Genesis 4:1-15: Sin is Crouching at Your Door

In the store you are picking up a couple of items and close by a child is throwing a tantrum.  Angry words, screaming, the stomping of feet, echoes in every […]

Luke 19:41-48: The Thresher, the Threshing Floor, and the Temple

A threshing floor is a violent place, of division and separation.  A farmer takes the cultivated harvest and casts the grain stalks on to a compacted floor.  Sinewy muscles stretch […]

Jeremiah 23:16-29: Live in the Truth

Still in the insecurity of your childhood, running through the house.  Crash!  A prized piece of your mother’s fine porcelain lay broken on the floor.  A few moments later, words […]

Romans 6:19-23: Sin’s Wage vs. God’s Gift

All around us, whether infiltrating the air or intertwining itself into the tapestry of our culture, is an assumption.  To be free is to be the boss, under no one […]

Matthew 5:20-26: Be Reconciled

In Nashville, Illinois, I served as a vicar before moving here to be your pastor.  A few years before, someone collapsed during the Divine Service.  With the ambulance called, the […]

1 Corinthians 1:18-25: The Foolishness of the Cross

In all your days, did someone come to you and make this case?  “Tell me, if God is almighty, can He create a stone too heavy for Him to carry?”  […]

Genesis 50:15-21: God Working Through All for the Good

How hard to forgive someone who hurts you!  A co-worker takes credit for your work, and now you are the lazy one.  A bully intimidates you, for not all bullies […]

Luke 1:39-45: Mary Visits Elizabeth

  The life-changing announcement from the angel Gabriel stuns Mary, as she staggers in shock. Rejoice, favored one!  The Lord is with you.  Don’t be afraid, Mary, for God honors […]

Luke 15:1-10: Lost and Found

A lost lamb and coin come to us in story form.  So, we lean forward to attend to our Savior’s words.  Little do we grasp how we are the ones […]

Malachi 3:6-10

A tale from India records the chronicle of a frightened mouse.  So terrified is he of cats, he is too afraid to venture out.  So, a wizard agrees to convert […]