Goodness of God
The fruit of the Spirit is … Goodness.
(Galatians 5:22,23)
When we want to know what is good, where do we look. We could look at what our family and friends do and what they recommend. We could take a national poll of popular opinion to find out what is good for us. We could believe advertisers who tell us how to fill our lives with goodness. But we know that only God is good and true goodness only comes from Him. A rich, young man asked Jesus, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus answered, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone.” (Luke 18:18-19) Jesus goes on to teach the man that to be good and to attain eternal life the man must keep the commandments perfectly. The man declared that he had kept the commandments since he was a youth. Jesus asked him to distribute his wealth to the poor, thereby forsaking his god - his wealth. The rich, young may went away sad because he could not part with his god. The bystanders then asked, “Then who can be saved?” Jesus said, “What is impossible with men is possible with God.” (Luke 18:26-27) Jesus Christ, true God and true man, did what was impossible for man. Jesus lived the perfectly good life. He is goodness personified.
We and the children of our school, like the young man above, are incapable of any goodness on our own. His goodness has come to us! Read Titus 3:3-8. Wow! His loving kindness saves us and His Spirit leads us and our children to do the good works the Father has planned for us. These acts of goodness make known the love of Christ and are for the benefit of others. So, when you want to know what is good for you and for others, turn to Jesus Christ. His goodness is now your goodness. Trust Him. He has your best interests at heart.
May the goodness of Christ fill your lives.
Mr. Becker.
P.S. Let your good works show the love of Christ to the people of Haiti (earthquake victims) and to Mrs. Mary Niesing (fire destroyed her belongings).
Goodness
Trinity Lutheran School – Making Known the Love of Christ
Bearing the Fruit of the Spirit
The fruit of the Spirit is … Goodness. (Galatians 5:22,23)
When I want to know if something is good, I turn to Consumer Reports. For example, if I need to buy new tires for my car, I want to know which tires will be good for my car and my family. Countless commercials and advertisements will try to convince me that a particular tire from a particular company would be a very good tire for me. While that message may be based on some facts, it also contains some bias. That company wants to make money by convincing me to purchase that tire. But I regularly turn to Consumer Reports for buying advice. Consumer Reports “accepts no outside advertising, no free test samples, and has no agenda other than the interests of consumers.” In the case of tires, they test and rate hundreds of tires and then recommend which tires will be good for the consumer, me. I’ve learned to trust Consumer Reports. It seems that they have my best interests at heart. (In a year you can ask me if my new tires were good for my car and me.)
When we want to know what is good, where do we look. We could look at what our family and friends do and what they recommend. We could take a national poll of popular opinion to find out what is good for us. We could believe advertisers who tell us how to fill our lives with goodness. But we know that only God is good and true goodness only comes from Him. A rich, young man asked Jesus, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus answered, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone.” (Luke 18:18-19) Jesus goes on to teach the man that to be good and to attain eternal life the man must keep the commandments perfectly. The man declared that he had kept the commandments since he was a youth. Jesus asked him to distribute his wealth to the poor, thereby forsaking his god - his wealth. The rich, young may went away sad because he could not part with his god. The bystanders then asked, “Then who can be saved?” Jesus said, “What is impossible with men is possible with God.” (Luke 18:26-27) Jesus Christ, true God and true man, did what was impossible for man. Jesus lived the perfectly good life. He is goodness personified.
We and the children of our school, like the young man above, are incapable of any goodness on our own. His goodness has come to us. Read this beautiful passage from Titus.
For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another. But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. The saying is trustworthy, and I want you to insist on these things, so that those who have believed in God may be careful to devote themselves to good works. These things are excellent and profitable for people. (Titus 3:3-8)
Wow! The goodness of Jesus has been given to us! His loving kindness saves us and His Spirit leads us and our children to do the good works the Father has planned for us. These acts of goodness make known the love of Christ and are for the benefit of others. So, when you want to know what is good for you and for others, you don’t need to turn to Consumer Reports. Turn to Jesus Christ. His goodness is now your goodness. Trust Him. He has your best interests at heart.
May the goodness of Christ fill your lives.
Mr. Becker.
Kindness
Trinity Lutheran School – Making Known the Love of Christ
Bearing the Fruit of the Spirit
The fruit of the Spirit is … Kindness. (Galatians 5:22,23)
During the 2009-2010 school year, we at Trinity Lutheran School are focusing on the fruit that is born in a Christian’s life as the result of a loving Christ living within him. The fruit of the Spirit of Christ is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. We see this fruit in the lives of our children. As they continue being nourished in their faith through the hearing of God’s Word at home, school, and church, their fruit will give witness to the world of the love that Jesus Christ has for all. In January, we will look specifically for kindness.
