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Dear Friends in Christ
This month's TLO Disciple theme is: "Oh Give Thanks."
When I was a child, when our family sat down at the dinner table for the evening meal, we spoke a meal prayer together before the meal began. We prayer we prayed is often referred to as The Common Table Prayer: "Come Lord Jesus be our guest and let these gifts to us be blessed." Then we added a second prayer, "Oh give thanks unto the Lord, for He is good, and his mercy endures forever."
Our meals were not extravagant. With six children in the family and my mother a stay at home mom, we were thankful for the daily blessings that God provided. We were grateful for the gifts given from the Lord's hand. Not everyone is so fortunate to have food on the table every day.
According to Second Harvest Heartland, 1 in 11 households in Minnesota are affected by hunger. This is an urban, suburban and rural problem. We have households that struggle with monthly expenses in our congregation, school and community. In Minnesota the number of people Second Harvest Heartland serves each year is staggering. 532,000 people were served by Second Harvest Heartland in 2014. 10% of those served are seniors and 33 % are under age 18.
Read more hunger facts.
In 2017, Second Harvest Heartland distributed the equivalent to 81 million meals to nearly 1,000 food shelves, pantries and other partner programs. That is enough to feed a mid-sized city of 73,000 people, three meals a day, for a year.
God has blessed us with many blessings for this life, and for eternity. This Thanksgiving, let us give thanks for the many blessings of God's grace, and may we also be ready to freely give as he has given.
Pastor Jim Kroonblawd
Click for all the Hunger Facts from Second Harvest
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D
uring the month of November, Pastor Kroonblawd will teach a five week Bible study titled "Feed My Lambs" on Sunday mornings at 9:15am and on Monday nights at 7:00pm.
In this Bible study, prepared by the Rev. Dr. Matthew C. Harrison, president of The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, Harrison asks the question:
"Would it be fair to say that 'the apostles cared about preaching the Word, not about care for the needy?' Was the need to be met by individuals acting alone, or did the Church act as 'the Church' to address the need? What needs do the members of your congregation and community face?"
In this study we will explore how as individual members of the body of Christ (1 Cor. 12), and the body of Christ at TLO church can demonstrate love and compassion to people in need whom God has set before us. We practice deeds of mercy, both planned and unplanned, to bring hope and encouragement to others and to bring honor and praise to the God whose love motivates us to show love to others.
Join us for this study as we explore how as members of the body of Christ (1 Cor. 12), we show love and compassion to people in need as an expression of faith in Christ's mercy, and look for opportunities to proclaim the love of Jesus Christ as well as demonstrate it - by sharing the saving message of the Gospel.
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9:15am |
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TLO |
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OR
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Mon, Nov 12, 19, 26 and Dec 3
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7:00pm |
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Topics of the Feed My Lambs study:
The Church's Care for the Needy
Kindness - How Random Can it be?
Compassion for the Multitudes: You Give them Something to Eat
Whole Person Ministry
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FROM THE BIBLE
Habakkuk 3:17-18
Though the fig tree does not bud
and there are no grapes on the vines,
though the olive crop fails
and the fields produce no food,
though there are no sheep in the pen
and no cattle in the stalls,
yet I will rejoice in the Lord,
I will be joyful in God my Savior.
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FROM MARTIN LUTHER ON GIVING THANKS
"Hence, since everything we possess, and everything in heaven and on earth besides, is daily given and sustained by God, it inevitably follows that we are in duty bound to love, praise, and thank Him without ceasing, and, in short, to devote all these things to his service." (The Book of Concord, Fortress Press, 1959, page 412)
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TEACH YOUR CHILDREN TO BE THANKFUL
As you prepare for this busy holiday season, use the opportunity to continue nurturing thankfulness in your children, from babies to teens.
Click to read this encouraging article from Carol Albrecht.
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What better time to teach kids about gratitude than at Thanksgiving! Here are some ideas for teaching kids how to be thankful from ideas that came from parents like you:
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"I believe in God the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth."
Therefore, this article ought to humble and terrify us all, if we believed it. For we sin daily with eyes, ears, hands, body and soul, money and possessions, and with everything we have, especially those who even fight against the Word of God. Yet Christians have this advantage, that they acknowledge themselves in duty bound to serve God for all these things, and to be obedient to Him [which the world knows not how to do].
