You are my beloved
Our Epiphany journey has brought us to Christ’s baptism.
21Now when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heavens were opened, 22and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form, like a dove; and a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.” (Luke 3:21–22 ESV)
In his commentary on Luke’s gospel, Rev. Dr. Arthur Just gives a closing description of our Gospel text for tomorrow:
Christian Baptism is into Christ and continues the pattern of Christ’s baptism with water (in the Jordan), with the Spirit, and with fire (his bloody “baptism” on the cross). Thus it is connected with “the total redemptive action which the baptism of Jesus set in motion.” Christian Baptism, like Christ’s own baptism, is trinitarian. It effects union with Christ and gives the Spirit, and so what the Father said of Jesus he also says of every person baptized into Christ: “This is my beloved child, in whom I am well pleased.”1
You and I have been united to Jesus. And the kind words you will hear the Father speak to Jesus tomorrow, you now hear spoken for you. You are God’s beloved. Rejoice in that. Happy Epiphany, friends.
Tell someone about LCEF and help them get 12 months of The Lutheran Study Bible App.
This newsletter is sent to you because you are either an LCEF investor or a worker in the Northern Illinois District. You understand the value that LCEF brings to the churches and workers of the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. We would not exist without our faithful investors.
Here is an opportunity for you to help LCEF connect with new investors around our district. We are offering the first 100 new LCEF investors a 12-month license to the new The Lutheran Study Bible App from our friends at Concordia Publishing House.
This is where you come in. Think of some people at your church who you think would benefit from a partnership with LCEF like yours. Please share this email with them and tell them about the good work your dollars have done supporting the churches of the synod.
Here are three easy steps for you and the future new investors at LCEF.
Step 1: Share this email with them and tell them about your history supporting the churches of the LCMS through Lutheran Church Extension Fund.
Step 2: Send them to lcef.org/invest to open an All-Access StewardAccount®, a Church Worker StewardAccount®, or a Term Note as a new investor.1
Step 3: After opening their first account as a new investor, have them fill out this form to receive their redemption code for 12-months of The Lutheran Study Bible App.
Thank you for being a faithful LCEF investor and for sharing this opportunity with a new generation of LCEF investors.
This edition of the Ministry Update is a response to the thoughtful question, “What does the Northern Illinois District do, anyhow?”
What the Lord does is perfect, but what we do is not. The Lord is faithful, even when we are faithless and try to control what we can’t. Our strength and hope are in Jesus, as they have always been. We are given wisdom by the Holy Spirit…and given each other.
I can assure you that no one who serves at the NID serves with the goal of keeping a bureaucracy alive. We’re serving the Lord, His Church, and His work. Serving the front line is what congregations, schools, ministries, workers (called and lay) are doing among the faithful, and for those in our communities who are disconnected from Christ and His salvation.
It’s a little like as a young Pastor when I was asked, “I see what you do on Sunday, but what do you do the rest of the week?
Learn more about what your NID Staff does day-by-day here:
Just, A. A., Concordia Commentary Luke 1:1–9:50