Mighty Servants Of The Living God

Would you like to see God at work? Would you like to see God do mighty things? Would you like to be one of his mighty servants?

A collection of Bible Stories intended for children with detail, Bible passages, and questions. Originally published under Tate Publishing. Republished for the author Lois M. Bitler.

If we pay attention to the alarms in our lives, they could save us. Worry. Anger. Loneliness. Negative emotions are uncomfortable by design. Like any good fire alarm, they alert us to a greater danger. But they won’t help us if we try to cover them up, hide them behind excuses, or assume they will always plague us. The only healthy way to manage negative emotions is to find their source and address the problem that set them off. As pastor Jeff Schreve says, “A specific and compelling message can be found in each of your negative, painful emotions. God Himself is trying to speak to you through those emotions—right now.” So what is God saying? How can we understand our emotions—even change them? Schreve shows how the truth of the Bible can make sense of our confusion. The power of the Holy Spirit can lead us to freedom, and Jesus Christ can give us true peace in the midst of any crisis. You don’t have to let your emotions run away with you, your family, or your future.

Lessons from Ladies of Faith is a book that demonstrates that the ladies we read about in the Scripture were real women, living actual lives. God gave us a record of their challenges, struggles, and victories as lessons that we can apply to our lives today. From the ladies chronicled in this guide, we can learn lessons about courage, commitment, submission to God, dedication to new challenges, and so much more. As we study Eve, Sarah, Mary, Dorcas, and the other women, we will learn that the paths they walked are not so different from the ones we tread today. Through their stories, we can gain insight into the victories of faith that God desires for the modern day Christian woman. Some lessons teach us of His majesty, others of His grace, while others encourage us to explore new levels of spiritual adventure. Whether you are an earnest Christian believer or someone who is curious about the Christian life, there is much to learn about the journey of faith on this path of exploration. Lessons from Ladies of Faith chronicles thirteen different areas of a life of faith illustrated by the lives of different women in the Bible. By application to our present day lives, hopefully, we will come to understand our own life journey through those of these women.

This book has grown out of a ministry that has spanned nearly four decades. It is built around the conviction that theology does matter for theology has to do with words from God, words spoken back to God and words spoken to the world. Luther once remarked something to the effect that the cross alone is our theology. Before Luther there was the Apostle Paul who came to the Corinthians with "the word of the cross" (1 Cor. 1:18) determined to know nothing among them but Jesus Christ and Him crucified (see 1 Cor. 2:2). In essays, sermons, and homiletical studies this volume seeks to continue that apostolic aim. A significant portion of this book is devoted to sermons. Sermons, of course, are written to be preached rather than published. None the less, there is value in reading sermons. Such reading is a way of meditating on God's Word. This reading might also prompt other preachers to explore an overlooked dimension of a text for their proclamation. Sermons are never generic; they always have a context. Many of these sermons were preached in Kramer Chapel on the campus of Concordia Theological Seminary in Fort Wayne where the author has served as a professor since 2000. These sermons are preaching for future preachers, equipping them in the way of Luther's oratio, meditatio, and tentatio for the burdens and joys of the pastoral office. There are occasional sermons from conferences, funerals, and ordinary congregations. Over the years, Prof. Pless has preached at over thirty ordinations or installations of pastors. A sampling of these sermons are included. They bear the imprint of the bond that exist between professor and student. More importantly they promote Jesus Christ as the Lord who calls men into the ministry and enlivens and sustains them there with His Gospel for the good of His flock. The remainder of the book is devoted to essays in pastoral theology covering the range of the author's interest from Hermann Sasse to vocation, liturgical practice to the Small Catechism, challenges to confessional Lutheranism in North America to the office of the ministry. Many of these essays originated at conferences both in the USA and abroad. The contents of this volume flow from the pulpit, desk, and podium of a man who seeks not novelty or creativity but faithfulness to the word of the cross.