Reflections

September 5, 2024 

Today's Reading: Catechism: Table of Duties: To bishops

Daily Lectionary: 2 Kings 2:19-25; 4:1-7; Ephesians 4:25-5:14

“He must hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught, so that he can encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it.” Titus 1:9

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. It’s good to know what you are getting into when deciding on a vocation. I remember taking a college and career class in high school. We would explore different professions, finding out the educational requirements as well as the job description for a particular occupation. I’m not sure if the job of “pastor” was included on the list we could choose from. If it was or wasn’t, you could not find any better job description for a pastor than the one given to Titus by the Apostle Paul.  

The pastor only has one job: hold firm to the Word of God and faithfully hand it over; that’s the job description. We know there are other responsibilities a pastor has, but if they fail in their primary duty, does anything else really matter?  

“Hold firm to the trustworthy message as he has been taught.” Thank God for all those who have put the Gospel into our ears. Thank God for all the pastors and teachers who have been true and faithful voices of his Word. This is why Paul encourages a young pastor named Timothy to guard the Gospel that was entrusted to him so he may hand it over to others who will faithfully pass it on as well. It is easy to lose sight of the job description for both pastors and parishioners. Paul knows this, so he is persistent with young pastor Timothy to fight the good fight, wage the good warfare, and do not neglect the gospel of Christ entrusted to you. 

Hold firm! Declare and defend the Gospel of Jesus Christ. This is the duty of a pastor – to be a faithful voice of Jesus. And you can be sure the Devil will do all he can to tempt pastors to deviate from their primary calling. Timothy needed Paul, and he needed the support of his congregation to be strengthened to carry out his duties faithfully. So let us, too, be a source of encouragement and strength to those who are called to be servants of God’s Word. Pastors need our prayers and need our support to continue to fight the good fight. As we do this, we, too, find ourselves in battle, striving side by side for the faith of the Gospel. Help us, Lord, we pray. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

O almighty God, Your Son, Jesus Christ, gave to His holy apostles many excellent gifts and commanded them earnestly to feed His flock. Make all pastors diligent to preach Your holy Word and the people obedient to follow it that together they may receive the crown of everlasting glory; through Jesus Christ, our Lord. (Collect For the Holy Ministry)

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

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

The new Guiding Word series takes you through all the books of the Bible in six volumes. Starting with the Books of Moses—Genesis through Deuteronomy—you will explore every passage of every chapter of each book with the help of maps, diagrams, links between the testaments, and clarification points.

September 4, 2024 

Today's Reading: Ephesians 4:1-24

Daily Lectionary: 2 Kings 2:1-18; Ephesians 4:1-24

“I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called,” (Ephesians 4:1) 

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. Paul is behind bars! He’s got time on his hands, which gives him time to think, to pray, and to write. What’s on his mind? You and me and all those who have come to faith in Christ. He has words of encouragement to build us up as we live out our faith together.  

“Walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called.” This is not Paul laying some law on us that we “must do” to be a worthy Christian. You can see it that way if you think living out your Christian life is something that is up to us. That would be a burden too heavy to live under, wouldn’t it? Where is freedom in that? Where can we find joy in that? No, rather, Paul is urging you to live out who you are already in Christ in light of how God has called you.  

You have been called not by the law but by the gospel. You have been called out of darkness into Jesus’ marvelous light (1 Peter 2:9). So, we now walk as children of the light because that’s who we are (Ephesians 5:8). You have been called by grace through faith to believe and to receive our Lord’s gospel Gifts and those Gifts are at work in you!  

Paul goes on to describe the life reborn by God’s grace; it is a life marked by humility, gentleness, patience, and selfless love. Isn’t this how God has acted toward us: Humbling himself – becoming a man to save us; having compassion and being tender-hearted toward us – giving us what we don’t deserve; being patient and not calling us to judgment but rather working repentance and faith in us; loving us even when we were unlovable? 

