November 13, 2025

Today's Reading: Catechism: Table of Duties - To Parents

Daily Lectionary: Jeremiah 26:1-19; Revelation 13:1-18; Matthew 26:20-35

“Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.” (Ephesians 6:4)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

Thank God for our parents. Without them, we wouldn’t be here. It pleased God to continue his work of creation by giving you life through a mom and a dad. God continues to care, provide, and protect us through the parents he gives us. This is at least God’s design and intention for the family, to see one another as a gift and to share life together in love. 

This is the heart of the Fourth Commandment, where God instructs children to honor their father and mother. In his Small Catechism, Luther explains that rather than despising and angering our parents, children should honor, serve, obey, love, and cherish them. To see our parents as a gift from God causes hearts to cherish and love them. Love can’t help but bear the fruit of willful service and obedience. Looking at one another through the lens of a God-given gift makes all the difference. 

There is no “Commandment” for parents, though, is there? Yes, there are several places in Scripture where parents are instructed in how to raise and treat their children. Although the particular guidelines may differ, the lens prescription is still the same; see your children as a gift from God. When parents see their child as a gift from the hand of God, they see their role in a whole new light. Dads and moms become a portrait to their children of their heavenly Father, mirroring God’s gracious love, his sacrificial care, tireless provision, and tender guidance and protection. This is the hands-on way of raising children in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. 

The thing about parents is that they are sinners, too. I’ve never met a parent who doesn’t have regrets or who hasn’t wished they could do some things over. Parents need forgiveness, too, just like children. This is perhaps the most profound way a parent can teach their children the faith when a parent is on the receiving end of God’s forgiving grace. 

God loves to give gifts. He gave his most precious gift, his very own Son, to die for the sins of the world, and “the world” includes parents. God has given parents the gift of a family to love and to care for. Sharing life together in Christ makes all the difference.

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

“I the Lord will be your Father, Savior, Comforter, and Brother. Go, My children; I will keep you and give you peace.” (922:4)

Author: Rev. Darrin Sheek, pastor at Prince of Peace Lutheran Church Anaheim, CA.

Audio Reflections Speaker: Rev. Richard Heinz, pastor at Trinity Lutheran Church in Lowell, IN.

This new devotional resource by Carl Fickenscher walks you through each week’s readings, revealing thematic connections and helping you better understand what is to come in worship each Sunday.

November 12, 2025

Today's Reading: Matthew 26:1-19

Daily Lectionary: Jeremiah 25:1-18; Matthew 26:1-19

“You know that after two days the Passover is coming, and the Son of Man will be delivered up to be crucified.” (Matthew 26:2)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

The hour has come; the time is at hand. The Son of Man is hours away from his cross. Jesus knew this, yet his disciples refused to believe it. The Scriptures pointed to this, and this is the reason Jesus was born: to die that he might save his people from their sins. 

News spread that Jesus was approaching Jerusalem, and the reception couldn’t be more opposite, as opposite as faith and unbelief. When the chief priests and the elders of the people get wind that Jesus was coming near the city, guess what kind of welcome they are planning for him? They gather in the palace of Caiaphas, the High Priest, to plan how to secretly arrest Jesus and kill him. Isaiah’s words about God’s Messiah indeed are true: “He was despised and rejected by men.”  And yet God would use their scheming to accomplish his plan to save the world. 

Jesus stops in Bethany, two miles outside Jerusalem, at the house of Simon. While Jesus is reclining at the table, a woman pours expensive ointment on his head. The disciples become irate, thinking that is a waste of money, but Jesus has a different response: " What she has done is a beautiful thing to me.” He goes on to say, “She has done it to prepare me for burial.” The “Annointed One” has been anointed! The Passover Lamb is ready for the slaughter. 

“My time is at hand,” Jesus said. He would not be deterred. He knew what lay ahead of him over the upcoming hours, and yet Christ suffered for you. He endured the cross and bore your sins upon the tree that “you might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed” (1 Peter 2:21-24). 

