“And the shepherds returned,
glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen,
as it was told unto them.”
(Saint Luke 2:20 KJV)
Dear Friends,
Greetings in Jesus’ name.
This New Year’s Eve, I share part of a message from the first Lutheran Hour speaker, Dr. Walter A. Maier, broadcast in the year 1944 while the world was still torn apart by the Second World War.
Lest this year slip away without granting you the greatest gift even the Christ of all power and wealth can give you, I remind you that it is never too late, even after a long life distant from Jesus, to make Him yours. In a Maine village an eighty-six-year-old man lives with his sister, a few years younger. As a child that woman gave her heart to the Lord; but because her brother refused to believe, she began to pray earnestly for his conversion. Years ran their course, and the paths of brother and sister separated. Much more time passed, and their paths came together again; yet during all these decades she pleaded at the Throne of Mercy for her brother. For seventy years (far more than the average lifetime at the time) she continued her petitions. Only a few weeks ago, after one of our broadcasts, that man who had lived fourscore and six years away from Christ answered the Gospel plea and declared his determination to follow Jesus. A listener who reports this miracle of grace writes: “You can imagine the holy joy in that little home as brother and sister knelt together and mingle their prayers and their tears…. The sister says it was a clear and definite conversation at eighty-six. Praise the Lord!” Yes, praise the Lord for the mercy with which He hears the pleading many of you raise in behalf of your unbelieving husband, wife, sister, brother, parents, or children! Praise Him even more, however, by coming to the faith yourself, particularly you, my older friends, who may be living on borrowed time and need Christ more than anything and everything else in the world! Glorify Him now with the childlike, confident, contrite faith of those Bethlehem shepherds.
May the Lord grant you a blessed New Year in His Son, Jesus the Christ.
Coming Up at Prince of Peace …
Sunday, January 4
NO Sunday School or Adult Class
10:30 Service of Holy Communion
Sermon: “A Christian’s Goals for 2015” based on 1 Kings 3:4-15
News …
On January 11, we will have an extending coffee hour as Jim Lang, representing our LCC East District board of directors, will make a presentation on the work of our district. The PowerPoint presentation will take about 45 minutes. It will be an opportunity for us to better understand the work of our church and pray for the work of the Lord among us.
Online …
If Christmas was difficult for you because of challenges and discouragement in your life, you might appreciate this article from LCC. In “The Shadow of Christmas,” Karl Persson reflects on a darker side of the Christmas story—the murder of Bethlehem’s infant boys on King Herod’s orders: “And we wonder, how can this be good news? Is our faith no more than a clash of kings, where we celebrate how the Chosen One—the Messiah—escaped, with little thought for the innocent victims caught in between? Is the kingdom of God just another ‘game of thrones’?” READ MORE
Brazilian Lutherans’ Christmas Carol video goes viral: Musicians in the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Brazil (IELB) have seen their contemporary adaptation of “Angels We Have Heard on High” go viral online. READ MORE
In your prayers, please remember:
- University and college students beginning a new semester
- Christians suffering persecution in various parts of the world
- Eternal God, we commit to Your mercy and forgiveness the year now ending and commend to Your blessing and love the times yet to come. In the new year, abide among us with Your Holy Spirit that we may always trust in the saving name of our Lord Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
The Lord be with you.
Yours in Christ Jesus,
Pastor Kevin Walrath
Prince of Peace Lutheran Church
1299 Brant St.
Burlington, ON
905-332-7671
