Gods Ways Archives - Faith Lutheran Church, Wesley Chapel

Kurt Steinbrueck November 18, 2020

Blog Gods Ways, Gods Word, The Bible

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Shining a Light on a Dark Path

“Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.” – Psalm 119:105

Have you ever walked through the woods at night?

Our passage from yesterday told us that God’s Word is truth and that it sanctifies us (makes us holy). God’s Word also directs, protects, and guides us as we walk through our lives.

God’s Word Directs

Should I turn left or right?
Should I take this job or that?
Should I spend time doing one thing or the other?
How close of a friend should I be with this person?

Life presents us with a lot of questions and God’s Word can direct us in many of these questions. Through God’s Word, we can become wise. This starts with faith but extends to many areas of life. The books of Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Job, and Psalms contain a great deal of wisdom that pertains to many areas of life. As we study God’s Words and put those words into practice, we grow in wisdom.

This doesn’t mean every step is directed. You won’t find a passage that tells you to park in one parking spot vs another or which mutual fund to invest in, but God’s Word will give you principles that can help you to know that whether you step to the right or left, you are stepping on solid ground.

God’s Word Protects
The other day I was walking my dog when I stepped in the wrong place and rolled my ankle. It hurt and I had to wear a brace for a few days. It’s good to see where you are stepping to so you can avoid things like that.

God’s Words can protect you from rolling your proverbial ankle.

There are countless warnings in the Bible about the damaging effects of sin and foolishness. The Bible gets pretty specific about many of these things as well.

Pride comes before the fall.
The love of money leads to all kinds of evil.
Like a dog returns to its vomit, so a fool returns to his folly.
There are many more…

The Bible doesn’t just protect us from worldly harm, though. God’s promises protect us from hopelessness and despair. His Gospel even protects us from eternal death!

God’s Word Guides
Ultimately, God’s Word is the light that guides us to eternal life.

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” – John 1:1-5

God’s Word is the light of the world which leads us out of darkness into His marvelous light. It guides us not only in our actions but our faith. It guides us to life, itself.

Heavenly Father,

Jesus is the light of the world. Guide me by the light of Your Word into faith and, by faith, into eternal life with You. Protect me from the dangers that lie all around me. Guide me on my path that in this life, that I would walk in your ways to the glory of Your holy Name.

Amen.

In Christ’s Service,

Pastor Kurt

Kurt Steinbrueck September 3, 2020

Blog Children, Gods Ways, Gods Word, Learning, parenting, Teaching

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Teaching from the Lord

“Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.” – Proverbs 22:6

What are the four of the most important jobs a parent has?

Provide for the health and well-being of your child.
Love them.
Raise them to become functional adults who can care for themselves and others.
Raise them in the faith so they know Jesus.

In His wisdom, God chose to create human beings and wire them to flourish within families. The family unit provides shelter, stability, love, and people to teach and train the child. God teaches us and we pass it on.

Keeping the Child Alive
Most people naturally understand the first job. Your child depends on you to live. You must feed them, provide shelter, and protect them from danger.

Loving Them
The second job really sums up all the parental responsibilities. After all, feeding your kids and teaching them are acts of love. However, it also includes caring for your child’s emotional well-being, playing with them, giving hugs, telling them you love them, and, generally, making sure they know they are loved.

Raise Functional Adults
Our passage for today speaks to this as well as to the next one. There have been movements in the past that pushed letting children figure things out for themselves. There are two problems with this philosophy.

It implies that there is no right or wrong, moral or immoral, or true faith. Clearly this is not the case. So, God, who defines right and wrong and wants us to live in relationship with Him through faith, tells us to train up our children knowing right from wrong and knowing Him.
It’s bad science. God’s Word is enough for us to reject this concept, but even our own scientific studies have shown that children need boundaries and discipline to thrive. They want it…even if they think they don’t.

The Bible provides a great deal of guidance about life both regarding faith and day to day living. Proverbs, in particular, was written primarily for teaching the youth wisdom for life.

One last quick note on this – notice it says train, not teach. Training is more involved and involves practice and reinforcement. Training involves discipline, which the Bible speaks to as well.

“Whoever spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is diligent to discipline him.” – Proverbs 13:24

Raise Children in the Faith
Lastly, and most importantly, parents are to teach their children about Jesus, raising them in the faith. This impacts all areas of life and, of course, their eternal salvation.

“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.” – Deuteronomy 6:4-9

Parents have the primary responsibility to raise their children in the faith which is why having family devotions and finding other “teachable moments” throughout the day are important. However, they are not alone. The whole church plays a role in teaching our children about Jesus and helping them to live out their faith.

If You Do Not Have Children
If you do not have children, you can still be a part of helping to raise the children of the church in the faith. You may teach Sunday school, help with youth group, or just be a friend to our younger members. Often, you’ll find you learn just as much as they do.

