A publication for youth of the Evangelical Lutheran Synod
Summer 2014
YoungBranches Young Branches
All For You
A to Z For You
By Pastor Kyle Madson
of the T.V. they watched and the music they listened to – it was what was good for you. Especially in those youngest years of a child’s life it can easily appear as though everything your parent(s) did was FOR YOU and your well-being.
Home Missionary – Weatherford/Hudson Oaks, Texas Editor, Young Branches
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here has probably been a time in your life (and maybe that time is now) when you were sure your parents were all about making your life difficult, hard-to-bear; almost as if everything they did was meant to keep anything “good” from happening to you or for you.
If you could watch a YouTube video on what your mother and father did for you just in the few years before your child-hood memory starts, it might be a little surprising to you. When you were in your mom’s womb, she probably slept poorly, worrying that every pain or discomfort she felt was something dangerous to you. She probably ate some foods she didn’t like (and she almost certainly didn’t eat/drink some she did like) for you. Once you were born, she (perhaps with the help of your father) got up from the little sleep she was able to get to provide you the food that was good for you. When you were a toddler the meals made were about what was good for you to eat. When your mother and father wanted to hang out with friends, those plans were made around what was good for you — your eating/sleeping schedule. Most
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When it comes to Jesus’ life, this isn’t an “appearance.” Jesus’ life — from conception and birth to resurrection, ascension, even His coming again on the last day – from A to Z it’s all FOR YOU. This gracious good news is held before us when we confess (say together) the Nicene Creed. We say of Jesus that He is God’s only Son, our Lord: Who FOR US men (all humanity) and FOR OUR SALVATION (rescue from our sins)… …And the list that follows is Jesus’ whole life – a life that continues to this very day! And it’s ALL FOR YOU!
A publication for the youth of the Evangelical Lutheran Synod
CONTACT: If you have any articles, artwork or poetry that you would like to submit for publication, please send them to: Young Branches 6 Browns Court Mankato, MN 56001
Summer 2014
The articles in this issue will take you on a tour through the life of your Savior, a life that still is serving you this very day! May God continue to bless and keep you in Jesus His Son. It’s no mirage or optical illusion. Jesus’ life – then and now – It’s ALL FOR YOU!
Young Branches is a publication of the Evangelical Lutheran Synod’s Board for Youth Outreach. Due to the generosity of ELS members, this publication is sent free of charge to all confirmed youth of our ELS churches. www.evangelicallutheransynod.org
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Why Even the Demons Tremble…
The only-begotten Son of God For You By Pastor Jerry Gernander Bethany Lutheran Church - Princeton, Minn. Contributing Writer
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nd the unclean spirits, whenever they saw Him, fell down before Him and cried out, saying, “You are the Son of God.” But He sternly warned them that they should not make Him known. (Mark 3:11-12)
What is the same is that the devils know that Jesus is the Son of God, and so do you.
Both times they were answering Jesus’ question. His question each time said “you.” Jesus: “Who do you say that I, the Son of Man, am?” Peter: “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” (Matthew 16:15-16)
Can you believe that the devils would say such a thing as “You are the Son of God?” Isn’t that what we Christians say? Does it make our saying this less valuable? No, it doesn’t.
Jesus: “Whoever lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?” Martha (who was in deep grief from her brother Lazarus’ death): “Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God.” (John 11:26-27)
What is the same is that the devils know that Jesus is the Son of God, and so do you. But what is different? James 2:19 says: “Even the demons believe – and tremble!” But the truth about Jesus does not make you afraid of Him; it makes you love Him. The devils do not know Him as you do, because you know Him as your Savior, who loves you.
Doesn’t this tell you that Jesus Christ is the only-begotten Son for you? Your confession of faith is not like what the devils were saying; Jesus did not allow them to speak, commanding them to be silent, because He did not want to hear those words from those who hate Him.
What is the difference? “For you.” The devils, and people who do not believe in Him, do not know or appreciate that part. The chief devil, Satan, is always working with your sinful flesh to get you to doubt the “for you” and to think that “Jesus is the only-begotten Son of God” has nothing to do with you. Or that He does not care about you. Jesus, in His Word, says and shows that this is for you and He does care about you. In the gospels, we hear two people say that Jesus is the Son of God. One is male (Peter) and one is female (Martha). Boys and young men, girls
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and young women, Jesus has given each of you a role model.
But Jesus loves to hear these words from you who believe in Him. In fact, saying these words which declare that Jesus is true God and true Man and the only Savior, even help to silence the devils and send them away from you! Say the Apostles’ Creed and the Nicene Creed! Say Bible verses such as John 20:31, John 8:58, and Colossians 2:9. Sing Christmas hymns all year long! Jesus will not tell you to be silent about this!
