Reflections

Daily Lectionary: Genesis 47:1-31; Mark 13:24-37

So Israel dwelt in the land of Egypt, in the country of Goshen; and they had possessions there and grew and multiplied exceedingly. (Genesis 47:27)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. The Israelites were tempted to think that their time in Egypt was one of glory and ease, and that they had deserved the possessions they had and land they dwelled in. But of course, we know how the story goes. As we learned yesterday, all the good things that happened to Joseph were not because he was a perfect, deserving guy. Far from it. In truth, everything Joseph had done and received in life--the dreams, the ascent to Pharaoh's court, and so on--was accomplished by God's grace.

The same was true for the people of Israel. Even when they were enslaved in Egypt for 400 years, the grace of God watched over and was with them. God waited for the perfect time when He would lead his servant Moses to take His people Israel out of slavery in Egypt into the Promised Land. And along the way there, the grace of God accompanied His people all the more. The Passover lamb. The Red Sea Exodus. The manna and quail in the wilderness. The water from the rock. The Divine Service of the Old Testament in the sacrifices of the tabernacle. It was all given and accomplished by the grace of God for His people.

The same is true for you. It's tempting to think that we are entitled to God's mercy. That we deserve His grace. That we have earned His favor. Just like Israel, we are tempted to look at our thoughts, emotions, and works as a ladder we try to use to ascend to God, or some kind of assurance that we are loved by God. And just like Israel, we are dead wrong. That's the real kind of slavery: slavery to sin. 

Thankfully, God has compassion on us as He did for Israel. Only He didn't send Joseph or even Moses. God the Father sent His only-begotten Son, so that in Jesus we would possess everything God desires to give us: His grace, mercy, peace, life, and salvation. Everything we have, all our gifts of body and soul, are given to us by God's grace in Christ Jesus. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

O God, you have given us the good news of your abounding love in your Son Jesus Christ: So fill our hearts with thankfulness that we may rejoice to proclaim the good tidings we have received; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

-Rev. Samuel Schuldheisz is pastor of Beautiful Savior Lutheran Church in Milton, WA.

Audio Reflections Speaker: Rev. Duane Bamsch

Learn more about your favorite hymns and find the deeper meaning behind the text with Eternal Anthems: The Story Behind Your Favorite Hymns. The book includes devotional commentary and historical facts from forty different contributing authors on fifty different hymns. Now available from Concordia Publishing House.

Daily Lectionary: Genesis 45:1-20, 24-28; Mark 13:1-23

"I am Joseph your brother, whom you sold into Egypt. But now, do not therefore be grieved or angry with yourselves because you sold me here; for God sent me before you to preserve life." (Genesis 45:4-5)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. There are many Old Testament people whose lives foreshadow and point us to the person and work of Jesus. Jesus says that His death and resurrection are foretold in Jonah's three-day rest in the belly of the fish. Jesus says that His own body is the new and greater temple. Jesus declares that Abraham saw and believed in Him long before His incarnation for us. Joseph the patriarch is no different. 

Consider just a few of the many ways Joseph's life foreshadows and points us to the life and work of Jesus. Joseph was betrayed by his brothers and left for dead. Jesus is betrayed by one of His own disciples so that He would be left for dead on the Cross. Joseph went down to Egypt to provide for the people of Egypt as well as for His own family. Jesus also went down to Egypt with His earthly family so that when He returned to Nazareth after Herod's death, He would begin His life and ministry that would provide life and salvation not just for Israel, but for all nations. Joseph tells his brothers that what they meant for evil, God worked for good. Jesus, our greater Joseph, takes all the sin and evil that we have worked onto Himself on the Cross, and there, He works the greatest good for us in His crucifixion for us.

