Interactive Faith (WELS)

January is two months away and what better way to start a new year than with a new Interactive Faith online Bible study series.

Beginning Wed., Jan. 7, 2015, Rev. David Scharf, Immanuel, Greenville, Wis., will lead a six-week study called "Breaking the Cycle with Grace (a study of the book of Judges)."

Scharf says of the topic, "It has been said that nearly every doctrine of the Bible can be found in the biblical narratives contained in the book of Judges. That fact alone merits a deeper look! And yet, how often have we read, let alone studied this action-packed book of God's grace? In our lives, we go through cycles of ups and downs - we think God is pleased one moment and that he is not the next. Come and break the cycle of uncertainty with grace as we study a book full of God's love and patience!"

The study will be streamed live online twice every Wednesday night between Jan. 7 and Feb. 11 at 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. (central).

Thousands of WELS members have participated in the Interactive Faith Bible studies, which are held twice a year and led by a WELS pastor or professor. Many congregations gather as a group for the study; other WELS members connect as couples or individuals. The studies are designed to have 10 to 15 minutes of lecture by the instructor, followed by 5 to 10 minutes for congregations to discuss a question or two or do further study. Participants can interact with the instructor via the chat box.

To learn more or join the study, go to www.wels.net/interactivefaith

Jeremias 29: 11

"Porque eu bem sei os pensamentos que tenho a vosso respeito, diz o Senhor; pensamentos de paz, e não de mal, para vos dar o fim que esperais."

Jeremias 29: 11
Bíblia Sagrada

1 John 2:9-10 (NIV)

Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates a brother or sister is still in the darkness. Anyone who loves their brother and sister lives in the light, and there is nothing in them to make them stumble.

- 1 John 2:9-10 (NIV)

Eclesiastes 3: 1-8

1 Tudo tem o seu tempo determinado, e há tempo para todo o propósito debaixo do céu.
2 Há tempo de nascer, e tempo de morrer; tempo de plantar, e tempo de arrancar o que se plantou;
3 Tempo de matar, e tempo de curar; tempo de derrubar, e tempo de edificar;
4 Tempo de chorar, e tempo de rir; tempo de prantear, e tempo de dançar;
5 Tempo de espalhar pedras, e tempo de ajuntar pedras; tempo de abraçar, e tempo de afastar-se de abraçar;
6 Tempo de buscar, e tempo de perder; tempo de guardar, e tempo de lançar fora;
7 Tempo de rasgar, e tempo de coser; tempo de estar calado, e tempo de falar;
8 Tempo de amar, e tempo de odiar; tempo de guerra, e tempo de paz.

Eclesiastes 3: 1-8
Bíblia Sagrada

How God Blessed the Reformation through Katie Luther

"God blessed the Reformation through Katie Luther's support of Martin's preaching and teaching the Gospel, and her setting a model for the Christian family, her household, and Christian businesswomen."

Evangelical Lutheran Synod (ELS)

http://www.evangelicallutheransynod.org/Lutheran-Sentinel/how-god-blessed-the-reformation-through-katie-luther/

Encontrar Deus em Cristo

"Não devemos tentar penetrar nos sublimes mistérios da majestade de Deus, mas devemos simplesmente contentar-nos com o Deus na cruz. Quem tenta encontrar Deus fora de Cristo encontrará apenas o diabo."
Martinho Lutero

"We should not try to penetrate the lofty mysteries of God's majesty, but we should simply be content with the God on the cross. Anyone who tries to find God outside of Christ will find only the devil."
Martin Luther

Proverbs 13:24

He who spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is careful to discipline him.
Proverbs 13:24

Loving, Careful Discipline
Being a parent is very great privilege. Being a parent is also a very difficult job! It's hard to strike the balance between protecting your children and letting them spread their wings in a sometimes scary world. It's hard to strike the balance between letting your children have fun and making them abide by the rules. It's hard to strike the balance between being your children's friend and being their life's teacher. We know it is important to discipline our children, but we also want to balance that with what Colossians 3:21 says, "Fathers, do not embitter your children, or they will become discouraged."
We all need discipline because we have a sinful nature that needs to be continually trained. It is especially vital in a child's formative years to receive discipline. Sinful habits formed in childhood will be even more difficult to break in adulthood. For their own personal benefit and for the benefit of society children should receive careful discipline so they become humble, hard-working, ethical adults who strive to serve God and serve others with their lives. While children might not appreciate the disciplinary training their parents give them, later in life they will appreciate that their parents loved them in that way.
Key words in this Bible verse are "loves" and "careful". . ."he who loves him is careful to discipline him." God calls upon parents to carefully discipline their children out of love for them. If discipline - in whatever form it is administered - is not motivated by the love and care of parents for their children, it can lead to choices that are detrimental and sinfully wrong. The goal of discipline is to help children mature and lead more God-pleasing and productive lives, and ultimately that children are trained spiritually and spend eternity in heaven through faith in their Savior Jesus.
Parents, pray for wisdom to be able to lovingly and carefully discipline your children.