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Into Harms Way
Made Man For You By Pastor Charles Keeler Resurrection Lutheran Church - Winter Haven, Fla. Contributing Writer
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or me? Yes, it ought to be for me. I am the center of my universe. I like it when everything is for me. I don’t like it very much when others are before me. It isn’t fair, when I can’t do what I want to do. It makes me angry.”
Most of us are self-centered by nature. It is something we inherited from our parents. It is called “original sin.” When Adam and Eve listened to the devil they became selfabsorbed. They passed that on to us. And when the good and gracious God came to them, they hid in fear. Jesus irritates human consciences when He says: “The first of all the commandments is: ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. ‘And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the first commandment. And the second, like it, is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” (Mark 12:29-31) It is God’s law. The penalty is death. That is what will happen to me for breaking His commandments. “For Me?” Jesus became Man for me. Jesus was born under God’s law for me and for you. From His birth to His death, Jesus love His heavenly Father with all His heart, all His soul, with His entire mind and with all His strength. Again and again, the heavenly Father said of His, “Then a voice came from heaven, “You
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are My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” (Mark 1:11) Jesus did this for you and for me. He took our place. He stepped in where we fail. He did it for us and as if we had done it ourselves. God gives us the credit. God calls sinful and selfish human beings “saint” because by Baptism we wear Jesus. We are covered with Jesus. We look into our own hearts and see sin. God looks at us and sees Jesus. By faith in Him, we are forgiven. He loved His neighbor as Himself. He loved when they did not love Him. He loved when they nailed Him to the cross. He loved us, as He died “For Us”. He died our death and rose for our justification. By faith, we are for Him. We are His people. With the help of God’s Spirit we strive to “serve Him in everlasting righteousness, innocence and blessedness.”
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What He Didn’t Do…
Suffered For You By Pastor Aaron Hamilton Concordia Lutheran Church - Eau Claire, Wis. Contributing Writer
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t’s impressive to see Jesus commanding the wind and the waves, or silencing His enemies with His words. It’s powerful to see Him rebuking devils and casting them out, or causing a contingent of soldiers to draw back and fall on their faces before Him. We catch glimpses of His Divinity shining through, and hear Him tell us: “All authority is given to Me in heaven and on earth...” “Nothing is impossible with God.” We like this. We’d like to see more of it, especially happening for us.
Then Jesus takes up the cross. We want to say with Peter: Lord, this will never happen to you! But He carries the cross and plants it right in the middle of our life. Then He stretches out on it to die. Where’s His power to silence His enemies now? Why not summon some winds and waves, or the twelve legions of angels He mentions? That’s what we’d do. We’re dying to tell stuck up people what we think of them; to tell parents or teachers that they demand too much; to give a sibling or a two-faced friend the tongue-lashing or beat-down they’re asking for. If only we can do it and get away with it! Only not this time. It’s like Jesus knows and believes with all His heart what we’re so slow to learn: that man’s anger doesn’t bring about the righteous life that God desires. In Him there’s just godliness, willing obedience, and some great calm in the midst of suffering and grief that we’d know nothing about.
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For us, suffering is just a word for the experience of pain. With Christ, it means more. It means pain that He allows, when He could put a stop to it. That takes more. More purpose. More patience. More resolve. More sheer determination. More love. It’s written: “For the joy set before Him, He endured the cross, scorning its shame.” What joy could there be in it for Him to hold still while the devil tempts Him in an arid wilderness? What joy could there be for Him to hold still when Judas comes up to betray Him with a kiss? Or to hold still for lies, beatings, scourging, and mockery? To hold still and not come down from the cross? It’s not just what Jesus did, but also what He endured—what He let be done to Him—that makes Him our perfect hero. Through what He did, credited to you, He made Himself your perfection before the Father in heaven. Through all that He suffered, He made Himself the sacrifice to do away with your sin, once and for all. His joy is in announcing the gospel to you. Your sins are all forgiven you. He supplied perfect righteousness for you instead of your guilt. Your transgressions He washed away in His blood pouring from the cross. Thou, ah, Thou hast taken on Thee, bonds and stripes, a cruel rod… Pain and scorn were heaped upon Thee, O Thou sinless Son of God! Thus didst Thou my soul deliver, from the bonds of sin forever. Thousand, thousand thanks shall be, dearest Jesus, unto Thee! - ELH #333 v.2.
Young Branches
All the Rocks are Gone
Crucified and Buried For You By Pastor James Kassera Our Savior’s Lutheran Church - Albert Lea, Minn. Contributing Writer
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grew up on a dairy farm in Wisconsin, and though I desperately look forward to spring now, spring on a farm means something entirely different. Now spring means I am done shoveling snow but as a kid on the farm spring meant the reemergence of rock-picking season (it is every bit as fun as it sounds). Every spring we would have to walk the fields and pick up the rocks and throw them into a big pile near the woods. No matter how thorough we were one year, rocks always appeared again the next.
