Pastor Stephanie invites us to consider the big impact a small gift can make when offered out of love and compassion. A meager offering of 5 loaves and 2 fish rippled out across the crowd of 5,000. A simple gesture of caring, like returning a cherished blankie to a frazzled mom and fussy infant, can make a world of difference in the lives of our ne…

Bethlehem Lutheran ChurchAutor: Rev. Matthew D. Priem

Pastor Chad invites us to consider the way our faith lives can flourish if we move from understanding of faith (church, religion, spirituality) as an obligation to something that is a lived out encounter of God’s love for us and our neighbor.Autor: Pastor Chad Peterson

Pastor Stephanie shares a message for All Saints Day on finding comfort in grief as Jesus promised in the Beatitudes.Autor: Pastor Stephanie Christoffels

For Martin Luther, grace was both a detailed doctrine as well as the person Jesus Christ.Autor: Rev. David M. Reimnitz

The Blind Beggar Bartimaeus puts a bow on several themes that have been developing through the central section of Mark’s GospelAutor: Rev. Matthew D. Priem

Pastor Chad hates having to say “I don’t know what to do” But sometimes you can’t escape it, no matter how much you prepare or research or train! That is especially true when facing the "hard things" in life, where we don't know the outcome of our decisions or actions. The Good News in the Story of Esther, is that it’s okay not to know the outcome …

Salvation is impossible for us to accomplish ourselves, but nothing is impossible for GodAutor: Rev. Matthew D. Priem

The question posed by the rich young man is one that haunts many of us, one that has to do with our ultimate concern for eternal life. We too, seek Jesus for our answer, for we know He has come to seek and to save the lost. And He has found us! But our sinful human nature still continues to ask the same question, “What must I do to be saved?”Jesus'…

Pastor Chad shares a message exploring the Calling of Moses. God called a reluctant Moses, who was happy being a shepherd, to be God’s messenger in Egypt even though he wasn’t an eloquent speaker or recognized as a powerful leader. Moses keeps insisting he is not the right person for the job even suggesting God "send someone else" but God has a rol…

Jesus is less concerned with what is lawful and more focused on what is love, as He Himself shows that love to usAutor: Rev. Matthew D. Priem

Sometimes perfectionism gets in the way doing the right thing. Perfectionism demands we act & speak in line with society’s expectations but for change to happen sometimes we need to speak the truth to those in power. Society expected the Syrophoenician Woman to know her place and not interact with Jesus instead she puts perfectionism aside to remin…

Jesus calls us to care about the small things, just as He doesAutor: Rev. Matthew D. Priem

There are so many words in use today. Unfortunately, sometimes we can’t trust words because the way they are being used doesn’t reflect reality. And when we can't trust words we tend not to listen. This week Pastor Chad invites us to listen to the story of Jesus visiting the home of Martha & Mary a little differently. With so many words to choose f…

Today’s Gospel comes from a transitional portion of Mark’s narrative. The transition is seen in the secrecy of Jesus’ movements through Galilee (9:30); no longer will Jesus heal the sick there. In fact, only one more miracle is recorded before the triumphal entry: the healing of blind Bartimaeus (10:46-52).Our text includes the second of three Pass…

Throughout our lives we find ourselves trying to be grafted into a vine. Pastor Chad recalls trying to survive on the Cool Kids Vine in the 90’s, a vine that produced a very specific looking fruit with just the right style of the moment. Surviving on that vine was stressful and sapped all your resources trying to keep up with fleeting fashion. Then…

The power of prayer is nothing that has to do with prayer itself, it’s simply that God hears everything, cares about His children, and is able to help in every time of needAutor: Rev. Matthew D. Priem

An ad campaign for a candy bar coined it so well “You’re not you when you’re hungry.” Pastor Stephanie admits she gets “hangry” when she hasn’t eaten or is overtired. Our focus text this week shows the prophets of the Bible got hangry, too. The Prophet Elijah is ready to give up after running for his life. God provides a shaded place to rest and an…

