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Past issues of the Paraclete can be found on the RFL site in the Life Advocate Training section. |
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To receive the latest and most up-to-date information on the life issues, visit the LFL Life Blog. The link can also be found on the main page of the RFL site. |
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Do you have a “For Life” event in your area? Let us know. Send the information to jrichard@lutheransforlife.org. Or add the event in the RFL Forum. |
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| FORUM Prayer Wall: Do you have a special prayer request? You can post your requests in the FORUM by clicking on the group you are involved in (pastors or Life Advocates). Then click “Add Prayer” on the right-hand side of the page. You can add your own prayer request or encourage others with a verse or prayer thought. | |
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Devotional Thoughts by Dr. Lamb “There are a lot of people doing some very bad things,” wrote Speaker Emeritus of The Lutheran Hour, Rev. Ken Klaus, in the devotion we used here at the Life Center recently. He said this after citing some very bad things happening in the news lately. But he ends the devotion, “But … because of Jesus there are a lot of God’s people doing some very right things.” Those “very right things” the fruit the Spirit produces in our everyday lives do not make the headlines. They do not make the paper at all. They go unnoticed. The eighty-year-old husband whose wife has Alzheimer’s, sets the alarm to get up in the middle of the night to take her to the bathroom so she doesn’t hurt herself trying it alone. An elderly man with a walker takes church bulletins and tapes of the service to those who are homebound. A little 5th grade girl makes the effort to come all the way to the front after a presentation I did at her school to say, “Thanks for teaching us today.” I’m not making these up. These are real folks whose names I know. But you do not know them, nor will you read about them in the paper. No one notices these little things—even the people doing them. Remember the response of those on His right hand when Jesus blessed them and said, “I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink … ” (Matthew 25:35a). They must have given Jesus a perplexed look when they asked, “[W]hen did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink?” (25:37) It’s like the man mentioned above whose wife has Alzheimer’s. I said to him once, “This must be very difficult for you.” That’s when I got a perplexed look, and he just said in a matter of fact tone, “It’s what we do.” After the devotion, the Life Team here discussed how this was a good picture of so many people involved in Lutherans For Life. Question those LFLers standing in the rain in that Life Chain, or those at the display at the county fair, or those handing out precious feet on Mother’s Day, or those knitting preemie baby caps, or those putting tracts in the tract rack, and you are likely to hear a similar response, “It isn’t much, but it’s what we do.” Of course, it is “much”! In LFL we see so many of “God’s people doing some very right things.” We see God at work in these “right things.” Through them, He makes a difference in people’s lives, He changes people’s lives, He saves people’s lives now and for eternity. That’s “much”! We sometimes get caught up in the “big things” here at the Life Center—getting a budget prepared for the board of directors, producing new DVDs, working on Life Sunday 2013 when 2012 isn’t even here yet, getting LifeDate written and formatted and proofed and to the printer. But it is all those little things, those “right things” that people like you do every day without even realizing it that make the difference. This devotion moved us to say a special prayer thanking the Lord of Life for you and for so many like you. We asked Him to strengthen you and encourage you, and to give you the assurance that He is at work in all those little “right things” that so many are doing to affirm and protect His gift of life. People doing those very bad things may make headlines, but it’s people like you who, because of Jesus, are doing those very right things that make a difference. Thank you! |
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Renewal For Life Resources Next month is Christmas! A time of year we celebrate the birth of our Risen Savior. To help prepare your congregation this Christmas with the life-affirming message, the RFL site has a number of resources. Sermon: Creation/Worship Resources/Sermons/A Gift of life by the God of Life by Reverend Andrew Bartelt, speaks about the gift of life from Adam and Eve to the miracle of Christ’s birth. Sermon: Creation/Worship Resources/Sermons/Word of Life by Dr. James Lamb focuses on the Word of Life from the beginning, and ALL life came through Him. Article: Biotechnology/Essays and Articles/Defending the Defenseless by Rev. Dr. Kevin E. Voss, looks at how Jesus entered this world as a one-celled embryo just as we did. He was full God and full man. “Jesus’ incarnation speaks volumes about bioethics issues like human embryonic stem cell research. Jesus’ humanity began when He was ‘conceived by the Holy Spirit.’ From conception, Jesus was fully God and fully man. We often forget that Jesus’ existence here on earth as true man began, not with His birth, but with His conception by the Holy Spirit.” Here are some ideas you can use to connect the life issues to God’s Word this Christmas:
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Other resources:
Note: Every category on the RFL site now has references to outside sources for more information and resources for your use. Look on the main page of each section in the right-hand corner for more information. |
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NEW! Life Sunday 2012
“Choose life!” (Deuteronomy 30:19)
The word “choice” in connection with life raises all kinds of questions and controversy. The Christian view of “choice” differs greatly from the world’s view. The world chooses based on what they want. We base our choices on being chosen by God in Jesus Christ. As chosen people, we are called to first and foremost trust God and His will as we make our choices. Click here to find out about all the new resources that are available from LFL so your congregation can share the idea of Christian choice as it relates to the sanctity of human life.
Life Sunday is January 22, 2012. This year it falls on the anniversary of Roe v. Wade, January 22, 1973. Our materials, however, may be used at any time during the year. |
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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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