Zion Lutheran Church (LCMS)

A Guide for Daily Prayer and Meditation: Jan 12-19, 2025

Pray and confess out loud as much as you are able or based on your family size and ages. (Alternative orders in LSB pp295-8)

+++

The sign of the cross + may be made by all in remembrance of their baptism.

In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit; as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.

Hymn of the Month for January LSB 940 Holy God, We Praise Thy Name

One or more verses from the hymn of the month are sung, or another hymn may be chosen.

Verse of the Week: Mark 1:11

You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.

Daily Lectionary

The First Article of the Creed: I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth.

What does this mean?

I believe that God has made me and all creatures; that He has given me my body and soul, eyes, ears, and all my members, my reason and all my senses, and still takes care of them.  He also gives me clothing and shoes, food and drink, house and home, wife and children, land, animals, and all I have.  He richly and daily provides me with all that I need to support this body and life.  He defends me against all danger and guards and protects me from all evil.  All this He does only out of fatherly, divine goodness and mercy, without any merit or worthiness in me.  For all this it is my duty to thank and praise, serve and obey Him.  This is most certainly true.

The Apostles’ Creed is confessed † Lord’s Prayer † Prayers for Others and Ourselves (see LSB 305-318 for prayers)

In Our Prayers: Those who are suffering:  Shirley Arndt, Dan Drinkman, JoAnn Ehlers, Lois Eichinger, Louis and Mary Gettler, Richard Hanson, Marlys Jones, Pastor Jones, Rick Lahner (Carter’s grandfather), Greg Leland, Missy Lien (Thomas family friend), Lacie Miles (Chrystal’s sister-in-law), Marlene Paulson (Dianne Schroeder’s sister), Kathy Peterson, Doris Post, Arlene Potts, Michael Potts, Mark Radl, Dianne Schroeder, Kara Simmons (Pastor & Susan Thomas’ goddaughter), Leah Sparks (Marty Swearingen’s  sister), Pastor Szedlak, Jeff Thomas, Ethel Vance, Cookie Ziebarth

Collect for the Baptism of Our Lord

Father in heaven, at the Baptism of Jesus in the Jordan River You proclaimed Him Your beloved Son and anointed Him with the Holy Spirit. Make all who are baptized in His name faithful in their calling as Your children and inheritors with Him of everlasting life; through the same Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

Prayer based on the First Article of the Creed[1]

Almighty Father, maker of heaven and earth; I praise You for having fashioned me in love and set me within this world, which You have also created. For all that You have given me in body and soul and for wondrous ways in which You take care of me, I give You thanks. Keep me mindful of Your bountiful gifts, ever looking to You for all good things in this earthly life, and teach me to receive them as Your child and heir; through Jesus Christ, Your Son. Amen.

Let us bless the Lord.

Thanks be to God.

Excerpts from the Large Catechism on the First Article of the Creed

-The Creed is nothing other than the answer and confession of Christians arranged with respect to the First Commandment, It is as if you were to ask a little child, “My dear, what sort of a God do you have? What do you know about Him?” The little child could say, “This is my God; first the Father, who has created heaven and earth. Besides this One only, I regard nothing else as God. For there is no one else who could create heaven and earth.” (399:10-11)

-We also confess that God the Father has not only given us all that we have and see before our eyes, but He daily preserves and defends us against all evil and misfortune. He directs all sorts of danger and disaster away from us. We confess that He does all this out of pure love and goodness, without our merit, as a kind Father. He cares for us so that no evil falls upon us. (400:17)

-We ought, therefore, daily to recite this article. We ought to impress it upon our mind and remember it by all that meets our eyes and by all good that falls to us. Wherever we escape from disaster or danger, we ought to remember that it is God who gives and does all things. In these escapes we sense and see His fatherly heart and His surpassing love toward us. In this way the heart would be warmed and kindled to be thankful, and to use all such good things to honor and praise God. (400-401:23)

Bible Verses for Meditation on the First Article of the Creed: 

-Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit Matt 28:19

-So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” Genesis 1:27-28

[1] Luther’s Small Catechism with Explanation. St. Louis: Concordia, 2017.