We ought, therefore, daily to practice this article, impress it upon our mind, and to remember it in all that meets our eyes, and in all good that falls to our lot, and wherever we escape from calamity or danger, that it is God who gives and does all these things, that therein we sense and see His Paternal heart and his transcendent love toward us. Thereby the heart would be warmed and kindled to be thankful, and to employ all such good things to the honor and praise of God.
-Martin Luther, First Article, Large Catechism
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WHAT IS PASTOR HARRISON THANKFUL FOR?
LCMS President Harrison says Thank You to the 35 LCMS districts, their congregations and church workers when he writes: "Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you" (1 Thess. 5:18).
And so I do. I give thanks first of all for the resurrection of our Savior, Jesus Christ. I give thanks for the freedom of justification by grace through faith. I give thanks for Baptism. I give thanks for God's daily grace and forgiveness. I am even learning to give thanks for trials. Read Pastor Harrison's entire message.
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Nurturing Your Faith Bible study from Lutheran Hour Ministries
In intercessory prayer the believer is concerned with the welfare of others -- that God would intercede or act on behalf of another person or persons. It's an intimate and heartfelt kind of prayer offered to God that He might give courage to the soldier, comfort to the widower, peace of mind to the distraught, renewal to the church, and so on.
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LUTHER'S MORNING PRAYER
"I thank you, my Heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ, Your dear Son, that You have kept me this night from all harm and danger; and I pray that You would keep me this day also from sin and every evil, that all my doings and life may please You. For into Your hands I commend myself, my body and soul, and all things. Let Your holy angel be with me, that the evil foe may have no power over me. Amen."
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GIVE THANKS FOR OUR VETERANS ON VETERAN'S DAY
Nov. 11 is Veterans Day, a day set aside to honor the men and women who have served our country in the Armed Forces. It is a time to give thanks God for these brave men and women - many of whom returned home with grievous injuries and others who have made the ultimate sacrifice for our country.
As we reflect on the service and selflessness of our military veterans, this is also a good time to give thanks for our LCMS Ministry to the Armed Forces. Since the Civil War, LCMS pastors have served as military chaplains. Today, there are more than 200 LCMS military chaplains - some serving on active duty here in the U.S. and overseas, some serving with Reserve and National Guard units, and some serving as chaplains with the Veterans Administration, Civil Air Patrol and Federal Bureau of Prisons.
On this Veterans Day, join us in praying: "Dear Father, Receive our grateful thanks for all who have served our country in the armed forces, putting themselves in harm's way to protect the citizens of our land. Help us to honor them for the sacrifices they have made. In the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ we pray. Amen."
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Click image to watch this encouraging video
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Joy:fully Lutheran - Rejoice. Pray. Give thanks. Christ has done it.
Even as our world changes, the Word of God remains the same. The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod proclaims this truth here and throughout the world in mission work, disaster response, universities, seminaries and especially in our congregations. True joy is found in the Good News that God is for you. We rejoice in this. We vigorously make known the love of Christ.
Click to watch this encouraging video
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HOW GREAT ARE YOUR WORKS
A Psalm. A Song for the Sabbath.
It is good to give thanks to the LORD,
to sing praises to your name, O Most High;
to declare your steadfast love in the morning,
and your faithfulness by night,
to the music of the lute and the harp,
to the melody of the lyre.
For you, O LORD, have made me glad by your work;
at the works of your hands I sing for joy.
How great are your works, O LORD!
Your thoughts are very deep!
The stupid man cannot know;
the fool cannot understand this:
that though the wicked sprout like grass
and all evildoers flourish,
they are doomed to destruction forever;
but you, O
LORD, are on high forever.
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INPUT WELCOME
Do you have a suggested topic for an upcoming TLO Disciple? Click here to send Pastor Kroonblawd an email.
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EDITOR'S NOTE
TLO Disciple, with a topical study in each issue, is distributed primarily via email on the first of every month. Print copies are available by contacting the TLO Church office at 651-454-7235 or the Church Office via email.
Calendars, volunteer information, serving groups and the like will accompany the TLO Together, on the last Wednesday of the month. Click here to subscribe to TLO Together . This publication is also mailed upon request.
Soli Deo gloria
2950 Highway 55
Eagan MN 55121
p:651-454-7235 f:651-454-0109
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