Paul’s urging is not another law. Rather, he is passionately calling us to live out who we already are in Christ. And Christ is at work in us so that our lives are masks of His. This, too, is all Gift – Gifts given by the Spirit of God. “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law” (Galatians 5:22-23). In other words, you are free! Free to live your life hidden in Christ with Christ living in you! This is your calling. This is the worthy life of faith, fixing our eyes on Jesus as we live out our life of faith together. Christ for you! Christ in you! Christ through you! In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

Heavenly Father, direct us by Your Spirit that we may daily grow in grace and the knowledge of our Savior until we shall stand before You in the joy of everlasting glory. Amen.  

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

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

The new Guiding Word series takes you through all the books of the Bible in six volumes. Starting with the Books of Moses—Genesis through Deuteronomy—you will explore every passage of every chapter of each book with the help of maps, diagrams, links between the testaments, and clarification points.

September 3, 2024 

Today's Reading: Ephesians 6:10-20

Daily Lectionary: 1 Kings 19:1-21; 1 Kings 20:1-22:53; Ephesians 3:1-21

“For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.” (Ephesians 6:12)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. We are in a war! Make no mistake about it: being a Christian has thrown us into battle. Our enemy is three-fold: the world, our flesh, and the Devil himself. Satan is the Commander-in-Chief overseeing and enabling his troops for battle; he is behind every opposition to faith, every doubt that undermines faith, and all the temptations that cause faith to stumble. Our combat is against spiritual forces of evil!

We are way over our heads when it comes to this fight. Who has the strength and weaponry for such combat? We are outnumbered and are fighting against an enemy we can’t see. It makes a person want to give up! What hope do we have to win such a war? That’s what Israel thought when Moses sent twelve spies into Canaan to check out the land God had promised them. All they saw was an enemy they could not defeat on their own, “We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we are” (Numbers 13:31). They wanted to go back to Egypt, back into bondage, rather than trust God’s promise that the land was theirs. They trusted their eyes and not their ears; they were trusting in their strength and not in the might of God to deliver on his promise.  

“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might” (Ephesians 6:10). There it is! The key to victory! We enter daily into battle not in our own power but in the strength of our almighty God. And we fight with our ears! For it is through our hearing that faith is given and strengthed to trust in our Lord’s unfailing promises and Gifts. He gives us armor to fight against and withstand the devilish attacks. It’s not our armor but God’s, and He dresses us up for battle with Gospel gear wrought by Jesus himself.  

The belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the shoes of the gospel of peace, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit – the word of God – all these are Gifts for you. They all have one thing in common: they all find their source in Jesus. You are dressed up in him – your Baptism assures you of that. Greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world (1 John 4:4). So we enter into daily battle in Jesus with faith grabbing onto him, and in him we are more than conquerors! In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

God’s Word forever shall abide, No thanks to foes, who fear it; For God himself fights by our side With weapons of the Spirit… They cannot win the day. The Kingdom’s ours forever! (LSB 657:4)

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

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

The new Guiding Word series takes you through all the books of the Bible in six volumes. Starting with the Books of Moses—Genesis through Deuteronomy—you will explore every passage of every chapter of each book with the help of maps, diagrams, links between the testaments, and clarification points.

September 2, 2024

Today's Reading: Deuteronomy 4:1-2, 6-9

Daily Lectionary: 1 Kings 18:20-40; Ephesians 2:1-22

“And now, O Israel, listen to the statutes and the rules that I am teaching you, and do them, that you may live, and go in and take possession of the land that the Lord, the God of your fathers, is giving you. (Deuteronomy 4:1)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” This was the question asked of Jesus by a Jewish lawyer, an expert in the Law of Moses. How did Jesus answer him? He pointed the lawyer back to the words Moses had written down in the Law; “Do this and you will live.” It’s really not all that complicated, inheriting eternal life. It’s actually quite simple: keep the Law given to Moses, and you will live forever with God in the Promised Land of Paradise. 

It's true; you can climb the ladder into heaven without Jesus – you can save yourself. God promises eternal life to you, but there is one condition. You must keep the entire law of God perfectly from the heart. To simplify things further, you could reduce the whole Law of God into just two: love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself– that’s it. Do this, and you will live. God guarantees it.  

