September 29, 2020

LynnDaily Devotion

Trinity Families,

       Here is your WELS Devotion

[Jesus said] “Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand bags of gold was brought to him. Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt.”
Matthew 18:23-25

An Unpayable Debt

DAILY DEVOTION – SEPTEMBER 29, 2020

Devotion based on Matthew 18:23-25

Ten thousand bags of gold. That is what Jesus said the servant in his story owed the king. At that time, a “bag of gold” was likely the equivalent of six thousand days’ wages. So, let’s do some math. An average day’s wage in the United States is around $100.00. This would mean that, in today’s money, one bag of gold would be worth $600,000. And the servant in Jesus’ story owed 10,000 bags of gold. That’s $6,000,000,000! There was no way the servant would ever be able to pay the debt he owed the king.

Which was precisely Jesus’ point. The servant in Jesus’ story represents us. The king represents God. Like the servant, we owe a debt we can never pay. It’s not a monetary debt. It is a spiritual debt. We have sinned against God so often and in so many ways that there is no way we can ever make up for it. Think of it—how many times have you and I failed to love God with all our hearts—even just today? Has it been dozens of times? Hundreds of times—just today? And then there was yesterday, and the day before that, and the day before that. And, there is the issue of how many times we have failed to respect God. And then there is the issue of how many times we have failed to trust God, and how many times we have failed to love our neighbor and … well … our debt of sin just keeps piling up!

And, it is important for us to be reminded of this. Why? Because knowing the enormity of our sin means that when we hear God say, “Take heart my child; your sins are forgiven,” we will appreciate it all the more.

And, here’s the truth: because of what Jesus has done, your sins—that horrible mountain of sins—have all been forgiven. All 6,000,000,000 of them … or even more.

Thank God for his enormous forgiveness!

Prayer:
O Lord, lead me to appreciate the enormity of my sin, that I might, even more, appreciate the enormity of your forgiveness. Amen.

 

God bless,

Lynn

 

Here’s Sunday’s service: https://youtu.be/yVF6jlHi3Mg

Or you can watch it from our website: https://trinitymarinette.com/sermon-archive/the-church-forgives/

Or you can watch is on our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/TrinityEvLutheranChurchWisSynod/

Come to worship! You can sign up here: https://trinitymarinette.com/events/communion-worship-services/ or call Pastor or call the church office to let us know which service you prefer.

 

Here is this week’s bulletin:

2020-09-27 The Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost

2020-09-27 Announcements The Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost

We Need Your Input!

With everything up in the air due to COVID, our evangelism plans are uncertain.  Your feedback will help us decide if this is a way we want to reach out to our community.

Please take these 3 short surveys:

Trunk or Treat Survey 

Christmas 4 Kids Survey 

Living Nativity 2021 Survey 

We’re Starting Bible Classes! The first Sunday in October (the 4th), we will hold a half hour Bible class downstairs in church after each of our services. You are welcome and encouraged to attend. We will observe whatever the current mandates are and we are going to ask you to clean surfaces at the end of class.

Politics is driving me crazy! This election season is as chaotic as any that we can remember. Talk and drama about the upcoming presidential election are hot. Social media tensions are rising, loved ones are dividing along party lines, and candidates are slinging mud at their opponents. In response, frustrated Christians often wonder what’s happening to America and where God is in the confusion. We’re going to find a calm, biblical approach to politics. Starting Sunday, October 4, we’ll look at how God has set up the government as his instrument of order and how we’re supposed to relate to it. We’ll look at the two kingdoms, the separation between church and state, and our messy political world. It’s going to be great! We’ll meet in the church basement after both Sunday morning services.

We depend on your support to do the Lord’s work. If you would like to support the Lord’s work at Trinity, you may contribute at trinitymarinette.com/giving/ or you can mail it to

Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church

1501 Thomas St.

Marinette, WI 54143