We say "God bless you" or "God Bless America," but do we recognize why and how He blesses America?  Our culture has an answer to these questions, but our Bible has another.  This is a difficult message for Christians in America to hear, because the answer to "Why does God bless America"  is not what most think or are conditioned to think.  Many will not like this message from God's Word today, although for some, it is life-changing.   We also are including the children's devotion for today.   Immanuel Shirley:  www.shirleygreenleaf.com Immanuel Cares: https://immanuelshirleywels.podbean.com/ #EHV #sermon #notchristiannation #Godblessamerica

Psalm 62 1My soul rests quietly in God alone. My salvation is from him. 2He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress. I will not be disturbed. 3How long will you threaten a man? Do all of you want to murder him, like a leaning wall, like a fence to be pushed down? 4Yes, they plan to push him down from his lofty place. They are delighted with deceit. With their mouths they bless, but inside they curse. 5My soul, rest quietly in God alone, for my hope comes from him. 6He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress. I will not be disturbed. 7My salvation and my honor depend on God, my strong rock. My refuge is in God. 8Trust in him at all times, you people. Pour out your hearts before him. God is a refuge for us. 9Yes, the sons of Adam are only a breath. The sons of man are a delusion. On a scale they weigh nothing. They are nothing but air. 10Do not trust in extortion. Do not put empty confidence in stolen goods. If your wealth grows, do not set your heart on it. 11One thing God has spoken, two things that I have heard: that God has strength 12and that you, Lord, have mercy. Surely you will repay each person according to what he has done. Immanuel Shirley:  www.shirleygreenleaf.com Immanuel Cares: https://immanuelshirleywels.podbean.com/ #EHV #sermon #roevwade #

The LORD speaks from a storm.   Youtube videos, click here: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLTVpr2Z7-ykFMSNi-FyW6abjdoUdnT8Xg We use the Evangelical Heritage Version (EHV). No bible study downloads are needed. Grab your favorite beverage and join Pastor Ruddat as he give you the highlights from Job chapter 32 to chapter 37 #bookofjob #immanuelshirley #EHV #biblestudy

A new friend speaks, Elihu, younger and more direct than the other three friends. Surprisingly, Job doesn't have anything to say in response to him, neither does the LORD. What does Elihu add to the conversation about the Christian's suffering, God's justice, or His goodness? Youtube videos, click here: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLTVpr2Z7-ykFMSNi-FyW6abjdoUdnT8Xg We use the Evangelical Heritage Version (EHV). No bible study downloads are needed. Grab your favorite beverage and join Pastor Ruddat as he give you the highlights from Job chapter 32 to chapter 37   #bookofjob #immanuelshirley #EHV #biblestudy

What does the Church (as an institution and as individuals) need in order to do well, whether it's 62 AD or 2022AD?  What does the church think it needs in order to do well, and what does God think it needs in order to do well?  God calls all of us to have an authentic Christian presence in this world.   Authentic:  Paul commends Timothy's sincere faith, as well as those in Timothy's life who were like Christ to Timothy. Christian:  Be about Christ and what he has done for us. Presence: In God’s Family (in worship and receiving God's Gifts) and in God’s World (not sheltered, but in the community and interacting with those around us with the love of Christ). 1 Timothy 1:3-10 (EHV) I thank God, whom I serve with a clean conscience as my ancestors did, as I constantly remember you in my prayers night and day. 4When I remember your tears, I long to see you, so that I may be filled with joy. 5I remember your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am convinced that it also lives in you. 6For this reason I am reminding you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. 7For God did not give us a timid spirit, but a spirit of power and love and sound judgment. 8So do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord or of me his prisoner. Instead, join with me in suffering for the gospel while relying on the power of God. 9He saved us and called us with a holy calling, not because of our works, but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began, 10and it has now been revealed through the appearance of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. Immanuel Shirley:  www.shirleygreenleaf.com Immanuel Cares: https://immanuelshirleywels.podbean.com/ #EHV #authentic #presence #wels

What is man (or humanity)?  A deep question the Bible asks and answers in Psalm 8. Psalms 8:1-8 (EHV)  1O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! Set this glory of yours above the heavens. 2From the lips of little children and nursing babies you have established strength because of your foes, to put a stop to the enemy and the avenger. 3Whenever I look up at your heavens, the works of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place— 4what is man that you remember him, the son of man that you pay attention to him! 5Nevertheless, you make him suffer need, apart from God for a while, but you crown him with glory and honor. 6You make him the ruler over the works of your hands. You put everything under his feet: 7all flocks and cattle, and even the wild animals, 8the birds of the sky, and the fish of the sea, which pass through the currents of the seas. 9O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!   Immanuel Shirley:  www.shirleygreenleaf.com Immanuel Cares: https://immanuelshirleywels.podbean.com/   #wels #lutheran #sermon #summerofpsalms

Job 27-31 Job's Final Monologue Youtube videos, click here: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLTVpr2Z7-ykFMSNi-FyW6abjdoUdnT8Xg #bookofjob #immanuelshirley #EHV #biblestudy

How does a person tell the difference between good unity and bad unity?  The unity, the good, the bad, and the prideful, are all on display at the Tower of Babel. Genesis 11:1-9 (EHV) The whole earth had one language and a single vocabulary. As people traveled in the east, they found a plain in the land of Shinar, and they settled there. They said to one another, “Come, let’s make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” They used mud brick instead of stone for building material, and they used tar for mortar. They said, “Come, let’s build a city for ourselves and a tower whose top reaches to the sky, and let’s make a name for ourselves, so that we will not be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth.” The LORD came down to see the city and the tower that the people were building. The LORD said, “If this is the first thing they are doing as one people, who all have one language, then nothing that they intend to do will be too difficult for them. Come, let’s go down there and confuse their language, so that they cannot understand one another’s speech.” So the LORD scattered them from there over the face of the whole earth, and they stopped building the city. It was named Babel, because there the LORD confused the language of the whole earth. From there the LORD scattered them over the face of the whole earth. #wels #lutheran #sermon #towerofbabel #unity #pride #community #pridemonth 

The ascension of Jesus, is it a beginning or an end?   Revelation 22:12-17,30 12Look, I am coming soon and my reward is with me, to repay each one according to what he has done. 13I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End. 14Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the Tree of Life and so that they may enter through the gates into the city. 15Outside are the dogs, that is, the sorcerers, the adulterers, the murderers, the idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood. 16I, Jesus, have sent my angel to give you this testimony for the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, the bright Morning Star. 17The Spirit and the bride say, “Come.” And let the one who hears this say, “Come.” And let the one who is thirsty come. Let the one who wants the water of life take it as a gift.. 20The one who testifies about these things says, “Yes, I am coming soon.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!

What does an American Christian need to consider before taking up arms to fight for the freedom of Ukraine? see also: https://bookofconcord.org/small-catechism/table-of-duties/ https://wolfmueller.co/whether-soldiers-can-saved/   #devotion #askthepastor #wels