Sometimes it feels like you are going it alone. Life can be hard. Mothering children is definitely hard. The authors of the devotions in this booklet know hard and they know Jesus. They have experienced the loneliness, the exhaustion and the fear about what the future will hold. They have felt isolated as they raised their children.
They wrote these words and picked out Scripture passages to help keep your eyes fixed on Jesus in the midst of the challenges of raising children. These authors are your Cloud of Witnesses (Heb. 12:1–2). You have others in your Cloud of Witnesses; go to church and meet them there.
The words in this booklet are written for you, anticipating the circumstances and emotions you might experience day in and day out. There are other very important words written for you. God gives you the Holy Scriptures, the very Word of God — the Bible — so that you can know His Son. We pray that reading these devotions increases your eagerness to be among the Church, receiving His Means of Grace, the Word of God and the Sacraments.
As our world desperately grasps for control of human life, let us proclaim the blessed helplessness that comes by ...
A Review of Reproductive Technologies
Because reproductive ethics is a little known quantity for the average person the following is offered as a simple guide for discussion and consideration in personal decision making. Topics include assisting procreation, artificial insemination, in vitro fertilization, and surrogate motherhood.
The Child As a Gift of God
Commended by the 2019 LCMS convention, this paper examines the many subtle ways that American culture rejects life as a fundamental gift of God and instead sees “having a baby” as a human accomplishment.
When Gorillas Make Bigger News Than People
If we can’t agree that human beings have more value than animals, why should we agree that our society would protect our most vulnerable persons – the elderly and the unborn – from abuse and destruction? As Lutherans, we believe the image of God in man is what makes human beings uniquely precious at all stages of their lives.
Who’s on First – What’s on Second?
God makes us human. Not only has God made us human, He also makes us holy. His Son’s incarnation and His Spirit’s forgiveness are what makes us holy.
That They May Have Life
Human life is not an achievement. It is an endowment. It has measureless value, because every individual, at every stage of development and every state of consciousness, is known and loved by God. This is the source of human dignity and the basis for human equality.
The Amazing Human Body
Our Lord created our bodies to work in ways beyond our comprehension, and He gave us a magnificent world containing resources that enable us to lead healthy lives. Even in a world full of setback, illnesses, and toxins, “We know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose” (Rom 8:28).
The God of Creation
God created us as physical beings, not as spirits or minds who happen to be in a body as if the body was some sort of optional shell or covering. The Lord saves us using His creation in a material way through the blood of the cross and the resurrection. And He continues to come to us in the created ways of voice and water and wine and bread.
Valuing Life
Our value comes entirely from God and not at all from us. It does not depend on whether we can be “productive” members of society. Our Lord shows us the value He continues to place on us and the importance of caring for one another.
A Small Catechism on Human Life
by John T. Pless — Examine abortion, bioethics, end-of-life and sexuality issues through the Biblical eyeglasses of Luther’s Small Catechism. Each chapter is followed by thoughtful discussion questions and Bible references.
Do You Have Eyes Of Life?
In Christ, God gives us eyes of life — eyes that see life from His perspective. And what we see causes us to speak for life.
Hope for Life
This Bible study focuses on how God values human life and gives it purpose. The Apostles’ Creed declares that our triune God has redeemed all human life from sin, death, and the grave. He provides certain hope for eternal life, even in the face of death. Jesus is life for you.
