Peace of God surpasses understanding

Have you heard how to have peace?

 

How to receive Faith, Word, Grace, Truth?

It’s all about Jesus. 

The peace of being with Christ is for you during Advent, Christmas, New Year and absolute everlasting life! If you aren’t in faith connecting with the Bible yet, you can receive that gift which is all about Jesus. The Helper-Counselor gently guides those with Him now and hereafter. Those without Jesus, eventually are separated from Love to restless suffering. Seize the day to receive, not reject, His inspired Word—opportunity for strength and comfort of a future without tears! 

My help comes from the Lord when I connect with His family in

• The Church
• Excellent Study Bible 
• Archives and live streaming
• Prayers and encouragment

The Creator is pure, perfect Love for you. Jesus’s perfect humanity, suffering, death—plus, His resurrection and ascension to heaven—makes undeserving sinners right for victory! He casts out fear, gives light, repentance, joy, gratitude!

Advent/Christmas/New Year card design

 

Folded card front, partially opened

 

Unfolding card with space to write and sign

 

Opened card, showing folds

 

Flat design printed one side of sheet

Litany of prayers (as shown above)

O Lord, O Christ, have mercy. God the Father in heaven, hear us. God the Son, Redeemer of the world, have mercy. Be gracious to us. Spare us. God the Holy Spirit, Help us, good Lord.

• From all sin, from all error, from all evil; 
• From the crafts and assaults 
of the devil; from sudden 
and evil death; 
• From pestilence and famine; from war and bloodshed; from sedition and from rebellion; 
• From lightning and tempest; from all calamity by fire 
and water; and from everlasting death: 

Good Lord, deliver us. 

• By the mystery of Your 
holy incarnation; 
by Your holy nativity; 
• By Your baptism, fasting, and temptation; by Your agony and bloody sweat; by Your cross and passion; by Your precious death and burial; 
• By Your glorious resurrection and ascension; and by the coming of the Holy Spirit, 
the Comforter: 

Help us, good Lord.

• In all time of our tribulation; in all time of our prosperity; in the hour of death; and 
in the day of judgment: 

Help us, good Lord.

We poor sinners implore You 
to hear us, O Lord.

• To rule and govern Your holy Christian Church; to preserve all pastors and ministers of Your Church in the true knowledge and understanding of Your wholesome Word and to sustain them in holy living; To put an end to all schisms and causes of offense; to bring into the way of truth all who have erred and are deceived;
• To beat down Satan under our feet; to send faithful laborers into Your harvest; and to accompany Your Word with Your grace and Spirit:
• To raise those who fall and to strengthen those who stand; and to comfort and help 
the weakhearted and 
the distressed:
• To give to all peoples concord and peace; to preserve our land from discord and strife; to give our country Your protection in every time 
of need;
• To direct and defend our president and all in authority; 
to bless and protect 
our magistrates and 
all our people;
• To watch over and help all who are in danger, necessity, and tribulation; to protect 
and guide all who travel;
• To grant all women with child, and all mothers with infant children, increasing happiness in their blessings; to defend all orphans and widows and provide for them;
• To strengthen and keep all sick persons and young children; to free those in bondage; and to have mercy on us all:
• To forgive our enemies, persecutors, and slanderers and to turn their hearts; 
to give and preserve for our use the kindly fruits of the earth; and graciously to hear our prayers:

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, we implore You to hear us.

Christ, the Lamb of God, 
who takes away the sin of 
the world, have mercy.

Grant us Your peace.

—Edited by Elizabeth Knaus, revised from pages 288–289
 of The Lutheran Service Book, Concordia Publishing House,
 origin: The Litany by Martin Luther, 1529  

Hymns teach the Word

The one who sings prays twice
—Saint Augustine 

About this Christmas card design

My card design was inspired by a FaceBook post submitted by the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS) invitation to pray the Litany every Wednesday. Repetitive phrases are omitted to fit it on 8.5x11 inch stationery, folded to fit A2 size envelopes, available at FreshRetroGallery. Circle/banner/rose downloadable art is available in grayscale, full color and the solid black version I used here and hand-colored. I watercolor-painted the green border and holly. The prayer is set in narrow columns for easy readability. This original fold was fun to create. Learn how to make a simpler French-fold card that also works great with A2 envelopes. Hey, why not write a Christmas letter to send with photo cards? Check out 60 sheets of stationery (without envelopes). 