I know one person who is always kind. You could ask him day or night if he is kind. He would answer, “Yes!” He is Mr. Tom Kind. By virtue of his name, he is always “kind”. Am I always kind? Are you always kind? Are Trinity students always kind? Sadly, we must answer, “No”. Kindness is showing love to another person through benevolence, generosity, charity, sympathy, compassion, or tenderness. Kindness involves putting the other person’s needs ahead of our own. Jesus is the perfect example of kindness. Jesus saw our great need. He saw our sins, trespasses, disobedience, and evil desires. “But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.” (Ephesians 2:4-7) Kindness is embodied in Jesus.
In December we all saw or heard the stories of how the Grinch and Ebenezer Scrooge were changed from their cruel, heartless ways. Their lives were then filled with many acts of selfless kindness towards others. Those stories warm our hearts. How much more will our hearts be warmed when we see the transformation that occurs in our children and in ourselves when Jesus love changes our hearts and fills our lives with acts of kindness? Think of a time when you showed kindness to another person. Didn’t that feel great? More importantly, didn’t that act of kindness bring joy to the other person and make known the love of Christ to that person?
The wisemen brought their gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh to Jesus as He made himself known to them. What does God require us to bring? The prophet Micah gives us the answer: “With what shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself before God on high? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousands of rivers of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?” He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?”(Micah 6:6-8) In 2010, may we show and love kindness — the kindness that Jesus has shown first to us.
Parents and teachers, thank you for teaching your children how to show kindness to others. Those simple acts of kindness, done without thought for self, are fruit of the Spirit of Christ.
May the kindness of Christ be yours.
Mr. Becker.
Patience
Trinity Lutheran School – Making Known the Love of Christ
Bearing the Fruit of the Spirit
The fruit of the Spirit is … Patience. (Galatians 5:22,23)
A Dutch proverb states, “A handful of patience is worth more than a bushel of brains.” “We could never learn to be brave and patient, if there were only joy in the world”, wrote Helen Keller. Margaret Thatcher is quoted as saying, “I am extraordinarily patient, provided I get my own way in the end.”
We are asked to wait patiently for a Christmas gift or a Florida vacation. That’s hard! We wait patiently for test results from the doctor regarding our health? That’s hard! We are expected to have patience with someone who seemingly has nothing better to do than to cause us trouble. That’s hard! We want to be patient with a relative who has gone astray, lovingly waiting for the opportunity to offer forgiveness and restore a loving relationship. That’s hard!
As you can see, there are many instances in our lives when we need to be patient. How can we get the patience that we need? “I want patience, and I want it now!” If you think about it, we tell our children, our spouses, and our friends to be patient as if by our encouragement, others will magically become patient. True, others may put on the appearance of being patient, but are they truly patient? Are we truly patient? True patience is visible in our words and actions, but is born out of a quality from deep within us. How does that quality grow within us? It can’t sprout within us on its own because it is foreign to our human nature. Only when the Spirit of Christ is within us will this precious quality of patience be part of our lives. Therefore, to be truly patient, we need to look to Jesus. To have true patience in our lives, we need to be filled with Jesus and His Word and Spirit.
Patience is an expression of love, and God is love. “Love is patient and kind.” (1 Corinthians 13:4) The Lord is patient and His perfect will unfolds at the proper time to bring us sinners to repentance and eternal life. “The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.” (2 Peter 3:9)
Let’s teach our children how to wait patiently as God’s will for our lives unfolds in His perfect time. And may we remind our children that the Lord wants all people to be saved. Therefore, we all, with patient endurance, will share God’s love and life-saving Word with the world until Jesus comes again on the Last Day.
May the patience of Christ be yours.
Mr. Becker.
Be still, my soul; the Lord is on your side;
Bear patiently the cross of grief or pain;
Leave to your God to order and provide;
In ev’ry change He faithful will remain.
Be still, my soul; your best, your heavn’ly Friend
Through thorny ways leads to a joyful end. LSB 752, v. 1
Peace
Trinity Lutheran School – Making Known the Love of Christ
Bearing the Fruit of the Spirit
The fruit of the Spirit is … Peace. (Galatians 5:22,23)
Who doesn’t want peace? Oh, there are some people who enjoy “stirring things up” to cause dissension and fighting, but most people want peace. Most people would like to rid the world of war, hostilities, fighting, antagonism, violence, strife, dissension, annoyance, distraction, and anxiety. Miss America desires world peace. Men and women are awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Young people have joined the Peace Corps. We take vacations to get some peace. Some are urged to make peace offerings to another so that their fightings will cease. Police attempt to keep the peace. These are all attempts by man to create peace on earth. As wonderful as these efforts are, true peace only comes to earth in Jesus.
