O God, You have prepared for those who love You good things that surpass all understanding. Pour into our hearts such love toward You that we, loving You above all things, may obtain Your promises, which exceed all that we can desire; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
O God, the protector of all who trust in You, without whom nothing is strong and nothing is holy, multiply Your mercy on us that, with You as our ruler and guide, we may so pass through things temporal that we lose not the things eternal; through Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
O Lord, since You never fail to help and govern those whom You nurture in Your steadfast fear and love, work in us a perpetual fear and love of Your holy name; through Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
And he said, “No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them form the dead, they will repent.” He said to him, “If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.” — Luke 16:30–31.
“Blessed, rather, are those who hear the word of God and keep it.”
The word of the Lord does not return to Him empty, but it always accomplishes the purpose for which He sends it.
The First Sunday after Epiphany Luke 2:41–52; Romans 12:1–5
Now then, all of you who believe in God’s Word, let your watchword for entering the new year be this: “I am baptized!” Not as an excuse to keep on sinning, but as the reason and power to live life anew in God’s grace and Word.
New Year’s Eve Luke 12:35–40 + IN NOMINE IESU + There are two customary ways to celebrate New Year’s Eve. The world throws a party. It’s out with the old and in with the new. Auld Lang Syne with Guy Lombardo, Champagne toast at midnight, and dance the night away! Some churches prefer a more…
“When all was still, and it was midnight . . . .” The eternal Son of God, the Second Person of the most Holy Trinity, God of God, Light of Light, Very God of Very God, was born—bone of our bone, flesh of our flesh, though without sin. God became man in the man Jesus Christ. And if we really fathomed what our Lord Christ has done by taking on human flesh, becoming our brother, living our life and dying our death, we would die of joy; our hearts would simply burst with joy. For the light of God’s love shines upon us in Jesus Christ, and yet the darkness of our hearts so often and so readily comprehends it not.