The Week of Oculi (Lent 3)
Notes from Grace
This is the day that the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it! You are baptized into the death of Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God. The merits He won with His righteous life are yours. You are redeemed from sin. May Jesus lead you this week that you may live a truly holy and righteous life before our Father in heaven. In baptism we are made to die to sin and to walk in newness of life. The evil spirits whisper temptations in your heart and mind and lead you into the darkness of despair; may the Holy Spirit given drive them away and keep them far from your heart, mind, soul, and home! May the light shine for us so that you may renounce sin and live for God who loved you so much that He sent His Son to die for you.
Yesterday was a wonderful day at church! The Sunday is called Oculi, Latin for "my eyes" from Psalm 25 "My eyes are ever toward the Lord, for He will pluck my feet out of the net." We heard the good news of Jesus victory over sin, death, and Satan. We were fed Jesus' life-giving body and blood. We sang strong hymns that proclaimed Jesus victory for us. And we joined together to share the good gifts of daily bread and the life that we have shared together this past year.
You may have noticed on our Facebook page that I shared some pictures from a past church dinner. Those were from our church birthday party in February of 2020. When I looked at those pictures, I saw that there were some of Marv Roth and Jim Kamerzell. That was in all likelihood the last church dinner those two shared in this life. Christ bring us all to His heavenly feast so we can share good food and laugh with saints like them again.
What's Happening This Week?
Mon-Thurs 8:00am-11:00am Little Lambs
Tues All Day Pastor's Winkel in Crawford
Wed 6:00pm Midweek Evening Prayer Service "What Comes From Our Hearts?" with soup & sandwiches to follow
Thurs 9:30am Adult Catechesis
Sun 9:00am Bible Class; 10am Divine Service Laetare Sunday (Feeding of the 5000)
Our Mission offerings for the rest of the month will be going towards helping those affected by the train derailment in East Palestine, OH. Here is more information about those efforts
Looking Ahead
Make plans to keep attending the Wednesday midweek services through the end of March
Apr 2: Palm Sunday "Hosanna! Blessed is the King!"
Apr 6, 6pm: Maundy Thursday "Given for You"
Apr 7, 6pm: Good Friday "He Has Torn, But He Will Heal"
Apr 8, 6pm: Easter Vigil "O Death, Where is Your Sting?"
Apr 9, 8am: Easter Sunday "He Is Risen Indeed!" Note that the time in the mailing was wrong! Easter Sunday will be at 8am with breakfast to follow.
Devotional Life
Mar 17, Patrick, Missionary to Ireland Patrick is one of the best-known of the missionary saints. Born to a Christian family in Britain around the year 389, he was captured as a teenager by raiders, taken to Ireland, and forced to serve as a herdsman. After six years he escaped and found his way to a monastery community in France. Ordained a bishop in 432, he made his way back to Ireland, where he spent the rest of his long life spreading the Gospel and organizing Christian communities. He strongly defended the doctrine of the Holy Trinity in a time when it was not popular to do so. His literary legacy includes his autobiography, Confessio, and several prayers and hymns still used in the church today. Patrick died around the year 466.
One of the hymns we still use in our hymnal is #604 "I Bind Unto Myself Today." Listen to the hymn here.
There is another setting of this hymn that is absolutely powerful as a prayer for our whole Christian life. Listen to it here:. Here are the lyrics:
Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me,
Christ in me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ on my right, Christ on my left,
Christ when I lie down, Christ when I sit down,
Christ in me, Christ when I arise,
Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of every man who speaks of me,
Christ in every eye that sees me,
Christ in every ear that hears me,
Christ with me.
Here is more information about the prayer from which these songs are taken
Salt, Light, & Signs of the Times
St. Patrick preached before kings and converted a nation. Here is an article about a group in Michigan seeking to put their faith into practice in their daily lives. You can read the article and get a sense for how that is generally viewed in our nation today. After reading that, listen to a response from a Lutheran pastor who has written multiple books for CPH and a former professor at the Ft. Wayne Seminary who is now a pastor in Denver.
That's it for now.
In Christ,
Pastor Sherman