God isn’t playing games with us by making an impossible promise. He knows we can’t be perfect, as He is perfect. He knows we do not and cannot love Him perfectly from our hearts, let alone love others in complete selflessness – but that really is the point, isn’t it? God uses the Law to bring us to the point where we realize we can’t keep our end of the bargain. God wants to bring a confession out of us, “Who then can be saved?” When the Law has done this, we are ready for Jesus’ answer: “With man it is impossible, but not with God” (Mark 10:27).

Jesus has done what we cannot do. He alone whole-heartedly loved and obeyed His Father. God sent His own Son not to abolish the Law but to fulfill it, every bit of it. Jesus has made what is impossible for us possible! He fulfilled the righteous requirement of the law for you (Romans 8:3-4). What’s the catch? What’s the condition so that we might be certain that eternal life is ours? There is no condition; there is only the promise: “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life” (John 5:24). There is nothing left to do that Jesus has not already done, and Jesus has done it all for you! In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

The Law reveals the guilt of sin And makes us conscience-stricken; But then the Gospel enters in The sinful soul to quicken. Come to the cross, trust Christ, and live; The Law no peace can ever give, No comfort and no blessing (LSB 555:8)

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

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

The new Guiding Word series takes you through all the books of the Bible in six volumes. Starting with the Books of Moses—Genesis through Deuteronomy—you will explore every passage of every chapter of each book with the help of maps, diagrams, links between the testaments, and clarification points.

September 1, 2024 

Today's Reading: Mark 7:14-23

Daily Lectionary: 1 Kings 18:1-19; Ephesians 1:1-23

“Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile him, since it enters not his heart but his stomach, and is expelled?...What comes out of a person is what defiles him.” (Mark 7:18-20)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. Have you ever heard the question asked, “Do we sin because we are sinners, or are we sinners because we sin?” How one answers this question reveals what they think is the source of our sin problem and how we can “fix it.”  

The Pharisees, as true devotees to the Law, believed we are sinners because we sin. On the surface, this idea makes sense and seems true to experience; after all, it is the dominant view of the religions of the world. Yet, what is at the heart of this view of sin and us– because it is a matter of the heart. The gist is this: a person is born with a pure, undefiled heart and only becomes a sinner when one chooses to sin. So, what’s the remedy? Stop sinning! Make better choices! Control yourself, and you will become less and less sinful. We can clean ourselves up by keeping the dos and don’ts of the Law. A person, in theory, by avoiding sin, has the power within to make themselves pleasing to God. In other words, we become our own saviors. Jesus had a problem with this sort of religious self-cleaning attitude and practice.  

Jesus gets to the heart of the matter by getting to the source of our “sin problem.” We sin because we are sinners. We have a heart problem. We were born with an unclean, defiled heart, and we can’t “fix it” by changing our behavior or by our self-determination to do the things we know we should and to stop doing the things we know we shouldn’t. You do not cure a disease by simply making the symptoms go away, and you cannot cure our sin problem by doing this or avoiding that. We need a new heart, and we can’t fix that! We need a physician of the soul to do heart surgery.  

Jesus not only helps to identify our sickness (our hearts), but He actually does something about it. He’s not into symptom management; rather, He goes after the disease for it’s a fatal one. “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:12). Jesus has taken our disease upon Himself and dealt with it once for all. He has given us a new heart wrought by the Holy Spirit (Acts 15:9). God no longer sees us as “sinners who sin” but as new creatures in Christ purified in him! You are a walking miracle of redeeming grace! In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

O my Savior, help afford By your Spirit and your Word! When my wayward heart would stray, Keep me in the narrow way; Grace in time of need supply While I live and when I die. (LSB 611:5)

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

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

The new Guiding Word series takes you through all the books of the Bible in six volumes. Starting with the Books of Moses—Genesis through Deuteronomy—you will explore every passage of every chapter of each book with the help of maps, diagrams, links between the testaments, and clarification points.

