November 28 – December 4, 2021

This week, we begin a new year in the Christian Church calendar. The season of Advent is a season of beginnings. The word “advent” means “coming.” In this season, we hear prophecies of Christ’s first coming and prepare ourselves to celebrate his birth. We also are blessed by his coming to us to live and rule in our hearts by his Word and the Sacraments of Holy Baptism and Holy Communion. And we are reminded of the reality that he will come again one day to judge all people and to take his own to eternal glory. In the words of first century Christians, we pray, “Come, Lord Jesus” (Rev 22:21).

With the beginning of the new year, I am also going to transition away from the printed “order of service” and readings for each day of the week. Those who wish to repeat the patterns of the past two years may go back to previous blog posts to find those resources. Instead, I want to focus my readers on the resources available in the new Christian Worship Hymnal (copyright 2021, Northwestern Publishing House).

Page 235 in Christian Worship explains the six orders of devotion that are found on the following twelve pages and how they might be used. Like the order that I have prepared for you these past two years, these orders offer tremendous flexibility, with the added benefit of unique features to fit the time of day when you are meditating on God’s Word. I encourage you to consider using them.

On pages 248-254, you’ll find two Scripture lessons assigned for each day of the year, as well as a list of suggested psalms that fit the different seasons of the year.

I know that some of my readers have found benefit in knowing the readings and hymns planned for the following Sunday’s service and in using them in their devotional time. I hope to continue to make that information available on this blog each week. Here is what is planned at Riverview Lutheran Church, Appleton, WI, for Sunday, December 5:

  • Readings: Malachi 3:1-7b; Philippians 1:3-11; Luke 3:1-6
  • Hymns: Dawning Light of Our Salvation (311); On Jordan’s Bank the Baptist’s Cry (316); There’s a Voice in the Wilderness Crying (308); Arise, O Christian People (314, st. 3-4)

Finally, I’ll point you to a posting of several devotional resources, some of which are assigned specifically for the Advent season of the year.

May God bless your growth in faith, as you meditate on his Word this week!

Your brother in Christ,

Pastor Wagner

November 21-27, 2021

What would it be like to meet God? We know he is almighty and holy. He loathes sin. No wonder that when God appears to his Old Testament people, their first response is typically terror. But when Jesus Christ came into our world, he hid his glory and power. He humbled himself so that sinners would be drawn to him rather than driven away in fear.

Here is this week’s “Together in the Word” (click here for a more mobile-friendly version) for your personal and/or family devotional use. This week brings us to the end of another year. If you have followed the Old Testament readings, you will have completed the entire Old Testament. Next week, with the beginning of Advent and the beginning of the use of Christian Worship Hymnal, our format will change slightly. I encourage you to consider ordering a copy of this hymnal (and the accompanying Christian Worship Psalter) for your personal or family devotional life.

May God continue to grow your faith, as you hear and study his Word this week!

Your Brother in Christ,
Pastor Wagner

November 14-20, 2021

The eternal majesty of the King of Kings shines forth in our readings for this week. Jesus rules as King over all things. He deserves all glory, honor and praise. He is the eternal King who will come again in glory to judge. He is the King who left his majestic throne; he was so humble that he gave his life for his subjects.

Here is this week’s “Together in the Word” (click here for a more mobile-friendly version) for your personal and/or family devotional use.

May God continue to grow your faith, as you hear and study his Word this week!

Your Brother in Christ,
Pastor Wagner

November 7-13, 2021

Like children playing hide and seek, Jesus calls out to us through his Word, “Ready or not, here I come!” Thanks be to God that through Jesus’ saving work on the cross, we have been made ready. May his Spirit keep us in saving faith in him.

Here is this week’s “Together in the Word” (click here for a more mobile-friendly version) for your personal and/or family devotional use.

May God continue to grow your faith, as you hear and study his Word this week!

Your Brother in Christ,
Pastor Wagner

October 31 – November 6, 2021

At the end of the world, Jesus will come back in glory to judge both the living and the dead. Those who believe in him receive a verdict of “not-guilty.” Those who do not believe stand condemned to the eternal suffering of hell.

Here is this week’s “Together in the Word” (click here for a more mobile-friendly version) for your personal and/or family devotional use.

May God continue to grow your faith, as you hear and study his Word this week!

Your Brother in Christ,
Pastor Wagner

October 24-30, 2021

When we observe the Reformation we give thanks to God for his rescue from hell, rescue that comes by his grace alone. We thank him for the faith he gives us to trust his promise. We thank God for his errorless word, the Bible, which gives and strengthens that faith. At the same time we understand that we can fall away from that grace by unbelief. We recognize that Satan, society and our sinful self will daily challenge our faith. Therefore let us never stray from God’s life-giving word.

Here is this week’s “Together in the Word” (click here for a more mobile-friendly version) for your personal and/or family devotional use.

May God continue to grow your faith, as you hear and study his Word this week!

Your Brother in Christ,
Pastor Wagner

October 17-23, 2021

“I am the greatest,” shouted Muhammad Ali after one of his more famous boxing victories. “I am,” he later added, “the greatest heavyweight of all time.” How would you define greatness? Is it power? Wealth? Fame? In our readings for this week, the Greatest who ever lived, he who died for us all and rose again, shows us that true greatness comes through humble service.

Here is this week’s “Together in the Word” (click here for a more mobile-friendly version) for your personal and/or family devotional use.

May God continue to grow your faith, as you hear and study his Word this week!

Your Brother in Christ,
Pastor Wagner

October 10-16, 2021

It is easy to get one’s priorities mixed up, especially when it comes to the importance of material and temporal things. Material things are to be used for the glory of God. When we forget this, things become number one in a person’s life. God in Christ provides for all the necessities of life—including the greatest necessity—forgiveness of sin. He places within the believer’s heart proper priorities. In addition, God promises everlasting treasure in heaven.

Here is this week’s “Together in the Word” (click here for a more mobile-friendly version) for your personal and/or family devotional use.

May God continue to grow your faith, as you hear and study his Word this week!

Your Brother in Christ,
Pastor Wagner

October 3-9, 2021

The Holy Ministry is filled with people who God called out of his boundless mercy. Nothing else could explain the choices for ministers that God made! He calls such sinful and weak men to fill this office. Only mercy can explain the men he chose: a despised tax collector, an exiled killer, a persecutor of Christians. How poignant these lessons are, when we remember that each lesson was penned by the unworthy minister called into service by God’s boundless mercy!

Here is this week’s “Together in the Word” (click here for a more mobile-friendly version) for your personal and/or family devotional use.

May God continue to grow your faith, as you hear and study his Word this week!

Your Brother in Christ,
Pastor Wagner

September 26 – October 2, 2021

Sinners sin. We all sin. But we cannot excuse our sin because we act like others. Sin requires radical surgery: Jesus says: “If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off” (Mark 9: 43). The good news is that Jesus was “cut off” from his own Father through his death on the cross, in order to reunite us with God and with one another. As his servants we are the “salt” of the earth, standing out as we show allegiance to Jesus and the gospel.

Here is this week’s “Together in the Word” (click here for a more mobile-friendly version) for your personal and/or family devotional use.

May God continue to grow your faith, as you hear and study his Word this week!

Your Brother in Christ,
Pastor Wagner

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