Sin creates separation between us and God. Sin separates us from each other. As long as we have life and breath, sin will continue to cause separation. Yet, Jesus came to bring peace between God and man and between us humans. The angel at the right announces “Peace on Earth” at the birth of Jesus. Jesus brings forgiveness which creates peace between God and us and with each other. His loving, atoning sacrifice brings true peace.
The children of Trinity Lutheran School learn of Jesus’ love and experience His peace that comes through forgiveness. They then share that same love, peace and forgiveness in their lives. They are bearing the fruit of peace.
Here are some Bible passages which teach us and our students about the peace that comes through Jesus.
•“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.” John 14:27
•“I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” John 16:33
•On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” John 20:19
•Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Romans 5:1
•And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:7
•“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.” Mt 5:9
•May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. 2 Peter 1:2
Please continue your faithful and generous support of Trinity Lutheran School.
Mr. Becker
Rejoice
“Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice.” (Philippians 4:4)
Joy comes from Jesus. “Joy to the world, the Lord is come!” During the month of October, we at Trinity Lutheran School will focus on the joy that Jesus places in our lives and the joy we share with others.
What a pleasure it is to see joy in the lives of children. Their joy is displayed as they play with friends or when they share a birthday treat with their classmates. More importantly, their joy is exhibited when they sing “Jesus loves me, this I know” and when they confidently say, “I am going to heaven.”
I am also excited to see how a person’s love for Jesus exhibits itself in joyful giving for the benefit of others. Here is a list of some recent gifts from joyful givers:
- School supplies
- McDonald’s receipts, milk caps, and boxtops which Trinity trades in for needed school items
- Handcrafted coat rack and bookshelf
- Sponsorship of holes for Trinity’s Golf Outing
- Donation of an interactive whiteboard
- Providing funds to purchase the hamburgers and hot dogs for Grandparents’ Day
- Paying for Trinity’s internet access for one year
- Gifts to help families with their tuition payments
- Regular, faithful Sunday offerings
On October 25, we will host our second annual “That’s Amoré” spaghetti dinner from 12-2 pm. This is a great opportunity to enjoy great food, warm fellowship, and generous giving. As we come together on that day, we can make this a special opportunity to support Trinity Lutheran School. We would rather that you give generously out of joy rather than endure a pizza or candy sale. Last year about $4500 was given to Trinity through special gifts on that day. Let’s surpass that number this year in joyful response to what Jesus has done for us.
We at Trinity Lutheran School are so very thankful for these and the other gifts you have given to our children. You have brought joy to their lives and enriched their learning. We look forward to your continued joyful giving so that the love of Christ will continue to be made known to the children of our school.
Mr. Becker
Joy
Trinity Lutheran School – Making Known the Love of Christ
Bearing the Fruit of the Spirit
The fruit of the Spirit is … Joy. (Galatians 5:22,23)
“Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice.” (Philippians 4:4)
What reason do we have to be joyful? There is hurt, disease, poverty, accidents, and disaster all around us. True joy will not come from ourselves or this world. We are sinful, and the world is corrupt. Joy comes from Jesus. “Joy to the world, the Lord is come!” He has come to us through His Word and sacraments. As He comes to us, He fills us with love and joy.
What a pleasure it is to see joy in the lives of children. Their joy is displayed as they play with friends or when they share a birthday treat with their classmates. More importantly, their joy is exhibited when they sing “Jesus loves me, this I know” and when they confidently say, “I am going to heaven.”
I’ve also had the pleasure of seeing joy in the lives of the adults of Trinity. The love of Christ has brought joy to these adults. His love has lead these people to give joyfully out of their love for Jesus and their love for the children of our school. Here is a list of some recent gifts from joyful givers:
- School supplies
- McDonald’s receipts, milk caps, and boxtops which Trinity trades in for needed school items
- Handcrafted coat rack and bookshelf
- Sponsorship of holes for Trinity’s Golf Outing
- Donation of an interactive whiteboard
- Providing funds to purchase the hamburgers and hot dogs for Grandparents’ Day
- Paying for Trinity’s internet access for one year
- Gifts to help families with their tuition payments
- Regular, faithful Sunday offerings
We at Trinity Lutheran School are so very thankful for these and the other gifts you have given to our children. You have brought joy to their lives and enriched their learning. We look forward to your continued joyful giving so that the love of Christ will continue to be made known to the children of our school.
Mr. Becker
Joyful, joyful, we adore Thee, God of glory, Lord of love! Hearts unfold like flow’rs before Thee, praising Thee, their sun above. Melt the clouds of sin and sadness, drive the gloom of doubt away. Giver of immortal gladness, fill us with the light of day.