For us as Christians, spring time brings the season of Lent to a close and we are reminded of the life-altering words which Jesus uttered, “It is finished!” My dad never said, “It is finished” while we picked rocks because there was always more to do. Usually we would all pick rocks till our hands bled and then just call it “good enough;” we would leave the field even though there remained rocks unpicked. Jesus was not so lax with His task while one earth. Jesus’ entire purpose on the cross was to remove every one of our sins from our record by paying the punishment Himself. Picking rocks out of a field took sweat and blood, yet rock picking is a trip to Disneyland compared to what Jesus endured for our forgiveness. He took the Father’s righteous wrath over sins, suffering the pains of hell for you. He spent sweat and blood on that cross all right, but the suffering He endured goes beyond anything we care to imagine. However, through the anguish of the cross
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we can find extreme comfort. Jesus’ purpose in life was to win salvation for us; when that purpose had been completed there was no need for His visible life on earth to continue. “It is finished!” The work had been done. There were no more rocks of sin that would need to be picked out of our lives, no work yet to be done the next spring. Jesus finished what He started and salvation is ours through our simple child-like faith in Him as our Savior. Through His death and resurrection, Jesus returned to heaven and to the Father’s side, blazing a trail through death which all believers will follow soon enough. Spring is always a season which brings about more work to be done; to this day rocks are being picked out of those fields back home. How comforting it is to hear that at least one task has been completed for good! All glory be to God.
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Because Your ‘Good’ Isn’t Good Enough…
Raised Again For You By Pastor Josh Skogen Hope Lutheran Church - Portage, Ind. Contributing Writer
But there is justification for you. It is a justification that comes from God Himself.
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efore or after you do something wrong, what is your first instinct? Is it to justify your actions? To justify ourselves is basically to try to make us righteous, innocent of wrongdoing. It is incredible how quickly we can come up with a handful of justifications for sinful behavior. (This isn’t just a talent that youth have. After all, it was passed down to you from your sinful parents.)
Let’s think of some examples. You didn’t befriend the kid who is treated poorly by others. You justify yourself by thinking, “Oh, I’m sure he’s okay. He’s probably not bothered by it at all.” You don’t want to obey your parents’ instructions to do your chores. You think, “I’ll just pretend to do them, they won’t know the difference.” You’re pressured by your friends to despise God’s Word and preaching by skipping church for some fun activities Sunday morning. You think, “I’m usually there, and it wouldn’t be a big deal if I just miss one service. Everybody does that.” You probably can think of other examples. The justifications we come up with might sound good to us, but how do they sound to those against whom you have sinned, such as your parents, teachers, and friends? They sound foolish.
None of the silliness that comes from our minds justifies us before God. With your justifications you remain with your sins and are left only with God’s penalty - death . But there is justification for you. It is a justification that comes from God Himself. Hear the words of Paul from Romans 4:25, “[Jesus] was raised for our justification.” Jesus’ resurrection is unlike the others we read in the Bible. Zarephath’s son, Jairus’ daughter, and widow of Nain’s son were raised and returned to their grieving families. But Jesus rose again for you, for your justification – to declare YOU ‘good’ in God’s sight. He who was raised for you is indeed God in the flesh. He who was raised for you did die bearing your sins, including your foolish attempts to get yourself ‘good’ with God. He who was raised for you was the One who cried out “It is finished” in His death for you. His resurrection assures you that your justification is indeed finished and complete! Thankfully we don’t have to come up with foolish justifications for our sinfulness. Instead, we need only to repent of our sinfulness and joyfully confess that “Christ is risen for me! He has taken away all my sins, and now lives to be my justification.” Through faith in the risen Christ, you are justified, righteous before God, and you shall live with Him forever!
Now think about this: How do your justifications for sinning against the Ten Commandments sound to God? Will your justifications work before His judgment?
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Focused on the Finish Line
Ascended For You By Pastor Don Moldstad Chaplain, Bethany Lutheran College - Mankato, Minn. Contributing Writer
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am always impressed when I watch the Olympic athletes. They put so much time, energy, money and effort into preparing for sometimes a very, very short race. Winning a medal or losing can often depend on less than a second. You can just see the determination in their eyes, focusing ahead on the finish line ahead of them. One little slip up and all of that time and preparation is for nothing.
St. Paul must have liked sports. He makes references to the athletes in his day, and how determined and focused they could be on winning. In writing to Christians he often uses the imagery of keeping your eyes focused ahead on the goal of heaven. Jesus’ ascension into heaven has given us a goal to aim for. When He ascended into the clouds to return to His seat of glory, this meant that His work of paying for our sins and winning heaven for us was now all accomplished. God would have us draw a line from heaven, through Mary’s womb, into the manger of Bethlehem, to the cross, through the empty grave, and back to the Father’s right hand. Now that His redeeming work is done for you, He invites you to trust in Him, and has gone ahead to prepare a place for His believers. Heaven is not just a possibility, but a reality that is already accomplished for you in His saving work.
