You’re going to hear it in the Lutheran church: “We don’t do such-and-such because it’s Roman Catholic.” Be it chanting, certain vestments, processions, bowing, genuflecting, crucifixes, sometimes even the Sacrament every Lord’s Day – these have all been met with the charge that they are Roman Catholic, and that the point of the Lutheran Reformation…

What is Stewardship? Christian stewardship is the faithful management of our financial resources and all we have. It begins with the understanding that all we have is God’s (Ps. 24:1 “The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein”) and that “we brought nothing into the world, and…

Paul writes in his letter to the Colossians, “And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.” (3:15b-16) At the heart of the worship of God is the communication of…

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.…