Emmanuel Lutheran Church & School

Who is dependable?  There are many people, our parents, our teachers, our friends we can count on, but sometimes they may not have the ability and wisdom to help us.  They are human and sometimes we might feel let down by them.  We can’t count on ourselves either.  With God it is different.  He is always where we are.  He knows our needs.  He knows what is happening to us.  He wants us to trust and count on Him.  God has, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future,” as our theme verse for National Lutheran Schools Week proudly proclaims.  We can count on Him to turn all things to good, to guide us, and to watch over us.  A hope and a future is ours through Jesus Christ as we remain firmly rooted and branching out in Him.  

In the story of Jonah and the whale, God gave Jonah a job, and Jonah ran.  Then as he was running, he told the sailors to throw him overboard.  Jonah needed help; Jonah needed to be delivered; Jonah needed to be saved from himself.  God was there to rescue Jonah.  Later Jonah preached to the people of Nineveh, and God rescued, them too.  Today this same, loving God is always here to rescue us, even from problems we cause ourselves.  He protects us, leads us to confess our sin, forgives us, and gives us power to follow Him.  Jesus overcame the problem of sin on the cross and He offers us the solution to the problem of sin.  That solution of forgiveness is something we can be firmly rooted in. 

When you attend a fair, carnival, or circus you often may see a side show. People try to get you to see wild animals from Africa or the world’s tallest man. Really, all they are interested in is to get you to purchase an extra ticket so the event can make money. Christmas is God’s great holiday of love.

Where do we see Christmas? In papers, magazines, stores, and decorated windows? Do we see Christmas at home where Mom is busy buying gifts and wrapping them and Dad just put up the tree that you have to decorate? Something special is going on, something important is about to happen. What should we be seeing? The candles of the Advent wreath and the paraments on the altar talk about repentance, about sorrow for sin, and about the need for a Savior. To see what we should see at Christmas we must look in the right place, God’s Word.