Pastor David Nehrenz
tlcnormanpastor@gmail.com
Dear Fellow Redeemed walking in the Light of Christ,
We are in the Epiphany season from Monday January 6, the Epiphany of Our Lord, until Sunday February 23, the Transfiguration of Our Lord. There are four key events in the life of Christ during the Epiphany season. These are beautifully described in the Hymn “Songs of Thankfulness and Praise” LSB 394.
First is the actual Epiphany of the star that brings the Magi to Jesus. They exult in the glorious Light of the Christ, and bow down and worship him.
Songs of thankfulness and praise,
Jesus, Lord, to Thee we raise,
Manifested by the star
To the sages from afar,
Branch of royal David’s stem
In Thy birth at Bethlehem:
Anthems be to Thee addressed,
God in man made manifest.
Second is the Baptism of our Lord, where the voice of the Father speaks forth from the clouds in the sky and announces, “This is my Beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased!” Third is the first Miracle of our Lord, when Jesus shows his glory to his disciples by changing water into wine at the wedding in Cana.
Manifest at Jordan’s stream,
Prophet, Priest, and King supreme;
And at Cana wedding guest
In Thy Godhead manifest;
Manifest in pow’r divine,
Changing water into wine;
Anthems be to Thee addressed,
God in man-made manifest.
Fourth is the Transfiguration of our Lord, where on the high mountain Jesus shines forth in brilliant light from the cloud of God’s presence. There Moses and Elijah (the Old Testament) and Peter, James and John (the New Testament) hear the Father say, “This is my Beloved Son, Listen to Him!”
Sun and moon shall darkened be,
Stars shall fall, the heav’ns shall flee;
Christ will then like lightning shine,
All will see His glorious sign;
All will then the trumpet hear,
All will see the Judge appear;
Thou by all wilt be confessed,
God in man made manifest.
Also this month, we consider the God-given gift and sanctity of human life. God created human life from conception in our mother’s womb and sustains us till the day of our death. Christians must stand up in defense of God’s gift of life and speak out against abortion, infanticide, mercy-killing and euthanasia, genocide and suicide. Instead, we offer mercy and love for those in hurt and in need. (January 19)
In Jesus our Light,
Pastor David Nehrenz
Vicar Rob Schrader
tlcnormanvicar@gmail.com
About this time every year, it’s common to hear the observation: “I can’t believe how quickly it gets dark!” In fact, you’re receiving this article right around the winter solstice – the day when we have the fewest hours of daylight and the most hours of night. It’s also usually around this time, that people begin to get sick of the cold, dark winter, and start longing for the warmth of summer with its long, bright days.
This cycle of the seasons that we all experience, can help us to better understand an important aspect of the Christian life. Just as many comment on the darkness of the days this time of year, so also many comment on the ‘darkness’ we see in the world – the evil, pain, suffering, and death that we so often encounter. In fact, the Bible equates both the ills of this world & hell with darkness (Col. 1:3 & Matt. 8:12). But just as the darkness of the winter, causes us to hope for the summer; so also the darkness of this world causes us to hope for eternal life with Christ. We read in Romans 5:3-5 that “suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.” If we experienced no darkness – no evil, pain, or suffering – we would never have reason to look to God to end our suffering. It’s in this, that suffering can actually be seen as a blessing – suffering forces us to look to Christ and encourages faith in Christ to end our suffering. The darkness of the world, compels us to seek the light that is the eternal life we gain through Christ. Revelation 21:23 describes this eternal life as such, “And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the lamb.”
The dark suffering of this world points us to the one John describes as “The light (that) shines in the darkness” and “the true light, which gives light to everyone” (John 1:5,9). If the darkness of this world is getting you down, be reminded that in a sense, the darkness is a good thing because it causes us to hope for the light. And indeed that light did come into the world, he did die on the cross and rise from the dead – he overcame the darkness! And now he gives the assured hope of eternal light to all who believe this!
Vicar Rob Schrader
