You Should Also Know – Feb. 1, 2022
News briefs from the Feb. 1, 2022, edition of the Together newsletter.
New Bible readings start this month
This month, Forward in Christ readers can enjoy selections from the book of Galatians in a study entitled, “Every day with Galatians.”
Luther writes the following regarding Paul’s letter to the church in Galatia:
Without any merit or work on our own, we must first be justified by Christian righteousness . . . but this righteousness is heavenly and passive. We do not have it of ourselves; we receive it from heaven. We do not perform it; we accept it by faith. . . . In this epistle therefore, Paul is concerned to instruct, comfort, and sustain us diligently in a perfect knowledge of this most excellent and Christian righteousness. (Luther’s Works, Vol. 26:8,9)
This month’s daily readings are short but powerful—a fuel for our day-to-day lives. “It is a comfort to know that I am justified by what Jesus did for me. It’s important to renew that truth because there are still so many distortions that lead us to think that we can earn God’s love,” says John Braun, FIC’s executive editor. “Because he has given me this gift I find courage to live as God wants me to live. His grace changes me so that I can live as a child of God. That’s important every day.”
Additionally, short excerpts from Martin Luther’s 1535 lectures on Galatians will be available online at forwardinchrist.net/galatians-bible-readings.
Watch the WELS Investment Funds quarterly update webinar
If you missed it live you can still catch the latest WELS Investment Funds quarterly update. The 30-minute webinar featured Bill Burns, CFA, senior investment consultant for Vanguard, as he delivered a quarterly market recap, an investment performance review for the WELS Funds, and Vanguard’s market and economic outlook.
The webinar also included an informative Q&A featuring current issues impacting the markets. Here is a sample of the questions that were addressed:
- What challenges does the Fed face in deciding to raise rates?
- How will inflation come down?
- What is Vanguard doing to mitigate the volatility in the WELS Balanced Fund and WELS Endowment Fund?
As of December 31, 2021, WELS Investment Funds’ net assets totaled $321 million. We currently provide investment portfolios for 240 WELS and ELS ministries, and each quarter more and more WELS members are tuning in to these updates to learn how their congregation’s or organization’s investments are making an impact on ministry.
Lutheran Schools video
The Commission on Lutheran Schools is sharing a video highlighting the blessings of Lutheran schools. Enrollment in WELS schools is up 9.8 percent this school year (8 percent for Lutheran elementary schools alone), according to the recently released 2021–22 school statistics, with 26,586 students in 282 Lutheran elementary schools and 11,672 students in 363 early childhood ministries.
