God didn’t have to do that
A few years ago, on a beautiful afternoon in northern Wisconsin, I spotted some spectacular fall foliage and remarked to my wife, “God didn’t have to do that.” Little did…
Growing in grace and knowledge
True or false? On Oct. 30, 1517, Martin Luther went to sleep with the overall faith of a Roman Catholic and woke up on Oct. 31, 1517, with the overall…
Community news: February 2024
Our Savior, Sun City, Ariz., celebrated its 50th anniversary on Jan. 21. The Awake and Alive Conference for young adults and young adult leaders was held Jan. 12–14 in Waukesha,…
A heritage of Word and song
Can you imagine a pastor not being able to recite the words of the Lord’s Prayer or the Apostles’ Creed? What would you think of people who identified themselves as…
A memorable Trinity Sunday sermon
My first year as a pastor was coming to an end, and I was working on a sermon for Trinity Sunday. There was just one problem: I had writer’s block.…
Appreciating the clouds
A cloudy day or a sunny day? What would you rather have? I think most people would choose a sunny day. If that is you, I am hoping that by…
One little word
The title of this article can get you thinking about Martin Luther’s Reformation hymn “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God” (Christian Worship 863/864). The third stanza ends with the observation…
“You came to visit me”
“I was sick, and you looked after me as part of your congregation’s visitation ministry. I was in prison, and you came to visit me in connection with your congregation’s…
Preachers and listeners
Serving as a vacancy pastor recently put me behind a pulpit on a weekly basis. It had been quite a while since I prepared sermons with that degree of regularity.…