Prayer:
Heavenly Father, help parents to love their children to carefully discipline them for their earthly and eternal benefit. Amen.

WELS
www.wels.net/contact-us
Twitter: @welstweets
www.facebook.com/welslutherans

Isaías 49: 1

"O Senhor me chamou desde o ventre, desde as entranhas de minha mãe fez menção do meu nome."

Isaías 49: 1
Bíblia Sagrada

Reflexão: Vocação e trabalho

"O que fazes na tua casa é tão valioso como se o estivesses a fazer no céu para o nosso Deus. Devemos acostumar-nos a pensar que a nossa vocação e trabalho são sagrados e agradáveis a Deus, não devido a si próprios, mas por conta da palavra e da fé, das quais a obediência e o trabalho fluem." (Martinho Lutero)

"What you do in your house is worth as much as if you did it up in heaven for our Lord God. We should accustom ourselves to think of our position and work as sacred and well-pleasing to God, not on account of the position and work, but on account of the word and faith from which the obedience and the work flow." (Martin Luther)

Ressurreição

RESSURREIÇÃO
Raffaellino del Garbo (c. 1476 – 1527)

As Portas do Paraíso Lutero

Amado por muitos, desprezado por outros, o monge, sacerdote, professor e Doutor em Teologia, Martinho Lutero, é conhecido como o Reformador da Igreja no século XVI. Influenciou consideravelmente a Educação e a Literatura. Lutou pela popularização das escolas. Traduziu a Bíblia Sagrada para a língua do povo alemão, e escreveu inúmeras obras exegéticas, doutrinárias e de educação cristã.
A doutrina, o culto e a piedade preconizadas por Lutero foram adoptados com algumas variantes na Alemanha, nos países bálticos, escandinavos e na Finlânida. Foram também aceites, por outros reformadores, na França, Inglaterra (onde a Igreja Anglicana ficou submetida à autoridade do estado), Escócia e Países Baixos. Com a emigração, os luteranos espalharam-se por todos os continentes, somando hoje, cerca de 70 milhões.
Sob uma óptica genuinamente lusitana, Artur Villares, aborda nesta sua obra os momentos e temas mais cruciantes da vida de Lutero.

Pela primeira vez em língua portuguesa são ainda apresentados neste livro as célebres 95 teses contra as indulgências com que Lutero, em 1517, incendiou a opinião cristã da Europa ocidental.

As Portas do Paraíso Lutero

Artur Villares

Edição: 1983

Páginas: 112

Editor: Vega

ISBN: 9789726991144

Bertrand Livreiros

http://www.bertrand.pt/ficha/as-portas-do-paraiso-lutero?id=86162

Leitura Books & Living

http://www.livrarialeitura.pt/livro/lutero-as-portas-do-paraiso-artur-villares/

WLS Christian Worship 106:1

Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary

Come to Calvary's holy mountain,
Sinners, ruined by the fall;
Here a pure and healing fountain
Flows to you, to me, to all,
In a full, perpetual tide,
Opened when our Savior died.

Christian Worship 106:1

http://www.wls.wels.net

Light for My Path Daily Devotion

Bible Reading

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen. 

(Galatians 1:3-5 ESV)

Hymn  ELH 404:2,4  The Lord, My God, Be Praised

The Lord, my God, be praised,
My Trust, my Life from heaven,
The Father’s own dear Son,
Whose life for me was given,
Who for my sin atoned
With His most precious blood,
Who giveth me by faith
The highest heavenly good.

The Lord, my God, be praised,
My God, who ever liveth,
To whom the heav’nly host
All praise and honor giveth.
The Lord, my God, be praised,
In whose great name I boast,
God Father, God the Son,
And God the Holy Ghost.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, thank You for sending Your Son into the world to be my Savior, delivering me from all my sins and earning eternal life for me and all who believe in Him.  In Jesus’ name I pray.  Amen.

The Church is that ship that carries Christ and His disciples (Matthew 8:23)

Johann Gerhard (1582 – 1637), o principal dos teólogos do período de ouro da Ortodoxia Luterana (séc. XVII)

“The Church is that ship that carries Christ and His disciples (Matthew 8:23), and transports us at long last to the port of eternal blessedness. The Church navigates her established course through the sea of this age with the rudder of faith, having God as her pilot, angels for oarsmen, and the company of all the saints for her passengers. The mast in her middle is the cross of salvation, on which is suspended the sail of the evangelical faith, by which she is lead by the breath of the Holy Spirit to the security of eternal rest.”

(Cristo na tempestade no mar da Galileia, Rembrandt)

What is a Lutheran?

What is a Lutheran?  What do Lutherans Believe?

