Months before the angel Gabriel appeared to Mary to announce that she would conceive and bear a son, Jesus, he appeared to an elderly temple priest and his wife—Zechariah and Elizabeth—and told them similar news. For his scoffing, Zechariah is struck...

Advent is about “the coming days.” God’s people have always lived in great anticipation, but that anticipation finds specific, repeated expression in the readings appointed for these four weeks. With the whole Church we eagerly await the coming days...

By virtue of our baptism into his name, our Lord Jesus Christ rules in our hearts and in our lives. Today he again welcomes us and invites us to worship him—King of all creation, Lord of the Church, Alpha and Omega….God for all eternity.

The final weeks of November bring us to the end of the church year and the beginning of Advent. Scripture readings anticipate the end of time and the final resurrection. We are reminded that Jesus leads us to our heavenly home, making a way for us...

In today’s readings we hear of two widows, both financially very poor and socially very helpless. The first is Elijah’s encounter with the widow at Zarephath, who reluctantly shares food and comes to understand God’s faithful providing. In the second...

Each week as we speak the creed we identify ourselves: “This is who I am in Christ; this is who I am with you; this is who we are with all who have confessed the faith through the ages.” With angels and archangels and with all the company of heaven we...

On this Reformation weekend, we celebrate that rediscovery of the Gospel so many years ago. While Martin Luther’s ground breaking efforts focused on our standing before God, he knew how much our understanding of the Good News influences our...

Jesus declares, “I make all things new.” But before this can become a shout of victory, it must be promise to the hurting. God comes near; he intervenes. God creates and re-creates. He is present with those who suffer—and he calls us to do likewise...

Our God is the Father of compassion. The promises of Scripture and the assurance of our salvation make it possible for us to face whatever trials we must endure. We learn that often our trials and the comfort that we received from God were only...

Throughout Scriptures God sends his Word of love and mercy, rescue and redemption, into the troubled, sinful lives of his people. In this new series, we will receive comfort from God that we can share with other people, extending Jesus’ glorious and...