Dear Friends in Christ, A while back a member asked me about an elevator pitch regarding what is it to be Lutheran. I was thinking about this question again the other day: How do we briefly, yet thoroughly and faithfully, describe to someone what it is to be distinctly Lutheran? Here’s what I think I’d…

Dear Friends, I was mildly horrified to read an article in Sunday’s State-Journal Register that interviewed several Springfield-area pastors about the message of hope that is part of the Easter message. My horror was at the utter lack of clarity expressed as to what the source of our hope is: the Easter Gospel, Christ risen…

Dear Friends, I want us all to read through Martin Luther’s shorter preface to the Large Catechism this month. Since we have three youth being confirmed on Palm Sunday, it is important that we recognize what is necessary to know in order to be prepared to receive the Sacrament. The multiple years of confirmation instruction…

Dear Friends, I think at this time of year I always struggle a little bit. The big pastoral push of Advent and Christmas is done with, and there’s a lull before Lent, Holy Week, and Easter. We’ve had a high, and now we’re in the low before another big high. Besides this, there’s always my…

Dear Friends, It’s a new year: Happy new year! What does this mean? Well, in a worldly sense, it means it’s time to make all sorts of resolutions about your life and how you’ll live it during the next 365 days. “I’m going to lose weight.” “I’m going to devote more time to my wife,…

Dear Children of God, I recently read a story about a letter to the editor that once appeared in a small town’s newspaper. A churchgoer wrote and complained that it makes no sense to go to church every Sunday. This person wrote: “I’ve gone to church for thirty years now, and in that time I…

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…