God provides us with everything that we need to support this body and life. We confess this in the Small Catechism: I believe that God has made me and all creatures; that He has given me my body and soul, eyes, ears, and all my members, my reason and all my senses, and still takes care of them. He also…

Leprosy is an ancient disease mentioned over forty times in the Bible. Until recently there was no cure. Leprosy was a death sentence – even though lepers often lived for many years after contracting the disease. The danger of leprosy was so great that God devoted an entire chapter of the book of Leviticus…

At first glance the parable of the Good Samaritan appears to be pretty simple to understand. An expert in Jewish law asks Jesus, “What shall I do to inherit eternal life?” and Jesus tells a story about a man who helped a stranger. “Go and do likewise.” Seems simple enough. Be nice to strangers and you’ll…

In the creation account of Genesis 1 and 2, we read that God spoke and it was so. Only God can do this. Only he can say, “Let there be light” and there was light. Moses records that God saw all that he had made and behold, it was very good. Thousands of years later, when the fullness of time came, the…

Two men went to church one Sunday morning to pray. One was a life-long Lutheran. The other was a drug-dealer. As the Lutheran came up to the communion rail he was saying to himself, “I thank God that I come from a good Lutheran family. My grandfather built this church. My father never missed a service.…

In the Divine Service, right before we receive the Body and Blood of Christ, we sing the ancient hymn called the Sanctus: “Holy, holy, holy Lord God of Sabaoth; heaven and earth are full of Thy glory. Hosanna in the highest. Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest.”…

The Parable of the Wicked Steward

Inaugural Sermon at First Lutheran and St. Paul

Holy Scripture records that every member of Zechariah’s family was filled with the Holy Spirit – John while in his mother’s womb, Elizabeth when she beheld the mother of our Lord, and last of all, Zechariah, the once unbelieving, but now penitent, priest. After writing, “His name is John,” in accordance…

You are the salt of the earth ( Mt 5:14a ). You are the light of the world ( Mt 5:13a ). This is how Jesus describes Christians. It’s how he describes you, a follower of Christ. But what does it mean that you are salt? Many people try to explain this passage by examining the natural properties of salt.…