Reflections

February 12, 2025 

Today's Reading: John 4:27-45

Daily Lectionary: Job 8:1-22; John 4:27-45

“Do you not say, ‘There are yet four months, then comes the harvest’? Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest. Already the one who reaps is receiving wages and gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together. For here the saying holds true, ‘One sows and another reaps.’ I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor. Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor.” (John 4:35–38)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

It might seem strange that there is talk about a harvest in the middle of Jesus talking to his disciples following his chat with the Samaritan woman. But Jesus has a point.

The harvest isn’t wheat, but souls. The Samaritan woman had returned to Sychar and told everyone she met about Jesus and what he said to her. Now, they are on their way to the well to see for themselves.

They are the harvest, the ones who have heard the Word of God. Jesus uses the idea of the harvest several times when he talks about gathering in the faithful at the end of time, so it shouldn’t be a big surprise here.

Jesus is laying out not only the past history of the work of the prophets but also the future work of the disciples and those who follow them, all the way down to your own pastor. The disciples will talk about Jesus to those who have heard the prophets’ proclamations, and they will trust in Jesus for their salvation and “be harvested” for eternity.

The disciples will also go into the world to establish the church, and it continues to this very day, sowing the seed of God’s Word by proclaiming it to those gathered and those who will hear it. Ever since their time, there has been a continued harvest.

The disciples may never have seen most of the seed they planted come to its fullness, but someone did. And it has been that way in every generation, all the way to the present. You, and the faithful gathered around you, are those ripe for harvest. 

Thanks be to God that he has given us this seed, this Word, that produces the fruit of faith, and that it preserves us to the Last Day when all the faithful will enter into his glory!

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

Some take up His task in morning, To their Lord responding soon; Some are called in heat of midday, Others late in afternoon; Even as the sun is setting, some are sent into the fields, There to gather in the bounty That God’s Word so richly yields. (LSB 827:2)

-Rev. Duane Bamsch, pastor of Grace Lutheran Church in Grass Valley, CA.

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

What makes a church "good?" Come join the fictional family as they test out eight different churches in their brand-new town and answer this question along the way. Will the Real Church Please Stand Up? by Matthew Richard, now available from Concordia Publishing House.

February 11, 2025 

Today's Reading: 1 Corinthians 14:12b-20

Daily Lectionary: Job 7:1-21; John 4:7-26

For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays but my mind is unfruitful. What am I to do? I will pray with my spirit, but I will pray with my mind also; I will sing praise with my spirit, but I will sing with my mind also. (1 Corinthians 14:14–15)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

Are you happy with the way you pray, or do you think you could learn to pray better? St. Paul talks about speaking in tongues here, but at the heart of it is how one’s fellow believers understand what you are praying or singing. 

Some people are really good at ex corde prayers— prayers that seem to flow effortlessly from their hearts to their lips and cover every need. Others may have trouble remembering the words to “Come, Lord Jesus.”

In the end, what matters is that one prays from a place of faith, that one prays a prayer for himself or others in a way that everyone can understand. It can be a printed collect from the hymnal, it can be a wonderful expression from the heart, or it can be a barely-remembered prayer from childhood.

What matters is that you pray, not how eloquently you pray. Sometimes, “Lord, have mercy!” is all you can manage, and that is fine. St. Paul also reminds the Romans that the Holy Spirit intercedes for us with groans beyond words and that even the Godhead remembers you in prayer.

It is hard to always know what to pray for, and that’s OK. Nowhere does God demand specific subjects or wording for your prayers. This very booklet has prayers to help jumpstart your own. Not confident in your praying ability? Pray to God by yourself with those printed prayers. Work those “prayer muscles” until it gets easier and easier.

God never turned away a prayer because you got the words wrong; he knows what you need even before you ask. He wants you to ask; he wants you to pray! And you are able to pray because God himself has given you the ability by making you his child in Jesus. The life, death, and resurrection of Jesus for you, the Gift of forgiveness, life, and salvation that is yours in Christ; these Gifts give you the assurance that God will hear your prayers and that you can speak boldly to our Lord and God and be heard. 

