Dear family and friends of Eleanor King: 1918 was a treacherous year. World War I was still far from over. Many men were dying from machine-gun fire and poison gas. Yet, despite the carnage in distant lands, love still thrived in this fallen world. Harry Moline and his wife, Florence, loved each other. And so […]
The Good Samaritan: Luke 10:23-37
In Jesus, God stepped into our fallen world wearing the robe of our humanity. When the set time had fully come, common men would see and hear the Messiah prophesied from of old. They became His disciples, and later, even His apostles. And in seeing and hearing Jesus, they didn’t just see a man, they […]
Minnesota South District votes to sell the University Lutheran Chapel
Please pray that the Minnesota South District leadership will change its position. They are selling a faithful congregation’s building without their consent. The pastor of this congregation is David Kind, the son of Donna Gappa, a member of our congregation. Minnesota South District Votes to Sell ULC Property and Allow the Lord’s Place to […]
God’s Law and Gospel: 2 Corinthians 3:4-11
The Christian faith is a matter of God’s revealed, life-creating and life-changing truth. In matters eternal, research and scholarship can only offer added insight or information. For research and scholarship cannot give eternal life. It is God’s Spirit working through Word and Sacrament that give us such life. The Apostle Paul and Pastor Timothy tell […]
Genesis 4:1-15: Eve, Cain, and the Messiah
Luther’s translation of the German Bible rushes in where other translations fear to tread. We see that in the first verse of our Old Testament reading for today. There are two basic ways to understand that verse. The most common is what I read to you a few minutes ago: “I have gotten a man […]
Sermon: Luke 19:41-44
“Familiarity breeds contempt,” so the saying goes. It means that we can be so familiar with something that we begin to consider it of little value. This can even happen in our faith-life, where God becomes routine for us, and we begin to consider Him of little value. Of course, the problem is not with […]
What are we to do as a congregation?
What are We to Do? By Pr. Rich Futrell Every Christian congregation has a worship service (if not, it’s not a “church”). Usually, there’s also some Bible study. Congregations also have, as part of their congregational lives, funerals, weddings, confirmations, and so on. But beyond that, what should we do as a congregation? Apart from […]
Sola Scriptura in All Its Glory!
This is an article I wrote for the September 1st, 2011 edition of the Stone County Gazette. ——— “Sola Scriptura” literally says “scripture alone.” It’s a shortened statement Martin Luther used during the Reformation. But as with all sound bites, we lose much when a sound bite replaces the truth it originally promoted. Today, Sola […]
Parable of the Dishonest Manager: Luke 16:1-13
Jesus tells us a parable about a useless, money manager. We call this parable, “The Parable of the Dishonest Manager.” We’re not exactly sure how this manager handled the owner’s money. But this we know: everything he did as a manager was a failure. So the owner fired him and told him to turn over […]
New Church Directory is Close to Completion
We’ve been working on a new pictorial church directory for Shepherd of the Hills. Our last was printed in 2007. So it was time for a new one. Here’s what the front cover will look like for our new directory. It’s very Lutheran yet also artistically pleasing. This new directory will be more than be […]