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The new RFL site is online!! Check it out! To register on the new site, go to www.rflonline.org and click the “Request Login” link, you will receive password and confirmation information via email to get you logged in! |
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News and Notes
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Some Devotional Thoughts
March came in with a blaze of glory! It will go out following the Lamb of God to the cross. March 6th was Transfiguration Sunday. We saw Jesus as God in all His glory. Lent began March 9th. Like the three awe-struck disciples, we must leave the glory of the Transfiguration and follow Jesus to the glory of the cross. The Transfiguration tells us who we follow—not some popular preacher, not some prophet, not some miracle worker. We follow God to the cross in the person of Jesus—an essential teaching of the Bible.
“None of the rulers of this age understood this, for if they had they would not have crucified the Lord of glory” (1 Corinthians 2:8).
“Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood” (Acts 20:28).
We follow the “Lord of glory” to the cross where God bought us “with his own blood.” Bought by the blood of God! We are not used to speaking like this but it is a truth of Scripture made possible by the divine mystery of the two natures of Christ—both God and man. Our Lutheran Confessions comment on this mystery.
“Next to the holy Trinity this is the highest mystery, as the apostle testifies and the sole foundation to our comfort, life, and salvation” (Formula of Concord, Epitome, VII, 18). The enormity of the price paid for you assures you of comfort no matter the source of sorrow. It assures you of God’s presence no matter what may be going on in your life. It assures you of your salvation for the terrible high price for your sins have been paid.
The “Lord of glory” was crucified for every human being. Every human being was purchased with “his own blood.” What foundational value this brings to human life. Every human life could be stamped, “Bought by the blood of God!” Nothing else need be factored into the value equation. Size, where you live, the condition of your health, your ability to respond or know the names of your family members—nothing else trumps or undermines the value given you by the “Lord of glory” who purchased you “with his own blood.”
When dealing with life issues, the starting place for the Christian needs to be the cross on which the Lord of glory was crucified. The starting place cannot be politics or passing laws or morality or even God’s commands. The enormity and atrocity of the problem of the destruction of vulnerable human life will never be comprehended nor addressed with zeal and passion within Lutheranism until we recognize the enormity of the price paid by God Himself for those lives society so easily casts aside. I pray that our journey from the glory of the Transfiguration to the Lord of glory suffering and dying on a cross will help renew the understanding of that price in each of us and move us to do even more to help others see the same. |
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Equipping Gospel-motivated Voices For Life All Year Long!
The church and calendar years offer many opportunities to share the For Life message! Here are just a few examples of resources that can help! Contact LFL if you need more info. Order resources from CPH.
Mother’s Day (May 8) – On Sale!:
The Ascension (June 2):
Father’s Day (June 19) – On Sale!: |
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Life Advocate Team Training – Historic Chicago Event
The Renewal For Life® Life Team here at the Life Center (Wow, that’s a lot of LIFE!), conducted our very first Life Advocate Team Leader Training March 19 at Immanuel Lutheran Church in the Chicago suburb of Elmhurst, Illinois. The purpose of this training was to gather Life Advocates and pastors of Renewal For Life congregations and provide some face to face leadership training. We used training DVD’s produced by Churches For Life in St. Louis. This organization is very similar to our RFL initiative and seeks to establish Life Teams and Life Team Leaders within congregations. Their training fits our needs very well. If you would like to learn more about them, their website is www.getintolife.org. You may find helpful leadership tips and articles there as well. Our eventual goal is to provide this kind of training in other areas. But we do not want to just go train and then leave. That is why we have established a Regional Director position in conjunction with Renewal For Life®. Diane Schroeder, LFL’s president, has volunteered to be the interim Regional Director in the Chicago area. The regional director will provide ongoing help and encouragement in establishing Life Advocates and Life Teams in the Renewal For Life® congregations in the region. We would like to see this repeated across the country. We are presently working with Churches for Life to provide training for the Regional Directors and we would eventually like to have this be a paid position. So, even though we are in the very early stages of this, I invite you to let us know if you have anyone in your area who might be interested. It is not a position just anyone who has a passion for life can fill. Below are the qualifications and responsibilities we drafted at this point. You will notice the last responsibility is fund raising. Our hope is that these positions would eventually become self-sustaining through support of congregations in the area. |
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Renewal For Life Regional Director
Purpose Qualifications
Primary Responsibilities
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Resources for Easter
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Life Quotes and Life Thoughts can also be found on the Home page in the Renewal For Life library. |
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