July 4, 2025 

Today's Reading: Acts 11:19-30

Daily Lectionary: Joshua 10:1-25; Joshua 10:28-22:34; Acts 11:19-30

“and when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. For a whole year they met with the church and taught a great many people. And in Antioch the disciples were first called Christians.” (Acts 11:26)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. 

Man needs a preacher—someone to proclaim the Law that kills and the Gospel that makes alive. A man sent by God to that place to preach and teach the Word and administer The Sacraments. Antioch was no different, and St. Saul (Paul), although different, was that preacher.

Ever since Pentecost, the church had been growing among the Jewish people. Outreach to the Gentiles was not exactly the church’s area of expertise. Luckily, they had just the man for the job who had already been on the move preaching the Gospel in the synagogues in Damascus and Tarsus. Remember what God Himself said concerning Saul, “Go, for he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel.” (Acts 9:15).

Set Saul’s faults aside; God has made him His preacher to the Gentiles. 

In the same way also, God sends you His preacher. He, like Saul, might have some quirks and might not do things the way we always want, but God has sent him to you to give you Jesus. Your pastor, like Saul, will sit with you, bear your cross and suffer with you, laugh and cry with you. In times of greatest doubt and despair, your Pastor is the one God has sent to you to proclaim that your sins are forgiven. 

Like Saul, pastors are not perfect. They rely on God’s grace just as much as we do, and that grace sustains us even in the hard times. Saul would be no stranger to suffering for the sake of Christ. He had already been snuck out of Damascus in a basket and sent away from the apostles for his reputation. God was with Saul throughout his ministry and service to the church.

Saul and all pastors in Christ sent to serve His people in that time and place are sent to do what the church has always done. Care for you by preaching the Gospel that you are one of God’s elect, claimed in the waters of Baptism. God has not forgotten you; His words are written down for you and proclaimed to you by your pastor. 

Thanks be to God for men like Saul, your Pastor who teaches, preaches, and cares for you.

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

Lord, help us walk Your servant way Wherever love may lead And, bending low, forgetting self, Each serve the other’s need. (LSB 857:1)

- Justin Chester is a seminary student at Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne, IN.

Audio Reflections Speaker: Pastor Jonathan Lackey is the pastor at Grace Lutheran Church, Vine Grove, KY.

In Clarifying the Great Commission, Rev. Daniel Christian Voth identifies common omissions from our collective understanding of Jesus’ farewell discourse—omissions that turn Christ’s promises of forgiveness, life, and salvation into a legalistic command. Come and discover a richer understanding of The Great Commission.