Dear Friends in Christ, I want to share with you this month a wonderful portion of sermon preached by Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the famous German Lutheran of the early 20th century who was an outspoken opponent of Nazism and Adolf Hitler. He preached this sermon in 1933 in Berlin, on the Gospel text of Matthew 16:13-18.…

Dear Friends in Christ, I’m writing this month’s article at the same time that the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee is conducting a special hearing about sexual assault allegations made against Judge Brett Kavanaugh. That’s not what this article is about. However, the entire situation is a clear example to us of the importance of a…

Dear Friends in Christ, As we prepare to occupy and compete the construction of our new Education Wing, I think it proper that we hear a bit from the blessed Dr. Martin Luther on Christian education. I’m going to simply lay out some short cuttings of his writings below. Please read, enjoy, and give some…

Dear Friends in Christ, I was blessed in July to spend 5 days with Betsy and some of the high school members of the congregation at Higher Things in Minnesota. I also was blessed to spend 10 days on vacation with my dear wife. I’m also thankful to have been able to spend a few…

Dear Members of the Body of Christ, It’s no stretch to say that our country is deeply divided along ideological lines. Just yesterday (as I write this), Anthony Kennedy announced he would be retiring from the Supreme Court, triggering intense hysteria or hope around various significant cultural issues like abortion, marriage, and religious liberty. Here…

Dear Beloved in Christ At the end of the Service of the Sacrament, we pray that the Lord would strengthen us in faith toward Him and in fervent love towards one another. We ask that He would do this through the strengthening gift of the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ which we have just…

Dear Friends in Christ, This year, Ascension Day is on May 10th. It’s a Thursday. Ascension always falls on a Thursday, because it falls 40 days after Easter Sunday. 40 days after Christ’s resurrection, He ascended to the right hand of the Father. In this case, the timing of the liturgical year is simply following…

Dear Saints, When it comes how we receive the Lord’s Supper together, we must always rely on the words of our Lord. Christ’s word is truth, and it is the norming norm – that is, the Word of God is the thing which helps us understand everything else. We don’t ask ourselves, “How might Christ…

Dear Beloved, We prepare to do all sorts of things. Getting ready for a night out on the town involves dressing up, making dinner reservations, and perhaps arranging for babysitting. Getting ready for golf season involves cleaning the clubs, paying your dues, and making a few trips to the driving range to straighten out your…

Dear Saints, It’s probably almost routine at this point: we sing “O Christ, Thou Lamb of God, that takest away the sin of the world, have mercy upon us…” You await an usher to come by your pew, you stand and process to the rail, you kneel (or stand), the pastor comes by saying “Take,…