The healing of the deaf man describes an event whose sensory possibilities are vividly developed by the prophet Isaiah.The amazed witnesses to Jesus’ miracle echo their response to his words, “Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped” (Isaiah 35:5).One wonders if perhaps they might not have made a connection be…

Sometimes the cracks of stress are below the surface and it looks like we can carry even more weight of busyness and life's challenges. Pastor Chad invites us to consider those micro-cracks in our lives and the lives of others. How will we Flourish if the cracks continue growing as the weight of life increases? Our focus text for this week reminds …

The Christians’ life is of necessity a life of battle with the powers of Satan. God prepares us for this battle by:- giving us knowledge of the unseen and ever-present enemy,- equipping us with divine defensive and offensive weapons, and- the strength in Christ to use them.We employ these weapons with prayer and thus extend God’s conquest over the …

If you had to write an essay about your life would you write it in the future tense dreaming of what could be or would you write it in the past tense reminiscing about the “good old days”? Pastor Chad uses the focus text as a reminder that we can not predict the future but we also can not live in our memories we must be fully present in today even …

God desires that our hearts belong to Him. He desires that the faith we profess and practice will in fact be the same faith He calls us to…faith based on His Word of promise. Loved by God who gave us His Son, we will respond with faith that loves God with all our heart.Autor: Rev. David M. Reimnitz

Returning home after an extended absence can leave you disoriented by the changes. In our focus texts for this week the people are returning home after being exiled to Babylon for 70 years! It was a whole new generation that was going back to a “home” that all they knew about was from stories told by parents and grandparents. It’s not surprising th…

All of John chapter 6 comes together to point to God’s solution to the life and death problem that faces us allAutor: Rev. Matthew D. Priem

Extended warranties. Some think they are a waste of money. Some appreciate the peace of mind that comes with that expensive piece of paper. No matter what you think of protection plans we all appreciate certainty, even in our spirituality. But what happens when God is silent, leaving you wondering about how your faith will get you through. Pastor C…

Jesus points us to His Word as the real foundation for hope and confidence, not earthly blessings or even miraculous signs,Autor: Rev. Matthew D. Priem

The meanings of words change over time. Pastor Chad’s message this week explores a word from the Bible that means something very different to us today. Justice. We probably think about the rule of law, judges, courtrooms, prison sentences, law enforcement, or even payback & retribution. The understanding of justice in God’s Kingdom isn’t about powe…

The day after Jesus' miraculous feeding of the 5000, a crowd who were obviously appreciative of Jesus' kindness in feeding them arrived, eager to show their gratitude in some tangible way. They asked Jesus, "What must we do, to be doing the works of God?" Jesus responded, "This is the work of God that you believe in Him whom He has sent."For all Hi…

What does it mean to recognize a voice? In this week's focus text Jesus says he is the Good Shepherd and we are all part of one flock, a flock that recognizes the voice of their Shepherd. In order to recognize a voice we need to listen for it and hear it repeatedly. There are some famous voices that are instantly recognizable. As we listen for the …

Jesus walking on the waterAutor: Rev. Matthew D. Priem

This week Pastor Stephanie explores another Agrarian Parable: The Parable of the Fig Tree. Each new day we have an opportunity to reCREATE our lives in a way that bears fruit. Too often we get obsessed with how our neighbors are being (or not being) fruitful, thinking we could do it better. Jesus warns the crowd that they shouldn’t think they are b…

This Gospel reading contains the miraculous event when Jesus satisfied a hungry crowd of 5000+ with five loaves and two fish. Leading up to this miracle we learn of Jesus' compassion for people in need. Compassion, which is not merely a feeling of sympathy, but also a response of mercy toward sinners.…

“Life’s not fair!” Sometimes we hear that when things don’t go our way or we complain about the advantages someone else has in life. And it’s true, life isn’t fair when we live to see our grandchildren grow up, when we are born in a country where access to clean water & food is easy, or when we have parents who love us with unfair grace & mercy. In…

