LWML Bible Study Fall Rally

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2014 North Dakota District Fall Rally

Draw from the Well of Salvation

In 1887, work began on the largest hand-dug well in the United States.  A team of 12 men dug for over a year to produce the “Big Well” in Greensburg, Kansas.  The well is 32 feet in diameter, and goes down to a depth of 109 feet.  It was built at a staggering cost (for 1887) of $45,000, to provide water for the Santa Fe and Rock Island railroads which passed nearby, as well as drinking water for the town citizens. 

Over the years the railroads changed from steam locomotives to diesel, eliminating their need for the water the “Big Well” provided – but still water flowed in its depths.  The town dug a new more modern well in 1932, one that could pump the water directly into your home, eliminating the work of pulling a bucket on a rope.  In May 2007, a giant tornado ripped through the town of Greensburg, filling the Big Well with debris from the town.  Yet through it all, the “Big Well” still has water in it to this day.  Repairs to the well have been made, and you can walk down spiral stairs to the very bottom, and see the water of the “Big Well” up close and personal. 

Water still flows from the “Big Well” – even today!

In a similar way, Holy Scripture speaks of the “Well of Salvation” that flows with God’s grace and mercy.  It flows with the forgiveness earned by Jesus into our own lives, despite our many sins and shortcomings.  It comes and washes us in water and the Word, so that we are God’s holy precious children, adopted heirs of Christ.  It flows that we may be made whiter than snow. 

Prayer:  Dear Lord Jesus Christ, our sins are as scarlet, marking us as guilty people.  Wash us, and make us whiter than snow with the water of life that flows from the wells of salvation.  In your holy name we pray, Amen. 

Isaiah 12

You will say in that day:

“I will give thanks to you, O Lord,

for though you were angry with me,

your anger turned away,

that you might comfort me.

2 “Behold, God is my salvation;

I will trust, and will not be afraid;

for the Lord God is my strength and my song,

and he has become my salvation.”

3 With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation. 4 And you will say in that day:

“Give thanks to the Lord,

call upon his name,

make known his deeds among the peoples,

proclaim that his name is exalted.

5 “Sing praises to the Lord, for he has done gloriously;

let this be made known in all the earth.

6 Shout, and sing for joy, O inhabitant of Zion,

for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.”

 

Read Isaiah 12:1 You will say in that day:  “I will give thanks to you, O LORD for though you were angry with me, your anger turned away, that you might comfort me.” 

What does it mean “in that day”?

Why would God be angry with us? 

See 1 John 1:8 and Deuteronomy 5:9b

Are you a sinner?  How do you know?  Romans 3:9-18

Luther’s Catechism on the Office of the Keys:  Am I a sinner?

“Consider your place in life according to the Ten Commandments:  Are you a father, mother, son, daughter, husband, wife or worker?  Have you been disobedient, unfaithful or lazy?  Have you been hot-tempered, rude or quarrelsome?  Have you hurt someone by your words or deeds?  Have you stolen, been negligent, wasted anything, or done any harm?” 

What have you deserved from God because of your sins? 

See Romans 2:5 and Romans 6:21-23

Whom did God’s anger fall in your place?  Why has God’s anger turned away? 

See 1 Thessalonians 5:9 and 1 John 4:10. 

What promise then do we have from God because of Jesus? 

See 1 Corinthians 15:55-57 and 1 Peter 2:24

Read Isaiah 12:2 “Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and will not be afraid; for the Lord God is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation.” 

What does it mean that “God is my salvation”? 

See Luke 23:33-34 and Ephesians 2:4-5

Can we by our own strength trust in God or believe? 

See 1 Corinthians 2:4, Romans 8:7 and Ephesians 2:1

How can we as sinners ever hope to trust or believe then?  See Romans 1:16 and the explanation for the third article of the creed in the Small Catechism. 

“I believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or come to Him; but the Holy Spirit has called me by the Gospel…

Where is it that Christ’s work on the cross comes to me, to forgive my sin? 

See Titus 3:4-7 and Colossians 2:11-14

Are these words familiar?  We sing them in the Liturgy in the service of Prayer and Preaching.  (See the end of our study.)

Read Isaiah 12:3 “With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.”

What is the well of salvation? 

See Ephesians 1:13, 1 Peter 3:18-21, and Matthew 26:26-28

Let’s focus specifically on the “water” aspect.  What “well” have you been washed in?  Where does that “well/font” sit in your church?  Why? 

 

Many churches have their baptismal font in the back entry way of the church so that you must pass through baptismal waters to enter the church – symbolic of the way God called us to be Christians in baptism.  One Missouri Synod Church has that symbolism carried even further.  Their baptismal font overflows into a stream that one must cross to enter into their altar rail and receive the Lord’s Supper for forgiveness, life, and salvation – a great reminder that in baptism you’ve drowned your sin with Jesus and risen to new life.  