Still to this day, Jesus, the Lamb of God, is rejected. Yet, the world’s unbelief does not nullify what Christ accomplished on his cross. Jesus bore the iniquities of us all. So let us not be deterred to proclaim the Good News of Jesus, who is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. There is no sin Jesus’ blood did not cover. There is no sinner left out whom Christ did not die for. This is the awesome wonder of Christ’s cross.

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

“See, the Lamb, so long expected, Comes with pardon down from heav’n. Let us haste, with tears of sorrow, One and all, to be forgiv’n.” (345:3)

Author: Rev. Darrin Sheek, pastor at Prince of Peace Lutheran Church Anaheim, CA.

Audio Reflections Speaker: Rev. Richard Heinz, pastor at Trinity Lutheran Church in Lowell, IN.

This new devotional resource by Carl Fickenscher walks you through each week’s readings, revealing thematic connections and helping you better understand what is to come in worship each Sunday.

November 11, 2025

Today's Reading: 2 Thessalonians 2:1-8, 13-17

Daily Lectionary: Jeremiah 23:21-40; Matthew 25:31-46

“To this he called you through our gospel, so that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (2 Thessalonians 2:14)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

God has made a decision for you. Do you realize that? God has made a choice for you and has called you to Himself. Do you slow down to stop and take time to think about that? You are a miracle of God’s divine grace. God came to you through his Word and by his Spirit. He spoke to you, and you listened. He called you, and you came. He gave you a promise, and you believed. God chose to set his love on you; you are a miracle of God’s saving grace. 

Not by the Law did God call you, but through His gospel. What does that mean? It means His decision for you is not based on your performance but upon His promise. God’s decision for you is not conditional but unconditional. God didn’t call you and say, “Come here, I've got a deal for you. I’ll wipe the slate of your sin clean, I’ll raise you from the dead, and I’ll give you a permanent place in my incredible kingdom if you…” Nope! The law works that way, but not the gospel. You have been called by the gospel. You are a walking miracle of God’s grace. 

God chose you in Christ. That means it has pleased him to give you everything Jesus won for you through his life, death, and resurrection as pure gift. No conditions. No checklist. No performance test. It’s all yours in Jesus: complete forgiveness, God fully pleased with you, a life where he is working his good works through you, and everlasting life in his eternal kingdom. That’s the decision God made for you. That’s what Jesus accomplished for you. You have been called to simply receive it by faith – trusting in God’s wonderful promises to you, and even your faith is His miraculous gift. 

God still calls you every day. When you wake up and open your eyes to a new day, God is calling you to rise and embrace the day, walking in His promises. He is at work in you and is keeping you in the very faith He has given you, so that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ! All gift; all for you. You are a miracle of God’s amazing grace.

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

“Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God our Father, who loved us and gave us eternal comfort and good hope through grace, comfort your hearts and establish them in every good work and word.” (2 Thessalonians 2:16-17)

Author: Rev. Darrin Sheek, pastor at Prince of Peace Lutheran Church Anaheim, CA.

Audio Reflections Speaker: Rev. Richard Heinz, pastor at Trinity Lutheran Church in Lowell, IN.

This new devotional resource by Carl Fickenscher walks you through each week’s readings, revealing thematic connections and helping you better understand what is to come in worship each Sunday.

November 10, 2025

Today's Reading: Exodus 3:1-15

Daily Lectionary: Jeremiah 23:1-20; Matthew 25:14-30

“God also said to Moses, ‘Say this to the people of Israel: “The Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.’” (Exodus 3:15a)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

We have a God who hears us; he never plugs his ears to our cries for help. We have a God who remembers; he never forgets but is faithful to keep his promises. We have a God who sees; he is intimately aware of the details of our lives. We have a God who knows; he is mindful of all we need, and he cares. 

This is the God who promised Abraham that he would be a father of a great nation, God would give his offspring a land to possess, and through him all the nations of the earth would be blessed. Those promises sounded pretty good to Abraham, almost too good to be true. All Abraham had to do to be on the receiving end of God’s incredible promises was to believe him, and Abraham did. 

Abraham’s descendants became an exceedingly large population after settling in Egypt; however, they became entrapped under a new pharaoh and forced to serve as his slaves. This went on for some 400 years; the people “groaned because of their slavery and cried out for help.” God heard, he remembered, he saw, and he knew (Exodus 2:23-25). 

