Life has changed in many ways in this country and it has been impossible for the church to avoid being impacted by these changes. Now Christian parents struggle to keep the Lord and his church first while still giving their children opportunities to participate in extracurricular activities.  Many children and youth are growing up in homes which are devoid of Bible reading, prayer, and conversation about God.  Too many parents are neglecting their God-given duty to raise their children “in the fear and admonition of the Lord.” They seldom if ever set foot in church; God’s name is used only in vain, and they are “without God and having no hope in the world.” 

What is the consequence of all of these things? It’s spiritual ignorance and lack of any knowledge of Christ or the stories in Scripture. Most of us grew up with those stories told or read in the home and heard also in Church. Today many children have no knowledge at all of the Bible stories of the Old and New Testament. As we begin the New Year the Gospel readings give us the opportunity to review many of the stories about Jesus during our worship. On January 5^th I will begin a sermon series for the Epiphany season entitled, “Stories of the Savior”. Each Sunday the sermon will be based on the Gospel reading and we will talk about some of the special events in the life of Jesus. The series will begin with the visit of the wisemen and Jesus’ presentation in the temple and continue through His transfiguration.

Offertory

At this time we ask you to give whatever you can. Our Redeemer Lutheran’s missions reach out in many ways to our community, and we can’t do it without your ongoing support.

Deuteronomy 16:16b, 17 – “They shall not appear before the LORD empty-handed. Every man shall give as he is able, according to the blessing of the LORD your God that He has given you.”