This weekend we celebrate “Christ the King” Sunday, when we remember that Christ is in control of everything! The one who “laid aside his crown for my soul” as he died on the cross is the one who took it up again, rising and ascending to rule all from the right hand of God.

**Christ’s rule gets even more impressive when we think of all the things we can’t control.**

This week in our Wednesday evening Bible class we’re talking about the 8th commandment, and how difficult it is to control the tongue. As James 3:8 says, “No one is able to tame the human tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.” Jesus controls the universe—I can’t even control my tongue! Instead of being quick to listen, and slow to speak (James 1:19), I let my tongue get out of control:

Proverbs 18:2 says, “A fool finds no pleasure in understanding, but only in revealing his opinions.” My tongue is out of control when I would rather hear my own opinions instead of understanding others first.
Proverbs 18:13 says, “If a person answers before he listens, that is foolishness that brings disgrace.” My tongue is out of control when I already have my answers ready before I even listen.
Proverbs 11:9 says, “With his mouth, the godless person destroys his neighbor.” My tongue is out of control when I use my words for harm, and not for good.
Proverbs 26:20 says, “When there is no more wood, a fire goes out, and without gossip, a quarrel dies down.” My tongue is out of control when instead of letting gossip die out, I add fuel to the fire.

And James says that when I can’t get something as small as my tongue under control, it’s as if my whole life is set on fire. “Consider how a little flame can set a large forest on fire! And the tongue is a fire. It is set among the parts of our body as a world of unrighteousness that stains the whole body, sets the whole course of life on fire, and is set on fire by hell (James 3:5, 6).”

In other words, if things were left to my control, even something as small as my own tongue would ignite my life into an uncontrollable hell.

But that’s the comfort of Christ the King Sunday. Christ isn’t just king of the gigantic universe; he is king of every tiny tongue too.

Christ laid aside his heavenly crown to drink the deadly poison of every lying tongue in our place. He allowed himself to be burned with the fires of hell, ignited by false accusations and foolish talk and harmful words. Even as he burned, he controlled his tongue perfectly, using his mouth to bless us and not to curse us, to forgive us and not to condemn us, to have his love cover over a multitude of our sins. And when he rose from the dead as king of sin, death, the devil and hell, he also rose as king of our hearts and mouths. With hearts changed by our king, and mouths confessing him as Lord, we are given not uncontrollable mouths, but the mouths of those who are righteous through faith in Christ. Instead of igniting the fires of hell, these mouths share the life-giving waters of God’s Word. As Proverbs 10:11 says, “The mouth of a righteous person is a fountain of life.”

Christ is King! And he is in control! Even over my uncontrollable tongue.

“God also highly exalted Jesus and gave him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father (Philippians 4:9-11).”

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Sunday Worship @ 8 & 10:30am

Bible Class and Sunday School @ 9:15 at the School

Livestream (Sunday 8:00am)

Wednesday Bible Class @ 10am & 7pm

Monday Night Services Resume January 3rd

Bulletins & Calendar

Anniversary Information (Schedule, Inserts, Bible Studies & More)

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Special request for help: We need to break in the binding of our new hymnals. We are asking whoever is available and willing to meet at the church at 9:30am on Thursday the 18th. If you can open a book and press down 10 pages at a time, you're able to help! Thank you!

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Prayer requests:

-- Continued prayers for those hospitalized and recovering, including Gerald Jahn, Marilyn Roekle, and Tom Boyd, and for Steve Trapp, son-in-law of Eunice Peterson who is hospitalized as well.

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With the introduction of a new hymnal coming up (1st Sunday of Advent!), it's a good time to review some biblical teaching on worship. Some thoughts from the new book above, Christian Worship: God Gives His Gospel Gifts (available here from Northwestern Publishing House ) will be summarized.

10. Liturgy -- The Beginning Pattern

The liturgy is a pattern of worship with a beginning, middle, and end. So what is the beginning of the worship pattern?

Opening hymn. Psalm 100:4 says, "Enter the LORD's gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise." We begin our worship by praising God! (Strey, p. 91)

Invocation: We call on the true God to be with us and to accept our worship. We use the words--the name--into which we were baptized. "In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19)." This marks our worship as uniquely Christian, and reminds us that God comes to us and accepts our worship because we have been baptized into Christ.

Confession and Absolution: Psalm 24 says, "Who may ascend the mountain of the LORD? Who may stand in his holy place? The one who has clean hands and a pure heart." "Only through the forgiveness that David's descendant Jesus obtained for us can we stand in God's presence. For this reason, it is a fitting practice to begin worship by confessing our sins and hearing absolution, the declaration of God's gracious forgiveness to us (Strey, p. 95)."

Lord, Have Mercy (Kyrie): Throughout the gospels, people cry out to Jesus, "Kyrie, eleison! Lord, have mercy!" This cry happens after the confession of sins in every service setting in the new hymnal. "This underscores this important truth: Even after we receive Christ's forgiveness, we still need God's mercy and protection in every other aspect of our lives (Strey p. 100)."

Glory to God in the Highest (Gloria): The response to our cry for mercy is the song of the angels on Christmas: Glory to God in the highest, and on earth, peace, good will toward men. The normal text of this song connects us with the shepherds on Christmas, as well as the countless Christians who have been singing this song in worship for over 1600 years. It communicates who Jesus is, what he has done, and what it means for us. If this were the only song on Sunday, we could be sure that the rich truths of the gospel would be thoroughly proclaimed!

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Other Devotional Materials:

WELS Daily Devotions: https://wels.net/dev-daily/

Family devotions: https://wels.net/family-devotion/

Bible Reading: Through my Bible in 3 years from Wels.net. Or "The God's Story of Salvation" plan from the Forward in Christ magazine: forwardinchrist.net/bible-readings-2021 .

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St. Paul's Weekly Update

Out of Control

Christ’s rule gets even more impressive when we think of all the things we can’t control.