August 31, 2024 

Today's Reading: Introit for Pentecost 15 - Psalm 51:7, 10-12; antiphon: Psalm 51:2

Daily Lectionary: 1 Kings 16:29-17:24; 2 Corinthians 10:1-13:14; 2 Corinthians 9:1-15

“Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow… Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit.” (Psalm 51:7, 10-12)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. Psalm 51 is a prayer of a broken man. David has nowhere to hide; his sin is exposed. He has nowhere to turn except to the one he has sinned against. David knows he has a gracious and merciful God, and so it’s to God he turns with pleas for forgiveness and restoration.  

Can you relate to David and his prayer? Are we as honest and as utterly broken over our sin as David? When we are caught red-handed and the darkness of our heart is exposed, where do we turn? Where do we go? We, too, turn to David’s Lord. We find God’s tender answer to our pleas for forgiveness in Jesus. After all, He is the one in whom all the prayers for mercy find their “amen.”  

Jesus knows our struggles and our failings, and He did something about it. He shed his blood so that “In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace.” (Ephesians 1:7). Jesus also knows how we are prone to question, “Am I really forgiven? I don’t feel like it.” The Devil loves to create doubt in us as well, “How can God forgive you? Look what you’ve done! Again!”   

God does not want his children to live in doubt. His forgiveness is real, complete, and certain. He wants you to be certain, too, so that you might live in the joy of his gracious love, so he gives you the Gift of Baptism.  

In Baptism, we find all of David’s pleas before God answered in the promises of your Baptism. By the water of your Baptism, God has washed you and made you clean from all your sins (Titus 3:5; 1 Corinthians 6:11; Acts 22:16). You have been born again from above by water and the Spirit, making you a new creation with a new heart (John 3:3-5). Through your Baptism, you are joined to Christ, and so He is present with you always. He has wrapped you in the garments of salvation; you are clothed with Christ (Isaiah 61:10; Galatians 3:27). In your Baptism, you now live walking in newness of life – God upholding you by His Spirit (Romans 6:4). What grace! What love! For you! In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

In Baptism we now put on Christ – Our shame is fully covered With all that He once sacrificed And freely for us suffered. For here the flood of His own blood Now makes us holy, right, and good Before our heav’nly Father. (LSB 596:4)

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

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

The new Guiding Word series takes you through all the books of the Bible in six volumes. Starting with the Books of Moses—Genesis through Deuteronomy—you will explore every passage of every chapter of each book with the help of maps, diagrams, links between the testaments, and clarification points.

August 30, 2024 

Today's Reading: Catechism: Daily Prayers: Asking a Blessing & Returning Thanks

Daily Lectionary: 1 Kings 12:20-13:5, 33-34; 1 Kings 14:1-16:28; 2 Corinthians 8:1-24

Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good. His love endures forever. [He] gives food to every creature...the Lord delights in those who fear Him, who put their hope in His unfailing love. (SC Returning Thanks)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. Prayer is faith talking. Faith can’t help but want to talk to God. It’s what faith does; it prays. Those of faith look to God, trusting who He is and what He has done, is doing, and will do for us. Faith grabs a hold of God’s promises and speaks them right back to Him, believing He is making good on them. Prayer is a Gift from God himself. The faith to believe and the desire to call on Him are all Gifts from above. 

Faith does not come naturally to us, and neither does prayer. Faith must be gifted, and prayer must be taught, and both of these are accomplished by God’s Word and Holy Spirit. Martin Luther knew this, which is why he includes at the end of his Small Catechism prayers for the morning and evening as well as before and after meals. It is most appropriate that a book written to teach the Christian faith ends with teaching us how faith ought to pray. 

God is good and is a gracious giver of good Gifts. When we believe this, we can’t help but give thanks. God created me and still takes care of me, believing this we can’t help but recognize that every day is a Gift from God and declare with the Psalmist, “This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it” (Psalm 118:24). We know by faith that each day we are faced with temptations to sin and are harassed by the world and the Devil himself, so we pray that God will keep us from sin and protect us from evil and the Evil One. In faith, we realize and confess that we daily sin, so we are bold to pray that our heavenly Father forgives us all our sins where we have wronged Him and others. By faith, we trust our Lord will provide all we need to get through the day, so in prayer, we look to him, knowing he graciously supplies with an open hand.  

