September 15 2010

In Chapel we read the Parables of the Lost Sheep and the Lost Coin. Mrs. McLoughlin talked about losing things and then finding them. She reminded the students that they are lost in their sin, BUT Jesus finds them and saves them through His work on the cross.

Focus: God is our Sanctifier.

The Holy Spirit empowers us to live holy lives. (Jehovah M'Kaddesh). Sanctification is that act of God within the sinner in which God works with the new man in a lifelong process of restoration.

"May God Himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ."
1 Thessalonians 5:23

Verses to Read

1 Peter 2:9
Hebrews 12:2
Leviticus 20:8
Ephesians 2:10
Philippians 1:4-6
2 Thessalonians 2:13

Prayers for our children

"Since then, _______ has been raised with Christ, set _______ heart on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set ________ mind on things above, not on earthly things."

Colossians 3:1-2

Prayers for our school

• Oktoberfest
• 5 K Walk
• Parent's Work Day
• Volleyball team
• Soccer team
• Service Squad
• Entertainment book fundraiser
• Smart Board fundraising efforts
• Scholastic Book Fair
• Hot Lunch Program
• Service Squad
• Preschool students

September 8, 2010

We met for the first time for the 2010/2011 school year. In chapel the students listened to a reading from Deuteronomy 30. The students were reminded that God speaks to us through His Word and that the Holy Spirit gives us the ability to hear Him. We hear Him when we read the Bible, when we memorize Bible verses and when we sing. The students were encouraged to put God first and to read His Word daily. And finally we serve our neighbors.

Focus: God is our Creator

"In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth." Genesis 1:1

"If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation." 2 Corinthians 5:17

"If praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well." Psalm 139:14

In his book, The Fire and the Staff, Pastor Klemet Preus says of praise:

"Praise of God is using verbs to tell what He did for us in Christ. Look at the Apostles, Creed: 'I believe in Jesus Christ his only Son, our Lord, who...' then we list eleven verbs that tell us what Jesus did for us. The creed is praise of Christ."

The 1st Article of the Apostles' Creed

"I believe in God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth."
What does this mean? Answer

Prayer for our children

O Precious Savior, may ___________ marvel at the creation of the world and how you create and sustain faith in them by the power of the Holy Spirit. Amen

Prayer for our school

Lord, our Father, make our school bright, safe halls of learning. Fill it with health and joy. Furnish the tools necessary for good learning. Make Our Shepherd a place where children grow into the people You want them to be. Keep those who would injure our students far away. Give students and teachers deep love for one another and for their work together. In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen

Prayer for our teachers

Lord, bless our teachers at the start of this school year and throughout the coming year. Pour love into teachers’ hearts, so that they will care for their students. Fill them with enthusiasm for their subjects, so that they may inspire eager love for learning. Through our teachers, train up our young people in the way they should go. Grant them wisdom in all they do. In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen

Specific prayers

• Successful fundraiser with the Entertainment Books
• Adjustments for the new students
• Oktoberfest
• Confirmation for the 7th and 8th graders
• Curriculum Night
• New hot lunch program and staff
• The Book Fair
• The new teachers from the Berkley School District
  

Reading the Psalms with Luther -- Psalm 139

Reading the Psalms with Luther is a wonderful book that tells you a little about each Psalm and includes prayers to accompany them.

From Concordia Publishing House:

"This is an English translation of Luther's Summaries of the Psalms, 1531 which was originally done in 1993. This latest edition includes the ESV translation of the Psalms, Luther's introductions to each of the 150 psalms and a suggested schedule for reading the Psalter.

The introductions demonstrate how Luther understood the Psalter as a Christ-centered book and how he used the psalms as the model for Christian prayer. Luther classifies each psalm as a psalm of prophecy, instruction, comfort, prayer, or thanksgiving and applies the message of the text to the life lived out under the cross. Luther also connects the psalms to the Ten Commandments and the petitions of the Lord's Prayer. For Luther, all aspects of the Christian's life, including the Psalms, relate to Christ and His Gospel of forgiveness, life, and salvation."

One of the prayers for Psalm 139:

To You, O God, belong praise and glory for Your wonderful providence, that You are present with all Your creatures, and preserve them in their being. Teach us to remember at all times and all places that Your eyes are upon us, and that all our deeds are recorded in Your book. Blot out the sins that are past with the blood of Christ, and cause us to walk in Your fear, and to avoid sin. Amen

Psalm 139

Our theme verse for this school year is from Psalm 139

"I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well."

Here's Psalm 139

Search Me, O God, and Know My Heart

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.

O LORD, you have searched me and known me!
You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
you discern my thoughts from afar.
You search out my path and my lying down
and are acquainted with all my ways.
Even before a word is on my tongue,
behold, O LORD, you know it altogether.
You hem me in, behind and before,
and lay your hand upon me.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
it is high; I cannot attain it.

Where shall I go from your Spirit?
Or where shall I flee from your presence?
If I ascend to heaven, you are there!
If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!
If I take the wings of the morning
and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
even there your hand shall lead me,
and your right hand shall hold me.
If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me,
and the light about me be night,"
even the darkness is not dark to you;
the night is bright as the day,
for darkness is as light with you.

For you formed my inward parts;
you knitted me together in my mother’s womb.

I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works;
my soul knows it very well.

My frame was not hidden from you,when I was being made in secret,
intricately woven in the depths of the earth.
Your eyes saw my unformed substance;in your book were written, every one of them,
the days that were formed for me,
when as yet there was none of them.

How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!
How vast is the sum of them!
I would count them, they are more than the sand.
I awake, and I am still with you.

Oh that you would slay the wicked, O God!
O men of blood, depart from me!
They speak against you with malicious intent;
your enemies take your name in vain!
Do I not hate those who hate you, O LORD?
And do I not loathe those who rise up against you?
I hate them with complete hatred;
I count them my enemies.

Search me, O God, and know my heart!
Try me and know my thoughts!
And see if there be any grievous way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting!

A Prayer of Martin Luther

A Prayer of Martin Luther

Behold, Lord, an empty vessel that needs to be filled. My Lord, fill it. I am weak in the faith; strengthen me. I am cold in love; warm me and make me fervent, that my love may go out to my neighbor. In you I have sealed the treasure of all I have. I am poor; you are rich and came to be merciful to the poor. I am a sinner; you are upright.

O Lord, help me. Strengthen my faith and trust in you.

Amen.

Made for Praise

The theme for this school year is "Made for Praise".  It is based on Psalm 139:14

"I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well."

New Beginning for 2010/2011 School Year

Last year was a lost year as far as blogging was concerned. However, Theresa and I met faithfully every week to pray for our students, staff, school, church and nation. We will begin again in September to pray as a group. This will be my last year at Our Shepherd as my son Alex is an 8th grader. I want to send him off with prayer.

We are changing our day and time. We will be meeting on Wednesdays following Chapel. We will NOT meet on the 4 th (or 5th) Wednesday of the month at this point as I deliver Meals on Wheels that Wednesday of the month. We also plan to attend Chapel and plan to meet in the library to pray.

Jesus tells us:

"For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them." (Matthew 18:20)