CD: Traditional hymns sung by children

Concordia Publishing House has produced 2 cd's of traditional hymns sung by children with piano accompaniment...

Hymns of Faith includes:
1.  You Are the Way; Through You Alone
2.  O Jesus So Sweet, O Jesus So Mild
3.  O Christ, Our Hope, Our Hearts' Desire
4.  O Jesus, King Most Wonderful
5.  Oh, How Great is Your Compassion
6.  Drawn to the Cross, Which Thou Hast Blessed
7.  Just As I Am, Without One Plea
8.  Lord, 'Tis Not That I Did Choose Thee
9.  I Know My Faith is Founded
10. Jesus Loves Me
11. The Church's One Foundation
12. A Mighty Fortress Is Our God
13. Lore of Our Life
14. O Little Flock, Fear Not the Foe
15. Jerusalem the Golden
16. For All The Saints
17. The Lord's My Shepherd, I'll Not Want
18. Savior, Like a Shepherd Lead Us
19. If God Himself Be for Me
20. O God, our Help in Ages Past
21. If Thou But Trust in God to Guide Thee
22. Take My Life and Let it Be
23. Lord Jesus Christ, the Children's Friend
24. Stay With Us
25. God Himself is Present

Hymns of the Church Year includes:
1. The Advent of Our King
2. O Bride of Christ, Rejoice
3. Lo! He Comes with Clouds Descending
4. Come, Though Long-Expected Jesus
5. Prepare the Royal Highway
6. On Jordan’s Bank the Baptist’s Cry 
7. See amid the Winter’s Snow
8. Joy to the World
9. From God the Father, Virgin-Born
10. In His Temple Now Behold Him
11. Within the Father’s House
12. O Wondrous Type! O Vision Fair
13. 'Tis Good, Lord, to Be Here
14. O Lord, throughout These Forty Days
15. On My Heart Imprint Your Image
16. My Son Is Love Unknown
17. Glory Be to Jesus
18. Jesus Christ Is Risen Today
19. The Strife Is O’er, the Battle Done
20. He’s Risen, He’s Risen
21. Make Songs of Joy
22. Come, You Faithful, Raise the Strain

Advent: alternative tunes for Advent hymns

Rev Thomas Weitzel has compiled a list of alternative tunes for some of the Advent hymns appearing in Lutheran hymnals...

visit:  http://www.liturgybytlw.com/AdvXmas/AltTunes.html

Book: The Self-Donation of God: A Contemporary Lutheran approach to Christ and His Benefits

In The Self-Donation of God, Jack Kilcrease argues that the speech-act of promise is always an act of self-donation. A person who unilaterally promises to another is bound to take a particular series of actions to fulfill that promise. Being that creation is grounded in God's promising speech, the divine-human relationship is fundamentally one of divine self-donation and human receptivity. Sin disrupts this relationship and therefore redemption is constituted by a reassertion of divine promise of salvation in the face of the condemnation of the law (Gen 3:15). As a new and effective word of grace, the promise of a savior begins the process of redemption within which God speaks forth a new narrative of creation. In this new narrative, God gives himself in an even deeper manner to humanity. By donating himself through a promise, first to the protological humanity and then to Israel, he binds himself to them. At the end of this history of self-binding, God in Christ enters into the condemnation of the law, neutralizes it in the cross, and brings about a new creation through his omnipotent word of promise actualized in the resurrection.

Reviews Amazon Reviews

Lutheran Deaconess Association

The Lutheran Deaconess Association prepares and supports women and men for ministries of service and advances the church's service mission.  They also encourage and support all Christians' service and provide resources for you.  
The Lutheran Deaconess Association has consecrated over 760 deaconesses since 1919. They have served throughout the world in roles such as parish staff, missionaries, social workers, lawyers, nurses, teachers, administrators, and more!  Today, the Lutheran Deaconess Association educates women and men for wide-reaching ministries both in the church and in the community.
God calls every Christian to service or, in Greek, diakonia.  As Jesus took a towel and washed the feet of His disciples, God calls each of us to share His love by serving others. The towel and basin are symbols of this service.

Their web page includes:
Information about Diaconal Ministry
Diaconal Formation including exploring your ministry
Resources
plus more

Visit http://www.thelda.org/ for more information

Conference: Unearthing Gospel Gold - Crossings

Come, be strengthened in your ability to relate Scripture to life in a way that is relevant and joyful, using the Crossings Method. Beginners will have an opportunity to learn how to use this method, sometimes called the “Six-Step Method.” This is the method which is used in text studies which are e-published weekly by Crossings, available online at www.crossings.org.

We will explore together the implications of using a self-consciously law-gospel method for relating the Word of God to culture and life. Speakers, all of them members of the Crossings Community, will discuss how the Crossings Method has helped them. Pastors will talk about how they use it in their preaching, and lay people will tell what it means for them.

Conference sessions include:

• Worship
• “Unearthing Gospel Gold”
• Using the Crossings Six-step method to reach a thorough hearing of a scriptural text 
• Crossing Contemporary Culture
• Cartoons 
• Using the Six-Step Method for Preaching
• “How I Learned to Trust the Crossings Method”

Date:  25 to 27 January 2015

The conference fee of $200 includes tuition, meals, and housing. Tuition is free for all seminary students and first-call pastors. 50% off for first-time attendees!

For more details visit the Conference Page