Someone will always pray better than you. It’s a Gift some people have. Rejoice in that you hear their requests to God so clearly. That’s what St. Paul is most concerned about, that the gathered people of God are built up together, and their love for one another grows stronger.

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

As holy conversation, In silence or by word, In ev’ry situation Through Jesus, we are heard. So let us pray securely, expressing hopes and fears With confidence that surely Our Father ever hears. (LSB 772:3)

-Rev. Duane Bamsch, pastor of Grace Lutheran Church in Grass Valley, CA.

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

What makes a church "good?" Come join the fictional family as they test out eight different churches in their brand-new town and answer this question along the way. Will the Real Church Please Stand Up? by Matthew Richard, now available from Concordia Publishing House.

February 10, 2025

Today's Reading: Isaiah 6:1-8 (9-13)

Daily Lectionary: Job 6:14-30; John 3:22-46

Then I said, “How long, O Lord?” And he said: “Until cities lie waste without inhabitant, and houses without people, and the land is a desolate waste, and the LORD removes people far away, and the forsaken places are many in the midst of the land. And though a tenth remain in it, it will be burned again, like a terebinth or an oak, whose stump remains when it is felled.” The holy seed is its stump. (Isaiah 6:11-13)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

This is the Word of the Lord? Talk about doom and gloom! This isn’t something you would want to talk about in Sunday School, is it? Yet, there is a glimmer of hope here.

Isaiah is called to be a prophet in a strange and miraculous way. He sees the Lord God while praying in the temple. God sends him to the people of Israel and tells him to speak in a way that they will refuse to understand and comprehend. And he does. 

Isaiah doesn’t prophesy like he’s just gotten a thesaurus; he is very down to earth in his prophecy, and the people are so stunned by his simplicity that they think he’s too dumb for them to hear. So, he tries again, and they refuse to hear him again because he does the same thing—he tries to explain it in a way that a child could understand.

God tells him to keep doing this until Israel is a barren wasteland and the cities are empty. Their sin is so great that he will lay waste to his own people and send them away into exile for their iniquity (some of them will be gone forever).

But look at the very last sentence of the reading. There is still hope; there is still a promise of love to be fulfilled. The tree is burned and cut down, but the stump remains, and that stump is the holy seed; it is the new growth to come. 

The shoot from the stump of Jesse, as it were. From the tiny remnant that remains, the few people still in the land, a great people will grow again, and from that people will come the Savior God promised since the Garden of Eden.

And that people will keep growing, branches and vines and shoots from that Savior, until God’s people will cover the earth. That is us. We are the ones who have grown from that burned and scarred stump that was left for dead.

It grew into Jesus, and he has grafted us into himself. We are now those who live in him, a life of promise that will never end.

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

Preach you the Word and plant it home To men who like or like it not, The Word that shall endure and stand When flow’rs and men shall be forgot. (LSB 586:1)

-Rev. Duane Bamsch, pastor of Grace Lutheran Church in Grass Valley, CA.

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

What makes a church "good?" Come join the fictional family as they test out eight different churches in their brand-new town and answer this question along the way. Will the Real Church Please Stand Up? by Matthew Richard, now available from Concordia Publishing House.

February 9, 2025 

Today's Reading: Luke 5:1-11

Daily Lectionary: Job 6:1-13; John 3:1-21

But when Simon Peter saw [the great catch of fish], he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.” (Luke 5:8)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

Everyone thinks they are special. Everyone thinks they are different. Except you’re not. You think you are, and you think that you would react differently than St. Peter after this great catch of fish.

You see, you just know better than poor ol’ Peter. You would see through everything and know that Jesus is the Son of God from the jump, and you wouldn’t have these moments of doubt like he and the other disciples do. You can just tell.