So what does God do? He sends a rescuer to deliver his people from their bondage. God calls to Moses from out of a burning bush to go and deliver his people from an impossible situation. Moses is God’s mouthpiece to deliver his message; God will do the work of rescuing through him. Moses went, and God delivered. 

We, like Israel, find ourselves in an impossible situation. We are slaves as well, helplessly shackled by sin and death with no good way out. So, what does God do? He sends a rescuer to deliver us out of our bondage. God himself comes to save us. Jesus comes to set us free and lead us into the Promised Land of his eternal kingdom. 

God hears our prayers and cries for help. He remembers his promises made to you, and he never forgets. God sees all, knows the things that weigh you down, and he continues to care for you. God sends a preacher to you to speak His Word for you that continues to set you free. “Your sins are forgiven.” “You are my beloved child.” “I will be with you to the end of the age.” “I have redeemed you; you are mine.”

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

In the midst of utter woe When our sins oppress us, Where shall we for refuge go, Where for grace to bless us? To Thee, Lord Jesus, only! Thy precious blood was shed to win Full atonement for our sin. — Lord, preserve and keep us In the peace that faith can give. Have mercy, O Lord! (LSB 755:3)

Author: Rev. Darrin Sheek, pastor at Prince of Peace Lutheran Church Anaheim, CA.

Audio Reflections Speaker: Rev. Richard Heinz, pastor at Trinity Lutheran Church in Lowell, IN.

This new devotional resource by Carl Fickenscher walks you through each week’s readings, revealing thematic connections and helping you better understand what is to come in worship each Sunday.

November 9, 2025

Today's Reading: Luke 20:27-40

Daily Lectionary: Jeremiah 22:1-23; Matthew 25:1-13

“Now he is not God of the dead, but of the living, for all live to him.” (Luke 20:38)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

Dead men don’t rise. That’s what common sense will tell you. Dead is dead! That’s what the Sadducees would have told you. Even though they were a Jewish sect, they did not believe in the afterlife and certainly not in the resurrection of the dead. As a matter of fact, they limited the authority of the Scriptures to the first five books of Moses; no resurrection there, so they thought. 

Ironically, they ask a riddle-like question about the resurrection to the one who is “the Resurrection.” Jesus takes the Sadducees right to the book of Exodus, where God declares to Moses, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” Jesus masterfully demonstrated that God is the God of the living, not of the dead! 

It is passages like this one that Jesus had in mind when he taught his disciples on the evening of his resurrection, opening their minds to understand the Scriptures that “the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise again from the dead” (Luke 24:44-46). Jesus’ resurrection made the impossible now possible; the dead do rise again to life. Jesus is “the Life” for the dead that they may live! Jesus’ resurrection conquered the grave for Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, and for you!

The tomb is still empty. Christ has been raised from the dead, and his resurrection means life for you. If Jesus is the “firstfruits of those who have died” (1 Corinthians 15:20), that means there are more fruits to follow. If Jesus is the “firstborn from the dead” (Colossians 1:18), that means there are more sons and daughters to follow. It is actually God’s will that you who look to Jesus with eyes of faith shall have eternal life and be raised on the Last Day (John 16:40). 

Upon Jesus’ answer to their question, the Jewish scholars said, “‘Teacher, you have spoken well,’ and they no longer dared to ask him any questions.” Jesus has the last word, not death, not your sin, not your grave, nor your reason. Our Lord’s cross declares to you that your sins are forgiven. His empty grave and resurrection proclaim to you that you, too, will one day rise and live with him forever.

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

Then by your resurrection you won for us reprieve – you opened heaven’s kingdom to all who would believe (LSB 941:3)

Author: Rev. Darrin Sheek, pastor at Prince of Peace Lutheran Church Anaheim, CA.

Audio Reflections Speaker: Rev. Richard Heinz, pastor at Trinity Lutheran Church in Lowell, IN.

This new devotional resource by Carl Fickenscher walks you through each week’s readings, revealing thematic connections and helping you better understand what is to come in worship each Sunday.

