Description
If you feel like our culture tries to quickly move past Christmas, you should meet King Herod. As Herod tries to carry out a sinister plot against the Christ-child, we see a comforting truth that will take us into the new year and decade.
Description
Now that December 25 has come and gone and that we're nearly through the "twelve days of Christmas," what's left to look forward to? Two veteran believers named Simeon and Anna show and tell us.
Description
For everyone coming down in a post-Christmas crash, Simeon and Anna shift our focus to the Christ child because in him we see and understand that the joy of Christmas lasts longer than just a shopping season or a break from school.
Description
The words of 1 Corinthians are famous words. They are beautiful words. But can they also be frightening? When we recognize that we ourselves have not loved like this, we feel the fright of guilt and then look at Christ who has loved us like this. It's this love that we want to be confirmed in.
(In this worship service, we also confirmed a youth of our congregation, and allusions to that are made in the sermon.)
Description
During the season of Lent we are reminded again and again that the punishment for our sin should be condemnation in hell. But these verses from Romans remind us that what Jesus Christ did for us during Holy Week changed our relationship with God and what we get from him. Seminarian Josh Rathje shares that good news with us!
Josh is in his second year at Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary where, God willing, he will graduate in another two years and serve a congregation as pastor.
Description
The devil tries to get us to question what God said and why he said it, just as he did to Adam and Eve. But the Holy Spirit has enlightened us to know that we can rely on God's written word to expose the devil's lies and to find comfort in how God has justified us in Jesus Christ.
+++
Pastor Wayne Shevey served as our guest preacher. Pastor Shevey serves as a campus pastor at Wisconsin Lutheran College.
Divine Intervention Can Look Like Divine Interruption
Description
God is not shy about interrupting our lives and changing both our earthly plans and our spiritual state. In the moment, we may not know what is going on and may wonder why God seems to be so rude. But when we have the eyes of faith that Mary and Joseph had, we see how God doesn't so much rudely interrupt as he graciously intervenes.
Description
God compares his ruling and reigning activity to the growth of plants and to a garden, and he tells us what to look for so that we may have comfort and confidence as we live in the kingdom of God.
+++
Pastor Wayne Shevey served as our guest preacher. Pastor Shevey is a campus pastor at Wisconsin Lutheran College in Milwaukee.
Description
Jesus' teachings can seem hard and harsh. Peer pressure from the crowds might make us second guess our discipleship. So, where do we go from here?
Description
Elijah doubled down on God's glory throughout his ministry, and we see on the Mount of Transfiguration that he wasn't disappointed. So, with Elisha, we pray that God would generously give us the ability to his Jesus' glory as a guarantee of what is to come for us.
+++
Pastor Wayne Shevey served as our guest preacher. Pastor Shevey is a campus pastor at Wisconsin Lutheran College in Mulwaukee, Wisconsin.
Description
Easter was a monumental day for Jesus of Nazareth because he came back to life and was vindicated as the Son of God! But Easter is also monumental for you, especially when you are suffering the most.
Description
The Easter Festival service is always one of the most attended worship services of the year. What moves so many people to show up? A lot of different reasons, I guess. But once inside church, the Holy Spirit uses the good news of God's Word to move our hearts.
Description
Nearly every Sunday we confess that God "will judge the living and the dead." But how often do we visualize what that will look like? The vision which Daniel recorded for us helps us do that very thing, and find comfort as we await our sentence.
Description
This past Sunday we had our Mission and Minsitry Sunday, thanking God for the work he does through our synod's college of ministry, Martin Luther College (New Ulm, MN). Pastor Paul T. Prange, WELS Adiministrator for Miniseterial Education, connects Acts 1:8 not only to what the apostles did after Jesus' ascension, but to the task God has equipped his church and individual Christians to do.
To learn more about the "Equipping Christian Witnesses" campaign at MLC, click HERE.
Description
Jesus is the King of heaven above, the rocks below, and sinners in between. While he will get the praise no matter what, we gladly give him the praise because he gives us his righteousness.
Description
The Apostle Paul's outlook on the future does not come naturally to sinful humans. But once the Holy Spirit helps us better understand and trust what Paul knew, then his outlook is ours too.
Description
Saint Luke was a dear friend to Saint Paul as Paul faced his final days on death row. Through the words of the third Gospel, Saint Luke has become a friend to us, and his words can help us when we face our final days.
+++
On the church calendar, October 18 is the Festival of Saint Luke, Evangelist.
Description
Pastors have a special privilege in the way they are called to proclaim the good news about Jesus. But all Christians are called to speak God's word to others -- and to do so fearlessly. To do that, we need to make sure we're keeping the right people in mind.
