Our Life with God, Lesson 5: Serving Your Neighbor: The Doctrine of Vocation

When we thank God for our food before a meal, we are right to do so.  For He does provide our food, and He does so through vocation—regular people doing […]

Solus Christus: Christ Alone

What is “Christ Alone”? Our only source of salvation is the life, death, and resurrection of God’s Son, Jesus Christ.  Christianity is inclusive because Jesus died for the sins of […]

Our Life with God, Lesson 4: Living with a Clean Conscience before God

Corresponding to this [God saving Noah and his family through the water], baptism now saves you, not by removing dirt from the flesh, but by the appeal of a clear […]

Sola Gratia: Grace Alone

What is “Grace Alone”? At the center of what we believe is the teaching that salvation is an unearned gift of God’s grace.  “By grace you are saved through faith, […]

Action, Reaction… Overreaction?

This is our pastor’s newsletter article for May 2016 on the resurrection of the body. We speak of this reality: For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.  In […]

Our Life with God, Lesson 3

Being More than Beggars, We also Join with the Saints and Angels in Eternity In our Christian lives, as we journey from the font to the grave, we walk before […]

Sola Fide: Faith Alone

What “Faith Alone” means “Faith alone” is a common phrase we Lutherans use.  “Faith alone” means that we cannot save ourselves, which also means that our works don’t save us […]

Our Life with God, Lesson 2: Remaining Receivers… Beggars?

“We are beggars.  That is true.”  These were the last thoughts of Dr. Martin Luther on the day before he died.  (Martin Luther, LW 54, 476) Unlike Kimberling City, beggars […]

Our Life with God, Lesson 1: It Begins with Receiving

In 1 Corinthians 4:7, St. Paul confronted the Christian congregation at Corinth.  Since they had the Holy Spirit, they thought they were in charge of their spiritual life—they were the […]

How Religious Are We as a People?

This is our pastor’s article for the April 2016 edition of our congregational newsletter.   A year or so ago, my eyes took in a graph showing the “measure of […]