Confident.Faith

Today we commemorate Philip the Deacon. One of the seven men appointed to help the Apostles handle the work of the rapidly expanding Early Church by overseeing the distribution of food to the poor, Philip would go on to work as an evangelist in Samaria. Pursuant to the word of God brought to him by an angel, Philip encountered an Ethiopian eunuch, an official in the court of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, on the road that goes south from Jerusalem to Gaza. In preaching the Good News to this man (and baptizing him), Philip became indirectly responsible for transmitting the Gospel to the continent of Africa.

Today we commemorate Abraham. Selected from among the nations and called by God to become the father of a great nation, Abraham left his home and all that he had ever known, at the age of seventy-five, and moved to the land of Canaan, which God promised to Abraham and to his descendants (a promise fulfilled under the reign of Israel’s monarchs). At the age of one hundred, Abraham had Isaac with his wife Sarah — a miraculous birth according to the promise from God. Demonstrating his obedience to and trust in God in his willingness to sacrifice Isaac (a sacrifice God stopped by speaking from Heaven and providing a ram), Abraham is commended for his trusting faith in God and His promises. Through the Seed of Abraham, that is Jesus Christ, all nations have been blessed.

Today we commemorate Heinrich Melchior Mühlenberg, Pastor. Born in Einbeck, Germany, in 1711, Mühlenberg moved to the American colonies in 1742. Helping to found many Lutheran congregations through tireless travel, Mühlenberg would become the guiding force behind the formation of the first Lutheran Synod in North America — the Ministerium of Pennsylvania. Remembered as a church leader, liturgist, and pastor, when Mühlenberg died in 1787, he left behind not only a large extended family, but also a lasting heritage: American Lutheranism.