“Listen to your father who gave you life, and do not despise your mother when she is old.” – Proverbs 23:22

Children, Listen!
God’s message to our children is to listen to their parents, but sometimes they don’t. Despite the best efforts of parents, there are times when children grow up and leave the faith. Ultimately, the faith of each person, our children included, is between God and that person. So, we do everything we can, praying, teaching, training, etc., but we must leave it to God.

So, let us pray for our children. Let us teach them and train them what we, ourselves, have learned from God.

Heavenly Father,

Thank You for children. Please help us to love and provide for our children. Show us how to best train them up in the way they should go, especially to know You and love You.

Amen.

In Christ’s Service,

Pastor Kurt

Kurt Steinbrueck September 2, 2020

Blog Gods Ways, Learning, wisdom

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Learning From the Lord

Learning from the Lord

“This is what the Lord, your Protector, says, the Holy One of Israel: “I am the Lord your God, who teaches you how to succeed, who leads you in the way you should go.” – Isaiah 48:17

Who would you love to be able to sit down and learn from?

I have some friends who have young kids who play baseball. I remember one of them telling me about how he was signing up for a camp where actual MLB players and coaches work with the kids to teach and train them in baseball. He and his son were soooo excited. Not only were they going to hang out with some of their heroes, but they were going to learn from real experts.

Things like this happen in all sorts of genres, where people will jump at the opportunity to spend time with and learn from the best in their field. Often, people will spend a lot of money for these opportunities and put a lot of time and effort both getting the opportunity and experiencing it.

The God of the Universe wants to teach you.

We’re talking about God, here. The one who created all things, the one whose wisdom defined and ordered our physical universe as well as our moral compass. He knows what is best for us because He created us. That’s who wants to meet with you and teach you.

God teaches us in a variety of ways if we are willing to listen.

God gives us His Word which teaches us about faith and life. He gives us the Gospel to give us faith and also teaches us about life, itself in books like Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Psalms, and throughout the Old and New Testaments.
God teaches us by His Spirit. Learning from God isn’t just a class where you order a book and read it. God promises that His Spirit is with us and will work through His Word and prayer to teach and transform us.
God teaches us through His Church. In college, I loved studying with study groups. I learned a lot that way. The Church, among other things, is our study group. We learn from each other.
God teaches us through our lives. God’s school isn’t just about classrooms and books. He goes with us every day of our lives and teaches us through observation and experience guided by His Spirit and His Word.

Are you ready for the ultimate “learn from a pro” camp?

God is ready. He will teach you how to succeed and will lead you in your life. This isn’t a two-day experience. It’s a life-long learning experience.

Sign up, today! 😉

Dear Jesus,

You are greater than the greatest sports players and musicians. You know all things and abound in wisdom. Teach me Your ways.

Amen.

In Christ’s Service,

Pastor Kurt

Kurt Steinbrueck August 12, 2020

Blog Gods Ways, gods will, Gods Word, Rich

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How to Get Rich, Quick

How To Get Rich, Quick

“I rejoice in following your statutes as one rejoices in great riches.” – Psalm 119:14

Have you ever seen a “How to Get Rich” book? Have you ever read one?

It’s one of the most popular topics for books and websites. Why? Because people want to get rich?

Dorothy picked out the book at the bookstore, “How to Flip Houses.” As she started reading she grew more and more excited with every page. She could see it in her mind…the purchase…the renovation…the sale…the profit.

Don also picked out a book at the bookstore, “How to Retire Wealthy.” It was filled with practical tips for saving money and investing. He could almost feel his toes in the sand of the beach house he would retire in.

Even though they had only purchased books and didn’t have the riches, yet, Dorothy and Don were excited. They were excited to get started. They were excited at the prospect of becoming wealthy.

What if we got excited over God’s Word the way we get excited over things that could make us financially wealthy?

God’s Word is true riches. God’s ways are truly good and wonderful. Financial wealth can be exciting and beneficial, but it isn’t permanent and it has its limits. You can’t buy true peace. You can’t buy eternal life. Yet, God gives these in His Word.

So, we can rejoice, along with the Psalmist, in God’s Word even more than a “How to Get Rich” book. We can celebrate His promises and His ways knowing that in them we find life and life abundant.

Heavenly Father,

You are better than gold, stocks, or cash. Your ways are better than the fleeting happiness of wealth. Help me to love Your ways and get excited about Your Word more than wealth.

Amen.

In Christ’s Service,

Pastor Kurt

Gods Ways

Shining a Light on a Dark Path

Shining a Light on a Dark Path

Teaching from the Lord

Teaching from the Lord

Learning From the Lord

Learning from the Lord

How to Get Rich, Quick

How To Get Rich, Quick

Faith Lutheran Church in Wesley Chapel, FL serving Lutz, Zephyrhills, Land O’ Lakes, and New Tampa, FL