Love and Traditions. Worship: November 9, 2025

Traditional German Advent Wreath

We are not far from the “holiday season.” In the secular world, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s roll into one big celebration. It is typical to have holiday traditions around special times of the year. Traditions can serve to make some moments more memorable and meaningful. But sometimes traditions add stress to an already hectic calendar or distract us from the real reason for celebrating. Before jumping headlong into the holiday season, soak up this moment in worship. See how the Lord repeatedly meets us with His best. See how surrounding ourselves with His Word and sacramental gifts truly makes us ready to celebrate, for this season and forever!

Unworthy Made Worthy. Worship: November 2, 2025

What does it take to be worthy? Worthy of things such as achievements we desire, promotions for which we strive, inclusions for which we long, and accolades for which we aim? In the way of the world, we know being deemed worthy takes qualities such as hard work, dedication, fortitude, and even some fortunate timing with opportunity. Yet what does it take to be worthy of even greater things? Worthy of the lasting joys and inclusion of God’s eternal kingdom? Our Readings today give us our answer. From Isaiah’s lists of the wickedness of Judah, sins like scarlet will be white as snow. In 2 Thessalonians, Paul prays that God may make them “worthy of His calling and may fulfill every resolve for good and every work of faith” (1:11). Is it by hard work? Determination? Fortitude? No, in faith, we find the answer is “By his power.” From Luke 19, a very unworthy (and small) Zacchaeus was not deserving of anything good by our standards. Yet he received not only Jesus’ attention but also salvation upon his house. What does it take to be worthy? For the things of God’s kingdom, it takes faith in the One who has been perfectly worthy for us. “Worthy is Christ, the Lamb who was slain, whose blood set us free to be people of God”

Persistence Pays. WorshipOctober 19, 2025

From an early age, many of us learned that persistent pestering is rude, as parents make this clear to children who repeatedly ask for the same things over and over. We are thankful that our heavenly Father

never grows weary of our asking Him for what we need, no matter how repetitive our requests may be. As we see in Jacob’s persistent proclamation, “I will not let You go unless You bless me” (Genesis 32:26), in

Paul’s exhortation to continually persist in what we have learned and believed (2 Timothy 3:14), and in Jesus’ parable of the persistent widow (Luke 18:1–8), we know we can bring all things to our heavenly

Father persistently in prayer, trusting through it all that His will would be done.

Guided by Faith. Worship: October 12, 2025

Compass Rose, from a Blaue Atlas, published in Amsterdam

In our Readings today, we see not only where faith guides but also to whom it ultimately leads. In Ruth 1, we learn of Naomi’s difficulties as she faced numerous instances of grief. Yet her faith remained in the Lord and His provision, which would lead her to Judah. Faithful to her mother-in-law, Ruth would be guided not only to a new land but also to the knowledge of the one true God. In 2 Timothy 2, even amid imprisonment and suffering, Paul points young Timothy and all hearers in faith to remember Jesus Christ, reminding of the One who remains faithful despite earthly troubles. In Luke 17, ten lepers encounter Jesus and beg for His mercy. Jesus heals them all and then affirms the faith of the cleansed Samaritan, making him well spiritually. As we are called, gathered, and enlightened by the Holy Spirit, who gives and sustains the gift of faith still, we are guided by Scripture and led through it to our Savior, Jesus, in whose name we worship in our prayer, our praise, and our thanksgiving for all He has done.

Your Unworthy Pastor. Worship: October 5, 2025

This is a difficult day for your pastor. For you are, in a sense, listening in to our Lord speaking to him of His high expectations as His called and ordained servant. It all has to do with addressing his sins with the cutting accusation of God’s Law, but with the goal of applying the comforting healing and hope of God’s Gospel of forgiveness and strength. Yet, if you listen carefully, you will discover that it’s not only about your pastor’s frailty or sins, but it is also Christ addressing your sins and need through him. The pastor’s calling is, at once, a most difficult one but also the most joyous and fulfilling calling and vocation. Your pastor has the responsibility and obligation not to mislead you into sin but to apply the remedy for it. Preaching and teaching the Word of Christ, and administering that Word of forgiveness of sin and new life through the Sacraments, is not primarily the pastor’s work but is indeed the work of Christ Himself. The pastor pours baptismal water, and the believer dies and is raised with Christ. The pastor does no magical incantation, but Christ speaks through him. The bread and wine are Christ’s body and blood for you that takes away your sin (and the pastor’s!), imparting forgiveness and eternal life. Pray for your pastor, as he prays for you. Forgive your pastor, as he lives by the same forgiveness he declares to you.