Today, as we remember and give thanks to God for Joseph the patriarch, we are also giving thanks to God and remember the grace and mercy of God which kept Joseph. For the same Lord who watched over Joseph in prison, slavery, and famine, is the same Lord who watches over you in all trials and travails of this life. Like Joseph, Jesus the greater Joseph was sent by God. The Father has sent His Son Jesus before us to preserve our lives, now and forever. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

Lord God, heavenly Father, in the kingdom of Egypt the needy and suffering people were told to go to Joseph and do all that he shall say to them. May the needy and suffering people in the kingdom of Your Church now be provided for by those who follow in the example of Joseph as they love their neighbors as themselves; through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

-Rev. Samuel Schuldheisz is pastor of Beautiful Savior Lutheran Church in Milton, WA.

Audio Reflections Speaker: Rev. Duane Bamsch

Learn more about your favorite hymns and find the deeper meaning behind the text with Eternal Anthems: The Story Behind Your Favorite Hymns. The book includes devotional commentary and historical facts from forty different contributing authors on fifty different hymns. Now available from Concordia Publishing House.

Today's Reading: Small Catechism: Seventh Commandment

Daily Lectionary: Genesis 44:1-18, 32-34; Mark 12:28-44

You shall not steal. What does this mean? We should fear and love God so that we do not take our neighbor's money or possessions, or get them in any dishonest way, but help him to improve and protect his possessions and income. (Small Catechism: Seventh Commandment)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. The Small Catechism is full of questions and answers, like the famous catechism question, "What does this mean?" Whenever we spend time unpacking the meaning of the commandments and their explanations, it's also helpful to ask a few additional questions. What gift of God is being preserved and protected by God in the Seventh Commandment? How have we failed to keep this commandment? And, most important of all, how does Jesus keep this commandment for us?

Luther's short but insightful explanation reveals the meaning of the Seventh Commandment. It also reveals the gift of God in this commandment: our possessions and earthly blessings, or, in other words, our stuff. Everything we have from the kicks on our feet, to the lid on our dome, is all a gift from God. 

When we come to the Seventh Commandment, it's easy to think, "Well, I haven't been arrested for grand theft auto or stolen anything lately, so I'm good to go." Not so fast! Have we always helped our neighbor to improve his possessions and income? Have we taken a pencil from school? Spent five more minutes at our lunch break at work than we should have? And the list goes on. Not one of us can say we've perfectly kept the Seventh Commandment.

Thankfully, while it's true that we have broken the Seventh Commandant, it's also true that our Lord Jesus kept this commandment perfectly in our place. How so? Consider Paul's words in 2 Corinthians 8:10: "For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich."

You see, everything in all creation belongs to our Lord Jesus. And yet He provides for all our physical needs. And more than that, he uses the stuff of His creation--water, word, bread and wine--to give us heavenly treasures of His grace in His holy, precious Word and Sacraments as well. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

O God, the protector of all who trust in you, without whom nothing is strong, nothing is holy: Increase and multiply upon us your mercy; that, with you as our ruler and guide, we may so pass through things temporal, that we lose not the things eternal; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

-Rev. Samuel Schuldheisz is pastor of Beautiful Savior Lutheran Church in Milton, WA.

Audio Reflections Speaker: Rev. Duane Bamsch

Learn more about your favorite hymns and find the deeper meaning behind the text with Eternal Anthems: The Story Behind Your Favorite Hymns. The book includes devotional commentary and historical facts from forty different contributing authors on fifty different hymns. Now available from Concordia Publishing House.

Today's Reading: Galatians 4:21-31

Daily Lectionary: Genesis 43:1-28; Mark 12:13-27

The Jerusalem above is free, which is the mother of us all. (Galatians 4:26)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. The Church father Cyprian once wrote that, "No one can have God as his Father, who does not have the Church as his mother." St. Augustine and Martin Luther would later quote these famous words as well. Cyprian wasn't saying anything new, though. He was quoting Paul here in Galatians. 

The Jerusalem above, the Mother of us all, is free (Galatians 4:26). How is the Church our Mother? Think about all the ways a mother cares for her child. Even before a child is born, he is cared for in her womb and, Lord willing, brought safely through childbirth. So, too, in the Church we are born from above by water, Word and the Holy Spirit in Holy Baptism. God works faith in our hearts by His Word just as He creates life in the womb. 