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One of our hymns says, “On Christ’s ascension I now build the hope of my ascension.” Think how amazing that will be … when someday God will bring us through the clouds to meet our Savior in the air, along with all the others who have been brought to faith in Him. May your Savior’s presence in heaven be like a magnet for your own spiritual life, even if God allows you to live into your 90s. “Set your mind on things above, where Christ is seated,” Paul writes. Like a well-trained and focused Olympic athlete, set your eyes on the finish line of life… eternal life, which has already been won for you by Jesus.
Jesus’ ascension into heaven has given us a goal to aim for.
Olympic victors receive a nice medal and a chance to stand on the podium. Victors in Christ are not given a piece of metal, but rather the crown of life, and a chance to stand forever in the mansions of heaven. Instead of hearing the national anthem of our earthly country, we will hear the choirs of heavenly angels singing “Glory to God in the Highest.”
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The King and His Day-Job
Seated at the Father’s Right Hand For You By Pastor Samuel Gullixson Our Savior Lutheran Church - Bishop, Cali. Contributing Writer
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ow many fairy tales end with “and they lived happily ever after”? Quite of few, right? Why? Because we like happy endings... and because the struggles of the story have climaxed in the attainment of the desired goal. It is as if nothing could ever go wrong after one reaches his goal.
Have you ever wondered if this how Jesus feels sitting at the Father’s right hand? His struggle and work of redemption came to a climax on Calvary’s crest. In His death, sin and the power of the devil were all defeated. At His resurrection, Death’s power was done. Ascending into heaven, He attained the throne due Him. What more is there for Him to do? And we all “live happily ever after,” right? Not quite, or more precisely, not yet. While Jesus sits at God’s right hand in all glory and power, He still works. The work of our redemption was finished on the cross, but we are not in paradise yet—we are still in this world, fighting against sin, death, and the devil. We can still fail and fall from God’s
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grace. We can still doubt God’s promises and lose sight of our forgiveness. We can still be tempted to try to work our way out of God’s anger. In short, we are not safe from the assaults of Satan, this world, or our own sinful flesh. We still need help. We still need Jesus to work for us. And so He does. He is still busy serving you, sitting at the Father’s right hand of power. St. Paul tells us in Romans 8:34, “… It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us.” Jesus is actively interceding (mediating) for you before the Father. When you struggle with temptation and fall, Jesus pleads for you and covers over your sin with His sacrifice, thus keeping you in His grace. Remember Jesus’ words to Peter on Maundy Thursday, “Simon, Simon! Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail.” (Luke 22:31-32). The Father heard Jesus’ prayer and heeded it. How comforting it is to know that we have a perfect Brother speaking to the Father on our behalf and will not rest until we have attained our “happily ever after” with Him in paradise for all eternity.
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Standing at Attention
Coming Again For You By Pastor Luke Ulrich Mount Olive Lutheran Church & School - Mankato, Minn. Contributing Writer
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o you watch or read the news? There seems to be a growing number of people who would rather spend their time watching or reading other things than current events and news stories. More and more people are tired of having to deal with so much bad news—which seems to be the majority of what you find in the papers or on TV. It wears people out! It causes anxiety and stress! Seeing all the violence, greed, and murder that surrounds us is frightening! Likewise, seeing all the natural disasters taking place around us is upsetting and terrifying!
In spite of the never-ending stream of bad news that fills our ears and our eyes in this sinful, fallen world, our Lord Jesus reminds us that out of all the bad news there comes good news! As we see and hear of all the trouble and distress in this world, Jesus reminds us to remain cheerful and to have hope. We know that these bad things will come to an end. Those who trust in Jesus Christ will witness that coming day when He will return to earth to take us from the trouble and distress of this place to be with Himself in the awesome magnificence of heaven!
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One day, near the end of Jesus’ earthly life, He turned to His disciples and prepared them for all sorts of bad news that they would hear about and face as they were to carry out their work on earth. Jesus understood that there might be times when the bad news might become overwhelming for them. So Jesus encouraged them by saying, “When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.” (Luke 21:28)
When you see and hear bad news do not let it get you down.
When you see and hear bad news do not let it get you down. Instead, let it be a reminder to you that wonderful things are ahead! After all, “Your redemption is drawing near!” The Lord Jesus is soon on His way and all those frightening, upsetting, and terrifying things that are found in this fallen world will end, once and for all! So don’t let the bad news get the better of you. Do not become worn out by it. Do not let it cause you anxiety or stress. Instead, “Stand up and lift up your head!” Because of Jesus we have the very best news—the news that our sins are forgiven; we possess salvation; and before long Jesus will bring us to the glories that are waiting in Heaven.
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