Shepherd of the Hills

Jesus Sends the 72

The Father dispatches Jesus into our world. Later, Jesus sends out others to continue His mission: first, the Twelve, followed by the seventy-two. The Gospel for today focuses on the second, whom Jesus “appointed” with His authority and mandate. Though His journey to Jerusalem is still underway, Jesus directs a larger group of disciples into the… [more]
The Lamb Who Breaks Open the Seals

Dreamy and strange, eternity stirs with such peculiar creatures, with everything revolving around a Lamb. A mighty angel asks a question involving a manuscript in the court liturgy of heaven. In an earlier vision, old man Ezekiel beheld a hand clutching a scroll. Likewise, this parchment displayed writings on both sides, containing lamentations, grieving,… [more]
God Surprises Us with Heaven, Here on Christmas Eve

Click here to go to our online recording of our Christmas Eve service. Whenever heaven greets earth, this becomes a time of fresh beginnings. Tonight, heaven’s splendor hides and holds back, cloaked in the trappings of peasant birth! Rife with visions, long foretold; let your heart dream those dreams of old. Deep in the bashful silence comes He,… [more]
Shepherd of the Hills Online Services

If you are unable to participate in one of our services in person, we are recording our services and posting them here. Please subscribe, so you don't miss any of our services. May the service be edifying, as we also wish for your safe return to worship with us in person.… [more]
Philippians 4:4-7: Rejoice

Watch the service and sermon here. In parallel with Lent, Advent pulses with penitential underpinnings, preparing the unprepared for Christ’s coming. Not only His birth, but His return to reign over His creation and Church. So, this preparatory season encourages you and me to consider our sin—the reason Christ came into our world. Yet, such penitence… [more]

Articles

Certainty Amid our Uncertainties

Here is our pastor's article for our church newsletter for November 2021. Rich, poor, man or woman, major and minor setbacks befall each and all. How can they not, since we are crestfallen creatures living in a sin-corrupted world? Whenever these certitudes come, events force us to pick up the pieces and start afresh. Otherwise, we withdraw from life. Of course, we might also lie to ourselves … [More...]

Eyes and Ears, Old and New

“Whatever we ask of you, teacher, we want you to do” (Mark 10:35). So, Jesus must again reorient His twelve toward a kingdom opened by His suffering, which He described as drinking from a cup (Matthew 20:22). In God’s kingdom, greatness comes in lowliness, where God gives His grace to the humble. Almost every Apostle of Jesus will, one day, “drink the cup” of martyrdom, beginning with James. Until … [More...]

Lest the Darkness Define Us

Imperfect copies of imperfect copies are we. The fall into sin introduced not only death but also physical decay and disease. Every Sunday, we admit as much in our Confession of Sin, “We are by nature sinful” (LSB 151, 167). All this means we are in a death spiral. Like “sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, in this way, death came to all people, because all sinned” (Romans … [More...]

COVID, the Vaccine, and Shepherd of the Hills

At last, the COVID-19 vaccines are here! For us now, this only includes the Pfizer- and Moderna-produced vaccines. Missouri is prioritizing our vaccinations based on someone’s assessed health risk. To do this, our state is grouping its citizens into four categories, with people receiving their inoculations during four distinct phases. Included in Phase 1B, Tier 2, “High-Risk Individuals,” … [More...]

Jesus Sends the 72

The Lamb Who Breaks Open the Seals

God Surprises Us with Heaven, Here on Christmas Eve