Our Redeemer Lutheran Church

If you would like to join us in-person for Elementary Sunday School this Sunday, please RSVP through the link below: http://bit.ly/ORLC-SS-0214

Good Morning and thank you for joining us. We are happy that you are here to join us in worshiping our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. A rebroadcast of this service can be found at our website at: https://bit.ly/ORLC-W he worship guide for this service can also be found on the church website. Please comment/sign in below as we share God’s Word. CCLI and Concordia Lic. available upon request. Text2Give...8885128931... Sunday School info: http://bit.ly/ORLC-S See more

Good Morning and thank you for joining us. We are happy that you are here to join us in spending time in God's Word and reflecting on what God has done for us in Jesus Christ. A rebroadcast of this Bible Study can be found at our website at: https://bit.ly/ORLC-B Please comment/sign in below as we share God’s Word. CCLI and Concordia Lic. available upon request. Text2Give...8885128931 Sunday School link, https://bit.ly/ORLC-SS

#MeyerMinute for Oct. 28 Lord, take my hand and lead me / Upon life’s way. Where is He leading us, lifelong and especially in these terrible pandemic times? W...here He Himself has gone. Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps (1 Peter 2:21). Following Him to glory. Jesus Christ has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers having been subjected to him (1 Peter 3:22). Here’s my pandemic point: Jesus' route went through hell. My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? (Matt. 27:46). He endured agony we cannot imagine, for us, the Righteous One for the unrighteous. Only then did He rise and ascend. Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory? (Luke 24:26). So with us. Think it not strange that he brings a soul low, very low, which he means to comfort and exalt very high in grace and glory: that he leads it by hell-gates to heaven. On earth you might go through some bad neighborhoods to get to a wonderful destination. Archbishop Leighton’s commentary on 1 Peter is a devotional treasure. He says we pass by hell-gates to eternal glory (383). That in two ways. First, through faith we are united with Him in His death and await our own glorification around His throne. We receive His gifts without enduring the hell of suffering for sin. But second, when we pass by hell-gates in this life, pandemics and other trials, we do so filled with our victorious destination in mind, walking in His footsteps, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross (Heb. 12:2). After Jesus was made alive in the grave, He descended into hell to proclaim His victory over the disobedient spirits (Apostles Creed, 1 Peter 3:19). Then He ascended. Thus, move on with confidence, the gates of hell shall not prevail (Matt. 16:18). In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials. So that the tested genuineness of your faithmore precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by firemay be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ (1 Peter 1:6-7). So take my hand and lead me, / Unto the end (Lutheran Service Book, 722: 1, 3). Dr. Dale A. Meyer President Emeritus Concordia Seminary, St. Louis

The increasing gap between Luther and the papacy on key questions regarding the Christian faith eventually culminated in a definitive rupture when in late 1518 ...or 1519 Luther came to his mature understanding of the Gospel. #StillAboutJesus https://lutheranreformation.org/history/the-diet-of-worms/ See more

#MeyerMinute for Oct. 21 One caramel pastry. That’s the object lesson for today’s Minute. A challenge in my transition to retirement, it’s now four months, is... learning to enjoy small things without feeling the need to rush on. There were countless small things in my job, but they were always in the bigger context of the Seminary doing its very best in our Lord’s mission. Trying to be faithful in small things was always with an eye toward bigger things (Luke 16:10). Yesterday Diane came back from Kruta’s Bakery. Over 100-years-old, Kruta’s is iconic in Collinsville, Ill., and Diane has been a regular customer there for almost 40 years. So she comes home and says, There was one caramel pastry left but the old couple before me got it. It was like they had never been in a bakery before, looking here, looking there, I’ll take this, and oh, how about that and I’ll take that one last caramel pastry. As Diane turned this little incident into a drama, I realized here’s a much-needed learning moment for me. Slow down, you move too fast. You’ve got to make the morning last as Simon and Garfunkel sang in The 59th Street Bridge Song. Not only being faithful in small things but enjoying them should be part of life as a creature of God. As he reclined at table in his (Levi’s) house (Mark 2:15). Even Jesus, with big things on His mind, relaxed with the little things of life. One thought of eternity drowns the whole time of the world’s duration, which is but one instant, or twinkling of an eye, betwixt eternity before, and eternity after; how much less is any short life When I look forward to the crown, all vanishes (Archbishop Robert Leighton, 1611-1684, p. 338). In conspectu aeternitatis is Latin shorthand. In view of eternity. I’ve plenty to do in retirement but at the top of the list is learning to savor the little things of this short, creaturely life. Little things that so often are about love, anticipations now of what the God of love has prepared for us eternally (1 John 4:8; 1 Cor. 2:9). Diane wanted that caramel pastry for me. Dr. Dale A. Meyer President Emeritus Concordia Seminary, St. Louis

The first snow of the season! Who’s ready for winter?

In this recent Concordia Publishing House podcast, Grammy-nominated rapper and Concordia Seminary alum Flame (Marcus Gray, ’18) discusses his journey from Calvi...nism to Lutheranism, his Seminary experience and why rap is an ideal conduit for teaching the faith. When I think of the hip hop context and all of the young people who are influenced by rap music, and older people alike, it’s the perfect medium because in a short span of time you can compact so much information and do it systemically and didactically where people can memorize Scripture, church history, theology and in a way it helps them flesh out ideas from the Scriptures that really gives you a broader understanding on the human experience and how to align that with God’s heart for us as we do life, shared Flame. Listen now: https://cph.buzzsprout.com//6015661-conversation-on-faith-

Please join your prayers this evening with President Matt Harrison, as fire threatens Concordia University Irvine, the Pacific Southwest District Office, area c...ongregations and the homes of our beloved brothers and sisters in Christ, and so many others in Orange County, California. Lord, have mercy. Lord God, You promise to help and comfort those who call upon You in the day of trouble. Grant to all in and near the fire zones this night, deliverance in Christ Jesus that by the power of Your Holy Spirit they may not be overcome in adversity but be strengthened to live confidently in your love and peace. Make them and all who are called to provide rescue, care and order in the midst of the flames to know that in all things You work for the good of those who love You and that nothing can separate them from Your love, which is in Christ Jesus, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit one God, now and forever. Amen.

The Care of Souls: Luther’s Driving Focus. From the beginning, Luther's reforming efforts were aimed at the care of souls...including his own. #StillAboutJesus https://youtu.be/4NJfUXySnOE