'grief' Tagged Posts
Daily Devotions
Even though you intended to do harm to me, God intended it for good, in order to preserve a numerous people, as he is doing today.” vs. 20 Genesis 50:15-20 The date September 11, or more familiarly, 9/11, has an iconic quality to it, and,like December 7, 1941 for a prior generation, quickly brings back a whole flood of memories. Many can easily recount what they were doing on that Tuesday morning and can remember what it was like to…
Howie Wennes Celebration of Life
A Celebration of Life Service will be held on Sunday, August 14 at Ascension Lutheran Church in Thousand Oaks at 1:00 p.m. The service will also be livestreamed during that time on Ascension’s website at https://alcto.org/. The service also will be available for viewing at a later date.
Remembering Howie Wennes
“We miss you, Howie Wennes, and we thank God for your work in lighting the lamp of Spirit in the Desert that continues to guide us today.”
Daily Devotions
When this perishable body puts on imperishability, and this mortal body puts on immortality, then the saying that is written will be fulfilled: ‘Death has been swallowed up in victory.’” vs. 54 1 Corinthians 15:42-56 When death comes to a person of faith, and a funeral is held, there will always be some expressions of grief. That’s to be expected when a loved one dies–they’re going to be missed, so of course there are tears. But there will also be…
Daily Devotions
Be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am in distress; my eye wastes away from grief, my soul and body also.” vs. 9 Psalm 31:9-16 Fortunately not everyone experiences the depth of pain that was tormenting the psalmist as he wrote these words. Some of us manage to skate through life with little or no adversity along the way. That’s just the way it is, and it has little to do with our goodness or our choices. But it…
Daily Devotions
1 Thessalonians 4:13-15 “But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about those who have died, so that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope.” vs. 13 Early followers of Jesus expected him to come again to usher in the promised eternal reign of God, and when that much anticipated return was delayed, some began to worry about those who were dying. Were they out of luck? Would they miss out on…
Daily Devotions: March 11, 2018
March 11, 2018 John 3:19-21 … “And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil.” vs. 19 The contrast between light and darkness was an important one in the gospel of John. In his prologue he describes the Word as the light of the world, a light which darkness was not able to overcome. In this section, he tells his readers that even though…
Daily Devotions: March 10, 2018
March 10, 2018 John 3:14-18 …“And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.” vss. 14-15 We can wonder a lot about the writers of the gospels, who they were and why they were motivated to write. Obviously they never guessed that the simple stories they put together would face the unrelenting scrutiny of Greek scholars around the world. But…
Daily Devotions: March 9, 2018
March 9, 2018 Ephesians 2:6-10 … “For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life.” vs. 10 God hasn’t given us all of these amazing gifts of grace as an exercise in generosity; but—because God is madly in love with us, and there’s a method to God’s madness. In Christ Jesus, specifically in his resurrection, there’s been a new creation in which we were…
Daily Devotions: March 8, 2018
March 8, 2018 Ephesians 2:1-5 … “But God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which he loved us even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—” vss. 4-5 All humans are pretty much the same. We all have strong passions, what the writer of Ephesians calls the desires of the flesh. And those passions aren’t intrinsically good or bad, that’s just the way we’re…
Daily Devotions: March 7, 2018
March 7, 2018 Psalm 107:17-22 … “Some were sick through their sinful ways, and because of their iniquities endured affliction; they loathed any kind of food, and they drew near to the gates of death.” vss. 17-18 The psalmist was a realist. As he looked at his people’s history and saw the way so many suffered, it was obvious that they were reaping the consequences of their careless decisions. That continues to be the way it is for so many.…
Daily Devotions: March 6, 2018
March 6, 2018 Psalm 107:1-3 …“O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever.” vs. 1 As we move on in the season of Lent, it’s good to see how the psalmist regarded God. We spend so much time in speculation about the Lord’s identity that it’s easy to forget the essential truth that is at the core of God’s being. Not only is God omnipotent, majestic and holy, God is good!…