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Friday’s Verses:
From Hebrews 11:1-2 ESV
“Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. For by it the people of old received their commendation.”
The new year may only be hours old, but it feels like we are standing on the cusp of the unknown. 2026 is our blank slate. We make plans, have concerns, and hold onto quiet hopes. But most of the year that stretches in front of us is that blank slate with nothing on it. Hebrews teaches us that this is the very soil in which faith takes root and thrives. Faith doesn’t provide a clear and detailed map of the future. Faith provides assurance and conviction rooted in God’s promises.
In the Lutheran understanding of the matter, faith is not something we create to confront the unknown. Faith is the gift God gives us through His Word. Faith holds fast to what God has said and done in Christ when circumstances provide no evidence or guarantees. We hope not because the future looks safe and secure but because God is faithful.
The pillars of the faith who are named in Hebrews 11 were commended not for their strength and understanding but for their trust in God’s promise as they waited. Many of them never saw the fulfillment of the promise in their lifetime. And yet God counted their faith as precious because it was founded on Him and not on results.
Faith, at the beginning of this year, calls us to live from the promises already given. Christ has died. Christ is risen. Christ will come again. Whatever this year may bring, our standing with God is never in question. We are already held, already forgiven, already loved.
✝️ A Prayer for Today:
Lord God, as we step into this new year, root our faith not in what we can see but in Your sure promises. When hope is thin and the answers are unclear, teach us to trust Your Word and rest in Christ alone. Amen.
Apostles’ Creed:
I believe in God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth.
And in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried. He descended into hell. The third day He rose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty. From thence He will come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Christian Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.
The Lord’s Prayer:
Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven; give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever. Amen.
Luther’s Morning Prayer:
I thank You, my heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ, Your dear Son, that You have kept me this night from all harm and danger; and I pray that You would keep me this day also from sin and every evil, that all my doings and life may please You. For into Your hands, I commend myself, my body and soul, and all things. Let Your holy angel be with me, that the evil foe may have no power over me. Amen.
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