Welcome back to the Basin and Towel podcast!  I’m your host, Pastor Chris Cahill.  I live in Lodi, Ohio, where last year I retired from 45 years of pastoral ministry in the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod. In my retirement I’ve been doing some substitute preaching in other churches - this episode is the sermon I preached on Sunday, January 4, 2026, at The Ministry Center of Hosanna and Faithwalk Lutheran Churches in Columbia Station, Ohio, and at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in Pleasant City, Ohio.

The Christmas season begins on Christmas Day (December 25) and goes for twelve days (just like in the song). The Christmas season ends on January 5, and the church calendar designates the very next day (January 6) as the day to remember that after Jesus was born, the Wise Men came to worship him and give Him precious gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

Even though Sunday January 4 was still in the Christmas season, I took this opportunity to talk about your favorite kind of cake and what St Matthew’s Gospel tells us about the visit of the Wise Men, and I suggested a new and exciting way for you to greet each other when you come to church this year!

This week’s readings from God’s word were Isaiah 60:1-7 and Matthew 2:1-12

The Basin and Towel podcast is written and recorded by Rev Chris Cahill, Ministerial Care Coordinator of the SELC District of The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod. You can find out more at the Basin and Towel website -bit.ly/bnt2025

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Unless otherwise indicated, any Scripture quotations are from the New International Version (NIV), Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. Accessed through www.biblegateway.com

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