November 8, 2025

Today's Reading: Introit for Pentecost 22 - Psalm 115:2-4, 8, 17-18; antiphon: Psalm 115:11

Daily Lectionary: Jeremiah 20:1-18; Matthew 24:29-51

“You who fear the Lord, trust in the Lord! He is their help and their shield. “ (Psalm 115:11)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

“Stop! Don’t do it!” Wouldn’t you scream those words if someone you cared about was about to make a bad decision that you know they would regret later? Wouldn’t it pain you to watch a person choose to believe a lie and then act on it, if you absolutely knew the truth of the matter and the consequences that would follow? Think about Adam and Eve standing at the base of the forbidden tree in the garden contemplating whether they should eat from it; as they reach out their hand to pluck a piece of fruit, don’t you want to yell, “No! Don’t do it!” 

Too late. They trusted their eyes and listened to a lie. They didn’t believe God’s word, and they didn’t fear the promised consequences. Isn’t that our problem, too, along with this world we live in? We can’t help it, as the apostle Paul writes, “all have turned aside…there is no fear of God before their eyes” (Romans 3:12, 18). Our temptation is to rely on ourselves and believe we can manage our lives on our own. Even without realizing it, we are easily drawn to put our trust in those things that promise us happiness and success. We fear failure. We fear not being accepted. We fear being left behind and missing out. Like our first parents, we too are tempted to listen, to look, and to reach out our hand to grab onto a lie. 

Psalm 115 pleads with us, “No, don’t do it.” Don’t buy into the false gods of this world. They may seem to make promises, but they are all lies. There is only One who is trustworthy. There is only One who is committed to your good. He is the Lord God who made the heavens and the earth. The God who made you and keeps your life calls you to trust Him. He is both your help and your shield. The Lord knows what you need and is determined to care for you. The Lord knows those things that seek to attack and undermine your faith, so He wraps His shield about you. He promises never to forget you; no, He will bless you and shower His gracious love upon you. 

All of this God gives to you in Christ. Jesus is your help and your shield. He is your present help in times of trouble. He is your rock and your hiding place. He is your rescuer and defender. He is God’s Savior for you. Trust him.

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

A mighty fortress is our God, a sword and shield victorious; he breaks the cruel oppressor’s rod and wins salvation glorious. (LSB 657:1)

Rev. Darrin Sheek, pastor at Prince of Peace Lutheran Church Anaheim, CA.

Audio Reflections Speaker: Pastor Harrison Goodman is the Executive Director of Mission and Theology for Higher Things.

This new devotional resource by Carl Fickenscher walks you through each week’s readings, revealing thematic connections and helping you better understand what is to come in worship each Sunday.

November 7, 2025

Today's Reading: Matthew 24:1-28

Daily Lectionary: Jeremiah 11:1-23; Jeremiah 12:1-19:15; Matthew 24:1-28

“But the one who endures to the end will be saved.” (Matthew 24:13)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

One of the perks of being a disciple was that you could ask Jesus questions when you had some alone time with him. Jesus was sitting down on the Mount of Olives, which provided the opportunity for his disciples to ask a burning question about the end of the age and the sign of his return. Jesus tells of some very difficult times in the days ahead. There will be wars and rumors of wars; that’s disturbing. Jesus goes on to talk of nations rising against nations, famines and earthquakes, not pleasant days to live in. And if that’s not hard enough, Jesus describes the attacks that will come upon one’s faith. Nations will hate those who bear Jesus’ name; many will fall away from the faith due to false teachers and following those who falsely claim to be “the Christ.” Believers will be betrayed, lawlessness will increase, and love will grow cold. Jesus paints a pretty dark picture, commenting, “If those days had not been cut short, no human being would be saved.” 

The days that Jesus described sound all too familiar, don’t they? Fighting, hatred, natural disasters, lack of daily necessities for many, attacks against the Christian faith, false teachers, these fit the times we are living in. In the midst of all this, Jesus holds out a promise, “The one who endures to the end will be saved.” That’s not a very comforting promise if enduring to the end depends on us. How can we be certain we will not be one of those who “fall away” or who are led astray by false messiahs?