Faith can’t help but give thanks for all the ways our good Father in heaven daily cares for us, especially when we have come to believe He does all this not because we have earned or deserve it but solely out of His goodness and merciful love for us. God’s goodness and mercy meet you every morning and follow you not only through your day but every day of your life. Indeed, the Lord delights in those who put their hope in His unfailing love. That’s what faith does. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

We thank You, Lord God, heavenly Father, for all Your benefits, through Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit forever and ever. Amen

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

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

The new Guiding Word series takes you through all the books of the Bible in six volumes. Starting with the Books of Moses—Genesis through Deuteronomy—you will explore every passage of every chapter of each book with the help of maps, diagrams, links between the testaments, and clarification points.

August 29, 2024 

Today's Reading: Mark 6:14-29

Daily Lectionary: 1 Kings 11:42-12:19; 2 Corinthians 7:1-16

“When his disciples heard of it, they came and took his body and laid it in a tomb.” (Mark 6:29)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. John the Baptist is dead, beheaded at the order of King Herod. John was the last of the Old Testament prophets, and like many of the prophets of old, he was killed for being a faithful voice of God. He preached the law in its fullness; “repent” was his cry. Yet John was unique among the prophets, for he was able to point to the one who came to fulfill the law and usher in the Gospel of the Kingdom of God - “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29b). By this, John fulfilled his calling to be the one to pave the way and prepare the people for the coming of God’s Messiah.  

People didn’t know what to make of John. He was a radical in the way he dressed, how he lived, and the message he preached. It didn’t matter who stood before him; his message was the same, “bear fruit in keeping with repentance” (Matthew 3:8). He was a law preacher who frightened some and angered others; however, his voice wasn’t meant to be the last one heard. One was coming after him, who would proclaim and give the very forgiveness that law-breaking people need. 

People didn’t know what to make of Jesus. Some thought the miracle-working preacher was John the Baptist raised from the dead. Others thought he was Elijah or a great prophet. Even John the Baptist, his cousin, sent some of his followers to ask Jesus, “Are you the one or should we look for another?” Jesus’ reply leaves no doubt what we should make of Jesus, “Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have good news preached to them.” (Luke 7:20, 22-23)  

God sent John to be a witness. He did so through his preaching, his baptizing, his finger pointing to the Lamb of God, and even through his skeptical question, “Are you the one?” The Good News that Jesus preached is God’s answer to John’s “repent.” There is no sin Jesus’s blood does not cover; there is no person whom God’s Lamb did not die for. Jesus’ death and resurrection is our hope for everlasting life. John is dead. His body was laid in a tomb. His bones are still there. But the tomb of John’s Savior and yours is still empty. Jesus is risen! So will John, and so will you! In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

John confessed Him as the Savior– “Look, the sinless Lamb of God!” Yet he dared not loose the sandals Of the One God’s love had shod. Oh, how fair the feet of Jesus, Bringing news of peace to us, Christ, the herald of salvation, Preaching mercy from the cross: (LSB 404:2)

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

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

The new Guiding Word series takes you through all the books of the Bible in six volumes. Starting with the Books of Moses—Genesis through Deuteronomy—you will explore every passage of every chapter of each book with the help of maps, diagrams, links between the testaments, and clarification points.

August 28, 2024 

Today's Reading: 2 Согinthians 6:1-18

Daily Lectionary: 1 Kings 11:1-26; 2 Согinthians 6:1-18

“Working together with him, then, we appeal to you not to receive the grace of God in vain. For he says, “In a favorable time I listened to you, and in a day of salvation I have helped you.” Behold, now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation.” (2 Corinthians 6:1-2)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. God has good ears. He always listens to the cries of His people and never turns a deaf ear to them. God has a gracious heart prompting Him into action to rescue those who cannot deliver themselves out of their troubles. God told Moses that He heard the cries of His people and would deliver them out of slavery in Egypt, and he did. Jonah cried to the Lord out of the belly of a fish; God heard and answered Jonah by delivering him onto dry land. Jesus heard the cries of two blind men, “Lord, have mercy on us.” He touched their eyes, and immediately, they recovered their sight!  