Except you can’t. That’s just the benefit of knowing how the whole Biblical story played out. We can’t look at Holy Scripture in any other way than as people who have seen the final outcome of what was foretold. We only see it from this side of history.

One of the hardest things to do as a Christian, as a baptized child of God, is to set aside the knowledge of the truth that you have and realize that outside of God the Father’s gracious Gift of faith, you would be as terrified as St. Peter at the outcome of that fishing trip.

St. Peter was the expert, and this rabbi just schooled him in his own area of expertise. This teacher just taught him something he never expected to learn: that the incarnate God has come into his world to make the wrong right, to make the broken new, and that he has power over all of creation. All of it.

It is a humbling thing to realize that you are not as important (or as smart) as you thought you were. That’s also a good thing. It is good to be reminded that you don’t have all the answers and that not all of the weight of the world rests upon your shoulders.

That is the comfort of the Christian faith, after all: that you rest in the arms of your Lord and God, and you trust that he has your future in mind and cares for you more than anyone else on earth. He has made you his own through the blood of Christ and your Baptism; no matter what comes your way, he will carry you through.

Be amazed at his works and his ways. It’s OK. It reminds you that he’s got you in his hands, and he’s never going to let you go.

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

O Lord, keep Your family the Church continually in the true faith that, relying on the hope of Your heavenly grace, we may ever be defended by Your mighty power; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. (Collect for The Fifth Sunday After the Epiphany)

-Rev. Duane Bamsch, pastor of Grace Lutheran Church in Grass Valley, CA.

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

What makes a church "good?" Come join the fictional family as they test out eight different churches in their brand-new town and answer this question along the way. Will the Real Church Please Stand Up? by Matthew Richard, now available from Concordia Publishing House.

February 8, 2025

Today's Reading: Introit for Epiphany 5 - Psalm 71:15-18; antiphon: Psalm 71:12

Daily Lectionary: Job 5:1-27; John 2:13-25

O God, from my youth you have taught me, and I still proclaim your wondrous deeds. So even to old age and gray hairs, O God, do not forsake me, until I proclaim your might to another generation, your power to all those to come. (Psalm 71:17-18)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

This psalm of David could have been composed around the time that his son, Absalom, sought to violently overthrow him. Other scholars think it could have come around Sheba’s rebellion (see 2 Samuel 20). It’s also possible that this Psalm reflects a man of faith who has been through it all, whose earthly life is coming to its conclusion in death (see 2 Samuel 23 for similar words spoken by David). But for us, I believe it is important to know that Psalm 71 teaches three key lessons. First, It calls us to have firm confidence in God and to remember our Lord’s gracious mercy to us (see vs. 1, 3, 5-7). Second, it teaches us the right things to pray, such as: that we might never be ashamed of the Lord or His Word but might be rescued from the power of the wicked one even into our old age. And third, King David, by the Holy Spirit, teaches that we may daily have hopeful anticipation that our God will show us tenderness, and we not be forsaken; but it will be the enemies of the cross who will turn back in dishonor and shame. Ultimately, this song teaches us that God in Christ will not let us stagger at the promises of the Gospel through unbelief, but instead, He will fortify our faith like a faithful friend, even to the very end. How good it is to know that even as this was David’s earthly experience, we see that this is all true through “great David’s greater son,” the Lord Jesus Christ.  

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

O God, our help in ages past, Our hope for years to come, Be Thou our guard while troubles last And our eternal home! Under the shadow of thy throne Thy saints have dwelt secure; Sufficient is Thine arm alone, And our defense is sure. (LSB 733:1,2)

-Rev. Matthew Synnott, associate pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church, Peoria, IL.

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

What makes a church "good?" Come join the fictional family as they test out eight different churches in their brand-new town and answer this question along the way. Will the Real Church Please Stand Up? by Matthew Richard, now available from Concordia Publishing House.