Thou art giving and forgiving, ever blessing, ever blest, well-spring of the joy of living, ocean-depth of happy rest! Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, fountain-head of love divine: joyful, we Thy heav’n inherit! Joyful, we by grace are Thine! LSB #803, vv. 1, 3
Love
Trinity Lutheran School – Making Known the Love of Christ
Bearing the Fruit of the Spirit
The fruit of the Spirit is love. (Galatians 5:22,23)
I love pizza. I love kittens. I love yellow. I love mommy and daddy. I love swimming. I love Philadelphia, the City of Brotherly Love. I love the USA. I love the Beatles (“All you need is love.”). I love school. (Go ahead. Continue the list!)
These are wonderful statements of things that people love. What would the world be like without love? I would hate to imagine the joyless place this world would be. Our good God gave us so many things that bring us enjoyment in this life. But He didn’t stop at the wonderful things listed above. He gave us His one and only Son, Jesus. “God is love.” (1 John 4:8) That is the perfect love that is ours in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. “In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. (1 John 4:9)
That is the love that Trinity Lutheran School is making known as we proclaim the precious word of God. The Holy Spirit has begun true faith in us, and as He works in us, we can not help but bear fruit, which includes loving others as Jesus has loved us. “If we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.” (1 John 4:12) We know that we, the staff and students of Trinity, will not perfectly love God and our neighbor. On our own, it’s impossible for us to love someone else, especially when someone has hurt us or taken our pencils. But when we do, under the Spirit’s direction, we will be making known the perfect love of Jesus to the world. “We love because he first loved us.” (1 John 4:19)
We, the staff at Trinity Lutheran School, have been preparing to teach the children of our school in many academic areas and in spiritual matters during the 2009-2010 school year. We eagerly await the opportunities we will have to share the love of Jesus with these students. Pray that the Spirit will cause the fruit of love to be seen and experienced in our students’ lives throughout this year. To God be the Glory!
Mr. Becker
“Fruitful trees, the Spirit’s sowing, may we ripen and increase, fruit to life eternal growing, rich in love and joy and peace.” LSB 691
Bearing the Fruit of the Spirit
Trinity Lutheran School – Making Known the Love of Christ
Bearing the Fruit of the Spirit
“I’m a tomato plant in Farmer Becker’s garden. Someone planted the seed that grew to be me. Someone else watered and nourished me and caused me to mature. Now it’s time to bear fruit – a ripe, juicy tomato. But, I’m not going to do that. I don’t want to bear the fruit I was created to produce!”
How ridiculous would that be?! A tomato plant can’t help but bear a tomato. The tomato plant was created to bear fruit. That’s exactly what Christians who have been born of water and the Spirit are created to do. They will bear fruit. The fruit that they bear gives witness to the loving work of God within them. What fruit can be seen in the lives of Christians? Galatians 5:22-23 lists the fruit of the Spirit: Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. (Take a moment to read Galatians, particularly chapter 5, verses 16-25.) During the coming school year, we at Trinity Lutheran School will be focusing on the fruit that is borne in the lives of those who are led by the Spirit.
The love of Christ has been made known to the students of Trinity Lutheran School. The old, sinful nature has been crucified. The love of Christ, through the work of the Holy Spirit, has created a new, spiritual nature. These children, as they are walking in the Spirit, can’t help but bear the fruit of the Spirit. The Devil, the world, and their sinful nature will constantly be opposed to walking in the Spirit. How blessed these children are to be surrounded by the love of Christ which is proclaimed in His Word in their homes and at Trinity Lutheran Church and School. As this Word works in these children, the fruit that they bear will show forth the love of Christ throughout their lives.
Thank you for supporting Trinity Lutheran School in many and various ways. Please continue to pray for the parents and teachers who share God’s precious Word with these children. Please continue to pray that the children will walk by the Spirit all the days of their lives and thereby proclaim the love of Christ through the fruit that is borne in their lives.
“I’m back. And you know what? A juicy, ripe tomato has grown on me. I guess I’m bearing fruit as the Creator wanted! Praise God!”
Mr. Becker
Ya’ Know?
Ya’ Know?
What do you know? I bet you know a lot. Ask the students of our school, and many of them will say that they know “everything”! Just ask them!
There’s something that God wants you to know, but you won’t be able to know it completely on this side of heaven. He wants you to be rooted and grounded in Jesus’ love, so that you can comprehend the immensity of that love. And get this: He wants you to “know the love that surpasses knowledge.” That sounds like we will be constantly learning more of Jesus’ love each day of our lives. And how do we do that? We need to be in the Word of God and in His House. And even then, we will not completely know the love of Christ until we get to heaven. That’s what God wants for each and every one of us.
As we conclude this school year, here are some special words of St. Paul from Ephesians chapter 3.
Prayer for Spiritual Strength
Ephesians 3:14-21 For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.