2013 Home for the Holidays Special edition of LINCOLN DAILY NEWS.com Page 15
Your cradle is the church. Not the wood and
stone of a building, but the church universal,
where Jesus’Word of salvation is proclaimed.
Your cradle is the church, where baptism is
given to you as God’s gift, washing you from
the stain of sin; the church where Christ’s body
and blood is given you in the Sacrament of the
Altar, for forgiveness and for the strengthening
of your faith.
Truly Jesus is not just in heaven; He fills heaven
and earth, defending and protecting His church
and His people until He returns in glory. When
Jesus returns in glory, He will call us all forth,
both the living and the dead, and we who be-
lieve in and trust in Him for forgiveness will
live forever in eternal life.
Now when you sit on Christmas Eve and listen
to the little ones, and you strain to see your child
or grandchild sing, pray also. Repent of your
sin, ask for God’s forgiveness and receive that
forgiveness as the gift that all our Christmas
gifts merely reflect. Pray to the One who was
born to die for you and give thanks to the One
True God for your salvation.
To God be all glory.
In Christ’s Name,
Pastor Mark Thompson
Zion Lutheran Church, Lincoln
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1
The Lutheran Study Bible, English Standard
Version; Concordia Publishing House, St. Louis,
Mo.
Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible,
English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright
© 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of
Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All
rights reserved.
