Learning the Faith by Heart
Speaking, Praying, and Singing God’s Word Together
The Week of March 23 – March 30
Preparing for the Fourth Sunday in Lent
Hymn of the Week: God Loved the World So That He Gave (571)
Psalmody for Matins: Psalm 127 (Mon); Psalm 32 (Thurs)
GLCA Learn by Heart Hymn: I Know That My Redeemer Lives (461, ss. 1,3,5,6)
Catechism Memory (GLCA Only): Table of Duties – To Bishops, Pastors, and Preachers: 1 Timothy 3:2-4;1 Titus 1:9
Bible Verse Memory (Jr Confirmation Only): “even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” – Matthew 20:28
Monday: Catechism – Table of Duties
Being a child is a vocation, a calling from God. Not only that, Luther said that a little boy doing what his parents say or a little girl doing her chores is doing a holier work than that of the strictest monks or nuns (LC, 4th Comm). How can that be? Because Christian children have faith and live out that faith in their everyday lives where God has placed them, just as their parents do. (How Can I Help by Gene Veith) Read through the Table of Duties. Which ones apply to you? I.e.: what are the “holy orders and positions” into which God has placed you? What are your duties?
Tuesday: Feast of the Annunciation of Our Lord – Luke 1:26-38
On this day, the Church celebrates with great joy the Angel Gabriel’s announcement to the Virgin Mary that she would “conceive in [her] womb and bear” the Son of the Most High! Prayer: O Lord, as we have known the incarnation of Your Son, Jesus Christ, by the message of the angel to the Virgin Mary, so by the message of His cross and Passion bring us to the glory of His resurrection; through the same Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
Wednesday: Lenten Midweek – “Crosswords” (Matthew 27:45‒49)
“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”—these words were spoken by Jesus so that you need never be forsaken by God. You need never fear abandonment from your heavenly Father. Jesus bore your alienation from God. He endured the God-forsakenness that you deserve. What does that mean for us? Read Romans 8:38-39
Thursday: Holy Gospel – Luke 15:1–3, 11–32
The son realizes that he has sinned against his father and decides to go home and convince his father to let him work his way back into his good graces. But before he can even open his mouth, what is his father doing? Read vs. 20. The son confesses his sin to his father, but before he can start pleading his case for his father to let him come back home, what does the father do? Read vv. 22-23.
Friday: Epistle – 2 Corinthians 5:16–21
In what ways is Confession and Absolution a reenactment of the story of the prodigal son?
The Order of Meditation and Prayer
The sign of the cross + may be made by all in remembrance of their Baptism
Invocation
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Apostles’ Creed
I believe in God the Father Almighty…
Catechism Memory (GLCA): Table of Duties – “To Bishops, Pastors, and Preachers”
Certain passages of Scripture for various holy orders and positions, admonishing them about their duties and responsibilities.
The overseer must be above reproach, the husband of but one wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not given to drunkenness, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. He must manage his own family well and see that his children obey him with proper respect. – 1 Tim. 3:2–4
He must hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught, so that he can encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it. – Titus 1:9
Bible Reading for the Day (From Upcoming Readings for Sun, Portals of Prayer, or other Daily meditation)
This is the Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
Hymn of the Week
God Loved the World So That He Gave (571)
Family Prayers
For___________________, let us pray to the Lord.
Lord, have mercy.
Collect of the Day for Lent 4 – Almighty God, our heavenly Father, Your mercies are new every morning; and though we deserve only punishment, You receive us as Your children and provide for all our needs of body and soul. Grant that we may heartily acknowledge Your merciful goodness, give thanks for all Your benefits, and serve You in willing obedience; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.