LCMS Life Ministries and Lutherans For Life (LFL) both are offering resources designed to help congregations observe “Life Sunday” on Jan. 16 or Jan. 23 — a date closer to the anniversary date of the U.S. Supreme Court’s Jan. 22, 1973, decision that legalized abortion.
Life Ministries, a program area of LCMS World Relief and Human Care, is providing free online resources including a sermon study, a bulletin insert, a psalmody and hymn suggestions.
To download the resources, go to www.lcms.org/lifesunday.
LFL is offering new bulletin inserts, a Bible study, sermons and a children’s message on the theme of “Hands that Knit, Arms that Hold,” from Mark 10:13-16, in which the disciples try to keep children from the arms of Jesus.
“These children were precious. They were the work of His hands, knit together in their mothers’ wombs. Jesus uses these as a picture of all who are vulnerable and in need,” LFL Executive Director Dr. James I. Lamb wrote in a cove
r letter with a sample mailing of the new materials that LFL sent in October to congregations, LFL groups and other “friends of life.” LFL is a pan-Lutheran organization based in Nevada, Iowa.
LFL’s new Life Sunday materials include six sermons:
- In “Hands that Knit, Arms that Hold,” based on Ps. 139:13-14 and the theme passage, Lamb points out that God made us with His hands and “loved what He made so much, He sent His son to rescue us from sin.”
- In “Vanquished to Victorious,” based on Is. 9:1-4, Lamb focuses on the sin of “abortion that vanquishes and the hope we have of being victorious in Christ.”
- In “Find Blessing in the Arms of Jesus,” from the theme passage, Rev. Jerry Moan reminds us that Jesus is the source of life and every blessing – physical and spiritual.
- In “The Divine Weaver and Me,” based on Ps. 139:1-6 and 13-18, Dr. Gaylan Mathiesen says, “even from the day of our conception, our total human existence belongs not to us but to God who created us, and thus life is meaningless apart from Him.”
- In “Father’s Knitting, Manly Hugging,” based on the theme passage, Dr. Carl Fickenscher II notes that every “human life is knitted together by the hands of a heavenly Father and every soul is held close by the arms of the Man who spread His out on the cross.”
- In “An Eternal Embrace of Love,” based on Matt. 4:12-25, Dr. David Schmitt’s sermon shows how Jesus revealed the love of God, His Father, through words and deeds.
All six sermons may be downloaded free from the LFL website at www.lutheransforlife.org.
Also new from LFL are:
- bulletin inserts (7 cents each, item no. LFL145BI).
- “Just for Kids” bulletin inserts (7 cents each, item no. LFL703BI).
- reproducible Bible study (50 cents each, item no. LFL145BS).
- reproducible worship service format (15 cents, item no. LFL1824).
- children’s message (50 cents each, item no. LFL1825).
- CD ($5, item no. LFL1814CD) that includes four sermons, the worship service, children’s message and Bible study.
All items may be ordered from Concordia Publishing House by calling 800-325-3040 or visiting its website at www.cph.org.
For more information about LFL, call 888-364-LIFE (5433) or visit its website.
Posted Nov. 4, 2010
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