Note Cards to Share

I created a sweet little set of scripture cards for Visual Faith Ministry. You can download my set (and look for the other lovely sets as well!) free to print at home. The set is available in both black and white as well as full color.

I colored my set with colored pencils.

Print them out onto cardstock and write an encouraging message on the back. Or mount them on colored paper and create a folding card. Whatever you do, I hope they encourage both you and the recipient with the truth of God's Word!

Get your cards here at Visual Faith Ministry.

Sermon Notes - Let Not Your Hearts Be Troubled

Our Pastor’s recent sermon (you can listen here: https://www.oursavior-lcms.org/recorded-sermons) focused on John 14, particularly verse 27, “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.” The Greek verb “tarasso” is the word for troubled here and its definition is “to cause inward commotion and distress; to take away calmness of mind.” We all experience troubled hearts now and then, and Jesus knows this. He himself experienced a troubled heart in the garden (Matthew 26:37 says that Jesus was “sorrowful and troubled”) before His arrest and ultimately His suffering and death. The verb used here is slightly different and infers a very heavy burden of distress that Jesus was experiencing as He began to take on the sins of the world.  But even so, Jesus knows and can empathize with our troubled hearts. When Jesus tells His disciples (and us) to let not your hearts be troubled (see also John 14:1, Mark 6:50, Luke 24:38), He simply reminds us to focus on Him, not our troubles. He reminds us that He is our peace. “Believe in God, Believe also in Me,” He says in John 14:1. “Take heart, it is I,” He tells the disciples in Mark 6:30. In yesterday’s sermon Pastor said, “The remedy for our troubled hearts and anxiety is Jesus Himself.” Sometimes, the answer is simple, but it’s not always easy to implement the cure. We need to be deliberate about it. We need to be disciplined about it. We need to work with the Holy Spirit and ask for the Spirit’s power to focus our eyes and our hearts on Jesus Himself. In Him we find true peace, rest, and joy for living.

When your heart is troubled, what’s your go-to scripture or spiritual discipline that helps re-focus you?