News and Announcements Christ Lutheran Church Eagan Minnesota
February 14th, 2016
Baptism and Temptation of Christ- Palo Veronese, 1582
Verse of the Week:
“If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” Romans 10:9
This Week in Sunday school:
This week, Sunday School students will be studying the “The Boy Jesus in the Temple” using verses from the second chapter of Luke. A note from Pastor: Jesus, our Champion against the devil, endures and overcomes “every temptation” (Lk. 4:13) on our behalf. He worships the Lord His God and serves, not self, but Him only by trusting the word of His Father, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased” (Lk. 3:22). Jesus’ victory is now ours through His gracious Word, which is not far away from us, but “near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (Rom. 10:8), in the proclamation of repentance and faith. St. Paul reminds us, “With the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved” (Rom. 10:10). Our confession (i.e. proclamation) of Christ includes the prayer of faith, which is never disappointed, for “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” (Rom. 10:13). The Lord is not oblivious to our “affliction and toil” (Deut. 26:7), but He has
mercy on us. He has brought out of the bondage to sin “with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm” (Deut. 26:8) – with holy arms “outstretched” on a cross – and with the “signs and wonders” of Holy Baptism and Holy Communion. Now He leads us by His Spirit even in the wilderness of our temptations and distresses. “Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God” (Heb. 12:2). -Pastor
Heggen