All of these whom God delivered could say with the psalmist, “Out of my distress I called on the Lord; the Lord answered me and set me free” (Psalm 118:5). We could say the same for us. Like Israel, we were in bondage. We were enslaved to sin without any way out. Like Jonah, we were caught up in our rebellious, self-serving ways only to be headed for Hell. Like the blind men, we were groping around without sight and forever lost in darkness. God has heard; he has listened. His gracious heart compels Him to answer your pleas for help; it pleases Him to do so, and He has delivered you. Jesus is God’s answer for all of our cries of Hosanna, “save us, we pray.” Jesus comes; He seeks, and He saves the lost. “In a favorable day of salvation I have helped you.”

God is extravagantly rich in His grace. It will never run out for you, and He will never tire of handing it over to you. As a matter of fact, He keeps on giving, so you are sure not to miss out! He sends a preacher to proclaim His forgiveness for you; He delivers the forgiveness Christ won for you through the words of Absolution; He attaches His saving and forgiving Word to water in Baptism and to bread and wine in our Lord’s Supper. Let us not neglect so great a salvation; let us not receive the grace of God in vain. Now is the day of salvation, today and every day. God hears; He comes, and He delivers! In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

By grace God’s Son, our only Savior, Came down to earth to bear our sin. Was it because of your own merit That Jesus died your soul to win? No, it was grace, and grace alone, that brought Him from His heav’nly throne. (LSB 566:3) 

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

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

The new Guiding Word series takes you through all the books of the Bible in six volumes. Starting with the Books of Moses—Genesis through Deuteronomy—you will explore every passage of every chapter of each book with the help of maps, diagrams, links between the testaments, and clarification points.

August 27, 2024 

Today's Reading: Ephesians 5:22-33

Daily Lectionary: 1 Kings 9:1-9, 10:1-13; 2 Corinthians 5:1-21

“However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.” (Ephesians 5:33)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. “Wives, submit to your husbands…Husbands, love your wives.” Here we have the apostle Paul’s Holy Spirit-inspired instruction for a God-honoring Christ-centered marriage: submission and respect on the part of the wife and selfless, sacrificial love on the part of the husband. This certainly isn’t the kind of picture drawn up in our current day and age of how relationships ought to work. Submissive wives and selfless husbands, the idea seems outdated and offensive.  

Yet, isn’t this how Christ has loved us? Think about how Jesus demonstrated His love for us in His actions. He humbled Himself by becoming a man– God taking on human flesh. He submitted Himself to His Father’s will, even to the point of dying on a cross. He loved selflessly and sacrificially by laying down His life for us, dying our death, taking our punishment upon Himself, and giving up all His rights so that we would have the right to become part of God’s family.  

It is out of this love of Jesus for us that we are now free to love one another; after all, this is the kind of love that the Holy Spirit is working in and through us. What does this kind of love look like? It submits to one another out of reverence for Christ (Ephesians 5:21), not just wives to husbands but all of us to one another. As Christ loved us selflessly, giving Himself up for us (Ephesians 5:2), we also live together in this kind of selfless love, not just husbands toward wives, but this love marking all our relationships with each other.  

This kind of love is counterintuitive and most definitely countercultural, but isn’t that the nature of the Gospel? It offends our inclination to want to keep score and get what we deserve. Grace throws all of that out the window and frees us from focusing on ourselves and instead to look to others in love. This is how God has loved you. This is the kind of love God is working in us for others. This is the kind of love a God-given marriage is built upon and how husbands and wives love one another as Christ continues to love them. 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.

In this union I have joined you Husband and wife, Now, My children, live together As heirs of life: Each the other’s gladness sharing, Each the other’s burdens bearing, Now, My children, live together As heirs of life. (LSB 922:5)

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

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

The new Guiding Word series takes you through all the books of the Bible in six volumes. Starting with the Books of Moses—Genesis through Deuteronomy—you will explore every passage of every chapter of each book with the help of maps, diagrams, links between the testaments, and clarification points.