February 7, 2025

Today's Reading: John 2:1-12

Daily Lectionary: Job 4:1-21; John 2:1-12

“Everyone serves the good wine first, and when people have drunk freely, then the poor wine. But you have kept the good wine until now.” This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory. And his disciples believed in him. (John 2:10-11)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

This situation was awful! We’re not just looking at a wedding reception that happened to run out of food a bit early. This act of running out of wine would have been a massive hit against their marriage and social standing in the Jewish community. And in a spiritual sense, lack of wine was the sign of a lack of God’s favor; that perhaps you were cursed and condemned. So the dear and blessed mother, Mary, that most highly favored lady, sought to intervene by the power of her Son, Jesus. But his response to His mother was, “My hour has not yet come.” The hour in John’s Gospel is a phrase that will appear again and again (John 7:30; 8:20; 12:23; 12:27; 17:1), and ultimately, the hour is shown to be the hour of His death when He was exalted on the cross to pour streams of living water out. But in grace, for this married couple, He preemptively brings forth in advance the blessings of His hour. Just like running out of wine was more than a minor social goof, the abundance of wine is more than just festivities being able to continue. Wine is the symbol of God’s favor and joy, and an abundance is the sign of the age of the Messiah. Amos 9:13-15 says, “Blessings like wine pouring off the mountains and hills. I'll make everything right again for my people Israel: ‘They'll rebuild their ruined cities. They'll plant vineyards and drink good wine.’” And Joel 3:18 says, “And it shall come to pass in that day, that the mountains shall drop down new wine, and the hills shall flow with milk, and all the rivers of Judah shall flow with waters…” This act of abundantly fine wine from water is the sign that God’s grace flows freely and richly for us because the Christ has come, and His name is Jesus. That’s why we celebrate Holy Communion; we drink of the finest of wine, the very blood of our Savior. And we take into ourselves the Christ and the blessings of what is to come. That first married couple received a foretaste; now, so do we.

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

Feast after feast thus comes and passes by, Yet, passing, points to that glad feast above, Giving sweet foretaste of the festal joy, The Lamb’s great marriage feast of bliss and love. (LSB 631:7)

-Rev. Matthew Synnott, associate pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church, Peoria, IL.

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

What makes a church "good?" Come join the fictional family as they test out eight different churches in their brand-new town and answer this question along the way. Will the Real Church Please Stand Up? by Matthew Richard, now available from Concordia Publishing House.

February 6, 2025 

Today's Reading: Catechism: The Seventh Commandment

Daily Lectionary: Job 3:11-26; John 1:35-51

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.

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

“Don’t take someone’s stuff without permission!” “Alright, got it! Easy peasy! Boom! Done!” As my favorite sports announcer, Lee Corso, would say, “Not so fast, my friend!” Have you ever slacked on your work? Have you ever taken a paycheck when most of your time was spent scrolling the never-ending social media feed? Have you ever taken something without permission, even if it was as small as a paper clip? Have you ever been a little over-generous in describing something as in “good condition” only to sell it with dings? If you have done any of those things, I have news for you: bad news. You are a thief! It’s what happens when our hearts are not satisfied in the “fear and love of God,” as Luther would say. Instead, I fear my lack. I fear not gaining something on my own terms. So then I take, and take, and take. But that is not how we learned Christ! We have been taught in Christ to shred off the old in the power of Baptism and to remember with joy the promises of God in Holy Scripture. And most importantly, our theft has been paid for by the giving of our Lord Jesus, who paid for us generously in His blood. You are forgiven (and so am I)! So what do we do, we who are now so richly and fully forgiven? We do as the Apostle Paul instructs, “Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need.” (Ephesians 4:28). We train our hands to labor in a way that is of gracious benefit to the Body of Christ first, and our community second. That’s why Martin Luther says, “...help him to improve and protect his possessions and income.” The Old Man with his “Give me! Give me! Give me!” attitude is dead in our baptismal union with Christ, and now what is alive is the New Man who looks at others and says, “How can I support them with what they have?”

