Author: Brenda Spahr

Devotion shared by Word in Season, April 28th: Food to grow on, 1 Peter 2:2 Like newborn infants, long for the pure, spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow into salvation.

As long as I live, I will never forget the joy of holding my only child, Scott, for the first time. Precious, cuddly, and … hungry! That problem was solved without delay. And those early feedings helped him to grow.

Just as newborns need food to grow, we adults need food to grow spiritually. One place we can find this “food” is in the scriptures. For example, when we read this text from Isaiah, we may receive courage: “Do not fear, for I am with you” (Isaiah 41:10). When we read this from 1 John, we may receive the power to love: “We love because [God] first loved us” (1 John 4:19).

Food helps us grow and stay nourished. Spiritual food helps us grow in our faith. We receive spiritual food through studying scripture, hearing the good news proclaimed, receiving Christ’s body and blood, and in the mutual conversation and consolation of the saints of God.

Great Teacher Jesus, open my mind to learn all you want me to learn this day. Amen.

Click the link to catch up on the current news from Grace Lutheran Church: May 2020 Newsletter

Resurrection of Our Lord/Easter Day; (shared from Word In Season Devotional) Sometimes we miss that the gospel – the good news about God’s work in Jesus – rests on grief. But that first Easter morning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary didn’t go to the tomb expecting it to be empty. They certainly weren’t counting on meeting an angel. They went intending to grieve. No, they went already grieving. From Friday afternoon until Sunday morning there likely wasn’t a single moment when they weren’t grieving.

And that matters. God raised Jesus from the dead and raises us too. God does this out of sheer steadfast loving-kindness. Joy, too, comes in the morning – as a gift. God turns our love – our mourning – into joy.

Eventually, in the life of the church – in our lives – that love widens out to embrace our fellow Christians, all persons, and the world. And when we open ourselves to the suffering of others, that love becomes grief. And that grief might once again become resurrection joy.

God of resurrection joy, call me into love and into grief. Then show me what else you can do. Amen.

Click the link to read current news from Grace Lutheran Church: April 2020 Newsletter

Click the following links to discover the Lenten Weekly Schedule and the opportunity to join our sister congregations as we Journey through this Lenten Season, our theme emphasis is “We are Church for the Sake of the World – Make me an Instrument of Your Peace.” There is also opportunities to serve those around the globe by supporting our Annual Lenten Baskets of Hope and Celebrating Community through OTOC, details can be found in the newsletter. We hope to see and visit with many during this year’s Lenten Season. God who sees me, keep my motives grounded in love. Amen.

Grace Lutheran Church Current News and Lent Schedule can be found here: March 2020 Newsletter

March 2020 Calendar for Grace Lutheran is located here: March 2020 Calendar