Last month I highlighted the three chief books that every Christian should have and treasure: the Bible, the Small Catechism, and the hymnal. This month, I want to focus especially on the Small Catechism, and encourage you to take up and keep doing the practice of reading and memorizing the catechism for you and your…

Christ calls men into the Office of the Holy Ministry in His Church. He does this for the sake of the Gospel: Christ’s death for Sin and resurrection for the justification of all mankind is accomplished (“It is finished.”), and it is given out by the Word proclaimed in Absolution and Sermon, Baptism, and the…

Last month, we began to review and consider the Lord’s institution of the Office of the Holy Ministry in Scripture. We learned that the Pastoral Office is established by Jesus Christ with very specific tasks to be done: making disciples by baptizing and teaching, and forgiving or retaining sins (this is often referred to as…

Over the past few weeks, I’ve taken some time to review my Call Document to be your pastor. The Call Document is a set of papers which were filled out by the congregation’s Voters Assembly (or perhaps a Board tasked by the Voters to do so) when seeking to call me as your pastor. This…

It’s good for us to recognize that there are two Christmases; one true, the other a pale imitation. This “two Christmases” thing sometimes peeks out when we have the inevitable yearly discussion of the war on Christmas: when this store or that store doesn’t say “Merry Christmas” but instead “Happy Holidays” or something like that.…

At the November Voters’ Meeting, as we do every year, we passed a budget for the operation of Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in 2015. Again we’ve been blessed with a peaceful meeting without a contentious atmosphere but instead with one of cooperation and agreement. For the sake of the Gospel, we continue to be blessed…

I know that many of you aren’t in the habit of using the Small Catechism on a regular basis. I want to encourage you to take up that habit in your household, along with regular reading of the Scriptures and prayer. The weekly Green Sheet provides opportunity to do this. But even those who are…

Worship: What Does This Mean? is the name of the class that will begin on September 14th, during the Scripture Study hour on Sunday mornings. This is a class that’s for all of the adults and high school youth of the congregation. Similar to our study of the Lord’s Supper last year, I intend this…

So-called “Gay Marriage” is now the law of the land in the State of Illinois. The idea of marriage as a life-long union of one man and one woman is considered, at best, quaint and old-fashioned; at worst, hateful and bigoted. Even amongst those who recognize that marriage is only  possible between one man and…