Our earthly mothers then go on to feed us, care for us, love and nurture us. So, too, in the Church, God our Father provides the daily bread of His Holy Word, Holy Absolution, Holy Baptism, and Holy Communion. In His Gifts of Word and Sacrament in the Church God feeds us, cares for us, loves us, and nurtures us. 

As we grow older, our earthly mothers and fathers discipline us, teach us many things needful for our life, and most of all, lead us in the ways and words of our heavenly Father. The same thing happens in the Church, the new Jerusalem. The free gifts of life and salvation are given to us. We are children of the promise, just as Isaac was. And yes, at times we are disciplined. And at other times we are instructed in many things from the Scriptures, as in confirmation or Bible class. 

In these ways, our heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ our Lord and by the power of the Holy Spirit, leads us in His ways and words throughout our life. And in this holy Christian Church you are freely forgiven, and live to freely love one another as Christ first loved us. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

Almighty God, by our baptism into the death and resurrection of your Son Jesus Christ, you turned us from the old life of sin: Grant that we, being reborn to new life in him, may live in righteousness and holiness all our days; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

-Rev. Samuel Schuldheisz is pastor of Beautiful Savior Lutheran Church in Milton, WA.

Audio Reflections Speaker: Rev. Duane Bamsch

Learn more about your favorite hymns and find the deeper meaning behind the text with Eternal Anthems: The Story Behind Your Favorite Hymns. The book includes devotional commentary and historical facts from forty different contributing authors on fifty different hymns. Now available from Concordia Publishing House.

Today's Reading: Exodus 16:2-21

Daily Lectionary: Genesis 42:1-34, 38; Mark 12:1-12

And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, "I have heard the complaints of the children of Israel. Speak to them, saying, ‘At twilight you shall eat meat, and in the morning you shall be filled with bread. And you shall know that I am the Lord your God.'" (Exodus 16:11-12)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. Yahweh provided bread from heaven. The food of angels, they called it. "Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you, declares the Lord, and the people shall go out and gather a day's portion for every day" (Exodus 16:4).

Israel didn't have to work for this bread. No labor, planting, or harvesting. No sweaty brows, calloused hands, or sore backs. All they had to do was go outside their tents and there it was. Manna in the wilderness. Yahweh provided just enough for each day--no more, no less.

And yet Israel still grumbled against the Lord: "We loathe this worthless food. Why did you bring us out into the wilderness to die? Would that we were in Egypt where we sat by the meat pots and ate bread to the full."

Bread couldn't save Adam. The bread from heaven that God gave through Moses couldn't save Israel, either. And neither will Adam or Moses save us.

For like Adam, we have hungered and thirsted for self-righteousness. We have labored to fill our bellies with the food of this world. Like Israel, we've grumbled and groaned against God's grace. We've pushed aside the Lord's bread to get all we can eat at the world's buffet. We foolishly think that slavery to sin looks more appetizing and satisfying than the Bread of life that God offers freely.

As Jesus tells the crowds in John 6, "Your fathers ate manna in the wilderness, and they died." That's the problem. Like Adam and Israel, we eat bread to our death. Ordinary bread won't save us.

The bread that Jesus gives, however, is completely different. "I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh" (John 6:51). The next time you go to the Lord's Supper, rejoice! In Jesus' Body and Blood you have true Manna from heaven. Eat this bread and live forever. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

O Lord our God, in your Holy Sacraments you have given us a foretaste of the good things of your kingdom: Direct us, we pray, in the way that leads to eternal life, that we may come to appear before you in that place of light where you dwell forever with your saints; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

-Rev. Samuel Schuldheisz is pastor of Beautiful Savior Lutheran Church in Milton, WA.

Audio Reflections Speaker: Rev. Duane Bamsch

Learn more about your favorite hymns and find the deeper meaning behind the text with Eternal Anthems: The Story Behind Your Favorite Hymns. The book includes devotional commentary and historical facts from forty different contributing authors on fifty different hymns. Now available from Concordia Publishing House.

