Christ’s own humble acts
Open eyes to witness God—
Awash with wonder
Life’s jigsaw puzzle
Searching through God’s Holy Word—
Find our missing peace
Asleep in our boat
Approaching dark, stormy clouds—
Christ fully aware
The disciples went to sleep when they should have kept awake, and when they realized what they had done it produced despair. Never let the sense of failure corrupt your new action.
From Matthew 26:45-46: “Then He returned to the disciples and said to them, ‘Are you still sleeping and resting? Look, the hour has come, and the Son of Man is delivered into the hands of sinners. Rise! Let us go! Here comes my betrayer!'”
We all yearn for what we have lost. But sometimes, we forget what we have.
Faith is about doing. You are how you act, not just how you believe.
From John 6:51: “I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”
Around this treasured sea
Come five thousand and more
Hungry crowd gathering
Miles from food’s nearest store
From boy’s meager knapsack
Two fish and loaves of bread
Filled with wonder, eyes see
All satisfied and fed
Looking later for Him
Finding Jesus onshore
Hungering for His Word
Bread of Life offers more
Coming from His Father
Through Jesus’ wondrous deeds
All should hunger no more
Filling every need
Nourished from Heaven’s bread
Salvation never earned
Filled with wonder again
Jesus’ love now returned
From John 6:40: “This is indeed the will of my Father, that all who see the Son and believe in Him may have eternal life; and I will raise them up on the last day.”
When Jesus asks His followers to be like salt, He is reminding us that we are valuable and necessary in bringing out the best–in one another as well as the world–through ordinary acts of service, mercy, love, and humility.
From Mark 9:49-50: “For everyone will be salted with fire. Salt is good; but if salt has lost its saltiness, how can you season it? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another.”
Anticipation
Weekly worship
Word and Sacrament
Community response to God
Empowerment
Quest
Righteous justice
Transforming unruly sheep
Father dispatches Good Shepherd
Deliverance
Creator
Inviting us
Come to Him
Receive compassion, teaching, healing
Everlasting
From Lamentations 3:22-24: “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. ‘The Lord is my portion,; says my soul, ‘therefore I will hope in Him.'”
Simple acts of faith
Filled with love for man
God pulls at heart strings
Part of Holy plan
Life hungry for hope
Man’s health in decline
Liver in failure
God opens hotline
Future growing dim
Darkness can’t escape
Searching for donor
Life’s faithful landscape
Seeking live donor
Doctors’ preferred choice
Humble man steps up
Quiets hopeless voice
Two lives now at risk
Surgery takes place
Success accomplished
Miracle brings grace
One man’s health restored
Donor’s body mends
Hope’s hunger fulfilled
God’s faith never bends
This poem brings a true story, which is close to my family’s heart. The living donor is my son-in-law, married to my youngest daughter. The two of them will be back home in a few days (about one month since the surgery). Many lives have been changed by this simple, humble act. God’s blessings to all living donors.
From Exodus 20:1-3: “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery; you shall have no other gods before Me.”
Jesus tempted by Satan
Making His choice very clear
Placing Father always first
Walking in trust, without fear
Moses affirming God’s law
Following the Great I Am
Leading Israel to truth
Bearing faith of Abraham
God deserves our attention
Casting away sinful ways
Stepping in footprints of Christ
Hearing treasured Word each day
Always first, focus on God
Needing Christ’s mercy and love
Entering Kingdom’s blessings
Forgiving call from above
From Psalm 100:1-2: “Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth. Worship the Lord with gladness; come into His presence with singing.”
Having a contagious, positive attitude toward God does not mean living unrealistically where you tell everybody nice, upbeat things all the time, whether they are true or not.
From Joel 3:16: “The Lord roars from Zion, and utters his voice from Jerusalem, and the heavens and the earth shake. But the Lord is a refuge for His people, a stronghold for the people of Israel.”
From John 8:31-32: “Then Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in Him, ‘If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.'”
Throughout life spent with our Father
Clutching His message, forthright Word
Students learning each day and night
Growing in Christ, God’s flock He herds
Disciples of faith, taught by God
Walking in step with Jesus Christ
Children of truth’s Living Spirit
Guiding hands, Shepherd sacrificed
Christ’s lessons teach, lighting our way
Believing our Savior, always
His unselfish acts bring freedom
Following Him through life’s dim haze
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit
Building discipleship, praise Him
Lasting kinship as believers
Hearing our faith’s eternal hymn
From Acts 11:25-26: “Then Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul, and when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. So it was that for an entire year they met with the church and taught a great many people, and it was in Antioch that the disciples were first called ‘Christians.'”