Don’t be afraid of the truth, don’t fall in love with a lie, and don’t forget that Jesus suffered tooAutor: Rev. Matthew D. Priem

As we continue to explore the Agrarian Parables, stories using agricultural metaphors to describe the Kingdom of God, Pastor Stephanie shares more of her gardening successes and challenges. This week the Parable is about weeds and wheat. Sometimes it’s difficult to tell what is a desirable plant and what is a weed until they are grown and by that t…

God’s grace is enough for youAutor: Rev. Matthew D. Priem

Soil is so important when growing plants. In The Parable of the Sower Jesus compares us to soil, for God’s Word to grow and flourish in us we must be good soil. And like garden soil we can work at making improvements to ourselves that will give the seed of God’s Word the best chance to grow and spread.…

In our text, Paul urges the Corinthians to participate in giving of their material resources for the support of their fellow saints. His goal is that they (and we) will come to understand that the life of sacrificial giving is a response to the gift already given in God’s Son. In fact, sacrificial giving testifies to a faith that believes beyond wh…

It’s a given in our world that not everyone gets an invitation. Not everyone gets invited to the party, to join the team, to your dream job, or to be in the club. We also know the disappointment when someone else is invited that we don’t think deserves to be on the inside of the exclusive event. Jesus shares a Parable that shows God’s vision for us…

After losing almost everything important - Job is confronted by three of his friends who try to convince Job that what happened to him was caused by God’s anger because of some specific sin Job had obviously committed. However, Job understands that something greater is at work between God and humanity. Despite Job’s insights and legendary patience,…

“Where are you from?” Pastor Chad was asked this many times while accompanying the Sr High Service Learning Trip to the Boston area recently; it seems his Midwestern accent was a giveaway he wasn’t from “The Home of Dunkin’.” Pastor Chad encourages us to look deeper into the question “Where are you from?” beyond where you live or where you were bor…

Paul uses earthly images to illustrate the heavenly truth about our life of faith. In faith, we look to an eternal glory that is unseen. Paul describes this glory and how we should live as we await our appearance before the judgment seat of Christ. In living our faith, we witness to others, bringing a message of reconciliation to the world.…

“Stop your crying and suck it up!” and similar phrases are tossed about when someone is deemed to be “too emotional” or expressing their emotions at an inappropriate moment. You are in good company if you’ve heard this before, in our Focus Text people tell Jesus his crying over the death of Lazarus is inappropriate. Wouldn’t it have been better if …

Genesis 3 describes the greatest tragedy in all of human history! The movement from a blissful existence of unending life with God to the crushing reality of a fallen world and certain death is held before us. The narrative of Adam and Eve's fall from grace is not meant to entertain and educate as were the ancient Greek tragedies. This real tragedy…

How has our understanding of healing changed since biblical times? In our focus text this week Jesus heals a boy with what we would call Epilepsy. In the time of Jesus, the boy’s seizures were thought to be caused by a demon twisting his body. Today we know that seizures are caused by electrical misfires in our brain and nervous system. While Jesus…

Jesus has the authority to give His people rest, and does so through the gift of His own body and bloodAutor: Rev. Matthew D. Priem

Where does your anger lead you? Does it lead to you trying to shape reality by proclaiming what SHOULD or SHOULD NOT be happening. In our focus text this week the people of Nazareth insist that Jesus SHOULD NOT say God’s favor is for all people especially the outsiders and even their enemies! Instead of using anger to exclude others we feel SHOULD …

The doctrine of the Trinity highlights how impossible it is for us to grasp or comprehend God on our own terms, but also how completely He makes Himself available to us on His own terms.Autor: Rev. Matthew D. Priem

Sometimes it’s hard to see the worth of someone who is lashing out against us. It is hard to remember that we can sometimes lash out the same way, especially when we are tired, or hurt, or fearful, or hungry or feeling like we’ve lost control. In our focus text for this week the religious leaders don’t think a man was worthy of the healing he got b…