Today's Reading: John 6:1-15

Daily Lectionary: Genesis 41:28-57; Mark 11:20-33

Then Jesus said, "Make the people sit down." Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, in number about five thousand. (John 6:10)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. Ever heard a song, watched a movie, or read a book, and afterwards thought, "That sounds familiar; where have I heard that before?" Sometimes we call that feeling deja vu, the feeling that you've been there or heard something before.

There's something of a deja vu moment happening in today's reading from John 6. Consider some of the details of the feeding of the 5000 here in John's Gospel. There's a crowd following Jesus. They're in the wilderness near a mountain. It's close to the time of the Passover. The crowds are hungry. Jesus has the crowds sit down on the green pastures. He gives thanks. Jesus miraculously feeds over 5000; there are even leftovers. And to top it all off, Jesus is called the Prophet who is coming into the world. 

That all sounds rather familiar doesn't it? Like we've heard that story before. Indeed we have, in Exodus and Psalm 23. John's account of the feeding of the 5000 comes out of God's cookbook in the Old Testament Exodus. John reveals that Jesus is Moses 2.0, not a new lawgiver, but the Prophet who was foretold. The Prophet who would be like Moses and come after him and turn the hearts of the people to God. 

Coincidence? Of course not. The good things that God called Moses to do, and accomplished through Moses, point forward to the Prophet of God come in human flesh: Jesus. But of course we know that Jesus is a prophet--He speaks and teaches and foretells God's Word. But unlike any other prophet, Jesus is the one Prophet who not only speaks for God, but IS God. He not only declares God's Word, He is the Word made flesh.

Jesus' words give life. Jesus' Body and Blood are our true Bread from heaven come down to save, forgive, and heal. Jesus is truly the Prophet who has come into the world to save you. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

Almighty God, our heavenly Father, Your mercies are new every morning; and though we deserve only punishment, You receive us as Your children and provide for all our needs of body and soul. Grant that we may heartily acknowledge Your merciful goodness, give thanks for all Your benefits, and serve You in willing obedience; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen. (Collect for the Fourth Sunday in Lent)

-Rev. Samuel Schuldheisz is pastor of Beautiful Savior Lutheran Church in Milton, WA.

Audio Reflections Speaker: Rev. Duane Bamsch

Learn more about your favorite hymns and find the deeper meaning behind the text with Eternal Anthems: The Story Behind Your Favorite Hymns. The book includes devotional commentary and historical facts from forty different contributing authors on fifty different hymns. Now available from Concordia Publishing House.

Today's Reading: Introit for the Fourth Sunday in Lent

            (Psalm 122:1-2, 6, 8; antiphon: Isaiah 66:10a, 11a)

Daily Lectionary:Genesis 41:1-27; Mark 11:1-19

I was glad when they said to me, "Let us go to the house of the Lord!" (From the Introit for the Fourth Sunday in Lent)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. Psalm 122 is one of several ascent psalms in the psalter, the Old Testament hymnal. In this psalm, God's faithful people would sing His praises as they made their way to the temple, the Lord's house, to receive the Lord's gifts.

Tomorrow in Divine Service we will sing or say together the Introit, taken from Psalm 122. As we sing or say these words together, God is gathering His Church, the new Israel, around His Gifts of Word, water, Body and Blood. As we sing or say these words together we are in the house of the Lord where the Lord has promised to dwell with us to heal, forgive, and save us. 

Even the word "Introit" tells us what's going on. "Introit" means "to enter." In the Divine Service that's what we do. We enter the Lord's house on the Lord's Day to receive the Lord's Gifts in Word and Sacrament.

It is good for us to sing the psalms of ascent as we approach our Lord's table, because all too often we have not ascended to our Lord in praise, but have descended into sin. In our sinful flesh we descend into chaos; we sing the funeral dirge that our sins have earned. We confess that we are poor, miserable sinners. This confession of our sin may not be popular or pretty, but it is good. That's why we confess our sins just before the Introit of the day.