Lutherans are Christians who believe that all Christian teachings should come from God’s Word, the Bible. We believe that the Bible is God’s Word. This means that everything the Bible teaches is correct and true. We believe Lutheransthat it is only through the Bible that we can know the one true God – the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit – and His will for our lives.

Lutherans believe in God’s grace.

All people are sinners and would perish eternally without God’s help. The good news is that God has provided all of this help as a free gift. Lutheran BeliefsGod’s saving grace is His undeserved love for all people through the life, death and resurrection of His Son. God loves all people, of every nation and race equally. It is God the Father’s desire for all people to hear His Word, to believe in His Son, Jesus Christ, as their only Savior, and therefore to have eternal life. Jesus lived a holy life in our place and died on the cross for the forgiveness of all our sins. Through this completed work of Jesus, God the Father sees the whole world as not guilty, or justified. This teaching of “justification” is the central truth of the Bible.

Lutherans believe that faith in Jesus Christ is necessary for eternal salvation.

This faith in Jesus, who is both God and man, our Savior, comes only as God, the Holy Spirit, works through God’s Word and Baptism in a person’s heart. We believe we sinners cannot come to faith through our own power, but that our faith is accomplished only by the power of the Holy Spirit as He connects us to Jesus as the Savior.

ELS

Bibel och Bekännelse - Lutherska Bekännelsekyrkan

Lutherska Bekännelsekyrkan

Nytt nummer av Bibel och Bekännelse!

I inledningen riktas fokuset mot påsken där Ingvar Adriansson tar upp en viktig fråga som kanske du också har funderat över någon gång. Varför behöver vi höra påskevangeliet år efter år?

"Har vi inte varje år när vi närmar oss påsk hört om Guds Lamm som förs bort för att lida och dö på korset? Behöver vi verkligen höra detta om och om igen? Du och jag är av naturen främmande för denna undervisning. Vi har en röst i vårt hjärta som hela tiden vill stöta bort detta. Det är otron som varje dag vill göra sig påmind, som vill bort från Guds kärlek, från rättfärdiggörelsen. Att predika hans död till dess han kommer tillbaka är vår stora uppgift som kyrka och församling."

Läs hela numret: www.bekannelse.se/Aktuellt/Bibel_och_Bekännelse/Bibel_och_Bekännelse_2014_nr.2.pdf

Lutherska Bekännelsekyrkan

WELS Kingdom Workers

WELS Kingdom Workers

A volunteer teacher having fun with her students in Lusaka, Zambia.

Genesis 6:22

Noah did everything just as God commanded him.
Genesis 6:22

Domingo Reminiscere

Fotografia: Ana Luísa Santos

Domingo Reminiscere, à saída da Igreja do Porto, com os nossos queridos irmãos brasileiros, no regresso de Valnir Brandt! 

WELS Devotion - March 21, 2014

Since you died with Christ to the elemental spiritual forces of this world, why, as though you still belonged to the world, do you submit to its rules: “Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!”? These rules, which have to do with things that are all destined to perish with use, are based on merely human commands and teachings. Such regulations indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self-imposed worship, their false humility and their harsh treatment of the body, but they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence.

Colossians 2:20-23

Imagine the scenario. You’ve just finished taking a big test. Your semester grade hangs in the balance. You studied hard, but you’re not sure how well you’ve done. Thankfully, your teacher had mercy. He included some extra credit questions on the test, and you’re sure you’ve answered those questions quite well. In fact, your answers to those questions might mean the difference between the semester grade you need and the one you’re praying you don’t get. Extra credit can be a beautiful thing.

Every day we take a kind of test from God, one with only two questions. He says, “Do you love me above all things? Do you love your neighbor as much as you love yourself?” (Matthew 22:37-40). What should we do with such hard questions?

Some people try to help their chances by looking for extra credit. They make extra rules and restrictions about what people can eat or drink, extra rules about how to behave. They say, “Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!” They make rules God hasn’t given in the Bible, and they hope God will give them extra credit for keeping them.

Not only is this not extra credit. It’s sin. If such people truly loved God, they’d stick to the questions on his test instead of inventing their own. If they truly loved their neighbor, they wouldn’t be so obsessed with how good their own behavior looks.

It’s good to set high standards for ourselves, but isn’t it easy to start thinking that we’re earning extra credit with God? Listen to God’s warning in today’s reading. You can’t cover up your sin with extra credit. Trying only makes things worse.

God has given you something infinitely better than extra credit. God has provided a proxy to take your test for you. God has given you his Son. Jesus loved God above all things. Jesus loved his neighbor as himself. Jesus aced God’s test, and it all counts for you. Are you looking for a good grade on life’s report card? Forget about extra credit.  You have Jesus!

Prayer:

Dear Jesus, thank you for acing God’s test for me. Amen.

www.wels.net