Getting Bored with Netflix, Amazon, etc.? Time to try Right Now Media!

Right Now Media is an online Christian Media service. Blessed Savior has a subscription with them that all of our members are entitled to use. They have extensive resources for Christian movies, kids movies, documentaries, and movies that are geared for youth, women, and kids etc.

If you are interested in accessing the website through Blessed Savior, please contact Pastor Vern at pastor@mybslc.org. He can set you up with a user name and password. (They also have an app for your phone!) God's Wonders

People travel to wonder at the height of the mountains, at the huge waves of the seas, at the long course of the rivers, at the vast compass of the ocean, at the circular motion of the stars, and yet they pass by themselves without wondering.

―St. Augustine Prayer Around the world Travel writer Rick Steves, who’s a Christian, believes travel can help us see God. He writes of gaining new insights into prayer from a so-called “whirling dervish” (a sort of Muslim monk) in Turkey. Before demonstrating how he prays, the man explained to Steves: “When we pray, we keep one foot in our community, anchored in our home. The other foot steps around and around, acknowledging the beautiful variety of God’s creation … touching all corners of this great world. I raise one hand up to acknowledge the love of God, and the other hand goes down like the spout of a teapot. As I spin around, my hand above receives the love from our Creator, and my hand below showers it onto all of his creation.” Most of us probably won’t add whirling to our prayer practices! And we likely already pray for people near and far. But what if we pictured ourselves both anchored at home and stepping out among God’s whole creation? What if we imagined God’s love pouring into us, then out of us onto all the world? How might such an approach to prayer influence how we live? Don't Settle For most of us, the great danger is not that we will renounce our faith. It is that we will become so distracted and rushed and preoccupied that we will settle for a mediocre version of it. We will just skim our lives instead of actually living them. —John Ortberg, The Life You’ve Always Wanted Close at Heart No distant Lord have I, loving afar to be; Made flesh for me, he cannot rest until he rests in me. Brother in joy and pain, bone of my bone was he; More intimate and closer still — he dwells himself in me. I need not journey far, this dearest Friend to see; Companionship is always mine; he makes his home with me. —Maltbie Babcock

Stewardship News April 2020 On the topic of stewardship, one of the most common questions a person might ask is not whether a Christian should give to their church. Everyone knows this. Of course, Christians should give to their church. The most common question: “How much should I give?” But what they really mean is this: “Should Christians give a tithe of their income to their local congregation?” So, let’s look at why you should or should not tithe. Following are some reasons often offered for why Christians shouldn’t give a tithe to their church. Some say you shouldn’t tithe because it isn’t expressly commanded in the New Testament. Lacking that command, there is no “Thus saith the Lord” and no “should” for giving a tithe to your congregation. Others say that Christians give to their congregation in ways much broader than money. They give of their time and their talents, and these, together with treasures (money), add up to more than a tithe. Still others say they give of their treasures to other things besides their congregation, and they want to support those things alongside their church. And there are those who think Christians shouldn’t tithe because of fear. If they tithe, they are afraid their gift will be misused, and they are afraid they won’t have enough to get the things they use, want, or need. Following are some reasons for why Christians should give a tithe to their church. Even though the New Testament doesn’t specifically command Christians to give a tithe, the Old Testament people were commanded to tithe and did. On top of this, St. Paul often describes the giving Christians are to do in similar terms as a tithe: a regular and generous proportion of the first fruits of their income (1 Cor. 6:1–2; 2 Cor. 8:7–23; 2 Cor. 9:2–7). But here’s another way to think about it. What was the point of the tithe in the Old Testament? Where did it go? The reason for the Old Testament tithe was to support the full ministry of the Levites. They were not given any land because they had no time to farm; their full-time job was the ministry. What does it say in the New Testament? “The Lord has commanded that those who preach the Gospel should make their living from the Gospel” (1 Cor. 9:14). This is the verse that Luther put in the Small Catechism’s Table of Duties to cover what Christians owe to the support of the ministry. It seems clear from both the Old and the New Testaments that the tithe is the goal of Christians in their giving. But what if we’re not there yet? How should we handle this? What are we to do? Let’s answer this by asking a different question about something entirely different. What would you say to your adult children who only attended church quarterly or once a month? There, is after all, no passage in the New Testament that requires Christians to go to church weekly. Hebrews 10:25 is the closest we have, and it states simply for Christians to not neglect gathering together. Even though there is no passage that commands Christians to gather weekly, that is the implicit expectation throughout the Old and New Testaments. It is the goal. So, what would you say to that son or daughter? I’d expect that conversation would be something like this: “I’m glad you’re still going to church. It is a wonderful blessing to hear God’s promises of forgiveness, life, and salvation, and to receive His gifts in the Word and the Sacraments. But you can do better, and it will only be a blessing to you. There is a better way, and I’d really like you to try to attain it.” This same conversation is how we should approach the topic of the tithe. It’s not specifically commanded in the New Testament, but it sure seems like the implicit

expectation of both the Old and New Testaments. So, the church is ecstatic that you’re giving when you’re giving in all these ways – time, talents, and treasures. God is Everywhere

e are living in a world that is absolutely transparent, and God is shining through it all the time. This is not just a fable or a nice story. It is true. If we abandon ourselves to God and forget ourselves, we see it sometimes, and we see it maybe

frequently. God shows himself everywhere, in everything — in people and in things and in nature and in events. It becomes very obvious that God is everywhere and in everything and we cannot be without him. It’s impossible. The only thing is that we don’t see it. —Thomas Merton A Guide for Giving I do not believe one can settle how much we ought to give. I am afraid the only safe rule is to give more than we can spare. In other words, if our expenditure on comforts, luxuries, amusements, etc. is up to the standard common among those with the same income as our own, we are probably giving away too little. If our charities do not at all pinch or hamper us, I should say they are too small. There ought to be things we should like to do and cannot do because our charitable expenditures exclude them. —C.S. Lewis