Profit without the Pitfalls. Worship: September 28, 2025

Though it sounds like a contradiction, the “poor rich man” in today’s parable of Jesus apparently never really heard or just ignored the dire warning of God’s prophets like Amos against trusting in earthly gain and riches to the exclusion of trusting faith in the merciful promises of God. The temptation of earthly wealth infects all people throughout history to this day, regardless of outward circumstances, rich and poor alike. Paul sums up the challenge for faith as he contrasts the “great gain” (or profit) of godly faithfulness and the temptations (or pitfalls) of temporary riches. We all know the sentence of Paul, “The love of money is a root of all kinds of evil” (1 Timothy 6:10), which is so often misquoted as only “money is the root of all evil.” Money is not the problem. There’s no sin in possessing earthly riches. The deeper question is what or who is the object of our love and trust. The Christian’s true riches are in Christ Jesus, namely, the new life we have been given through our baptismal faith. It is the life we can take with us through and beyond the grave and gate of death. “Praise the LORD, O my soul! I will praise the LORD as long as I live” (Psalm 146:1–2), which will be forever!

The Time Is Ripe. Worship: September 21, 2025

The Divine Service is unlike our other activities during the week—in the marketplace, our place of employment, or our school—where we struggle to be “the people of God” amid the temptations and confusing details of living in a world still disfigured by sin, tragedy, selfishness, and death. By our own fault, we daily fall short of our calling as Christians. We are reminded today of the judgment of God’s Law by the prophet Amos against our worry over money and our own needs that distract us from the often-greater needs of others and even our own true need of faith and reliance on God above all. Each day of the week, the demands of the Ten Commandments of God call us back to our need for forgiveness and God’s mercy, grace, help, and love. So, we gather here for Divine Service, that is, God attending to our real needs. We come to repent of our sin and failure, and to receive forgiveness and new life and hope. That forgiveness and hope comes solely from the God who “loved the world” so much “that He gave His only Son” to die for you (John 3:16). We do not have to wait and wonder until the Day of Judgment. By your Baptism into Christ, by His mighty and reliable Word of forgiveness spoken over and into you, and by your connection with the body and blood of your crucified and risen Lord Jesus, you are being delivered from all evil, redeemed, restored, and forgiven for everlasting life in the kingdom of God already here and now.

The Joy of the Angels. Worship: September 14, 2025

The charge against Jesus was always the same—He keeps the wrong company. But Jesus has come for sinners, and if you are not a sinner, He does not have anything for you. To emphasize why He has come, our Lord tells the stories of ninety-nine sheep left behind to find one who is lost and a woman who rejoices over finding one lost coin. You are that lost sheep and lost coin for whom Christ has come and in whom heaven rejoices. Jesus has come for you and for you He has offered Himself upon the cross and been laid in the tomb. This is the heavenly joy of the angels above, and it is our earthly joy as well. Christ came for us!

Counting the Cost. Worship: September 7, 2025

Cover Art for 30th Anniversary Edition of Detrich Bonhoffers “The Cost of Descipleship”

Jesus is blunt about the cost of discipleship. He does not sugarcoat the life He calls us to in the baptismal waters but neither does He diminish His promises, gifts, and blessings that accompany this life of faith. Today He calls us to count the cost, knowing that the way of the Christian is constantly tested and tried by our affection for the things of this life, our vulnerability to the enemies of the faith, and the weakness of our own sinful flesh. Part of that cost is not just in what you desire but also in what you are willing to surrender for the sake of Christ and His kingdom. 

Following in Humility. Worship: August 31, 2025

Entering the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, the traditional site of the birth of Jesus, is one of the most memorable experiences for any Christian pilgrim visiting the Holy Land. First constructed at the commission of Roman Emperor Constantine the Great in AD 326, the church is on the oldest site continually used for worship by Christians anywhere in the world. Although the basilica initially had a grand arched entrance in its first thousand years, it came into a period of disuse and neglect after the conquest of the Holy Land by the Islamic rulers of the Ottoman Empire in AD 1516. In an effort to prevent people from entering the church with horses and cattle, the Christians caring for the building at that time walled up the main entrance, leaving only a very small door. This opening has ever since been known as the “Door of Humility.” It makes a most fitting way for those who come to worship at the site of the manger of the Christ Child to enter that sacred space. Where we worship here and now is also a sacred space. Although we may not have needed to bow down to enter the front door today, bringing an attitude of humility to our worship of our gracious Lord is truly fitting for us.