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

“You shall not steal or take away What others worked for night and day, But open wide a gen’rous hand And help the poor in the land.” Have mercy, Lord! (LSB 581:8)

-Rev. Matthew Synnott, associate pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church, Peoria, IL.

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

What makes a church "good?" Come join the fictional family as they test out eight different churches in their brand-new town and answer this question along the way. Will the Real Church Please Stand Up? by Matthew Richard, now available from Concordia Publishing House.

February 5, 2025

Today's Reading: Luke 4:31-44

Daily Lectionary: Job 2:1-3:10; John 1:19-34

And they were all amazed and said to one another, “What is this word? For with authority and power he commands the unclean spirits, and they come out!” (Luke 4:36)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

We return again to this reminder: Epiphany is the season of the Church that reveals and enlightens us about who Christ is. Today, we get to see this unfold in an exorcism. Now, modern horror films and stories portray this elaborate and horrific image of demonic possession. And often, it becomes this story about the priest’s faith versus the power of the demon. Usually, all who walk away from the story shiver in the spine and are terrified to look in the mirror, go down to the basement, or be by themselves. All of it is enough to show that this is not the fruit that comes from God, and more importantly, this is now how our God has called us to live. In actuality, an exorcism is a lot like what happens when we repent. It is not about our faith having to be strong enough, the priest’s faith, the kind of demon, etc. It is about encountering TRUTH and our realignment to that very truth. It is the Truth of the Gospel that encounters us with the authority of Christ. It’s not about how much faith we have. It’s about the power that is in Christ Alone and what He has done to the powers of darkness. He has, by His very blood, made a public mockery of them (cf. Colossians 2:15). And you have been made a partaker of this Heavenly power in Christ, for all who are baptized into Christ and all who drink of His Body and Blood, are one with Him as He is one with them. You need not fear the dark. You need not fear the wicked spirits. You need not feel stuck or trapped. Their power has been brought to nothing in the blood of Christ. Keep your eyes on Jesus, your confidence in your Baptism, and your heart captivated by the Word of God; demonic darkness will have no power over you.

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

I bind unto myself today The strong name of the Trinity By invocation of the same, The Three in One and One in Three. Against the demon snares of sin, The vice that gives temptation force, The natural lusts that war within, The hostile foes that mar my course; Or few or many, far or nigh, In every place and in all hours, Against their fierce hostility, I bind to me those holy pow’rs. (LSB 604:1,4) 

-Rev. Matthew Synnott, associate pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church, Peoria, IL.

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

What makes a church "good?" Come join the fictional family as they test out eight different churches in their brand-new town and answer this question along the way. Will the Real Church Please Stand Up? by Matthew Richard, now available from Concordia Publishing House.

February 4, 2025

Today's Reading: 1 Corinthians 12:31b-13:13

Daily Lectionary: Job 1:1-22; John 1:1-18

Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away…So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love. (1 Corinthians 13:8,13)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

“Love is love,” they tell me. “Love is this feeling I get when I think of my girlfriend/boyfriend.” “I really love (insert restaurant).” Love these days has become an excuse for disordered relationships (homosexuality, shacking up, cheating, etc.), but is that what love is? Love that adulterates what is true, beautiful, and good? No! Love these days can be a description of a favorite food or celebrity, but that’s just consumption. Is that what love does? Does it consume and throw away the trash? No! Love these days is this emotional hit of dopamine, the feel-good hormone, but what happens when the hormone takes a break? Does love? No! Epiphany is the Church season of enlightenment and revelation in Christ Jesus, and we, just as much as the world, need an epiphany of what true love is. This is the love that is cruci-formed with Christ. That is, a love that Paul says “never ends” (vs. 8). It is a love that is of God who is eternal. It is a love that only reaches its full potential at the return of Christ. It is the love that is purely found and only done through Christ. It is as patient and kind as Christ. It is as humble and content as Christ. It is as calm and forgiving as Christ. It walks aligned to the truth of Christ, and it endures every adversity, small and large. This is the same love that stooped down from heaven to earth and took responsibility for our sin. This is the same love that died for us when we were God’s enemies. The same love that Jesus says, “All the law and prophets hang upon.” It is not a love that comes naturally to those who are poisoned with sin, but it is the very love that bathed us in the blood of Christ through Holy Baptism and the very love that is poured into us through the Holy Spirit. And it is our joy and our opportunity to practice this love daily in Christ. Will we fall short? Yes! Will it still be lacking? Yes! But this is the Divine Love in Christ that daily and richly and freely forgives your sin. So practice love, pursue love, learn love, for the love of Christ will never fail you.