The book of Hebrews (12:1-2) likens the days we live in to a race that we are running. Jesus himself entered the race by becoming a man. He ran the race and stayed the course, which led to a Roman cross. He endured the cross and its shame so that we might gain the prize of His salvation. So we run our race with endurance, keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus, the founder and finisher of our faith. You see, enduring to the end doesn’t depend on our running ability, but it depends on the one who has already run and has finished the race for you. 

In this world, we will have tribulation, yet we run and endure with our faith fixed on Jesus. He is our faithful deliverer who keeps us in the race and causes us to endure in him.

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Thessalonians 5:23)

Rev. Darrin Sheek, pastor at Prince of Peace Lutheran Church Anaheim, CA.

Audio Reflections Speaker: Pastor Harrison Goodman is the Executive Director of Mission and Theology for Higher Things.

This new devotional resource by Carl Fickenscher walks you through each week’s readings, revealing thematic connections and helping you better understand what is to come in worship each Sunday.

November 6, 2025

Today's Reading: Catechism: Table of Duties - To Wives

Daily Lectionary: Jeremiah 8:18-9:12; Matthew 23:13-39

“Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord.” (Ephesians 5:22)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

God’s gifts come in all sorts of packages. Think about Adam; the first gift God gave him was the gift of life. Adam was then given a garden to take care of, and from it, he received the gift of daily food. But then God gave Adam a very special gift fit just for him—a wife. God personally made her and then brought Eve to Adam. God blessed the gift of marriage, the gift of a husband, and the gift of a wife. It was very good. 

On the sixth day of creation, God established the vocations of husband and wife. Each is a gift to the other to be cherished and loved. Each loving one another with the kind of love that is selfless and self-giving, the kind of love that has the other’s best in mind. God was pleased, He was happy, and He blessed them. 

So, when we hear the words, “wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord,” they are an invitation to love another in the same self-giving manner that marked the first marriage of creation before the Fall. These words call out to love another with the same kind of love that we ourselves have been loved with. 

After all, isn’t this how Christ has loved us? Jesus humbled himself by becoming a man. Jesus submitted Himself to His Father’s will even to the point of dying on a cross. Jesus loved us selflessly and sacrificially by laying down His life for us. 

Out of this love that Jesus has for us, we are set free to love one another – wives are free to love their husbands. This sort of love is radical. It flies in the face of our current culture, but isn’t that the nature of the Gospel? It offends our inherent tendencies to take care of ourselves first and try to get what we deserve. Grace throws us and the world on its head. It frees us from focusing on ourselves. It compels us to ask, “How can I serve another?” This is the kind of love God is working in us. This is the kind of love a God-given marriage is built upon. God is the giver of all good gifts, and the gift of a husband and a wife is most certainly a gift to be treasured. May our Lord grant us the grace and working of His Spirit to love one another as Christ has loved us.

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

Christ the Savior, Christ the Servant, Be Your life in us displayed. (LSB 847:1)

Rev. Darrin Sheek, pastor at Prince of Peace Lutheran Church Anaheim, CA.

Audio Reflections Speaker: Pastor Harrison Goodman is the Executive Director of Mission and Theology for Higher Things.

This new devotional resource by Carl Fickenscher walks you through each week’s readings, revealing thematic connections and helping you better understand what is to come in worship each Sunday.

November 5, 2025

Today's Reading: Jeremiah 7:1-29

Daily Lectionary: Jeremiah 7:1-29; Matthew 23:1-12

“So you shall speak all these words to them, but they will not listen to you. You shall call to them, but they will not answer you.” (Jeremiah 7:27)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

God called Jeremiah to speak some hard words to hardened hearts. God was persistent. He kept sending His messengers to His people, yet they did not listen. God called them to repentance, and they did not answer Him. Instead, they followed their own plans; they refused to listen. They followed their own stubborn hearts, and as God said, they “went backward not forward.” 

It is an easy trap to fall into, turning a deaf ear to the voice of God. There are so many voices competing with His; we are confronted with choices to make and directions to take, and like Judah, we are inclined to listen and follow the ones that seem to fit our desires and feel good to us. Perhaps the bigger temptation is to “hear” God’s words and then pick and choose what we listen to; you know, selective hearing. In our minds, we think we are going forward, and yet in truth, we are going backward.

