"Jesus speaking and you listening is not child’s play" Reminiscere 2022
Jesus speaking and you listening is not child’s play. It’s not a game. It’s a matter of life and death. Without Jesus speaking, you are dead already, hurtling toward the grave and hell. By Jesus speaking, you are forgiven, rescued from this world, death, and hell, and delivered into Christ’s eternal kingdom.
"The Holy Spirit leads you or even drives you to gather today" Invocavit 2022
But you see and know the flesh, the world, and the devils for what they are. In faith, you arm yourself daily with God’s Word. Through confession and trust in your baptism, God plunges the Old Adam under the water, that he may daily drown and die with all sins and evil desires. You live in this world and yet not of this world, rejecting the world’s charms, enticements and lusts and living dependent on God, humble in faith, and steadfast in prayer. And when tempted and tried by the Liar of Liars and Murderer, you do not speak falsehood but tell the truth. You do not trust your eyes and experience, but believe the Word of Jesus. You do not subject yourself again to the Evil One, but reject all his works and all his ways.
"Jesus never stops sowing His sweet Word of forgiveness" Sexagesima 2022
That which is different about God's word, as over against all human words, is its authority. God’s Word does what it says. And He often gives others to speak with His authority, so He acted also through the prophetic word. He sent his word forth in the mouths of the holy prophets to "pluck up and to break down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant.” (Jeremiah 1:10) It is written that the Lord “has sent a word against Jacob" and that, "it will light upon Israel.” (Isaiah 9:8) When God speaks, His purpose and motive is clear. He tears down whatever is getting in the way of faith in Him. He builds and plants trust in Him which receives forgiveness in Jesus.
"The reward of grace, a pure gift" Septuagesima 2022
It's a demonic distortion to try to flatten the incredible God-given diversity and order of the world or the church. And to try to force an equal outcome on this world is to try to turn it into a flat, dull, and ugly place, a Christ-less “heaven” where you’ll own nothing and never be happy. And yet, Jesus says that our reward can be great in heaven. The fathers used to speak of this reward as the reward of grace, a pure gift since it is just as unearned and undeserved as the whole day's pay that the laborers in the vineyard received, even though they had only worked an hour.
The Chief Responsibility of the Christian Parent is Instruction in the Faith of Jesus
A parent's first responsibility as Christians is for the catechization of their children. They bear witness to this responsibility first by creating a home where tenderness, forgiveness, respect, fidelity, and selfless service to others are the rule. That's because a Christian home is best suited for education in these virtues. This task requires parents to embrace self-denial, good judgment, and self-mastery—the preconditions of all true freedom.
"From Above" Vacation Bible School 2021
VBS is back!When: August 2-6 2021 9:30 AM - 11:30 AMWhere: St. John Evangelical Lutheran School, Random Lake, WI 53075
Good government is a gift from God and is worth celebrating
Good government is a gift from God and is worth celebrating. In the act of remembering, we consider our vocation of citizens and be more active in preserving the justice and peace that we have articulated in the Declaration and Constitution. We remember the fourteen generations and their hard work and sacrifices to give us this nation. We work as citizens to remedy our nation's flaws and seek "a more perfect union." And as Christians, we follow our conscience and do nothing contrary to God's Word.
The Sign of the Cross
The sign of the holy cross is one of the traditional ceremonies retained by Luther and other reformers in the Lutheran confession in the sixteenth-century Reformation. Luther urged in his Large and Small Catechisms that it continue to be used. This holy sign has been used in the church from apostolic times and continues to be used in our day.
Happy Annunciation Day!
In this age of information, the messages are often conflicting. There are so many messages that you’re often confused. What is true, what is deceiving, and what is misleading? How can you possibly know? If only you had an angel from God, a holy messenger, to come and tell you what is really real. But you have angels sent by God to speak the Word of Jesus authoritatively.
What Does This Mean?
Why is this happening? What is real? Who should I trust? How did we get so confused? Have we lost our collective minds? I keep asking these and similar questions. We are mixed up. We don’t know up from down. We can’t figure out who is telling the truth and who is lying. We’re back on our heels and disoriented. We are overwhelmed with information, misinformation, and disinformation.
Prepare for the Sunday of the Cleansing of the Temple (08/16)
Our Lord wept over Jerusalem for the destruction that would soon come upon her. For she did not recognize the time of God's visitation in Christ, who had come to bring her peace (Luke 19:41–48). Through His prophets God had consistently called His people to turn from their deceit and false worship. “But My people do not know the judgments of the Lord” (Jer. 8:4–12). They sought to establish their own righteousness rather than receive Christ's righteousness through faith (Rom. 9:30–10:4). So it was that God was in His temple to cleanse it, a precursor to the once-for-all cleansing from sin which He would accomplish in the temple of His own body on the cross. God grant us to know the things that make for our peace—His visitation in the Word and Sacraments—that by the Holy Spirit we may penitently confess “Jesus is Lord” (1 Cor. 12:1–11).
Prepare for the Sunday of the Unjust Steward (08/09)
The following guide will help you to prepare to hear and sing the Propers, i.e. the varied texts and hymns for this week.You will also find this week's Congregation at Prayer guide and links to this week's Bible study.Within the liturgy for each Lord’s day, we receive the Word of God through uniquely appointed readings, psalms, hymns, and prayers.
The Sunday of the Good & Bad Trees (08/02)
The following guide will help you to prepare to hear and sing the Propers, i.e. the varied texts and hymns for this week.You will also find this week's Congregation at Prayer guide and links to this week's Bible study.Within the liturgy for each Lord’s day, we receive the Word of God through uniquely appointed readings, psalms, hymns, and prayers.
The Sunday of the Feeding of the 4,000 (07/26)
The following guide will help you to prepare to hear and sing the Propers, i.e. the varied texts and hymns for this week.You will also find this week's Congregation at Prayer guide and links to this week's Bible study.Within the liturgy for each Lord’s day, we receive the Word of God through uniquely appointed readings, psalms, hymns, and prayers.
The Sunday of Brotherly Love (07/19)
The following guide will help you to prepare to hear and sing the Propers, i.e. the varied texts and hymns for this week.Within the liturgy for each Lord’s day, we receive the Word of God through uniquely appointed readings, psalms, hymns, and prayers.
The Sunday of the Miraculous Catch of Fish (07/12)
Within the liturgy for each Lord’s day, we receive the Word of God through uniquely appointed readings, psalms, hymns, and prayers. The following guide will help you to prepare to hear and sing the Propers, i.e. the varied texts and hymns for this week.
The Sunday of the Father's Mercy (07/05)
Within the liturgy for each Lord’s day, we receive the Word of God through uniquely appointed readings, psalms, hymns, and prayers. The following guide will help you to prepare to hear and sing the Propers, i.e. the varied texts and hymns for this week.
The Sunday of the Lost Sheep & Lost Coin (06/28)
Within the liturgy for each Lord’s day, we receive the Word of God through uniquely appointed readings, psalms, hymns, and prayers. The following guide will help you to prepare to hear and sing the Propers, i.e. the varied texts and hymns for this week.