In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. A year and a half ago, the so-called Great North American Eclipse passed through much of the United States, including northern New England. Many drove for hundreds of miles to witness the total solar eclipse. They endured hours-long…

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. If there is one biblical character most associated with the season of Advent, it is undoubtedly John the Baptizer. And so, fittingly, he is the subject of our Gospel Reading for this first Wednesday in Advent. In our text from Matthew…

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Dear friends in Christ, as we begin a new church year with this season of Advent, I invite you to recall with me last Sunday’s Gospel text—the Parable of the Ten Virgins. We observed how the parable is concerned with the second coming…

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. We begin with a reading from the Small Catechism. Please open your hymnal to page 324. We will speak the Fourth Petition of the Lord’s Prayer responsively. I will ask the questions, and I invite you to join me in reading the answers.…

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. As we come to the end of the Church Year, our focus shifts to the end of time—to Christ’s second coming, about which we will hear even more in the early weeks of Advent as the end of the Church Year rolls seamlessly into its beginning.…

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. From a young age, we Christians teach our children the importance of forgiveness. When one child sins against another, we are adamant: You need to say, “I’m sorry.” And to the one who is sinned against, we are likewise adamant about…

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Dear friends in Christ, it is a great joy and pleasure to stand before you today in this pulpit as your newly installed pastor. You have gone above and beyond what we could have expected to welcome us into our new home—both the house…

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Grace Alone. Faith Alone. Scripture Alone. These three Solas remain inseparably connected to the Reformation and to those churches, like ours, which continue to confess the doctrine taught by our fathers in the faith who coined these…

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Words are what make humanity unique among the creatures that the Lord God made. The animals live and move. They have their own personalities. And they even have their own ways of communicating. But it is to humanity alone that God…

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Nevertheless even among the rulers many people believed Him, but because of the Pharisees they did not confess Him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue; for they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God (John 12:42-43).…