We start with confession, then receive the Absolution. For all the times we've descended into sin, Christ's forgiveness and love have descended to us to save us. Jesus went up to the Cross, was crucified, died, and was buried. Jesus descended into hell, and on the Third Day rose again. He ascended into heaven. He did all of this so that when you descend into sin, you will be forgiven. And you will sing with joy tomorrow and forever. I was glad when they said to me, "Let us go to the house of the Lord!" In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

O God, you know us to be set in the midst of so many and great dangers, that by reason of the frailty of our nature we cannot always stand upright: Grant us such strength and protection as may support us in all dangers, and carry us through all temptations; through Jesus Christ our Lord,. Amen.

-Rev. Samuel Schuldheisz is pastor of Beautiful Savior Lutheran Church in Milton, WA.

Audio Reflections Speaker: Rev. Duane Bamsch

Learn more about your favorite hymns and find the deeper meaning behind the text with Eternal Anthems: The Story Behind Your Favorite Hymns. The book includes devotional commentary and historical facts from forty different contributing authors on fifty different hymns. Now available from Concordia Publishing House.

Today's Reading: Luke 1:26-38

Daily Lectionary:Genesis 40:1-23; Mark 10:32-52

"And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call his name Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give him the throne of His father David. And he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end." (Luke 1:31-33)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. An angel, the Virgin Mary, and the message that the Savior is soon to be born? Aren't we in the middle of the season of Lent? What's going on here? No, you didn't read the calendar wrong. Today the Church remembers and gives thanks to God for the angel Gabriel's annunciation of Jesus' birth to the Virgin Mary. There might still be nine months to go until Christmas Day, but in many ways, Lent is a wonderful time to remember the Annunciation of our Lord. 

As we prepare to celebrate Jesus' crucifixion for us, we pause to celebrate His birth for us. As we prepare for the joy of Easter and Christ's resurrection, we stop to remember the joy of His incarnation for us. As we prepare to celebrate with the angels at the empty tomb of our risen Lord, we pause to remember the message of the angel Gabriel to the Virgin Mary.

It might seem odd to us, celebrating the Annunciation of Our Lord as we prepare to celebrate Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter Sunday. And yet, for Christians in the ancient Church, this made perfect sense. The date of the Annunciation of Our Lord is March 25th because many in the early Church believed Jesus' crucifixion occurred on that date. Additionally, many people in the ancient world linked the day of a person's conception with the day of their death. So, when we celebrate the Annunciation of our Lord in March, in the middle of Lent, the Church is remembering both the Incarnation of Jesus and the crucifixion of Jesus, two events that reveal our Lord's great love, grace, and salvation for us. 

So today, with Mary, we rejoice that God has done and accomplished and made possible what we deemed impossible: His virgin birth and His death and resurrection to save us. Let it be to us, according to His Word! In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

O Lord, as we have known the incarnation of Your Son, Jesus Christ, by the message of the angel to the virgin Mary, so by the message of His cross and passion bring us to the glory of His resurrection; through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

-Rev. Samuel Schuldheisz is pastor of Beautiful Savior Lutheran Church in Milton, WA.

Audio Reflections Speaker: Rev. Duane Bamsch

Learn more about your favorite hymns and find the deeper meaning behind the text with Eternal Anthems: The Story Behind Your Favorite Hymns. The book includes devotional commentary and historical facts from forty different contributing authors on fifty different hymns. Now available from Concordia Publishing House.

Daily Lectionary: Genesis 39:1-23; Mark 10:13-31

The Lord was with Joseph, and he was a successful man; and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian. (Genesis 39:2)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. Even though he was thrown in a pit by his brothers. Even though he was sold into slavery. Even though his father Jacob thought he was dead. Even though he was hounded by temptation and sin by Potiphar's wife, thrown into prison, a long, long way from home down in Egypt. Even through all that, the Lord was with Joseph.

The Lord never stopped being with Joseph. In the next chapter of Genesis we hear that God gave Joseph the ability to interpret Pharaoh's dreams, and, in doing so, was able to prepare the land for a great famine. 

The Lord was with Joseph so that through him, Egypt, and even his own family, would find food when it became scarce. The Lord was with Joseph and brought about reconciliation between him and his brothers. What they meant for evil, God used for their good. 