Immeasurable, infinite…

Thank God! Ideas, important information, inspiration, intelligence, integrity…blessings are for you in the Word, the Bible! 

And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:7

2 Peter Bible Sketch

Want grace?

 

Want peace?

 

Want knowledge?

Do you know Jesus Christ is both fully man and fully God who existed before He created the world? He knew us well before our sinful moms conceived, that we’d be affected by the same temptation that Adam and Eve fell for. Lovingly, He bought grace for all people with the price of His blood which paid the debt of sin. Christ’s victory over death is or will be known in all nations, yet that doesn’t mean everyone actually has the faith that receives this gift of atoning work. Many refuse his humanity, deny His divinity, choose to have nothing to do with Christianity. Dark powers are working hard to pull us down the devastating spiral that ends in hell. If you don’t yet trust God’s promise to save us for heaven, pray the Holy Spirit will draw you in through the power of His Word.

2 Peter

May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. 2 Peter 1:2

Jesus, who knows all about good and evil, loved us with His life. 

Everyone faces trials, and struggles with sin. When we die, we fall asleep in the dust. Life goes on in heaven and hell. Eventually the Almighty will wake everyone up—some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. God knows how to punish, though He doesn’t want that for anyone; also, He knows precisely how to rescue. The Creator’s preference to rescue us from the consequences of sin is a gracious gift that brings to us His peace. The Holy Spirit provides the faith which trusts the work of God’s Son who is also the Son of Mary. Truth is received in the Word of God. Forgiveness is received by hearing God’s Name in the seal of Baptism when we’re adopted into His family. The Lord’s Holy Supper is comfort food for us which forgives and strengthens God’s children to grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord. The Heavenly Father sees us through the lens of His Son, our brother Jesus. The Holy Spirit is our Helper who unites the Church. All glory to God!

• Punishment (hell) comes from a person’s choice to refuse to believe the Truth
• Rescue (heaven) is given by the faith to trust Truth, the righteousness of Christ

Once we’ve received the faith which offers cleansing peace, we reverently hold it dearly, cherish the Bible and strive to talk about it with anyone who may be curious and willing to listen. Forgetting and ignoring the faith is a choice to let go of it and all its benefits; still, it remains available to return to during a time of grace before you die, at the point it would be too late.

And we have the prophetic word more fully confirmed, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts, knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. 2 Peter 1:19-21

The devil is a liar who brings on temptations which would make us slaves to sin, destroy relationships, and drive us away from the faith. Watch out not to become a fool by falling for lies and then repeating foolishness while reveling in the entanglement of what’s corrupt. Scoffers will scoff about all of Scripture, even Christ’s resurrection and the resurrection of the dead when He comes again.

The faith provides healthy warnings which wake us up to true freedom. It stirs us to cling to multiplied grace and peace in the knowledge of our Lord. Patiently, God gives, perfects, increases and strengthens saving faith which repents and keeps us turning toward Him for protection. When we are afraid, He reminds us we are safe with Him. Actively waiting in hope for what is next, we’re free to rest in the Word’s promises which prepare us to be ready for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. 

Wandering the earth as it is now in this life, we’ll be perplexed by deceived and confused people who hurt, lie to, and slander each other without regret. This will go on until we die or when Jesus comes back. We do well to pray for each other and daily dig into the Truth of what keeps us connected to our Savior’s comfort.

But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed. 2 Peter 3:8-10

Praise the patient Lord who isn’t wanting anyone to die without the faith. In the context of His multi-dimensional time, deeper and higher than we can comprehend, we pray for loved ones and everyone to receive all the benefits and joy Truth provides. The faith grows awareness of dangers such as remaining slack and ignorant. Living in darkness is to deny or twist Truth. Living by faith is to seek the Light of God’s will which receives mercy, grace and knowledge of our Savior. Get the faith and grow. Go to church!

You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, take care that you are not carried away with the error of lawless people and lose your own stability. But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen. 2 Peter 3:17-18

Listen and learn more.

• 2 Peter
• Intro
• Radio
• Word Endures
• 30 Minutes 123 and 124