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The church calendar has begun a new year. The season of Advent starts the new church year and encourages us to prepare for Christ's coming at the manger on Christmas and on the clouds on the Last Day. Jesus' words shortly before he died prepare us and fill us with a genuine, sure hope that is better than any human-based optimism.
Wayne Shevey, one of the campus pastors at Wisconsin Lutheran College, proclaims God's good news.
(Note: This recording is from the Monday night service on December 3.)
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Life throws so much before our eyes that we often don't know what to focus on. The vision God gave to Daniel in chapter 7 of his book helps us with that problem. We keep our eyes on faith on the same thing that came before Daniel's eyes, "one like a son of man, coming witht he clouds of heaven."
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As a result of the devastating Camp Fire in California, the search and rescue efforts have been underway for over a week. They might be better described as "search and recover" because many of the missing are feared to be dead.
On this Saints Triumphant Sunday, Jesus' words in Mark 13:24-27 point us to a different search and rescue. It will rescue his living believers from this world and recover the bodies of his sleeping believers from the grave. The ulitmate purpose? Turning saints militant into saints triumphant.
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Need refuge from all the political talk? Need refuge from the colder, darker days? Need refuge from sin and guilt? On this Reformation weekend, we find refuge right where Martin Luther and the rest of the Christian Church has always found true refuge: in our triune God.
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We like to think we can do anything they put their hands to -- as long as we want to do it. In reality, we're not as capable as we think, nor are we as willing as we may seem. God knows us better than ourselves, and that's why he puts his merciful hand at work in our lives, just as he did with Moses.
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This side of heaven, you'll never be able to completely shake your selfish, sinful ambition to be served. Even those who trust in Christ struggle to balance glory and humility, authority and humility, being served and serving others. The solution to that struggle is found in Jesus, the Son of Man, who carried out his holy ambition: to give sinners the greatest service they never even asked for.
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October 14 was our Mission & Ministry Sunday, praising God for the work he's allowed us to do as Christians and as members of the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS). This year, we especially thank God for the gospel work that has been going on among the Apache, started by two WELS missionaries over 125 years ago. Guest preacher Pastor Time Dolan reminds that from the mountains on an Arizonan reservation to Wind Lake and in between, wherever the gospel is proclaimed, the mountain of the Lord rises high above this sinful world. Then he encourages each of us to individually take part in gospel proclamation, in whatever way we can.
Pastor Tim Dolan is the Dean of Students at Luther Preparatory School (a WELS ministertial training prep school in Watertown) but also serves as the chairman of the Native American Mission Administrative Committee. To learn more about the gospel minsitry God in the Apache Mission, click here.
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Brett Kavanaugh's nomination to the Supreme Court caused a lot of conversation, and much of it touched on issues connected to marriage and the family. In the wake of a contentious national dialogue that left many divided, what does God's Word say about how men should treat women or how to have a united marriage or how we should view children?
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On the Christian church's calendar, September 29 is set aside to celebrate the Festival of St. Michael & All Angels. Below, you can read a brief history on this festival, but, in short, this day is dedicated to praising and thanking God for the protection he gives his believers through his angels. Psalm 91 beautifully teaches us about what God created the angels to do.
The History of St. Michael & All Angels
‘Feasts’ or ‘Festivals’ were times of great rejoicing in the Middle Ages. In an age where backbreaking work from sun-up to sun-down was the rule, a special religious festival could provide some time off for worship and relaxation even in the middle of a week. One very popular festival in Lutheran Churches was the festival of St. Michael and All Angels. (Michael is the only archangel mentioned in the Bible.) This festival has been celebrated in Germany since 813 A.D. and in England since 1019 A.D. St. Michael and All Angels has remained a popular festival in the Lutheran Church throughout her history. This festival falls on September 29 in the church calendar.
This festival does not praise, worship, or honor angels. That would be idolatry! This festival is meant to thank God for his gift of angels – much like we thank God for the harvest at Thanksgiving or thank God for another year of grace at New Year. We live in dangerous times. Thank God for the protection that his angels provide. In an age where angels are often misunderstood, it is good to hear what the Bible has to say about these ministering spirits who do his bidding!
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Even the best sibling relationships have their problems. From time to time, siblings hold grudges, gang up against each other, and speak against one another. Moses handled such a confrotation with humility that only God can supply to his believers. From Moses' model of humility, we can draw applications for our various callings and confrontations.
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Nike made headlines recently by using former NFL Colin Kaepernick as a feature for the new "Just Do It" ad campaign. In it, Kaepernick tells you, "Believe in something, even if it costs you everything. Just do it."
