AS WE GATHER: And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. (Genesis 12:2) God promises Abraham that an offspring from his line would bring blessing to all. When Jesus was born, that promise came true with an abundance.

The Reading of the Day is 2 Corinthians 11:1-15. The world is full of temptations and distractions to keep people from a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. Satan himself engineers these to oppose the work of God. But sometimes these distractions enter into the midst of the church with the aim of leading even believers astray. In this session, we will be warned to hold fast to the one true Gospel of Jesus crucified and raised. We will be challenged to rely on God’s power and direction for sharing this Gospel with others. And we will be emboldened to confront anyone who would try to distract people from the truth of the Gospel.

Our Bible Reading of the Day is Colossians 3:1-17. In Colossians 3, the apostle Paul taught believers to remember their identity in Christ. He framed this idea with the imagery of clothing. Every person born into the world, except Jesus, is born wearing a sinful nature, and their words and actions are consistent with that nature. But those who have come to faith in Christ have put off this old self and put on the new self, which increasingly resembles the life of Jesus. In keeping with this new set of clothing, believers are to put to death the sinful desires of this earth and put on the characteristics of Christ by setting our minds on Christ.

Our Bible Reading of the Day is Acts 9:3-20. Jesus confronts unbelievers so they might trust in Him, and He calls them to live on mission for Him as part of His church. God also employs believers to pray for, evangelize, disciple, and commission the people God brings into His church. Today, we will see from Ananias’s reaction to God’s command that Saul was an inconceivable choice to be saved, much less lead the mission of taking the Gospel to the Gentiles. No one would have foreseen his conversion. Yet God specializes in enlisting enemies to His service and uniting us with His church. Yes, Saul was not the last rebel God saved and commissioned; every believer follows this pattern, including you and me.

Our Bible Reading of the Day is Acts 8:26-40. Evangelism is challenging work, but as Acts 8 illustrates, this work is worth it. Philip, as under the orders of a sovereign officer, was commanded to get up and go share the Good News of Jesus Christ with a high-profile, powerful African eunuch. As he obeyed and went, Philip experienced the miraculous power of the Holy Spirit, who accompanies those who go to share the Good News. This faithful believer’s unique Gospel conversation in a desert space with an unlikely person demonstrated the power of God still at work in our world to embolden His people and change people’s hearts.

Our Bible Reading of the Day is James 2:14-26. Through faith in Jesus, God not only forgives us of our sins but He also declares us to be as righteous as Jesus Himself. This is called the doctrine of justification. Sinners, Jews and Gentiles alike, have a new status as God’s people because they have been declared righteous in Christ. The Book of James is concerned with the works that come out of a justifying faith. This letter teaches us that works always and necessarily accompany saving faith; good works are evidence of a faith that justifies. Being justified by faith, God’s people are empowered through the Holy Spirit to live a life of loving God and loving their neighbors as themselves. We are saved by faith alone, but our faith produces good works. 

Paul wrote Romans as a letter to the scattered house churches of Rome to remind Jewish and Gentile believers of the gospel and that the gospel empowered them to accept one another just as Christ had accepted them. God promised Abraham long ago that he would have a diverse family, and God has kept that promise. In this study through passages often called “the Romans Road,” we will see that God redeems, regenerates, and unifies Jews and Gentiles through the sacrifice and righteousness of Jesus. Our outline and readings from Romans go like this:

1. God’s righteousness is revealed through the Gospel                            

    (Romans 1:16-17).

2. All have sinned and earned death (Romans 3:23; 6:23a).

3. God provided Jesus as a substitute for sinners 

    (Romans 5:8; 6:23b).

4. God reconciles and declares sinners righteous through Jesus     

    (Romans 5:9-11).

5. God saves all who trust in Jesus (Romans 10:9-13).

Our Bible Reading of the Day is Acts 6:8-10; 7:44-51; 7:54-60. We will look specifically at how the Spirit’s work enables the church to trust Christ in matters of life and death. The Holy Spirit empowered the earliest Christians, like Stephen, to speak boldly about Jesus and to interpret the Scriptures wisely concerning Him, but the Spirit also empowered believers such as Stephen to endure persecution to the point of death for the sake of the Gospel. God’s people speak boldly, empowered by the Spirit’s presence, proclaim God’s Word, empowered by the Spirit’s understanding and face persecution, empowered by the Spirit’s filling.

We remember and celebrate the LWML today. Our Bible Reading of the Day is 2 Peter 1:2-11. The apostle Peter wrote his first epistle about the joy available to Christ followers even in the context of trials and persecution. He sent his second epistle to give believers instructions on how to live out their Christian identity. Here Peter described how God works powerfully in His people, so much so that He chooses not only to save but also equip Christians to live godly lives that glorify Him. We will see how being a Christian requires that we not only “talk the talk” but also “walk the walk” of our faith. As we talk and walk, we confirm God’s grace at work within us and His calling on our lives manifested through us. Because Christ’s righteousness has been credited to us, we strive to live in heartfelt obedience to God in order to demonstrate to those around us the reality of our changed lives in Christ. 

AS WE GATHER: Our Bible Reading of the Day is 1 Peter 1:3-9; 2:11-17. Jesus gives His people eternal life, purpose, and hope so they can maintain joy in trials as they seek to display faith in Christ that will draw others to Him. God’s people are called to endure life’s trials with hope, joy, and honor so that even those who wrong us might see the goodness of Christ through us. When we live in this way, we follow the pattern of   Jesus, who, for the joy that lay before Him, endured the cross (Hebrews 12:2). Because of Jesus’ obedience to the Father on the cross, we who wronged Him but now trust in Him have been saved. Because we have been saved through the suffering of Jesus, we patiently endure trials and fight for joy so that we may display faith in Christ that will draw others to Him.