Traveling Advice We need deliberately to call to mind the joys of our journey. Perhaps we should try to write down the blessings of one day. We might begin; we could never end; there are not pens or paper enough in all the world. —George Buttrick Self-fulfilling Prophecies “Children have this amazing way of becoming exactly who we tell them they are,” writes Amy Weatherly. “If we tell them they are strong, they become strong. If we tell them they are kind, they become kind.” Perhaps Jesus knows this when he tells his disciples, “You are the salt of the earth [and] the light of the world” (Matthew 5:13-14). Clearly they haven’t already mastered sharing Jesus’ goodness with everyone! They are works in progress, as are we. But Jesus, teacher that he is, seems to set the bar high so his followers will strive to meet his expectations. “You are Peter,” Jesus tells Simon, “and on this rock I will build my church” (Matthew 16:18). We can hear Weatherly: “If we tell them they’re faithful, they become faithful.” And when Jesus declares, “You are of more value than many sparrows” (Matthew 10:31), we believe in our worth and live it out. We become what Jesus tells us we are. —Heidi Mann Love Made Flesh The whole concept of God taking human shape had never made much sense to me. That was because, I realized one wonderful day, it was so simple. For people with bodies, important things like love have to be embodied. That's all. God had to be embodied, or else people with bodies would never in a trillion years understand about love. —Jane Vonnegut Yarmolinsky

Stewardship News May 6, 2020 Our Savior calls us to follow Him in generosity. “For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you.” (John 13:15) We cannot give our lives for the salvation of the world, of course. Praise God – that job’s already done! But with hearts full of thanksgiving for what Jesus has given us, we can follow Jesus’ example of generous giving. And this is not merely an example alone. It’s also our Lord’s command. “The one who contributes, (let him give) in generosity.” (Rom. 12:8) So, when we give to help others who are in need, and when we bring offerings to the Lord, we should strive to heed His command and follow the pattern He has established for us. Jesus did not give us leftovers. He gave His best. So, we should not give leftovers, either, but the first and best of what He has given us. Jesus did not give as an afterthought, but according to the plan of salvation God established from the foundation of the world. So, when it comes to our offerings to the Lord, we should make a thoughtful plan to give generously, in proportion to the way He has blessed us. Like the Macedonian Christians, who gave according to their ability – and even beyond their ability (2 Cor. 8:3) – we can and should give a generous portion of the income that God provides us to honor the Lord. So also, we should give freely, just as Jesus gave freely for us. There is no compulsion involved in our works of love and our offerings to the Lord. Nor do we give grudgingly. We should give freely and cheerfully because we want to out of thanksgiving. “Each as he purposes in his heart,” as the Lord says. (2 Cor. 9:7) There is no New Testament ceremonial law involved here. Rather, we are free to give as generously as our Savior has given for us. In the same way, our Lord teaches us to give generously out of love – love for Him and for our neighbor. Genuine love is always love in deed (1 John 3:18), love such as Jesus showed us all. It is love that sees our neighbor in need and gives generously to help him. It is love that hears the Word of the Lord and does what it says. If we truly love, we give generously. If we give without love, our giving is not truly following Jesus. Finally, we follow Jesus in generosity when we give for a good purpose to thank the Lord and support His gospel ministry and other works of mercy. The people of Israel gave generously for the service of God’s gospel purposes, to construct and support the operation of the tabernacle. For that was the place where the Lord received the Old Testament sacrifices, through which He bestowed the forgiveness of sins on His people. So, they gave abundantly – so abundantly that they had to be told to stop giving. (Ex. 36:5-6) In the same way, we should bring generous offerings to support the Lord’s work of bestowing His gifts of forgiveness, life, and salvation in our congregations through the preaching and teaching of His Word, Baptism, and the Lord’s Supper. We should support the Lord’s work of caring for those who are poor and needy. Our Savior calls us to follow His example in generous giving. Let us then, with thankful hearts, rededicate ourselves to following Him in generosity. Bible Quiz

At the burning bush, Moses asks God’s name. What is God’s answer? A. The Lord B. I AM C. The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob D. All of the above

Answer: D (See Exodus 3:14-15.)

Don’t Carry Two Days at Once “Worrying is carrying tomorrow’s load with today’s strength — carrying two days at once. It is moving into tomorrow ahead of time.” This wise counsel is attributed to Corrie ten Boom, a devout Christian whose family in Amsterdam sheltered some 800 Jewish people from Nazis during World War II, suffering imprisonment as a result. Her father and sister died in captivity, but Corrie was freed and later set up a rehabilitation center for concentration camp victims and supporters of the Germans alike. Surely ten Boom couldn’t have survived and achieved what she did without laying aside her worries and trusting God. Indeed, her wisdom closely echoes Jesus’ teaching: “Do not worry about your life. ... Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? ... Your heavenly Father knows [what] you need. ... Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own” (Matthew 6:25-34, NIV).

+Christian Symbol+ Wheat Many of Jesus’ parables liken the kingdom of heaven to wheat growing abundantly in a field, as opposed to weeds planted by the evil one. When God “sows” the gospel broadly, some soil produces great crops of wheat (believers, people who become part of God’s family); elsewhere, wheat (belief) flourishes briefly or not at all. Wheat also symbolizes the bread of Holy Communion and Christ, the bread of life.