God is persistent. He is stubborn, too, more stubborn than we are. The Bible calls that particular characteristic of God “faithfulness.” God is faithful even when His people are not. Notice what God continues to do, even when His own people refuse to listen to Him; He sends a preacher. “Speak all these words to them…you shall call to them.” Yes, God knows the hardness of their hearts and the stubbornness of their ears, but He still speaks, and He still calls. 

God put another word into Jeremiah’s mouth to speak to his wayward, hard-of-hearing people, “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will fulfill the promise I made to the house of Israel and the house of Judah. In those days and at that time I will cause a righteous Branch to spring up for David, and he shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. In those days Judah will be saved, and Jerusalem will dwell securely. And this is the name by which it will be called: ‘The Lord is our righteousness’” (Jeremiah 33:14-16). 

God wasn’t looking back but was looking forward to when He would send His Son to come and give hearing to deaf ears and cause hardened hearts to believe. By the word of Christ’s cross, sinners are made righteous, sins are forgiven, and a new creation has begun. This word is for you. God is faithful!

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

Dying to the sin of Adam, rising to a life of grace; we are counted with the righteous, over us the cross You trace. (LSB 404:4)

Rev. Darrin Sheek, pastor at Prince of Peace Lutheran Church Anaheim, CA.

Audio Reflections Speaker: Pastor Harrison Goodman is the Executive Director of Mission and Theology for Higher Things.

This new devotional resource by Carl Fickenscher walks you through each week’s readings, revealing thematic connections and helping you better understand what is to come in worship each Sunday.

November 4, 2025

Today's Reading: 2 Thessalonians 1:1-5 (6-10) 11-12

Daily Lectionary: Jeremiah 5:1-19; Matthew 22:23-46

“We ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers, as is right, because your faith is growing abundantly, and the love of every one of you for one another is increasing.” (2 Thessalonians 1:3)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

Paul was persistent. He was a man on a mission, literally, and his mission plan was simple: go into a city and find a synagogue, open up the Scriptures, and preach Christ from them. Some would believe, some would want to hear more, and others would aggressively oppose Paul’s message about Jesus. Paul would eventually be run out of town, which would propel him to the next city, and he would do it all over again – preach Christ crucified and risen. And you know what? The Word worked! People believed! A church began! The Gospel spread! 

Paul visited Thessalonica on his second missionary journey, and it was ministry as usual. He entered the synagogue on three different Sabbaths, teaching from the Scriptures that Jesus, who was crucified and risen from the dead, is the Christ. Some believed, while others formed a mob and ran him out of town. The rioters justified their violent reaction by claiming, “These men who have turned the world upside down have come here also.” Indeed, the gospel was having its way. 

Even in the face of the uproar and despite Paul being run out of town, a church was born. God, by His grace, caused ears to hear the Good News of Jesus, and He granted hearts to believe. Paul would later marvel about this work of the Holy Spirit among them, “For you received the word in much affliction, with the joy of the Holy Spirit, so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia…your faith has gone forth everywhere” (1 Thess. 1:6a-8a). Years later, Paul would continue to give thanks to God for their growing faith and for the fruit of that faith, their increasing love for one another. 

That same gospel word is still at work among us, turning the world on its head. God is still rich in his saving grace towards us sinners. The Holy Spirit is still at work within us, causing faith to grow and increasing our love for others. It is true, in spite of the opposition within and outside of us. God is true to His word; He is faithful in His promises –for this “we ought to give thanks to God.” This is the testimony of His church. This is our story too!

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

Abide with me, O Savior, a firmer faith bestow; then I shall bid defiance to ev’ry evil foe. (LSB 587:2)

Rev. Darrin Sheek, pastor at Prince of Peace Lutheran Church Anaheim, CA.

Audio Reflections Speaker: Pastor Harrison Goodman is the Executive Director of Mission and Theology for Higher Things.

This new devotional resource by Carl Fickenscher walks you through each week’s readings, revealing thematic connections and helping you better understand what is to come in worship each Sunday.