The Apostle Peter writes something similar but about something much different and more important. When we understand what Peter is saying, the Christian gets joy even in the face of suffering.
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We have good reasons to fear God's vengeance and our personal condition. But Isaiah shows us that there are even greater reasons to find comfort in God and not to fear our condition.
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Traditions can be good, even very good, but sometimes we take them to heart more than God's Word. When that happens, we fail to see the heart of our problem -- sinful hearts -- and the solution to that problem -- the cleansing God gives us.
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Joshua's words, "As for me and my household, we will serve the Lord," have decorated the walls of homes for years, but they're easier said than done. In his grace, God gives us spiritual leaders who help us know and serve God better.
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Feeding 5,000 people was just the beginning. Jesus really wanted people to feed on his life-giving words. So, before he closes our his so-called bread of life discourse, Jesus makes sure everyone gets his invitation to eat and have eternal life.
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"You are what you eat," the saying goes. You can say that about your spiritual diet, too. The writer to the Hebrews forces you to wrestle with this question, "What does your spiritual diet need?"
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The feeding of the 5,000 is one of Jesus' most famous miracles, but if we're not careful, we will miss the point and end up going spiritually hungry.
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Paul reminds us that a Christian's life is not about increasing our stock of earthly goods. The life of a Christian is about recognizing the bountiful grace God has given and then expressing thanks with good works.
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Are you afraid or terrified of this life? Jesus shepherds and protects you. Are you afraid or terrified of the life to come? Jesus shepherds you into safety with his righteousness.
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Even when he faces opposition and challenges, Jesus has always found ways to reach sinners like you and me with the good news of his forgiveness. He shows us how in Mark chapter 6.
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Throughout his ministry, the Apostle Paul had seen it all. Now, at the end of his ministry and his life, Paul predicted what the Christian Church would have to deal with long after he was gone. Was his outlook pessimistic or optimistic? Realistic or idealistic? Discover Paul's first century predictions which are coming true in your life during this twenty-first century.
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It can be hard for people who grew up in "Midwestern Nice" culture to ask others for help; they don't want to bother other people. Forget what Midwestern Nice culture has taught you and watch how Jesus deals with Jairus, a man who knew he had to bother Jesus.
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This sermon concludes our four part series on 2 Corinthians, and this particular theme is almost redundant with the overall series theme. Today, we focus on Paul's words, "Christ's love compels us," which is more or less another way of saying, "We conduct ourselves according to God's grace." Paul's message here isn't a new message, but it's so powerful it never stops moving and affecting everythign we do. Christ for us motivates us to live for God and for others!
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Part three of our four part sermon series on 2 Corinthians. With all the blessings we have in America and southeast Wisconsin, it can be very easy for us to get pretty comfortable in this life. But that's not the Christian's purpose here on earth. With an eye towards something more permanent, we have a different aim and purpose.
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Part two of four from our sermon series, "Conducting Ourselves according to God's Grace."
Sure, we may be fragile jars of clay (part 1), but Christians do not lose heart. Not because our lives are always trouble free. Not because we have such great willpower. Christians do not lose heart because of what they know is coming, and that affects what they focus on.
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This sermon introduces a four part sermon series from 2 Corinthians entitled, "Conducting Ourseslves according to God's Grace." Before we know how we can conduct ourselves, we first need to know who we are. Paul's famous metaphor compares us sinners to weak, fragile jars of clay -- but jars of clay that have a valuable treasure placed inside them by God himself.
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Every single Sunday we pray, "through Jesus Christ our Lord who lives and reigns with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever." Three persons -- Father, Son, Spirit. But just one God. That does not make logical sense. It'll never make logical sense. But on Trinity Sunday we confess that and accept it in faith because the teaching of the Trinity (three persons, yet just one divine Being) assures us that we are children of that God who will inherit heaven.
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Last Sunday we celebrated Jesus' ascension back into heaven forty days after he rose from the dead. This Sunday, we celebrated the Festival of Pentecost. Ten days after Jesus ascended (and fifty days after he rose), he sent the Holy Spirit on Pentecost. That was a miraculous day filled with fire, wind, and speaking in foreign languages. Is that Holy Spirit with us? Does he work among us now? Absolutely! And in John 14:25-27, we meet the Holy Spirit through our risen and ascended Savior's words.
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40 days after Jesus rose from the dead, he ascended back into heaven. Ascension Day is sometimes overlooked but is just as important as Christmas or Easter because it makes us happy -- for Jesus who ascended and for ourselves who will ascend into heaven.