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

Love in Christ is strong and living, Binding faithful hearts in one; Love in Christ is true and giving. May His will in us be done. Love in Christ abides forever, Fainting not when ills attend; Love, forgiving and forgiven, Shall endure until life’s end.” (LEB 706:1,3)

-Rev. Matthew Synnott, associate pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church, Peoria, IL.

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

What makes a church "good?" Come join the fictional family as they test out eight different churches in their brand-new town and answer this question along the way. Will the Real Church Please Stand Up? by Matthew Richard, now available from Concordia Publishing House.

February 3, 2025 

Today's Reading: Jeremiah 1:4-10 (17-19) 

Daily Lectionary: Zechariah 14:1-21; Titus 2:7-3:15

Then the Lord put out his hand and touched my mouth. And the Lord said to me, “Behold, I have put my words in your mouth.See, I have set you this day over nations and over kingdoms, to pluck up and to break down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant.” (Jeremiah 1:9-10)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

It never fails. Moses feared the call of the LORD because he lived in fear of the inadequacy of his own speaking abilities. And today, Jeremiah feared the call of the LORD because he lived in fear of the inadequacy of his youth. In Holy Baptism, you have been given a Divine call to partake of the promises of God’s forgiveness, life, and salvation in Jesus. To live with confident hope in the blessed inheritance that is to come. But, you have also been called to obey all that Christ has commanded and taught with your very life and your very lips. And if we are honest with ourselves, this should make us feel very uneasy. Who am I to do this? Who are you? We are sin, dust, and ashes piled on garbage. Nevertheless, look at where our Triune God redirects Jeremiah’s focus: “Behold, I have put my words in your mouth…to pluck up and to break down…to build and to plant.” God moves Jeremiah’s attention away from his fleshly eyes, which only see weakness and inexperience, and to his eyes of faith, which move outside of his own self. Jeremiah is led now to see the work of God and the power of His Word. It’s as though God is saying, “It’s not about your youth, Jeremiah, it’s that I called you. It’s that my words are now in you, and these words are powerful.” Indeed, God’s Word rightly condemns all falsehood in this world, and God’s Word heals all sin in the application of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It is the Word that truly can tear down what is false and ugly through the work of the law and truly bring forth what is beautiful and good by the power of the Gospel. Yes, you have been called in your station of life (student, son, daughter, friend, employee, etc.) to represent Jesus Christ amongst the nations. You need not fear this call. You only need to get your eyes off of yourself and back on to Christ on the cross, Christ risen, and Christ exalted with all power and authority. You must fix your heart on the power of this Word in that it breaks what needs to be broken and heals what needs to be mended.

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

Thy strong Word bespeaks us righteous; Bright with Thine own holiness, Glorious now, we press toward glory, And our lives our hopes confess. Alleluia, alleluia! Praise to Thee who light dost send! Alleluia, alleluia! Alleluia without end!” (LSB 578:3)

-Rev. Matthew Synnott, associate pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church, Peoria, IL.

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

What makes a church "good?" Come join the fictional family as they test out eight different churches in their brand-new town and answer this question along the way. Will the Real Church Please Stand Up? by Matthew Richard, now available from Concordia Publishing House.