And not only their good, but yours. Because the Lord was with Joseph, the people of Israel ended up in Egypt for over 400 years. Because Israel was in Egypt, the Lord rescued them in the Exodus and delivered them to the Promised Land. Because Israel was in the Promised Land, God brought about the passing of time through the period of judges, kings, a divided kingdom, exile, and return, preparing the way for the long-expected Messiah. And in the fullness of time the God who was with Joseph in Egypt was born to be our Immanuel, God with us.

Like Joseph before him, Jesus even spent some time in exile in Egypt that He would rescue us all from slavery to sin, death, and the devil. Like Joseph before us, God is with us, too. When we are tempted to sin, the Lord is with us. When we fall into temptation, the Lord is with us to bring us to repentance and forgiveness. When we were in bondage to slavery and captive in the pit of death, Jesus was with us, just as He was with Joseph, to rescue, redeem, and restore us.

And the same Lord who was with Joseph and with us in human flesh still dwells with us in His Word, water, Body and Blood. No matter what, the Lord is with you. Today. Tomorrow. Forever. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

Keep watch over your church, O Lord, with your unfailing love; and, since it is grounded in human weakness and cannot maintain itself without your aid, protect it from all danger, and keep it in the way of salvation; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

-Rev. Samuel Schuldheisz is pastor of Beautiful Savior Lutheran Church in Milton, WA.

Audio Reflections Speaker: Rev. Duane Bamsch

Learn more about your favorite hymns and find the deeper meaning behind the text with Eternal Anthems: The Story Behind Your Favorite Hymns. The book includes devotional commentary and historical facts from forty different contributing authors on fifty different hymns. Now available from Concordia Publishing House.

Today's Reading: Small Catechism, Sixth Commandment

Daily Lectionary: Genesis 37:1-36; Mark 10:1-12

You shall not commit adultery. What does this mean? We should fear and love God so that we lead a sexually pure and decent life in all we say and do, and that husband and wife love and honor each other. (Small Catechism: Sixth Commandment)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. In 1 Corinthians 6, Paul writes, "Flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body. Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's."

Paul's words give us a good summary of Luther's explanation to the Sixth Commandment. Whether you are married, engaged, dating, or single, God calls you to be chaste--to honor our bodies in all stations of life. 

The Sixth Commandment isn't God's way of being a spoilsport. No, like all the other commandments, God gives this one for our good. In the Sixth Commandment God is protecting and preserving for us His gift of marriage and human sexuality. Sadly, like all of God's other gifts, sinful, fallen humanity has made a royal mess of this commandment and gift as well, through adultery, pornography, homosexuality--the list goes on. 

Scripture reveals the truth that all of us have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. All of us have broken the Sixth Commandment. All of us have abused or misused or taken for granted God's gift of marriage and human sexuality. 

It might seem like the Sixth Commandment is the worst or biggest commandment we could break. And yet, even for our sins against this commandment, there is forgiveness. No matter how great our sins are against this or any other commandment, Christ's purity and holiness and faithfulness for you are far greater. Jesus led a pure and decent life in all He said and did for you. Jesus went to the Cross, revealing the depth of the Father's love and His compassion to save you. 

Indeed, you were bought with a price. In Jesus crucified, you are forgiven, redeemed, cleansed, and restored. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

Almighty God, to you all hearts are open, all desires known, and from you no secrets are hid: Cleanse the thoughts of our heart by the inspiration of your Holy Spirit, that we may perfectly love you, and worthily magnify your holy Name; through Christ our Lord. Amen.

-Rev. Samuel Schuldheisz is pastor of Beautiful Savior Lutheran Church in Milton, WA.

Audio Reflections Speaker: Rev. Duane Bamsch

Learn more about your favorite hymns and find the deeper meaning behind the text with Eternal Anthems: The Story Behind Your Favorite Hymns. The book includes devotional commentary and historical facts from forty different contributing authors on fifty different hymns. Now available from Concordia Publishing House.