DEVOTION

MADE HOLY

1. …for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. Galatians 3:27

Scholarship Assistance to Students Preparing for Ethnic Ministry

The Rocky Mt. District LCMS recognizes the need for expanding our Gospel outreach to an assortment of cross-cultural and ethnic groups as the diverse population of immigrants continues to grow within our district. Focusing on the expansion of our district ethnic ministry team, includes providing each of them with solid theological training, along with mission and ministry skills, so those who have never heard of Jesus, might learn of the Savior’s love and salvation. This grant of $3500 will provide scholarship assistance to Rocky Mt. District – LCMS students preparing for ethnic and cross-cultural ministry at our synodical schools.

We pray, O Lord, that You would bless the ministry of this mission grant recipient that through this ministry You would bless all who hear the Good News of Jesus as their Lord and Savior. In doing so, You and You alone can make them holy and grant them life eternal.

In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen

2. Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. Psalm 51:7

King’s Camp at Lutheran Valley Retreat

King’s Camp is a week of experiential opportunities in an outdoor environment for young people from the Denver area that have been in and out of foster homes all their lives. Through varied activities at camp, LVR and Kings’ Team staff will relate struggles and joys of these activities to their walk with Christ. The goal of Lutheran Valley Retreat is for all who attend camp there, to begin and continue a relationship with Jesus Christ and to encourage respect of God’s creation, others, and self. In order to decrease the amount of funds needed and help keep the cost of King’s Camp at a fraction of the full fees in future years, this grant for $6000 for King’s Camp at Lutheran Valley Retreat will provide $50 for each of the 60 youth for 2 years.

In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen

3. Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. Psalm 51:2

Developing Religious Life Curriculum for God’s People with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities

Bethesda Lutheran Communities (BLC) has a specific goal: to develop a ground-breaking comprehensive, religious life curriculum for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. This series will be designed for small group instruction implemented in congregation or community-based settings. It will enable many to easily reach out to those in their neighborhoods who have developmental disabilities and invite them to special times of fellowship around God’s Word. No other agency or publishing company has the mission or expertise to take on this challenging project, and our congregations are in need of doctrinally sound materials for teaching the developmentally disabled about Jesus. This grant of $8000 is to help cover the cost of the printing of the teacher materials; these materials will be available and used throughout the world to share the Gospel message.

In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen

4. Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. Romans 6:3-4

Missionary Household Setup – Lutheran Bible Translators

When missionaries go overseas, they must adapt to their environment, surroundings, and culture. Elegance and modern conveniences are not expected or required, but essentials and safe living conditions are. This task is often quite challenging and typically requires renovating or rebuilding a local home to ready it for the missionary family. Assignments of missionaries are made based on needs of our national partners and the abilities and desires of the missionary team. The goal of LBT is to get the missionaries “up and running” as quickly as possible so they can begin the task for which they were sent, namely, to help the people have God’s Word in their own language. $7500 will help provide money for a missionary family for essentials and equipment needed to set up their home when they arrive on the mission field.

In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen

5. … having been buried with him in Baptism and raised with him through your faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead. Colossians 2:12

Opening an Outreach Center, Ft. Collin, CO – Lutheran Blind Mission

In 1994 Lutheran Blind Mission began “to encourage, train, and support blind people to be missionaries for Jesus, especially to blind and visually-impaired individuals.” The outreach center is to create a mission station based at a congregation to reach out to isolated blind people to demonstrate God’s love. The blind leader, who knows where to find other blind people, facilitates regular gatherings including a monthly meal, Bible studies, computer training, and Braille classes; the leader helps identify potential leaders who are then contacted by Lutheran Blind Mission for training. This grant of $5000 will be used to open a new outreach center in Ft. Collins, CO that includes the training for the new director and will provide a family of love and care so that many would come to “see Jesus” and be connected to God’s Word and His people.

In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen

6. … and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also – not removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a good conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ. 1 Peter 3:21

Trinity/HOPE

The average child in Haiti has six or seven meals a week. With little or no food, their energy level and learning ability is decreased and the children often cannot even stay awake in class. A hot lunch enables the children to be nourished both physically and spiritually, and the children are able to comprehend that Jesus loves them and is their Savior, as well as learning academics. Providing a noon meal for the hungry children in our Lutheran Schools in Haiti while sharing the Good News that Jesus loves them and is their Savior is a powerful witness used by the Holy Spirit to discredit the Voodoo teaching that God is unapproachable and non responsive to Haitians. This grant of $5000 will provide funds to partner with Trinity/HOPE and the local people in Haiti to feed an average Lutheran school of 100 children (at about $.28 per meal) so they can be fed and FED

In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen

7. I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit. Mark 1:8

Veterans of the Cross

Our called workers are trained by the Synod and dispersed by the will of God to preach and teach in the clear name of Christ. Having been “givers” all their lives, called workers have a hard time being on the receiving end of aid even when desperately needed; Veterans of the Cross is a long-standing program that assists retired church workers whose retirement benefits are for various reasons woefully inadequate. Some called workers and/or spouses may have worked diligently in areas and at a certain period of time where compensations have been low for most of their God pleasing work. Upon reaching retirement with only social security, or due to a major event or debilitating health problem in their life, these faithful workers and/or spouses have little or no financial means with which to sustain themselves and family. This grant of $5000 will help assist in the care and support of LCMS called workers and/or spouses who are experiencing personal financial difficulties in their retirement years.

