| Stages of a Cold |
|
|
How does a typical husband respond when his wife comes down with a
cold? (Think about how you would before you read futher.
The same could be true of wives too.) In the first year of marriage, he might say something like "Sweetie, I'm really worried about you. You've got a bad sniffle there. I'll carry you upstairs and get you some soup and cold pills. I'll call your mother and see if she can stay with you while I'm at work. You just stay home as long as necessary and get better. You're my baby." In the third year of marriage, he might say, "Honey, I don't like the sound of that cough, it might be the flu that's going around. Why don't you take some pills, go to bed early and I'll take you to the doctor if you really think it's necessary, but I think you'll feel better in the morning." In the fifth year of marriage, he might say something like, "You'd better take it a little easy. Maybe you can make yourself some of that canned soup and then you can get right back into the swing of things. I'll make sure we don't disturb you. You get some rest." In the seventh year of marriage, "Just take a couple of pills and you'll be fine. After you make dinner and do the dishes you can get some rest. You don't sound that bad." In the ninth year, he might sound like this, "Agh, stay away from me! Do you have to sneeze so much? I don't want to get sick. Go gargle or something, would ya'." Love has a way of growing cold (pun intended) unless we intentionally make an effort to keep our love fresh and alive. This is true for both our relationships on earth and the one with God. There are so many pressures around us and so many temptations that people often find themselves too busy for God and in a marriage that they describe as "a loveless, slow, agonizing suffocation." |
That
doesn't have to be so. It's when we let the pressures of money,
and jobs, and kids, and general business have control over us that
marriages tend to slowly die. When people take control of their
lives by living more modestly, saying no to some activities and, most
of all, realizing and living the plan that God has for them, then
people remain committed to and contented with each other.
When people know the love that God has for them and imitate that love, joy abounds. This short Bible passage says it best, "God is Love!" That's why Jesus came into the world, because of His great love for us. We have no Teddy-Bear like characteristics in us to make us lovable. God made us and loves us no matter what. We need never doubt His love. With Him we have forgiveness and contentment. That contentment stems from our knowing Jesus' love. Contentment is more than a buzz-word with the Lord. Peter reminded the people to make every effort to add to your faith several qualities. The last of them was love. Then he reminds everyone, "For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ." 2 Peter 1:8 In our marriage seminar on Feb. 4th, we'll look at ways to keep a marriage fresh and enjoyable. All people are sinners. Couples need to remember or be reminded of why they married each other in the first place. They need to rekindle the love that led them to say, "I Do". All these are instilled in us by our Lord. They are the qualities I referred to earlier in verse seven that I'll now list: goodness, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, kindness. Sound like a good list for marriage? We hope you can join us the 4th, if not, come to worship the one who loves you and died and rose again for you. His love doesn't grow cold (or get a cold)! |
|
Something to think about...Man's best friend
Radio host Dennis Prager has been speaking to crowds of high school seniors for the past 25 years. He sometimes asks them: "If you had to choose, whom would you save from drowning first--your own dog or a human stranger?" Nearly always the answer he gets is, "My dog." Why? "Because I know and love my dog," the students say. In other words, for these young people, an animal that they know deserves to live more than a person they don't know. Think about this. It's frightening. How does it happen? Is this the result of an aggressive ad campaign by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA)? Have these students been warped by too much childhood exposure to fairy tailes and Disney cartoons? Not likely. But the real problem is bigger than an out-of-control love for animals. It's a scale of value--a way of making moral decisions--that's totally out of whack. At the center of their moral universe, the students have really placed, not their dogs, but themselves. How close something is to me is what determines its value. People and things become less important as they move out of my little orbit. This is the only way someone comes to believe that a person is worth less than a dog or a cat, or a car, or a brand-name pair of tennis shoes. It's frightening because the logic at work here leads to pure savagery. Once an anthropologist was talking with a tribesman in the Amazon about how the tribe dealt with strangers they would meet in the forest. Why do you kill them?" the anthropologist asks. "Becuase we don't know them," the tribesman finally said, after at first appearing not to understand the question. The difference between the tribe's value system and that of Prager's high school seniors is only a matter of degree. In fact, this is the default value system of all humanity. St. Augustine called it homo incurvatus in se--"man turned in on himself," a phrase Maartin Luther quoted often. It's that basic, human egocentrism that assumes that the whole world revolves around me, and anything that can't or won't, is expendable. Because it comes so naturally to us, human egocentrism is a powerful--almost unstoppable--force. |
But in God, it met the Immovable Object. In his Word, God makes
it clear that He's not about to become just another planet in my little
solar system. When we meet God in his Word, the result is a
Copernican revolution. God takes his rightful place at the center
of things. We return to our rightful orbit around Him.
