All Saints Sunday, November 6, 2022 — Observing “All Saints Day” is an ancient church custom—a good one, especially if we remember what the Biblical definition of “saint” is. The word saint comes from the Latin word “Sanctus” which means holy, set apart. In our catechism, we use the word “sanctification” as a heading for…
Reformation Sunday, October 30, 2022 — Every year we Lutherans celebrate the Reformation of the Church that took place 500 years ago. The Festival of the Reformation has also been called the Festival of the Word. When asked how the Reformation succeeded so well, Martin Luther responded, “We just preached, taught, wrote and drank Wittenberg…
Sunday, October 23, 2022 — Jesus ended last week’s story of the persistent widow with the question, “But when the Son of Man returns, will He find faith on the earth?” He then told the story of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector in the temple. That Pharisee thought he had it all, but he…
Sunday October 16, 2022 – Jesus’ words produce the faith He seeks at His return. Kind words produce smiles. Encouraging words produce courage. Promises produce hope. These truths are even more true when the words are the almighty Word of our almighty Savior—and He promises to hear all our prayers! In our Gospel Lesson Jesus…
Sunday, October 9, 2022 – Jesus’ words produce the faith he seeks at His return. Kind words produce smiles. Encouraging words produce courage. Promises produce hope. These truths are even more true when the words are the almighty Word of our almighty Savior. Noah had experienced first-hand the truth of God’s promises. The Lord led…
Sunday, October 2, 2022 Having confronted the Pharisees about the temptation of money, in this week’s Gospel Lesson Jesus turns His attention to His disciples. They will be tempted, due to their closeness to Jesus to look down on or lord it over others. He warns them rather to be especially concerned for the weak…
Jesus tells a lot of parables, but only once does He name a main character. That happens in this week’s Gospel Lesson where we hear about a rich man (nameless) and a poor, sickly beggar named Lazarus. Lazarus is a short form of Eliezer, “The Lord is my help.” The Lord was his help when…
Sunday, September 18, 2022 Jesus tells another parable to make a simple point: “You can’t serve God and Money.” While the point is simple this week’s Gospel Lesson presents a few challenges. The story Jesus tells is of a “shrewd” manager, who uses someone else’s money to get friends for himself before he gets fired…
Sunday, September 11, 2022 Last week’s readings focused Jesus’ followers on the difficult decisions they will face. Christians must count the cost of following Jesus. They must be aware of all they gain in Christ so that they are willing to bear the cost of whatever they might lose. There is, of course, one decision…
It’s challenging to be a follower of Jesus. He doesn’t hide that fact from us, although many preachers do. We’re in the middle of a whole series of tough talks by Jesus about the reality of living for God in this world. He taught us that the last will be first, then that the lowly…