In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen

8. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. Mark 16:16

University Lutheran Chapel, Boulder, CO

University Lutheran Chapel, Boulder, CO is the only full-time campus ministry in the Rocky Mt. District, and is one of the very few Christian student ministries expanding on this campus. Located in the heart of the University of Colorado, everyday thousands of un-churched college students pass by the chapel. This congregation, made up of college students and faculty members of the university, is incapable of generating its own support internally. Weekly student Bible studies with fellowship time are held; Wednesdays there is a soup lunch, and Sunday evenings there is a worship service. The chapel is open with many students stopping by for a cup of coffee or a study break during the week, and music majors will practice on the chapel piano or pipe organ. $6000 will help support the campus ministry at University Lutheran Chapel, Boulder, CO which is helping build future church leaders and enabling students to reach out to the lost.

In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen

9. Peter said, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” Acts 2:38

Expansion for the Ministry of the Lutheran Hispanic Missionary Institute (LHMI), EL Paso, TX

Hispanic outreach has been crippled primarily by a shortage of trained Hispanic church workers who are already fluent in Spanish and familiar with Hispanic culture and life. RMD has established the Lutheran Hispanic Missionary Institute on the campus of Ysleta Lutheran Mission; at the institute, between 40 and 50 students have already been instructed. Some have already become active in their local congregations and communities on a volunteer basis. Recognized by the Center for Hispanic Studies at Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, MO, male students who successfully complete a first level of study at Lutheran Hispanic Missionary Institute (which prepares them to serve as deacons) may have their studies recognized by Concordia Seminary, thus admitting them to a second level of study at the seminary which will prepare them for pastoral ministry. With this grant of $7000 funds will be used to support and expand the church worker training program of the institute.

In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen

10. You will be his witness to all men of what you have seen and heard. And now what are you waiting for? Get up, be baptized and wash your sins away, calling on his name. Acts 22:15-16

Training Pastors for Gospel Outreach in Africa: African Lutheran churches are in dire need of well-trained, biblically solid, missional pastors to go out and make disciples throughout Africa. Training missional African pastors who will go out and spread the Good News of Jesus Christ throughout French-speaking and English-speaking Africa – often in areas where an American missionary would find it very difficult or simply impossible to work and live is the vital outreach plan. Recently Rev Fluegge and family accepted a call to South Africa where he will serve as instructor and curriculum developer at Lutheran Theological Seminary (LTS) which trains pastors for Lutheran churches in South Africa and beyond. Secondly, he collaborates with Lutheran churches and seminaries throughout French-speaking Africa to help develop their pastoral training programs and teach courses. With this grant of $7,000 some of the needed funds will be provided for the pastoral training ministry and family expenses of the Fluegges.

In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen

11. But your were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. 1Corinthians 6:11

Mission Outreach to Immigrants from Ethiopia (Aurora, CO)

In America today there are approximately 1 million Ethiopian immigrants, 25,000 of them are located in the Aurora/Denver area. In Aurora there are no Lutheran congregations reaching out with the Gospel message. Currently serving a vicarage at Peace with Christ Lutheran Church in Aurora, Vicar Tomas Bayou intends to launch an outreach ministry in the latter half of 2010 that focuses especially on the second generation of Ethiopian immigrants. Most Ethiopian immigrants remain isolated in their own community so Vicar Tomas seeks to reach the young families by attending to their particular family and childcare needs. Following a childcare ministry that begins with a daycare center culturally sensitive and Christ-centered, the Good News of Jesus will be shared with these young children, the heavy burden for these Ethiopian parents of finding child care will be lifted, and a Lutheran church will be planted. This grant of $7500 will help provide funds to begin this Ethiopian immigrant ministry with a focus on young families.

In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen

12. He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, Titus 3: 5-6

Debt Assistance Program

Many of our new pastors leave the seminary with large educational debts which they attempt to pay off with beginning scale salaries. We need pastors to train and lead us in sharing the Gospel with our neighbors. If pastors leave the ministry for financial or other reasons, the resulting vacancy frequently causes people to leave the church and Gospel-sharing is interrupted. The Rocky Mt. District LCMS has established a Debt Assistance Program to help pastors and their families repay their educational debt. The goal of the program is to provide for each struggling pastor and his family an amount of money equal to one half of his monthly educational debt payment. By helping to alleviate financial stress, our Rocky Mt. District pastors will be more likely to remain at their present call in the District. This grant of $7500 will help with the funding of the Debt Assistance Program to LCMS pastors in the Rocky Mt. District with educational debt.

In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen

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