Many baptismal fonts are 8 sided, as the number 8 is a symbol of eternity and re-creation.  Jesus died on the sixth day of the week (Good Friday) rested in the tomb and rose again on the eighth day of the week – Easter Sunday. 

Read Romans 6:3-10. 

What promise do we have in our baptism? 

What does baptism do to the Christian? 

See Mark 16:16, Galatians 3:27 and Acts 22:16. 

The Small Catechism says it this way:  “What benefits does baptism give?  It works forgiveness of sins, rescues from death and the devil, and gives eternal life to all who believe this as the words and promises of Christ declare.”

If there’s time – see John chapter 4, where Jesus meets a woman at a well, and tells her about the living waters He offers.  If she partakes in Christ’s living waters, she shall never thirst again, and they will well up within her to eternal life. 

How does this relate to our study?

Does the well of salvation in baptism really promise us eternal life with Christ? 

See Revelation 7:9-17. 

When are the above words often read?

What do they promise?   They promise that Christ will lead us to springs of living waters, and wipe all tears from our eyes. 

Read Isaiah 12:4-6  “And you will say in that day:  “Give thanks to the Lord, call upon his name, make known his deeds among the peoples, proclaim that his name is exalted.  “Sing praises to the Lord, for he has done gloriously; let this be made known in all the earth.  Shout, and sing for joy, O inhabitant of Zion, for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.”

Whose work is baptism? 

Who has done gloriously?  Whose deeds are done among the people? 

Why is that good news to us sinful people? 

To whom alone do we owe our salvation? 

What then do we do in response to the salvation given to us in baptism? 

Pray the Lord’s Prayer

Dear Lord, today You have brought me to the well of salvation – the baptismal font – where You washed away all my sins, and made me well in the promises of Christ.  Because of Your great mercy and work on my behalf, I am able to “give thanks to the Lord, call upon Your name, and make known Your deeds among the peoples.”  Keep me in that baptismal faith, all the days of my life, that they may well up into living waters with in me forever. 

Amen

To close, sing “The Lord God is my Strength and My Song”  on the next pages.

 

The Old Testament Canticle based on Isaiah 12

LWML Rally Opening Devotion

IN the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen

Let us pray, Dear Lord, heavenly Father.  Today we gather in your name to serve you.  We pray that you would bless our time here at the LWML rally as you promise to do.  Bless our study of the word, and keep our faiths strong and trusting in you, as you tell us, wherever two or more are gathered in your name, you are with us, so be with us today.  Through your Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God now and forever.  Amen. 

Our reading is from Matthew Chapter 11.  "Come to me all who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."

Weariness.  How many of you have felt weary the last few weeks?  It is something that I think all of us deal with at one time or another isn't it?  We all have times where things just seem to wear you down, making life exhausting and difficult.  Sometimes, it seems like there is more to do than there are hours in the day to accomplish, and it really makes us tired.  Job after job after job.  We have to get up, make the bed, do the laundry, cook to meals, clean the house and more.  This is just the start of the list.  We have much to do, and sometimes the burden of it weighs us down. 

And on top of that, we have sin.  Sin, by which our thoughts words and deeds go against God's will in what we say and do.  Sin that overwhelms us with the knowledge we deserve eternal death and punishment.  Even our sin makes us weary.  Even our sin makes us tired.  The psalmist says in psalm 130, Out of the depths have I called unto you O Lord.  And that is where we are, in the depth of our sin, and in our sin we are weary of trudging through and dealing with it.

But our text today tells us that there is rest.  Our text tells us there will be a time when we need not be weary any more.  Our Lord Jesus Christ tells us, "Come to me, all you who are weary and heavy laden… and I will give you REST!"  Jesus tells us there is rest for our souls.  Rest from our sin, rest from our tiredness.  Rest and comfort for eternity.

Jesus Christ can give us that rest because he has taken our tiredness and weariness upon himself.  Wearily he bore the cross up the hill of Golgatha, bloodied and bruised.  He was heavy laden with the weight of the cross, and the weight of your sin upon his own shoulders, bearing it for you.  He was exhausted as he hung upon the cross, barely able to speak the words, "It is finished."  In these words, you have rest.  Rest in the knowledge that your sin is atoned for.  Rest knowing that in the death and resurrection of Jesus you have eternal life.  Rest and Peace in Jesus.

"Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you," Jesus says.  No, not as the world gives, but as Jesus gives peace to you.  You have rest and peace with your heavenly father in Jesus. 

"Come to me all that are weary and heavy laden," Jesus tells us.  And the miracle is even though we are unable to come to him, that rather Jesus comes for us.  Jesus comes for you.  Jesus comes and brings you rest.  Amen. 

Dear Lord, heavenly father, We ask that you would give us rest in your son Jesus Christ, and in His death and resurrection.  Grant that those times here and now in our lives where we feel weary, that we might have that rest in Jesus.  Be with us today as we gather as an LWML zone, and give us a rest and respite from the world here as we gather in the holy, powerful and precious name of Jesus, that same name in which we pray.  Amen.