God--not ourselves--becomes the supreme value. And as we grow, we
learn to see things the way God does and to value the things God values. In particular, we grow to prize the precious people whom God loves and for whom Jesus died. That means all people, whether or not I smile every time I think of them. The way I do with my dog. By Ken Cherney Pastor Martin Luther College BIBLE CLASS TOPICS: The Sunday morning class is just finishing with Bible Walk and will be finishing the power-point study of St. Paul. Sunday School is resuming Christ-Light on Old Testament stories. Small Groups are encouraging themselves with Prepared to Answer. 2005 STATISTICS
|
||||||||||||||||||
| Bible Quiz...on Marriage at the Resurrection Mark 12:18–27 1. God, through Moses, had instructed the Israelites that if a man married, had no children and died, that his single brother should A. marry his widowed sister-in-lae B. support the widow financially as long as necessary C. sacrifice a bull and wear sack-cloth D. send flowers and sign her up for E-Harmony.com dating service 2. The woman married 7 brothers and then died. Jesus was then asked by the Saducees A. Were all those marriages legal? B. At the resurrection, whose wife will she be? C. Was it right to make the other brothers marry her? D. Did they have to get the 7th brother drunk before he married that black widow? 3. Jesus replied that at the resurrection, people will be like the angels. They will A. only serve God day and night so don't need marriage B. be like angels so they aren't bound by earthly concerns and laws C. neither marry nor be given in marriage D. fly around with wings, harps, bows & arrows making people fall in love |
BIBLE
INFORMATION CLASS
BIC is the best and most essential of all our Bible Classes. It is designed to help someone with little knowledge of the Bible to have an excellent grasp of the Bible's teachings. Yet, the class is not too technical to confuse anyone. I strongly recommend everyone to take a refresher course every five years. The Class meets on Monday nights at 7:15. Pastor can answer all the questions you might have about the class or about the Bible. Give it a try! LENT is a six week season of repentance leading up to Easter. It begtins March 1st with Ash Wednesday. We will again have midweek Wednesday night services starting at 7:00 with a meal at 6:15 before each service. We also expect Pastor to be exchanging with other areas WELS pastors. FAVORITE HYMN FESTIVAL II Febryary 12th is the date for our second top ten hymns. We voted in October, and now we'll use the next ten (with background information) as the basis of our service that day. Hope you can come! Bible Quiz Answers 1. A 2. B 3. C |
| Humor WHAT IS LOVE?
A group of professional people posed this question to a group of 6–8 year olds, "What does love mean?" The answers they got were broader and deeper than anyone could have imagined. See what you think: "Love is when a girl puts on perfume and a boy puts on shaving cologne and they do out and smell each other." Karl--age 5 "Love is when you go out to eat and give somebody most of your French fries without making them give you any of theirs." Anne--age 6 "Love is what's in the room with you at Christmas if you stop opening presents and listen." Ty--age 7 "If you want to learn to love better, you should start with a friend who you hate." Nikka--age 6 "There are two kinds of love, Our love. God's love. But God makes both kinds of them." Jenny--age 8 "Love is when you tell a boy you like his shirt, then he wears it every day." Noelle--age 7 "During my piano recital I was scared. I looked at all the people watching me and then I saw my daddy waving and smiling. He was the only one doing that. I wasn't scared anymore." Cindy--age 8 "Love is when Mommy gives Daddy the best piece of chicken." Elaine--age 6 |
"Love is
when Mommy sees Daddy smelly and sweaty and still says he is handsomer
than Brad Pitt." Christ--age 7 "I know my older sister loves me because she gives me all her old clothes and has to go out and buy new ones." Lauren--age 6 "You really shouldn't say 'I love you' unless you mean it. But if you mean it, you should say it a lot. People forget." Jessica--age 8 MARRIAGE SEMINAR On Feb. 4th from 10:00–3:00, we'll present a sminar designed to strengthen already stron marriages and help hurting ones. This seminar will be based on God's Word, videos from Dr. Kevin Leman (noted Christian Counselor/Psychiatrist) and group discussion. It promises to be fun and enriching. The list of Dr. Leman's topics (we'll only have time for four of them; the rest couples will work through at home) is as fololows: Designed to be Different
Where have all the Flowers Gone? Striking the Perfect Match Looking for Love in Two Special Faces Don't Rock the Jukebox Sex begins in the Kitchen Enjoying the Journey |
