear is it will only get worse when I take my first call to who knows where.  I called my boss and told him my mother would like me to stay an extra day to have more time with family.  That lasted the rest of the summer as a joke.  Whenever one of the guys needed a day off from work, they asked me if my mommy would write them a note.
Now I am back in St. Louis and while the weather is very warm, we had three days of straight rain.  I had completely forgotten what it was like to have to worry about rain when going outside.  It was kind of nice to see a cloudy sky that actually produced rain again too.  Now it is back to hot and humid.  Although, it is still not as hot as the three weeks in June and July I spent working on culverts along the interstate.  I think that was the worst conditions I have ever worked in.  Down in a hole where absolutely no breeze or wind can reach you, baking in the sun, digging out dirt packed culverts by hand.  To be fair the back hoe dug out around the culvert, but my job was cleaning them out once they were pulled out and that was all done by hand shoveling.  Again, I survived and am just thankful the Lord has blessed me with the health and strength to be able to do that kind of work.
Classes started today.  I had four out of my five today.  However, the first day is always easy since it's just a outlook of what is ahead in the class.  On top of thirteen credits this quarter, I have three official jobs, another "job", field work church, and two weddings.  I am working as cashier again and am still doing general labor.  Those two jobs consist of ten scheduled hours a week.  I am also still doing bar tending and ushering, but those vary all the time as far as hours.  I have a new job working for the lady who is in charge of all the symposiums and conferences on campus so that should be quite a few hours a select few weeks.  My other "job" is dorm counselor or as we call them, dorm moms.  I have a monthly meeting with this, but the rest is just being active in the dorm life making sure everyone is doing OK with everything and letting guys in when they are locked out of their rooms.  For field work church I will be doing both liturgy and preaching now.  I am so nervous about preaching but trying to stay positive and telling myself I can do it.  On top of those two items, I also agreed to lead the adult Bible Study on Sundays after church.  I will be using one of Grandpa's Bible Study set of questions, but I am working through them myself first and adding to them or changing where I see fit.  I will be leading them through the book of Galatians.  The problem with this is it is only six chapters so it should be a short study, but it is such a deep and important book I am worried I will either be only scratching the surface or end up trying to finish between Thanksgiving and Christmas or even after Christmas.  I will keep you updated on how that goes.
Since it was the first day of classes, we did not get too deep into a whole lot.  However, we did go through one exercise this morning in my class Pastor as Educator that I enjoyed and decided to share with you.  We had to fill out a form explaining who we are and what we expect out of the class.  One of the parts of the form asked you to put down your favorite Bible verse.  Then you were to look up that verse and list four or five ideas or key words from that verse that explain why it fits to you so well to be your favorite.  I cheated and put down two verses.  I put Titus 3:5-8 with the key idea of "heirs of the hope of eternal life" and  Matthew 6:25-35 with the key ideas of "do not worry about food, clothes, or the future" and "do not be anxious".  In the part where I had to describe my self using these concepts I wrote: "I am a simple kind of guy who is a big day dreamer always thinking about the future and what lies ahead, but I do worry or stress about it because I know He is in charge and I am an heir of the hope of eternal life."  I also put down that because I try to not stress about the future, this makes me an easy-going kind of guy who finds it easy to get along with mostly anyone.  So now you know maybe a little more about me.  I truly do find these two verses so essential for life because if we just trust in God and know through His grace we already have eternal salvation, there is nothing to worry about other than living life for Him while we are still here.  He has given us a care-free pass to trust in Him, allowing our energy to be spent trying to help the church grow.  The only problem is our sinful nature wants us to worry.  One so we do not trust in Him, but two so we waste our energy worrying about ourselves instead of doing what He has called us to do.  If only it was as easy as I make it sound right?  I know life is stressful (trust me I have a Hebrew Exegetical this quarter, I know), but I truly do strive to trust Him and let my worries be given to Him through prayer and devotion.  So not only have I given you something to think about based on my verses, but I truly hope you will sit down and use this exercise for yourself too.  Think of your favorite Bible passage and what it says about you.  This would also make a great family or spouse devotion to use to grow closer in your faith life together.  What does your spouse's or child's favorite Bible passage say about them in your opinion as well as their own?  Just something to try and maybe even feel like you sat in on a Seminary class today.  All praise be to Him who gave us His own Word, which gives us His promises and Gospel to use in trusting in Him and living our everyday life for Him and His calling.
Dear Heavenly Father, 
I thank you so much for another safe and fun summer with many blessed memories of loved ones and good times.  I pray that you be with me as I start another academic year growing both in my faith and knowledge of You.  I also pray that You be with all my loved ones who have chosen other vocations as their life's calling to serve You. Be with them as they go about their everyday life, as we all give our fears, doubts, and worries to You, in return for Your free grace and mercy.  Be with us as we use those blessings You have given us to do Your work and help Your church grow, so that more of Your children may know Your grace and become heirs of the hope of eternal life and salvation with You.  We pray all of this through Your Son, our Savior, Jesus Christ, Lord and Redeemer. Amen.    

I will continue with the Small Catechism next week.  I am moving dorm rooms this week, so I decided I did not want to unpack twice.  So most of my stuff is still packed or in storage, but when I get all settled in I will continue with Luther's explanation to our faith.